A Cup of Tea.

Before Whit (BW) I was not much of a coffee drinker. I grew up with my dad who would drink a cup every morning (and sometimes finish that same cup in the afternoon. gross.) and my grandmama always liked a cup as well...but my mom did NOT like coffee and my aunt just brewed it for the smell...so that was somewhat the extent of my education on the bean...very limited. Oh I would drink "coffee drinks"...you know the ones that have more sugar than a donut and the whip cream that leaves that weird residue on the roof of your mouth...but not "real" coffee. So when Whit asked me out for the first time he wanted to know if I would like to go get some coffee...I was so excited that he had asked me I would have probably said yes to going just about anywhere. But I found myself in a dilemma...I didn't know what I would get! I didn't want to get the "girly" coffee drink...but I wanted to be myself...at that time I didn't know what all the different coffee drinks were and I was for sure not going to get black coffee. So when faced with the time to choose I ended up going in a totally different direction and got tea...earl grey to be exact. I love tea. I have loved tea for many years. I like it cold and I like it hot. I like it hot more so...but either way it has always been something I have enjoyed. The funny thing is when we met Whit liked his coffee black with nothing in it..I liked mine with "stuff" in it...I liked my tea with nothing in it...he liked his with a little milk and honey. I now drink my coffee black out of a french press and every now and then I put a little honey and milk in my tea. Who am I!? :)

One of the things that I really love about Whit is his knowledge about any particular subject. He knows the most random facts..interesting..but random. Sometimes I think "Did I miss a class in school or something that taught all these tidbits of information?!" But nonetheless it comes in handy almost daily. When we started dating he introduced me to tea on a whole new level (and coffee). He took me to different stores that sold ALL kinds of different blends and varieties...we would get little samples of different kinds to try and see if I liked. I loved it. Out of that I really came to love green tea. The taste takes some time to get used to (it's very earthy) but it truly does wonders for your skin (seriously) and it has great health benefits as well...one being a cancer preventative.

So this Christmas I asked my mom for a Bodum teapot (picture above)..it's so cool. It holds two cups of tea (you can get bigger if you desire) which is perfect for me. I would love to say that I make it in the morning but I am slightly spoiled. Whit gets up before me and makes his coffee and then brings me my tea and sits it on my bedside table. SO SPOILED. I love the bodum pot because you can put your loose tea leaves in the stainless steel filter...boil your water...then pour the water into the teapot. You let it set for 3-4 minutes(depending on how strong you would like it) then press down the plunger. It's so so good and really simple. I have a cup and half almost every morning and often a cup at night. My tea of choice right now is Earl Green and Jasmine Green. Every now and then I will add some milk and honey but I really enjoy it as is. If you do add honey try to get it from your local farmer's market. When it is local honey it has added benefits...it really helps with allergies seeing that the process involves local flowers while most supermarket honey is from overseas.

If you have never given tea a try I highly recommend it. It has many health benefits and is a great start or end to a day.

Enjoy!

Time.

Time. It's the one thing we don't have enough of...and at the same time I'm convinced that if we were given more we would once again find ourselves in the same scenario. A close friend of mine was talking to her counselor one day and was asked to list her priorities out on a piece of paper and then on another sheet she was asked to list a typical day...what she found was that the two didn't match. It's not that we don't have enough time it's that we don't use it for what we intend. 

Over the last 6 months I found myself constantly thinking of ideas for my blog and wanting to share them on here...but I couldn't find the "time". I started a new job and with that my days were pretty booked seeing that I was taking care of a 2 year old and a 2 month old. Yikes! I found myself often wondering, "How do mom bloggers do this so well!?!" But I guess they don't have someone watching over them everyday. :) The children I kept were extremely sweet and I loved my time with them but somehow...be it emotionally or physically...it zapped my creative time. By the time I would get home I was making dinner...going to community group...snuggling with Whit on the couch (aww..) and it was the last thing I wanted to do. But I missed it! Not to mention that almost every week or so Whit would say..."I miss your blog...will you please post something." And I would say " I know I know...I will...don't pressure me! ;)"

When thinking about the new year (2011..it has a ring doesn't it!?) I don't want to be someone that desires something and it ends there...I want to fulfill them. I want my priorities list to match up with my typical day list. I want to be true to who I am. All this to say..."I'm back!" I really desire to carve time out of my life to be able to share myself creatively and share the ideas and thoughts that come into my head throughout the day. I won't be perfect at it I can guarantee you that...and I'm not going to try to be (that's part of whole living...right!?)...I'm just going to give myself the space to create and see what happens. And that feels good.

Clutter.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Clutter and I are not friends. We parted ways many many years ago and I am okay if we keep it that way. For me clutter makes my mind go completely blank and my skin start to itch. Okay the skin itching is an exaggeration but the mind going blank is not too far off. I have found that when I let clutter build up it is hard to be really present and have the ability to dream beyond what is. Living without clutter gives you a freedom that can’t be enjoyed in the midst of junk.

One of the things I love to do most is help people clean out their clutter. Yes, you heard me right. I love to organize other peoples junk. You know that runner’s high people talk about. I get an organizational high. I would go as far as to say it’s better than a runner’s high. Many times when I go home to my parents house I organize some part of their house...pantry...closet...cabinets. I’m under the rule of thought that everything has a place and if it doesn’t have place then one needs to be created or it needs to go. I have a few rules that I use when going through my own things...and others. I thought I would share them with you and you can use them to go through your clothes, messy closet, guest room closet, kitchen stuff, pantry, garage...or wherever needs a clean up!

Here are three questions to ask yourself.

1. “Do I need this?” I know there are many definitions of need. Many people say they “need” something when they have a hard time letting go of it. “But I NEED it.” But when you ask yourself this question really be honest with yourself. You know whether or not you REALLY need it. Need really only covers a couple of areas. You either use it everyday, weekly, or seasonally. If you haven’t needed it in the past 4 years, I would say you don’t actually need it.

2. “Do I use this?” A lot of times you will say that you “need” something but the clincher is do you actually “use” it. My rule of thumb is if you say you need this particular sweater but you did not wear it last season you do not use it...so it goes in the pile. We tend to keep a lot of “needs” that we never “use”. I understand that some things are seasonal so you aren’t going to be using them everyday, but be honest with yourself. If there is something missing...like a lid or a button...either find the missing piece or buy the missing piece...if you don’t do either you will not use it...so it’s best to let it go. You will always go to the thing that is usable. If you don’t use it why would you want to keep it.

3. “Do I love this?” This the last question to ask yourself. Because when it comes down to it if you don’t love it you aren’t going to use it and then you don’t need it. I try to only keep things that I love because that is what I am going to go to when I am looking for something in particular...the thing I love. Each season these “loves” are going to change...that’s why it’s good to go through things yearly. The longer you keep things the more attached you become to them. Then all the sudden a picture frame has as you in tears as you are giving it away. One important thing I try to remember is it’s not the object that has all the value...it’s the memories that go with it. You will always have the
memories.

For those that have a hard time giving away things like t-shirts or sweaters that hold so much value during a time in your life (high school/college) make them into a t-shirt quilt. I did this and it is one of my most favorite blankets. Whit’s mom helped my make it which made it even more special. If you have movie tickets or concert tickets that you love to keep over time, figure out a way to organize them in a way that you can enjoy them. Don’t just throw them in a drawer. Honor the things that you love.

I think the most effective way to stay organized is maintenance. You have to go through things on a regular basis. Don’t save it all for your kids to go through one day when you have left them all your favorite pens that you loved writing with.:)

Do you find it hard to keep clutter away?

Ezekiel Bread

“Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Sprouted Whole Grain Products are inspired by the Holy Scripture verse: "Take also unto thee Wheat, and Barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and Spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it..." Ez 4:9

We discovered when six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, an amazing thing happens: a complete protein is created that closely parallels the protein found in milk and eggs. There are 18 amino acids present in Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Sprouted Whole Grain bread. Made from freshly sprouted organically grown grains, Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Sprouted Whole Grain bread is naturally flavorful and bursting with nutrients and is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and natural fiber with no added fat.”

This is one of my most favorite products. They make over 30 baked goods that are so good for you and taste amazing. Plus how cool is it that they base their ingredients off of scripture! The sliced bread and English muffins (whole grain and cinnamon raisin) are really really good toasted...the sliced bread is a little too dense to eat without toasting it. We like to add a little peanut or almond butter to a piece. This is the only bread that we buy now in our house...It’s just so good for you that other breads seems like a waste of carbs. You can find their bread products in the freezer section. Because they are so fresh with no preservatives they have to be kept frozen at the store...but once you get home you can keep them in your frig or freezer depending on how fast you go through it. They also make yummy tortillas, cereals and pasta. If you want to check out more about them you can go to their site.

Happy Eating!

Yearly.

SO a couple weeks ago Whit and I went to have our yearly physical. It's something I am kind of weird about. I'm just in the school of thought that it's better to educate yourself and work on anything that might be a problem...then take the whole philosophy "Ignorance is Bliss" and have to deal with problems later when they have gotten worse. So every year I journey to the doctor and then when I am leaving I just go ahead and make my appointment for the next year. Then I don't have to think about it again! I do this with the dentist and other doctors as well... ;)

So this past visit she talked to us about Whit’s Vitamin D levels. They have just recently been testing these levels along with the other blood work they do in a physical. They have really been seeing the effects of low vitamin D and the benefits of high levels. She told us that the ideal minimum level for good vitamin D is 35. Whit’s was 15. Yikes!! She said ...just to give you a frame of reference...Sarah your’s is 81. Hehe:) There are so many benefits of having great vitamin D. It protects you from prostate and colon cancer. It regulates your blood pressure and boosts your immunity. We take a daily multi-vitamin but this was obviously not doing the trick for Whit. Come to find out his mom has really low vitamin D levels as well. She put him on a prescription dose that he takes weekly...its extremely high...51,000 IU. He is going to take this for a little over a month and then see if he can maintain it with an extra supplement.

Something else that she brought to our attention was our fiber intake. This was not something that came up low in our physical but she talked to us about how you can never get enough in your diet. That no matter if you ate whole grains all day long you would never get enough. This was news to me! Fiber is crucial in helping maintain low cholesterol and keeping your heart healthy...and well...keeping you regular:) So she told us that we (and everyone else for that matter) should be taking Metamucil every morning and night. I’ll be honest I felt 60 when we first started taking it but now it’s just a great beginning and ending to our day! It also fills me up more when I take it. Oh and you can get the generic version. We got a HUGE thing of it at Target for $6.

The last thing that she talked to us about was taking Fish Oil. We have been taking this as well...but not as much as she told us to. She said that we should be taking two capsules in the morning and two at night. Whit and I eat quite a bit of fish but she said that this was still mandatory. It’s benefits are huge,...it protects your heart, high cholesterol, immunity, and skin....plus many more. I would say get the ones that are “burp free” but they are sooooo much more expensive than the regular ones...and once you have been taking them for awhile you stop burping fish. Ugh. Gross.

SO these were a few things we learned this year at our physical...I would highly recommend you all going and having it done! It is so educational and your body will thank you later!

Do you get a regular physical or are you a once every ten years?

Product of the Week

I thought it might be fun to do my favorite product of the week! So here it is! About a year ago I was looking for a new lotion that I felt really worked. Other lotions that I had used in the past honestly just left me feeling dry. I texted my good Leslie and asked her what she recommended...she is the pro on things like this. And she told me I needed to use “Palmer’s Cocoa Butter”. Because I always takes Leslie’s advice I went out immediately and bought it. I LOVE it. I use it in the morning and evening and my skins feels oh so smooth. I like it because it isn’t too thick but at the same time its not really runny...leaving my skin feeling more dry. Plus the effects last all day. I highly recommend it if you are looking for something new!


Let me know if you try it!

Blueberry Patch.

So today I did something so fun! I had been wanting to go to a blueberry farm a couple weeks ago and I started calling around to see if there were any located in our area. Come to find out prime blueberry picking was coming up in 2 weeks! Pretty good timing on my part. :) There is this great website called www.pickyourown.org where you can find out what farms are located in your county or a county near you! And it’s not just for blueberries...you can look up other produce!

I talked to the sweetest lady at The Blueberry Patch in Murfreesboro. She told me all about her blueberry patch. She has been in business for over 10 years and has so much pride in her berries. She described the height of the grass all over the 8 acres and the fact that she doesn’t spray her plants...she told me about how most groceries have blueberries that have been picked just a little too early...before they get to the last “phase” when they are their sweetest. She told me about how there would be a flutist there to serenade us while we picked the berries (hehe) So with all her amazing info I decided to come out this morning and give it a try! It was so fun!! There were a lot of people there but because their were so many acres it felt very peaceful. We were given a bucket and told to get at it! All you had to do was touch the blueberries and they just fell into the bucket. Here is a picture of when I first started!

My only complaint about the blueberry patch is that I feel like they need to install scales all along the path so that you can periodically weigh your berries! The bucket feels up fast and you could end up with 10 pounds of blueberries! But I guess that would somewhat lose the aesthetic of the experience:) Here is a picture of my final pickin’s!

I decided to freeze the blueberries so that I can have fresh ones throughout the year plus it's a money saver in that we don't have to buy frozen ones...which are ridiculously expensive! If you don't have time to go to a farm to pick them on your own you can freeze blueberries that are at the grocery right now...I know Sam's has a HUGE container of Driscoll's (the best) for $2. The freezing process is so simple. Don't wash them before laying them out on a cookie sheet (or something that fits in your freezer) and let them freeze for 6-8 hours. Then store them in a Freezer Ziploc baggie! So easy!


Happy Freezing!