Gretchen the Goat

I woke up to find out that around 5 am I sleepily informed Colton we would be buying a baby goat named Gretchen and that she would have spots. I rolled out of bed, still smiling, in time to kiss my sweetheart goodbye before he headed off to campus.

Spent the morning getting distracted on the internet/studying medications.

Digoxin...Pinterest...Spotify...Lasix...

Feeling grateful for sweet dreams, a sweet husband and medication.

He is the Gift

With the Christmas Season in full swing, I've been thinking about what Christmas means to me, what it REALLY means. As I've thought about it, it turns out that it means a lot of things. The birth of a baby in a manger long ago means so much today. 

It means that families do not end on earth. Thank goodness! This time of year is constantly reminding me that family is everything, and not just on earth. Christmas means that I'll see my Grandma Haymond and Grandma Anne again. It means that any separation is temporary. I know that because of Him, my family relationships will exist after death. 

It means that I am never alone. The Savior's life and death provide me with a constant companion and friend. This year has been a year of decisions, and they were not made alone or by coincidence. 

His birth means that I have great reason to have great joy. I am so thankful that God knows I'm not perfect, but that He sent His Son so that I could still learn and love on earth and return to live with Him. 

Christmas means that everything works out. No wonder we feel happier during the holidays. I think that something within us knows that the coming of Christ means that even if we do not find peace on earth, we will find it one day. 

Christmas only comes once a year, but it is the reason that I have peace and happiness throughout the weeks and months. Christ's birth is a thing to be celebrated, because it is the greatest gift ever given. A gift in the truest sense, something we could not obtain ourselves. A gift from a Heavenly Father to His literal children, a gift of pure love. 

Merry Christmas!

Questions about my Christmas beliefs? Ask me!

Health Kick

After a couple years of college-style eating, Colton and I both felt like it was time to start eating well again. We weren't eating unhealthy meals, but we were having plenty of the sweet stuff afterwards and in between. One of the reasons I married that man is that he loves good food. I love good food. We LOVE good food. And I don't mean good-for-you food. Anyways, that explains why it's taken us a while to want to eat better. 

Despite our common love for anything scrumptious and sugary, we got a gym membership and stocked up on spinach. Lo and behold, magical things started to happen.

Since I've started college, nay since high school, I've just accepted the fact that I am a chronically sleepy person. No matter how much sleep I get, I usually wake up wanting to take a nap. But since we started our health kick, we both feel so awake! Even after getting up at 5:30 to work out, we can go go go all day and still keep our eyes open through scripture-reading.

We've both dieted before. He was a wrestler in high school, so cutting weight was almost his specialty (let's not talk about the time we basically weighed the same junior year...never happened). I've mainly dieted in the past by counting/cutting calories and it works, but I'm usually even more tired and grumpy, not to mention hungry and I usually got discouraged and gave up before coming anywhere near my goal.

This time we both wanted to do something different. We eat when we're hungry and we still have dessert, only more like once week instead of once a day. We work out more, but we do it together at least half of the time and mix cardio with weight lifting to hopefully add some tone instead of just becoming smaller flabby people.

We haven't eliminated any foods, but we try not to eat bread for breakfast or lunch. Obviously we still have sandwiches here and there, but it's a lot less often.

And the best part...smoothies! We have them all the time! We were totally terrified to drink something green at first, but it tastes the same with or without it, so why not get some vitamins?

Here's how we make our Mix n' Match Green Smoothies:

Base: use all

1/2 c. almond milk

1/2 a banana

about 1 1/2 c. ice

Fruity Goodness: pick 2 or more

1 peach/nectarine

1 apple

1/2 c. pineapple

1 c. strawberries

handful of raspberries

Greens: 

2 c. spinach

Extras: optional

1 T. flax seed

1/4 c. oatmeal

Put the liquid in first, then go from the softest ingredients to the hardest ingredients (example: milk, bananas, peach, spinach, apple, ice). 

One of these babies will fill me up until lunch time, plus I feel like I had dessert for breakfast. Bonus points.