It was a really nice day!

Hello all!  Today was a great day!  I have been feeling better yesterday and today, granted, my energy is still not close to 100%, but I am for sure doing better than I was.  Yesterday I got my eyebrows waxed/shaped up.  That sounds like such a little thing, but it really was so refreshing when I have needed to find things that can help me feel better.  I also made an appointment to get my hair cut and colored in 2 weeks!  I have tried to go the low budget route for my hair since moving here and it is just not cutting it.  The gray hairs are overtaking the brown and I am not really all that old.  It is time to get a really good hair cut and good color and give myself all that more of a lift in how I feel these days.

Today I could have stayed home and worked on the house as I do have more energy.  It was however a very nice and sunny day.  I felt like today would serve me better with getting out and at least doing some window shopping and maybe buy something new if I found the right thing.  I have not set foot in a store that was not just the grocery store since the beginning of January.  I thought before I left about what exactly I would be on the look for when I was out today.  I kind of forgot what it was like to go shopping.  I have not done it in so long.  I started out with returning a sweater to Macy's.  I looked around Macy's for a while, but I didn't buy anything.  Truth be known, I am still on 10 mg of prednisone and still carrying around some swelling and fluid from Lupus, so even though I kind of feel like I would really enjoy some new clothes, anything I would get right now would not be the size I plan to stay in.  I did however end up buying 2 tops this afternoon.  One was just a basic long sleeved v-neck black top at the Talbots outlet for really cheap.  I know, boring, black and long sleeved.  But it is stretchy and flattering and we still have some chilly days ahead and I have been rotating between the same 4 long sleeved tops for the last 2 months because of what I can fit in to right now.  I most certainly deserve at least one more long sleeved shirt to get me through until I am back to my normal size and where I would like to be.  That particular top, I believe will still work when I lose this extra weight and fluid that is hanging around.  So it was a good purchase.  I also bought a short sleeve lavender yoga top with a cute swirly design on it at BJ's Wholesale, again, not the size I would really like, but in all reality, it will warm up some and I know that I will not want to hang out only in long sleeve tops for another month.  It is cute and it will get me by with a few other short sleeve tops I have that will work ok for now.  I also got Corey's Chobani yogurt while at BJ's.  It is his favorite and I had a $2 off coupon from BJ's.  So it was really quite perfect timing for more of his yogurt.  I had been getting by on what I could get cheap at the commissary for the last 2 months for his yogurt.  He will be super excited that I have his favorite again.

I also went to the christian bookstore today.  I have been like a sponge more so than usual that last couple of months with reading my bible and soaking in God's truth.  I wouldn't be able to get through this in quite the way I have without doing so.  I still find myself looking pretty ugly when I look back at some of my days in the past with all of this Lupus stuff.  But in all of it, I know that God has worked in it and will continue to do so.  God has given me grace where I have failed miserably and I am thankful for that.  I never have had it all together and I never will.  The best I can do is to keep following after God and keep learning more about him and who he is and what he has for me.  In doing so, I found myself desiring a new bible.  I got a bible that has the Message version and the NIV version side by side.  Basically, two bibles in one.  I need a lot of help understanding and the Message really helps me in that.  I like the idea of being able to carry one bible and have both versions right along with me.  I also got a new devotional book.  I thought about getting the actual book to read, but felt the devotional more suited my needs at this time.  Lysa TerkKeurst has a new book called Unglued, Making Wise Choices In the Midst Of Raw Emotions.  I am sure the book is great and who knows, I may end up getting the actual book eventually, but today I opted for the 60 day devotional book.  The original book is really what caught my attention.  On the front of the book there is a picture of a lady with a purse over her head.  Yep a purse!  LOL!  I would take a picture of my book to show you, but the devotional book has a completely different picture on it, she is only carrying the purse on front of the book I bought.  This really caught my eye.  I can so relate!  It is kind of like having a paper bag over your head and burying and hiding yourself.  Only this was a purse, so it looks really even more ridiculous.  This devotional book will be good I am sure.  But also in getting this book, I realized that I have done some growing.  In the beginning of finding out that my Lupus was flaring up, I wanted to hide myself, cover myself up and just stay away from others.  I didn't want anyone to see me with all this extra fluid and swelling and all the ick stuff that prednisone does.  I could be hiding my head under a paper back or in my purse, but instead, I have gotten out when I can and when I have had the energy and made it to bible study consistently, knowing that the ladies there are not going to judge me, but pray for me.  I have done my best to stay out of that position of hiding myself.  This is a new way for me when it comes to handling emotions and my perception of myself.  I would normally be so hard on myself and feel like everyone would view me as the big whale I see myself as right now.  But I have not played in to those emotions much, at least if I have, I haven't camped out there.  So I feel like this book was very much a book that just reached out at me.  It was a book that had a picture on it that said, hey you could have camped out here, but you didn't.

And now because of that, I have something else to share.  A song that speaks to where I am right now came on the radio and don't you just love when that happens!  I put the lyrics below and it is very true!  Before anything happens, it has to go through God's hands first and no matter what He will be there and help me through it.  Just love this song!

It is called,  No Matter What, By Kerri Roberts

I'm runnin' back to Your promises one more time
Lord, that's all I can hold onto
I've got to say this has taken my by surprise
But nothing surprises You

Before a heartache can ever touch my life
It has to go through Your hands
And even though I keep askin' why
I keep askin' why

No matter what, I'm gonna love You
No matter what, I'm gonna need You
I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain
But if not, if not, I'll trust You

No matter what
No matter what

When I'm stuck in this nothingness by myself
I'm just sitting in silence
There's no way I can make it without Your help
I won't even try it

I know You have Your reasons for everything
So I will keep believin'
Whatever I might be feelin', that You are my hope
{ From: http://www.elyrics.net }
And You'll be my strength

No matter what, I'm gonna love You
No matter what, I'm gonna need You
I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain
But if not, if not, I'll trust You

No matter what
No matter what

Anything I don't have, You can give it to me
But it's okay if You don't
I'm not here for those things the touch of Your love
Is enough on its own

But no matter what, I still love you
And I'm gonna need you

No matter what, I'm gonna love You
No matter what, I'm gonna need You
I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain
But if not, if not, I'll trust You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain
But if not, if not, I'll trust You

No matter what
No matter what

I know God doesn't want any of us to go through something such as a time of illness or any other hardship being unchanged by it.  If we allow him to and we choose to involve him in our hard times, we grows and changes us.  There is also comfort in knowing that it all has to pass through his hands first.  

I had a fun day out today!  I didn't come home exhausted which is a major bonus these days!  I ate lunch at Pei Wei Asian Diner while I was out.  It was just ok.  But it was good to be out and eating somewhere other than at home. I got an iced venti tazo green tea with my Starbucks gift card from my mom that she sent for my birthday.  Yes, finally feeling good enough to get out and use it!  I enjoyed just being out and about.  It was good to wander around and window shop and also get a few new things today!

I also heard from my mom today that she will be coming for a visit in April!  Pat has to go on a trip for about a week and a half.  She is going to come spend that time with Corey and I.  It will be so good to see her :).

Keep checking back, I will be writing more in the near future.  I have a lot of thoughts and feelings to share.  Some of it will involve getting on the other side of a Lupus flare and I will continue to share my grateful heart.

Choosing to be thankful

As most of you know, I have been sick in one way or another since the beginning of January.  I started out with a sinus infection that lasted 2 1/2 weeks.  I then got the flu while I also realized that the Lupus Nephritis I have had for 17 years had started to flare up.  I have not had a flare up in 8 years.  This totally took me by surprise.  I had just been to my rheumatologist in November with excellent lab work results and everything looking wonderful.  We believe that the sinus infection was the trigger for my lupus flare up.  I have struggled with this flare up in more ways than one.  I had in my head that I could be over it in a couple of weeks.  Wow, was I wrong.  It has been almost a month now and I am still fighting this flare up head on.  I have had quite the mix of emotions about all of it from the beginning.  It was shocking to me to realize that this could come on so sudden and also stay and mess with my life for so long.  I have reminded myself that since it has been 8 years since a flare up, I really did forget what it was like to have Lupus Nephritis come and hit me head on and really work on my immune system.  I look back and realize that the only 2 other times I have dealt with a flare up, 8 years ago and 17 years ago, I was super duper sick.  We are talking weeks in the hospital with being sick and kidney biopsy each of those two times.  It is quite a recovery process after a kidney biopsy too.

In all of this, I have come to realize that even though I was shocked this time by how fast it came on and how long it wants to stay around, I am still in a lot better shape than I was in either of my previous times.  This is something to be thankful for.  I could be in a hospital bed and not able to take care of my family.  Instead I am at home and resting.  That helps me to put things in perspective also.  I feel like I haven't been able to physically do anything for over a month.  I have taken more naps and rested more in a month than I most likely have in a whole year.  But when I compare this to the option of being in the hospital, it really is not nearly as bad.  It has been hard to not have more energy than it takes to get groceries and do a few other basic things.  Needless to say, our house isn't all that tidy and some of our meals are less than great.  But in all of this, God has slowed me down.  I have focused on Him more than I was doing before I had this flare up.  I have been going weekly to a bible study that has been very good for me and of course we get to church.  I have had my good days and my bad days.  The bad days require way more rest because they involve a lot more pain that is more difficult to tolerate.

I have also dealt with something new this round and if you are on my facebook, you already know this.  But 2 of my medications being taken together has caused me acid reflux/GERD issues.  I was sharing with my sister Melissa, (who is one of my best supporters and one who knows first hand what it feels like to go through chronic health issues and most recently recovered from a really bad round with her Chron's Disease which even had her in emergency surgery over her vacation) about the pain involved with the acid reflux/GERD before it was diagnosed.  She asked me what my pain level was on a scale of 1-10.  I immediately felt like she knows and understand pain and she feels for what I am going through to ask what level of pain I am going through.  I told her it was a 9 on the pain scale.  She asked me what kind of 9 it was and this led the discussion of how us McCrory girls are not wimpy.  We have a very high tolerance to pain.  We have both been through more pain than we have cared to, but it takes quite a bit of it to break us down.  Thank you sis for understanding and asking.  It means more than you know.  It helps to have someone who has walked in my shoes, not that I would want anyone to, but it helps to know someone can feel for where I am at.

I am doing much better overall most days.  But there are still some things that I will deal with for quite some time.  I still have to wait for my kidneys to get back to a better place.  I still deal with some pain, although the GERD has remarkably stayed away.  I feel that has been mostly due to food choices and knowing what can trigger it.  I deal with swelling all over my body, pain and stiffness in my joints.  I don't sleep all the way through the night, most nights.  I have a hard time breathing in the very early morning, so I lay asleep instead of getting up, trying to get a little more rest.  I am very tired most days and yes I have better days that I can do more.  I deal with shooting pains that happen at very random times in a leg, arm, my neck, etc.  I deal with major hand cramps at very unexpected times.  But in all of this I still choose to be thankful.  Thankful that I have so many people that care, thankful that I don't personally know very many people that have to go through this type of a chronic illness (I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through this if they didn't have to), thankful that I have God right by my side (I can't imagine life with a chronic illness such without God.  He brings peace I can't find anywhere else.  He helps when I feel alone in the illness).  I am thankful that if I have to go through this, that it is during the winter months.  If I have to be swollen, it sure is good to have long sleeves and long pants to cover it all up.  I am thankful for my family and their patience in all of this.  My husband has been so patient, loving, and understanding.  Corey has been great too.  My mom and my sister and others have been so kind and loving as well.

I know I am on the road to recovery and so I choose to be thankful.  Thank You to everyone who has offered kind words, prayers, and love during all of this.  It means more than you will ever know.

Detoxing & A Good Coconut Oil Granola Recipe

As some of you might already know, I lost 35 lbs a year from this past August.  Well, I have managed to gain back 10 lbs.  I haven't had to buy any bigger clothes and I am not going to allow the need for bigger clothes.  I got rid of all the clothes that were too big after losing weight the first time and I am determined to not find myself back in the store buying the next size up.  I have had a hard time buckling down and making myself work on eating healthier again and getting back in to exercising.  Mostly, eating in moderation, which now that we are past Christmas, I really have no excuse to sit here and add on top of the 10 lbs I have already gained.  Instead, I should work on losing whatever amount of that makes me feel better and give me more energy.  I have no plans to be stepping on the scales except for once every couple of weeks to see if it is budging.

Last night I did a detox I found online.  It was all things I have at home already, so this didn't cost me any extra money.  I don't know anything about Dr. Axe, but I did get the recipe from his website for the detox.  He had a video explaining the detox a little bit and all the ingredients are ones I have used before, just not all combined together as a drink for a detox.  He calls it his Secret Detox.  It doesn't seem so secret if he is sharing it, but I was willing to try it.  I needed something to help me get myself started in the right direction.  I feel it has done just that.  I woke up this morning feeling very full, but also it cleaned me out, so to speak (sorry if that is TMI).  I did very good with my eating all day long as I felt full, but also felt the need to drink tons of water and of course I know a cleanse is all about cleansing, and that of course indeed did happen.  I will for sure be doing this again!

Secret Detox
12-16 oz glass of water
2 TBS Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
2 TBS Lemon Juice
1 tsp cinnamon
a dash of cayenne pepper
1 packet of Stevia ( I didn't have Stevia, I have Agave, so I used a splash of that instead)

It actually tasted pretty good and it can be done quite often.  I feel like this really helped me today!  I am glad I tried it.  It didn't cost me anything but a trip to my cupboard.

Because of finally feeling like I am heading back on track, I decided to also make homemade granola again.  The first time I made it was about a year ago.  I have made it several different ways and I have learned a few things about myself in the process.  1) I love food and homemade granola is really good, you can't mess it up as far as taste.  2) I need to keep it basic.  The first time I made it, I followed a recipe that had all kinds of yummy stuff in it ( chocolate chips, brown sugar, butter, etc).  The second time I made it, I decided to go for a healthier route.  I will tell you why.  If I make it with all of the super yummy stuff, then I end up eating it like candy :)  This is not a good thing when trying to eat in moderation and trying to make something that is supposed to be healthy and good for me.  Really, granola should be a sprinkled topping on yogurt or a small snack, not a whole entire bowl full of yumminess.  You can and will gain weight from super yummy granola made with all the extras, trust me, I know this first hand!  Granola is super yummy when it is homemade even when it is basic.  You can add something in to small portions to change it up some if you wish.  Maybe you have better will power than I do, but this is what has worked for me.

Here is my basic recipe.  It has coconut oil in it which is really healthy.  Keep in mind that the granola will feel oily, but this is a healthy oil , not a fattening oil.

Coconut Oil Granola
3 cups rolled oats  ( I use Bob's Red Mill Rolled Oats)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey ( local honey if you can)
1 TBS cinnamon
2/3 cup sliced raw almonds ( you can use any nuts you want, this is what I like)

Place the 3 cups of rolled oats in a medium sized bowl.  Melt the coconut oil and the honey in the microwave.  Stir all ingredients together in the bowl.  Spread out on a baking sheet (no need to spray the baking sheet - it won't stick with the coconut oil).  Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.  Stir the granola and cook for another 10 minutes.  Even if it seems like soft granola, take it out of the oven.  Cooking it longer will over cook it.

Yummm!  Enjoy!  This was a small yummy snack this afternoon!

Praise Him in the hallway!

I apologize for not blogging for a while.  I have been pondering, thinking, praying, and trying to figure things out.  Yes, us women do a lot of that.  And as a military wife after what still feels like a fairly recent move, I have been doing quite a bit of it that last couple of weeks.  Feeling both up and down in my feelings, my thoughts, and my prayers.  We move and we move a lot.  We have maybe stayed in the same location for 2 years, maybe close to 3 years a time or two.  A year or less a few times.  You know, the moves where you don't take out of boxes what you really don't need and can live without. This time should be our last military move or it could be close to the last.  We never really do know in the military if it will be for any certain length of time when we get our orders to move to a new location.  There is always an adjustment time, and yes, even an adjustment to moving right back to the very same place, as we have even done that before as well.  Moving back to Fort Leavenworth, KS after having lived there for a year previously and having grown up an hour from there, one would only think that it would be a piece of cake and a super easy adjustment.  For me, it was anything but that.  I struggled the first time there and I let it color my second chance there as well.  Our first time there was really a time that was challenging with Corey and I didn't even allow myself to put any roots down as it was very temporary, actually less than a year.  I look back at all of this and I think of how I let time really pass by and I let myself be robbed of chances for new friendships and joy that I missed out on.  The second time was way better than the first for a lot of reasons.  Pat had an incredibly flexible schedule in his 2 year position there.  We had an amazingly wonderful amount of family time.  It was truly a blessing.  Corey had much better school experiences and it was over all fairly easy and enjoyable.  I still really didn't allow myself to put down roots and grow friendships, I too knew this was temporary.  At the same time, we saw family quite a bit.  My mom works 30 minutes from where we lived and she would come eat dinner and spend the night quite often.  Corey had overnight trips to grandma's house a lot.  That created a certain amount of balance for us.  Corey was in horse riding lessons and had made several really good friends.  We really miss family, horse riding lessons (along with Tonya and her kids at the farm), and Corey's friends.  But I felt myself itching to move on for some reason.  Maybe because I didn't allow myself to put down roots.  Why I do this to myself, I am not really sure.  I think it must surely be a defense mechanism and a way of coping with the moving.

This time now with living somewhere completely different from Kansas, I am finding new challenges.  We have great neighbors.  Corey is involved in Cub Scouts and loves it!  We have found an awesome church.  Yet, Pat has a very full schedule and I am here all day trying to figure out exactly what it is that I am supposed to do.  Keep in mind, I know we are only here for a couple of years.  Do I dare put down roots?  I am now trying to break that cycle of thinking.  I am really trying hard.  I have met some really nice people and made some great new friends.  I am thankful for this.  I do not need to worry about whether I will get 1 or 2 years with them or if it will be a life long journey of close friendship.  That is my problem indeed, worrying to much about the unknown.  So in my quest to try to figure out exactly what it is I should do here, I have applied for a hand full of jobs.  I have received calls on 2 of them.  One would require me to be leaving my house at 5 AM to start the day and a lot of traveling.  It did sound like a really fun job, but I had to decline.  The other job I heard back from this week did not have hours that would work for me.  I am not sure my heart was really ready to take on the 2nd job to be completely honest.  I have several other jobs I am waiting to hear back from and during this time I have made some new friends and I have started a weekly bible study.  I am also getting to the gym consistently to exercise.  I am starting to feel a routine coming in to place and a bible study I am excited about.  Do I really want or need a job?  Is that really a part of figuring out what I am to do here in this place?  I don't know at this point. I am praying about it and trying to be obedient.  While I was in the car a few days ago and listening to Christian radio, I heard someone say, "While you are waiting for God to open a door, praise him in the hallway".  I then felt very convicted of my attitude and my mindset on where I am at and what I have been waiting for.  God wants me to praise him right now in the midst of what I am going through. He wants me to find joy and be thankful for him and what he is doing right where I am at and not miss what he has for me right here and right now.  I am starting to embrace where I am right now and remember that God has a plan for me even if I don't see right now.  

I have to tell you that the bible study I went to was very on target for my needs :)  I sat down in a group of other military wives who are a mix of emotions also.  We are doing a study called God Strong, written by a military wife Sarah Horn.  Apparently I am not alone in my feelings, thoughts and fears, there are others out there that feel similar to me.

Now I am looking at the D.C Metro and how crazy it feels to me and realize that there are a ton of other military wives out there in my same boat.  I am not alone and I am not crazy.  I am also feeling less crazy as time goes by.  I am feeling more at peace and feeling less like I have to be on a search for where I fit in.  I don't need to worry. God has a plan for me, I just need to trust him.

My 99 cent lunch and the best ever dark chocolate brownies!

Today was the first day of my husband Pat being back at work after Christmas and New Year's Day and also the first day back to school for Corey.  I find a day like today hard to get a hold on what needs to be done and how to get it all done and also be awake enough to get it all done.  We all had to get up earlier than when we had Christmas break to wake up at our leisure.  And of course, to make my day all that more interesting, our dog Mitch got out this morning and I had to chase him and get him back home safely as we have busy roads near our house.  This was before Corey go on the bus this morning.  So as you can imagine, I had to also make sure that Corey knew his dog was ok and it was fine to get on the school bus and make his journey to school.

I had a hard time getting myself in to a productive mode this morning.  I checked Facebook statuses and my email.  It really brightened my spirits to start receiving emails for birthday goodies at different businesses as my birthday is next week.  I used one of those birthday goodies today!  Noodles & Company gives a free bowl of noodles up to a $9.00 value the month of your birthday.  I went and used it today and I got an iced tea along with my yummy noodles.  I paid a whopping 99 cents!  Now that is a cheap lunch on a day when I just really needed a pick me up.  On a day when I was trying to figure out how to get this house back in order and also just catch my breath.  Then I came home and ate one of my favorite brownies!

Here is the recipe for the Best Ever Dark Chocolate Brownies.  I have been using this recipe for about 4 years, but only in the last year have I adapted it to be a tad bit healthier (if that is possible with brownies) by adding the dark chocolate.

Best Ever Dark Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

12 Tablespoons Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate cocoa powder (100% Cacao)

  4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup melted butter

   2 cups of white sugar

   3 eggs

   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   1 cup all purpose flour ( use unbleached flour)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Stir together cocoa powder and oil until well combined.  Stir in the melted butter until completely blended.  Stir in the sugar and then beat in the eggs.  ( I do this all without a mixer and it is easy with less clean up!).  Add the vanilla and stir and then the flour.  Pour in to a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake for 30 - 35 minutes.

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com original recipe.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all and any of you out there who may read my blog.  I am not one to make New Year's resolutions, I never have been.  Instead, I tend to reflect on the year past and see where I have come and what I would still like to accomplish or try to improve on.  I am sure there are others of you out there like me.  I look back at 2012 and I we had some pretty major changes take place.  We are a military family and for us, that meant a move to somewhere completely new and different to us.  We now live in an area that is way more busy than I ever imagined and traffic and driving that I never pictured myself dealing with.  We have continued another chapter in this military journey in a different house with different neighbors (well actually, I should say with good, friendly neighbors for a change), and a different work location for Pat along with a commute on the metro for Pat and a new school for Corey (and of course, not only a new school for Corey, but also moving from a special ed class room to a regular class room with a para assigned to him).  A lot of changes, yes.  Good changes, yes.  Challenging changes, yes.  Changes that grow us more and build our character, yes.  Some of it has been quite easy, some of it has been quite challenging.  I would say the more challenging aspects are the traffic and driving in this area, Pat's commute to work, and getting Corey in his new school routine. We have adapted to all of these things and more.  There will be more in 2013 as far as challenges and changes I am sure.  What they are, I don't know.  But my hope is that we move forward, growing in our relationships with our Lord Jesus Christ and rely on him to help us through the challenges and to continue to grow and strengthen us.

I look back at 2012 and I think of how much different we eat now and I am really quite surprised!  We used to go eat out at least 2 or 3 times a week when we lived in Kansas and our drives to restaurants were short and Pat was home from work early every day.  Now we only eat out once every couple of weeks (except for holiday times).  This is a good thing.  It didn't really happen out of us wanting to make the change, more out of circumstances.  Pat gets home later and he is tired enough that eating out isn't desirable to him.  The traffic here is not worth the effort to go fight it to eat out for the most part.  It is a challenge we would rather not face most of the time.  I cook more now than I did earlier in 2012 that is for sure.  That also brings me to another part of 2012.  We don't eat nearly as much processed food as we used to.  I am cooking most of the time, so I can control what we eat most of the time.  I would say we are about 70-80% real food and only 20-30% processed foods now.  You might wonder why we still linger at the small percentage of processed foods, but the simple fact that I will not make my husband give up things he really enjoys and I will not tell Corey he can't have pop tarts if his dad is eating them, or I will not make a loaf of bread every week to have it only last a couple of days before it spoils and throwing most of it away because we are a small family of 3.  Yes, it can be done.  Wives have made their husbands give up pop tarts and other treats they like to have and some of these wives will not buy bread from the grocery store shelf.  I personally see the progress we have made as a huge success and the changes we have made as permanent and not just a fad.  The main reason is, I haven't gone crazy and expected anyone to give up the few certain items they really like and cherish and want to have in the house.  Corey still drinks juice pouches in his lunch and I still buy a small amount of packaged snacks as he has to take 2 snacks a day to school and he takes his lunch every day.  I don't buy anything that is prepared from a box mix, it just doesn't happen here.  It doesn't taste good to us and we don't like those kinds of things.  I don't buy frozen meatballs, they aren't hard to make and freeze ahead. I can't take my family away from Kraft macaroni and cheese, that would be cruel, they love it.  So we find a balance that works for us.  It is great to look back and see that 2012 was full of those kinds of changes.  Good changes!  No soda pop in this house any longer, we don't eat boxed cereal, I make granola that Corey and I put on our yogurt and we eat oatmeal for breakfast occasionally.  I do occasionally buy a frozen dinner entree at Trader Joe's, but I always put the disclaimer out there, that this is from Trader Joe's and I did not make this - lol.  If it doesn't turn out tasting good, all I did was pop it in the oven.

In 2013 I hope to continue our healthy eating changes.  It has come a long ways and we have made a lot of progress.  I also plan to be more intentional.  More intentional about growing in my relationship with God, spending time reading my bible and praying.  More intentional about spending time with friends, and that also means keeping in better contact with friends who we don't live close to.  I hope to procrastinate less and enjoy life more.  Procrastination is something I do quite well, so this will be a tough one for me.  I am also starting a bible study this month, the first bible study I have signed up for since moving here.

So here is to 2013!  I hope it is as great of a year as 2012 if not better!