Sense & Sensibility

I finally finished "Sense & Sensibility". I enjoyed this book much more than persuasion. I got to know these characters so much better, and there were so many interesting side characters too. I'm no good at reviewing books, but if you're interested I found a good book review written by someone else.

Now I will move on to "Northanger Abbey". And staying true to form, I'm also reading a Yoga book and got a nice thick book that will hopefully help me gain a little bit more knowledge of HTML and CSS.

If anyone who reads this post is particularly good at HTML, web design, or anything like that let me know. I need all the help I can get.

...

Over the weekend my husband and I watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I really enjoyed the movie, but one part in particular brought me to tears. The part near the end after she realizes that he is her father and finds all the post cards that he wrote to her. One for each year of her life that he missed. This hit me particularly hard because had I made a different decision in my life, I would've been doing the same thing for my precious Jackson.

In 2004 I was pregnant, dating a loser, trying to go to school, waiting tables, and poor as crap. I think adoption is a beautiful thing. But adoption would've been so wrong for me. I had the love of my parents who promised to support me whether I kept my baby or not (as long as I didn't marry the donor). I was able to finish school and have a good way to support my baby. If I had chosen to give him up for adoption I would've regretted it every day of my life. I would be lost.

I know that movie/book is fiction, but it really got me thinking about how my life would've turned out if I'd made a different decision. I'm so lucky that I didn't have people pushing me in one direction or the other. I wish that every young girl who finds herself in such a precarious situation would be so lucky to have love and support while she makes such a life changing decision. Maybe if they had the opportunity to really take time to consider all their options there wouldn't be as many abortions, babies born in bathrooms then thrown in trash cans, or children abused and neglected because their mother didn't want them in the first place.

Teenagers

I was at the park with my boys yesterday and overheard something that I thought was quite funny. This park is a rather busy one. The park is part of the military housing community, but the community isn't an active base so anyone can come into the neighborhood. A lot of people in the surrounding community use the park even though they're not supposed to.

The park was a lot busier than usual yesterday. There was a huge group of moms with their kids ranging in age from newborns to 15 year olds. I think they were some type of homeschooling group.

Anywho. There were two teenage boys standing alone on one of the smaller jungle gyms. I was pushing Payton on the swings and was in close enough proximity to hear their conversation. Just like any other normal boys, they were quoting a movie and talking about how awesome it was. I kept hearing lines that I recognized over and over again, but couldn't remember what the movie was. Then it finally hit me. They were quoting "The Fugitive". That's right. Harrison Ford. Tommy Lee Jones. 1993. It was so funny to me to hear these boys quoting a movie that came out before they were even born like it was the most current and most awesome movie ever made. I'm not criticizing them though. If I have to hear a random conversation between two teenage boys I'm glad that's the one I had to hear.

Feeling So Good

I've only been doing "The Fat Flush" for two days but can I just say one thing? AMAZING. I haven't felt this good in a long time. When I started it I was sure I'd lose a little bit of weight. I figured I would feel a little bit better. But never in a million years did I think that I would feel this great so quickly.

The diet consists of TONS of cranberry water (to cleanse the liver) and whole foods. (no dairy, except for eggs, and no wheat) So I'm just eating lean protein and fruits and vegetables. In two days I've lost 4 lbs. My skin already looks so much healthier. I haven't been craving junk food, which is a major accomplishment for me.

I've also started up Yoga again. I used to do Yoga regularly when I was in college. I was depressed and trying to calm down "the crazy" so I did Yoga every day. After having kids I just didn't make time for it anymore so I haven't done it in years. I'd been wanting to get started again but just didn't have the will-power to do so. I'm really serious about treating my auto-immune diseases naturally so Yoga was a logical step to take in the healing process. It's amazing to me the things that Yoga can do for you mentally and physically. I'm seriously having a love affair with Yoga.

baby, baby, baby

I REALLY want to have another baby. But now just isn't the right time. We're moving back to Utah in September, then my husband will be off doing military training for 6 months after that. I hate this feeling. It makes me think of all the ladies out there who are unable to have children. If I'm this sad about waiting 1 year to have a baby I can't even imagine what it must feel like when there is no chance of giving birth to children of your own.

Maybe I should get a puppy.

The Fat Flush Plan

I've been very lazy as of late. You might say that in a way I let myself go. I'm not technically overweight. My BMI is under 25 and I'm right within the "healthy weight guidlines" for my height (just barely). I say I've let myself go because I threw all my nutrition rules out the window and totally quit working out. For a while my husband was a reasonable excuse. When I was trying to eat healthy he wasn't, and since I have a MAJOR sweet tooth I would always give in to the his desires for treats. Then something changed. He started working really really hard and being very diligent about eating healthy and working out. What did I do? I kept buying treats and eating them when he wasn't around. He just lost 10 lbs. He's totally inspired me!

In the past week I've really taken a step back and taken some time to evaluate what I want out of life and what kind of life I want to provide for my kids. They deserve a healthy, active mom that has the energy to get outside and play with them for hours. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to look really good in a nice pair of jeans. I haven't gone swimming in years because I can't bear the thought of putting on a swimming suit.

My other desire for getting healthy is because I have a few auto-immune diseases that I would like to treat naturally. I did a lot of research this last week and I think I will see major improvement if I clean out my liver. My whole life I've eaten tons of junk food and processed foods. I've been feeling the effects of that for the past couple years and I don't like what I see/feel.

This whole process has taken a lot more soul searching than you might think. I have emotional ties to food. But, the change happens now!!

I read this book and I've already started the program. I feel great and I'm excited to see how I'll feel in two weeks when I've finished the first phase!

I don't abuse my kids

Just as the title of this post suggested, I DON'T ABUSE MY KIDS. I have however passed on a little tradition that my Dad passed on to me.

Sometimes when the boys and I are playing around and "wrestling" I'll say, "Do I need to spank your butt?" And they'll say, "No!!" But then wait for me to bend them over my knee and spank them. (But what I actually do is put one of my hands on their bottom and lightly hit my own hand. We all get a good laugh out of it, then go on our marry way playing another game. Seriously.)

Yesterday the boys and I had to make a Target run. We got out of the van and Payton (my two year old) chose this very busy time of day to run to the back of the van and repeatedly hit the back taillight and say over and over, "I'm gonna spank your butt!" Only in his exact words it's, "I'm O spank yo butt!!"

At this point all the people passing by look at me with a quizzical look, probably wondering if I really do abuse my kids. But really, how could you abuse a kid that is this cute?