Decisions

Life is full of decisions.

Some are easy. Some are hard. Some you don't even notice you are making them... then others you will never ever forget.

It's not a special number or a milestone marker. But each year feels more special, more treasured in my heart. 

It makes me stop and remember who I was, who I am, and who I hope to be. I pause and I am grateful for a God who pursues and loves us more than we can imagine. I am grateful for friends that are now far away but always close in heart that were brave enough to talk to be about Jesus and tell me how much He loved me.

So today marks the end of year 11 and the beginning of year 12. January 29th is the anniversary of the day I decided to follow Jesus. What a journey it has been. What an adventure is ahead!

But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” - Romans 10:14-15 NLT

Change of Schedule

Here's what I learned after a week of getting ready almost immediately after waking up.

#1 - I was actually more productive. I totally got more accomplished this week than normal. I jump started my day and it served me well!

#2 - It made getting ready less stressful in general. Sometimes as a mom it is super challenging to get everyone ready to get out the door, myself included. Well my kids tend to be less troublesome in the process of getting ready if I do it shortly after they wake up (especially Louie). They will get easier to get up and out the door someday, but for this stage in life I noticed a big difference in the ease of getting them ready most days.

#3 - I felt like I had a more sound mind for the remainder of the day. It didn't hurt that I had extra time to stop and read my bible app too!

#4 - I made more awesome breakfasts. Funny, I know. But when you are already up and ready and you look at the clock and see how much time you have before you have to go anywhere or do anything...well your cooking gets inspired!

#5 - I was more intentional with Louie in the morning (Noelle was mostly at school except for Fridays). But morning time is kind of special Mama and Louie time. This age is challenging because he has such opinions and is easily frustrated because he can't clearly express them. If I am just ready to spend some focused time on him though, our mornings can be much more enjoyable for both of us.

#6 - It has helped Louie not be so needy for breastfeeding in the morning. And because I am already dressed, I am not as lazy/lenient as I normally could be. Louie has been my needy breast-feeder and I am ready to be done, but I can tell that he isn't quite there yet. So I'm trying to make small victories in hopes that by the time he is 2 he will be officially done (if not sooner).

So there you have it. If you are a stay at home mom and you want to try this I highly recommend it. I'm sure this will be super easy for me to keep doing once my kiddos are headed off to "real" school in the future. But I didn't realize how nice it would be for me to do when they are still so small. I'm only about 19 months into this full time stay at home mom gig, so I'm sorry it took me this long to learn it - but at least it finally sunk in!!

Bonus: I got to play with my makeup every day :) Photos below, although I didn't manage to snap one every day.

The Best Chili I Have Ever Made

So we are on this healthy and clean eating journey. And I am always looking for recipes that comply. I was in a chili mood so I went on the hunt for a good chili that used sweet potatoes.

I found one from this site but I didn't have all the ingredients or I didn't want to use what she was listing. So here's the site that I made my recipe modifications from:

http://www.cottercrunch.com/crock-pot-sweet-potato-chipotle-chili-paleo/

Now here's what I did with that recipe...

Sweet Potato Chili
1 lb lean ground beef (I used 90/10)
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
1 medium sized onion
2 cups chicken broth (organic)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 large handful of fresh spinach (that's how much I had left, you could add more or omit if you want)
1 tsp minced garlic
1-2 tsp of chili powder (depends on the spice level you want, I did 2)
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
1/4 tsp of black pepper
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
Salt to taste

I did not make mine in the crockpot though I am sure you could. I just did it all in the pot and it was all done in about 30-45 minutes.

Brown the ground meat on medium heat and cut the sweet potatoes into small chunks. Place the sweet potatoes in a large microwave safe bowl with a little bit of water and microwave for 90 seconds. After the meat has browned you can drain off the fat or leave it depending on how much you have in there (mine was minimal so I left it). Combine the rest of the ingredients into the pot and bring the chili to a boil. After it has been brough to a boil lower it to simmer for 30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are nice and soft and flavors have had time to get all tasty in there together.

This was JUST the right amount of spicy for us and so incredibly delicious. I have tried several home made chili recipes, always looking for the perfect one. DONE. SOLD. DROPPING THE MIC.

Normally I have to load up my chili with shredded cheese and lots of corn chips to make it magical. This one was absolutely perfect plain. We both had small second portions and were full and super satisfied. Josh said I was allowed to make it every day, lol. And that is saying something because he is not in love with our current dietary changes!! I say healthy eating isn't as horrible as it sounds or looks sometimes!!

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood!

So once we got home from our Christmas travels in Kentucky, the Watkins started a dietary journey. Josh has had some heartburn issues...nothing like he has to take prescriptions or anything, but it is bothersome to me how often it is an issue.

I do believe that diet can be used to help our bodies, so I did a little research on what diets are helpful for those that have heartburn. I saw plenty of the typical foods to avoid, but I knew we needed to try something better than that. I found several accounts of people going paleo/whole 30/gluten free, all with good effects for heartburn issues.

Now let me just say, we love our carbs. We do ok on trying to keep our meals balanced and not horrible for you, but we don't normally eliminate anything in particular from our eating habits. Our biggest downfall by far is sugar. That being said, I decided to start us on a paleo/whole 30 type deal, but please know, I'm not following anything super duper strict. Nor have I read any in depth literature about it. But we are avoiding processed sugar, grains, dairy, and gluten. In terms of sugar intake, we use some raw honey or 100% pure maple syrup here and there, but try to avoid it everywhere else.

Guess what. That's hard. Do you know how much sugar is on things that it doesn't need to be on?! I found it in a spice blend which was called "Garlic and herb grill spices"...number one ingredient? Sugar. SERIOUSLY?! Should have been labeled "Sugar spice blend for your chicken."

Anywho, we started on Wednesday January 4. By the time I actually post this we will have completed 1 week.

Here's what I've found:

(1) I have SO MUCH MORE ENERGY!!!!!!!  I can't say that I felt bad before. Lots of people say that. I wasn't plagued by anything necessarily. But I noticed very quickly how much more energy I had. And we cut our caffeine intake in half (we have young kids, we will not torture ourselves with zero caffeine.)

(2) I have been full longer inbetween meals. I still snack, don't get me wrong. But they are better snacks, and I don't feel bad about it.

(3) Almond milk in tea or coffee is pretty tasty. I even made some Paleo hot cocoa with water and some almond milk and it was really nice.

(4) Food tastes better. I was marvelling at the amazing taste of plain celery tonight. And earlier today I couldn't believe how sweet my carrots tasted, plain! A honeycrisp apple was so sweet it tasted like candy.

(5) I still need dessert. But dessert doesn't have to be key lime pie or cheesecake. It can be paleo fudge or skillet bananas. But life is too short not to give yourself a healthier option of dessert. I have adjusted to these "desserts" and am satisfied. Josh is not convinced, although he is kind of liking the paleo fudge.

(6) Josh's heartburn has already decreased in a week's time. It is not totally gone, but it is better. We have to give it more than a week to see how it goes though obviously.

(7) In one week's time I am down about 3 pounds. Josh is down about 4-5 pounds. Weight loss is not our goal necessarily. Josh is glad to lose some, but I was already pretty much at my body's happy weight. I just want to be healthier and I think it is helpful to see how cutting down on sugar and over processed carbs can affect your weight. It's just a nice experiment to see.

(8) Eating well is expensive!!! I hate that about being healthy. Really wish we could all get our act together so food that is good for you doesn't cost so much more. However, we don't have lots of easy options for eating out, so our "Restaurant" budget will go towards whatever extra we need for groceries during this experiment month.

We are going to try and maintain the eating plan through the end of January. Maybe even round it off for a full 30 days and wait until Feburary 5. After that we will see if we try a couple food groups which I still believe are fairly healthy (for example, brown rice...or using small amounts of cheese) but checking to see how they affect Josh's heartburn levels. Then we can pinpoint what might be some specific triggers.

Wish us luck!!