Burger Blah

So, I have found someone telling me *exactly* what to eat each day makes dieting soooo much easier. Enter Sparkpeople.com, which Jessica BB mentioned in a comment on my last dieting foray. I can log on, get my shopping list and my meal plan for each day, all for free. I had used the slimfast site in the past, but they liked to use their products (naturally), but um, yuck. I would have to play with the plan to remove all the shakes and bars, and then fizzle out. This is actually going well, but I still have to make minor changes because I refuse to eat:
*margerine-one molecule difference from plastic. Nope, not gonna do it.
*fat free anything. The process to do this is so detrimental to the food. Just eat less of it. Try a serving size-often the nutrients in that aren't all that bad.
*I haven't been baking since starting because I have found when dieting I need to get to my meals now, and predone breads are much easier. That being said, holy cow is it hard to find store bread without hfcs, which once again, I won't eat.
*Turkey Burger-no, no, no. My Ebersole Cattle Co beef is just as lean. And tastes so much better. If I started makin' turkey burger in anything, my husband would leave me. That stuff is nasty.
*As far as chicken goes, I have none but stewing birds in my freezer, so I have been substituting lean pork, which if you know your food, you know, is just as lean as a bird breast. And I know where that pig has been. If I were buying chicken, I wouldn't. I am more worried about the stuff that bird has been given than a couple extra fat grams, though even that is not a worry. The bacon from this pig is the best we've had, and its because it's so stinkin' lean. It gets insane crisp, which just makes Andrew happy happy, happy.
*That being said, I won't eat turkey bacon either. Or turkey ham. If you have to add an animal to the beginning of the meat you're talking about, then don't eat it.
*Also, I must *add* seasoning to everything they talk about.
But so far, doing good. I am five pounds down just a couple days in. I know I might have a couple set backs starting at this point, as I have to get through Christmas celebrations, my birthday, and New Year's Eve, but there is no time like the present, and waiting to make a NY resolution is just cheese. Just sayin'.

Trying Twos

With Liv, her "trying" time was more around 15-18 months, and it was hardly difficult. But Asher, well, that's a different story. He has got both Andrew and I about to run hiding each day. He screams. He runs around. He destroys, and terrorizes.  I think if we were reaching this point in a warmer season, it wouldn't be as bad, but with us being inside most the time, oh boy. Liv enjoys playing out in the snow, and when she starts to feel restless, she'll get bundled up and play outside for at least an hour. Asher, more like me, really isn't a snow buff if he has to be in it. His play time is like five minutes-hardly worth the bundling. So, I think part of the difficulty of this stage is that he is cooped up inside. We will most likely try to do some more day trips-to friends' houses or the Science Center-once the holidays are past, but for right now there is just too much to do to be gone too much. So, we suffer. His cruelty is both intentional and accidental, and trying to deal with any of it is increasingly difficult. I think the hardest part if how rough he is around us. He might be just playing, but so hard that he injures one of us-mostly me, then Liv, as he quite literally runs around bouncing off of anything in his path. We are trying to enforce his bedtime a little more diligently again to give us all a break in the evening, as as he gets tired, his recklessness and excitement increase to unbearable levels. We'll see. I may just end up putting a deadbolt on my bathroom door and locking myself in there instead...

Seriously?

Apparently the materialism, paganism, and political correctness of Christmas has hit a serious point this holiday season. As I was heading home from running a few errands, I heard on the news that a young man was sent home from school because he had done something awful. His class was asked to draw what they think of when they hear Christmas, and he drew a crucifix with a stick figure Jesus hanging on it. Wait-what? I don't understand what is wrong with that. Jesus is the ONLY reason Christians should be celebrating Christmas. Sixty years ago this wouldn't have caused an eye to blink. In my household, my children are taught that this time of year is not about Santa Claus, or getting gifts, or trees and lights, but about remembering the birth of a God-man, who 30 or so years later gave his life, went through unimaginable suffering, just so we can sit together and eat dinner each evening, knowing that we have an eternal home to go to should something awful ever happen to us. It is his birth we celebrate. Is it the right time of year? Maybe not historically, but it is the time that has been used to represent his parents' trek and his incredibly entry into our world thousands of years ago. Why a drawing of what he did for us would be inappropriate this time of year, his giving of the ULTIMATE gift, a gift none of us can ever imagine being able to give ourselves, I don't know. I cried when I heard it. And, maybe there is more to the story that isn't being told, which I will look into. But for the moment, I was sick at my stomach at the thought of living in a country so far removed from the Christian foundations upon which it was formed-the whole reason for its formation-religious persecution of Protestant Christians. If I learn more about the situation, I will update, but for now I am appalled. May God have mercy on the people who let this slide and think it is okay.

**Edited to add: I looked up the article in several places after my initial reading. The young man, a second grader, was not forthcoming in whether the figure was Jesus or himself. He claimed it was himself several times. Either way, the teacher didn't agree with the picture and sent him home. He was suspended for a week, even though he was from a religious family and had recently visited a shrine full of crucifix statues, and his family has connected this visit with the season. Honestly, whether that was the case or not, a second grader is still young enough, should still be innocent enough, that if he had said it was him, all that should have happened is that he needed to explained the difference between him and Jesus being on a crucifix and the parents informed. Removing him and demanding a psych eval seems so over the top that it really boggles my mind.

Trials and the What I Learned this Time

Recently I went through a bit of some refining-a lesson in trust. God surprised Andrew and I with a rather unexpected gift. We were reluctant to accept, but after a while were ready to go along with whatever God had planned. Then, just as quickly as He gave us that gift, he took it away. The questions that arise when that happens are hard to heal with-was I not really as willing as I thought-was it just a trial-what was the purpose of it all? As humans we look so hard at what God does, especially the hard things that happen, and want to understand it. The thing is, we aren't capable. That's all there is to. Now, we can ask for understanding, for peace, and He will grant it, but the scope of all He does is just so big that there is no way that we as mere created beings can really see and appreciate what He sees and does. It is all too big. That being said, I was disappointed and little hurt, but I know that there were important reasons God ran us through that time, and that He decided we were not ready to receive that gift.
I think many people forget that it is okay to be sad, it is okay to be upset, even a angry with God. He gave us emotions-they are a part of what makes us human. I was sad-but not angry, though I have been angry with Him. In all things, though, I simply ask His will be done, and that He grants me peace in whatever His plan is for me, and that is where I am. I also found that in accepting that He knows better than I do what I need, I felt renewed. I feel more in love with Him, my family and life than I had been for weeks. It is easy, even without some difficult event, to fall into a down period, and sometimes it takes a big event to open our eyes and remind us just how incredibly good we have it, and just how good God and His plan for us is.

Advent pictures

Snapfish and I are in a bit of a battle right now-my uploads are not uploading right. So I will post pics as soon as I get downstairs to load pictures, where they seem to go up just fine. In the meantime, the pictures are what have been holding me up, and I was way behind. What good are Advent posts weeks late!?

Advent Day 13

Matthew 1:19
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

We went out to breakfast and walked around Jordan Creek Mall for a bit, bought a new sleigh, and ended up sledding a bit more today Later we spent the evening with Andrew's parent as it was their anniversary.

Advent Day 12

Matthew 1:18
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

The twelfth day of Advent we spent making snow forts,and sledding all over the yard, as well as doing a little shopping and eating out for lunch.

Advent Day 11

Luke 1:46-55
And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has been mindful of hte humble state of his servant.
For now on all generations will call me blessed, for hte Mighty One has done great things for me--
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scatteres those who are proud in their inmost thoguhts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things and has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forver, even as said to our fathers."

This was supposed to be our Freezer Meals group, but due to some scheduling issues, we postponed it a week. We instead went to the Reid's house for the day for a much needed play date,and decorated our gingerbread house.

Advent Day 10

Luke 1:39-45
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zecheriah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has bleived that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

We were going to make buckeyes today, but that got postponed, as I decided to make a Christmas dress for Liv instead :)

Advent Day 9

Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month, od sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, :Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "as I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy one to be born will be called teh Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. :May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

We made peanut butter fudge for today's activity. This house loves that stuff and it is so easy. We use a recipe of Andrew's grandmother's. I will post it later, as I am trying to tweak it a bit and see what else I can do with it.