What's Been Going on in February

Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to.

Sheesh, that has really been the story of my life the last 2 months or so. Seems like we have just been having problem after problem, and once we finally get them resolved, we just hit the repeat button and start all over again. It has been an emotional few months for me. Not just because things aren't working out...but also because I have been changing my diet and I have removed all of my "go to when I am stressed" foods. Anne sure does likes cookies when things aren't going her way...

To start off, our car (that we bought in November) has been constantly in need of repair. We have towed it 3 times, and put about $3500 worth of repairs into it. It is a CNG car, and was supposed to save us a ton of money in gas, now that David has such a long daily commute (about 60 miles round trip to his new job at Fusion IO). But what really happened, is we sold the most reliable car in the world (Our Nissan Maxima) to my sister Sara (lucky girl), and we bought a newer car that I like to refer to as the most unreliable car in the world. We keep thinking that we will reach the end of all our car repair woes, but so far we are still going strong. It is in the shop, and they can't figure out why it is misfiring in all 4 cylinders. typical.

Our washing machine has broken. Two times. And both problems were unrelated to each other. typical.

Juliette is on her 4th ear infections since Christmas. Did you hear that? 4th! Lets just say, my baby has been pretty miserable...for a long time...and she isn't getting better. The Dr. wants me to talk to an ENT about getting tubes placed. But after reading about tubes, and hearing loss, and their inability to actually make the ear infections stop completely...I am going to make an appointment with a pediatric chiropractor. I've read a lot about their ability to help kids with ear infections, so I guess we will give it a go. I think I will feel better if I try a few alternative options before I let someone drill a hole through my daughters ear drum. Only he is out of town for a week. typical.

My computer hard drive crashed. And I believe, a long with it, went most of the pictures of Juliette. See, I haven't backed it up since before Juliette was born...or at least not long after. Expercom was able to retrieve some of them, but not all. I know a few months are permanently gone. I'm just not sure, since I haven't been able to compare them yet with my old backup. Tonight, I should find out for sure. Though, I'm not sure I want to find out...I don't want to spend the evening crying...with no cookies.

Anyhow, I do have a lot to complain about :-) But things really aren't all bad. My new diet is helping me soooo much. My head is feeling so much better, and I have lost 21 lbs (as of last week). I can fit back into my pre-pregnancy pants...though they are still a little tight. I was able to buy a juicer, and I have been juicing myself up a storm. It is weird how much I love carrot, cucumber, kale and ginger juice or carrot, orange, radish, wheat grass juice.  It is like liquid nutrition going right into my blood stream. I love it! It is crazy, sometimes late at night, I will turn to David and say "I am craving me a juice!" It is so weird to actually crave something so healthy...that has literally never ever happened to me before. It is awesome. And honestly, it feels good to not need sugar anymore. I have eaten a few chocolates, and candies...but I can now sit and enjoy their goodness (on rare occasions), rather than engulf them (everyday).

Food has definitely changed around here. I made a list of all the new foods I have tried, since I started my whole foods diet:

chick peas
red lentils
leeks
pomelo
shallots
parsnips
turnips (uh, not my favorite)
sprouted mung beans
almond milk
steel cut oats (our new favorite breakfast, now that we don't eat cereal)
quinoa
cia seeds
hemp seeds
flax oil
coconut oil
brussels sprouts
nutritional yeast
kale
orange and yellow peppers
collard
cumin seeds
turmeric
cauliflower, cabbage and celery (I've tried these obviously before but now I like them...weird)
Himalania pink salt
broccoli and radish sprouts
almond flour
coconut flour
spelt flour
whole wheat pastry flour
carob chips
beets
vanilla beans
purple and red carrots
salmon (I actually cooked it myself. I have never EVER cooked fish, or eaten it on purpose before.)
probiotics (Kefir)...a huge help in the uh, digestion, of all this whole foods...uh, yeah.

and

I even let David take me out for Sushi. Something I never EVER would have done in the past (and I LOVED it btw). It is crazy how more open minded I am towards foods. And it is amazing how many times I have put a meal on the table and thought "I am going to hate this" and I have even apologized to David about how awful it will be. And then I taste it, and actually like it. (happened just last night, with a cucumber, apple, celery salad I made, happened a few weeks ago when I toasted up some cabbage...)

Anyhow, it has been a huge adjustment for me to cook this way. I went through my collection of recipes today and threw 90% of them in the garbage can. It has been both overwhelming and frustrating as well as exciting. It is like learning how to cook all over again: We eat meat only once or twice a week now (compared to almost every day), we don't use any white sugar or white flour or white pasta or white salt...we cook a gagillion vegetables and eat a ton of fruit. We don't eat cereal, and only a little bit of milk and cheese. I don't buy any processed foods...except maybe a can of beans (as long as it doesn't have extra ingredients) or a bag of frozen veggies, and sometimes a loaf of whole wheat bread. It has been hard, but I will never go back to eating like I was before. I feel too good, and the effects have been too noticeable.

Anyhow, this blog post is getting super long. So I better stop. I did want to mention that amidst all our things breaking...we were still able to pay off my student loan. So the first loan is paid off and rolled over to David's student loan. It feels so good to finally have that paid off (almost 8 years later). So 1 down and 3 to go. Too bad the next 3 are a lot bigger :-) oh well...it will come.