Five years of clean eating...

When I mention that I eat clean people often ask "What does that mean?"  For me, it means that, for the most part, I avoid processed foods, things with added chemicals, preservatives, sugars and when I can GMOs as well.  Oh, they say.  But when I tell them how great it's been for me they get a little more interested.

Five years ago I was regularly visited by heartburn, acid reflux and headaches.  We are talking daily here.  In addition I had chronic sinus infections that never seemed to clear up.  They'd get better with rounds of antibiotics, but they would never really go away.  It was a constant battle and I was sick of being sick. 

A friend at work suggested that I see a nutrition counselor rather than continually taking antibiotics, antacids and pain relievers...hmmm.  What could that hurt?  So off I went. 

To say I was skeptical would be a massive understatement.  But I was kind of desperate. I'd had it with all that crud and wanted to be done with it.  I learned a ton on my first visit.  She talked about all the negatives and unknowns about all the extra stuff that has crept into our food supply in the last decade or so and how that affects our bodies and our overall health.  She also talked about keeping your metabolism going by eating every three hours or so...really?  For a meal skipper like me this seemed weird. 

She also talked about weight loss, said it would be a natural side effect of this type of dietary change.  Yeah, right.  I've struggled with my weight my entire life, tried and failed at every imaginable diet over the years.  I was more than 100 pounds overweight on that first visit. Told her I wasn't there to lose weight, I was there to stop being sick.  Okay then, let's deal with that and see what happens she said.  Okey-dokey I said. I came away with a menu plan for the first week and a little hope in my heart. 

The biggest struggle that first week was organization.  Let me just declare that I'm not a morning person, so getting up early to have breakfast, prepare a lunch and two snacks nearly overwhelmed me.  But I felt better right away.  Wow!  So I kept going, I learned more every week I visited her and got better organized about getting the breakfasts, lunches and snacks together.  The better I felt the more motivated I got.  It was so freeing not to feel crummy all the time.  A revelation really.  Could it be my food that was making me sick? Apparently so.

Turns out I had to eat some crow regarding my negativity about weight loss too.  In spite of doing nothing different other than choosing different foods and eating something every three hours the weight started coming off.  In a major way.  Without exercising, just getting the crap out of my diet.  Wow!

So here I am five years later.  No acid reflux, no heartburn, no headaches, no sinus infections.  Ever.  Plus I lost over 80 pounds and it's stayed off.  Again, wow!

People still don't get it when I share this though.  It can't be that easy, I don't want to eat weird, I still want to eat out, etc.  Well, clean eating doesn't mean denying yourself the things that you love once in a while.  Do I still get chai tea lattes?  Yes I do.  In-N-Out cheeseburgers?  Yep.  Cocoa Cola Double Fudge cake?  For sure.  Dark Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Jo Jos?  Indeed.  Do I have them every day?  Nope.  But I do indulge once in a while and feel absolutely no guilt about it.  Am I tempted to go back to my old way of eating?  Not in the least.  Why would I want to go back to being sick all the time? 

I owe a big debt of gratitude to Kindra Benavidez for recommending Kristine and to Kristine Kosturos for showing me the clean eating "ropes".  Thanks ladies!! 

Back to the blog...

Okay, so a took a little break from blogging.  Well, actually a big break. 

The night of my last post a friend of ours was shot in the line of duty while responding to a domestic dispute call.  He survived, but his partner died.  I'm so thankful he survived and thankful for the community that surrounded his friends and family during his recovery.  He was back on the job in a matter of weeks and is doing quite well.  He's an amazing man of faith and knows he's here for a purpose.  Such an inspiration.

I found it a little strange looking back that the subject of my last blog was his beautiful niece...so I guess if I paused at Aly I should restart with Nick!  Only seems right. 

That shooting upset my world in ways I couldn't have imagined, hence the beginning of the break...as for the big gap??  Well life kind of got crazy in many ways.  

I'll try to be a little more up-to-date from now on...much has changed since December of 2009 as you can well imagine.  I'll probably get you up to speed and then try to keep up!  I'm retired now, right?  Oh yeah, that's one of the changes! LOL

Beautiful Aly

Our friend's daughter Aly is the sweetest, and these new pictures that her grandma shared show that quite well!! The photographer really captured the little one we all know and love!!

To see all of the great photos go to the photographer's blog:

http://smontgomeryphoto.blogspot.com/2009/12/watch-out-world-here-comes-aly.html

Welcome baby Ben!

Our friends Jonny and Marina and their little daughter Amy have a new addition in the house, brother Ben! What a beautiful, blessed family!

Our first snow...

After a super summer and a very mild fall (except for these last two weeks which have been COLD and clear!) we have our very first snow. Let the panic begin!! Puget Sounders don't care much for snow and would prefer it stayed up in the Cascades and leave us lowlanders alone. Here's hoping the weather folks are right and warmer temps and rain are on the way Tuesday!

Tumwater Santa!

Every year the fire department here decorates one of their antique trucks and goes around the neighborhoods collecting for the food bank. Pretty snazzy truck, great music playing to, but unfortunately I didn't catch that on video, so we just have the snap:

Nick's Indiana Jones Birthday!

Nick is now 6, hard to imagine! Here are the pictures from his party:

Here is the cute Texas cake Mema made for his birthday, Indy in peril!



Greg, being the good dad, preparing to go outside for the pinata, it was VERY, VERY cold out, and he and Darane' and all the kids braved it! Grandma on the other hand stayed in where it was warm.



I love the expression on Nick's face in this picture as everyone sings Happy Birthday to him. What a sweetheart!



And then on to the presents.



We are so thankful the kids have kept his December birthday separate from the Christmas celebration. The won't even decorate the house until his birthday is over. Love it!

Are they cute or what?

Beau and Ralph both like to sleep in as I'm getting ready for work and leaving the house...they look pretty snug tucked away in bed!!



But for the next few mornings, I'll get to sleep in with them!! Woohoo!!

Stormy!!

We had a very stormy day! Wind, rain, thunder, lightning and even hail. Pretty big hail for here, larger than pea sized! Beau had just asked to go outside when a huge thunder boomer rattled the entire house. I ran to the door and he was cowering and quaking on the porch!! Scared him pretty good. Wouldn't leave my lap until the storm was over. Ralph was over playing pool in the clubhouse and said the hail on the metal roof there was REALLY loud.



I tried to take a quick video, but the worst of the hail was done by this time, still pretty weird:

Update on the strawberries

I took this picture a few days ago, Wednesday I think, and there were still a few more very close to being ripe. Our mild fall has allowed me to get a few tasty little strawberries every few days, although since the rains have started they are getting fewer and fewer and I have to compete with the slugs to get them! I think the ones I'll get later this week will be the last, but wow! What a blessing to still have fresh strawberries on the vine in November!!

Halloween

Miss Savannah and her howling wolf pumpkin.



Nick's creation:



Indiana Jones and Slash, ready to trick or treat...though Indy was a bit under the weather.



Julie's son Ryan was a fierce Ninja!! Trust me he had all the moves down too. Very cute!

Stawberries in October

I planted a few strawberry plants this spring and they have been prolific to say the least! I've really been impressed with a first year crop. But now with our extended nice weather I'm getting another little crop! Strawberries in October no less!

These were from today:



And there are a lot more that are on the verge of being ripe but there's a really cold forecast for tonight, so I thought I'd get these in just in case it comes true! These may be the last, but they are beautiful!!

Nancy visits!

Woohoo! Nancy and her friend Jim visited with us today and we had a great time! We just caught up with one another and revisited family history and had a nice dinner out and then visited some more! They are on their way to Yuma for the winter (from North Pole, Alaska, talk about extremes!) but interestingly they went by way of Europe. They spent three great weeks touring Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Switzerland. Did a little couch surfing as well and thoroughly enjoyed that! Now they are back to Camas for a few days and then off to Yuma! If we get that way this winter we'll definitely stop in for another visit!

Nancy and her Uncle Ralph:



Nancy and Jim:

Savannah's 9th!

Sheesh, where does the time go...the girl is now 9!

Birthday highlights, let's see if you can guess the theme! Hint: think pork.

Savannah taking a whack at the pinata.



Nick too.



Finally, the candy is set free!



Savannah with her trophy pig!



Mema made the pig cake for her:



Blowing out the candles!



Grillmaster Erik with the roast pig...



Presents!





And her age mowed into the lawn, a tradition with Greg, next year, two digits!

Doin' the Puyallup

Ralph and I haven't been to the Puyallup Fair for many, many, MANY years, and man, has it changed!! It seems bigger, but maybe because it's just been reconfigured...and it was so crowded we couldn't easily get around. We found out that there were 86,000 people there the day we went, no wonder it seemed busy! And it was much more spendy than either of us remembered: $6.50 for an elephant ear...come on!! Not to mention $10 (weekday) to park and $22 to just get in the gate!

Still we managed to eat some fair food, onion burger for Ralph (and a Krusty Pup) and a Krusty Pup and homemade taffy for me. I wanted a scone (picture freshly baked, hot, with butter and raspberry jam!) but alas, the lines were incredibly long at every stand and I decided it was not worth the wait.

We also saw two great shows, The Coats, a great a capella group and Billy and the Hillbillys, a funny musical show...kind of back hills humor, bluegrass and classical music all rolled into one. And of course we strolled the exhibits. We looked at miles and miles of quilts and all the 4-H baked goods and sewing projects but my favorite of all fair exhibits are the Grange exhibits. Such artistry with food! Here are some of the great one's from this year's fair.

Rainbow of variety:



A locomotive:



This year's fair mascot, strutting:



City pea patches:



And my very favorite:

In my boss's garden

Tiny froggy visitor! Too cute!

Mom, Dee and Arlene

I don't really remember life without these women in it. They were friends from the time my mom was 11 I think, stayed friends their whole lives. Each with their own families, mom with me and Randy, Dee with Rick and Steve and Arlene with Christine and Colleen. We were raised together, still count ourselves as friends even though we don't see each other often. Funny thing is, like with our moms, regardless of how many years go by we just seem to be able to pick up right where we left of.

I recently reconnected with Colleen on Facebook and we've been reminiscing a bit. It's been a blast to catch up with one another. Just fun. Remembering times we spent together as kids running with our moms all over the place. That's what summer was for, right?

This morning Arlene died. Long, loving, happy life. She'll be missed. I'm glad I can be here for Colleen and for Christine as well...amazing how the Lord works. Bringing us together just now.

I can't help but think of the happy reunion when Arlene arrived in Heaven this morning...with my mom there to greet her. Oh, happy day!

A fun teaching afternoon and evening

We enjoy most of our neighbors here, by and large they are a great group of folks. We particularly enjoy Al and Ruby who live across the street from us. We often visit while we are out walking Beau or watering the yard or getting the mail. They are the sweetest couple!!

Recently, Ralph started playing pinochle in the weekly game at the clubhouse and really enjoys it. He thought it would be fun if I could learn to play and join him, so I showed up and thought I could look over his shoulder and pick the game up that way! Wrong!! The play is far too fast and I didn't know the lingo, plus they all converse while playing. Long and short of it is I didn't learn a thing, gave up and came home early.

Al noticed my early departure and asked Ralph about it, when he found out I couldn't play he talked it over with Ruby and they invited us over this afternoon for no pressure games/lessons for me! We played several games with visiting and snacking, then took a break for strawberry shortcake! Then we played and talked more and surprisingly, I got better, little by little.

After we'd played to 1500 twice they decided the guys would go get pizza and we'd have supper and visit some more! So we had Papa Murphy's pizza and Foster's beer and a lovely time all around. And they sent us home with strawberries and shortcake so we can have this treat again tomorrow!!

Have I said how much we love living here??

A house divided?

I drive by this house every day on the way to work, and these signs caught my eye because three of them are for mayoral candidates. We have five folks running for mayor this term. Made me wonder what kind of political debates were happening around the dinner table. (the green and white sign is for our neighbor Betsy, who's running unopposed for city council).



One day I finally checked it out further and discovered they have a little business that they run out of their house...for signs!

Go Peter! You gotta love a guy with radio station call letters for a last name! KMET!!

Fourth of July

The family picnic and fireworks at Donna's were great! We had a nice visit with everyone, had a ton of great food and there were three families (including us!) in the neighborhood shooting off the best fireworks I've seen in years...

First - the food! We had brats, burgers, hot dogs and steaks on the grill...Lyle grilling! Plus all kinds of snacks, salads and desserts.

Here's Marlene, Ruth, Donna, Dennis and Lynn enjoying the picnic!



Table two: Ralph, Victoria, Dianna, Cory and Lyle.



Brandi and Annette:



LT looking sharp!



Then we played cards, basketball and visited until it got dark enough for the fireworks. Here Cory, Donna, Marlene and Victoria play.



Ralph and Lyle looking over Angie's wedding pictures...she and her new husband Kelby were apartment hunting in NM for Kelby's new job while we visited so we didn't get to see them in person this time.



Donna with a two pointer!



Brandi and LT:



Lyle (making the shot), Lynn, Cory and LT.



This was just PART of the arsenal that Lyle brought...the neighborhood was like a war zone, a pretty war zone but WOW it was loud, bright, beautiful and fun.



Here's Ruth and Dennis:



Annette, Lynn and Dianna:



Marlene, Brandi, LT, Donna, Lyle, Victoria and Cory.



After the fireworks Dennis and Ruth and Lynn's family said their goodbyes, but in the spirit of "the night is still young" several games of Whist ensued.



While Brandi and Beau called it a night!





They certainly bonded during our visit and Brandi's new mantra is "I want a Japanese Chin!"