A week of birthday celebration

I felt very spoiled this year for my birthday.

I am so blessed with amazing friends and family. 

The girlfriends took me out to dinner and spoiled me with gifts:

I also celebrated with my little family with a delicious dinner and outing to the "alaskan beach".

As soon as I whip out the camera my kids start striking poses:

So I decided to get in on the action. I am the one who taught them everything they know after all. 

It was beautiful and sunny. 

As you can see, this is no tropical resort kinda beach. If the rocks don't throw you off, the freezing temperatures of the water will. Hypothermia anyone?

It sure is gorgeous though!

Then, as icing on the top I went on a 18 mile back packing trip with a few of my girlfriends. 

I didn't want to cart my lug of a camera around so I just used my phone and didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. But just look at the scenery! 

It was such a spiritual experience (once I got past the sting of my blisters).

I learned a lot about myself in two days. I almost didn't go because I was so afraid I wasn't tough enough. 

I learned that I'm tougher than I think. 

What a great way to start year 28!!

Hey all! 

Check out my cute sister:

She is an adorable (and increasingly popular) blogger and she let me do a guest post today!

You should go check her blog out and you will fall in love with her, I swear! 

Battle of the foods

Food has been on my mind a LOT  lately. 

For the first time in my life I am feeling an almost immediate reaction physically to the types of foods I eat. 

Sadly this hasn't stopped me from binging on cookies. 

But my mind has been having a constant debate and when I mentioned my thoughts to a health foods store owner last week I got more than I bargained for in advice. So, I want to hear from you. 

There seems to be two polarizing opinions when it comes to the most healthful diet. 

There are the

"anti - meat" eaters,

and the

"anti - grain" eaters. 

For years and years I (and the rest of the world) was of the opinion that going "vegan" is the ultimate healthy lifestyle. 

Lately, with the advice from my psycho naturopath doctor, I've been testing with the idea that grains may be digestive system's enemy. I've also been following Dr. Mercola and his newsletters who supports the idea that  limiting grains in the diet is the optimal way to a healthy digestive system.  

If you like, you can do this experiment at home. 

Take any grain; bread, pasta, oatmeal, etc., and put it in a blender with some water. 

It turns into glue. Literally. 

That consistency is exactly what it does in your gut. It clogs you up. 

The government (USDA) has been telling us for years that grains should be the majority of our daily food consumption. 

I feel good when I eat grains. 

I'm addicted to grains. 

The scriptures say that grains are the "staff of life". 

Yet, when I think about it my "gut" tells me that I should be avoiding grains. 

The very fact that I'm so addicted to grains that I can't stop eating them gives me a bad feeling. 

I've never been a steak eating kind of girl. Though I've been trying to add more meat to my families menu. We had steak and vegetables for dinner last night and this morning I felt good. 

What does your "gut" tell you?

(If I ever get control of my grain addiction I'll let you know how it goes. )

Have you thanked your heart lately?

Last night I was having trouble falling asleep. 

(as usual)

So, I thought I would try a relaxation technique I learned in junior high.

 *Thank you modern dance class.* 

I'm sure you've all done this before; you just focus on one body part at a time, moving slowly through the body, relaxing the sections as you go. 

It takes serious brain power to focus/meditate and that is diff-i-cult for me. 

I started at my finger tips and work my way through my arms, up through my shoulders and was led to my lungs. 

I focused on my lungs for a moment, picturing them inside my chest; inflating, and deflating

inflating...

and deflating...

and I followed the flow of the oxygen to my heart. 

I was surprised at the flow of emotion that came over me as I pictured my very own heart, right there, beating it's little jig just as it should. Suddenly I was overcome with gratitude. I stayed in this thought for as long as my ever racing brain would let me, and visualized the contracting. I was in awe at the magnificence of my body. The blood flowing, constantly moving, healing, giving life. This entire team of organs and such working diligently, nonstop while I never even give it a second thought. If I do happen to give my body a thought it's negative. (I'm fat, too short, and don't even get me started on my RA)

I took a moment to say thank you to my heart. 

I think it was a big moment in my relationship with my body. 

**I can picture my mother's face at this moment and she's thinking, "What in the world has my daughter turned in to? Some naturo-freak who talks to her heart!?" She must be so proud. **

I think I shall make this a nightly ritual. My body and I have a rocky relationship and we've got a long way to go, but I think I just discovered a good place to start. 

This has been running through my mind all week:

Happiness is like a butterfly,

The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. 

But if you happen to sit still and let things be it will likely come and land on your shoulder. 

For your {depressive} viewing pleasure

Hubby has been on a roll. 

Picking DEE-pressing movies to watch. 

I mean, come on! I need to catch a break. 

I don't think he meant to do killjoy overload, it just happened to be that was how Netflix sent them to us. 

But still, I need some SNL stat! 

Just in case you enjoy sad movies (which occasionally, I do, but 4 in a week is over kill babe) here are 

the ones we viewed and here is what I have to say:

This movie is about a father who is taking care of his two daughters while his wife is deployed to Afghanistan and is killed in battle. The entire hour is how he copes with and figures out how to tell the girls she has died. 

I didn't relate to this movie at all. I would have reacted in a completely different manner and that agitated me. I think John Cusak made this as an "anti-war" cry, but I didn't really get that message, which was good. I would have been mad if it had been blatant and negative.  

**********************************************************

The story of 3 women in Afghanistan. A daughter, a mother, and a grandmother. Mostly the daughter. 

You spend the entire movie thinking the story will take a turn for the better and the little girl will be rescued. 

If you decide to watch this movie, don't be so fooled. It just gets increasingly sadder until her life "theoretically" ends. I think I moped, with a 6 inch hump in my back, all the way to bed. 

*****************************************************************

This movie is such a contradiction. It is fabulous, intriguing, "witty", smart, and fun because the dialog is amazing. I admit I was quite enamored by Emma Thompson's numerous monologues. Though, if you are not paying attention you will miss the many clever points made. It's quick and not for the "simple" minded. 

Emma plays a woman who is diagnosed with ovarian cancer and the movie follows her experience through treatment. I can imagine this movie would hit very close to home

 for those who have dealt directly with cancer. 

Warning: This does not have a happy ending. But...it was good. Sad. But good. 

***************************************************************

**After narrowly escaping from a wretched World War II Siberian labor camp, a small band of multinational soldiers desperately undertakes a harrowing journey to traverse Siberia, the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas on foot.**

So, I just copied and pasted what the description was on Netflix. Please, I could not have explained this movie in one sentence. It was long, and frustrating because I would have rather rolled over and died than do what they did. But it made for an interesting story I suppose. The saddest part is that the book that inspired this movie was supposed to be a "true" one. It was later discovered that the author, and main character, made it all up and was actually just released from his Siberian prison not too long after he was thrown in. 

***********************************************************

This movie is not particularly depressing

 (which is why I only mentioned watching 4 depressing movies, not 5).

My hubby is an obsessive runner. From being a very competitive collegiate track star to dedicated marathon runner he (obviously) fell in love with this movie. He actually watched it several weeks ago and I went to bed rolling my eyes and saying, "Enjoy your movie". 

He added it to our "cue" again so he could force me to watch it. 

I get that it's supposed to be inspiring, but for some like me, you may walk away from this movie thinking,

 "Boy am I a schmuck. I can't even run one marathon."  

Of course this may just be the pessimistic side effects of the previous 4 movies we watched. 

Dean Karnazes is a likable guy and he is quite impressive. I suppose I admire him for being so driven and inspiring so many people. I still have no desire to ever run a marathon, but maybe I won't complain about going for a run as much as I used to. 

So, there you go. Have I inspired any of you to go have a "sob fest"?

Didn't think so. 

Go! Read! Now! HERE!

Reindeer are nice

For Memorial Weekend we took off and became tourists in our own town.

We made friends with a few reindeer:

(this IS the place that Santa lives, ya know)

We also made friends with a moose named Kenai:

We also timed it just right because springtime means babies!

I know this makes me a TOTAL mom, but I just loved seeing this:

The sweetest natural happening in the universe.

This guy was ALL up in my space.

Hey buddy - my snack cup is EMPTY!

I love this picture for several reasons:

*Lydia is just standing cute and smiling.
*Gracie is being a poser (as usual), and looks silly because of it. Or maybe she looks silly because of her outfit...don't ask, I tried my best to sway her in a more practical option.
*Henry with his hands on his hips. He does it all the time, feet wide and belly pushed out. It's really a simple thing, but I think it's freakin' cute. (I'm sure you all are rolling your eyes -"yeah Chablis, yadda, yadda, everyone thinks their kids are the cutest...)

The day before we saw "Kung Fu Panda 2" and LOVED it! All day Henry was demonstrating his "inner peace" poses:

He stopped and decided this was a great place for that and so we all joined in.
(minus Lydia, who was in her own imaginary world, no doubt)

We happened about this place while on our hike:

I am speechless. "Let's all move to the most beautiful place in the world and make it look as trashy as possible." Sadly there are SO many homes like that here. There were all sorts of treasures up and down the pathway around this place. Old bathtubs, broken high chairs, clothes lines with clothes that have been there for years...etc.

Alright, I'll climb off my high horse now.

I love this video. It's hilarious how Lydia is trying to ration the reindeer's food and they're not having it. You can hear the "burb" the reindeer were burping constantly. Henry is funny with his "accomplishment" and I love how he giggles when the reindeer eats out of his hand.