Spring Break!

I love the little breaks in school! Spring break, fall break, Christmas...It's always fun to do something as a family and have some time off away.  Growing up, we had Spud Harvest (I grew up in spud country Idaho) when all the older kids would go work in the potato fields during the harvest time. We got two whole weeks off, which was nice for us, maybe not so much for our parents who had to put up with us, especially since we didn't work in the spuds.

By high school, it was down to one week instead of two, but still a nice a break. I don't remember doing much traveling or family vacations where I was yonger, we did most of our family trips in the summer.

Now that we have kids, we try to go on vacations as much as possible.  Anytime there is a break, we do something, even if it happens to be projects on the house and taking trip after trip to Lowes to get things that we forgot the first time. Or even the occassional trip to Salt Lake to visit family, or up to Idaho to visit my sister and parents. Our kids love to go visit family, so we try to as often as possible.

We have tried for a couple years to plan a trip to southern Utah to see Arches and Canyonlands and Goblin Valley.  Every other time we tried to plan it, it just ended up being to expensive to stay in hotels and drive for hours to get to where we wanted, or just too much time in the car driving or we just didn't feel good about going (you have to listen to those promptings!).

This year, it just so happened that we felt good about going over spring break and we only had to pay for one hotel night, so much less. We left Thursday night and went into Green River, UT where we stayed overnight and Friday we went to Arches National Park. It is a very amazing place. We have never been before.

The land in Utah is very diverse! One minute you can driving through a big city only to go right into desert land and then immediately into the red rock and back to sage brush and into nice green and trees. It's amazing just how fast it all changes.

We met Mike's brother, who currently lives in Colorado, in Arches and hiked with them to Delicate Arch. First of all, I had never been to Arches so I had no idea what any of the structures are down there or just how big and fun they are. Delicate arch is the one that you see so often on advertising and on the licence plates. It is so much more awesome in real life! We took all of our kids (9 between the two families) and all but 3 of the kids even made the hike all the way up! I am so proud of my kids, they didn't even complain, one even said it was fun and he wanted to do it again. We went at one of the best times. It was around 70* which was perfect for hiking in southern Utah, but we definitely didn't take enough water. We could have used much more!

The hike itself was a pretty steep uphill hike, which didn't fare well for my shins over the next couple of days. I didn't know they could hurt so bad! But we had so much fun being with family and doing something we had never done before. There are so many rock formations in Arches, that we started naming them. It was fun.

This formation is called Balanced Rock, because it looks like it is just balancing there, it is pretty fun, my son thought he could hold it in his hand, since it's so small an all.  :)

This is us in front of the infamous Delicate Arch. It is so much more amazing in real life! Notice all the different land around and the snow capped mountains in the distance...Utah is so beautiful!

And there it is...With my husband, boys, Mike's brother and his kids standing underneath. This was the best hike I have ever been on!

If you decide to go to Arches, which I definitely recommend, be sure to take A LOT of water, you don't want to dehydrate in the desert. Chapstick is a must as well, especially after, our lips were so dry. And LOTS of sunscreen. I put on 30 spf before going on the hike, and still got sunburned. It was still fun though. Cost to get into the park is $10 and that is good for 7 days. So come and go as you would want

We followed our family back to their home in Colorado, about a 2 hour drive, which gave us some time to relax and my kids some time to sleep, and we spent Saturday and Easter Sunday in Colorado with them, which was a lot of fun and more than anything, relaxing! My kids had fun doing an egg hunt at a park and then playing with their cousins that they didn't really know all that well. It was a great time spent with family.

Monday morning we took off and headed back home, but not without stopping at another quick destimation, that was out of our way, but so much fun! Goblin Valley is seriously out in the middle of no where! It is a state park.  It is just a bunch of rock formations that look like tons of goblins spread out in this valley. It is just one huge playground! You can walk down into the valley and run and climb to your hearts content. It is really a fun place for the kids. The day we went, it was cooler than the other days we were gone, it rained on us as we drove home, so there was quite a bit of wind, which made it hard to see much in the blowing sand, and driving through a sand storm is just as bad, or worse, than driving through fog. But it was still a fun adventure. It is a state park and the fee to get in is $7 for the day.

 

 

Here is the fun Goblin Valley! We had tons of fun climbing all over everything. It is very pretty with the dark clouds in the sky. This was one of our favorite spring breaks ever! I hope everyone wants to get out and enjoy the wonderful state of Utah, there is so much beauty all around us!

It is with a sad, but thankful heart, that I inform you, that after a year and a half, I have decided to discontinue my produce co op for good.  It has taken some time and much contemplation to come to this conclusion.  I have loved being able to participate in such a wonderful experience.  I have met some very wonderful people over the year and some have stuck with me from the beginning.

I will miss having all the produce in my fridge at all times, as well as some things that I wouldn't normally buy just because.  I won't miss trying to find people all the time to fill spots, or having to cover the cost of extra baskets because someone just decided at the last minute that they were done with co op.  I feel like I now have my days back, even though it was just one day a week, it took a couple days to plan and order and then sort and wait all day for everyone to come pick up, since everyone has different schedules.

I did learn quite a bit about produce.  How to store produce to last for a couple weeks, what produce costs, which is more than most people realize!  I even learned a little about finances and how to work with less money to save produce spoilage and help people live on a lesser amount of money.  I loved every minute of it and maybe one day in the future, I will start up again, but for now, I feel that this is the best option for my family at this point.  My grocery budget will go up a little, or I will just have to revamp what I buy in order to accomodate for the extra cost of produce, since I will no longer get free produce.

If you want to start your own co op where you live, it is really quite easy.  It does take some time and thought, but anyone can do it.  Here is a previous post about my co op if you are interested in learning more.

Food for Thought

It has been a while since I last wrote anything. I guess I have just been busy and have not had anything inspiring to write about lately.

I have been busy with young women camp things, getting people to help with certification and cutting out messenger bags to make for young women camp. I have been very busy!

Today though, I have some food for thought.  In my religion we belive in an after life and that we will be able to see our loved ones again after we pass through this life.  Losing loved ones in this life is very hard and we miss them dearly, but I think having this knowledge helps us through the hard times.  I have recently heard of many people passing on lately, friends and loved ones of people I know.  Some have this same knowledge that I do, others have lost that knowledge.

Last year we had a couple really tough months.  We lost our dear bishop who we were fairly close to.  He was a wonderful man, and I worked closely with his dear wife in the young womens for a couple years and love her dearly.  We had the opportunity to visit him just a couple days before his passing.  We could tell he was in pain, suffering from cancer.  But through it all, he never gave up.  He was always positive and still cared so much for his ward.

My dear grandmother passed just a few after our bishop did.  She was such an inspiration to everyone around her and especially to her family.  She loved hugging everyone and cared so much for all of our children and loved when we would come to visit.  She had such a strong testimony of the gospel and especially our Savior.  I do miss her dearly, but I know that I will be able to see again, as well as my grandfather who has also passed on.  This is a wonderful knowledge that we have been given through the scriptures and through prophets.

So my food for thought today is this:  There are many people throughout the world who may or may not be church going, religious people, that belive that there is a heaven and a hell.  Most believe that if we are good we go to heaven, if we aren't, we go to hell.  This is true is someways.  I believe a little differently than this, but if pepole belive there is heaven and hell, then why would there be an end to life?  Yes our spirits leave this earth and our bodies behind, but don't they have to go somewhere? I'm pretty sure we don't just vanish and cease to exist.

I read an obituary the other day that said "he has returned to heaven" yet from things I've heard, this family doesn't believe they will see this person again, that this was the end.  How, if he has gone to heaven, can this be the end?  Heaven is a place, where I would think our spirits would dwell, so we still live on, right?  Maybe some people think that once our body has died, we just vanish.  This is a hard and sad thing for me to think that people just vanish, when we have so much more potential than that.  We have all been promised that we can live on and also become kings and queens, gods and goddesses.  Who would not want to try to attain to that?

I thought of this the other day.  I tried to imagine what it would be like to become a goddess, to reign over a world of my own and watch my many children live and fail and strive to do good and love others and have heartache.  I decided, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that.  What a responsibility!  I was overwhelmed at that thought!  I have always wanted to be great and achieve wonderful, fulfilling things that would inspire and uplift others, but being a God/Goddess, goes far beyond that!

I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have that we WILL live again after this life!  I WILL be able to see my grandparents again and all those in my ancestory who have gone before me.  I will be able to meet all those people who have inspired me in this life that I won't get a chance to meet here.  I WILL also be able to kneel at the feet of my Savior and to personally give him my thanks for suffering for my sins in this life so I can strive to be more like him and live with him again.  I know this to be true and hope you do too.  If not, I encourage to seek out the Lord and find out for yourself if these things are true!  Thanks for reading and allowing me to give my opinion.  May the Lord watch over you and yours each day, is my prayer!

Book review

To start off today, I made the best looking bread today! I had a sister from my ward come a couple weeks ago and we figured out that with my Kitchen Aid mixer, I can only a half batch of bread and that was why I had such a problem with the bread I tried to make. So today I finally got back in there and decided I needed to make some bread, since I was out of bread anyway. So I just took it slow, watched it come together and then put it in my pans to rice and bake. Took me about an hour and half start to finish and now I have two big, beautiful loaves of bread! I must say, I am proud of myself! I finally accomplished something I have been trying to and have succeeded.

I must share with you a book I read this weekend. I don't usually read books all that quick, since I usually only take about an hour or less at night sitting in bed to read. This book was different. I literally could not put it down! I had such a feeling of love and peace reading this book and have come to realize many things reading this. The book is called "The memory catcher: When angels speak, who will listen?" She reminds us that we are in fact children of a loving heavenly father who loves and knows each of us and that we each have a purpose on this earth.

The picture on the cover of the book would have made me pick it up and possibly buy it, had I found it in a store, but as it was, we were given this book. Mike's father read it and I'm not sure how he came across it, but it talks about Mike's gradparents. It is a true story of Sarah Hinze, the author. She grew up in Tennessee, where her mother was guided to go to a laundromat to do her laundry after the washing machine mysteriously stopped working. It was at this laundromat that she met Mike's grandparents, who were serving an LDS mission, and was inpressed to speak with them and invite them back to her home where they met her daughter Sarah who was considering moving out to Utah to attend college.

After some events, she decided to come out to Utah and asked to stay with the Bunnells. They let her come stay and eventually enrolled at Utah State University where she met her husband and then describes many events through her life that have brought her to where she is now. She is an amazing person, who I haven't personally met, but in reading her story, I have been able to recall many events in life similar to hers that I haven't thought about in years. She has inspired me to begin writing down my own experiences.

I have, probably since junior high school, wanted so much to write stories, but have never been able to really put things together in a way that I liked, or to even come up with an idea to write about has been hard. In the last few years I have really felt a push to start writing, but there again, haven't known what to write about. I am not a very knowledgeable person. I don't have any schooling past high school, except the cosmetology school that I went to for one year, but I do have experiences and ideas that I could share. I feel like I have so much to offer people, especially youth, it's just a matter of  doing it.

Last weekend when we were in Idaho visiting my parents, my mom found a little flash drive that is a panda bear. Knowing my love for pandas, she bought it for me. Obviously I loved it, but wasn't sure when I would ever use it. The other day while reading and thinking about my push to write, the thought came to me, I can use my flash drive to store my manuscripts on, I was so excited. As much as I would love to have my own lap top to take with me anywhere and just sit and write, the money is just not there right now. So I will start with what I have and use my cute little panda flash drive to store all my thoughts and feelings.

To purchase this book of Sarah Hinze and learn more about her and her life's work, you can go to sarahhinze.com, which is currently not working for me for some reason, or I would add a link, or you can go to any Deseret Book and purchase it there. She truely is amazing and such an inspiration to others. I hope you enjoy her writings and I will keep you informed of my own writings as well.

Happy Monday to you all, I hope your week is wonderful!

Whole grains!

My sister in law gave me a website for a gal that has a chia seed pudding recipe. It looks really good, and seems pretty easy, I think I will try it just as soon as I get my chia seeds. I am very excited! (See previous post.) Here is where you can find that recipe.

Still learning about whole grains! We all know that at least half of the grains we consume should be whole grains, but how do you go about doing that? It is actually quite simple! More so than we think! I did a little research through a couple websites and found some good suggestions.

From the May Clinic:

Whole grains are:
* Naturally low in fat.
* Linked to lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and other health problems.

How to enjoy more whole grains in your diet:
* Eat breakfasts that include whole-grain cereals, such as bran flakes, shredded wheat or oatmeal.
* Substitute whole wheat toast or whole grain bagels for plain bagels. Substitute low-fat bran muffins for pasteries.
* Make sandwiches using whole grain breads or rolls. Swap out white flour tortillas with whole wheat versions.
* Replace white rice with kasha, brown rice, wild rice or bulgur (and I would add quinoa and cous cous to this one).
* Feature wild rice or barley in soups, stews, casseroles and salads.
* Add whole grains, such as cooked brown rice or whole grain bread crumbs, to ground meat or poultry for extra body.
* Use rolled oats or crushed bran cereal in recipes instead of dry bread crumbs.

From www.choosemyplate.gov:

* Make whole grain pilaf using a mixture of barley, wild rice, brown rice, broth and spices. Optional: stir in toasted nuts or chopped dried fruit.

* Choose foods that name one of the following whole grain ingredients first on the label's ingredient list:
brown rice
buckwheat
bulgur
millet
oatmeal
quinoa
rolled oats
whole grain barley
whole grain corn
whole grain sorghum
whole grain triticale
whole oats
whole wheat
wild rice

I am still researching, but if you thought there was no way you could switch to whole grains, I just showed you how. Now this doesn't mean you have to go completely to ALL whole grains. Some people do choose that, but sometimes our stomachs can't handle a complete change, or maybe our pocket book can't handle the change. Some of these whole grains do cost more than your white rice or white flour. This is one thing I do not understand. If something is good for us, don't you think it should cost less? I think the FDA has their priorities in the wrong place.

My family has come to love brown rice, I have bought "100% whole wheat bread" for many years (I've heard white bread is like eating sugar), my kids ask for cous cous, which I don't buy all that often, but we do love it, and now I will be trying quinoa, which I have heard is very good for you.

Anyway, I am continuing to research and learn more, there is SOO much out there! I will continue to bring you updates and suggestions. I love food, I love cooking, and want my health! Along with good health comes increased energy and a clear mind. Which is one thing I really need. The thought came to me recently, "How can we receive the inspiration from our Heavenly Father when our bodies and minds are not clear?" We can't. Eating healthy and keeping our bodies healthy will help with this.

I hope you all enjoy my little updates and insights into whole grains and will continue to follow me as I continue to learn more. I love learning and love life and I hope you do too. Have a great day!

Chia Seed

I have done fairly well the last couple of days trying to learn about whole grains. I have learned, I need to eat more! Whole grains are good for you and they fill you up, without making you fat. One of my favorite people who have helped me learn more about health is Zonya. I don't know her last name, but she has had a cooking show on PBS. She also has a website (www.zonya.com) where she has lots of healthy recipes and also exercise tips. Another person is the Food Nanny, who aslo has a cooking show on PBS where she teaches families how to eat together healthily and also how to love being together as a family. You can google either of these ladies or catch their programs on PBS (we don't have cable, but we do get local channels, so we watch a lot of PBS, but it's better than Nickelodean or any of those other kids stations.)

Yesterday, someone on Facebook posted something about Chia Seeds. I had never heard of these before, oh wait...ch-ch-ch-chia, yeah those fun little chia pets that grow grass. I'm not sure if they are the same thing, I'm sure they are, but people have come to find that Chia seeds are VERY good for you!! They help with weight loss, and add so much to your diet. From the post this is what I learned about chia seeds:

"Chia got its name from the Mayan word for "strength". The ancient Aztec warriors used Chia seeds during long journeys, because of their ability to increase stamina and energy over long periods of time. Also known as the "Indian running food", chia seeds are perfect for runners and people who do aerobic exercise.

Chia contains 3 times more calcium than skim milk.

They have a unique combination of soluble and insoluble fiber combined to slow down your body's conversion of starches into sugars and keep you fuller longer.

Chia seeds have more Omega-3 fatty acids than salmon! It has one of the most concentrated sources of Omega-3 in any food.

With nearly nearly 11 grams of fiber per ounce, chia delivers 42% of your recommended daily value of fiber in a single serving.

They absorb 12 times their weight; when inside your body, the seeds help you stay hydrated longer, and retain elecrolytes.

The fiber in chia helps slow digestion and makes you feel fuller longer, making then an ideal food for weight loss.

Chia seeds take on the taste of whatever you add them to. Make chia seed pudding, add them to smoothies, dressings, dips, sauces and more."

On the picture it had the website www.live-live.com, which is a great source if you are trying a whole foods diet. They have lots of information and videos on cooking.

I was thinking you would just add them straight to something, but the more I have looked, the more people say to make a gel with them. When you add them to water, they make a gel, which is what makes you feel fuller longer. I have also heard that they help to clean out your digestive system. I googled recipes with chia seeds and came across this website: www.mychiaseeds.com/articles/TOP10chiabenefits.html, I watched a short video clip about how to make the gel and the gal there also said she uses this when she has an upset stomach and that it helps her daughter so much who is lactose intolerant. So many uses from such a small seed!

I have a friend who said she went to Winco the other day and bought some in the bulk section. I went last night and they had nothing left. Guess everyone is finding out about them. I got online to Amazon though and found some there for a little less than Wincos price per pound plus free shipping, so I did that instead. I will also have a big stock for quite a while. I'm hoping this can help me with my weight loss!

Speaking of weight loss...I have a cousin who has done the "3-day diet" and she and her husband both lost a lot of weight on it. I have a friend who has done it a few times to and they all liked it. I decided to try it to see if I could jump start something in me. I made it through the first day just fine and was feeling pretty good, but maybe getting to bed a little late that night caused something in me, but day 2 was awful! Day 2 you eat a little less than day one, so I couldn't just spread it out like I did with the first day. By 2 o'clock on the second day, I was starving, so I had a protein bar. By 5 o'clock I had some major stomach cramps that went up into my chest, it was awful! But after dinner I felt much better! I don't know if my blood sugar was just low or if it just wasn't enough food at lunch, but I don't know if I could do that again. I have decided that I will just stick to eating healthy, adding more whole grains, and trying to just eat less in general and listen to my body. If you are interested in learning more about the 3-day diet, you can go here: http://blessedmommy.hubpages.com/hub/Lose-Up-To-10-Pounds-In-3-Days-On-The-3-Day-Diet

Have a wonderful day! All things are possible through God, keep living!

Staff of life: grains!

To begin, I must confess, my goal is really not coming along like I would like it to. I am just extremely lazy some days and just don't want to do anything.

We decided to take a trip to Idaho this weekend to visit my parents and my sister. It was a much needed break away from everything where we could just visit and veg and just relax! It was so wonderful! We went up on Saturday afternoon and Mike and I were able to go to a stake dance with my parents and then out for some frozen yogurt. It was a fun double date. For all those teens out there that just cringe at the thought of having a double date with your parents, things change after you move out and get married, we had lots of fun with my parents.

My mom taught me some things about whole grains. This is my new focus for my goal right now: to learn all I can about whole grains and how to incorporate them into my everyday living. My mom had a very old copy of a booklet called "Cookies for Dinner" by Faye Reeves and Anne Cerny. They have updated over the years and my sister in law found that they were selling an updated copy, so she got one for my mom. It is a really neat little booklet. To get a copy you can email Faye at FayeReeves@juno.com or you can call them: Faye Reeves 801-576-9788, Anne Cerny 801-318-1145. Anne also runs an oline store where you can buy organic whole grains, agave, molasses, honey and legumes and beans. The website for that is grainmix.com.

So starting with this new focus, I want to learn about all the different kinds of whole grains and how to use them. I was a t Sam's club with my parents yesterday and came across quinoa. This is a very good whole grain that is just booming right now. At Sam's, its was just over $4 for 2 lbs, which I think is pretty good, since it was organic too. I need to go price match at Winco. I know most smaller grains, like quinoa and cous cous, can be used in place of rice. My kids love cous cous and ask for it often. It is very easy to cook! It is very plain tasting, so I usually add some olive oil and sauteed mushrooms and green onions to it so it has some flavor. Or cooking it with some chicken stock or chicken bouillion will help that to. We eat this on the side with fish.

My family is used to eating whole grains. We eat very little white rice, but lots of brown rice, whole wheat bread and sometimes tortillas. I just want to learn more about how to use all the different grains together to the maximum benefits. I can't wait to get my booklet of "Cookie for Dinner" so I have some recipes and things to help me with that too. They also tell you how to make baby cereal out of fresh whole grains, so you save money and can feed them better than the store bought stuff.

I personally want to start making my own...everything! Noodles, bread, tortillas, you name it, I want to try to make it! I still have SOOO much to learn, I am not even making a dent in what I need to learn, but I am on a mission. I also so much to buy, which is extremely overwhelming, since I don't have a huge budget and most things that I need cost a good chunk of money, so I will try to start small and get some here and there and see if I can keep going. If anyone has any suggestions of what to do to help me, I am open to any suggestions. I want the best for my family, within my budget. I can't switch to organic produce, that is just not in my budget, plus I have heard from many different sources, that it isn't proven that organic is soo much better. But I just make sure and wash it all really good. I have also had some organic produce before and it really wasn't that great, it actually tasted like dirt, and even washed it really good, so I stick with what I can afford.

Tomorrow I will share with you some of the things I plan to study today about whole grains. I can't wait to get started!

"Things come to you as you need them, in YOUR time, not in anyone else's. All things come from God who is the creator of all and knows us all so much more than we even know ourselves. He knows what we need and when we need it. Put your faith and trust in Him and all things will be for your good!"