Life Update

I have been horribly remiss in updating this blog. But I told myself in the beginning - this will not be a chore. This will not be one more thing on my to-do list. This is just an outlet when I need one. And now, after moving into our new house, having the little man's 1st birthday party the day after, 6 weeks of working overtime, and 1 week of the flu ... I am ready for an outlet! :) A few pictures from the craziness:

Early September, buying our first house!

The day after moving, we had 30 people over for the little man's 1st birthday party. Our dear friends at The Enchanted Image photography (search Facebook to contact) took some family photos, and photos of the party:

I will spare you pictures of the flu (just kidding... there were none!). :) I am so thankful to be back to almost-full health. That was my first bad illness as a mama, and it is so hard to let everyone else care for your child while you are incapacitated!

Since life has slown down, we have been doing more decorating/organizing/unpacking of our home. My wonderful grandma makes drapes for a living, and agreed to make some for us! The bedroom ones are my personal favorite:

Now that I am not overworked or sick, I have taken my commuting time on the bus to read In Defense of Food. Since being pregnant and having a baby, I am much more conscious/worried/concerned about what my family eats. But there are so many different types of food (normal, natural, organic, local, vitamin-enhanced, etc.) out there, that it's hard to know what to buy, much less how to cook it! I often get overwhelmed at the question "What's for dinner?" - my husband will testify to that! :) But this book has helped me to clarify my views on food, and inspire me to start changing some of our eating habits.

The moral of the story is "Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not too much." Seems logical, if not overly simple! Here is some of what I took from the book:

• Most of what we eat today is refined corn, rice, soy, or wheat.
• Refined and processed food has had most of its nutrients removed in order to preserve shelf life.
• Americans' eating habits are more informed by commercials than by tradition.
• Western diseases (diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc.) seem to follow when a Western diet is introduced to new cultures.
• We should eat FOOD. Food that our great-grandmothers would recognize as food. Food that is not full of added chemicals, pesticides, refined sugar, etc.
• When we eat real food, we will not be hungry as often. Processed foods generally release energy much faster than whole foods, thus making you hungry more quickly.
• Animals who become our meat are generally not healthy because they are given an unnatural diet of seeds, rather than grass/leafy plants. They are then pumped full of hormones and antibiotics in order to make them healthier. Ick.

It's hard to sum up all that I learned from reading this book. But I highly recommend it. The one thing I wasn't a fan of was the author's evolutionary bias. But the premise of the book makes sense from a biblical perspective:
1. Eat food - It makes sense that God would want people to eat real, nutritious food that He provided for us, rather than food that has been processed to the point of having little nutrition.
2. Mostly plants - In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were first told to eat from the trees and the plants. Not until after they sinned was the first animal killed, and animals began to be eaten. So, it seems that people were originally meant to subsist on plants, rather than animals. I hope to start incorporating more fruits and veggies into my family's diet, and relying less on meat (with the exception of more wild seafood).
3. Not too much - Obviously, God did not create food to be gorged upon. He created it to nourish us. He created a mechanism that allows our stomach to tell our brain that it is full. Thus, we should not eat until we are overly full.

So, after processing all this, I hope to continue the process of buying more local/organic food. I also want to start buying a lot less processed food, and more fruits and veggies. In the Spring, I hope to plant a garden to cut down on some of the costs of buying fresh food. And overall, I want to start creating more nutritious meals for my family. :)

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31