Marketing totally worked on me this morning.  I got in the car and turned on the radio to the local morning show.  Sarah and Vinnie were talking about the free oatmeal that Jamba Juice brought into them today.  “It’s vegan! They make it with soy milk!” they say.  I think “ohh, that sounds good.” And then the deciding factor, “Today is Resolution Wednesday at Jamba and oatmeal is only $1.” SOLD.

That puppy only cost me $1.09. YIPPEE!

I also had some juice.

2 Carrots, 1 Apple, 1 Meyer Lemon

I had put the brakes on juice while I’ll let my tummy heal but I ate a RAW carrot last night with no issues so I decided that juice was back on the menu.  It was good and I’m so glad my tummy feels okay.  I also added 1 TBSP of Acai fiber to it. I LOVE me some juice! (and not the Mark McGwire kind).

Wednesdays are my rest days but I inevitably mess up my one hour of additional sleep by staying up too late the night before I get to “sleep in”.  Last night it was American Idol’s fault (so much better without Paula) and then I got interested in Shuan’s book.  He’s reading Freakanomics and it was talking about naming children and trends.  I LOVE that stuff so I read along.  I often lay on his shoulder at night and read what he’s reading and then we talk about it.  Does anyone else do that?  Or am I a freak?

I did get up this morning and throw some chicken in the crock pot for chicken tacos.  Look for the recipe tonight-it’s one of my favorites.

Lastly today, one of my twitter peeps mommattorney (who I LOVE-we have a lot in common) and who comments here sometimes posted a FASCINATING article on HFCS and Agave “Nectar”:

http://www.westonaprice.org/Agave-Nectar-Worse-Than-We-Thought.html

I read this piece when it came out last year and then completely forgot about it. Of particular interests:

Agave syrup is a manmade sweetener which has been through a complicated chemical refining process of enzymatic digestion that converts the starch and fiber into the unbound, manmade chemical fructose. While high fructose agave syrup won’t spike your blood glucose levels, the fructose in it may cause mineral depletion, liver inflammation, hardening of the arteries, insulin resistance leading to diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

I highly recommend that you read the whole article.

Thoughts?

Lucy had her performance tonight.  They did Wheels on the Bus and Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.

They had all the parents sitting in one of the classrooms on teeny tiny chairs.

Here’s Lucy coming in for her big moment:

She was happy and smiley at first:

Then she realized that there was a big crowd of STRANGERS watching her, she cuddled up to her friend Carter and looked like a deer in the headlights:

(I know it’s blurry, but she seriously stood there for a good 45 seconds just.like.that).

And then she decided that it was all too much and cuddled Miss Tisha:

And she pretty much stayed that way the entire rest of the time :(  Poor thing.

If you REALLY want the full experience, I posted a video to You Tube.  It’s over 3 minutes long and is really low res and she basically just stands there.  It’s kinda sad but I captured her first performance!  It’s only up from here, right?

No worries-she recovered!

Why yes, that IS black bean brownie all over my child and she IS reaching for more.  She LOVED the black bean brownie.  She came OUT OF HER ROOM before bed to ask for some more.  We had to deny that request.

I keep dreaming of this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

I miss Hawaii.  It’s beautiful there. I wish I had had my good camera when we went.  Guess I’ll have to go back =D

Okay, back to real life.  Did you see the Black Bean Brownies from last night? The comments have been cracking me up all morning.

I got up this morning at 5:30 and made it to boot camp-no butts hanging out today!  It was an awesome workout. My HRM wasn’t working (it showed either “00” or “213” for my heart rate), but I know that it was awesome.  She told me “good job” on the way out-that always makes me want to come back 🙂 This class is always hard for my self-confidence because I am by far the biggest person in the class BUT I’m not the most out of shape anymore!  So that’s a self confidence boost! Does anyone else do that? See if you are the biggest person in the room?  I really need to stop-it’s mean to me AND? it’s mean to everyone else around me.  Old habits die hard.

Today is Lucy’s “Winter Gala” where she’ll be performing with her class!  I can’t wait! I have no clue what a bunch of 1 years olds will do. I have the video camera all ready to go.  This should be awesome.

I had planned to have butternut squash raviolis for dinner tonight.  I was going to make Shaun and Lu some chicken to go with them and I was just going to eat the raviolis.  They were meat free and dairy free-I thought I was golden.  Turns out they had egg :( 

The plan of attack right now is to be super nice to my tummy and then to slowly add stuff back in to see what I can and can’t eat.  Since I’m still in that “being super nice to my tummy” stage, I thought it would be better to steer clear of the eggs for tonight. Instead of feeling like, poor, pitiful me I decided to embrace my tummy and make myself some of Happy Herbivore’s Black Bean Brownies. Beans are supposedly okay if they are blended well, and they are in this recipe.  Plus the twitter world is all abuzz over these things.

I got all the ingredients out:

Yep, that’s all of them. Plopped them in the food processor:

Processed it up:

I tasted the batter at this point, and The Happy Herbivore was right, it doesn’t taste like black beans-not one bit.

Ready to go in the oven:

Just out of the oven:

Completely cooled and cut:

And topped with banana ice “cream”:

The verdict? It was good…but not brownie like.  The cinnamon makes them decidedly not brownie like. It’s more like a Mexican Chocolate cake.  You can also definitely tell that it’s not made with flour-you wouldn’t guess beans though. 

Would I make them again? Yes-with a little less cinnamon though. I may just make them again to eat the batter-yum.

Would Shaun eat them? “Not with a ten foot poll” he says.

They ARE a pretty great and fun way to get some protein in!

I sent out 11 packages on Friday!

Everybody who won the pumpkin butter challenge should be getting their butter very soon.  I also sent out some belated Christmas gifts and some just because gifts.  It was fun 🙂

I also received 2 fantastic packages last week.  The first was a replacement of the best water bottle ever. Period.  It IS the best.  Once you have one of these, you’ll never go back.  I left mine at a restaurant in McCall and I immediately got on Amazon to order a replacement.  When I got it, I sang and danced and hugged it.  I’m not joking.  What is the magical water bottle you ask?

It’s a Contigo BPA Free Water Bottle. It’s literally the best water bottle ever.  I already said that, didn’t I?  I love this thing.

You don’t have to unscrew anything to drink from it and the clip is awesome. LOVE IT.

The other, very exciting package was a new pot!

It’s a Calphalon Stockpot. I got it for CHEAP, $40-it’s normally $168 so I did a little jig after that one too.  It’s still on sale, I think it’s around $63 now though.

Yay for boiling 2 pots of water!!!

I’ve only used it to make pasta thus far but it boils water fast 🙂 I’m so excited to have 2 stock pots now.  This will make weekend cooking so.much.easier. Shaun wasn’t excited about another pot, but I made it fit, so that’s all that counts 🙂

To change gears completely. I have some cute Lu pictures :)  Last night she was playing XBox with Daddy:

And this morning I was trying to get a picture of her cute outfit to show Auntie Laina (who gave her said outfit) and she decided that she’d rather show y’all part of my lunch:

The hair definitely makes her look like a big girl!

Here’s a better shot of the outfit:

Gotta have your string cheese at all times, right?

I did a kickass spin class this morning and now I’m ready for the day.  I can feel it folks, it’s going to be a GREAT week!

As I stated earlier, my 30 goals are a work in progress.  I’m not going to hit all of them every week and I’m not going to be 100% on them every week and that’s okay. It’s not about perfection, it’s about trying and learning.  And let me tell you, I’m trying!

So, how’d I do this week?  Let’s take a look:

1. Stop putting myself down.  Treat me like I would want others to treat Lucy. This one is hard.  I’ve been working on it and I’d say that I’m much more aware that I’m doing it and much better at stopping it.

2. Eat something green every day. I was going great guns on this one until my stomach affliction hit this weekend.  I ate something green every day but Saturday and Sunday.  Once my tummy is under control, I’ll be back at it!

3. Eat 2 servings of fruit every day. Check!

4. Completely cut out dairy except yogurt. The first half of the week? Not so much. Now? DEFINITELY.

5. Get back on my bike. Not yet, but I did spin twice this week.

6. Do something only for me 1 hour each week. Check! I went to knit night this week AND? I slept in until 10 today 🙂

7. Do something with Shaun that doesn’t include me sitting on the computer and him on the XBox or us watching TV for 1 hour each week. Check. Although we watched a lot of TV together this week.  I’d like to try and play a card game or something in the next week.

8. Dress nicely, including putting on make-up, at least 3 times a week. Check! I thought this was 4 times a week-HA! I did this 4 times last week.

9. Clean out Lucy’s drawers. I haven’t started this yet.

10. Clean out and organize the filing cabinet. I haven’t started this yet.

11. Complete Lucy’s birth book. Not yet.

12. Become a faster walker. If you can speed train for running, you can sure as hell do it for walking. I’m working on it!

13. Send out thank you notes in a more timely fashion and to everyone that deserves one. I have a box of thank you notes sitting here waiting to be filled out after I’m done here.

14. Lose 30 pounds or fit comfortably into my size 4-6 clothing. Working on it!

15. Save my personal money for a new wardrobe. There’s $150 in there and I haven’t touched it.

16. Be on top of my budget and update Quicken every 2 weeks. I’ll do this on the 15th!

17. Severely limit my computer and phone time when I’m with Lucy.  On weekdays, I should never use them when she’s awake and on weekends, I should use them sparingly when she’s awake. Check!

18. Get the bird out 4 times a week. I only got her out 3 times.  But I did give her a bath yesterday-can that count for 2?

19. To appease my husband, never let the gas tank get below 1/2 a tank. Check! This one is NO FUN but I’ve been doing it.

20. Improve on my photography. Hmmmm, I’m trying.

And the original 10 from the 10 in 2010 post:

1. Take time out every day to simply enjoy my daughter. Check! I love her SO much-this one is pretty easy.

2. Try not to look too far forward or lament the past.  Enjoy NOW. Check!

3. Drink more water-at least 70 ounces per day. Check!

4. Use my juicer A LOT. Check!

5. Go to the gym more often than not. Check! 4 out of 7 days this week.

6. Eat healthfully-don’t put anything in my mouth that I wouldn’t feed Lucy. 6/7 days check! Here’s hoping for 7/7 days next week.

7. Save money. Check! This is going well.

8. Run to the top of Waterdog Lake Road, while pushing Lucy, without stopping and back. Working on it.  I went twice last week.

9. Post at least 365 times in 2010.  I can post 3 times a day or skip a day but I want my average to be 1 post per day. I’m on track.

10. Fold my laundry when it comes out of the dryer. It turns out I have to modify this one.  I’m changing it to “Fold my laundry on the same day it comes out of the dryer.” Since I’m a Mom and Lucy comes first, it’s really difficult to fold things as soon as they come out of the dryer.  It is easy to throw things in a basket and get the next load going.  It’s also easy to do all the folding in one sitting when Lucy is asleep.  I’m okay with changing this one and Shaun is too.  It’s going well 🙂

So, the first week went well. It’s amazing how motivated by goals I am.  I’m hoping I’ll keep it up and get even better.

How about you?  How are your goals going?  What are YOU working on this week?

We’ve had a nice and quiet weekend.  Yesterday was spent cleaning up the house and (FINALLY) getting the Christmas decorations down.  We also did laundry-doesn’t that sound fun? It was actually, just the sort of weekend I needed.

We DID take Lu to the park yesterday:

Today, Shaun let me sleep in until 10!  It was AWESOME.  I did some grocery shopping and then we took Lu to get her first haircut!

Shaun brought up that Lucy’s hair was getting pretty long and scraggly and that she should get a haircut.  At first I was resistant to the idea, but then I did have to admit that her hair was a bit uneven.

Look at those chops!

So we found a kids haircutting place in Burlingame and took her in.

She wasn’t really sure about it but overall, she was a good girl and came out looking a little less messy.

The “stylist” was concerned that she would look like a boy if we cut it any shorter.  I think it’s just right

I’ll be back later with an update on the 20 + 10 challenge.

See ya then!

My friend childhood friend, Natalie, is a photographer and she came and took pictures of us last month.  You’ve seen some of her images from our holiday card but I have a CD with over 300 photos that I FINALLY got downloaded onto my computer.  Natalie gives you the rights to all your images, so you pay for the session and the processing of the pictures and then she burns you a CD that is 100% yours.  She caught some AMAZING images of our family.

Has anyone heard the new Train song?  It makes me really happy.  I’ve had an extremely hard morning and that song came on and cheered me up.

Don’t get me wrong, everything is FINE, but I’ve had one of those mornings that you just want to crawl back into bed and start over after you’ve slept for a looooong time.  My sweet husband actually suggested that I turn right around and do just that. But! I’ve made the executive decision to put on my big girl pants and deal with my life.  It is a pretty damn good life.

I caught some pretty awesome father/daughter images this morning.

Yes, my Christmas decorations are still up.  They’re coming down tomorrow.

Daddy was brushing her hair.  

So, many of the issues from this morning have to do with my IBS. Last time it was this bad, I followed a very strict IBS diet and then did acupuncture to be able to add more food to my diet.  The IBS diet, in a word, is HARD. 

The basic principle are that I should avoid:

-Red Meat
-Poultry
-All dairy products
-Eggs
-Fried Foods
-Anything high in fat

So basically, a vegan diet with some fish and not much fat.  I did this for about a year in 2005 and it was the only thing that helped.  In fact, other than pregnancy, that was the only time that I didn’t have IBS issues.  Maybe I should just get pregnant again? LOL!

The good news? I know I CAN do it.  The bad news? It’s going to make cooking dinner more time consuming and interesting.  Well I guess the interesting part is a good thing 🙂

That’s how I woke up this morning when my alarm went off at 5:30.  I had accidently set the alarm to “beep” and not “radio” and I seriously thought something was majorly wrong. Thankfully, the only thing wrong was that I had to get up that early. I so didn’t want to. But, thankfully, I did!  Boot Camp was so much better this morning and I’m very glad I went. 

There was one problem with Boot Camp-the upper part of the teacher’s (extremely well defined) butt was showing almost the entire class.  She had rolled her pants down a little too far (well a lot too far actually).   All the guys in the class were drooling which made me feel like I should have said something.  I wanted to say something for her sake (and mine), but I also didn’t want to embarrass her.  I didn’t say anything. Should I have?  Would you have?

I have to say-it was an impressive butt.

Sadly, coffee was needed again this morning.

That’s my “tall” soy latte filled to the top of my 16 oz cup.

Besides going to the gym, I also fulfilled another 20+10 goal.  My gas gauge said this:

And so I went and filled up:

Shaun will be so proud. And? It only took me 3 minutes.

I’m really struggling in 3 areas of the 20+10 challenge:

1. Cutting out dairy.

2. Losing pounds/inches

3. Talking nice to myself

1 and 2 are completely related and came to a head yesterday.  I know that I’m not going to lose pounds/inches in a few days but I also know that I have to make good food choices in order to lose the pounds/inches.  I was doing really well until yesterday.  Yesterday was a big FAIL in the food and dairy department.  I ate a cookie and a brownie. *sigh* Today will be better-it has to be better-my tummy is really mad at me.

As for number 3, I’m having a hard time with this and, to be quite frank, it’s the one I care the most about.  If I talk down to myself, then I will, inevitably, pass that on to Lucy.  That’s my worst fear in the world.  I said something on Tuesday and Shaun got really mad at me.  He told me that I wasn’t following my challenge.  I said “Well, I don’t have to be 100% perfect, right out the gate-it’s a process.”

He agreed with me except for that one point.  He insisted that I be 100% perfect about talking nice to myself starting now. He told me, “No one is allowed to talk about my wife like that. No one.”

It is getting better though.  I thought something pretty mean this morning and immediately thought “Well, you’re doing something about it-focus on that.”  Let’s hope I can keep it up.

Lastly, I am so excited.  At lunch I’m sending ALL OF THIS STUFF out!

Well, except the cuties 😉 I LOVE giving gifts and today I get to give many. YIPPEE.

I hope you all have a BEAUTIFUL day!