Feet

     Ok, weird post topic, I know! I was thinking a lot about feet yesterday.  They are so important to us. We put pressure on them, pain and beauty into our feet.  Yesterday, my son was looking for shoes for the wow factor, and I always look for comfort. Even though I prefer comfortable shoes, I love to paint my toes and my daughters and we always sit down every week or two have a mini polish party. However, when something happens to your feet it can highly impact you.  Your activities, your comfort and so much more.

     My husband is learning that feet are a treasure right now. Last night as he was coming home from work, he stopped to gather up some scrap metal (a grill) and as he loaded it onto his truck, the cast iron grate fell and smashed the base of the toe at the top of his foot. A small bruise gradually swelled up his whole foot throughout the evening and he was even unable to attend work today because he cannot put his shoes on or let alone walk on the balls of his feet. He is learning how valuable his feet are.

     Just as important as our feet are where they walk! Do we walk in thorns or sharp rocks barefoot?  NO!  Why would we? If we dared walk through thorns our feet would be protected right?  Watch your walk and your path and protect your feet. This is just not a physical meaning but a spiritual one too!

Proverbs 4:26-27

Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

...(or from iron grates)  :)

BTW this is what his poor foot looks like! 

Esther Rose Is Famous

     Well not really, but she is cute enough to be!  Today, I woke up to a newspaper article posted on my Facebook about the PTA membership bowl in our local county stadium. I knew my kids were being photographed by the paper and then of course we were asked names and my son kept giving fake names which ensued laughter. "My name is Steve Johnson. No, my name is Johnny Russia." My kids had been playing with a bubble machine along with their cousin, Matthew. The man from the paper told us how cute it was and I pretty much assumed my kids would be in the papes.

     The article posted on my Facebook this morning had a single face cropped picture of my little girl, much to my son's chagrin. Esther, not knowing it is a big deal, just smiled and said "That's me!" Her giggle was cute and sweet. 

     This was not her first photo in the local so called "spotlight." I am in the current issue of Golden Isles Magazine as a seamstress in the "By Hand" section.  It is a physical publication and there is an online publication too! Again, my son was bummed he wasn't in it, but my clothes are made mostly for girls.  My friend's daughter was in the photo as well as me and Esther Rose.

May there be many more features to come!  Thanks for stopping by!

What Is Love?

     Being loved can be nice.  When you know you are loved, you feel whole, you feel accepted and you feel a part of something special.  This morning as I was dressing my daughter and she barely had her shirt over her head, I heard my son scream a very loud and long "owww!" Obviously he had hurt something and then of course he yelled out to say he hurt his knee.  His sister immediately said she needed to kiss his boo-boo to make him feel better.  She is two so it actually sounded more like a high pitched squeal "I need kiss hus boo-boo make bubba feewl beher." It was sweet and as I pulled up her pants as she ran down the hallway, she ran to her brothers side.  Immediately assessed where the boo-boo was located and straightened his leg in her arms and gave it a long, sweet, wet baby kiss. Her brother played along and said "Thank you, Esther, it feels better now."  That is love.

~Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.~ 1Corinthians 13:4-7

A Weighty Matter

I posted this morning on my facebook page that I am 129 pounds.  I was 125 when I found out I was pregnant with Esther in 2010 and because I got so sick that I lost even more early in my pregnancy.  I haven't hit below 130 since I had my baby girl in March 2011 so this is a huge deal.  I don't think I am fat but I do feel like I could make healthier options and I did have a goal to get back to 125. I was 134 just 3 weeks ago.

For those of you that haven't known me for several years, you may not know it, but I used to be 186 pounds.  I was at that weight when I was not pregnant.  I decided when I hit that weight that I had to do it.  I had to find a way to lose weight and that's when I found weight watchers. Why 186?  That is what I weighed when I delivered my son! Being that weight and not being pregnant was a wake up call.  My weight began to shed quickly following the WW points plan. I don't follow it now. I just eat smaller meals to curb hunger throughout the day and choose healthier options. 

Here I was when I decided to lose the weight. I am only 5'1" so 186 is a lot for me! I wore a size 16 and was pushing a size 18. I am currently a size 4 and wear a small-medium top. When I lost the weight- so did my depression and self loathing feelings I had.  Through it all, my husband still always told me I was beautiful.  For those of you wanting to lose weight, you can do it!

I felt so optimistic when I lost 7 pounds my first week of weight watchers.  I loved that I did not feel hungry and I was LEARNING how to eat right!  It's hard to know how when you have slipped or when you have never learned properly.  Your metabolism slows down and you start gaining and you wonder, "what can I do?"  Believe me it is possible!  Here I was in December 2011 and the picture after that was just a couple of days ago (February 28, 2013) taken by my friend at a Mexican restaurant where I enjoyed a shrimp quesadilla.  Yes, I can enjoy food that isn't always good for me, but the point is not to always enjoy food like that. 

So stay healthy or start a healthy lifestyle!  There's no better day than today!

A quick before and after side by side:

This Title Is Something Clever

I am not much for creative titling so I am really having fun with myself for this post title, hee hee.  Whenever I see "hee, hee" after I type, I get a funny little thought of myself laughing into my hand like I would have as a little girl trying to remain quiet in church.  In reality I am giving myself a slight chuckle- in my head.  I guess that means I'm not really laughing at all?  Maybe I need to just insert a *smirk to myself*.  Anywho, I think about blogging all of the time but thinking about blogging is not the same as blogging.  We all know that.  My posts or lack thereof are proof of that.

Today was somewhat eventful. I went grocery shopping with my envelope of coupons for today's shopping trip and I saved $55 and spent $52. When I save more than I spend, I always count that as a win!  My daughter didn't feel like a winner with just shopping though.  Being nearly two means it's more fun to sprawl your whole body across the floor in buggy riding protest or pretend that you are still a crawler in the middle of the freezer aisle laughing the whole way and when mother picks you up, the appropriate response is to flail your head back attempting to fall from your mother's arms with screams of dis-delight (that's the opposite of delight in case you didn't know).  There's nothing at all embarrassing about that.  Especially when you either get a groan from another shopper or looks of sympathy.  What I am learning and she is learning how to do is get along together and finding a reason and balance with each other.  I ended up caving with mommy manipulation and handed her a food item from the cart (a yogurt) to keep the peace. Yogurt may not have been the best choice because if I ever had a busy moment or turned my back, we may have had a clean up on aisle 9 but all was well and we made it through yet another brewing toddler storm.

The rest of my morning went seamlessly as we visited my husband's grandmother.  I kind of took the initiative to wash her grey curtains and it was an excuse to keep her company and get her mind of of the fact her husband is in the hospital and not doing well at this time. Esther was content most of the time, crowding my lap and fearing the cat (in holy terror!) because cat's are apparently the most terrifying creatures on earth.  The cat was just as afraid and kept his distance. She made sure I was close but was quiet most of the visit as we did laundry. She kept asking for her nap and was so relieved when we made our trek back home (2 minutes away). It won't be long and we must pick up my son from school.  This is one of her favorite activities of the day because we always talk to a nice older woman and she gives Esther food.  Not the good for you kind of food.  Cookies and lemonade mostly.

Speaking of food, I have to post a recipe of the most amazing turkey salad ever that I made a couple of nights ago.  It was so"slamming" that I had a text from my husband yesterday just telling me how good it was at lunch. Even my son was asking for seconds and begging for another day of turkey salad for dinner.  The best part about this recipe is I felt like I was not giving him junk. It was a way to give him raw veggies (even onion) without complaint!

The Most Amazing Turkey Salad Ever

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 - 2 cups smoked or baked turkey breast chopped up
3 boiled peeled and chopped eggs
24 (approximate) grapes, halved
1 small vidalia onion (or any sweet onion)
1 small bunch of brocolli chopped (by small I don't mean two cups, maybe one cup chopped)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8-1/4 cup dijon mustard (to your liking)
1/2 cup low fat or fat free mayo
walnuts (optional)

Mix all of the ingredient together, toast some bread and serve with raw peeled and cut carrots for a healthy side.