Saturday, May 5, 2012
Provo, Utah LDS Temple Artwork
You can download free images of the Provo, UT temple on my free temple pictures website. Next up, Bountiful!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Bingham Copper Mine
I've been wanting to take the boys to see the copper mine ever since we moved to Utah. Yesterday I saw a facebook post from Dresses & Messes that the mine is offering free admission for the month of May, so we loaded up and drove on over. It really is quite an impressive sight even from miles away.
The museum inside has a lot of rock specimens, replica's of the mine, a movie about how it all works, and of course a lot of little trucks and tractors (Grant was really upset that he couldn't play with the trucks, he kept saying "get trucks out!")
And as a bonus the road we took to get there went right past the Up house...
If you live in Utah, go print off your free coupon and head on over, it's a fun experience and you can't beat the price! Plus the gift shop has awesome copper postcards and a great selection of copper bracelets for under $10 (a great gift for out-of-towners).
The wind was blowing so hard at the top it about knocked us over, so I was lucky to get the few pictures I did.
They say it is larger than two Sears/Willis Tower's stacked on top of one another. Having stood on the skydeck of the Willis Tower just two years ago and feeling like I would pass out as I looked down on the city, I can appreciate just how deep the mine really is. It was dizzying just standing there to take pictures (especially with the wind blowing).
Of course the favorite were the ginormous trucks the size of a 2 story house which look like tiny toys from up here.
The museum inside has a lot of rock specimens, replica's of the mine, a movie about how it all works, and of course a lot of little trucks and tractors (Grant was really upset that he couldn't play with the trucks, he kept saying "get trucks out!")
And as a bonus the road we took to get there went right past the Up house...
If you live in Utah, go print off your free coupon and head on over, it's a fun experience and you can't beat the price! Plus the gift shop has awesome copper postcards and a great selection of copper bracelets for under $10 (a great gift for out-of-towners).
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Real food: Real costs
My first "real food" shopping trip was February 25. I am happy to report that the first month I only went to the store 3 times and spent a total of $320. I also purchased two bountiful baskets $30 and $35 at Winder Dairy for a monthly total of $385, less than the $400 I used to spend per month.
However, from the end of March through the end of April I wasn't quite so thrifty. I spent $150 at Sunflower Farms on fresh produce, honey, nuts and dried fruits, a month's worth of chicken, puffed whole grain cereals (enough to last several months), maple syrup and spices. I purchased 4 bountiful baskets for $135 which included a lot of bread, granola and strawberries (I've gotten too lazy to make bread & granola lately) and $170 of winder farms dairy and meat products. I also had to make a few regular grocery store trips for additional bananas, grapes, strawberries, nuts and apricots- spending another $40. for a total monthly amount of $495- quite a jump from the previous month.
Most of that extra was spent on dried fruits and nuts- we have been eating them like candy. My favorites are dried apricots and almonds, but we also buy a ton of dates, raisins and pecans so we can make larabars- which go really fast around our house! And the extra expense of bread and granola that I've been too lazy to make. Could I eat real foods less expensively? Yes! And during some months I will...but I LOVE food, and love cooking and am having fun experimenting right now. We eat pretty darn good for $400 to $500 a month for a family of five, which I think for organic food, is pretty reasonable. Overall, I feel that I'm not spending much more yet I'm feeding our family much better.
And I am amazed at how much better I feel focusing more on fruits and veggies. As a bonus, I'm back into a size 2 without much exercising (of course I wish I were still running- I crave running, it's just not possible on a consistent basis right now, and pushing a stroller is only fun for about 2 miles...). And I'm still eating so-called "fattening" foods like peanut butter, regular butter, yogurt, cheese, bacon, nuts and avocado. My boys are super happy about being able to eat so many fruits and veggies and I'm having fun trying to "healthify" my old recipes.
Now when I do eat something that comes from a box, it just tastes fake and isn't appealing to me at all. I love that the human body naturally craves what it needs. When you eat healthy, your body craves healthy food, which makes you crave exercise, which in turn makes you crave healthy food. On the other hand when you eat junk, your body feels like junk and you don't want to do anything, which makes you crave more junk. I'm so glad I got out of the junk cycle and onto the feelin' good cycle!
However, from the end of March through the end of April I wasn't quite so thrifty. I spent $150 at Sunflower Farms on fresh produce, honey, nuts and dried fruits, a month's worth of chicken, puffed whole grain cereals (enough to last several months), maple syrup and spices. I purchased 4 bountiful baskets for $135 which included a lot of bread, granola and strawberries (I've gotten too lazy to make bread & granola lately) and $170 of winder farms dairy and meat products. I also had to make a few regular grocery store trips for additional bananas, grapes, strawberries, nuts and apricots- spending another $40. for a total monthly amount of $495- quite a jump from the previous month.
Most of that extra was spent on dried fruits and nuts- we have been eating them like candy. My favorites are dried apricots and almonds, but we also buy a ton of dates, raisins and pecans so we can make larabars- which go really fast around our house! And the extra expense of bread and granola that I've been too lazy to make. Could I eat real foods less expensively? Yes! And during some months I will...but I LOVE food, and love cooking and am having fun experimenting right now. We eat pretty darn good for $400 to $500 a month for a family of five, which I think for organic food, is pretty reasonable. Overall, I feel that I'm not spending much more yet I'm feeding our family much better.
And I am amazed at how much better I feel focusing more on fruits and veggies. As a bonus, I'm back into a size 2 without much exercising (of course I wish I were still running- I crave running, it's just not possible on a consistent basis right now, and pushing a stroller is only fun for about 2 miles...). And I'm still eating so-called "fattening" foods like peanut butter, regular butter, yogurt, cheese, bacon, nuts and avocado. My boys are super happy about being able to eat so many fruits and veggies and I'm having fun trying to "healthify" my old recipes.
Now when I do eat something that comes from a box, it just tastes fake and isn't appealing to me at all. I love that the human body naturally craves what it needs. When you eat healthy, your body craves healthy food, which makes you crave exercise, which in turn makes you crave healthy food. On the other hand when you eat junk, your body feels like junk and you don't want to do anything, which makes you crave more junk. I'm so glad I got out of the junk cycle and onto the feelin' good cycle!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple Photos
I've just posted images of the Mount Timpanogos, Utah temple. You can purchase prints or download the digital file from my free temple pictures site. These are a few of my favorites.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Simple things: lilacs & snails
I was sitting on the grass of my in-law's backyard talking with my husband on skype when I noticed these beautiful lilac trees in bloom. I had to grab my camera and take a few shots.
It's so nice to see everything start to bloom and turn green again!
The boys enjoyed playing with snail shells. I took them to see the Lorax last week, so Ethan ran up excited and said "I found the shell of a great-grandfather snail!" The other one had a live snail inside and they watched it slowly creep along the patio but were really sad when they came to check on him a while later and he'd disappeared.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
2011 Scrapbook
I finally finished our scrapbook for 2011! I got really lazy towards the end, like always...but it's DONE. Now I can begin working on 2012, before it's over...
Create your own Photobooks with Inkubook.com! |
Friday, April 27, 2012
Tracy Aviary
After the boys were troopers tagging along with me to Temple Square so I could take pictures, I promised them a trip to the aviary. We've been meaning to go ever since we moved here and I'm so glad we finally made it (especially since our zoo pass expires next week). They had a lot of fun. We've been studying birds as a main focus of school this year, so they were excited to get to see them up close. The zoo here is kind of pathetic compared to the Louisville zoo, but I may just renew our pass just so we can come to the aviary again...
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
New Salt Lake Temple Artwork!
Spring is finally here! Actually it feels more like summer- I wish it felt more like spring, BUT the trees have finally bloomed! So now I'm frantically trying to photograph all the temples in the area before we leave for our vacation.
I added a lot of new photos to the Salt Lake Temple album, so those of you who were wanting to print large images, you can now! I'll be posting the other Utah temples soon (so many requests for Bountiful, Timpanogos and Provo- I hope to get them up next week!) Here are a few of my favorites from Salt Lake.
As always, these temple pictures are absolutely free for personal or church use and you can download them from my free temple pictures website at http://www.freeldstemplepictures.com
I added a lot of new photos to the Salt Lake Temple album, so those of you who were wanting to print large images, you can now! I'll be posting the other Utah temples soon (so many requests for Bountiful, Timpanogos and Provo- I hope to get them up next week!) Here are a few of my favorites from Salt Lake.
As always, these temple pictures are absolutely free for personal or church use and you can download them from my free temple pictures website at http://www.freeldstemplepictures.com
*The bottom one would be perfect in the three picture frames sold at IKEA for $9.99, simply print each of these images and insert in frame. Great wedding gift!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
An Intentional Life
You may have noticed the new blog design and title. When I began this blog more than 5 years ago, it was a private blog to share photos with our family who lived 2,000 miles away. After making the decision to go "public" I was at a loss trying to come up with a name since I still blog mostly for me, for a family record and to share things that I'm learning in life, thus I blog about a million unrelated things...However the time has come for me to remove our last name from the blog, forcing me to choose a new name. The url remains the same, just the name has changed- although if you grabbed a button that will need to be updated (sorry! But it was either name change or go private again!)
"An Intentional Life" kind of sums up the kind of life we try to live. We try to make each day count; not to just wander this earth mindlessly seeking fleeting pleasures or living from one crisis to the next, but to plan out our future and work towards specific goals that will get us there.
One example of intentional living is our change to real foods and avoiding processed foods. We could wait for cancer or diabetes to inflict us, but we choose to take measures to prevent rather than deal with a future problem. Or our choice to invest for our children's education and our future missions. We make sacrifices today to save for a future that is relatively uncertain, but that we hope will provide a secure financial future for our children and a life of service for us. Intentional living is acting, not being acted upon. Choosing to obey God's laws and enjoy blessings rather than suffering consequences that occur when we disobey them.
Certainly our specific goals change over time and in the end we may have a completely different destination than when we started, but we have something to shoot for and we work for it each day, but the eternal destination never changes.
I love Joel Osteen, one my favorite quotes by him is "God wants us to live consistently, He wants us to enjoy every single day of our lives." Happiness is not something that we have to wait until the next life to obtain, we can experience joy NOW through the choices we make each day!
That is what I want the purpose of this blog to be. To share joy in the simple things of life, the pitter-patter of little feet, the hysterical belly laughs shared by brothers, the excitement of learning and the beauty of life. I want to live an intentional life, to align my future with the future that God has planned for me and enjoy, not just survive, life's journey.
"An Intentional Life" kind of sums up the kind of life we try to live. We try to make each day count; not to just wander this earth mindlessly seeking fleeting pleasures or living from one crisis to the next, but to plan out our future and work towards specific goals that will get us there.
One example of intentional living is our change to real foods and avoiding processed foods. We could wait for cancer or diabetes to inflict us, but we choose to take measures to prevent rather than deal with a future problem. Or our choice to invest for our children's education and our future missions. We make sacrifices today to save for a future that is relatively uncertain, but that we hope will provide a secure financial future for our children and a life of service for us. Intentional living is acting, not being acted upon. Choosing to obey God's laws and enjoy blessings rather than suffering consequences that occur when we disobey them.
Certainly our specific goals change over time and in the end we may have a completely different destination than when we started, but we have something to shoot for and we work for it each day, but the eternal destination never changes.
I love Joel Osteen, one my favorite quotes by him is "God wants us to live consistently, He wants us to enjoy every single day of our lives." Happiness is not something that we have to wait until the next life to obtain, we can experience joy NOW through the choices we make each day!
That is what I want the purpose of this blog to be. To share joy in the simple things of life, the pitter-patter of little feet, the hysterical belly laughs shared by brothers, the excitement of learning and the beauty of life. I want to live an intentional life, to align my future with the future that God has planned for me and enjoy, not just survive, life's journey.
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Winner of Parley Ray Boutique...
Congratulations Krystal (entry #57)! I will contact you to claim your prize. Thanks to everyone who entered!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Simple things
We finally had a day of sunshine after a week of cold drizzly weather. We've been wanting to explore this trail near our house for a while now and finally got the chance. The boys had a blast running around like wild things.
And, an attempt at self-portrait showing off the new hair...haven't been blonde since I was a toddler...
Linking up at:
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Last chance: Parley Ray Giveaway!
Last chance to win a $35 gift certificate to Parley Ray Boutique! Check out these latest additions- simply adorable! Winner will be announced Monday morning.
Enriching experiences
This week the boys and I watched Dolphin Tale, based on the true story of Winter, the dolphin who was rescued and has a prosthetic fin. They were enthralled, and after the movie we went out to the web cam where we could see Winter swimming in her tank. There is a link where you can "adopt" an animal and Ethan chose to adopt Winter. He printed out a picture of Winter and an adoption certificate, they also have coloring pages to print.
I loved the part in the movie where the mother said her son was having a much richer experience with the dolphin than in his summer school classroom. That is one of the primary reason why I homeschool. To provide enriching, hands-on, real life experiences.
This school year so far we have traveled to sixteen states, visited countless zoo's, science center's and museums, hiked Sand Dunes National Park and Zion's National Park, milked a cow, grew mold in a petri dish, grew some potted plants, made yogurt, spent lots of time at the farm, dinosaur museum and gardens of Thanksgiving point. Next week we're headed to the Aviary and in a few weeks we'll be taking a trip to California where, among other places, we'll visit Sea World where they can continue their lesson about dolphins and the beaches in La Jolla where we'll (hopefully) see some sea lions sunbathing on the rocks.
I enjoy the adventure of hands-on learning and love to see the excitement in their eyes when they discover something for the first time!
p.s. sorry if you got this twice on rss, my 2 year old published it before I was finished ;)
I loved the part in the movie where the mother said her son was having a much richer experience with the dolphin than in his summer school classroom. That is one of the primary reason why I homeschool. To provide enriching, hands-on, real life experiences.
This school year so far we have traveled to sixteen states, visited countless zoo's, science center's and museums, hiked Sand Dunes National Park and Zion's National Park, milked a cow, grew mold in a petri dish, grew some potted plants, made yogurt, spent lots of time at the farm, dinosaur museum and gardens of Thanksgiving point. Next week we're headed to the Aviary and in a few weeks we'll be taking a trip to California where, among other places, we'll visit Sea World where they can continue their lesson about dolphins and the beaches in La Jolla where we'll (hopefully) see some sea lions sunbathing on the rocks.
I enjoy the adventure of hands-on learning and love to see the excitement in their eyes when they discover something for the first time!
p.s. sorry if you got this twice on rss, my 2 year old published it before I was finished ;)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Quinoa & Black Bean Burritos
You have got to try this quinoa burrito recipe- it is amazing. I loved it, the boys loved it; it's definitely on the list of my new favorite foods, and couldn't be healthier. Need I say more?
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Spring has sprung...kind of...
At least it did for a few days... We were out in shorts one day and it snowed the next. I'm so glad we visited Thanksgiving Point before the official start of the tulip festival because I after this crazy weather they won't be quite as beautiful. We are so looking forward to spring staying for more than two days at a time so we can start having our school here again. Couldn't ask for a more beautiful classroom setting...
Linking up at:
P.S. Don't forget to enter to win a Gift Certificate to Parley Ray Boutique! The cutest darn rufflebutts / diaper covers / bloomers. Simply adorable and they make the PERFECT photography props.
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