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!

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.

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.

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!

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...

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

*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!

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.

The Winner of Parley Ray Boutique...

Congratulations Krystal (entry #57)! I will contact you to claim your prize. Thanks to everyone who entered!

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:

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 ;)

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?

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.

Parley Ray Boutique giveaway!

I'm excited to announce a giveaway to Parley Ray Boutique! My talented sister (and mother of eight!) makes the most adorable baby bloomers/diaper covers and coordinating tops. These are perfect for summer and make the BEST photo props for photographing baby girls. See below for just a few of my favorite and enter to win a $35 gift certificate to Parley Ray Boutique!

Enter below to win a $35 gift certificate to Parley Ray Boutique!

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How to rock a ponytail

I had originally planned this post the week I was in Houston, but something happened on my phone and the entire thing was deleted. It's taken me this long to sit down and type it again. Hope it works this time!

I don't know about you, but since I've become a mom I have a lot less time to get myself prettied up for the day. But one thing I've learned is that if I show up at the store by myself with three little boys in tow wearing gym clothes and a ponytail I'm probably not going to get friendly or sympathetic looks from fellow shoppers. Instead, I'll probably get those looks that say things like "are they all hers?" "does she know about birth control?" and "can she shut that kid up?"

HOWEVER...if I go out in public with makeup, jewelry and cute hair, I get the exact opposite reaction. People will come up and say "wow, you have your hands full!" "are you going to try for a girl?" and "can I help you to your car?" And those that don't comment are giving sympathetic smiles rather than dirty looks. The difference is amazing. And kinda sad.

I have gotten my routine down where I can shower, blow dry, make up and dress in 30 minutes, but I still don't want to do that every day. So on those off days I throw it in a pony tail, add one of these cute little clips and voila- no longer schlumpy frumpy mom. This look says I  chose to put my hair in a pony tail and I like it that way. 

You can buy fabulous clips like this at Whippy Cake, however you can also make your own at home and it's super easy. There are dozens of tutorials out there, but I thought I'd share how I make mine.

Supplies:

3 coordinating fabrics (I buy the smallest yardage they let you- usually 1/4 yard)

3 decorative buttons (fabric store or ebay)

1 pinch clip (sally's)

Felt (I use white or grey)

Glue gun or needle & thread

Start with three coordinating strips of fabric about 2-3 inches wide and at least 6 inches long. I like to snip the fabric and then rip it lengthwise to create frayed edges. The wider and longer the fabric, the bigger the flower.

Fold the inside corner in half and start to roll to create the center of the flower.

As you roll, twist the fabric. The tighter the twist the flatter the flower will be. Experiment with looser and tighter twists to determine the style you prefer.

Keep twisting until you reach the end of your fabric.

Tuck the end under the flower and either hand sew through all layers of the flower to keep them together, or use hot glue to secure the layers together (you can also hot glue as you roll- to make sure every twist is secured).

Sew or hot glue a button to the top of the flower (ebay is the best place to find decorative buttons).

Repeat with each additional flower.

Attach the flowers together by hand sewing or using hot glue. Then cut a piece of coordinating felt in the shape of the back of the flower (hides the underneath and makes it look more professional).

Hand sew- or hot glue this to the back of the flowers.

Cut another piece of felt large enough to cover the clip. Clip the felt and put hot glue all over the clip and the felt cover.

Attach to the back of the flower- making sure the clip is positioned so that the flower faces the direction you want it to.

Place in your hair, on a cardigan or bag for a stylish way to add a pop of color and accessorize your outfit.

So go ahead, rock that ponytail!

p.s. these clips also look fab attached to a cardigan- adds a fun pop of color to any outfit. And for some super cute hair ideas, check out these sites:

Easy up twist with Whippy Cake

30 Days of Hair Romance

30 Hairstyles in 30 Days

Hair tips from I heart Naptime