A Little Attitude

I think we might be working on another tooth over here. Or maybe Griff is just starting to have a little attitude. But, he's been doing quite a bit of crying today. As my mom used to say, "It's a good thing he's cute."

Two.

Years, that is.

Two years ago today, Jose and I stood in an adorable white chapel in Rosemary Beach, Florida and promised to love and cherish each other. (Everybody who was there: Take a moment and remember how much fun we all had together; how lovely it was.)

My love and respect for you continually grows, Jose. I feel so blessed to be building a family with you. Happy Anniversary, Love!

Pueblo Mountain Park

Just outside of Pueblo there is this sweet, little eco-lodge. The hikes are beautiful. The rooms are cozy. And, it is quite reminiscent for Jose--taking him back to his middle school camp days.

Baby G

Delightful Discoveries

I've found a few new things recently...

1. This is a shocker to me, but I found something that I L-O-V-E at Wal-mart. Yes, Wal-mart. For our wedding, we registered for sheets at Crate and Barrel. They are white with green leafy vines all over them. They make me feel like summer. Summer is starting to look a little ragged. I am sad to report that after about 100 washes, our sheets have holes in them. While I was wasting time during my Element's oil change the other day, I checked out the bedding at Wal-mart. I discovered these wonderfully soft Canopy sheets. They were only about $35 for the set. We've been sleeping on them for a week and they really are more comfortable than our much more expensive Crate and Barrel sheets!

2. Yogurt...frozen yogurt. It is my favorite dessert. My new favorite place to get it is Yogurt Guru in Cherry Creek. Several years ago, my friend, Sara, and I drove all over Denver to get frozen yogurt out of a sketchy gas station. Now there are several places to chow down on yogurt. But, here's the thing about the Yogurt Guru--it is self-serve. You get a cup. You fill it with as much frozen yogurt as you want. You top it how you want. You place it on the scale. The cashier tells you how much to pay. You eat. SOOOOOOOO good. Court and Whit--my treat, come on!

3. Griff has a tooth. Well, the little point of a tooth breaking through the gums. He has been a trooper! And, has decided that he enjoys teething on his toes.

Clickin' Moms

Clickin' Moms is a pretty cool place. It's an online forum for moms who like/love/make money from photography. I've been a member since January. Up until this month, however, I hadn't posted a single photo. I was completely intimidated. I started taking their Rock Your Camera 101 class...

Let's just say my fears were confirmed. I have a lot to learn. Really, a lot. During our first lesson, we were told all of our shots needed to be posted SOOC. What? Well, that's a cute little acronym...I'm pretty good at my teacher jargon...GT, ALP, ADHD, NEA,

AYP...but, this one stumped me. It means straight out of camera. No Photoshop. Not a problem. I barely know how to edit my photos anyway.

While I am enjoying all that I'm learning in this little workshop. It's scary. I have to post a slew of photos every week to be critiqued. Anyone in the class can give you feedback and they do. There is always some positive, but the negative always stands out like that maddening drop of chocolate ice cream on a lovely white shirt.

Here are a couple of my favorite shots so far. SOOC, of course.

Week in Review

The Whole Foods Week

The Verdict: Success!

We ate well this week. When the rubber met the road, it was not actually that different than any other week. The biggest change for Jose was breakfast. Instead of his regular cereal, he ate quinoa for breakfast (recipe to follow). My challenge was the afternoon snack. I want something quick, easy, and maybe a little sweet. While the fruit and nut clusters were satisfying, a chocoholic cannot live on dates. I mean, pitted, dried dates. I did make myself a delicious cocoa/banana smoothie...with some spinach, of course, but that didn't completely satiate my chocolate needs. Griff probably had the easiest time.

Some of our favorite meals were fish tacos with homemade tortillas, grilled chicken salad, and a quinoa grain bowl. Jose said that his quinoa cereal was the best cereal he has ever eaten...wow! I enjoyed making and eating homemade bread and pizza.

So...my Saturday morning Pilates class required more will power than this week did. I missed snacks, but was quite happy to realize that we don't have that much junk food in our lives. We do occasionally stop at Chick-Fil-A or Smashburger and guiltlessly enjoy it, but our pantry is a pretty healthy place.

About a year ago, I bought the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It completely changed my perspective on how and what I eat. I think I've always eaten pretty healthily (thanks, Mom), but I felt like eating organic fruits and vegetables was a luxury. Not something that normal people do every week. I was wrong. Eating organic produce and meats really does make a difference. Once we became practiced at organic shopping and left out a few extremely processed foods, we spent about the same amount of cash at Sprouts as we had at Safeway. I think sometimes we care more about what we put onto our bodies (lotions, makeup, clothes) than we do about what we put into them. Everyone has to decide for herself, but I'm going to keep trying to clean things up.

If you want a crash course in the importance of organic farming, watch Food, Inc.

Breakfast Quinoa

Ingredients

Quinoa

Banana

Honey

Soymilk

Make enough quinoa for the week.

One part quinoa, two parts water.

Boil.

Simmer until the water is absorbed.

Store in a container in the fridge.

Put your desired amount of quinoa in the bowl.

Cut up your banana and toss it in.

Drizzle with honey.

Add a little soymilk.

Heat it up in the microwave for about a minute.

Weekend Fun

Six Months

It seems like Griff should be 6 months old, but not half a year! Somewhere in between learning to sleep through the night and getting on a reliable feeding schedule, 6 whole months have passed.






The growth and change we've seen in him is a beautiful reminder of God's creativity. How does he know how to laugh? Where did those sweet smiles come from? How can he already have favorite songs? He is such a miraculous little creature.

Happy half-birthday, Gigs! We love you!

Try It Tuesday!

This is a Try It Tuesday for Jose and I. But, it's actually for the week. Starting today, we are spending the week free from preservatives and processed foods. We're having a whole foods week. But, I shopped at Sprouts. We have a few exceptions--soymilk, cheese, and yogurt. Otherwise, everything we're eating is organic and whole.

So, here's what we're eating today:

Breakfast

Quinoa with honey, banana, Silk, and flax seeds

Lunch

Steak sandwich with homemade bread, cheese, and spinach

Honeydew

Baked potato

Nuts

Dinner

Grilled chicken salad with spinach, carrots, peppers, celery, oil/vinegar

Dessert

Cocoa cookies

Snack

Green smoothie

Nut and dried fruit clusters

This was last night's dinner...