Hockey Fan

Okay... so if you've seen the last post, this is just more of the same... but it's just so funny!  What is it about the olympics that gets us all so excited... :)

Whoa... what do we have here?

Can't keep my eyes off of it...

Ready to pounce...

And right about now... we are happy that Puma's front paws are declawed... (this is not the only time we have been thankful for this... I am thankful for this on a daily basis and so are my other cats.)

She is actually trying to catch each hockey player... crazy cat.  So once the olympics are over... what are we to do?  Last night she was watching bobsledding too... strange.  I was told maybe meerkat manor would be a good choice... we shall see.  :)

Olympic Fan

So, lately Justin and I have noticed that someone besides us is really enjoying the Olympics.

I have had this cat for I guess about eight years or so now... and although she is quite the trouble maker at heart, I have NEVER seen her give a rip about the computer screen or tv.  Turns out, she loves it!  It has given us fits of laughter over the last couple weeks.  I can't tell you how funny it is to watch her so into what is going on.  A couple of days ago she watched, actually watched an entire you tube video about a scrapbooking club I am a part of.  It was the oddest thing I think I have ever seen her do... and I've seen her do a LOT of odd things.  :)

Her new thing is to sit in front of the computer screen and watch the cursor put up words and bat the little hand off of the screen.  She will swat at bouncing icons at the bottom of my screen and basically just likes to be right here... in the way.  :)

So bottom line, it's incredibly entertaining right now, but I think she needs her own recliner or something, because standing right in front of the TV is not only annoying to others, it's bad for your eyes... right???  :)

So for now, we will just laugh and hope she decides to sit here more often to watch her shows...

... and if she won't watch TV after the Olympics, we will only assume she is a fan of winter sports... she is after all, a "snowy" bengal.  :)

Meow!

Photoshop Love

So, today there was no school, so I had a lot of time at my computer.  Not only did I work on my 365 day project, photos later tonight or tomorrow... but I also did a page from Valentine's Day/ Chinese New Year last night AND worked with my first photoshop template that has more than four photos.  Here is what I created... I LOVE it!  (oh, and I got to print it 12 x 12 on my new printer :)

So, about this diet change...

Many of you have been hearing about my diet switch, but haven't gotten the chance to hear about what exactly I am doing beside torturing myself.  :)  About three weeks ago I went and saw a naturopath.  She was amazing.  We talked for nearly two hours about life, my expectations, and my general routines.  I have been having arthritis tendencies in my hands and feet for a while now.  It won't seem to go away on it's own, so I had to try something drastic.  Turns out, what we put into our bodies, determines how our bodies work and perform (shocker :) so the plan is to remove all of the "stressor foods" from my diet for a while and then slowly add them back in one at a time.  Now, the "stressor foods" for my situation are food that commonly cause inflammation.  These are:
all animal milks
all animal cheeses
all corn products
potatoes
tomatoes
commercial eggs (organic eggs are ok)
all wheat products
white flour
breads
citrus
all fruit juices
all dried fruit
peanuts
processed foods
fried foods
grain-fed meat
shellfish
caffeine
alcohol
and finally... SUGAR

Here are a few bags of stuff I CAN eat... honestly, I agree, it looks and frankly some of it IS birdseed.  I give you flax seeds, whole oats, quinoa, pinto beans, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, basmati rice, and probably something else I have forgotten.  :)

So, initially I was somewhat in shock.  Although it is a list of a mere 20 things... these things are in almost EVERYTHING I have ever eaten.  The hardest part about it has been the little things... even in things like organic hummus or mayo, there is citrus.  In dressings and sauces there is often a bit of sugar or lime juice.  I used to live for fruit snacks or dried fruits rather than chocolate and I miss that like crazy.  It's strange to only be able to have water to drink... (although I sneak tea every morning (my sister says it's ok)... it's not my cup of coffee, but it works for now).  

Over the last two weeks I had to frost 24 cupcakes for Justin's birthday and 65 cookies for the kids on Valentine's day... and not lick my fingers... YIKES.

We used to go out to eat a lot and have basically had to stop doing that for now.  (although for Valentine's day last night we went to Eastland and I got the sauteed string beans with brown rice... I am sure that there was some sugar in the sauce they used, but I did my best.  :)  That trip out to eat last night was the first time I (assume) I have cheated at all... I've actually been very good.  

Now I have to give credit where credit is due... if it wasn't for Justin being around... I may have starved by now.  He has been my saving grace this last two weeks.  Making things from scratch and removing the bits of sugar and citrus for me.  It has been a true blessing.

Last Sunday we went to the store and then came home and worked in the kitchen for a couple of hours.

He made me homemade hummus, pesto, chicken noodle soup, and some amazing chicken salad.  It was the best set of meals I have had in a long time and none of it was bad for me.  :)  Not to mention that morning he made a batch of gluten-free oatmeal for me to have for breakfasts for a few days.

So, bottom line, this diet change is not fun... but it has been interesting and an amazing learning experience.  In two more weeks I will begin to add things back into my diet and see how it effects me.  I am both looking forward to this and dreading it at the same time.  What if my body hates cheese?  Oh the dread.  :{

I will leave you with an array of images of my food from the last couple weeks... bon appetit!

Organic eggs, zucchini, spinach, peppers, spices

Carrots, blueberries, rice crackers and water.  A snack I brought to a scrapbooking class.

Basmati rice with spices, and organic string beans.  (a standard favorite even before the diet switch:)

Peppers, spinach, zucchini, rice noodles, and homemade pesto... yummmmy!

Homemade hummus... perfect with rice crackers and makes even Wasa crackers taste good.  :)

Justin's famous Chicken salad... adapted for my diet.  Hands down favorite meal so far!  He has had to make two batches so far in the last week.  :)

And this is my creation... leading you again to take my word for it when I tell you I would starve without Justin.  This is a brown rice cake with almond butter, raw honey and bananas.  Looks better than it tastes, but it works. 

Love and Valentine's Day

So, for a very long time I have been clicking on my own blog to see if someone else had updated it for me ( he he)... unfortunately no one has been quite so ambitious.  I have been hung up on getting the rest of my December Daily finished and posted on here.  I had some trouble getting it done on the actual days in December, (instead, I made sure to journal each night so that I could do it later) but I have taken several days in Jan and Feb and I am up to day 18 I think.  I will wait until it is finished to post.

Ironically, despite the lack of creative blog posts, I have done more crafting in the last month or so than I have in quite a while.  I had a bit of an anxiety bout right at the new year, I found it to be the most soothing to get into the craft room and get a few things done.  Not only am I determined to finish the December Daily this year, but I also chose to embark on a 365 day project this year.  I have the first five weeks done and the last week is in the works.  On paper it seems like a huge commitment, but honestly, I think it has taken a bit of the "keeping up with my scrapbooking" burden off of me for now.  This 365 project is fairly simple, you can put as much or as little time into it as you would like.  And at the end of the day, it gives me a home for all those little thing that I routinely hang onto like ticket stubs, receipts, and notes from life.   I will post photos of this project as well.

For now, I wanted to share my morning with you all.  I woke up a bit late, as I found myself on the couch at 4am with the Olympics still on.  I slept through most of it, but I did manage to wake up just in time to see an American win the gold.  :)  When I woke up, I grabbed my tea, sat at the computer and settled in.  Now, about a week ago I had gone to Goodwill and found a Precious Moments Golden Book called The Wonder of Easter.  I grew up with Precious Moments figurines, stuffed critters, and books.  They bring some cozy and peaceful feelings with them.   So when I saw this book, I just knew it would be worth the 99 cents.  Today was the day, I found my favorite page that happened to be covered in hearts and made a little something for my parents to leave at their house as a Valentine's gift.  Here it is...

I often put off starting a frame, even if I have a great idea and visual, but today I went for it when the idea came to me and I am so in love with the result.  The picture is of my new niece Laila at about two weeks old.  I was SO pleased to get such a wide-eyed maybe even a little smile photo of her and my mom... makes me smile.  

So, Happy Valentine's Day all!  I am so lucky to be surrounded by love in my life... thanks to all of you for that.  :)