Day 10: Pick-Your-Own Farms

Today I'm thankful for PYO farms, particularly the one I go to, Larriland Farm.  I have been there several times this year and have picked pounds and pounds of delicious, locally grown fruit.  Yum!

6 pounds of blueberries, so tasty! 

We missed strawberry season this year, but have thoroughly enjoyed blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, and peach season! :)  Today, my sister and I returned to the farm for some apple picking.  Yay!

We also got to practice our tree climbing skills and ate about 10 apples while we were there!  They were just so crisp and flavorful.  :)  I went home with 12 pounds... so feel free to send your favorite recipes my way!  Hubby's birthday is coming up so I'm thinking an apple pie is in order. :)

I love this place because I get to support a local farm, I know where my food is coming from and how it has been treated, and call me crazy, but I just find it fun and empowering to collect my own food and bring it home for my family to enjoy.  I think it makes your food mean a little more and taste a little better when you've worked for it.  You can also bring others along and turn it into a social outing!  And don't forget the awesome tan you'll get! ;)

I've already planned our next trip: pumpkin picking! :)  If you're local, join me on Sunday, the 26th.  See ya there! :)

Day 9: Whole30

Today I'm thankful for the Whole30 diet that we did this past July. Doad and I have never dieted before and it was a great first experience.

I wanted to do the Whole30 for a few reasons:

-To break free from the need to eat sugar daily

-To give my body a little healthy reset/reboot

-My doctor also recommended it to help with some hormonal imbalances 

Hubby agreed to do it for one reason:

-He loves me ;)

Along with breaking my sugar addiction and a healthy reset, I experienced several other positive results during the 30 days. One thing that I was not expecting was that we were so much more productive that month. Because we weren't as sluggish or fatigued, we spent our free time accomplishing projects and getting out of the house instead of lounging around in front of the tv. I also stopped feeling that afternoon slump that usually wipes me out around 2pm every day. 

I also lost almost 5 pounds and lost inches off my waist. I tried not to get my hopes up about this area because that wasn't the reason for doing the diet and I didn't want that to be the focus of our Whole30, but we both got great results! I weighed in at 2 pounds under my goal weight and Doad lost 15 pounds.  That's a half a pound a day!  I also now fit back into my "skinny" jeans that I haven't been able to wear for almost three years. 

One of my most favorite things about doing this diet is the way that I've been able to share it with friends and family. Sometimes it's hard to explain why Doad and I eat the way we do, but those who are close to us have seen firsthand the results we got from changing our diets. It's been a great, pressure-free way to share a little bit more with them and we have been able to help people from both sides of the family do their own Whole30!

Doad and I are looking forward to doing another Whole30 in January to detox from the holidays and get a healthy start to the new year. We are hoping to create a meal plan for the whole month before hand so that others can join us. Maybe you can join us too! :)

Thanks, Whole30 for changing our lives in such a positive way. You're the best first diet ever!! ;)

Day 8: Katie and the Wellness Family Summit

Today, I'm thankful for Wellness Mama.  This takes a bit more explaining so read on to find out what I mean! :)

Earlier this year, Doad and I started to change some of our eating habits. It's been a slow change as we gradually cut out processed foods and replace them with homemade alternatives or healthier choices. We've switched over our meat and dairy to organic and pastured choices often buying directly from a farm or buyers club. We grow some of our own veggies and buy the rest from farmers markets as much as possible.  

Our garden last year 

We've also gone much greener in other areas of our lives like cleaners, medicines, and toiletries. I make many of our detergents and soaps as well as personal care products and we use herbs and essential oils to treat things like headaches, sore muscles, tummy aches and more!

When we first ventured into this lifestyle I really had to pace myself so that I wouldn't get overwhelmed. There is a whole lot of information out there and knowing what is reliable and what isn't could be pretty intimidating sometimes. Honestly, I still get a little overwhelmed sometimes - seriously, is gluten bad or not, can we all just decide for reals, please? 

Well, thank goodness for Katie from wellnessmama.com. She has been a valuable resource that I have gone to over and over. I have learned a lot from her and am so excited and thankful for her latest project!

She's created a resource to help others transition to a healthier, more natural lifestyle without the overwhelm and intimidation of doing it alone. It's called the Wellness Family Summit and it's FREE! How awesome is that? 

Katie has brought together 30 experts to share their valuable wisdom with us from October 13-20th. They include many of my other favorite, trusted resources such as, Mama Natural, Chris Kresser, Mommypotamus, and Vani Hari to name a few!

In this online event you'll learn things like:

-How to eat real food without going broke
-How to figure out your family's personal food and health needs

-Fermentation and traditional foods

-How to create natural personal care products that actually work

-Natural sources of probiotics and nutrients you can make yourself

-Leaky gut and digestive health

-What is really in your food

-and so much more!

If you've been considering incorporating even a few new, healthy habits into your lifestyle, this summit will be a great place to start. I'm super excited about it and hope you'll join me! :)

Day 7: Nail Polish

Today, I'm thankful for nail polish. :)

It's a little superficial, but we all have those personal vanities, right?  Nail Polish is like my time out for the day. I find it relaxing and refreshing to give myself a little manicure and I just feel so much cuter if I have cute nails.

My go to look is a solid color mani with an accent nail, usually glitter. ;)

Short and sweet today. What are you thankful for on this lovely Tuesday?

Day 6: 2014 Resolutions: September Recap

I'm kind of cheating today and posting my resolutions update as my thankfulness post.  But honestly, I am super thankful for these goals. They have kept me on track this year and help me accomplish some pretty awesome things that I might not have done otherwise.  

September feels like it just kind of flew by. Lots happened though, so maybe that's why.  

-Our sweet Lacey girl had her first birthday ;)  She loves to explore so we took her to a local park for a hike around the lake.  

-One of my very close friends had her first baby.  He is just perfect and so adorable and I have been spending lots of time with them soaking up those sweet newborn days.  

-Doad and I also started new jobs this month.  That has definitely made the time go by quickly as we adjust to a new schedule and work pace.

So now the question is: How did I do with keeping my goals during this crazy month?  

1. Run 100 miles this year. 

I ran 2.84 miles in September.  Not awesome, but a definite improvement over August.  Like four times better... ;)   Our total now is at 25.49 miles leaving 74.51 miles to go of my original goal and 24.51 miles to go in my new goal of 50 miles.  Will she make it?  No one knows!!

2. Get back to my wedding weight. 

Still maintaining at about two pounds under! Happy happy happy! ;)

3. Read 12 books. 

Check! This month I read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  This is a beautiful story about the book of Hosea from the Bible.  Just for fun, I thought I'd start compiling a list of the books I've read in case anyone is interested in reading them too.  The link above is to my Amazon store.  The books listed are priced exactly the same as Amazon's regular site, but if you buy from my store I get a small tiny little commission.  I'm sure you all know about affiliate links by now, NBD right? ;)  

4. Read through one book together with Doad.

Check! :)

5. Find a cleaning routine that works. 

So my work schedule now allows me to have a consistent schedule, meaning the same two days off every week.  Yay!  Unfortunately, the past few weeks, those days off have been filled with lots of errands and serving and loving on friends and family.  I guess I shouldn't say "unfortunately" because that's really a good thing and I much prefer it to cleaning ;)  Hopefully, the dust will settle soon and I will find my groove with the new schedule.

6. Get new items listed on my online shop.

This took the back burner yet again during this busy month.  My thoughts have now turned to Christmas and I'm hoping to get a few products listed in between making presents, but... I'm not too optimistic about this.  :/

7. Go to a marriage conference.

Also, not too optimistic about this goal either.  I think we may have missed the boat with this one.  :(

8. Go on a date with one of my sisters each month.

Check!  My sister J and I hung out this month.  The actual plan kind of flopped (we were supposed to go apple picking and arrived to find the orchard closed.  So sad!) but we still had a good time hanging out, shopping (bought some totally adorbs scarves!!), and talking about boys. ;)  

9. Learn Spanish

I think I made it to my goal of 2.8, but I honestly can't remember! :/  I finished whatever disc I was working on and then never remembered to put the next one in the rest of the month.  Gotta do that tomorrow!

Well, I definitely improved in my running goal last month.  My nanny family has a jogging stroller so I'm hoping to take advantage of this beautiful fall weather and do lots of running with my little charge.  :)  Hopefully, this month I will be able to say that I improved even more in my running goals! :)

Your turn! What baby steps are you taking to reach your goals this month?