Right Wing Mom

Starting over. YET again. I hate that I am always starting over.

Sometimes the thought creeps into my head: “Why bother? It’s not like you are going to stick with it… you always quit”

I hate that voice.

The “voice” of defeat.

SHUT UP!

Cliche as it sounds… I’ll never know unless I try.

So….. here I am again. Not really trying anything new on the workout front, Jillian is still kicking my butt.

The nutrition front will be a RADICAL change.

The last month or so, my diet has been so bad. Just nutritionally void and icky.

I stumbled across the Paleo diet and it looked PERFECT for me.

I have some major , major issues with starches and sugar and I’ve realized in the last 2 months or so, that I also am having some issues with milk - major cravings

So… I did some digging and some research and Marc and I have decided to jump right on in.

The Paleo diet, also called the Caveman diet is supposed to take you back to the way our “caveman” ancestors ate. Well, let’s start off by changing the name…. considering I’m not really in the evolution group - Marc and I have decided to call it the “Post-Flood” diet

Here are the basics. First off the No’s - No bread, grains, sugar, dairy, legums and tubers

Thats a lot of no foods. Bread, rice, pasta, sugar, corn, potatoes, beans, peanuts, milk, yogurt and cheese.

Yikes.

But - plenty of protein, veggies, fruits and nuts!

Breaking it down… its eating as clean and natural as you can.

There are a few reasons for going to what some may consider, extreme.

First, of course…. is weight loss. I want to lose weight. Plain and simple.

Secondly and more importantly, is health. Following this diet will allow my body to detox and heal its self. Let’s face it… I’m 37 and as much as I want to say “I don’t fell 37″ the truth is… I kind of do. I’m tired. I’m achy. I’m bloated. I’m sore.

My body is just not working optimally. That is pretty darn pathetic.

Marc and I have committed to doing this for 3 months. We will be traveling in October and want to be at our best.

It will be interesting and challenging.

I will keep updating here and let you know how it’s going and what, if any changes I am experiencing.

Please feel free to ask any questions!

Two posts in a week? Could I be back? Hmmm…..

Of course, both of the posts are about I Heart Faces! Sorry - but I’m having fun!

Fridays on I Heart Faces are Fix-It-Fridays. They post a picture that could use a little tweaking and leave it up to the reader to edit the photo as they see fit. This is great photo editing practice!

I use Aperture, which is the Mac photo editing software. I do have Photoshop also, but I find that Aperture takes so little time to get great results! I almost feel like I’m “cheating!” Plus, in all honesty… I haven’t figured out Photoshop all that much. I’m a busy girl and I can pop down for just a few minutes and edit a ton of photos with Aperture. One day, I’m sure, Photoshop and I will become good friends. But, until then… Aperture does EVERYTHING I need!

So, without further ado….

Here is this weeks original photo:

Twinkies! I love babies… I REALLY love twin babies. That could have something to do with having a pair of them myself… but I digress.

Cute photo, but could use some tweaking. Here’s what I had in mind:

I was really happy with the way it turned out! What do you think?

Here is my “recipe”

**First I cropped the photo to place more focus on the babies faces.

**Changed the “White Balance” to “Daylight” which slightly warmed their skin tones

**Used “Skin Softening” at a “Softness” of .17 and a “Strength” of 1

**Used “Retouch” on the baby girl’s chest to remove the red blotchy area

**Applied “Vignette - Gamma” with an “Intensity” of .5 and a “Radius” of 1.75

**Applied “Polarize” on the black background area at a “Softness” of .5 and “Strength” of .6

**Used “Dodge” at a “Softness” of 1 and “Strength” of 1 on both of the babies faces

I love photography - always have. But… even with some military training (Thanks USMC) I have never felt very confident with my photos.

Thankfully I have a wonderful and supportive hubby that likes to feed me ego and push me out of my comfort zone!

I have been experimenting a bit and with inspiration from both Haley and Andrea I’m going out on a limb!

Have you ever checked out I Heart Faces? If not… get your booty on over there! It is a wonderful site full of awesomeness!

I have been visiting the site for probably 18 months now and am constantly amazed at the wonderful photos!

So… I now present:

My first I Heart faces photo entry!

My sassy little Emma showing off her new shades.

Check out more awesome yellow themed photos here: I Heart faces

I just wanted to show off my cutie-patootie

Whew! Been a long, looooong time since I’ve participated in meal plan Monday. I’ve been doing fairly well with cooking every night and feeding the family fairly decent, but I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants and really want to get a bit more organized. So… here goes!

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and a daily snack are included.

Monday:
(B)Baked Oatmeal
(L)Pasta w/ Sauce, Veggie sticks
(D)Baked Chicken, sauteed Rutabaga, Broccoli
(S) Grapes, Cheddar Cheese and Crackers

Tuesday:
(B)Bacon and Eggs, Toast
(L)Panini’s with Lunchmeat and Cheese, salad, Crackers
(D)Italian Lentils, Salad
(S)Hummus and Carrot Sticks

Wednesday:
(B)Chocolate Waffles and Strawberries
(L)Italian Lentil Leftovers and Salad
(D)Pot Roast, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions and Celery
(S)Tortilla Chips, Salsa and Guacamole

Thursday:
(B)Pumpkin Pie, Toast
(L)Hot Dogs, Veggie Sticks,
(D)Maple Glazed Salmon, Rice and Broccoli
(S)Cheese Tortillas

Friday:
(B) Hashbrowns and Eggs
(L)Panini’s with Lunchmeat and Cheese, Veggie Sticks
(D)Mexican Night
(S)Apples and Peanut Butter

Saturday:
(B)Zucchini Bread and Protein Shakes
(L)Grilled Cheese, Veggie Sticks (Girls and I: Out with Friends)
(D)Homemade Pizza
(S)Hummus and Carrots

Sunday:
(B)Baked French Toast
(L)Panini’s with Lunchmeat and Cheese, Salad
(D)Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Green Beans
(S)Tortilla Chips, Salsa and Guacamole

One addendum, I will be having eggs and grapefruit every morning and big salad with beans or salmon for my daily lunch. As much as I love baked oatmeal and pancakes and stuff like that I just can not have that many carbs in the morning and still function.

Make sure to stop by I’m an Organizing Junkie for more Meal Plan Monday posts and inspiration!

Guess what?

It’s Friday night…

And I’ve got a hot date…

With my Husband…

Our first one in…

well, the last date we had was around Valentine’s day…

2008.

Yeah, Emma was in the sling. She was about 8 weeks old.

Tonight Luke will be in the sling. He’s 7 weeks old today.

All thanks to Aunt Haley!

Thank you Aunt Haley!

This week has been gong very well so far! Kaitie, Mandy and Jake have been doing awesome with their school and it feels great to be back on track!

But, Emma and Luke have been very busy learning too!

Learning to smile…

Learning to lift that head up…

and Learning a new way to say “I Love Do!”

See more Wordful Wednesday @SevenClownCircus!

Luke took his first shower with Daddy last night. He loved it! He only cried when we took him out

Luke’s morning nap in the swing. This is the way Mommy can get breakfast made, some chores done and school started.

Still Mommy’s princess! (yeas, its out of focus… but still cute!)

So, it’s been 4 1/2 weeks since I gave birth. Everything should be back to normal, right? Clean house, laundry all caught up, dinner (and breakfast and lunch) from scratch and on the table every night, school all caught up, me showered and dressed by 8am everyday… RIGHT?

Ok, ok… stop laughing. No, seriously… stop, please.

Sadly, this is what I was expecting of myself. Not even at 4 weeks, but at 2 weeks. Oh yeah. I wanted everything to be up and running smoothly and perfectly at 2 weeks postpartum. Why yes, I am a bit delusional, thank you for asking.

It had been a rough couple of weeks for me. You see, stuff needed to be done. Lots of stuff. All I had to do was ask. Just ask.

I couldn’t do it. I could not ask for help.

WHY?

Good question! I’m still trying to figure that out.

The only thing I can blame it on is genes.

I come from some mighty pigheaded women!

My Mom is pretty pigheaded but nowhere near as bad as my Grandmothers were.

Woo-Baby! They took the cake!

My Mom’s mom, Grandma Tippie, was widowed when my mom and her sister were in the early teens. She had to provide for her and her daughters. She played the organ at church, baked and sold cakes and made their own clothing. Before she passed away, she was in an assisted living / nursing home. I felt so bad for the people that took care of her. She was never mean or anything. But don’t you dare tell her what to do!

My Dad’s mom, Grandma Iva, was even more stubborn that Grandma Tippie I think. She was a VERY headstrong woman. She birthed 7 children, losing one in infancy. She was strong and gentle all at once and I never saw anyone mess with her.

The way I look at it, I have a couple of strikes against me - Lineage (those crazy woman that I am related to), Red Hair (infamous for stubbornness) Irish, Scottish and Hungarian ancestry (how’s that for a crazy mix of temper and attitude?) and I was born April 30th making me - a Taurus, you know, the Bull.

I’m not sure if I was always like this, but it is so hard for me to ask for help. I will nearly kill myself before asking for help. So, you can imagine what it was like around here the past few weeks. Me being physically unable to do somethings and yet not wanting to ask for help. Which just made me angry, because things weren’t getting done (My poor husband!)

I am happy to report though - that I did ask for help, eventually. After crying and yelling and being mad at Marc. I stopped one morning last week and through my tears prayed. I prayed that God would make Marc see what he was doing wrong and how he NEEDED to help me! Then I prayed for forgiveness and prayed that God would help me do my part too.

Amazingly, it worked. I asked, Marc helped. I felt much better.

Things have cleared up around here and Ihav estarted to get our act together. By “our” I mean the entire family and house.

I am working on “THE MASTER PLAN!” A plan / schedule that includes cleaning, food, laundry and school. Its coming along nicely and amazingly enough… things are once again getting accomplished! Woo-Hoo!

If anyone is interested, I will be more than happy to share it once I finish.

My goal for this next year is to release myself from the perfectionism I struggle with sometimes and to occasionally, when I REALLY need to, ask for help.