Florida

Jeff has been talking about going back to Florida to the Florida Outpouring (where we went in May). He said he would like to go just the two of us, and have Evie stay with family or friends. I would love to go back to Florida. I have never really been away from Evie much at all though. That probably sounds really bad to some people. I have had a whole lot of people tell me it is unhealthy to never be away from your kids. I never left her overnight until she was 2 years old. Jeff and I have left her overnight with family three times total in all of her 6 1/2 years. Once was our anniversary, and we went to a town about 30 minutes from our house. The other time was also our anniversary, and we stayed in the same town we lived in and had family watch Evie. The last time we left her overnight was about 3 years ago. We went about 2 hours away with the youth group teens to Acquire the Fire, so I was away from her for a night and a day. Other than that, I haven't really been away from her. When she was little, I really wanted to have some time away to recharge, but we didn't really have a chance to because we lived far from family and didn't know people in our town well enough to leave her with anyone. I went from wanting to have time away, to not really knowing how to be away from her because I was with her all the time. I know that it would probably be really good for me to take a trip alone with Jeff. It would be a huge step for me.

Curly Hair Vs. Straight Hair

Today I tried something I haven't done in a very long while. I decided to stop fighting my wavy/curly hair. I have always wanted it to be straight, and have never really been able to figure my hair out. I recently started visiting a naturally curly hair website, and started to learn a lot about how to enhance curls. When I was younger and my hair was shorter, my hair had a lot of curls. I remember being at camp back when the short and feathered in the front and long and curly in the back hair was popular. I just described a glorified mullet didn't I. Oh well, I guess I am showing my age. Anyways, I remember these super popular girls at camp had perms, and were scrunching their curls in the back. I started doing that with my unpermed hair, and got the same looking curls. My dad has super wavy hair, and it would curl if he grew it long enough. My grandpa (my dad's dad) had ringlets when his hair was longer, so I know where I get it from! I have fought so much with not wanting it curly/wavy since growing long. I wanted it to be silky smooth. I realized that probably isn't going to happen unless I use a flat iron, which would fry my hair so I don't want to do that. So this morning after I washed my hair, I actually scrunched my hair to bring out the waves. I put some aloe vera gel on it to tame the frizzies. I added a spray on gel that was silicone free that I found at the store yesterday that enhances curls. I was amazed at how my hair looked. The picture is how it looked today. The ends look uneven, but it is just because the ends keep curling. The wave really came out, and the frizz wasn't there. So I guess I am going to embrace my curls instead of fight with them. Wow, what a new concept for me!

Garden

My garden has really been going to town lately with all the recent rain we have had. My Clematis and other flowers have really started to bloom, and it looks so pretty. I love flowers. I think it is so amazing how God gave us so many beautiful things to look at.

My vegetable garden is also growing nicely, but I didn't take a picture of that. My zucchini is flowering, so I should have some zucchini to pick soon. I want to freeze a lot of it this year, to have for zucchini pancakes (our family favorite), stir fry's, breads and muffins. I hope I get a bumper crop this year! My tomatoes and peppers are doing well, and have little buds on them.

We bought a fountain not too long ago for the flower bed, and I love it. I had always wanted one because I love the sound of the water. This is actually the second fountain we bought. The first one was the exact same, but the pump went out. Jeff went back to get another one, and noticed that the display model of it wasn't working very well either! We loved the fountain, so we got the same one. Within a day, this one stopped working too. Jeff said they put really wimpy pumps in it, so he just went out and bought a new pump that was stronger. It works great now! My handy hubby :). The flower bed is almost finished where the fountain is. Jeff has the fountain temporarily wired with an extension cord, but is going to permanently wire it when he gets a chance.

We recently drained the hot tub so that we could get rid of all the bromine in it. Evie had such a horrible bromine allergy (bromine is very similar to chlorine) that she couldn't go in the hot tub at all. In the summer she loves to swim in it every day, so we needed to find a solution that would work. We found a natural copper that people use for hot tubs, and so far it has been great. No yucky chemical smell, and no rashes on Evie. You can tell by her face how much she loves it :).

Diet and Exercise

I have been trying to get back into shape and eat healthier these past few weeks. It is so easy to fall back into not exercising or eating right. When I was younger, I was an exercise fanatic. I used to jog every day, and I would go to the gym and work out for 2 hours 3 days a week. Plus I was a cheerleader, and was in volleyball, so I was always in shape. I still exercised a lot when I first got married, but slowly got to the point where I wasn't consistent at all. When Evie was born, exercise pretty much went out the window. All I wanted to do in my free time (like I had a lot of that!) was SLEEP. I knew I was in really bad shape when Jeff and I went for a leisurely walk around the block a few months ago, and I was super winded. I figured it was time for a change. Normally I am a pretty healthy eater, but I have lately started eating junk food again. I always feel gross when I eat junk food, but for some reason I started eating it. So I am trying now to resolve to eat healthy again. As for exercise, I know it is a stress reliever, and helps me with energy, so I know I need to do it! I started out with this walking program called Walk Away The Pounds. It is a video, and Leslie Sansone, the woman in the video does a 1 mile, 2 mile, 3 mile or 4 mile walk. I started with the 1 mile and thought it would be a complete breeze for me. Imagine my surprise when I was panting like a dog after I got done and was super tired! Boy, was I out of shape. I slowly worked my way up to the 2 mile. Then boredom set in. There is just something SO boring about watching the same woman smile and chipperly say, "Okay, knee lifts!" every single day. We have an elliptical machine in the basement, but our basement was under construction so the elliptical was under piles of stuff. Jeff decided he wanted to get into shape too, so a few weeks ago he finished the rest of the work down there and set up our exercise room. We have a tv and dvd player in there, so no excuses for boredom. I started on the elliptical this week, and did it for 25 minutes on both Monday and Tuesday. I was winded (and wobbly!), but I felt much stronger than when I first exercised. Now I just need to keep up with it!

A Productive Day

It has been such beautiful weather these past few weeks. Very cool compared to a typical June. It has been in the low 70's for the past several weeks, and I love it! I can have windows open and enjoy the weather. Evie and I have been taking lots of walks during the day. Today God gave me a serious burst of energy! I got so much done today. I love those kind of days :). I am still homeschooling Evie 1-2 days a week during the summer so she won't forget all she has learned. I took several weeks off, and I was shocked at how much she forgot. I didn't want to have to start all over in the fall, so I figured 1-2 days a week would be a great way to keep things fresh in her mind. Today we homeschooled for about an hour (that is usually all it takes), we walked the dog, I did 5 loads of laundry and folded them all, I played with Evie twice, I exercised on the elliptical machine, I weeded my flower beds and I just made a yummy quiche for dinner! I hope I have another day like this tomorrow :).

My Sweet Husband

Jeff took the red-eye flight from California, and got home at 9:00 this morning. It is so good to have him home! He was gone all week in Wisconsin and California, and so he is pretty tired. He is sleeping now. He brought Evie and I gifts from California. He bought Evie a snow globe with the Golden Gate bridge in it. She has been wanting a snow globe, so she was so excited. I was super excited when I saw what he got me. We don't live anywhere near a Trader Joes, and I had been reading on my favorite long hair site all about how great their conditioners were. I kept asking Jeff to stop at a Trader Joes if he ever saw one when he traveled. He ended up getting me a bag full of different conditioners from Trader Joes, and I was so excited. He sure knows the way to my heart! LOL! Most women want jewelry and clothes. I want conditioner :). I can't wait to try them. My hubby is so thoughtful. I am so glad he is home!

I started making homemade bread again. We keep buying organic bread from the grocery store, and it is so pricey. I have been trying to make more foods at home to save money, and this is one easy way. We have a huge pail of organic wheat berries that Jeff's parents gave us, so I started grinding the berries into flour. Evie and I have started eating some food with gluten in it lately, and so far it hasn't seemed to bother us. Praise the Lord for that! Every time I would tell Evie she couldn't eat a certain food because of possible allergies, she would put her little hands on her hips and say, "Mommy, I'm healed in Jesus name!" Well, I can't really argue with that! The bread baking makes the house smell SO good. Yesterday my loaf turned out great. It was such a pretty loaf (can you say that about bread?), so I took a picture of it! It was almost too pretty to eat, but the smell was so good that we had to eat it. It is YUMMY.

Dressing Up Pets

Evie has this thing about dressing up our pets. She just loves to do it, and amazingly Sierra doesn't seem to mind at all. Dolly is less than thrilled with it, but she allows her to put frilly hats on her once in awhile. Sierra on the other hand will walk around with the outfit on for the whole day unless I take it off! Today she was dressed up looking like she was ready for afternoon tea :). She wore the outfit, including the hat while she chewed on her bone. I could not stop laughing. Evie really takes after me in this area, and I didn't even teach her! When I was a kid, I used to dress up our animals in frilly outfits. When I was growing up, I had a dog named Andy that was a miniature schnauzer. I used to dress him in a frilly tutu and tights. The poor dog. I probably gave him a complex. He also wore this satin red jacket that made him look like he belonged on a motorcycle. I have just had this thing with dressing up our pets, and it seems like I have always had animals that didn't seem to mind too much. Way before Evie was born, when Dolly was our "baby", I went to a look at garage sales for some baby clothes. I found this mint green onesie shirt, and ended up having Dolly try it on. Of course it needed an accessory, thus the scrunchie came out. Poor Dolly. She looks thrilled doesn't she? She just laid there though and actually relaxed while I did it. What a compliant cat. She was only a few years old then. Now she is too old, and I wouldn't want to do that to her! So alas, my daughter's desire to dress up our pets comes from me.