Cookies AND Milk

We have a very strict rule in our house. The person with the sleeping puppy on their lap does not have to get up off the comfy warm couch away from the tantalizing TV, to get whatever object it is that might be the needed at the moment.

This rule started when we got our first child, Beans.

The rule continued when we got our second child, Daisy.

Now we have this cute lil' kitty, appropriately named Loki (mythical being of mischief in Norse mythology), that likes to purr all over us while we're trying to get into the most intense part of Inception....

We also have this horrible habit of eating dinner on the couch.... we eat desert there too.

 Don't judge. You know you've done it.

So when the food has settled, and the movie is in full motion, when your feet are propped up and the blanket is warm, when you decide it's time for desert, you'd better make sure that puppy is sleeping on your lap.

Sometimes we even play tug-a-war with the poor sleepy pets and laugh hysterically trying to stay on the couch. I lose a lot.

 I almost always have to go get the cookies.

I push pause, get up from my warm comfy spot and I run to the kitchen, flip on the light, grab the cookies, grab some napkins (because we all know I need napkins like I need Oxygen), turn the light off again, jump back onto the warm couch, grab the blanket, put my feet up, wiggle into a cushy position...

 Then Matt says, "Where's my milk?"

My response is usually something that sounds a lot like, "Aaahhhhhggggh!"

Marriage is not easy. It's not all milk and cookies. It's not all warm couches. Sometimes you have to get out of that nice comfy spot during the middle of an intense movie and do something you don't really want to do to make your spouse happy. (are you following my analogies here? or am I losing everyone?)

Marriage is pretty fun...usually. kinda. Well, mostly. I know, we've only been married for 6 years and 4 months so to some of you it's just jump change. It's great having a partner to stand beside you day after day, fighting battle after battle and being there when you need a shoulder after a long day. But once in a while, we get a little selfish. We get bitter about stupid little things (that are not so stupid and little at the moment, because you are being bitter and selfish about them), and we forget to remember what really matters in the relationship. Giving. Loving. Appreciating. Supporting. etc...

most favorite ecard of the week!

I think of it this way: I am married to my best friend. By choice.

Think about your best friend for a second. And pick someone other than your spouse! Do you think if you spent every minute, day after day, emotionally and physically attached to that friend, maybe once in a while you guys would disagree on some things? Think you'd get a little annoyed and want to be a little selfish occasionally? 
 Probably.
 I highly doubt you can find anyone that is such a soul mate that you find absolutely nothing wrong with them all the time. But you over look the small things, right? And you continue to do things the other person likes... to keep them happy, and in turn, they make you happy, and life is all butterflies and rainbows.

Philippians 2:1-4 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

                                                                 ouch.

I'm just kind of talking out loud here to remind myself that sometimes doing the little things out of just plain ol' Love, can matter a lot to the other person.

I need to get the milk without being asked more often.

And I usually get a thank-you-baby-kiss in return... so, it's a pretty cool deal.

Happy Valentine's week everyone!

 (FYI: because I'm a day late, I demand this is an all-week thing now).

And remember, it's the little things that matter the most sometimes.

...like this awesome little necklace that came with the movie I asked for!!
My husband is charmer for sure :)

Food Addict

Hi. My name is Sarah and I've been addicted to food since my poor mother was "starting to show."



(my counter last week. I felt guilty after eating junk
food for a few days in a row. cant you tell? haha)

I'm always hungry. Ask anyone who has ever lived or lives with me. I can eat a huge meal and within 2 hours, my face is planted in the fridge and I'm yelling something like, "Uuugh!! There's nothing good in here!"

This food addiction has never been an issue until a few years ago. I used to be able to eat whatever the heck I wanted and not gain a pound. Then I got married.

Why does that happen?! I've had to watch what I eat ever since I said "I do."

 (thanks a lot Matt!)

Since I absolutely hate working out, I would rather eat better during the day and not have to do so many lunges after work. I know, I know, it's better to eat healthy AND work out... but let's start with the menu before we go hard-core on the gym hours.
 I've always been really good at eating healthy lunches at work, bringing my own home-made salads, fruit bowls and what-nots... but it's the dinners that get us at our worst.

You get home from work and you're hungry, tired, hungry, grouchy, hungry... oh wait, that's me. So I get home and I start stuffing my face with whatever I can find while I make dinner. Or, we just run and get Mexican Food from around the corner. Not so healthy, hm?

I've been testing out a few recipes from the Paleo Diet. So far, I'm impressed! Very tasty and I'm learning that staying away from dairy and grain will be easier than I thought!

Here is my "Egg Plant and Zucchini Lasagna". You can get the recipe HERE!


There was a ton left over for lunches
or future dinners!

There are no noodles, no cheese and no beef! Yet, this thing was amazing!
I added a few things to spice it up a little... more chopped onions, a handful of chopped fresh basil leaves, lots of pepper, etc... This is a great dish to season to your taste buds. But remember, salt is bad! No salt! No butter!

I even cleared off the counter to help out a little. First I unplugged the Toaster and hid it in the pantry. (No wheat remember? Especially buttery toast!). Then I pulled the Blender out of the pantry and put it on the counter. More smoothies! Yum! I put it next to the crock pot that I'm hoping to use for more healthy dinners in the future.

This is one of my favorites. "Pumpkin Honey Muffins." you can find the recipe HERE!

Helpful Hint: Go to Trader Joe's. They carry everything gluten free and Paleo ok'd that you'll need for these recipe's!

first: make a mess

second: watch 'em burn!

Ta-Da!!

Delicious!

Oh! And I made some of my own "Trail Mix."
 In the Paleo Diet, you can't have salt, peanuts or m&m's... So I mixed Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds and Pine Nuts together in zip lock baggies, then sprinkled in a few dark choc. chocolate chips for a little yumminess. (They suggest you add dried fruit too, but I can't stand the stuff, so my Trail Mix will remain pretty plain.)

(Matt bought huge bags of the nuts at Costco so
we got more for our $)

So, what's on tonight menu?
I'm using the crock pot! Pork Loin, apples, onions, and honey, on top of mashed cauliflower!

 



 I'm usually gone about 10 hours a day or more, and my crock pot doesn't have a timer that can just turn on or off...so this morning I'm prepping all the food, then having my very-talented hubby turn the crock pot on before he heads in to work. I'll let ya know how it goes!

Now let's re-cap:

The Upside to eating healthy?
Other than the fact that your counter looks pretty funky, fun and colorful...

 ...There are probably too many reasons to list!! But I'll tell you what... I'm starting to really like the look of the inside of our fridge. I feel healthier just staring at it!

 

The downside to eating healthier?

 

It's Girl Scout Cookie Season!

 

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

this makes me want to cry!

 

Somehow we'll get through this crazy transition from snacking on chocolate bars and cookies at night, to nuts and apple slices.
 I'm not going to stick to a super strict diet because that just doesn't work for me. Everyone is different though, so that could work for you. My main goal is to find yummy, healthy, foods that give us a certain kind of good energy. Not the energy you get from caffeine or from a sugar buzz.

May the odds be ever in our favor!

true story bro!

 

Pens, Paper and Powerpoint.

And....we're back in class!

Just when we thought, "Now all we have to do is wait!!"... our CSW referred us to another class.
 The organizer of the class called me last Friday afternoon while I was working, and left a voicemail saying there was an opening starting "This Monday night from 6pm to 9pm."... Ooook. Here we go again!
This class is 9 hours long, (3 Monday nights), in LA. And it is called:

                                                           TIES

 Training, Intervention, Education and Services for Families.

Since we are taking the TIES class, they will offer us a life supply of therapy, counseling, support groups and background checks (of prenatal substance exposure), on the child before they are placed in our home. This organization will find out what kind of substance the fetus may have been exposed to, and in turn, let us know what kind of learning and behavioral issues the child might experience growing up.

They will also give us examples of what to say to a inquisitive 8 year old child when they ask a question like, "Is my real mommy a bad person because of drugs? Is that why I can't live with her?" or something like, "What did my daddy/mommy do to make the police take me away from them? Why can't I go back?"

I am thankful for these classes because #1, no matter what I've heard growing up about "drugs are bad, they ruin your life, they mess with your brain, etc..." I have no first-hand experience. I've never been removed from my home because of them. And #2, We are learning great answers to hard questions!

 How DO you explain this to a 6yr or 8yr or 15 yr old that has been abused, molested, neglected, or taken away do to their parent's substance abuse? The whole idea is not to bash on the parent or give the child a reason to hate their parents, but rather, give them an explanation letting them know that it is not their fault they were removed from their birth family.

About 99% of the children in the Foster Care system HAVE had prenatal substance exposure. These substances can be an over use of anything: Cigarettes, Alcohol, Cocaine, E, and so on. Even marijuana. If the parent is using enough to intoxicate themselves so they can't properly take care of their body while being pregnant, or take care of their baby properly, this falls under the "substance AND child abuse" category.

OK, all that said, now I'm going to step on some toes.

Ready?

In class we watched a video of a woman who had been a drug addict since age 14. Then she became a prostitute. Then she went from one bad relationship to another and ended up pregnant. She quit the drugs for about 4 months, trying to be "a good pregnant mom" but she hated the feeling of being pregnant...so she fell right back into cocaine and other things. She gave birth to the baby, and says she doesn't even know how he stayed alive. She was blacked out most of the time. She said she never held him. When he was just 2 weeks old she would prop him up with some pillows and prop a bottle in his mouth to feed him to shut him up.

I'm going to stop right there. What are you feeling about this mother right now?
She gave birth to the same kind of un-held, un-kissed babies and children that are in the foster system. And every one of them deserves a good life and a loving family!

One thing they said in our class that I just loved, (and I wish more pastors around the world would catch on to this), was, "No one ever asked her WHY she needed the drugs. No one ever asked her what happened to make her want to take this route in life."
This woman had been beaten and who knows what else, by her own father, from a very young age. On the video she said, "The drugs make me numb. They make the pain go away."

 

There are a LOT of very confused, lost, hurt people out there, that have had horrible lives, and they're having babies.
I'm not writing this blog to get everyone angry about these unfit parents... I'm writing this blog to start a fire. And I'm hoping it will be a wild fire of change. Something has to change in our society! But mostly, I, being a Christian, would like to see the Christians change.

 I grew up in the church. I've seen the strong, the weak, the fake, the lost, the broken, the do-gooders, the hopeful, the helpers, the leaders, the attention seekers, the followers, etc... What I keep waiting to see is real people, being real with themselves.

We. are. not. perfect. We are not here to judge the lives of others! What did Jesus DO while He was here? He served. He loved. He helped others. He washed dirty, nasty feet. He comforted. Yes, he gave a Pharisee a lesson or two, but he didn't go around pointing at the crowd saying, "Bad! bad! bad sinner! You're all just bad people and what you do daily is bad, and you're all going to hell!"
Am I right? I am no preacher so just remember, this is only my own opinion here.

Some pro-Choicers who are reading this might be thinking, "And this is why we support abortion, because it can save these drug babies, or rape babies, from horrible lives of being propped up on pillows at 2 weeks old to feed alone, never held or kissed or loved...or from a life of terrible Foster Homes and learning disabilities."

And the pro-Lifers are saying, "Abortion is horrible, it's murder! Every little baby is a miracle and it deserves a chance!!...if the mother is unfit, just put the baby in an adoptive home! problem solved!"

Now, Pro Lifers (eh hem, fellow Christians)... Why?

Why put the child in the up for adoption?
Why put the child in the screwed up foster system?
Will YOU adopt?
Will YOU take a step forward to help the babies that HAVE been given life?
What will YOU do to support the babies that have been given life?
How will YOU help those mothers that decided to give their babies lives?
What will YOU personally do, to support your view of "Abortion is murder, save their souls"??

Can anyone tell that I am so tired of hearing Christians bash on the women that decide to have abortions? Don't get me wrong! I am COMPLETELY against abortion and the murder of unborn children. I have always felt this way since I was young, I just couldn't understand why we only held signs up and did nothing else! But I was just a kid, what did I know, right?
The idea of some brutal, heartless, mentally disturbed so-called Doctor sticking a needle or a pair of scissors into a fetus's skull sickens me.
 But. I can see the other side of the argument, and I can see the lack of active response from the holier-than-thou-Christians.

 I talk to a LOT of people every day. On average we see about 20 patients a day (and I've been doing this job for 7 years), and I spend a good amount of time listening to all kinds of stories, arguments and complaints about religious and political ideas. At the end of the day, it's all talk. Most of these people are from the plush area I work in, and you can tell they have lived easy going, spoiled lives with no type of real pain or heartache. And I am so annoyed.

Promise me this: Today I want YOU to look in the mirror and decide what action YOU can take to start a movement of helping the children, that have already been "saved from abortion", and figure out how to keep them away from horrible foster homes and lost, drug induced, lonely lives. If enough babies are adopted, who knows! Maybe these women who are pregnant with no hope might see that their child has a chance at a better life!
 You can donate your time to a woman's shelter, (Please check out my friend Joanna's Blog about working at the "Sheep Fold", an amazing place for abused woman and children can hid and thrive)... You can donate your money to an orphanage or organization, or even better, to a couple that might be trying to raise money to adopt. YOU can foster! YOU can adopt!
You can stop pointing your finger yelling "bad bad bad!" and start opening your arms and asking, "HOW can I help? WHAT can I do?" You may be one person with little resources. I mean hey, I'm just a gal late for work, typing a blog as fast as I can!
You can do something.

Dear Christians,
These are the children that YOU held up that sign for and shouted, "Give the babies life! Don't kill them!"

 So, whatcha gonna do about it?

Let's do this!!