As a participant of Better For BlogHer I got to have a lunch with the  Healthy Choice people while at was at BlogHer10. We got to see the new frozen entrees that are coming out (they look simply fresh!), meet the other blogger participants and we had a session with the Diet Diva, Tara Gidus, for a nutrition consult.

Wow. This short consult was eye opener for me.  As I have mentioned before, I am a nurse. I even got an A in my one nutrition class. I have heard it all really.  I just had not heard it the way the Diet Diva put it.  She really made it clear to me what was happening with my body and why I was gaining so much weight.

She told me that I was on a Sumo Wrestler diet.  ATTENTION was paid after she used the words!  In a nut shell Sumo wrestlers do not eat breakfast.  Eating  like this causes the body to bulk up, hold onto the fat.  I believed her when she told me this, but I looked it up myself anyway.

As the stress in my life has taken over I have found myself not eating breakfast. The most important meal of the day and I normally just have a cup of chai.  I have to stop this. I mean there are no sumo wrestlers around here to start a club or even a tournament. I cannot make a decent living as a wrestler and it just is not healthy. So I will take the advice that I was given. I will eat breakfast every day. I have eaten breakfast everyday since we talked and I continue to eat my Healthy Choice meals for lunch as well.  (Have you tried the Lemon Fish?  Wow!)

Another piece of advice that I am trying to put into the works. Eat enough to have the nourishment I need, yet stay a little hungry. That is when your body lets go of the stored fats.

So to review:

Eat breakfast

Eat regularly

Stay a little hungry.

Watch Sumo wrestlers, do not try to be one.

Check out more of the Diet  Diva and check out Healthy Choice and get a coupon so you can try the Whiskey Chicken.. my favorite by far!

(Disclaimer:  Healthy Choice has compensated me for my time and provided me with coupons so I can try their products.)

Photo Credit: Eckhard Pecher via Wikipedia

For More Wordless Wednesdays check this out….

Pictures by Hubby or PM 2010

My Peace Out sign for the girls in the back of a cab!

I am back. Back from the weekend trip I have been planning for months.  I must say that BlogHer10 in New York City was fabulous, wonderful and all the other great adjectives I cannot remember right now!

Some of the sessions I went to focused on writing, giving advice and loving the little blog.  Inspiration was oozing out of everyone there and I feel like I have been to a pep-rally!

Touring New York on the night bus was spectacular.  The lights, city noise and smells are always fun.  Mom Outnumbered and I caught a John Legend performance in Central Park with Good  Morning America at the spur of the moment. The best moments tend to be surprises!

My visit to the Scholastic Headquarters was the highlight of my trip (which is saying something as the whole weekend was amazing).  We had breakfast on the top floor, which had more of a restaurant look than an office building look,  overlooking Soho.  The speakers were very inspirational about getting kids to read.  I’ll write more in the future about the new books coming out with Scholastic, but I will say that Mita is already devouring the new Babysitters Club prequel!

As you know Chevy gave us (FireMom, MomOutnumbered, 2princessmama) a brand new Traverse to drive to New York!  We had a great time figuring out (and not figuring out) the gadgets in the car and playing with the On-Star.

Having friends and having the fun time we had was such a welcome experience for this stressed-out-mama.  I encourage anyone who is tempted to start blog writing to do so! It is an amazing way to meet new people and make new opportunities.  My site is hosted by Surpass Hosting  and here is a link to find out about a bargain to get you started with blogging.

BlogHer11 San Diego here I come!

(Disclaimer: The book link above is not an affiliate link. I did receive free childrens’ books at a breakfast hosted by Scholastic, Surpass Hosting provided gas money for our road trip.  Chevy provided a Traverse for our drive to and from NYC and one tank of gas. Thanks to all of  you for great products and great fun! )

Photo Credit Mandy W 2010

As I have mentioned before, my life with four girls can lead me to not eat well and sometimes not eat at all.  That is why I have been loving the last two weeks of participating with Better For BlogHer.  Every day I know what I am eating for lunch. I know it will be quick, delicious and healthy.  I don’t have to settle for left over kid’s lunches or forget to eat until dinner time.  I have it in my freezer ready to go.

This has made such a difference in me.  I’ m not as grumpy since I have eaten and I’m not run down because I ate and I ate real food.  We all know that veggies and proteins can be pick me uppers in the late afternoon, and I can really tell.

I have also be drinking more water, less pop (soda in some areas of the US, coke in the south!) and just all around been eating better. I guess you could say that my diet is starting to come into my stream of consciousness more.  I have yet to throw in more physical activity, but give me a bit more time and my four girls in school and I know that will start up again.

A few things about Healthy Choice meals:

*Did you  know you can go 90 days without ever eating the same Healthy Choice meal twice? That right there solves a big mommy problem of food boredom!

*Healthy Choice offers more than just frozen dinners…including ice cream!

*Healthy Choice has a great website to help you start making better and healthier choices.

*Healthy Choice has dramatically reduced packaging and continues to try and find new ways to recycle and decrease packaging in their meals.  I am keeping all of my bowls to use as paint bowls for my Girl Scout troops and for the art teachers at school, the colander part of the Steamers package works great in sandboxes as well!

*You can go here for coupons! Coupons make the world a better place!

(I am am being compensated for my time and recieved my meals for participating in Better For BlogHer with Healthy Choice.  I am really liking the meals though, I promise!

Late tonight  I will be on my way to New York City with friends for a busy and fun filled weekend. We are going to BlogHer 2010!

BlogHer 2010 is a conference for bloggers put on by BlogHer. This is my first time attending and as you may tell, I am a bit excited over it!  The BlogHer website is a great one to read blog post by others all around the country, the world really. There are contests (I won $100 a couple months ago) and many thought-provoking posts as well as light-hearted ones to make you laugh. 

The conference offers several different sessions on how to set up and write your blog as well as improveing your content and getting a following.  I am looking forward to these sessions, but I do have to admit that the parties and gatherings is what I am excited about.  On Saturday I get to have breakfast at the Scholastic offices and there is an HP party that should be a lot of fun.  As a participant of Better For BlogHer I will get to meet with the Healthy Choice people and speak with a nutritionist.

Did I mention that we got chosen to drive a new Chevy Traverse to New York?  Yes!  We get a free rental with On-Star use and a navigator (I am a little nervous about driving in downtown NYC) to help us find our way.  We will be tweeting about our trip along the way.

A few days with friends in the big city.  A perfect summer break for mom right before the crazy get ready for school time begins.  Yes, you read me right.  School is starting in a few weeks.  That means buying of the school supplies and making sure my kids have tennis shoes that still fit is about to rock my world.  I’ll take another month of summer please!

My sister in law Lisa gave me the best book for my birthday.  I knew I would love this book as soon as I saw the name of it.  Are you ready?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The name alone just screams “Read me, I’m awesome”.  So I read it, quickly and it is by far one of my favorites. I only wish I had read it slower to enjoy it longer.  But that is me, I am read it all at once kinda gal.

Based during post WWII, the main character is a single lady who is a writer and is looking for some new material to write.  She happens to start corresponding with some lovely people from Guernsey (Channel Islands).  I have to admit that I didn’t know much about the Channel Islands before I read this novel, but now I long to go there and explore. I had no idea that a part of England had been occupied by the Germans.  I got to spend time in England in 2008 and long to go back and explore more.  It is an amazing and beautiful country with gracious people.  England makes  me want to say lovely and delightful a lot!

I read this just a couple weeks after re-reading one of my all-time favorite The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. This is an account of Corrie’s journey and imprisonment for hiding Jews from in her home in  Holland during the war.  A moving and true story that rocks me to my core and makes me remember my blessings.  While The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a work of fiction, it feels real and it’s accounts could have easily happened during this horrific and challenging time.  Reading these two books so close was a coincidence that made each book sit deeper in me.

The authors are a Aunt and Niece team whose story is just as touching as the one they wrote with the niece finishing the book as her aunt was diagnosed and succumbed to an illness before it was ready to be published.

The book is written as a bunch of letters. When I started it , I wasn’t sure how it would work as this can be a challenging way to read a story, but it worked.  It worked really well and reminded me of a book of letters I read as a child called Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary.  I loved this book and it is on it’s way to my house to delight Meg’s mind this summer.

Lisa has read it, my mom has read it. Have you read it?  Let me know what you thought/think. 

(Disclosure:  The links are not affiliated with Amazon.com and I was not compensated in any way for my review.)

If you would have asked me a two years ago what brought me joy the answer may have been something like “Hearing my kids laugh.” “Getting a surprise hug or kiss from my husband.”  Maybe I would have even come up with a “The silence of nature” comment! 

Now.  Joy comes to me in smaller, more minute ways. 

Having a spontaneous touch from my ten year old adopted daughter was shear joy.  She patted me on the back in passing. She didn’t want anything. She wasn’t complaining about something. She wasn’t mad. She touched me.  Joy.

Watching my eight year old adopted daughter let her guard down enough to relax is joy.  Her life has been so up and down she is on constant over-load.  Every once in a while she relaxes.  Joy.

Watching my ten year old homegrown daughter lay on the floor beside her sister, who is having a fit and saying really mean things. Patting her back. Whispering it is okay.  Joy.

Watching my five year old  homegrown daughter run and play and love on all of her sisters, not noticing a difference in skin color, not realizing that once it was just her and Meg.  Just living her life without pause.  Joy.

Joy isn’t being happy. Joy isn’t jumping up and down. Joy is pure relief, greatfullness and a bit of bittersweet in the mix.

I’ve got joy. Not every day mind you. Not even every month, but when it happens it is enough to get me through the hard times. It is a true gift from God.

I don’t write the words adopted or homegrown normally when talking about my kids.  My kids are my kids, but older child adoption is a challenge and I felt this post needed those distinctions. This post was written as a part of a contest, see below, but I am so glad I wrote it. I needed to take this out of my head and put it in words. 

“This post is part of SOYJOY‘s What brings you joy contest. Learn more here.”

Photo Credit

I have to admit that when I first starting writing this post it was a rather typical read about World Breastfeeding Week.  Then I quickly realized that there are plenty of other sites that are covering World Breastfeeding Week wonderfully and that I can keep my subject manner light, fluffy, fun and hopefully encouraging!

Several weeks ago I was shopping with FireMom and MomOutnumbered. They were trying to get me to buy some clothes for BlogHer10.  They ended up buying dresses for themselves, but I bought this:

An awesome card from Halmark for breastfeeding moms.  The outside of the card reads:

Whoever said “there’s no use crying over spilled milk” Obviously never pumped six ounces, then accidentally dumped it.

Inside:

Hang in there. You are doing fine.

As soon as my amigas showed me this card I got happy.  FireMom said I was flushed and I have to admit that I was overjoyed to see this card.  Why?  Because someone else got it. They not only got it , they massed produced it.  Thank you Hallmark!

 I loved breastfeeding my children, I love helping moms and babies with breastfeeding. I understand the feeling of loosing milk by accident.  I once threw away 4 oz in the trash when I meant to be tossing out some yogurt and thought about it for days.  I still think of it with disgust, how could I have been so careless?  I cried when my sister in law called me and told me that some workmen unplugged her deep freeze and she lost a freezer full of milk.  During a black out (three days without electricity) my brother gave his generator to a friend with a freezer full of frozen breastmilk.  Those of us who have been there know how important our liquid gold is.  We work for it and it is important to us.

Breastfeeding is a hot topic right now.  I want to stay away from the contraversy and just talk support here.  If you know a breastfeeding mom who is just getting started and needs an uplifting moment. Give her a card like the one above. Do her dishes for her. Bring her a new CD to listen to while she is spending a lot of time in her easy chair!  You don’t have to have breastfeed your children to be able to be supportive.  Just be there.  And you will be yet another person who gets it.

(Disclosure:  I didn’t get compensated for talking about this card from Hallmark or anyone else.  I bought it on my own dime!)

Fifteen years ago around 10:30am I became Mrs. Hubby. We were only twenty years old at the time and didn’t know much, though of course we though we knew it all.  We have done a lot in fifteen years.  We have lived in four different states and in Peru. We have graduated college (Grad school for hubby), had four beautiful girls and done some traveling.

Look at the fluffy hair! This is 1995, the year we got married.

Here we are now in 2010.

Here is to the next fifteen years.  May we be just as adventurous

I took my test today.  The exam that will make me an official Lactation Consultant and not just a pretend one.  The exam was very difficult.  You would think that there could not be 100 different pictures of breasts, but there are!

As I got dressed this  morning I knew that I wanted comfy clothes. I put on my well-worn denim capris and a light top.  I slipped on some sandals and grabbed a sweater in case the classroom would be cold.

While sitting at my desk and listening to the proctor give directions I found myself smiling, almost giggling with the fact that I was finally doing it. I was finally sitting for the exam that I had been working for for the past five years.  Actually when Meg was an infant (some 10 years ago) I can remember looking up the requirements for the exam and it seeming like an impossible goal.  Now here I was ready to take the exam and claim the certification! It was a great feeling.  Happiness surrounded my brains at the time.

In the afternoon section of the exam my giggles were long gone as the questions kept getting harder.  No more giggles but  the gurgles started. Yes my belly was making some great noises.  Of course the rest of the women in the room where absolutely silent. Not a sniffle, not a cough.  Just my crazy belly noises.  I think I was disturbing the woman to my left, but she did not kick me or send me dirty looks.  I was not hungry, my stomach was not upset…just really nervous.

As I tried to concentrate on my exam I also had another conversation going on in my head.  It was one of reminiscence.

I was thinking  back to when I took my RN exam.  I wore the most wonderful jeans in the world. They were Gap Boy Fit jeans that I got on clearance in college.  The most comfortable jeans I ever had or ever will have most likely.  They were big enough I could pull my legs up and sit criss-cross-applesauce without any problems. How I wish I had those jeans today.  Maybe my stomach would not have made so much noise if I had those jeans.  Actually with those jeans that with those jeans my gut would have been silent and I would have gotten more questions right.  I am sure of it!

I feel like I passed. I would be surprised if I fail, but there is always the possibility that I missed the questions that I thought I got correct.  I will not find out until late October (archaic timing I know, very 1990).

For now I wait, and hopefully forget that I am waiting.  I may even go to the Gap sometime and look for some new jeans.