Friday Night Fun at FeFe's!

      Yasmine and Layla are here to spend the night. They love spending time with Randy in his chair. I can't help but take many photos! The girls are growing and changing every time we see them! Tomorrow we go to Winterlynn's 5th birthday party! I can hardly believe the little bald headed baby is turning 5! Where have the years gone? She and Riley will be here tomorrow night so there will be photos of them later. I love when the girls are here! They are so much fun!

      I've been staying with my healthy eating plan and exercising. It wasn't easy this week as I was having hormone issues and a headache, but I trudged through and made it to today! I can actually feel my body changing! I think my waist is a little smaller! I guess I should do some measuring and weighing. I will do that soon. My eating isn't a whole lot different than before; I just have incorporated more protein and less carbs. I really love carbs and still eat them, just not all the time. There is such a thing as balance, which I believe strongly in. I just got out of balance. It's quite easy to do. But with the blogs and websites I've saved, I have something to access when I get out of balance. I didn't realize how much sugar I was consuming! That is a big cause for weight gain. Sugar consumption will also make it hard for one to lose weight. I still consume sugar, just not that much. I guess I'll always eat sugar in some form, cause I don't care for the artificial sweeteners. But I don't eat dessert every day. 


      I love looking at recipes! I have so many binders full of them. Today, I've been going through and pulling out ones I haven't made. Plus discarding ones that I don't think I'll ever make. Most of the recipes I have are healthy, but I've been finding more that include more vegetables. An example of that would be the Minestrone soup I made last week. I just used Orzo pasta, and dried basil instead of fresh. Here is a link to the recipe: http://mywholefoodlife.com/2013/02/10/minestrone-soup/ I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did! 

      I just don't care for all whole wheat products. All whole wheat consumption is just not for me. At least not every wheat product I eat doesn't have to be whole wheat or whole grains and seeds. I purchased a loaf of organic whole grain bread and I just don't care for the taste of it. I read somewhere that the best bread is the one that has the least amount of ingredients. I was so glad I read that cause I love the bread I make in the Dutch oven. It's just flour, water, yeast, and salt. Doesn't get much simpler than this! Plus, the wheat I use is chemical and bleach free, so that makes it even better.  

      The weather has turned back to rain and cold again! I knew the Spring-like weather wouldn't last but it sure was nice! Who knows? We may have some more pretty weather next week! I hope ya'll are staying cozy and warm! Let me know what you are doing to live a more healthy life. Thanks for reading! Blessings from Bama!

Malcolm went to live with some new ladies! Now his brother needs to find some.

More simple ingredients in the form of English muffins. Delicious with eggs, cheese, and ham!

Getting a little Uncle Randy Love!

A smoothie in the making.

I made this picture with my phone and am figuring out how to download them here.

I discovered that I love kiwis!

My simple bread.

More deliciousness!

See?  

Welcome sun and warmer weather!

      It's been such a cold, dark, and dreary week this week! But today, the sun is out and the birds are busying themselves with, you guessed it, building nests! At least that's what it looks like the bluebirds on my porch are doing. I'll have to keep watch to know for sure. They are singing; and Randy said he thought he saw a Robin. Could it be? Already? You know what that's a sign of: Spring! We are experiencing temps in the fifties today! And they are supposed to be like that next week as well! I'm so happy! If the hens would only lay me some eggs!

      I have really been looking at how to be more healthy lately. Since I had the flu for about two weeks, I was unable to exercise much. I did a lot of reading and experimenting with my diet. On the days after I got my taster back, that is. I hate when I can't taste or smell! I still eat, but not enjoyably! So this week started off good since I was able to taste again. I had my recipes ready and began my experiment. I made baked oatmeal and have really been enjoying that for breakfast, along with an egg, several days this week. They say to use egg whites but I just cant throw away that yummy yolk! I think it's good for you anyway! I've finally decided on a 1500 calorie diet, with more protein than I would eat in a normal day! I didn't realize that I could have been eating so much food! I am enjoying about 4-5 meals a day, two of those being snacks. I did good to eat two meals a day, with mindless, random snacking. And I thought I was eating healthy! No wonder I gained weight! I don't weigh myself since we don't have scales, but my clothes tell me when I gain or loose. That's why I had to buy larger sized jeans awhile back.
      I love to exercise, but with the cold weather we were having, I didn't get to go outside and do my usual walking. I wasn't able to lift weights at that time cause I had an elbow injury that lasted from September until December. I started weights this week and am going to try lifting heavier weights today. That's where the body shaping comes in; from lifting heavier weights. But the main thing about lifting heavy weights is that women as they age have bone deterioration. Heavy usage slows that way down! I need to slow mine down and maybe I'll stop having so many injuries.

      It's a trial and error thing to find out what works for each person. I try things and if they don't work, I move on to something else. At first, I was using Stevia in my coffee instead of sugar. I switched back to sugar cause I don't like the aftertaste of it. I also tried almond milk, but changed back to cream. Some things a body just has to have! I'm not giving up deserts forever! Just not everyday or every week. I am eating a piece of homemade pizza for dinner tonight and tomorrow some Mexican. I just make allowances in my caloric intake for the week. I don't count everything I eat cause I'm learning what the servings look like. I think this plan will be my new way of eating. I love to eat and deprivation didn't work! I also love to exercise so maybe I'll see changes soon! I hope you are thinking about ways to improve your health. First, get right with God. He will show you, just as He's showing me, how to eat and exercise. Trust Him with all your decisions; not just about health. Let Him prove to you that He cares! You'll be amazed at what He can do! I am! Thanks for reading and commenting! Stay healthy and warm! Blessings from Bama!

Making a new binder for healthy recipes.

I didn't see my leg til now! This is tilapia with all kinds of veggies and my minestrone soup poured over it.

Minestrone soup.

Randy smoked chicken breasts earlier in the week.

I've really been enjoying this tea! Drinking a warm cup of tea when I'm cold and hungry makes me warm; and the hunger subsides temporarily!

Princess Layla!

I drink my green juice after a workout.

I cut some wood one day before it got so cold.

I worked on an anniversary present for Mom and Dad.

Still loving my Zen Tazo! I made some hummus. It's really good with veggies, on a whole wheat pita with veggies, or just from a spoon!

I painted some angel wings for the girls.

The Arctic Air is Blowing in!

      As I type this, I can feel cold air coming through the windows! I know it's cold when I can feel that! It's nothing like what they are having up North, -15 or something, but for us it's COLD! The weatherman says single digits tonight, but I hope he's wrong. The schools are being delayed for two hours in the morning. The South is just not prepared for extreme cold! I'm staying inside until I know the animals can't stand it any longer! They always let me know when it's time to eat. Their water will be frozen too, and I don't know what to do about that other than pouring on boiling water. Is that what ya'll do?

      I've been crafting again. If you follow me on Instagram, you can see snips of what I've been up to. I cut out some wood C's and hearts and today I painted a heart black. My Mom and Dad's anniversary is Saturday, their 56th, so I'm making them something. I don't have it finished at this time so look on Instagram for the finished project. It's in my name. One day I'll have a button on the side for it, like so many other bloggers. 

      I'm loving my Android phone! It's so cool to just touch and go! I love how instantly it downloads photos too! I now connect Instagram to Facebook in a wink! I'm sure there are many other things my phone can do. I love finding out ways it can speed things up a bit. Share if there's something I can get or do with my phone I'm not familiar with. 

      I hope ya'll stay warm and well during these long, cold winter days! I'm not completely over that flu or whatever, yet and neither is Randy. The cough stills hangs on. I'm a lot better though, thank the Lord! Enjoy the photos! I didn't know I couldn't share directly from Instagram so all I have are three photos. Now I'll have to get the Instagram widget! Have a great week! Blessings from Bama!

I thought the stickers had numbers, grrr! It's the 10th.

That's the temp now, and how dreary it looks outside.

What I cut out the other day. I need to finish the C for my wreath.