Whole 30

I have decided to challenge myself to eat whole foods for 30 days.  Details can be found here, but basically I will eat three meals a day, comprised of a palmful of protein and a ton of veggies.  Fruits, nuts and seeds here and there too.  No grains, legumes, dairy or sugar.

Why so extreme?  Well, I hope to give my digestive system a break, increase nutrient absorption, and figure out what foods my body respons well to.

Also, I hope to get better at:

1.  Menu planning.  This is something that I don't do.  I find it intimidating.  But if you eat mainly produce, you kind of need a plan for when/how you're going to eat it, otherwise it will just sit and rot in your fridge.  I sat down yesterday and made a list of meals and a corresponding grocery list.  It took a long time, especially since the recipes were all new and I was picking them blindly.  It was fun to go shopping, though, and know exactly how many zucchinis and tomatoes I would need for the week.

2.  Cooking.  Obviously, since I don't menu plan, we have a few staples and we grocery shop for those.  I would like to consume more than cereal, pizza, mac and cheese, spaghetti, salad and quesadillas. And my children will benefit from a broadening of their tastes; I want them to experience more crunch, zing and zest of the culinary rainbow.

3. Relationship with food:  I find that as a stay at home mom, I snack throughout the day on whatever is easiest, because cooking and sitting down to eat are "selfish" in the eyes of my toddlers, who only see this as mom not attending to them.  I also personally don't like to spend a lot of time thinking about food, which is why I like to throw things together and get dinner on the table as quickly as possible.  I have been reading a lot about nutrition lately, and I do think it's worth it to change this habit.  I owe it to myself and my family to focus more on what is sustaining us.  We are already somewhat healthy: don't drink soda or juices that aren't %100, avoid high fructose corn syrup, buy whole wheat products, etc.  However, I would like to learn more about what we should be eating, and focus less on what we shouldn't.

4.  Weight:  This is not a necessity for these next 30 days, but I would sure be happy if I lost a few pounds.  I'm not technically overweight, but my body feels puffy and most of my pre-twin wardrobe is still uncomfortably tight around my waist.  I would like to feel better in my movements, and that sweet spot is typically about 10 pounds away from here.

So, here we go!  Wish me luck.  That's mainly why I'm blogging about this, so that people I know and love can help to keep me motivated.

Dance!

Last night Tyler and I went to his school's Fall Formal.  I wore my fancy dress with high heels, and he wore his suit; we felt pretty sharp.  Our beloved, trusted neighbor came over after we put the kids to bed, to keep an eye on things.  Then we high-tailed it into the city to dance the night away at the Seaport World Trade Center.  I got to meet all the people that Tyler talks about, and connect faces to names.  But once the lights were dimmed and the music turned up, there wasn't much talking going on. Let me just say that, even though I'm a quiet person with no sense of rhythm,  I have a LOT of fun on the dance floor!  Thank you Babson for a wild night!

Belated recap!

This summer we had a few visitors.  And even though I'll admit to being stressed beyond sanity to host anyone, it means so very much to me that they spent the time and resources to travel here.

I love my grandma’s adventurous spirit, my brother’s easygoing acceptance, and my mother’s depth of love and knowledge.  I love that my children get to experience that.  

With Evan, we walked around downtown Boston, celebrated the twins' birthday, and

saw the Sand Sculpture Festival at Revere Beach.

My grandma saw the North End of Boston and the harbor.  We also picked berries at Wards Farm.

With my mom, we got to take a Duck Tour, visited another beach, and met my friend Ami at the Westwood Tot Lot.

And next month, we'll get to see all these wonderful people again for Christmas and the New Year!  

I love my family!

I sleep in a straight jacket

to keep my dreams sane.

But my thoughts allude me;

the night is Houdini,

I wake up in chains.

The warden I hired,

he’s old and he’s tired.

Says it’s long past time to go free.

I shake my head, crawl back in bed,

Unequipped to start being me.  

August

Summer is stink.
Sweat trickle, grass tickle.
Brown, naked dirt
caked on crispy, crunchy lettuce and
the crescents of my fingertips.
We pick berries and stain our clothes.
Hats and glasses, shade seeking sunbathers.
Ice clinking as we sip.

1 year!

Hazel Eyre and Ezra Oakes are a year old (plus a month now...)  We had a great party with all the friends we've met in Massachusetts.  The beauty is, we met all of them here in our complex.  So it was only fitting that we hold the party in the community room and pool.  We love where we live, and the people here.

My brother was also visiting while we held the party.  Thank you Evan, for taking the time out of your busy summer (the last before starting college!) to come from Utah to visit us and play with my kiddos.  I am so happy you were a part of this memory!

We sang:

We ate cake:  

Ezra devoured his entirely:

Hazel had no clue what to do with hers:

Lincoln was willing to help her out, of course:

And to sing at the top of his lungs for the camera:

After opening the many wonderful gifts, we packed up and headed down to the pool.  The twins had so much fun!  Thank you to all our friends who came to celebrate with us.

Background story on why I wanted a cargo bike

When my family lived in Oregon, we biked during the summer.  I toted my little brother around on something like this:

We called it the co-pilot.  On a hill, and there were many, I would bark out the command, "Pedal, Evan!  Pedal!  Go! Go!"  The bigger he got, the more I needed his help.  We biked to the beach, to get donuts, to meet his friends at playgroup.  

Fast forward 7 years, and I'm a stay-at-home mom with one outdoors-loving kiddo.  Lincoln was the type of baby who never got cold.  If he was crying, a step out on the balcony would remedy the tears.  We played in the snow and in the rain.  Going inside was a necessity because I wimped out, not him.  We got a jogging stroller when he was 6 months, and I used it to push him all around downtown Salt Lake City.  We watched the construction progressing on the new City Creek Center, strolled alongside men in suits and ties, elderly couples walking hand in hand, and college students picking up pizza on their bikes.  It was a beautiful time.  Many days, Lincoln and I would leave before lunch, and still be out on the town by the time Tyler came home from work.  He would drive his truck to our apartment, switch vehicles, and pick us up in his civic, wherever we happened to be.  There is no better way to discover a city, learn its nooks and crannies, and appreciate the local retail scene, than on foot.  

Part of me bemoaned the news that we were having twins, merely for mobility's sake.  How would I usher around three munchkins in the same low-stress, eyes-wide-open sort of way that Lincoln and I had become accustomed to?  How would I go anywhere stress-free, for that matter?

The first year has been tough in that respect.  Tending two babies at once, especially if you breastfeed them both, requires being in a relatively safe and private space every few hours.  This past week I have officially weened the last of my kids.  Hazel is drinking rice and almond milk full time, and I haven't had to unbutton or pull up my shirt once!  It's always sad to say goodbye to a phase that we'll never enjoy together again, but I'm looking on the bright side and taking advantage of our newly found freedom.

In the form of... a very big, very heavy, very awesome cargo bike.  

Say what?  Looks crazy, sounds crazy, I know.  About a month ago, Liz sent me an article about a woman named Emily Finch in Portland, Oregon who is redefining "possible."  She bikes with six kids in the city.  

I laughed and got teary-eyed when I read it.  Something in me clicked, and I started researching cargo bikes.  I found out they are common in Europe, especially the Netherlands, and are appearing in Portland (of course, it's our bike capital!)  They come in two wheel and three wheel versions, front loading and rear loading.  They all looked outlandish and out of my reach, like the stuff dreams are made of.  Like what I'd do in my "ideal" life, living in the perfect city with lots of money.  

Then I came across this video, and was excited to see the bikes in action.  

Some unexpected events transpired, quite quickly, and I am already the owner of a Babboe City.  I will tell the story of how we found it and how it works for us (and what we plan to do in the winter!) in another post, but for now let me demonstrate: