Trim Healthy Mama: Our Take

So, we aren't so happy with the Trim Healthy Mama plan. We definitely like some parts of it but other parts concern us. Not to mention that we haven't been happy with any recipe we have found while doing the program. I'll talk about our dislikes and concerns first, then I'll talk about what we did like. Before anyone asks, we did try this program (not strictly) for about a month.

Cons:
For those of you who may love the THM life, don't get too mad at me, there are many positives with the program and if it works for you and your family, that is wonderful and I am happy you have found a healthy plan for your family. I would actually encourage people trying the plan. Every family is different, every cook is different, every person's taste is different. We all need to find what works best for our families. 

Less than plan friendly foods
My first issue is that there are several foods that are not exactly plan friendly but are very healthy. I will say the plan isn't necessarily against these foods and they do stress eating these foods but only rarely. Most of them are off-plan if you are attempting to lose weight. Some of these foods include all fruit, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, and honey. 

I will repeat, these aren't exactly "off-plan" foods but they are encouraged to be eaten only in very moderate amounts. That I do agree with, at least the eating in moderation part. Moderation in all food types is a key to healthy living and something most of us have a very difficult time practicing. 

What I don't agree with is that these foods are looked at as almost bad guys. Some may say I have gotten the wrong impression but this is the feel I have gotten from this program. 

Most of the plan teaches a low glycemic index diet which I totally agree with and the foods that they put in this "less-than-friendly" category are on the higher end glycemic index foods and should be eaten in moderation but some of these foods are incredibly healthy alternatives to less healthy counterparts. For example, a sweet potato is much better for you than a russet potato, carrots are better than chips, and you can sweeten foods with carrots and onions rather than using sugar. 

Honey. They state in the book that "honey can make you very fat." I agree that eating too much sugar in any form can lead to gaining weight. However, most people don't eat tons and tons of honey. We use honey but we can keep a bottle of honey in our cabinet long enough for it to crystalize. We occasionally sweeten a cup of herbal or green tea with honey and we use it in cooking from time to time. There are many benefits to consuming honey and I believe that it is a much healthier alternative to sugar. Unless you are slathering your Chick-Fil-A or Babe's biscuit in honey, you are likely fine. And, lets be honest, if you are eating at Chick-Fil-A or Babe's, honey is probably the least of your concerns. ;)

While I agree you should be careful with them, I hesitate to criticize them as much as I feel this plan does. Again, this may just be a misunderstanding on my part but many of these foods are considered low glycemic index (GI) foods so I'm probably going to use them in cooking more than this plan prefers.

Sugar alternatives
Anyone who knows me, especially from my younger years, probably knows I had a probably unhealthy love of Sweet-'n'-Low. I've never been too afraid of sugar alternatives. I love to add generous helpings of Splenda when I'm making sweet tea. However, let's be honest, in the back of our mind have we not always had the inkling that sugar alternatives may possibly just be one of those "too good to be true" situations? 

As a kid and don't-care-about-"healthy" adult, I scoffed at people who were skeptical of sugar alternatives, or pretty much any "healthy alternatives." People who criticized margarine, products marketed as fat-free/low-fat, and processed/packaged foods, annoyed me slightly. I figured either they were overly cautious, just didn't like the taste, or were conspiracy hunters. However, I still managed to marry one of these people. Anthony immediately changed some of the ways I cooked. We cooked more at home with real foods, opted for the full fat rather than low-fat/fat free alternatives (real sour cream, real cream, higher fat milk, etc), used real sugar, and real butter. After about a year of this, my cholesterol dropped by about 20 points. I didn't lose any weight but I figured there had to be something to this.

One the THM plan, most sugar alternatives are highly discouraged but sugar is not on-plan at all. They do have a couple of sugar alternatives that are used and used in almost everything. They allow stevia and erythritol. I have used stevia before and found it tolerable in very small amounts. When we first started the plan, I got some Truvia. It's probably the most common and popular form of powder stevia on the market. We did not like it at all. So, we purchased the Sweet Blend and the Pure Stevia powder from THM. I will say, these are much better, and if you are looking for an alternative, I highly recommend their blends. 

Stevia is a sugar alternative that is natural. It comes from a herb that a lot of people have started including in their home gardens. I am not one of those that jumps on the band wagon of anything that someone says is "natural." Usually when someone is telling me "______ is good for you. It's natural." I usually reply with something like, "Poison ivy is natural too but you don't see me eating it." Yes, I know, I'm a little snarky sometimes. But, the point is, just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it is good for you. Due to the fact we live in a Genesis 3 world means we have to be careful of the "natural." 

Now, I'm not trying to denigrate stevia. However, I have done a little research looking into whether stevia is really a safe alternative to sugar. Here is what I have found:

Animal testing in the 1980's linked stevia with problems with fertility, reproductive growth, and genetic mutations. Stevia could only be sold as a dietary supplement due to the safety concerns. However, in 2008, Truvia and a few other manufacturers, using a highly purified extract of stevia called Rebaudioside A (aka Rebina or Rep A), petitioned the FDA to rate Rep A as "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS). The FDA accepted Rep A as GRAS but not whole leaf or crude stevia extracts. 

Here is what the FDA says about stevia:

"FDA has not permitted the use of whole-leaf Stevia or crude Stevia extracts because these substances have not been approved for use as a food additive. FDA does not consider their use in food to be GRAS in light of reports in the literature that raise concerns about the use of these substances. Among these concerns are control of blood sugar and effects on the reproductive, cardiovascular, and renal systems. Food additives and GRAS affirmation petition or pre-petition submissions for the use of such substances that FDA has received in the past have not contained the data and information necessary to establish the safe use of these substances as ingredients in food."

Even though the FDA approved Rep A as a GRAS ingredient, there are some people/organizations who are concerned at that the FDA did not require as strict of testing for Rep A as they usually do for other ingredients. 

To be honest, "generally regarded as safe" doesn't generate confidence in a substance. Even then, how do we know if a product is using Rep A and not the pure or crude extract? I just checked all my containers of Truvia, THM Sweet Blend, and THM Pure Stevia Extract. None of them said what form of stevia they used. 

I'm also not super trusting of the FDA considering some of the things they do pass but when even the FDA finds concern with a product, that makes me a bit more skeptical regarding that product.

Considering that we have issues with the three biological systems that the FDA were concerned as to the effects of stevia, I'm not super comfortable with continuing using stevia. 

I have read a few other testimonies from women who struggled with infertility while using stevia and then their problems resolved after they removed stevia from their diet. This is just anecdotal evidence but probably does suggest more testing being done regarding this product.

I'm not saying stevia isn't safe but I do think their may be some concerns worth considering. Personally, I'm no longer comfortable with it.

I know I need to break my addiction to adding sweeteners to my tea and coffee. Personally, I would rather have less of the real thing than all I want of the alternative.

The THM Food
So, we have tried several of the recipes and only had one that was good. Several we had to throw out because they were inedible. We bought the THM Baking Blend and made pancakes the other night. They were full of fiber so we weren't hungry after dinner but I must say, we were less than happy with the texture. We would never make them again. Hopefully, we can find something to do with the rest of this Baking Blend because it was quite expensive.

Expensive
That brings me to another point. This lifestyle is less than budget-friendly, if you ask me. Much of this food is essentially gluten free. Anyone who has had to go to a gluten-free diet knows buying flour alternatives is anything but cheap. 

Fat
I will talk more about fat in the Pros section but this is my concern regarding fat on this program.

This program has categorizes meals into "S," "E," and "FP." I explained these meals in my last post. The "S" meals have to include over 5g of fat which is not really the problem. However, most recipes I have found for "S" meals seem to be overly generous with fat. To the point that it would never be considered a healthy meal by any sane person. Delicious, possibly, healthy, not likely. This seemed to be a complaint by many people with the Adkins diet. People seem to get in the mind set that as long as a meal doesn't have carbs in it, you can throw caution into the wind. I don't think this is what the creators of THM intended but it does seem to be inevitable in plans like this.

This is probably more of a complaint with how humans react than with the plan itself.

Eating out or eating at a friend's house
Like many diets, eating out or eating the food someone else cooked, is almost impossible to stay on plan. 

Planning a menu
Anyone who has read this blog at all knows I have no qualms regarding planning our meal. I actually enjoy it. It has really been one of the most helpful and enjoyable habits I have adopted.

I have certain rules I stick to in making our menus (topic for another future post). However, with this plan, trying to make sure each meal type alternated was beyond difficult. Menu planning became less than enjoyable and if I don't enjoy it, I probably won't stick to it. Another major reason this plan will not work for our family.

Religious aspect
The sisters who created this plan are two Christian women. They love the Lord and love the Bible. I am thankful for that. However, I think they may have tended to over-spritualize their plan.

Don't get me wrong, there is a spiritual aspect to all parts of our lives and I believe it is important to recognize that. Our temptation and addictions to certain foods can be a form of idolatry and a parable to how we approach sin in our lives. 

However, these ladies implied that aspects of their diet plan came directly from the Bible. I believe they may be leaning a little too far into "twisting Scripture" to come up with some of their ideas. 

I did watch a video where they discussed their plan at a conference for women associated with The Hebraic Roots Network. I am not exactly familiar with this organization but I suspect they are a part of the Hebrew Roots Movement. This movement is a false teaching within Christianity. While I don't doubt their salvation, their passion, or their devotion to Christ and the Gospel, if they are involved in the HRM, it does reveal that their interpretation of Scripture is less than reliable.

While that may not exactly make much of a difference regarding the safety and healthiness of their plan, it is a con for me. Any plan, like this or Rick Warren's "The Daniel Plan," that tries to make the Bible or certain passages into a diet book concerns me. 

Pros:
There are many good points this plan makes and we have definitely used this program to add some healthy aspects to our own diet. As far as diet plans out there, THM is probably one of the better one's I have seen in a while.

Whole foods/Cleaner eating
There has been a movement in the nutritional world in the last few years to move to a cleaner diet, a diet of more whole foods. There isn't an exact definition of "whole foods" or "clean eating." What some people call "clean eating" others would not. However, the essential aim of these movements, is to get away from overly-processed foods and eat more foods as closely to what would be picked off the plant or taken from the animal as possible. 

One recent suggestion I have seen in this program and others is to consider "Is this something my great, great, grandmother would recognize as food?" This doesn't always work but it is something worth thinking about before purchasing a product. Would my great-grandmother recognize me making mashed potatoes from freeze-dried flakes or from a potato? 

Unfortunately, much of what she would call food these days isn't the same as when she was around. Wheat is completely different than it was a few decades ago, corn has changed as well, and the chicken we purchase in the grocery store is not even recognized as an animal by US law and referred to some people as "frankenchicken" due to the way this particular type of chicken was bred. 

Moving away from overly-processed foods is a undeniably more healthy step in the right direction. It is also something our family doctor was completely in agreement with. 

I do wish that organic, grass-fed, free-range food was more affordable. But, until then, we will just do our best.

Glycemic Index
I had heard of the Glycemic Index prior to this diet but I did learn more about it. It is definitely something Anthony and I must start paying more attention to due to diabetes being so prevalent in our families. 

Fat
All fats are not created equal. All saturated fats are not created equal. In the past, anything that had fat in it was bad, anything with saturated fat was down right evil. In recent years, more research has been done regarding fats and this myth has been exposed. There are some saturated fats that are actually healthy. More research is needed to fully understand fat but it goes to show that we don't always know everything. ;)

Conclusion:
While I don't think the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle is for us, we did learn some beneficial habits and would recommend it as a diet for people to try if they are trying to find a plan they like but it isn't for us. 

Also, this may be a result to trying this plan for a few weeks or not but as a side note, I had to have lab work for our annual insurance lab draw and my cholesterol is back up where it was when we first married. I'm not sure it can be blamed on this program but it did concern me a bit.

I will say that Anthony was quite the trooper during this time of new food trials. He was really positive about everything and willing to really try which is never easy for us foodies with all our very strong feelings regarding food's taste, food's texture, and how food is made. I have an amazing husband!

So, I am going to continue making menus and I'm going to incorporate more of the good habits but I'm not going to be stressed out over the correct combos. We are going to continue moving to a more whole food/cleaner diet and just opt for less of the real stuff rather than all we want of the manufactured. 

As Christopher Kimball said on a recent installment of America's Test Kitchen Radio podcast (episode 417):

"Please don't ask me about diet, health, and weight. Is it calorie intake, is it when one consumes those calories, is it the type of calories, or is it simply your metabolism? All of this leads to a very simple fact, when it comes to the human ecosystem, theories abound. So, until scientists sort all this out, follow this simple maxim: Eat early, eat natural, and enjoy your food."

Slow Leak

A few weeks ago, I had printed off some recipes and had separated them into categories on the carpet in our living room. The next day, I picked them up and noticed they felt like they had been in a damp environment. Not wet, just kind of soft feeling. I felt the carpet where they had been sitting & it felt damp. I moved a book case and the carpet under it was soaked and mold had starting growing. I knew instantly we had a big problem. 

We called a plumber who had to cut into our wall to find the leak. He originally thought it was a leak in the slab which would have been very expensive to fix. Luckily, the leak was higher up and he was able to fix it. It was still pretty expensive but better than he originally thought. He said we had a fairly decent amount of water damage and suggested we call a water restoration company. Thankfully, God was protecting us once again and the man from the company told us "I am not in the business of robbing people. My fees start at $800 and you don't have $800 worth of damage here." He then instructed us how to clean up the mess ourselves.

We ended up having to purchase a new book shelf, patch the wall, and we will have to replace a section of the carpet pad and shampoo the carpet when we are done with everything. All in all, a little hole in a small pipe that has been slowly dripping for at least a year is going to end up costing us quite a bit of money and effort that we would have preferred spending in other ways.

That concept had me thinking today. Here we have a house, with lots of pipes, wires, wood, brick, concrete, etc and our whole life was turned upside down for a tiny little hole in one small pipe. This small, drip over the span of at least a year, ended up causing so much damage. 

I've been relistening to the Strange Fire Conference hosted by Grace Community Church in California in 2013. This conference addressed some of the false teachings that have slipped into the church, have been tolerated, accepted, and finally practiced by much of the church today. It had me thinking about how a small leak of bad theology has grown into a full movement and has infiltrated most of what claims to be "Christianity."

Galatians 5:9 says, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." A little false teaching can bring down an entire church and even a whole denomination and eventually taint the reputation of the universal church to where what most "Christians" claim to be the Gospel is actually no gospel at all. 

Justin Peters says that many false teachers today do teach quite a bit of truth, but there is just enough false teaching that it becomes deadly. He compares it to putting a tiny drop of strychnine in a glass of water. The contents of the glass may be 99% healthy, beneficial water but that tiny fraction of poison will kill whoever drinks from it. 

We must address false teachings when we hear them. Even if they don't seem like a big deal or like something most Christians would fall for. We cannot let even one small drip, one small grain of yeast to exist in the church. We must root it all out. 

The best way to do this is to not neglect daily reading the Word of God.

This was part of Jesus' prayer to the Father for all those whom would become Children of God:

"I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." (John 17:14-19)

This leak also got me to thinking of the Christian life. How much "damage" can a small leak of good theology, of Truth, do to the enemy, to the false religions of the world. The small, constant, dripping of one voice can begin to eat away at a big conglomeration. A small leak is typically silent and can go on unnoticed for a long time, it usually isn't noticed until substantial damage has taken place.

Yes, the loud voices, "the burst main lines," are needed in the church today. Those who make dramatic differences in the world today. Missionaries, preachers, debaters, authors, speakers, etc. But it is the sheep within the church, the ordinary man, the layman, the "silent slow leak" that really causes a whole change in trajectory of a group, church, city, state, country, world. 

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says we should "aspire to live quietly" in order that we will "walk properly before outsiders." Teaching a correct view of God and worldview leads to people being saved and equipping them to go out and do the same. A group of a thousand protesters usually does little than just upset those who are on the other side of whatever movement the protesters are upset about. I'm not saying their isn't a place for protesting but much more is done by the changing of the worldview of the masses. 

We must pray for our leaders, political and spiritual. We must pray for each other as well. Not merely prayers of addressing felt needs (health, family, finances, etc) but prayers for wisdom, discernment, to be protected from falling into sin, to remain faithful to God, and, above all else, to bring glory to God's name. 

If you need help knowing what and how to pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ, check out the openings and closings of the epistles. These are letters from the Apostles to the churches. They often open with how they thank God for them in certain ways and then close telling the church how they will pray for them in specific ways and then tell the church how they can pray for writers in specific ways.

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippines 1:3-5)

"We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you," (Colossians 1:3)

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

"We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing." (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

"Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one...May the Lord direct your heads to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3, 5)

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

We must also pray for a real revival in the church, not a manufactured, emotional high type revive, but a true drawing close to God.

"We cannot organize revival, but we can set ourselves to catch the wind of heaven." ~ G Campbell Morgan

"We must set our hearts to treasure the God who describes Himself in Scripture, never again be satisfied with His absence. It is His name which is at stake. It is also our everlasting joy to have Him near." ~ John Snyder (Behold Your God, p. 263)

"Regardless of the spiritual and moral decline, it is never so dark that God, the Eternal Light, cannot expel the darkness." ~ John Snyder (Behold Your God, p. 262)

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:7-10)

April 2015

March wasn't super eventful. However, it was a month of personal realizations. Most of what went on in March is personal and not really something to put out for the world to read...and be bored with. It isn't anything serious or world rocking, just normal life things.

For example, both of our birthdays are in April, so like a lot of people, the last month of the year, you seem to reassess where you have been and where you are going. It seems that the whole world usually does this in December with January being the "month that I change my life." However, for me, that has always come in the March/April transition. It seems like most of my big life changes have occurred in March/early April. When I lost a lot of weight several years ago, I started in March/April; I quit my job and became a stay-at-home/work-at-home/small business owner in March last year; I got married in March. So, this year wasn't much different. It is just a look at where I am, where I want to be, where I'm afraid I may end up. It is turning my fears over to God and praying about what I need to do next. Most of that is just a very personal journey that my be very impactful for me but probably really boring to the world. ;)

The best thing about March was that Anthony and I celebrated our third anniversary. I cannot believe it has been three years. It feels like we just got married a few weeks ago but at the same time, I feel like we have always been together. We were told so many times before we got married that marriage is hard and especially the first few years, getting use to living with each other. I fully expected that to happen but it didn't. We have had a few bumps such as me being stressed about work and crying a lot and him having to comfort me; Anthony learning I get a little crazy from time to time, especially in the kitchen when I mess something up and him learning to calm me down; learning how to share a queen size bed. However, nothing really that I would call "hard." I've done hard things and the first three years of our marriage has not been one of them. In fact, I really can't think of anything I've done in my life that has been easier than marrying Anthony. We may have had a few struggles like having issues with getting pregnant, but it isn't as difficult when you are doing it with your best friend. Our burdens aren't as heavy when two people are carrying them together. 

Our marriage and relationship is a testimony to the work of God in our lives. I was thirty when I met Anthony, he was twenty-eight. We both thought God had forgotten about us. I had heard people say that God was preparing my future husband for me. So, I use to pray, "Lord, hurry up & finish fixing him so we can get on with this!" Little did I know that He was working on both of us. There are things that if I had met Anthony even three months earlier, I may not have been as interested in him. And, he tells me that if he had met me earlier, he was in no place emotionally to be starting a serious relationship. 

God is truly YHWH-Yireh, Jehovah-Jireh, "The LORD Will Provide." He does provide, and He does so in His own, perfect timing. I look back now on my life and wouldn't have changed a thing. We also know that if He ever sees fit to bless us with children, it will be in His perfect timing and in His perfect way. 

It is half-way through April now and it has been a busy month and it doesn't look like it is going to let up for a while, but I'll write about that more next month. ;) 

2015...January

December...well, that was marked by me recovering from a 3-4 week long respiratory infection/cold followed by the flu. 

I have typically been anti-flu vaccine, not because I thought there was something wrong with it but because, when I worked for the hospital system, we were essentially forced to take the flu vaccine. I do not respond well to being forced to do anything. I was born with a rebellious spirit (just ask  my parents) & it is something I have struggled with all my life. Another reason I didn't like the flu shot was that I would always come down with a terrible cold, which I thought was the flu, each year that I had taken the flu shot with the exception of last year. 

This year, since I no longer work for the health system, I was going to take the shot...because I wasn't being forced to. Then I got that awful respiratory thing. Then I just forgot. I will say, that after this bout of flu, I can only think of one other time where I may have had the flu. That was pretty, stinking terrible. Even when I was feeling better, I was so weak I couldn't do anything productive. Christmas day was the first day I actually felt good. Thank God that we didn't have any Christmas orders through Kapp's Kitchen. I would have hated to contact people a week before Christmas to cancel their orders. Talk about a blessing in disguise. :) Needless to say, I'll be taking the shot next year. :)

December wasn't all kleenexes & Tamiflu, however. We did manage to get in our annual Christmas lights drive and we had several Christmases this year & all of them were wonderful and we were very spoiled, as usual. I am also so very thankful for technology. Since I was sick, I stayed home from the first Christmas but was able to FaceTime for it. I also was able to FaceTime into my sister's Christmas with our parents and we were able to have one of my sisters-in-law Skype our Christmas with the Kapp's. It is amazing that despite being thousands of miles away, we can still connect with those we love. Sure beats the days of telegram & Pony Express. :)

We spent New Year's Eve at home. We were supposed to have some friends over for a game night but they were stuck by winter illness as well. It was a nice quite NYE for us. We had Kahlua Carnitas Street Tacos with homemade corn tortillas (made by Anthony) and pineapple pico de gallo. Then we watched Jurassic Park II and III. LOL Anthony got the whole trilogy for Christmas and we had watched the first one earlier that week. Good times. Can't wait for Jurassic World. :D

New Year's morning Anthony made Crème Brûlée Oatmeal and we had sparkling cranberry-apple juice. :) 

Sooooo...New Years Resolutions. I've never been one to make resolutions but I always think about my goals for the next year, which I guess is essentially the same thing. I try to break them into different categories because I am a list maker and that is how I work. :) The categories I like to consider my yearly/monthly/weekly/daily goals for are: Home, Work, Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, Mental/Educational, and Social. And...since I am a big fan of outlines, there are subcategories under each of these categories. LOL Anyway, I won't bore you with all that now. I'll be kind and make a separate post on these goals for 2015.

2015...can you believe it?! This is the year that Marty McFly visited in Back to the Future II. 2015 sounded so futuristic in the 80's and 90's. We do have some pretty fascinating technology now. Maybe no flying cars or self-drying clothes but look at what we do have. Phones that are more powerful than most mainframe computers in the past. The internet is a vital part of our day-to-day lives. Like I mentioned earlier, FaceTime and Skype to see people on the other side of the earth. Netflix, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Etsy, Hulu, blogs, Pinterest, iPads, Kindle, podcasts, apps and all the other new words that have entered our common vocabulary that represent how we live our lives today. The future may not have turned out as we imagined in the 80's, 90's, 50's, 40's but it is pretty fantastic, after all. 

Speaking of exciting and fantastic. We are a part of a new church plant. We will officially be meeting as The Church at Pecan Creek near the end of this month. We will be temporarily meeting at Northview Baptist Church at 5pm on Sunday nights until August when we will move to our first official location at Pecan Creek Elementary School in Corinth. We are very excited in this endeavor but we also ask for your prayers at this time. There are many challenges in starting a church, especially when we it is our mission to do so as closely to the Scriptures as we can, with holiness and integrity, not compromising in any way in Biblical doctrine while living with a spirit of mercy, grace, patience, and gentleness. We do not intend to offend or hurt anyone's feelings but we place the Gospel and living an increasingly holy life in higher importance. We hope through this adventure, we will grow in Christian maturity, encourage one another in our Christian walk, sharpen one another, hold each other accountable, show each other and those outside our circle the love, grace, and mercy that we have all had shown to us from our Father, and share the Gospel with those in our community and beyond. If you are in our area, please consider worshiping with us. If you are not, then please keep us in your prayers.

There isn't much more to say about January except keep warm. This is the month when winter really starts to set in here in Texas. Granted, most of the rest of the US laughs at us shivering in 30º and 20º weather. Of corse in the summer we laugh at the rest of you sweating in 80º and 90º weather. ;) I'm freezing right now but I am also soaking it up. I would much rather be cold than hot. I can always throw on another sweater or drink another cup of hot tea or cocoa. In the summer, there is only so much iced tea and lemonade you can drink. I guess I should just "Let it go, let it gooooo-oh..." Mwahahahahaha! ;)

July 2014 and Alaska Trip Update

Six months down, six to go for the year of 2014.

I've been in Alaska for about a week now. I'm in Barrow for two weeks baby sitting my adorable nephew and then in Anchorage for a few days.

Barrow is the top of the US. It is the largest town on the North Slope of Alaska, 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle with a population of a little over 4,500. This week the weather has been alternating between sunny and raining with a temperature ranging from the upper 30's to the mid 40's (36 degrees as I write this right now). Barrow is a whaling town. Whaling is illegal but is still legal for natives. They stick very close to their historical methods by going out in small boats rather than large whaling boats. They whale in the spring and the fall. This past spring they caught 7 whales which is about average for a spring catch. They are allowed to catch up to 18 a year.

I am lucky this year that I happen to be here for Nalukataq which is several days of celebration for the spring catch. The most famous part of this celebration is the Blanket Toss. Everyone is welcome to jump, including visitors. One of Jonathan and Kim's native friends tried to get me up there but there is no way I'm doing that. I would come home with a broken leg for sure. In the below video, a guy is jumping with a bag of candy & tossing it in the air for the kids. It was so cute, like an Alaskan piñata.

Keep in mind that the video was taken at about 10:30pm. Yes, the sun is up 24 hrs a day right now. Luckily, the room they have me in has wonderful curtains that block out most of the light. The only hard part is getting the urge to go to bed when it is still sunny out. But, I've worked nights so it isn't that big of a deal for me.

My nephew is so adorable.

A time for laughter...

A time for weeping...

I'm trying to soak up all the cool air over these weeks. There is still a little ice left on the sea.

I've been away from Anthony for 7 days now and I'm, according to my phone, 3,396 miles away from him. We haven't been apart this long or this far since we met. We still have one more week to go apart from each other, then Anthony will come up to Anchorage when Kim & I go down to Anchorage. We'll get to see their new house and he'll get to meet his nephew.

Since we won't be back in Texas for part of the month, this month's menu will be a little abbreviated. I've moved some of last month's planed meals to this month's menu since several of them didn't get made last month.

"In Sickness & In Health"

Well, we are married. :D

But it has been a very challenging few weeks. The wedding itself was beautiful. More beautiful than I could have ever imagined. By Friday, I was done (I'll explain in a min), done with everything. I pretty much threw everything we had made into a pile & told my family to do what they could with it. I felt ridiculously bad for not helping decorate but I was done. I don't think I could have. I could no longer make any kind of decisions. It was the strangest feeling ever. But I have amazing family & I couldn't believe it when I saw it on Sat morning. If I had been able to make any decisions, I think I would have just messed everything up.

I know you want to see pictures & I will post a few here but I'm mainly waiting for the professional pics to come in.

So, let me tell you about how our life has been from the week before the wedding to present.

Challenge 1

My hall toilet has been running for some time & I had bought a new flapper to fix it a while back ago & had just been procrastinating. Anthony & I were going to pick up my sis & bro-in-law the Sun before the wedding at the airport. They live in Barrow, AK & about a week before all this, their sewer had frozen so they had not been able to use the toilet in their house for awhile. So, I wanted to provide a nice, quite, functioning toilet for them while they stayed with me.

On Friday I replaced the flapper; this did not stop the running plus, I noticed the water in the tank had a lot of black stuff floating in it. I quickly discovered that the flushing mechanism had a crack in it, so, on Sat, Anthony & I went to Wal-Mart & found one for $4 & replaced it. When we took the toilet apart, we noticed the rubber gasket between the tank & bowl and the seal in the water supply tube (what was causing the black stuff in the water) had started to deteriorate, but wasn't too bad yet. We put the new flushing mechanism on, put the tank back onto the bowl, & filled the tank with water. Almost immediately water started leaking between the tank & bowl.

After we picked Kim & Jonathan up at the airport the next day, we went into Lowes & bought a new water supply tube (later realizing we had the wrong size & having to go back to Lowes) & gasket. Anthony & Jonathan worked on the toilet only to have the leak still present. We made another trip to Lowes & still there was a leak. I called my friend Thomas & he came over on Monday to take a look at it. After taking the toilet apart & putting it back together about 5-6 times & talking to his plumbing buddy, we finally discovered the tiniest chip in the toilet. Thomas tried some sealant but it still didn't stop the leak. We finally decided a new toilet was going to be the only solution. So, Monday evening, during a big storm, Kim, Jonathan, & I went to buy a new toilet. Jonathan installed it like a pro with only one more trip to Lowes. Yay! Craziness over...not so fast.

Challenge 2

Tuesday night Kim forced me to finally go to bet at about 11:30pm. I walked into my bathroom to find white stuff all over the floor. I looked up & there was a decadent size wet spot on the ceiling & bits of the popcorn ceiling had fallen onto my counter & floor. Jonathan climbed up into the attic & onto the roof but couldn't find any holes. He figured it must be coming in through the vent in the roof. So, the next day, I had a roofer come out & take a look. Sure enough, the sealant around the vent in the roof had cracked & water was dripping down. He fixed it for $75 but also noted I had some hail damage & might start considering a new roof.

Challenge 3

Kim found some mouse dropping in the hall bathroom & hallway. Yay.

Challenge 4

Anthony had been sick all the week before the wedding but hadn't wanted to tell me because he didn't want to worry me. He told me on Thursday that he was starting to feel better. The day after the wedding, Sunday, he started feeling really bad again. On Monday, we decided to leave our honeymoon cabin & drive around Beaver's Bend. While walking around the visitor's center, Anthony became really dizzy & had to go to the car. We drove to Wal-Mart & bought some Tylenol, NyQuil, & a thermometer. He was running about 101 fever. We made an appointment with his doctor on Wednesday & she performed a chest x-ray & sinus x-ray which came back normal. While examining him she mashed on his right lower abdomen & he complained. So, she sent us to the ER for possibility of appendicitis. Naturally, I brought him to my workplace. They did a CT & he was normal. Yay! No surgery! But he still felt terrible for a few more days. He's feeling a lot better now.

Challenge 5

Since Anthony wasn't feeling too great on Tuesday, I drove us home from our honeymoon. I must have hit something because we got a flat & had to buy a new tire.

Challenge 6

Friday night, we were in the hall bathroom putting away towels or something & I looked up at the ceiling & saw this brown stuff that looked like it was growing on the ceiling. Anthony pulled the curtain back & in the tub were lots of dead termites. UGH! So, yesterday I left work early to meet with the pest guy. Very nice, little, old man. So, hopefully that will do it.

Challenge 7

This morning while I was having breakfast, Anthony had finished & was walking through the living room to go take a shower & screamed. Lying on the floor, like he owned the place was a snake! Just a little garden snake but still. EEK!!! Anyway, after a few minutes of what could have been a major laughing point on any prime-time comedy, we caught the snake & through him into the bushes outside. We aren't really sure if he was still alive... Anthony said that "Yakety Sax" should have been playing in the background during the excitement.

Ok...picture time....

Ever After Chapel

Instead of printing programs, Anthony, me, & my dad made a chalkboard & had my cousin/day-of coordinator/insanity preventer/one-of-the-most-amazing-women-I've-ever-had-the-pleasure-of-knowing, Kaylee, write out the actors. ;)

As you can see, my maid-of-honor was celebrating from Mongolia where she now lives. What a blessing technology is today! Her mom brought her iPad & Brandie was able to watch the whole thing via Skype. Amazing!

My dad had been sweeping off the front step & had set the broom down, dusted his hands off on his pants, & looked up to see me standing here. He said, "Oh my gosh!" & immediately reached into his coat for his camera & snapped this pic. It made me feel so pretty. :)

Our Twitter friend Collin played his cello (we actually had never met face-to-face until the rehearsal...that's how we roll). Kim (my sis) sang while her husband, Jonathan (most amazing bro-in-law in the world) played an AMAZING version of "His Eye Is On The Sparrow." While Anthony & I had a private communion. Also in this pic is my INCREDIBLE cousin & day-of....week-of-coordinator, Kaylee (check out her adorable blog "Blue Mitten Green House"). I cannot put into words how amazing this woman is. She is more of a sister to me than a cousin. 

Mr. & Mrs. ..... with Louis Armstrong's "'Bout Time" as our exit music. 

Rev. Bob Oudin, my sister's father-in-law & one of the most sincere men I know, married us. We both love him so much & look to him as a spiritual mentor. He probably wouldn't like that but that makes him even more of an honorable man.

Here we are as a wedding party...sans Brandie, of course (but she was in our thoughts & hearts). Jason, Alejandro, my hunky husband, me, Kim (my sis & matron-of-honor), Anya, & Tanya (Anthony's sisters).

My sister & matron-of-honor, Kim, and her brother-in-law (also the maker of my ring...see his Etsy site) performed Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" with Joshua playing the ukulele that he made himself. What talented family & friends I have!

This is something special our friend Jordan made for us. She also designed our invites. She is super talented. If you have any interest in her designs check out her Etsy site.

I'll post more as soon as I get the professional photos back from the photographer. :D