Remembering 2012 with the 5 senses

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other." - Mark 9:50 NIV

 

 

 

Ahhh! 2012 has come and gone but left an imprint of memories based on our five senses.  On facebook I have been sharing a daily gratitude and in Suzy kind of fashion I managed to catch up my last three today.  My final gratitude for the year was my five senses.  As I have been reflecting as most of us do this time of year and am grateful to be over a cold I have been thinking a lot about our abilities to smell, hear, taste (three of the senses usually lost to bad colds) and the sight and touch off-kilter with these crazy super viruses.  So in honor of this line of thinking I wanted to share five of my favorite experiences with each sense to close out 2012.

 

Sight

 

In January, my little boy received his first haircut.  He went from baby to toddler instantly!

I don't think I could give up watching my husband Corey play with Drew.  They have had a special bond since day one and it blesses my heart to pieces. 

 

September brought sight to my Drew.  I hated glasses and started at age five.  My cutie wasn't even two and they suggested it.  We still don't wear them out of the house (Drew still isn't crazy about the touch on his face - loves to wear them but constantly tugging at them.  And if it is possible they make him a touch more adorable :)

 

The gorgeous sunrise to finish out this year was amazing - with the bright pinks and highlights of oranges and golds.  I wish I could paint it - just breathtaking! 

 

The last would have to be my acceptance letter to Seminary.  I was walking with my son and tore open the letter before we got into the house and started crying.  My son starting to pick up other's emotions came running up to me with a lip quiver.  And then to see my husband's reaction to the news after our son passed him the letter.  There are just some moments that leave such an enduring impression you are forever changed. This was one of them :)

 

 

Sound

 

Number one - my son's voice.  Besides my first conversation ever with my husband (May 1998) I would have to say hands down my next favorite conversation was the morning after we put up our Christmas tree this year and my son starting the conversation with a Whoa!

 

VBS at church this past summer was such a special blessing and I got to co-lead music and to hear these children sing nightly for almost a week.  Their voices lifting up praises to God - Awesome! Truly awesome!

 

Another one that happened recently was when we got to light the Advent Candle and Drew let out his excited cheer at the end.  It felt like the "official" start to Advent equivalent to "Let's play ball!"

 

I love to hear the youth/kids discuss a Sunday School lesson or excited over a story in Godly Play.  There is just that warmth from your heart and burst of energy that flows through you as the children's excitement is contagious!

 

My husband's rich baritone voice offering encouragement, support, and the always touching "I love you's".  Nine years and his voice still races my heart, tingles my toes, and the occasional flip-flop of my stomach. 

 

Smell

 

I am not a big sniffer but I will try my best.  This one is going to sound crazy but diapers.  A fresh diaper just lifts my spirit - it means we get to start over all fresh and clean.  I know - crazy but I am a mom to a two year old -  trust me a diaper is like my alarm clock/scheduler.  The smell is highly telling of how my day is going to be :)

 

I love the smell of pumpkins and cinnamon and those warm autumn scents.  Don't get me wrong I appreciate the sweetness and lightness of summer with berries, melons, and citrus.  But I just love the Autumn season and the warmth and coziness of those smells that they bring to the background. 

 

Our house is starting to take on flavor whiffs as we cook more and more at home especially cooking that uses the crockpot creating those simmering wafts of smell that permeate our home from autumn through winter.

 

Play-doh just seems like a good memory smell of this year as I have definitely been more hands on with the younger population - being a full time mommy, which means playdates, being a nanny, an after-school counselor, and working with the children of our church.  That saltiness of Play-doh seems to be under my nose constantly.

 

The antiquated musty book smell as you open a library book as I have been making it more of a point to find books to read for learning as well as pleasure.

 

Taste

 

MMMMMMMMMMMM.  I am recalling the taste of ice-cream as it is one of my favorites.  It also reminds me of one of my favorite days with my nieces and nephews this summer as we learned the importance of Patience!

 

The saltiness of goldfish is very popular this year as my son discovered a love for them, we serve them at our Feast of Godly Play, and other kiddie events. Definitely the taste of goldfish ranks high for 2012.

 

Ahhh I would have to include my greatest find on Pinterest.  Sour Jewels ( grapes rinsed with water - don't dry - and then roll them in jello powder.  It makes a really cool effect if you coordinate colors.  Black cherry with Black grapes and the most popular lime with green grapes.) Super easy!  Kids love them and there are plenty of worst snacks out there.  I like to think of them as almost the healthy version of sour gummies :)  Used at least four times and a major success each and every time!!!

 

My favorite trick to improving any vegetable is roasting them and my favorite find in 2011 but ate plenty of them in 2012 is roasted Brussel Sprouts!  Oh they have such a fun crisp bite with a wonderful rich nutty flavor after roasting in the oven. 

 

My favorite find of 2012 was roasting my white pumpkin seeds.  Oh so good - sweet, salty, crunchy - YUMMY!

 

Touch

 

This sense I think speaks the most to my heart.  If you like Max Lucado one of my favorite writings that just sits heavy on my heart is found in Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado discussing how he healed the man with leprosy.  It just opened my eyes to how important touch is and how so many of us take it for granted.  Also if you have ever read Gary Chapman's Five Languages of Love he highlights how importance touch is to a loving relationship and how we communicate through touch to/with each other.

 

So my five favorite "touches".

 

The keys of the keyboard clicking under my nails/fingers as a data entry clerk as well as at home blogging or attempting to create new websites.

Beauty days when I was a nanny getting my nails done, my hair, and even my make-up.  I can feel the tugs, and tickles of brushes.  And the giggles at the final "look". 

 

Drew shows support to my work outs by becoming my "obstacle" or extra weight.  He loves to be picked up if I am marching to a DVD.  Or if it is a yoga/pilates one he likes to crawl under or over me or through my legs depending on the stance.  It makes me giggle and breaks up the routine quite often!

 

The best day I had working as an afterschool counselor was the day we explored our senses.  I was responsible for the touching exhibit.  I had eight different textures hidden under a blanket (so as not to be seen) for the kids to explore through touch.  It was fun to watch their eyes not completely sure what they were to feel (all household pantry staples - dry pasta, cooked pasta, shredded carrots, chunked baby carrots, water, dry rice with dry beans, whole lemon, broken saltine crackers).  I offered some of them the chance to opt out but everyone wanted a "go".  Some even brought parents back.  It just was one of those YAY moments :)

 

Of course I saved my favorite for last - cuddles with my two favorite guys - my cozy cuddles with my son as we listen to music, read, or watch television.  And one of the reasons I fall in love with my hubby daily is his all encompassing world protective loving warm embrace - the safest most wonderful place to be is in his arms. 

 

  Whoa! as my son said this year has been quite a wonderful year to remember.  It has felt like a whirlwind at points and then quite a lull during other moments.  Jesus encourages us to remain salty.  To keep adding our flavor to the world so that together we can create the perfect harmonious recipe of peace as we find the best part of ourselves to combine with the best of others to glorify our Wonderful Magnificent Creator.

 

May your HealthFULL Journey help you to remember the good moments that built a stronger flavor of your salt.  And feel free to lose those moments that dull your flavor. Otherwise continue Feeling Unbelievable and Loving Life! 'Til we meet again. . .

 

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes you have to just try. . .

Aren't Sundays nice?  Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.  I do love the family day aspect and I am lucky enough to work a job that I can enjoy every Sunday afternoon with my loved ones.  My hubby unfortunately does not have that luxury.  He tries to take this day off as often as possible so that we can have a family day but as he works as a department manager for a grocery store he tries to be fair and let others also enjoy the day with their families.  (He really is a good guy like that :)  But I love when we can get up as family, get ready for church and worship together.  Well here is the part when you just have to try.  I have been an overprotective (with many many reasons - some good some just first time mom jitters :)  mom of our little one.  I haven't let my little guy out of my sight too often unless relatives have been around.  I did try one time recently to drop my son off in a church nursery but I knew the caregiver and he was playing with one of his cousins.  But today we did the big moment.  We dropped off our little boy who is growing up way too fast with our church nursery.  And both him and his mommy did great!  He dove to one of the caregiver's arms for a cuddle (which lasted almost the entire hour :)  And I'll admit a little bit of jealousy - it was really nice to sit with my hubby the ENTIRE church service including the whole sermon!  It has been awhile since we have been able to do that since we have a babblin' toddler.  Our son tends to have something LOUD to say just about the same time our pastor wants to start his sermon.  So me and my little guy have tried to discreetly slip out so we can crawl and babble without competition.  So that was successful attempt number one.

Our other milestone as a family was to have our son drink out of a straw.  I tried to teach this feat quite awhile ago with little luck.  Do you know how hard it is to demonstrate to a very young child how to suck up a drink through a straw?  It is kind of like magic.  Watch mommy put her lips around her straw. That is a pretty easy step to demonstrate.  However the next step and the more important step a little challenging to teach.  Now see how mommy sucks water through the non-clear straw. No you didn't see that?  So without thinking about this lesson I just carried sippy cups in his bag.  But play the disaster music in your head - dun dun dun - as a family we were going out to eat after church and major obstacle.  I forgot to pack a sippy cup :(  Oh no!!!  We can't ask our kid to not have anything to drink since before church - eat lunch - and run errands without any beverage.  So with a nervous request to the server we asked for a kids water.  And wait for it - sure enough it comes with a straw - and the cup is pretty flimsy to attempt to drink from (and that takes a lot of rhythm and timing - not my strong suit).  So nervously I hold the sippy cup in front of my son - angle the straw towards him - and success (play celebratory music)!  What?  When did this guy pick up such a tricky skill?  I'll confess after a unsuccessful attempt the first time I figured let's chalk off this skill for a good couple of years and try again when we both speak the same language fluently :)  But no today was the day to drink from a straw because we simply tried. 

It's a long story for a simple concept - but aren't we all guilty of writing ourselves off or others because the first try wasn't a marvelous success.  Many of us have tried many diets and say to ourselves after the last defeat " It's not going to happen for me. "  Or perhaps we look for a job and go on many interviews that end with the all too common "We appreciate your interest but have decided to go another route - blah blah blah" .  Its hard not to get discouraged.  Especially it seems the harder you try or the more you want something the deeper "the failure" wounds your spirit.  I like to get things right the first time.  I like to be that star rookie who was meant to complete a certain challenge.  But you only get a few times in your life to have that moment.  And if we wait only for what we believe to be our guaranteed success stories we all tend to wait a little too long on the sidelines and miss those moments of learning that actually triple our chances of success, happiness, and opportunities that are far better than what we could even imagine.  This message "Sometimes you have to just try..."  is the foundation of why I write this blog.  I realized that several years ago for too many years I had let fear not only control my choices but paralyze me from attempting almost anything.  So slowly I began to challenge myself.  Share my weight.  Share my struggles.  Attempt activities that seemed impossible.  And to not be afraid of falling or failing.  And even if I was to be afraid (because I am me through this whole journey and I can be a bit of scaredy cat!) to not let my fear paralyze me and keep from living.  I have fallen many times on this journey.  Sometimes, I have taken myself off the path and hid in the bushes for what seems forever.  But then I remember I don't have to achieve guaranteed success in ALL of my attempts but that sometimes I do have to just try. . .

May your HealthFULL (Fully Understand Life by Living) Journey celebrate your successess especially the successes that came after many attempts, challenges, and the occasional heartbreak. 'Til we meet again . . .

Are you who you think you are?

Are you who you think you are?  Cliches and general statements claim no one knows you better than you know yourself.  But that isn't true for everyone.  And sometimes I wonder if that sentiment is true for anyone.  We aren't aware of other's perceptions and rarely are we as transparent as we think.  We get in silly arguments that blow into full wage wars because we believe those closest to us should know what we meant or what we thought when really none of our actions have fully disclosed our needs or our wants.  Or worse our words and our actions told different stories. 

Do you ask for something but mean something completely different?  Perhaps you ask children to do more around the house.  They do more around the house but you are frustrated because you had specific chores in mind they didn't touch.  Maybe you ask your significant other for more loving touches but you tend to shrug off their advances.  You ask work for more responsibility - you meant promotion they give you grunt work.  We tend to ask in generalities but desire specifics.  Either we don't know what we want or we don't know how to ask for what we want.  Either way we could improve our position by knowing who we are.

We tend to not know our own strengths or weaknesses; at least all of them.  We tend to quit because we are scared of the end - we fear pain, hurt, success, failure, sometimes we just fear "the end".  So we quit, we drop out, we grasp for excuses to share and crave rationalizations that comfort us why we couldn't possibly go all the way.  Oh I could do never do a marathon.  Whew I get worn out walking in my living room.  What? I couldn't speak in front of hundreds of people - I get tongue tied in front of a small group of five people I know.  I couldn't draw to save my life.  I could never be a parent - too much responsibility.  Its fine if you choose not to do something because it is not a desire of yours.  But don't be scared to challenge the warrior, the mother, the athlete, the poet, the champion in your heart.  They are dying to strut their stuff.  Because when push comes to shove you could complete that marathon; perhaps it is in honor of a charity who is sponsoring your best friend. You could speak in front of a thousand people because you are sharing the gospel of Jesus.  Maybe you become an artist because you sketched your baby's first nap.  Its amazing what we can do because the stakes change and become personal.  Possibly we know that greatness is as close as our fingertips and that we are only a step away from knowing ourselves and that is why we tend to push people away.  Its becoming quite a habit in today's world.

Do you like compliments?  You might say you do, but it seems the truer the compliment the quicker we are to deflect it.  Someone compliments you for your speech; we may reply its an important topic.  Someone compliments your cooking perhaps you share the accolades with a spouse - something along the lines of "my husband is the true chef I am just the assistant.  Someone compliments your intelligence or beauty and we pass on the praises to our sibling - oh you haven't met my brother/sister they are the smart/beautiful one.  Here our compliments to our face and we still don't accept our strengths or talents at face value.  And our weaknesses are just as hard to swallow.  Raise your hand if you have ever been completely honest at a job interview or on a dating profile.  Name your greatest weakness.  We all go for the positive spin.  Curvy women you know you mark the voluptuous curves before the bloated jellyfish box.  Or for work purposes - I tend to be obsessed with details.  Forget to mention that you run tardy by ten minutes every day or that you like to gossip with co-workers.  But then maybe you don't realize you have flaws because you didn't really know you have strengths. 

I write all this because without knowing yourself : How do you live YOUR life?  This HealthFULL Journey is really helping me to pinpoint specific wants, needs, and patterns I possess.  And with the help of my handy dandy 12 resolutions for the 12 months of 2012 I am holding a magnifying glass on all aspects of my life.  One of the most recent items that spurned this blog.  A big grocery shopping trip my husband and I recently shared.  The revelation after $450.00 worth of groceries (it was bargain shopping as everything was 50% off so we spent just over $200.00 and our pantries are filled and some of these items went in donation).  But after this huge shopping excursion we realized I shop for a non-existent member of our household.  This person obviously loves cereal, yogurt, soup, beans, pasta, spices, and nuts.  If I go shopping by myself I tend to stray from our list badly.  I will ultimately pick up these six items and I honestly can't remember ever in our marriage of us being out of these items.  I put these items in our cart as if I am on auto-pilot. 

Let's investigate the list shall we:  Cereal - I love cereal.  The sugary kind, the hot kind, the healthy adult kind.  I enjoy cereal.  Now ask me how often I eat cereal.  Hmmmm....since October I have not had a single bowl.  Yup that would be the truth.  I sometimes use it as a crunch factor in yogurt or with fruit - we are talking 2 tbsps max at a time and occasionally a 1/2 cup here or there for cooking purposes.  My husband never eats it and my son eats one specific kind.  But right now we have the total of 3 unopened containers, one opened box (our son's) and two boxes with three different kinds mixed together separately in their own bags.  So if you're counting that equals ten different cereals. 

Yogurt - oh I love yogurt.  I grew up eating yogurt.  But since the attacks have increased I have suspicions they may be linked to dairy (which literally is a nightmare for me - both an attack and the loss of dairy).  Also I tend to buy many yogurts fully knowing it has a limited life span before the expiration date and I don't try dairy after the expiration date.  One bad episode with an expired date and you get a little cautious. But I like variety so I'll pick up ten yogurts thinking I have just under a month.  I won't eat them all.  I hope I will eat a couple of them before they find their way to the trash.  When I want something sweet they usually aren't enough to satisfy the craving or they're too heavy/much sounding when I just need a bite.

Soup - I so rarely eat soup from a can.  I'll use broth for a meal every now and then.  But I like to have them on hand just in case I get in a cooking frenzy and am in need of four broths.  We tend to open a package of broth or stock and then maybe use half and once again find its way to the garbage.  We are trying to be more conscious and use items within several meals to cut down waste.  But I still way overbuy soups in anticipation to feed our family a full meal for less than $3.00.  Good dream but not really our reality all too often.

Beans in my mind equal a healthy diet plus the general public states beans are cheap to buy.  So in my cart they go to make my family healthier while maintaining a line of budget.  This however means they need to actually be utilized into our meals.  And the thought of soaking beans is exhausting.  I think like many people I get the impression I have to physically stand over the soaking beans for eight hours or delay our meal for eight hours.  But in reality we just need to throw them in a pot of water (no cooking required at this stage) when we go to sleep and throw them in the crock pot in the morning.  Or throw them in a bowl of water before we head to work.  Ready to cook as soon as we get home.  But the step of soaking them exhausts my mind and there the beautiful different color beans sit in my pantry in their lovely bags.  I also overbuy canned beans because sometimes the draining them and rinsing them exhausts my mentality as well.  Because then I'll convince myself that canned beans aren't as healthy as dried beans and if I don't have the time to soak my beans I don't deserve to sample the tasty beans.  Yes people I seriously think in these circles sometimes :)

Pasta is my cruel way of teasing myself.  It is one of my five favorite dishes of all time - between comfort, ease, variety, and flavor.  I adore pasta; the different shapes, the different grains; the satisfaction of covering the noodles with tons of different toppings.  But alas with diabetes pasta is rarely my friend and I tend to scoff at their serving size.  But yet I buy it because I always am in doubt if we have enough in our pantry when I really know I shouldn't be eating that much of it so even having one package is plenty. 

Spices - I am starting to flex my culinary skills and I don't like when my pantry is missing a recommended ingredient.  I get frustrated when I can't try out a new recipe as I am out of or never possessed a certain spice; fully believing the whole recipe hinges on that one particular spice.  And those we tend to like but rarely use I like to buy back-ups just in case we are low (as you see two tumeric, two thyme, two pepper blends, two cayennes, and three sets of food coloring).  I must fancy myself quite the chef and baker which according to my pantry I am not.

And finally the nuts.  I actually eat quite a bit of nuts.  Lower in carbs, high in fat - mostly good fate, and an excellent source of protein.  These quell my snacking tendencies and cravings.  I can purchase sweet varieties and salty and even spicy.  Therefore, I panic at the thought of running out.  So when we see them in the store the cans literally jump into my cart as I peruse the aisle - just in case.

I admit all this because I finally have my eyes open to some self-awareness.  I challenge you to take a true look in the mirror, checkbook, pantry, closet, and/or calendar.  Are you who you think you are?

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No,' 'No'; . . . " Matthew 5:37

May your HealthFULL Journey be a true reflection of the person you were, the person who you want to be, and most imporantly the person you are. 'Til we meet again. . .