Lots of craziness going on here lately!

First topic: When organic eating ends up making you a food snob.

If you read my blog a few weeks ago, you will remember me talking about going all natural eating whole foods and not eating processed foods anymore, right?

Well, let me bring you up to speed. :) The process has been a little slower to get everything out of the pantry than I first envisioned, but we are almost there! We have been eating a lot of organic food the last few weeks and I will tell you this. I feel amazingly better when I eat organic all day. And I can tell the most difference when I am out and eat something not organic and end up running home to get the tums! It literally turns my stomach and it just doesn't taste good anymore. Seriously. I am experimenting with new grains I have never eaten before, new sweeteners I never knew existed. I recently made a cheesecake made with organic yogurt (mostly because I needed to use the yogurt) and it turned out okay. It was different, but it tasted fine. I recently bought sucanat. If you don't know what it is, think unrefined organic pure sugar cane juice that is dried or evaporated. It is funny looking, being a brownish color and looking like small little pebbles, but the taste is great! It sweetens like sugar but doesn't cause the highs and lows in your glucose readings like white refined sugar does. It is great.

Something else I find myself liking better is dairy products. I have never been a big milk drinker. I put it on cereal sometimes and pour it out when the cereal is gone. I drink chocolate milk very seldom and have an all around dislike for milk. However, we bought organic skim milk and it tastes totally different! Even Cameron and Shane (my two big milk drinkers) have noticed a difference in taste when they drink milk at my parents' house (kroger skim) vs. our organic milk. i actually don't mind drinking a little bit of it. Milk has a chemical taste to me. Not sure why, but it does. Now the organic milk tastes pure and doesn't have that weird chemical taste to it.

This has inevitably made us all food snobs. We talk in "organic talk" and people automatically think we are loaded with money because we shop at the whole foods market. Let me tell you, not rich. Not even close. But eating organically is a lifestyle change and by doing so, we have reduced the amount of restaurant visits, which equals out to make up the difference in price to eat organically. So if it makes me a food snob that I will only drink organic milk, then food snob it is. :)

So, all is going well on the eating better homefront and we all three feel better and have noticed a little change in the scales. :)

Next topic: The Creation Museum.

Oh my goodness! What a wonderful God filled place for people to go and experience the truth! It was wonderful seeing the creation story brought to life and the differences in what man says vs what God says about creation, life and things around us. It really rekindled a fire in me that has been a little bit dimmer the last year or so. After things at our previous church went awry, and we felt led to leave the church to find a new home, things have kind of fizzled for me. I wanted to be involved again like we were before, then I felt scared to put myself out there again, scared of being rejected and pushed aside, which is how we felt before. So we have gone to a big church just to be hidden with no obligations, and be just a number. I have been feeling led to move on from there and find a new home with a smaller family that we can be a part of. But this whole time away from where we were before has felt like the time between Malachi and Matthew. There was a 400 year period of time where it seemed God was silent. Then came Jesus. I have felt like God has let us just be for a while and was quietly waiting for the right time for us to move on from this period of rest. Yesterday and today have relit that fire and now I am ready to move from this quiet time and burst through screaming His name wherever I go!!

I sit a lot of times in the quiet and feel God all around me. Holding me up, holding my hand, pushing me along when I don't want to go forward. His words flow over me like water when I open my bible to read. I sometimes close my eyes and try to think about what it was like so many years ago for Abraham, Joeseph, Moses, Joshua, King David, Jonah, Noah, the Disciples, Jesus and of course to be there when Mary was carrying our Lord. To put myself in that time and think how different life was then. To see what they saw, to feel what they felt. It amazes me.To be there when Moses parted the sea, when David took down Goliath, when Mary and Joeseph went to Bethlehem, when Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, the crucifixion and resurrection. Wow!!

Next topic: Cameron starts driver's ed. EEK!

Yeah, I know. I am thinking exactly what you are thinking. Is he really old enough to be driving?!?! The answer is yes. He is. I look at him sometimes and see my little 3 year old running up to me with veggietales pajamas and teddy bear in hand wanting to play school. But in reality, my baby boy is getting older by the day and in just 3 short years, will be graduating high school and starting his adult life. Yikes! Doesn't seem like it has been 15 years. I am so very proud of the man he is growing up to be. I couldn't be more happy with who he is becoming. And I am looking forward to seeing this driving thing come to fruition. :) (mostly because I don't care to drive and he can drive and I can start to become Miss Daisy sitting in the back or passenger seat!)

So that's the craziness that is my life going on this summer. July will quickly coming to an end soon and August and the beginning of another school year will be creeping up before we know it. I am looking forward to adding another school to my subbing list. I go this coming week to discuss with them and tour the school! Yay! That's 3 schools to sub at. Between subbing and keeping our family eating organically and healthy, I am one busy chick! And I wouldn't have it any other way. ;)

Until next time....

Ch..Ch...Ch...Changes....

I have spent years trying to get my boys and I to eat healthier. I have bought fat-free foods, I have tried to get us to not eat out at restaurants as much, etc. It has been a struggle for all three of us.

Recently, I came across some blogs of homemakers that are truly being "homemakers". The stereotype of homemaker to me is staying at home, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the house, the children, baking cookies and making the home run smoothly. Some have differing ideas, which is fine, that is mine. These homemakers are living exactly like I picture homemakers should. So I click on some of their posts and find myself immersed in recipes for foods I have cooked before, but I am reading words like "whole" "organic" and "homemade". I was in love at first sight!! I usually cook homemade meals, but with help. And by help, I mean instead of peeling potatoes, I buy instant. Instead of making my own pasta, I buy it at the store.

These women are posting about the hidden additives and preservatives in almost every single food at the grocery store. I went to the store and read the labels and there it was. Staring me in the face. Literally every single thing I buy at the grocery has some kind of additive in it to preserve it or add flavor. And the preservatives in these foods are just as bad! So I decided to do some research and "detox" my family of these awful chemicals that are in our food. I printed off recipes, I printed off tips and secrets of organic families. I have never been so serious about how I prepare our food before. This is serious. the side effects of the foods we are putting into our bodies is astounding! Just switching the sweetener you use can make a world of difference, especially if you have diabetes, or hypoglycemia. It was amazing to me how much we put into our bodies without even thinking about it!

I had all of my research ready and waiting when we left last week for vacation to Florida. We ate all the food we wanted while we were gone (mostly unhealthy and fatty food) and we all knew when we got home, it was time to purge the bad foods from our pantry and start making the switchover! Luckily, my boys are very excited about this adventure and even asked to help! I went to the Whole Foods Market yesterday to find alternative peanut butter for me. (I have been diagnosed with a nut allergy and cannot eat PB anymore, which is one of my favorite foods) I found soybutter, which ended up tasting exactly like peanut butter! Yay! But while I was there, I scoped out every aisle and everything they had at my disposal to buy for preparing whole, organic foods. It is wonderful! I won't have to be practically Amish with my days making everything scratch, there are some "convenience" foods I can buy if I am strapped for time, but for the most part, my days will be spent in the kitchen making healthy meals from scratch, without the use of chemicals and additives. It is time for us to live a healthy existence. I have failed my boys up to this point with the meals I have prepared them. I have failed them in the way I have fed them unhealthy foods from McDonald's or Wendy's or Pizza Hut. The time has come to make a change, and this is a change I can live with. No more whining about how fat we feel or how we hate the way we look, or whining because our stomachs are upset from the fatty, grease laden foods we have eaten. It is time to move on from that mentality and move to a healthy and happy food experience.

Last night, we all went to the Whole Foods Market to get some semolina to make pasta with, and my boys were in awe of the wonderful foods they had there! They thought they would never be able to eat a hamburger again! Or that they would never get to eat chips! I can make anything they want to eat, and if it is a last minute thing, Whole Foods Market has it all for me. So they were excited by all of it! They took the store in as we walked down the aisles together and ended up coming home, and all three of us working together to make pasta, homemade, organic pasta. It was awesome the teamwork! And on Saturdays, we decided would be "bread day" where we will all be working on baking bread, rolls, buns, etc. They are eager to help and I am eager to teach them. Whole Foods Market is going to be my new go to grocery store! Yay for health!

So while some people won't understand and think I am being a weird new age hippie, I assure you that I am just looking out for the health of my family. Nothing new age about it. If you think about your great grandparents, this is how they were cooking. Out of the garden, and wholesomely. My garden is going to be getting a lot bigger next year!! :)

Stay tuned for the results of our "chemical detox"!  :)

Life

So, it has been quite a while since my last post. I thought I would blog more, but as time breezes by me at an alarming rate, I find myself at the end of the day and not taking the time to write.

Over Spring Break, we went on a last minute trip with Shane to Arizona. He was supposed to fly out on Sunday, but his boss said he could drive with us all going, so on Thursday evening, we were booking hotels and planning our drive. We got to stop at a lot of neat places along the way. Places we have never been. We went to the Grand Canyon on our way back home. It was an awesome place. Scary as anything I have ever seen, but awesome. Definitely something everyone should see at least once.

The last few years I have contemplated going back to school to get my bachelor's degree. I have humhawed about for years and since Shane has a good job, and Cameron is quickly creeping up to college age, I decided it was now or never. So I picked myself up by the bootstraps and decided enough was enough. I am tired of settling for jobs that aren't fit for me. I loved being an instructional assistant before and a substitute teacher now. I have always wanted to be a teacher, so why not? I tried to get into a four year school, but because I have no prior college credits and poor math skills, I had to settle with Ivy Tech. Which is smarter as it is much cheaper alternative for me. I am going to get my associate's degree in early childhood education and then transfer to finish my bachelor's degree in elementary education. I went and took my assessment test and passed reading and writing with flying colors. Math, on the other hand...not so much. But, I can take some brush up classes in math and begin this crazy journey. I am officially enrolled in classes for the summer. Starting with 13 credit hours! Yikes!! But, with having a 15 year old who basically takes care of himself and has band all summer, plus not working in the summer, I can definitely make it.

Cameron turns 15 on Saturday, May 12. EEK! Where in the world has the last 15 years gone? I was looking at him the other day, taller than me, glasses on, hair cut, deep man voice, and all I could see was this little guy about 3 years old. Sitting in his bedroom with the big chalkboard easel, reading words I wrote, singing ABC's, reading books, reciting numbers, doing simple addition and subtraction. And then the reality sets in that he isn't this little boy anymore. He is growing into a man. He has been such a blessing to us. I thank God every day that He gave Shane and I this wonderful young man to raise. He is such a great kid. I know he's going to turn out to be such a wonderful adult.

Well, that is about it for us here at Frye corner. Until next time!

Crazy Game of Life

It's official! I am a student! I just got my acceptance letter and have signed up to take an assessment (eek!) and speak with my counselor! I have already talked to a four year college about transferring my associate's degree over when I finish and they are happy to accept me to finish up my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education! I am over the moon! God has been so good to us. I have prayed for his wisdom and guidance every step of the way. I have to leave a career behind, but I really feel like this is the path God has had planned for me all along. It just feels right. And by going this route, it is the absolute cheapest way to get a four year degree! Yay!

I should be able to begin the Summer 2012 semester and get moving on this adventure! Like I said, this girl is over the moon!!

Later!

The End of an Era.

Okay, so this is a different post than I would usually blog about. Today, the television show I have watched since I was 11 years old, is coming to an end. It is truly an end of an era. One Life To Live is a daytime soap opera. I typically wouldn't watch soaps, but my best friend when we were in middle school got me hooked and off and on through the last 21 years, I have watched this show. I literally grew up with a few of the actors and actresses, as they aged along with me and their drama that was going on was similar to my own drama I was living. I know it seems silly and childish, but I literally feel like these actors that invade my tv every afternoon are part of my family. Like I said, I have watched some of them grow up before my eyes. I have dvr'd OLTL for two years now and was able to watch every single day, whereas before, I would watch only when I was home or able to catch it at 2 o'clock.

The last two weeks have been filled with drama on the show as true to soap opera form. There have been people leave the fictional town of Llanview, and as their tears fall for their family member leaving town, tears fill my eyes as I watch them leave, knowing that like all the times people have left before and come back, there is no coming back. It is over. I have to accept that and move on. Nobody in my family understands. They think I am being completely overdramatic. I told Shane it is like if they took the NFL and said "we are taking this off and never showing and NFL football game again. Ever". What he doesn't get is, I don't watch a lot of tv. I don't like most shows. I get hooked on one thing and that's it for me. When the show I get hooked on goes off, oh well. But this is different. I have watched this show for most of my life. It has been on tv for 43 years!

But, life goes on. Now I have an extra hour in my day to get other things accomplished. So in closing, let me just say goodbye to all the people of my favorite fictional town of Llanview, PA. Goodbye, Vicki, CLint, Joey, Kevin, Chord, Tina, Jessica, Natalie, Ryder, Liam, John, Marcie, Al, Asa, Dorian, Kelly, Blair, Todd, Starr, Dani, Tea, Cassie, Jack, Sam, Victor, Addie, Brody, Nora, Bo, Matthew, David, Nigel, Roxy, Shane, Rex, Gigi, Cristian, Antonio, Will, Jen, and the brood of others that I have watched over the years. Goodbye to the end of an era.
Now excuse me while I wipe my tears...

Fall: A time of transition

Fall seems to be upon us. It is only early September, but you can feel the crispness to the air and the feeling that the autumnal equinox is upon us. While I love summer and swimming and shorts and tank tops, I always end up looking forward to fall every year. Kids go back to school, excitement for what classes they have. Marching band is on our schedules this year at the Frye house, and i couldn't be more excited for Cameron. I think we may have finally found his passion. Music. Which happened to also be mine and Shane's passions as well in high school. Even now we love music so much. It is just a part of our lives. We are always singing, or playing an instrument. Love music.

Fall brings thankfulness at Thanksgiving time. This year, since I am finally rooted into my own home, I can decorate for seasons. I enjoy changing colors and getting the pumpkins and the fall leaves and all things fall out to decorate with. It has been many years since I have been able to do this.

Leaves fall onto the ground, fireplaces crackle, outside weiner roasts start. It's the time of year that people get settled in for the winter. Hats and coats come out of the closet, dust shaken off of the pants and sweatshirts. Flip flops are traded in for sneakers or boots. It's a transitional time.

My thoughts come back to my own life. Fall is transitional, and what transition will I be making this fall? It has been a year since we left our old church (the second time) and moved on to College Park. Will there be another transition this fall? Or will we stay where it is comfy and quiet and let God just wash over us while we are just being? There are so many times I feel the nudge to move to a smaller church and get involved again, but am scared. I am afraid to put myself out there and go through that all over again. It takes a lot to put myself out there in front of the world. Am I ready yet? Or should I just sit back and enjoy the music at College Park? The sermons are wonderful. I can be anonymous there. I am not Kristian the singer, or Kristian the piano player, or Kristian the children's ministry teacher, or Kristian the youth group helper. I can just be Kristian. I kind of like it that way for now.

maybe the transition this fall will be that I enjoy the quiet and just sit back and relax and not worry about it. Just love God and what He has in store for us and just let it go. He will take us where He wants us in time. maybe this fall, maybe not. Doesn't matter, all I know is that He is the only one that knows when that transition will happen and I am okay with that.

"Lord, love us. Heal us. Keep washing over us with your holy spirit. I am looking up and closing my eyes and worshiping you. Flood my heart with your neverending love and forgiveness." Amen

Williamsburg, VA trip Days 3-5

A whirlwind of history! I love it here! SO much rich history here in Virginia.

Day 3- We arrived in Williamsburg, after driving by Monicello on our way here, but we didn't go on the tour as there wasn't enough time. We arrived and basically checked into our hotel and chilled the rest of the day.

Day4-Jamestown. We went to Jamestown Settlement on Thursday. It was a lovely day and we spent it looking around at the settlement and seeing them doing an archaeological dig. It was awesome!

Later in the afternoon, we stopped by a Salt Spa. This was a place that had drug several tons of Polish salt from Poland over here that is therapeutic. It is heated and produces negative ions, which I guess your body doesn't get enough of. Anyway, it is supposed to relax you and help with allergies, asthma, etc. We went it. If you now me at all, you know I do not sit still at all and find it very difficult to not fidget. I was a little nervous that I woudl be a pest to the 6 other people in there, including Cameron and my grams and pap. It was 45 minutes of sitting in a gravity chair with a blanket and it was quiet and there was soft music playing. It was comfy and nice. However, everyone else is falling asleep and I don't do 45 minute naps. Therefore, I stayed up. After about 5 minutes, I started to fidget, but remembered I had a book in my purse, so I sat there and read. It was nice. I have horrible allergies and within 5 minutes, I was able to breathe out of my nose with no clogs. I can't honestly remember the last time I was able to do that.

Day 5- Colonial Williamsburg
We set out to the 1770's this morning. It was a sunny hot day and we were ready for some more history! It was great. The downtown of Colonial Williamsburg was quaint and full of buildings that were from the time period. They had actors dressed in that time period clothing and all the people that worked there were as well. They had re-enactments. They had horses. They had it all. I was in love! I was so excited to see all the history of the town and hear about the Revolutionary War time period. We especially liked the Governor's Palace. It was neat. We also went into the cellars at the palace. It was dark and creepy and felt weird down there. Yikes!
We went to the Chowning's Tavern for lunch and it was nice and yummy! It was all around a great day!

Tomorrow, we are heading to Yorktown, then we are headed toward home. We are planning on stopping at Mt. Vernon on our way home on Sunday and then home on Monday! Whew! What a fun exciting vacation!

Williamsburg, VA trip Days 1 and 2

Cameron and I have had the pleasure of going on a historical trip with my grandparents to historic Williamsburg, VA. We are going to be traveling to different places on our trip, so I decided to blog about them a day or two at a time.

Day 1- traveled from Indiana to Beckley, WV. Nothing too exciting going on today.
Day2- Left Beckley and went to Staunton, VA. Here is a neat town. On our way to Staunton, we stopped at Greenbriar Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV. My grandpa has mentioned this place before as a place that houses an underground bunker for government officials should something happen to the country where they would be safe. I must say, this seems a little farfetched, but if there was going to be a place for them to go, this would be ideal! It is tucked away in a little out in nowhere town in the mountains and hills. We went inside the resort to look around and take some pictures. If the government thing is incorrect, then there is lots of interesting information about this resort anyway! 26 presidents of the US have stayed here, as well as many celebrities. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, etc. It is beautiful and colorful and ritzy. I certainly didn't fit in there, but it was neat to go in and see how the rich live!! :)

After our trip to the Greenbriar, we got to Staunton. We went to the Frontier Museum, which is home of many old farmhouses from different countries. England, Ireland, Germany, Africa and America. Dating back from the 1600's, these homes were bought in their original countries and taken apart and brought across the ocean and put back together here. They have original wood, original windows in some of them, it is so neat! I love history, I love seeing living history.

On the grounds of the Frontier Museum is an abandoned, state owned sanitorium from many years ago. I had no idea what it was and asked one of the actors about it. Then got online and looked it up. Creepy!! Forced sterilizations were performed at this sanitorium when people were deemed mentally unstable and mentally incapable of having children. The sanitorium also housed mentally unstable children for a time. It is boarded up and the weeds are grown up around it, which only adds to the creepiness factor. I watched a video of some men going in it at night and running out scared when they heard screams (which I could hear on the video) and thumping noises (which I also heard) Yikes!!! Glad I am not staying there! But, we are staying right up the road less than a mile. Hope the ghosts stay away from here!! :)

Tomorrow, we are heading to Williamsburg. We are staying there 3 days and visiting Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg. Then we are heading towards home and stopping by Mt. Vernon and coming up through Pennsylvania. I am definitely looking forward to seeing history of our country the rest of the week and I know Cameron is so excited because he loves Revolutionary War era history!! What a great vacation! We are so blessed to be able to come to places like this and see things like this. Thank you grams and pap for inviting us!

Yard Work!

It has been a long seven years since I have had to do yard work.
Being allergic to grass kind of makes it difficult to mow and weed whack. But, I love doing it. Even though I end up looking like a giant red bump, I love it.
I used to have beautiful flowers in my flower beds. I haven't had anywhere to show off my flowers in so long I forgot I could even do it! But, this weekend, we are getting our yard ready! We got our sod MOnday and are going to put in a flower bed out front, and down the side of the house. We will be working the back yard as well, making raised beds for a garden, getting our plans for the back put together and then spreading more grass seed on the areas that will be needing grass. Dirt will be brought in by truck and flowers will be planted from the pots I have on my patio. Firepit will be lined up so that we can then put a path to it one of these days. The extension of the patio we will put in later on will be lined out.

While we don't have to mow yet, I do have a bright side. A fourteen year old! He has mowed the last two years for my grandparents and has gotten practice! We are going to get a reel mower (think old school non-powered) and he is going to be mowing for us. Along with some of our neighbors it sounds like.

Anyway, I am super stoked to get busy on making my yard one of the best in Westfield! I may be just a little biased! But I will be sure to post some pictures when it is complete!!

Until then!

Whirlwind

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. We closed on our house, finally. We moved. We celebrated Resurrection Sunday. All of this all in the same week!

This year at Easter, I was feeling sentimental. Because of our closing, which happened on Good Friday, we didn't get to go to church for Good Friday services. I was alittle disappointed. We have been attending College Park Church for several months now and enjoy it. I really wanted to experience Good Friday and Easter services there. But, alas, it didn't happen. We did go to Easter service and it was awesome! Pastor Mark is so passionate about Jesus! His sermons pack a punch and they bring on a challenge.

While this church is wonderful and we love to go and listen to the sermons and music, I must say that I don't feel like it is our forever church home. I think that God has put us on this path to College Park to rest. We go to church, we listen, we sing, we go home. We have no obligations. We have no jobs to do. We sit and rest. While this has been a nice change, I must say that I feel a pull to go to a smaller church and get involved again. God gives us all gifts to use. Shane and I at this point, have not gotten a chance to use our gifts for many months. When we left our old church, it was difficult, because we had been such a huge part of the worship that we felt let down. Like we had nothing left to give. We wanted to hop right back in and start leading again at a new church. However, that wasn't what God had in store for us. Even at College Park, we tried to jump right in and start leading. We had the opportunity to lead the kids worship and to be in choir and handbells, but it just didn't feel right. It felt all wrong. So we stepped back and are just sitting in worship and enjoying a time of rest.

But, I still feel that pull sometimes to get back to where we were before. I know at this point in time, it isn't going to work with Shane's job, but someday, I hope that God leads us in the right direction to where He wants us to be forever. And perhaps be able to use our gifts.

But through all of thes trials, we have been so blessed with health, happiness, opportunities, friends and family. God is rooting us on and we love Him so much. Thank you Lord for all yoru many blessings!