Thrive update!

   I have been taking Thrive by Le-Vel for almost 3 weeks now. A lot of people have amazing results with Thrive starting on day one, or day 3 or day 6. They describe it as something like this (Repunzel, not Flynn/Eugene of course):

    I didn't have those results, however I do feel better. My mornings are WAAAY better than they used to be. I actually enjoy getting up in the morning. When my alarm goes off, I no longer want to curl up in a fetal position and cry. And yes, I would totally do that, almost every morning... It's sad. 
Now I'm awake before my alarm most days. I lay in bed and browse facebook until my alarm goes off, then I get up and get going. This morning I even got up early and did my workout, and here's the kicker, I enjoyed it!

   I still have a bit of down time in the afternoon, but I don't feel like sleeping all day everyday. I lay down for about 10-15 minutes when the kids have quiet time and I feel refreshed and ready to go again. I don't fall asleep, just lay and think.
   
   Although I haven't had the drastic change like others have had (yet), I am confident this product has helped me and I do recommend it to others to at least try, but I think you will be like me and end up really liking it. 

   Now go out and do something amazing!

Happy days all!

If you would like more information about Thrive feel free to e-mail me. :)

A truly terrible Tuesday

Oh my lands was yesterday a bad day. I think I can safely say it was the worst Tuesday of my entire life. It started out as a normal morning, I was in a great mood. I went out to feed, milk bucket in hand, singing along with pandora (sorry neighbors!). I noticed the animals weren't where they normally are in the morning, but didn't think much of it. I fed Mister and tossed some hay out for the goats and Rosemary wasn't there. That's weird. I continued on and fed Elmo and let the chickens loose then went on the search for Ol' Roses. I found her in the back corner of an old sauna on our property that the goats have claimed as their own.

Half a horse

  

  We're down to half a horse. It's a very sad thing, but it takes a lot of weight off our shoulders.
  We made the decision a few weeks ago to sell our mustang mare, Penny. She's a great horse, but we don't have any grassy pasture and horses eat a LOT. We couldn't justify the cost of hay with the amount of use we were able to get from Penny. Not because of her at all, but because we just didn't have the time to use her as often as we would have liked.

I'm (gonna be) Thrivin'

  A couple years ago my family switched from tons of processed foods, to close to none. It was a great switch. I lost over ten pounds! Ten pounds I had been fighting with since the babies were born.
  I felt healthier, mostly. However, since my third monster was born my energy levels have been dropping, and dropping and dropping. At first I thought I was being lazy. I pushed myself to get past this lazy stage and back to normal. It didn't work. The more I pushed myself the worse I felt. This wasn't just the lazies.
  I also considered the fact I am a mild hypochondriac. I had a bought with pneumonia last winter that was pretty rough. When the doctors did blood tests they came back with the possibility of lupus. The doctors monitored the inflammation around my heart and lungs and when it cleared up in a timely manner they were done and didn't do anymore lupus testing. One of the effects of lupus on the system is fatigue. It could all be in my head, but you would think I could push through it. I can't.

It's been a while...

I've been pretty silent in blog world lately. It's been a busy month so I haven't taken the time (not that I haven't had time, I just haven't made an effort...) to write a post.

The babies are coming, the babies are coming!

Our little home is soon to be swimming with baby animals. 
I am SO excited!
Ginger is due the first of march with her first set of kids. Hopefully a set. I really want her to have 2...
Then on March 20th our feed store gets their chicks in, some of which are going to come live here. And then... On April 6th or 7th my order of 10 little ducklings arrives!

I did it, I painted my bathroom floor...

I hate my old linoleum. Hate hate hate. I know it could be worse, I'm glad it's not since it goes through most of my house. I want to replace it, but I'm cheap and there are other things I would rather spend my $$ on. Like these minerals for my goats, but even those are way down the list.

So my ugly linoleum stays. Kind of...

I'll pass on the sick, thanks

My family is sick... They have been for quite a while now. Poor people. I have managed to mostly stay away from it though. That makes dealing with all the sick kids a lot easier. I'll admit it, I don't like to take care of other people or even the animals when I'm under the weather. It makes me grumpy and selfish. Shame on me... So it's really important for me to stay away from all the germs. Nobody likes a grumpy mama...
How have I managed to stay away from the worst of the sick? Simple, elderberry syrup.

It's a dog eat jello world...

Yes, I did a jello post last time. I can do more than one, it's my blog. :)

This jello isn't for you though, it's for your pooch. You could eat it if you really wanted, but I don't think it would taste that great. :/

Why make jello for your dog? That's silly, and weird... 

But did you know gelatin is really good for your dogs? It contains an amino acid called glycine that has anti-inflammatory and brain protecting abilities. It has been shown to be helpful to dogs with hip dysplasia, arthritis and even epilepsy.

Super yummy jello cups? Yes please!

My kids love jello. I love jello. Wiggly jiggly yumminess. :)

What does jello cost now a days? I don't even know I haven't bought it in so long, but I do know it's full of artificial-ness.

I have a box of raspberry jello in my pantry that expired May of 2013. Oops. Oh well. I read the ingredients list, here is what I found.
Lots of sugar, acids for tartness and sodium citrate for acid control. That seems silly... and no raspberry anything anywhere. It's all fake stuff.

If you don't mind eating that, that's fine. I just don't like to. If I'm eating raspberry jello I want at least a little bit of raspberry to be in there. Is that too much to ask?

8 Years People!

Justin and I have been married 8 years today! So guess what?! You get to see wedding photos. :)

But first a little background story.

Justin and I grew up together. We met in Sunday School, I think that's awesome. I have known him since as far back as I can remember. I have no idea how old we were when we first met, but I don't really remember not knowing him so I count it as all my life. :)

The Land of Toothpaste...

I have gone off the deep end people. I have entered a new level of slightly crazy...

I make my own toothpaste!

Don't be expecting before and after tooth pictures. For one, those are guross. For two, I don't have nice teeth. I have never had nice teeth. They are crooked and forever yellow. I do love my coffee you know, and there is no way I can talk myself into spending huge amounts of money for a whitening kit. Nope. Not gonna happen.

But I do LOVE my homemade toothpaste. I used to have really bad sensitivity issues. Cold, bad. Sweet, bad. Not anymore. My teeth feel so much cleaner and just all around more wonderful with this paste.

The Homeschool Life

   I was not going to homeschool our kids. Not. going. to. happen. Saying something like that is the sure fire way to make it happen, am I right?

   Yep, I homeschool.

   But I never had any intention to. I didn't want to, it sounded like the worst thing in the world to me. Why? I wanted my freedom. Thinking of the days when all the kids would be at school and I would have 8 hours to do whatever I pleased. I could go ride my horse, or take the goats for a hike, or go the grocery store, alone. Wonderful thoughts.

Oh. My. Lands.

   That pretty much sums up this past week.

   We had 2 different sicknesses sweep through the house. I of course caught them both, at the same time. Ridiculously horrible cold and stomach flu, not a good combination if you ask me. Between the sore throats and puking kids Mr. Wonderful and I got very little sleep and the house went to the dogs.

   And cats apparently. Lucy drug this fella in this morning and started plucking him in the laundry room. Cats and I have a love/hate relationship. Mostly hate.

    You have to forgive my "after" photo. I'm new to the blogging world and my first reaction isn't to grab my camera, yet.

Pumpkin Puree and Honey Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

   Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is on it's way. Time to get those pumpkins ready for pie!

   Last year was my first time ever making pumpkin puree. I have no idea why I didn't do it sooner. The taste is great, and it's pretty cheap and simple.

   Take your pumpkin and pop the stem off. Place it on a cookie sheet, whole, unless it's too big for your oven then you can cut it in half and bake cut side down.

   Bake your pumpkin at 325° for about an hour depending on the size of your pumpkin. I place the pumpkin in a cold oven then let it warm up from there. When the time is up I shut off the oven and leave the pumpkin in there to cool.

Caramel Apple Pie

   We didn't have anything we needed to do this past Saturday. Those types of Saturdays are few and far between for us. It was wonderful! After our traditional Saturday morning donuts we headed off to the big city, AKA LaGrande, for the grand opening of the Coney Island Hot Dog Company. If you haven't had one of their hot dogs yet, you need to get one, SO good.

   After we got home I remembered we had Potluck at church the next day. So I pulled out a super simple, incredibly yummy recipe for apple pie. It is my all time favorite apple pie. After you're done reading this you should go make one, right away.

   On to pie!

Why We Have Goats

   I have always wanted goats. Ever since I was kid. So when we moved to our small property, it wasn't long before I found and purchased a pair of bottle baby wethers.

   Why did I get bottle babies? Doesn't that make for a lot of work and money? Yes, yes it does. However bottle raised goats develop a strong bond and that strong bond is what you need when hiking with goats. Formula for goats is expensive ($60 for a 5 gallon bucket. We used 2 buckets for our 2 goats) and there is a lot of debate about the safety of goat milk replacer. 

Homemade Brown Sugar

   I typically don't buy food items, I buy ingredients. Normally this is cheaper, and if all goes well, tastes WAY better. If I can make it myself without too much work (there are 3 kids running around here you know) I do. I make all of our bread, our pasta, chips, blah blah blah, on and on it goes. 
   Anyways, I want to share with you how incredibly easy it is to make fresh, soft brown sugar. 
   
   All you need is sugar and molasses. That's it.

In the beginning there was a word...

   And that word turned into more words, and more words, and more words... You may be sorry you ever started reading this. It's like the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friend. Honestly, I hope it does go on and on. I think blogging could be something I really enjoy. We shall see...

   I have been debating about what my very FIRST blog post should be. It seems to set the tone for the rest of the blog, that's a big deal! Should it be about food? About goats and all their awesomeness? Housework? HA, no. Horses maybe, kids? The more I thought, I figured, the blog is an extension of my life, my passions, my family, me. So let's start there. A little about me. :)