Good Nutrients

I spent all day today learning about the nutrients in our soil. How to adjust them organically, how to best take advantage, how you can have too much or too little. If you can't tell I'm thoroughly enjoying my Master Gardner program and can't wait to put it in to practice.

While at class today little Sam was broadening her horizons with the Gurley family. Our family loves them so much and is blessed that they could help out today. I know that Sam had a wonderful time and was glad to see that Brie didn't seem TOO tired this evening when we hung out for a while at the library. THANK YOU Gurley family for being there for us:)

I also was preparing a wholesome dinner in the midst of all the other duties. A whole grass-red chicken was roasting in the slow-cooker*. I took the recipe off the calendar I picked up from Natural Grocers and wow is it good. So juicy and flavorful and nice to be done when we got home at dinner time. I whipped up some peas, carrots, and avocado and the feast ensued. Sam ate it all up, or at least all that didn't end up on the floor for Sadie. Now I'm making some stock to use for later, plus it makes the house smell amazing.

It has been really rewarding as a SAHM (stay at home mom) to learn and evolve the methods we use as a family to keep ourselves healthy. Our nutrient levels start in the dirt and work there way through a cycle to be used by us and returned back to the soil. It warms my heart, and stomach, to feed my family with a chicken stock made with love and bone marrow just like Yahweh intended.

Thank you to Yahweh for making it all, thank you to the people around me who educate, and thank you to my family for embracing the ideas and most of all embracing me:)

*A few side notes:
-I'm getting a new slow cooker because the Rival brand has lead in them. The Hamilton Beach brand does not have lead or Cadmium.
-I put a few aluminum balls under the chicken to keep it out of the liquid, and I cooked the bird breast down. This made it especially juicy!!

Menu Plan

A few dishes in the crock put this week to help with the busy days. Plus, I purchased a reptile heating pad to culture my yogurt.....it should keep the temperature warm enough to thicken even in this cold Colorado weather. May try to find a day to make some bread/muffins as well. However, I have found that with less bread in the house it forces us to find other things to eat.....sometimes it feels like we can't find anything:)

Check out other menu plans at Orgjunkie

Mon - Fish, spaghetti squash, rice

Tues - Whole Chicken with turnips, carrot cucumber salad

Wed - Dinner at Gurley's......Meatloaf, Sweet Potato Fries

Thurs - Turkey Veggie Pot Pie

Fri - Potato Curry Bisque

Sat - Green Chicken Chili Stew

Sun - Deer Roast, Quinoa tabbouleh, Roasted Brussel Sprouts

He Loves Me

AJ and I have read or are reading a few books lately that inspire love. Now, it sounds cliche and cheesy but just hear me out. I'm beginning to see that love is actually the most difficult piece in any relationship to trust completely and believe wholeheartedly.

The books are not about a spouses love but about God's love. Mainly about how we try to build and manipulate His unconditional love to complete us. By deciding for ourselves what it means to be "God like" or following rules made by man, even with good intentions, we can only hope and never succeed in finding peace with Him. It is only through ultimate TRUST and LOVE that He will show us how to complete our life to find peace.

I realized that it was not a coincidence that He puts himself in the parent position. We all have said and claim to understand that He is our Father just like we are to our children. However, at least for me, I have never had the childish trust for Him as an adult that I should. Like when my daughter dives off her changing table after putting her PJ's on, knowing that we are there to catch her. She doesn't stop to think what is best for her outcome or what steps she needs to follow like understanding gravity, she just leaps. I want to leap for God and mimic His every word like my child does with me.

Parenting is about cultivating relationships. The hardest part is to keep that your focus. We need to grow the deepest most loving relationships with the Lord, our spouse, and each child. It takes a lot of time, and often concentration to even begin those bonds. It is easy to get caught in the busy work.

The books we read are The Shack, He Loves Me, and So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore. Please check out this new book, Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional Professional Motherhood, that I hope may also connect the ideas of purposely building a relationship within your family.

Visit to Albuquerque

We had a wonderful time and great weather visiting all of the O'Brien clan and friends in Albuquerque. The trip was so much fun that we are thinking of flying down this Friday night only to enjoy in Tim's Tagine (For those that don't know that is Moroccan cuisine), but we'll see!!!

Here are some of the great pictures the gramsi-arrazzi and popop-arrazzi took:)

We visited the Children's Science Museum!!

One of the parks we played at had a little zip line.
AJ and I had fun trying to attack each other.
Even Gramsi did the zip line!!!!

Sam's favorite play time was taking out and putting back some rocks with Popop.