A Pantry Full of Crap

The title of todays post describes my pantry to a "T"  As you will see by the picture below.

Nice isn't it? 

A couple of weeks ago I was finally done living by the quote of  "Tired of Being Tired"  I took a look at what I was doing and also what I wasn't doing to make myself feel like this.  I have all of this wisdom about weight loss and eating healthy, but you sure wouldn't know it by the looks of my pantry/fridge, and or by my scale. 

I am now realizing that I feel immense guilt towards myself.  In having vast knowledge, but not sharing it, and not putting it into action for myself.  This blog is the first step in sharing, and in the past few weeks I have put alot of what I know into motion. 

When I began to really take a step back and watch my eating habits, I was quite surprised.  Here I thought I had been eating healthy, normal portions, not much in the way of snacking.  But logging everything I ate for a week opened my eyes to reality.  True I don't sit down to big meals, but I find myself being a little eater ALL DAY LONG.  Now I'm a firm believer in 6 small meals a day, but not the way I was eating them.  I also give into temptation way to easily when it comes to food.  So my way to fight my temptation head on, is to not even have the opportunity arise!

Hence the day came where I CLEANED HOUSE!

The first area I attacked was where we store our food, the pantry, Fridge, and Freezer.  The Fridge and Freezer were actually pretty easy, must have been between paydays as there wasn't much stashed in there.  :-)  The Pantry as you can see is a different story.  My goal was to rid the storage space of Proceed Crap.  I spent alot of time looking at labels and only wanting to save the items I could actually read and understand.  High Fructose Corn Syrup in the ingredient list was an instant "Throw into the Bin" ie out of the house.  (I plan on writing a post about this in the near future, for right now I'll leave it at, Bad Stuff)  You can imagine how empty the pantry looked after I got done with it.  The only things that were left were basically baking items, noodles, and canned beans and tomatoes.  And it looked beautiful!

I am happy to report that it is going well.  Lots of home cooked meals, both trial and error, sprucing up veggies and trying new fruits.  Even my picky Angelina is coming around. 

This past weekend I have learned that when I get upset I turn to food to make myself feel better.  (Which is never the outcome)  In fact I end up feeling worse.  At this point in my weight loss journey, its more of a learning process then actually losing pounds.  And everyday I learn something new!


In the near future I will Blog about some of the recipes we have tried, especially ones that involving getting in more veggies!!! 

Traditions

The dictionary definition

a specific custom or practice of long standing

Couldn't have defined it any better :-)

My family has many traditions that occur during the year, and we celebrated one just this past Saturday.  The end of summer and the beginning of the school year is always met with mixed feelings.  I can clearly remember this time or year growing up.  Most years I was excited about starting school, but it was hard to end the days of sleeping in, staying up late, and fixing Macaroni and Cheese for lunches. 

One fond memory I had of summer time was learning how to fix Kraft Mac and Cheese.  I thought I was uber cool cause I could do it, when my older brother Curtis couldn't.  I'm sure he only messed it up once, but I never let him live it down.  (He put the noodles in before the water boiled, that was it...but it was ruined, lol) 

I'm not sure how this tradition started, but I supposed most don't remember the hows or whys, we just enjoy doing them.  The Spaghetti Factory Restaurant is the place, and Dinner is what we eat.  All together as a family, the whole extended family.  Started out with Aunt and Uncles, Cousins, and now its grown with Nephews, Nieces, and 2nd cousins.  Its always been The Spaghetti Factory, but the locations have changed through out the years.  My favorite is the Seattle location, but sometimes its easier to meet in Tacoma or Lynnwood, and this year, the newest restaurant in Tukwila. 

We are so fortunate that it worked out for most to enjoy dinner this year.  With work, soccer, and baseball games, we found one Saturday evening that was free.  The food is always great, but the Tradition itself is even greater!

The Group for 2010!

Happy Beginning of the School Year to Everyone!

Best of Buds

I thought I would dedicate the post for today to Angelina's Best Bud, her Red Monkey.  Her Aunt Kelli (my sister) had given it to her for Valentines Day when she was only 14months old.  From what I remember it wasn't Love at First Sight, as she had another brown monkey at the time.  But it wasn't long before the brown monkey got replaced by Red Monkey.  They are so sweet together, she takes him everywhere, won't sleep without him, and even requests him when shes crying so "he can wipe her tears!"  All the beans inside him have gone to his toes, and his poor little tummy is worn thin as that is her favorite spot to rub.  The only surgery he has had so far is a little stitch on top of his head where his hair has fallen out.  Thanks to Grandma he has healed nicely.  You might be thinking, "Why would she be writing about her daughters favorite toy?"  Well the idea came this morning when I was with Angelina watching Toy Story 2.  Near the beginning Andy accidentally rips Woody's arm, and decides to not play with him anymore.  After Angelina watched that scene she said to me "Red Monkey will last forever, not like Woody!"  And continued watching the movie.  My heart melted at that moment, and I do hope that Angelina keeps her Red Monkey forever!  (At the very least her Mom will keep him!)  :-)  Hugs!

Do you remember having a best of bud like this when you were little?

Do your children have one?  Whats their story?

Keeping a Journal at Any Age

Think back through your life.. how many times have you started a journal, diary, letters to yourself, confessions, ect.?  If your like me you try to start 12 times a year (the beginning of each month, no?)  And you buy a new notebook each time, thinking THIS ONE will be the one.  The one that will keep me motivated to write in everyday... maybe twice!  Its fancy, expensive, and Perfect...or its cheap, plain and a blank canvas for me to decorate.  Don't forget the pen you have to purchase.  The thought of using an old pen that you already own is preposterous! 
Night time falls, your children are in bed, husband is occupied, and its your time to start writing.  Let the words start flowing...any minute now...ok so you write the date, that you can do.  Top right hand corner, Aug 1st, 2010, you even add the time 10:03pm.  Tiredness settles in, you fall asleep pen in hand, wake up to your blank page... oh wait you at least wrote the date.  Then you close the book with the promise to "for sure write TONIGHT!"  August leaves, September arrives, and the Diary Cycle begins again.  Now you need a new notebook, you can't possible use your August one, the first page is ruined! 
You maybe expecting me to say "Obviously I'm exaggerating here" but you won't see those words here!  This is really what I go through.  I love the thought of, years from now, looking back at my journals and reading them, reminiscing, smiling and laughing!  But yet I never get there, maybe this is where me being a perfectionist comes to life.  If it isn't perfectly written, in perfect penmanship, in perfect form, its not worth continuing.  Now I know this idea seems crazy to most, and I am working on dismissing this concept.  Which is why I am encouraging Angelina to keep a journal of her own.
Our home school days start off with a page out of her composition book to journal about ANYTHING she wants.  I explained to her what it means to keep a journal, and suggested her first page be about the previous days adventure.  (We spent the day down town with my mom and I took and printed many pictures for this idea in mind.)  She chose what pictures to use, cut them out and taped them in her book all buy herself.  We both wrote little notes about the day around the pictures as well.  3 days in and she already has her own ideas on what to share!  I love it!
I am keeping my own journal right along with her, and yes its a brand new composition book, that I plan on covering with a brown paper bag and decorating!  :-)  Somethings never change!  I am forced to just let things go...in my own journal and Angelinas.  I have to remember that its HER space, and everything doesn't have to be perfect! 
Happy Journal'ing!

Do you keep a journal?  How often do you write in it? 
Have your children started their own journal?
If not, might you now?

"Mae's Monkey Biz" is Born

A couple of nights ago my husband and I were brainstorming ideas for my new blog.

Why I wanted to start one

what I was going to include in it, and most importantly

A name for my new treasure.

I have always wanted a space where I could share my ideas, spread good news, and a bit of journal-ing too.  I do enjoy writing, but using a pen and paper seems too time consuming (strange isn't it?!)  Typing on a laptop is much easier as I am a fast typer, it doesn't cramp up my hand, and with a click of a mouse you can "start over" I love it!

I tried to narrow down what I planned to share, but in the end I didn't want to.  This blog is going to be open to anything and everything from, What I Did Today, What I Should Have Done Today, and What I Plan to Do Tomorrow.  Also, I am on a weight loss journey, finding my inner skinny twin and also finding out just who I am.  (At almost 30 you would think I would have this figured out by now.) This means I'll have stories of physical exercise, ideas for exercising my mind.  Recipes that are tasty and probably recipes that don't work out because, lets face it, those are funny tales!  I also share this journey with the Weight Loss Community on Youtube, so there is a good chance a video or two with make it to this blog as well.  With Weight Loss comes Knowledge, at least in my case.  I love to spread what I learn to others and get feedback as well.  We are on a trial year of Homeschooling our 4 1/2 year old Daughter Angelina, narrations of that will for sure be included.  I might from time to time write a letter to Angelina, or Mike my husband, or to myself, who knows?  As you can see the sky is the limit!

My only thought for a blog title was, My Journey, or The Tripp Family, you know something lame like that.  Mike's first idea was Mae's Way.  (I didn't want to use my first name Mariann, so my middle name next in line)  Then I thought I would get creative and use Mae's Weigh, but that didn't really make sense.  I wanted some fun, and light, so Mae's Life with a Barrel of Monkeys was named, which was too long, and again just didn't quite make sense.  Mike's final idea was Mae's Monkey Biz, and I loved it from the beginning.  Its light, fun, and it allows for a wide range of ideas, perfect for my Blog!

And so it begins!