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Showing posts from January, 2015

Unexpected Week

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This week did not go as expected in more ways than one.  On Tuesday, the whole state was shut down in anticipation of a great and terrible blizzard. My youngest developed a cough and runny nose early in the day. "Mommy, my nose coming out," is what she says to me when she needs me to wipe it. Later in the day, she developed a fever. We kept the fire raging all day Tuesday.  We didn't get anywhere near as much snow as was predicted. The older girls were healthy, so they begged to play in the backyard for a while. My oldest has learned how to make hot chocolate and tea for herself and her sisters using the Keurig.  She will often do school work at the table while she sips something, finally old enough to do both things at the same time and keep from spilling anything on her books, just another way that I see she is growing up. Since my youngest daughter was sick, I had to find coverage for my fitness classes on Wednesday. As the week went on and my d

Beef Bone Broth

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Making broth from bones, chicken and beef, was one of the very first things I started doing at the beginning of my weight loss journey .   It is not the only thing I do, but combined with a diet of many other nutrient dense foods, it has had a great effect on my health. Read about the health benefits of authentic bone broth  here .    To make bone broth, first, you need bones, obviously.    We buy half a grass fed cow every year, so we have lots of bone-in cuts that we grill and roast in various ways for dinner.  Tip: Roasted bones make a delicious broth, but you can use any bones, roasted or not.  I often make broth from beef soup bones that I do not roast first. All you need are bones, any bones. But, to make broth from roasted bones, I save all our left over bones, big and small, in a gallon-sized freezer-safe zip lock bag.  When dinner is over and it's time to clean up, I just pull the bag out of the freezer, throw in any of the bones, and throw the bag back

Weekend Update

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This post will be brief.  We have been busy. We are adjusting back to our normal schedule of home school, housework, Classical Conversations, tutoring, and work at the gym.  I took some pictures this week to capture some of our moments.   This is a common sight in our home, my middle child and my youngest sitting right next to each other talking or playing.  It always warms my heart to see them together. We use Math U See in our homeschool, but we will probably be switching over to Saxon in the next few years because that's what Classical Conversations uses in their Challenge levels. This is the placement test I will give oldest daughter to place her in the right Saxon book when we finally make the switch.  I decided to take it myself to see how much I have retained since my last math class over a decade ago in college... Let's just say I am glad I took the test so I know where I need to begin again.  I am in the process of acquiring a Saxon math textbook and an

Weekend Update

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That's a kettle fried doughnut.  My husband brought a box of them home from The Bakery of Southbury . (He's the devil.) Of course, these aren't a part of a healthy diet, technically speaking, but I felt I had to at least have one. So I had two. We gave some to our kids for breakfast this morning and then I put on a coat and drove the rest over to the Semeraros, an older couple who we love, who live down the street from us and go to our church. Now all the devilish doughnuts are gone, no longer on the kitchen counter to tempt me and that's a good thing. This weekend, I also had pizza, Chick-fil-a, and pie.  The lesson I learned from the past two days of eating is this - if you don't plan, plan to fail.  Without groceries in the house and every meal planned around them, it's too easy to resort to fast, unhealthy alternatives.  But I've got this week planned and the fridge stocked, so it should be easy to succeed in eating well. I've been reading

To The Anvil

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I faced a serious disappointment this week. I didn't get a Bodypump or Bodycombat class on the new schedule at one of my gyms. I am not surprised. There are only so many class times to go around and all the instructors at that gym are more experienced. And all of them are capable and dedicated. Never the less, I was still disappointed, no matter how unrealistic it was to hope for a class of my own at this point. I still have all my freestyle classes. The formats of those classes are even similar to Bodypump and Bodycombat which is some comfort to me.  One of them is a barbell class, the other is a kickboxing class. I choreograph them myself using fitness music I purchase and I enjoy that. But I pursued the Les Mills certifications in 2014 so that I could teach their classes and use their material.  But until I get a Bodypump or Bodycombat class of my own at a gym with the liscenses, I can't do that.  And I want to teach Les Mills classes because I think they are su
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Here's the conclusion to this year's Lego Saga finally.  I couldn't finish until now because some of the pieces were missing. Kids... It's like they think the Legos are for them or something.   Sherry got all her friends and some friends of her friends together for a big Christmas musical. The show sold out.  Inexplicably, the most popular number of the entire show was when Zoe sat in the spotlight and sang "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" with a red Solo cup. Even the critics couldn't understand why they had tears in their eyes.   Chloe moved into a house so Buster would have a yard to run around (and hopefully pee in). But alas, the evil squirrels in the trees tormented him, so he never went outside.   A few more of the girls were accepted into Hogwarts. The others... remained Muggles forever. The End.

Goals for 2015

As I think about the year ahead, I just want to continue doing many of the things I am already doing, but I also want to get back to doing some things I did before that I know will be really good for me. Career- Continue teaching at least three fitness classes each week Begin tutoring at Classical Conversations Financial- Track spending in Mint.com Spiritual- Read The One Year Chronological Bible Physical- Use My Fitness Pal everyday to track calories and macronutrients Focus on nutrition, take vitamins, etc. Improve flexibility by doing at least one yoga/ Pilates type workout a week Lose body fat Intellectual- Memorize Classical Conversations grammar Use resources such as Understanding Mathematics, Classical Music for Dummies, Our Mother Tongue, etc. to grow in my basic knowledge of various subjects Reading as much as possible without feeling like I am not being productive enough when I am "just reading." Start with God in the Dock and George Mac

Daily Bible Reading

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This morning, as I lay dreaming, I heard someone speak my name, "Veronica!" right behind me.  I was startled just like I would be in the waking world, so I turned in a quick circle looking for the person who was speaking to me. The dream began spinning around me and it faded away as I heard my name again. "Veronica!" This time I felt the voice whispering slow and deliberately into my right ear as I lay flat on my bed.  I opened my eyes as the voice and breath faded away. At first, I was terrified by this, so I prayed. But, as I lay there, I remembered the story of the boy Samuel in the temple. When I thought of that, I got up very quickly.  If God was calling to me like that, I was not going to disappoint Him or miss an opportunity. As I put on my house shoes to shuffle out to my favorite spot to pray and read the Bible, I looked out the window and it occurred to me that the timing was incredible. It was a few minutes before sunrise on the first day of a new y

Review of Last Year's Goals

At the beginning of 2014, I made a list of goals. I thought I would review the list and see how well I did.  (Click  here  to see that list in full detail.)  I wanted to Blog Again- In 2014, I blogged approx. 135 times. In 2013, the year before that, I blogged only eight times, so  I think I did alright with that goal.  I wanted to  Complete another professional, fitness certification-   I earned a Bodypump certification in June  and I also earned a Bodycombat certification in December .   I wanted to  Improve on my housework-  I do Fly Lady's  Daily Flight Plan  every day, so my house stays basically clean and organized, but m y goal in 2014 was to follow Fly Lady's  detailed cleaning lists . I would clean as I found it necessary, but my goal was to be more proactive and  I did not manage to add this extra housework to my routine everyday.  I plan to try again in 2015. I wanted to Save Money of Groceries- I started shopping at regular grocery stores like Aldi and