I'm way to wedding'd out to even start the wedding photos. So today I blog about summer. While its supposed to be a relaxing vacation, I still find myself busier than ever. The head doesn't help either. Having and AI disease, the heat exasperates it and causes what I like to call flare ups. My body aches and I get over exhausted and end up spending the day in bed if I over heat. So I'm really trying to stay cool. No AC in either car stinks though, because driving anywhere just wipes me out. If I remain indoors, or in the shade ( if cool enough) I do okay.
Anyhow, speaking of busy. Sam started his summer school this week. He is enrolled in the Nevada Virtual Academy and they have different classes the kids can take throuout the summer. This weeks theme is art. He is learning all about the different types of art, ( expressionism etc...) Then they submit some artwork and it gets displayed the next day to the whole class ( about 250 kids). He loves it. He gets to do it in his jammies which he thinks is awesome!
You cant tell, but the teacher is speaking through the mic.
here the teacher was telling him to relax his eyes!
Next week is another theme...cant wait to see what it is.
Now also this summer I have decided to give canning a try, Im super nervous and have NO clue what I'm doing. Im hoping to find some friends to do it with me too. But to make things easier I got a great party to host and here are some things that were included.
Im hoping to make some Jams and Tomato sauces to start, we tend to use those things in our house the most. I know its cheaper to buy the already pre made jellies and sauces, but if I can make my own and know what goes in it and where the food came from ( local farm!) it would be even better. And if I get good. Yummy gifts!
Its going to be a crazy busy weekend here. My little sister is getting married tomorrow! We've been planning this day for a year and now its finally here. Im excited for them and excited for it to be over and to get back into the swing of things. We have rehearsal today and then family BBQ on Saturday with all the family in town, but this includes swimming in moms pool so that's even better. Then fathers Day on Sunday. Wheeww.
We've actually been doing well at the family dinners, the goal was once this week, but It was twice. I made delicious Carrot, Garlic, Rosemary, Lemon Thyme Orszo ( seen in photo) and some roasted potatoes and artichokes. ( we had other things obviously..but those were the family table ones).
With this week being so busy its been hard, We are eating out 2 times this week. Sunday and Monday were good, Tue we had a pizza party for Sams little league, so that sucked. then Yesterday it was subs and tonight and tomorrow its wedding food. Although I am very excited that the place we are eating serves Organic meats! woo hooo! Also, its farmers market season and Im going to take advantage of that! (even though Ill miss tonights) Im going to try and make the saturday morning one if I can get myself out of bed in time from the wedding night.. haha. I still will have sunday too I guess if I miss it.
What about the politics behind it? Did you know that corporations like Monsanto have a patent on those GM seeds, and if your plant cross pollinates with it on purpose or not, Monsanto then owns your plant, if your livestock ingests that seed ( or plant), Monsanto then owns your livestock. How close do you think we are to Monsanto saying that if YOU ingest that seed they own you? Its not to far off. How can it be OK to patent life? Did you know that it was intentionally left out of the constitution on moral grounds? Think about it.... I can go on and on, but really, the only way for you to really know the truth is to read it for yourself. Or watch it! There are some great documentaries, and even research articles on this subject. Oh the power of Google!
Recent polls across the world have consistently shown that, if they had a choice, 90% of people would actively seek to avoid GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in their food.
1. Look at the stickers on fruit - there is a PLU code with either 4 or 5 numbers. If your fruit's label has 4 numbers, it is conventionally grown. 5 numbers starting with a 9 means it was organically grown, and 5 numbers starting with an 8 means GMO.
2. Buy local & talk to your farmers - this is the best way to ensure you're eating real foods. It's estimated that up to 85% of pre-packaged and processed foods contain GMOs, so buying fresh from the farm is a great way to avoid that.
3. Avoid the Top Four GMO Crops of Soy, Corn, Canola and Cottonseed - most blended oils in North America contain canola and cottonseed. Replacing these with 100% extra virgin olive oil is a safe alternative.
4. Encourage your favorite food providers to label their food GMO-free. We don't need the government to force companies to label their foods, and we're seeing more and more that we as consumers have tremendous power, and if enough of us ask for GMO-free labels, and support the companies that use them, we'll see a huge increase in labeling. And we're already starting to see this.
5. Buy Organically Grown Food - For now, the organic certification process is a relatively safe bet to ensure your food is free of GMOs, although this may not be the case in the future. Help support global sustainability by purchasing certified organically grown food.
6. Conventional Sugar - Over 90% of this year's sugar beet harvest will be Monsanto's GM Roundup-Ready Sugar Beet. That means if you are using sugar, or eating anything with sugar in it, you're eating GMOs. Alternatives to sugar are listed here.
7. Grow your own food - Plant a garden using heirloom seeds! (thanks to Amy31415 on YouTube for pointing out this important tip!)
So I was watching Jamie Olivers food revolution and not only do I love the show but certain things hit hard. I know that the change we made at the beginning of this year was the right thing for our family and recently we've been so busy that we let that slack. NO MORE! On tonight's episode he talked about having family meals. We just don't do that often. I'm usually eating in front of the computer, kids at the table and tom with them.. mostly then Its my fault. I feel like I'm too busy and need to multitask, eat and work, my kids are too young to get the family table so why bother... etc.. you know EXCUSES! So tonight as I write this I made the decision (with my husband) that we for now will start with one night a week having a family dinner at the table. The way it should be. I can work from there, but it has got to start somewhere right?
and on that note, we need to get back to the way we used to feel about food when this journey started, We were so concerned about hurting peoples feelings that we got lazy, and so we started adding the GMO foods back in, then it was the excuse of well we already did that so a little drive thru treat wont be bad.. but then it just piles up and before you know it, the whole week has gone to crap.Our health has gone to crap, our energy has gone to crap and we just plain ol feel ucky!
NO MORE.
It starts now, I fully believe in my heart of hearts that Gods desire is for my family to eat the food he gave us, not the GMO stuff that isn't healthy and in fact the effects are so unknown and recently shown to cause birth defects. How severe is yet to be determined. I will NOT let my children learn about food the way we did, I didn't know where my food came from, I didn't know what the ingredients on the box were? I want better for my kids and I'm going to do just that. This is my blog to remind me to STAY THE PATH.
Keep reading, and PLEASE keep encouraging me on this journey. I know its not an easy one but If God could bring be through drug addiction, abuse, and infertility he can get me through this! YES HE CAN. ( he he get it )
So I thought I would do a little photo journal showing on of my favorite GO TO recipes.
It starts out with ingredients found in my fridge ( all veggies are organic!) So I usually end up with a ton of veggies that I have dont have time to cook and they start to get soft, I need to cook them fast and yummy.
I started with fresh garbonzo beans in the shell
Sam was excited to find two in the pod
added onions
all the peppers
sam loves to eat them raw
I save the rest and use them for salads and sandwiches throughout the week
added basil, green onions, carrots and zuchinni
and you end up with an amazing rainbow of veggies
and a little boy who loves to snack
Next I added black beans, fire roasted tomatoes, marinara sauce and chicken broth as a filler
and let it soak for a few hours
about 20 min before you want to eat it, add tortellini
sprinkle with parmesan and YUMMO a delicious vegifull meal!
So this Dove ad has been getting a lot of controversy and as a designer (someone who actually puts together ads) I think its rather stupid and hilarious. (You can read the full article HERE) Basically what they are alleging is that Dove is racist. Now I know this is in itself a controversial subject but COME ON, really? Its mostly about how the women are lined up, left to right, from dark skin to light skin and thicker to thinner. I seriously doubt that Dove had the intent that they were going to make a plump black woman into a skinny white woman. Sure its probably bad placement with the juxtaposition of the BEFORE and AFTER text, but not the intent. I happen to think that its aesthetically pleasing with the specific poses, and often in designing an ad, the photo is taken and then graphically put together. I give praise to Dove for using "Real" women in their ads, showing all shapes and sizes. I think that in general we have become too sensitive and too politically correct as a nation and need to get over it. Not everything has an underlying meaning. Some need to just get a life if they are really agonizing over this. What do you think? is it racist?
Productivity and creativity are two of my favorite things, and today I was able to expand on those with some fun and easy tools. I have an iPad, and thanks to adobe I know have some brilliant apps that make my life easier. They introduced some new apps this month and I knew I just had to have them . The first is adobe nav. Which basically puts my photoshop tools onto my iPad for quick and easy switch between and access. I can then also view all my open files on the IPad and then get up and walk my iPad down the office to display the work in real time. How cool is that!
The next one is more of a quick idea on the go app. I can sketch and paint my inspiration quickly and easily whenever I want at the swipe of my finger. And the control is amazing. It is like a water color effect Which I not really know but I am now eager to learn. The artwork above is something I did in about 30 min in bed, it's a sketch of my son Sam. I got about halfway through the coloring process when I realized I need MAJOR work..haha but this may be fun. This app is simply called adobe ideas.
Frederick Buechner says "Silence, Cant be anything but silent, Quiet however chooses to be silent. It hold its breath to listen. It waits and is still." To be quiet is to find your strength from HIM alone. Psalm 46:10 calls us "to be still and know I am God.." In Hebrew that translates to rapha which in other words means letting ourselves go or to become weak. And this is what I needed to do so badly this week. I was having one of those weeks where if it could go wrong, it did! On top of the normal stresses of life ( finances, school, parenting etc..) It seemed as though one thing after another was dragging me down. My daughter threw my laptop, someone hit our car window and shattered it, I was audited at school, I spilled screen printing ink all over myself, my kids were fighting and oh my coffee went cold. ( you know, THAT kind of day). It wasn't huge life changing stuff either. We have a warranty, we needed some air conditioning, I'm not in any trouble, ink washes off, kids are kids and its just coffee. But in those moments it seemed like I was going to fall apart. And thats sort of just what I did. I came home after that long day and I just sat in the shower in silence. I knew that I just needed to "be still". To stop stressing and let God take care of it. I got so wrapped up in the moment I forgot who was in charge. Last year I got the words "be still" (harpoo) tattooed on my wrist as a reminder to myself to just stop and listen and let go. I need to remember to become weak because HE is strong. As soon as I did that I could literally feel the weight lifted off my shoulders. I began to feel a peace inside that only He could give. I know I am not alone when it comes to these moments of "strength" as I will call it.. strength that I can do it alone and its all about me. We all have those moments and I hope this blog helps you to feel "weak" when you need it too.
Im Brie, Im mommy to Samuel and Delilah, both born with the help of fertility treatments. I am also a full time student and a full time wife! I am a creative, digital, photographing geeky woman and I will blog about whatever, whenever! Enjoy!
