Thanksgiving 2012 - Alaska Bound

This past November, my parents and Tim and I traveled to Fairbanks to visit Kristen, Rusty, and the kids. We had SUCH A GOOD TIME! I'll let the pictures do the talking! (They are a little out of order by the way...)

 

Kristen almost fell in and she grabbed both Mom and Dad which almost took them both out. This was the hilarious aftermath.

 

 

I was so happy to see her!

 

 

We went on a nature walk :) This lasted about 15 minutes because we were too cold!

 

Walking on the trail...

 

I worry about him...

This was taken at the bottom of the sledding hill.

 

This was taken from the top of the sledding hill.

 

We visited Santa's village while we were there! They had reindeer out back!

 

 

Dad and Miles visiting Santa. Santa Claus was so good!

 

Snow bunnies! :)

 

 

Kyleigh after she finished sledding down the hill. I was so amazed that she would go down by herself!

Top of the sledding hill...

 

Rusty and Kyleigh about to go down...

Miles on the way down. He was FEARLESS.

 

 

No trip is complete without a shopping trip! Teppie had to buy Kyleigh a few things :)

This was on the way to the sledding hill on the "Day That Shall Remain Nameless."

Mom almost died sledding down the hill the day before we left. This was the last documented smile of hers we saw on the trip...

 

Morning snuggles...

Dad sledding

 

The guys on the way up the hill...

 

One morning Rusty took us to see the sunrise. We didn't have to get into the car (still dark by the way) until 9:15 a.m. This was around 10:00 a.m.

 

Sunrise... 9:45 a.m.

 

 

Dad making pies for Thanksgiving!

 

 

For Mom's 50th Birthday we gave her "50 Memories." We had friends and family from over the years write her letters to let her know how much she means to them OR favorite memories from over the years. Reading all the letters took about 2 hours and there were SOOO many tears shed (mostly from Mom and Rusty. HA! Love you Rusty!)

 

Here is Mom reading one of the letters.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Claus kissing at the North Pole! :)

 

 

We had such a GREAT time!

Life Now

With probably 14 unfinished journals in my nightstand, I should have known that blogging just wasn't something I'd be consistent with. I'm sad that I've missed journaling about so many things that have happened in the last 5 months. A LOT has happened in the last few months.

Since the last time I blogged:

- Tim and I traveled to Alaska to visit the Grows over Thanksgiving with my parents! It was AMAZING!

- We found out we are PREGNANT!! (WHOA BABY!)

- I gained a student teacher at school thanks to a friend going on maternity leave.

- I received the most AWKWARD Christmas gift from a student EVER.

- Kristen and the kids came to visit for a whole MONTH!

- I celebrated my 28th Birthday.

- Tim started a new job.

- Tim celebrated his 36th Birthday.

- We've settled into our house finally

Since so many things have happened, I'm going to try to do a series of posts on a few of the really BIG events!

STAY TUNED!

Three Years

We have so miuch to catch up on!!! Tim and I have finally moved into our new house and I can't wait to give you a tour! But before I do that, I want to go ahead and look back on a special day that took place 3 years ago tomorrow.

Three years ago tonight my family left Kristen and Rusty at the hospital as we awaited the arrival of Kyleigh Peyton. We were hoping that she would make her appearance that night but the doctor told us it would be that Saturday. BUMMER. While Kristen and Rusty got settled into the hospital, I took Miles to McDonald's! It was sweet to spend one on one time with him that last afternoon as an only child!

Kristen and Rusty had JUST moved into their house in Ladson and me, Mom, Dad, and Aunt spent the night at their house. We woke up early and waited at the hospital. We had been told that it would be awhile before she came so Pastor Louis went in and prayed with Rusty and Kristen. Shortly after he came in and said Kyleigh was on her way!!! We were so excited!!! Kyleigh was the sweetest little baby and is the most fun almost 3 year old I know!

Kyleigh Peyton Grow,

You have brought so much happiness to our family! I am so blessed to be your Aunt! Uncle Tim and I wish we could spend tomorrow with you! You are our PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY PRINCESS!!!!

Love,
Teppie and Uncle Tim

 

Truth Is...

Well, the truth is... our 10 day Juice-Only Fast lasted only 7 days. We broke down Saturday night and made a salad. Obviously not the worst thing in the world but I felt pretty defeated afterwards.

Truth is... I still have a lot to learn about my battles with food. I still feel controlled by it. Now instead of eating everything in sight, I have struggled with fear of getting off the juice fast. I knew the first time I ate something I would feel like I might as well go back to my old habits.

Truth is... I'm trying to find a balance. I'm not sure what my goal is in this process. Is it to eventually eat only raw foods? Become a vegetarian? Never have another sweet again?

Truth is... If I'm being honest, all of those options depress me. I need to find a balance but it's hard when I'm used to eating whatever/whenever, to have enough discipline to say NO.

Truth is... If I'm also being honest, I've felt the most empowered this week. I have had TONS of energy, felt the best about my body, and enjoyed making healthy choices.

Truth is... As of this morning, I've lost 10 pounds!

Truth is... Well, the truth is, I'm not sure where I'm going with this juicing. My body still has quite a few pounds to lose and I know I'm not done.  

I know I'm not giving up... and that's the Truth.

Juicing Update

Hello friends!! I thought I'd give a quick update on the status of my Juicing Journey! I posted a quick update on Facebook but I wanted to give you guys a few more details!

Daily Amount of Juice: Typically 3-4 Turvis cups full

Blender: Breville

Ingredients: We've tried TONS of fruits and vegetables! We have done kale, lemons, beets, apples, pineapple, carrots, watermelon, cilantro, mango, cucumber, celery, papaya, mustard greens, ginger, garlic, jalepeno

My Favorite so far: I love Beets and Pineapple or Beets and Watermelon (as you can tell, I am still loving the *sweet* taste but it's sweeter fruits/veggies now!)

Tim's Favorite So Far: He likes the greener juices (kale, cucumber, apples) but he really loves adding ginger, garlic, lemon, and jalepeno to flavor the juice.

Hunger Pains: I haven't really been hungry!! (Crazy, huh?!) It actually is NUTS how full and content I have felt the last few days! 

Roughest part so far: There have been 2 things that have been really hard. First, the withdrawal from caffeine and sugar. I had a headache off and on for the last few days but today I feel like a new woman! Second, it has been SO hard being around people who are eating. Last night I went to my Bible Study and they had Shrimp Linguine and Salad with Olive Garden Dressing (Oh. My. Stars.)

Then today I went with a few girls from school to La Hacienda while on a break during a training session. Both times I took my juice and didn't waver at all, but y'all, I'm not going to lie...I wanted to dunk a warm crispy chip into some cold flavorful salsa. - not that I've been thinking about it all day or anything! HA! These last few days have really shown me how much my life has revolved around food.

Weight Loss? YES! As of yesterday I had lost 4.5 pounds!! WOOHOO!!

Overall feeling? I am feeling GREAT today! I had to get up early this morning for a training and wasn't tired AT ALL. I've had energy, I've been alert, and I've been in a great mood - as much as I could be after a day of training!! 

Juice is the Word!

*Alternately titled, "Get a Grip, Stephanie!"

So this whole summer I basically have been eating everything in sight. I actually made myself sick on Friday because of all the JUNK I had put into my body. DISGUSTING. I really feel like I'm addicted to food and have issues with rewarding myself with it. Anyone else out there like that?

Common phrases that run through my brain:

1. "Oh, but I'm having lunch with 'so and so'... Lunch will be better if I eat a huge hamburger with salty fries!"

2. "It's Friday night, let's go get ice - cream!"

3. "McDonalds started selling chocolate dipped cones? Let's go get one today" - No lie, I had three in a WEEK.

Now, I know moderation is KEY but for me, there was NO moderation. Moderation for me was having 1 dessert and eating crap for two out of the three meals a day.

So while laying on my bed Friday afternoon sick to my stomach, I knew I needed to make a change. I just want to be healthy and I was NOT going to get there with what I was currently doing. I was on facebook and saw that a Mom of a former student of mine had lost TONS of weight from juicing and becoming a vegetarian. I messaged her about what she has been doing and she gave me LOTS of helpful information.

She told me about a website (rebootyourlife.com) that had a movie you could watch called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." I watched it, knew this was the way to go, and then talked to Tim about buying a juicer. They are pretty expensive but we have a large store credit at Bed Bath and Beyond due to some doubles/triples of things we got from our wedding. Tim gave me the go-ahead and I got a Breville Juicer! It is awesome! I went to the grocery store AND Earth Fare and got lots of Veggies. I juiced yesterday for breakfast and lunch and it was pretty good! Tim and I had already committed to going over to some friends' house for dinner last night so we had sort of a "Last Meal" there. Today we have only juiced and had water. So far I feel pretty good. We committed to juicing for 10 days and we'll see how that goes. After that, I am going to stick with a diet loaded with fruits and vegetables and little meat. Tim is more hesitant to give meat up completely which is hard for men I'm sure! We are going to try to stick to lean meats and fish when we complete the 10 Day Cleanse.

Hopefully I'll be able to document our journey on our 10 day cleanse. I am pretty nervous about the week starting tomorrow. A lot of our life revolves around food - dinner with family/friends, eating on the run, etc. So we're going to have to do lots of pre-planning and make LOTS of sacrifices but I think it will be worth it!

Food for Thought

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Heb. 12:11 NIV)

Getting everything ready!

Starting to mix our first juice!

Mean Green!

(LOTS of Kale, 1 cucumber, 2 granny smith apples, 4 stalks of celery and a chunk of ginger root)

Today we tried a mix of watermelon, beets, a pear, and some carrots!

The finished product!

It has been my favorite juice so far!! SOOOO GOOD!!

Lately I've Been....

- helping Kristen and Rusty pack up their house

- trying to spend as much time with them as possible

- trying not to think about them leaving

Hmmm... wonder how far I'll get with that? Rusty leaves on Friday with his dad and the U-Haul headed for Eielson Air Force Base in ALASKA! Kristen and the kids will be staying with my parents until Wednesday August 8th. Then they'll be leaving on a jet plane - or three! We had dinner with them tonight at Rio Grande and Kyleigh went crazy with Tim's i-Phone!

I'm going to miss this face...