Time to be a kid again

I had a thought today about how we raise our kids. Obviously I don't have kids I'm raising yet, but I've observed MANY people with these kinds of practices I'm about to talk about, and plan on raising my kids like this as well...so here we go.

Seems like most people encourage their kids to not watch TOO much tv, and they would like them to do things like...read, art, games, outdoor activities, using their imagination, chores. 

It kinda hit me today...if I was a child being raised and my mom saw how I spend my days, she'd say, "Nope! You've already watched enough tv today...time to do something else!"

Somewhere between being a teenager, going to college, and starting a job I lost those principles of DOING rather than sitting and staring. I do much more tv-watching than doing in my life. 

I know. I work full time, I have Lyme, blah blah blah. But another thought came to me. One reason I've heard from siblings and friends that they don't let their kids watch too much tv is because it makes their kids cranky and whiny and sometimes crazy. haha. If all they do is sit and stare, and not exercise their minds in the previously mentioned ways, then they aren't as happy. 

HELLO?!?!?!

I mean, I pretty much knew this for myself, that I am not as happy when all I do is watch TV...but looking at it from this perspective just means more to me. I have come to realize...I think I need to try and live my life more like a child. And try and discipline myself like I would a child. I don't want to stunt my kid's growth, right? So why am I limiting myself? And stunting my growth? By spending SO much time on television? Cause the fact is, we are all capable of growth. No matter WHAT our age or station in life. And the age old concept still stands that if you aren't moving forwards, you are moving backwards. When it comes to life, you can't really stand still. 

So- here's my new found resolution. Be a child! But I suppose with that I also need to be a parent. To myself. That'll be a toughy! 

But really, I've said this before- I am always happiest when I am creating, reading, writing, DOING. I really am. 

On another note- in ten days I will be 25 years old :) I'm pretty pumped up about it. 

Also I have not had sugar in a week and I know what you're thinking. Uhhh Danielle? Haven't you been perfect at this forever? Nope! I fell off the wagon. Went on a sugar binge. Awful. Back on again and not cheating on sugar until my birthday. Then not cheating till Clay's birthday, in August. 

Less than a month left of tax season! Ceeelllebrate good times COME ON! 

Incase you are wondering how the oils are going...we have been doing them for about a week and a half...so far so good. Nothing extreme happening, but I didn't expect anything like that. We will see how we feel after a month. Clay MAY have herxed...hard to say, but he had super bad symptoms for a few days and now he feels great. So he probably did. I also had super bad headache the first few days on them and then now I don't. So who knows? 

Clay started a new job! He's still doing stuff on the side if you need anything. But he is now in a managing position at a local web firm here in town and he is really liking it so far! So that's great. 

Not much else is happenin over here. Till next time!

A sad, sad story

Tragic.

I have decided...I can no longer attend the BEST Zumba class known to man. My foot finally got better, I finally gained the motivation, and finally went to Zumba tonight with one of my friends. Well, right ontime...20 minutes in my ears itch BAD. I don't touch them in fear it will make it worse. About a minute later I feel a bump rising on the inside of my lip. About another minute later the back of my throat is swelling. I run to my purse and take two benedryl (a girl like me takes a pack of benadryl, and an epi-pen everywhere I go)...I feel my throat getting worse so I decide to head to the bathroom. Look in the mirror and I see a large bump on one side of the back of my throat, and on one side of my lip. Head back out and tell my friend and I felt so bad but she is so nice so we left early. Got home and Clay said, "YOU ARE NEVER GOING THERE AGAIN".

It's true. I have to admit it at some point. That place is not good for my body! Isn't that sad? The one place that got me on my feet, moving, and feeling emotionally and physically strong...is TEARING ME DOWN through dumb allergies! It's just too stressful. I can't do it anymore. This has happened SO much. I am guessing it's some sort of cleaning supply or something. OR perfume. Who knows. All I know is it's way too unpredictable and has been happening way too often. I suppose I'll just have to find another fun thing or class to do :(

Life is good besides that. Nothing much to report. Only one month left of tax season! Hoorah! I'm so excited to have Fridays off and sunny weather! The good weather and time off will be spent gardening (yep!), walking the dog, going on motorcycle rides, and hopefully some traveling to visit my family. Can't wait!

February Goals by Numbers

Well, it's been a month already! Yikes! Here we go.

Incase you missed it, I am doing goals by numbers for my resolutions this year. Here are my February results:

Play 1000 songs on the piano
I played 45 songs on the piano this month.

Read 12 new books
I read 1 book. It's called "Every Day" by David Levithan. Meh...I don't recommend it. Too much agenda for the idea that gender is not really real. Only physical. I strongly don't believe that. So it kinda bugged.

Make 52 new recipes
I made 3 new recipes. Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats, Veggie Rigatoni, and Taco Bake. They were all fantastic! All three came from Megan's cookbook.

Have 12 memorable dates with Clay
Okay- I am going to count 1 memorable date. Clay and I played scrabble TWICE in a day. It was intense. And Clay won BOTH TIMES. UGHHHHHHHHHHH! But you know what? It was still way fun and I love how competitive we are with each other. We have declared each other our sworn nemesis when it comes to games. I just have to say this too- Clay has never beat me in Scrabble before. And all of a sudden he wins TWICE?! We will have to play again this weekend.
 
 Read Genesis through 2 Kings of the Old testament
Yikes. I am only on Genesis 18. That's embarrasing. Time to kick it in gear Danielle!

RUNNING TOTALS
105 songs on piano
1 new book
12 new recipes
1 memorable date with Clay
Genesis 1-17 read

Not to shabby. I'm determined to do even better this month!!!

Ch ch ch chaaanges

Weeell...Clay and I are making a BIG CHANGE.

We are no longer going to our Lyme Doctor. 

She has been awesome and gotten us SO FAR, but things have been happening lately that made us decide that we are ready to move on from her. This was a hard decision and came with a lot of thought and prayer and I can confidently tell you that I feel really good about it.

We are trying something new for our treatment and we are pretty excited! We are trying essential oils. I know a lot of people think that's wacky, but you know? We've been on antibiotics for over 2 years and our bodies can tell. Especially Clay's. We've heard of success with treating Lyme with essential oils so we figured, why not? We'll try it for a couple months and see how we feel and if we decide they aren't doin it for us, we'll move on to another option. 

I have prayed so much that I would feel confident and know if this is the right move for us, and the past two days I have felt so EXCITED about it. So, I'm taking that as my answer!

Also, I got a free vial of Wild Orange essential oil, which supposedly helps your mood and I kid you not...the past two days that I've rubbed it on (just the inside of my wrists), I swear I've been happier! I've just been in such a better optimistic mood. Maybe a coincidence, I dunno! But I'll take it!

I've been trying to eat a lot healthier this week cause seriously- the past two weeks Clay and I ate out so much and ate so much crap. My sister Megan made a cookbook that is vegetarian and all the meals are gluten/sugar free. I LOVE IT! I've made 3 recipes from it and so far I loved ALL of them! I'm so pumped.

I ordered a yoga dvd that Greg (my sissies husband) recommended and I guess it's like not so intense, and meant to relieve stress and be relaxing. I am SO excited for that! 

We painted our walls. The green walls. We painted them grey, the same grey on our other walls! We love it. Except we thought we wanted to do a stencil on one wall and once we started it, weren't so fond of it...so we need to paint over that. 

That's pretty much it for now! Probably later today I'll post my results for February for my goals by numbers. Don't get too excited cause I'm pretty positive I did barely a thing this month. Have no fear, MARCH is the best month of the year! Birthday month! I will do great. 

PS- Anyone watching Idol this year? What the freak is so amazing about Zonette? Or however you spell her name. She is cray cray and they are always talking about "marketability" and she is NOT. No one would buy her music. And I'm sorry...but I just think it's a bit silly that they act like she is just this survivor or whatever. She moved to the US when she was TWO YEARS OLD. They all look really well adapted to US life and she's American. I doubt she's ever been back to her "home country". It's all just ridonculous. 

Also, I posted another today that is below this one. I started it Sunday and just finished it. 

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I have to admit, that through this trial of Lyme Disease, I have had the thought come to me, "Maybe I am being punished...I should've been a better person....If only I was more perfect." These thoughts aren't constant companions, but in my weak moments...they pop up.

I think the biggest trial for me right now, is having a constant companion of fear...that this disease is never going away. It can get wearing and it's easy to think, is this my life forever? Well, I know it's not. This is but a small moment, and it WILL get better.

I was reading this talk by Elder Eyring. It's called "Mountains to Climb". It was so good! I was reading it because in Young Women's today we are talking about why we have adversity, and that is one of the talks in the lesson. It was so good! I recommend reading it.

While reading, I was reminded that trials are NOT punishments. Yes, certain actions can result in negative consequences, but that is just the law of cause and effect. When I get a trial, like Lyme Disease, it's not because I did something wrong, or that Heavenly Father is punishing me. The fact is, we all have trials of different natures, and they all affect us differently. In fact, I could get the same exact trial as you- but it could be a totally different trial for me because of my life experiences, my body, my brain, etc. That's why it's so important not to judge how others react to their trials, or how they handle them.

I've been reminded a lot lately that the whole point of being a good person, reading scriptures, praying, is so that you can be firmly planted, strong, immovable, when the inevitable storm happens. Because ALL of us face storms. The nature of life is to test us. So the commandments, the talks, the advice from church leaders, all of them aren't to say, "If you do this, your life will be perfect!" It's to say, "If you do this, you will better handle it." It's just the truth. I've come to realize, the less I nourish my soul, the less I focus on good, and God, the less I'm able to handle my trials. I find myself constantly drowning in self-pity, and BARELY keeping it together.

Then...when I turn around and start feeding my spirit, and partaking of the goodness that is on this earth for this very purpose, suddenly life is happier. Life is easier. It is not so heavy. I can handle it.

I'm so grateful that I have that knowledge. I may have to keep relearning it through my life, but at least I keep coming back to it.

God is good...and life is good. Life is HARD. But if I pray, search the scriptures, and have FAITH, it can be good!

Ta ta for now!

Randoms

Well, life has pretty much been work...among other randoms.

Work is of course kinda stressful right now, since it's tax season. It is EXTRA stressful because our software has been having major issues, which has caused us to be way behind...which will probably mean more work for me towards the end of tax season...which stinks. But that's okay. It'll all work out.

This week I majorly did NOT follow diet. My body felt like crap. I was reminded of why I shouldn't eat gluten or sugar, and should focus on putting good things in my body. It's just really clear that what goes in my body affects how I feel!

I haven't been working out for MONTHS. I injured my foot and just stayed off it till it stopped hurting which was basically this week. So in order to work back up to activeness, I walked Dante yesterday and today. Clay joined me today. It is SO BITTER COLD. But it still feels good. My friend has been trying to get me to play basketball with her on Weds nights at the stake center with some other women...but I've always been a bit nervous. I finally decided- I just need to do it! Even if I look like a fool...it's gotta have some benefit! The only crappy part is it's at like...9pm!

I'm feeling a little down lately about babies...but you know...what's new?

We played Settlers of Catan for the first time with our friends and it was SO FUN! Have you ever played that game? Clay and I loved it, we can't wait to play again. It took like...a year to figure out how to get started and how to play and everything- but once we figured it out, it was way fun!

The highlight of my week is Bachelor on Mondays. I know that's pathetic but it's just such a wonderful way to start the week. Mondays suck so bad, so it's just a nice way to get through it. I've decided that if I were to do a pushup or a situp everytime the following happened, I'd be ripped:

1. Sean tells a girl, "I'm crazy about you"
2. Sean tells a girl "You are so special"
3. Someone talks about this journey that they are on
4. Someone talks about someone else not being here for the right reasons
5. Sean and a girl go on an adventurous, scary date and compare it to the trials and journey of love, and if they can overcome this, they can overcome ANYTHING!
6. Tierra gives death eyes to someone
7. Tierra fakes an injury
8. Tierra evil laughs
9. Chris harrison says, "Ladies"
10. Someone cries
11. Sean and a girl ONLY talk about how great of a connection they have and how they feel so good about their relationship....but we never see how that connection could possibly be since this is the only conversation they've ever had...over and over and over
12. Sean says, "This is the hardest decision I've ever had to make yet"
13. Someone says, "This is the perfect place to fall inlove"

I mean really...those things will all happen at least like...6 times. So talk about a great workout! Maybe I'll do it tomorrow and report how many I ended up doing.

That's pretty much all I can think of! Pretty boring. But I figured I better report something. Till next time!

January Goals by Numbers

Well, it's time to roundup my stats for January on my Goals by Numbers.

Play 1000 songs on the piano
I played 60

Read 12 new books
Still working on the Shack. I'm hopeful to finish it this weekend. Cause I'm getting two new books from the library today! One is written by the Dargers, a polygamist family.

Make 52 new recipes
I made NINE! 9 new recipes! Talk about awesome! These are what I made:

1. Sweet bbq chicken stir fry
2. Deviled eggs
3. Quinoa Waffles
4. Beef Veggie Stew
5. Homemade Yogurt
6. Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets
7. Sweet & Sour Chicken
8. Jambalaya
9. Granola

Have 12 memorable dates with Clay
mmmm I honestly can't remember a memorable date, so it must not of happened. Perfect opportunity for February- to have TWO memorable dates :)

Read Genesis through 2 Kings of the Old testament
I've read the first 15 chapters of Genesis. Yikes...I could definitely get going more on that one. Can I tell you something? The Bible is super interesting. Like...I remember growing up hearing about bible stories or talking about them and they seemed to have WAY more details than the bible gives. It's interesting.

Well, I'd say I didn't do TOO bad on my goals but there's defintiely room for improvement! I'm determined to make my numbers by Dec 31st :)