Recent Family Happenings - July 2017

A quick update

 We have had a very eventful month! July has brought us to a new city with a new church and new friends. We packed up our little triplex and moved into our first apartment! Thankfully, we found a ground floor apartment because nobody wants to walk up stairs with littles, groceries, and library books all in one trip. Good on ya if you do that on the regular, though!

The month of July started off with unpacking the Uhaul and heading to our new home! We managed to downsize before we moved and even more once we moved in. We like to have less stuff in our home, yet we seem to accumulate so much, and I must learn to stop having piles and misplaced things all over my home...more on that later. Anyways, we had some kind helpers with us while loading our Uhual and cleaning our triplex, and now some good friends of ours are living in our old home where our sweet littlest was born!

The drive wasn't too terrible. Matt drove the UHaul and I was with the girls in our minivan - which was a purchase that put us in debt, but you live and you learn. We are paying down that van like crazy and hope/pray to be debt free by the end of 2018! I'm sure there will be a blog post of celebration once that occurs. We had a few men come from our church to help us unload the UHaul upon arrival! It's such a blessing to have friends from the body of Christ and a solid church to already be a part of in a new town. One of the most difficult things about moving is not having a place to plug in to for fellowship and being able to serve the body of Christ, yet we did not have that obstacle on this move!

Unpacking was swift, and last weekend (July 29) we officially unpacked our very last box! We have done many, many things since moving here and now I would like to share with you recipes, remedies, and fun times we have had in the month of July!

How we are using Young Living lately

 Everyone has been exceedingly interested in the Kombucha making that has been happening this month. I know the taste isn't for everyone, but it's something you can tweak to suit your pallet and it's such a healthy drink to have around. Blog post on our Kombucha Recipe coming soon! Tangerine oil was in a recent batch.

Also, I am trying out my first set of mineral makeup. I don't use a full face makeup because, well I like my freckles, we eat healthy, and who wants to worry about it with babies? But Young Living has some exceptional Eye Shadow, Lip Gloss, LipStick, Eyeliner, Brushes Set, and even more (like Blush, Bromzer, and Foundation for those who are in need of that). It's called Savvy Minerals. It's such great quality and they have an array of choices for many skin tones! You do have to be a member or a retail customer to get some makeup, but trust me...it will be worth it!

Lastly, we are never without our Thieves Spray and Thieves RollOn bottle whenever we head out of the house. Our library visits have been a lot less germ filled because of that very reason. I am an AVID fan of imaginative play and exploring through books. Libraries help littles do just that! Blog Post on favorite summer reads coming next week.

Foods We Have Eaten

We have been all about that Ketogenic Life for most of July. It's time for a reset for our bodies, and Keotgenic is that best way to do just that. This month we have eaten mostly healthy fats, quality meats, and carbohydrates mostly from veggies and a few berries. We are going to be living a modified Keto for pretty much...well ever. And I am now preparing all grains (only a few a week) in the Nourishing Traditions style by Fermenting them. Here's our Amazon List so you can see things I would recommend. Good stuff!

This month I made a Frittata, Cauliflower Pizza, Cauliflower Mac and Cheese, countless salads, soups, and other breakfast dishes. I tried making a cheesecake without any sugar, but that didn't turn out too swift. I'm thankful to have a husband who lets me try out new things in the kitchen. He also is very supportive of eating healthy, and he jumps right on whatever train I'm learning about!

Oh, and BEFORE we started the healthy eating I was making Red Bean Mochi, and we found an Asian Market that we love. Those foods will be our treats now and then. So yummy! 

                          

Adventures We Have Been On

We had a visit from all of the Grandparents this month (not all at the same time), but we enjoyed seeing all of our family!

Well, this little sweetums has had many, many adventures in naptime for the month. She naps twice a day still. Can I get an Amen? I love taking pictures of her sleeping while she's still a little baby. She will be one in 10 short weeks! 

Our oldest was able to go on her first date with Daddy a few Saturdays ago. Breakfast dates are the perfect time for a special treat like Bacon and Egg Bagel Sandwhiches and Donuts. She loved it! He even topped off the date with a stop at the park where they saw a turtle!

We have also enjoyed many Sundays and times of fellowship at Grace Community and Bible studies in different locations. The girls are learning to sit in the service with us, and then they each  go to their respective "classes" during Sunday School. There's also the occassional nap or nursing break for the roly poly baby. By the way, she started "Crawling" this month! Hurrah! She's on the move.

Surprisingly, we are still able to purchase milk and dairy products from the same farmer we had in our old town. He makes a trip during the week to bring many groups their dairy. We are thankful for Raw Dairy and to support a Farmer who cares for his cows well.

Also, I started up a little Resale Shop on Mercari to help us pay off debt!

What God has been teaching me

Lastly, the Lord has been using my husband and children in my life so very much this month. They are helping to sanctify me tremendously. We are also going to any Bible studies our church offers, and I am gleaning so much from those sweet times of fellowship and digging into God's Word with fellow believers. He is teaching me patience in how I deal with my children - like if they put all of the silverware in the wrong place for the umpteenth time or ask for that 3rd drink of water at night.

He is using my husband to remind of my pride. In my inability to admit that I am wrong, that I don't have it all together, that I need the Holy Spirit to work in my heart day in and day out. You guys, God moves. He moves in big ways. He is always faithful to complete the good work He has begun in us. He ministers to your heart - just take time to be still and listen to him.

Our church has a Home Group that is reading through the book Praying the Bible. It's wonderful! Have you ever stopped to pray a Psalm or another book/chapter of the Bible back to the Lord? It's such a ministry to my soul. I also went to 2 different ladies studies this month. One meets at Panera on Tuesday Nights (twice a month), and the other meets at Panera early (6:30AM) Saturday mornings. Each of these times have been sweet as well. God is good, my friends!

Here is an article that we went over, and the book we are reading for the Saturday study.

Whew! July was a big one. Here's to many more memories, growing in Christ, and growing with each other in August. Autumn is coming!!