Fathers

 Genesis 3:17-19  Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “ Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground,  For out of it you were taken; For dust you are,And to dust you shall return.” 

Just like most of you, I've been thinking of my Dad quite a bit the last few days.  This verse came to mind.  It's a verse all of our fathers have lived out to provide and care for their families.  

When I think of my Dad, there are always those upfront memories.  The ones you've sealed up in your heart that can not be damaged or changed.  The ones that you hope, in your old age, you don't forget.  My Dad was a shrimp boat captain.  Some of you know the hard life that it is, some of you have only heard about it.  For all my growing up years he was the captain of his boat, the Lisa Missy.  And as such, it took most of his time.  He would be gone 7-10 days or so and then home for 2-4 depending on the weather patterns and how the shrimp were running.  He worked hard and long, sometimes with little reward.  He did what he had to do to provide for his family, to pay the bills, to keep us sheltered.  Season after season, year after year.  Toiling...in the sweat of his face.

Because he was gone so often, I had my favorite things of him nurtured and grown large in my mind.  For instance...when Mom would go to get Dad from the dock, she would let one or two of us go with her.  This was momentous.  In my child mind I thought the drive took forever when in reality it was about thirty minutes.  On the way she would stop in this little gas station where the road split.  She would let whomever was with her get a pop and a chip.  Joy, utter joy!  Then we'd make our merry way to the dock and wait for Dad.  We would get to watch his boat be unloaded and watch the shrimp go down the conveyor belts.  I always thought that place smelled bad.  Like old shrimp.  But the best part was when Dad had settled up and sold his catch, you'd get a big hug.  And he smelled...he smelled of shrimp and diesel fuel and salt.  And his shirt was always drenched with sweat.  It is one of my most favorite smells in this world.  It's the smell of home.  


When it wasn't my turn to go and bring him home, we'd get that same hug when he walked in the house.  The same smells.  His unshaven face, tired as it was, smiling and feeling prickly.  Then he'd disappear into the restroom and get cleaned up.  When he left that bathroom, he was a new fella.  Clean shaven and smelling of Old Spice.  My other favorite smell.  He'd sit in his big recliner and I'd crawl into his lap and snuggle in.  Wrapped in his arms and in Old Spice.  Then the stories would start.  Nope, not of his trip...not of the Gulf of Mexico...not of shrimp and crab and the occasional shark.  It was all about squirrels and owls and sometimes gators.  All these forest creatures that had adventures, and he would share them with us.  


These days finds my Dad, not as a shrimp boat captain, as a husband and father and grandfather.  He spends his time dozing in his big recliner, unable to remember the stories about the squirrels.  He spends some seasons collecting pecans and shelling them, other seasons he spends fishing.  He still has that same smile and those blue eyes and for some reason, in his older age, his hair is turning from gray back to brown.  He finds it amusing and says that he must be on the side of age.  He'll be 78 this year and still smells of Old Spice.  My heart aches from not seeing him for almost two years now...little things make me cry, like writing this...hearing his voice...seeing his photo.  

This is a tribute to my father, Alex Joseph LeBeouf.  I love you, Dad and miss you with all my heart.  Hopefully we can visit soon and get one of those hugs.

Small Comparisons

Back on the 21st of February, I did this two week raw food detox to kinda get myself going in the healthier direction.  It was a tough two weeks, but I did it and am down right glad I did!  I felt really great when I was done and even had extra perks...like my skin was in better condition and my hair grew in quicker.  (I was still getting over the whole having a baby hairloss.)  It was at the end of this that my husband and I started the Atkins diet together.  Together...what a lovely word.  I'm thinking that that is why it's been so easy to stick to it!  We're on the same page!  Anyways, back to the whole Raw food thing.  Looking back on my older posts I noticed that I had revealed what I thought to be my starting weight...whelp, I was wrong.  When Chris and I started Atkins together we decided to buy a new scale (yuck!).  Well, lets just say the one I had used was off a tad.  By about 6 lbs...and not in the good way!  So, my original starting weight was actually....roughly....about....174ish.  I'm ok now, I accepted it at the time and moved on knowing without a doubt that I had to get my rear in gear.

It's now almost 10 weeks into my entire weight loss, get myself healthier, journey.  And I must say, I'm proud of my hubbie for sticking to it and helping me stick to it.  There have been other benefits too!  Our kids have become healthier while we're at it!  My goal of portion control amongst our ranks has happened!  Not to mention, being on this whole low carb thing, we've tried a whole variety of vegetables that we never thought to touch before...like kale, swiss chard and a variety of different cabbages like bok choy, nappa and savoy...yum! We're slowly adding certain grain carbs back to the table like thick cut oatmeal, barley and whole grain wild rice (chewy stuff),  but in small amounts.  I've even made these yummy apple scones from oats and whole grain that are wonderful.  Everything in moderation!  The biggest change is the lack of sugar, I don't miss it and I don't think I'll be adding that back to our diet.  Nope, no sugar.  I'm also going to start making our own bread (try my best to do it regularly), to try to get more preservatives out of my kiddos diets...bad stuff, preservatives and sugar, imo.

I've posted a photo comprised of different times the past year.  I don't get my pic taken often, so I could only find ones that I have others in with me (good stuff).  You can see the difference in my hubbie and in my Celsi, and how well they've done since February.  I won't tell you their starting and current weights, that's their story.  But I will tell you that they are both feeling great and have more energy.  Yay!  So far I've lost about 26lbs, Praise the Lord!  Hopefully through all of this He's been strengthening my ticker and improving other aspects of internal health.  My family has a history of bad tickers, diabetes and cancers.  I feel it's my major responsibility to do what I can to try my best to take care of this body He's given me...not just for me, but for my kids.  What children see us do, they do.  What they hear us say, they say.  They are like little sponges, so I'll do my best to give them good things to "absorb" that will help them over their lifetimes.  And one of those are eating habits!

Fresh Start

This last Sunday was my last day on the raw food diet.  I ended my day with a lovely mixed greens salad with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and pecans.  Through the whole experience I didn't get the energy I was hoping to, I don't think it was a high enough calorie content or something for running after all these kiddos hehe, BUT I did notice other things.  My hair and skin improved and so did my mood.  I do believe that it did a very safe and effective natural detox of my system.  Good stuff.  Not to mention I lost over 10lbs in two weeks.  Not too shabby, don't shake a stick at it.  I will definitely be doing it again every 3 months or so for the same purpose...detox.  Being on it for two weeks also helped me to curb my craving for sugar and breads.  I don't long after them like I did the first week.  Yay!

Now onto a fresh start!  I started Atkins with my husband on Monday.  He has a two week start on me, but that's ok...we're both in Phase 1 together.  Gonna camp out here until our appetites adjust and his carb cravings minimize.  I like not having to do it alone.  Not to mention I don't have to watch him eat a potato or something like that hehe.  I do miss potatoes....but mostly today, day 2, I miss fruit!  I was so used to my morning smoothie (the same one that I had to force myself to drink the last two days of that diet), and I actually miss them.  I so want to eat a strawberry.  Soon strawberry, don't go anywhere...I'll be back, but with will power!  Last night for dinner we had nachoes with low carb toritillas...was pretty good after not having anything that even resembled bread for over 2 weeks hehe.  Tonight...I have a brisket braising in my crock pot with other yummy good things and will serve that with coleslaw.  Not to shabby fare for a diet in my humble opinion.  Whelp, we'll see how this goes.  I'm determined to develop better eating habits and more portion control in this house!  I think I need lots of prayers!

3 Days to Go

Today begins my 12th day on this raw food craziness...I mean journey!  I've found it to be pretty easy to stick to until yesterday.  I didn't cheat, I stayed the coarse...but I found myself not able to make or eat a salad.  A salad is a pretty simple thing, but the thought of eating it made me feel a bit ill.  I just couldn't do it.  My night 

time snack was much easier to approach, a banana and a handful of almonds.  

I assumed it was just a passing thing, this new rejection of things that have become staples in my diet.  However, this morning I had to pretty much make myself make my morning smoothie.  It's taking me almost an hour to finish it, but I'm muscling my way through.  It's nothing yucky...blueberries, strawberries with banana, pure water and two teaspoons ground flax seed.  It's good.  I think I'm just on that last mile stretch and my legs are feeling wobbly.  Yes, this was a bit of complaining about the diet that "I" started.  The diet I'm now force feeding myself, lol!  It's all because of God's grace that I've been able to start it and stick to it.  There have been temptations that He's helped me overcome (such as the box of Valentines chocolates on top the fridge or the pizza from whole foods we brought the kids that was cooked in a wood burning oven that smelled like this side of heaven).  So, yes, while typing this out, I've managed to finish my lovely purple smoothie.  Lovely.

The Dinner Roll

The end of my first week was on this past Sunday.  We usually spend our Sunday afternoons over at my in laws.  We spend the afternoon having lunch and then talking through our weeks and mostly just enjoying some family time.  My Mother in law, as usual, made a wonderful dinner...but what's even worse than that...dinner rolls, dripping with honey butter.  Everything smelled wonderful!  I think that was my biggest temptation that I've had so far on this raw food journey.  Man oh man did I want one of those rolls, hot out of the oven.  Instead, I sat down to my mixed green salad with avocado, cilantro and natural salsa.

I'm gonna reveal a little here, something women hold tight.  The last time I weighed myself was down at my mother in laws the week before Winter Camp.  I was a whopping 168.  I think I know where all that lies.  So, this Sunday I weighed myself there, since the scale knows me so well.  In the first 7 days of my diet I've lost 9lbs.  The scale smiled up at me (this is after lunch, midday, mind you), 159lbs.  So, somewhere I've lost it.  I don't see where, but it's gone, so that made me smile.  I no longer wanted a roll...that day at least.

A Small Comparison

I thought I'd post pics of tonights dinner.  For Chris and the kids I made Chicken with Rosemary Roasted Vegetables.  Smelled sooo good!  They all loved it too, so that was a perk!  I found the recipe on the Atkins site for free tools.  Some here don't care for cauliflower though, so instead I used broccoli, swiss chard, bok choy and red peppers.  This will be a repeat.

This was my dinner.  A lovely raw salad of mixed greens, romaine, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, radishes and pecans.  It was good, maybe because I could smell chicken while I was eating it...who knows?!

Day 4---Staying the coarse!

Today begins my day 4 of raw food.  I have finally found my combo for breakfast that I think will become my morning regular.  1 cup blueberries, 1 large banana and 10 strawberries with 1/2 cup of raw/unsweetened coconut milk, 1 teaspoon ground untoasted golden flax seed, blended until it's a beautiful shade of purple.  YUM!  Yep, it's my new favorite smoothie!  I think today is starting out good.

On day 2 I visited this wonderful fruit vegetable market on Warren in Canton.  I think it was called Randazzo's or something like that.  The selection was HUGE!  There were so many different things I had wanted to try but couldn't find in my regular grocery store.  Was very fun!  I struggled all day though.  I felt constantly hungry.  I think (and I could be wrong) I ate 6 bananas as snacks that day, and half as many apples.  For dinner I had a huge salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and radishes, it was so bland!  So, I tried to invent some dressings.  I did one that was a blend of raw honey and ginger with red pepper flakes diluted with a little water to thin it out, it was good!  Yay, my salad was now edible.  Whew.  I was just gonna choke it down.  I'm a dressings girl, what can I say.

Yesterday was rough.  I felt queasy all day.  Then for lunch, I did not help myself out.  I had salsa (homemade, raw --thank you Chris!) with artichoke chips.  The artichoke wasn't entirely raw because we had to steam it a bit for it to be edible.  Yep, I can safely say that I do not care for artichoke chips (leaves).  It smelled weird and eventually I just had to stop eating it.  So, I switched to romaine lettuce and made salsa boats.  Those were yummy.  I don't think it helped that for breakfast I tried this recipe for "Oat Meal" that I found on a raw food site.  Yep, not eating that again.  I had to soak flax seed overnight, then next morning you rinse them and add those along with 2 apples and a banana to your blender with a 1/2 cup of water and 2 teaspoons of Cinnamon.  Izabella loved it, I let her have as much as she wanted and shared some with Will too.  It's one of those things that are good at first and then the texture starts to creep in on ya.

So here I am, day 4, sipping on my lovely smoothie.  I'm pondering the idea of having my first "green shake" for lunch.  That would consist of carrot, kale or swiss chard, and tomato.  Hmmm.