daily antics from the peterson zoo

Sat/Sun Combo .... and a BIG DEAL!

Well the last two days of our mini vacation from work flew by! Saturday was spent chilling out, playing scrabble w. the kids, both boys went to friends houses for awhile - we went to Sams club (ooh an expensive trip, but we are set for a month!) Jeff made shelves for our bathroom cabinet - it had no shelves? weird...

After dinner we headed up the street for drinks cards and a little pool.. @ friends house... we played some pool, then the guys kept playing and the gals played cards - We left about 9pm to head over there - (literally up the street) and the boys are not at the age they can stay home - they watched a movie and slept on the sofa until we got home about midnight... its really nice to be able to head out for a little while and the boys stay home -

Today was road trip all day - to Rockford Illinois for a hockey game - we then went to lunch w. some of the families - we are really getting to know the parents (as we all spend so much time in the rink!) and its been so nice making friends - and finding people who we get along with so well!

Jeff accomplished a big deal this weekend! We have BOTH cars in the garage now! We haven't done that in 5 years - we have had so much :stuff:   - and we NEED to be able to park once the snow hits! lol

We are finally relaxing - i am doing a  little online shopping and Jeff is watching football.. a nice sunday evening before the week begins!

A favorite pic from Dubuque!

black friday {a day of new things...}

Well, i have not shopped on Black Friday in many many years - usually I have all my holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving and I spend the day putting up Christmas decorations with Jeff. 

This year, I decided to do a little shopping but I did NOT get up early... I was just too darn tired and I did not need any doorbuster deals... Jeff and Will got up for a 9:45 hair cut.. I followed shortly - getting up and while Jeff worked on organizing the garage, I took Will out for a little Black Friday Shopping. He had some cash and he had his heart set up a sweatshirt from Buckle (I know he has expensive taste) He has been careful with his money lately so he could buy this $60.00 item (I refuse to pay $60 for a a sweatshirt) - so he was so excited, we went to the mall.. well sad to say, they did not have it anymore... we actually saw it in the Buckle in Cedar Rapids a few weeks ago. He was really dissapointed - but we kept looking - we went into a few other stores and he tried on some other things.. we talked about not buying things that feel like "maybes" and only really buying things that say I GOTTA HAVE IT... not well, its ok... it was a good lesson.. hold out for what you really want, don't settle.. We had a fun time just spending some one on one time with each other. We both love to shop! So he actually found a leather jacket @ hot topic that he LOVED! and it was only $40.00 and he just happened to have a gift card to Hot Topic saved from last Christmas - he was stoked! he has teenager taste... and they just don't make his size on many things he really likes...  Remember that feeling of buying something that totally fits and looks great and makes you feel so good about yourself? this is that jacket for Will. He has worn it non stop all day and just look at that smile... so a new tradition today - some black friday shopping with Will.

 

So we came home and I went right back out with my gal pal neighbor Cherri-Lynn - and we had such fun pal-ing around - i forgot how much fun it is to holiday shop with the gals.. i had been an online shopper for so long. I plan to save up my holiday money and do the whole Black Friday thing next year - embrace the day and make a fun day of it... i had so much fun for the few hours we pal-'d around!

Another new thing for me was this sandwich that Jeff is always raving about. I have never tried it, frankly is sounded icky... made from Thanksgiving leftovers.. today i decided to try it. and I love it!

Bread (wheat) and turkey, stuffing (jalapeno cornbread), cranberry jelly, lettuce - all served cold!

  This is delish! my new favorite!

oh.. .weightwatchers in the morning... I am in trouble...
 
 

Giving Thanks... Our First Iowa Thanksgiving

I can't even begin to really list all of the blessings and things we are thankful for this year - its been an incredible year for the Peterson Family - and i am just going to say that we are extremely thankful for many things this year.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I haven't spent too many Thanksgivings away from my mom - so we really missed our families this Thanksgiving. We spent the day with new friends and had such a wonderful time!

 
 
We started the morning @ 9am with a 2.1 mile walk/run Turkey Trot here in Dubuque - before we moved I was training with a wonderful group of gals called the Cupcake Runners - so I wanted to do them proud - and accomplish this goal for myself. I did not run the entire way, but I did finish! Jeff and the boys came with and supported me every step of the way (Man, Dubuque has a lot of hills!)  The temperature was 34 degrees! I started out a bit cold but by the end of the race, i was pretty warm - I finished #505 in the women's group - i would say that is about the middle... SO glad we did it!

We took some time and drove around our neighborhood - checking out houses.. and places... We found the ski resort (they have a black diamond hill) - and a great trail for mt. biking! beautiful houses and neighborhoods - it was nice to get to know the area...

 
We then came home and had cinnamon buns to reward ourselves for a great walk.run

I baked a Cherry, Apple, and Chocolate cream pie - plus I bought a key lime pie  (it's Will's favorite) - for Thanksgiving. Jeff grilled the turkey - we made regular stuffing and homemade jalapeno cornbread stuffing - and we made mashed potatos... the dinner was so delish - we had so much good food... a ham, two turkey's - 3 kinds of stuffing - plus all the side dishes... and so so many pies... this for 6 adults and 4 children - and we all had plenty for left overs (more on left overs later)

Here are a few pictures of the food... so delish!

A few pics from the day shared with great new friends...

  
 

We hung out all evening, learned to play Euchre... (much like Pinochle, only easier!) - had a great time, came home at midnight and crashed into bed...
 
  
 
 
 
 
  

Photos and antics from today!

A gift today from my sister Sue! It's an edible gift... the best kind! its a candied apple - covered in chocolate and nuts and caramel... We are going to cut it up for dessert tonight - after we finish a few chores...

This next picture is a pair of my favorite jeans... love to wear them.. it's funny how you find that one pair that is the most comfortable and a fit you can live with... well i wore a hole in the knee.. now in Phx, that would not be a problem... but i can see myself wearing these in the freezing cold and cursing the hole that is letting in the freezing weather... so i decided to sow on a patch... i took a pair of the boys old jeans that are ratty and too small and cut out a heart patch. i decided to sow it on by hand with pink thread... the funny part of this story is that Will said the following " Mom, did you decide to sow the old fashioned way becuase we moved to an old fashioned town" - i just cracked up - 

I made an apple pie tonight, here is a pic before the cover crust is put on.. Hank actually peeled and sliced all the apples, using the pampered chef apple corer slicer - and then Will helped me add the sugar and cinnamon to the apples. I have been using this same recipe for 30 years from the same cookbook i have had that long... ooh it smells so good...

Jeff is making jalepeno cornbread stuffing tomorrow so yesterday i made cornbread from scratch.. yum!! and its been sitting on the counter drying out... This is my first time making homemade cornbread and our first time using it for stuffing...Jeff and Hank keep eating it -

and here is the finished pie - i am just hoping the bottom crust cooked... some years its a big soggy due to the apples... so i improvised the recipe a bit... (I will let you know tomorrow how it turned out) along with the cherry pie i made yesterday.. i do LOVE to bake - I just love the holiday baking!

 
 

The boyz....



Hank and Will have been making such great friends - they made instant friends with our neighbors kids - a girl and a boy - and they all go to the same schools - and hang out and its easy - and i am so so thankful! Today they are hanging w. their hockey buds - and it has made this transition so much easier for them - to have new friends so quickly - what a blessing these kids have all been to our family -



street hockey every day after school... gotta love it

Starting up the blog again - it really helps my mental health to rant and rave... oh, i mean blog :) I am posting this picture of a tree behind our house - i have this thing for lonely trees.. this tree stands alone in a cornfield. I just love it! I cannot wait to see how it looks with snow! The farmer plowed his corn this week so we have an incredible view of Iowa in our back yard. It's been raining here for a few days.. raining and grey skies.. I cannot even express how much I love the climate here. There is something so familiar about it that makes me feel like I am truly @ home.

I lived in AZ for 24 years - I did struggle to truly feel at home in AZ - I always felt as thought something was missing... I did enjoy the weather - but something was just missing.. it always came up just short for me. Growing up in Maine, I was used to 4 seasons... hard long winters.. wet springs and amazing fall weather... I missed that. I think that is part of why I love it here so much in Iowa - its similar to New England.

So today, I am thankful for the opportunity to start a new life in Iowa with Jeff and the boys - everything has worked out for us here - and we do miss our family and a few other things from AZ that we cannot get here -but all in all -its the best decision we've made in a long time. Thank you to Jeff for sharing the dream!

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green tea

well.. i have been watching my sugar very closely, checking it 3-4 times a day..usually first thing in the morning... then right before lunch... then an hour or two after lunch, right before dinner... sometimes after dinner... to see how it moves up and down.. it has been staying pretty constant under 120 and usually around 110 or so... except when i feel it's low and its usually 97 or so...
so before lunch today, it was 96... i had brown rice pasta (loaded w. carbs, i did not realize it at first) and pasta sauce from scratch (no sugar added).... and 2 hours after lunch it spiked at 162.. i could totally feel it... i felt terrible... mental fog... etc... the way i had been feeling before i started changing my eating habits..
so i read that green tea has been known to lower blood sugar levels... and so i steeped myself a cup o green tea.. and wala an hour later.. its back down to 116... a m a z i n g....

i thought the brown rice pasta was a healthy alternative since i can no longer have wheat pasta.. and well i did not realize it had 40 grams of carbs per serving... and i had a heaping heaping serving.. that would also explain my high sugar first thing this morning since i had that same thing for dinner (late dinnner) last night...

it is all really making sense to me now... a few weeks ago i had two smores... and then had to take a 2 hour nap, wish i would have known then what i know now.. i would love to know what my sugar spiked to...

Consistency...

Consistency  
–noun, plural -cies.
Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.: There is consistency in his pattern of behavior.

This is something that I lack... not in all areas of my life (which is a good sign.. i am capable of consistency.. there is hope for me yet!) but... I do lack some follow through. I am the great idea gal! I am the great project starter... I can motivate like there is no tomorrow.... but sticking w. it.. follow through.. hasn't been my strength... There have been occasions in my life when i had no other choice.. and I came through to the finish line... but there has to be a lot at stake for me to to that it seems... and now once again there is....

I went to see my Dr.. a month ago. I am seeing an MD who has a Natureopathic Doctor... She is so wonderful!  Well  I gave her my list of complaints... tired... mentally foggy... tired... over weight... general feeling of blah, complete and total blah...    So we scheduled the blood tests and 7 vials of blood and a urine sample later... here I am.

I saw her last Monday  3.5 weeks after our first meeting.  My results... not good... not horrific.. but not good... My cholesteral was 211. my Tryglicerides  192, my fasting glucose 106... all HIGH... and to top it off i have an overgrowth of yeast in my intestine it seems (i just completed further testing, waiting results) - my Vit D is LOW... i am LOW on one estrogen (normal for my condition) and I am TOO high on the other estrogen... (there's three) - the good news is my thyroid is normal.. (bad thyroids run rampant in my family) - I have too much uric acid (can you say gout?) so there you have it... Now i did get test results a year ago that told me that my cholesteral was high.. i made an initial change and did not stick w. it...

We set a course of action - my body does not process carbohydrates well... my cells are becoming resistant to accept sugar... this is not a good thing - this is prediabetes folks... my dad was diabetic, his mother was diebatic (she went blind btw) - so this stuff also runs in my family... all of my grandparents(all of them!) died of heart disease...  So like i said - there's more at stake here...

I have switched my eating habits... which had improved over the last year anyway - but my goal now is more improvement and consistency...

Insuling resistant diet plan: well not diet, but eating.. lifestyle (so cliche.. i know)
Candida diet and purine diet as well...

I am taking vitamins, vit d drops...
Getting better sleep (more than 5 hours)
nothing white... no potatoes (not even sweet) no white rice..
no fruit except for strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
No sugar... of any kind... (not even honey..)
No bread of any kind.. (not even wheat) - not wheat products for now, no gluten...
No dairy (i am keeping feta cheese and eggs) - this is my idea, i have issues w. dairy -  i actually started this a month ago in an effort to find out the cause of some of my migraines)
No more instant oatmeal
No red meat
(adding no vinegar products now too)

now I weighed 204 when i started the no dairy thing on my own - i went down to 200 lbs when i saw my doctor @ the first appt. When is saw her last Monday I was still @ 200 lbs.. no change... and in fact, i had made no other dietary changes  from my first appt to my most recent...  I did however make changes in the past 7 days.. i followed the above mandates to the letter.. and I am down 3.5 lbs... and not just that - i feel so different... so "light" - so clear headed... not exhausted...

I have been eating fabulous meals - since hottie husband - cooks, he has been 100% on board, wanting to see me healthy - and around for awhile -

In this process I also discovered a few reasons for some weekly migraines that I was having.. I had noticed that after two specific meals that we eat pretty much weekly, i would have a migraine that night and the next day, i thought it was the cheese (hence cutting it out) - it was this Southwest Chicken Salad (green salad w. chicken, black beans, corn, etc...) w. this southwest ranch dressing (which we found out has MSG, a huge migraine trigger for me) and then the taco seasoning we use on our turkey breast tacos also has MSG.. BINGO! I got lazy reading labels over the years looking for MSG , i figured people did not still use it. BOY was I WRONG!   Then - another fav of mine has been turkey bacon... love it.. we have been eating it for 4 years now... well DOH i just learned about NITRATES... and its loaded w. nitrates... hence more headaches after eating turkey bacon... I am so excited to find these causes and work my way to be migraine FREE!

I have enjoyed this new adventure - my goal is constency... i want to be athletic to have fun w. my boys who are all super athletic.. i want to live a long life happy life.. i want to be healthy..... i have had such excellent support from the family - i know everyone wants the same things for me...

We cleaned out our pantry of everything that I cannot eat... and had some girlfriends come over for grocery shoppping.. they left w. many many bags of stuff...

I also learned about atlantic salmon (ew icky... swimming in pens of it's own feces.. yuck) - we eat alot of salmon, so we switched to Keta?

I have been checking my sugar 3x per day... so far its been good... it was high for me this morning (101) after sleeping all night... but otherwise its been good...

now.. since its too too hot for mt biking... we are going to try the p90... hmmm...