July was a great month with amazing weather and lots going on. I finally got over being sick and
could focus on other things. I started a mostly paleo diet where we avoided all
gluten, dairy, and refined sugar. Additionally, I spent the month preparing
taxes, working out our personal budget, and other related financial things. This
is the start of a whole new lifestyle for us.
Paleo Diet
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| Paleo Blueberry Muffins and a Smoothie |
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| Homemade Ramen - Paleo style and yes Matt made his own broth |
For the most part we try to have a paleo diet which includes meat fish, vegetables, and fruits. We just have to avoid all
gluten, dairy, and processed foods like refined sugars. We will eventually work our way to avoid the grains like rice and legumes. I had to advise childcare Sakura is not allowed to have any
gluten and dairy (she gets really bad reactions on her bum if she has any). As
we attended activities I had to either make something I could eat to take or
refrain from any items that didn’t fit within my diet. I HATE being that person
with special dietary needs. I went to lunch with a friend and I picked a place
that had gluten and dairy free options, but they didn’t have much I wanted. In
the end I ordered a plate and had them remove or replace the gluten and dairy.
They had to come back and tell me the lamb had gluten in it, but at this point
I figured it was a very small amount and got it anyway. This will be difficult
to get used to. On the bright side I have had a lot of success with meal
planning and finding some good paleo meals, snacks, and desserts that we like.
Here are some favourites (ask me if you want more):
Beef Stew (I
don’t follow the recipe exactly)
Cauliflower Wings
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| Paleo apple crisp for the 4th of July |
Budgeting
I finished reading The
Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape for the second time as part of my Pathways
math class. The class really helped me realise that I need to get much better
at budgeting. I scheduled a budget date night with Matt for the end of July. I
organised someone to babysit too so we could really focus. Next, I started
organising our finances, tried different software that would categorise
transactions, tried different excel templates for budgeting, and worked out how
much we were spending. It took a long time, but I finally found the tools I was
looking for to build the budget the way I wanted it. I am planning on doing a
short excel course as well to learn macros and pivot tables to make my budget
spreadsheet even less manual.
There wasn’t anything revelatory in our budget, but for the
first time in ages I finally had the correct amount of how much we spend
including our annual, quarterly, and other variable expenses. It made it clear
why we struggle to pay off debts. We have so little excess, and when we do have
excess we spend it on things because it isn’t allocated anywhere. I realised
that had we been working harder at budgeting we would likely have some of our
debts paid off already. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail, but suffice
it to say that I realised where our main financial issues are and have a plan
to improve them.
Sakura’s Immunisation
I started to consider immunising Sakura again because we are
going to the US in October and I worried about international travel, and I got
a notice that we will get reduced family tax benefits if she is not immunised
by September 2nd, and of course cheaper childcare costs mean I would
be able to put her in childcare more than once a week. This is such a HARD
decision to make! We decided that the best way to feel confident and calm about
our decision was to pray and fast about it. I didn’t fast since I am
breastfeeding, but Matt did. The night before I felt like my conversation with
my Heavenly Father went like this:
Why do you want to vaccinate her?
Me: So she won’t get any deadly
diseases, cheaper childcare, greater family tax benefit, and it would be so
much easier.
Are you REALLY worried about her getting sick?
Well….. not really. In fact, I
feel she is probably better off in the long run without the vaccinations.
Is vaccinating her for YOUR financial desires and convenience a good
enough reason?
No,
I guess not.
I felt so strongly that Sakura was going to be fine WITHOUT
the vaccinations and that it would be better to trust the Lord to help me with
the other financial concerns. I didn’t tell Matt this and waited the next day
till he finished fasting to discuss it. He felt the exact same! His words were something
like “vaccinating her because of money is a piss-poor reason.” What was amazing
about this was we were UNITED! This time I don’t feel like I need to question
it again. Perhaps if we are going to a third world country or something, but I
trust that if there is any reason to question it again the Lord will help me
know. Finally, I am at peace with this. Please know that I am not trying to say
no one should vaccinate, but for our family and the autoimmune conditions our
kids will have – we feel it is best not to vaccinate. I don’t have any concrete
reasons, nor do I need any, because I am not trying to counsel anyone else and
I already have my own answer.
July Events
We had some fun events occur this last month. We had a stake ball that was Gatsby themed. Last time Matt wasn't feeling well so I went by myself. This time we could go together and Sakura loved the music and dancing. She eventually got really tired and one of the YSA watched her for me so I could enjoy the party for a bit.
Later we had our Christmas in July party with the YSA. I made my first ever honey baked ham
(paleo style of course)! It wasn’t spiralised, nor as good as the store-bought
ones in the U.S., but I was proud of the results. I had to go to an actual meat
factory to buy a big enough ham. The food and activities were great, and I
think everyone had a great time.
The following day was the farewell for Xen-Xen Alambra. I
will miss her in Pathways, at YSA activities and class, working on sewing
projects together, and having her over to watch Sakura. I’m glad I was able to
spend a lot of time helping her prepare for her mission and get all the
necessary items. I’ve already heard she is doing well in the Philippines MTC
and it sounds like her district has lots of laughs.
There was an awesome relief society activity that I attended
where we had a presentation with a psychologist and then a short yoga session.
I spoke to the psychologist afterwards about my future goals of being a psychologist.
She helped confirm for me that getting the Doctorate degree would still suit what
I want best and that there are scholarships available for those degrees. So, I
just need to get enough money to do the 4th year research degree
(around $9000 I think) and then I can look for scholarships. This is still what
I want to do, but I am hoping I can find the money and time to do it. This
woman does walk and talk therapy where they go walking around nature while
doing therapy. I thought that was such a great idea! The yoga was also helpful
as we spent the majority of the time on breathing. I’ve done lots of yoga
before, but never had so much focus on just breathing. I found that the breathing
exercises were really helping me to feel relaxed, calm, and centered within. I
have been trying to end each night with breathing exercises to help me sleep.
Sakura’s childcare also had a festival of lights that Matt
and I went to. It was neat how they decorated the different rooms with lights
and activities for the kids. They also had different art projects that all the
kids had done for the activity displayed. We couldn’t find Sakura’s lantern,
but we did find her painting. I can’t imagine so much work would be worth the
effort. I’m glad they did it though and I look forward to other events they
have in the future.
One Sunday Matt and I found out about an interfaith meeting
that was being hosted at our chapel. We decided to attend. The Sikh,
Bahai, Judaism, and Mormon religions all gave a presentation on
their sacred scriptures. It was so fascinating! I have never heard of the Bahai
faith and didn’t know anything about the Sikh religion. To my surprise the Judaism
presentation was just as foreign and I thought I knew more about them. The Sikh
faith pointed out that for them their scripture is considered and treated as a
living human being. I won’t go into details and give incorrect information
about them, but you could read more here.
I have made a goal to spend more time going places with
Sakura and so I have taken her to quite a few parks lately. To my surprise,
Sakura LOVES sand. The childcare people have told me she loves the outdoors and
they always make sure they have lots of outside time when she is there. She has
definitely enjoyed the times at the park with me so I will try to continue to
make that part of my routine. There is a disc golf course at Pine Rivers Park
so I could try doing that once a week as well.
This last week Matt and I were able to go rock climbing with
the youth and it made me miss going every week. I still don’t know how people
balance kids with these other activities. We will have to keep trying new
things.
Yesterday we went and picked strawberries at the Strawberry Fields. It took some
time to find really good ones. It’s not actually cheaper than store bought, but
it is fun to choose and pick your own. We made homemade jam but due to the lack
of real sugar and pectin, Matt isn’t satisfied with it. It’s good enough for me
and we have this awesome
crusty bread mix that makes the perfect scone like bread to go with it!
That same company, Well & Good,
also makes an all-purpose
cake mix and I made apple cinnamon muffins with it this weekend as well.
Together with acai bowls for lunch with our fresh picked strawberries we have
been eating well despite our gluten and dairy free needs.
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Sakura Update
Sakura is now 9 months old, weighs 8.7kg, has two teeth on
the bottom, one on top, and another coming in on top. She only gets good naps
in the car while I’m out driving places, and night time sleeps she rarely lasts
more than three hours before waking up crying. Lately my patience has been
spent and I literally just turned the monitor off when I tried for over an hour
to get her to calm down. Although I don’t like the method, after a couple of
nights she seems to have improved and settle herself more. This could be
because her tooth finally came out though, so I have low expectations.
For now she is still primarily breastfed, but she now enjoys solids and will eat any food you give her. She loves everyone and is getting quite mobile. Matt predicts she will be walking by the end of the month. She climbs onto everything and can’t be left unsupervised while I go to the toilet anymore. While teething she has been extremely clingy so my back is suffering from constantly picking her up. At the end of the day I still think she is adorable and am amazed at how much love I feel for her. I don’t love being a mom yet, but maybe there will come a time where I feel more fulfillment from the mom part than from other things.
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