Intruder or Sleepwalker?

A week ago Monday I found writing on our bedroom wall.

Immediately I called Devin into the room, and asked him why he did it. A perplexed Devin looked at the writing and responded, "I did not write that!"

We gave each other a scared look, followed by hours of calling friends and family members who had been in our house recently. Each conversation started with, "Hey, weird question, but did you by any chance write on our bedroom wall??"

By Monday night we did not have a suspect, and we were convinced someone had broken into our house and vandalized our wall in hopes to creep us out. It worked. We were definitely creeped out. I kept thinking of all the scary things that had happened in our neighborhood recently. A homeless man had been sleeping in the big sundial in our neighborhood park. The day after that, I noticed the backyard gate was strangely swinging wide open at the vacant house next door. As all these things were running through my mind, I was terrified that we were going to all be murdered in our sleep. When Sam woke up in the night, I was petrified being alone in the dark kitchen as I prepared his bottle.

Did I think to pray?

Yes, I finally did. I told God that I needed to know the answer to this mystery, because I was scared out of my mind. I asked for revelation, and most of all, protection. After a few moments of prayer, I got the impression that it was not an intruder at all.

I began to recall all the weird and strange things my sweet husband has a reputation for doing in his sleep:

1) Our first kiss happened while Devin was asleep (true story)
2) Devin has eaten large amounts of candy and chips in his sleep, with no memory of it...just the breath to prove it the next morning
3) Devin, while asleep, once looked Brooklynn straight in the eye and told her, "There's not enough guns for the both of us!"

Since that revelation was received, I have not feared the writing on the wall anymore. Something good that came out of this experience is that I made our blog private. It was a good thing to do for our family. Unfortunately, stalkers and crazies do exist, so I may as well do all I can to protect us from meeting any of them.

And that, my friends, is the story of the writing on the wall.




"What's my special talent?" written in yellow crayon

and I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Have you ever watched this movie?

Tonight the Maws and Paws and I decided to browse "On Demand" to see if there were any good movies to watch. It seemed like a good thing to do since both my boys were in bed (Devin by 6, Sam by 6:30),and it was raining LIKE THE DICKENS outside. I had always heard that this movie was a classic, but it turned out to be quite weird, and at some points downright uncomfortable to watch in the company of my grandparents. It's G-rating didn't warn me for the 60's strip club scene. I was truly blushing sitting there by my Paw-Paw, and Maw-Maw kept asking if the main character was living in an alternate reality. Yeah. Not what I was expecting for a classic movie.

This blog is officially going private this Sunday. Leave me your address if you haven't already done so!

Private Time

Well I never thought I'd feel the need to make our blog private. I make it a point to be careful not to show too many details about where we live, etc., but something scary happened at our house this week. It could be nothing, but it could be something(more details to come on the private blog). Anyhoo, I've decided to make our blog open to invited readers only. So, your job is to leave me your email address as a comment (I've made it so that only I can see the comments). Come on. Leave your address. You know you'll miss this face if you don't.

We've got spirit, yes we do!

(Leftover face paint from Sam's circus party)


Ryan and B weren't impressed with the game.


Do I have the coolest grandparents or what?

and my personal favorite:

Maker's Diet follow-up

Some of my friends and family started the Maker's Diet this Monday. I'm so proud of everyone (even you cheaters...you know who you are). I realized that I don't have everyone's emails who requested the info. about the diet, so I'm just going to post what was in the little booklet I handed out at the party. Here it is:

The Maker’s Diet

(Allison’s version)

Basic concept:
Only eating things God directly created
Fruit
Vegetables
Meat/poultry/fish
Eggs
Milk
Grain
Seeds
Nuts
Beans

Main Reasons behind the concept:
Health & Weight Loss
Keeping yourself “unspotted from the world”
James 1:27 says:
27 Pure areligion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To bvisit the cfatherless and dwidows in their eaffliction, and to keep himself funspotted from gthe hworld.*
*I believe this includes the food you put in your body.
God created our bodies and also the food to nourish our bodies. His creations are sufficient for us.
　
　
The Proof that it Works:

Lbs. Lost from Maker’s diet: about 25

lbs. Lost since having Sam…70+

(I lost the first 50 lbs. Through exercise alone…started diet when I hit a plateau)


Meal Ideas

Breakfast:
-Scrambled eggs
-Potatoes in skillet with olive oil (hash browns)
-Homemade granola with milk
-Banana with all-natural peanut butter
-fruit smoothies (sweetened with honey or dates)
-steak and eggs!
-fruit
　
Lunch:
-spinach leaves, raspberries or strawberries, cashews
-taco salad (ground beef, spinach leaves or lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, avacado, corn, lime juice, salsa)
-fajitas (minus the tortilla…bell peppers, chicken or steak, salsa, lime juice, etc.)
-any type of salad with lime/lemon juice as dressing
-sautéed vegetables with chicken
-avacado with lime
-hamburgers “protein style” (minus the bun & sauces)
　
Dinner:
-mashed potatoes
-steamed vegetables (zucchini, squash,etc.)
-grilled/baked chicken or steak
-kabobs (chicken, bell peppers, onions)
-vegetable soup (tomato sauce, ground beef, various vegetables)
-Chicken tortilla soup (see recipe)
-chicken no-noodle soup (see recipe)
-sweet potatoes
-roast with vegetables
-baked potato with lemon juice
- fish, shrimp
　
Snacks:-granola
-raisins
-nuts
-baby carrots
-bananas
-celery w/natural peanut butter
-oranges
-apples
-chocolate shake (see recipe)


　The Key to Success=

CHEATING

Every week, I allow myself one meal of my choice and one treat of my choice. I usually try to have each on 2 different days of the week, so that it feels like I’m living like a real person at least twice.

Recipes

Granola
Rolled oats
Honey
Raisins
Almonds
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all ingredients together until somewhat sticky. Spread on cookie sheet and bake until golden brown.

Peanut Butter Macadamia Fruit Dip
1/3 cup macadamia nuts
1/3 cup chopped dates
2/3 cup milk
1 heaping tablespoon all-natural peanut butter
Blend all ingredients in blender until fluffy. Serve with sliced apples or bananas.

Chocolate Shake
½ frozen banana (helps to keep sliced bananas in the freezer)
1 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder
½ C milk (give or take)
Honey to sweeten (keep gradually adding honey until it is as sweet as you’d like)
4 ice cubes
Blend all ingredients in a blender until ice is disintegrated
Variations:
Add 4 frozen strawberries to make it taste like a chocolate-covered strawberry shake
Add 1 tablespoon nat. peanut butter to make it taste like a “Chocolate Moo’d” from Jamba Juice
　
　
Chicken Tortilla Soup
4 chicken breast halves
Two 15 oz. Cans black beans untrained
Two 15 oz. Cans Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel tomatoes
One can corn, drained
1 cup salsa
One 4 oz. Can chopped green chilies
One 14 ½ oz. Can tomato sauce
Combine all ingredients in a large crock pot. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours. Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and shred. Stir into soup.
Recipe from Mormonchic.com
　
Chicken no-noodle soup
Basic Chicken Soup:
Serves 6
1 whole cut chicken (about 4 lbs) cut into pieces (including back)
8 cups water
coarse salt
3 medium onions, thinly sliced (4 cups)
2 celery stalks, slicked crosswise
4 garlic cloves, crushed
6 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1. Bring chicken, water and 1 tbsp. salt to boil in large stockpot. Skim foam. Add onions, celery, and garlic. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 30 mins.
2. Remove breast and set aside. Add carrots and simmer, partially covered for 40 mins.
3. Remove remaining chicken; discard back and wings. Let cool slightly. Remove meat from bones, and cut into bite sized pieces.
4. Stir desired amount of chicken; reserve rest for another use. Skim fat and season with salt.
　
All-natural No-bake cookies
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup rolled oats
1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
Unsweetened shredded coconut (If desired)
2 tbsp water
(all amounts are approximate)
Blend all ingredients except oats in food processor. Transfer to mixing bowl and add oats. Roll into balls.
　


　
　

Cabin Video

Here is my version of how we spent our time at the cabin.



To see another version, click here.

Cabin & Maker's Diet

We spent this past weekend at the cabin in Heber, AZ. Man, I love the family I married into. I have it good and I know it! I'm working on the video to share what we did. Stay tuned.

This Friday night is the Maker's Diet Kickoff Party! I'm getting pretty excited about it. I said in my last post that it is on Jan. 9, which is FALSE! It is on Jan. 8, this Friday.

where: my house
(if you don't know where I live, leave me a comment and I'll email you the directions)

time: 6:30 p.m.

Come and learn how I lost the rest of my baby weight (in only 3 months, mind you), and went from this:


to this*

*note: choosing a picture in which I'm trying to show that I'm skinnier is a very awkward thing.