Food: What It Means To Us - Part 1

Eating Healthy. This one phrase can be interpreted in so many different ways. I'm here today to provide you with my definition of eating healthy and how I am passing that along to my daughter. So here it is:

Eating Healthy to us means eating a mostly whole food diet. No highly processed food or items made with refined sugars and flours. Foods made with whole grains, lots of fruit and vegetables, foods that are a product of nature and not science. For a more comprehensive list of guidelines we try to follow (the majority of the time) you can go here: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-defined-a-k-a-the-rules/

When I was still living in Washington and started to make the transition to real/whole foods I was asked a lot of questions and was the recipient of many strange and confused looks. <Funny side note: I actually remember when I was pregnant, another pregnant co-worker told me she always went on a strict real/whole food diet when ever she was carrying, and I didn't know what she meant! LOL>Since moving to Alaska I've been asked a lot by friends, family, and daycare providers: Why do you eat that way? What exactly do you eat? You make all that food? Why do you send Jordan's food to school, does she have allergies?, etc.

I've decided a series of blog posts on this topic would be a fun thing to do since it is such a huge part of our life with many tangents that can be discussed in detail. I plan on sharing how we decided to change the way we eat, how we did it over time, items that I make at home from scratch, recipes, tools and resources that help us, examples of meal plans, and I'm sure a lot more.

*I'd also like to say that we DO NOT eat like this 100% of the time. It is practically impossible at times and I'm a firm believer that you need to have some treats every once in awhile to continue to eat healthy the majority of the time. I'm sure most of you have seen me scarfing down a danish from the bagel lady, a latte full of sugar (sometimes 2 a day) and much more.

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The Spark

I guess it technically started when Jordan was still an infant, around 4 months old. I started reading about what type of solid foods to start her on and wound up learning a lot more than I set out to. We decided to make our own food purees for Jordan and she loved them! My cousin loaned me a food puree kit that she had used with her daughter. It had a book with instructions on how to cook a variety of vegetables and fruits, and came with special ice cube trays to freeze the purees. One cube was the equivalent to one serving. It was easy to spend an hour cooking/pureeing/freezing and then being able to pull the cubes out when we needed them. It was also convenient to send to daycare with Jordan. Overall it was really simple and Jordan was getting healthy fresh food rather than some of the jarred food that has unnecessary ingredients and preservatives.

Once Jordan was getting old enough to eat the same food we were eating (but chopped up tiny) is when things really started changing. I thought to myself, I can't make my daughter eat healthy food if I don't set an example first! So I started doing a lot more reading to educate myself. We began changing our diets to more fresh, whole foods. We watched the movie Food Inc., which I highly recommend even if you have no intent on changing your current eating habits. Some people watch it and go 'Eh..' and other people watch it and learn a lot. Either way it is an interesting documentary. I also read Michael Pollans Food Rules. This book is an extremely easy read (I meant it people. E-A-S-Y.) and a good jumping off point for starting to eat real food.

All of this was happening right around Springtime when farms start producing amazing bounty. A program called a CSA was started at my work. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It brings farm fresh food to your table, direct from the farms! It was $20 a week for a box of misc veggies. I easily spent $20 on produce each week, maybe more, so it was cost effective. It was also very convenient since the farm would deliver the boxes each week to my work. Participating in the CSA forced us to eat and learn about new veggies. Here is more info on CSA's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture

I sent all of Jordan's purees/food while she was an infant, and around 10 months old she started to transition to the 1 year old room at daycare and they provide the food. It was so nice to not have to worry about sending food (not that pulling frozen food cubes out of the freezer was a lot of work...haha).  Although I did send substitutions for some of the things on the menu that I just was totally against (Cinnamon Rolls, Spaghetti O's and hot dogs, corn dogs, ice cream, Little Ceasars Pizza, to name a few of the really bad ones) I just fed her a little breakfast at home and then dinner at night.

As she got older and I had learned more about processed food and it's effects, I wanted so badly to send all of her food. I am such a planner and kept saying I would make time to plan a menu full of healthy snacks and meals for her, but I never did. One day I got her to daycare a little late and she missed the morning snack. They offered me a nutrigrain bar for her because that was all they had and I read the ingredient list before I gave it to her and said  (in my head of course) "That's It! I have GOT to send her food, no matter what".

So the next week I brought in all her food. It was a rough week because the WA State law states that even if a parent sends their own food in for the child, it still has to meet the USDA Food Guidelines which the daycare has to follow. Oh that pissed me off, but I learned to deal with it and it forced me to send Jordan with a well rounded meal and snacks. The rules are for AM and PM Snacks, there has to be a minimum of 2 of the food groups. For Lunch there has to be 4. The food groups are: Grain, Dairy, Protein and Fruit/Veggie. It was frustrating at first because I was also trying to keep her food similar to what was on the menu so she didn't get jealous of the other kids food. Sometimes it was impossible. I finally stopped worrying about trying to make the food seem similar to what was on the menu because Jordan didn't seem to mind, she ate her food and it was less stressful for me.Now it is just second nature.

The food guidelines at Jordan's new daycare here in AK is the same, so that was an easy transition. And the people at this daycare are a lot more interested and positive about me sending her food. The last daycare (which I totally loved by the way - just the food was bad) didn't have the space, people and time to "cater" to my daughters own food. Which is semi-understandable.

Next Post will discuss in more detail the types of food we eat and the benefits of eating it vs. the processed version. Please comment with any questions you have so I can answer in one of the future posts. Thanks for reading!!

Birthday Adventure 2011

I did something truly amazing for my birthday this year. It may not seem amazing to a lot of people, but it was amazing for me. I went KAYAKING! The old me would have NEVER even considered the thought of getting in a kayak. But I have made a committment to LIVE LIFE and stop being afraid - and it was soooo worth it!

My friend Kathy and her sister Kristina went kayaking together (both for the 1st time) in June using a Groupon Deal. Over 4th of July weekend they were telling me how awesome it was and that is what put the spark in my head. It made me curious and I felt slightly more comfortable knowing someone that had done it and really enjoyed it! Their Mom's birthday was the same weekend as mine, so we decided to make a trip out of it.

We drove down to Seward on Friday night and camped at Millers Landing. In the morning we woke up, got dressed, made breakfast, took down camp and headed to the beach. Our guide was Monika, she got us all set up in our kayaks and gave us a quick lesson and some helpful tips. There were just a total of 6 of us (2 per kayak) plus Monika in her own single kayak.

As we were sitting there in our kayaks waiting to be pushed into the water I felt a little nervous, but Kathy had warned me that if you start freaking out and moving around a lot the kayak will get very wobbly which can then flip...and that wouldn't be very fun. So as soon as we were pushed in I was the calmest I had felt in such a long time. I just started paddling like Monika taught us and we were off from there!

The paddle was a lot longer than I was prepared for. It was 5 miles and took us about 3 hours. We had to battle some winds in the middle which was super frustrating. We would paddle and paddle and paddle and still be in the same spot. But if you took a break you would go backwards, so we had to keep paddling. We tried letting one person take a break while the other paddled, but you really needed both people paddling to make any real progress.

Despite the wind and some drizzly rain during that one part, the weather was PERFECT. It was overcast and with our layers we were at the perfect temperature. If it had been sunny we would've been so hot and sunburnt. One thing that I didn't like about the kayaking is how long it took to get somewhere. Once we could finally see our landing point, it took about 40 minutes to get there...and it wasn't that far away. I was so glad to make it!

However, I totally forgot that our trip had a 4 mile hike at the end. 2 miles up the mountain to Fort McGilroy and then 2 miles back down. I hate hiking. I've never liked it and I totally complained in my head the whole way up the mountain. But when I saw the view we had from the top it was so worth it - it was stunningly beautiful. I wish I had a camera that could've accurately captured the views.

After we hiked back down we took a water taxi back to Millers Landing (thank GOD! Because I would've rather been air lifted out of there than kayaked 3 more hours back. I was exhausted! I think I lost 5lbs that day!

It was a wonderful trip and I am so proud of myself for doing something adventurous. Most people know I am not a water person - I never went on the boats, tubing, would never swim to the dock or further than I could touch the ground. I missed out on so many fun things and I don't want to live the rest of my life like that. And I definitely don't want Jordan to be afraid of having fun either. So I need to set a good example for her, and have fun in the process!

I decided that each year for my birthday I will be doing some type of an adventure. (Whatever that means, haha). It should be interesting to see how they progress over the years.

Jordan is 2!

I can hardly believe that Jordan is 2 years old. I am amazed at how much she has changed in the last year and especially the last few months! She doesn't look like a baby anymore, she's my little girl now. She does so well with her talking and is pretty good about using her words. She does some signs, but it's just out of habit, she can say all the words very clearly. She loves to "clean-up" all her toys every night and she even does this at daycare (so the teachers tell me). How lucky am I?! She is a pretty good eater most of the time, especially for other people. She can sing her ABC's (she speed sings it haha), count to 12, she can sing a lot of songs: Twinkle Twinkle, You are my Sunshine, No More Monkeys Jumpin on the Bed, Where is Thumbkin, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and many others! She is starting to learn shapes and her colors and how to count on her fingers. She has mastered all of her wodden puzzles and is still obsessed with reading books! I'm sure there are many other things I can list, but just not able to think of them all right now.

For Jordan's birthday her Dad and Grandma flew to Anchorage (both were 1st timers!) to spend an entire week spoiling her sweet! I know all 3 of them had a very fun time full of adventure, love and laughter.

On Jordan's actual birthday, I took the day off work and the 4 of us went to our fave breakfast joint: Snow City Cafe. They seriously have the best food ever! And I just love the fun quirky people and environment. Jordan opened a few presents while we were at the restaurant. By the time we were finished it was naptime for Jordan, so we drove home and she opened a few more presents before naptime. After her nap she spent the afternoon with her Dad and Grandma and the 3 of them came to cheer me on at one of my softball games. I brought cupcakes and ice cream to share with everyone and we all sang Happy Birthday to her after the game! She loved it of course since she doesn't get super sweet stuff very often.

A few days after her actual birthday she had her 2 year check up. She is of course right where she is supposed to be! I listed all the stats below and the increase from last year. (She didn't have a 1 year appt, so her last appt was 9 months ago when she was 15 months)

Height: 33.5"/50% - Grew 2"

Weight: 31 lbs 6oz / 90% - Gained 2lbs 6oz

I love my little princess so much! She is growing up to be such a special, wonderful, beautiful, amazing little girl! I am excited to see how she grows in all areas of her life over the next year.

Can you believe how different she looks in 1 year?! She is definitely a little girl now. But I will still continue to call her my baby. My beautfiul baby love!

Softball

One day before I moved to Anchorage, my friend Kathy called me up and asked if I wanted to play softball this summer, for some unknown reason I agreed. We chatted for a bit and hung up and about 15 minutes later I couldn't even remember what sport I had volunteered to play. Was it softball...no, it couldn't have been, I've never played. It must've been kickball, I told myself. I texted her and asked, and sure enough - softball it was. YIKES!

I've never played a team sport in my LIFE. Never swung a bat, was never taught how to properly throw a ball, what had I just gotten myself into???!! Despite my fears, I was aware that this was a recreational coed league, there were other people new to the game as well, and I knew it would get me out of the house into the beautiful outdoors to get some exercise and social time.

At our first team practice, I felt so awesome because I did a lot better throwing/catching than I expected. I was getting pretty excited for this. And then I had to bat....ummm, I don't think I hit one ball the first practice we had. If I did, I think they were all fouls.

We ended up having someone on our team that was a good coach and taught us newbies proper stance, etc. I started to do better little by little. We've had 3 or 4 practices and 4 games so far. Each time I see and feel improvements in myself. I've started to know when the right time is to swing the bat, I can tell if the ball coming towards me is going to be a "ball" so I don't swing, and when I hit that ball I run my ass off.

It is the most AWESOME feeling to hit that ball and then run and make it to first. It is so exhilarating! Maybe to some people that have played for years don't get as excited, but I freakin love it!

We just had a double header and our first game was spectacular! I hit and made it to 1st everytime I was up during our 1st game. I even scored our team 2 runs in the 1st game and 1 in the 2nd game (which we ended up losing but we all played so well!)

Here is a link to our team page on facebook so you can keep up on our games. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=205059046179359&set=a.205059042846026.53965.205057472846183&type=1&theater#!/pages/Mercedes-Benz-Softball/205057472846183

Anyways - I love that I am doing this and enjoying it so much. It may not seem like a big deal but it is something that I probably never would have done in my old life. (Heck - I didn't even play kickball at our family reunion last October, I said 'I don't play sports', how disappointed I am in myself) However, I am making a change in myself and this is definitely a sport I want to continue playing and learning more about.

I LOVE that I am making my new life - it feels so damn good!

Pony Rides!

One of my favorite memories from childhood is my Mom taking me to the Pony Rides! (See pic above of me when I was 2.) I've seen them over the years during my visits to Anchorage and wished I was little again so I could relive the experience.

Today we were driving around and there they were! There weren't any other kids at the time, and I didn't want Jordan to be the only one, so we ran the errands we needed and came back so Jordan could have a ride. There was one other kid when we got there, but as we walked up a suburban with 5 kids pulled up and a couple of other cars, there ended up being a line! She was the smallest kid so she got the smallest pony. Its name was Lightning! The cost for the ride was $8, we will probably do it a couple more times this summer, but I can't imagine that person with 5 kids! That would add up quickly!

 Jordan has gone on a pony ride before, about one year ago they had pony rides at her daycare. Apparently she didn't like it and cried. But now that she is almost 2 (ahhh scary!) and knows what a horsey is, and can also sit on it by herself, I figured she would do ok.

She wasn't too impressed, on lap 2 she said 'All done!' but she was a trooper and made it through the whole thing, about 5 minutes or so. She wasn't super excited, but she wasn't scared or crying so I would say that is success! She was sad when we left though.  She said 'Bye Bye Horsey!', haha so cute!

So since this is the end of the post, I will leave you with both Jordan and the pony's end, haha!

Playin in the dirt!

What a beautiful weekend we had here in Anchorage! My aunt has been planting flowers the last couple weeks and the other day I found a little toy watering can in one of Jordan's boxes - so I thought it might be fun to plant a flower and see how long we can keep it alive! Ha!

So on Saturday we went to the South Anchorage Farmers Market and bought a beautiful purple and white flowering plant. I have NO IDEA what it is called. It didn't come with one of those plastic sticks, and I forgot what the lady told me it was. Oh well.

So we (mostly I) planted it in a little container and watered it. Now it will sit in the window and hopefully I will remember to have Jordan water it every few days. If anyone knows what it is or offer any gardening tips I will gladly accept them, thank you kindly!

(And yes...I did change her into the purple shirt with the purple flower to coordinate with our little activity. I'm such a nerd, but you know you love it!)

Jordan enjoyed getting her hands (just a little) dirty! And it was just a fun little thing to do together.

Busy Mom Busy Life - So Worth It!

It sure has been an adjustment the last couple of weeks, having Jordan 100% of the time. By the end of the 1st week I was very ready for Jordan to get back into daycare. I needed some "me" time and she needed some interaction with kids. Last week she started daycare which allowed me to get some things done, such as schedule the delivery of our belongings and unpack a few boxes to find some items we've been missing a lot. I also managed to get us into a small fender bender. Thankfully there were no serious injuries (I jammed my thumb, haha) - and my car is in the shop getting fixed as we speak.

 My aunt that I am staying with bought Jordan her first tricycle, so we've gone on a few bike rides around the neighborhood. Jordan loves her bike and doesn't mind wearing the helmet, which is nice. The trike is totally awesome because I can use the big handle on the back to push and steer it since Jordan doesn't know how to pedal yet!

We also went on a walk yesterday for Mothers Day and I let Jordan jump in some mud puddles with her new rain boots and get totally dirty (aaahhh! I never let her get dirty!). It was so cute watching her splash around and laugh hysterically. As soon as we got home I stripped her down, soaked her clothes and washed them - they came out perfectly clean, yay!

Today was my first day at my new job so it was a reality check about what our schedule is going to be like going forward - COMPLETELY CRAZY! I was up at 6 and Jordan about 6:40, Jordan at daycare at 7:30, me to work by 8. Off work at 5, pick Jordan up and home by 5:30. Realized I forgot to go to the grocery store so I can make tomorrow's lunch/dinner. Feed Jordan dinner, go to grocery store. Get home around 7, try to get Jordan to bed but she has been a horrible sleeper since we've been here so she doesn't go to sleep until 8:15. Then I spend an hour and half making dinner/lunch, packing Jordan's food for school, my food for work. Then I come downstairs, read 2 blog posts on Google reader out of 50+, finish the previous blog post, fold laundry. Get stuff ready and in the car for tomorrow (softball game). Write this blog post. I still need to figure out what I'm cooking tomorrow in case I need to go to the grocery store again. But alas, it is almost 11 and I have to awaken at 5:30 tomorrow since my shift was changed to 7:30-4:30. So tomorrow this will all repeat 30 minutes earlier and will include a softball game, which will then cause everything to be an hour later.

I'm surprisingly not as tired as one would think right now and I only had 1 small cup of coffee at work today. I'm sure as time goes on we will get into a routine, Jordan will sleep better (PLEASE!), I'll sleep better, etc. But I'm definitely happy that I am making my life what I want it to be and enjoying it with my beautiful little girl.

Jordan's Daycare

Jordan started daycare last week on Monday. It is different from her last place but that doesn't necessarily mean bad. We will see how things go. She didn't cry at all the first 3 days of the week. But Thursday, Friday and today she cried when I dropped her off. They said she calms down after about 10 minutes and she is fine the rest of the day, but she does start asking for Momma in the afternoon close to pickup time.

On Friday they had a special Mother's Day Tea Party so I came and Jordan and I shared a sugar cookie and a small dixie cup of crystal light (a very rare treat - no sugar!). Then I hung out while the teacher read books and then it was time to go play outside! Gosh, now I know why she comes home so filthy! The playgrounds here are full of little pebbles and are very dirty/dusty. Well, Jordan enjoys crawling around in the rocks as I witnessed. She also attempted to eat them but quickly spit them out. It was neat to watch how she interacted with the other kids, or didn't interact I guess. She kinda seems to do her own thing, I guess all the kids did too, but maybe as she gets to know these kids and gets a little older they will play together more often.

The teacher said she talks a lot and noticed that she knows some sign language (this daycare teaches 4 new signs each month!). But after I had been there for about 20 minutes the teacher said she talked even more when I was there! Isn't it weird how kids can be so different away from home?

We played outside for about 30 minutes and then decided it was time to go home. Overall I think she had a great 1st week at the new daycare and I hope it continues to work out for us.

Workin' 9 to 5..umm, wait..8 to 5

I know a lot of people thought I was crazy for making such a HUGE move without securing a job first. But this was a move I needed to make and Alaska has a very different job market. They don't want to hire you if you are moving from out of state, especially if you've never lived in or visited the area. They get a lot of people that move up here and leave after a year. They also don't want to pay for relocation. So when I updated my resume I had to make it clear that I was relocating on my own. And when I talked to employers I made sure to let them know I used to live here. It's amazing how much more laid back people would get after I told them that. Anyways...on to my job search.

I flew up to Anchorage in March to look around at apartments, daycares and had a couple interviews. One was at a small company and the position was perfect! I had all the background and experience necessary for this job - but alas I was not chosen. But everything happens for a reason right?

The very same day I found out I didn't get that job, I recieved a phone call from another company I had applied for. The position was a Branch Administrator at Graybar Electric. The woman I spoke with was very interested after reviewing my resume and we had a mini interview. She contacted me the next week and said she would like to interview me in-person when I arrived in Anchorage! AWESOME!

As I was talking with some people at work about my upcoming interview I mentioned the company it was for. Well it turns out that one of the Team Leads brothers is a SVP and on the Board of Directors for Graybar- so she contacted him to see if he could pass on a referral from her to the lady that would be interviewing me. DOUBLE AWESOME! I mean, I felt pretty confident already, but this couldn't hurt?!

So I had my interview which went really well. It was way more casual than anything I had ever experienced in the past 8 years, but I liked it. She gave me a tour, had me sign a background check form (just in case) and said she would be making a decision in just a few more days.

The next day I recieved a phone call from the hiring manager asking me how I thought the interview went, if I liked the office and if I was still interested in the position after our discussions. This totally caught me off guard, because again, nothing like that would ever happen at my previous company, but of course I said I was very interested! Great she said, and she would talk to me soon.

Friday rolls around and she calls again - yay! I need to come in to give a sample for a drug test. Sure no prob. At this point I feel like I probably got the job, but since I didn't have an offer yet I didn't want to jinx myself by making the assumption.

I finally got the call on Monday that I was offered the job at the minimum salary I wanted. I start on Monday May 9th!

I'm a little nervous because I don't have any background in this industry, but I've been told by the supervisor that is fine. I have no idea what my job will be like. I don't know any of the people. Its hourly, and I'm used to salary. It will be a looong day since the lunches are an hour long.

BUT - I am sooo excited to start this new job 1.) because I HAVE A JOB! 2.) because I am so ready for something different after the last few years and 3.) because this is a really good company that has been around for over 100 years. They are a Fortune 500 company, employee owned and have great benefits. I am so lucky to have gotten this opportunity! I am SO THANKFUL I wasn't offered that other job that I thought would've been perfect.

Movin on up...to the Northside

Well we made it! Jordan and I arrived in Anchorage on Friday April 22nd.
The trip went pretty well, Jordan slept during take off for about 40 minutes, then I had to entertain her for about 2 hours, but she was really good, only a couple of short melt downs. She fell asleep again probably 45 minutes or an hour before we landed. She slept probably 30 minutes and was awoken by the violent turbulence we were experiencing. Man I was terrified! Jordan was scared too but I couldn't show her I was, so I had to keep her calm and pretend like we were having fun going over the "bumpy bumps". I kept telling her she was doing so good and it would be over soon, haha. I was also praying at the same time - OUT LOUD! I think I prayed more during that 10 minutes than I have in a year! But it sure helped. After we landed the people sitting around us told Jordan she had a good mommy because I even helped keep them calm, haha.

Friday was an exhausting day due to our sleep schedules being all messed up. I finally got Jordan to go down for a nap in bed with me around 2:30. My friend Kathy stopped by to visit for a bit and then we had dinner and hung out. Friday night's sleep was AWESOME! We slept for at least 10 hours. It was great.

We spent the rest of the weekend getting unpacked and organized. Did some grocery shopping to get stocked up on some of the basics. Jordan has enjoyed all the new scenery both indoors and outdoors. There is so much for her to explore and she is good at finding it all! We found a park nearby (which is right next to my old house) and it was perfect for Jordan - she had a great time. So I am sure we will visit there pretty often. We still haven't seen a moose dangit!

Well that's all for now - more to come later this week.

Love to all from Jordan and Drisana.