Life and Death

Well it often seems I only blog when there's a major life event happening.  Guess that's ok.  10 days ago, Ashton had a baby girl 11 lbs 9 oz.  Yes it was a C-secton.  She looks exactly like her mother did when she was born over 20 yrs ago.  Hard to believe she's old enough to have her own.  Mom, Dad and baby are doing very well.  Freaking out at every little thing like you are suppose to as new parents. 

It's been fun helping out and being there to give advice when she's freaking out.  She's a beautiful baby.  The day Basilia Mae was born, I found out a dear friend had been taken to Hospice.  I had lunch with my friend Tarji that day and we chatted about how important Vivian had been to us.  Now today 10 days later, Basilia Mae is 10 days old and Vivian is in Heaven.  The advice my mom gave to me when I found out Vivian was in hospice was send her cards, and so I did 4 of them right away.  Ones I hand made because she always appreciated my hand crafted cards.  I know she was able to enjoy them and I encouraged other to send cards right away.  I'm happy she left this earth knowing she was so loved.  So today when I lost my dignity at the nursing home where my mother is rehabbing from a broken leg, my mom's advice was write about it when you get home. 

 

Vivian started at IKEA before me, and was there through build up with all of us.  We really got to know each other well when she finally joined Facebook, and she saw things about me she wouldn't have known otherwise since I am primarily focused on work at work as was she.  I'll never forget how hesitant she was to join in with sharing on Facebook, but once she saw how beneficial and useful it was she had a lot of fun with it.  It was very therapeutic for her as she was going through everything with her cancer.  She also used it often to chat with us coworkers who shared things she could relate to and she would then message us with sound grown up advice, or tell us how happy we looked.  Or how pretty a picture was.  Or how beautiful out kids were. 

 

When she got her ipad mini, about once a week for a few weeks, she'd message me with technical questions, which was always funny to me because she used to be out IT person at IKEA.  She knew how to do hard IT stuff but was baffled by the ipad technology.  Ha Ha!

 

This is my memorial picture to her......she did the ordering of printer ink for IKEA, and the company that sent it always sent a giant 2 lb party bag of peanut M&M's.  She would always sneak the bag into my snack drawer because she said if they were at her desk she would eat them all.  Then 2 years ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, then she wouldn't let me have the M&M's anymore.  Ha. 

She was such an encourager to so many people.  Even when she was going through her own stuff she'd take the time to sit and talk with you about your stuff and what you were going through and then she'd share her own experiences, and what her fears were.  I could only hope to be half the women she was.  Rest in Peace sweet friend.  Once again I did as my mother told me to, and wrote it out. 

Vivian Church

My Friday-Day in the Life 2013

So last week Ali Edwards was doing a week in the life.  Photography everyday moments all week long, and documenting it on her blog, she will then scrapbook those pics.  Very cool concept.  I was in no way ready to commit to a whole week but I thought it'd be fun to do for one day.  So that's what I did.  It was not a completely typical Friday, but it's a good glimpse into my life. 

Friday with The Sexton's...................................

Every successful morning starts with clothes that have been laid out the night before.  I've taught Perry this.  He's almost to the point where he doesn't need a reminder, but not quite. 

Perry's breakfast

I eat bacon almost everyday, that my awesome husband makes for me. 

On days that I work early I'll usually eat egg muffins that I just heat up when I get to work and a piece of fruit. 

This is not typical, but this day I had pumpkin chai made with almond milk, in my new spill proof coffee mug I got from target.  Usually I'll just get a cup of IKEA coffee. 

Perry got a new backpack this year.  He's got a new LL Bean backpack whenever he's transitions to a new school.  Next new backpack will be for college. 

We are fortunate that Perry's bus stop is at our driveway. 

I now have to periodically use reading glass's.  I have a notebook I keep with me at work.  This one was missing for a whole day, which completely stressed me out.  It was found on Friday and I was oh so happy. 

My job consists of a sea of cardboard on flat carts all-day everyday.  Oddly I love it. 

We had a discussion as to if we had aged over the past 4 years.  Picture being held is from my 40th birthday party 4 years ago. 

Catching up with Rick is often my favorite part of my day.  Love this guy. 

We often share our left overs.  You can see a little bit of Kristi leftovers.  I only shared my olives. 

Only junk mail today when I got home. 

We usually have pizza on Friday.  This Friday the boys weren't going to be home, so Perry and I ate leftover chili and I had some left over humus after they were gone.  Kipper thought he'd like to have some too. 

 

The boys sent me pictures from their campsite.  They went and played glow disc golf, and camped at Winton Woods.  I was actually kind of lonely in my quiet house.  I knew it was time to go to bed when I started to fall asleep in my recliner. 

It was fun documenting my day.  It was hard work to remember to take pictures all day long.  I couldn't do it for a whole week, I'd probably lose my mind.  It'll be fun to look back on the events of a somewhat typical Friday. 

 

My Morning in Court

So I know, one should just make it routine and renew their tags on their birthday or even the beginning of your birthday month.  Well I am not that organized.  And I am the queen of procrastination.  So much so 3 months went by, and guess what, tags were expired.  I was never nervous I would get pulled over, it never crossed my mind I'd get in trouble.  And well I didn't get in trouble.  My sweet innocent husband did get in trouble though.....in my illegal vehicle.  Ahhhhh snap.  So we gave up all processed food in January.  We occasionally indulge, but for the most part we don't eat processed food.  And rarely eat out anymore.  Unless its the weekend or we're on vacation.  Well Ron has given in  to the draw of diet Mt. Dew, and decided he was going to drive my illegal vehicle to get him a 20 oz.....and got pulled over for expired tags.  (should've reconsidered on that pop consumption.)  The officer told him if he showed up in court on the given date and had renewed the tags the judge would probably just throw it out.  So the man whose name was on the ticket thought that meant the owner of the car, and not him whose the law breaker.  So I was going to go by myself,  and I was like, um your names on the ticket, and told him he should go with me.  So he went thinking he was just supporting me.....um duh.....his name was on the docket.  And they were rolling through alphabetically.......we are Sexton.......I could spend the whole day in the court room listening to thugs and thieves.  At one point Ron was like you are loving this aren't you.  And he was correct I was.  Fascinating how dumb people are.  Got to see a 30 something chic go to jail for stealing a pair of Nike's from Kohls.  And then the dude who got busted years ago for drug possession and had to do a drug test every Friday, and was in trouble for "failure to report", tried to get sympathy that because he had to be there every Friday he lost his job. 

 

This is a generic photo, as no cellphones allowed in the building.  Judge Campbell is an excellent judge.  When it was Ron's turn, he plead guilty.  He stated it was his wifes car.......and she said "you're going to throw your wife under the bus...?" And laughed.  She then mentioned that husbands are suppose to renew all tags for all vehicles because that's what happens at her house.  (she was kidding.....) She asked if the tags were renewed.  And they are.  He left with no fine and no court costs.  And an entire morning full of thugs and thieves, and a whole lot of entertainment.  Can you just go to court and watch?  I'm serious, that's fun. 

Another interesting fact I learned today from Judge Campbell.  90% of traffic accidents are cause because someone was making a left turn.  So all the people I know who avoid left turns, I know many.  You are smart people.  Apparently UPS drivers are not allowed to make left turns.  I'm intrigued, I might have to follow a UPS truck just to see this. 

 

Whole 30, I didn't die....and neither will you.

Accept for doing Weight Watchers a couple times, with no real success other than losing 10 lbs in the first week and calling that a success and gaining it all back a few weeks later, I've never really attempted a weight loss program.  Woops....not actually a weight loss program, although the result is weight loss, it's not why we did it.  We did it, to change many habits and not just our eating habits, although that was the primary focus. 

It started with a year end message at church.  You can see that message here.  Where both Ron and I.....more so Ron, had some "ah-ha" moments.  I could relate to much of the story being shared.  Being overweight, relationship with food.....I'd heard it a million times....but this time was different.  There was a God aspect to it that I hadn't given much thought.  I am fully aware that ultimately God is in control of EVERYTHING.  But does that mean I am willing to surrender EVERYTHING to him?  Ha Ha Ha.....NO.  Does that mean I recognize when God is trying to talk to me, often screaming at me.....and I hear him.....UM NO.  Theres just somethings in life we hold onto with both hands with a very tight grip.  A lot of people aren't willing to admit food has a crazy strong hold on us. 

Enter the book.....It Starts With Food.  I'm not much of a reader.  Since giving birth, I've probably read maybe 10 books in the past 15 years if that many.  And when I do read I am a sloooooow reader.  This book I plowed through because it was fascinating and I could relate to it and the science stuff about food was not in anyway over my head.  Ron read it to, and once we completed it we both agreed to give the Whole 30 a go.  Ron never agrees to anything this crazy, or this restrictive. 
When I say restrictive I mean RESTRICTIVE.  I knew we wouldn't go hungry, but giving up food that had such a stronghold on us was going to be a challenge.  And I'm a women, and you know what happens to women and hormones......they don't go away now matter how healthy you are eating. 

We rid our home of all non-compliant whole 30 foods.  After a couple weeks we referred to those foods as "poison".  The first few weeks I stocked up on meat and veggies from Whole foods and trader joes.  I soon learned that wasn't necessary.  I soon learned to find almost everything I needed on the outside edge of Kroger.  It's true all the processed foods are in the middle.  Basically Whole 30 is Protien, veggies, fruit and healthy fats.  Go to the website for more details.  After the first week, it became easier and easier.  We just had to learn to read labels, prep a head of time, and we pretty much couldn't eat out during whole 30.  We did only 2 or 3 times, and that was to a Steak House, and to Chipotle. 

Our results.  Our relationship with food has completely changed.  We aren't being as strict as the whole 30, but we are eating the same way pretty much.  We almost never eat sweets.  We don't eat pasta, or rice.  I've not bought a loaf of bread in nearly 2 months, probably won't until we go camping.  I've actually stopped missing bread.  (truth) We rarely snack at night and if we do, it's fruit, and in small amounts.  Occasionally I'll have a teeny tiny bowl of popcorn from Perry (he was only whole 30 at dinner time) seriously he's a 15 year old boy.....he probably would have lost his mind. 
Ron has lost 25 lbs and I've lost 23.  We haven't started working out.  We wanted to get out eating in check before we conquired physical activity. 

What else has changed?  I love Mango's!  Ron's eaten spaghetti squash and didn't die.  Ron's learned how to cook his own food from scratch.  He's learned it's not hard to bake some chicken, and he loves salad.  We learned that by reading the labels you learn that all processed food contain a whole lot of CRAP.  And it's shocking how much food contains some sort of soy......ugh including teabags???  We are probably done with processed food for forever.....I may never buy Helmans mayo again ever.....or Miracle Whip.  Homemade Mayo is easy and way better. 

Whole 30, 1 Week in......WHO FARTED?



We made it through 7 days of clean eating and did not die. Today was the first day I didn't feel like I was fasting or being deprived of food. I was never hungry like you would feel on a diet. Just craved things we can't have. The only time I've felt hungry is when I waited to long in between meals. Today was a good day. It was sunday, and I was off. Which rarely happens. We had all kinds of family time church, shopping, and then home. Plus we ate at a resturant for the first time in 7 days. Which is a miracle. Not a whole lot of safe food out there in the world. After some research we found we can have chipotle. Very restricted chipotle, but it was good, and satisfying and for the first time ever, after eating at chipotle I didn't feel like a giant brick was in my stomach 20 minutes after eating. 

 

We are heading into week 2. Our fridge is stocked with all fresh food, we know to plan ahead.  So now we shall see what week 2 shall bring.  Funny thing while at chipotle, I was thinking as I was eating my clean chipotle......dude I totally have not farted in 7 days, why is that?  People who are close to me....I mean like really close, those I would fart in front of.  It's a small group I promise, know well.....it's not like they don't do it too, it happens people.  Lets just say they would be in shock.  I never claimed to be much of a lady.  Geez....I did actually end up farting once this evening, but it was the first time in 7 days I swear.  And I haven't since.  Also funny, while discussing this with the man I kept saying the word "fart" and he was like....."it's such a nasty word...." wait what?  Good grief, it's not like I said the word POOP!!!!  We'll discuss that next week......that's another interesting topic.......HA HA HA HA HA......NOT....some things are way too personal. 

Thoughts about life right now.......

Happy New year! We are off to a pretty good start. We started eating healthy this week. Not just healthy but whole 30 healthy. Go here http://whole9life.com/ to see what that means. We aren't being all strict on the man child. He's 15 so baby steps before you take away his waffles and popcorn. Day 3 is tomorrow Ron's struggling with breakfast. I made some omelet muffins he didn't like. Gotta find something we can eat that's quick and easy.