Clean Eating-Pancakes

Well we did another round of whole 30.  It ended last weekend.  I did pretty well.  Only cheats were pumpkin spice coconut milk in my coffee every morning.  The last day I had cake.  I did well total weight loss was 8 lbs.  I'm trying to maintain a 80/20 lifestyle and not spiral out of control and return to the land of poisonous food.  The draw of fast food is strong and easy, because it's EVERYWHERE.  The key is planning ahead, and to keep the food in my house clean.  I have discovered delicious clean pancakes, and I am amazed at how yummy they are.  You have to be a fan of crepe like pancakes which I am.  I haven't tried them on the ultimate critic, my 17 year old child yet.....but I love them and are obsessed with getting them perfect.  I am getting better at flipping them.  I'm really bad at the pancake flip, no matter the pancake. 

Paleo Banana Pancakes
1 Banana
2 Eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
dash of cinnamon
cooking oil


I smash the crap out of the banana till it's almost a liquid consistency.  Beat the eggs with the baking powder, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Mix all of it together.  I used Ghee for the cooking oil, but I've also used coconut oil.  Either work just fine.  You just need a little oil for each pancake.  This recipe makes 4 medium sized pancakes.  Basically 1 serving as they are thin.  Get some taste syrup and enjoy.  This would be good with blueberries. 

Raggamuffin- Rich Mullins

When I was in college I listened to a lot of Christian music.  My favorite Christian music to listen to when I wanted to feel really close to God or I was having a quiet time would always be Keith Green.  I remember when I was first introduced to Keith Green music my freshman year of college, I said to my friend, man he'd be great to go see in concert.  Only to find out he had died 10 years before.  It was tragic to me. I'd listened

to all his songs, and soaked them in, and would never get to see him perform live.  Bummer I bet he was amazing.  I then read his book No Compromise and it was life changing at the time.  Then came along Rich Mullins.  We saw him in concert at Ichthus one year, and it was almost as if I kind of got my wish, they were different people in different times, but seem to have the same heart to live out God's word, in an amazingly open kind of way.  They both wrote songs that allow us to feel and hear scripture the way God intended for us to feel it.  They both allow me still to this day feel God's presence when I need it the most. I can remember singing Create in Me a Clean heart, when I dealt with the usual life struggles any 20 something would deal with in the early 90, that seemed to allow God to speak to me as if to say, you got this, and I got you, life gets better.  

I remember Rich's concert well we were pretty close to the stage, and we were mesmerized when he spoke and sang.  I remember he was barefoot, and had on a white t-shirt and jeans, and it was one of the best most spirit filled concerts I had ever seen.  To this day when I feel lost or alone, Hold me Jesus is my song of choice.  My favorite Rich Mullins story of all time though is, when he was in Columbus, and he stopped at a Christian music store, the one my BFF worked at.  He asked to use the restroom, she was star struck.  She didn't clean the toilet seat for a long time.  

Just watched the Rich Mullins movie, it was good learned a lot of stuff I oddly didn't know about Rich, like he went to CBC-Cincinnati Bible College.......what?  How did I not know that?  That's almost like me not knowing Keith Green was dead.  So he got his start right here, how cool is that.  I also didn't know that he wrote many of the songs that made Amy Grant famous.  Did someone tell me this and I just forgot or maybe I wasn't listening.  No offense to the actor who played Rich but Rich was way better looking.  

My Favorite Rich Mullins Album

History of getting my Hair Did....

Well it's one of those tragedies that happen in life that deserves a blog post.  My hair stylist is moving away.  So I thought I'd share a history of getting my hair cut.  Before I was in charge of my own life.  There was the rare occasion my mom would cut my bangs crooked.  Then a family friend cut my hair for my entire childhood.  When I became in charge of my own life, my cousin Susan cut my hair for many years.  I had, perms, a spiked bob, a bob for many years.  Then she married a lawyer and retired.  So then my hair dresser was Candy, in North College Hill.  Then I moved to Fairfield.  I found Tammi at JJ's I went to someone else first and then I think I was a walk in and Tammi cut mine and Perry's hair.  She was so good with Perry, who won't talk and was kind of afraid of scissors.  He was 5.  He was always so small he had to use a booster until he was like 13.  She always gave him a scissor cut.  Until the past few years he gets a buzz. 


I've followed her to 3 different Hair Salons.  I've always texted her when I needed an appointment.  So one time I made an appointment via text, and she neglected to tell me she had moved.  So I go to the old place where she had quit........and had that awkward moment where I said I'm here for Tammi and they are all like.....um she don't work her no more.  Well crap.  Needless to say I was a tiny bit late to my appointment since I had to roam my small town to find her. 


She dealt with me coloring my hair with Kool-aid green.  It literally stayed in hair for almost a entire year.  Through multiple hair cuts.  She listened to stories of bad friendships, health issues, school and teacher issues, concerts I attended, and our favorite TV shows. 

Here is a picture of the time she cut my bangs too short.  Perry's hair appointment was a few hours later and when I came back I was wearing a barrette, due to the fact that my bangs were so short they looked weird.  I wore a barrette for a few weeks.  I totally never let her live it down.  We just found it amusing, and then whenever she'd cut bangs I would mess with her.  Really it's just hair it grows back.  Now after 12 years I have to get a new hair dresser, I don't wanna.  They are hard to find.  I told Ron I'd just travel to Nashville every 8-10 weeks, that's not a bad idea.  He said no. 

We'll miss you Tammi, best of luck to you on you new adventure!

Day in the Life 2014

You may recall me doing a day in the life post last year, here.  Well it's not been a full year later, but Ali was doing one on May 8th, which I fully intended to do one that day, and my friend Connie was going to join me, but as it turns out we both forgot.  Ha.  So the day I was suppose to document my life I took this photo, which is me enjoying a glass of water after my lunch break and reading a book on my ipad.

Then I was like hummmm.....since it's like 2pm and my day is almost over maybe I'll plan to document my life tomorrow which is what I did. The next day on May 9th.  Which was also a friday, just as last year in September was a friday.  So it'll be good to see a friday and compare it to a friday in 2013.  

As it turns out I do NOT get up this early usually on my day off. The man usually gets Perry up and off to school.  But he decided to go to work early that day so it was all up to me.  So 6:55 am was the horrible time I had to awake from my peaceful slumber.  This gives Perry 30 minutes to get up and eat breakfast and get on the bus by 7:25 ish......his bus driver likes to keep us on our toes, and arrives within a 10 minute period, this makes my husband crazy.  

 Time for some dirty eggs with bacon and sausage.  The man makes me bacon every morning.  Since we started clean eating this is pretty much a staple in our house bacon and eggs every morning.  Costco bacon.  The man doesn't make dirty eggs, so this is a treat when I make breakfast for the boy.  He loves the
m.  Dirty eggs is basically just eggs with the bits of bacon and sausage in them.

And off he goes on the big yellow school bus.  Only a few more years of that.  Unless he gets his license someday, which I'm in no big hurry for that.  Until he wants them I'm not going to push it.  

No day off is complete without a few loads of laundry.  

No day would be complete without a snapchat from baby chubs and her mama, who apparently were hot on this particular day.  

I don't usually solicite social media for wardrobe advice but this day I did.  I requested help with what shoes and there was an overwhelming response from 2 people to go with the poka dots.  

turned out perfect.  This shirt is super old but it's one of my favs.  And my purse my dad got me for my bday is super awesome pretty much all the time.  

I don't usually wear makeup everyday.  I've found as I get older, I wear it more often, to even out my wrinkles and skin tone.  I don't look awful without it just better with it.  I rarely wear glass's.  But my contact irritated my eye the day before so I was giving my eyes a rest and allowing them to breath.  The front door is the only full length mirror in our whole house.  Theres just not a good place for one, and the front door works just fine for such things.  

A drop off of things to Geegaw and a brief visit with Geegaw and Precious.  

Ran over to Butler Tech, to pick up Perry's artwork.  Where I was pretty much told it wasn't good enough to get into their program.  Not hey lets sit down and talk about this.  Or lets discuss other options that might work for Perry something other than.......it's not good enough.  No parent wants to hear that ecspecially when you know what they are capable of.  Just you wait, he'll do great things and you'll be like damn we missed our chance.  Perry bearly knew I was trying to get him into butler tech so he's not upset or anything, he's just assume I do as little as possible to disrupt his world.  

Almost every day off I spend sometime reading at Panera.  Not sure why I can't just read at home, I just enjoy the quiet of Panera.  If I'm not doing a bible study,  I'm usually reading a book on my ipad.  Here I am reading The Gifts of Imperfection.  Which I am currently finishing up an art journalling class to go along with this book.  It's been very much a reality check, and I've been liberated by doing the art journalling with the reading.  Good stuff.  

I have spent my entire life in a traffic jam on colerain ave.  This is no exaggeration.  

ran in the Jc Penneys and got the boys these shoes.  That I then took back because he didn't like them.  Said they were old man shoes.  I thought they were cool and if they had my size I would have liked the.  Also got him some of those balls that make your shoes not stink, those he kept.  He's a teenager he needs those.  

Actually went here to look at the new project life kit they had, and did not buy one.  Which is unusual for me.  Don't worry the next week I bought the cinnamon kit, since it more masculine, and I have a lot of boy scout pages to do in the next year.  

Quick shot of the boys after dinner.  

Perry and I then ran over to cincinnati mall to check out Arcade Legacy.  It's this place where you can play all sorts of video games on pretty much any gaming system.  They also have old school arcade games.  You pay by the hour or you can pay $10 and play all day.  Perry wanted to check it out for his birthday so we went and inspected the place.  We ended up going for his birthday.  Once we convinced him and Zack to play games they don't already own our hour was up.  You sort of need to have a plan when you go, I didn't want to spend $10 so I kept them focused to get as much game playing in for 1 hour.  If we go back we'll have a better plan.  

On our way home we paid our first visit to Flubs.  I got a peanut butter sundae with crunch coat.....so delicious!

So my life is not all that exciting.  But this is a typical day off for me.  This was a friday, so we probably had pizza for dinner.  And I probably stayed up till 2am.....this is a typical friday for me, when I am off.  See last year for a typical Friday when I work.  

Blog has turned to Shit.....literally.

So yes I realize I've not blogged since November.  Someone mentioned this evening, "I read your blog...." You read my what?  Rarely remembering at the end of my email it says "Hey check out my blog." not ever letting it occur to me, people actually read this thing.  I should really update my cover photo, since my child is now 10 years old than the picture on the header, and Ron and I have gotten way better looking.  Lets be real my man is extra fine since  he's gone all paleo and extra fit. 


So I work at IKEA.  I have for 6 years now.  It's my longest running job to date in my life.  I love it there.  Turns out I work with a lot of young adults.  You mention to them your favorite band is U2 or Coldplay and they look at you like ahhhh....that's cute and you are so not hip.  So mentioning to some 20 somethings regarding U2 and they direct you to the South Park episode featuring Bono.  I am warning you do not google this or watch it, you will lose brain cells.  I made it not even halfway through the episode before not watching anymore.  I would put a picture of Bono on South Park right here but it turns out blogger won't upload the dang picture. 

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.

2012 Year in review Instagram Photos

1. ATC's, 2. picnic, 3. IKEA- Me, 4. Fun with P, 5. Herbs, 6. Me and Alex, 7. Socks, 8. C-bus, 9. Scouts, 10. Zombie, 11. Ice'd Green Tea Latte, 12. Fun Chucks, 13. Old Uniform, 14. Pumpkin Crunch, 15. Sauerkraut Festival, 16. FACETIME, 17. Election 2012, 18. Thirty-One, 19. Last of the Hostess, 20. Winefest 2012, 21. B-Dubs, 22. Thanksgiving 2012, 23. Sweet Potato Pie, 24. Romance, 25. Apple Obsession, 26. Christmas 2012, 27. Cat, 28. Christmas 2012, 29. Christmas 2012, 30. Christmas 2012, 31. Christmas 2012, 32. Video Gaming, 33. UGH, 34. Shoes, 35. Metro Ride, 36. Bubble Tea
2012 Year in review Instagram Photos, originally uploaded by Yoda0419.

Thought this would be fun for my blog. I created a year in review with some of my instagram photo's. It was a great year according to instagram. 2012 had it's fair shair of heart ache, but for the most part it was a good year. No complaints. God has been good to us!