The Last Two Weeks (ish) 9/22-10/04

Here are some misc. events of our family these past couple weeks:

James and I are gearing up to start an intensive 90 day fitness program called P90x. It's CRAZY with a capital "C." We will be working out for a minimum of an hour every day doing 12 different dvds that work the entire body, and following a pretty strict diet plan. We are very excited to get in shape, shed some pounds, and build some lean muscle! Yeah by Christmas when everyone is complaining about the 15 pounds they've gained, we'll be looking hot!! Depending on how hot we look will depend if I post some of our before and after pix! We took the before pix a few days ago and it wasn't pretty. :( But, we've got to start somewhere. I'm so happy James is doing it with me, and I think my enthusiasm has spread so much that he is more excited than me! We'll keep you all posted on our progress.

Our garden is still ever producing kale! A friend of ours lent us her vacuum sealer and we (and by we, I mean Savanna) spent 3 hours cutting up this kale. We were able to make 7 bags of kale chips and vacuum seal them. That sealer is seriously cool. You can seal your cans too, which is a really great time saver. I've been sealing EVERYTHING (yeah, I know...I'm a total nerd).

I made my first batch of homemade spaghetti sauce from scratch. And by scratch, I mean SCRATCH. I had to blanch, peel, and de-seed the tomatoes, and then cook them with all the spices, etc. Okay, I have to admit it was a cool experience. But between picking the tomatoes and all the other steps involved it took me 4 hours to make 3 jars of sauce. So, unless one day I live on a tomato farm and have oodles and oodles of time, I'll be buying my $2 TJ sauce from now on! But, the sauce was REALLY good!


We made more apple sauce and salsa too! I have to say that our garden is taking a LOT of our time. We are thinking of downsizing shortly. It's been really fun, but too time consuming.

A gift from my Mama- they look great, Mom! Thank you! I have always loved lighthouses and what they symbolize. I hung them right in front of my kitchen window so I can see them all day long- since I pretty much live in my kitchen!

James and I had our second Central Coast Colloquium this past week. We discussed, "Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank. It was great discussion. It really makes you think about whether or not you and your family are prepared mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually if (or when) disaster strikes. This book deals with the topic of a nuclear holocaust. No one really knows what they would do, but it was interesting to listen to what our group members felt was most important and how they hoped to behave if confronted with a situation like that. Good food for thought, as they say. Next month we are reading "The Lonesome Gods" by Louis L'Amour.