Life

I haven't posted much except my challenge for the last month or so, but here I am. It's half way through September  and I'm just now getting back to this.  

The kids and I have been keeping up with school and Victor is in Moab til next week, working his tail off to pay the bills. It's been nice and cool with some rain which is good for the garden. 

We had some crazy rain this month. Washing out roads and stranding people for hours until other routes could be opened. The interstate was shut down for a couples days and then partially reopened. It's still not completely fixed but at least people can get through without having to travel around extra miles. 

At church, I've had to run the sound system for the most part with Victor gone. So I did double duty playing the piano and also going back to run power points and videos for people. Yesterday, the sermon was all on PowerPoint but we have a remote, so I just sat in the back to make sure it ran smoothly. 

In the afternoon, after lunch, my friend Amy stayed awhile and we visited a little bit. She was just getting ready to go, as the boys were making some tea. Josh handed me a hot cup to taste to see if it had enough sweetener in it, which I then set on the kitchen counter. I turned to say goodbye to Amy and all of a sudden there was a blood-curdling scream. Sarah had climbed up in the stool to taste the tea, too, and poured some down her front. It was scalding hot.

Now, that it's over, I almost could cry thinking about it. I pulled her shirt off really fast and took a wash cloth with cool water and put it on her chest. It was very red. 

I grabbed the Lavender essential oil, (thank God for Oils!) and poured a bunch all over. Then we put the cool cloth back on. Amy had brought some frozen juice and flax milk for us, so she grabbed the milk out of the fridge and we put it on Sarah's chest to keep the cloth cool. 

Long story short, Amy suggested we should go to the Insta-care and have it looked at because it was starting to blister. The doctor said it was about 15-20% of her body, so he said to give her lots of fluids, and put silvadine cream mixed with numbing cream all over with a bandage and keep an eye on it so it doesn't get infected.

So we stopped by the pharmacy and got what we needed and I added lavender oil to the mix as well. The doctor said to give her some ibuprofen for the pain as well, but I only gave her a little last night as she didn't seem to be in a lot of pain by then. 

Gods remedies really do help. I am amazed at the way it works. Today, I have had to rebandage her twice because she gets excited and runs around and it comes off, but she hasn't had any pain medicine except what is in the cream. 

I will try to remember to add a picture later tomorrow when I changed her bandage. It is a lot less red then it was yesterday and most of it didn't blister at all, for which I am thankful.

I am very impressed with the effectiveness of the lavender and also very thankful for my great friend Amy, who was there to help and watched the boys for me while I was in with Sarah at the Insta-care.

Anyway, I can't say enough about how wonderful the essential oils are and how many uses they have. We have used them for so many things, improving our health in different ways. If you want to check out essential oils, you can visit my website at www.youngliving.com/sasekvj . There are many places to get essential oils, but Youngliving is where I get mine from and I've been really impressed with the quality as well as the pricing.

Anyway, that's our adventure for the weekend. Time to head for bed!

Challenges report end of August

Well, I managed to curb my sugar intake for a couple of weeks and then kind of fell off the wagon. But it's ok, because i noticed that I don't crave it so much now. 

I didn't get as much walking in as I hoped I would, but I did do more swimming. We've gone swimming almost everyday that it wasn't raining, except for a few days. 

I stayed off Facebook until Sabbath the 30th. Having spent so much time off, I went into it expecting to binge on it. However, I found that it wasn't as appealing to me. I can get sucked into reading comments and debates about stuff, but is realized that there was so much junk and negativity and drama, that I am not so likely to jump on there. I'm hoping that I can now keep it to a minimum. Just a quick peek for messages and maybe a status update or two, rather than every time that I am bored. 

Today, we jumped into more schoolwork and pulled some weeds in the garden. I pulled some ragweed and now am paying for it with itchy eyes, sneezing and sinus drainage. We went swimming and had some fun. Now the kids are all in bed and Victor is out of town working, so I am sitting here watching a movie. By myself. With the cat, in the living room.

Maybe I'll get to bed early tonight. Or at least on time. I managed to get more water in today. Having a chart helps since I like more checkmarks.

Well, that's my update. Later.

Challenges report day 24-26

So, I'm not doing so good with the sugar challenge. Victor brought home some candy and donuts and other sugary stuff, and I indulged. I think I just kind of forgot about the sugar part of the challenge. I do notice however, that it's not as appealing to me so that's something I guess.

I put up a chart to try to drink more water, and yesterday that was a big success. Every time I went by, it seems, I drank some. And we are managing to get to bed a bit earlier the last few nights. No later than 10:30, I think.

It poured down rain the last few afternoons so we haven't gotten outside to go swimming, but we did load up the pickup with junk and Victor made a run to the salvage yard. We got outside and looked at the garden for a bit before it rained, as well.

It is sunny this morning, so I may have to see if we can take a walk.

Even with Victor being off the last couple of days, we are staying on track with our worship and school schedule, for the most part which is good, since usually everything just flies out the window with him home.

I guess that's all for now.  Later.

Challenge report for days 19-23

Ate the last two ice cream bars and had some cookies and s'mores this week. Also, stayed up way too late a couple nights.

Today, managed to eat only a few animal crackers as far as sweets go.

I have been able to restrain myself from Facebook. Now I need to limit myself on the games and tv, since I think I replaced Facebook with those things. 

Fortunately, we started school this week so my time is more limited if we want to get anything constructive done. I am really excited for the new lessons we are starting next week and looking forward to the wonderful bible studies we will be having.

We have still been swimming when the weather is good. The pond, however, is getting a bit overgrown with weeds, but it hasn't gotten so bad that we can't swim. 

The weather has been nice this month and cooler than usual. Our garden is picking up a little, now that we had some rain and everything isn't getting fried by the heat. We went to the orchard again this week and got some apples. The kids each found a fig, but that was all. Everything else is not really producing anything. Victor wants to get out there and prune the trees this winter in the hopes that next years produce will be better. Every little bit helps with the grocery bill.

I still need to work on my water intake. I think I am going to work on ways to do that. Also, maybe I can get to bed earlier. I have so much I want to do, and oftentimes not enough willpower and motivation to do it. I procrastinate too much. 

Well, that's all for now. I have a baby running around dripping water all over the floor after her bath, so I need to get a diaper on her and see if she'll go to bed. 

Challenge report for the week of August 13-19

We kind of got busy this week. I cheated a little with sugar but managed to restrain myself from binge eating which I tend to do with sugary snacks. 

We had leftover graham crackers and marshmallows and carob chips so had s'mores one day. I ate only one. Then almost everyday, we had one graham cracker for dessert at lunch, and one day we had them for breakfast. Then one day for dessert, we finished the ice cream things, but it was only one a piece left. Yesterday, I ate too many graham crackers, but there aren't any left now. Victor brought home ice cream bars and some kind of cookie last night, but I remembered what I was trying to do, so I didn't eat any. Yay! One thing I have noticed, if I stay up too late, my willpower is down the next day.

I've managed the last two nights to go to bed before 11. So that's something I guess. 

Exercise has consisted of swimming, pulling weeds and walking to the dumpster and the orchard. Not everyday, but we are getting there.

Yesterday a storm blew in with great fury, so we sat around and watched videos, which is why I ate all those graham crackers, I think. I couldn't get out of the house to go swimming. 

Today, we woke up late, because it was pouring rain. Thank you Jesus for the rain!

I was reading just now for worship and came across this cool quote which made me think about how God is taking care of His garden that we planted by sending the rain.

"Nature is a power, but the God of nature is unlimited in power. His works interpret his character. Those who judge him from his handiworks, and not from the suppositions of great men, will see his presence in everything. They behold his smile in the glad sunshine, and his love and care for man in the rich fields of autumn. Even the adornments of the earth, as seen in the grass of living green, the lovely flowers of every hue, and the lofty and varied trees of the forest, testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God, and to his desire to make his children happy."—The Signs of the Times, March 13, 1884.

Challenge report days 11,12

Monday, I didn't do too much as far as exercise. We were all pooped from camping. I had a some graham crackers for dessert but that's all the sugar I had. We did some laundry and watched some movies.

Tuesday we went swimming, and had some fun with the neighbor kids.

Victor and I went over our budget again, and he has been looking at some websites for houses and other things.

I think I am needing to limit myself to certain times for games and tv. Too much of it going on around here.

Addictions, they are all over the place. Food, technology. Anything that takes away from time with God, is an addiction. And idolotry, because it is putting yourself and your own desires ahead of His. We need to submit our wills, to His will. And He will work in us, to will and to do of His good pleasure. And His Will is Love and obedience to Him.

Well, now it's raining again. Nice! The garden sure needs it. Thank you, Lord!

Challenge report days 7-10 and camping

Thursday we finished packing the car and stopped at Costco to pick up a few last minute things, got some burritos from Del Taco for lunch and drove to Duck Creek. We set up camp and the kids got to explore some before everyone else got there. Friday we did some more exploring. The boys borrowed  a church members bikes and Sarah and I walked around the loop a few times. Then more people started arriving and so we were able to visit some old friends and make a few new ones.

The speaker for the weekend is a missionary and he told us some amazing stories as well as had some great Bible sermons on a few parables mainly from the book of Luke.

We took a hike Sabbath afternoon and Sarah walked 1/2 mile with us down to the head of the virgin river. Then I piggy backed her on my backpack which already weighed 20 lbs halfway back.

This morning, my back was sore! But we definitely got exercise in this weekend.

I did slide a bit on sugar. We had some s'mores Saturday night, but I used kosher marshmallows and sweetened carob chips. The marshmallows were the little ones and each s'more had a lot less sugar because we used fewer marshmallows and only a few carob chips. I think I ate about 2 or 3 altogether. It wasn't too hard to quit either. So, I'm feeling good about my choices over all.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow. We got home, unpacked and ate lunch. Yummy salad with gluten steaks and homemade salad dressing.

Off to bed in a few minutes.