Every once in a while I become obsessed with a craft and this time it's PAPER FLOWERS.  As most of you know, Gary and I are expecting our 4th grandchild and I couldn't be more excited that we are having a GIRL!  Planning the baby shower is when I fell in love with those amazing paper flowers that are all over the internet right now.  I started shopping for paper flower backdrops and I almost fell over when I saw the prices....I mean, they are just paper, right?  I did some research and found that you can purchase templates from ETSY and many come with tutorials....and so began my obsession. Let me be honest, they are certainly not so easy to make, I have burnt every one of my finger tips  and you need a ton of patience.  I completely understand the high prices tags!

I have a couple of months to get a bunch of these made.  In the meantime I am actually enjoying the creative challenge and looking forward to celebrating our newest member of our family. I hope this inspires you to create something  you love!

Okay, okay so it is more then 28 days.  It's actually been more like 38 days since I began my 28 day Paleo Challenge.  To see why I begin this journey see the original post on 7/10/17.

The first week was very difficult for me. I had zero energy with day 4 being my worst. Remember, I gave up dairy, grains, sugar, alcohol, cheese and a few other things.  I used to drink my coffee with quite a bit of half and half and frankly that was something I looked forward to doing each morning.  I tried it with every other non dairy product and hated it.  Needless to say I am drinking my coffee black and not really loving it.  I may eventually exchange my coffee to tea.

The second week was a little easier.  This week I cooked Paleo recipes for every meal nearly for the entire week.  I can't say Gary and I were thrilled with any of the recipes except for the homemade fruit sherbert.  (recipe at bottom of this blog).  I was less tired but still not myself.  I still found that I was craving sugar and bread and muffins and tortillas and pie and well, anything with flour!  You see, I can  literally live off of sourdough bread and butter!

The third week I was getting into the swing of it.  I found for us, it was much easier just to cook without cookbooks and not over think it.  I made chicken, fish, beef and simply added a ton of veggies. Simple, easy, and much cheaper.  I continued to drink my gallon of water a day. 

By the fourth week I  was feeling pretty good.  I had more energy, my thoughts were clearer, I slept better and my mood leveled out.  I think it's fair to say I'm hooked but not 100%.  I still cheat once or twice a week buy having a bite of pie or cake or a glass of wine....or two. 

My girlfriend once told me, "if God didn't make it, don't eat it". 

Results:

GREAT News!  All my numbers have gone down including dropping 11 LBs!  I feel more alert, have more energy and I don't go through the ups and downs in energy during the day.  I've learned to keep healthy snacks in my office (I am a stress eater and my real job is stressful) and to drink water when I think I am hungry. 


We  hope this post finds you healthy and happy!    


Homemade Fruit Sherbet

Place any berries (I use strawberries and raspberries) on a metal pan and place in the freezer for about an hour,  I use 2 small cartons of raspberries' and one of strawberries.

Place the frozen berries into a food processor along with organic local honey to taste.  Blend until smooth.  There have been times I've needed to add water to get it really smooth. 

Transfer the blend into a deep dish (I use the meatloaf dish) and freeze for about two hours. 
Some of you may want to serve with adding extra honey or nuts for additional flavor.

Enjoy!

Last weekend our daughter in law, Sharla, decided to do a quick mini update on their front porch. It was inexpensive, quick and fun! The very first thing she wanted to do was update her amazing teak furniture.  Teak is awesome for outdoors and contrary to what some believe, teak CAN be painted.  The furniture is still  sturdy and in very good shape.... so we decided to paint it. We chose an antique white paint and sanded down some of the edges to make it look a little bit more worn. We added a couple of new lanterns, some fresh flowers, galvanized end tables and a few extra details along with a new outdoor rug. Their beautiful porch is now ready to enjoy all summer long. We hope this inspires you! 

We finally started the living room remodel and honestly I couldn't be happier. We love taking a room down to the studs and starting from scratch. Two of my favorite changes will the fireplace and the floors.  Although the fireplace was a nice style for a southwest style home, it wasn't the Mediterranean look this home needs.  The carpets were gross and needed to be gone.....enough said. 

We couldn't of done this without the help of our family.  Each and everyone of them worked so hard that it was done in ONE day. They deserved more then donuts, sandwiches and pizza, way more.

A special thank you to Austin Newell for staying the entire day taking pictures and shooting videos. Check out his site:  www.austinnewell.com 

We will post the progress as each stage is completed.  We hope this inspires you to demo!

This sweet spot is all mine!   I bet he's wondering WHY?? We found this in the rafters.  Looks pretty old.