My Pantry is Empty!

I have a confession.  I am an obsessive shopper.  

For food.

Food.  Its the one thing that I can shop for and not feel guilty about.  Everyone has to have it, I don't feel like I'm pulling food from my kids' mouths or spending frivolously when I'm buying food.  Not that we are in the position that we have to worry so much about where out money is being spent now, but for a long time we did.  It was during those days that I think I developed my obsession. At least, even if we had nothing else - we had food, and plenty of it.  And then there is the whole what if the zombie apocalypse happens.  I'm not a complete conspiracy theorist, but hey, if it hits the fan, at least I'm going to be able to feed my family for a while. So I guess, what it boils down to for me is that there is something very comforting to me about having a stocked pantry.  

But recently, my pantry seems rather bare.  As we switch to eating healthier foods around our house, I tend to have a stocked fridge and a not so stocked pantry.  Any more, we buy as many fresh foods as we can.  Gone are the days of boxed meals, overly processed boxes of flavored rices and pasta, and all the junk food that once lined the shelves of my large pantry.  Now, I'm struggling to fit all of our fresh foods in the fridge, and often have to put overflow in the extra fridge in the garage.  

I need to come up with healthy alternatives to fill my pantry with.  I have beans, grains, and plenty of rice in there, but what else is there?  I would like to make sure everything in there is healthy.  We will be canning this summer, and that will go in there, but what else?  I don't like my shelves to be bare!  Any ideas for what to put in my "real food" pantry would be great!

Catching Fish

What started out to be a total bust of a weekend has turned out to be a pretty great one.

We were originally supposed to go camping with the kids and a few of our friends and their families this weekend, but this Memorial Day hasn't exactly been very summery.  And to top things off, Mr. C is just getting over a marathon of a fever and mesenteric lymphadnitis, which is a great big word meaning swollen lymph nodes in the tummy.  Needless to say, he most definitely wasn't feeling up to par.  So we cancelled the camping trip and decided to stay home with the kids and make the best of it. 

Its amazing how resilient children are.  Both Princess M and Mr. C were disappointing at first, but quickly came around when we told them we would camp in the yard.  Who knew camping in the backyard could be so fun!  (And SO nice to have the convenience of the house right there!)  We set up the tent with blow up mattresses and blankets, played games in the yard, had hotdogs and smores over a fire, and told ghost stories before retiring to bed to look at constellations and cuddle.  It was great, well at least until 5 a.m. when it started to rain.  

And then I was afraid it was all ruined...again.  We hurried the kids into the house and took down the tent. (We didn't have the rain thing on, which I think I mentioned to the Mr., but hey, my memory isn't always the best.) I thought they would be so disappointed, but they weren't.  All day as it rained, I was bummed, but the kids still seemed to be having a good time.  And then it dawned on me.  I needed to think more like them. 

To them, it didn't matter what we were doing, what matter was the fact that we were having fun together.  I love my children and the many lessons they continually teach me.  

So although most of the day was a wash to me, I think the kids rather enjoyed goofing off with their dad and I around the house.  And the best part, the rain decided to hold off this afternoon long enough for us to go fishing -- the best part of the weekend so far!

I loved watching Princess M build up the courage to actually touch a fish.  I really enjoyed watching Mr. C put his own worm on a hook and take his own fish off as he caught them.  Each an every small accomplishment is so huge to me!  

We fished until dinner, and now we are home having milkshakes and watching Hotel Transylvania.  I'm excited to see what the rest of this bust of a weekend has in store for us.

Hope your Memorial Day is as full as wonderful memories as mine will be!

Intentional Living

So here's the truth.

I have good intentions, but I'm not very intentional. At 28 years old, I'm just now starting to realize the difference and how damaging replacing the word "intentional" with the words "good intentions" can be. 

Here's the difference:

If I have good intentions, I make decision to spend time with my six year old, and I follow through with the good intentions by letting him play in the yard while I browse Facebook and watch him, smiling and nodding...and every few minutes throwing a glance his way so it seems like I'm paying attention.

If I am intentional, I make the decision to spend time with my six year old, and I follow through with being intentional by playing with him in the yard, engaging him, and putting my own selfish desires and wants aside, while I make him a priority.  I make him my sole focus for the period of time I intentionally set aside.

When I said I have good intentions, I meant that I have WAY more days that resonate with the first example than I do the second.  

Kind of like this blog, I started off strong, I had good intentions, but I haven't truly been intentional about blogging. 

Wow.  Just typing all those words hurt.  And to think, those are just two examples of the many occurrences that I have good intentions for but am not intentional about.

So I'm setting a goal this year as I start some huge undertakings this summer and fall.  I want to live more intentionally. I want to look back on my life when I'm standing before Him, and not say that I had good intentions, but rather that I intentionally lived a good life.  I know its not going to be an easy road, and I know I'm going to stumble and fail.  But hopefully, with a lot of prayer and a whole lot of grace, I'll be able to pull it all together.  

So here's to a new start, and new day, and a new way to live.  Intentionally.