It's Been Too Long . . .

Wow!  I haven't posted in a long time!  I can't believe it's been nearly a month! 

I don't really have a grand excuse!  I just haven't felt like getting on the internet much!  The internet has a way of taking up a lot of time!  I get on here to write a post, or look something up and somehow I have wasted away an entire naptime!  This is precious time that I could be working outside (YEA for Beautiful Summer Weather!), cleaning the house, prepping our meals, reading a book, quiet time witht the Lord, or taking a nap myself!!!  All of these things have been taking precedence over keeping up with this blog!  I have hardly been on the internet, and it has been a joy!  Seriously, sometimes I wish I could escape to a time when there was no internet, and no cell phones . . . just miles on horseback to the nearest town, and snail mail to keep in touch!  Well, not really . . . I do love modern conveniences, but sometimes they can be so distracting!

So in the last month . . .

I have thrown two parties.  One for a friend leaving for Guatemala for a year, and one for a friend having her second baby boy!  I love throwing parties, but it takes some time to get everything together.  I am a dork, and didn't even take pictures except with my phone!  Also Kyria's first birthday party is coming up this week so I am trying to get everything ready for it now!

We started eating better & working out more.  This has required a little more attention to food prep!  We were doing pretty good, and then the last two weeks have been --- well let's just say we've had more than the 2 cheat meals allotted per week!

We've still been experimenting with aquaponics.  Our goldfish were all dying!  After some research Skyler realized we needed more bubbles! (that's my way of explaining it at least!) He bought an airator (spelling???) so the fish would have more oxygen, and they are doing much better! 

We have been getting strawberries like crazy!  I need to be picking more right now!!!

I planted 54 tomato plants in our regular garden!!!!!!!!  HA!!! I don't know what we were thinking, but we started a bunch of seed, and then some friends gave us several more plants they started!  I guess we should have plenty of tomatoes!

I read Shepherd of the Hills!  I love fiction in the summer, and I read this book in 3 days!  Funny, because I was supposed to read this in college, and I am pretty sure I just Cliff Noted it! :S  What a great book! 

Ah, I have taken lots of morning naps!  . . .

Yep!  I've been tired trying to grow a baby!  :)  We are super excited to announce that we are pregnant with baby #2!  I wish I had come up with something a little more creative to make the announcement, but I've been a busy gal! 

Thanks in advance for your prayers as God forms each little part of our new addition!  The due date is December 24th!

. . .

Hopefully, my next post won't be a month from now! :S

My New Camera . . . Finally!

A couple usually has a spender and a saver . . . I'm the spender! 

If I get $200 in my personal account (the account I can use to buy whatever my heart desires), my debit card somehow makes it's way to Target, the mall, Etsy, or Amazon, and I end up buying something I don't really need . . . usually more clothes for myself or Kyria!  Sometimes I'll buy something FuN for the house!  The point is, I am not good at saving money!

At the beginning of this year my mom got a DSLR camera.  I played with it some, and fell in love!  Of course I was only shooting in "auto" mode, but the quality of the photos were so much better than what my little Canon Power Shot is capable of! Don't get me wrong the Power Shot is gReAt!  When we bought this camera I wasn't even thinking about getting one of those "big bulky cameras".  What would I do with one!?  It seemed a bit impractical and unnecessary for someone who wasn't planning to go into the photography business. 

. . . Then my friend Areke got into photography!  It has been so fun to watch her grow as a photographer, and see all the great shots she is able to get.  She has taken pictures of Kyria throughout her first year, and she does an AmAzInG job!

For awhile, I just thought, well, if I need good pictures, I will just have Areke take them.  However, the thought of being able to capture beautiful photos of our family & little homestead on a daily basis seemed like just the thing for a blogging lover like myself!  Once my mom got her camera and I played with it a bit, I knew I would have to start saving!

It has taken several months, obviously!  I gave into temptation too many times, and spent my saved money on other stuff.   Finally, though, I managed to save all the money I needed!  I bought my camera!! 

I went with a Canon T3.  I didn't think I really needed the special video feature that comes with the T3i, and the T3 was less expensive!  I got it on Amazon which meant No Tax and No Shipping!  Score!  I contemplated buying the lense & body seperate, but Areke assured me that as a beginner the lense that comes with the camera would be just fine!

So I have my camera, and tomorrow I am going to a workshop to learn how to shoot in manual mode!  Woo Hoo!! (This was my mother's day present!)

I am sure I will have some cool stuff to share when I get back!

Do any of you have "nice" cameras?  Any tips or suggestions for a beginner!?

Getting Healthy & Recipes

I had BIG plans to work myself into shape following the birth of our first baby, Kyria.

I took the first 6 weeks easy, figuring I would just let my body recoup a little before I started any workouts.

I had planned to get back into teaching Zumba a couple nights a week a few months after birth.  However, Skyler and I decided that with me teaching baton on Wednesday nights, it would be best for me to leave the other nights open for the sake of Kyria's schedule and my sanity!  It was the right decision, but not having a built in workout meant I was left depending on my own will power . . . :S

It's not that I didn't want to workout, but as every mom knows, life gets BuSy!  Plus, I had several people tell me things like, "you need to be careful working out, because you don't want to lose your milk supply", and "your body will not let you lose too much weight while you are nursing".  Comments like these kept me content with walking, and pretty much eating whatever I wanted.   Afterall, nursing burns ALOT of calories!   My body didn't look all that hot, but I was basically at my pre-pregnancy weight.

A few weeks ago, I have decided it was time to pick it up!  I started running a little to get back into the groove . . .

This week I started lifting weights, and got serious about eating better.

I have gotten up every morning to workout, and have cut out refined sugar & white flour.  We do get two "cheat meals" per week!  I defintely plan on utilizing these to their fullest potential! :) 

I am happy to say this week has been AwEsOmE!  It hasn't been bad at all!  It's really all about my mentality, and what is most important!  I've decided feeling great is better than feeling comfortable, and eating nurtrionally dense food is worth the effort!  Plus, the food actually tastes amazing, and leaves me feeling satisfied!

Here are a couple recipes we've used this week!

Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients

12 sticks mozzarella string cheese
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder
Non-stick cooking spray (I used olive oil spray)
1 cup marinara sauce, warmed

 

Directions

Remove string cheese from individual packaging and freeze for one hour. (They must be frozen to “hold up” correctly!)

Set oven rack to lower third and preheat broiler on high.

Place flour in a shallow bowl. Beat egg and water and place in a shallow bowl. Mix panko with the rest of the dry ingredients and place into a third shallow bowl. Remove string cheese from freezer and coat with flour, then dip in egg whites, and finally coat with the panko crumb mixture. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and spray tops with cooking spray. Broil for 2-3 minutes until browned. Using tongs to flip each mozzarella stick carefully and broil for 1-2 minutes (No more or they will flatten and melt all over the pan!!). Remove from oven and put onto a plate. Allow them to rest for 2-3 minutes before serving with warm marinara sauce. Enjoy!

 

 

Tasty Trail Mix

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Kashi Hearth to Heart cereal

 

plain almonds

 

dried fruit (I used a mixture)

 

dark chocolate morsels (the more pure the better!)

 

Directions:  Mix it all together using desired amounts for each ingredient!  Store in a 1/2 gallon mason jar, or ziplock baggies for a quick snack on the go! :)

 

I got these recipes from my incredibly inspirational friend from college! She has had two babies & looks AMAZING!! Seriously this girl is doing something right!  Check out her site for more wonderful fitness/health tips!

 

 

 

 



Bee Charmers

The weather finally warmed up enough for us to get our bees!

 

Kyria helped Daddy drive the truck out so momma could snag a picture!  These two are going to be quite the bee charmers I can already tell!  They sure have charmed me! :)

I am really excited about having our own honey!  We should be extracting some at the end of June, and then again in the fall! 

This is all new to us, but fortunately Skyler met a very experienced bee keeper who has been incredibly helpful!

I am sure there will be more bee adventures to come! :)

Have a Bee-u-ti-ful Day!

Aquaponics Part 3

 Last weekend my parents were down for a visit.

My dad says, "I have a bone to pick with you . . . ".  He proceeded to tell me how he checks A Blossoming Homestead everyday, and has been incredibly disappointed for the last couple weeks because all he sees is the SaMe OlD aquaponics update!  Of course, he has been hoping for more pictures of his grandbaby! So, right of the bat, I want to say sorry to my Dad, and everyone else who has been checking in only to find nothing new!  I could go on and on with excuses . . . check them out on facebook if you are interested, I named a few there!  In fact if you do frequent A Blossoming Homestead, here is a tip . . . I have been trying to post random tidbits on the facebook page, that you might not necessarily see here.  Just click that "Like" button over there on my sidebar, and you'll be in the loop! :) 

Ok, on with the show . . .

I know this isn't the new post my Dad was hoping for, but here's a final Aquaponics update!

We have the fish . . . .
We have the plants . . .
Hang on to your sunhats, cuz we're well on our way to aquaponics gardening!!!

Here are the goldies!  We started with these guys because they are cheap and tend to withstand fluctuating water temperatures pretty well (which is good since, we had 30 degree temperatures the first part of May!!!).  Despite the hardiness of our goldfish, we have still lost quite a few.  According to the fish guy at Petsmart for every eight fish, two will die!  We haven't lost that many, so I guess we are doing pretty good! 

Skyler was so excited to see the system in progress, he let us purchase some plants since the seeds I started awhile back hadn't done much!  We bought tomatoes, peppers, squash, strawberries, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumbers.  We will also be planting greenbeans, and peas.  Skyler will build some terraces for the plants to climb!  PS The seeds I started are finally beginning to sprout, and I am happy to say we will have plenty of homegrown plants very soon!

That's the update for now!  If you have any questions about aquaponics or what we did to set up our system, feel free to email me, or my husband! 

meganjenelle(at)msn(dot)com or skyforgod(at)hotmail(dot)com

To see more posts on Aquaponics, click here.

Dad:  More pictures of Kyria coming soon! :)