Spring - cleaning, gardening, changing

Spring is in the air, and with spring comes spring cleaning, gardening, and change.  We have been doing all of those in casa Puff!

First, the cleaning - OK maybe I haven't been doing as much of that, but we have managed to get, not only the garage much more organized with an area for the exercise equipment, but also have been able to start moving some of the plants outside as the weather gets warmer. So we're getting more space inside, and get to use more outside. I even did some cleaning outside, by getting the patio set free of all the winter grime, and ready for sitting and relaxing!

Another change is that online. Earlier this month I listened to then read Outwitting the Devil by Napolean Hill. If you get a chance to read or listen to it, do so! It has already changed my life! Much of the stuff you hear about in other self help books, but the way it's formatted just spoke to me. I guess that's all I needed. One of the things that spoke to me was about controlling your environment, and by that it includes the people around you. Since I don't spend a lot of time with people besides family, the only other people I am in contact with (aside from work) are online. I looked at my Facebook list and found tons of people I don't talk to, am not friends with, don't even like. That's not even including the people who's statuses were constant negativity, whining, bitching, etc. (and yeah I know I am guilty of that). Also, I didn't want to be like any of these people, they had no one personality trait that I admired, so what exactly was their point? Well really nothing, aside from adding to a number on a my profile. So I went about deleting those people. And though my feed is much less interesting now, it is also much less negative.

Next up, gardening. I finally found Pinterest and that has spawned a whole bushel of projects for Andrew and I! One of them was to make planters for the garden. I've already started seedlings, but I needed deeper and larger planters for the vegetables we are now going to grow! So on Sunday him and I set out to find a butt load of pallets. We found the jackpot in a company that left them outside (this is a normal in Chilliwack, but I didn't know if it was in Langley). Andrew picked through for the better looking wood and we loaded them up.

One load

He ended up needing 3 loads pallets, but hey, it's free wood! Why should we pay for something when we can get it for free. Plus there's the benefits of it being pre-cut as well as making me feel good about recycling!

After the pallets were delivered mom and I went off to shop for more plants! Cause that's just what we need ;) We spent much of the day plant shopping, which moved onto garden shopping, which moved onto patio shopping. But it was damn nice to be able to do something so normal with mom again! We were both tired come the end of it, but it was well worth it!  We have many plans and ideas now for what we want that patio to look like! I can't wait till it's done and we can enjoy it!

Andrew had made a fair bit of progress on one of the planters, this one we needed to be quite deep as it will have rocks at the bottom for drainage, then will house carrots, which need a fair amount of room to grow down. 

We will have 1 tall planter, and 1 herb garden planter which will be made out of the full skinny pallet you see behind the box, then there will also be (to start) about 4 lifted planters which will be about 18" deep for the rest of the vegetables!

I am so excited for these planters to be done so I can start planting my little seedlings! But before that is we will need a trip to the river to gather rocks. I have a feeling we may need a lot!

And since our beloved Canucks played their last playoff game for the season last night, I planted while Andrew swore at the TV. Our greenhouse is mighty full, and we still have some more sensitive seeds sprouting inside (tomatoes and peppers). 

Many of my flowers are doing great as well! Better then I expected in this spring weather! Looks like I may have inherited somewhat of a green thumb from Oma! 

The other thing that comes with spring is change. This has come in a couple forms, one as marked about is a change of self - not only with friends, but in my way of thinking, my way of viewing myself, etc. My body change has continued, and I am not trying to be the master of myself when it comes to food. I am still loosing, though it is inches, not pounds. 

The other change is in health. We have been trying for some time to get pregnant, either by "allowing" it to happen or actively trying - it has been a little under 2 years. I've been worried there's something wrong, as my cycles have been very erratic. Here's a warning to any body not comfortable reading about lady things, the next few bits are going to have some details you may not be comfortable with. 

After I had the miscarriage I developed hypothyroidism which caused me to have irregular periods, and fast weight gain. We didn't figure this out until nearly a year afterwards. I was hoping once my thyroid was regulated that my cycle's would return to normal, but they haven't. So now, a year after the thyroid was figured out, we finally figure out why the cycle's were so messed. I have PCOS, Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. What I understand it to be is a hormone imbalance. The cause/effect of this is high levels of insulin. Subsequent causes are cycle irregularity, etc. The image below sums it up quite nicely.  

So the treatment for me is first to get my insulin levels down- this requires a medication for diabetes and a low carb diet. Once that is down we will see my doctor for the next step, which may include hormone therapy, but the hope is that getting my insulin down (and hopefully body weight) will get my body regulated enough to start having regular cycles again! 

Now low carb is nothing I have done before, so it's a bit tricky to find my way through the minefield that any diet is. This one actually seems to be easy, for the most part it's high protein, low carb. I'm basically sticking away from sugar heavy foods - which include bread, rice, and tropical fruits. I look at the labels more on foods now and try to choose the lower numbered brand, or if both are too high, I pick neither of them. I have found that I already feel better and have started to eat healthier. I can continue on Body By Vi shakes, as those are high in protein, I just need to watch the sugary things I put in it.  One of the things my doctor said I should avoid is colored foods- stick with green, he said, which means green peppers but no yellow papers (personal favorite). I've had some great ideas for salads with meat - ie: taco salad, Greek salad, etc. There's even a low carb Caesar dressing, so I can get my Caesar fix!

So spring has left me feeling, a little tired, but mostly exhilarated and excited for the days ahead!

Buh Bye Excuses!

Death, disease and injuries often cause us to look at our lives a bit differently. We stare and dissect the bits of our lives and often come up lacking. I have done this lately, and found myself in need of change.

I've taken stock of the life I lead, the things I do, and the people I associate with. To be honest, the last bit is quite small. Prompted by my mom's own exclamation that we just make too many useless excuses, I have decided to try and change that. I knew this year would be transforming, turns out I am right.

There are things I have always wanted to do, and very useless excuses that have gotten in the way. The largest is always money, but to be honest, had we said no to dinner out that one day, I could have done something else with that money - something I had be dreaming of. Making that conscious decision, to not be lazy and make dinner could have improved my happiness exponentially, and yet I still chose to eat out (which in itself is damming another wish) and in essence waste that money.

Some of the things I want to do to make my life happier: Start a garden so can be more self sufficient re: produce purchases and create a patio "oasis", take partnered dance lessons (Latin ballroom), take whichever lessons catch my fancy (Taiko drumming, art, Zumba, Fencing, etc), pay off major debts/obtain more financial freedom, lose weight. 

Most of those don't require a lot of money (with the exception of paying off major debts/obtain more financial freedom. Most of those are easy to obtain, the cost of a meal or two - when put in that perspective money is no longer such an issue, after all - I can guarantee that money will be spent regardless, and probably on something like a meal out.

Many of the above tie into a a general goal: being healthier. To have produce available, literally just outside the patio door, or to take active lessons that encourage exercise, and therefore combine to weight loss - all gets me closer to that big healthy goal.

Another main goal that many of these tie into is to be more open to friendship. I am mostly a loner, and have lost or grown distant to many friends in the past year. I have found the need for a friend, someone to just listen, or to go hang out with, go to the bookstore, take classes with, hell even a coffee date every once in a while, has grown so strong I've broken down under that need. I have, of course, realized that all I need do is reach out. I have friends that are just a phone call away - but I don't. Why? An excuse that they are too busy, that we're not good enough friends, that we've just grown too distant, that I don't need the support, I'm strong enough on me own. Yeah, stupid excuses that just make me more and more unhappy.

So to hell with those excuses! I'm going to start saving and pushing myself to do those things I want. No more being lazy and listless, time to start being the person I want to be. Hoorah!

So what are some of your dreams you've let excuses take over?