we should have had THIS on the snack machine!

i didn't have an omlette today... i wasn't feeling very well when i woke up. so, it was just cereal and nothing too heavy. however, no matter how bad i might feel... i can always enjoy a good snack.

a few weeks ago, my mom and i went to get groceries. we walked around zehrs... there wasn't anything in particular we needed... its just nice to walk around a store sometimes. i was super excited when we found this...

it's delicious!! lesserevil kettle corn! salty, sweet, crunchy... it's my official snack of the month!

for 1 1/3 of a cup... there are 150 calories, and 2.5 grams of fat. that's not too bad... i'm a big snack person. really. i usually snack my way through the day. i've been trying to choose healthy snacks at least.

tomorrow... i bake a cake. it's erin's birthday. for christmas, i made a lovely red velvet cake. erin has requested this again. she actually only requested the mascarpone icing... but, it goes lovely with the cake! hopefully all goes well... i've been having issues with my spring form pans. eek!

omlet? omlette? omelette?

lately, i've wanted to eat an omlette everyday.

i think that i've had 4 since sunday. i don't quite remember. there are definite phases that i go through, foods that i eat all the time. and then, one day... i just decide to eat something else. the other thing that commands the foods that i eat... is calorie counting. it's a slow and steady way to lose weight. if i eat 500 calories less than what my recommended daily caloric intake... then i should lose about 1lb a week. and if i keep it up until the end of july... i should be at my goal weight! perfect.

back to the omlette.

when i first started on this omlette endeavor... i was having issues with the amount of fat in it. i was not about to cook an omlette without a little bit of fat to cook the veggies in... so, i was throwing the yolks out. my mom suggested that perhaps, i just buy egg whites (they come in a super handy carton!). that made me feel slightly better!





this bad boy... has a total of 182 calories!

the veggies: spinach, red peppers, red onions are sauteed in 2 tsps of becel (olive oil) margarine. then add in the egg whites... and folded into the middle to finish is herbed goat cheese.

mmmmmm!

chame-me!

i miss aderito an extreme amount this time around. huh... well... i've missed him an extreme amount everytime he's went back to bermuda. we decided while he was here at christmas that we would only talk at night, with the exception of sunday. when he left last july, we were talking every morning, at lunch, when he got home from work, while he was at his job at night, when he got home from that job, before aderito went to bed. there was non-stop talk! and i needed that! i need it right now too.... but, we know how much money is spent... so, we've are trying to talk more at night... but, not all day as well. it's working out... for the most part. this time of year it's incredibly rainy in bermuda... so, about once every week aderito has a whole day off. he hates it, because all he wants to do is work. but, i secretly like it... cause i know that we get to talk a bit more :)

in the past on facebook... i did a daily countdown, stating how many more days till i was with aderito again. however, i think that i was driving just about everyone crazy. so, i try to keep the counting to a minimum. i suppose, its just a way of keeping myself connected. how i miss him!! as of today... 156 more days to go. i've waited this long in the past... and i'll do it again!

there is a box full of aderito stuff... just bits of our adventures together. i'm not at all a packrat. i don't really have a whole lot of stuff. but, i am very sentimental... some of the collection, i will have forever. and, some of it... i have to send off to immigration. after christmas, i noticed that the little box it was in began to overflow... so, i transferred everything into something a bit bigger. in the corner of the box, is a neat stack of phonecards. every single one that i have bought and used to call aderito. i buy between 1-2 a week. which is pretty good. in november, last year... the calling cards weren't working when i tried to call bermuda. and i ended up owning my mom $400 for the phonebill! so, i'm fairly happy with the $100 maximum a month!

i can't wait till tomorrow night, when aderito and i will have our evening talk. i've been learning a bit of portuguese each day. today, i used the word... "pergunta". that just means... question. but, i ask them all the time. so, i thought that it was an appropriate word for me to learn.




that's every single phonecard i've bought... not including the one currently in use.

i figure it's about $2120 in calling cards...

i'll probably buy another one tomorrow.

if you want to walk on water.

last weekend, i walked around chapters with tiffany. i had all the intentions in the world to not buy a single book. all i wanted was a portuguese language cd/book. however, i ended up with a cute spiral-bound notebook, my portuguese cds and...

"the year of living biblically - one man's humble quest to follow the bible as literally as possible" by a. j. jacobs

i'm fairly certain that i have seen this book... or heard about it... it was familiar when i picked it up. quickly, i scanned the back... and decided that i would read it. the last time i read a book of this kind was "walking the bible - a journey by land through the five books of moses", by bruce feiler. i was up for some critical thinking, and very excited to live vicariously through this man for a while. it's interesting, because both of the authors previously mentioned went into their adventures as complete non-believers... agnostic. and to watch them both unravel their faiths feels quite voyeuristic to me... like i'm standing on their sidewalk, watching them through their front windows with binoculars.

in a.j.'s book... i'm on the chapter titled "month nine: may". the past 8 months, in the book... a.j. has decided to live his life according to the old testament. following every rule and law. not cutting his beard, tying tassels to the corners of his clothes, stoning adulterers. i've found this part of the book completely fascinating. for me, i've always been drawn to the nt. so, to see a.j... go to the ot extreme... i couldn't get enough of! he's eating bugs, paying close attention to menstrual laws, building huts! throughout the book, there are certain verses that he focuses on... many of them have been about wine. which, i can appreciate. other, have been very thought-provoking... i'm always curious to see what he will pick next. of course, i'm very excited for him to go through the nt next ... what will he think about paul, the book of revelation, the resurrection of Jesus?! and which verses will he study?

last night, i was finished reading for the night... finished facebook checking... turned off my light and started my nightly pre-sleep praying. just a lot of thanking, asking God to keep aderito safe, and if at all possible to keep the cost of my broken car on the low side. but, then my mind wandered to the book. thinking about the a.j.'s newest revelation, and thinking about his relationship with God. but, then i had... this thought....

reading the book, it's like a.j. is writing about a good Friend of mine... that i know quite well. and that he is getting to know. it's was a pretty strange feeling. for a.j., God is this... very impersonal idea... that he is learning about but, without getting attached to him. going through motions, and his head is getting quite full of God-facts... but, his heart is lagging behind. i find myself cheering on a.j.!!

wanting him to just... step out of the boat.

sweet green grass...

in constant continuation of my current heath kick... i recently bought wheatgrass powder.

i'm not about to claim to be knowledgeable about this product, but i will share the small amount that i have researched over the past few days...

in the ever popular bullet format...

- aids in the prevention of and fight against infections and improves the body's ability to heal wounds.
- helps removes heavy metals from the body.
- absorbs 92 out of the known 102 minerals from the soil.
- helps with skin problems such as eczema or psoriasis.
- chlorophyll in wheatgrass helps improve blood sugar disorders.
- helps eliminate body odours.
- the high magnesium content in chlorophyll builds enzymes that restore the sex hormones.
- helps prevent tooth decay.
- chlorophyll in wheatgrass helps purify the liver.
- arrests the growth of unfriendly bacteria.
- is an energiser for body and mind.
- great for constipation and keeping the bowels open.
- is non-allergenic.
- aids in the prevention and fight against cancer.

all good things. so, when i got home yesterday... i whipped up a smoothie, and added 2 tsps of the wheatgrass powder. and then this morning, when i woke up, i decided that i would start my day with a wheatgrass shot. i took 2 tsps of the powder, and mixed it with about 1.5 ounces of tropicana orange/mango/peach juice. mmmm....




i would also like to remind you that almost every episode of "private practice", addison drinks a wheatgrass smoothie. according to dell (who is training to be a midwife), he makes her a wheatgrass smoothie every morning. apparently addison is said to believe that wheatgrass “detoxifies, energizes and stimulates.”

gran...ola!

last night i had wretched sleep. i was hot, then cold, then hot, then my phone rang at 4am... and all that was on the other end was random beeping. i think that it was aderito. sometimes, he sleeps with his phone... and i guess he managed to call me and then press random buttons. thanks for thinkin' of me.

tomorrow is monday. the plan... to wake up. go to curves and workout. come home... clean up... eat. and then go to the bulk food store and buy ingredients to make granola! it's lovely. my brother refuses to call it granola... and instead calls it, "the poop maker". how nice.

i hadn't ever made granola before. and loosely went from a granola bar recipe i found. i mean loose... as in... i kinda used the ingredients that were listed... and that's it. i appreciate that at the bulk food store, they list the nutritional information for each item. i loaded up with unsalted, nonroasted seeds of all kinds! pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, golden flax seeds. as well as... sliced almonds, unsweetened coconut. oats. i think that's it. toasted them in the oven... and then mixed it up with organic peanut butter, organic honey and a wee bit of splenda brown sugar. put it all back on the pan... cooked it and stirred often for 15 minutes. then let it cool, and added sulphite-free apples, unsweetened dried mango, and organic apricots! wow. i think that tomorrow... i'm going to take out the splenda brown sugar... and use molasses. the goal is a stickier granola!! and no more mango. it's too hard. perhaps organic raisins instead.

and, i think that tomorrow might become dusting day. tuesday, bathroom cleaning day. and wednesday vacuuming. and then the other 4 days... the usual stuff that i do around the house. contrary to what i was like about 7 years ago... i'm now a big fan of systems and intense organization. oooohh.... organization. i think that i might go through the kitchen cupboards and re-organize those this week too!!

i sent my CV off to a family that is looking for a personal chef, for 30 hours a week. that would be different. and ideal. hopefully i hear something soon!

Jehovah Jireh

today while out lunching with tiffany, we briefly discussed doing the good ol' "facebook clean out". i've been thinking about it for a while. and i just finished. i went from about 351 friends, down to 271. i think that's a pretty good start. i am thankful for the friends that God has blessed me with throughout the years. but, sometimes it's better for my heart if i look forward to where hopefully relationships grow.

i always appreciate the time i spend with tiffany. pretty consistently we talk about things that are incredibly important to each of us... boys, food, midwifery, and God. it's a blessing to have a girl like tiffany in my life... she is incredibly open to being taught new things... from her leaders at hh, from the girls in her house, from her phils girls, from God. it's always encouraging when she shares new discoveries.

we talked about God providing... because, well... He always does. i remember back when i was living in kitchener. on dorm. with virtually no money. i was working... making enough to pay to live on dorm... but not for much else. one day after work, i went up to my room... and sitting on my bed was a box of food. soups, pastas, granola bars. enough to keep me going for a while longer. there was also this note:

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
~Philippians 4:19

since that day... whenever i start to get stressed about money. whenever i'm not quite sure about how things are going to come together. this verse immediately is in my heart. and i'm pretty sure i know Who is putting it there!!

i'm not working right now. i'm not sure if i will. sure, the job search is still taking place. just like the last mad job search... the right job came along when it was supposed to. it will happen again.

i'm the mean time...

i will lunch. i will work out. i will continue to grow.

i will rest assured in my Provider. His grace is sufficient for me.