New Twist...

For almost 5 years now, I've blogged about my life and family and I'm so thankful for all of the memories that I've been able to talk about and freeze in time on this blog but, it's time for a change. Not a drastic change but, a little change. A twist, if you will.

For the last ten years or so, due mostly to my job before having children, I have become passionate about healthy living (naturally), and have incorporated some of the things I've learned into my family life and I want to start talking about it on this blog. Now, there are a lot of "healthy living" blogs out there and many of them I read and love. But, I am coming from a place that recognizes that our healthy choices are a journey, and it often takes baby steps to get there. I don't feel like I am extreme and I am by no means an expert but, I feel like some of the things I've learned and continue to learn (while living on a budget) can be useful. So...get ready for a little change of pace. Here are some of the things I plan on sharing:

• How we (as a family) eat healthfully on a budget
• taking baby steps to eating better
• Issues I'm passionate about in the food industry, etc...

just to name a few. This IS NOT turning into a food blog. Now, I may share some of my own recipes and give links to others I use but, this will not be a food blog. I am not a food blogger and I take awful pictures. This will be the same blog with a little more of "me" and my thoughts on health, wellness and some causes I'm passionate about.

With that said, stay tuned for another post coming soon...

My firstborn is 8!

Well, hello there. It has been awhile since posted. The last time we met here, I was saying an open-ended goodbye, not sure when or if I'd be back but, today is a special occasion. Today is "K's" 8th Birthday. Every year I usually do a birthday interview that I post and I was sitting here thinking how I miss it. So, I decided to post my annual birthday interview for the sake of keeping memories. So, without further ado...

How old are you? 8

What makes you happy? That it's my birthday, and I just love it being my birthday because I love being 8.

What is your favorite animal? I like...Cheetahs.

What is your favorite thing to eat? sweet potato fries...your homemade ones...wait. I mean cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers, yeah!

What is your least favorite thing to eat? nothing. I like everything, I just don't like hot sauce.

What is your favorite thing to do? Draw. I love to draw and play Lego Star Wars Wii.

What is your favorite TV show? Wild Kratts (PBS)

What are you really good at? Drawing

What's your favorite movie? That's a hard one, mom. I like...The Santa Clause.

What's your favorite color? Red and Blue.

What is your favorite song? The theme from Batman. (the movie)

What do you and your Mom do together? We draw and play legos.

What do you and your Dad do together? We play Lego Star Wars Wii.

What is your favorite sport? Soccer.

Where is your favorite place to go? Camping.

What is your favorite book? My favorite book is Star Wars Return of The Jedi

What do you want to be when you grow up? Motorcycle racer, an artist and a Pastor.

How are you going to do all of those things? Artist on Saturday, Pastor on Sunday, and on Monday I'm gonna motorcycle race.

I guess he's got it all figured out. I cannot believe that my oldest is 8. I have been staring at him for the past 2 days saying "I can't believe you are 8." He must think his old mom is weird.

I have fun doing these interviews and enjoy reading the answers from year to year.

*questions taken from Leelou Blogs

See You Later...

Hi! As you may have noticed, I have been a little "on and off" on the blog since summer. I've been contemplating this for awhile and have finally made a decision. As of now, I will be saying goodbye to the blog for awhile. I don't believe that this is a permanent decision. I may decide to come back but, for now I'm going to just leave it at that.

I've been blogging for 4 1/2 years. I remember the day I started blogging, and I cherish each and every blog I've written. They all hold so many moments and memories of my life and motherhood over the past 4 years. My blog will still remain here. I'm not deleting it because, like I said this is not permanent, it's just for a season. It may be a few months, maybe a year, I'm not sure but, my focus right now is my family and as fun as it is, blogging is not a priority for me. So, when I'm ready...I'll be back. Thank you to all of my friends and family who have kept up with us on here over the years. It has been a pleasure.

Lots of love to you all. Until next time...

-G.

Back To School...and Journey is a year old!!

So, we are back to school today...a week later than most but, we're doing it. With moving on September 1st, I thought it would be easier (on myself and the kiddos) if we waited a week to start. I'm thanking myself for that decision today.

I definitely feel less prepared than previous years but, I do feel like It won't necessarily hinder things. I stayed up and read through the lessons last night, and I feel like it will go well, but then I realized I had forgotten about a snack. I always like to have a special snack for the first day but, I forgot so, I will have to get creative with that one. I am excited for the curriculum I'm using. I actually decided to stick with the same one I've been using since Kindergarten and I love it. It also makes it easier to integrate your younger kiddos into the program when they are ready.

I'm doing some last minute prep right now by having a large mug of coffee!

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Yesterday, we celebrated our one year anniversary of Journey Church!! Yes, we have been here for two years but, we have only "officially" been a church meeting on a weekly basis for a year. We gradually started in our home, went to meeting once per month in a hotel and then last September began meeting every week at that same hotel.We are growing and have a wonderful group of students from Harvard University and Brandeis University coming. They bring such an energy and excitement, we are so blessed to have them. We have also been blessed with several others who we are so thankful for and could not really function without. It is a blessing to have people who recognize and stand behind your vision and can just "jump right in." It is exciting, and what a Journey it has been.

Let's just say that life right now is pretty crazy and a bit hectic but, that is all a part of the Journey we are on. If everything was easy, it wouldn't be that exciting and adventurous, right? That's what I keep telling myself.

I may be back later today...or tomorrow with some "First Day" pictures. Oh, and we got our annual family pictures taken yesterday and I'm excited to see how they turn out.

Hello There!

Howdy, strangers! How's life? Well...we moved. We have been buys packing and unpacking and prepping for school, and lots of other things. We only moved about 10 minutes away from our previous place to a different apartment, a less expensive apartment, and it has one extra bedroom, which we will be temporarily using as an office.

I'm hoping to get back into the blogging groove but, we will see. Because of the move, I decided not to start school with the kids until next Monday. Most of my school things are still packed in boxes. Tonight, as a family project, we will be unpacking the boxes and setting up our bookshelf. Once that happens, I will feel much better and a little more prepared.

I was very overwhelmed for a little while because of this move. Even though we didn't move far this time, it was still very stressful. When we moved to this city 2 years ago, my husband had taken 3 weeks off and we were able to just move and unpack and go slow but, when you are already in the midst of life and have many things going on that you have to maintain...and move, it can be quite stressful, at least for me. I like to go at my own pace, which tends to be slow in comparison to others but, life just isn't always like that. We are unpacking and getting settled as much as we can and once we get it all fixed up, I will show you pictures!

Oh, and this new place (I call it an apartment because we rent but, it's really the downstairs of a house laid out like an apartment) has a fenced in backyard and a porch, which I'm very excited about. The kids have been playing in the yard and I can just give a peek out the window to check on them, so I've been able to do some unpacking.

If today was your kids first day of school, hope it was a great one! I'll be updating again soon.

Who Says?

Who says moms can't wear fun band-aids too? :)

I cut my finger on a piece of broken glass. I survived. Besides, I got to wear a cool band-aid.

Snapshots of Summer.

Can you believe that it is August already? It is blowing my mind how fast this summer has gone. They say "time flies when you're having fun". I guess that's what it is.

Here a little proof that we've been having some fun...

sandy toes...

fun at The Cape.

ahhh....

little miss "A" was not a happy camper.

Palm trees in Boston...who would've thought?

Cooling off.