Stocking #2

Here is Christmas stocking number two. I picked the colors out not thinking of how they would go together (which was a little dumb of me) I was just looking at them individually for how pretty I thought they were but I think they look nicely together (minus reminding me a little bit of UW) and as I add stockings it should start to round everything out (hopefully.) I did a couple shots with both stockings and the last picture is the color of yarn I plan to do for my husband (the third stocking.) I wanted to get a color that complimented both the yellow and the purple, something a little blue-green, and I'm hoping this will look nice along side the other two. 

I used the heirloom Christmas stocking pattern from PurlBee. Look at the post I did on the yellow stocking for any other questions or details. I think there may a mistake in the pattern that I caught this time, I will see if I run into the same problem on #3. And, that's all folks :)

Happy Saturday! 

My morning hike with Olive.

Like most mothers my mornings are filled with a laundry list of things to do. Dishes, laundry, pay bills etc. Despite this I try to leave the house at some point every morning otherwise I feel like I am failing at both getting things done around my house and nurturing my child. This morning was like many others- I was folding laundry and Olive kept tugging at me to get up and play with her and I really was not feeling up to leaving the house (a.k.a. changing out of my hospital scrubs) but I just felt in my heart that is was the best thing to do. We drove up to rock canyon to take a little hike and within minutes I instantly knew why my heart had told me that being here was more important than clean socks. 

Since I only have one child I have the luxury of letting her choose the speed, she takes the lead and I follow. She started up the rocky path and we heard the most beautiful bird chirping. Olive instantly stopped in awe. It was one of those moments where you stop and think, this is life and it's so beautiful. Seeing Olive so enchanted by nature and discovery tugged at my heart in a way I can't describe. I so want her to know and love all of God's beautiful creations. To have a desire to be outside where I believe you can often find yourself and grow the very most. We looked for that bird and we found it! As it took flight Olive chased after it! We followed it's chirp as long as we could, it was so inviting. Then off we went to our next adventure. 

Rock Canyon is slowing becoming a special place to me. I feel so much peace and beauty there and have had such moments of personal reflection. Olive marched up the path, sometimes she'd sit down for 20 minutes and play with rocks and I just sat there with her. I didn't miss anything or feel that I should have been doing anything else. Often Olive would reach out for my hand, she just wanted the security that I was there following her. After we had hiked, stomped, explored, climbed, and thrown rocks to our hearts content she reached up for me. She looked at me and gave me a big hug and then she squeezed her little arms in close to my chest and laid down her head on my shoulder. It was time to go. After I got to the car I thought, I want to remember this. I want to remember how I felt and that I didn't care about anything else going on in the world and that right before my very eyes Olive was discovering the world, and in doing so discovering herself.

Some of my Thoughts.

Most of my blog posts have been a little more "material" if you will. Pictures of my husband and little girl and all the wonderful things we've done together. I do these posts because they are a quick easy way to document some of our fun life experiences and to give my family and friends quick updates on what we are up to- and I don't regret doing it, but I set up this blog with no premise other than to write about whatever I wanted. It's not a knitting or "mommy" or cooking blog. It's a me blog. And (shocking though it may be) I do have thoughts on things sometimes and I thought I would share some of my recent thoughts.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what is termed "feminism," for me I define it as what it means to be a woman. At times I have thought of myself as feminist, others times not so much- and now I just don't care about the word because I feel like to call myself a feminist or not means to pin myself to one idea or another- and I refuse to do that. I do however want to acknowledge women (or men) who do view themselves as feminists because I love women and people and I love hearing people's views and ideas about life and how we can all get along and love each other more and provide for what each others needs may be. We don't all have the same needs. I think this is why I've "at times" struggled and backed away from the idea of feminism because I felt judged for not being feminist enough. I've read articles where women claimed that those women who were happy with their roles as wives or mothers were a product of a male dominant society brain washing them into thinking that way, and I simply don't agree with that. 

I'm a "modern" woman in the fact that I work part time (often times more than part time) and also I'm a full time Mom. I work in the wee hours of the morning so I can come home and be with my baby. I do this because I want to, and being home with my baby is something that is important to me- not because someone told me so- but because I FELT so, it feels like who I am deep inside and fulfills me in a way that I can not describe. I also feel a sense of fulfillment from being a provider for my home and doing what I consider to be a contribution to society outside of the home. (I also think raising a child is a contribution to society.) I may not always work, but I do now and it works for me and I'm happy with it (most the time.) I also don't cook dinner every night. I do some nights when i want to- I enjoy it. I love to feed my family and be with them and give them something that makes them feel happy and loved. If I don't feel like cooking I don't, it's not an obligation for me. I don't iron clothes. I rarely wear makeup, and will cut off all my hair or dye it orange without a second thought to how "attractive" I'll still be to men afterwards. I don't feel the need to have my house (or myself) look perfect when my husband gets home. (I know that he loves me for who I am and not because  he expects me to look perfect all the time.) And I make time to do things that are important to me. In these ways (although some women would disagree) I consider myself a modern woman and a modern mother. 

All of these things come together in thoughts of what is the "role" of a woman. What does it MEAN to be a woman in our society, how should women act... what should a woman be expected to do etc. I ignore all these questions and for me it comes down to what are the gifts that I have been given by being born a woman into this world. That's how I choose to view being a woman. Let me explain.

I have felt in my own workplace on more than one occasion that men received unfair promotions, unfairly increased pay, or have under valued of the contributions of women. (These were very cut and dry circumstances.) I've felt that I've been treated like a sexual object at times, and felt that I have been treated like I was dumb or less than a man at times. (Not at work or at home.) I fully understand the struggles of women and I always strive for equal and fair rights. What I struggle with these days is the idea that we are the SAME as men and that being a man is better and we want to be able to be more like THEM. I can't help but feel that this is an underlying message I see in all this, and I hate it because I think women ARE different than men (and in my personal opinion) better than men. 
Women have (on the whole) greater compassion and love for their fellow man. It is our birthright. Often that is why men have claimed we don't make good managers or leaders. That we are a weaker sex. I fail to see how being more loving, accommodating, and better listeners would make us worse bosses? (Maybe if your job as boss is solely to go around and fire people.) Women are better multi-taskers. This has been shown time and time again in studies. We are more motivated. We have such great ability to empower those around us. These days women receive more education and higher education than men on average. Women as wives, as mothers, and as single hard working people have formed society. I have read many articles pertaining to different ideas about education and even influences of things such as the Taliban. These articles stated that the greatest way to influence these societies was to educate the mothers. When the mothers were educated, so were their children- and it completely changed the society on the whole. Women who are not mothers influence society just as powerfully as Mothers in society. The impact I have seen of single women in my personal life is astounding. They don't choose to spend their extra time playing video games or watching pornography they get up and impact the world. I feel like I can't really put into words how great I feel that the power of women has been, will be, and still is in this world.
Throughout history women have  had greater power to influence and they haven't needed (though they've deserved) great positions of leadership or power to do so. They also haven't needed any great recognition (also deserved) to continue their impact.  One current example we see is in some of the extreme Islamic sects, they've learned the way to control the minds of these young men. They silence their women. It's absolutely the most powerful tool you can use because women have such great influence. I was talking to one of my co-workers who is from South Korea and was raised Buddhist and to believe in reincarnation. She told me that when she was young she had wanted to be born a man in the next life because she thought being a man was better. This made me so sad and mad at society for making her feel that she had less value as a woman causing her to be blind to her own beauty and power. 

I've never been a very good writer, and I hope some of scattered thoughts have come across through this blog post whose main message is that being a woman IS different than being a man. I'm sorry but I believe that, and I think that it is necessary to understand all the beauty and power and wonderful things that come with a being a woman. I'm happy being a woman. I am happy that my little girl reaches for me when she's hurt or mad or sad the same way I reached for my mother. I am happy that my husband and I have a great marriage because I have the capability to be in tune with his needs and to my own needs and what it is that will help us be a better couple. I am happy that a (single) woman in my workplace is the person that everybody (men and women) go to with all their problems about life and she listens so patiently and makes them all feel better. 
I have so many thoughts on this matter, and really I feel like I could go on writing for days but the overall message and thought I wanted to give is that I wish that women could embrace that we are different from men, and that it's not a bad thing- it's good, in fact it's so wonderful. I believe as a woman I have the power to change the world, and it doesn't demean me or lessen my influence at all to embrace the things that make me a woman. I love all women and I hope and pray that we can embrace who we are, and see our beautiful capabilities and inspired gifts. 

This video is a perfect example of what I am talking about.

http://www.wimp.com/anchoradopted/

An Olive Update

(warning, you may not enjoy this blog post if you are not Olive's Grandma)

I have been wanting to blog about so many wonderful things lately. The Carl Bloch exhibit, yoga, knitting, improvements to the house- but time just gets away from me! And, upon reflection the most important things to remember are those precious memories with my little Olive.

I had intended to keep a journal with all the things Olive did when she was little. I think I have written in it twice. So as long as I keep doing my "olive updates" I'll have something to remember all of the things I never want to forget about our little Olive. 

Here's is what our Olive is up to lately. 

She doesn't really say any words at all, but she is constantly talking to me. She has this perfect little chatter where she looks at me and babbles something (with the perfect inflection) as though we are just talking about something or other. I always respond with little things like oh really? and I guess that's true, thanks for telling me! She doesn't say words, but she does do lots of signing. Since she is responding so well to signing I am really trying learn more signs to teach her to give her a way to communicate with me. When I try to say words to her, she just looks at me annoyed- but if I sign the word she gets so excited and immediately tries the sign. She can hear just fine, I think she is just a visual learner. My favorite sign she does is when I sit in the rocking chair at night before she goes to bed and if I don't grab a book immediately she looks at me like I'm crazy and signs "book." Then when I finish reading a book and close it she panics and tries immediately to reopen the book (so then we read it 5 more times.)

For whatever reason she LOVES to play in her crib. I can trace it back to one day I jumped in with her and played and jumped and sang with her- and she has been obsessed ever since! Often times I go in there in the morning or after a nap and try to get her out and she pushes my hands away or tries to sit down really fast indicating do NOT pick me up! So I toss a bunch of toys in there and she is happy as a lark! Which is fine with me! So I go take a shower or do some dishes knowing she isn't getting into the toilet or dog food or something else equally exciting. I know she is ready to get out when she signs food at me and then we eat some breakfast or lunch or whatever. 

Olive loves to be outside. If I take her out she just runs around laughing and laughing for no reason at all other than she is outside! 

She loves to tease the dog with cheese (she knows it's her favorite.) She holds it out to her and laughs as she yanks it back. Poor dog follows her around just hoping for a little crumb, she is so good not to steal it out of Olive's hand (I would, that little rascal.) 

She loves to kiss her mom. Whenever Daddy or anyone else asks for a kiss she also has to give me one. Makes me feel special. 

She loves curious George and sesame street. 

She loves her grandma. 

She will get really shy and lean on my shoulder if I walk into a crowded room where she is getting attention, but if I leave her with someone she is so good and happy because she knows that her Mommy will come back and get her and kiss and squeeze her. 

She loves it when I sing songs to her like itsy bitsy spider. She bobs her head and does some of the motions. 

She is wonderful and happy and oh so perfect. I just adore her to her very core. I feel so beyond lucky to be her mother. I love having her in my arms when I go places, I love to be with her. To me, she's perfect. 

And that's my Olive update.

 

Olive Outside from Sadie Atkinson on Vimeo.

Check out more Pictures and Videos of Olive and Our Family

here

The "Green" Smoothie.

I've had some people ask me about my green smoothies, so I thought I would write a little tutorial about them. Here are some things you should know about the "green smoothie."

-It's not always green. If it turns out a different color you have not failed, in fact that means you got in all those healthy greens and fruits too! 

-It's OK if your smoothies are mostly fruit. Fruit is REALLY good for you too! I went to a get a cold-pressed juice the other day and the guy was telling me "or you could get the really healthy one with all greens!" I wanted to tell him, they are ALL healthy! Anything with pure fruit or veggies is healthy and we need a balance of everything.

-Don't be afraid to throw anything in there. You don't have to follow an exact recipe (I mean I don't even follow A recipe) If you have some fruit that is going bad or you wouldn't eat it otherwise just throw it in the blender! That mushy banana is still good for you and you can't tell a difference in that smoothie! 

-Lastly here is my personal philosophy of green smoothies (and life) when in doubt just do what makes sense. They always comes out with new studies that say this or that- ESPECIALLY with food, so for me I just do what makes sense. And what makes sense to me is that as much as you can you just eat fruits and veggies as they are, as they occur in nature. I understand the place for juicing, and I drink cold-pressed juices sometimes. I know you can get the nutrition of like 20 carrots in one drink, but do we need 20 carrots? And it just seems a little wasteful at times to me since you throw out some of the fruit/veggie at the end of making the drink. Also I think it's a lot more time consuming and harder than throwing some stuff in a blender. I am not trying to rip on people that juice, I think it is SUPER healthy and I drink them sometimes and really like them, but it's just not practical for my life.

Ok, so I apologize in advanced (and don't blame you if you stop here cause you just want someone to give you an exact recipe) but like I said I don't follow an exact recipe and although I had good intentions of measuring everything out it was just too hard with the daily demands of life and I would never get this post up! So, I have some basic guidelines and things that I know are good together- so here goes!

The Base- Here are the bases I use for my drinks. You can just use water for your base if you want or don't have anything else, but I tend to use other things such as Simply Orange Juice high pulp. A lot of people don't use juice because they think it adds an "unhealthy" part to your drink. I for one don't care, I use the healthiest juices I can find and I'm not opposed to using things that get my husband and baby to gobble down large doses of carrot, kale, spinach, broccoli, or avocado. I also quite frequently use a base of coconut water, sometimes I mix it half and half with the juice. I use other juices as well, Simply Apple juice, Cran, whatever. Base your "base"  on the needs of your family. If they are sick try to go for a lot of citrus, dehydrated use the coconut water, if your baby need to poop maybe a prune juice. I also do other drinks that have a base of coconut milk or almond milk. Make sure you get the coconut milk that is in the carton like the regular milk because the canned milk has a think cream in it but the carton milk has the consistency of  regular cows milk. (I get mine at Sprouts for those who are local.)

Next, the greens- There are a few basic greens that are good to put in smoothies. Don't go overboard because the goal is to get your baby/husband (and yourself) to enjoy these so that you will actually WANT to drink them. (I know, crazy right) So here are some of the greens I use, spinach (a no brainer) this is pretty much what everyone uses but that's because its so good for you and easy to mask in a drink. It's good to try to use a citrus when using spinach because it "unlocks" a lot of the vitamins so that your body can access and use them. (that's why cooked spinach is better for you than raw because the cooking process allows your body to get at the nutrients that spinach provides.) Kale is also good because it's masked well by other things. I add broccoli occasionally but beware it has  strong flavor so only a few florets if you choose to add it. Avocado is one of my favorite things that add, I put in about half of one. It gives the smoothie a really smooth consistency, its very common in other countries to add avocados to drinks. I love it because little ones really need those good healthy fats (although Olive will seriously down like 5 avocados on their own if you let her) but not every baby will, and even babies that already love avocados the smoothie is a nice alternative to cleaning smashed avocado out of hair :) This isn't really a "green" but I also add a chopped up carrot to most my drinks, or a handful of baby carrots.(Carrots are already sweet so it doesn't take much to balance them.) Beets are also good but sometimes require more work because they bleed everywhere. I have not done this in a while but I used to make batches of steamed blended beets that I threw in the freezer and then I would add cubes of that to my smoothies. They are actually really easy to make and it doesn't take much time, I should really do it again. I don't tend to add any other veggies than those mentioned above.

Fruits- the fruits you add are what really give the flavor to your drinks and you can take it wherever you want. I have a big bag from Costco of every frozen fruit they have. Strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, anti-oxidant blend, tropical fruit blend, or cherries. You name it, I do them all! I pretty much never add ice to my drinks, so what I like about the frozen fruit is you get that thick smoothie consistency without the ice! Sometimes I add just fresh fruit and leave it less thick (or you can add ice.) I put in any fruit I have laying around the house. I chop up apples and throw them in, they have a strong flavor so they will mask anything in there but will also really thicken the drink and sometimes float to the top so don't add too many thick things if you are adding an apple. I almost always add a fresh banana, or frozen if I put a half eaten one in the freezer. Sometimes I throw in fresh strawberries whole (greens and all) or blueberries or pineapple or even a cut up orange. Whatever is going bad, or Olive won't eat by itself or is in season. Throw in whatever you feel that day! That's what you taste in your smoothies, and the fruits have strong flavors and will generally mask any greens you've added. Mix it up so you keep drinking them, anything with a lot of natural color is good for you! 

Lastly any extra additives- other little things I will add are oils, mostly citrus oils like lemon, grapefruit, wild orange, or lime. Oils are pure forms of these fruits that can help cleanse you system and infuse simple tasty flavor to your drinks. I also add flax and chia seeds to some of my drinks, they are good for clearing out your system as well. (if you know what i mean) Costco had a great mix of flax and chia seeds with cocoa and coco chunks in it. Delish.

Ok so in summery here are some (rough) recipes I make. Orange juice, carrot, spinach/kale, large handful of tropical frozen fruit or mixed berries. (this is the most common drink I make) This morning I made a drink with coconut water, half an avocado, handful of kale and frozen strawberries and blueberries. Often I make a drink with a almond/coconut milk base, strawberries, a banana, and two tablespoons of the flax/chia seed mix. You can also add just cinnamon and vanilla with a little agave to almond milk and maybe just a banana. It's a good treat after a yoga workout :) Another good "treat" drink after a workout, or anytime (my husband will just ask for these) is a drink with a coconut water base and just frozen tropical fruit. It's SO GOOD and remember, it's ok to do a smoothie with all fruit!   

Hope this helps a little for people who have asked me (or haven't asked me) about it. Olive absolutely loves these and downs them in the morning. And I feel so good about giving her the things she needs in a non-stressful way and a way that she actually enjoys. When you expose your kids to these flavors and food they tend to crave them more when they are older and keep with the habits. (And then you don't have to feel bad when you get them a big sugar cookie every tuesday at the Provo Bakery.) I also love that I can hand this to my husband as he walks out the door and know that he is getting a good breakfast that will give him enough energy to pass up the energy drink (hopefully.) I didn't use to have the habit of making them for myself in the morning because it's already hard enough to get up at 3:30 in the morning, but I decided I need to take care of myself too so that I can keep taking care of everyone else. Ya know? Mom life. I hope this helps! It was long enough so I tried not to put really wordy explanations to things so let me know if you have any questions about anything.

If there is any proof that Olive loves these smoothies... here it is!

That red face and tears? Yeah, I literally took one sip of her drink! She was panicked to get it back!

This drink was supposed to be for daddy... Olive highjacked it. 

We had to make another one.

Post Yoga-workout Green Smoothie

Just some regular old house construction going on in the backround.

Enjoy! 

Christmas In January

Christmas stockings have been on my knitting list for years. I have even started two or three (and pretty much finished one) and decided I didn't like them. Each time I changed my mind about what I wanted in a stocking or didn't like how I knitted it, disliked the yarn or the color, whatever. On occasion I look at a blog called Purl Bee (I try to be careful not to look at it too often, my knitting list is long enough!) And this year they posted this pattern, so I thought I'd give it a try. I have issues picking out colors that go well together and sometimes end up hating the combination I chose. (Why is it so hard to know what it will look like, how do people do that!)I need a personal yarn color picker outer. Anywho that's why I chose  to do a solid color. Still not sure I am super happy with the color I picked. I like Christmas colors that are non traditional and bring life to a room... and this is non traditional! But the stocking itself is quite beautiful, and the perfect size. (I love the big chunky ones) I did however cut 5 inches off the length of hers, it was 15in in just the length of the leg! I thought it was plenty long at 10 in and I didn't want to have to buy another skien anyway. I ended up using 1 and a half. I already have a beautiful purple/burgundyish color to start for the next one. Got to make one for the whole family! And finally, here are some pictures! (Message me if you have any questions.)

(The stocking is closest in color to the last picture, don't know why this turned out quite so light but here is the detail on the stocking.)

One stoic picture over the fireplace for good measure (Fireplace needs a little work... someday!)

I'm sorry all these pictures look so different! Someday in my next life I am going to take a photography class and actually learn how to take and edit good photos. You know the life without a little gorgeous baby dictating my every move and a house that we are constantly remodeling ourselves... and so on and so forth. Until then, I am going to enjoy my little rascal bones baby while she is so cute and little and perfect, and you will just have to deal with my not-so-perfect pictures :)

Stuff and Fluff

Winters here are hard. We are outdoor people- Olive, Maybe, and I. 
We are not indoor people. 

I remember when I was little I came to visit Utah in the winter and my cousin said "I hate the snow." You HATE the snow! How can anyone hate the snow?? Where I grew up it snowed once or twice and the whole world was magical and they canceled school and work and everyone went out sledding and built snowmen and then it was all gone the next day. Now I get it. The days seem so much longer, even though they are shorter- and we are so restless cooped up here longing for the freedom of the outdoors. I keep having the thought that i am just going to get in the car and drive until I feel the warmth on my body and we will all get out and frolic around! (But then I remember that I like have a job and responsibilities and stuff.)

So I have decided that it is absolutely necessary to get out as much as possible. Olive feels the same way. We have made every Tuesday our library day. We drop off Daddy at work and we head to the library. We look at all kinds of books and we go to story time and we walk around talking to ourselves about nothing in particular. And we love it. Afterwards we go to Provo Bakery for a treat because, obviously right? Then we go home and take our naps. It's perfect.

Ever Thursday we plan to meet up with my sister at the Discovery Gateway. We will love that. The rest of our time at home is filled with snuggling while watching Winne the Pooh and The Lorax, long baths, lots of scribbles on paper and our chalkboard (and sometimes our walls and doors), pushing our little grocery cart down the hallway, playing with all our new Christmas presents, and of course destroying, dumping out, or dismembering anything in our path. Olive likes to do the last ones the very most, me- not so much. 

I'm finding more than ever that keeping a perfectly clean and tidy house doesn't make me happy and while I recognize it's important to create an organized environment for my family- there is only so much I can do while feeling that I am being who I am truly am, and I think it's more important to have a Mommy that is present and happy because that reflects on the family more than anything else. So maybe I will always have a slightly disorganized and untidy house. Who cares. 

And so I say, while the winters are long and hard they are not without those beautiful moments I try to capture when I can. And I get on  my knees every night and thank God for my wonderful blessings.  At no other time in my life have I ever felt more thankful and blessed than I do these days. 

At the end of it all, life is beautiful.