Hello Readers!
I know its been three months since my last post. I haven’t forgotten you, as a matter of fact, I think about blogging all the time! I have been stuck trying to get back into my blogging groove. So much has changed in my life from when I blogged weekly. I am having trouble getting a rhythm going. But instead of just waiting for the perfect moment to strike (which will never happen) I’m just going to jump in and see where it takes me.
I thought I should start out with a little life update. The kids and I still live outside Los Angeles, CA and I still hate living in SoCal. It is so expensive. I live in one of the cheapest cities in the state and my rent is still way more than I’d be paying in one of the surrounding states. There is also a lot of crime, high taxes, and salaries that are going nowhere. Many of my friends have moved to Texas, Nevada or Oregon and I plan to eventually follow them.
We are loving our new home. I love the neighborhood and I love my kitchen. I love all the light from the windows. What I am missing is privacy and trees. My home has zero backyard privacy because three homes have their windows facing my backyard. I feel like I am constantly being watched. It’s not a good feeling to have when you’re trying to chill with a cup of tea! I also miss the trees. Growing up I always lived in homes with plenty of mature trees. Then I moved to a forest for 7 years. Now I live in a home with 1 baby tree that provides zero shade. I want a large tree to sit under. It makes a property feel more alive somehow. I am hoping to buy a house in the next 3 years so I am stashing these little tips away for my home search.
The garden has gotten much smaller. I was grossed out and abandoned my front yard garden when I realized the neighborhood stray cats were using it as a bathroom. Yuck! I pulled several of the healthiest plants and transplanted them to the backyard. I have never been so angry at a stray cat! I am a cat lover, but as soon as I caught one crapping in my veggie beds my love was over. So the front yard beds have been abandoned.
The bed that is doing the best is the one Gavin and I built ourselves. I planted 4 tomatoes and a couple squash and cucumbers. The tomatoes and one squash are doing really well, while the rest are not. I think I’m not fertilizing enough so I have been experimenting with watering every 3rd time with fish emulsion. I am also adding eggshells to boost the calcium levels. This week I am working on clearing out the plants that aren’t doing well, amending those beds with compost and then planting a second round of summer veggies. Definitely more squash and maybe some summer-friendly greens. Any recommendations for greens that grow in 100-degree heat?
Next on the update list is my health. I am going on 3 years being 100% gluten-free and it’s been awesome. Seriously. I spent so much of my life feeling like I was going to throw up. I am so happy to not be sick every day that I don’t miss gluteny foods. I have found substitutes to most of my favorite foods. Yes, I have had to learn to say no to myself a lot, but I don’t feel like I am missing out. Both of my kids are also on a gluten free diet. It was obvious that my daughter had all the same symptoms as I did. We tested out a gluten free and dairy free diet, which solved most of her issues. My son was a little different. He was showing a lot of irritability, anxiety and aggression. I had heard that gluten could cause this in kids his age so I took gluten out of his diet and what a dramatic difference it has made! Every time he has any gluten now I regret it. He turns into a little… nevermind.
I feel ready at this point to take the next step on my path to a better diet so I am seriously considering a strict Whole3o. Has anyone done a Whole3o? If so, please tell me about your experience! I bought one of their books and am really inspired to take it on, but am also worried about the strictness of it. There are things that I am really going to miss, but at the same time, I want to know all the foods I react to. I had cake over the fourth of July and while the cake was gluten-free, I still reacted to it and I want to know why. An elimination diet was how I figured out gluten was making me sick and it changed my life dramatically. The Whole30 is an elimination diet specifically formulated to do that. Could it also change my life dramatically??
It’s midyear already! So my goals for the next 6 months? Blog more, continue working out 3-4x a week for at least 20 minutes, complete a Whole30, read more books, and go to more social events and actually talk to people I don’t already know.
Next post will be a gluten-free recipe. I also want to tell you about the 100-year-old family photos I got from my cousin. This is one of my favorites. This is my great grandmother (left) and her grandmother around 1910! I also found a recipe for Jambalaya published by my grandmother in the local paper. Apparently, she liked to cook!
See you soon!
Shoots and Roots 
Love it all. 🙂