1st Anniversary and 3000 Pageviews Giveaway!!!

Congratulations to contest winner Margaret Mary M! Wow!! I can't believe that I have made it to 3000 page-views in only a year! Today is the 1 year anniversary of my first post, and look where things have gone from there! In honor of my anniversary and reaching 3000 page-views, I am going to have a giveaway!!!

Here are the details. As a part of this contest, I am including a shameless plug for our Amazon online storefront. All you have to do is click the link to look at our inventory and choose your favorite item that you would like to win. Then, come back here and post a comment to this blog post telling me what you would like to win. I'll choose the winner on Tuesday, April 1 (April Fools Day!), and they will win their favorite item! You have until midnight on Monday, March 31, to post your comment. Also, when you comment, give your email, website or some sort of contact so I can get in touch with you to send out your prize!

In the unlikely event that your favorite item sells before the contest is over, I will purchase one and send it to you.

Now, here's the good stuff! (and feel free to shop if you see something you can't do without!)


Click here to get to our storefront: Doud Books!

Chemical free Skin! (and giveaway details!)

I want to share about how my skin has gotten so much better by switching to non-commercial skin products. I was so surprised at how quickly things can clear up.

Here are the things I have changed:

• Changed from acne soap (Neutrogena) to using black soap on face
• Changed from using regular body wash to using black soap on body
• Changed from using regular lotion to using coconut oil on face and body
• Changed from using traditional laundry detergent to chemical-free detergent (and may go to making my own soon)

Here are the results I have had:

• With the black soap, I am almost never worrying about my face being too oily. Instead it feels healthy and has a glow to it. Using the coconut oil as I need it also cuts down on the redness of my face. I used to have bad cystic acne and since I have changed my diet and face routine, all I have are a few small red spots sometimes. And my face glows!
• I used to have really yucky looking rashes on my arms that I tried everything to get rid of with no success. The day after I started the black soap it was noticeably improved, and as I keep going with the coconut oil as well, the redness and bumps are all but gone. My skin just feels so healthy. Amazing!
•  Not to get personal, but I used to have problems "down there" with odor and itching. That has improved drastically since I have begun using the chemical-free detergent and also not using dryer sheets for underwear and towels.

I plan to continue to reduce the chemicals I expose to my body. My next project is to try making my own detergent using a recipe a friend gave to me (which includes goat milk soap). I will post about that once I try it. I also plan to try something new with my hair, possibly an organic shampoo or something, but I will let you know what I find.

Now, I urge you try this, especially if you have problems with your skin. And below I am partnering with Amazon to show you which types of products I am using. If you do give it a try, please comment below and let me know how it goes!

And...drumroll...

Tomorrow at 8:00 AM, I will be posting details about a giveaway I am having to celebrate 1 year of blogging and 3000 pageviews!!! Thank you all and stay tuned!

Here's the black soap:

And the coconut oil:
Of course, you can use any brand, but these are the ones I have been using. Happy and beautiful faces!

It's Spring! (at least for now...)

Hello dear friends,

I realize that I have not written in a few days. I got busy, and then I got involved with my classes, which I really like so far! And then I went outside!

Whew, after the winter we have had, I am so, so glad to see sunshine and feel the warm air. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to just skip spring and go right to summer! Now, I'm a bit bummed out because I heard that next Tuesday there is a chance of snow =(. But I am also just really excited to have some sunshine! The snow's gotta stop sometime...

I'm also excited because I found out that my arthritis in my knees is not rheumatoid, which means it's not an autoimmune thing. It's osteoarthritis and it's only in my kneecaps, and a really mild case. Wahoo!!! The best thing I can do for it is to exercise, which is what I have been dying to do anyway. Nick and I walked 3 miles yesterday on a nearby bike trail, and my knees didn't hurt! I plan to try and walk every other day to help my arthritis and to lose weight.

Speaking of losing weight, I am down about 15 lbs so far eating paleo. It feels great! I'm down about a size and a half, and my face is clearing up really nicely. I'll post some more recipe ideas soon.

Finally, I wanted to post a picture of what I see every day while I am at my computer. As we are waiting to get a computer desk from my parents, the computer is on a round table next to a window. Right near where I put the bird feeder and the suet. We have a TON of cardinals in the trees near us, and also some black-and-white finches. Here's a picture I snapped while I was working on medical terminology.

Yummy Food Ideas! (as promised)

Hello there!

I have found that it is so much easier to create yummy meals with a more nutritious diet. Exciting! And you feel so much better about yourself too. I want to share a few ideas I have, although not all of them are original. The ones I made up have a * after them. Here ya go!

• Breakfast: take some unsweetened apple sauce, heat it up for about 2 minutes in the microwave, add 1-2 tbsp of almond butter, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, and stir until dissolved. Add almond flour until desired thickness. Better than cream of wheat!
• Another breakfast idea: omelet with crumbled sausage or bacon and cheese, really filling! *
• Nick's favorite pasta alternative: Brown 1 lb of ground beef, then cook 2 sliced zucchinis in a pan with some water until tender. Combine ground beef, cooked zucchini, 1 jar of no sugar added spaghetti sauce (or a can of crushed tomatoes). Serve with shredded cheese on top (put in microwave for about 1 min to melt the cheese), or leave off cheese if desired. So yummy!*
• Sweet potato fries (good substitute for real fries): Peel a sweet potato for each person eating and cut into fry-sized pieces (smaller is better) and lay on a cookie sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and add fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. Bake in oven at 350-400 degrees (depending on hotness of oven, mine is really hot) for about 15-20 minutes until slightly brown. Flip if desired. *
• I usually serve the sweet potato fries with hamburger patties or pan fried cubed steak (with or without cheese on top)*
• Cod or tilapia fillets cooked in a foil pack (sealed in) with a pat of butter, lemon juice, cracked pepper and sea salt. Cook at 400 degrees for about 10-15 mins depending on size. *
• Any kind of green vegetable is really good steamed and mixed with pesto sauce :) *

Well, there are a few ideas to get you started! I'm also going to share recipes I really like from other blogs I follow.  Happy cooking!

Lauren <3

Change of Focus

As I have said, I am feeling really good lately, both emotionally and physically. Although I still have some lingering health issues, such as the arthritis, I have found that a change in diet has dramatically improved or put into remission some of the really annoying symptoms I have had for a long time.

For example, by limiting my consumption of spicy foods and citrus, I have been able to significantly reduce the bladder pain caused by my interstitial cystitis. I went from needing treatments twice a week to only doing them 1-2 times every 2 weeks! Also, I have been able to lose 15 lbs and get rid of most of the water I have been retaining since the preeclampsia. When I avoid wheat, I have drastically improved the painful cramps that go along with my endometriosis.

About 2 months ago, I went to see my ob/gyn doctor, who happens to be interested in natural family planning and alternative methods of treating health issues, and he told me that I needed to change the way I ate. He told me that by adopting a Paleo lifestyle I could improve every one of my health issues, improve my fertility and lose weight. I was a bit skeptical, although I trust his opinion, and then he told me that he had lost 20 lbs in six months and reversed the beginnings of diabetes just by changing his diet. OK, I was hooked! I decided to give it 3 months, as he suggested, and if I did not have improvement by then, I would give up.

It took about a week! I lost 5 lbs in the first week, and I had a lot smaller appetite. But most of all, it was something I could stick with. I had tried Weight Watchers, AdvoCare, and other diets with trouble keeping the pounds off. Now, it's only been 2 months, but I feel like I'm not on a diet. The things I eat are so nourishing that I do not crave processed foods very much. I'm going to do a post soon all about the Paleo diet (or lifestyle) for those of you who are interested.

Anywho, my purpose in writing this post is to tell you that I will be somewhat changing the focus of my blog. I will be writing a lot more about eating. I have been using and coming up with some amazingly tasty Paleo recipes and I would like to share my knowledge with you. Not that I will completely forget about the posts on grieving, but now that I am getting past the bad part I would like to focus more on food, health, taking care of your body and how that relates to our faith.

I feel as though the sun is starting to shine through the dark clouds. This is an image that associate with Peter. I feel him so strongly when I see the sun, and I know he is really proud of his mommy.

So stay tuned for some yummy posts!!!

This new normal ROCKS!

Well, for the first time since we lost Peter, I can really say that I feel good! It's like a huge weight has lifted from me and I feel so much lighter and happier. Nick and I were talking the other day, and we have finally been able to say we feel "normal" again. I put normal in quotation marks because we will never be back to the normal we knew before our loss, but I think I like this new normal even better.

Even finding out that I have osteoarthritis in my knees (really painful btw) couldn't dampen my spirits. Although it is a bit of a bummer to be laid up when I really feel like going out and doing things. But I'll stay in bed until my appointment with my rheumatologist because I don't want my knee to give out again.

Another reason for my happiness is because of an unexpected increase in our tax refund, I am able to start my classes! Peter really took care of us, and now I am going to study to be a medical coder! In layman's terms, the medical coder goes through patient medical records and encodes them for insurance purposes. I'm currently taking medical terminology and anatomy, and I will be taking the rest of the courses when I finish these.

Gotta go now, I'll update when I get details.