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I switched to blog spot because it is so much easier to manage. please find me at colorado farm girl

Danny (now 13) and my Mom inside the processing plant.Mu husband Doran scalding.

My oldest David killing chickens

We are finally done.  If you are new to me nd my family you may wonder done with what?  Chickens.  We live on a farm and raise chickens for meat to sell. It starts out well.  We get about 300 little fuzzy chicks, they are so cute.  We water and feed and they are so fun to watch.  Then we get 300 more and a little of the fun wears out.  Then we get 300 more and we water and feed and water and feed.... and they are not so cute anymore.  Good thing too!  Because, next comes butchering.  That's right in only 8 weeks they are ready to kill.  We have a special butchering plant and we do it all as a family.  It starts in March and ends in July and even though there is satisfaction in growing and processing we are all glad when it is done!  We now have August to just be.  Well we still have canning to do. And we still have chores to do....dogs. cats, laying hens, a goose, an emu, cows, horses, llamas.  But they are not as labor intensive as the chickens.  Have you ever filled up 15 waterers?  Besides, I like canning.  I can in the same processing plant.  It is so easy to clean just take a hose and wash it down.  No mess in my house.  I have all ready done apricots.  I made syrup, jam, nectar, and dried some to eat later.  I also plan to make some canned soups and things for quick and nutricious meals.  I have resolved not to shop much in the grocery store and we rarely eat out.  I really think it is a blessing to make my own meals at home.  We are healthier too.  I have been expermenting with soaps and things too.  I think I will move the process to my chicken plant where again it will not make a mess.

Hi, I'm Back ;I am such a on again of again blogger!  First lf all kudos to momn4boysmy friend  who was blogger of the week.  Her writing is truly inspiring to me.  She is just that good to talk to also!.  Our summer is going fast but it has been very satisfying.  My youngest son Danny, wanted a pool so bad but my husband and I thought it was kind of a waste of money.  But he was willing to use all his savings to buy one.  So we went to Wal Mart and picked out the one he could afford.  15 ft by 4 ft.  He is so excited.  WE set it up a week ago and we have swam every day since then.  It has been such a good time.  Especially Danny and I together.  First we get out work done and then his math he is still doing. Then we go swim.  We play some and then we lay on the floaty toys and just BE.  That is where the magic happens.  We talk about every thing in a non stressful way.  Just chillin in the water.  It has been really a good thing.  Not a waste of money in the least.  My older boy, David is working in the cherries.  For out of Colorado or not in the country, fruit time here is a big deal.  My sister owns a local fruit ranch and they hire David as a worker in the shed.  He actually loves it.  It is hard work but good for him because he has to work hard, get up early on his own, and get himself to work on time.  He rides the back way on his 4 wheeler. 

A little more info about us.  We are native not only to CO but to this area!  In fact we live on the same farm my Dad lived on when he was a child.  He was born here too.  My mother was born here too about 16 miles away in the small town of Cedaredge in her Grandma's house.  My Grandparents on my mom's side are natives too and my grandfather was born in the same place my mom was.  My dad's parents were not born here but came at a young age.  I can walk to where my grandma grew up. Why do I tell you all this?  I guess because it is a little bit unusual in this day and age.  I grew up on a farm practically my whole life.  I knew all of my grandparents on both sides and all of my great grandmothers and even one great great!   I laugh when I read the blogs of those just starting out farming and living simpler lives.  I am amused at their glee when they make butter, or gather eggs or sit quietly on their front porch.  I realize how fortunate I have been to have been cooking from scratch, sewing, canning, baking, caring for animals my whole life.  I would like to offer encouraging words to those who are home steading and farming for the first time becuase your children will really benefit in more ways than you can imagine!  I would also like to offer help and advise if you need it.  Now I don't imagine I know everything but I am very experienced in cooking, animals,4h.  So my sisters and brothers who are going back to nature so to speak, I offer my services and want to say welcome to the fold..... It is WORTH it!

Well i must say I am behind in my may day challenge.  I was in a musical and it took all my time.  So here I am again.  I am feeling a little bit discouraged.  I am eating less and keeping track of it and I am exercising every day.  But I am not losing weight... well one pound in a month isn't very good.  So I need to try somthing else. I have somthing wrong with my foot  it hurts very bad when I walk so I guess I need to go to the doc and see what that is all about so I can exerscise more.  But I wasn't feeling very motivated until I read my friends log.. so I must try some more.  I am not one to keep going if I don't see results so pray for me!

Well I have lost 1 lb but actually I lost 3 gained 4 lost 2 so now I have lost 1.  I am a little discouraged but am determined to keep at it.  I have not eaten more than 1200-1400 calories except 2 times.  I have exercised 22 days straight.  So I guess I have not done so badly.  i wish I was losing faster but I guess the Lord is teaching me patience and perserverence!   I have a sore foot so it is hard to walk more, I don't want to go to the doctor to have it checked out but maybe I'll have to.  Pray for me!

Ok, I am doing this May Day challenge and I want to do it right.
This is how I got here and this is how I will go from here.
I was skinny my whole life. Really skinny 85lbs skinny.  I don't really know why but my parents didn't eat out at all, we didn't buy mixes at the store and we were allowed candy on a limited basis. 
We also ate salad at every meal plus one vegggie, meat and bread.  We did eat chips, pop on occasion, some ice cream, ( not me I don't really like it).  We were not limited on how much we ate but we couldn't waste food.  When I went to college I ate terribly, I ate coke and dexatrim, so I could get skinnier, what an idiot!  I lost weight but was not healthy.  When I got married I went back to cooking well but I used mixes and I ate fast food because I could.  I went to 125 lbs but looked good.  Still thought I was not healthy so I started reading everything I could on nutrition and talked to my good friend about healthy foods and was doing fine.  I became healthier and was content.  Then  5 years later I had my son and three years later then that I had my second son.  I began to have health problems just little niggly things,  It finally cumulated to one bad year, I had two ear surguries, a hysterectomy, and I broke my ankle, all in one year. I had to take replacement hormones and I gained 60 lbs in 5 years.  Yuck!  So  3 months ago I went off the hormones and immediatley lost 5 lbs, I thought I would automatically lose it all.   Not so.  So now I have to evaluate my life and make some changes.
SOCIAL PRESSURES
• I have super friends, so this is not a super concern for me.  But I do feel a bit  self- conscience now.

RELATIONSHIP CONCERNS

•  A huge motivator for me is to:
o Get healthy so I will be around for my boys
o Get fit so that I can be a better mother – do more things with Doran.
o.Even though he doesn't say anything, be more attractive to Doran

Willingness vs. Excuses (Where are you at?)
• I feel very willing to make this change in my life. I feel stupid for waiting this long to do it. I do beat myself up a good bit over the wasted years of my life. I know that I need to put that baggage down and move on. It bothers me that I left myself go for so long. I need to work on that.

Rate your level of Motivation and Confidence (Scale of 1 to 10…10 being very):

• Most days a 7 or 8. I feel good about the change. I would put higher but I know the statistics are very daunting for long term successful weight loss. Some days, especially if I have a bad day, I give in to a little pity and despair. On those days I would say my motivation goes to about a 3 or 4. Thus far, my good days have far out numbered my bad ones.

Eating Triggers (List……Smell, Sight, Taste, Cravings, Trigger Foods, etc.)

• Fast food
• Coke
• Fresh baked bread
• special occations
• others eating


Emotional Triggers (List……i.e. Happy, Sad, Bored, etc.)
• Sad
• Stressed
• Bored
• Angry
• tired

High Risk Situations (List - Weekends, Parties, Work, etc.)
• Weekends – but only because it gets me out of my routine.
• Very high stress situations make me want to eat.

10 ways to reward myself without food:

1. Quiet time – read a good book

2. visit friends

3. Go to a play, concert or museum

4 walk.

5. get nails done

6. Buy some new clothes.

7. Go out with friends.

8. Make time to mini-vacation.(, short trips.)

9. Buy some good songs .

10. Treat myself to a massage

20 ways to cope without food:

1. Get more active. Garden

2. Realize that whatever problems I am facing, they will be easier to face if I am healthy and feel good. Nothing that I have to deal with will be easier 55 pounds over. In fact, no matter what the situation it will be easier to deal with at 120-130 because I will have more energy and feel better.

3. Realize that I have a food addiction. I don't know how I got it but it will be a never ending process to get and stay healthy, but one that I know will be worth it for me and for my family.

4. Read as much information as I can about successful strategies for making lifetime behavior changes.

5. If I feel bored, get up and go do something…. Anything but eat. If I feel angry – go take a drive, listen to some music – call someone in my support team. If I feel sad and start in on myself about things that I have not done with my life, remind myself that the past is over and cannot be changed. The only events I have control over are the ones happening right NOW!

6. Pray Use God's power in my life knowing He wants this more than me!

7. Schedule some “play” time everyday

8. Don’t be reluctant to say “No” especially to family who bring me food.  I don't want to hurt them.

9. Look for ways to reduce the stress in my life.  Pray

10. Try to see problems as challenges that if I plan and work hard on, that I can overcome with God's help.

11. Continue to work to find contentment and joy in the Lord.   While some aspects of my life are not great, I need to keep  my place in Jesus in mind.

12. Put focus back on serving my family, friends, others, off myself.  Do the next thing.

13. Actively seek out and deal with parts of my life that I tend to suppress and procrastinate on. Pretending the problem is not there will not make it go away.

14. Be more dilligent about reading my Bible.

15. Plan, budget for and do activities with  the boys that will unite us and build realationships.

16. Don't forget I need to be healthy not just thin.

17. Read more books!

18. Remember to journal

19. Set a goal for myself  and follow it!

20. Lastly, I resolve to do whatever it takes – exercise, educational classes, support groups and even surgery as a last alternative to achieve my goal of better health by reaching and maintaining for the remainder of my life a healthy weight.  As the Lord wills and dictates.

DENIAL MINIMIZATION RATIONALIZATION

(Or as I like to call them, the 3 horsemen of the Apocalypse)

(Some of my best thinking processes about food helped me become overweight)

Denial
• My coping mechanism seems to be repression,  don’t give into the “oh I eat nothing and the weight just jumps on me” kind of thing. I know that I got the way I am by eating 5000 plus calories a day. At the time, I just did not think I could gain weight.

Minimization
• Ok, I own up to this one. An extra hash brown and extra  coke is not that bad for you.
I blocked out the harm that I was doing to myself with my over eating. On one level, I knew it was  happening, but I just was not willing to do anything about it – until  now.

Rationalization
• OK, I am the queen of this one. I consider myself to be intelligent,  I wanted to be a lawyer, so I can rationalize just about anything. You know, I am wanting a little indulgence  so lets head to McDonalds on the way home from the store,so what? Everyone deserves one treat. I can make anything I do seem logical… and often do. It is only when I can step back and really look critically and logically at what I am doing can I see it for the sin that it really is.   Sin it is the sin of selfishness.  I deserve hell and death but I have salvation instead,  keep my priorities straight!

My Plan to Battle these three:

These three are killers for sure. My plan is to keep my focus on my objectives. Keep journaling, keep involved in an active weight loss program which includes exercise, portion control, nutrition and accountability that will help me stay vigilant . I resolve to be honest with the people  who are helping me and pray and confess often so that they can help let me know if I am slipping into one of the big three deadly sins.

To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, The price of a healthy weight is eternal vigilance.
• I will never be defeated unless I quit trying.
• If I ever relapse to my old eating patterns, I will immediately seek out help to get back on the path to sanity. I will not let shame, humiliation or pride keep me from looking for the help I need.
• If I ever find that what I am doing is not working, I will work to find what will work. I affirm today that my current condition is no longer acceptable to me.
• I affirm that this is something that I want for me. There may a lot of things in this life that I do not have control over – however, my lifestyle and relationship to food is something that with help, focus and desire - it is a goal that I can reach and maintain.


I make this plan for myself and only myself: Sign below….

Kimborlee A Etter__________________________________________________

Reduction weight goal: Lose a total of 55 lbs.


Time Frame:

I want to be  5lbs lighter by June 10,2007. To reach that goal; I need to lose 1.5 lbs per week.
I want to be 15 lbs lighter by Sept10, 2007. To reach that goal; I need to lose 1.5lbs per week. (Assuming that I hit my prior goal).
I want to be 15 lbs lighter by Dec 10, 2007.  Same goal as before.
I want to be 15 lbs lighter by March 10, 2007.  Same goal as before.
I want to be at my target weight of 130 lbs by June 10, 2008

Exercise Plan: (Days, Length of Time, Types of Exercise, alternatives, Etc.)
This will change over time.

Current
5 days per week, minimum of 3 hours per week.  walking, weight lifting, rebounding.

My Calorie Range: Current and until I reach ideal weight 1200 – 1600 per day.
My Meal Plan I Intend to use:
I want to eat a balanced diet.  I follow Weston Price foundation diet guidelines.


Food Record Maintenance (Method)

I use www.myfooddiary.com

Well if you read this you know I'VE not been a faithful writer.  So I will fill you in on what has been going on in these last few months.  In March, My oldest son turned 16, we let him have A BIG  party and invite who he wanted.  I think we had about 12 boys.  Crazy and loud, but fun.  He now can drive and it has been such a change for me.  We also received 200 chickens on that day.  So our chickens business started again.  I will be tired of it in the end but it is a way to raise really good healthy food and make some money doing it.  I am glad when people who buy them are so positive and grateful.  It is the same with my milk and eggs.  Who could have thought that they would bring so many people such happiness.  With that I have decided to lose weight.  I have always emphasized healthy eating, but not how much.  So I am determined to do it.  I have a good friend who is an inspiration to me, she is my motivator that will really help me because I need accountability.  In april we received 300 more chickens, yes we have 500 now.  I went on a little road trip with my good friend and it was so fun.  We talked and drove and saw something new, and got to know the real people we are inside a little bit better.  I am always totally amazed how complex people are, and how we don't really bother to get to know them well.  Now it is May and we received 300 more chicks.  Yes 800.  well we butchered the first batch already.   I was reading blogs and it is so interesting to see people's schedules.  So here is ours.
6:00 if Doran's home and going off to work ( he is a fireman)  Get up
6:30 ( if he's not home)
7:00 get boys up and eat by 8:00 (we do devotions together)
8:00 do chores
9:00 come home, do dishes, boys start school.  I clean house, pay bills, sometimes errands. Help Boys with school work.
12:00 eat dinner if Doran is gone, do current events, read out loud.
1:00 to 2:00 boys go outside and have free time.  I work on computer, nap, sew, work
2:00 boys finish school if need be and do house jobs, we have a list for each day. I try to go for a walk or garden now.
3:00 I start supper, unless it has been started earlier or unless Doran's home on 4 day.
6:00 eat and do dishes, clean up.
7:00-10:00 we watch TV or play games or go outside or go see grandma and grandpa. Shower.
10;00 bed time.
If Doran is home on 4 day it all changes. He is a fireman so he works every other day for 24 hours, and then is home for 4 days in a row.  So I get up at usually 6:30 or 7:00,  He sleeps because somtimes he is up all night at work.  I get the boys up at 7:00 sometimes 8:00.  If they get up late they do chores first and we all eat breakfast at 9:00,  then we eat again at about 2:00.  We also do what Doran wants to do on the farm so we might do school late or at night or even on Saturday.  The rule is if all schoolwork and chores are done you are free.  But no electronics until they are done.  We do limit video games and TV to a certain amount of time.  Well see you next time.

I am so blessed to have such good friends.  They are a mighty answer to prayer.  A few years ago there were just no ladies to have for friends that had anything in common with me.  I hung out with my grandma and her friends, though i wouldn't change that for the world, I was longing for some good friends more my age.  Now I have 4 or 5 really good friends.  They have children like I do, they home school like I do, they are so committed to being at home and taking care of their families.  But best of all they are such good examples of Christian ladies.  They teach me so much and are so encouraging to me in my own stuggles and weaknesses.  They help to gently convict me in my own walk to the Lord so I can repent and try to do good from now on.  For example today I had a friend over for lunch.  It was a balm to my soul.  WE talked and laughed and she helped me with this blog site so, hopefully, it will be more interesting.  I went away better.  I have a wonderful husband who is a most intimate friend and the Lord Jesus is my best friend.  If I nothing but these two I would be blessed.  But the dear lady friends I have are just icing on the cake.  More than I deserve.  Well my friend taught how to put in pictures so here it goes!!                                                                                                                                                                                     David 16 years old
] My wonderful husband!!!
Danny 13 years old

Some days, many days are all about hurry hurry.  But today is saturday and we have nowhere to go and nothing earth shattering to do.  We have our daily jobs but mostly it is a slow day.  We eat when hungry, we read and play games.  We read our e-mail and peruse the computor.  It is nice to have a day of renewal and leasure.  The boys don't fight, I am not worried about schedules and did we get it all done.  Not all Saturdays are this way.  But the ones that are truly a gift from my loving father God!

Well the Christmas seson is over and I have a little time to write again.  I must confess I love New Years resolutions.  I love the hope that this year I might keep them. I like the planning of them and what I will do better.  But my flaw in the plan is I used to plan these things on my own power and then wonder why I didn't succed.  I sure you can see how this is going.  Resolutions are not bad if they are in keeping with the will and power of God.  He is the driver of my life.  His plans are my plans.  That is my ultimate goal and plan for my life.  So now I have (usually new years day) a conce ntrated day of reflection.  I confess to my Lord the things I know don't please him. I pray for direction and guidance.  Then I get busy with a light heart.  What great miracles are God going to accomplish in my life this year? I can't wait!

I love Christmas!  The cold wintery days.  The snow, fog, or rain.  The chance to slow down with my family and play games and spend more time together.  I know Christmas is really secular holiday.  I know that it is not one of the religious holidays in the Bible.  But to me it is a chance to celebrate the birth of my savior, Jesus Christ.  I don't care when He was born.  He was born!  I know He came to die.  But he came!  I like to sit one my couch and look at the Christmas tree and reflect about all these things and what I can do for Jesus.  One way is just being here at home.  Sometimes I wonder if my life is too small.  All I do is cook and clean and wash clothes and listen to a science lesson and then it startes again tomorrow.  But I know this is exactly what my boys and husband need.  I am so fortunate to be able to serve someome.  To be able to make memories and relationships.  This is my calling and it is because of Jesus I am able to do it with a serene smile!  So... Merry Christmas!

    We have had unseasonably snowy and cold weather this year in November and
December.  When it snows my boys beg to go out and play in it.  One of the joys of homeschooling is that you can do just that and not feel guitly thay are not getting enough schooling done.  Since we school year round we can stop and smell the roses or ( in this case) play in the snow!