Today is the anniversary of when my brother passed away. He was killed in a car accident when he was 13 and I was 11. I talked about this a little on my Livestream the other night but this is typically a weekend most of my life when I would just stay in bed all day and eat.
Grief is one of those things that no one can prepare you for. Every year is different, some years harder than others and those feelings certainly aren't linear. Learning to not numb that pain with food continues to be a very difficult part of my healing journey.
We usually try and do something special as a family, spend some time talking, I share memories with my kids about their Uncle Jonathan and who he was. I often imagine what he would have been like as an adult and the family he might have had. I find peace in knowing we will all be together again someday.
My Mom (Melissa) is in this group as well, send her some love and prayers today. When I became a parent I grieved on a whole other level at what she must have gone through (and still does).
Thinking of any of you that are dealing with pain and sadness this weekend as well. I'll see some of you later at the Meat-Up ❤️ Looking forward to it.
I don't typically love cooking with cast iron, despite the excellent results they can bring. It's messy and smells up the house. Add to that, the one we have is super old and not very good. We were recently gifted a really good one from Lancaster Cast Iron so today I decided to give it a try. We have a side burner on our Weber so I could do it outside. I sous vide a steak, then seared it in tallow on the new pan. Man it was incredible. What a difference it made from our old one. Super easy clean up too. Below is the pan, of course I forgot to take a picture of the steak haha.
Do you love using cast iron? What are some favorites you make in them?
Yesterday we surprised the kids and brought home a puppy!! They have been begging for one for years and we felt like the time was right to bring one home.
Meet Angus 🐕 He's a Golden Retriever/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix. He's 11 weeks old and currently weighs about 8 pounds, he should be around 35 pounds fully grown. I know it will be an adjustment for a while as he gets potty trained etc but we are so excited. 😂 Wish us luck! 🤪
Cheese is good! I ate a block of chipotle oven baked cheese with lunch yesterday and it was divine. I love it, but know that it halts any progress I'm making, and will even trigger eating in excess to where I'll gain weight. It's sad but I have accepted it. If I eat it in small quantities with a meal, it's ok, but I really have to work to keep it in check.
What's your favorite cheese? How do you incorporate it? Do you see negative results when eating it?
Happy Friday!! We are supposed to have a VERY rainy weekend here in Arizona, which is very rare for us. It might even mean that trick or treating is cancelled. 🎉😂 I always trade the kids for their candy anyway so fine by me if we don't even have to go out. Plus Penelope said she's too old for trick or treating and said she'll just skip it and take the money. 🤪😂
Other than that and church we have no plans this weekend, which I am excited about after a busy week. I might go get a day pass at a new gym that has a fancy steam room/sauna and cold plunge.
What are your plans for this weekend?
Happy Friday Evening Family!!
(Oh No! she's back!!) Sing some praises with me; the 2026 harvest is out of the field!! Farmer Hubby finished the corn today, the end in the rain. He ended up leaving a few rows in the field due to wet spots and steep new terraces; but the rest is out, including where the creek flooded and left logs/limbs. He got those picked up today.
You have no idea how grateful and relieved we are. This harvest kicked our behinds. We are getting older and the push and stress were something else. But now we're done. He'll clean up the combine and grain cart and truck and store them away for winter over the next few days/week. Then we'll concentrate on getting the cattle home and then winterizing what needs to be winterized.
Anywho... just wanted to report in that I'll be more "here."
Accountablility
Fresh air/sunshine/exercise/sleep
Not much/none (rain)/walking while doing errands/terrible with leg cramps for several hours.
Food
M1: Coffee and a chicken meat stick
M2: Carnivore...
Good Evening Y'all!! Day 30 of dairy free except butter and no eggs. Day 20 of no coffee. I have almost made it through my first goal. Starting a new goal Sunday. Y'all today was hard. I don't know why I craved so many sweets today. But I stayed strong because I don't want to botch my progress. I forgot to log my 6 little snackum' dill pickles tonight with dinner.
Here's my stats for the day.
