Lent

Paprika loves making noises by pushing her finger across her mouth- it's really really cute! Paprika is in the middle of a two and a half hour nap right now- whew! She was up a lot last night- and so she's making up for lost time right now, I guess. I hardly know what to do with myself!

I cut out all the gossip media for Lent- a change that has had a really profound effect on my life. I'm also filtering most other broadcast media- I mean, I'm still keeping current with what is going on in the world and in our community, I'm just not leaving the television on at random and listening to all the negative stuff out there. We are cancelling cable when we move to Pasadena. We only got cable a few months ago, but already, I just want to be rid of it. I turn it on and in the background I just her noise, noise, noise. We'll still have the network stations so I can get my weekly fix of American Idol and Lost. There are a few cable shows, like Battlestar Gallactica, that I really enjoy, and we can get those on ITunes. Since Mr. Mustard works mostly on network TV shows, I will still get to see all of his shows, which is really important to me since I definitely want to support him. A lot of my decision to cut out cable has come from wanting Paprika to be active and not stuck in front of a television all day. In the limited time we have all together as a family in the evenings, I want us to be interacting not just mindlessly watching television. We will be keeping the TV to watch movies and stuff like that, though.

I've also made really good progress with cutting out the sugar in my diet. I still have some with my oatmeal, but for the most part, I'm eating really heathfully and mindfully. It's changed my perspective on things a bit, since I'm looking to food for both nourishment and enjoyment-- and it's hard to enjoy something when you know deep down it's hurting your body (like a lot of refined sugar does!) Cutting out the soda was huge for me, but now it's no biggie. I drink a lot of water, which makes me feel really good and alive. Since starting these simple changes, I have lost a great deal of weight effortlessly, which is so nice. I don't feel like I'm trying to lose weight at all, just enjoying life and allowing my body to naturally rid itself of the excess through diet and exercise.

I've been thinking a lot about God and spirituality lately. Living here has been difficult for me, and in that, I think it made me really search for meaning and a connection with God. So, that has been a good thing. I always seem to take the difficult path in everything that I do- I never seem to do things the way that everyone else does them. I think that's something in my spirit- something maybe my mom and dad instilled in me. Anyway, lately I've been on a real search for meaning and I am discovering so much about my purpose, my place in the world, and finding a sense of peace about it all. Having a child, for me, has helped me change my view of the world, redirect my focus to things that really matter, and find a sense of peace that I didn't know was possible. It's a very exciting time of life, and one of hope, too. Speaking of my little girl, she just woke up from her very long nap. Time to go play!