The Shrinkage Diaries

One of my goals last year was to start exercising more. I was pretty consistent with that, but this one of my goals this year is to kick that into a higher gear. I want to start exercising often. Like pretty much everyday. And I want to switch the majority of my diet to no-flour-no-sugar instead of doing it in spurts. See, I feel so much better when I eat this way and exercise that I have no idea why I ever go back to sloppiness. Of course I know I won't always follow this regime to perfection--in fact, I love the way my Mama goes about her health. She says that eating healthy is its own reward system, and works great because if you do want some chocolate cake one day, at least you know you've eaten healthy so many other days in a row it's not such a biggy. She's always told us that diets don't work. And it's really true. I know a guy right now who is "mining for muscle" by going on some crazy diet where all he eats 6 days a week is coffee with a little butter in it. Literally. Sure he's going to lose weight, but once he's done with this coffee-kick, he'll gain it back. The idea is to change your lifestyle. Mama has taught of us girls this maxim, and I am really planning on working at this this year. All of us girls are, really, and Anna (who has the head-start on the rest of us, not being plump) is probably the most consistent. :D

But you know how discouraging it is when you sit there on Pinterest scouring the site for inspiration and all you can find are pictures of super-fit women doing things like this:

Like, "Oh!!!! SARAH! If we just stand on tippy-toes while we brush our teeth we'll go skinny!!!"

Yeah.  Not inspiring. So I thought I'd start a blog series about our quest for health and fitness, starting from now. It's going to be painfully funny, very sarcastic, often informative, and always cheerful. Because everyone knows the Road to Shrinking is fraught with peril...and chocolate cake.

The Shrinkage Diaries: 

The sometimes successful, always hilarious journey toward a figure

I'll post funny stories, inspiring tips, recipes, updates, guest diary-ists, and pictures. Just keep an eye out for updates. I've put up a page where I'll link to each entry in The Shrinkage Diaries. And hey, if you'd like, take the photo and stick it up on your own sidebar, linking to the Shrinkage Diaries page! 

I am so excited about this, and can't wait to kick it off for real! :D

Edible Mr. Darcy? Okay....

Though it has been a long while since I've posted an update about my English Lit. class, it hasn't been so long that you've forgotten about it. (I hope) For those of you who are new aboard ship, I teach an English Literature class for two of my younger sisters who are in the late middle school-early highschool age range. We've been going through Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, but I admit to having grown lax in the last several months in my teaching. Yesterday, however, I sat down and planned out a couple of lessons.

I felt it was a befitting way to spend the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice! :) I have been wanting the girls to get through the book a bit quicker than we've done yet. We were reading aloud to each other two chapters each session, and managed a session or two a week. At any rate, we were only at Chapter 20 out of 40-some, so I needed us to pick up the pace. I will assign them 4 chapters a session to have read and take notes on in the off-days, and then we'll come together to do a couple activities, discuss key points, ideas, shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings. 

But to ease the girls into this new regime and to celebrate the bicentennial of such a fabulous book, I decided we'd make Pride and Prejudice cookies...I looked on Pinterest in a lazy moment and saw all sorts of beautiful Jane Austen cookies, but none took my fancy. Okay. So I'd have to be creative on my own. Converting my mad hypothetical-cake-decorating skills (learned from watching too much Cake Boss) into cookie skills, I put together a plan...I made a batch of sugar cookies and cut some into squares, then made a furling banner type thingamabobber out of paper and cut around it with a knife. The cookies were baked, and when they were cool I made a Royal Icing paste. Literally nothing but powdered sugar, egg whites, and water. I iced them carefully and left the icing to harden overnight.

The bigger scheme? Paint favorite quotes from P&P onto the icing with concentrated food coloring. Would it work? I hoped so. 

The girls were monstrously curious over what on earth these rather drab-looking cookies were for. As you can see from my white-board lesson plan, the first activity was for the girls to choose a character from the book and write a congratulatory letter to Jane Austen in that character's "voice". While they did that, I tested my Theory of Decorating...

Nailed it.

I was so thrilled.

The girls were none the wiser yet, and worked away at their card-making:

They nailed it too. :)

Finally I got to show the girls what our next assignment was, and food-dye ink reigned for the next half-hour as we all bent over our cookies and used teeny paintbrushes to endow them with clever sentiments from the novel itself.

We took some license and included a movie quote or two...

I had so much fun making these, and realized that this technique is now for sure going into my Awesomeness Arsenal, to bring out on special occasions like weddings and graduations. Seriously, these would be adorable as wedding favors!

Mine above, Leah's below.

The picture is a little blurry, but it says, "I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in a pretty woman can bestow..." ;)

Aren't they just darling? First day back at class was a smash. :) Thank you, Jesus!

Home-grown Broadway

Sometimes the loves of the older kids pass down to the younger kids....in this case, they little guys have caught our Les Miz love and flayed the beans out of it. Seriously, this musical is in danger of being sung to extinction in our house like Wicked was before Les Miz introduced itself to us.....we need a new musical. :D But all that to say, a few weeks ago when Mama and Dad had their date night, all the younger kids got dressed up and had me record a few of their songs.

Cast:

Benjamin as Gavroche

Grace as young Cosette

Abigail as Eponine

Leah as Mdm Thenardier (well-stuffed, she begged me to tell you.)

I had another video  or two, but our internet allotment wouldn't bear uploading more videos to Youtube. Sorry. They were "Master of the House" and "On My Own"... :[ But I have three for you, and thought it might amuse you to see them. They aren't perfect, because of course I didn't wish to spoil the spontaneity and fun by endless practice. But enjoy my little stage-fever-brood. :)

March for Life 2013

(photos by Daniel Tate)

For the past several years, a group of people we know have gone up to Washington DC for the March for Life, and it has never worked out in our schedule for me to go. But this year was different. This year Sarah and I both felt very strongly that we wanted to go and show our support for Life. To be counted among those hundreds of thousands of people who are not willing to stay silent. Daniel and Abigail decided to come along too, so we piled into the Tate's 15 passenger van and headed out at 6:30 yesterday morning.

The March for Life, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, is a yearly gathering where people of all faiths, really (lots of Catholics and Christians) collect on the National Mall in Washington DC and listen to speakers speaking on the topic of Life. We got there before the official starting time, and at first there weren't that many people so we were able to get rather close to the stage.

I was standing among a bunch of Catholic college students from Kansas. One particular guy had the loudest shouting voice I think I've ever heard. :D It scared me every time he bellowed!

We stood there in the freezing cold listening to the speakers, all of whom are passionate about the fact that life begins at conception, that abortion is wrong, and that it hurts the mothers as well as the children--a fact many people don't realize. Among the live speakers and video messages, we were able to hear the Speaker of the House: John Boehner, Rick Santorum, and several other notables. But my two favorite speakers were less-famous.

The Jeremiah Lorrig, please return to Miss Grace Tate at earliest opportunity. ;)

One speaker that impacted me was a nineteen year old college student named Ruben Aaoron Verastigui who has devoted his life to fighting abortion. "We are the Pro-Life Generation," he said, calling upon the thousands upon thousands of young people in the crowd to press forward. 

Jill and Grace :)

Grace and Jeremiah

Ruben reminded us that the pro-choice side is getting older and older while the pro-life side is getting younger and younger. It was so neat to hear a guy this young exhorting those of us around his age to get involved. And it was also neat to see that about half of the people there were between the ages of 17-25. :) Definitely a good show of hope for the pro-life movement. According to the Washington Post, the majority of the crowd was young people. 

I also loved hearing Ryan Bomberger, the founder of the Too Many Aborted ministry. See, Ryan has a special niche in the pro-life market. In his own words, he said: "I'm the fringe case even pro-lifers have a hard time accepting." Because Ryan was a baby born of rape. But his mother was a courageous, courageous woman and she chose to keep him. She chose to put him up for adoption, and because of that, Ryan grew up in a wonderful, loving home with parents who adopted ten other children. TEN! Isn't that amazing? His story is so inspiring, so be sure to check out his website.

When the speakers were finished and we were thoroughly frozen, we smushed and pushed and joggled ourselves out to Constitution Avenue. It took about 2 hours just to walk from the Mall to the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill, but while we were walking, a perfect snow began. Literally perfect, crystal snowflakes that were so ornate I forgot where I was. Standing on Capitol Hill and looking back down the streets (realizing that we were in the last 2/3 of the parade anyway) was astonishing. So many people. And that gorgeous snow.

I forgot I was in DC among hundreds of thousands of people. I forgot there was anyone else there. I just stared at my beautiful snowflakes on my glove and exclaimed, "THEY'RE REAL!" (referencing snowflakes that look like the cartoon ones) which apparently occasioned a fellow marching beside me to look at me with a horrified, "You must be stupid" expression on his face. Well whatever, dude. By the time we marched all the way to the Supreme Court building, the snow had filled my hood, and was a quiet powder on the sidewalks. We parted with our good friends who live up in the DC area, and headed back to Union Station to thaw before the drive home.

It was freezing.

It was almost miserable.

But oh, was it worth it. To hear the cheers of thousands of pro-life supporters...to see the thousands of young people who are swelling the country with support for a cause that will not die with the original Roe V. Wade protesters. We prayed together. We marched together. And I am fully confident that someday we will weep together in joy as abortion is nationally recognized as murder of innocent children and is forever banned from our country.

Amen?

A Really Important Post to Me....

Every year Spring comes, followed by Summer, followed by Autumn, followed by a visit from Pastor Ioan Zaharia--a Romanian pastor who has faithfully made the pilgrimage to America each year to visit family in Chicago, then drive the 16 hours here to visit our church and another church near DC.

Every year.

And each time I am blessed beyond belief by the sight of him. By hearing him preach in Romanian, and read the greeting from his church. By hearing him preach from God's word and see his eyes light up with love for Jesus Christ. His has not been an easy life. When Romania was under communism, "Pastor John" would preach on Sunday, be thrown in jail on Monday, released a little later in the week, then start the whole process over again.

To see this man's dedication to come to our church and share his fire and passion and faithfulness is so utterly amazing. On one of his last visits, I felt the love of Christ extending so magnificently through the language and culture barriers. As Pastor John begged us again to come for a visit, I felt God speaking to me:

You could go. You could encourage the Romanian Christians by a visit. You could see the bigger picture I have for this world by getting outside of your own petty troubles. You could get out of your selfish bubble and see My people and how My love levels the playing field for you all...

And suddenly my heart longed with a fierce ache to go to this country to visit this people, and to give back a bit of the blessing Pastor John has given us. He continued to speak with us, and I heard about the orphans...how they cling to visitors in the orphanages and beg them to take them home because all they have ever wanted in their entire life is to have a mommy and daddy.

You could go, the Voice said again. You could hold these children and play with them and pray for them and show them My love.

That night I wrote a letter to Mama,  laying out my strange and sudden desire to go halfway across the world to visit this people. I told her how I feel the need to be awakened to the greater work in the world; to meet the others who are marching under Christ's banner and have a rougher road of it than I. "I know we just don't do things like this," I remember writing, "but I feel like this is something I'm being called to do."

Fast-forward a year or two and you have us here: God has expanded the walls of my desire as we have shared it with the other young people in our church. To cut it to a rather blunt point, there is now a team of ten or twelve of us planning on going to Romania this spring.

The trick?

We need to collect the funds (a sum of about $12,000 all told) before we can go. And our target leaving date is somewhere between March 8 and March 16. After that, the airfare jumps from $700-$800 dollars up to about $1400 per ticket. Obviously, the time is short, the need is immediate, and it's a thing that God will work through if He wants us to go this Spring.

The thing is, everything else has fallen in place. The people in Romania are ready for us. We have a young man whose family lives and works in Romania who would be in the country the same time as us. Even the red-tape at the passport offices has been surprisingly quick and easy.

It seems that the time is, indeed right.

I know that financial times are tough, and many of you might not be able to help us out financially. If you are able to give a little, you can read about the trip, the team, how to help, and the destination on the blog I created for the trip:

The Road to Romania 

Even if the only way you can participate is in prayer, that is really important. Perhaps even more important than the money. (On a spiritual level...) And prayer that the funds will come together would be awesome on the practical side. If you want to shoot us an email letting us know you'll be praying, that'd be great. :) The email address is: scamissionstrip@gmail.com

We will be getting a Paypal button up on the blog very shortly, but for now, if you'd like to make a donation to the effort, you can do so by sending a check to the address on the "How To Help" page. 

Thanks for all your prayers and support, and I will definitely keep everyone updated on how the fundraising goes! We will be having updates on the blog, and if you would be willing to spread the word about the project and blog, I would so greatly appreciate it! :)

Love to you all!

       ~Rachel

Best Foot Forward Challenge: Final Day

Today I'm channeling Gypsy Queen.

Or something along those lines.

A flowered cotton peasant top, a plum-colored peasant skirt, bare feet, and a long strand of pearls borrowed off of Sarah. 

I went very simple today, even though it was a church day.

And boy was church AMAZING! We unexpectedly had a cosmopolitan group: 

2 guys from the Ukraine who have Romanian parents AND a whole family from South Africa. Mr. Stone, the father, is a stellar pianist, and played during the service, then jammed with worship songs after the service and later--after lunch--Broadway music. I loved Mr. and Mrs. Stone's' accents! South African goes right next to Scottish and British right now. It was such a blessing to have this fresh influx of people this Sunday. :)

 A ponytail wrapped in a braid.

"I am the queen of the Gypsies! Hip Hip Hip Hippy Gyspies!..."

;)

And no--that's not a hat. It's a lamp behind me. Today my makeup was some Maybelline blueish grayish palette. Oh yes. And some LeGloss lipstick in Raspberry, I think. 

Well, our Best Foot Forward week is at an end, and I want to thank all of you who participated! I, for one, had a great time making myself dress nicely. I really think it effected my attitude and efficiency this week. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Best Foot Forward: Day Six

Well! Today is a Saturday, in case you didn't know that already. The events for today include finishing the house cleaning, going to a birthday party, and trying to squeeze in some reading of Fly Away Home.  <-- I intend to finish that before Monday, hopefully. :)

Hair purposely messy and thrown-back. I like it this way. Bwahahaha.

Old reliable denim skirt (because comfort is key on a sunny Saturday). This top-combo is one I love, but don't indulge in wearing too often because it's a little short-waisted and must be kept a strict eye on. 

I used my browns again because I thought using blue would be overkill. :D Rimmel mascara, a tidgy tidge of blush (hardly any at all) and then my new Rimmel "Non-Stop Glamour" Stayglossy lipgloss. I absolutely love it. It's a sheer, pinkish-nude color which pretty much matches my lips exactly. Thus I can go natural and fancy both. ^.^

Best Foot Forward: Day Five

We had a bit of snow last night. A bit. The flakes were positively enormous (while they lasted) and knowing that it probably wouldn't last (the picture is from this morning) I went out and wandered in the dark as the giant flakes came down. It was frabjous.

Last night Sarah executed on my nails a design I'd wanted to try. I took some Sally Hansen "Innocent Nude" polish, and painted a coat or two on my nails, then did gold and black accents. I covered all that with clear topcoat. I hardly ever paint my nails because I type so much that it comes right off. Plus, household things are detrimental. I was making cinnamon rolls at 11 last night and chipped a nail. Go figure.

Today was simple and "elegant" without splitting away from casual. How does that happen? Well it starts out with a soft black tunic-style shirt, and jeans. 

And a really awesome belt from LaceAffair, courtesy of the Almost-Sister-In-Law.

'

See the belt? I love it so much.

This outfit was comprised of three colors: Gold, pearl, and black. A very elegant combination, without being "in yo face" about it.

My makeup was very simple today, as the main focus of the outfit was the belt and gold accents. Simple makeup helps keep the casual look of an outfit as well. I used my Rimmel of London "Sweet Smoulder" again, mascara, and Revlon lipstick in "Softsilver Rose." I bought it yesterday while out, and love the color--a very soft, sweet pink.

I did my hair in a sort of messy-bunnish thing with a braid crossed over the top. I didn't show you the back because there's a hideous bobby-pin cross I needed to make so it wouldn't slump. I didn't bother to hide it.

The Jewelry consisted of a garnet pendant, my dragon-gold bracelet, and some random gold and pearl "orchid" earrings got from some obscure source in the long-distant past. 

How is your Day 5?

Best Foot Forward Challenge: Day Four

It is still raining.

I think this makes an entire week straight of mist and moist and cloudy, wasthe weather.

"If we are living in England," as I remarked to my sister, "shouldn't we have the benefit of an accent?"

But it was not to be. 

Today I went casual and cozy because I heard that we are supposed to get snow tonight and into tomorrow! I do hope it sticks, because if it does, it's the first of the year! But I don't know what to think since we're currently floating like Noah's Ark in puddles up to our waists. 

(Okay. So another awkward pose, but I'm telling you, this is all cuz of the weather. I swear.)

(Do any of you know how awkward it is to be compiling a post of pictures of yourself while in Panera, prior to working on your rewrite? Huh? It's really awkward. Everyone can see your narcissism. ;)

Comfy cranberry sweater, blue jeans, crazy tumbling-coins earrings, and a purple knotted-chain necklace.

I used my flaxseed gel again because my hair felt so soft yesterday. Again, it worked out nicely, though today's curls are of a different variety. I wonder if the drop in temperature has anything to do with this, considering that humidity cannot be a variable.

I French-braided a small portion of my "bangs" backward and pinned 'em with bobbies.

Makeup today is my Loreal "Violets" palette, a bit of white kohl-pencil, and mascara. I also dipped a little into my Rimmel of London "Crown Jewels" palette for a deeper purple. Some raspberry something-or-other lipgloss, and then some BBW Japanese Cherry Blossom scent. 

And the whole with my glasses on. Sheesh. Cannot wait till I can afford contacts again!

Best Foot Forward Challenge: Day 3

So today the main event was to try out the flaxseed hair gel I made yesterday. Mama and sisters were very very dubious as to how it would work. I was determined, but had no idea if it was a good idea or not. But it's something I have wanted to try for some time, and this is what "Dressing up to Knock Around the House" days are for, right? Trying things out here in case they won't work there? This morning I got up, showered, and ran the gooey-goop (it looks exactly like the cave trolls' "floaters", btw) through my hair, and scrunched it repeatedly.

Did it work?

You judge: 

I honestly think it did. If nothing else, it smoothed my frizz and made my hair kitten-fur soft. I'm not kidding. This is the best junk I've ever put in my hair. (Not that I've used much gel, but you know.)

And because I know you're asking, here's the recipe:

Homemade Flaxseed Hair Gel

1/4 c. flax seeds

1 c. water

1 tsp. coconut oil

Boil all ingredients together till it becomes the thickness of unwhipped egg-whites. Remove from heat, give a good whisk once or twice, then strain and keep in a jar in the fridge. You can add essential oils (I didn't have any on hand) and you can re-use the seeds over and over to make more till they won't get gooey! Isn't that awesome? It made me happy to hear it. :) 

To use, just apply liberally in your hair and scrunch the curls. Let air dry. This doesn't make your hair crunchy at all, and the coconut oil moisturizes!

Now for the rest of the outfit:

 Leah laughed at my post in the full-length picture, but it's grey and rainy again, and the only place to take the photos was on the front porch, and it was not working out so finally I struck a  "Take that...HOMEBOY!" pose and got the picture. Hence the inner-city tossing of the hands.

 And the bare feet. Or perhaps that's because I'm a country bumpkin now.

Pardon the idiotic expression on my face. I was attempting to show you my makeup, and when I smile my eyes have a habit of crinkling up so you can't see my makeup. I used Loreal "Desert Rose" palette, I think--basically browns. I sprayed on a little "Innis Moonlight" to make myself smell nice. :D

Because the whole outfit was feeling brown, I added NYC "The Red Hots" Duos (the tangerine side) lipstick. :) A gold bracelet, gold watch, black and crystal bracelet, and matching necklace and earrings finished the thing. 

Ohhhhh dear. This gets funnier the longer you look at it. On the bright side, my complexion is marvelous. I am wearing no foundation or concealer or blush. (Thus I'm a little pale, but oh well.)

The dragon-hoard bracelet goes on the other arm, but that arm was the one holding the candle. What can ya do? Nothing.

What is your outfit for Day Three?