5 things

 {current reading list- heaven is here, fifty shades of grey & the lucky one.}

 {trying out- keep me clean facial wipes}

{loving- jude's new samba's}

{snacking on- gluten free sunrise cereal}

{displaying- jude's new rattle egg he picked up at the zoo!}

tuesday's teachings

compassion, patience, and simplicity:

"there are only three qualities 

you must teach your children.

compassion, patience, and simplicity.

some would say this is absurd.

they would teach instead,

ambition, drive, and consumption,

and say it is the way of success. 

but if they learn patience,

they see the world as it truly is.

if they learn simplicity,

they see themselves as they truly are.

and if they learn compassion, 

they heal themselves

and the world. 

following the tao as a parent

will often seem opposed 

to the conventional parenting wisdom.

the confusion lies in ourselves as parents.

we don't know what we truly want,

or who we truly are.

compassion, patience, and simplicity 

cannot be taught

until they are experienced. 

and when we experience them,

we lose the need to teach them.

we live them instead.

and then our children learn."

words from: the parents tao te ching

previous tuesday's teachings here! 

eating gluten free

for the past 2 weeks i have challenged myself to eat completely gluten free. and i have! what i thought would be more of a challenge, hasn't actually been one at all. the hard part is remember that most things do have gluten so my options have been quite limited- but as far as cravings go, its been rather easy. finding restaurants that have gluten free menu's has been pretty easy as well- brick oven, milawi's pizza, costa vida & cafe paesan to name a few, just remember to ask for gluten free.

the reason i wanted to try a gluten-free diet was for a couple of reasons- 

1. gluten foods make it so your body wants sugars, bad fats & unhealthy amounts of wheat. by removing gluten, you find yourself craving raw foods, veggies & fruits (and it speeds up your metabolism!) i've definitely noticed this. the other day i had a sweet tooth so i ate a handful of jude's dried berries- it was like candy to my taste buds and it satisfied my craving.  

2. summer is pretty much here & since i practically live in my bikini during this time of year, i wanted to shed a couple of pounds to look & feel bikini body ready. its been about 2 weeks now & i feel lighter, i feel healthy. cutting out carbs will definitely do that!   

if your interested in eating gluten free this blog has been a great source for recipes & cooking tips- she is one of my favorites. (her book is my next purchase!) you can also check out this blog & this blog- both helpful & informative.

photo book

i recently put together & ordered a photo book for jude! i've wanted to do one ever since i saw this post from a cup of jo. and talk about perfect timing! jude is repeating everything we say lately- including the names of family members! now he has a book to put names with faces.

momma's- i recommend doing this if you have a little one who is starting to learn their words. it's such a great way for them to associate pictures of family members/close friends with their names. i ordered mine from shutterfly & i couldn't be happier with it!

a day up provo canyon