No Shave November- Guest post by Ashley

From Duck Dynasty to Ron Swanson, men now and days are rocking the facial hair like it’s 1886. The “mane” topic for the past few years has been the famous “No Shave November” and “Movember.” This is where men get to show off how manly they are by how bushy their ‘staches get!

Meet my awesome husband: Luke

  I, myself, have been privileged to witness my own husband and his two best friends support “Movember,” three years back, which is just growing a mustache, whereas “No shave November” is growing a full Mumford and Sons beard. I had to endure a full month of him growing an itchy caterpillar right below his nose, and every time he kissed me, I would sneeze (and if you know my side of the family, our whole bodies shake like earthquakes and we go blind for a few seconds afterwards). Although, the nice thing about his mustache, is that he would get free grilled cheese every “Mustache” Monday at the local burger joint; the only luxury of living in a small, indie college town in Idaho. Plus, who doesn’t love free food, no matter how below average it is?

We call this picture "Uncle Rico after Thanksgiving" We all know that Uncle who lazily sits and watches football after dinner.

I also fully enjoyed having children, in our church in primary that we taught; ask if Luke was my dad because he looked SO dang old. But, Luke loved his mustache so much, that we went out for a photo opt in the community showing his true ‘stache pride, and whatever he loves, I love too.  Now looking back on it, I just want to say, “Hey, Look! I stuck around! Now we’ve been married for 2 ½ years!” It’s actually scientifically proven that women find men more attractive with facial hair and I will admit, Luke looked pretty manly with that giant, thick Luigi Bros. mustache of his.

These are the "pedophiles" I'm talking about...(Luke and his friends, who are really NOT pedophiles. haha).

Despite the fact that most men with thick facial hair look like pedophiles (see picture), or lumber jacks, there’s actually a bigger issue to it all. Although it seems fun to grow out your facial hair (I mean, c’mon, what woman hasn’t imagined herself with a sweet ‘stache?), it all started in Australia in ’04 when a group of men decided not to shave for the whole month of November, to raise awareness for prostate cancer and depression amongst men. “The month of November is blocked off for a time when men and women donate the money they usually spend on shaving and grooming for a month to educate about cancer prevention, saving lives and helping to fight the battle.” I feel like, we forget that men have these stressful problems too. I, myself, have not had to endure such scary matters with any men on either side of my, or my husband’s family, but it is no laughing matter or something to shrug off. Like most women who get screened and checked at least once a year for breast cancer, men should do the same for prostate cancer, if they want to stay on top of their health.

Now, when Jess asked me to be a guest blogger on how “No Shave November” has impacted my life, I didn’t actually realize the seriousness behind it all. I thought it was some random, new hipster thing to do, but like I said, I was ignorant of the subject. So, this article is not going to turn into a depressing story or anything, but it’s important for everyone to be informed about the subject!

Please enjoy a picture of my husband posing with an old ladies fox fur coat. The coat is a long story, ask me later.

It doesn’t have to be depressing, in fact, those who participate in “No Shave November” or “Movember” have lots of fun! There’s a competition every year for the craziest beards and/or mustaches (which was on November 2, this year in Germany) and even women can participate in “No Shave November,” by not shaving their legs. I actually used to have roommates in college who would do this every year and I would get super grossed out, until I tried it the following year. Somehow, it felt fresh, liberating and you start trying to protest on how women’s standards of shaving legs should be legally banned. Then, you get married…and I’m still a newlywed and therefore am still self conscience of the spikes on my legs when I don’t shave. Too much information? Thought so  .

All in all, have fun with “No Shave November” and be aware and informed of it! And Happy “Movember” and of course Happy Thanksgiving!

Part of the World Beard and Mustache Championships

THE END…or FIN, for those fancy people out there.

Oh, and this is to show that my husband really isn’t creepy. He’s actually very handsome 

Luke & I

~ Ashley

The Notorious "Holiday" B.I.G: I'm not a Food Slayer....I just Munch A Lot.

Have you ever seen those 90's rap videos where there's a party, everyone's dancing around having a jolly ol' time enjoying the DJ's music when all of a sudden, someone unexpected walks into the party? The DJ looks up, the music comes to a screeching halt and everyone stops dancing and gives a disgusted look to the new guest?

That's how I feel about holiday food...it's the new guest. I mean- I'm on a roll in the summer. Eating healthier, exercising, and feeling great! Then the fall & holiday season comes around and it's like the new guest just crashed my health party. 

Except...I can't kick the guest out of my house because I like them. No, I love them. I want them to be here.  And I especially love holiday food. From the pumpkin chocolate chip bread in October to the good gracious Thanksgiving dinner and desserts in November, I fall victim every year to the heavenly holiday hash. And don't even get me started on the month of December. The whole month I feel like we consume more cookies than Santa Claus himself.

Now I'm not trying to be the "Notorious Holiday B.I.G food slayer" here. My problem is that I just munch A LOT. These last months of the year I love to munch on my secret stash of Halloween Reese's peanut butter cups in my freezer, Grandma's Christmas fudge in the pantry, the sliver(s) of holiday honey ham, and the oh-it's-just-a-small bowl or two...or three of pumpkin Chex mix...the madness is real! However we can still enjoy food while keeping a healthy perspective.

Here are my Seven Realistic Tips to Beat the Holiday bulge:

1) Beware of buyer’s remorse. Not the retail kind (that's for another article). I'm talking about the grocery store kind. Throughout the holiday season there are all sorts of “deals”. From black Friday ads to the mounds of coupons promising “buy one get one free” holiday promotions, it’s so hard to say “no”. I mean, it’s such a great deal…(or at least this is how I have justified it on the past). 

This season try buying just enough for what you need and that goes for food, too. Maybe you’re planing to make those delicious peanut butter cup cookies you’ve been drooling over while perusing Pinterest or you found that amazing orange & cranberry glazed turkey recipe you want to try out at the upcoming family Thanksgiving gathering. Sounds so good! But instead of stocking up on two bags of peanut butter cups with a coupon or buying that 18-pound ham, buy only the amount you need for the recipe and for the amount of people you are feeding. (You will also have sides that they can fill up on, too). If you're looking to have leftovers, remember that they could potentially turn into leftover pounds, too.

2) Plan Your Family Meal Calendar and Use it.  I can’t say enough great things about meal planning. It has honestly cut back on lots of stress & time that comes from the monotony of daily cooking for our family. When we meal plan, we know what we’re going to eat and it can help assure that our healthy eating goals will be realistically met. Try spending 30 minutes on a Sunday night planning the new week’s meals (including breakfasts and lunches).  Make a list, gather any coupons you have, and plan a trip to the grocery store. Stick with the menu you've planned and you’ll not only stick with your attempts to maintaining a healthy diet, but it might help you keep your family's monthly food budget in check, too!  There are many meal planning websites that have lots of great healthy recipes. I could go on and on about it! Hmmm....I feel another article coming on...

Image credit: homemakerschallenge.com

3) Make Time for Exercise. Finding an exercise program that truly works for me and sticking with it is an ever-going battle. 

To make an exercise program successful, I've tried making smaller and more realistic goals first. For example, I schedule three days a week (when I know I can find 25-30 minutes to exercise) and commit to it by putting the days and time I will exercise on my calendar. There are those who have that "ain't-nobody-got-time-for-that" attitude but I don't want to be one of those people...health is important and should be a priority. According to a recent report by eMarketer, as adults, we spend an average of TWO hours on our phones and tablets a day (this doesn't even include the amount of time spent watching TV..which was over FOUR hours a day). 

Even making a conscious effort to take the stairs at work or to take a 20-minute walk during your lunch break can make a big difference to your physical and mental health anytime, and of course, can relieve some stress this holiday season. Carving a turkey may be on your mind now, but unless you carve out the time in your schedule to exercise, you’ll be paying for it later. So keep up the exercise!

Image credit: Whattoexpect.com

4) Portion control & drinking lots water. I’ve already mentioned meal planning as a tool that can help with monitoring what we’re eating each day. Next, try practicing portion control. Fill the majority of your plate up with healthy vegetables first before adding other foods. Drinking water before eating and throughout your meals is not only helpful for digestion but helps us stay fuller longer. 

5) Try putting desserts and snacks away after eating, close up the kitchen and brush teeth!  Someone once told me that if I wanted to cut back on nightly snacking, I should brush my teeth after dinner. When I don't do this it's just too easy to grab a handful or two of M&Ms (darn you, Target and your amazing selection of holiday M&Ms!) When I brush my teeth after dinner, I find myself thinking more before I eat. It's also helpful when I pack up the goodies and get them out of my view. Out of sight, out of mind, right? If I feel I need a little snack later on in the evening,  I try to look for healthier options or drink a tall glass of water.

Image credit: abc.net

6) 'Tis the season to share. Every year I buy a few of those Ziploc/Glad holiday bags and containers. Why? Because I need help! If I don't share the goodies they will most definitely end up in my mouth. When making holiday goodies or if we have dinner left overs, we share with our guests to make sure we don’t have lots of leftovers that could turn into left over pounds.  Buy a few extra disposable plastic containers to pack up any extras and send the food home with your friends and families, your waist will thank you.

7) Give yourself a break and indulge a little. I leave the best for last, non? For me, it's unrealistic to think that I'm not going to bake or have special family dinners with all of the fixings over this holiday season. I LOVE to cook and bake and I feel cooking in the kitchen make some of my favorite memories with our families. So I don't get upset with myself when I have those indulgent moments....in fact, I savor them. However, as long as I'm attempting to eat healthy most days of the week and exercise, I can afford to eat a few foods I want. Plus, by restricting what I eat all the time, I turn into this guy:

Instead of this mom blissfully baking with her kids:

Image credit: www.sheknows.com

As we all venture into the holiday eating this year, may the odds ever be in your favor, may the force be with you and may you have the power to stick to our healthy goals! 

Disclaimer: I’m in no way a  dietitian/nutritionist  so pretty please consult with your doctor first before starting any diet and/or exercise program! Happy Holidays! 

Winter is Coming

I'm typing this as I watch the snow fall outside my window, thinking "I should have taken the kids to the park more" and "Why didn't we go camping one last time?"
I don't want to admit that the days of darkness and temperatures down to -60 are on the way. Last year it snowed the day before my daughters birthday, May 12. It will be a long time until we have warm weather here again.
So to make myself a little more excited, I'm going to share some of my favorite things about winters in Alaska.

 The World Ice carving Championships

 Ice Slides

 Ice Tunnels

More Ice slides, this time with sleds

 Mosquitoes that don't bite

 Sled Rides from my kids

Cool, although a bit depressing time lapse photos of how much sunlight we get in the middle of winter.

Photo courtesy of UAF

And of course, last but not least, the northern lights. I'm pretty sure this right here makes up for all of it.

Image credit: http://joey-holliday.com/

Does anyone else already have snow? What are some of  your favorite winter activities?

The Forgotten Holiday

  This probably isn't the first hand-turkey you've seen.  And it's probably not the most impressive- but when I walk past this roughed-up piece of scrap paper hanging in my kitchen, I can help but feel a little burning in my nose and tears forming in my eyes as my heart swells to three times the size like the Grinch on Christmas day.

When we left church this Sunday I only thought briefly of the piece of scrap paper secured under my arm as I passed-off the baby to my husband and led our 2 and a half year old out to the car.  A puddle caught his eye and he wanted to jump in it.  (...in his church clothes)  I kind of let him briefly as I was having a moment of "Hey- This is a memory!" before I remembered I didn't want to deal with the sopping wet child on the drive home.

So I led him the rest of the way to the car and after he was strapped-in I settled into my own seat and glanced down at the paper now in my lap.  I hadn't noticed the little orange hand before.  Someone had obviously helped him trace it (he can use a fork but I'm pretty sure hand-tracing is well beyond his current dexterity skills) and they had also quickly sketched a little turkey-face on the thumb.

While I'm sure my son was more in awe of the process than the end product, (Orange and green ARE two of his favorite colors right now and those scribbles are definitely his.) it was still a tender moment for me as a mom realizing that he's starting to get to that age of awareness- where holidays are actually a thing.  An exciting period of time where things are special.  He may not remember THIS turkey-hand, but he will remember making them.  And he will probably make plenty of them.  Then one day- when he's a father with his own children... he will probably get that same butterfly-feeling I'm having when he realizes that his children are old enough to grasp the concept of "This is your hand- and now it's a turkey!"

Halloween was fun this year.  He is pretty much OBSESSED with pumpkins right now.  He's recently learned the word "scary" and he loves being a monster/dinosaur/lion etc... in the mirror making the scariest growls and snarls with his hands up like claws.  But once Halloween was over- so was the holiday-high and I found my brain on auto-pilot towards Christmas.

While part of this is the fact that we are making travel plans, budgeting shopping for presents, and being bombarded with Christmas commercials- part of it is the fact that that I feel like Thanksgiving has pretty much become a forgotten holiday.  Sure- we make plans with extended family or friends and we eat turkey...but that's pretty much it.  Almost like a pre-Christmas if you will.

This year my husband and I will be celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary on Thanksgiving!  We were married on Black Friday in 2008...and we may or may not of had a friend buy our tv set using my husband's smart phone while we were having our first dance. (In our defense it was a good deal and it's still working great!)  We thought the thanksgiving anniversary was pretty cute- because we're "thankful" for each other and all... but the holiday still wasn't making the "special" status in my book that I remember it reaching when I was a child.

And I don't think I'm alone.

[Image Source: Here]

On one hand we mourn the loss of that glorious holiday from our childhoods... and yet we skim right over the month putting up Christmas trees and looking for shopping deals. In reality- no one is really blaming you, Christmas is AWESOME.  It's only human nature to want to get to it as soon as humanly possible.  And you're not alone.  We complain that stores are putting out Christmas stuff earlier and earlier- yet someone has to be buying it or they wouldn't have it out so early. And that someone is us.

I want to say once and for all- that there is nothing wrong with being excited about Christmas.  But we can't have our cake and eat it too.  You can't be upset that there's no Thanksgiving if you're not making an active effort to make a Thanksgiving.  Holidays don't celebrate themselves.

So, as I've been staring at this hand-tukey for the past couple of days, I've come to a personal conclusion.  Thanksgiving is back on.  The stores may not agree with me- some of my facebook friends may not agree with me- and the media may not agree with me- but in our house, we are celebrating!

Here are Eleven ways to celebrate this Tukey-rific time of year:

1.) Draw a Hand-Turkey!

A classic.  Make it simple- make it intricate.  Go big, go small.  Hang them up- hand them out- let those turkey-hands shine!  I am a firm believer that these childhood memory-boosters can turn any cold turkey heart warm and toasty.

2.) Spread out the joy

You may think I'm referring to cranberry sauce or butter- but no- I'm looking at the bigger picture.  Some of the most well-loved holidays (think Halloween, Christmas, etc...) are celebrated ALL MONTH LONG!  Thanksgiving is so often limited to a one or two day event.  (Or less if you count the fact that most of us sleep nearly all day after stuffing ourselves silly.)  Try and get in the spirit now while November is still new.  Some of the best holiday memories are the activities you do in anticipation of the actual event.  

3.) Make Plans

It's really tempting to sit at home doing nothing- especially if you don't have kids at home.  You have the day off work, most people are busy with their families, the air is nice and cool... sounds like perfect napping/lounging conditions.  And while that may be ok for some people- we are celebrating!  Make an effort to find something fun to do.  Even if you don't have family in the area, there are often lots of "orphan thanksgiving" events you can attend.  Consider asking around at work, church, or finding a group through meetup.com.

4.) Dress-up

When I was little my family would always dress-up for Thanksgiving.  I'm not talking khakis and nice sweaters.  I'm talking construction paper pilgrims and indians. And of course- someone always had to dress-up as the turkey. (Sorry dad!)  This doesn't have to be limited to a childrens-only event.  It can be a lot of fun for the laid-back Thanksgiving environment (although khakis and sweaters are fine too).  Try checking out Pinterest for ideas on how to make some DIY costumes.

5.) Watch some holiday specials

Christmas isn't the only time of year with holiday specials!  Try watching some Thanksgiving episodes of your favorite television shows to help set the mood.

6.) Count your blessings

There are about a thousand and one ways you can do this.  One of the easiest/most popular that I've seen is to write a daily facebook status post with something that you are thankful for.  While this can be slightly obnoxious for your more bah-humbug facebook friends- there are bound to be a few who appreciate your positive attitude. (and you're doing this for you!)  When I was a child I remember my mom making a paper turkey and each day in November my brothers and I would add a paper tail-feather to it with something we were thankful for written on it.

7.) Make some holiday-themed treats

Have some pumpkin pie or make some turkey-shaped cookies anytime this month.  The treats don't have to be limited to the day-of. (You can always work out before swimsuit season anyway.)

8.) Decorate

Many of your halloween decorations can be re-utilized for thanksgiving.  Turn those plastic jack-o-lanterns around for some plain pumpkins to help set the harvest-mood.  Print some thanksgiving-printable subway art to hang around the house to remind you what Thanksgiving is all about.

9.) Accessorize

Paint your nails with a turkey or autumn-leaf theme.  Make a seasonal t-shirt or some onesies for the littlest turkeys in your family.

10.) Have a Party

Many people are busy with their families on actual thanksgiving.  If you want to extend the holiday-fun to more than just family you could consider throwing a pre-thanksgiving party.  This is bound to be a hit with kids who love any excuse to play games and eat goodies. (...did I say kids? I meant me.)

11.) Check out our Pinterest Page!

Our authors will be busy pinning some of our favorite Thanksgiving-related pins (Including the pictures above with their related links) onto our Thanksgiving page: 

(Clicking this will take you to our Thanksgiving Pinterest Page)

Happy Turkey Day!