Summer Dieting

Summer is finally here! Or at least I think it is. We've had so many temp variations this month there are some days I wonder.

I don't typically like to talk about my weight but it's been a struggle for years due to my having hypothyroidism. Nothing is more demoralizing then to have your doctor tell you that you could totally stop eating and starve yourself and you're body would still put on weight, which is exactly what happened to me about 12 years ago. I'd been able to focus on myself and lost a lot of weight while I was single. It was much easier to focus on de-stressing, eating and exercising when I didn't have to worry about someone else liking the foods I was eating or working around their schedule to exercise or meditate. Now I'm back in a relationship plus the stress of the new job and the stress of life in general and I've started to inch back up again.  I've found several things that have helped and some that haven't that I thought I'd share with others that are also struggling.

I'm watching my carbs but I don't consider myself on a low carb diet. I target my carbs at 50, which is much higher than the 20 carbs that low carb diets target or 10 carbs that some keto dieters target. I feel fruits and vegetables are important but I'm more aware of how often I eat certain higher carb fruits and vegetables. I like the Mediterranean diet but the man won't eat those types of meals so it would be difficult to follow so I'm trying to combine them and make a low carb Mediterranean diet. In about a month I'm down 11 pounds - not a huge weight loss, but I didn't put the weight on overnight (although at times it feels like it) and I'd rather lose slowly over a rapid weight loss that probably wouldn't be sustainable. I also want this to be a lifestyle not a short term yo-yo diet.


UPDATE: I have decided to affiliate myself with Amazon. If you click on any product I mention and purchase the item, I may receive some monetary support from it.  That being said, if I'm aware that Amazon is not the cheapest site I will let share the info with you.

THUMBS UP:

CARB MASTER (Android app which can be found on Google Store or Play Store)

This is an app that has both a free version and a pay version. I use the free version at this time. This app is designed for those on low carb or keto focused diets.

PROS: 

• I like it because it allows you to set how many carbs you want. Typically the low carb diets target 20 carbs or less per day. I have set my target as 50 carbs per day and I'm still losing weight.
• It has a weight tracker and food journal/log feature. The food journal/log has the ability to scan barcodes, which I really like. It does not have a built in pedometer but you can manually put your steps in or sync it with a pedometer like Fitbit.
• There's a recipe search which has the neat feature of telling you if the recipe falls within your remaining carbs.
• In addition to the food journal/log tracking your carbs it also tracks fats and proteins and shows everything in a pie graph. I like that it sets the amount of fats and proteins based on your carb target. Many low carb or keto diets only focus on the carbs and allow unlimited fats and push unlimited proteins.

CONS:

• If you don't want to follow a diet that tracks carbs specifically this probably isn't the app to use.

ZEVIA (beverage)

I have a Mountain Dew addiction and knew I needed to try to find something to reduce the carbs I'm drinking. A 12 ounce can of Mt. Dew has 46 carbs! I don't like artificial sweeteners so the diet version wasn't for me. I started making tea but I don't like it sugar free so although lower in carbs, I was still consuming more carbs then I wanted. Zevio is a pop/soda beverage that uses Stevia as a sweetener. I could not find anywhere that sells this locally to try it so I ordered a case of mixed flavors from Amazon.

At $24 a case it isn't cheap but still only costs about $1 per can, which is acceptable. I bought the variety pack to try flavors to see which ones I would like. I was surprised that I actually like these. I've tried "natural" pops before and haven't liked them. They have a Mountain Zevia, which is supposed to be like my Mt. Dew. It's citrus-y flavored but I wouldn't say it was a close match to Mt. Dew - I did like it though. I have tried the Cola, Dr. Zevia and Cream Soda (my favorite so far) and actually like all of them. They have no artificial colors or dyes so it's a little odd pouring a clear cola. I'm not an orange or grape soda person so I'll let my son or grandson drink those. I've taken one of these cans to work several times over the past 2 weeks and have been satisfied without feeling like I've deprived myself. I haven't tried mixing them with alcohol yet but will soon. I have not gotten a artificial sweetener headache or after taste like I did with the diet sodas. I set this up for a monthly shipment to automatically be sent to me.

Craveable Keto: Your Low-Carb, High-Fat Roadmap to Weight Loss and Wellness by Kyndra Holley (Cookbook)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1628602716/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ndprairiegyps-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1628602716&linkId=248c6bd61975d7fec9c6bee4af8745d3

I've stayed away from low carb cookbooks because most of them call for tons of items I don't have in my pantry and they also seem to rely on a lot of artificial products. I just downloaded the Kindle version of this for $9.99 and regret I didn't order an actual copy of it ($22.07). The pictures are great and the recipes simple. Kyndra Holley writes a blog called Peace, Love and Low Carb that I recently started following on Facebook. My mouth was watering reading the recipes and looking at the pictures with the recipes. I quickly decided to try out the Pizza Egg recipe this morning for breakfast and it was delicious! This came in at only 3 carbs!  I can't wait to try her Alfredo sauce and I already added egg rings to my Amazon order to make the breakfast sandwich. I'll definitely be ordering more of her cookbooks and following her closely for food ideas.

Pizza Eggs from Peace Love and Low Carb webpage

DUDS:

NOOM 

This program is being touted as the millennial's version of Weight Watchers. Facebook is popping it up in my feed at least once a day. They have a free 14 day trial period and then to continue you have to pay. To start you download the app and then complete a survey after which they assign a trainer.

PROS:

• If you have problems staying motivated you have a trainer to answer to. You can message your trainer about areas who need to work on.
• App allows you to track weight, food journal and also acts as a pedometer. 
• After you finish your free trial period you can become part of support groups. I did not use this feature as I didn't continue after the trial period.
• They do have a menu option for an additional fee for those that like to have someone else design their menus for them.

CONS:

• You have to pay to use this program.
•  I asked my trainer to help me figuring out meals/strategies for days when I get forced to stay over my 12 hours at work, sometimes having to work 16 hours, and coming home too exhausted to cook. Her first suggestion was to do a week of cooking on the weekends. I then informed her that I worked alternating weekends so that wasn't a viable option. I also pointed out that I have an extremely busy life and have things I have to do on my days off which typically would prevent me from spending hours precooking meals. Another point I brought up is that although I typically cook for 2, on any give day I could be cooking for a group instead depending on what is going on here on the farm or who might drop in unexpectedly. Her next suggestion was that "I" come up with an idea that would help me. Umm...isn't that what I asked her to help me with?
• You cannot personalize the food journal, at least in the trial version. It sets you at a specific amount of calories (1200 in my case). There's no tracking of carbs. It also does not let you pick the type of diet you prefer (keto, low carb, Mediterranean, etc).
• The pedometer feature requires you to carry your phone on you at all times. When I'm home I rarely carry my phone so it is not accurate. I also noticed one day after walking up and down the hallway several times before leaving for work that it had only logged me as having taken 1 step - so I'm not sure how well their pedometer works. On days I work I walk well over 12,000 steps and I had one day that was over 18,000 steps. The pedometer feature automatically ups your target 500 every time you reach the goal. I don't think I need to have my goal upped 500 steps above these levels of activity.
• There are daily assignments/activities to do. They claim these only take 10 minutes a day to complete but took about 30 minutes or more for me. 
• If you don't do the journal/log or log in they will send you prompts.

MAY RAMBLINGS

Time is flying so quickly I didn't realize I hadn't posted anything on the blog. Spring is a busy time on the farm with calving, field work and getting all the summer toy ready. Mr B has been working 12 and sometimes 14 hour days in the fields. They finally finished seeding this week so he'll be back to banker's hours again thankfully. It's hard preparing food for him at 10 pm or later so he has at least one hot meal a day especially when I have to be up at 4:30 am.

Here are some highlights from the last couple months:

APRIL:

Easter arrived after a night without electricity at the farm. We'd just brought the kids in to take baths and Desiree was getting ready to take Bella home for bed when the electricity went out. I bought several old fashion oil lamps way back when I lived in Maine and found them extremely useful. I lost them somewhere in my moves so started picking them up again at yard sales and thrift stores when I found ones I liked. I definitely need a few more but the ones I have were extremely helpful. Desiree and Bella stayed here for a while as Bella was a bit spooked by the electricity going out. Bella and Jasper played together with his blocks for quite a while. It was such a nice relaxing evening despite not having electricity. We like to use what we have and the kids needed something level to build blocks on so I grabbed my cutting mat and they used that. They'd gotten a good size castle built before they both went to bed.

The grand kids playing with blocks together during the power outage.

We had five calves this spring and two of the calves were born over the Easter weekend. Bella names them Ferdinand and Lana. We had to move Ferdinand into the shop because it was so cold out so he didn't freeze while we got an area set up for him. It was hilarious because he kept trying to charge Dustin even though he was only a couple hours old and still wobbling around on newborn legs. Jasper was so adorable helping us move broken bales of straw to the stall for bedding. He'd grab handfuls of straw and toss them between the bars of the panels and I'd use the pitchfork to grab the straw and toss it into the penned area. Every time we went out to check on them he'd run into the area with the bales of straw to help.

Ferdinand was not happy being separated from his mother

The biggest news for April was Hadlee's birth on April 24th that I got to assist in. It was a rough delivery and both mom and baby had problems but thankfully both are doing well now. Hadlee had to be transferred to a larger hospital in Grand Forks that had a NICU.

MAY

I bought a new-to-me Harley Davidson jacket off Ebay for trips on the Harley. The day it arrived the batteries were dead in Hadlee's bouncer so it was a good excuse to run into Rugby on the bike to pick some up and I could test out the new jacket. Any excuse to get on the bike is good 😊😊😊 We're planning a bike trip in July that will take us to Montana and Yellowstone Park.

I've been spending a lot of my days off with Mr B in the tractors so we have some time together, otherwise I wouldn't see him very much if at all due to our work schedules. He even let me drive the tractor one day! I knew it was a bit complicated but WOW it definitely requires some serious multi-tasking skills on turns, otherwise, they drive themselves. I think I need some training on one aspect of it at a time instead of having to remember everything. There's turning off the painter on the GPS, raising the disks (but not too much), making the turn, lining it back up, turning the GPS driver back on, lowering the disks and turning the painter back on within about 30 second time span! The painter feature allows you to look at a field and know how much you've completed and how much still needs to be done. You upload the information for your fields to the computer and then create an overlay each time you do anything to the field so there's a record of everything that's been done and what is planted in the field.

This weekend for Memorial Day we went to the lake for a good portion of the day Saturday and enjoying the sunshine while playing in the kayak and on the jet skis along with grilling for everybody. We also had a surprise birthday party to attend. Today the kids are sunburned and tired so it looks like we'll be taking off on the bike and we have a graduation party we will be attending this evening.  I have to work Memorial Day.

MARCH RAMBLINGS

Wow, I can't believe that we're already to the end of March already and Easter is next week.  I'm still getting over the bug I got last month. The cough and fatigue just won't go away. The fatigue is getting better but I still tire easily which is frustrating.

I'm trying to get back into menu planning again as well as stocking a pantry so I can make things easily. We were supposed to go to the bar for green beer on St. Patrick's Day. Friends started dropping in and we never left the farm. I don't know where the idea originated for people to hang out in heated barns but it's the best idea of all time - no people messing the house up. We broke out some folding chairs and then grabbed my camping chairs for seating. We have a ton of paper products so no dishes to deal with afterwards since neither house has a dishwasher. Bella and Jasper played and danced around to the music we had playing as everybody visited. It was a very enjoyable gathering. 

playing with Mr. H's welding helmet

Thankfully I'd made cookies with Jasper that afternoon and Tyler  had made two pots of chili for supper for everybody here on the farm. He'd planned to have leftovers but with the extra guests both pots were eaten. We took the food stuff out to the barn and had an impromptu party. I had bought a bag of frozen cheese curds a couple days before and fried those up for a snack plus the cookies for dessert. 

A well stocked pantry is imperative so I don't feel stressed about feeding people that might show up unexpectedly as there's definitely no ordering out for food or running to the store - the nearest store or carry out is 30 minutes away. If we hadn't had the chili I did have several frozen pizzas in the freezer or I could have made homemade as I had the ingredients. I could have also done spaghetti for a quick meal option for a large group. It's important to have a couple options in the pantry to feed a group with no notice if needed.

my dishwashing assistant

Jasper spent about two weeks with us this month split up for about a week at a time. One week was my birthday gift for my son as I knew he needed a break and the second week was due to weather. He loves it up here and I hope to convince my son to move up here. Desiree was getting a bit of cabin fever so she went with me to pick Jasper up in Jamestown and go through some baby stuff Jordon has stuffed in his closets. Desiree is due the beginning of May but could deliver any time now. She was able to get quite a few baby items and he was able to clear a lot out of a closet.

Jasper finding the new toy Tyler bought

Jasper was sleeping when we arrived to pick him up. When he started waking up Jordon went in and brought him out - you should have seen how excited he was when he saw us. I  bought him a pair of rubber boots and he immediately went and got his boots on and his coat. His love of his rubber boots makes us all chuckle. The first pair I bought with dinosaurs were way to big but he still insisted on wearing them everywhere even though they fell off constantly. I finally found a pair with monster trucks in his size and he won't wear anything else now. 

Another thing he's taken to doing is letting the dogs in and out. He's not talking much so having him calling to the dogs to go in or out is amusing. Lady, a border collie-blue heeler mix, wasn't listening to him one day so he went over and grabbed her collar and told her to "go" quite clearly as he walked her to the door. Desiree and I were laughing as we watched him. (Side note: we always watch the kids and dogs when together.) Lady is also typically the last to come back and he'll call for her. He can't seem to say the "L" so it's "Ady" when he calls for her. He also doesn't get the "L" in Lacey's name so it's "Acey" or "Cey".

Annie waiting for us to walk down to the mailbox

Jasper wants to be outside a lot. I'll be glad when he gets older and can play outside by himself. It's great that Mr. H's 8-year-old granddaughter, Bella, lives on the farm now so he has a playmate and she can watch him sometimes. He gets so excited when the bus drops her off after school. If he sees the bus coming he'll grab me and pull me to door and point to his coat and snow bibs because he knows she'll come get him to play. They bought her a small 120 snowmobile and she's been great about taking him on rides and pulling him on his sled. I came in one afternoon and they were curled up on the chair together and she was reading to him to practice her reading. It was so sweet. 

A boy and his wagon

I finally got to take another ride on the snowmobile. We haven't been he able to ride since the trip in January as we haven't had enough snow up here. I actually had more snow in Jamestown until this last storm. We did a ditch ride from the farm down to the local bar for supper one night. For those who are like me and have no idea what a ditch drive is, it's riding the snowmobiles along the ditches next to the road. So basically it's following the roads but not riding on the actual rode. A lot of snowmobilers will ride to town in the ditches. Some farmers don't like snowmobilers ditch riding so will put large round snow bales in the way. Thankfully there are no bales where we road.  

We got hit this past weekend with about 8" of snow. The storm started Friday afternoon and went through Saturday. Of course the storm started after I got to work. Driving was horrible and I probably should have stayed at work and slept there since I had to be back in Saturday morning but I wanted to sleep in my own bed. Driving to and from work I couldn't see the road edges so I centered myself over the center rumble strip. One of the disadvantages of living rurally and working in town. Those rumble strips are awesome and I thank whoever came up with them! It typically takes about 25 minutes to drive to work and it took me over an hour. 

UPDATE RAMBLINGS

Lots of things have been happening since my last post so I'm going to do a quick overview to catch you up. Now things are settling down I hope to get back to posting on a regular basis.

NOVEMBER:

The good news is I passed my State CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) test! I even passed with a 94% so I did better than I thought I did. I had two bottles of my favorite Chocolate Raspberry Port Wine from Kuhnhenn Brewing from my last trip back to Michigan and I cracked open one to celebrate! I think they renamed it a Dessert Wine but it's truly delicious and I wish I could get them to ship. 

DECEMBER: 

I started a new job working as a CNA.  We decorated the farm since we had Christmas there. I put up a small fiber optic tree at my place but really didn't decorate. It was a small gathering for Christmas as my son had to work and Jasper's mother had him for the holiday. I picked easy decorations so Jasper could helped decorate the tree.  They were little stuffed snowmen so they weren't breakable. I showed him a picture of the tree after we put the presents under it and he got so excited and started pointing to some of the decorations he'd put on it. He definitely remembered what he'd helped with.

JANUARY:

We went to West Yellowstone, Montana, snowmobiling. We went with a group of 8. It was the first time I'd ever been on a snowmobile. Mr. H is an avid snowmobiler so this is something I really wanted to enjoy to do with him. Thankfully I do enjoy it. I don't recommend waiting until you're 52 years old to try it but it's a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself. There were rough areas on the trail where I kept repeating the mantra "I can do this, I can do this." The guys bought a school bus and modified it to fit 4 sleds in so we traveled very comfortably. They also pulled a trailer with 2 more sleds on it. We got a lot of comments from people.

FEBRUARY:

Things have gone really well with Mr. H and he asked me to move in with him so I moved to his farm in the north of North Dakota in February. It's been a lifetime dream to live on a farm. I'm still working on getting settled in. Trying to combine two households together is never easy. I started a new job a week after moving up here so I haven't had a lot of time to unpack. I also got a nasty bug the first week I started work and have been sick since then. Jasper loves to spend time with us and we're fortunate that we have so many people living on the farm willing to babysit so he can stay for a week at a time. Desiree has been great about helping with babysitting so he can spend time with us.

 

OCTOBER & NOVEMBER RAMBLINGS

Wow, October is gone and November is almost over so I'm way behind on blogging. I started and completed a CNA course. I quit working at Walmart right before I started taking the CNA class. I'm glad I did because the 5 week course was intense. I took my state test a week ago so I'm hoping to know soon if I passed. I'm hoping to be working at a nursing home within the next two weeks, I can't start officially until my passing score posts.

Recently I started dating a farmer who lives 2.5 hours north of Jamestown so I have been playing the gypsy and driving a lot of miles. My first weekend visiting him at his farm I was blessed to be able to help harvest soybeans. It was very educational and a lot of fun for me. The hours that farmers spend in their tractors is unbelievable to say the least. We did 13 hours on Saturday alone. I'll be honest my butt hurt afterwards from all that sitting.

Lacey enjoys herself very much on the visits. When she's at the farm she does do a slow run from the house to the shed which still amazes me with how arthritic she is. She LOVES kittens and tried to play with a couple but got her nose scratched for her efforts. She was in dog heaven nonetheless. Since then she's been leery of the smaller barn kittens. As soon as she sees me start packing she starts getting excited and worries I'll leave her behind when I go up for weekends.

Lacey exploring the farm

My arrival the first weekend was an adventure as he wasn't able to meet me as planned due to a combine breaking down before I arrived. His son met me at his farm and transported me to where his boss was unloading beans, who kindly let me ride with him and his 4-year-old some out to the field.  I've never driven in a semi before and was surprised at how comfortable they are. His boss's sons spend a lot of time in the tractors and combines between riding with him and their grandparents who drive the combines. I'd forgotten how child friendly farmers are - it was so nice and refreshing.  Field repairs on the combine were routine unfortunately so harvesting went slower then normal.  There was even a fire in one of the combines!

I got to drive the blue service truck when we moved equipment from field to field

The views from the tractor were beautiful. Fall colors everywhere. He refers to his tractor as his office. I keep telling him he has the best office view ever.

View from the tractor

Jasper joined us a couple weekends ago and had a blast. One weekend up there and you'd think he was raised on a farm the way he walks around like he knows what he's doing. He's all boy too and has to check out all the boy toys in the shed. His favorite is the Harley although all the snowmobile sleds attracted him too. Since then when Jasper's at the farm he follows him around a tries to copy everything he sees him do. It can be pretty funny.

Does't he look like he knows what he's doing? lol

Jordon, Jasper and I spent Thanksgiving up at the farm. It's been quite a while since I've done a large holiday meal and enjoyed cooking all day. Ham, cheesy scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, and pumpkin and apple pies.

More September Ramblings

While up at Lake Metigoshe Park we went to a cute little park that has a stone clock. I wish it hadn't been raining so much and we'd been able to explore more while there. The landscape was beautiful though! We also visited Strawberry Lake which was equally amazing. I want to go camping there next year. I absolutely fell in love with the area around Lake Metigoshe. The area reminds me a lot of northern Michigan in the upper penisula - breathtakingly beautiful.

Polaris Sighting Tube

Solstice viewing

On Sunday we went to the International Peace Garden, which is situated between the US and Canadian checkpoints. Next year I would like to visit while it's in full bloom. If you visit definitely wear your walking shoes.

US on left side and Canada on right side

Promise of Peace exhibit that was added this year

There's also a cute little cafe in the building where the bookstore and the entrance to the Cacti Exhibit is. They had a delicious buffet while we were there and it was very reasonably priced.

 

                        

JULY & AUGUST & SEPTEMBER RAMBLINGS

I can't believe we're almost done with September already - where has the summer gone! Fall has definitely arrived with cold crisp mornings encouraging sweaters and hot cups of tea.

The 4th of July Jasper and I went shopping and I found a kayak at Tractor Supply I liked and somehow managed to get maneuvered into the Jeep along with Jasper and his car seat. It's 10' long so I have to pop the back window and not drive to fast so I don't break the window. I ordered some crossbars for my luggage rack and finally got them 1.5 months after I ordered them. I needed the crossbars to attach the J-hooks to put the kayak on the roof. I've been taking the kayak out as often as I can. Of course I decorated it with paw prints to ensure people knew who it belongs to. I doubt I'll get any more days out in it although I might try going down the river if we have a nice warm weekend.

Jasper celebrated his 2nd birthday in August!!! We kept it small with just my son, Jasper and myself.  We had our traditional family menu of pizza burgers and a small cake. Paw Patrol was the theme as he's a huge fan. Jordon found an adorable Paw Patrol potty chair that has a handle on it that sounds like a flushing toilet - too cute. I picked him up an electric piano that he loves. It didn't come with a stand so I used his construction table to put it on and it's the perfect height for him.

I went old school and bought a reel lawnmower. Some people think I'm crazy but I really don't like gas lawnmowers. I'm not big on electric ones either with having to drag extension cords around and I have no outside electrical outlets. Jasper likes to "help" me push it and with the reel mower I feel safe letting him. I don't trust kids around gas ones as I had a friend as a child that lost all her toes on one foot when her dad accidentally ran over her foot with a mower.

I also signed up and attended Wild Outdoor Women (WOW) at Lake Metigoshe Park September 15-17.  I was super excited to be attending it despite the cold and rainy weather. I ended up only attending the Wild Edible class out of all the classes I signed up for. It was a lot of fun. We make Juneberry pies from scratch and chokecherry jelly, which didn't set so I now have syrup.

Baking our pies

Chokecherry jelly/syrup

Making our pie crusts - team effort

My pie - and it was tasty too

I've started decorating the house for fall and have mums on the outdoor steps. I'm giving serious thought to pulling the flowers in the window box and putting small mums in that planter as well. I hope to get my box of fall decorations out of the basement and start putting them out.

Other news is that I'm changing careers (again). I accepted a CNA position with Eventide nursing home and start my CNA training October 16th. I've given notice at Walmart and my final day will be October 12th there. I hope to start my new position after Thanksgiving. This change will finally allow me a more normal life (if there is such a thing) and to work a normal 40 hour work week. Also with this change I will no longer be babysitting Jasper except on the rare occasion and can be a grandma again. So some big changes with this decision and hopefully for the better. 

June Ramblings

Summer has finally arrived for good here in North Dakota - although there's always a possibility of snow anytime here - but I think we're safe saying it's SUMMER! Beautiful weather too.


It was so beautiful one Sunday we went to the Reservoir with lil dude. He's never been to the Reservoir and he got excited just driving there as he spotted the water from his carseat. He was pointing and using his favorite phrase "What's that." I'd thought the water would be too cold for him so I hadn't brought a swimsuit or swim diapers for him (note to grandma to pack backpack better). He was beside himself with excitement as we let him run around. He initially stayed away from the water but after I ventured in to get my feet wet he waded in and we almost weren't able to get him back out he was having so much fun. He was really good about staying in the shallow water just getting his legs wet - well until he went down on his belly. Thankfully grandma packed extra clothes.







   

It's hard to believe lil dude is almost 2! Grandma isn't ready for him to be growing up so fast! He's a cuddle bug but a demon energy wise. Everybody kept asking us when we were going to cut his hair. They kept saying he looked too much like a girl with all those cute curls. His mother was threatening to cut it so I took up the task and clipped his beautiful curls off to ensure he had a decent hair cut. What a difference the haircut made too - he looks even more grown up (NO!!!!). The pictures were taken within a week of each other so you can see the difference the haircut made!

GOOD READS:


INTO THE AMISH BY Erin Brady
Amusing book about a young girl who loves everything about the City. When her socialite soon-to-be mother-in-law starts taking over and changing her wedding plans and her life goes crazy she escapes to Amish country to stay with cousins she never knew she had.

LAGOM: AVOID WASTE AND LIVE A MORE FULFILLING LIFE BY ADOPTING THE SWEDISH LIFESTYLE CHOICE OF "JUST ENOUGH" By Clara Olsson
Kindle Unlimited read before I ended my subscription. Great beginner book on the concept of Lagom.



SARA IN MONTANA by Morris Fenris
Sweet story about a young woman who wants a family and thinks she's fallen in love with her boss only to find out he's in some shady dealings. She flees California and ends up in Montana where a kind sheriff takes an interest and finds out what is really going on.

   

May Ramblings - Lagom - the New Danish word

My hygge dining area

Everywhere I look there are articles on the Danish being the happiest people in the world and how hygge contributes to that happiness. Hygge has been a huge buzz word in the UK for a while but is just now reaching our shores here in the US, so don't feel bad if you're just starting to hear about it. Basically hygge is creating a warm fuzzy feeling. Unfortunately, as usual, a concept has been exploited to the point you can hardly recognize it and I think that's the case of hygge.  In the UK they've got special hygge candles, cashmere sweaters, cashmere blankets, fur blankets, etc. all promoting hygge.

Unfortunately if the UK has gotten bitten by the bug I can only imagine what this will turn into here in the US. The good news is it doesn't need to cost a thing! It can be as simple as friends sharing a cup of tea maybe with some homemade cookies or a homemade cake. It has nothing to do with breaking the bank to buy things. Hygge typically occurs the most over the winter when people in Denmark are stuck in their homes.

Less known is Lagom which typically comes after the over indulgences of the holidays, It's reining in the money spending and appreciating what you have. Logom focuses on the balance yet still enjoying hygge in your life. Hygge and lagom are about simple things, not about extravagance. I think a lot of Americans need to learn to grasp this concept.

Moo hanging out on the bed and checking out the bookcase for a new book to read

I've been trying to figure out how to reduce my expenses - a very lagom or frugal thing to do. I chose to only have the internet installed when I moved into my rental. I've had Netflix for years and have tried a couple different membership subscriptions like Acorn, Gaiam TV and Hulu. I enjoyed Acorn, which is a British channel, and Gaiam TV which has a ton of yoga sessions. Unfortunately I don't have time to watch a ton of TV or to do yoga right now so I decided to cancel them. Hulu I enjoyed while I watched the entire 6 seasons of Miss Marple but really didn't find anything that drew my attention to justify keeping it. Besides, if I'm only going to watch British movies and series then Acorn or BritLit are cheaper at about $6 per month. For yoga I found a ton of yoga and other exercise videos on Youtube for free.  I may add some of these back on later, but for now it's just Netflix for TV watching.
**Savings about $27 per month for those I cut.

I also did away with Amazon Prime. I was starting to find that most of the items I was ordering were from third party suppliers and the 2 to 3 days delivery was a joke. Yes, it was nice not to have to put together a larger order to get free shipping but I'd started buying less and less from Amazon and finding things on other sites cheaper.
***Savings $99 per year.

I'm going to shock people when I admit I cancelled my Kindle Unlimited (gasp!). Considering I have been reading about 2 to 3 books a week I could justify the cost of this BUT I found my library has digital e-books and I can read them through an app called Overdrive, which is totally free, and you use your library card to activate and use. I installed Overdrive onto both my Fire Tablet and cellphone and then stopped at the library and finally got my very own library card.
**Savings $10 per month.



Another awesome savings I get with my Overdrive is audiobooks! So I was able to cancel my Audible membership. I love listening to audiobooks while I do dishes, cleaning, knitting or working on my rugs or while relaxing in my recliner. I don't want to buy everything I listen to though so it's a costly enjoyment if I'm buying each book. I can also get free audiobook rentals at the library. I bought a mini stereo system to be able to listen to the audio CD's which also allows me to listen to the radio too so an added bonus.  I had to wait a couple weeks on a hold list but I received The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking (shown above). This book was released last year in Europe but was just released here in the US a couple months ago. I've heard tons on how great it was on the various hygge groups so of course I wanted to listen or read it. This week I got the email stating it had been added to my audio bookshelf - it was like a Christmas present! I finished listening to it while typing this. Today I got another email saying the e-book has been added to my bookshelf as well so I can both listen and read it.
**Savings $15 to $25 per month.

So to start my summer off I'm now saving about $50 a month on memberships and subscriptions that I've cancelled and been able to find free or cheaper alternatives to. I'm in love with Overdrive! I can listen or read anywhere just like I could with Audible and Kindle Unlimited. The disadvantage is that there are a lot of Kindle only books that I won't have access to unless I buy them but as most of these are romances and not the best written anyway I don't think this is a huge disadvantage. $50 may not seem like a lot of money, but over a year that's a savings of $600 and with not continuing my Prime membership it's about $700 in savings - that's HUGE for some of us. What could you do with an extra $700?