Personal Updates
-
A Christmas Poem
I have been working on this poem for my son for Christmas. We just celebrated his one year anniversary of active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, and it has been quite a journey!! In that year, we have had 24 days together and we probably won’t get to see him again until June. It’s not an easy life, and a big piece of my heart is in Okinawa, but I couldn’t be more proud!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!The Seasons of a Marine and his Mom
We gathered up as a family for a farewell dinner,
A feast for Thanksgiving and celebration together.
Just a couple days later you walked out that door,
Your toothbrush and your wallet but not much more.
The very next morning we had our first “see you later”,
Then you boarded that plane with just a packet of paper.
From that moment forward you were known as recruit,
Forever more you will remember this time as boot.
Our first Christmas went by without you here,
Then we set off fireworks to bring in a New Year.
Those days you spent there seemed to go by so slow,
But through each letter we saw this new man grow.
Challenge after challenge and day after day,
The little boy you once were faded away.
The final drive and push up that long dark hill,
To become a Marine took every ounce of your will.
Valentine’s Day came without you in it,
Then you graduated boot and came home for a minute.
Before we knew you were back out that door,
Your boots and gear packed and ready for more.
The days at M.C.T. came by fast and they went,
Hearing your voice often and many messages sent.
A new set of orders changed your school and your plan,
But you took it in stride as your duty, as a man.
Not at all the job you thought you would do,
I guess your Uncle Sam had different plans for you.
A few months on the beach at Camp Pendleton,
Taught you the meaning of YAT YAS and 21-41.
Your 19th birthday came quick and it went,
A card in the mail and the first care package sent.
It was tough that I couldn’t be there to hug you,
But I have comfort in knowing you love what you do.
A quick flight home for the 4th of July,
Seemed like just enough time for hello and goodbye.
Another month went by, you were ready to roll,
Your training completed and eager to go.
So glad you were able to come home again,
Before heading out on your orders from Great Uncle Sam.
Those ten days flew by more than fast,
All of us wishing each moment would last.
Another “see you later” with just you and me,
Holding back tears until I thought you wouldn’t see.
Flights that would bring you six thousand miles from home,
But I was so thankful not to some war-torn zone.
Months go by that start out as days,
Moments and memories go by in a haze.
One month turned to two, then to three,
And November snuck up, how can that be?
Thanksgiving came and family gathered again,
We gave thanks for you and all servicemen.
The snow is falling again, it’s a beautiful sight.
I’ll pray for you again like I do every night.
We put up the tree and your Marine ornament,
The lights and decorations, but your stocking gets sent.
Hoping that 3 weeks is plenty of time,
To send off my love to your box from mine.
Christmas never did come from a store,
But if I could buy it, I would choose a day or more.
To spend it with you during this season of joy,
To have my Marine son, for a moment, just a boy.
The journey of a Marine son and his Mom,
To be continued in seasons as our lives move on.Original work by Sherry Green 12/02/2019
-
This Might NOT be Easier than a Book!
Apparently, I’m not meant to become a great blogger because I just can’t seem to keep up with it. I have the same problem with journaling. I have some great looking journals that I have held onto through the years, but so many of them go months or years without ever seeing another word. Truthfully, all of them have so far. I’m certain I’ve never filled one, so to say I really can’t believe it has taken me several months to get back on here and write something would be a lie. I am quite aware of what’s kept me away. I can’t be entirely forthright with all that has occurred, so I will just say that the past few months has been a bit of a struggle in what to write and say on here, so I’ve just put it off until now. I really hope I get better at this!
I wrote in the beginning that I didn’t want to make this ALL about Keto and recipes. DiDi is still battling with the Lymphoma and gaining ground on it with treatments. She never really did pick up the Keto torch, but that is her story to tell. God willing, she will come out of this stronger. My husband and I kept up with Keto for many months after DiDi moved out of the household. We just felt so great, and my husband managed to drop around 75lbs. Men! I only lost about 15lbs in the very beginning, but then just plateaued out. About 3 months ago I got discouraged with Keto, started eating everything, and gained that 15lbs back. Go figure! Weight really is just a number though because in the last couple months, I’ve stayed the same weight but have been doing some workouts (Zumba, push-ups, squats, leg raises, etc.) and definitely notice everything tightening and strengthening. Beyond that, I’ve been adding in some stretching and I can now touch my toes without a struggle hahaha!!! Savannah still tells me my legs aren’t completely straight. Brat. Although we haven’t necessarily stuck with Keto, we have stuck to a mostly natural diet, staying away from most processed foods, refined sugars, etc. Now we just have quite a few more cheats, and we don’t turn down homemade rolls from Mom!
Derrick, Mother’s Day 2018 In other news, our son, Derrick has launched successfully into the big wide world!!! He graduated High School with the Class of 2018 in June. At that time, he was already in the delayed enlistment program for the U.S. Marine Corps. He left for boot camp in November and graduated on February 22, 2019. We don’t leave the mountain often, but we flew down to San Diego to watch him graduate. I can’t begin to tell you the amount of pride I had to see him march across that parade deck with Platoon 3226. He was honored as his Platoon’s High Shooter and qualified as a Rifle Expert. He became a Marine, and I became a MoM (Mom of Marine), joining the ranks of other Marine and Military moms across our great nation. To say I’m proud would be a vast understatement. Sometimes the pride wells up so much that it leaks out of my eyes and rolls down my face. Semper Fi.
This was the closest I got to a Christmas picture.
Taken on December 26, 2018 (During Week 4 of Boot Camp)Following 10 days home on leave, our new “Private Green” reported to Camp Pendleton for a month at Military Combat Training, graduating from this portion of his training on April 2nd. He has remained at Camp Pendleton for further training at his Military Occupation Specialty school. He should finish up there in August, but it will be at least a couple more months before he receives orders for his permanent station. His first preference as Okinawa. I think that would be great for him and quite the adventure, but it’s hard to say what the USMC will think about it. On May 1st, he received his first rank promotion to Private First Class.
Savannah is finishing up her Junior year in high school and 1st year of running start. That one sure keeps me on my toes! Teen girls. Other moms of teen girls understand what I’m going through. I’m pretty sure boys are harder to keep alive, but girls are just… brats… LOL… Prom is tomorrow, and it seems this year just flew by!! Next year my BABY will be a senior! Like sand through an hourglass, time has slipped by. With any luck, you’ll hear from me before she graduates!!
Thanks for hanging in there through my long update. I’m working on a care package to send off to Derrick for Armed Forces Day on May 18th. I’ve seen some really cool ones, so if it turns out great, maybe I’ll post some pics of it!!
As always, my best to you and your family!!
~Sherry~
-
Back to Family Life & Routine
I haven’t posted any updates since I got back from vacation just over a month ago. I think I’ve just been trying to get back into routine, work, life, etc. It’s been super hot, but I haven’t noticed it much since I spend most of my days in the office. I am so thankful that my family gets together for birthdays and events, and I love getting to spend time together. We got together last weekend for my brother-in-law’s birthday. Chris turned 50 and my neice Amara was a couple days away from turning 14. Chris has been doing absolutely amazing on his Keto journey and the transformation has been incredible! I also got to spend some time with my sweet nephew, Callen, who is growing way too fast already!!
Callen & Me, August 5, 2018 Callen is Derrick’s birthday-buddy, since he was born on Derrick’s 18th birthday, and he has become my selfie-buddy 🙂
Our family had been going through a lot of turmoil and grieving when Callen came into this world, just a bit too early. Early enough where he spent his first few days in the NICU (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit). We spent most of Derrick’s 18th birthday in that hospital, but none of us cared about that. We were just happy that, with the help of the nurses and doctors at that hospital, he turned out to be the most precious, healthy baby boy one could hope for!!
Just over a month earlier, we had lost my Aunt Dolly unexpectedly on February 16th, and it was pretty horrible to say the least! It was a total nightmare for our family and honestly, we are still reeling from it. I think it will still be some time before we aren’t. All that aside, my Aunt hated having her picture taken! When we lost her, I scrambled to try to find pictures of her, and there just weren’t that many. There were several pictures that I found, remembering that she was the one that had been holding the camera, and I looked anew at the picture she saw from her eyes. I decided when Callen was born that I didn’t care if the pictures of me were good or not, he would never have to search for pictures of us together! So, since the moment I was able to hold him in my arms, I’ve made it a point to take a selfie (or 10) with him every single time I’ve gotten to see him. I will eventually make him some kind of book, and he’ll probably think his old aunt is a little lame, but that’s ok… I’ll also be the aunt who spoils him totally rotten since I only have 1.5 kids left to launch from my own household…
Isn’t he the cutest though?!?
I have an older niece Rebecca that I don’t get to see quite as often, and another nephew, Jason, due in November, and I’ll make sure to continue the tradition with them, but Callen just happened to be the little gift from God that started it, and I will treasure every moment! Those are the babies, but I have several older nieces and nephews that got big before I got cool enough to be taking selfies LOL. Like my kids, they didn’t come with instruction manuals and all I had to do was blink my eyes and they grew right up!!
Savannah went to volleyball camp a couple weeks ago, went off to “Camp Kaylee” with my cousin last week, came home for a night, and was right back out the door with the Glenwood Youth Group for their summer camp. She never seems to stop moving, but she reminds me so much of myself at that age that it is hard to fault her. Next week she will be registering for COLLEGE for running start (she’ll be a junior in high school this year), so my thought is for her to enjoy whatever moments she has as a kid now. Let me just throw out a little mommy-pride there… College… as a Junior in High School. Yep. She’s amazing!
Derrick is working on physical training and getting ready for the Marine Corps. (Just a TON more mommy-pride there!!) His running and crunches are fine, but he’s still struggling a bit with the pull-ups. His date may have been pushed out from October to November, but what I’ve learned from the military is there is never 100% until they tell you to move your a$$ 😉
DiDi has flown the proverbial coop and has headed off onto her own, moving in with her high school sweetheart. A little delayed off of her planned timeline, but that’s just the way life goes sometimes. Jim and I briefly discussed whether that would affect our Keto lifestyle, but it really doesn’t. We may have started this in an effort to support DiDi, but we definitely see the benefits to our own health, and at this point, we are committed to following through on it. We’re not sure of exactly how much weight or sizes that we’ve dropped so far since that was not the reason we started, but it has been somewhere around a combined 50 lbs since June 17th. That is pretty incredible really, especially when you top that with how great we feel. We will be continuing on Keto, so I’ll keep the recipes coming!
Speaking of…
S’more cookie sheet… still in progress, but has potential 😉 I’ve been working on a couple new ones, including a S’more Cookie. This one is definitely still in progress, but it has potential to be amazing!!
A “graham cracker” crust base, marshmallow, and then drizzled chocolate. Keto marshmallows just aren’t roastable, so I knew I needed to come up with a S’mores alternative. The graham cracker is what is giving me issues at this point with its non-crispiness, but I am determined to make this happen. It actually turned out to be pretty awesome (but a super gooey puddle), heated up in the toaster oven.
Last night, I updated my Ninja Cheesecake recipe to use Allulose as the sweetener, so I hope you all enjoy that. It was my first experiment after getting my order of Allulose, and the batch of cheesecakes I made turned out amazing!
We went to the annual barn dance a couple weeks ago. Our standard dish is Jalapeño Popper Chicken which has always been Keto even when I wasn’t, and we’ve decided we can never make enough of it. Yes, my husband helps out on a few of the recipes, and he happens to be a pretty damn good cook!! This year I also brought some Ninja Cheesecakes to share and those disappeared as well. I can only come up with an “approximate” recipe on the Jalepeno Popper Chicken, but I’ll share it when I get the chance.
Tiramisu Jim made Jalapeño Popper Chicken again for my brother-in-law’s birthday, since I had my hands full adding a new favorite to my recipes. I spent about 3 days putting together a Tiramisu recipe. It was really just in response to a challenge from my brat sister, but I’ve definitely found my new favorite dessert!! That was a recipe I found on another website (http://queenketo.com/sugar-free-low-carb-keto-tiramisu/) There is absolutely nothing I want to change about the recipe other than it takes days to put it together!! “QueenKeto” even responded to my post on Instagram!!
The Tiramisu was so amazing that I froze down a couple portions and have threatened to break fingers of anyone who touches them!!
The Tiramisu recipe introduced me to a brand new ingredient, Lupin Flour. This stuff is amazing and absolutely packed with fiber. I ordered a few pounds of it the other day and have been going thru my recipes and changing the flour base to see if it makes a difference. It does!!
Pizza crust made with Cheese, Lupin Flour & Egg, then piled high with Pepperoni, Sausage, Onion, Green Pepper and Olives. Best pizza yet!! I made a fathead pizza crust with it a couple nights ago that turned out amazing, and definitely better than my previous versions!
I’ll share that recipe in the future along with the cheese crackers I made from the same general idea.
Keto Cheese Crackers, Round 1 I don’t have those quite right or consistent yet, but it will happen. I’m still discovering how to work with the new ingredient after all.
The burnt ones are actually the ones that got crispy, and they really do taste like cheese-its.
Well, Jim and I are headed out to the big city of Hood River for lunch and groceries, so I better go before he starts tapping his foot at me.
I hope you all are surviving the summer heat and doing something fun!
As always, my best to you and your family!
~ Sherry ~
-
Back from Vacation
I haven’t had a chance to post anything new since I pushed this over into a live website. I thought that I might work on it while I was traveling, but instead I just went and enjoyed my vacation like I didn’t have a care in the world! 🙂 I had an absolutely outstanding time in Brisbane, Australia with my talented athlete of a daughter, Savannah. The picture with the Kangaroos was taken at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We were there for a Track & Field invitational that included athletes from the USA, Australia, and New Zealand, and she snagged 3rd place in Javelin for her age group with a throw of 110’5″. Needless to say, I am pretty proud of my girl!
While I was gone, I followed the Keto plan about 85-90% but I definitely cheated a bit, and was absolutely starving on the flight home, so I ate most of what they served anyways. More planning is definitely required for travelers on Keto, and it was hard to find my healthy eating choices when we were all served the same meals which were often pasta, pizza, or something on a bun. I also was not going to miss out on the Aussie Burger at the Hard Rock Cafe (or pay the price of their steak LOL), but I did skip the bun and all but a couple of the fries there.
I was happy to get home, be in my own kitchen, and be able to get back to cooking up my Keto creations. I went a little wild the first few days cooking some of the foods I had been missing and a couple I had been wanting to try out. Lasagna, cheesecake, cole slaw, cheesy biscuits (later turned croutons), and cheese and shrimp stuffed mushrooms to start with. I have a friend on Keto that gave me the tip to use pork rinds for breading (thank you, Richard & Leona Lambert!) Of course I had to try that, so I made up a batch of fried zucchini last night for a quick snack. They were good but I want to work on getting the breading to stick evenly to the zucchini.
I’ll be getting some recipes up and posted soon, but I wanted to drop an update in the meantime. I hope everyone is surviving the heat!
Sincerely,
Sherry
