Change

As the oil spill falls deeper and deeper to the back of the headlines, I wonder what I can do to make a change to reduce dependence on oil products. I am already driving less, trying to combine trips in to town one day a week. I look at plastic containers with ire, can I use fewer? Reuse some? What else can I do?

I feel that most people will look the other way regarding this oil spill. It's easy for us in the Pacific Northwest because that spill is far away. The Exxon Valdez in Alaska was much closer. The long term result of that spill- 5 years after the spill, almost no fish were found in Prince William Sound. The ones that were there were ill, bleeding, swimming sideways, malformed. 6,700 clean up workers filed grievances regarding illness from the clean up and nothing was done for them. 18 years later there were finally enough fish for fishermen to begin a full season of fishing again. Even today, 21 years later, if you dig down a few inches on the beaches of the sound, you find oil.

People at every level of civilization, from world leaders to you and I, talk about ending our dependence on petroleum products, and then we get in our SUVs and drive a few miles to purchase bottled water. It doesn't make sense. I feel that the best thing to do here is stop drilling, stop importing oil, just say 'Hey, in 10 years there will not be any more oil, make a change to deal with it.' How fast would we all buy electric cars and find other ways to store and use products? I just don't feel people are upset enough about what is going on, and right now, there is no end in sight. I hope the people in the Gulf are able to recover from this, but from what history has told, it will be decades.
-Jenni

A whole lot of nothing

I don't know if anyone really reads this to see what I'm thinking of life, motherhood, etc, or if everyone just reads it and goes blah blah blah, oh good, a picture of Lexi. I may just post pics in the future. Not sure yet. Lexi is wonderful. She'll be a whopping 7 months on Sunday. We had studio pics done recently. Once we get them back I'll post them. She is truly beautiful. Jon and I are in a few of the pictures too, but I'm sure no one really cares. Jon has now lost 40 pounds. It's getting to the point where he needs a belt to hold up his belt. I'm sure there will be some clothes shopping in his future. We are both working to become healthier, giving up pop, only one sweet per day, actual exercise. But who has time for exercise...

I thought I'd have tons of time to get things done since I had read that babies sleep 18 hours a day. Apparently, not this baby. She maybe naps for 20 minutes each afternoon. She doesn't seem to require any more sleep than that. I've tried, but when she's up, she's up. So I haven't had time to cook, clean, sew, garden, exercise, all those things that I thought I'd have tons of time to do after she was born. I am perfectly fine with that because it all comes down to the definition of motherhood, which I believe is waking up each day full of love for your family and not having any idea of how the day will go, but bringing along a bag full of stuff to be ready for it all. - Jenni

Teach a child...

Teach a child how he should live, and he will remember it all of his life. Proverbs 22:6

I have had a magnet with this Proverb on it since my confirmation when I was 13. Twenty something years later, the gravity of this saying has hit me because for the first time this child is my child, and what I teach her will remain with her for her entire life.

I often feel that I am failing miserably at parenting. Even though Lexi is only a few months old, I can tell she imitates me. As she gets older, I will really have to watch myself with certain things, not only around her, but in general. The first lesson that I feel it is important to teach her is about food. I do not eat healthy. When I think snack, I think cool ranch doritos, brownies and pop. When Lexi is a bit older and she wants a snack, how can I justify giving her carrots or apples and me eating a candy bar when she's not looking? I need to teach her to eat in a healthy and balanced way. The only way to truly do this is to eat better and share my healthy eating habits with her.

I am glad that Jon and I are both Christians, because we can impart our beliefs to Lexi every day, but we don't go to church. Right now we are looking for a church that we both like, and one that has many children. We aren't looking very hard though. How can we 'teach a child' when we don't always do those things we want to teach her?

Ok, catching up

There may be a series of small posts rather than large posts because my job as mommy seems to leave me very little time to write. I've actually started a few posts, but my little boss decided I wouldn't get time to finish them. That's ok. She's a great boss!

The single biggest event right now in the Clifton house is not the vehicle purchase, not Lexi turning an unbelievable six months old, nope. (More on those items later.)

Jon has lost 34 pounds!!! It's crazy to think that he has lost that much. Today, for the first time in many years, he was under 200 pounds. His goal is about 6 more pounds. I think he's fine the way he is (he always has been!) and I fear too much more weight loss will mean we'll have to buy all new clothes. That said, I am very proud of him. He has done all of this just by eating small meals and sticking to one sweet a day. Great job honey!

Now I have to show this pic from a few weeks ago because they are sitting exactly the same. The way they are sitting makes their bellies stick out. A very cute like father, like daughter moment.