TulsiLeaf

GRAND OPENING

Well, we have moved over to blogger and set up our Etsy store!  Please visit us on over there

Tulsi Leaf Traders Blog

Tulsi Leaf Traders Etsy

Thanks so much!

Warm Wishes

Over here……

Okay, I have decided to switch over to blogspot.  It will be easier in adding different widgets and customizing the look of the blog.  Also, I don’t have to keep signing into many of my favorite blogs under wordpress.  I can just use my gmail.

http://tulsileaftraders.blogspot.com/

Here is our new address.  Hope to see you over there!

The finish line

I haven’t been blogging really well this past week.  I always think of things to update with, but we have been so busy that it just gets away from me  Last night I really hurt my back, the camera batteries are low(charging right now) and we are racing to finish pieces for our etsy store’s grand opening.  My husband has done a lot of pieces and I learned how to make earrings!  So todayI have lots of pictures to take, things to upload and captions to write.  We are very excited and hopefully this is a new adventure for us  We would like to extend a little bit of an incentive to all our blog readers.  If you buy something,or if someone you know buys something, please include the code GRANDOPENING in your purchase and we will give you free shipping.

Also, my husbands 30th birthday is tomorrow.  M and I are going to be making him a cake tomorrow morning for dinner, we need to make him a card and I think I am going to make his deities some clothes.  He had his friends from temple come over on Thursday and we had a very sweet devotee come and give a class.  She is very dear to his guru and to have her in our house was a very special thing to my husband.  The class was wonderful, and we were complimented a lot on how nice of hosts we were.  Which is quite the compliment because they stay in lots of places and with lots of people much better off than us.  So it is a testament that it’s not how much you have, it’s what you do with what you do have.

So, if I can snag a few pictures, and sit long enough in the chair to update maybe I can squeeze something nice out tomorrow, if not then Monday.  We are enjoying a 3 days weekend with my husband.  Today I have to work though, and he is going to Busch Gardens with M and his family.  I am jealous!  But I wouldn’t be able to walk around the park today and well, someone has to earn the money!

Warm Wishes!

time for me to hobble to work.

p.s.  We are thinking about shipping ourselves over to blogger.  It works better for linking things like our etsy to it, I can just sign in with my gmail account, and when I reply to most of the blogs I can just use that.  Although I really like the dashboard in wordpress, I can also customize the blog a lot better.  So maybe tonight if I am up for it I might be switching over.  I already have it set up, I just need to do it.

yoga

I am so out of shape.  So so out of shape.  My flexibility (which used to be amazing!  I was a gymnast) is next to nill and I am huffing and puffing at the littlest amount of exercise.  I have also gained a tremendous amount of weight, all the baby weight I lost.  Well, I never gained weight while pregnant, I lost about 30 pounds after.  So, something needs to give.   I joined a gym, but I feel so uncomfortable at the gym.  The music is blaring, and it’s bad music.  It’s this tugged out hip hop and it just makes me anxious to try and relax to it.  I am thinking about canceling my membership (it’s so cheap, like 10 a month) but my husband is urging me not to.  I never use it though!

But I want to get my flexibility back, my strength back and my confidence back.  So I was thinking about doing some yoga, though I have NO clue where to start.  Right now we are to tight on money to pay for a class, so I have been searching out free online videos.  I know how to do a sun salutation, but that is all.  I have no clue what type of yoga would be best for me, what sequences to do and just generally what the heck should I try!

Anyone have any suggestions?

Warm Wishes.

Summer, already?

It’s May, and it’s already 90 degrees here with a lot of humidity.  I bet you are all jealous.  Probably not.

One of the strange things about living in Florida is how unaccustomed you get to whatever cold we get.  Normally, the cold that we DO get is very slight, and a lot of you northerners would laugh at me when I say I am freezing and it’s only 50 degrees.   We never really have to worry about covering our plants and frost?  What frost?  Well this year we got some severe cold weather.  So severe that everything died.  Everything.  You drive around my town and where there used to be lush vegetation, it’s all different shades of brown.  Even the Jacaranda’s aren’t as pretty(that reminds me, I need to get a picture of those, it’s amazing to see huge big trees full of purple flowers.  And when they fall off it looks like purple snow on peoples driveways and lawns) or as full this year.  On our property we had some really beautiful trees and bushes. A great big staghorn fern that sits in our grapefruit tree is half dead.  We had a 6 foot tall Gardenia bush.  It completely died.  Normally you can just cut them back and in a few weeks they will come back, our hibiscus did, but the Gardenia is just gone

so sad to lose that bush

All that green over top?  Oh those are VINES.  We are constantly fighting these vines.  Granted we haven’t gone and done crowd control in a few months since everything died, but this is just crazy.  You see that twiggy hole in the middle?  that is where my beautiful Gardenia tree used to be.  Every morning I would go outside and smell the most amazing smell.  Now, it’s gone.  I am SO sad.  Although it looks like we have some new green growth at the bottom coming up from the floor.  I hope that it is another bush.  I hope.  When I took this picture I had been hacking branches for a half an hour.  Husband had to finish up so that I could cook dinner.

Yesterday we started the garden work with the front yard.  We hacked and trimmed and pulled and raked.  Our arms where so sore, but our front yard looks so nice!

Husband is such a good helper.  Or maybe I am the good helper?  I prefer supervisor.  I have some insane allergies that prevent me from touching to much brush.  I can do clipping and some raking, but when it comes to picking it up, I just can’t.   The asthma attack that would ensue from it is not worth it.   But I did a lot of clipping with our new clippers.  They cut like a hot knife through butter!

The whole family came out, even Stingy!

oh!  don’t look at my terribly old beat up car!  That was my car I bought when I was 18.  I’m 30 this year.  She has served me well!!!

We are working with Stingy to be off leash around us in the front yard.  She is doing really well, but we couldn’t be on our toes to keep her under control, so we leashed her.  I feel it is better to be at ease and really aware when working with her than half there.  We couldn’t ask for a better family member in Stingy.   She is loving, loyal and listens.  Well most of the time!

even helped us plant some flowers.  Then tried to eat then while I was not looking.  Naughty!

The one thing I really love about working outside as the sun goes down is how quiet things get.  How calm the day becomes.  You can almost hear the earth starting to settle down for the night.  The wind changes a bit and the air gets cooler.  The light dims and the bird songs change.  There is something to be said about getting your hands into the dirt and working hard.  Makes a person sleep better.  Goddess knows I need it!

Warm Wishes!

Happy Mothers Day, everyone.

I am just waiting for my daughter to get home from her Nanny’s house, she spent the night.

Hope everyone had a great day!

Warm Wishes

Chanting japa like her papa!

M tries to be like Papi in every way possible.  She is of that age that Papi is her super hero.  And why not?  He is a lovely, good person to look up to.   One of her favorite things that he does is chant japa.  Back when I used to go to temple with my husband, I was given a bead bag and some japa.  I never got into the chanting, but always kept the bag.  A few years ago M saw my bag and wanted it.  So I gave it to her.   I found it neat to see her toddling around at 18m old with her hand in the bag, shaking it and chanting. While I was taking this picture she was instructing me how to do it.  And let me tell you, she does it properly.   My husband was so proud to see her her it.  All she wants in this world is to make her Papi smile.  How wonderful.

My husband is also very excited.  The week after next his Guru is coming to Orlando to stay.  The last time he saw Guru was when he was initiated a few years ago.  He is hoping to gain second initiation.  It is going to be a fun family day trip.   I am very excited for both him and my daughter.  M is very eager to meet Papi’s guru.

sorry about my messy hand writing.  my favorite pen ran out of ink!

I am weird about pens.  They have to have a certain feel or my hand writing just goes out the window.

So we are doing to do lists.  This to do list is hanging on the hanging board we have in our kitchen.  We have many many things that we want to get done, but sometimes we lack the motivation to do it.  Maybe seeing it on paper, every day when we wake up will motivate us.  After reading it, I noticed how much of an exciting life we live.

Well, the last thing on the list makes it exciting, hehe.

Take Care!

gumption

It is beautiful outside today.  Warm to.

But I have NO gumption to get up and do anything but sit here alone in my house looking at my computer screen.  M is at school right now ( I let her stay through naptime because if she comes home she won’t nap, but at school she will and she needs it right now) and I am just sitting here.  I think I caught a bit of her tummy bug.  I am tired, cranky and just want some company.

We have set a date for the grand opening for our etsy store.  May 16th.  So look for some give always and maybe a discount for blog readers.  We won’t have much, but it’s a start.  And starts are always good.

Are we there yet?

So, this weekend has been long and rough.  I was very much looking forward to it Friday morning, but come the night time I was ready for Monday.

Friday evening my mother wanted to take M out.  Like any parent, I jumped at the chance for some quiet alone time with my husband.  Everything was fine, until M got home and my mother handed her over to my husband.  She didn’t look well coming in the door in my mothers arms.  She looked flushed and uncomfortable, she said her tummy and sides hurt.  My husband cuddled her in his arms and she did that familiar cough and he ran for the bathroom.  Thank goddess he made it.  Because she threw up her whole dinner.   And she continued to throw up for the next 6 hours.   She made it to the bathroom all times but one, and that time was all over my feather duvet.  *sigh*  My bed ALWAYS gets thrown up on, always.  Never fails.  So needless to say, our whole weekend was playing nursemaid.  Making sure she is drinking water, making sure she is peeing, keeping an eye on her fever.  It was a long, long weekend.  Left me feeling very odd to.  No upset tummy, but a dizzy headache, but that is what I normally get.  I have a serious aversion to throwing up.  Some say it’s a blessing, I say it’s a curse.

Finally yesterday she was feeling better.  She was out of bed(she had camped in my bed for two whole days) and walking around.  Still not eating to much, but some dry cereal and some water.  When Papi got home he started the yard work, so M and I went outside into the sun for about 45 minutes.  We helped Papi cut down some dead palm leaves and then she did what always makes her feel good.

it must be something about the wind in your face

She swung on the swings for about 20 minutes.  Recently she has learned how to do it herself and she is getting braver and braver with how high so goes.  But that night it was just about feeling the wind in her face and the sun on her hair.  I swear she meditates on the swings.  Every once in a while you will hear the creak and I will look outside and see her toes swinging back and forth.  No sound from her, just the sound of the swing creaking and her eyes looking off far into the distance.  I ask her what she is thinking and she tells me it is a secret.

taken at 8pm.  One reason I love Florida in the summer time.  It’s amazing at 8pm.

Stepping away from the sickness part of the post, I want to talk about food.

Mmmmmmm.   Food.

Lately our finances have really put a strain on us.  We have been struggling, like many of you, and one area we are really trying to cut back a lot of money on is food.  I have always been a cook, but when I first met my husband if it didn’t say Amy’s on it and get put into a microwave, he didn’t eat it.  He was vegetarian, but he didn’t cook.  So one thing I am pretty proud of teaching him is how to actually cook.  Now cutting vegetables I am still working on(it would give you a heart attack to see him use a knife.  I am surprised he hasn’t sliced an artery yet).  Since M was sick this week and we have been super low on food, I had to get creative.  While getting creative in the kitchen is hard work, it does produce some of my favorite dishes.  I like to call them “Toss in Pot”

This was Sundays “Toss in Pot”

It actually looks really good!

You would think I actually thought about this dish, wouldn’t you?  Well I didn’t.  I was starving, there was nothing really easy to make on hand.  Had I had an hour to make some seitan or make some cornbread(and I have a KILLER recipe for cornbread I will have to share) I could have thought about something, but my blood sugar was plummeting and when that happens I generally have about 15 minutes before I go into hysterics.  It sounds awful, but sometimes I have been known to really just forget about eating for awhile because I am preoccupied and then all of a sudden it’s been 6 hours since I have eaten and my body near passes out.  Well I was getting there.  So I impatiently started opening and closing cabinets and the fridge.  I saw a can of kidney beans, so I took it out.  We had some left over rice,  and I found some frozen veggies.  So in a fit of hunger I just started some oil, tossed in the veggies and prayed.  Keep in mind, you can use all fresh veggies ( and I would have rather)

Kristen’s Sunday Toss in Pot

1 can of low sodium dark red kidney beans

1cup frozen cauliflower

1 cup frozen cut yellow squash

1 cup frozen yellow corn

2 tbspn sofrito

1 veggie bullion cube

2 cups of left over rice

I put a small amount of oil in a 5.5qt pot on medium flame.  Then I added my frozen veggies and let cook for a few minutes.  Once everything is nicely coated with the oil and is sweating a bit I add in the sofrito (I have been known to add in more than 2 tbsp) and the veggie cube.  Rinse and drain the beans and add.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Then add enough water to cover and turn down the heat a bit and let simmer until veggies are tender.  About 10-15 minutes.  At this time I salt my dish.  Because I don’t put that much water in, the veggie bullion makes is salty enough for me sometimes.    Once the veggies are tender, I add in my left over rice and stir until it is combined and let the rice soak up some of the juice a bit.  Not to much, just a bit.

It was so good.  Really, really good.

Then tonight my husband made  some wonderful taco’s.  I wasn’t as ambitious and I didn’t make the corn tortillas myself ( I normally make them because they are SO easy and so much better for you than the store bought ones with the preservatives in them).  But essentially he made pinto beans with cheyote  squash.  We made some white rice to go with it.  He’s Puerto Rican, you can’t have beans without rice!.  So we did a tortilla, some greens, some rice, then the beans a little bit of queso fresco (we never eat shredded cheese ever on Mexican food since using this.) and then this AMAZING papaya green curry sauce we found.  I used the hot and sweet sauce.  Dinner was amazing!  I was so proud of my husband for making such a delicious, nutritious dinner.  We all gobbled it all up!  We have lots of left overs for lunch tomorrow and I could kick my own butt for not saving a cup of the rice aside ( I just put the rice and the beans in the corning ware in the fridge) to make indian rice pudding tomorrow.  Oh well!

Mmmmmmm.  Who’s coming over tomorrow for dinner?!

I hope you all are doing well, enjoying May! (we missed May Day because of M being sick)

Warm Wishes,

Kristen

Friends? What are those?

Motherhood can be so isolating sometimes.  I feel it now more than ever.

I have no concept of how to make friends anymore.  Not just acquaintances, but real honest friends.  I don’t need much, just maybe one.   The community we live in is strange, it’s very conservative, but lots of hippies around here.  I feel very stuck in how to make friends with people who are like me.  I am not very mainstream, pretty liberal, young (I turn 30 this year) and I have a kid.  I want a friend with kids that thinks like me.  Someone that I can call up, invite over for dinner.  Go out with.  Someone to help me out of this tough little shell I have built around myself.

I told my husband it’s like dating all over.  I hate dating!