All posts by Cindra@LifeWithaFarmer

trees in a heavy snow storm on the farm

Ready To Spring Forward

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Good news—Spring is only 17 days away! This Sunday will be the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, where we set our clocks to “spring forward” an hour.

Bad news—we lose an hour of sleep, and Winter is still refusing to leave!

We’ve had to cancel church 4 times this year because of snow or ice, and I know other churches have done the same.

So, yeah baby, it’s cold outside!! Well except for the couple of days we’ve had when it went up into the upper 50’s and 60’s. Weather is never boring when you live in Missouri.

However, the great thing about living in the country during snow storms is that I get snowed in. I love it. Not having to worry about going anywhere, not worrying about company stopping by, being able to stay in my pajamas until 10:00. In fact, there’s been 2x’s this year that I didn’t even put on makeup!

And it has given me more opportunity to work on my goals for the year. I can’t believe it’s the 4th of March and I’m still talking about goal setting. I usually don’t last this long.

So just an update of what I’ve set out to do and what I’ve accomplished:

My first goal was to lose weight and get healthier. Update: I’ve lost 15 lbs! Not great, considering it’s been 8 weeks, but I’m grateful for what I’ve lost. Just disappointed that I haven’t lost it faster.

I’ve been really strict following the keto diet—no sugar for the first 6 weeks, less than 20 carbs per day, and intermittent fasting (which I love!) on a daily. I mean, seriously, for a grazer (me) to be able to go 16-30 hours without eating is pretty amazing!

However, I did set my goal to lose 30 lbs. by April 15, and that’s only 6 weeks away. Doing the math, I may not make it. Stay tuned.

My next goal was to be more active on my website: Update: Well…I have been active on this website. This is my 6th post, so that’s pretty consistent. Oh yeah, I’ve also updated some of my recipes, downloaded a new recipe plugin, re-setup my subscribe button, and started 4 new subdomains off of LifeWithaFarmer. One is for my recipes, one is for my keto info, one is for teaching others about starting a website, and the last one is for Bible study.

In case you’re not understanding the implication of the craziness; I had a goal of being more active on 1 website, so to remedy that I started 4 more. Yeah… may not be crushing this goal setting thing after all. 

Anyway, I think I’m doing well on the diet front, but I think I need to keep working on the website thingy. Maybe drop a subdomain? But I’m thinking I like to build websites more than I like to maintain a website.

I will be keeping my recipe domain. Maybe next week will be its debut.

Thanks for stopping by, and as usual I would love to hear who’s out there and what you have to say.

OH! And if you want help building a website I’m your guy gal!

3 yellow baby cell phones

My Phone Can Read My Mind

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Does your phone read your mind? Mine does. No question about it!

I mean, we have known for years that “big brother” is watching us. Listening in on our conversations and spying on us through our electronics. But it has gone so much farther than that. I have proof that my phone can read my mind!

black cell phone, blue-green background

Oh, wait…I need to take my phone into the other room and disconnect from the internet.

Ok…anyway, I was saying that our electronics are so advanced that I’m not sure anymore if I’m using them or if they’re using me!

I realize that G-o-0g-l3 (scrambled the name on purpose), anyway—I realize that all my electronics are signed into G-o-0g-l3, so I’m not surprised when I start searching something on my phone it begins to show up in my search suggestions on my computer.

And I can almost understand it when I go to a furniture store and I start receiving ads the next day for furniture through G-o-0g-l3 ads. I assume it’s because I’m being tracked by G-o-0g-l3 maps.

Or if I’m talking on my phone or I go out to lunch with someone and our phones are laying on the table, G-o-0g-l3 is using some kind of spyware to listen in so they can send me “targeted ads”.

But here recently it’s been much creepier than that!

Wait…I saw a small light flicker in the corner of my computer. Let me encrypt this page. I’ll be right back.

Ok, so I was saying that I can understand that G-o-0g-l3 may be able to pick up on some of the activities I’m doing and start loading my FB feeds and sidebar ads with their targeted suggestions, but here lately things are showing up that I don’t even talk to anyone about, or haven’t even researched online.

mobile screen icons

I know I sound paranoid, but it’s happened on at least 3 occasions!

The 1st time I thought it was just a coincidence. I had been watching a lot of Y0utoob (disguising the name) about keto and low carb dieting. And I “thought” (didn’t say anything, just thought about it), but I thought, “I wonder if this diet would have a negative effect on me since I don’t have a gall bladder?”

I had that thought while I was fixing dinner, and before I went to bed that evening I received this link from Thomas DeLauer, “Tips for Keto with no Gallbladder”.

Hmm, that was convenient, I didn’t even have to search for it.

A week or so later, I was a little discouraged, maybe just disappointed, that although I was losing weight, I wasn’t losing it as quickly as I had hoped. So, as I was standing in front of the mirror I thought, “I wish I could do something to quickly get rid of my belly fat.”

The next time I opened my phone I noticed a link of a video was sent to me from Dr. Berg called, “How to Lose Belly fat: FAST!

Seriously? I mean, that’s a coincidence. Right?

But when it happened the third time, I knew someone or something was somehow tapping into my brain waves and reading my mind!!

A few nights ago I was getting ready for bed and I thought, “Apple cider vinegar helps with weight loss. I wonder how much I should drink and how often?” By the time I got out of the shower the next morning, I had a notice from Y0utoob sharing a link from Dr. Nick Zyrowski called, “How Much Apple Cider Vinegar Should You Drink?” And the next video that popped up was another video of his called, “When To Drink Apple Cider Vinegar For Best Results”.

Coincidence? Or just creepy?!

I don’t know how it’s happening. How can my phone be reading my mind? Wait…it’s an A-p=pl3 phone (misspelled). And we all know the symbolism of the original A-p=pl3 and how it was used to deceive mankind.

bitten apple Apple logo

Maybe my A-p=pl3 phone is trying to control my life. Maybe it’s not really my idea to be eating the keto diet. Maybe G-o-0g-l3, A-p=pl3, and Y0utoob are so advanced in artificial intelligence that they are taking over my mind and making me believe that the things I am watching and reading and buying are my ideas.

What other reason would there be for being able to put things on my phone that I was only thinking about? How else would they know what was in my mind?

I mean, it’s not like I talk out loud to myself, right?

Hmm, “Hey Siri, do I talk to myself out loud.”

Siri: “I don’t have an opinion on that.”

Yeah, right. Just another diversion tactic.

Psalm 94:11

Image Credits: DeviantArt, PxHere, modified.

handwritten my goals

Life-Changing Goals

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Six weeks ago I started a life-changing list of goals that included:

  • Diet
  • Blog
  • Spiritual
  • Wealth

For the first few weeks, I had been succeeding in meeting my goals in weight loss, so I decided to venture off into the next step which was being more active on my website.

joshmcdonald.net

So for the last three weeks I have been more active on my website, but unfortunately, I haven’t been blogging; I’ve been fixing. Well, breaking and then fixing.

Before writing more post, I thought I needed to update a few posts and pictures; you know, like you would clean your house before special guests come to visit.

And I also wanted to get my recipe plugin setup “Juuuust right” so I could post new Keto friendly recipes!

Unfortunately, when I started fixing my website, I accidentally deleted some information and pictures, lost a few precious comments left by my special guests (you guys), and at one time my whole website went down completely.

Fortunately, my website is hosted with Bluehost and the customer service there is outstanding! I could call or chat 24/7, and after several friendly conversations through chat, I think we have things up and running again. And good news, since my viewership is so small, I don’t think anyone noticed; bad news, my viewership is so small. 🙂

So, on with my goal of being more active on my website!

To be successful with this goal, I am again trying to follow the SMART outline for succeeding. Wow! Listen to me being a goal setter. (LOL!)

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Relevant
  • Time-bound

Gosh, it’s hard to actually put myself out there, but I need the accountability, so here it goes:

  • Specific: I’m going to be more active with my website, posting, and networking
  • Measurable: I’m going to post once a week; an article, an opinion, or a recipe
  • Attainable: I mean, it’s only one 300—800-word article per week-that should be attainable. Anyone can do that, right?
  • Relevant: Yes, posting, networking, updating the backend of my website will definitely help me to achieve the goal of being more active on my website.
  • Time-bound: Well, I would like this to be a life-changing goal, but for now I’m going to put a time frame of 21 days. I can do anything for 21 days, right?

Hey! Thanks for stopping by. If you would like to keep me accountable, or if you would like to see the awesome recipes that I plan to post, click the Subscribe button. I’m the only one that gets your email address, and I definitely won’t be sharing with anyone.

Thinking about starting your own blog or website? The first thing you’ll need is a hosting company. I highly recommend Bluehost. I’m a Bluehost affiliate because I have personally experienced their awesome customer service and reliable hosting. However, the deciding factor for me to choose Bluehost for my website was the fact that they never host adult only sites. Click on the image below to find out more.

I Can Do All Things

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I Can Do All Things, for 21 Days

I’m sure we’ve all heard this before; it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.

I’ve personally practiced this principle in every area of my life. When I want to remember something I need to do, I say it over and over 21 times to myself. If I want to memorize a verse, I write it over and over 21 times and then practice saying it out loud 21 times. As I am teaching myself to play piano, I play a difficult note or set of notes over and over 21 times before moving on.

A habit, as we all know, forms in the brain and it continues as a loop, playing over and over in our brains like that song that never ends. Remember that?

This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend.

Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was,

And they’ll continue singing it forever just because,

This is the song that never ends… (you get it, right?)

Anyway, that’s what our habits do in our brains. A habit is usually triggered by something. Just like Pavlov and his salivating pooch, something triggers us, we do our habit, and we receive our “reward” for doing what we should or shouldn’t be doing.

I read somewhere that our habits are driven by these eight primary emotions: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy. (I looked it up, it was said by Robert Plutchik)

In order to change a habit, we must really want it. No one else can make us change our habit. It has to come from your own desires. And if we can associate a positive emotion to the breaking of that habit, it helps even more.

When I tried to quit smoking several years ago, at first I didn’t really want to do it. So I didn’t. I mean, I would say I wanted to, and I took steps to do it, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to.

However, there came a point when I got a desire to do it. I decided that I didn’t want my children to pick up the habit of smoking, so I did something about it. I went to a hypnotist and I used the visual that he gave me over and over in my mind, until smoking no longer had power over me. It was actually the hardest thing I have ever done, but I’m so glad I did it.

According to the experts, if we try to add a good habit into our lives, the 21 days of doing the habit helps our muscle memory to keep doing it. However, it takes 14 days for an old habit to lose its grip on us. So for 2 weeks, we’re mostly trying to fight against that bad habit, but the 3rd week becomes that sweet spot when we can actually see that a change may just be possible, and we begin reaping some of the rewards.

An exception to this is that it takes 45 days to break an addiction. So if you’re trying to give up smoking, drugs, and I think some people are truly addicted to sugar; these things can take longer.

So in saying all this, I really just wanted to brag about reaching one of my goals. For 21 days–as of today–I have successfully been accomplishing my first goal. Yay!

What was my first goal? Glad you asked. This is from my list I made about the improvements I wanted to make for this year:

  • Start a Keto eating plan
  • Keep track of my eating in an app
  • Watch or read about keto each day
  • Check out new recipes
  • Make keto friendly grocery list

For the last 21 days, I have been able to stick to the Keto way of eating, I’ve watched hours of Youtube videos on keto diets, keto foods, keto benefits, and keto recipes. I’ve learned about it, talked about it, written about it; it has consumed my life for the last three weeks. And so what is the reward that helps me to want to continue with this habit?

I’ve lost 10 lbs! Reaching my first goal of 2019, and giving me the desire to continue in the habit. My next goal in weight loss is 20 more lbs. by April 15. (Happy Birthday to me!)

Onto the next habit-changing, life-changing goal: Be more active on my blog! And you guys can really help with this, by being active with me. Leave a commit, share on social media, you can even sign up to receive all updates by email.

So, what about you guys? Did you set any goals for this year? Share them in the comment box below.

Goal Setting Part 2

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Two weeks in, and I’m still working on my goals. I feel like 2019 may just be my year!

Ok, since goal setting is a new concept for me, I of course have been doing a lot of research on the subject. And apparently, everyone is talking about SMART Goals. Do you know this concept? I didn’t until, well, last week.

So SMART Goals is, of course, an acronym (which is why I keep capitalizing the word SMART).

Apparently, to succeed in goal setting, your goals must be:

•    Specific

•    Measurable

•    Attainable

•    Relevant

•    Time-bound

The advice I’ve been reading about says firstly to write down your goals, which I had already done because I’m a list maker.

Secondly, make sure each goal is following the SMART way to set a goal.

Other advice was to keep the number of goals manageable. Work on 3 to 5 goals instead of making a page full of dreams and wishes.

And I found this point interesting, don’t share your goal with the public. The reason; although we all need accountability; we should only share our goals with a select few who are willing to help us to succeed. So, I guess I shouldn’t be writing about my goals, although one of the reasons I’m doing it is to keep me accountable. We’ll see if I should have taken that advice or not.

After all my research, I went back through my list of goals and examined them again. I have 5, so according to the experts, that should be doable. Are my goals:

Specific – yes

Measurable – yes

Attainable – should be

Relevant – very

Time-bound – well, not all of them, I’ll work on that

So far, I’ve only been working on 2 of my goals, because I don’t want to get “weary in well doing”. And so far, I feel fairly successful in both areas.

Will next week bring unforeseeable complications?

Will I be able to keep up with the rigors of goal setting?

Will there be any more posts on goal setting?

Tune in next week and find out.

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment and let me know you’re there.

“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” Psalm 20:4