Building an Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist World

We have so much work to do to build a world that values and appreciates everyone, regardless of their differences.

On a day designated to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I want to also honor the countless other individuals who have demonstrated awe-inspiring courage and integrity to fight for a world where there is liberty, justice, and joy for all.  

A few ideas for all of us as we undertake this work together:

1. I love the Racing Race Conscious Children website. It includes amazing resources, such as a list of 100 Race-Conscious Things You Can Say to Children to Advance Racial Justice. 
2. Walking with the Wind by John Lewis is one of my top-three favorite books of all time. It's such an intimate portrayal of Lewis's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. 
3. This website has a lot of implicit bias tests. I especially find the Race IAT interesting. 

My family and I will be heading to the MLK March in Austin. You can find us on Instagram if you want more up-to-date photos: @saracotner and @mattyrunrun.

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Food Sensitivity Update: Oy!

So, it looks like we've got quite a lot of food sensitivities around here. I took Henry (age 5) and Tate (age 3) to the Wellness Clinic at People's Pharmacy to be tested. I wanted to test Henry because he has issues with self-regulation and calming, and I wanted to get Tate tested because he has eczema on his arms and face, and I didn't want to start applying steroid cream like his pediatrician recommended. 

It turns out that the test revealed food sensitivities that might be connected to the issues they are having. Henry needs to eliminate eggs, gluten, peanuts, and pineapple. A sensitivity to gluten in particular is very connected to the issues Henry is having. He needs to minimize dairy and soy.

Tate needs to eliminate citrus, milk/whey, and pineapples. He needs to minimize dairy (especially cheese), gluten, soy, and peanuts. The milk is most likely connected to his eczema. 

I'm not going to lie about the fact that these recommendations cause me heart palpitations, especially given the struggles I've been having to put meals on our table. Not to mention breakfast, snacks, and lunch! 

I honestly don't think I can remain a vegetarian in a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free house. I've been a vegetarian for 16 years primarily because there was very little ethical production of meat happening 16 years ago. Now I still don't eat ethical meat because of its impact on the environment. 

I get teary-eyed thinking about the things that we should eliminate from our lives that have brought us much joy: donuts from our favorite neighborhood shop, milkshakes from various places all over Austin, Amy's Ice Cream, queso, homemade wheat bread from my favorite recipe, and veggie burgers with soft buns.

I kind of want to get Matt and me tested, but I also kind of don't want to know. 

Having a sensitivity doesn't mean we can't have it at all; but we should completely eliminate these things while Tate is trying to heal his eczema and Henry is trying to restore his gut, which is estimated to take 8-12 months. 

This is definitely a relatively small program in the scheme of the world's problems, but it's still making my heart a little sad right now. 

Photo courtesy of Hank + Tank Photography (it's Matt!)

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JOIN US!: Registration is now open for the next Purposeful Conception Course: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy, which starts on January 16. Register today! We'd love to have you join us!

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I Heart the Elfa Closet System

I've been a huge fan of the Container Store Elfa closet system for three years now. We splurged on it when we first moved into the house, taking advantage of their 30% of sale. Our house is 1,800 square feet for a family of four without a garage, so we try to maximize our space however and whenever we can. This closet system helps us use all the available area. 

I renewed my vows with the Elfa system this year when we consolidated Henry and Tate into the same room. The system is completely interchangeable, so we were able to reconfigure our closets to align with our current needs. It was amazing! We moved shelves up, down, and over, and we even moved one of the clothes rods from Tate's old room into his new room (along with one of the sliding drawers that comes with the system). It's so versatile, strong, and easy to use. 

I promise I'm not making any money off of this post--I just love this system and highly recommend it!

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JOIN US!: Registration is now open for the next Purposeful Conception Course: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy, which starts on January 16. Register today! We'd love to have you join us!

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Join Us for Purposeful Conception!

Hooray! I'm really excited to offer another round of Purposeful Conception: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy for those of you thinking about conception. I started preparing for conception eight months before starting to try. It's never to early to step back and think about how to better prepare your life to welcome new life into it.

Please share this info with any of your friends, colleagues, or family members who might be interested! You can find more information at http://purposefulconception.com. 

Happy Monday! 

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Our Family Video Recap of 2016

Here's our year in video form, if you're interested!

You can also get more immediate updates on Instagram: @saracotner

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Exciting New Dinner Options!

I'm about to confess something I'm not proud of: We've been trying out Sunbasket, one of those businesses that delivers meal ingredients with corresponding recipes every week. First, I'll tell you why I love and then I'll tell you why I hope we stop using it as soon as possible. 

Basically, we are in a big rut when it comes to cooking and eating at the Cotner-Bradford house. I do not have time to scour Pinterest for new recipes. When I do make time for it, it's a frustrating experience. I struggle to find vegetarian recipes that require few ingredients and are fast. 

I have about 30 recipes in our Meal Planning system, but I am so, so tired of them. When I buy the ingredients for them, I have to force myself to make them. 

Aaahhh! 

Enter the convenience-based economy. Sunbasket delivers the recipes and ingredients for three different meals to my house each week. The meals take about 30 minutes, which is fine for our life right now (during pool season, I need much faster meals so I can get out there with the boys as soon as possible). There is still prep work to do (chopping vegetables, stirring things, cooking things, assembling things), but everything is already measured and laid out. And the quality of the recipes is delicious! They include all sorts of innovative spices and flavors. It has taken my culinary skills up one or two notches (that's not hard to do because I'm really not a good cook!). In short, I love how Sunbasket increases the quality of our life! 

But I cannot bear the environmental waste that it produces each week. There's a giant box, lots of insulation, two disposable ice-packs, and plastic bottles and containers for every.single.ingredient. I cannot justify all that waste just for my own convenience. 

In my ideal world, I would find four friends who would want to create our own little Sunbasket club. We would each pick one recipe and pull together five sets of the ingredients (in reusable tupperware). Then we would meet at a central place to exchange the ingredients. I think the likelihood of finding four other people who want this kind of commitment in their life (and it would have to be vegetarian, no less) is very, very low. I need to dedicate some time to figuring out a plan for the new year! 

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The New Year is Upon Us!

The new year is upon us! 

I hosted another Reflection & Rejuvenation party, and four friends came over for three hours of reflection, intention-setting, and connecting. I had a lot of fun! 

When I reflected on 2016, my three words (in this order) were busy, stressful, and beautiful.  

Although I had a lot to celebrate (publishing a book, breaking ground on our permanent school facility in East Austin, and an overall feeling like I'm doing the right work), I was disappointed by my inability to sustain the regular habits of health and wellness. There are so many other habits I want to incorporate into my life in order to be able to describe my life in the way I want. As such, here's what I'm committing to this year:

2017 Personal Goals

By the end of the year, I want to be able to say that I feel balanced, connected, full of vitality, and at peace. I want to keep my bucket full, so that I can interact with others from a place of patience, love, and joy.

Toward that end, I will:

1. Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week.
2. Eat in a balanced and healthy way.
3. Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice.
4. Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening.
5. Attend therapy every other week and attend leadership coaching every other week.
6. Take a pottery class.
7. Host a Sunday Supper at least ten times this year.
8. Religiously use Mint.com to track our expenses.
9. Restore our house each night.
10. Go on a retreat by myself.
11. Go on a trip with Matt.

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