Fun and Mental Changes

Why must I ALWAYS go against the grain??? :) John 15:5"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him will bare much fruit, for without me you can do nothing." What does this really mean? This is one of the first verses I ever committed to memory (still wriggling into my heart) years ago when I took the Experiencing God Study Course for the first time. It is an amazing Bible study that I highly recommend for anyone... but specifically for new christians . I wish I had known about this Bible study sooner. It was responsible for reconnecting me with God and really teaching me about God the Father instead of God the Deity, as this was all I ever knew him as up to that point. But this verse still pops into my mind every now and again as I ask: What is our dependence on God? I have been hearing a trend lately that is sending my skin crawling because I want to speak out, but I know it is completely inappropriate. But it is driving me crazy to hear people say...

Anyone trying to get in shape knows that protein shakes are a MUST, especially if you're trying to get 5-6 meals in each day! And finding one that is quick and actually tastes good seemed like an impossible combination for me to find. Well, as I mentioned in a previous post , sugar free flavored syrups worked very well for me and got me experimenting with other "additives" that would make ANY protein shake mix taste great. I think I'm getting this down to a science and the treat in today's post is super simple and super delicious (see my side note for how I make it super quick too)! 2 Seconds To Chai Heaven 2 teabags of your favorite chai flavored black tea 8 oz. water Ice 1 serving of your favorite vanilla flavored protein powder - Steep teabags in 8 oz of boiling water (approximately 5 - 10 minutes until tea is very dark.... not exactly 2 seconds, but I had to get you to read this somehow! LOL). In a blender or shaker, mix tea with ice and protein powder. Enjoy ...

Returning from the Bon Vivant Celebration that took place at Rawhide this year is a little bitter sweet. Bitter because I had to leave in the first place, but sweet because I have a really great topic to blog about. First of all, being that attendees pay about $100 - $150 to attend the event, it's important to note that the proceeds benefit a VERY WORTHY cause... The Boys And Girl's Club! But, for the money that is spent, the food and spirits are amazing and worth every penny! I ate some of the most delectable food and sipped the smoothest drinks from wine to prickly pear vodka. I have spent far more than $100 on a meal that had far less to offer and was far less satisfying, but amazingly, since I volunteered at this event last night... it cost me nothing! Upon receiving my special entry badge at the door, I received a plate that had a special insert to hold the wine glass I was also given. Those were mine to use throughout the evening and to even take home! Very nice! The fir...

I love, love, love this picture!!! I pulled this pic off the net. It's going around because some ridiculous story broke about Kim Kardashian's cellulite! Wow, are our priorities so mixed up?!? Well, I'm here writing about it too, so I've established that my priorities are mixed up but there's something amazing to be said about this pic AND Ms. Kardashian's response: "So what, I have cellulite!" Ok, first of all, from looking at this pic, there are (MAYBE) three areas that look digitally enhanced and I only noticed those areas because the two pics are side by side. I did notice that someone washed her color. I can honestly say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the natural pic is way more beautiful to me because it is real, and she is really a beautiful woman without anything retouched. This is the same thing that just happened with Jessica Simpson in recent months. When are we going to stop doing this to ourselves? We are trying to live up to false imag...

Every day I read through a list of motivational quotes as my night is coming to a close. That is a little part of my day that I really look forward to every night. So I thought I would share my top 10. All of them I found online from various websites. I do not remember where each one of these came from, but I want to make sure that everyone knows that I did not come up with these. If anyone has some motivational quotes they would like at add, please do. I am collecting them and would like to have as many as possible. 1) "Obsessed is the term the lazy use to describe the dedicated." 2) "Potential just means ya ain't doing crap right now" 3) "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour or a day, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself which would I rather live with?" Lan...

I always wondered about people who say they've talked to God. How can that be? Well over the years I came to understand that since Jesus' death on the cross and all of us receiving the holy spirit to dwell inside (when we ask Him to), that God really does talk directly to us. It's not an audible thing. But when we're connected to God, that link culminates in the most amazing thought patterns. For instance: today I was surfing the web reading this and that about one of my favorite subjects... exercise. One article I read said, "What is interesting is that at the moment you want to quit, the moment the pain has become too great, that is the moment that usually means you are close to a breakthrough!" I suddenly had no thoughts of exercise or weight training. I thought of all the times in my life when I thought I couldn't handle something only to find out that I did handle it and my life turned out great because of it. I also thought of all the times that I th...

I just read an article about a topic that is VERY near and dear to my heart. Being that I'm in recovery for "being offended all the time by everything", any article written about the subject sounds whistles and sirens for me. This article that I found on PeerTrainer.com's blog is one of those articles. I would venture to say that it is MY FAVORITE article on the topic because of the wording and suggestions on ways to deal with "being offended". Being offended is not an easy topic to discuss, but being a christian, I believe that it is even more important NOT to be offended. To be offended means that you have given control of your emotions to someone or something else, and where does your faith go? And I love this writer's question, "Why does this bother me so much?" That is the perfect question to get your emotions back in check. Your emotions are only to be a gauge for your spirit... not take it over. Understanding that everyone is connected ...

Ok , I have spent the entire weekend watching/blogging/talking about Twilight. Why does it work? Why does it move me and every teenage female that I meet? Because there is something very sexy about a bad boy with a good heart. "He" is the ultimate fantasy guy. And by the way, I am not the only adult female pining over the hero in this movie... no this is not reserved for teenage girls. There were quite a few moms at the release party discussing this very topic. All I know is that this story is amazing, the characters are incredible and I want to run out and buy all the books. Now to be objective, the actors playing the main characters can use a few acting lessons, but the cinematography and the directing were superb. Editing was wonderful (nothing lagged on) and the music score will be part of my dreams forever. I also LOVED Stephenie Meyer's cameo! That was a nice personal touch to the movie that I missed the first two times around. hahahahaha ! I'm hoping that the p...

Increasing daily activity is important to anyone looking to shed the pounds or improve health, but it sometimes seems like the planned, or forced, activity dulls the mind making activity feel like a chore. Impromptu relays are the sure fire answer to cure that. In your back yard or a nearby park, set up fun family relays. We did jump rope, water haul ( 5 gallon container) and frisbee catch this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and would be even more fun to make it a party and invite friends and neighbors. THAT, by the way, is what I'm planning! :) The activity over the weekend got me in touch with the kid in me and made the exercise feel more like play time! Anyone for hopscotch? Maybe next weekend. In my mind's eye I'm picturing everyone on my block getting together at the local park once a week for potlucks and relays. I'm picturing families who could otherwise not get their children away from their X-Boxes or Wiis, bonding and getting in shape together at a fun w...

Ok, so it is 2:30 a.m. and I just finished watching Twilight. Yes, I am a freak of nature! I actually stayed up all night to watch this movie and now sit down and blog about it! I had to wait until 12:01 exactly to get the movie at blockbuster's DVD release party which actually took me until 12:30 a.m. because the freakin line was out the door... and that was for all of us who prepaid! Luckily I have been in training for many years for this very moment (insomniac.. hahahahaha!). That movie was incredible and I cannot wait for New Moon to come out! I am going to have to watch it a few more times. That was the most climactic, anticlimactic movie I have ever seen. There is something so exciting about "the wanting more"! That is what this whole movie was about. Doing the right thing when you are so tempted to push things further. Oh, it was good. That's all I have for now. I must go now and dream. I would end this with telling everyone to go see it, but based on the line ...

I never made it to the theaters for the screening of Twilight which is odd. I'm totally into the whole romanticism of vampires (not the demon stories so much as the forever love stories) and really enjoy teen movies. Don't judge! It was not until after Twilight was out of the theaters that I found out that the author of the book by the same title (Stephanie Myers) is a mormon. Interesting. I am not a mormon, but since I have many friends who are, I have gotten a little glimpse into their values and beliefs.... love story you say? Very Interesting. I then did a little research and found out that this love story is the old fashion kind, the kind that I LOVE. You know, the kind where two people actually get to know each other and don't give too much of themselves away... what!?! This is a vampire story right? Ok, so I'll cut to the chase. I just bought this movie (sight unseen) and am set to pick it up at 11:00 p.m. this evening at the release party being held at the vide...

Pictured here is the "before" picture of my apple chips that I was dehydrating after marinading them in pure organic maple syrup. I then sprinkled organic and raw maple syrup powder over top. After three days of dehydrating (unheard of in an Excalibur ) I realized that they were NOT going to be chips at all. They were not getting crunchy! While they were staying firm, I could bend them in half and the two halves would stick together with the maple glue I had created. Well, there is not an after picture, because you see this little failed dehydrating experiment actually created a very yummy candy/caramel apple treat and they were completely gone the day that I turned the dehydrator off. The family loved them! I still have an entire bag of sliced apples in the fridge that I will put in the dehydrator tonight. Hopefully there will be an "after" pic from that batch. I won't be marinading in syrup this time. I might just try sprinkling with the maple syrup powder an...

I posted a blog a couple of days ago about the Bountiful Baskets . I talked about all the beautiful organic produce I received. Well, for a moment I was afraid... very afraid. Part of the bounty I received included some really weird leafy green that had red stems. I had never seen anything like that before (at least I don't think I have...). After a little research I discovered that it was swiss chard. Ok, now what? I then "Googled" how one goes about preparing swiss chard and the online consensus seemed to be to saute it for the best flavor. And when I say saute, I mean saute in butter. THAT was not going to work for me. So today after starting the roast in the crock pot I decided to get a little creative. I chopped up garlic and cut up the chard and put them both in the same bowl to marry. What can I say, I'm a romantic! LOL. When the roast was done, I removed it from the pot and added the cut up chard, garlic and all into the still hot broth in the pot. The broth c...

Birthdays are the best, and mine's not even here yet! I received this amazing pink watch yesterday as an early birthday present. I'm so spoiled (as it should be)! But this isn't just ANY watch, it's a Mio Motiva Pink Petite watch. Why is THIS watch so special? Because a portion of the proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation ! It gets even better! This watch also monitors heart rate, tracks calories burned and has a count-down/count-up timer among other functions. I haven't had time to sit down and read through the entire user manual yet, but so far, this is the PERFECT sports watch and exactly what I wanted. The package included the wrist band you see in the pic as well as a solid pink band. I also got a light blue/orange combo band and a gray/black combo band. Hello ladies! Now you can coordinate your watch with all your gym clothes. Just kidding... I don't own anything that's blue and orange. Hahahaha! This is definately a birthday gi...

Well, I received the magic bullet and it's everything I hoped it would be. I have already sold a couple people on it as well. You just can't beat single serving blending. The juice extractor attachment is a nice bonus and the motor IS very powerful. It blends the ice for my protein shakes like I'm mixing butter. All the pieces (except for the electrical base) can be thrown into the dishwasher for super fast clean up. I haven't used this in the microwave, but haven't seen any issue with putting the mixing cups into the dishwasher or freezer. It really does grind up spices and coffee VERY well and unlike the expensive nut and spice grinders, all the "powder" from whatever you are grinding stays contained in the cup. You just remove the blade and you can serve directly from the cup. The vented lids are perfect for sprinkling those fresh ground spices or cheeses. Exactly what the infomercial said, it's absolutely true. I would love to write a letter to the...

Can someone PLEASE explain to Mr. Obama that you cannot write a check when there isn't money in the account? Can someone please explain to him that a check is a promisory note promising to forward funds THAT ARE AVAILABLE? Writing a promisory note without the funds to cover it is fraud which is why post-dating checks is illegal. Can someone also inform congress that they are there FOR THE PEOPLE and not for themselves? Their service, while VERY OVERLOOKED by the majority of Americans, is not overlooked by God and they will be held accountable. Please correct me if I'm wrong: congressmen earn around $180K per year and EVERY one of them retire millionaires. If they are doing so legally than in the name of service, shouldn't our congress people be sharing their keys of success to help our nation prosper financially. Our kid's kids will be paying those fraudulent promisory notes and would benefit greatly from the knowledge that our government "officials" clearly ...

You DESERVE a piece of pie!!! :) This is the recipe that I promised the wonderful group at the co-op today. Sorry for the late post! A little note: Most of my raw recipes come from a recipe book called Raw Food, Real World, as does this one. I love this non-cookbook! You will need a pie/tart pan, a high speed blender and a dehydrator. Crust 1 1/2 C. Coarse almond flour 1 1/2 C. fine almond flour 3 T. Date Paste 3/4 C. Maple Syrup Powder 3/4 C. Coconut butter Pinch of sea salt. Add all ingredients to food processor and pulse for 30 seconds. Dough should form and all ingredients should be completely combined. Press dough into pie or tart pan. Place in fridge for at least an hour to set up. Filling 1 C. Raw Cashews, soaked for 4 hours or more 1 C. Raw Coconut meat 2 C. Carrot juice 3/4 C. Agave nectar 3/4 C. coconut butter 1/3 C. Date paste 1 T. vanilla extract 1 T. ground cinnamon 2 tsp. ground ginger 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 3/4 tsp. sea salt In high speed blender ...

Oh man! Look at the fridge in my garage. And that's only about half of it!!! The rest of my Bountiful Basket is in the fridge in my kitchen. Crazy! I'm here to tell you about my very first experience with Bountiful Baskets . I was told that Bountiful Baskets was a great way to save money on quality produce, so I thought I'd give it a try and see; and you can tell by the pic, that was today! Well, my fridge is PACKED! And every bit of it is organic. Look at how nice all of that produce looks. It's beautiful. After signing up on the website (click link above), I started reading that you can volunteer at the pick up site and help distribute; for your work, you can get extra produce. That was a nice bonus, but today I volunteered with the nicest people and to be honest I had so much fun, I would have done that for free. Needless to say (but I will say it anyway) I will be doing this again in 2 weeks. So here's the lowdown. For $25 dollars, I got what you see in the pic ...

Diet programs come and go and are usually accompanied by an instruction book of some sort. Atkins, Southbeach, Volumetrics.... they all have them and all of them claim to have proven success. Well gang, I have the latest and greatest! This diet program has been around for a very long time, but often gets overshadowed by the latest fad. But THIS program works! And the instruction book can be found for FREE at every library, most hotels and every church building. That's right, it's the Bible. I am doing a Bible study on proper nutrition and so far, it's great! We first established that our bodies are the temple of the living God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" Then we are asked, what are you doing to your body to steal away your health. God has already healed us all, it's already done. It is ours for the taking. Isiah 53:5 says, "But he was wounded for...

Pumpkin seeds!!! I have a wonderful recipe (from Raw Food, Real World) for Candied Pumpkin Seeds, and I am all over it! Using my dehydrator, I will be mixing maple syrup powder, ginger and pumpkin seeds that have been soaked for 4+ hours. They will dehydrate at 115 degrees for 12 to 24 hours. I just found out that this little recipe creates a "super snack"! The perfect ratio of protein to carbs and can be added to just about anything. But the real reason for my sudden excitement is all the health benefits from eating this amazing snack. Click here for an article called 10 Health Benefits Of Pumpkin Seeds... and it's HUGE (especially for men)!!! Here's to your health! I just gotta find raw, organic pumpkin seeds!!!

This masterpiece is my Mock Pumpkin Pie. A recipe that I found in Raw Food, Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis. This book is my new favorite! Every recipe I have done from this book turns out beautiful. Well, this one had it's moments. Just a little tip for those of you trying your hand at raw recipes... the pies turn out soupy, as did this one. Since soupy pie is not pie at all, I popped it into the dehydrator for 10 hours at 95 degrees. It came out perfect! And you would never know that there isn't a lick on pumpkin in it. The batter is basically cashews and carrot juice mixed with all the pumpkin spices. The crust is made of almonds. It tastes BETTER than pumkin pie. The carrot flavor is very very subtle. You cannot tell that there's carrot in it exactly, only that this pumpkin pie has a mysterious "kick" that makes it WAY better than the real thing. It's weird, but soooo yummy!

I am a gadget girl; I love kitchen gadgets. It's not strange at all to see my husband buying a blender or a bread machine or even a new sauce pot for me on a special holiday. No, he's not a husband with a death wish... he just knows what I love. So today's post is all about the new kitchen tool. It's called a Spirooli . It turns vegetables into pasta-like noodles. What is pictured is tonight's FANTASTIC dinner. Organic Cayenne Chicken with Zucchini Pasta Alfredo. The alfredo is one of the new raw recipes I was trying and it turned out BETTER than amazing. Here's the recipe: In a blender, add 1 tablespoon of garlic, 1 tablespoon EVOO , 1/2 cup fresh squeezed organic lemon juice, sea salt and pepper to taste. For a raw recipe, add a 2 teaspoons of Liquid Amino. For a traditional flavor add a tablespoon of dijon mustard. Blend well and set aside. Cut zucchini into 2 inch sections and place on spirooli . Turn handle to create noodles per manufacturer's instruct...

For about a month now, I have been trying to convert to a naturalistic diet. One that consists of organic meats and raw, organic veggies. You wouldn't believe that would be hard to find in a world where our resources are endless... but it is. This transition has not been an easy one. From time to time, after purchasing produce, I have found myself wondering, "Where did this come from really?" Last week I visited the Queen Creek Olive Mill (My new favorite place). As I walked toward the entrance, I noticed a gorgeous, but quaint, little garden on my left. I couldn't take my eyes off of it! Inspiration hit me. I was finally going to start my garden (and I knew my husband would help... and so did he)! Well, here is my weekend project; the garden. After weeding, tilling, placing pavers and adding compost, I planted the following "crops": mint, basil, dill, strawberries, yellow and red peppers, romain lettuce and onions. Tomorrow I will plant leeks, green pep...

This article is from t he Los Angeles Times. It was written by Alan Zarembo . "In an experiment in mice, researchers have found that treatment with an antidepressant early in life increases the appearance of depression and anxiety-like symptoms in adulthood. The researchers gave daily doses of fluoxetine , better known as Prozac, to mice from four days after birth until their normal weaning age of three weeks - a period that roughly corresponds in humans to a fetus in the third trimester of pregnancy up to early childhood. At 12 weeks - adulthood for mice - the test animals showed signs of abnormal behavior. The study , which will be published this week in the journal Science, is seen as a starting point for determining the long-term effects of prescribing antidepressants for pregnant mothers and young children. "It underscores that there is really very little known about how medications that affect the central nervous system affect child development," said Dr. Victoria...

Generally speaking, I like music from all genres. Some days you'll catch me listening to classical, other days I'm listening to country. But during workouts, I've gotta have a beat. The rhythm has got to match my heart rate which, if I'm having a good workout, is somewhere between 130-160. I'm sorry but in this particular situation classical, country... not even alternative music is going to do the trick. So I went in search of "My Ultimate Playlist". The songs that inspire me to work and sweat. These are the songs that make it fun. But where did I start? That one's easy; it had to have a beat. Then it had to inspire me to workout in one form or another. Here is my playlist. Feel free to steal it! I will attach little notes as to why I chose that particular song. 1. Justin Timberlake, SexyBack and Damn Girl. The rhythms for these songs are amazing, but more importantly these songs remind me why I'm working out in the first place. 2. Rihanna, Don...

Yes! Again with the nail stamper. I am jokingly telling everyone that I broke my driving finger and needed to camouflage! While it's true, I broke the nail on my middle finger, and this psychedelic Konad Nail Stamp certainly does a great job in camouflaging, that was not why I did this. I have been dreaming of doing this since I saw another blog showcase this Color Club Lazer Pink! I adore pink, black and white together. That color combination, for me, is as "girly" as you can get! And this stamp turned out every bit as awesome as I thought it would. Psychedelic indeed! ***Be sure to scroll down to my Topics Index and view more posts about 'Nail Stamper'*** SEE THIS IMAGE FEATURED IN THE PHOTO GALLERY AT WWW.OCNAILART.COM !

So I was on my group message board at P eertrainer.com and someone made a recommendation that I thought was wonderful! So wonderful in fact that I spent the afternoon balancing my checkbook to see if I can afford it!!!! Apparently the Magic Bullet is quite the go-to gadget for trainers and athletes! Why? Isn't that just another piece of garbage that they are trying to push on those infomercials??? Well, that's what I thought, but I've gotta say that more than one person in the discussion said that this piece of garbage is invaluable in keeping them on track with their nutrition. Here's what I heard today about the Magic Bullet: It's got a really powerful motor It really is quick and easy to use (the infomercial didn't lie) The handy single servings make it quick and easy to whip up a power shake for a quick "treat"! If you drink more than one a day, you can make many different types of shakes without continually dirtying up an entire unit! NICE! A co...

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a shoe lover. I am not addicted to purses or clothes. I do, however, have a very strong pension for sunglasses. And it turns out that this love will serve to protect my eyes in the future. So, doesn't that work out nicely? Unlike purses and shoes that potentially put strain on the back, my obsession will actually enhance my overall health. All the more reason to run out and snag that pair of Coach sunglasses I've been salivating over! Here is the article I will be citing to justify all future "optical protection" purchases. The article can be found at http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/articles.asp . For Your Health: How to protect your eyes. By Victoria Freeman Sunglasses—more than just a fashion statement Q: I can’t seem to keep up with sunglasses. I either break or lose them as fast as I buy them. Are they really that important for eye protection? A: Sounds like you need to come up with a retention plan! And in answer to your...