eating right.

So I've had several friends ask for some healthy eating tips. So I've decided to make a post about it. Here is a long overview of me jotting down some thoughts. I'm going to attempt to make a blog post about each point, and all the little ones in-between.

Some tips that I have found that work are: Don’t let this overwhelm you. #1 eat every 3 hours. I normally eat within a half hour of waking up and start my 3 hour clock right then. This helps me from not get very hungry and it helps me not over eat. #2 Eat as clean as possible. Eat as many veggies as you can, and only clean meats. http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/ #3 Prepare! I have my routine when I go to the grocery store(s). I have my regular food that I buy and then stuff I buy for meals. I’ve gotten it down to where I just know what to buy. In the beginning I would take a serious shopping list. Also, find like 2 new meals a week to make. I subscribed to vegetarian times magazine (I’m a vegetarian, so you don’t have to subscribe to this mag, but a healthy mag) and I’d find some meals that look tasty and I’d go shopping for them. Then I have the ingredients to make it and I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to make, and resulting to something unhealthy. #4 Green smoothies! Oh, green smoothies! The best! There have been studies shown where if you blend up your greens, you get more nutrients from them. I put a basic recipe up on my blog you can read here.  Don't get overwhelmed with the ingredients. You can put in there whatever you want, but it will take some practice to get the ratios right. The key is to put as much spinach and kale as you can handle. (I always do 2 handfuls of spinach and 2 stalks of kale for 2 people) And then depending on what fruit is in season, that's what I do. but I try to not put too much fruit because of the sugars. So right now I'll do a banana and a nectarine and then my frozen berries. I normally make a full blender for my husband and me in the morning. I also like to make a full blender and have half in the morning and bring the other half in a insolated cup for lunch or something. #5 Protein. I sometimes struggle with not getting enough protein so I have a shaker bottle and I use this protein. Vitacost has the cheapest vitamins and supplements.  This protein is the cheapest for what you get. I also get the pure protein bars at costco (cheapest) and that's something I can  throw in my purse or something and they are a large amount of protein.

#6 Exercise. It’s just one of those things that you have to convince your mind that you want to do it, then once you’re doing it, you feel amazing. I used to go to the gym every day but it’s sometimes too much with school. I’ve started using videos and phone apps. My faves are: Jillian Michael’s “30 day shred”, Jillian’s “No more trouble Zones”, and the iPhone app “Nike Training club”. These are all things I can do in my living room and get a decent work out in without being too overwhelmed with everything else going on in my life. I’m trying to add in a good run after doing one of those workouts, but we’ll see how it goes.

Another thing, if you don’t feel like working out, which we’ve all been there, just do something. This morning I didn’t feel like an intense workout so I did 30 minutes of yoga and I felt amazing. I know this is easier said than done, but when I convince myself, I’m always glad I did.

#7 Don’t deprive yourself of treats. Treats are my weakness and if I told myself I couldn’t have ANY, well then I’d eat every sugary goodness in sight. So I allow myself a treat. When I was being really good, I would allow Saturday to be my treat day. Lately I’ve been allowing a dessert at night. Most of the time I’m ok with that and don’t beat myself up…but this semester has been stressful, so I have treats.

#8 Cleanse. This isn’t necessary for you to do right away. I know it can be overwhelming changing your entire eating habits upside down. But cleansing is so good for the body to help get rid of stored junk. If you’re interested, I have a few that you could try.

Now I'm no guru, and I continue to struggle with eating healthy daily, however I've seen results and I know what helps me to feel good. My wonderful mentor, Joline is also a wonderful resource for cleanses, raw recipes and more! Here is her blog.

Leave a comment if you would be interested in more specific posts.

Thanks!

J

Pinning girl

Tuesday nights have turned into my DIY pinning party. Ben works late and I have been at school all day and I'm studied out...so I do projects from my new found love affair of Pintrest. This site is amazing and has opened up my creativity in a whole new light. I didn't even know I was creative.
Yes, these are all cell phone self portraits because the Hubs is never home when I'm crafting.

That is, until I attempted to make my own stuffed animals for the BFF's new baby boy.

I started with the animals and then gained my confidence and made the airplane.
All hand drawn.

They are unfinished here but they turned out pretty darn cute.

Then I decided to make a shirt from this tutorial,

after finding the same shirt I already had, on sale for $4 at Target.

 I think it's darling and it was really fun!

Then one evening I decided to try out the twisted flowers.
They are time consuming so I stopped at 3 and couldn't figure out what to put them on.
Why not an ear warmer I already had?

Perfect for my BFF New York City trip over New Years!

And tonight's project is from here.

Over sized man's shirt vamped into new and improved off the shoulder cuteness.

I learned the hard way that it's difficult to fit to your own body when you're

the only one at home. Chip clip to the rescue!

 Please excuse that I'm in the bathroom.

It has the best lighting at night when there isn't any natural light.

I'm in love.

I'm very proud of my ruffliage. 

I may add some flower along the neck. What do you think?

Leave a comment...

Next project is going to be a skirt. Like this one...or this one... Now to find some stripped fabric!

I only seem to blog when I feel profound or poetic

The past few weeks (maybe months) have been hectic and rough for us. Hence the lack of blogging. I feel like we live such mundane lives that only consist of going to school, going to work, studying and sleeping. And who really wants to read about me complaining about school? Well I guess if you want to, here it goes. This semester kind of stinks. I kind of hate most of my classes, I feel like I'm putting in tons of effort and not getting much benefit in the grades department, therefore I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged. And when I'm stressed, everything goes to kaput. I don't eat as well, I rarely exercise (or think I don't have the time), and I'm slightly cranky.

And then I went to Vegas for work, which was fun and exciting to connect with the people I work with (I work remotely), but another thing to juggle with everything else.

And then I had a profound moment while in Vegas. I was side busting on one of my favorite motivational/health speakers who speaks at all of our work conventions, Dr. Roland Phillips who is a Chiropractor, who has gone to a whole new level (You can find him here) and he was telling someone how basically if you're always living in the future, if you're always thinking "oh once this semester is over, then I'll be able to have fun. Then I'll be able to relax and breath. Then I'll be able to exercise and eat right" then you will always be living in the future and you will never get there. If you think you can't be happy until XYZ happens, then XYZ will come and go and you won't even realize it until it's gone, and you still won't be happy.

It's genius right? It's a no brainier and yet in those month long moments of stress, it seems that nothing will go right, and that life will always be stressful.

Then Dr. Phillips asked the person he was speaking with (because I was side busting right?) to think of one of his proudest moments. For this gentleman it was winning a state championship. Dr. Phillips said to think of that proudest moment, and put it on top of that goal that you're trying to accomplish that is making you stressed. For example, think of graduating from school, feel what it feels like to win that state championship, and duplicate the winning feeling to what it will feel like to graduate from school.

Basically you are creating that moment that hasn't yet happened. You are creating it in the present moment and there is no need to be stressed. This really resonated with me. I'm trying to duplicate this thought process into my daily life, because life sure can get hectic and crazy with everything going on. Which is great, I just can't allow the stress to consume my life. I can do what needs to be done, and still be happy, eat right, exercise, and get good grades.

There you have it, my profound moment.

We are doing well. We are focusing on enjoying this phase of our lives. As stressful or not stressful as it is, I know we'll look back and appreciate what we accomplished.  So I'm enjoying it!

girl crushes

What Is a Girl Crush?

A girl crush is when you meet a woman whose sense of style, beauty, brilliant achievements, or personal charisma makes you admire her, but it is by no means a physical attraction (or maybe it is).  A girl crush means you hold another woman in such high regard that you aspire to be like that person.

Every girl has had a girl crush (whether you want to admit it or not), and most of these kinds of crushes date back to when we were just little lasses.  The earliest I can remember...

The Olsen Twins.

I adored them in my awkward junior high girly way.

Let's not forget Vada Sultenfuss

Classic tomboy girl with a crazy family

This moved onto Kelly..

Kelly Kapowski

I basically just wanted to be her. She snagged the cutest bf, Zack Morris,

and had the best mall bangs...Like ever.

And she could just dance, with no lessons, then suddenly she could sing.
Oversize pants up to her bellybutton with a big metal belt? For real!

Uhh, I loved her.

Not long after Kelly came my most timeless girl crush…

Cher from Clueless changed my life...'Nuff said.

Then we had classic school girl innocence, Britney Spears

High school I had a mad crush on Faith Hill.

She had the perfect family, hot husband, and both could sing.

One of my all times, Idina Menzel

Once I had discovered Wicked, the role of Elphaba, her voice...

I can't get over how talented and beautiful she is.

To this day I listen to Wicked and Rent on repeat.

And she's cast in Glee? Hello?

Current mad girl crush, Lea Michele

She's can sing, she's hot, she's mysterious, 

she's environmentally friendly (but what celebrity isn't. c'mon)

I'm smitten.

update

We took summer classes.
I went to Portland.
We went on a cruise for our 1 year anniversary.
I moved my mom from Utah to Long Beach, CA.
We started school again.
I'm going to Portland in a week for my bff's baby shower.
I'm going to Portland again for the birth of said baby.
(she's the first of us to have a baby.)
We are barely above water between school, work, and actually spending time together.

And we are happy.

Now you're updated.

Maybe there will be a post on each of those.
And maybe not.

goals

I've been thinking about things I'd like to accomplish in my life... in no particular order

• run a marathon (maybe before a baby) 

I just lost all concentration. I typed marathon and I think my brain shut off.. Whoaa!

• get a masters (maybe before a baby)

ok that's all I got right now.

Either this shows I have no ambition in life, or those two things were so completely overwhelming that I lost all concentration or motivation to do anything else. But I still think I'll change the world.

Maybe there will be a revision to this post when my brain starts functioning again.

In other news, I have found one of my callings in life: hats!
BIG hats!

My new hats job is to keep all those fancy thoughts, ambitions and motivations inside my head.
 
Done and done!

A 'real' beach

The good looking man I spend most of my time with suggested we go on a date to the beach.

A "real" beach is what he wanted.

We normally go to Ocean Beach and he wanted a different flavor.

"You know, a real beach, like Pacific Beach"

Because Ocean Beach isn't a real beach at all.

So off to Pacific Beach we went.

My hot date

Trying to teach him to have me in focus instead of the ocean. This is progress.

Surfer walking through my sunset shot turns into a great photo

We had a great time snuggling on the beach, watching cute kids play frisbee in their swimsuits
and swatting the flies away.
I always have the best date ever.

the Surge

It's been 2 weeks since the Surge, and here is what went down. Dr. Murph cut my boob. Yup. She did. In two places. On the same boob.

I had been feeling super anxious about the surgery and someone whose name will not be mentioned, sent me some drugs, illegally through the mail to help with the anxiety the day of the surgery, because I would not be 'going under'.  My anxiety was heightened with the nurse called me a few days before the surgery to give me the run down of how things would go, and she causally mentioned that I may not have movement in my arm for a few days. Whatt What? Yeah I freaked out, because I didn't think this was that invasive of a surgery. Then she told me that the Doc probably wouldn't be prescribing me any medication...you're probably thinking "but she just told you you would have mobility of your arm...?" I thought the exact same thing. Get the minor freak out? Oh, and I was supposed to take a test the day after the surgery, the test I was missing for the surgery...and with no mobility? How was that going to happen?

So the morning of, at 5am, I popped that lovely little blue pill, on an empty stomach (because you can't eat for a long time before surgery, which sucks) Mr. B man drove me to the out patent clinic, which wasn't open yet so we got to sit outside. And that's when I realized I was high. My body doesn't react that well to medications. There are plenty of stories about me on drugs...ask for details.

They had me sign some lovely papers, which I probably signed Cookie Monster for all I know. And for the record, I wouldn't be a good drug dealer or user. I feel the need to tell everyone that I'm high, and that I took pills, that weren't prescribed to me. It's an issue. I'm sure they just smiled sweetly and looked at my husband and said with their eyes "could you take your wife to the waiting room so we don't have to report her illegal activity?"

Shortly after, they took me back, had me put on the lovely gown (which I put on backwards and the nurse tried to switch it around on me while I was lying on the table. It was awkward) and the nurser asked me to use the lovely surgical pen to mark where the cysts were. Insert note: I really wanted to write affirmations on my boob with a sharpie (I was super nervous about the surgery remember?) but the nurse told me that wasn't a good idea because the sharpie marker could have something bad they don't' want getting inside my boob. I understand but whatevs. I followed her instructions. So while in the bathroom, I marked the cysts, then I wrote lovely little affirmations all over my boob because now I had a surgical pen. Nothing holding me back.

Pre-surgery anxiety

I got to wear these cute booties

The lovely nurse strapped my arms down (I had some anxiety about that but the little blue pills helped), sanitized me, put up the blue shield so I couldn't see and I got a lovely heating vent under my blanket to keep me warm. So enjoyable. I was numbed (which didn't hurt at all, thank goodness) It was so bizarre to feel the pressure but I really couldn't feel anything. We chatted. Dr. Murph has pet parrots. One is named Auggie, she likes to go to the wild animal park....and suddenly an hour had passed and she was done. I shyly asked if I would have movement in my arm. She laughed at me as if that was a silly question and reassured me that the nurse didn't know what she was talking about, and that I would indeed have movement. I sat up off the table, got dressed and that was it. I literally walked out like it was no big deal. It was no big deal.

Where they did the deed

I was cystless.

Cysts. Think small limes

Ben wasn't in the waiting room. I had to wait for him, but I didn't care. You would think I would be freaked out that my husband left his wife for surgery and went gallivanting through San Diego, although my little blue pill left me without a care in the world. He finally showed up. He had to leave the waiting room because there were these annoying patients, an elderly father and son who were both in there for surgery, and yelling at each other because they couldn't find their cigarettes. Sounds lovely and I probably would have left too.

I felt amazing. Still high, but less high. No pain, what-so-ever. Doc Murph wrote me a prescription for Vicodin, which I didn't fill because one pill would have killed me. Remember, I don't do pills.   B man and I left, I recounted the entire experience of what happened behind the closed door. He was probably in complete overwhelm and I yacked and insisted he drive us to the grocery store.

I was so hyper. It was odd. Ben kept asking me to slow down because he was in more shock after the surgery than I was. We got home, I texted pics of my incisions to everyone I know and watched tv and studied for my test.

My affirmations I took into surgery

And that was that. I had surgery. I had my breast cut open. Twice.


And for the following week I had one over sized looking breast because I kept an icepack in my shirt. Although I'm sure no one even knew because I wore a jacket, and if it leaked you couldn't tell. I'm the only one who knew.

Ice pack

The most bizarre thing about surgery, is that that part of your body isn't your body anymore. It is just something cool that you can show anyone who is willing to take a peek. It's no longer my breast. I found myself opening my shirt to anyone who was interested.

Weird, exciting. And I passed my test the day after with flying colors.
Like I said before. Me = Super Woman

Day after surgery, my BFF Aaron came to visit

The beautiful surprise roses I got int he mail from my lovely Shai

New perspective on my boobs

So I've been overwhelmed with stress lately. I normally handle my busy life pretty well, and I kind of like it that way. But something happened last week that has caused me to be in complete overwhelm. Then a friend came to visit, and he changed my perspective on things.

To make a long story short, I have these cysts. I've known they were there for a few years and never really thought much about it. I was advised by a women's clinic to get them checked out by a specialist and then was accepted into their program for everything to be paid for, so I thought "what the hell" right? I didn't think much about it.

While I was in the waiting room, a girl walked out crying. I knew something bad had just happened. Then during my appointment, the doctor told me she had just diagnosed her with breast cancer. She's 27. I'm 27. She has the same story as me. You know, the story of "oh yeah you have these abnormally large cysts in your breast, but it's not a big deal. come back and we'll ultra sound them. You have nothing to worry about" and BAM! She has breast cancer. Did I mention she's 27?

Get the overwhelm?
But my instincts kept telling me I was fine, it's not anything to be worried about.

The breast specialist, who is awesome! She has this crazy gray curly hair that is all over the place. And she is so sweet and gentle and kept holding my hand. It made me feel safe. I want to be her hippie boob BFF. I think we already are. She told me that we should do a biopsy, and if the women's clinic is going to pay for it, we might as well just take them out. I agreed. "What the hell?" Right?

Ben and I "celebrated" with Spicy Ta-Ta sushi. It was only appropriate with the situation with my spicy ta-tas.

Then they scheduled the surgery. It's on a Monday, the day of a test, I still have 3 more days of school to attend that week, and I'M BEING CUT OPEN!

The overwhelm set in. I just freaked out. Not about the the cysts, but about the surgery. It just was inconvenient. But I could handle it. Again, but instincts told me I was fine. I can take the test the day after {not ideal but manageable} and I can make it happen. I kind of forgot for a minute that I was super woman and could do anything. I had the fear of being cut open, the violation on my body, my femininity, my breasts. They are kind of special to me, ya know?

Then one of my oldest friends came to visit. He just had surgery too. And you know what he said to me that changed it all?? He said "I wasn't nervous anymore once I realized, 'if the doctor screws up, he screws up. There is nothing I can do about it but be positive.' And everything turned out fine."  Well that's logical. My doctor isn't going to screw up. My breast will be fine. My cysts are just happy little cysts that are coming out. I will be fine. I need to stop feeding the situation with negative energy and just be happy about the situation. This is a good thing. I'm getting things taken care of, it's being paid for. And I'm healthy!

New Perspective.
Duh, I'm super woman and my boobs can handle anything. Duh!

Surgery is Monday the 27th in the AM. If ya want to think about my boob during that time, I'd be ok with it.

today...

I'm thinking I'll get a Masters.

We'll see how long that lasts but I'm thinking that is the next step for me.
I've been so baby hungry {and still am, don't get me wrong} but I feel like that getting a masters is the next step.

I was chatting with a girl in one of my classes who said you can get through the Social Work program in a year. It might kill you, but you can do it. Maybe I'll push for 2 years so I don't die.

That's for today anyway.

My Mr. is 29!

 He is my sweetie, the light of my life and we had such a wonderful day celebrating!

Yours truly woke up early to get crepes going for the birthday boy to wake up to. One of both of our favorite childhood memories, waking up to pancakes {of some sort} on your birthday. I attempted to make almond flour crepes and they turned out beautifully! I was a little nervous, but the experiment turned out successful.

I needed to go grocery shopping, one of my favorite Saturday activities (really) and he decided to come along with me {unusual}.  So I decided to surprise him by swing by Nordstrom to pick out a pair of Toms that he's been dreaming about. {the first pair he got, we had ordered off line and they were too small}

He went with the lace ups. They are super styling.

We went to Costco and the Mexican market. Not part of the birthday celebration but necessary for the week ahead. He was shopped out and requested to go home to read Harry Potter. He's on book 7 and it is absolutely darling to see his inner child come out when he reads these books. He reads them between semesters, and now has nothing to do until classes start. Well, he has plenty to do with his internship and applying for fall internships...but you know what I mean. Summer classes will start before he knows it.

I needed a pair of toms too {not really} but I took back a pair I hadn't worn that were too big and exchanged for another pair. I had my eye set on the new crocheted ones, but by the time I got back to Nordy's they were sold out. They weren't that morning but the birthday boy couldn't stand the chaos. So I opted for the black sparkly ones. They aren't black crocheted, but they are beauties.

The birthday boy chose The Fish Market for his birthday dinner. Ah-maz-ing meal! We sat on the deck, right on the water, enjoying the sun and passing boats.

 

Conversations of our life, our future, our relationship, and observing the two drunk men who ordered 7 rounds of bread and beers with their meal. {I was nervous how they were going to get home}

I feel so grateful to call him my husband, and the life we are making together. I'm a lucky girl.

The birthday boy ordered tilapia with mango salsa.

I was jealous at first, until I tasted mine. I knew I had made the right decision.

 

 I ordered the red snapper with tomatoes and rice. Delicious! I was quite pleased.

 

The boat we got married on cruised past us. 

It was very sweet and memorable.

Awwww....
 

 

Opening his birthday gifts.

A toms sticker {that he already got that morning}

and a picture of the rolling briefcase he wants that we're waiting to get until after

our summer loan money comes in.


Complements of the chef
We enjoyed this incredible chocolate fudge gnosh dessert.
It was really amazing.

 After the wonderful meal, we enjoyed the water and each others company.

Ok maybe I'm getting a little too sappy, but we had a lovely evening.

After dinner we walked through Seaport Village.

We reminisced about the events since his last birthday.

Last year we went to Disneyland for his birthday, we got married, school...

and his classic "Ya know, I don't feel that old. 29 isn't old. I'm healthy, and have my whole life ahead of me"

Then we closed off the night with our favorite activity, cuddling on the couch and watching a show.

Since we had the incredibly rich dessert at dinner, we had the birthday cake the next day.

I made his favorite sweet potato chocolate torte (gluten and sugar free)
Notice the 2 and 9. Cute.

One of my favorite qualities about B is he makes up songs on the spot. It's darling. And he made one up last night as we were walking the boardwalk. I wanted to record him singing it but he couldn't remember it. So this is the one he did on the spot. Not the same one, but it's cute.

Yeah, he's in bed. Oh well.

 He is my joy!

Happy Birthday, my love!

cleanse

I have this amazing lady in my life, Joline Wondergem. She's my amazing health mentor. She speaks my language. She has coached me through learning about my body, the foods I consume and why, and she has now taken me to a whole new level of health. Joline is a raw foodist and has taught me many of my now personal diet consumption. She's amazing. You can find her website here.

She recently suggested I do a really strict cleanse. You see, I have had rashes somewhere on my body my entire life. My mom called me "diaper rash queen" when I was a baby, as a teenager I had rashes under my eyes, behind my ears, between my fingers, my mission I had rashes between my toes (not athletes foot), and recently I've had a rash in the corner of my mouth and bottom lip for over 6 months now. And all of the listed rashes would stay for several months at a time. I just assumed I had overly sensitive skin. Which is still true, but my mentor suggested I try something new. The rash on my mouth had gotten to the point where it would split if I opened my mouth even the slightest, it would itch, get inflamed and take over my bottom lip. It got serious. I started to think that I was allergic to something because I did notice it would get inflamed with certain foods (wheat) but I wasn't convinced because I wasn't feeling sick.

My mentor thought I could possibly have candida, which is an overgrowth of yeast in the body. Not to get all medical on ya, but it basically causes the rashes, bloating, crankiness, hyperactive, craving for sweets (CHECK), excessive fatigue...etc. This made a light bulb go off in my brain. In looking at pictures on Google, my mouth looks the same as several other pictures.

So this is where I started the 15 day cleanse. NO fruit, NO wheat, NO sugar! These are what candida thrives on and also makes you crave these items. Obviously, everyone craves sugar and pasta. But I would have these weird cravings like I HAD to have it right then. Like someone who smoked "needed a cigarette" only, mine was "I need sugar. like NOW!" As J said "that's the candida talking".  Ekk I was nervous. The cleanse would alter everything. But I surprisingly did really well and felt AMAZING the entire time. Only a few times did I actually feel like I was cleansing. I was able to work out to my regular intensity (however I did leave a turbo kick class early because it was the most intense class I had been too, and I was cleansing). Along with the intense eating, I took these essential pills from doTerra, 3x a day. These were to help kill the candida.

What I ate daily: I juiced veggies every morning (because a smoothie was much harder to drink with no fruit). I juiced carrots, red/yellow peppers, cucumber, chard, kale, spinach, beet, cilantro and lime. I really started to enjoy it and continue to juice when I don't feel like a smoothie. I ate every 3 hours religiously (which I normally do) but if I didn't while cleansing I was starving, cranky, and tempted to eat something I shouldn't.

I ate pretty close to how I normally eat, I was just really strict on the 3 No's. For snacks I would eat my favorite brown rice tortilla with almond butter and maybe a handful of nuts. I made my regular brown rice bowls for dinner, or quinoa salad... all classic dishes of mine.

Although, my new favorite additions were the chia see pudding (for a treat) and homemade oatmeal with peacans and stevia (sometimes I would add some protein powder).

Chia seed pudding
grind in vitamix:
1/2 cup chia seeds (if you don't have a blender that will grind them, get already ground chia seeds)1/4 cup flax seed (I added these because I had it)
dump into bowl
Add 3 cups of almond milk to vitamix
Add chia seeds
couple drops of liquid stevia
I added raw coco powder
Blend
Pour into 3-4 cups and put in fridge

Anyway, my rash on my mouth started to clear up. It is no longer cracking which is HUGE! But I probably haven't killed the candida yet (if that is what I have). This will be a long process and will alter my eating habits. I will probably have to do the cleanse several times over the next few months. I'm in testing period to see how my body reacts to a little bit of wheat and sugar in my diet. Candida really plants itself well in your body, and sticks to your intestinal tract, so I will monitor my eating and how I feel.

But, I feel amazing! I feel so motivated now that I have a vision as to what I could be trying to get rid of. Next step is I'm going to take a food allergy test to see if that gives me any more answers. Another huge thing for me is that I seriously feel amazing in my skin, in my own body. I feel me. I feel comfortable. Before I was feeling blahh, sluggish and cranky. I'm still wearing the same size clothes, I am 5 pounds less which is amazing but doesn't change things drastically. and I feel like a new woman!

One more thing I've incorporated Lymphatic brushing. My friend told me her sister specializes in it and it has done amazing for her body. Check out her sister's instructions for a home brushing session. She lives in Utah and from what I hear, gives amazing Lymphatic massages to help move toxins out of the body. Her name is Bobbie, and I will definitely be seeing her when I'm in Utah next!

Thank you for all the support from friends and family, and especially to the husband who even did most of the cleanse with me. He's a good sport!

thoughts of our future

Today is Friday. I love Fridays. The closure of the week, the beginning of the weekend full of getting things done, grocery shopping (I actually enjoy it), getting my house organized and clean. I enjoy all of these things. I enjoy Fridays. Well, and on Saturday I'm getting my hair done. That makes for a great weekend!

This week I finished my semester. And one rough semester it was. Fights with an awful professor and stupid group projects. My group just happened to be one who wanted to meet every week for 5 weeks in a row to meet. WHY? there is no need. It was the easiest project. You interview a woman, then you present what she said. What is there to meet about more than once? Anyway... Closure.

So today I've been thinking about our future. We were talking about the possibility of a graduation trip. He graduates in December 2012, I'll graduate in May 2013. If we could swing it, I'd love a week (two if possible) in Paris. What better way to celebrate graduation than with The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and pastries? I know, I couldn't think of anything better.
Well, second best would be a Mediterranean cruise. We were looking on vactionstogo.com, and you can go on a cruise through Italy and Greece for $500-1000 a person. Depending on length and time of year. Amazing!

We also were dreaming about the first home we'll buy. What started this conversation? Oh talking about having counter space that won't be packed full of juicers, vitamix, protein powder...all because there is no storage in our kitchen. I want counters that are clear of clutter where I can have cute glass jars full of oatmeal, flax seed and quinoa. Ya know, the stuff I use every day, but I pull it out of a tupperware from the cupboard.

Then I started imagining hardwood floors with a nice shag carpet and a coffee table and a washer and dryer in my apartment. You mean I wouldn't have to put quarters in to operate it?

My favorite comment from B today.
B: "We will have a moderate home so we can go on nice trips and take our kids to the beach"
J: "We live by the beach"
B: "That means our kids will go pretty damn often"

haha he's darling and makes me laugh.

new art...

I had a need for something new in my house. My facebook friend Pixie was having a special and I jumped right on it when I saw her masterpieces. It makes me want to paint. I was inspired and felt peace and joy when I looked at her work.

Check out these amazing paintings I just bought!

Intuition Guides - Raven

For change and movement ahead, intuition guides the way.
Raven intelligently seeks his fortune methodically and playfully.
Use creative means to determine what is next. Know what you need.

Warrior - Great Horned Owl

Owl as Warrior is best expressed by Great Horned Owl.
Fierce and feared, he can be called in for any task requiring resolution,
to hold the front lines. Great Horned Owl sees straight through
to the core of imbalance, revealing the root of the conflict,
as well as how to solve it. He understands how to implement the
changes needed to bring about fruition.

Once he has successfully overcome his issue,
he takes graceful flight toward the moon,
bringing the feminine energies back,
to balance the exertion of masculine energies
needed to fight the intense battle.
The medicine of Great Horned Owl is to wage war
only when absolutely necessary: for survival of the soul and it's purpose.
He effectively releases the ties that bind.
Call upon Great Horned Owl when standing up to the disparaging voices within or
to fight for a worthy cause dear to your heart.

Her descriptions are so perfect and I resonated with them for gifts for friends. I won't say who so they are still surprises, but I got one for them and one of each for myself. What a gift!

If you're interested in her work, her shop is here.

Enjoy!

grateful for the Mr.

yes, it's one of those posts.

I was just in my home state for a total of 48 hours. I was grateful to see my family, spend time telling stories and laughing, but there is always something missing.

The Mr.

He rarely comes because of school
and he's allergic to the Mama's puppies

We are both rather independent people, rarely talk on the phone when I'm gone because he is normally locked inside the library, or I'm on the go until after he goes to bed. So we text the entire trip, or text when he isn't studying.

But coming home to him is such a dream.
I had driven home from Long Beach (1.5 hours) and didn't even go home before I stopped at Costco and the Mexican Market for our weekly grocery shopping because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it any other time. I just kept telling myself "as soon as I finish shopping, I can go home and shower and get in bed". This is at 2pm, mind you. I knew the Mr. wouldn't be home until 6 or 7, so after I got home, put the groceries away and showered, I put myself to bed with my laptop to watch some shows and relax. My favorite activity after an eventful weekend in Utah, followed by a 12 hour car ride.

B got home at 8, and I felt this surge of energy, breath of fresh air. I finally get to see him. That is the best feeling and yet there are no words to describe finally seeing your husband after a short trip, and yet it felt like it was forever.

This is a sappy post.
get over it.
I feel grateful.

On another note, I was reminded during my trip to Utah, that everything is perfect.
And yes, everything is perfect.

today....

I want a sewing machine. I want to make pillow cases and curtains and little girl dresses and take pictures of the little girl in the little girl dresses. and I want to make pillow cases with flowers that are a soft white with big mustard yellow flowers and paint my walls.

I'm becoming that woman
what am I going to do with myself?

{almost} figuring it out

I sometimes feel like I'm still figuring out who I am.

maybe it's a life long process and I didn't realize it before

Sometimes I dream about living in a little cottage where I can have a garden, field, paint my walls a different color every month...allow my inner hippie to come out.

Then sometimes I want to live in the city where I can shop at MAC and Nordy's all the time and occasionally go dancing....

Maybe I want something in-between. A darling little house in the suburbs, with beautiful grass and trees, a garden with tomatoes, zucchini, carrots...and I can paint the walls every month if I want to (although, if you know me. I won't. I think of a project, start it and it is too big to finish. so maybe I'll paint once). And I'm go running with my twin baby stroller through the neighborhood.

I feel like I'm having an identity crisis. I'm loving school, but what do I want to do after? I DON'T KNOW! I want to have a baby(ies) soon, but part of me feels so cliche and something I never said I would do; having a baby right after I graduate. But by then I will be nearly 30, and my baby monitor is screaming!

I'm just me. not just as in JUST, but that's all I can be. Some days I'm a hippie, some days I'm girly and prissy. And everyday, I'm ME, no matter what.

I think I feel like I'm having a 27 year old midlife crisis. The husband and I do the same thing every day. We go to school, work, homework, if we're lucky enough to have dinner, together, homework, watch a tv show, go to bed...start all over again. We both are feeling tired. Tired of school, and ready for it to be over. And yet at the same time I want to cherish this time and enjoy it. Sounds like a double negative.

I have dreams of being at home with my {twin} babies, focusing only on them, holding both in my arms, blogging about them, taking pictures of them. Then I think, am I ok with being a full time mom? I want to be, but I guess I always told myself that was bad. Women are to have careers, be successful, have foundations....I guess I can do all of that still.

I guess I'm struggling with who I am as a feminist. I've learned all these new ideas, and I agree with a lot of them. Is it bad that I want my man to take care of me? That's so non-feminist.

like I said, {almost} figuring it out.

these are the things going through my head right now.
oh, and I'm obsessed with twins right now. I just have that feeling.

I'm grateful in my confusion.

I dream...

lately I've been dreaming a lot about:

after I graduate from school....will I go on to get a masters? In what? Do I really want to? IN WHAT?

when B graduates....then what? He's going to be a LAWYER. Like a real one. That doesn't seem real.

when we decide to have children. Will that ever come? Can I do it? All I read/hear about are sleepless nights, cranky babies, cranky mommies. Am I up for the challenge? Can I do it?

being a really good photographer. I don't want to be mediocre. I want to really be good and know what I'm doing instead of pretending.

photographing my children. See? there I go again with this baby stuff. I want a baby to photograph. There is a baby who lives below us. The parents are quite shy and rarely talk. Even if I talk to them. I can hear their baby voices and happy baby laughs all day long. I love it. I want to knock on their door and say "hi. I know you don't know me. but can I snuggle your baby for a bit and take pictures of her? Thanks!"

do I get a masters first or have a baby? if I have a baby will I get a masters? If I get a masters will I have a baby?

oh, and dreaming about the cruise we just booked for our 1st anniversary! I'm already planning the swimsuits and cute cover ups...

I think about all the wonderful things we're doing in our lives right now and I know we couldn't do them with a baby. I am really understanding that I was programmed that I have to have a baby right after I get married. Obviously, I don't like following the norm, hence where I am in my life right now. So for now, it's perfect that I don't have a baby right now. But that doesn't make me googoo gaagaa over them.

so for right now. I'm grateful for where I am in my life. Everything is perfect.

Top TEN in 2010

2010 was an amazing year for us.

Here are our Top 10 moments.

10.
Ben did amazing in school. He made Distinguished Honor Roll
(meaning he was in the top 10% of the whole school)
Julia started her first semester at SDSU and did great (4.0)

9.
Julia finished a "ton" of races. like 5. I didn't keep count, and probably should have, but I was proud with how many I did. And they were all spontaneous.



This is the longest one I did, and decided to do it the day before. My first 10k and it was seriously hot outside!

8.
I surprised Ben for his birthday with Disneyland tickets (that we got for free from volunteering, but he didn't know we got the tickets because we almost didn't...long story)


7.
We went to Ridgecrest, CA to see Ben's hometown and his mom and brother.
We had a great time hiking and chatting!


6.
I went to Champagne, Illinois with my Aunt Patricia. I got to see my dad's side of the family that I hardly know. It was so fun!!






5.
Christmas in New York.
When my friend Blake called to tell me he was leaving New York in 6 months to a year, I knew we had to jump on that invitation of staying with him. So we decided that would be our Christmas gift.

We had so much fun and tried to fit everything we could into the trip. The (32 degree) weather was perfect. We never got snowed on, and missed all the rain in California.


And in the same trip we went to DC to visit some friends.

4.
All the siblings together again for the first time in 3 years.
We had a lot of fun at Christmas telling stories.


3.
Changing our eating habits
and learning how to cook yummy vegetarian meals.


2.
Honeymoon in Mazatlan, MX!
We were truely blessed to have been given our honeymoon as a wedding gift
from a wonderful friend.
We had such a great time exploring the city, countless $13 massages, pool side drinks and meeting new people.



Number 1 thing of 2010:
our beautiful wedding!

We got married in the San Diego Harbor on a wonderful Sunday afternoon.
Our close friends and family joined us and everything was absolutely perfect!




And to close out 2010, on New Years Eve, we made our vision boards for 2011!

What Ben is creating:

What Julia is creating:


Our goals for 2011:
Ben: To network more with the law community
Julia: to do something new every month
and take a photo every Saturday.