May 31, 2011

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.

May 29, 2011

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!

May 27, 2011

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!

May 20, 2011

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.

May 19, 2011

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!

May 9, 2011

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.