good day to you!

Well, hello there! It is yet another Sunday. It's pouring rain and pretty much an inside day (which is driving me a little bonkers in some respects; ever since getting cable in the house it's all the kids can think of to entertain themselves; either that, or having couch-pillow fights, which is *not* peaceful, imho)...

It feels like it has been such a sloooooooow day/couple of days that there's really nothing terribly exciting to report... more mundane kinda things like i cleaned the fridge out, cleaned dd's room yesterday, and am regretting not cleaning out the eavestroughs sooner as they all appear to be overflowing... and could somebody PLEASE take the Christmas tree down already?!?

Here's to a vibrant, joyful future...
*cheers*

Life is goooooooood. we went to a public skate today at the ice rink; had so much fun; i skated for nearly probably 3/4 of an hour. considering how infrequently i go out on the ice, i was pretty pleased with that. ;) AND i didn't even fall. not once. LOL

yesterday i tidied up the desk the computer's on. it was... overgrown. it is greatly improved and less cluttered.

the 23 chicks are doing great; they're very friendly and enjoy being held and carried around. it's only been 10 days with them in the house, and they're still under the heat lamp. i'm VERY grateful with the strong winds we've had the past few days that we haven't lost power once. i've been considering various back-up plans without the heat lamp in case it does happen in the next 3 weeks.

been reading Scott & Helen Nearing's The Good Life. am really enjoying the book, with its take of homesteading in the US in the 30's, 40's & 50's. very interesting perspective. I also have another 8 books on the go at the moment, not including e-books, so I'm slowly working through them all. ;)

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy year of the water dragon! :D

you've GOT to check these out!

a 6 minute film trailer about smart meters: www.smartmeterfilm.com

the BEST music video on youtube EVER: Totally EPIC.

oh, there's more. but this'll get you started. :)

..i'm back. here's more. :)

California single mother builds shipping container home for less than $4,000.

a 14 x 14 simple solar cabin. i'm in love with the idea of no mortgage payment, can you tell?! ;)

okay, that's all i got. :)

peace, out.

Sick!!

Our entire household has been sick for 6 days now, and it's not letting up easily! Poor dd has had a fever of 103F/39C+ for more than 2 days, and then it dropped to just over 100F/37.8C for the next few days. Me, it is a wicked sinus infection (which has gone into my eustachian tubes a little). I seem to remember having had a sinus infection last year, too. So I'm rinsing my sinuses with warm salt water, trying to open up the airways with eucalyptus oil, and ingesting diluted oil of oregano regularly, as well as using the vaporizer. Naturally, I'm having a tough time resting throughout the day because apart from the sinuses, I feel alright - Wednesday ds and I managed to build a new chick pen for the day-olds that we picked up Thursday (25 Rhode Island Red chicks have joined our home!), and today I worked for the local water system. So every day there seems to be something that just *absolutely* needs doing, in my warped mind, anyways.

slow learner, i am. ;)

Best of health to you!

Raw Food Bulk Order going in Monday 16th

Over at my other blog, RawFoodSooke, we're gathering our first bulk raw food order of 2012. If you're interested in anything and live in the lower Vancouver Island area (Greater Victoria area), please email me through the rawfoodsooke site. We have raw organic nuts, seeds, cacao, coconut, supergreens, dried fruit, teas, spices, books, and a whole lot more. Check it out!

Other than that, the kids returned home from their weekend away ill. dd had a fever of 103 for the past two days, now that hers has broken, ds has it. I'm definitely fighting it off; I took 10 drops of oil of oregano last night before bed and that has helped. I also ate raw garlic and ginger last night which I believe also assisted. Grammy & Grampa are both coming down with it; I only hope it passes quickly for everyone and we all return to optimal health soon.

dd has the boardgame Wildcraft, which is a cooperative "herbal adventure game". We love playing it, and their website has a lot more information than you can imagine: www.learningherbs.com

The sun is shining and it's a glorious day, so I'm going to go enjoy the sunshine now!

Blessings!

Back onto solid food...

Well, here we are, Month 1, Day 8. I feel very successful with the fasting this past week, and I am intending to ease back onto solids with as much success. Today I've had a glass of kombucha and 1/2L of green smoothie, a couple pieces of fresh pineapple (maybe 3/4c) and a small piece of watermelon (1/4c). I have another 2L of smoothie; likely I will drink 1L and save the other L for tomorrow. I also have a small green salad prepped but am hoping to hold off until tomorrow for that.

I broke my bathroom scale the other day; it unfortunately got water damaged (I was careless). It's not recovering at all. I was hoping once it dried out it would come back, but alas. I've had it for nearly 6 years, though. But I'm missing obsessively weighing myself throughout the day, LOL. Yep, I admit it; chalk it up to having an unbalanced past with food. I find it fascinating how my weight fluctuates throughout the day: lightest in the mornings, heaviest in the evening. Why does this happen? Does gravity pull our weight down throughout the day or something? There doesn't seem a logical explanation, imo.

Tai chi class yesterday was great. It was my fourth class of the week, as well as practicing twice at home alone, so by the end of the week I was feeling nice and limber. It was an instructor intensive, so there were about 50 instructors participating. At one point I was asked to demonstrate the moves we were working on in front of everyone, and the introverted side of me just shrieks in horror at such a request, but I also see a great deal of value in pushing through my own insecurities. The opportunity for personal growth when putting yourself in safe, but unfamiliar situations is huge; I'm not about to let my ego's fears run my life.

I think there has been huge benefit in fasting this past week. Not focusing on food has reminded me that when I am eating, I tend to eat for comfort, tend to eat too much. So portion control is something I must be conscious of moving forward. Also, just eating mindfully and not unconsciously, not just reaching for whatever's in front of me. Making conscious food choices that support my health. Also, I think fasting has allowed me to go deeper, for greater introspection and self-reflection. When not distracted by the digestion of food, my mind is less cluttered and it offers a chance to consider more esoteric and philosophical things, to really focus on where one is headed in life, on what one wants out of life, and the purpose of one's life, and so on.

Fasting has been a very healing experience this week. I've enjoyed some great conversations with my husband and we've been able to work further on resolving some lingering concerns in our relationship. It's a slow process, but we are growing so close and our relationship is soooooo much more than it was before I went raw, before I went vegan. We're both pretty blissed out at this turn of events. I really think that fasting has allowed me such amazing personal growth. I'm very grateful, and I'm really looking forward to fasting the first week of next month, and every month in 2012.

Namaste'

Day 7!!!

I'm doin' it! I'm doin' it! Wheeeeeee!!!! Okay, this week wasn't super super easy, but it certainly wasn't that challenging, either. Lots of herbal tea, lots of kombucha, lots of green smoothies, and water. And here we are, Day 7 already.

So far this year (LOL being that we're only 7 days into it), I'm reading my resolutions/goals/affirmations twice a day pretty faithfully, manifesting them daily, and so far, this year is going fantastically well. Super happy with it all.

Nothing much else to share at this time.

Namaste

Day 3 complete, now onto Day 4 - *hump day*

This week is really going by quickly... The fasting is going very well - I'm managing to just *be* with my hunger, which is new. ;) I also realize how *much* I eat when I'm not fasting. 2 or 2.5L of smoothie is not an entire day's worth of sustenance when I'm eating, but I'm managing quite well on only the smoothie, a little herbal tea, some kombucha, and water. So I guess normally I tend to overeat.

[I'm working into juice fasting, in case you're wondering; in the past I've jumped into juicing, but I find smoothies are great when life continues around me and I need to be away from home (we have no juice bar in our town) and I find juicing quite time-consuming to prepare a day's worth of juices in the morning - like, an hour or more; and smoothies are about 10 minutes to prepare a day's worth... hopefully over the course of 2012, since I'll be fasting the first 7 days of EVERY month, I'll be on juices soon enough. I don't consider this week's fast a "non-fast" because it's smoothies rather than juices. Smoothies are liquid, and are also one way of slowing detox down a little, and I am fully aware that my weight crept up (shockingly) on me in 2012, I didn't exercise regularly all year (tai chi notwithstanding). So smoothies are my choice of fuel this week; we'll see next month if I'm ready to take on juicing.]

Overeating: It's a gradual thing - something that builds up over weeks and months, and before you know it, I'm eating for the sensory experience that eating brings, and not because my body is actually needing nourishment/fuel. (good grief! how many of us are like that!!) Learning appropriate portion sizes will be one thing I master in 2012. :)

It's interesting, I've read my intentions/resolutions every morning and every night for, well, 4 days now I guess, and I'm starting to really *feel* them. It's not just a rush-through read; I read them slowly, aloud, and try to be fully present while reading them. It takes about 5 minutes. I envision my life at the end of this year, so changed - especially moving house after nearly 15 years, dh moving job locations, and my renewed commitment to raw foods and health.

I've been vegan for nearly 6 years now (and a raw vegan for nearly 4 years) - an overnight change from eating an omnivorous standard american diet to becoming a whole foods vegan - and that first year of exercising... ohhhh, those first few months were really challenging, as I attempted to exercise with so much extra weight on my body - the chaffing, the sweat, the struggle to be active when you're carrying extra weight around. I *truly* understand what that's like. The embarassment you feel, the disappointment in your Self. How could I have let this happen?! Being surrounded by family or roommates who continue to eat SAD foods. Feeling like a social misfit, when you go out with friends or family and no longer choose to consume alcohol, or meat, or dairy. Oh yes, I've been there. I've worked through it all.

But being active, healthy, and a raw vegan is not about deprivation. Nor is fasting. It is about choosing to be healthy. I am worthy. I deserve to be healthy. It is my body's optimal condition, and my body will heal itself if I just give it the time, the opportunity, to do so. So that's what 2012 is: an opportunity to heal.

I am sooooooooooo looking forward to this year - to this very moment! CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

Day 2, 2012 fast

The first day of fasting is always... challenging. I'm usually fine, but at some point, start to feel hungry, and that's usually mid to late afternoon/early evening, and often a point where I'm most tempted to just EAT something! LOL it's especially hard when surrounded by others who are eating. :P

BUT I'm pleased to say yesterday was good: I had a cup of herbal tea, 2.5L of smoothie, and a glass of water.

I'm hoping to have time to make some juice today, but if not, smoothie is great, too.

My smoothies are packed with nutrition:
3 bananas
1-2 tbsp soaked goji berries
1 tbsp soaked maqui berries
3c of frozen berries (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries or raspberries)
1 tbsp maca powder
1/4 tsp kelp flakes
2-3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp spirulina powder (or chlorella or wheatgrass powders)
1 tbsp agave nectar
either almond milk (1/2c soaked almonds to 2L water) or water
and sometimes I add fresh greens (kale, chard, lettuce, spinach, chickweed, dandelion, parsley, etc)

I wrote out what I am creating and manifesting in 2012 (I've edited out the personal details). I wrote it out, and am reading it before bed and upon waking each day to help center my intentions for the day:

Each day for the next 366 days:

• I am inviting and receiving AWARENESS into my life with gratitude.
• I am inviting and receiving ABUNDANCE into my life with gratitude.
• This year, we are DECLUTTERING the house.
• We are SELLING our home and subdividing the new property. We are setting up suitable temporary living accomodation and are MOVING there. I am grateful to be working hard to create the farm there.
• DH is moving his employment to here.
• I am grateful to be working hard at the local organic farm.
• I am creating and experiencing JOY in my life with gratitude.
• I am blessed to be creating OPTIMAL HEALTH in my being.
• I am inviting, creating, and receiving PROSPERITY into my life with gratitude.
• I am inviting, creating, and receiving FRIENDSHIP into my life with gratitude.
• For the first seven days of every month in 2012, I am abstaining from solid food and FASTING for greater health and cleansing.
• I am choosing RAW FOOD to fuel and nourish my body. I choose appropriate portion sizes with awareness and gratitude.
• I am committed to my continued tai chi practice.
• Our family is implementing and maintaining a BALANCED FINANCIAL BUDGET. We communicate openly and calmly about financial matters and are actively paying off all debts as well as creating savings and emergency funds. We are joyfully living below our means and by doing so are decreasing stress in our lives.
• I am realistic with my expectations and time management and I get done as much as is REASONABLE in each day – enough rest, enough nourishment, enough exercise, enough work, enough play, and more.
• I am supportive of my family's goals and commitments and handle stressful situations with ease and joy.
• I am ACTIVE and committed to moving my body and exercising through a variety of enjoyable activities.
• HOMESCHOOLING continues to be a great fit for our family and we all continue to enjoy being together and we communicate openly.
• I am HEALING from my past and moving forward positively and with awareness and gratitude. I seek support as needed to assist with my healing.
• I am committing to inviting and receiving with gratitude the loving, healing light energy of REIKI into my life and sharing it with others for the greatest good of all.

Yes, there's a lot there.  ;)