Barbecue

We busted out our barbecue for the first time this year! We got a really nice Weber for our wedding. I've been doing very well at eating raw (except when we were in Portland), but I figured that making Andy happy with hamburgers was worth it. They were delicious, juicy burgers and I ate so much my stomach hurts. Back to raw tomorrow!

I love to barbecue with Andy because it takes us both to make a good meal. Other meals I usually make, or occasionally he makes, but this one takes a team. I prep the burgers and slice the tomatoes and things, and he barbecues. It's fun to produce things together.

Portland

We've been in Portland this week, and it's been very busy. We've had tons of friends to see, things to stock up on that we can't get in Yreka, the rain to enjoy, etc. It's all been great.



Last night we went to see Cirque du Soleil! It was amazing. If you haven't ever seen one, you really need to go.

Easter

I realized this weekend that a lot of people make Easter out to be a happy little day with eggs, bunnies, and an empty tomb. The old silly hymns like He Lives, and Christ the Lord is Risen Today have good things to say, but they're also a little trite. We had a Good Friday service that was very sacred, and I loved that we were challenged to really think about who Christ is, what He did, and how we should respond. Instead of just saying, "Yay, Christ arose!," I really thought of the implications of how that should affect my life every day.

On a totally different note, I made several raw goodies to have my family try at our very traditional Easter dinner. I made raw caramel coconut cookies (delicious!!!), raw sun-dried tomato hummus, and raw almond flax crackers. The crackers aren't all that good on their own, but with the hummus they are terrific. The hummus was absolutely incredible with a very rich taste. I don't like chickpea hummus (mostly because of the texture), but this is made with zucchini and is very tasty. My family members all tried them, and they raved about it! Especially my extremely non-raw Uncle David. He was very impressed. I also made a big huge delicious salad that I had for dinner while everyone else ate the usual turkey, beef, mashed potatoes, etc. (I had a little turkey and potatoes as well, I'm not 100% raw yet).

Soy and St. Patrick's Day

First of all, happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I hope you're all wearing green.

I just found out some interesting information about soy and soy products. I'm reading The Raw Food Detox Diet and it has a little section about soy so I'll type it out here for you. I've always thought of soy products as a lot healthier than say milk or meat. So here it is.

SOY IS THE MOST MUCUS-FORMING PLANT FOOD ON THE PLANET!
Soy has received a huge amount of press over the last decade. It has been touted as nothing short of a miracle food. Before you slurp back a glass of soy milk in lieu of another mainstream beverage, consider this: soy is the most mucus-forming plant food on the planet. The form of mucus it creates is called mucoid matter - not to be confused with mucus membrane. This mucus is a sticky, sludge-like substance that holds up the body's flow and productivity. It accumulates and creates respiratory distress in asthmatics, creates common digestive problems like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), and, by slowing down the body's digestion and circulation systems, ultimately triggers weight gain and premature aging.
You are probably wondering about all those healthy Japanese, who are supposedly living on soy. The truth is, the Japanese do not eat nearly as much soy as soy product manufacturers would have you believe. More to the point, they do not eat the same heavily processed soy products that Americans eat, like imitation chicken and pseudo-fish. They are eating edamame pods (soy in its natural, unprocessed state) and small amounts of tofu. Americans misinterpret this to mean that every product listing soy as an ingredient is automatically a "free, guiltless food" with myriad magical properties. It's a wonder we don't walk on water after consuming them! Soy sauce is fine because it isn't concentrated, meaning it is a liquid rather than a dense food. You may also employ small amounts of raw miso in recipes. But other than that, you will want to avoid all processed soy products, unless you want to keep reaching for that inhaler!


Americans take what is good in other cultures and overdo it way out of proportion so that it becomes unhealthy. I hate it.

Peter Jennings

This is a special report thing by Peter Jennings. I think it's so sad what our government is doing to Americans in encouraging obesity, especially in advertising junk food to children. And they have no guilt. So I thought I'd share these videos on my blog because of that. And because I miss Peter Jennings.

Awesome picture

This is a picture of Andy and I that was taken about a year and a half ago at a vineyard in Temecula, CA. I just really like it, and I think it's beautiful. It makes me miss my long-ish medium brown hair (I dyed it a lot darker in October).

Captivating

I'm reading the book Captivating with my HS girls, and it's been really good. I've discovered things about myself and about God that I've never thought of before. I've been challenged to let God make me beautiful from the inside out. It's so easy for me to be controlling over my life and those around me, but that isn't being vulnerable toward God or others. It's making me strive for perfection instead of finding joy and happiness in the Lord. I've always struggled with trying to be someone else, anyone else. I guess that means I have low self esteem (it's better than it used to be). But when I find joy in the Lord and let go of myself, God's not going to change me into someone else, He's going to make me more *me*. I like that.

Date night and piles of shoes

Last weekend Andy's mom called us and told us she was sending us on a date. So we got a babysitter for Jeffrey and went up to Ashland. We stayed the night at a cute little old motel that was redone into a beautiful garden. We had a kitchen in our room and everything. Then we went out to dinner at a really nice Italian restaurant (I had cheese tortellini with gorgonzola, cream sauce, and peas - it was delicious). Then we went to a play at SOU that was very funny, and a guy from Andy's old youth group was one of the lead characters (big surprise to both him and Andy). Then in the morning we went home. It was a really really good time. I think it's the nicest thing someone's done for us.

When we got home on Saturday we drove out to church and met about 20 people for a shoe sorting day. Our church has collected shoes (more than 1000 pairs) to send to Africa. The project is called Shoe Africa, and the name came from Andy and I on our honeymoon. We were walking around in Animal Kingdom at Disneyworld and I saw a guy with a t-shirt that said "shoe africa." Immediately the idea popped into my head to do a shoe drive to send over. The summer of 2006 Andy and I and 10 other people went to Uganda to work at a few schools and encourage people. Tons of the kids have to walk to school with no shoes up to 12 miles. We've been really passionate about this project and are working at getting them over there for the kids. It's very exciting for us.

Precious

We got the puppy yesterday, and she's not quite as little as I thought she was! She's a whopping 70 pounds right now and a bit overweight. The people who owned her were feeding her way more than they should have, and she wasn't getting much exercise at all. Her current name is Precious (which we all don't like). My mom will probably rename her Sophie, which I think is cute. She and Jeffrey love each other and never want to stop playing. I really love dogs.

Happenings

A lot has happened since I blogged last! I was surfing the internet today and I realized that I've totally forgotten about my blog in the last week. Funny. But now that I remember about it, I'll share with you what has happened.

For one, my parents left for India on Thursday. They will be gone 2 weeks on a little missions trip, and they're having a good time so far. My sister's next-door-neighbor has a little black lab mix puppy (she's about 9 months old) that they need to give away. So my parents decided that they want her, but while they're in India Andy and I get to puppy sit. We're picking her up tomorrow, so Jeffrey will have a sister for a while! He has no idea what he's in for. He usually doesn't care too much about girl dogs, but hopefully he'll be good friends with this one.

Andy and I are taking a group of our high schoolers to Mexico this summer, and we just met with our missions committee today. They're giving us money for the trip, so that is exciting. I think the group dynamics are going to be good, and it'll be a great trip. I like all of the kids going.

I've been eating my daily green smoothie and trying to eat mostly raw. Sometimes it's hard when I'm away somewhere, and sometimes I just want cooked food. But on the whole, I'm eating about 60-70% raw, which is right at my goal for now.

I think that's it with the new stuff I can think of. I'm sure there's tons more. My life sounds really boring from this blog, but I assure you, it's not. Most of my time is occupied by helping my dear husband with his mostly rewarding, sometimes stressful job (or is it the other way around?). The other hours I'm either working, going to meetings, and hanging out with girls. This makes up about a 50-hour/week or more job. Yay! The joys of being an underpaid youth pastor's wife!