A little bit of heaven

It's the beginning of Cherry season! I've been devouring them the last 2 days. I found some perfectly ripe (on sale!) ones at Raleys the other day. I think you should go get some and enjoy.

Eating more raw food has helped me get a handle on when produce comes into season. I've always tried oranges in summer, peaches in the winter and have been sorely disappointed at the lack of flavor and juice. So recently I've been researching when things come into season. For example, navel oranges are about done and strawberries are nearing the end of their season. But cherries, melons, and lots of greens are just starting! So go out and pick up a delicious watermelon or some bright red cherries and enjoy.

Raw Food Challenge

I've been inspired lately. I'm going to start a 30-day, 100% Raw Food diet on July 7th. I'm waiting until then because I'm going to Mexico June 15-27, and I'm in a wedding July 6th. I might possibly start it on June 29th, I'm just not sure yet.

I've been going more and more raw, but still giving in to terrible cooked foods often. I want to get ahold of my acid problem and prove to myself that I can eat only healthy food for once. I find it easier to eat healthy on the days that I work, because I have to choose the food I'm going to bring before I'm hungry, not when the cravings hit. Maybe I should work more.

Rain, rain, rain...

It's been raining here for a few days, and I love it! It reminds me of living in Portland... I miss it there. We went on a nice hike (it didn't start raining until this afternoon, although it was muddy) with my cousins and Jeffrey this morning. It was nice exercise, which I need to do way more often. I've had these huge shoulder knots that have started to constantly ache for about 7 years now and exercise seems to help them out a lot. Not necessarily walking, but arm things like volleyball, lifting weights, yoga, pilates, etc. Anyway, Jeffrey loved our walk and had a very good time. We put a little blue bandana on him to be a little patriotic for Memorial Day. Later we went to my Grandma's house for barbecued lunch and then went out to my Grandpa's grave at the cemetery. It was a nice day. Now we're home, I just woke up from a nap, and Andy and Jeffrey are still sleeping. We'll probably watch a movie later, and I think I'll eat a nice salad.

By the way, if anyone's up for an amazing salad, you need to try this. It's fantastic.

Mango Avocado Salad

This really is one of the best combinations ever.

2 Ripe Mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped

1 Large Avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped

1 Tablespoons Lime Juice

1 Tablespoon Tangerine Juice

2 Teaspoons Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Cilantro Leaves

1 Tablespoon Black Sesame Seeds

Add all ingredients to a bowl and enjoy!

I didn't have any black sesame seeds, and it's still delicious without them.

Vitamix 5200

So my awesome, rad husband decided to get me a present. Since we got our economic stimulus we have a little bit of extra money so he got me a Vitamix 5200 at Costco (you save a bunch of $ there!). Let me just tell you, it's fantastic. I've been blending like crazy. I used it 3 times today for smoothies and juice, I've made raw dressing for a delicious salad, chocolate dream cake, chopped nuts, etc. This machine is amazing. I heart it.

The Bible and God

I've been challenged lately. I think about myself far too much and too little about God and other people. I just recently started reading my Bible on a more regular basis. This has always been hard for me, I'm not good at establishing good habits at all. Maybe I'm just too lazy or too selfish, I don't really know. But reading the Bible has become very important to me. I need to know God's word in order to be changed by Him and in order to speak truth to others. Even after getting a BS in Bible/Theology I don't know my Bible half as well as I'd like to. My grandmother has always been an inspiration to me, I'm pretty sure she reads through the Bible every single year. My parents always got up early and read their Bibles together, even on the crazy days.

I want God to be more of a priority. I've been a little dry doing ministry to our high school and junior high students. I haven't wanted to go to youth group or call them or anything and I know it's because I'm being selfish and not letting God work in me and through me. But He keeps on breaking through my barriers and challenging me in huge ways. I love that He does that.

HOT!

Yesterday the temperature was officially 97 degrees. Today it's 95 at 5:21pm, so this afternoon was most likely in the very high nineties. It's WAY too hot for May! We don't have air conditioning, which is insane, so right now in our house it's 90 (we have very thin walls). I'm boiling, and Jeffrey is not having a good time. Andy won't stop complaining. We have a little window air conditioner, but it's hard to put in. Hopefully we'll be able to do it soon. AHHHH! I'm going to take a cold shower.

New food blog

For accountability purposes, I've started a new blog that I plan to update daily with what I've eaten. You can get to it here: diurnalsustenance.blogspot.com (which just means daily food). I need to eat better, and it's easy to hide the not good things that I eat. But not anymore. Yay for accountability with blogs!

Ropes Course

We took our Mexico team to the ropes course at Kidder Creek today. I haven't been to it for about 2 years, so it was fun to go back. I didn't get to do any elements, but I got to belay the kids so they could do them. It's funny how I learned to belay about 6 years ago and last did it 3 years ago. When I came back to it I remembered exactly how to do it, with out any refreshers or anything. It was very fun, too.

Taking high school kids, or anyone for that matter, to a ropes course shows you what the kids are made of. Some of them surprise you with how brave they are, some of them are just brave and you knew they would be, and some of them that you thought would be brave are not at all! We had one girl who is home schooled, not very social at all, and really shy. I thought she wouldn't even try the elements, but instead she went straight up and did them with barely a hesitation. Another kid got up to the top and proceeded to stand there for 15 minutes, I kid you not, while I waited and tried to get him to go across. He really really didn't want to and I finally got him to come down. It was such a challenge for him and I was surprised. It definitely goes to show that people on the inside are NOT always what comes across on the outside.

Naturopathic Medicine

I've been impressed with naturoptathic medicine for a while. I'm interested in natural healing through diet, manual manipulation (massage and things), herbs, etc. I'm NOT a fan of pharmaceuticals at all, I think they just treat the symptoms, mess with your body, and introduce un-natural toxins. America is killing itself by having a very SAD (standard american diet) way of eating - waaaay too much processed, cooked until there's nothing left but fiber in it, foods, and using tons of chemicals for EVERYTHING from cleaning products to synthetic drugs to food coloring. Do you really want those things in or around your body?? Our skin is so porous that anything we come in contact with goes straight in. Look at the ingredients on your shampoo bottle or hand soap or lotion: full of chemicals.

Sorry to lecture here, I just wanted to introduce my wonderful idea. I'm a very passionate person, but before now I hadn't found my big thing to be passionate about. I finally have!! I'm planning on going to more school to become a naturoptathic doctor! I have a few prerequisites to take and then 4 years of school. I love teaching people how to thrive and how to heal naturally. My Grandparents have all had numerous cancers, heart disease, etc, and I don't want more people to have to go through that. I honestly think that cancer and heart disease (and obesity) is HUGE in America because of diet and chemicals. Some of it may be genetic, but most of it is caused by us poisoning ourselves.

Summer of Insanity

Oh my gosh, I just looked at our summer calendar. We have something every single Saturday until July and a big thing (or multiple big things) every single week for the entire summer! I know that being a youth pastor's wife you stay busy, but this is just insane! I hope we can find a little bit of relaxing time.

On a side note, Jeffrey's not feeling well today. He's been whining a lot, and I think there's something wrong with his ear. Andy touched it and he yelped, but since then we've been able to rub it and move it around with no problem. He's not playing as much as usual, although he's still eating like a champ. If he's still not his usual self by Monday we'll take him to the vet. Yay vet bills. Why does everything have to be so expensive??

No blogging!

Sorry I've been away from blogging for so long! I've had a lot going on. My Grandpa died on Sunday in Wisconsin. I couldn't go to the funeral, which was today, although I wanted to. Not quite in the budget. My brother and my parents are there representing us (Cindy's at the East Coast with Dan's family). We had an auction for our Mexico team on Sunday, so I worked a ton on that. We're almost there with our fundraising, which is awesome. On to Jr. High youth group tonight. I'll update on more of my life/thoughts later.