I'm back:)

I've been taking a break from blogging for a few reasons.   My kids broke my laptop (insert BIG frowny face), this summer has been chaotic, and I've been going through a tough time figuring out what how to get this fibro and RA under control (and I think that I have). 

The kids started another year of their virtual school.  I love having them home with me on a daily basis because we only have them for a very short time before they grow up and move out.  I love getting to see them learn new things and become more independent.  Especially my 5 yr old.  This is his first year of school and he seems so eager to learn for about 30 min.  After that, forget it. 

I took a break from eating all raw foods but now am back to eating raw and vegan!  I really noticed a difference about the way that I feel when i'm not eating healthier.  Green tea has become my best friend and I drink about 3-4 cups a day.  I'm trying out all sorts of yummy recipes so i'll post some later. 

I know that Halloween is coming up but do you think that it's too early to decorate for Christmas?  LOL!

Blessings:)

TGIF!

This pic says it all.  I've been thinking alot about this lately.  Friends, family, what direction to take.  So, right now, I'm taking everything day by day and trying to enjoy my life.  I'm enjoying spending time with my kids this summer while we do alot of nothing.  LOL!  Life is too short to be constantly worrying about things (which I have a tendancy to do) or overanalyze.  So, HAPPY Friday to you all!!!

Blessings to YOU!!!

The Important Things

I love this quote because it's true.  We do not need things to make us happy.  For me, it's the smell of my kids after they get out of the bath and then hopping in my bed to snuggle with me.  Reading a good book on a rainy day, laughing at my best friend and realizing that we both may really be nutty.  All of these fill my heart with joy and all of these little things are not materialistic, they are true happiness.  Something that you can't hold in your hand but something that you can hold in your heart.  Hoping that everyone has a wonderful Monday!!!

Blessings!

Summer, here we come

I'm so excited that summer is almost here and we'll be done with school, have lots of time in the sun, and still planning a vacation or maybe a few mini ones. The past school year has flown by and I can't believe that I'll have a 3rd grader, 6th grader, and a kindergartener next year! Wow! Where has the time gone.
This past weekend, my nephew (who I used to keep as an infant), turned three. He had such a cute birthday party at the fire department! What a great idea for a party!

What a great way to spend a Saturday!


Blessings!!

Summer's almost here...

So many things have been going on lately and I'm so excited about summer coming up, new doors opening in my life, and other doors closing.  The school year is almost over for the kids and I'm not at all sad that they'll be out for the summer!  LOL!   However, my youngest will be heading to kindergarten next year. 
I've been really working on my jewelry this week and I've been also trying new mediums.  I'm loving the polymer clay so I've spent alot of time shaping and glazing.  I'll be adding new things to my etsy shop in the next couple of days. 
I'm still juicing greens and as long as I get sleep at night, I feel ok through the day.  I don't think that I've actually felt good in so long and by the end of the day, my body hurts so bad.  However, I'm determined not to let these chronic diseases get me down! 



Blessings:)

My Weekend

Friday evening, my friend Cyndi and I did a 5K. Nope, we didn't run the whole thing but we did alternate between jogging and walking. It was a huge step for us nonrunners!
There were quite a few steep hills and stations where people were handing out water. It definitely wasn't as hard as I thought that it would be but let me tell ya, my body is paying for it this week!!! I'm glad that I did it, though! Cyndi was an inspiration and I can mark that off my bucket list:)

I had another pic of the finish line but for some reason, it's not letting me post!  Argh!  That finish line sure was a wonderful sight!  LOL!

Everyone have a wonderful week! 

Blessings!!

It's been a week

Happy Friday!  I've been out of the loop here for a couple of weeks due to flareups with my RA and Fibro.  I have also been battling insomnia, so it doesn't help my pain when I don't sleep.  However, I feel better today and I'm actually heading to one of my best friends houses this weekend to do a 5K!   Yikes!  Don't think that we'll run the whole thing but I at least want to say that I've done one!  I just feel so blessed that i'm able to walk and run (if I wanted to) right now when there are so many people out there that can't.  I'm back on my complete raw diet with extra green juicing.  I feel so much better when I eat this way but I do have my cheat days.  My willpower just goes and either chips or sweets overpower me!  LOL! 

This weekend I'll be posting photos of the 5K and some new pieces of jewelry that I've been working on!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings to you all!!

R.I.P Laptop

I haven't posted this week b/c my computer has been having some issues.  This weekend it went from issues to completely dead. The thing won't even turn on:(   I don't know if it's gone for good but it looks that way.  If anyone has had this issue and fixed it, could you let me know?  Hoping that eveyone has a wonderful Monday!!!

Blessings!

Cake Pops

Ok, I'm going to try my hand at Cake Pops!  I'll take pics no matter how they turn out but I figured for Easter, what a great little treat!  My kids would love them!  SOOOO, this will be interesting!  LOL!  Next post will be Cake Pop pics!  Yay!!


Blessings!

Casting calls

All week, I've had my cousin's daughter up here for her Spring Break.  Just so happens that a casting call for Artemis (The Hunger Games Series) had a casting call yesterday.  I sent my daughter's information to the casting company and got a call for her to come in!  I decided to take mine and Lacey's (my cousin) to the call when I took Brayden in for her reading.  We'll see what happens!  Maybe you'll see us in the background of a movie one of these days!  LOL!

Blessings!

I did it!

Ok, I've been trying to get the courage up to open my Etsy shop and I finally did it!  So, you can be honest and let me know your opinions!  You can see some of my stuff over to the right of my blog!  I still need to add some things but to start of with, I just added several!  Thanks so much for taking a peek!

Blessings!

Mondays and new beginnings

Today is such a beautiful day!  I woke up and the sun was shining through the window so I KNEW that was a plus!  I've been soul searching all weekend about some important life changing events.  Whether I'm making the right decisions or not.  Have you ever had those?  With lots of prayer and meditation, I think that i'm now at peace with my decisions.  More to come on those! 

How was everyone's weekend?  I've done an hour of yoga, had my green juice, and now we're working on school!  Wow!  I'm so blessed!!

Blessings to you all:)

Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break for the kids.  I didn't plan a trip to the beach or the mts., or Disney World.  However, we did go to spend some time with one of my best friends!  We basically moved in with them for a few days!  They were such wonderful hosts and so, incredibly patient for putting up with three kids!  Spent some quality time hanging with the kids and Cyndi and just relaxing!  I had a blast and so did my kids!  So, go ahead and send that mommy of the year award!  I might just deserve it THIS Spring Break...for once...

Benjamin and LC

Me and Cyndi.  Look at how beautiful she is! 

Great friends, good junk food (hehehe aka: jellybeans), and good times!

Back to school tomorrow!!

Blessings to everyone!

Green detox

This weekend was absolutely beautiful!  I'm so glad that the weather is warming up!  Since this week is Spring Break for the kids, I decided to start a 21 day CSL detox.  It's a completely raw diet and I'm anticipating wonderful results!!!  So, in the spirit of detoxing and meditation...

Namaste!

Insomnia and shopping

I battle severe insomnia.  During these nights that I'm up till all hours, I tend to surf the web.  Sometimes, I like to "window shop" on certain websites.  Usually, I just look but I found them.  The sandals that I had been wanting!  Suddenly, at 2am, I decided that THIS moment would be the time to buy them! 


Yep.  Chacos.  I think that insomnia causes insanity. 
But I am looking forward to receiving these!!!

Blessings!
Kristi

Colorful Bags

I have been on a sewing kick lately to make bags.  I've made the kids bags out of old tshirts, I've made bags for myself, and I've made bags for friends.  I can't help myself.  When I walk into a fabric store, I'm taken over by all of the beautiful patterns and colors.  I seriously could live in a fabric store.  I am like a kid in a candy store.  So,  here is my favorite by far.  It's not for everyone but I love, love the colors!!!!

Ok, so I know that it looks a bit like a quilt but that's what I love about it!

Blessings!!!

...and we're back!!!

This past week has been one heck of a week!  Sick kids, aching mommy, and awful change in weather!  We went from some lovely days to nasty cold and rainy weather!  I'm slowly moving again but my daughter just seems to stay at a halt.  She has been battling chronic and severe asthma so she's having a rough time.  We've been to the doc WAY too many times and we're going to be heading back to the pulmonologist again Friday.  Something has to give!  However, I feel so blessed that Brayden doesn't have anything worse than asthma and allergies, even though she's been in and out of the hospital since she has been little. 
On another note, I have joined the Pinterest group!  Once you are accepted to join, you can tag anything on the web that catches your eye!  Then you can pin away on your boards!  It's quite addicting!!  Thank you, Sara @http://walkslowlylivewildly.com/, for the idea to join!!  You guys need to check it out!

Blessings!!!

Calypso Mama - Gin and coconut water

Ok, with the weather warming up and today was just an amazingly, beautiful day, I've been thinking about a vacation.  I need to be at the beach soaking up the vitamin D!  Soooo, i've been looking at escapes lately; something that the kids would enjoy as well as myself!  So, in the spirit of some sunshine, here's something for your listening pleasure!!  Thank you to my friend Moodthy @ My Crazy Sexy Life for the song inspiration!

Happy Wednesday and then some...

I did some spring cleaning this weekend and I'm amazed to say that the house looks a heck of alot better!  Oh, and I'm proud to say that in the midst of my cleaning, I found my camera!!!  Yay!!!  However, Caleb's cupcakes were gone by the time I found it so I wasn't able to take any pictures.  Oh, the reason that I cleaned was because my laptop was "sick" for a little while.  My daughter decided to put a virus on it and I had to completely remove everything, restore it back to it's factory settings, and reinstall programs.  Do you know how long that takes?????  People that do that for a living must have tons of patience because there were many times that I wanted to chuck this badboy out the window!  It's back again, thank goodness!  However, no kids are allowed on my laptop from now on.  They can use the desktop. 
Now, if only Friday would get here!  It's been a long week already! 

Happy Wednesday and blessings!

Feeling Lousy

Yesterday was my sweet boy's birthday so I ended up eating things that weren't on my diet.  Since eating raw foods, my RA and fibro symptems haven't been as bad.  I was sleeping better, feeling better during the day, and then yesterday rolls around around.  I thought, hey, it won't be so bad to eat the cheese and crackers, onion rings, and cupcakes.  WELL, let me just tell you, that TODAY is a MISERABLE day!  Thank the lord for my baby girl.  She does reflexology pretty darn well!  Yep, I'm training her up good:)

When I find my camera, I'll take pic of the green octopus cupcakes that Caleb wanted for his bday. 

This is what I feel like this morning:

 Happy Sunday and blessings!!

An 8 yr. old boy and 3:45 AM!!!

I was sleeping sooo soundly this morning and in the middle of a pretty good dream when I feel a little tap on my arm.  It was Caleb, my 8 yr old as of today.  I looked at the time and thought 3:45??  Are you kidding me??  So, I was desperate to fall back to sleep, I told him to take my laptop into his room and play a game or something.  After many failed attempts to go back to sleep, I figured that I might as well start the coffee (the one thing that I haven't been able to give up on my raw food diet, however, I've cut down to 1 cup!).  So, at 4:25 in the morning, he and I are putting together one of his birthday presents.  A Star War lego Freeco Speeder AKA some kind of plane.  So, this is the convo that went down just now. 
Caleb: "this is hard to put together", ME: "well, it has step by step directions if you read the book", Caleb:"  No, it's easier if you just look at the box".  Um, yeah.  He's a typical male, for ya!  I will be posting pics later of his octopus cupcakes that he wants (they are going to be vegan-he'll never know the difference).  Hehehehe!!!!

Happy EARLY Saturday @ 5am!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Caleb!  8 yrs old!!

iPhone Pictures

I finally figured out how to download pictures off of my iphone.  Yes, after I did it, I felt absolutely ridiculous b/c it was probably the easiest thing to do.  None the less, I'm going to post some pics that were on my phone...just because. 

These are some wonderful little lavender bags that I made to stick in pillowcases!  Smells delicious and it's soothing!

This is the wheatgrass that I bought and had a crazy idea that I would juice this stuff.  First of all, it took a bit of time to juice it AND you could smell it throughout the whole kitchen for a while.  Definintely worth the benefits.  I just need a wheatgrass juicer:)

This is my daughter's hair.  Right now in the pic, she sorta looks like cousin It or the girl from The Grudge, but she and I decided to put pink highlights in our hair!  Mine weren't as noticable since I put mine kind of under the top layer but she wanted hers to stand out!  Yes, she's 11, don't judge me, they wash out...in four weeks.

My baby goes through a different dress up stage pretty much every week.  He watched The Karate Kid (the original) and that is why he has the bandana on.  He dressed like this for about about two weeks.

So, last week, he was all about this sports coat.  He wore it everywhere.  As you can see in the pic, we were at the store.  Yep, if he could've slept in this, he would've.  I had to hide it at night.

Sunday, my older boy was watching Indiana Jones and my baby saw some of it and ALL I heard throughout the day was "I want a man bag like Indiana Jones".  I tried to ignore it for a while but after hours of constant asking, we went to the basement, he picked out this material, and I made this in about 15 min.  Sooooo, everytime we go somewhere, he wants to carry this thing!  Yikes. 

The boys were supposed to be in bed and I heard a noise coming from their room.  I opened the door and this what I saw.  Yep, sometimes I do feel like I live with a bunch of aliens!!

Happy Wednesday!!!  Blessings!

Early Morning

I woke up this morning, so excited to be the only one up!  So I walked downstairs to start the coffee pot when I heard a toilet flush.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????  6am on a Sunday and I have a kid up??  That or someone has broken in and decided to use our bathroom.  My 7 yr. old was already up wanting breakfast.  Uh, no.  I got up early to have some me time with my coffee and breakfast isn't happening this early.  No way, uh uh, not going to happen!!!  At that point, I was still going on with my plan.  I urged him to head to the basement, watch some cartoons, play some video games, color on the walls, whatever!  I just want my little bit of time alone!!!  So, I get my coffee, head back up to my bed, thinking that I could revel in this glorious quiet time.  5 min passes, 10 min passes...he's back up with his Nintendo DS and climbs in bed with me.  My face goes straight.  I guess that I shouldn't complain since he wants to spend some time with me but this is my time!  Think that I'll head to the bathroom with my computer.  No one will get to me there!!!

Alex

This is Alex

                                            This is Alex sitting next to the window

Alex thinks that he's a person.  He bites us when we put him back into his cage.  The bites do not hurt.  If we hold him long enough, he'll leave us little "presents".  We use lots of hand sanitizer.  Alex is a sweet bird and loves for us to snuggle with it (as much as one can snuggle with a bird w/out squishing it).   He spends alot of time staring out the window and talking to the birds that he hears outside.  I wonder what goes through his little head.  If he thinks that he's captive!  However, we love him! 

Blessings!

SoapNuts

Ok, I have been reading lots of stuff about soapnuts lately and decided to give them a try!  I ordered just a few to being with because, come on, how good these little, brown fruit hulls be when it comes to getting laundry clean?  I took them out of the package and stared at them for a while little bit.  I put about four in a muslin bag and stuck them in the laundry with a little bit of essential oil.  AND...I have to say that they worked GREAT!!!!  Believe it or not, these little things actually got my laundry clean and they smelled fresh!  I do believe that if you have something pretty dirty, then you need to use a scoop of Oxy.  However, I'm giving these two thumbs up!  Thought that I would share with you! "

Here's a little info from wikipedia:
 Soap Nuts are natural soap berries that the Johnsons have been importing from from South Asian counties like India and Nepal since 2008. They contain large quantities of saponin in their shells and as such, act as a natural detergent.^[3][5][6] The reason they are considered eco-friendly is not only because they are a natural resource but also because they are antimicrobial and biodegradable.^[7"

These are the funky looking soapnuts.  They don't look like they would clean your laundry, huh?

...and that's all folks!

Blessings!

My Baby Girl

This Sunday, my baby girl turned 11!  I just remember her being born and how tiny she was and now she's turned into a "tween"!  I am so, incredibly proud of her!  She has become a sweet, young lady (so far), that is wise beyond her years.  I believe that she has an "old soul"!  I just love her so much!  Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

This pic is before church.  This is dressiest (is that a word? LOL) you'll see us!  HA!

Blessings!!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I've been meaning to post some of my fave things lately.  I have been an avid amatuer picture taker lately and wanting to share some of the things that I'm into these days!

Yes, I know that this bad boy is old, but it does EVERYTHING!  My grandmother gave it to my mom as a wedding gift and my mother handed it down to me.  Granted, I don't know how to do everything on this but I can do quite a bit.  I'm still a work in progress.

I ordered this timeline off of the CSPAN!  It includes all of the American Presidents!  Helps so much with school work!

This is our new home for our pet swimmy!  Yep, I dropped our other one when I was cleaning it so we needed a new home and I do believe that he loves it!! 

This is what I'm reading now.  Loving One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  If you want to be part of the online book club go to http://www.incourage.me/!

This is a necklace that I made quickly to go with an outfit for my bday! 

My new fave perfume!  Love Thinking of You by Mary Kay!  I got this as a Christmas gift from my mom!  It even has a little charm on the top!  It smells wonderful!  Not too heavy!

Hope you guys have a wonderful Friday!

Warm blessings and hugs!

Homeschooling

It's really a challenge somedays to homeschool.  However, I actually enjoy helping my kids learn because each of them have extremely different ways of learning.  My daughter needs to take the time to have things explained to her a few times before she "gets" it.  My son picks things up on the first time, but he stands up most of the time.  He has to be moving but hey, it works.  Yes, it can be a little annoying for me, but I'm not going to complain!  I have a son that will be starting kindergarten in next year and the question is:  to homeschool or public school?  I'm not sure but right now, when asked, he wants to stay with mama!  That', and the boy LOVES to wear costumes.  He's into aliens now.  That's the baby in him!  Friday, we take our fieldtrip to an Catawba Indian Reservation.  I believe that I'm more excited than the kids.

This is my daughter's 5th grade online class.  This would be the easiest thing she's done so far!  LOL!

Have a blessed day!

My Birthday

Saturday was my birthday, so myself and someone very close to me (one of my best friends) went to stay overnight in a hotel and just "hang"!  We ate some great food, walked around the downtown area, and got away for a while!  Around 9pm, we realized that it really was passed our bedtimes.  LOL!  Hmmm, does this mean that we're old?  I did break my diet but it was well worth it!  I don't think that I could have asked for a better birthday!  Great friend, great food, and time away!  Just what I needed! 

Hugs and blessings!

Upside Down

I wake up every morning and our fish is doing this.  Um, no, it's not dead.  I'm not really sure why it's doing this.  We have had this fish for three years.  That is a LONG time for us but I guess that he loves being with us!  Ha!  As soon as we walk in the room, he starts swimming around, like he knows that we're there!  Is this normal behavior for a fish?  I don't know.  However, my point of this picture is that this is what I feel like this morning:  UPSIDE DOWN WITH MY HEAD STUCK IN THE ROCKS!!!!!

Blessings and positive energy!

Scared

I have been debating whether or not I should open an etsy store to sale my jewelry or market it somehow.  I'm having trouble getting passed being scared!  What if it's not good enough?  What if no one likes it?  Why can't I get past this?  Why can't I just have faith?  All of these things go through my head over and over again.  I don't expect everyone to love my peices but I guess it's the fear of failure.  I'm just going to have to get over it do it!  Like my 10 yr. old told me "MOM, JUST DO IT, ALREADY"!  LOL!  Well, I guess that I should say...stay tuned...:):)

Love and blessings!

Happy Valentines Day!!

My kids woke up early because they were so excited to get their Valentines surprise. They are all about the candy! They showered me with hugs and "I love you's" ! It's not even 8am and they have completely made my day with their little words of kindness and little kisses! I guess I did do something right along the way:)

Early Morning

This is the view from my back deck.  The sun was coming up and NO ONE was up!  I love morning like this when I have a little of "me" time!  When I see the sun coming up over the horizon, through the trees, it just reminds me of God's love for us and how blessed I am to have another day to see the beauty in everything!  Oh, and to have a cup of coffee in the quiet:)

Have a wonderful Friday!  Stay warm and many blessings!

Homeschooling

I love homeschooling my kids.  I do, really!  However, by lunch, I'm ready to hide in a closet or hop in a hot bath.  It's my 5th grader!  My daughter who struggles with her studies she takes after me because school is NOT like it was when I was in school!  They are doing highschool stuff when still in elementary school!  Oh, and the math.  Yeah, the math.  It's NOTHING like it was when I was younger!  I have to really study to explain it to her.  Either I'm REALLY old or things have REALLY changed!  I'd like to go with the latter!!!  All of you teachers out there, you deserve awards!  Hmmm, does that mean that I deserve one too??? 

Peace, hugs, and blessings!!

Vegan Valentines Day

Ok, being vegan sometimes has it's challenges when it comes to feeding kids.  However, I found some amazing recipes that I'm going to try my hand at!  Lately I've been on a plant based diet and I can feel changes in my body everyday, but I have to share with you these yummy ideas!!! 

Baby spinach salad with raspberry vinagrette!  My kids LOVE this salad!!! It's delectable!

Chocolate Tofu mousse.  Yet another one that is a crowd pleaser!!!  So, I've decided to make these special dishes for my lovies for Valentines Day!  You can find these recipes @http://www.ecorazzi.com/2011/02/08/top-ten-vegan-valentines-day-recipes/

Now, to figure out what I'm going to get myself for the Vday:)  That's the drawback to being single!  Oh well, have a wonderful Wednesday!!! 

Peace, hugs, and blessings!!!

A New Day

Wow!  What a weekend!  I had a rough week last week so I'm glad to wake up this morning and it's a new day!  The sun is shining and I actually feel...BETTER than I have in a while.  After two hospital visits, a gazillion tests, and lots of blood drawn, the conclusion was that I am having RA flareups in my back which led to cortizone shots.  I wasn't sleeping and literally couldn't lay on my back.  I completely thought that my back was giving out on me and that brought on MAJOR anxiety.  So, came home yesterday, took something to sleep, and feel as though I may have made it over the hump.  Having days like I've had this past week really makes you appreciate the good days that you have.  A day of not hurting is a day for celebration!

On another note, I read the first chapter of Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts and felt so much through that one chapter!  I cried and had to go hug my kids and just smell there scents and hear them laugh!  I encourage every one of you to read that book if you get the chance! 

I'll get back to posting my thousand things that I'm grateful for, but today I may need to take it easy.  I want to keep having days like today:)

Hugs and blessings!!

This is a picture of my cabinet.  The other side is the same way. I think that I may have a hot tea addiction.  Everytime I go to the store, I seem to pick up a box of hot tea!  I drink it everyday, a couple of times a day.  My kids drink it too.  This is something that I need to declutter.  Not only do I need to declutter the cabinet, but I need to declutter every part of my life.  Time to get rid of the negative and bring in the positive!  I think that everyone has a part of their life that needs decluttering!  I hope that everyone is having a wonderful start to their week! 
Hugs and blessings:)

Affirmation Today: I am successful in all I do

This picture just makes me happy!  I hope that you can find something that makes you happy today, too!

I love getting handwritten letters in the mail.  Postcards, too, but this day and age, we've become too dependent on electronics: emails,text...   It loses it's personal touch.  So, I've decided that I'm going to design some stationary and start mailing letters to my friends and family.  I do know that this will take some time, but this is one one of my goals this year! 
Also, second goal is to start marketing my jewelry!  This week will be busy doing those two things inbetween homeschooling the kiddos!  Oy, doesn't leave much time for sleep, does it? 
Onto more of my list of things that I'm thankful for:
7. My close group of friends
8. for the smell of coffee brewing in the mornings
9. A God that is so forgiving
10. the fact that I can make my 5yr. old smile even when he's crying
11. watching my daughter put in her pink hair extensions
12. all of the pictures that my Caleb has drawn and painted for me

Make today the best day that you can!  Sending positive energy and hugs your way!
Many blessings!

One Thousand Gifts

In my previous post, I mentioned that I'm going to be reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I've been reading her blog here http://www.aholyexperience.com/ and she has inspired me to start my own list of one thousand gifts.  Things that I am truely grateful for!  So I will be starting that today!
BUT...first things first!  I have to say that I woke up this morning feeling pretty good!  Better than I have in a week in a half!  We'll see how the day goes, but I'm praying that I will get better and better each day!  I started a green smoothie cleanse yesterday and I'm loading up on fish oil, magnesium, vitamins D and B, and a multivitamin!  That's alot, huh?  Did I miss anything??  LOL!  I'm replacing my coffee with decaf hot tea.  I'm determined to detox my body of any bad thing that I put into it during the holidays (such rich, sugary foods)! 

Today I'm going to start listing the things that have blessed my life and am truely thankful for:

1.  My 5 year old snuggling with me in bed
2.  Listening to my kids play together and giggling
3.  Having a roof over my head
4.  Living near my brother and watching his kids grow
5.  Having both of my parents, still.
6.  The smell of the bread baking when I make it fresh
to cont....

Have a warm, blessed day!

Kidney Stones

After an entire day in the ER this weekend, the conclusion is that I have kidney stones.  Like I need something else to make me feel worse, so............I'm starting a green smoothie cleanse!!!!!  I have been drinking the smoothies on and off but NOW is the time to rid my body of all of these bad things!  I'm going to load up on supplements, get rid of the caffiene COMPLETELY, and rock the Yoga!  I can tell a huge difference when I'm eating right and exercising regularly.  I have decided that I'm getting a hold of my  body before it gets a hold of me!!! 
On another note, I am really excited to be joining the bookclub at http://www.incourage.me/category/bloom!!  I should be getting my copy of the book One Thousand Gifts soon!!  I can't wait because I heard that the bood is wonderful and lifechanging!! 

Stay warm, stay positive, and many blessings!!

Not exactly raw, but getting there...

Since it's been cold, my body has been wanting warm foods, so one of my favorites that I've been eating NON-STOP is black bean spaghetti and raw alfredo sauce.  I can't even begin to explain to you exactly how much I love the sauce!  I use it for everything!  The black bean spaghetti is so yummy and such a great source of protein!  My kids actually  tried it and liked it but aren't willing to eat it so much because of the spaghetti being black!  Crazy!  Anyhoo, I totally suggest trying it!!!! 
Another way to start a day would be hot water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and little pure maple syrup!  It will kickstart your metabolism and make you all warm inside! 

Have a wonderful, warm, and blessed day!

Something to Ponder...

So, today my horoscope said to "Cook a meal, walk the dog, do whatever relaxes you most today.  Frayed nerves lead to out-of-the blue tears".  I don't put alot of stock into horoscopes.  I really just read them for fun but this SHOULD have applied to me today but with a snow storm coming through, washing tons of wet clothes, and trying to entertain the kiddos, it was DEFINITELY NOT relaxing!  Sooooo, I worked on some new peices for my jewelry.  Pottery peices, actually.  I'm going to get them up and running this week!!  I'm excited and scared but it's time.  I've been putting it off WAY too long so stay tuned!!! 


Ok, a couple of pics from our lovely snow!

Ahhh, my lovely girl!  I couldn't find a hat so I wore my 7 yr. old's skater cap! 

Awww, at least one of them is being loving.  I guess that's all I can ask for!

And of course my baby would be grinning from ear to ear!  I could eat him up!

Ok, stay warm, stay positive, and the warmest blessings to you:)

A New Year and New blessings...

As usual, I didn't stay up till midnight lastnight but Oh well, right?  I mean, if I had, my body would've hated me in the morning!  I have so many resolutions for 2011!  First thing is first, get back on my strict vegan diet!  I slipped during the holidays and have been paying for it!  A new year means new starts, goodbyes, lettting go, and opening new doors.  ALL of this applies to me!  I'm so blessed and I feel that this year will be great!

Now, on to sharing some of my week.  I was able to visit with one of my best friends for a day.  It seemed to go by so fast.  I love spending time with this person b/c I can just be myself and I don't feel that I have to be doing something all the time that we hang out.  We can just "be".  Soooooo, my lovely, sweet daughter took a pic of us knitting.  PSA:  Knitting is NOT just for the old!  LOLOLOL!!!!  Anyway, I'm blessed to have her as a friend!

This is us w/our knitting supplies.  Doesn't she look beautiful?  I'm the one with the bad haircut:(  Bleh! 

We left there to spend time with my cousins:  Melissa and Lacey.   Melissa can always make me laugh, no matter what, so it was it's always wonderful to see her!  She's a good soul and I KNOW that she's special just to put up with my crazy clan!

Happy New Year and and may you all have a year full of blessings!