Catalyst

Debbie Ford is a NY Times Best-Selling Author and internationally recognized expert in the field of personal transformation and human potential. I have benefited immensely from reading her books and will soon be seeing her movie, "The Shadow Effect." In my research, I found this video clip online where Debbie speaks about her book, Spiritual Divorce. I listened to it even though divorce is not part of my life. I watched this video clip and thought of "divorce" as something coming to and end. (not necessarily a marriage.) This could pertain to a job, a friendship, a bad habit or anything that people tend to hang on to a bit longer than they should.

We may have all seen people forgo opportunities because of fear. We can be so afraid of closing the door on something in our lives, that we spend more time being upset about that one closed door than about the thousands of doors in front of us that we could choose to open.

Aside from being afraid of change, sometimes people can be bitter because of it and can blame the world for their troubles. Not accepting responsibility is one way to stay upset and to not give yourself permission to live a better life. I feel bad for the "victims" of the world who created the label and hold tightly to it as if it will somehow ever change on its own. Spiritual Divorce sounds like a great book for those who cannot let go of the past or the bitterness or who have not yet given themselves permission to be happy.

Here is Debbie Ford speaking of the ideas in her book. Even without reading the book, this video clip is helpful and gives you lots to think about!

Lisa & John - Crane Beach

Congratulations to my friends Lisa and John on their wedding on Crane beach! It was great to be part of your day and what a great beach day we had. (Lucky you!)

Don't happy couples make you happy?

Britty got this shot of me crawling in the sand for a photo. It looks like my head is missing...

...but it's worth it to get these shots of Lisa and John.

This is the first wedding I've photographed barefoot.  ;)

Britty is at it again with her sneaky photos:

While I show off the newlyweds' new rings:

Congratulations Lisa and John! :) You will be seeing all of the images soon. Thank you for letting us be part of this perfect day on the beach! Thank you SO much for our gift basket too, that was SO thoughtful!

We feel very lucky to have spent our day with you and your family. Watching a marriage between two awesome people take place was great to see and I wanted to share it here. Maybe it will inspire another couple to renew their vows! (on a beach!)

Mistakes of the Past

"The mistakes you have made in the past, you have already paid for. You don't have to pay twice.

Start right now and redefine what it is you want and take the steps to get there..."

~ Paul Martinelli

Image:  "Let Go"
source:  http://farm1.static.flickr.com/126/322266123_c777cfbbca.jpg

Daily Reminders

New Blog!

Hi! Did you notice a change here? This blog is now geared toward what I have been focusing on for some time now and feel it may help lots of people. Optimum Health! To me, this means successfully managing our own life. This encompasses our inner and outer world. Jobs, goals, dreams, emotions, energy, purpose, relationships, self-healing, etc... many areas are ones to tackle individually. I have been finding that addressing the fundamentals such as - what do you truly believe? - are ones that are life changing. I've enjoyed the books, videos, food, ideas, and people I have encountered now that I have pointed my life in this direction. This blog will be some things I have discovered along the way and will be a place for me and you to come back to often, if it should help us.

My old blog was a vegan blog. After four years, I am still vegan and believe I always will be. I do not like the label of "vegan" because I've seen it put people in groups or feel separate. The label is not needed for me, but I do believe in being compassionate in every possible way because it is right for me. This includes eating. I love animals too much to ever participate in hurting any of them. I choose to live a life that involves the least amount of suffering, and I am non-judgmentally happy with my decision. I was only not happy with the label. My old vegan blog is still available, and some of the posts are here in this one too!

Onto my Daily Reminders, which is the title of this blog post: My friend and health/nutrition coach, Jen of Pure Energy LLC, sent me a link recently to a site that I now visit daily. This site is full of wonderful information, courses on personal growth and healing, and even offers daily horoscopes. :) The link is:

http://www.dailyom.com/

...and it's free!

Sign up for their free email newsletter. Their online courses are great too, and some are fee based or donation based. Pay what you can! To give you an idea of their work, today's daily reminder included this:

Nothing happens without a purpose. Whether we attract success or repel it depends on our willingness to stay open to a wide range of possibilities and to embrace concepts like synchronicity.

The photo is also from this artcle, which is called Cosmic Support.

Check it out if you would like to see their library of articles and to even receive one each day in your inbox! What a nice way to wake up!

Juice for Dinner!

I haven't felt like cooking much due to the heat and a busy schedule, but also because I have those days where I just don't want to eat! We found a temporary solution until my new juicer arrives...

Jumpin' Juice and Java was a place I never went to because of the name. lol. It's a coffee shop and a smoothie shop and any of their smoothies can be made non-dairy. The menu is pretty good and it's attached here:

jumpin juice and java

We chose the Caribbean Cooler and a Berry Berry Good non-dairy smoothie as our dinners. I'll definitely be going back for another one! It's nice to not have to cook and also to have something for dinner despite low appetites. My Vita-Mix would be great for this, but when I don't have the ingredients or am on the road, this works out well!

House Sparrow

Britty just made a video of the sparrow that got trapped in our home. A female house sparrow somehow got in and was flying into the walls before we could get her! We put her in a safe area until it looked like she was healthy enough to release. The video is so cute.

Here is the link to the blog post and please scroll to the bottom to see the video. :)

http://homeschooling-hatch.blogspot.com/2009/08/house-sparrow.html

Cooking Show

My friend Cindy just informed me of a new cooking show beginning this Sunday on the Food Network. I'm really excited! It's not a vegan show, sadly, but I hope this chef uses lots of veggies and has recipes that I can easily make vegan!

The reason I love this show is because of the host... Brian Boitano! An unlikely candidate for a new food show, so I thought, Brian was my 80's hero as winner of the gold medal in the 1988 Olymipcs. Since 1988, I traveled all over New England to see him! I met him several times and he even commissioned my friend and I to paint shirts for him for his new (at the time) program called Canvas of Ice. How totally fun! We loved watching him skate. (still do!) Now, I hope to love watching him cook! I will pretend the chicken is tofu, I guess. I will also write to him, since we are good friends now (according to me anyhow!) and ask that he include more veggie meals.

20 years ago. I am stalking the skater's bus in Philadelphia before the ice show. Yes, that is his face painted on my shirt! Lol!

Meeting him for the first time and nearly dying of embarrassment for being such a geeky fan:

Getting comfortable with my stalker-ness... check out my GRIP on him!


I'm so excited to see what he can cook! Thanks to the Food Network for wondering, "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" This Sunday! 1 pm! (Eastern time.)

My babies!

I had to post this photo of a Papillion puppy because I LOVE it and it reminds me of my Max when he was little. :) He's 9 years old now (Happy Birthday Max!) but he's still fetching and causing trouble, so we're happy he's active and healthy!

BJ, our 12.5 year old Labrador is not so active. The poor guy has trouble getting around and it's getting more difficult by the day. We're helping him get up stairs and providing beds and supplements for him, but he's 80 pounds and...well...getting old. He went to a holistic vet recently to discuss acupuncture and other options for his inability to use his back legs. He is taking supplements, like vitamin c and e and we're debating if acupunture would help him at this point. (maybe!!)

I used to look at BJ and see this shiny, healthy, (over)active, invincible black Labrador. He is now tired and inactive and does not turn heads anymore, but we remember everything about his past and think he's still the best looking Lab around! I took him on many trips but never the traditional hunting and fetching ducks like one may imagine for a Labrador. I often wondered if he would have been luckier to have a more "outdoorsy" owner who, perhaps, liked to game bird hunt. Well, seeing BJ now and all that we are happily doing for him, I know for a fact that he'd not want to be anywhere else. He may never have retrieved a dead pheasant, but he was there with us while we rescued two pheasant chicks. BJ seemed to have no interest in them other than as his new temporary roommates! He has been an amazing companion for us for 12.5 years and we're hoping that somehow, despite his downslide, we will have lots more time with him still. No regrets.

So Happy 9th Birthday to Max, and we will soon be celebrating BJ's 13th birthday too! :) Lucky us!

Shoes!

Doesn't shoe shopping fix everything? I love how DSW has so many options, since I choose not to purchase leather, suede, or fur. (Furry shoes?) So with DSW online, I can check to see what the shoes are made of before falling in love with them. Be careful though, sometimes their online information is not accurate. Always check the inside of the shoe also! ;)

So I recently found shoes... shoes... shoes.. and a pair of boots. I love them all. Here are the boots that are VERY comfy:
The shoes I found are awesome leopard flats and also a crazy high pair of heels (Chinese Laundry) that I cannot figure out where to wear! 4.5" tall. Lol! I *will* wear them though! I just need to find a place to go where I won't fall down!

So for non-animal materials, check out DSW for shoes and handbags! You can ALWAYS use more shoes, right?

Raw Foods - Avocado Dill Salad

Avocado Dill Salad posing in front of Britty's new canvas painting:

(Farm Town friends will appreciate that painting!!)

I have enjoyed adding lots of raw foods into my diet and will keep sampling new raw foods and making a shift when I feel I need to. The day started with fresh blueberries, and lunch was a (macadamia nut) egg salad over romaine. For dinner, I gathered ideas at www.goneraw.com and enjoyed seeing the recipes and forums too! (Check it out!) I found this recipe for avocado-dill salad and knew I'd love it:

Ingredients:

1/2 or 1 whole avocado, sliced into bite size pieces
1 green onion, sliced
1/4 large English cucumber, cut into bite size pieces
juice from half a lemon ( this may be too much for some people so start with less and add more if you think it needs it)
1/4 tsp hemp oil
1 small bunch of dill, pulled off the stem and cut into smaller pieces
a pinch of sea salt

Preparation:

Chuck all bits into a bowl, mix around, and let sit in the fridge for about an hour before serving. The avocado will get a little softer and absorb some of the flavor from the bottom of the bowl. Give it a good mix around before serving and enjoy!*

Recipe from www.goneraw.com

I omitted the lemon juice so that Britty would eat it too. :) Easy, cool, and very good!

Black Bean Salsa

I have been trying to eat more raw food and LOVE the recipes I've found in books like Brendan Brazier's Thrive and Wendy Rudell's The Raw Transformation. The photo above is from Thrive and is Black Bean Salsa.

I used soaked sun-dried tomatoes since I was out of fresh ones. The lime in this made it addictive to me! A nice way to eliminate some of the breads I've been eating was to substitute the crackers, chips or any grain for the half an avocado. Very good!! Even better after it has been in the fridge for awhile so the flavors infuse more.

Oh, and those little seeds on top are hemp seeds. Yum!!

New Plan

It has been wonderful to work with a health & lifestyle coach and I'm enjoying so many aspects of this! With a new eating plan, I'm reducing my soy intake and lowering the carb-craziness I tend to fall into. Zone exercises, more sleep, and lots of water have been so beneficial that I am able to tackle the old problems of working too much, stressing, and worrying about everyone else! With new information on health, nutrition, and uncovering the not-so-obvious culprits to bad health, I'm so excited to keep on this track and learn more.

I'm making lots of foods myself now, like this 17 bean mix which is now simmering in my slow cooker and becoming soup!


Lots of fresh greens in my salads and homemade salad dressing are becoming addicting. Skipping the processed foods has been a good move too and is helping me cook more and sprout more! (Brocolli sprouts are currently on deck!)

The day before my health "attack plan" came into play, I did make a dessert though that I had to share! It's low-fat and awesome and is from one of my favorite blogs ever: Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen by Susan. (Follow the link for the recipe!)

Strawberry Short Cake (with added bananas:)



No more strawberry cake for me for now though... my new leopard bikini is waiting!

Loving Vega!

I love Vega's vegan products! I am so happy with the Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer that I had to share. If you are looking for an awesome meal replacement how about this for a choice:

Probiotics (Dairy-free)

Digestive Enzymes

26g of Broad Spectrum Protein

6g of Essential Fatty Acids

Easily digested, alkaline and containing no animal products, corn, dairy, egg, fillers, gluten, soy, sugar, wheat or yeast.

Absolutely no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or sweeteners and GMO and pesticide-free.

Oh, and it tastes good too! :P Highly recommended! Here is the Website, and you may recognize our good friend Brendan while you are there:

http://sequelnaturals.com/en/vega

Coconut Oil

I read on Gail Davis' twitter page about coconut oil. My nutritionist also mentioned it. I kept reading about it in health books, but was confused because I thought that all oil was unhealthy. Well, after lots of reading and a taste test, I've come to believe that this particular oil is a healthy fat and I love the taste of it. Have you tried coconut oil yet?



I've cooked with it (love it!) and even tried a bit plain. I read to try it in smoothies. mmm! I am going to try it on my hair tonight too for the shine/smoothness! Will it make my hair greasy?? I hope not!! I read it's a good massage oil and also a good make up remover. Wow. Here are some listed healing properties of coconut oil: (article source included)

The healing properties of coconut oil:

* Coconut oil is antiviral, antifungal (kills yeast too) and antibacterial. It attacks and kills viruses that have a lipid (fatty) coating, such as herpes, HIV, hepatitis C, the flu, and mononucleosis. It kills the bacteria that cause pneumonia, sore throats, dental cavities, urinary tract infections, meningitis, gonorrhea, food poisoning, pneumonia, and many, many more bacterial infections. It kills the fungus/yeast infections that cause candida, ringworm, athletes foot, thrush, jock itch, diaper rash and more.

* Coconut oil is called the "low fat" fat. It actually acts like a carbohydrate in that it is quickly broken down in the liver and used as quick energy. It is NOT stored like other fats. It boosts one’s energy and endurance. Many athletes use it blended into their drinks. It also supports thyroid function and increases your metabolism (great if you want to lose weight).

* Coconut oil improves digestion and absorption of fat soluble vitamins, minerals (especially calcium and magnesium), and amino acids. It improves the body’s use of blood glucose and improves insulin secretion and absorption (great for type II diabetes). In fact, many diabetics (type I and type II) use it to reduce their symptoms. One’s risk of diabetes decreases with regular use of coconuts and coconut oil. And as we already mentioned, cooking with coconut oil does not create any harmful byproducts.

* Coconut oil helps the body heal and repair faster. It aids and supports immune function, protecting us from a variety of cancers.

* Coconut oil, contrary to much hubbub, is good for your heart. It keeps our blood platelets from sticking together (and causing dangerous clots). Regular users of coconut oils have a much lower chance of atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries), arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), and strokes. Coconut oil can lower your blood pressure.

* Coconut oil is a natural antioxidant. It protects the body from free radical damage and prevents premature aging and degenerative diseases.

* Finally, coconut oil is the best massage oil on the planet. What it does to your skin, you simply have to witness. It forms a barrier against infections, softens and moisturizes your skin, and prevents wrinkling, sagging, and age spots. It promotes healthy hair and complexion, protects from any damaging UV rays.

source = http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/nutrition/coconut.htm

Carb Day!

Well, it wasn't exactly carb day, but it was all I photographed!

I've mentioned on Facebook that I've hired a health/lifestyle coach! How fun is that?! I love the process, and we are looking into food, sleep, exercise, stress levels, etc just to see how to have the most energy and fun! I am happy that this is a "whole health" approach and not just food related or exercise related. It's very interesting and my habits will soon be changing as we progress into a plan of action!

In the meantime, I am trying to eat for my metabolic type and making an effort to sleep and exercise every day. I also am relying less on pre-made foods and am back to making things myself. :)

I made some whole wheat bread today and it was very much worth taking out the bread machine for! I added some agave nectar (no honey!) and it came out great. I ran out of vital wheat gluten, but added in some soy milk to perhaps lighten it up, and it worked out great! It was not too dense at all, like I feared. Doesn't it look good?


Upon Britty's request, a pasta salad came later in the day! We added Adzuki beans, onions, corn, dill, veganaise, and salt. It doesn't take much veganaise to make this and you can cut it down with a splash of soy/rice milk (unsweetened for us!) to make it lower in fat: (and add more/different veggies for a more healthy version!)


I did not photograph our Moroccan Chickpea Patties (Dreena Burton recipe.) which were very good! We had those with a baked potato and garlic-sauteed red chard. mmm

Hope you are all doing well!! Thank you for the Facebook birthday wishes! Wow, that was a surprise to get so many!! Thank you. :) :)

Happy Earth Day!

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money."

~Cree Indian Proverb

Be ready for Julie Andrews

My dad just emailed this video clip to me and it makes me wonder why these fun things do not happen in my travels!! :) I'd LOVE to see this and I'd make a fool of myself joining in!

Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake

This was from Veganomnicon... a very excellent cookbook from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I was worried about it being too lemony, but I could have added even more lemon juice to this and would have loved it! (next time, I will add more!)

I ran out of powdered sugar for the top, but this was good just as is!

Victoria's Secret Body Care Line

I love Victoria's Secret and am SO happy that they have come out with a vegan body care line! it's called Pink Body and includes sugar scrubs, lotions, body washes and more!
I ordered a few myself and are waiting on their arrival! I have heard many good things about these products and cannot wait to test mine out. I knew that the Engergizing Body Wash was a MUST HAVE for me when I read this description:

"Not a morning person? No problem. We made our energizing body wash specifically for those slow and sluggish days. It invigorates as it cleanses. Packed with U.S.-sourced Citrus and Organic Mint to naturally exfoliate and refresh, plus a boost of caffeine from Organic Coffee Beans to energize. Lather up and rinse off to reveal clean, radiant-looking skin from tip to toes."

Sounds perfect!

Another nice note is that the products are surprisingly reasonably priced. (compared to their other products!) I was happy to pick up a few different ones to try and to support their new natural, organic, and 100% vegan line!

Six Dogs Dead in 2009 Iditarod

Six Dogs Dead in 2009 Iditarod

First there was Victor, a 6-year-old dog on musher Jeff Holt's team, who died suddenly on March 10. A gross necropsy (the canine version of an autopsy) was completed, however, "no cause of death could be determined by the board certified veterinary pathologist."

Then, on March 16, a search pilot discovered that two dogs (whose names, Dizzy and Grasshopper, were not even included in the Iditarod advisory) on rookie musher Lou Packer's team had apparently frozen to death.

Next, on March 19, Maynard, a 5-year-old male on Warren Palrey's team, died on the trail late at night. His necropsy showed "pulmonary edema [fluid in the lungs] was present, which likely developed as the result of a cardiac abnormality." Maynard had been "working hard" on the trail for 11 days leading up to his death.

One day later, Omen, an 8-year-old male on Rick Larson's team, died on the trail between the checkpoints at Elim and White Mountain. As with Maynard, Omen's necropsy indicated that he died from a pulmonary edema.

The sixth dog, a 2-year-old female named Cirque, died during a post-race flight. Cirque, who was on musher Alan Peck's team, was discovered dead when after the plane was forced to land due to significant turbulence.

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition's site to find out what you can do to end this deadly race once and for all.


http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm

Source of photo and information obtained from Care2.com.