That’s what I’ve been doing all day anyway. Cultivation! My sprouts were in desperate need of transplanting, and today I finally got it done! I’m going to spare you all the sweaty, dirty details and just SHOW you what I’ve accomplished. And as for the 800 words a day…I’ve been doing some journaling and a lot of random online writing, just not here on my blog. The yoga I’ve been slacking on. I did some more T-tapp, and some breathing (have YOU breathed today? Ha!)

The front of the house, outside my window...great spot, except its SO windy!

Transplanted the lettuce into the new bed I made today

A few sunflowers on the left, sage on the right

Sunflowers!

Tarragon!

Dill! Oh how I LOVE dill and I can't wait till these get big!

The back of the house along the sidewalk, it's gotten greener since it has started to rain

Cucumbers, need to get some stakes up for them soon

Zucchini!

Pretty flower along sidewalk

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My flowers at the front

Kang Kung!

This morning I started wondering if anyone is reading my blog. I don’t do too much in the way of publicizing it, and that is fine with me. The Leo moon side of me LOVES feedback though, so I started feeling a little self-conscious. Maybe that’s why I ended up doing all this writing on my blog instead of my journal. To get past that whole “is anyone even listening” thing. It doesn’t even matter if no one reads this, because the point is that I’m writing. And writing a lot. Consistently. Whoohoo!

That said, if you are reading this, please don’t be shy, and leave a little note like “Hi!” or something. Just for my ego’s delight okay?

Yesterday afternoon was a very active one. I got off work, went home, did a few chores, and then a full session of T-tapp. I made the Body Ecology Diet mayonnaise and discovered that I definitely should have used LIGHT olive oil. The regular one has too strong a taste for the mayo. I ended up mixing it with a little bit of regular mayo, and ketchup. So it doesn’t fit with B.E.D. but at least its edible now. I think it would taste really good if I redo the recipe with half LIGHT extra virgin olive oil and half coconut oil or something.

Here’s the recipe:

Homemade Mayonnaise (recipe from B.E.D. book)

2 egg yolks
2 Tbs raw organic apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I added a little more)
2 tsp seal salt
1 cup olive oil

*In blender combine egg yolks, vinegar, lemon juice, mustar, cayenne pepper, salt and 1/4 cup of the oil. Blend for 30 seconds.

*Very slowly, through opening in blender lid, add remaining oil while blender is still going. Continue to blend until smooth.

*Scrape into a glass jar with a screw top and it’ll keep safely in the refrigerator for 7-14 days

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I will be trying a few different dressings and sauces. There are recipes for gravy, vinaigrette, curried cauliflower sauce, and more that I want to try very soon. Our dinner last night was, well BLAH. I sauteed turger burgers, chopped up with onions and mixed organic frozen veggies and a little bit of spinache puree. Sounds good, but it just wasn’t that great. I will skip the frozen veggies next time with this kind of meal. The good news is that the boys still ate some of it.

Super-Yummy-Pumpkin-Biscuit-Pancake-Soft-Cookie-Things

After dinner, I whipped up some buscuits from Pamela’s gluten free pancake mix (no this doesn’t fall in line with the healing stage of the B.E.D. because of the almond meal, etc. but at least it was gluten, dairy and sugar free). I mixed in some of the squash puree that I made earlier in the day, some cinnamon, nutmeg, stevia & butter/coconut oil. And they were phenomenal. They are SO yummy! Like a pumpkin-pie-pancake-biscuit-soft-cookie-thing.

Since I’m on such a roll talking about food, I’ll continue!

Breakfast!

This morning, the boys had one of those aforementioned super yummy biscuits and a super green smoothie (bananas, mixed fruit, flaxseed meal, coconut oil, liquid chlorophyll, water). I had a green ACV cocktail (water with liquid chlorophyll and apple cider vinegar) and then made breakfast when I got to work. I cooked two eggs in a lot of coconut oil with sea salt and lots of pepper, and heated up the last of the squash and ginger soup I had made. To help with digestion (since I had animal proteins AND a decent amount of oil) I had a small cup of water mixed with a teaspoon of ACV. YUM. Oh how I LOVE eggs cooked this way.

I feel really good. Between these nutritional changes, t-tapp, dry-skin brushing, and just a changed attitude about food, the body & life overall, I feel a major transformation already underway! I’m already super thin, so I’m not trying to lose weight. In fact, gaining some might be nice. Either way, I FEEL good, so I’m really not all that concerned about how I look. The biggest, more noticable change is my energy levels. I mean, last night I was up till my usual bedtime, but what I was DOING during that time was different. I was in the kitchen, moving around the house, making lunches for the next day, and I CLEARED the sink. This was a first. Seriously. Whatever is going on, I like it.

So I will leave you with some pictures of our sprouts that are growing so big! I need to transplant the sunflowers, zuchinni and cucmber already, they are getting crazy! I’m still trying to figure out where I’m going to put everything. I’d love the sunflowers in the front of our house, but it gets so windy from that direction, I wonder how hardy they are? I need to have my herbs and lettuce right outside the window, otherwise they will end up neglected. And with that, here they are!

Bibb Lettuce!

Sage finally sprouted!

Unruly Sunflowers!

I don’t like squash. I’ve made it in many different ways, and I can eat it just fine, but I don’t think I’ve ever been excited about squash. I recently made a Squash & Ginger Soup that was actually really good, but I’m having to force down the leftovers, because well, I’m over the squash already.

Steamed Kabocha Squash, to be pureed

So, right now I’ve got a whole kabocha squash steaming in a big pot on the stove and I plan to puree it. The puree will go into pancakes (for my boys) and into whatever other creative treats I can come up with.

Is anyone out there doing the Body Ecology Diet? Anyone with kids? I’m finding that I’ve gotta get really creative about all of this. I suspect my younger son (both boys actually, but especially the little one) has a very sensitive gut and that it is very imbalanced. I would love to just say “Okay, no more sugar, wheat, or anything else that feeds yeast” but that is really hard to do when we’re so used to eating peanut butter and jelly (their lunch for preschool almost everyday! eek), tons of fruit, pancakes, sandwiches, and sometimes when we’re feeling frisky, a vegetable here and there. All this time I really thought my kids were eating healthy (and granted, I think they eat “healthier” than many other kids) but all along we’ve been throwing our entire digestive system (and therefore the rest the body) out of whack.

The tricky thing about candida overgrowth is that its symptoms are shared by many other “culprits” and so is usually the last thing people suspect. I took an assesment in the Body Ecology Diet book, and my score was 137, which suggests that I am most likely dealing with candida overgrowth.

My Superhero & Rainbow Man Veggie Eaters with their afternoon snack

So, what now? I have been buying a ton of produce as well as other products to try some new recipes. Last night I made Spinach Chicken Nuggets with Steamed Brocolli & Lemon/Pepper and it was AWESOME!! The kids (and I too!) loved and devoured it all. We just took organic chicken tenders and defrosted them, cut them up and sprinkled some sea salt on them. Then we dipped them first in quinoa flour, then into spinach puree wisked with an egg. Rolled them into some breadcrumbs (which next time will be replaced by quinoa flakes or something else) mixed with cayenne pepper, italian seasoning and a teeny bit of parmesan (not on the B.E.D.). Sauteed in a skillet with coconut oil, and ten minutes later, voila! YUM! So so so awesome. They were a hit. I’m going to create a day where I make a whole bunch of them and freeze them.

So that recipe was a hit. Lets hope that we can have many more experiences like that one!

The best part is that my kids (mostly my 4 year old, but I know the 2 year old is paying close attention!) are enthusiastic about eating healthy (even if they don’t quite know what that means) and cutting out sugar. The thing is, they are happy to be like “yeah we don’t do sugar” but then they want a popsicle. And so do I! You know what is saving me from sugar and starch cravings? I make an elixer of water (about 20oz) with 1.5 tsp of organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar, as well as 1.5 tsp of liquid chlorophyll, and a small packet of stevia. And I like it! It tastes kind of like lemonade. It looks hideous though, so if you’re gonna give it to your kids and they don’t like weird looking things, I recommend hiding it in a dark cup or something. Or just ommit the chlorophyll and do the “lemonade” of ACV and stevia. YUM. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but I’m having fun with all of this!

I am determined to come up with yummy snacks and treats that follow the principles of the B.E.D. so stay tuned for updates on that!

My very first millet

This weekend I made millet for the first time in my life, and I must say, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I think I might have cooked it too long though, because its all super molded together like a kind of “bread” or something. It actually gave me an idea for some yummy treats. How about rolling little balls out of cooked millet mixed with stevia, cinnamon, & vanilla (would have to be non-alcoholic though)? I think my kids would eat them. We shall see!

If you have any ideas, suggestions, or recipes about cooking and preparing foods for/with kids that are sugar free, gluten/wheat free, dairy free, AND fruit free, please share them! The extra difference with the B.E.D. in the healing stages is that you are working to starve the yeast as much as possible. Eventually you can have fruit and other things again. Another important principle of the Body Ecology Diet is food combining. So animal proteins are eaten with non-starchy vegetables. Grains (which really are just amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa and millet) are eaten with non-starchy vegetables. Starchy vegetables (like acorn squash, red skin potatoes) are eaten with non-starchy vegetables (unless I’ve mixed this up!).

Its a new world of food and eating, and I’m feeling good about it. I’ve been waking up with a new energy already, and feeling less bloating and noticing a difference in digestion (and I never really complained about having any digestive issues) and MOOD. That last one is huge. Really. A main motivator for me to stick with this.

So here’s to squash, spinach chicken nuggets, and strange and wonderful things like millet!

Communications. Its the cycle of new moon in Gemini, and its all about communications, mental activity, and data processing. How do you process things? Me, I usually freak out when I start feeling self doubt or some other insecurity, seek outside reassurance, realize that I was silly to doubt myself, and then carry on. Sometimes I can reassure myself, but often I really want it from other people. I hope that this month that quality is not exaggerated!

Even though we are only two days into this cycle, I’m really feeling it! I think that this 21 day yoga/writing challenge was the perfect project to embark on at this time! An outlet for all this jibber jabber of the mind, and the yoga to keep the body in motion. Gemini is ALWAYS moving! My son has a Gemini moon, and he just CAN’T keep still. Sometimes he can for short periods of time, trying REALLY hard, but its just not his general disposition, stillness. I think that is reflecting both in my writing AND in my yoga. I thought I would just be doing Savasana all month, or just sitting still and breathing, but I’m having a hard time keeping still! I want to MOVE. I want to stretch every muscle in my body. I’m going to try to find balance (no pun intended!) by honoring what is natural to me (moving!) and what I crave (stillness!) and just be sure that when I am in “moving mode” the primary FOCUS is my breathing.

I really really really want to get better at breathing this year. Maybe that sounds ridiculous, but seriously, I am one of those “shallow breathers” that feels like she can never get a proper full-lung-expansion-and-contraction satisfying BREATH! It takes conscious effort to achieve it. I really would like it to be more of my default, this fuller breathing. Lately I’ve been dreaming of taking an aikido class. There is something that I need to learn and practice, and I think aikido is the perfect outlet for it. What is this something? Discipline. Self control, self motivation, connection between breath energy and the body. The last yoga class that I went to had a twist of a tai chi feel to it, and I LOVED it. It confirmed to me that I definitely wanted more of a “martial arts dance” feel. Freedom to move your body the way IT wants to. But also the discipline to guide it in the way that YOU want to.

Yesterday I didn’t have a real substantial yoga session. It happened in spurts. Some stretching here, breathing there, a few poses here, some savasana there. Who knows what today will bring? I love the unpredictability of all of this! Some days I know exactly what I want to write about and other days (like this morning) I just show up and have no clue what’s going down. Its scary. What if I sound dumb? What if I’m boring? Who cares?! I’m here to write, that’s my job right now, and I think I’m doing ok at 510 words. I was talking to someone about this project, and about the arbitrary word count of 800. Why 800 anyway? Who knows, but I’m enjoying the word count. It forces me to go PAST stuckness. Yes that is a word. According to the Dictionary of Michelle anyway. Sometimes at a word count of 265, I’m sitting staring at the screen like “now what?” and wondering if I’ve got anything to say that would be worth reading. And then I remember, that I’m not doing this for whomever is reading. I’m doing this for ME.

Perhaps this is why I ended up doing this on my blog rather than in my journal primarily. I am also writing in my journal a lot (I think I’m maxing out almost 2000 words a day!!) but I think there is a very good reason why I’m also writing publicly. It is representing vulnerability, to share myself, my thoughts in the raw, unedited version of my stream of consciousness. Authenticity and transparency. I think they go hand in hand. It is election year, I think some of our candidates should take head.

Today is the Mango Festival in the village of Agat. Its a two-day mango extravaganza that was created when they (I don’t know who “they” are really…the mayor’s council maybe?) began implementing the one village-one theme thing. The idea is to give each village (or each major village anyway) some kind of theme, for an annual festival. Recently, Talofofo (where I lived for 15 years) had their Banana Festival, which I regret not attending. I think Mangilao’s doing a Pika Pepper Festival or something (here on Guam, Pika means hot. Spicy hot.) The Mango Festival in Agat was the very first one to go live 3 years ago, and this years is pretty big from what I gather. We will be heading down there this afternoon and I am excited! My mouth is already watering thinking of the wealth of pickled mango varieties to choose from. Mango arts and crafts, mango smoothies, mango desserts, mango salsa, mango tree care, mangoes coming out your ears!

So something tells me that today I won’t be following the body ecology diet 100%. And that’s fine, because I have been doing a damn fine job of shifting my diet towards it dramatically, and feeling oh-so-good about it all!

 
Day 3 of writing and yoga and hooray for sproutings of all kinds! This post is going to include pictures, to satisfy my (and your) visual cravings. I’ve got seedlings and roots coming out of my ears. Okay, not really, but it feels that way! It feels SO satisfying to be putting things in the dirt, watching them work their way out of the soil and up toward the sun, as they grow in height and strength. And to be consuming mostly plants feels awesome! I can’t believe it, really. I was raised by a health nut not-so-strict-vegetarian, but this really feels different to me. Somehow, it is much more “whole” as I’m involved in every part of the cycle. The seeding. Planting/germinating. Watering. Growing. Harvesting. Beautifying. Preparing. Consuming. Composting. Feeding the soil. Planting seeds. And on it goes. There is a sense of completion, contentment, a fullness. The transfer of energy from me to the plant and vice versa is amazing! Its something you just have to experience for yourself to understand.

Green eggs!

I have been experimenting with different dishes and vegetables. Three nights ago I made my classic chicken lemongrass soup. Two nights ago I made scrambled eggs over sauteed kang kung with avocado and carrots. Last night I tried kelp noodles for the first time, chopped up with cucumber and green sprouts mixed with a little apple cider vinegar and wheat-free tamari sauce. Also made some guacamole and had some carrots and corn chips on the side. This morning we had green eggs! I scrambled eggs with a little bit of liquid chlorophyll mixed in and the boys got cinnamon butter toast, while I had mine with romain lettuce and carrots. Lunch for me today was romaine lettuce with chicken, avocado, sprouts and cucumber with apple cider vinegar and olive oil. I’ve had some coconut water, water with powdered moringa in it… I need to figure out some kind of reliable and hefty snack.

Scrambled Kang Kung & Eggs with Carrots & Avocado

Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

I’ll be experimenting with some of the Body Ecology Diet recipes this weekend. I want to try to do some purees and make more things that my kids will eat. They have been eating more vegetables than ever, just because they are offered so often. A little bit of greens here, a bite of carrot there, etc. I’m realizing how much it adds up. Something I really want to figure out and play with is what to put in their preschool lunchbags. I’ve at least been adding to their usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich and applesauce. I’ve been throwing in baby carrots (since my recent discovery at my parents’ house that my littlest one will eat them…after so long of refusing!). Got any other ideas? I need to find some kind of “green” bread recipe. My kids eat a lot of bread (I’m really missing it right now).

Chakra Recipes Cookbook by Miro

Changing the way I’ve been eating has me feeling lighter. Cleaner. Full of life. Of course, I’ve only been keeping up the changes for a short time now, but if I feel this great about it now, I can’t wait to see how I feel in a few months, or a year from now! Many resources have been popping up around me, including a friend & yoga instructor named Miro. She is a wonderful woman who has published a book called Chakra Recipes, and many of the recipes are great for what I’m doing right now! She has beautiful artwork in the book as well. It is just a lovely creation and it inspires me every time I flip through it. The recipes are very simple, with minimal ingredients, and much versatility. A few of them I have to adapt a little bit to fit more in line with Body Ecology, but its easy. We have a couple of copies for sale at Nuts & Grains for $25.

Something I really look forward to is having most of the veggies that we eat come from our garden! I know it’ll take time, but I’m already so excited about all my little lettuce, cucumber and zucchini sprouts. The kids are having a lot of fun watching the difference in the sprouts even from when we see them in the morning to when we get home in the afternoon. They’ve been talking about sunflowers a lot lately, so when I saw the seed packets, I knew we’d get them and grow them. Plus, I just noticed yesterday when I was look at my treasure map, that I’ve got sunflowers on there!

Kang Kung rooted in a vase!

Zucchini seedling

Our future salad

Speaking of my treasure map, I took it out of the closet (because its too big for me to put it anywhere else for now!) and set it up on the couch. I did my yoga yesterday afternoon and was really feeling connected with my breathing, my body, my surroundings. I felt very grounded, yet with that divine connection that you just can’t explain. The minute you try to explain it, it fades. All I can say is that I felt all the inspiration I was breathing in. And when I was finished I looked at my treasure map and suddenly so many things on there clicked in a new way. I was seeing how certain things were unfolding and I am just blown away by the power of treasure maps! And it really is just that. A map of treasures. A guide to your desires. A visual reminder of your passions, goals, or things that came to you intuitively (even if they make no sense for awhile). I recommend making a treasure map to anyone, at anytime (even though there are some very beneficial and auspicious times to make one!). I hadn’t looked at it for about a month or so, and I can’t believe how much on it is manifesting…in the areas of health, healing, BREATHING, fresh, clean, simple, back to the earth, fun, energy, vitality, flowers, gardening, and more!

A happy mess...

I am truly blessed. The universe is always conspiring toward my highest good and I just love it all to pieces.

Well folks, thats a grand total of  1050 words, so I’m out!

Here we go again! Day 2 of a very serious committment…to practicing 21 days of yoga and writing. 800 Words a day. 15-20 minutes of yoga (I actually had a typo there that read “15-20 minutes of yoda” and I had to laugh) a day. It can be as simple or complicated, bland or intricate as you want or need it to be.

Yesterday afternoon I sat down on my carpet (after putting the groceries away, watering the plants, preparing a few things for dinner, and probably some other random tasks I can’t recall right now). My word of the year for 2010 happens to be BREATHE so I figured that would be a good place to start. Inhale…….(belly relaxed)…….exhale……(releasing all air from the lungs while contracting the core…I like to let out a “Ha!” to get the teeniest breath out, and it makes me smile too)…

My yoga basically comprised of a lot of breathing, stretching in a few basic (but profound) poses for me, and moving of energy. It felt really good. Just sitting. Being able to pause life while still moving, its like you are staring at a center point while the rest of your body–inside and out–is working to hold the pose…there’s a lot of movement going on in that stillness. And you know, I really thought I was going to get bored. That turned out to be so far from the truth. It felt so good to move my body in whichever way felt best, moving around energy that may have been stuck there from that day, week, however long its been building! I would have kept going past the 20 minutes, but I had to go pick up my boys.

Today’s writing is going much slower than yesterdays! I’m at 287 words and wondering what to say now. Should I change the subject? Should I keep talking about the rest of my day yesterday and any “significant” things that I feel should get mentioned in this writing? Maybe I could contemplate the latest conflicts between my values and reflect on how I could better integrate harmony and simplicity in my life…

Saved by the bladder. *Pause*

What wonders a quick bathroom break can do! I also went to make myself an elixer of water with a little bit of liquid chlorophyll, lemon juice and stevia. It is quite good! Like a very mild lemonade…but it looks dark green. Strange indeed but yummy and satisfying. I also realized that I forgot my soup at home. Last night I made chicken lemongrass soup, and packed some for my lunch and gave the rest to my Grandma and Joe upstairs.

Now I’ve got to figure something else out for lunch. I don’t feel like having a salad again…I need something heftier than that. I don’t know if I mentioned this in yesterday’s post, but I am reading through the Body Ecology Diet book (again) and starting to implement some of the principles into my meals. Most of it falls in line with what ultimately feels good for me, so I’m really excited about this. The diet is geared toward healing the imbalance of candida overgrowth in the body, which can and often does, precede or often accompany other ailments and disease in the body (such as diabetes, cancer, chronic fatigue, and other auto immune issues). The principles highlighted are

1. Expansion and contraction (yin yang, etc)

2. Acid and alkaline

3. Uniqueness

4. Cleansing

5. Food combining

6. 80/20 (proportions)

7. Step by step

and the foods you CAN eat are:

Most land vegetables, ocean vegetables (seaweeds, algae, hijiki, etc), Millet, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth (grains), high quality sea salt, herbs and herb teas (organic), seeds (except sesame…I’m still confused by this as of yet), Mineral water, animal foods (beef, poultry, eggs, fish, and shellfish), organic unrefined oils and fats (sunflower or pumpkinseed oil, coconut oil, olive oil, raw butter, ghee), lemonds, limes, unsweetened cranberries, black currants, raw organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar, raw cultured vegetables, kefir, soaked and sprouted almonds, and stevia.

Its not just raw. Its not totally vegetarian. Its not totally macrobiotic. Its a healing the gut diet, and so far, what I’ve been implementing has felt GREAT. I have SO much more energy in the morning! I started drinking coffee here and there recently (I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker) but in the last few days especially I’ve been waking up feeling like I’ve already had a cup. Seriously. Without the jitteriness though, thank god.

A lot of things have been falling into place pretty naturally (and quickly!) for me to finally get to the root of healing. And it really feels awesome. People have been showing up at seemingly uncanny moments, resources I need, opportunities, signs from the universe that this is all good. I’m really greatful to be alive right now. I don’t want to wait for something serious to come along to knock me back in line with my health. And its not like I am totally unhealthy, there are imbalances going on somewhere in my body and I know it is diet related. There has been so much going through my mind about really getting back into the earth and healing myself with foods that I grow from my own cultivated soil…and to encourage others to do the same. Not push others to do the same, but to do what makes them come alive and feel enthusiastic about living.

For me there are lots of changes going on right now in my life that are leading toward better health, clearer mind, and passionate life force energy.

Signing off for now at 927 words.

So, here we go! Day 1 of the 21 day yoga/writing project. My morning has already started off chaotic in wonderful & tragic ways all together. Well I guess the VERY first thing I noticed when I woke up this morning (that I can remember) is that I FELT GOOD. Okay, why am I capitalizing, when perhaps I could be bolding or italicizing? Okay, I felt good. Most mornings (at least in recent years) when I wake up it is not by choice, and I am a little short of the full hourage (is that a word? well if not, it’s 9 words now! ha!) that I require to function with reasonable amounts of grace and a positive outlook on life. There has been the rare occasion in the last year that I’d get to sleep for 9 or even 10 hours straight, and those mornings (and the rest of those days for that matter) were divine. Okay, no more italicizing. It takes up too much of my precious writing time just to get an emotion across. Write now (not a typo) it is 9:15 in the morning. I’ve got to pause for a second to turn on the deli display. Hang on.

 Okay, I’ve got another 15 minutes to type before I’ve got to pause again to clean the yogurt machine. Then I’ll have a final 15 minutes to write before I have to go turn around the sign on the door to read “OPEN” and get the rest of the stuff in the store ready to go for guests. If you haven’t guess yet, I work in a store, a health food store to be precise. I have the luxury of about 45 minutes between when I drop of my boys at preschool and when I have to get the store set up. Anyway, that is the background of where I am, what I’m doing, and how I feel when I am writing. You are basically catching my thoughts between all the “happenings” and things. I don’t even know if you care about my thoughts, or who exactly is the “you” that I am seeming to speak to… kind of strange, but either way, the writing itself is very therapeutic. And you know what? When I sat down to write or type, it was no question. Out of the blue, I knew I was going to type. I really was thinking that I’d probably be writing AND typing, which may still be true, but now that I am typing, I can feel it flowing much more smoothly. Well not necessarily, I still pause every once in awhile to think “what now?” or “what am I trying to say?” but for the most part, I think I can type faster than I can write with a pen. I’ve got 452 words so far, thats halfway, and I feel like I am just movin’ along!

So back to my crazy morning. I started out feeling great, woke up early, felt energized and not groggy (I haven’t changed anything but diet) and then I walked into my kitchen for an even greater surprise. All our little seeds are beginning to curl their way out of the soil and it is such a blessing to be able to watch this process so closely! The life of a plant is truly remarkable, an ordinary miracle. We’ve got sunflowers (the mightiest seeds of our bunch, just bursting small clumps of soil out of the way to get themselves out of the ground and up toward the light), lettuce (LOTS of lettuce!!), dill, tarragon, cucumber and zucchini. Cultivating the earth and living in synch with nature is so satisfying.

After I see my lovely little sprouts, the boys wake up and its time to figure out what to eat. Actually, back up, first we go to the bathroom and wash up, get dressed, and THEN we figure out what to eat. Okay, it doesn’t always go that way, but for the most part, seems to be the routine. I already knew this morning that we’d be having smoothies. Green smoothies. Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, macadamia nuts, elderberry extract, liquid chlorophyll, a tiny bit of juice and a little bit of almond milk. I think coconut milk would have been better in this mix.

Ha! Just as I’m writing all this, I’m realizing that I am REALLY hungry right now and if I am going to get everything done by 10am aroudn here, I’m goign to have to wrap this up quick. That won’t be too difficult, as I’ve already got 754 words!!!! WOW! This is so cool. I never thought it would be so simple to get 800 words out of me in one morning? Turns out I’ve got a LOT to say, regardless of whether anyone else is interested in it!

So, I will close off here, with a secret. I didn’t get to the part where I describe my 4yo and I getting all tantrummed up on each other, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be highlighted!

May all of our blessings be offered the chance to shine! 840 words!

ETA: I’m deciding whether I should publish this to my public or private blog. I think I’m going totally transparent and in the raw, I’m just going to blab my unedited bull**** to the world. Ta ta!

ETAA: I’ll update you when I get to the yoga part of today! 894 words!!!!!

Yeah, I know, the last part of the title is pretty gross. But alas, this is what we’ve dealt with recently. And since its gross, I’ll go ahead and talk about it first to get it out of the way. My youngest was complaining of itching down there, and there was no sign of rash or any bites. Hmm…I was on the phone with a friend that night and told her about it, she said it might be pinworms, especially since her daughter had it in the weeks prior, and they had played together. I looked up pinworms and sure enough, the symptoms matched (itchiness in the anus at night is the main one, because that is when the adult female pinworm goes down from the intestines to the rectum to lay more eggs). Fabulous! So over the weekend, I’ve done maybe 10 loads of laundry, mopped the whole floor, and wiped down practically everything in the house. The best part was the pinworm medicine that I picked up for all three of us to take. I was especially excited that we ALL had to take it since we could have somehow ingested the eggs somewhere along the line. The liquid is a thick, caramel flavored (but puke-yellow colored) bitter grossness that we could barely get down our throats. UGH.

That's 2 of the 12 total loads of laundry done over the last 4 days

The blessing in all of this (yes there is one!) is that I have gotten the house impeccably clean and simplified, AND I’ve been propelled to really move forward in healing my body from the inside out. I’ve known for quite sometime that I’ve got candida overgrowth, and my body has adapted to it quite well, allowing me to continue with my daily life for the most part. But there is a lot going on that I’ve pushed to the side. Well, I’m ready to really make some lasting changes. My diet for the next 3 months (I’m gradually moving toward June 21st being my “official” go date…but I’ve already started, just not 100%) is going to consist of most land vegetables, ocean vegetables (kelp, dulse, arame, wakame, kombu, etc), certain grains (millet, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat), herbs, spices, teas, only the sourest of fruits (lemons, cranberries, black currants), sea salt, seeds, raw apple cider vinegar, cultured vegetables, certain animal proteins (thank god! I LOVE eggs and fish), kefir, and organic unrefined oils (coconut & olive, ghee, raw butter). I’ve already been feeling changes, and I’ve only done it about 75% of the way for the last week!

I used to have a hard time keeping flowers alive...

While I’m changing my diet, I’ve also started back at gardening!! Its been awhile since we’ve done any gardening, and my soul is really needing it. I’m looking forward to eating our own veggies and herbs soon!

 This weekend we’ve planted bibb lettuce, sunflowers, dill, tarragon, cucumbers, and zucchini. We were also at my parents house on Sunday, and I got a bunch of clippings from the plants around their yard (calamansi, bouganvillia, ylang ylang, rosemary and avocado). I put some wet paper towel around the bottom of the stems and rubber banded a sandwich bag around to keep the moisture in. Pray for roots! I’ve got kang kung in a vase that has sprouted little roots already.

I’m so excited about all this growth!

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One of my garden helpers

Clippings of bouganvillia, calamansi, avocado, ylang ylang and rosemary

Kang Kung in a vase, some have just died off, but there are roots on the ones that lived!!

I'm so proud! Some of the lettuce have already germinated! In these trays are seeds of sunflowers, lettuce, zucchini, cucumber, dill and tarragon.

Okay so we’ve covered pinworms, gardens and food.

Writing and yoga time!! I have just (along with over 200 others) signed on to 21 days of  Yoga & Writing, as initiated by Bindu Wiles on her wonderful website! My yoga will probably consist mostly of Savasana (otherwise known as the corpse pose, where you lie on your back on the floor, legs straight, arms by your side, breathing and relaxing) and breathing. Very simple. And 800 words a day of writing. Shouldn’t be too hard, just an adjustment of channeling where I am writing. I’ve done 631 words so far in this post. And I do lots of journal writing, brainstorming, and other miscellaneous writing projects. Go to the website and enter at the end of the list of participants if you’d like to join me!

WHEW! What a week!

Come check out My Everyday Magic, its my day to post! And my post topic is FOOD! Surprise surprise!