Little Monster's Birthday!

So Handsome!

A year ago June 15th, little Evan was born!  Wow, it literally seems like just a couple of months ago I was visiting him as a new born and now he's almost walking, has teeth, and is a year old!  Just like that!  This weekend was his 1st Birthday Party and it was monster themed and so much fun!  Here are a few pictures.

Evan really like my watch :)

Joe running away as he stole some candy

3 generations :)

 

The Happy Graandparents

Evan got Artie's old baseball glove for his birthday!  Awesome!

Variety

So I introduced Juice Plus yesterday and talked about how convenient it is to take this in conjunction with your daily diet so today I wanted to tell you about the variety of the fruits and veggies found in Juice Plus.  The variety is, just that...a huge PLUS because lets face it, even though we may eat our FDA 7-13 recommended servings a day, we absolutely do not get the variety we need.  Oh, have I told you how I feel about the FDA?  Allow me,...I hate the FDA.  I do not trust them.  They allow all sorts of animal by products, chemicals, and toxins in our foods, how can I trust them?  So if the FDA recommends 7-13, I would say our daily intake should be more at 20-25!!  


Juice Plus includes 17 different fruits and vegetables!!  That is 17 different fruits and veggies that you will be eating every day!


Not only do we get whole foods and a variety of them with Juice Plus, they actually do keep all of their nutrients and enzymes as they are dehydrated at a very low temperature in order to keep these enzymes alive! The sugar in the Juice Plus fruits is also taken out which is even better than eating the whole un dehydrated fruit because of all the sugar in the un dehydrated fruit.  If you remember one thing from this post, remember this, SUGAR IS VERY VERY BAD for our body and immune system.  Sugar literally breaks down our immune system.  Sugar is in EVERYTHING so it is really hard not to eat it.  It’s in bread, ketchup, mustard, all store bought juices, any sodas, chips, pasta, and the list goes on.  I even found it in a jar of pickles I bought!! It is in things you would never even imagine!


Always remember,  "Most people work hard and spend their health trying to achieve wealth. Then they retire and spend their wealth trying to get back their health" .  So do something about it TODAY! Whether it be by purchasing Juice Plus to add to your diet, making another change;anything will help you get healthy and your body will begin healing on it's own!

Juice Plus!

HELLO!  As mentioned on facebook last week, I am so excited, ecstatic actually, to talk to you guys about my new found "interest"....JUICE PLUS. I'll try not to ramble too much about it; hopefully just enough to get you interested in bettering your health, if you're not taking that step and doing it already. :)

Juice Plus is a whole food supplement of 17 different raw fruits and vegetables.  That means NO it is not a vitamin and NO this is not meant to substitute for actually eating the fruits and vegetables. It is supposed to help add to or SUPPLEMENT your diet; not replace the real thing....assuming we are even eating any raw fruits and veggies.  Cooked veggies don't count; they're dead. Cooking=killing live enzymes our bodies desperately need. 
   
Normally I do not get this excited about new "products" because as anyone who knows me knows that I do not like man made foods/supplements etc.  (An example of something man made is anything in a box, anything in a pill, anything that does not grow in the ground and that is not made by God.  :) ) BUT...the reason why I am so excited to have found Juice Plus is well, simply put, because I hate fruits and vegetables!  With our (Sam's and my) diet these days I kind of HAVE to like fruits and veggies because that is all our recipes call for.  Our daily intake of fruits and veggies is not nearly enough for our body even though we consume more on a daily basis than the average American.  Juice Plus is a way for us to add even more fruits and veggies to our daily diet with out me having to actually taste the veggies.  :) Genius! and where has this been all my life?!  The convenience of this alone was not the reason that convinced me to buy and want to distribute it.  I'll be talking about the different reasons in different posts...stay tuned. 

I just really wanted to share this with y'all as I felt it a moral obligation.  I know about something that helps and works to gain better health, i'm going to share.  Even if you never want to hear about Juice Plus again, I'm hoping reading this (if you got through it) will spark some motivation for eating healthier and being better to your body.  

If you are interested in buying, let me know.  If you have questions, pllleeaassee ask, I love talking about food! :) Oh, forgot to mention the best part...the price!  It is as little as $1.50 a day.  Yes, less expensive than the coke you buy and half the price of starbucks coffee. :)

Remember... "Most people work hard and spend their health trying to achieve wealth. Then they retire and spend their wealth trying to get back their health" 

Somewhere Beautiful

In an effort to go venue hunting for our maybe wedding, Sam and I went to check out the cabins at Canyon Lake.  Although we loved it there, we thought the facility would be too small to accommodate our very large families.  Since we were driving all the way out there, we figured we'd bring the dogs along for a ride and a nature walk after the tour of the venue.  WOW!  We never imagined it would have been this fun and this gorgeous out there!  I mean, these pictures don't even capture the pristine nature of what we saw while we were there.  It was amazing! Everything was so green, the water was so clear.  The color of the water reminded me of the oceans in Turkey.  This is a trip we must make at least once a month!  It was so nice to be in touch with nature that way.  We even had a picnic!  I don't think I've ever had a picnic before lol.  

 Unfortunately, the pups had to be kept on a leash.  Since Jake had his last scare in the water (he jumped in the Guadalupe River last year not knowing it was deep and sunk) he was hesitant to go in the lake :(

 Look at how blue the water is!

Jake looks HUGE here lol

Fighting Jake to come my way...he was preocuppied with the kids and wanted to play with them instead :)

 So Peaceful...

 He's a model

 So is she lol...

 I thought this was a cool pic

 Can you see the caterpillar? 

 He looks superimposed 

 God is Amazing!!

 My Dad was able to capture this silly picture.  Our faces are priceless! lol

 

Our happy little family :) 

Miss Independent...She Fell in Love!

Miss independent, Miss self-sufficient, Miss keep your distance, Miss unafraid, Miss out of my way, Miss don't let a man interfere, Miss on her own, Miss almost grown, Miss never let a man help her off her throne.  That pretty much describes me a few years ago JA!  Then I met Sam.  :)

Sam and I are both from the same small town of Mission.  We attended the same High School, but because he was several grades ahead of me, we didn't go to High School together.  As many of you know,  Sam and I also coincidentally attended the same University.  Yet, we never met!  Sam was a senior my very first semester at A&M.  The very first party I attended during my very first semester (2000) happened to be that of my best friend's (at that time) brother's ring dunking party.  Sam was there also as my best friend's brother was his best friend but we still didn't meet and it wasn't until 8 years later that we even realized we were at that same party together!!  So being that I love taking pictures, I took a group picture of all the "Valley" people at that party.  Every time I looked at this one particular picture, I remember thinking that I knew everyone in that picture except for that guy on the far right.  Eight years later (2008), when Sam and I were going through my pictures, I found out that that guy was actually Sam!   

Some time during my freshman year of college, we also attend our friend's wedding in Mission and again, did not meet.  

Our paths didn't cross again until four years later (2004).  This time, we crossed paths at a Buffalo Wild Wings (BW2)  in the Valley where all the Aggies in the Valley gathered to watch the Aggies BTHO t.u.! :)  During half time, this guy gets on a chair and acts like an Aggie Yell Leader and leads all of us in the Yells.  I vividly remember thinking to myself "man, that guy is so cool!".  I don't have a picture of this particular moment but both of us remember this day and again, neither one of us knew we were there until we start talking about it years later in random conversations once we were officially a couple.  I also didn't know that that guy on the chair was also the random guy in the picture above.

After BW2, our paths didn't cross again (that we know of or can remember) until the first time we actually officially MET September 2006 at a tailgate for the Aggie vs Army football game in San Antonio.  My friend Omar calls me and tells me this guy has an extra ticket to the football game.  I get in my car and drive from College Station to San Antonio.  Omar introduces me to that guy...he FINALLY has a name...Sam.  Of course I do not remember Sam being that guy in the picture or that guy on the chair leading the yells.  Below is the one picture we have of this day.  We both look sooo young!

 A whole year later, we meet again, and again it revolves around A&M!  :)  Sam buys season tickets to the Aggie games so he'll be at all the home games and I, being that I live so close to Aggieland (Austin) and still have all my great friends there, also come back for all the home games.  Sam and I cross paths again at the very first game at Omar's tailgate.  Amanda and I attend the game together and sit separately from Sam and his friends but by half time, some how, we're all sitting together.  :)  We didn't take any pictures together during the game, but below are some pictures of after the game in September 2007.

From Left to Right is my Amanda, Artie, Sam, Me, and Israel (my best friend's (back in 2000) brother)

 

This was also at a bar in EP during one of my many visits for work

Sam and I keep seeing each other at all the home football games through out Fall 2007 and even drive in to College Station together for some of the games.  It is important to note that Sam and I were not in a relationship together through this time.  We were honestly just friends...and we can prove it as he had a girl friend during some of these months.  I was happily single and was a very social butterfly.  :)  Below are some more pics of Fall 2007 football season.

 

I know this picture looks as if we are "together" but we are NOT!  The thought hadn't even crossed our minds...for real.  Sam had actually driven in to Austin to see his best bud Adrian (right above) and he called to see if I was in town and I met them both at Plucker's in Round Rock.  

Through out the fall months (October 07-December 07), it so happens that I needed to fly into El Paso for work once a month to visit a group of children on my case load.  Since Sam lived there, I stayed at his house instead of staying in a hotel.  I suppose because of how often we saw each other (me flying in to El Paso for work and him flying in to Austin for the Aggie games) we formed some kind of a friendship.  

Here we are at a club in El Paso on one of my work trips.  What is also so ironic about this day is that my childhood best friend  was going to be modeling at this bar.  I hadn't seen her in years so we decided to go.

December 2007, A&M makes it to the Alamo Bowl Game.  Again, Omar plays an important role in this part.  :)  Sam has decided not to attend the bowl game.  Omar calls me and tells me he has an extra ticket.  I call Sam and tell him Omar has an extra ticket if he wants to go he can buy it from Omar.  Sam says "i'll think about it".  I think it was around this time that I finally start thinking to myself  "i like his company".  Sam calls me back and says he wants to go so I call Omar and tell him Sam will buy his ticket.  We all attend the game together and have a blast back at the hotel staying up all night.  Below are pics of the Alamo Bowl.

Anyone who knows Sam, knows he is not a typical guy.  He doesn't flirt with girls to show them he is interested.  He doesn't really "date".  He is not romantic but he is very considerate.  I like that better.  So if he was interested in me, I had no idea, but from the next day forward, Sam and I spoke on the phone or via txt every single day and that is the only way I knew he was interested.  I came back up to visit him in El Paso (for work) January 2008.  AND SO IT BEGINS...Finally!  I think the rest from here is history :)  Below are some pictures from January 2008.

My trip to EP with work also so happened to be Sam's birthday! :) We were out celebrating.

Sam took me to the top of Franklin Mountain at sunset.  

 I felt I needed to explain how our relationship began with being at the same place at the same time several times and never meeting because every time I think about it, I am amazed of how full of coincidences the history is.  These coincidences that we didn't discover until many many years later.  I love it!

So if you were one of the patient ones who read all the way through and got this far (sorry!), you'll be happy to know that I'm done writing and will leave with saying one last thing...............

WE'RE ENGAGED!!  

Discouraged :(

Feeling so discouraged on our Raw Food journey today. Yesterday night I browsed through Phillip McCloskey's (www.lovingraw.com) site and was SUPER motivated so we went grocery shopping today and bought $120.00 worth of raw food.  I think the only thing we bought today that was not raw was a loaf of bread....oh and castile soap.  We're having a hard time letting go of the bread.  I think we need to try nori sheets instead.  Maybe we'll buy those tomorrow :).  So all that super raw food and nothing to show for it.  I feel like we'll be eating salads every day for lunch and dinner.  It would be so much easier if I could make my green smoothies at work also; then I wouldn't be so hungry all the time.  We're trying to learn as much as we can but I think we need some help!! :(

DIP DIP DIP

So yesterday was my raw spinach dip's debut. RAW=no preservatives, organic, God made ingredients (no man made ingredients). It was delicious! I had made it only once "accidentally" for my mom and Sam this weekend so I thought I'd try it on other people who wouldn't be biased. :) We had two friends over for dinner yesterday, they tried it, asked "what's in this?!" and they LOVED it! YAY me! I finally have a signature "thing" that I can bring to parties and get togethers! I'll have to keep this recipe a secret ;) I'm always the one signing up to bring plates, spoons, and forks because I can't cook! :D jaja

So my happiness did not last long. Our two friends brought along their two dogs who are Jake and Mia's friends so of course, Mia was going SPASTIC from excitement because she had friends over for dinner. She jumped up and down, licked and slobbered faces, and just couldn't stop shaking her booty and nub of a tail. Some where some how during the mist of all the excitement, Jake was injured. We were sitting at the table in peace and quiet since the dogs were outside playing and we look in the living room, and there's Jake....laying on his bed, staring at us with such a sad look on his face. That obviously is NOT Jake. When he has friends over, he is running! I kept telling everyone there was something wrong with Jake and everyone kept saying "no, there's nothing wrong". Well, mother's know best of course :). He gets up from the bed finally and he has a severe limp. He can't put any pressure on his hind right leg and it's actually just dangling. He's walking as if his body is out of alignment. It just looked so weird! I almost start crying from seeing how awkward he was trying to hobble to us. :( I immediately email the homeopath that Mia is supposed to see Thursday and also call our holistic vet here in SA. I'm thinking one of them will be able to see him first thing tomorrow. I feel so bad for him. He was SO happy when his friends arrived and then with in minutes he's out of commission. The good thing is that his friends will be staying the night with us till Sunday so hopefully he'll get more time to play as he gets better.

Jake woke up walking much better this morning. I feel MUCH better seeing that he can now at least walk. Jake sees Dr. Williams this morning and he was out of "alignment" so he received his 3rd chiropractic adjustment and some herbs for his muscle as she said his muscle also felt strained. Well, this has happened before, where he fell on that same side and strained his muscle but NEVER this bad. I'm hoping there is not a deeper seeded issue with this and that it is just a muscle spasm or strain. Either way, Jake and Mia both continue to receive regular chiropractic adjustment to prevent any issues with their hips or spine and CNS being out of alignment because if i've learned anything with my CFN being out of alignment is that it causes major issues in the long wrong. That is what we want to avoid! :)

I LOVE seeing Jake being back to his bubbly wiggly self. I hope they both NEVER loose that spunk!!

Power Food

It will be a year February 13th that Sam and I have stopped eating fast food! This was so much easier than I ever imagined. We are on a new hype now and are learning all about alkalizing our body. Obviously, there is a lot to learn there so we are taking small steps to get there. We haven't bought meat in 2 months and we're eating more vegetables and more raw meals. I usually do not like eating what I cook and since I do not like veggies, Sam does the cooking so I don't know what it looks like before hand. :) He does such a great job! Here are some of his dishes.......

Quinoa Salad

Pears, Radish, Shallots, and Brussel Sprouts

Another Salad...Green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, some kind of beans, with some dressing he made :)

Eeeek, by far my favorite even though it is VERY acidic for your body....home made PIZZA! Our toppings are green peppers, pineapple, onions, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese.

Stuffed tomatoes, salad with home made dressing (that means no preservatives), and a grilled portobello mushroom

The Brussel Sprout meal again with spaghetti (spaghetti is NOT good)

Our GREEN smoothies...made with any kind of organic greens we can find and fruit

Squash, Kale, Shallots, and Kidney beans

I'm aware vegetarian dishes do no appear very appetizing, but coming from someone who never ate veggies or beans for that matter in the past, these meals are actually very good! I have been pleasantly surprised. I'm looking forward to many more power food meals! :)