*Chunky, Tired, And Out of Clothes*

ANNOUNCING: My JUICE FAST!
WHEN: Beginning Saturday, October 1st 

HOW LONG: 30 days

Wait...WHAT is a juice fast? I'm so glad you asked.

I came home from work two weeks ago and my clever husband had just started a documentary on Netflix called, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" by Joe Cross. I watched, he watched, and we think you should watch. I won't tell you a thing about the film because I believe in doing your own homework and I believe it could greatly benefit you to watch this wonderful documentary on health. But, for the sake of my blog I must explain WHAT a juice fast is: A diet consisting of ONLY freshly juiced fruits and vegetables. No solids, no dairy, no meats, no food pyramid, nothing but juice! In a drastic, yet perfectly healthy bid for weight loss I will maintain this fast for 30 days. 

So, I bought a Big Boss Juicer (700W / 18,000 RPM) on Amazon and it came in TODAY! 

In anticipation of its arrival my sweet husband took me to the grocery store at 9:45pm last night so we could run a dash and grab through the produce department and this was the result:

$30 from Publix 

We also bought this delectable cupcake:

Don't judge.

Although I won't start the fast until Saturday, we are trying out some recipes between now and then. Today we made our very first juice and in my excitement to get it going I almost dropped the juicer as well as sliced my finger open while aiming to halve a green apple. My first tip for future juicers would therefore be: Calm down. 

3 Green Apples
1 Orange(no peeling)
1 Large Carrot
2 Cups Red Grapes
1/2 Lemon(with peeling) 
{Produced 2 full glasses of juice}

We realize what a sugar fest that first juice was, but I wanted our introduction to this appliance to be a positive one so taste was the main priority. It was successfully delicious!

I invite you to follow my progress as well as provide juice recipe ideas, encouragement, and whatever else you may have to offer. Two days until we begin!

What I know to be true

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. 

She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout;
"Here she comes!"
And that is dying.

by Henry Van Dyke, a 19th Century clergyman, educator, poet, and religious writer

Repost: Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. 
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all."


"One is Evil - it is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."


"The other is Good - it is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"


The old Cherokee simply replied, 
"The one you feed."


(I'm looking for ways to feed the Good wolf. How do you feed yours - or are you feeding yours?)

Admire women.

How do you pay tribute to someone who refuses to be recognized? How do you say "thank you" to someone who denies giving you a gift? How do you honor the humble? You don't tell them you're doing it.

I know a woman who I greatly admire, a woman I love with all my heart. When I'm anxious or afraid I can close my eyes and feel the rumble and heat of her lawn mower as we rode around the yard or recall the precious scent of yellowing books in a wood paneled hallway where she read to me. I can hear her singing folk songs so old that they cannot be googled, researched, or located anywhere other than certain treasured memories from her childhood, and now mine. There is so much more I could say about this woman I adore, but mostly all I need to express is - I love my Grandma.

My mother's mother

She rose obediently before the dawn

with aching back

bruised feet

and no complaint

So that she might raise four skinny kids

without dishwasher

daycare

or charity. 

Her eyes were on God

and her hands were busy.

My Nineveh

The neighbor I despise, a cruel child, the woman who flirts with my husband, the parent who abandoned you, a thug in the streets of my neighborhood. 

This is who makes up the population of my Nineveh. This is where God has put me but I spend all of my time on the shore outside the city, searching the horizon for my whale. If I stay here much longer with my feet in the sand, I know Satan will send me that whale. But Lord give me courage, I'm going back in, through you I know I'll never fail.