Friday, October 15, 2010

Seeing changes













Greetings all!!!

As this week comes to a close I reflect back on how hectic it's been. It seems like I haven't had a free moment to myself all week. Not that that's anything new, but it prompted me to take a look my health (emotional included) and recent changes we've made.

I'm up every morning by 5 and although I'm typically in bed by 11 I usually only get a few hours of sleep because of my back, with the exception of when I take medication. If I take medication I sleep like a ROCK, and I do mean rock, but I'm trying to get away from doing that. This week was extremely busy and I just noticed I've had an tremendous amount of energy for the amount of rest I'm actually getting every shadow hours. I've even, to my surprise noticed that I've actually lost a few pounds as well. Hooray Me! Not anything that's going to make me run out and buy a new wardrobe, as much as I would love to do that but a few pounds is better than no pounds and even better than weight GAIN. So if anyone wants to fund that shopping spree please let me know. :o)

I have NO choice but to attribute these things to the changes we've made in our diet. I mentioned these changes a few blog entries back. If you didn't read about it we'll all hold while you go back and catch up...... All caught up? Great! Let's move on.

We (Hubby and I) had initially decided we were going to fast during the day. The plan was that we were going to drink our green concoction (juiced green veggies) during the day, water and then only eat dinner. The juiced greens would provide us with the energy and the vitamins we need during the day, or that was the plan at least. I just couldn't do it. That crap was soooo nasty. Maybe we just haven't found the right combination of veggies, I don't know, but it just makes me nauseous thinking about it. So we've resorted to drinking water with lime.

I'm proud of myself because I'm not a big water drinker and am surprised that I've never been chronically dehydrated. I think I have the worlds tiniest bladder because I would drink a cup of water and literally be in the bathroom 5 times within an hour. I'm not exaggerating either. And don't let me drink water before bed. I may as well plan on being up for the night. So for that reason I would rarely drink water which is SO unhealthy, I know.

So all this to say pretty much all we've been drinking over the past 3 weeks is A LOT of water. We've had fresh squeezed lemonade with Agave Honey and strawberries or raspberries but that's been it. We haven't had any bread, which is good for us because in the past we would typically have bread with every meal. We've had no white flour, refined sugar, candy or heavy starches (that convert to sugar). We haven't had any dairy in about a year I think, or close to it, which has made a big difference also. More that 80% of our dinner is vegetables (that are high in alkaline) and we haven't had anything processed. A majority of our foods we've eaten and prepared, for quite some time has been from scratch.

Six months ago I would have been exhausted and ready for bed by 6 or 7. I'm usually a little tired when I first wake up, but then after a few minutes I'm ok, where as in the past I would have felt sooo fatigued and hit my snooze button so many times that I end up rushing trying to get my daughter to the bus on time. I'm not mentally and physically drained by the end of the day and I feel like I have more patience. I usually just go to bed because it's getting late and I know I have to get up in the morning, but it hasn't been me going to bed due to lack of energy.

I all know is FACTUALLY we've made some changes in our diet and I've seen a big difference in how I feel physically. There haven't been any other changes that have been made so you do the math. What's YOUR conclusion? Uh Oh! I sound like Hubby relating life to math, Go me!!!

I chose to share this, because, hey it's what I do. Lol. Know seriously though. I've had people question me about why we chose to become vegetarian and then vegan. I caught flack for YEARS from people for not eating beef or pork. I still get people looking at me sideways when I say we don't eat meat, like it's something totally foreign. It seems like whenever we do something that will benefit US and our health in positive way there's always someone that has something negative to say. They act as if we're crazy for eating the way we do or choosing not to eat foods we feel are unhealthy. There MUST be something wrong with us!! We are just choosing what we fell is a healthier lifestyle and you don't have to like it or respect it. It's what WE do over here and you don't have to be a part of that if you don't choose to.

A sister on FB shared a video of Dr. Sebi. He speaks a lot about electric foods and uses herbs for natural healing and it's actually documented that he's cured numerous people of various dis-eases. She mentioned trying to share this information with people and how often they just aren't trying to hear her. It got me to thinking how in the past I've often felt the exact same way. My response was, all you can do is to provide the information. So this is me sharing and hoping that someone, if only one person, finds something in this that may be as helpful to them as it has been for me.

So with all that being said..... I'm wishing everyone a very blessed and beautiful weekend.

Peace and Blessings!!!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Beginning the process....

Hey all! Hope it's been a great weekend for everyone. It's been gloomy and chilly all weekend here, needless to say I haven't been pleased. I notice how my mood is seriously determined by what the weather is, at times. I'm not looking forward to winter and cant think of ONE TIME where I ever have. There is NOTHING about the season that I enjoy. BLAH!!!!

I've been, for so long, contemplating going back to school. I come up with a million and one reasons why the time isn't right or why it's not feasible and while I continue to talk myself out of it time continues to pass and I continue to have the same conversations with myself why I should or why I shouldn't. So since it's an idea that I can't let go of, and it's becoming more apparent to me that I'm NOT going to be able to work in the type of environment I want to work in, or even really work for myself, without furthering my education the decision has been made.

I looked into a few schools, got information on the programs I was interested in, had a few phone and email conversations and have begun the process to start school in the spring. Hooray!! So of course winter can come and go soon enough now. Lol. I filled out my Fafsa, which was probably a waste of time. Since Son wasn't eligible for any financial aid, I'm sure I won't be either, but it doesn't hurt to try. CO also has something called the Colorado Opportunity Fund which is a stipend that CO residents get that pay a portion of their tuition. I think the max is $500 per semester.....every little bit helps right. So I applied for that as well. I think really the only requirement for that is that you be a CO resident.

I'm pretty certain that I'm going to be starting from scratch since it's been so long since I've been in school. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that at least SOME of my credits will transfer, so we'll have to wait and see on that one. I guess what ever the case is, the bottom line is time is going to come, and time is going to go and for me to not make the best use of my time is crazy. 4 years from now I could be sitting in the same position weighing my options; but instead of doing that I've decided to put myself in the position where in 4 years, hopefully much less than that, I will be in a better position career wise.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

The New me

Hey All. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week as we near the weekend.

So I've undergone some changes the last several months or so. Had a slip and fall back in March and have been broken down since then. Along with the injury from having an MRI, turns out I have degenerative arthritis in my back. I'm truly my mothers child because she suffers from that as well. I never had any problems prior to the accident but my primary Dr. says accidents sometimes trigger it or make it worse. LOVELY. So I have the worst time sleeping and doing my normal everyday activities is.....shall I say less than pleasant, not to mention my attitude has been less than pleasant as well. Don't know how the family stands me at this point. Lol

I've been going to Physical Therapy, getting massage therapy and seeing the chiropractor since, but nothing really seems to help. Not to say that the massages don't feel GREAT. I always look forward to those. A recent visit with my Dr. and he suggested trying some Yoga, so that's next on the agenda. I've just begun to feel that NOTHING is going to help and occasionally just want to throw in the towel with all the Dr. visits, but I'm going to keep plugging along.

Hubby and I went 100% Vegetarian a little over a year ago and then went somewhat Vegan shortly after that. We still eat Salmon and Tuna, so I don't know if we can really consider ourselves Vegan since we're still eating the fish. We found this awesome Baker that lives in our building named Yuri. She made the best Vegan Lemon Muffins and for our sons 5th b-day a few weeks back made the most delicious Vegan Cupcakes. They were so cute and tasted so good, his little picky self CRUSHED them. Lol For anyone living in the Denver area you can find her at http://www.nuve.moonfruit.com. The downside to this is that we've decided once again to change up our diet so even the ingredients in the vegan baked goods, we're finding aren't healthy for us. We've decided to try an Alkaline diet, so we'll see how that goes. If anyone wants more info about it you can read about it here --->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_diet

So currently since Monday we've been fasting to cleanse our bodies of all the toxins and been drinking water with alkaline drops, drinking a nasty green concoction, juicing vegetables and eating Miso Soup. Love the Miso and always look forward to dinner time cause I suck that stuff up like a someone that hasn't eaten in months. Hubby told me one day I was acting like a fat person. Lol We both were and if not for the humor in it, it'd probably be a lot more difficult. Needless to say since Monday I have been one irritable person. Lol. I constantly smell food at the most odd times; I think my senses are heightened, although I have NO common sense right now.... Go figure. Lol As of today we're on day four and it's getting a little easier, but my greed always kicks in full gear when I see or smell food and going to the grocery store is TORTURE!!!!!

So what else....Kids have been back in school since Mid and late August. Girlie 1 and 2 are in 8th grade which is so UNBELIEVABLE. My step daughters mom got married in August and they moved from GA to Michigan, and girlie was NOT happy although I think she's adjusting and beginning to like it. I know when the cold weather kicks in she's gonna hate it. It's always an adjustment for kids at that age having to move and make new friends but she seems to be doing good.

My little girlie is going to turn 13 on October 13th. It's so funny how they grow up so quick. She's been hinting around about all the gifts she want's.....A Gibson guitar, the one she wants is a couple grand....I DON'T THINK SO. She wants some little Sony flip camcorder, the new Ipod touch or that Sony Dash. This little girl loses and breaks her cell phones on a regular and has lost an Ipod, lost a Nintendo DS, and just doesn't do a great job taking care of her things period so we really struggle with investing in any kind of electronics for her. She's doing great in school and finished last year will all A's and a few B's so I have a hard time not rewarding that, so we'll see.

My 19 year old has started his 2nd year of college. He's staying home this year cause those dorm fees were NO JOKE last year, plus he realized how nasty other folks are when you're living with them. I thought that was funny. It's amazing to me how fast that first year went, but I don't think it flew by as fast for him. I'm just looking forward to him finishing as I'm sure he is as well. He's been doing a lot more driving. He was a little leery about it when he first got his license last year, and I was terrified. I've gotten a little more comfortable, although he's already had on minor fender bender that left a ding in my car and some black paint on my front fender from the other persons car. I'm not pleased at how my car is looking, but I do love not having to chauffeur him around. I still worry and if he hasn't made it home by a certain time from school panic starts to set in. Lol. I know he's tired of my text's and calls about "are you safe, call me when you get there, call me when you're on your way home, etc. I've gotten a little better about that I think. He may disagree. Lol

Oh, and final thing..... Why did I LOSE my job back in June. The job was doing all kind of crazy crap that I'm not even going to get into. I think I've blogged about it on my other blog and not only me but EVERYONE in my department was getting fed up and walking around with a short fuse. Not to mention we didn't get our yearly raise because they claimed the economy was so bad, but yet the still continue to hire new people and we were busier than we had ever been in the entire time I worked there. Long story short they did a mandatory schedule change for everyone in our department. Like people don't have outside obligations, kids, school, part time jobs and whatnot. I guess our only obligation was supposed to be to the job. I was out on short term disability and then FMLA because of my injury when they made the decision and it was based on performance and attendance. Since they were still in the process of approving my FMLA I was dropped to the bottom of the list and got a crappy schedule. I was getting off too late to where I couldn't pick up my kids. I talked to my manager and the department manager and was like there is NO WAY this is going to work. I got a funky response and basically told them my family is first so I'm leaving at my normal time to pick up my kids, which was basically a half hour early every day. Not to mention I had vacation time that they wouldn't allow me to use to leave early.

So they ended up firing me and a gang of other people who had similar issues with the scheduling. I filed for unemployment,which they fought, I appealed and won of course. Although for some reason there's a 3 month delay with me getting a payment.What got me is how when we had the hearing the HR person from my job got on the phone and straight up lied about how I was NEVER on fmla and said I had excessive absences when all the absences we're under fmla, my leaving for Dr's appointments. They lied and said I didn't have vacation time, all though I have two check stubs from where they paid me for the vacation time that I had accrued up to that point. They had some woman representing them saying that I would leave work when ever I felt like it and could have come back to finish out my shift. I'm like 1. who the hell are you, 2. you are NOT at the location I worked at, 3. I didn't leave whenever I felt like it, I ALWAYS notified my manager and supervisors and followed proper procedure EVERY TIME I left and how the HELL do I come back and finish my shift when I was leaving only a half hour early daily. Freaking idiot!!!!! I was appalled that they would be so dirty. Not only did they do that to me they did it to a number of people that they fired.

Job hunting has been a pain in the you know what. Everyone that's hiring is paying less than I can afford to make or folks just aren't hiring at all. I fill like I've filled out a million and one applications with no luck. I'm considering taking this opportunity to finish school, which means more money that I don't have, but we'll see.

So as if this wasn't long enough, I'm going to end this now and wishing you all a happy rest of the week and an even better weekend.

Peace and Blessings.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Ok so I've moved from Blog.city officially

It's not as if I blogged on a regular basis anyway. Face book has been too addicting and makes it so easy to neglect the blog. Lets see if things change now that this is my official new home.

Can I get some housewarming gifts people???

Peace and Blessings,

Still the Goddess Amira