3 Day Cleanse: Day One

I thought it would be a good idea to blog about my cleanse experience as hopefully motivation to continue and hopefully doing this I might get some feedback from other newbies trying a cleanse. The reason I wanted to do this cleanse was because after watching many documentaries on living a cleaner life, (Hunger for Change was one of them) I decided that in order to start with a clean slate, you need to detox. I'm not going to the extreme as you can by getting Enemas and Colonic Therapy but I thought drinking a healthy juice would be a good place to start! Plus, Paul was out of town this week so I thought it would give me a change to get out of cooking for a few days, especially because when he goes out of town I usually eat horribly!!

Paul and I have been drinking our green drinks in the morning which have been great and something we both defiantly plan to continue to do. I notice that it gives me much more energy and make me just overall feel healthier. Sometimes I like to do them both for breakfast and lunch!

I'm basically following this book called "3 Day Cleanse" (http://www.amazon.com/The-3-Day-Cleanse-Drink-Skinny/dp/0446545716) by Zoe Sakoutis, the founder of the BluePrint Cleanse. It gives you a bunch of recipes to try and it also lets you know how to transition into and out of this cleanse. You cant just jump into drinking juice for 3 days after you've just chowed down on some pizza the night before! I have to be really careful because I'm in the process of training for a marathon (bad timing right?) so I need to make sure that I have enough energy for my long run this Saturday! The added cashew milk at the end of the day is going to help give me the fat that I need for my runs. I'm just glad its going to be Saturday morning and I have two days left of my cleanse. If I had to do the long run on the last day of my cleanse I dont think I could do it! We will see, I'll let you know tomorrow!

One thing I was really excited about is today I bought a juicer!! We have been using the blender and just mixing up our shakes in the morning however, sometimes with all the veggie pulp it makes me want to gag and I have a very hard time getting it down. It doesn't seem to bother Paul, but I just can't stand it! I was actually blending the shakes and forcing them through a small strainer, what a waste of time! I had done ALOT of shopping around as I knew nothing about juicers! There are so many different kinds and brands its overwhelming!! I finally settled on a centrifugal juicer, the Brevelle ikon (apparently I am biased on ikon varieties in my kitchen)(http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-572792/Breville-ikon-Juicer). I found it at Bed Bath and Beyond, had a 20% off coupon and a $50 gift card from awhile back so I got it for $119 which I was thrilled about! I'm so glad I got this juicer! Sounds like a jet when you turn it on!

Another thing about the difference between blending and juicing that I read about in the book is that you can do either. However, if your blending your shakes, it does take away the effectiveness of the detox. The idea behind juicing is that you are suppose to let your body absorb the nutrients that you are taking in quickly and easily to allow your body to start focusing on other areas to detox such as your kidneys and liver. If you are drinking pulp your body still needs to break down these fibers and extract what nutrients it can from them so in essence its not allowing your body to work on other areas as effectively to detox them.

So, I'm sure your wondering how I feel after almost the completion of day one. Well, so far so good. Its pretty hard because I love crunchy things so I am actually craving something with crunch and salt! They say that if you need to "cheat" chew on some celery sticks, this helps to aid in the digestion process because the chewing gets your salivary glands working which is a stimulate for your body to prepare to digest food. I did accidentally cheat today though, I went to Costco since I had to drive about an hour to Waldorf to pick up the juicer and I started snacking away on a few samples until I remembered that I cannot do that. At least it was early in the day and not the final day of detox, my body can still recover ;) But boy did they taste good!! I'm already really craving regular food! I can do it, I can do it, I can do it! I have no doubt that I will not let myself fall into temptation but some french fries sound really good right now! No Food Network until this cleanse is over!

Tomorrow I will start posting some pictures of the shakes that I drank and do a review on how they tasted. Im using today as an introduction! 

Donny

Our new foster Donny for Golden Retriever Rescue, after our first foster since Kyra who we adopted. My house is a little chaotic right now and I look forward to soon being a house with only two dogs. Donny is such a sweet and affectionate boy, but with Kyra and Brew to make Donny excited he really turns up his wild side. When he is an only dog he does great and is very relaxed and mellow but with other puppy playmates he plays hard. He has such a goofy side! He loves to throw toys up in the air to catch them! He is also pretty smart when we wants to be! Hes an 8 month old golden mix and very much a sweetheart. We will be sad to see him go, but its time we find his furever family!

Once we find him a home it will be a few weeks until we get another foster, if I can last that long. There are so many dogs out there who are very deserving of a family who loves them but may never get the chance. Its unbelievable how many kill shelters are located in the south and, with no questions asked, take dogs in and mark them with an "end" date. (rant starts...) I used to think that, something must be wrong with these dogs, they must be aggresive, unfriendly, or have health conditions that keep someone from keeping them but let me tell you that thought has been thrown out the window after having fostered 2 dogs now. How can people give these sweet dogs up?! There is absolutely nothing wrong with them and it just angers me beyond words that they could be forfited to a KILL shelter! Not even taking the honerable steps and finding a rescue that would help to find a great home for them! (rant over) If dogs could talk to tell us their story, I think we would all be amazed. Even at 8 months old, I believe Donny is wise beyond his years and is so greatful that he was given a chance to live and I for one am THRILLED that I can be part of Donny's story in helping to give him the life he deserves, just like we did with Kyra. More foster families are needed to help these sweet babies who dont have a voice.

 

More pictures to come!

Florida Trip/Green Smoothie

So what an amazing, relaxing trip Paul and I had to Florida. It was exactly what we needed to just get away for a few days and lay out in the sun. We also really enjoyed our Frisbee throwing in the evenings combined with the hotels free happy hour! What fun! It also really reminded us about what happened a year ago and the commitment we made to one other. It was so nice to reminisce on the happy things and the friends and family that were there to support us! There were weddings going on along the beach almost everyday!
Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures, here are a few that we did take

 Beautiful view from our balcony

 First wedding we saw

 Sunset-notice why we love the hotel and the privacy being next to the park?

 Sunrise on the deck

 First Morning

 First Morning

 Sunrise on the beach

2nd wedding we saw

So Paul and I are getting back into the green shakes after having been off of it a few months now. We were pretty crazy about them initially but have gotten away from them. Not exactly sure why as when I drink my shakes, I have so much more energy and feel so good the rest of the day! We have found a few good recipes by just trial and error and we have our favorite, go to shake that I'm going to share with you! So here it goes, throw it all into a blender and enjoy!

1 1/2 cups pineapple

1 lg apple (we are into the honey crisp right now as they are soo sweet)

1 juice of lemon

1/2 cup orange juice

1 banana

1 cup almond or coconut milk (Paul and I differ in our favorite, I like almond, he likes coconut so we alternate)

2-3 big handfuls of spinach (half a bag)

2 Tablespoons dried Goji berries

2 multivitamins

2 Tablespoons Bee Pollen

2 opened spirulina pills

I think that's it....
Sometimes we throw in blueberries (even though our shakes turn brown), avocado, carrots, broccoli, or whatever we have on hand. But this is our definite go to drink! Its delicious and I swear the combination gives me so much energy throughout the day! Great way to start the day and super refreshing!

Blessed

This title is how I've been feeling the last couple of weeks, blessed. I have a husband who loves me dearly and supports ANY of my desires, 2 amazing dogs who show me constant affection and remind me to live in the moment and great family and friends who we are so lucky to take this walk of life with and share experiences with. These feelings make my heart feel very very full.
I've recently joined a small group through our church and I think I'm going to get alot more out of this group than what I had originally thought. They are all amazingly supportive of each other. Most of the members have been together for a few years now with new members slowly adding in. Everyone is so diverse in their background and it just makes me feel extremely grounded and humbled to be with them.

Anyway, Paul and I's 1 year anniversary is coming up; crazy to think! We are staying at the Henderson Park Inn in Destin, FL. Cutest little bed and breakfast ever! Paul and I stayed there our last day in Destin after all the wedding festivities last year! Check out some of the pics from their website.

Its on a beautiful beach and very private! There is a national park right next door so you can't see anyone on the beach for miles! An AMAZING hot breakfast is included as well as a heavenly ham bagged lunch! You get a set of chairs and an umbrella set up for you every morning and a plater of grapes and a bottle of wine in your room when you check in! The perks and little touches make this bed and breakfast and amazing experience and probably one of the best places we have stayed! Well anyway, starting Thursday we will be spending the next 5 days here just relaxing and reminiscing on the beach together! I hope its as great as we remember!

Brewski's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe Brewski is already a year old!! Its crazy to think we have only had him for 10 months. Sometimes it seems like we have had him so much longer! It's crazy to see how much he has matured even the last couple of weeks! We don't have anything specific really planned but we are trying to fill it with a lot of things he enjoys like, the dog park, swimming, and delicious meals (he had his kibble with canned food and lots of veggies for breakfast)!
As most of you know, we officially decided to adopt Kyra! She is so sweet and a great fit to our family! She is a sweet cuddlier so of course I really took to her. I love to have a dog that will just lie with me on the sofa but Brew is such a man's dog that he really doesn't snuggle, unless he is absolutely exhausted that he happens to pass out next to me, then I take advantage :)
So many fun things coming up in the next few weeks! Myra and Greg's wedding is the first weekend in August and then baby Waller due at the end of August!

All the fun!

Long overdue, but here is goes...So what a great couple of weeks it has been!! Starting back a few weekends ago we went to visit our love Norbert and had such an amazing time with everyone! Deb (Norbert's forever person) was so generous to open up her home to us so we could spend as much time as we could with her and Norbert! Her house is the bomb. I think Paul and I would like for her to adopt us! One things for sure, if I ever came back on this earth as a dog, I would want to come back as Deb's dog! I love knowing that Norbert is being taken care of SOO well! He is one spoiled dog but one things for sure, us nor Deb wouldn't have it any other way! We are already planning our next trip to go out and see them again!! It was also great seeing Alan and Elizabeth and meeting Reggie for the first time too! What a sweetie this dog is! It seems as though it has been way to long since we had seen them and they made this one of their first stops of their long cross country (roundtrip) across the states! The sad part about being in Santa Rosa was saying a "see you later" to our bud Gill. He is being turned in for puppy college but will hopefully be selected as a breeder! We would love to one day have a Gill CCI pup! Here are some pics of our weekend!

Following Santa Rosa, Paul and I headed up to Seattle where he had a conference/workshop to attend and I really just took advantage of being in downtown Seattle!! I got to do some touristy things that we never did when we lived there! It was so much fun and so relaxing to go on my own schedule! It was great to see some of our friends and we only wish we were there longer to see all of them!! Every night was packed with dinner plans and we can't wait to be back for good so we can touch base with everyone! The last night we were there we stayed with our friends Myra and Greg and had a great time playing games and just hanging out!

NEXT

The reason it has taken me soo long to post this blog is because of our foster pup, Kyra. She is a 6-ish month old golden retriever puppy who we just ADORE! With both her and Brew around it takes up a lot of my free time. However, now that they have started getting used to one another my days go much smoother. They took ever opportunity to just play, play, play. They can finally sit in the same room, lay down and not have to mess with one another. Here are some pictures of our adorable foster!! She is such a special girl and its going to be extremely hard to give her up!

More to come...

Family addition...

So before you all start to jump the gun, I am NOT pregnant!! Now that everyone can breathe, I will continue... Paul and I have recently taken on a new challenge, which I don't think is the proper term; how about furthering our desire to allow animals to impact our lives as well as to impact their and someone else's life. We are working closely with Golden Retriever Rescue of Southern Maryland as foster parents to pups who are desperate to find loving, caring homes to help lead them to their forever families!

We are so blessed to have opportunities like these. Currently, I am only working 3 days a week which allows me to be home a lot and be able to spend time with both Brew and the foster. Since moving from Seattle and deciding to wait to continue with CCI until we get back, we have really missed the feeling of belonging to a group and having the sense of community. Being able to help others whether it is animals or humans (or usually in our case both) is so rewarding and I am anxious to know that I am making a difference again. Now in a lot of cases the dogs are handed over to the rescue because the family can either no longer care for the dog or can't afford it but the dog still came from a loving home. My dogs are part of my family! In my eyes its like giving up a child because they become to expensive! It is very hard for me to understand this concept but people never seem to surprise! At least they are handing their dog over to a rescue verses a euthanize shelter which happens too frequently!

Anyway, my rant is over and we will defiantly keep you posted as we get more information on when we will start fostering!! We had the home visit today and have a potential pup lined up who is a 2 year old male who we may get when we arrive back from Santa Rosa which leads me into my next topic!!!

NORBERT!!!

Baby Norbert

7 Month Norbert

1 1/2 Year Norbert

2 Year Norbert

2 Year Norbert

Did I overdo it? Maybe a little, but this buddy of ours was my REAL first love (canine of course)! He was the first pup Paul and I raised all by ourselves and was an AMAZING dog who was set up to be a hero in someones life (not just mine)! This dog truly touches everyone he comes in contact with! The last two pics are from his graduation in November...AND....we get to see Norbert and Deb, his forever person, in 17 days!!  I am just so happy to see him and spend some time getting to know Deb more and playing with my buddy!! The downside to this trip is that it's time for Gill to turn in! Gill is one special dog and will always have a special place in my heart! He was our ring bearer at our wedding!

I have no doubts that Gill will continue on and do amazing things! I don't think I have ever been so sure about a dog as I am about Gill (not that I have a lot of experience with this). Gonna miss him!

I think it is safe to say that I am crazy about dogs!! :)

Summer Nights...

Well, what a great weekend it was!! I love that our weather is getting nicer because our schedule seems to be getting more fun as well!! Friday we had a nice relaxing evening which involved being totally domesticated. Paul was out mowing the yard (which looks amazing) and I was inside cleaning the house and getting dinner ready. How old are we?!? It was very nice and actually relaxing though! I do really enjoy nights like these. We are productive and we stay at home which doesn't seem to happen that often!

Saturday, Paul did an amazing run that took place in Leonardtown, MD. It was supporting the hospice which they had many more runners than they have had previous years! Paul placed 28th overall and 6th in his age group at a time of 46:50! Best time he has had on a 10k in years! Here are some pics of him approaching the finish line!

Meanwhile, Brew and I got our picture taken with the Chick-fil-A cow!! He absolutely freaked out at first when he saw the cow. I mean who wouldn't?!? In order for the pic to be taken, I had to be in it with him and use lots of treats!

After the race Paul and I went with lots of other Boeing peeps to the Nationals game in the Boeing box! It was such an amazing time with the catering and amazing views behind home plate!! 

  

Sunday the weather was beautiful! Paul and I decided early on in the week that we would kayak since the weather was planning to be beautiful! This was Brew's second time on the kayak and did so well again!! It has been about 2 weeks since he had his surgery so we figured it was okay for him to swim! Boy did he LOVE it! He was so happy running around in the shallow water! When he is stuck in the kayak he does whine a bit to which we both just ignore him. I think its because he really prefers to look forward and until Paul feels more comfortable he will continue to stay facing Paul. With the amount we kayaked we could have made it to Virginia if we were on the Potomac side; in all about 4.5 miles. By the time we got home Brewski, passed out!!! He was so tired that he was in a DEEP sleep the rest of the night and even on Monday he was still tired!

Hope for many more great weekends like this to come!!

Spring has Sprung!

Now that the weather has been so extremely nice, I can't wait for it to actually stay this way! I am really looking forward to these coming months and what they will have in store!
We have so many plans and even more plans that I'm dying to fit in! Sometimes I wish that money wasn't a setback (or vacation time for the matter)! We are both really looking forward to our upcoming trips which involve visiting Norbert and Deb, Steph's baby shower, Myra's wedding, our first year anniversary and much more we are trying to fit in! We are also working on planning our honeymoon that we really need to take in Southwest France!

Paul and I officially have our own kayaks! I am so excited about the opportunity that we have living here in Southern Maryland, on an island, because of the chance we will really get to use them. Everytime I drive home, its a constant reminder at we are surrounded by water and to not take it for granted. We thought kayaking would be a great sport to enjoy since we plan on being near water for much of our lives and its something that we both, as well as Brew, can do together! Paul's kayak has a very large cockpit so that Brew can sit under the front of the bow with his head resting on Pauls lap or the side of the kayak. Next time we all go out I need to take some pics, since this is the cutest thing ever! I didn't take one out on our first trip since I was concerned that Brew would really have a hard time adjusting to sitting on top of the water, but was thrilled as he didn't have a problem at all with it! Now we just need a car that can haul both of them!


Brew is feeling much better now that it has been a week since he lost his manhood. It has been very difficult for him to sit still and not want to roughhouse. It was difficult this weekend since had the opportunity to play with Maddie and Diego but was stuck behind a baby gate for most of the time (which he managed to escape). We hope by the end of this week he will be feeling better and the stitches will be mostly healed up! I did a little photoshoot with him in the back yard today so I'm posting a few of the pictures!!

Will post more soon! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, I should have made this my New Years resolution; be better at blogging!! Or how about holding myself accountable for what I say I'm going to do. That would have been a good one! But for serious, Paul asked me the night of New Years Eve, whats your resolutions for the New Year. I guess I hadn't thought about it until that point but I told him, I want to think more! Sometimes I go through life just going with the flow, maybe not understanding things because I am just reading them black and white. My resolution is to try to really think things through! Pay attention to what I am doing and be smart about the choices I decide to make, trying to not be irrational! There are a few other small resolutions that I made but those aren't always a full time thing. THINKING is a full time thing!! ;)


We had a great start into the New Year! We watched our 2nd favorite dog (who right now is pushing for first), Raleigh!! We had such a fabulous time with her that by the end of the two-ish weeks we were ready to apply for shared custody of her from Matt and Steph! She was such a delight and I have to add, SHE taught BREW how to hold his potty until he gets OUTSIDE! Since she left we haven't had an accident from him once!! Thank you RB for that!! But she is such an awesome dog! She is so affectionate and cuddly that if we weren't doing another CCI dog in a few months we would defiantly consider getting a Golden-doodle. That statement not only comes from me but Paul said it too!! How could you not LOVE this face!!

Here are a few others that I HAVE to share!!

We like to think that she had a good time with her Auntie A and Uncle P! We defiantly spoiled her to the max!!


So looking into the New Year I hope that I can better myself as a wife, friend, family member, and most of all Christ follower. With that said this is some good advice I can take:
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1:19)
I think we can all relate to that!! Should also help with my resolution to THINK more!