Everyone remembers my love story post of how true love does exist, and how happy and sure I was of the fact that I had myself had it at one point and had a second chance at having it again. Eyes filled with tears, stomach in knots, going from being happy one minute and my life where and how I wanted it to be....I now reply to that with post with stating a fact of my love story being just that....a story. Not real life or real love....at least on the other end. There is no way to understand some people no matter how hard you try. In fact it can drive you crazy trying to make sense of someone else's crazy but as with most unhappy situations and you are bombarded with "everything happens for a reason's, it will get better, better to find out now's, and can I do anything's" It's so much easier to be the one saying them to console someone who is truly heartbroken. By no means am I complaining, just the opposite, I am overwhelmed with the love and support I have from my family and friends, but there is simply just nothing anyone can do to make someone feel better in such a situation. I feel embarrassed for thinking and acting as though I had a right to speak of something that I clearly did not have. I can speak for myself knowing how I feel and felt and the pain I am in now confirms the level of trust and love I had put into something that only mattered to me. I am offically with the other 99% of people I know who have not experienced real true pure love. Who have been hurt over and over and become people who can not trust anyone and for good cause. I have always been a trusting person and trusted people until I had a reason not to. I see the good in people, and positive in every situation but there is only so much believing of that you can do, and so much getting everything but that back before one questions the way you think and feel. That being said clearly there is good reason for building walls and keeping them up. I can admit when I make a mistake and obviously I have gone about my beliefs and protecting myself from being hurt all wrong. Live and learn right? Feeling "love" from someone for any length of time does not make it worth the pain and hurt when it gets fucked up. The moral of my story here is that fairy tales and movies are made up and not real life, they don't exist so don't sit around waiting for them to happen. Don't let love blind you from what is true.

Did you know.....? Health and Fitness

Starting each morning with a glass of water (hot or cold) with lemon can.....

....aid in stomach troubles, weight loss, fabulous for your skin, cleanses breath, flushes out toxins in your body. I honestly could go on and on with the benefits of lemon water. I use hot water and lemon for colds and fevers too.

The great thing about the water is that you can also add things like mint, cucumber, and other fruit to enhance not only flavor but health benefits. My favorite combo is cucumber, lemon and mint. It is so refreshing.

We all know we are supposed to drink 8 glasses of water a day, but who really does it? I always hear people say that they don't like water so this is a great way to add flavor without adding sugar. Water is so important and beneficial to our health for so many reasons. The kids each drink a glass of lemon water in the morning to start the day off right and be fully hydrated to start their long days at school. They both looooove lemon in their water and ask for it :)



Did you know....

....that if you drink a glass of ICE cold water before each meal it helps with weight loss? Well it does :)
A. the water itself fills you up so you don't over eat
B. The ice cold part of it is that your body has to work to warm up the cold liquid which jump starts your metabolism.

A fun way to add flavor to your water is to make ice cubes and fill them with lemon, mint, cucumber or other fruit. This way they are frozen and ready for you whenever you need them to grab on the go, I like to fil an extra water bottle with them so by the end of the way it has melted and nice and cold.

Chai For Sale

Chai Spice Mix




I have had a lot of people asking about my Chai recipe for one reason or another. Soooooo I decided to make up a huge batch of the dry spice mix that I use including dried citrus peel. Going to package it up. Anyone interested in purchasing some?

Each bag will make 4 2 quart batches, or of course one large batch, black tea and the recipe. Happy to mail them for anyone not local.

Saving energy and money

Yesterday I had an energy audit to see where my electricity is going and how much everything costs me to run. I was very please to see that my fridge only costs me about $0.14 a day to run.

The oven, washing machine and dryer are appliances that can cost alot to run. How can you lower your bills without buying new energy efficient ones or make the best use of your new ones?

With your washing machine, wash as much as you can in cold water. The most energy is used to heat the water when on a hot/warm setting. The only thing I wash on hot are my whites, and now they even make cold water bleach so the hot cycle isn't even necessary.
As for the dryer, I always hang everything, except my towels, outside in the spring,summer and fall to dry. I now have clothes lines set up in my basement to dry even in the winter.
Unplug things when you aren't using them. I unplug everything.....my coffee maker, toaster, tv, etc....as soon as I am done with them. Things like your cell phone charger draw out power even when they aren't being used. Game systems draw a ton of energy when not being used as well.
Energy efficient light bulbs are worth the cost to buy initially and cost very little to run.
When using you dishwasher-don't use heat start or dry option. Allow the dishes to air dry or dry them with a towel before putting them away.
The guy that was here told me as far as the oven-to pre cook things in the micro so they take less time in the oven, for me personally, I don't use a microwave at all so that doesnt help me, but if you have one then give it a try. I have also been getting some suggestions of cooking on the grill whenever possible, and I often use my crockpot to cook as it uses such little energy.

These all seem like small steps but they make big differences. You will see them in your electric bill as a visual, but are also conserving energy :)

New......

......RECIPES


.....DIY



.....FAVS



.....ADVENTURES

Brussel Sprouts

I either hear people say that they LOVE them or they HATE them. Which is fine of course but I think a lot of people on the haters side would benefit from trying a few of these recipes before making that life long commitment to despise the awesome little veggie.


( www.WHfoods.com) Pin It


Please check out my recipes page for 10 recipes for brussel sprouts that you are sure to love.

Organic eating

I attempt to eat as much organic foods as possible. I have been eating organic things for a while but have been putting in a lot more effort over the past few months. I often get into a "conversation" or debate if you will with people about eating organic. I being for organic foods and the other person being....against it for lack of a better word. The opponent usually says that everything is bad for you, their grandfather smoked, drank, ate red meat and fried food every day of their lives and lived to a standard normal age, and that eat organic food won't do them any good or bad for them. I disagree, and would like to live longer than the "standard" norm. Foods that are not organic... lets take apples for example are sprayed and treated with pesticides, chemicals, etc... to maintain their growth, avoid pest problems, etc.... YUM! Pesticides and chemicals! Does that sound like something that you WANT to eat and put into your body? The fact that organic food is available why would you NOT want to eat it? I am realistic and understand that there are reasons why people don't bother or want to eat organic.....convenience, price....hmmm that is all I can come up with for the other side of the argument.

Convenience- most all grocery stores that I have been in recently have a section with organic produce and a lot of stores with organic food in general.
Price-it is true that organic food costs more typically than non, as speak I am eating a honeycrisp (my fav apple) organic apple from WEGMAN's (post to follow) which cost me roughly a $1.00 for just that one BUT totally worth it. Apples are one of the worst food to eat NON organic. Here is a list of the most important foods to eat organic if you cant go completely organic.

There are also a lot more resources as far as coupons go for organic foods. Whole Foods has their own coupons and you can also use manufacturer coupons. Another store where you can get great food at good prices is Trader Joe's. I also mentioned Wegman's above too which is fabulous! Stay tuned for a post to follow devoted solely to this new fav of mine. Check my "Coupon Deals" page for coupons and good deals organic and otherwise.

Another cost effective way to eat organic is to grow your own food. This Summer my goal is to grow all my own veg and fruit and can, store and freeze it for the following Winter. Check out my plans for my garden. Organic gardening is not the same as regular gardening of course and again requires more effort, but worth it.


Organic eating brings me to my sub topic of organic products in general. Things like soap, shampoo, laundry detergent and other products are just the same as eating non organic food, they are filled with chemicals that do get into our bodies through our skin. My daughter has occasional patches of eczema and is extremely sensitive to almost all laundry soap, shampoo etc...
I recently discovered organic soap by LOVE YOUR BODY SOAPS and it is amazing! I never realized how harmful "soap" that we use everyday actually is for you. I know only use this soap on my daughter and make my own laundry soap using this soap for her and have seen drastic improvement in her skin. Definitely check into this soap, trust me you won't go back to using regular "soap" again.