Day 1 Juice Cleanse

1 day down, 2 to go. Today has been a bit of a roller coaster. I woke up bright and early at 6:30 and drank my lemon water while I juiced my 5 juices for the day. Having them made so early was a huge help I think. My morning juice was pretty disgusting... the beet and carrot combination was strange and I had to force it down.

Instantly following my breakfast I got a headache. It was in no way unbearable, just sort of nagging. I drank a ton of water and peed every 5 minutes for the remainder of the morning. By lunch time I really felt done. I didn't want to do this anymore. It's strange how powerful the detox can be. I was SOOO pumped to get started with this and 1 juice in and I'm ready to call it quits! Luckily I powered through and drank my lunch juice. It was ok, not great but decent.

Within 10 minutes of drinking my lunch I felt AMAZING! My headache was gone, I had a new burst of energy and I actually really enjoyed my walk to work. The afternoon raced by as I had a fully booked day and by the time I got home I was excited for my supper. Thankfully Ben had fed Elliotte supper before I got home so I didn't have to battle with the temptation of food. I've had my supper now, (I skipped my dessert as I don't feel like I need it) and I'm chugging water to try to keep that headache from returning.

All in all I feel like day 1 was a success. I've made my juices for tomorrow and I'm excited to see what the day brings!

Preparation Day...

Tomorrow is the day... I have shopped and washed and chopped I am ready to start! I'm not super confident that I'll actually be able to complete the cleanse. I'm going for 3 days and we'll see how I actually do...

Over the course of the next three days I will be following a pretty strict juice diet. When I wake up I drink 2 cups of hot water with fresh lemon, then a juice for breakfast. Mid morning 16 oz of coconut water. At lunch there is another juice and then another mid afternoon. Supper will be another juice and then there is an optional dessert juice. All of these juices are made of various fruits and vegetables and the odd herb.

I'm anticipating seeing a slight weight loss, my skin clear up, an energy boost, an improvement in digestion and all around feeling of wellness.

I'll check back in tomorrow to let ya'll know how Day 1 went!

A new journey

I'm beginning a journey. I'm not certain where it will lead but I'm ready to take some steps.

Over the past few years I have felt a desire to pursue a healthy life. I know that this is in no way an original pursuit but, whatever... I have made some strides and had a ton of setbacks and now I'm really craving, like physically CRAVING a dramatic and lasting change. I have always been the type who either exercises seven times a week, or I sit on my bum watching tv and eating junk, I have no concept of moderation. I'm ready to find the balance.

 I want to be someone who lives a healthy life not because I'm on a health kick but because it's how I live. I want my daughter to grow up with a mother who is not a serial dieter. A culmination of things have brought me to this point of desperation and I'm ready to just dive in. 

I have chosen 3 things that I'm going to add to my life in order to work towards my goals.

1.) I have joined a yoga studio and will be attending 2 times a week.

2.) I have started running again and will be working towards being able to complete a half marathon.

3.) I will juice once a day. I have been so sporadic lately and need to get back into doing it daily. Elliotte LOVES juice so it's really a WIN WIN.... on that note....

To kick things off I am embarking on a juice cleanse....I know, it sounds scary...  I'm going to try to reboot my system by not eating and only juicing for a few days. I will have more details later.

Cheers!

New Life!

Life has been pretty crazy in these parts as of late. Two beautiful little girls were born, unexpectedly this past week. My sister-in-law and brother have been pregnant with twins due at the end of July, however she was extra high risk because of some complicated medical stuff and had to be watched extra carefully and had to go for ultrasounds weekly. Well, they went in for their ultrasound on Wednesday and were told that the twins had to come today! Off to the OR they went, and within minutes Taliana and Rayna Siemens were unceremoniously yanked from their home of 30 weeks and cried their first cries! I was so blessed to be able to go up to the NICU and meet my precious little nieces on their birthday. They are both incredibly small at roughly 3 pounds each, but are fighting hard and have been doing very well. 

I have loved watching my brother become a dad and seeing him fall head over heals for his identical little girls makes my heart sing! He is such a good daddy. He goes up to the NICU every day and sings lullabies that he has written for his little gems. He brags about all of their accomplishments non-stop. His wife has been such a trouper with such a fast adjustment and watching her recover from her c-section is inspiring! She had to get used to the idea that her pregnancy was over prematurely in an instant and has done amazingly. She is doing so well and I'm so proud of her! The next couple months are going to be rough as every day will be taken up with multiple trips up to the NICU, pumping around the clock and mourning the fact that the babies aren't at home with Mom and Dad where they belong. My heart aches for my brother and his new family and yet I rejoice at this gift of life! 

I'm so blessed to be auntie to these two little beauties, and I can't wait to get to know them better!

Purging...

So, we are in the throes of moving....

 I guess the only time I blog is when I should be doing something else, like pack up our gazillion boxes of things to be moved. This afternoon my parents took Elliotte which allowed Ben and I to spend a good chunk of time going through all of our things, it was wonderful. We filled two GIANT garbage bags of clothes to be donated and another couple bags of things to be thrown out. I'm really looking forward to seeing my new wardrobe when we get established in the new house. I LOVE getting rid of clutter not that you'd know it....but I really do. It feels so good when you get in that mood and just start tossing things in garbage bags left right and centre. It seems fitting that we should be going through this purging of our things because lately I've really been craving a purging in other areas as well. I've been feeling a draw to simpler living, essentially taking care of our bodies and our minds and getting rid of all the 'clutter' that gets in the way of getting us to the place that the Lord wants us to be.

 One of the areas that I'm realizing the importance of is physical health. I've been making an effort in the choice of foods that we eat but I have been majorly lacking in the exercise aspect. Ben has been saying for months now that after he gets home from work he would love to watch Elliotte while I go for a run. I've finally taken him up on it. I've only been running for a couple weeks now, but let me tell you, I LOVE IT. It feels so refreshing to get out in the crisp spring weather and I can't even express how amazing it is to have that half hour to myself to work with my body and do something hard, I'm hooked. 

Another area I've felt a draw to purge is our media consumption. After a long day a lot of the time Ben and I like to relax on the couch and watch something mindless on Netflix.  For a lot of my teenage years we didn't have a TV and I've always said that my kids won't watch any TV, so the fact that we watch it so much is starting to get me pretty disheartened. I'm sure if we don't make a change soon, then when Elliotte gets to the age where TV can distract her I will readily go to it as a babysitter. We haven't taken any steps in the media purging direction yet, soon I hope.

Anyways there are a few of my thoughts, I know they're quite scattered and possibly don't make much sense but I have to get back to packing so there you have it. I'm sure next time I check in we will be in our new home!   

Here is Elliotte camped out in what will be our new kitchen...

Granting yourself grace.

It's 7AM and I'm wide awake, this is rare, typically at this time you would find me groggily trying to get back to sleep, groggily feeding a baby, or on a good night actually asleep. Last night Ben and I went out with another couple to dinner and a movie and Ellie was at my parents place. I think she was away from me for longer than ever before, 4.5 hours. Anyways, we got home at around 10:30 put Elliotte promptly to bed and quickly followed suit ourselves and were asleep within minutes.

Fast forward....I woke up to surprisingly NOT a baby crying, I looked around for my cell to check the time assuming it was probably midnight. Imagine my surprise when my phone read 5:30! I had just been granted roughly 7 hours of sleep IN A ROW!!! I was in quite a lot of pain since I hadn't fed Ellie in so long so I was getting up to go pump when I heard a beautiful little stirring from the other room, perfect timing my girl! She ate like nobody's business and then conked out again. I didn't rush to put her down and spent the next few minutes stroking her cheek, tracing her ears with my finger, holding her close revelling in the beauty of my girl. It's an amazing feeling, feeding my baby when I'm not teetering on unconsciousness. Now I'm wide awake and feel more rested than ever, it's amazing what a few hours of uninterrupted sleep can do!

I tell you this story not to brag but to point out the need to grant ourselves grace. I have a tendency to feel guilty about most of what I do, or don't do. Only now, feeling rested do I know how much of a fog I have been living in. Ellie has been waking up on average 6-9 times a night, I didn't realize how hard that has been on me. It's rare that I get much more than laundry and cooking done in a day and I have been feeling horrible about it, like a failure as a mother and wife. Whether we have children or not, there are areas in our lives where we don't get enough rest, it may be physical sleep, or that we overwork ourselves, or even just our mental capability of making ourselves feel so incredibly small. Whatever it is, let us not beat ourselves up about the things we DON'T do 'right' and instead realize that we are human, we can't do everything. The important thing is to give ourselves some grace,  and pray that a good night's rest is right around the corner.

Now, how about some photos?!

This girl LOOOVES bathes, pardon the blurriness. 

Taken on her half birthday.

She is trying to crawl SOOO hard, I don't think it will be too too long before she figures it out.

This girl is SOOOO independent, every time you come at her with a spoon she tries with all of her might to snatch the spoon and do it herself, creating an epic mess...every time.

Pug and baby, BFFs.

Profound, I know.

So everything I have to say today is going to come out sounding like a cliché but even though you hear things over and over, when they pertain to you somehow it seems so profound, ya know? Tonight as Ellie was in her bath I was struck by how amazing life is (profound, I know). From the moment we are conceived we begin to change. The first while it's mostly development as far as size and growing organs etc, etc, then once we are born we begin to learn the 'ways of life' mighty quickly, we continue to grow in size but all of a sudden we are becoming smart.... For instance, for the past couple weeks Elliotte has been able to sit on her own in the bath and consequentially has discovered splashing. The incredible pride I feel when I watch her entire face light up as her brain makes the connection between the cause and effect of hitting the water with her hands is kind of ridiculous... I am blown away at the amazing learning curve of a 5 1/2 month old. Every day she seems to find something else in this world that she wants to learn and she does it. Lately I've been watching as she scooches backwards, or how she will stand FOREVER, giggling and squealing while she holds on to the coffee table, or how she likes to grab the dogs tail and stick it in her mouth... Her eyes are always so interested in the world around her and I love to watch as I see understanding hit her face. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can't believe how amazing it is that something can start out as an egg and a sperm and somehow becomes a person, a completely unique, beautiful, lovely person (profound, I know!).