Thursday, June 28, 2012

My veggies are looking goood

So far so good!

 red chili peps
 string beans
radishes

Become Cruelty-free!

Much of our everyday beauty or health care regimens are supporting animal cruelty.  So many large companies still use outdated product testing by using animals as subjects.


     "Monkeys are addicted to drugs and have holes drilled into their skulls, sheep and pigs have their skin burned off and rats have their spinal cords crushed. Tiny mice grow tumors as large as their own bodies, kittens are purposely blinded, and rats are made to suffer seizures.  In archaic medical training courses, pigs and dogs are cut open and killed and cats and ferrets have hard plastic tubes forced down their delicate throats." stament by peta.
Fortunately, we can opt out of supporting animal cruelty by simply changing brands! Many new products are vegan, or do not test on animals. however, we still have to be careful. Certain products are owned by companies that do test on animals. there are so many great sites to find out what brand and products are cruelty free! Be the change!

below is a great place to find out which products to buy:

My Day Off

My day off! todays plans go something like this:
1. Coffee
2. Morning meditation
3. Reiki
4. Weed the garden
5. Transplant my watermelons
6. Hula hoop!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Band

Sit back, Relax, And take a listen to the tantalizing tunes of Event Horizon.

You can check them out on Facebook for more ear stimulating goodness http://www.facebook.com/EventHorizonRock

Polka dots

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Walking the Dog

Jasper is my 6 year old Saint bernard who loves his walks. Today we went down washington road which is a historical road located near my house. There is a small cemetery on the road where Timothy Carver's tombstone is (from the revolutionary war!) They won't pave this road because it is believed to be a part of the route that Sybil Ludington took. Anyway, Jasper thoroughly enjoyed the walk and the water too! Here are some pictures, enjoy!






Friday, June 22, 2012

Where would we be?

We have all been in a situation where we asked ourselves "why me?", But think about where we might be or how things may have turned out differently if we didn't make it through whatever may have happened. Would you still be stuck in the same cycle, living a redundant lifestyle? Maybe those situations are a way to break us out of our negative habits. Maybe they are ways to test our karma. If we are able to grow and learn from an experience we may have paid off a karma. On the other hand, if we let the situation engulf us and submit to the challenge, we may have just added another one to our tab. Although we may think "why me" in the moment, when you take a look at what came from the situation, you may realize that life has a funny way of working itself out. Evaluating something after the fact will likely teach you more, now that the smoke has cleared. 
just a thought!
xoxo julie

Question Of The Day!

Q: Write the first sentence of your autobiography.
   
    A: "Oh what a journey it has been, from the first breath of life to the one that I just took"

Thursday, June 21, 2012

What a wonderful day for the beach!

Today shay and I went to robert moses beach, and boy was it hot! 97 degrees but the water was so nice. I love to swim in the ocean and what a way to spend the first day of summer. We left early enough so we got a pretty good spot on the beach, and it wasn't so crowded either.

what was on the menu you ask?
  • PB&J sandwiches 
  • Grapes
  • Apples
  • Mango
  • Animal crackers
  • and plenty of  H2o              our set-up

 Me & Shay!
All in all it was a great day!!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Manipura Chakra

Ego

Its one of the loudest of our chakras.. the ego, "look at me!" me me me. Its quite difficult to quite down at times and it can certainly determine the way you act. Sometimes I catch myself  at a moment where my manipura (third) chakra is on the loose and its not so easy to pull it all back. Although it can be viewed in a negative manner the third chakra isn't all bad. It is our source of determination and will power, our fire. When our manipura chakra is unbalanced we may experience frustration, stress, need for approval, guilt and many other feelings. This may be why I felt  strong connection with my third chakra today. I felt frustrated and a little angry this morning so it is not so unusual that it was nagging me during yoga!

Question of the day

     Q: What was the last personal letter you received ?
A: Either one from school or one from toyota

Monday, June 18, 2012

Triangles

I love doing my nails like this!
all you need is two colors and some tape its so easy!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Outdoors and Crafts

Today was full of activities! except for getting ill at one point, my Saturday was great!
We woke up at 5:30 and were hiking by seven. When we got to the peak at 7:30, I sat and did some meditation and reiki. Where better than atop a mountain?! After our hike we went to home depot to get some more supplies for the garden and of course I could not help but to buy the beautiful African Marigolds that Parke pointed out. I also stopped at michael's to pick up some new things for my bracelets. Next on the list was yoga and Then back to Parke's house to plant the new flowers. For dinner we went out to the steak house where I tried their veggie burger which was really good as well as the smashed potatoes... and how can I forget about the cookies! lorna doones to be exact. I can back to make some bracelets. Now that was a long day!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Surrender

“Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we
could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.”
Pema Chödrön

  Recently I've been dealing with these old memories popping up and taunting me. Ignoring them didn't work, justifying them didn't work and neither did trying to forget them. So I, (with some help) have come to the conclusion that sitting with these feelings and accepting them will allow me to be okay with them. Nothing I do now will change what happened 2-3 years ago. If something happens that challenges our strength or judgment, how we come out of it will likely affect if it reoccurs or if we grow from it. As Pema says, if we are to afraid to look at what is bothering us, negativity and fear will take over. After taking this thought into consideration, my feelings about these memories have been more welcoming. If these situations did not occur I would still be at risk for making the same mistakes. The fact that I have learned from the decisions I've made is a significant achievement in itself. My next step is accepting them for what they are and to continue to shape my life to the form that I want. 

xoxo
Julie

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Question Of The Day!

Q:something that made you worry today was     
    A: Almost oversleeping!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Monday, June 11, 2012

What will tomorrow bring?
A day off! What a good feeling.
so my plan for tomorrow goes something like this:
1. Sleep in and then get breakfast
2. Meditation and reiki
3. work in the garden and make sure the babies are okay
4. Bank
5. Yoga
4. Make a yummy dinner
Plus whatever else happens to come my way!

Question of the day!
Q: What is your favorite thing to do on a Friday night?
   A: If I'm working the next day my favorite thing to do is go to bed, if I'm off I like to have sleep overs with Parke and plan a productive weekend!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Question OF The Day!
Q:How many cups of coffee did you drink today?
  A:Surprisingly only one medium cup!

REIKI

So today I spent most of my day at the yoga studio taking a course in Reiki level 1. It is difficult to find the words to describe the experience. Practicing the reiki was incredible. Key points of reiki are intention and focus to direct this life energy. At one point there were 6 people working on one person and the intensity of the energy was enormous. I'm going to commit to 21 days of practicing self healing reiki and meditation. I will not be hesitating to partake in reiki 2!

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Question of the day!
Q: What makes a good friend?
  A: Someone who you don't have to second guess yourself around, someone who makes you laugh, someone who trusts you and someone that you respect.
♫ ♫ ♫ These are a few of my favorite things ♫ ♫ 
 Turquoise
Cookies!                   Mangos
Yoga

Friday, June 8, 2012

I Would LOVE to have This little guy in my garden!

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Q: WHAT MAKES YOU MISERABLE?
  A: Being Cold!

Yummy In My Tummy

Coconut Curry Tofu Stirfry


This nifty little journal is so great!
it's good for 5 years, 365 questions and 1,825 answers


Thursday, June 7, 2012

Question of the day

What do you feel grateful for today?

My life!

New beginnings

    A picture from when I first discovered yoga

                                            ... Definitely a life changer

Seedling

As a new blogger, I hope to express, share and explore the world with you! I suppose I should begin with telling you a little bit about myself.
Well here goes,
I am a college student, with two jobs and an insatiable hunger for life.
About three years ago the universe sent me a much needed wake-up call. I was diagnosed with lymphoma and it was like the lid flew off of my confined, clouded little mind. The timing, however, was impeccable. I was facing an extremely dark time in my life with no sense of reality and a grueling attitude. After 6 months of chemotherapy, and giving my nurses absolute hell, I was in remission. Well it wasn't all peaches then either. I was left in a frenzy of heavy emotions and at a whopping 86 pounds, hardly any body left to me. I was completely stripped and needed to rebuild. It was as if a tornado ripped through the town of Julie. While in my last month of treatment, the universe sent me another gift. Yoga. It is a huge part of my life today, I have begun to develop my body and mind through this beautiful practice. For the past 3 years I have been exploring my mind, body, and soul. I have adopted my own ideas, and morals. I currently work in a nursing home, and am putting myself through college to become a nurse (go figure!). 
The mind has no walls, there is always room for growth, expansion and change!
Like a wildflower I continue to grow.
Well there you have it! A very brief background in Julie