Something new to try!

It seems to me that the average person may perceive healthy eating to be boring, and without variety, however, they are gravely mistaken! There is always something new to find and experiment with, like kohlrabi! Kohlrabi literally means “cabbage turnip”, and is in the same family as more familiar foods such as kale and broccoli. Being in this nutrient dense family makes this vegetable a great choice. It’s low in calories, super high in fiber, and is full of many vitamins and minerals that frankly, we just don’t get enough of! Kohlrabi is incredibly high in antioxidants, and can easily add flavor to any dish. This delicious vegetable is available year round at almost any supermarket, although it’s peak flavor is spring through early summer. Traditionally it is incorporated heavily into European meals, but it hasn’t caught on in American currently. There are a variety of ways the vegetable can be utilized, either raw or cooked. Just like many others, it can also be steamed, barbecued, or stir-fried. It can be used to make fries, which are the perfect side to many meals, or even making it into a delicious pie! Who said healthy can’t be tasty? 

Here's a like that has 5 really delicious sounding recipes! http://tinyurl.com/7334clo 

Training your mind

I think ALL the time,  and in fact, there are hardly any moments when I am not thinking of the thousand things at once... Even when I should be sleeping.

This semester I have started taking yoga classes and it has been quite an experience. I love you for many reasons – one of the main reasons being that it is something that I can physically do. I can't do everything and can modify most things, and my instructor has been incredibly helpful with this. But not only that, it is constantly teaching me how to train my mind to relax, something I definitely can use.

At the end of each practice we laid down for conscious relaxation, something that is completely new to me. We listen to alpha waves, which I have learned  are the brain waves that occur in deep meditation states.  I won't lie, it has been really hard to train myself and I am still not perfect at it, but I'm getting better with each practice. Forcing yourself to be present in that moment and not think of what is going on later that day or what has really happened is really hard for me. But calming your mind and focusing on the music allows your brain to go into this meditative state and it is a feeling unlike any other. It's almost like a disconnect of your brain from your body and you're just in this place were there is nothing going on,  in for a chronic thinker like me this is paradise.

My instructor has also taught me about Delta waves, which help your brain mimic the same brain waves that occur when you're in a deep sleep. It normally takes me literally hours to fall asleep every night, the listening to Delta waves knocks me out in a matter of minutes. This is also taken a couple nights to get used to, because you have to force yourself to stop thinking and focus on the music.

I'm still learning how to not not think,  can be present in the moment, the learning how to train my mind has been quite an experience and one that I am very thankful for.   I am most definitely recommend  Yoga for everyone,  and it is a lot more intense than people think.  It is a great workout  and ironically also one of the most relaxing things ever.

 Even if  yoga is not for you,  listening to different waves and training yourself to relax with all the craziness of this world going on would be a good lesson  for us all.

If I can do it anyone can, and I think you should!

Sucky. Sucky week.

This week has basically just sucked. Had 5 tests...lots of friendships going through stuff...and the fact that at the current moment I can barely use my hands...Hence why this won't be too long.

I went to the doctor today and she said that my MD is spreading into my hands which explains my current predicament. There is a muscle that goes through your palm that for me has already wasted away in both of my hands, and as a result is making the big muscle below my thumbs work too hard, so they are super weak and wasting as well...which is why they hurt so badly. Not only is it a constant sharp, throbbing pain,  but if I use that muscle it cramps up and locks.

So...what does that mean? Not much. They can't do anything to stop it. But in the mean time I am waiting on some pain meds that will hopefully make it bearable, and I am going to go to Occupational Therapy. With that I will basically have to re-learn how to do everything...without using my thumbs. Hopefully they can teach me how to use the other muscles that I do have, and maybe give me ideas for adapting to this new stage in my life.

Prayers would be much appreciated. Frustration doesn't even come lightyears close to scratching the surface of how I'm feeling.

2011

Yet again another year has gone by! It's insane to think it's already about to be 2012!! I remember thinking that sounded so crazy and futuristic, yet here it is! This is my traditional post composed of my (to the best of my ability) chronological order of massive memories from the past year.

I feel like this year has been SO. LONG. So much happened....so much change occured. Some good, and some bad. But it would suffice to say that I am not the same person who started on January 1, and I think I'm okay with that. Life is a constant growth process full of pain, sorrow, joy, and laughter....and I think if I ever get so complacent with my life that I never change, or am the same person I was a year ago, I have cause to worry.

Here's a super Cliff note version of my year!

Started off the year with the last of a series of 3 surgeries, coincidentally about 4 days before school started
I spent another wonderful semester trying to keep track of the crazy awesome KXA Big Brothers
There was a crazy arctic cold front that resulted in lots of snow!
Because of said snow, my friends and I went sledding down at the marina, using the tops of plastic bins
Muburak stepped down, a big politcal move
I was absolutely blessed beyond measure to add my 2 grandlittles to my lineage
Being a part of All-University SING
Finding out my sister was going to have a baby!!
The earthquake and tsunami in Japan
Bin Laden being killed
Flying by myself for the first time (to see my epic best friend!)
The debt ceiling crisis
Starting my senior year, living with my best friend from 3rd grade
Being sent off as Early Alum from KXA
My last Christmas on 5th celebration
RG3 winning the Heisman
My wonderful, annual post-finals hang out with my Gangster Z lovely
Having my beloved friend of 16 years, Freeway, die in my arms the morning after Christmas
Baylor winning the Alamo Bowl
My sister having her baby - making me an aunt!!
My grandpa turning 90!


This year - as you can see - has been such a whirlwind!! I am definitely excited for this upcoming year, one that will be really big in terms of my next big step in life. I can't believe that college is almost over!! So insane. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Years Eve...and an epic 2012!

My love: Freeway

The past few days have been a stressful whirlwind of emotions, all of which ending in the passing of my beloved best friend Freeway.

There truly are no words to express how much pain is as a result of his loss, and how much he meant to me for the past 16 years. He has been through EVERYTHING with me. Medically, emotionally, everything. He was always there for my good days, and the bad...and always lended a listening ear.

He got sick a couple days ago, and I spent my Christmas day trying to nurse him back to health, all the while slowly watching him get worse and worse. This morning I woke up for some strange reason (no doubt in my mind a gift from God) and I heard him crying. I went down just in time to be with him in his last moments of life, and to be able to hold him in my arms as he passed from this life. As insanely hard as that moment was, it was one that I wouldn't trade for anything. If he had to go, that was the place I wanted him to be...where I always had him.

I've never had to lose an animal, much less one who has been with me since I was six, and it is an indescribable ache, and he has molded a place in my heart that he will always fill. It was his time to go, and I know that he is no longer suffering, which brings great peace, and am doing my best to remember all the good times we had, and not the scarring images seared in my mind of my last minutes with him. He truly has been a puppy his whole life and was the funniest dog I have ever met. He was a joy to all, and can never be replaced.

I keep hearing him crying, or hearing the jingle of his collar, or look in his room expecting to see him there....but I know this will pass eventually. I miss him so much, and could never express how much I loved him. But he is still around, and has forever changed my life in the most amazing way possible.

Christmas Warriors. Help Kai get adopted!

Hello!

I realize, yet again, I have ignored my blog. School has been so insane (then again, when is it not) so that is my lame excuse for not posting.

However, this blog is not about me. It's about my cousin Stori! She and her husband have taken it upon themselves to help this adorable little Chinese boy get adopted. His name is Kai and he has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. It takes so much money to adopt a child, especially internationally, and with The Angel Tree's Christmas Warrior program, you can donate money towards a child, which will make the process a little cheaper for an amazing family to adopt this sweet child. They have been told that for interested families sometimes it can take up to $10,000 help to be courageous enough to adopt, so every penny counts!

Any amount you can donate will be such a blessing to Kai and the family who will hopefully adopt him soon! Here is the link to my cousin's blog with all the information. http://storilayne.blogspot.com/2011/11/help-kai-and-win-ipad-2.html. In addition to that, my cousin and her husband have on their own decided to have a fundraiser incentive. Anyone who donates even ONE dollar, is automatically entered to win a FREE 32G iPad. It's such a wonderful cause, and I just want to help spread the word, and hope you will as well! And if you can't help out financially (or even if you can) please be in prayer for Kai and all the children like him who are waiting for a home!