31 at 31

Well… today’s the day.  IT’s My BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! 

In honour of my birthday, I thought I would pledge 31 (eerrr 15) things I would do for my 31st year!

Here' goes nothing;

1. Graduate! (no brainer, but trust me, it’s harder at this point than I thought!)

2. Read Crazy, Sexy Diet! (got it in the mail yesterday)

3. Do a 100% raw week this summer!  (which should be easy since I did almost 3 weeks last summer)

4. Read the China study (which I also got in the mail yesterday)

5. Blog!!! Back to 5 days per week with yummy recipes and not half ass posts!!

6. Travel somewhere hot!! ( I LOVE hot places)

7. Run 5km (race or no race) – this may seem small in the land of bloggers, but I used to run lots, and haven’t been able to find motivation, so 5km is a good goal for ME!

8.  Post a ton of OPERATION BEAUTIFUL notes – especially when working in the schools!!  I’m going to say 50… and I’m going to start TODAY!

9. Read at least 3 novels before summer is over

10. Commit to 2x green smoothies per week.

11. Have a blogger meet up!  There are so many of you lovlies SO CLOSE  - we need to make a date!

(ok this is getting hard now!)

12. Attend a foodie event (maybe while meeting up with the bloggers!!?)

13. Take a photography course!!

14. *shutter* register for an online course to start my degree!!  One at a time… (yes, I said it Tash, feel free to hold me to it)

15. Read the 4 Agreements (Guess what, I got THIS in the mail yesterday too – thanks to a gift certificate from Airmiles)

 

As for the other ones – I can’t think right now, I have to get going, because I’m going SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!  Today is a no homework – spend it with my hunny kinda day!!

What are your top 3 things to accomplish for the next year?

Plus – because it’s my birthday – I challenge each of you to post an operation beautiful note somewhere today!! YAY!

and then come and tell me about it, because that would make me REALLY happy and would make my birthday even better (and someone else’s day better too!!)  

I did it…

What you say?   I kicked ass and took names at school today  well  not really, but I showed up… and made it through. 
I was soo nervous!!
   
But I had some cute new school supplies
that made it a wee bit of fun.

Love the book – and it’s “Eco friendly”

Anyways, back to the nervousness…
One little tidbit of info most of you don’t know about me is I suffer from anxiety (yes letting the cat out of the bag) It me a few years ago when all my stomach stuff started and now I deal with it on a daily basis.  It especially gets me when I don’t feel in control of a situation – like today when the only seat left was at the very back of the class (I like to sit by the door)! 
But I survived – thanks to this

This stuff saves me sometimes. It’s like yoga in a bottle.
I highly recommend it to everyone!
I also secretly placed “Operation Beautiful” notes around the school.  It really made me feel better too!

This morning, as I knew “it” would strike I did some 30 mins on my EA Sports Active – and he kicked me butt BIG TIME. 
Hello jumping squats and lunges…  Bye bye lovely butt
and did my second day of Whittle my middle (still in tons of soreness)
How do you deal with Anxiety if you have it? 
I could use some new tips, as I am stuck at the back of the class for good!!
Ok onto the fun stuff!!
I’ve had some tasty (and not so tasty) eats from the past 2 days!
A little love mix (aka Ninja mix)

 

A also created these little monsters!
Apple pie wrapped in egg roll wrappers
I sautéed apples with cinnamon and Xagave

Then added some walnuts and dried apricots

Then wrapped, rolled and baked!

The result…  tasty insides,  not so tasty outside!  

 

They were pretty good slathered in almond butter, but I wouldn’t make again!
Then for last night I made ground turkey CHILLI
(thanks to your ideas) and Cornbread!

If you need a recipe for yummy cornbread, just ask… this one is fantastic!
This morning I was so nervous I knew I needed something filling and delicious so I turned to my good friend Qunioa.

I love this stuff!!  I topped it with chia seeds, dried cranberries and Xgave, which was a free sample (thank you) – I love it, would buy again for sure!
 Go visit their website and order (me)some! hehe 
Last but not least… I had some left over chilli topped with avocado and corn bread… sooo good

Dave and I watched FOOD INC last night, I highly recommend it

Lots of stuff stood out to me,
but the biggest thing (that I will leave you with)

“Every time you grocery shop, you are voting for what you would like to see more of in the store” 

So I challenge you to think about that the next few times you go grocery shopping!

love love love

Jess

Two stars and a wish!

Another day almost gone!! It's been a productive day!!

I got pretty much everything on my to do list done!! Lance is feeling better yay!! I had fun in the garden today, I didn't realize how many green tomatoes I had left. I put a plea out on facebook to see who wanted some, when my friend Eric (who is an amazing chef) said he did, I had to find out what their future looked like... "Fried green tomatoes, chutney and something else I can't remember" Well that was it, I decided to make fried green tomatoes for the first time ever. At first bite I didn't like it AT ALL! But after that I really started enjoying them and that was it, I was a happy camper!

Then I was off to the police station to get my criminal record check done! I figured it was my last easy step for my application - NOPE... because I lived in Alberta I have to submit my Alberta check first before they will issue my BC one!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Now my criminal record check will cost almost $100 EEK...

Then I got "the" phone call ... your EI claim has still not been processed... this is week 8. :) Which also means I cannot move forward with my school application yet either... *sigh*

So then I decided I needed salt and chocolate to make myself feel much better... so I made a bowl of popcorn with hot sauce and earth balance vegan butter (that is delicious FYI, I highly recommend it, even for dairy lovers, it's healthier than margarine and butter!! ... and some dark chocolate (dairy free thank the lord, I miss chocolate) from rocky mountain chocolate YUM ...

After all that snacking today, I moved onto dinner which was my lentil soup from yesterday and 2 pieces of toast with Earth Balance butter! How can you tell Dave isn't home.. haha... NO MEAT in this meal... or in the whole day for that matter! Don't get me wrong I could never be a veggie or a vegan, but I enjoy meat free meals!!

As for the title of my post... I have used 2 stars and a wish forever with kids I work with, and my mom and I do it every night through email (which I love) ...

You have to state 2 good things that happened in your day and a wish for tomorrow... Here are mine;
*The sun was shinning and it was a beautiful day.
* I got lots done which included moving my treadmill into my house (you would have laughed... )

Wish - that I can go for a lonnnnnnnng walk tomorrow and tomorrow is the day they are supposed to approve my EI so here's hopin....

What are your 2* and a wish?

Anyways, I decided to have my very own girls night... well girl night... time to get extra beautiful. I will write about my fantastic all natural products I use for this!!!

Speaking of beautiful you HAVE to check out this blog and get on posting stuff everywhere you go!! OPERATION BEAUTIFUL

Sweet dreams and remember you are beautiful just the way you are... now believe it!!
xo