Year of the Book Quest Update

I've finally accepted the fact that I'm a serial book purchaser. Uuugghhh. I know, I know. There could be serial habits that are a lot worse, but dang! Book buying can be expensive and take up some room. I have a Nook, but I'm a BIG fan of the real thing. There is just something about holding a real book in my hands, turning the pages...shoot! I even love the smell. I get excited just walking into a book store. Seriously, it's a problem.

Now that I've admitted my addiction, here is my Epic Book Quest Update! I want 50 this year, and I'm a bit behind. Eek! I need to step my book reading game up, and step my book buying game down:

1. Bubbly on Your Budget by Marjorie Hillis
Enjoy life! Find a way to make it work.

2. Savvy Chic: The Art of More for Less by Anna Johnson
Simple/easy ways to enjoy life with very little...get creative and personable.

3. I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
Great read. Consciously spend/save. Ramit Sethi laid out an easy and simple framework to automate funds, invest, and enjoy your money the way that you want to.

4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Interesting to read from the perspective of someone with autism.

5. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Learn to recognize what your brain/unconscious mind is telling you...and LISTEN.


6. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this. Although I do wish it ended a bit differently, it did end exactly the way it should have...a cheerful yet melancholy ending.


7. How to Raise a Healthy Child...In Spite of Your Doctor by Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D.
Great read with lots of information. It reinforced my intuition that I can take care of my child much better than a doctor can in many instances. Stay out of hospitals as much as possible. Trust your gut. Sometimes, all the baby needs is breast milk, sunshine, rest, and lots of love :D


8. Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten by David Perlmutter, M.D.
Talk to your child. Take him outside. Involve your child. Try new things. Don't sit in front of the TV all day. Eat healthy and have fun with your little ones. 

9. The Cosmic Power Within You by Joseph Murphy
You are exactly what you think.


10. Inferno by Dave Brown
Interesting take on what humans are doing to the planet just by procreating.


11. The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner
Very inspiring! Working hard, a willingness/desire/fervor to learn and help those that also show those traits is one of the great keys to success.


12. Aleph by Paulo Coelho
Lots of spiritual/mystical references. Not as good as the Alchemist which I LOVED. I found myself irritated by things happening in the book. It ended up being a disappointment, too boring, and weirdly stressed me out. What the heck?


13. The 5 Love Languages by Gary D. Chapman
Wonderful!! So many great ideas to enhance the relationships in your life, not just the relationship with your spouse or significant other.


14. Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey
 Informative, quick, easy read that reminded me that I need to tithe again and give my time more often. Also, there is no point in getting a mortgage and/or buying a tone of unnecessary crap that society deems as necessary. This was very refreshing. I personally loved the ideas, but I know a lot of people could see it as a "radical" or impractical take on finance.


15. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Really enjoyed this! I was surprised by the slew of adult themes. I definitely did not expect the twist at the end. I won't spoil it, but DANG. That was a shocker.

16. Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis
Wheat effs you up! Schizophrenia?! Alzheimers?! AHHH!


17. Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
WOW. I definitely do NOT want to lose my mind, ever. Let's be honest, who really wants to lose their mind? But seriously, after reading her story, I just wonder how many other people have had this and gone on undiagnosed left to forever rot in an asylum or on the streets? Sounds awful.


18. The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father...and Finding the Zodiac Killer by Gary L. Stewart
So creepy! It's gotta be him! I'm glad my dad is awesome and not a serial killer. 

Books that I need to finish:

1. Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Catherine  Shanahan

2. The Power of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

3. The Cosmic Power Within You by Joseph Murphy

4. America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

5. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

6. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

7. The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner

8. Stuck: Why We Can't (or Won't) Move On by Anneli Rufus

4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Marting

5. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
11. Dracula by Bram Stoker
6. They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball
7. Brave Girl Eating by Harriet Brown
8. The Little Prince
9. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

The books that are lined through above have either been finished, or I've just come to the realization that I will likely never finish them. Feels good to let 'em gooooo. 

What books are you reading? Any must reads I should add to my quest? I'd love to hear!

I Quit Sugar and Gluten for a Week

A week of no sugar and no wheat/gluten...and I've lost 6 pounds!!!! Okay, okay, I didn't lose it in a week (more like a month and a half), but I'm feeling great! I used to never think I had much of a sweet tooth, but today I decided to splurge and make myself some homemade Nutella from Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar. Oh my gosh, it was AWESOME. Then I decided to get a little frisky and make some mini cakes. All I did was add three eggs and popped it in the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes. I let them cool and voila! Topped with some coconut cream and frozen blueberries. So, I took some bites, and it was GREAT. I took a few more bites and started to feel sick. What the heck?! As I type this, I still have more than half of it in a bowl staring at me, and I am way over it. This is mind blowing for me because I have always been one to finish everything in front of me as well as whatever is on my hubb'z plate. Ever since I can remember, I have always basically been, the garbage disposal of the family. Not the most elegant job description, but whatevs...I have no shame.

Anyway, that's what is so crazy about this! I have always had what I thought to be an insatiable appetite. Now that I've done a week without gluten and especially sugar, taking those bites from an "I Quit Sugar" recipe showed me that my palate is changing and, consequently, the mind/body connection with my appetite. So exciting!!! There is even a somewhat bitter taste left over. I'm going to have to do some major oil pulling to get that leftover sugary taste out of my mouth.

The whole reason I made this dessert thing in the first place was because my birthday was coming up ...woohoo! I wanted to enjoy a piece or two of cake, and I didn't want it to be filled with a bunch of nastiness so I tried this little recipe out. Oh and ALSO...I decided to try an all-fruit fruit roll up copy cat thing. It was preeetttyyyy gross, so I spit it out. AGAIN, I didn't finish it. Is this a new grown up chapter in my life? Yay!!

Anyway, I'm so excited about this and had to share. Has anyone else tried quitting sugar? I'd love to hear your experiences!

Feeling Pretty…Pretty Dumpy

I've always been pretty athletic. I started running in 3rd grade because my much older sister was a national high school track and cross-country champion. Being 8 years old and believing that anything is possible and easy, I just knew that I would someday be a national champion as well. In fact, I would be so good that I would break ALL of her records, including a 4:43 1600m time…HA. Well, I got older, and that didn't happen. While I was very promising for my age, I never got to that point. I think my best was like 5:15 or something, if that. Then, running put a bitter taste in my mouth during high school, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

Fast forward a couple years, and I started running again. It was something that I thought I would never be able to be really good at again unless I had a coach. Instead, I pressed on without a coach and finished my first marathon. Then came my true love: CrossFit. After CrossFitting for about a year, I ran my second marathon and lowered my time by 90 minutes (yes, NINETY minutes, as in, an hour and a half). 

That second marathon was incredible. I finished it in 4:23 and was absolutely blown away. The day after, I was able to walk and carry on with my life unlike the first marathon where I was essentially an invalid for about 5 days. I hardly even "trained" for this one in the typical running sense. The most I had run was 6 miles, and I had done that MAYBE 3 times…maybe. Instead, I was doing a lot of heavy lifting, HIIT, some sprints, and eating pretty hardcore Paleo. Oh, and did I mention my SIX PACK? It was glorious, just glorious. I continued doing some 10ks and half marathons sprinkled here and there. 

Now here I am 7 months after giving birth, and my mommy brain can't do simple math (or doesn't want to) to tell me how long it has been since my bod felt it was in its athletic prime. I just finished a fitness test for my job and was still able to score a 96.9% which is no easy feat. I should be proud, excited, happy, and yet, I am none of these things. For the first time in the last 5 years, that test was HAAAARRD. The one aspect that I wasn't worried about--the run--was the absolute worst part of it, to the point where my teeth hurt afterwards. Ugh. 

I look in the mirror, and I try to keep it positive, but, damn  you Instagram, WHY-OH-WHY do I always stumble across the moms who are showing off their righteous bods 2 hours after giving birth. Oh yeah, and by the way, they have zero stretch marks even though they gained 60lbs during the 9 or 10 month long process. What the EFF? Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that gained the weight, got tons of stretch marks, and lost a significant part of my hairline (side note: my hairline is filling in quite nicely…thank goodness! I was beginning to worry that I would start to bald before my husband did). 

These super moms, are super everything. Super hot, super blond, super fit, super sexy, super booby, super perfect makeup, super freezer meals, super cloth diapering, super Imawesomeandmakeitlooksoeasyandmyvaginadidnttearandimhavingabunchofsexandmybabyis2monthsandcanspeakSpanish. STOP THE MADNESS.

It's a struggle every day to look in the mirror and see that my once flat stomach now has strange humps in it and the skin looks kind of like fried chicken skin when I smoosh it together. Ultimately, I know that while some days I feel like a total disaster, I'm doing the best I can, and you know what? I'm a great mom. No, I'm an amazing mom. I work full-time, I've been able to exclusively breastfeed (obviously, you are still great mom if you needed to supplement. No judgement here), and my son is amazing! I'm doing great...even though I feel like a crap a lot of the time. 

The Year of the Book Quest

By the end of 2014, I will have reached my goal of reading 30 books in a year. Actually, it will be less than a year because I started this journey in early March. The books I have read so far are as follows:

1. Bubbly on Your Budget by Marjorie Hillis

2. Savvy Chic: The Art of More for Less by Anna Johnson

3. I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

5. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Books that I need to finish:

1. Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Catherine  Shanahan

2. The Power of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

3. The Cosmic Power Within You by Joseph Murphy

4. America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

5. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

6. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

7. The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner

8. Stuck: Why We Can't (or Won't) Move On by Anneli Rufus

9. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Marting

10. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
11. Dracula by Bram Stoker
12. 

To be fair, I have started all of the books mentioned and, as I stated, need to finish them. All are way less than halfway finished. What can I say, I love reading, and when Amazon can fulfill my addiction, I tend to get a little carried away. 

While I do have a young son that will be turning a whopping 7 months soon (holy crap!!), somehow I still get time to read here and there. I owe that in part to my amazing husband, my pumping breaks at work, and choosing to not watch as much TV. When I do watch TV, I'm trying to watch it while on the rebounder, although I'm not always quite so successful in that respect.

This "book quest" came to me after I read an article about some amazing CEO that stated she tries to read 100 books a year and is usually quite successful. ONE HUNDRED BOOKS IN A YEAR?!…..as a CEO?! I figured that although I'm a mom and in a full-time job, I'm definitely not as busy the CEO of a multi-million (or billion?) dollar company, so I'm more than capable of reaching my measly goal of 30 books. In fact, I'm going to sweeten the deal. I'm going to make my goal 50 books. It's still attainable yet slightly more daunting than 30. That would mean that I need to read approximately 5.5 books a month. I've got this. 

My Hair is Detoxing

A few weeks ago, I finally made a long-awaited purchase that I had been putting off until I had my debt paid off. I finally, finally, FINALLY bought myself the Healthy Hair Starter Package  from Morrocco Method. Many of my favorite bloggers had recommended this brand for a long time, and I was itching to get my hands on it. Rather than do the impulse buy of years past, I waited and salivated over it for MONTHS.THen the day finally came for me to make my big buy. Victory.

As I anticipated the arrival of my hair package, I eagerly devoured all the videos of the crunchy-granola Master Hair Shaman, a.k.a., Anthony Morrocco. Although the videos were kind of weird and poorly produced, the information he shared made sense and was really useful. I learned that I was brushing my hair incorrectly, so I changed that right away. Just from brushing my hair differently, I noticed a huge difference in my overall hair health and my scalp. After giving birth, my skin, scalp, and hair (among other things) freaked out on me, and I found myself with a GORGEOUS receding hairline, a sexy dusting of flakes, and strange rough patches all of over my face. So, when I changed up one aspect of my routine (brushing my hair differently) and noticed that my flakes were almost completely gone and my hair was shinier, smoother, and felt thicker…I couldn't help but get even more excited for UPS to knock on my door. 

A week or so later, my package arrived!!!!! I immediately started watching all the videos again, looking up other blogs that had used the products, pulled out the head massager they sent me, and went to town on my scalp for about 30 minutes. It was heaven. 

Then I drew a nice bath, (sorry, Californians! I hope that drought ends soon!) and tried the apple cider vinegar shampoo first. It was a little strange because it didn't lather and was a bit like the consistency of mud, but I didn't mind that because I had tried no-poo, Wen, knock-off Wen, and other low/no-sudsing shampoos. Once I was done, my hair felt decent as though it didn't feel fully clean. I wasn't too worried though, because I figured this could be part of the detox process and that the shampoo wasn't going to strip away all the natural oils in my scalp like other shampoos did. Once my hair was dry, I did the Morrocco Method of brushing and noticed some white-ish, chalky looking stuff on my brush. The second time I washed y hair (maybe a week later), my hair felt even cleaner and looked much healthier, and there was even MORE chalky/white stuff on my brush….

After some more time spent perusing the Internets (or was it the FAQs section of Morrocco Method?), I found that my hair was indeed detoxing and that white stuff was most likely plastics or waxes that my hair was releasing from all the years of using conventional shampoos. So cool! While the detox process may take up to two months, I'm in it for the long haul. Even amidst the detoxing, my hair looks and feels better every day, and it's great to know that I'm using a product that is good for me and safe for the planet. Yay! On top of that, my hair can actually smell NICE like a normal person rather than some homeless guy on the street. I'm over the moon that I got my order, and I can't wait to see what my hair is going to be like when I'm finally done detoxing.

An Anecdote on Oil Pulling

Last week Facebook was suddenly overloaded with a link to a blog talking about oil pulling and all the great benefits. It was a picture with someone holding a teaspoon of coconut oil and saying something like, "WTF is oil pulling + Why I'm hooked" and then listing some of the benefits. In fact, here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.fashionlush.com/wtf-is-oil-pulling-why-im-hooked/

A bunch of people were both freaked out and excited about it. Since I have been doing it off and on for about 2 years and regularly for 3 months, I got so excited to tell my friends that it is, in fact, AMAZING!! I don't know about ALL the benefits that people usually claim (e.g., draws toxins out of your body, relieves headaches & hangovers, helps you sleep better, etc.). I'm no scientist, so while I can't claim all of these miraculous results, I can tell you what it has done for you.

I started doing it regularly for a month before I had my first (dreaded) dental appointment since I had been pregnant. It had been almost two years in fact. When your pregnant, you are more likely to get cavities because your sending a bunch of vitamins and minerals to the little peanut growing inside you which can take away from the  vitamins and minerals that are usually meant to strengthen your tooth enamel. On top of that, many pregnant women tend to get really relaxed when it comes to the food they eat. Before I got pregnant, I was pretty strict paleo. Once I got pregnant, I eased up on the rules. I had wheat & ice cream (not regularly, of course) and was addicted to chips, stove-popped popcorn with coconut oil, watermelon, and white rice. Obviously, this diet was not exactly a teeth-strengthening regimen. In addition to that, I religiously took my fermented cod liver oil/high vitamin butter blend, chlorophyll, awesome probiotics, and magnesium. Supplements don't outweigh a bad diet, but I tried to get some of what I was missing in my diet for a few months (I went back to 80% Paleo later on in pregnancy).

So…after a month of oil-pulling everyday, as many as three times a day, I begrudgingly went to appointment. It's important to note that at the beginning of the month I had a very sensitive spot in the top back right molars. It was sensitive enough that I had to be careful when I drank certain things and my teeth ACHED when I would try to run or would move/shake my head a certain way. I had never before felt this, so I was extremely paranoid. I went over all the possible things I could say to my dentist about putting off getting my cavities filled.

As I laid down on the table and prepared myself for the worst x-rays and cleaning of my life, I was blown away when--after the X-rays showed no cavities--the hygienist kept commenting on how white my teeth are. She also told me that she could tell I was doing a great job with my flossing. Little did she know, I rarely ever floss. As she continued to check my teeth stating the little numbers when testing my gums--or rather, the pockets in my gums (0 is perfect, 4 & 5 are horrible and mean that you have to go to a specialist)--she reported that I had mostly 0s and 1s and only one 2! The last time I had this done I had one 1 and the rest were 2s (who's on first?). My entire cleaning ended up being around 5 or 6 minutes tops. Again, this was all after a pretty terrible diet, at least 1 year after my last cleaning, less/nonexistent flossing, taking some supplements, and oil pulling regularly for only ONE MONTH. I am not exaggerating when I say it was the BEST DENTAL APPOINTMENT EVER!!!! After my cleaning, I shared with the hygienist what I had been doing, and she was completely shocked and didn't believe me. I finally convinced her to try it, so I wonder how it's been for her now.

To recap, the benefits that I have gotten: healthier gums, whiter teeth, fresher breath, CLEANER teeth at the end of the day (I never have that hairy/fuzzy feeling at the end of the day), and…I've even had the dreaded and disgusting tonsil stones come out during an oil pulling sesh (one of the most disgusting things EVER). Better out than in, right? Since tonsil stones are obviously in the tonsils which are in the sinus network, I think oil pulling does help clear your sinuses, however I don't have actual "proof" other than the occasional nasal drip in the back of my throat while oil pulling.

That has been my experience with it. All in all, I think it's awesome. I've gotten some of my friends and family members to do it too, so hopefully with the recent attention from the blogpost on Fashion Lush, more people will start doing it too and will in turn be more open to the possibility of healing the mouth holistically (AND economically!).

ProcrastiNation

Man, oh, man, do I know how to procrastinate!

Why is it that I always wait until the last minute? Honestly, I do this in practically every single area of my life. WHYYYYYY???

Obviously, there is some major psychology behind it, and I have yet to figure it out. Rather than look it up today, I'll just check it out tomorrow. And when I say tomorrow, I mean six months from now when I'm forced to look it up because I'll be taking some psych class…or something.

Future goals, as in within the next 2 months, are as follows:

1. Apply to a college (once we find out where we are moving to…come on Oregon/Washington/Colorado!)
2. Finish Dream Job (I am way, way, WAYYYY behind on that)
3. Teach my son a few words to sign (which means that I need to teach myself those few words, too. Looks like I'll be headed to the library to find some ASL baby books)
4. Meal plan and follow through with the meal plan (this one is a toughie--I love to eat Paleo/Primal, but I also don't like to food prep. Time to change my frame of mind and start LOVING food prep)
5. Practice yoga/meditate regularly (5x a week)

Now for the things that I have been getting done on a regular basis and/or accomplished:

1. Paid off ALL my debt (over $10,000 worth!). I never knew zeros could be so beautiful.
2. Working out pretty consistently (at least 3-4x a week). Ballet Beautiful on Amazon Prime is absurdly hard. I see you, Mary Helen Bowers!
3. Doing tons of mystery shopping. I've made about an extra $100+ a month doing really easy stuff. For anyone looking to make some extra cash, this is one of my favorite ways.
4. Reading almost every day. Even if it's just a few minutes, it's been great.

Now all we're waiting on is if we get the word to move out to Oregon, or rather, anywhere out west. It's been real, East Coast, but I'm ready to move west.