I Gardened Today!

Loosing the soil to pull up all the weeds.

Taking ash leftover from the fireplace. . .

And taking Organic Blood Meal. . . 

Mixing it together. . .

And spreading it onto the garden soil.

Then taking this. . .

Spreading it onto the garden soil. . .

And raking it in to mix with the garden soil. 

Now it's time to plant the tomatoes! 

Ta da!!!! :-D

Recap: The First Week of May

     Hello everyone! Can you believe it?! The first week of May had already flown by and Summer is just around the corner! I've been very busy this past week and I just feel so excited for whatever may await me in the coming months.
     
     Let's start with last Sunday. I spent a good part of the day doing my laundry and some CSNN homework before going with my mom into Atlanta later in the afternoon. She had some errands to run and dropped me off at Perimeter Mall where my favorite clothes store, Anthropologie, is located. I rarely ever buy anything in the store due to the price, but I love to look and take pictures of stuff I like with my camera!

     This time I did actually buy something because I needed a new pair of shorts. I would have bought a pair somewhere else less expensive, but all the other shops I looked in were selling those super short shorts and I hate those. Anthropologie had a much more modest and comfortable selection of shorts. 

I ended up purchasing these. . .

         

     

     Also pictured above is my favorite "spread the word" t-shirt. When I originally purchased it, all it said was, "Start a Resolution" below the recycle symbol. I thought that this was to vague and decided to take a black sharpie to the shirt to write down my resolutions:

"Know your creator!"

"Eat fruit and be raw!

"Drink Water!"

"Sleep long and well!"

"Get sunshine and fresh air!"

 "Be active!"

"Never stop learning!"

     Elsewhere in the mall, I visited a cookware/diningware shop and admired the lovely selection of bamboo and scrapwood bowls, plates, silverware, cutting board, ect. there were. Whenever I have a place of my own I would like to have kitvhenware like this, because it is made out of reusable material.

     The last place I visited was across the street from the mall, Barnes & Noble. Ever since I learned to read at 4 years old I have had a great love affair with books. New books, old books, I adore them all! I believe the simple pleasure of curling up with a good book and reading for hours on end will never leave me. I wasn't able to buy a new book this time around, but like always I took a picture of the ones I wanted so I woulsn't forget the author name and book title, so that next time a could purchase them.

     Skip over to Tuesday evening and my mom and I are off to the farmer's market to stock up on food. Usually we go Wednesday mornings, but we both had to much work to do around the house that needed to be done on Wednesday that we decided to go early. Sadly, for the first time in a long time, the produce was aweful. I ended up only purchasing a box of Bellize Papaya (plus two more single Papaya), a few bunches of Bananas, 3 Red Grapefruit, and a 1/2 gallon of freshly squeezed Honey Tangerine juice. That was the best I could make out with. :-(

     I was in luck though the next day when I stopped by my local Publix while I was out running some errands to see if they had anything good, and boy did they ever! I bought a couple of Pineapple, 20 Ataulfo Mangos, and a few bags of Organic Baby Spinach. Sometimes my local-everday-run-of-the-mill grocery store suprises me with tastey fruity treats! :-)

     Thursday afternoon my mom and I were on our way over to our old friend Scott's House to buy some tomato and bell pepper plants off him for our garden. While there he showed us his garden which has cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, okra, and green bean plants. He also showed us is AWESOME rain water catcher that he utilizes solely for the watering of his garden.

Plants We Bought From Scott

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 "Cherokee Purple" Tomato

"Pink Beauty" Tomato

"Goliath" Tomato

"Sun Gold" Tomato

"Lipstick" Bell Pepper

     Now, let's move onto my training for this week. Not only have I already signed up for the 2011 Georgia ING Half Marathon, I have also decided to sign up for the 13.1 Half Marathon 2010 Half Marathon happening in Atlanta by Ogelthorpe University in October. With this race about four months away I am back in training! :-D

Monday (May 3rd)

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Morning - An hour of weight and circuit training

Tuesday (March 4th)

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Morning - Swam 60 laps alternating swimming style (10 laps freestyle/10 laps backstroke/10 laps butterfly) and 2 minutes holding onto the edge of the pool and kicking my legs in the water as fast as I could (talk about muscle burn!)

Wednesday (March 5th)

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Morning - 4 mile trail run with lots of difficult hills (Pace: 6mph)

Afternoon - 40 minute walk (Pace: 4mph)

Evening - 50 crunches

Thursday (March 6th)

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Morning - 4.5 mile trail run with lots of difficult hills (Pace: 7mph)

Friday (March 7th)

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Early Morning - 40 minute walk (Pace: 3.5mph)

Late Morning/Early Afternoon - 4 mile trail run with lots of difficult hills (Pace: 7mph)

Saturday (March 8th)

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Early Morning - 5 mile trail run with lots of difficult hills (Pace: 7mph)

Afterrnoon/Late Afternoon - 10.2 miles biking (Pace: 11 to 12 mph), 2 mile road run (Pace: 6 mph), 2 mile walk (Pace: 3mph), 45 push ups, 40 dips, and 60 criss cross sit ups      19.2 miles total

Sunday (March 9th)

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Rest

A/N: 

     It has come to my attention that after I posted this blog entry that I made something a bit unlear if you will. I am a Sabbatarian Christian. This means that I believe that Yahweh made the seventh day (Saturday) as the sabbath, and therefore I observe that day as such. 

     

     In my training log I wrote that I did exercises on Saturday and rested on Sunday. While that is true, the exercises I did on Saturday I did because it was  a BEAUTIFUL day and it inspired me to go out and enjoy the beauty of creation!

     When Sunday came along, my muscles were feeling the affects of my creation enjoying antics so I didn't do any exercises that day.

Citrus, NEWSTART, and College

     Ever since my last (and my first) mini-Juice feast I've wanted to do it again. These past few months I have developed a real love of all things citrus - navels, clementines, tangerines, mandarins, valencias, grapefruit - you name the citrus and I've been eating them by the pound. So this Wednesday and Thursday I drank nothing freshly juiced Valencia Oranges, Mandarins, and Honey Tangerines. It was so sweet, so refreshing, and to top it off, the days were sunny with clear blue skies! :-)

     Yesterday, I was terribly tired physically and mentally. My energy levels were so low that I forwent any intense workout. At first I thought it was due to my being indoors for to long and I tried to remedy that by packing my studies into my backpack to walk to the library (2.6 mile walk round trip). It didn't work.

     By the time I got home I had a killer headache, my eyes were burning, I was ready to crash. I drank a big glass of water and skipped my evening juice to go to bed early. I slept from 6:50pm to 7:30am and felt much MUCH better. It was the next morning when I looked at the bags under my eyes thatI realized what had been wrong with me, I was sleep deprived! 

     For the past couple of months I have been living on 5 to 6 hours of sleep and I do believe it has finally caught up with me. I had twelve hours of sleep last night and I still feel like I need another twelve to completely recuperate. Sometimes we have to stop and revaluate what we are doing in our lives that could be harmful to our health. 

     You can eat tons of fresh raw fruits and greens, drink plenty of water, get lots of sunshine, but your health suffers because you short yourself sleep. Our bodies are strong. Our bodies can take a lot of stress so that we can get through our daily lives, but if you short yourself on something crucial to your health for to long, your body will begin to suffer the effects, and the quality of your life.

     Follow NEWSTART to the best of your ability and you your body will thank you.

• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Water
• Sleep
• Temperance
• Air
• Rest
• Trust in the Divine (in my case Yahweh)

     As for today, my mom and I took a drive to see where I will be going to college in the fall, Kennesaw State University (KSU).  We drove aroung the campus, visited the admissions office, and took a peak at the campus housing (nice!).

            

     I originally wanted to go to a University out of state (still do), but decided that since the economy is a little shaky at the moment, and my mother and brother have to stay in Georgia one more year before they can move, I decided to stay instate for now.

     My mom and I made good time getting up to KSU and had enough time to stop off at Whole Foods for lunch. I picked up a 16 oz. "Strawberry Punch" (freshly juiced strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and lemon) juice and 4 cups of chopped pineapple. 

     I also came across this little treasure and got so excited! I have been looking for something like this for ages and all of a sudden I just stumble upon it unintentionally. No longer will I have to use disposable silverware because I've got my own REUSABLE bamboo eating utensils. Woohoo!! :-D

 

I'm Back! Here's a Recap.

     Hello my wonderful readers! I am so sorry for not posting anything these past few weeks, life has been filled to the brim with exercising, studies, making plans for this summer, and deciding where to attend university in the fall. I am back now though and am loaded with things to write about. :-)


     For starters, I finally got the last of my half marathon phtotographs. I ordered the online download but there was some sort of mix up and I wasn't able to download them for a month (yikes!).

     I went with my family to climb Stone Mountain (It's 1.3 miles to get to the top). I beat all of them and made a new personal best of making it to the top in 19 minutes flat. I got to the top, had my brother take a picture when he met me up there, and then proceeded to run all the way back down! I could have done it again, but my family was tired and ready for lunch. Oh well, it was still great fun! 

     The weather in April has been gorgeous and it inspired me to do something different in my routine. With all the sun that we've been getting in my little spot of Georgia I started to really miss all the walking I used to do to get around when I was in Oxford, England last summer. Instead of getting all depressed about not being in Oxford still, instead suring these past couple of week I attempted to recreate the environment as best I could. I packed up my school books, drove into Downtown Covington, parked my car, and walked to the library to study. It's a 2.6 mile walk in total to and from the library and some days I would go twice (a 5.3 mile walk) with my 20lb. book filled back pack. What a way to exercise and get some work done, no? ;-) During my walk I took lot's of pictures of the beautiful historical neighborhood. Pure southern beauty folks!

This area is also a perfect area to go for a run in the early morning. The air is cool and crisp, the birds are singing, and the sun is just starting to brighten the dark skies.

     After much deliberation, and many sleepless nights tossing and turning, I finally decided that I will be attending Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA come this fall. My mom has to stay in Covington, GA one more school year to teach before we can move to a farm with an fruit orchard. With the economy the way it is I want to be close to my mom and my brother, seeing as they're the only real family I have. I figured that I can always transfer to another university in a year or so once I know that my family will be ok and the economy won't blow up in our faces. 

     With that being said, I am looking into things I can do this summer. One thing I have decided to do for sure,  is to sew my own summer and school clothes out of organic hemp, cotton, bamboo, and linen fabrics. Last weekend I went to Barnes & Noble and picked up a couple of books on how to design and sew clothes. My mom already knows how to sew and we have a sewing machine so I'm not doing this totally blind. LOL. Once school gets out is when we get to sewing and I can't wait! :-D

     Today I decided to borrow my brother's bike and take it to Downtown Conyers for some serious bike riding. Now, Dowtown Conyers is different than Downtown Covington because it has more side walks stretching greater distances, so this morning I was able to go far 10 mile bike ride without having to worry about running out of side walk. 

     The ride was precisely what I needed to feel energized, rejuvinated, and motivated for the rest of the day. I have to tell you, that ever since I have started to regularly exercise for long periods of time with high intesity activity I have noticed a better quality of life due to the better fitness of my body and my never ending positive/good/happy mood. I notice that whenever I don't exercise, and I mean really exercise for to long, I start to feel depressed, sluggish, and just . . . bluh!

Pictured below is me using the Nancy Gwinn Library in Dowtown Conyers restroom to get all the sweat of my face after my 10 mile bike ride (and to show off my fit body.  I worked hard for it and sometimes a girl likes to admire the fruits of her labor! LOL) I was fueled by a delicious Pineapple-Banana-Spinach smoothie (which I had another one of once I got home) as my post workout meal (also pictured below). People who think/say fruit makes you fat really need to look at the people who live off fruit, then maybe they would see that fruit is good for you, and it's the refined/processed sugar filled junk food that maked you fat!