My mom's transformation!
Mamma Mia! my beautiful mom went through some years of completely neglecting her health and beauty. She justified it by thinking it was an unselfish "sacrifice" so she could focus on the family. But really when God started to wake her up to the fact that she could be free to enjoy learning about health and beauty and take time for herself- she served the family FAR better by her example than by "denying herself for us".
Here is my mom, Rozanne, in her twenties: What a hottie!
Here is Rozanne as she started to have 3 girls, taking care of her mentally handicapped brother, and being a dutiful wife- with no parents or family on her side to support her.
This is her in 2009 on a family vacation. She is still pretty but doesn't have the healthy glow and has gained weight over the years. She is supporting all of our dreams but not expressing herself. She loves to learn and teach (she was a teacher) and gets into Christian spiritual books and teachers but hasn't found that thing that really ignites her passion.
Around 2011, my sister started praying for my mom and dads health. At this same time my mom stumbled across some youtube videos from a fun, charismatic, down to earth health teacher named Dan the Life Regenerator. She started to find joy in eating whole raw food, juicing, learning and discussing health combined with the spiritual mindfulness all of this was bringing about in her. She had fun with it- we went to raw food restaurants, she went to conventions, natural food stores and gained a lot more confidence in her body and self. I've noticed she worries less and enjoys the present much more. She is passionate about sharing what she's learning and enjoys connecting with other like-minded people. I caught her passion and have started making my own changes. Now I have a passion to share the health message with Christians who sadly seem to neglect their bodies and fail to do what's best for the holy temples God gave us to dwell in.
Here she is today at 63, after losing 25 lbs (and she is still on her way down) and finding health and vitality the natural way!
Saving Your Face with this simple 2 ingredient recipe!
Girls, guys, whoever- I found something that really works for my skin. It's called Oil Cleansing.
Sounds weird to cleanse with oil but here is why it works.
In the past I've used soap to clean my skin, then it gets dry and overcompensates by producing more oil, the pores get clogged and I end up with black heads and pimples. With oil cleansing, the theory is "like dissolves like". Oil dissolves oil without stripping the skin. I started doing this about a month ago and my skin is more glowing and clear than it's ever been plus this will help prevent wrinkles because the skin is never dried or treated with harsh chemicals. God knows about beauty! With this simple all natural method, you can have glowing skin in no time.
Check out this website that explains it better
Principle of Natural Beauty: If you can't consume it, don't put it on your skin which is the largest organ of your body
Simplify. And Have fun.
I will admit it's fun to look at all the products with fancy ingredients I can't even read, glossy packaging and high prices. I love going to Nordstrom and Sephora and trying all the makeup, lotions and perfumes! BUT it makes sense that if you can't eat it and put it in your body, why would we injest it through our skin? Ditch the million different chemical products or "natural" products that come with a high price and replace them with the tried and true stuff that have proven to work for thousands of years.
For Body/Face Soap: oil cleansing and simple Castile soap like Dr. Bronners
For Cleaning products: Castile soap, baking soda, lemon and vinegar can clean just about anything- and you won't have to inhale those really harsh toxic chemicals, or support that they are being made and hurting our environment.
For lotion, moisturizer: a tiny bit of Vitamin E oil or olive oil really does the trick better than thick, chemically made creams. Add some scented oils like lavender, eucalyptus or rose to make them smell amazing.
Best face and hair mask ever: This recipe is good to eat, put on your face and your hair! It leaves your hair super shiny and moisturized. Smash an avocado and mix with olive oil and apple cider vinegar- liberally apply everywhere and then wash it off.
The cheapest shampoo: Baking soda and water paste. Put it in your hair and rinse it out.
Perfume: natural oils, they smell great and you can inhale them without wondering about the chemicals. I have a little roll on oil of frankincense in my purse and I love putting it on throughout the day. I also keep perfume samples in my purse (yes even chemical ones) because I just love good smells.
Natural Chai, Vanilla, Cinnamon Body Scrub: I give this out as a gift in little mason jars. My friends have loved it! All you do is combine olive oil, course raw brown sugar, chai tea (I open a chai tea bag), vanilla extract, cinnamon (anti-bacterial), and mix it up! I don't do specific amounts, just play with it and see what amounts you like. Scrub your body with it in the shower and your skin will feel super smooth and moisturized!
Honey Wash: it is what it sounds like! Wash your face and hair with honey- it dissenfects and moisturizes. It's also surprisingly water soluble so it's not the sticky hassle you might think it is.
Buttermilk Bath: Put some Buttermilk in your bath, a good amount and soak. The lactic acid naturally helps dissolve dead skin leaves you glowing.
There are different levels of getting into this whole "natural" thing- some people only do cold-pressed organic oils, some only get organic food, raw honey etc... I say just start with what you can do and if you want to advance that's great. Have fun with it. There is no wrong way.
Girls, I've learned to not work on yourself just for the end result, enjoy the process and the time to be good to yourself. Light candles, put on relaxing music, think of all the things you are grateful for and thank your body for how it serves you so faithfully. Instead of beating your body up and hating it for it's flaws, be kind to yourself and appreciate the awesome beauty that God made you. When you love yourself well and see the good, you can love others well and see the good in them.
I will admit- I've tried all of this and LOVE IT. But I'm still a sucker for some of my favorite perfumes and hair products. But it's all about making small changes and enjoying the process of learning about new ways of thinking and doing beauty! I enjoy making my own products and seeing how well they work! Just start this journey of discovery and see how much cool info is out there.
POWER POSING AND PRAISE!
This awesome TED talk shows us that God is a genius! That's what I took away from it at least. When we praise, with our arms reaching toward heaven like the Bible tells us to- all sorts of things happen within us. We gain confidence, can handle stress better, and much more... Check out this interesting video and get your pose on!
TOUCHING THE EARTH.
A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child?. . . .
I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful
green stuff woven.
Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we
may see and remark, and say Whose?
Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .
the produced babe of the vegetation.... -Walt Whitman
Springtime is here. I'm enjoying my front lawn. Avoiding pollen with a surgical mask. These are shots from my front yard "photo shoot".
I'll admit I'm part of the system.
but little by little at least I'm realizing it.
at least I'm trying to get out.
Lies I'm waking up from about living:
-I need to wear makeup to appear attractive
-I need to aspire to achieve the unattainable images I see on magazine covers
-I have no idea where the food I eat comes from and I don't need to care or have any participation in it
-I can use any chemicals that are sold at the store
-I need to wear different clothes and shoes all the time to be relevant and accepted
-I can spend money I don't have on things I don't need to impress people I don't like
-if I have more money it's ok to spend more money even though I'd always got along just fine with less
-it's normal to take out huge house loans, car loans, use credit cards and then manage the stress
-it's normal to eat mostly cooked, processed food, it's normal to eat meat and dairy full of hormones and antibiotics
-if it's approved by the FDA then it's approved by me, if it's sold by someone it must be ok to buy
Those are just some things- but I'm slowly becoming more aware and trying to change.
I don't want to live my life by "should's" and "should'nts"
It's all a happy distraction, because what would happen if we didn't have stores to go buy things that we can't really afford and don't really need? Food that is no longer fuel for life but filler for... fill time... fill loneliness, fill boredom? What if we just had time to be? That would be scary for about 99% of us. Just being with people, being with family, being alone and un-entertained is not normal for us.
There is an abundance of proof around the world right now that the simple life may just be the happiest life. I've seen it myself. In Haiti for example, I met really happy people that had literally nothing. They had each other. They had family and friendships. We would play cards together, eat together, go to church together and sing together at night after working hard together all day.
I want to try to spend my time on that- together. Not gathering a mass of the finest inanimate objects.
I want to change and that's what life is about. So here I go.
My Planet Raw Adventure
My mom started watching youtube videos about eating raw, juicing, etc... a few months ago. This kick that she was on has begun a new way of thinking and eating for our family. She's been making green juice that is actually really good and today we went to Planet Raw in Santa Monica for our first all raw 3 course meal. We had spicy egg rolls with peanut sauce, pastas made from zucchini and kelp with a "cheese" garlic sauce and tiramisu cheesecake and "coffee" with nut milk. The idea of Planet Raw is really beginner raw foodie friendly- they try to mimick food we all know and love in an uncooked vegan way. I'm honestly telling you this food was better than the original cooked versions I'm used too. We saw chef Juliano who started Planet Raw and wrote the "Uncook book" which I got my mom for Christmas.
If you want to stumble into a rabbit hole of health youtube some of our favorite health guru's
-Dr. Gabriel Cousens
-Dan the "Life Regenerator"
and my favorite, a Messianic Jewish teacher named Paul Nison.
My Red Room
All the furniture in my room cost about $200. I have a little secret I like to call GoodWill and glossy spray paint. I bought my bookshelf and huge wood desk there for $30. A roommate left her old dresser behind and I sprayed painted it with shiny black paint and added cute mismatched knobs from World Market. For wall art I bought frames of all sizes and painted them red, kept just the frame with no glass or back and then wrapped them in twine for an artistic flair and hung them. My bedskirt is just Indian scarves I got at a Value Village. I use scarves to decorate my merchandise table too. I can't stand bad lighting so I love to use lamps- my favorite lamp sits on my night stand. It's robin's egg blue and has three levels of brightness that change when you touch it- I got it from Good Will when I first moved to Nashville.
Nice things are nice whether you find them at Pottery Barn or Good Will, but
nothing beats the feeling of salvaging something and making it your own.
Put a little work into it and you'll love it all the more.
TABLE GARDENS
I saw this the other day in the furniture store West Elm. I thought having a garden made of glass jars with desert plants in each looked magical. It also looks very do-able. All you'll need is some different size glass bowls, jars and cylinders which you can find at Michaels or even Good Will and some plants that are pretty durable. To get even more creative you can use different color glass or stones to put inside.
Can't wait to do this!
MY "LIVING" WISH LIST: Not my spiritual wish list, simply where I'm literally living
hmmmm this makes me happy (picture above)
Think About It
My mom has got me hooked on these crazy youtube videos of health gurus! It's really a problem because I know they are right and I can't ignore it. Therefore, they've got me trying to be a "live food, raw, veagan"
Me? The one who loves salami and cheese almost as much as my own family!
But seriously, the truth is I see my dad and my uncle who are both suffering for the way they've eaten and it scares me. They don't want to change either because it's uncomfortable, they can live with the pain and the medication and maybe it seems impossible. But it's not impossible. We have to use our God given minds and the directions of our manual for life- the Bible- to learn what's the best way to take care of our bodies. It's not just a suggestion, it's a command and responsibility. My mom started changing because she is 62 and realized she wanted to see the other half of her life. Some people I guess don't value themselves enough to even want to have a long life- what would they do with it they wonder. And that's really sad because it means they aren't enjoying being alive enough now.
I've struggled with always feeling tired, relying on caffeine, feeling guilty about over eating and eating to numb myself and I just want to stop. I need to say "I don't know how I'm going to do this, don't think it's going to be easy or natural for me, I'm the least likely person to care about health or make the effort but I'm going to try!" And that's when we have God to take our little step and bring us further than we imagined.
Do you want to live a long time? Do you enjoy your life right now? Are you living with being a little overweight, a little tired, a little sluggish, a little embarrassed? Then change. Inch by inch, step by step, failure by failure. If you can't do it, who can? Value yourself.
Get a vision in your mind of who you want to be. For example: I see myself waking up early, eating raw fruits and vegetables, taking natural supplements, stretching and doing outdoor exercise, not relying on or getting so much pleasure from food, having a calm mind and a pain free body, having healthy skin and long healthy hair, wearing any clothes I want without feeling self conscious, my mood is stable not high and low from sugar and caffeine, I can think clearly and be more creative with more natural energy, I can live longer because my body is not being strained trying to deal with so much excess food and weight. I'm respecting myself, others, animals, the environment and God by being mindful of what I eat, where it comes from and how much of it I need for optimal nutrition and health.
I know it's hard- especially if you're family complains or thinks you're crazy. But it's your life and you've got to take care of you before you take care of them. If you don't take care of you, you won't be around to take care of them. Look into the raw veagan life style. We were not meant to eat meats, dairy and grains- this is so hard for the body to process- actually taking more of our life force and energy than it gives. The fear that we won't get enough protein or calcium is pure propaganda so we keep buying. When we cook food the whole structure changes and loses all of it's fiber, minerals and nutrients. It becomes unhelpful filler in our stomachs.
Bottom line: Don't listen to anyone, even what I'm saying, you find out for yourself. Use your brain. Think about it. It's step by step, yes by yes, day by day. Look today I had a burger and I don't feel bad about it because I'm making progress- at least it was organic, grass fed beef and everything else I ate today was raw. Just start and do what you can.
My friends and I found these old windows down the street from my house. We turned some of them into tables and actually sold a few! I have some of the windows sitting on my bathtub in my bathroom and in my bedroom because to me the chipped paint and old feel of them adds character to an otherwise really simple place.
I love these cowboy boots, I stole them from my sister. She is an entrepreneur and has created a lot of successful little businesses to make money. One of them was looking for cheap but cool boots at places like GoodWill and selling them on ebay. I've been the lucky test bunny for many of her ideas.
This is sunset at the Carnton Plantation in Franklin TN. There was a wedding going on and I was wondering off on my own taking pictures.
TN is beautiful in Spring. The park near my house has a huge replica of the Parthenon in Greece (they call Nashville the Athens of the South because of all the Universities, museums and culture) and the tulips there are unreal. The downside is allergies are terrible in Nashville because it's like a bowl that collects all the pollen... but I still love it... especially Spring thunder showers in the middle of the day.
Beautiful Posture
I’ve been thinking a lot about my stance lately. Not my physical stance, that I do think about (I have known for years that I rarely stand or sit up straight and I hate it), but about the stance that my mind and heart function and operate out of.
I have to ask myself- Does my hearts stance resemble my body’s- taking the path of least resistance? Is my stance one that is graceful or sluggish and non compliant?
My physical posture is completely under my control although most of the time I let it slip and slump- my hearts posture is completely under my control though I let it slip and slump.
I used to be a ballerina or at least I took ballet and was really serious about it. I loved how it trained me to have beautiful upright posture, how to hold myself. I didn’t really even get to the tricky stuff- most of my ballet training was on simply standing or doing the smallest things with the right posture. And by just holding my body correctly I developed such strong muscles.
It’s the same with the training of my heart. I may not be able to do huge works, big elaborate works with the right heart yet. But God is training me just to hold the right heart, learn the right posture. When 1st position is solid I can carry that into the beautiful elaborate turns, jumps, spins and lifts.
That’s what I desire. Like any women I want to be beautiful and graceful not slumpy and clumsy. It’s starts by training my heart to hold that first position. Grateful not entitled. Open not closed. Upright not lazy. Sharp and pointed not dull and lethargic.
The word of God sharpens, but only if I choose to apply it. It all comes down to training and choice. It’s always been about choice. Choose this day the discipline of beautiful posture.
