HERE'S TO A NEW YEAR AND NEW FOCUS! 

It has been years since I have blogged and I'm hoping to get back into it again. If anything maybe it will get me back into dabbling with photography. I took this photo on a walk with my hubby and it's definitely a little blurry, but I still love it! If I would have had my tripod with me it would have been more in focus. These hands have gotten a little more shaky in my old age. I have a much better camera now and I can't wait to showcase some photos with it in the future.  

Scripture Saturday

1 Peter 4:12-13 Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. (MSG)

I LOVE this --- It is so comforting to know that God is never surprised by whatever trial I'm going through....He is very aware....He's right here with me....He's in control and He is at work behind the scenes! THAT IS JUST SO AMAZING TO ME!!!

I should be happy that I'm able to share in even the tiniest bit of suffering that Jesus went through on my behalf. Nothing I go through could even compare to what He experienced!

God is still refining me and revealing more and more of Himself to me everyday and I am so grateful!!!

FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD...Oh My!

Wow....it's been a long time since I've blogged! The past couple of years have been quite challenging, with 2 back surgeries, as well as some other health issues, so I'm afraid my blogging got pushed to the bottom of the priority list. :( so sad!

I'm sharing this trailer of the "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," documentary because I was so inspired by it! If you'd like to watch the movie go HERE or you can watch it for free on Netflix and if you have amazon prime, you can also watch it for free there. As for Hulu, I'm not sure, you'll have to check it out and see.

I'm gearing up to start the juice fast and I'm committing to 30 days (insert gasp) OK... you heard it, so now I have to stick to it, right?

Hey....who knows....maybe I'll even do it 60 days like Joe in the movie. Meee not "eat" food....whaaaa? Yep....that's right folks I'm serious about this, so it's juice time! I can do it, I can do it, I can do it... Hmmm, do ya think chanting will help? lol Yeah probably not...I think this calls for some, big time prayin'!!!

What will I be juicing, you might ask? The answer is...lot's of spinach, kale, swiss chard, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, red bell peppers, tomatoes, beets, parsley, cucumber, celery, Fennel, basil, red onion, berries, grapes, apples, oranges, lemons, lime, radishes, ginger root and even a little jalapeno. It will be fun trying juice recipes! 

I know it may not be easy, but I'm sooo ready! Ready to get my blood pressure down to normal! Ready to get my colon working normally! Ready to get rid of the severe bloating in my abdomen! Ready to not have to take meds for allergies! Ready to shed 30 pounds! And finally......READY TO FEEL GREAT! I'm sooo ready!!!


If you're interested in learning more about improving your health, and guarding against or even reversing diseases with a plant based diet, check out this trailer of Forks Over Knives.

I watched this documentary several months ago and it literally changed my whole way of thinking about food! It had such an impact on me, that I've already changed my diet drastically and I know I will be eating mostly a vegetarian/vegan diet, when I'm finished with my juicing fast. You can watch Forks Over Knives for free on Netflix!

Also, here is a video by Dr. Fuhrman that is very informative. You may recognize Dr. Fuhrman from the Dr. Oz show, he's on there quite often and he has helped many people lose weight and get healthy, with a plant based diet.

I'm so anxious to begin my Juice fast and even more anxious to feel good! I did a 2 week juice fast several years ago and not only did I lose 15 pounds, but I felt better than I've ever felt before! With that particular fast, I didn't do any fruits, just veggies and I added barley green and several herbs to my juice, which gave me lots of energy. Energy? What's that? lol I'm looking forward to feeling energetic again!

I will try to blog about my progress along the way, probably at the end of each week, but I don't know if I'll be taking pics to share....well....I'll think about it, but can't promise anything. 

Hmmm....maybe I'm a little too vain! Ya think? lol Nawww that's not it...I'm just a private person...yeah that's it! Guess I'll have to work on that!

No but seriously, I really am a private person and a little vain too. :)

How To Photograph Fireworks!

This LIVE online workshop starts tomorrow at 10:00am Pacific Time and get this.....IT'S FREE! If you've always wanted to learn how to photograph fireworks, you won't want to miss this! It's quick and easy to enroll and if you check out their calendar, you just might find some other workshops that you're interested in also.

Check out FREE: Photographing Fireworks with John Cornicello at creativeLIVE

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Pigeon Shadow!

I took this picture along the riverwalk on 1/03/11 and I just love that I captured the shadow of the pigeon in flight! (***click on the image to see a closeup view!)



I've earned $25 in Amazon Gift Cards through Swagbucks....check it out!

Have you heard about Swagbucks?  I remember hearing about it, when they first started out a few years ago and I was very skeptical and dismissed it.  I mean come on, how can you earn money just by using their search engine, really? Boy was I wrong.....you really can and it's easy to boot!  I kept seeing people post on their blogs about how they bought their christmas presents with swagbucks and I finally decided to give it a try, so I downloaded their toolbar and now when I'm on my computer searching, I am periodically awarded swagbucks. So far to date I've earned 2,378 swagbucks (*note: you will see below on my widget that I don't have that many and that's because I've redeemed 2,250 already)!  You can redeem your swagbucks for products in the swagbucks store or for gift cards and I like using mine on $5 Amazon gift cards. I now have five $5 Amazon gift cards which = $25 that I can spend whenever I want.  Cool huh? 

Here's another thing I just realized......you can earn 10 swagbucks for every coupon you print (from swagbucks website here) and redeem at your local grocery store.  This is great for me because I've just recently started couponing! woot woot

Here is a link if you'd like to check out How It Works and here is their FAQs page where you can find out more about earning and redeeming swagbucks. 

I've included the widget below for those of you who would like to sign up and start earning some free money! (just click on the sign up button in the bottom right corner of the widget)

FEATURED REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!! NICHOLE VAN’S {life as art} Workshop-In-A-Box

Hey y'all, you might want to enter this giveaway, hosted by Workshop Jungle, to win Nichole Van's {life as art} Worshop in a box! If you haven't seen her work, you'll want to hop on over and take a long peek because her photography or {art} is beautiful and I'm blown away by her creativity! Check out her blog here. 

My favorite portrait of hers is the beautiful bride leaping through the air at dawn!  I love all of her photos, but that one grabbed me the first time I saw it and it still grabs me everytime I see it! Here is the link if you'd like to see it yourself! (click on art then click marriage to find the bride leaping!) I would LOVE to win her workshop in a box, so I can learn from her!  Good luck to all of you who enter!