Bliss

At this very moment, I should be working. But something has been nagging at me that I must record. A lot of times, we tend to remember the bad and not the good. We gravitate towards drama and live in the past. We blog or write or talk to others when there is something wrong. So in an effort to break from this mold, I've decided to write about this wonderful and amazing sense of bliss that I feel right now.

Last night, my husband put together a closet for himself. I noticed that there were wrappers and instructions and cardboard pieces all over the floor so I went downstairs to get a trash bag and tidy up his space. While trashing all the trash, I joked to him about how I don't want to see not another piece of trash on the floor now that he has this trash bag. We laughed. A little bit later, I came back and he just so happened to be peeling the plastic off another part for the closet. I almost walked away, but then came back to peak around the corner to make sure he put the plastic in the trash and not on the floor. Out of an effort not to be policed, hubby laughed at me and chucked the plastic right on the floor. I don't know why this was so funny, but we both laughed so hard as I ran up to him to physically accost him. "You ain't going to stand there and police ME." Even after that episode was over, I caught myself still smiling and giggling in the next room.

I love experiences like that. My marriage is so divine at this moment.

Have you ever met a friend who expands your mind? Well hubby and I have. We are currently 'dating' a new couple who we both absolutely adore. I say dating because we are always out together at a restaurant tasting new foods, enjoying stimulating conversation and wearing our best attire. We have had such amazing conversation. They have introduced us to restaurants that blow my mind. Little lounges and bars that are tucked away. Next on the dating agenda is the ballet at the Kennedy Center and a weekend trip to NY. What I like about them most of all is the effect they have on my man. The ballet, frolicking around NY, going out on a weeknight...all activities my hubby did not enjoy are finally interesting to him. His mind is open and I'm loving it.

In general, without the effect the new couple, my husband is growing. He's maturing. He's becoming wise. He's enjoying life. He's enjoying me. He's no where near the man that I married. I'm falling in love with him all over again.

I did have an awkward moment with my sisters this weekend. My longest and closest friend turned sister and I have a strange relationship. We talked through it yesterday, but even within the weirdness and the possibility that an area of my life might not be perfect, my world is still so amazing. I believe the balance of other areas of my life are making me capable of handling anything right now. Having happiness I can cling to makes difficulty not so bad.

I've always wanted a life were my weeks don't blend it to the other. I've always wanted to be outside and to explore new sites and sounds. I've wanted a man in my life who is open minded, cultured, funny, interesting and loving. I've wanted to be involved in fiend relationships that are easy. I've always needed an element of peace.

I can say at this very moment, I have all of that. That's my definition of living. Thus, the quality of my life is amazing. And I must document this.  

Juice Fast

Hey peoples.

Hubby and I just finished a 3 day juice fast. What an experience! Who knew that 3 days could last so long!? Lol. It was very interesting to feel how devastated your body gets once it realizes that you are trying to clean it out. Day 2 was the worst for me. I had the worst headache that I've ever had. We learned through research that when you go through pains/headaches, it's because the toxins in your system are trying to escape your body. Hubby thinks my toxins are related to the amounts of salt that I take in. He's probably right since I eat a lot of Lean Cuisine tv dinners for lunch at work. They just happen to be on sale all the time at CVS! And I love the sweet and sour chicken one! Between Lean Cuisines, White Castle cheeseburgers and Digorno pizzas, I spend $20 on lunch for TWO WEEKS. I know I know...The savings do not make up for the fact that I have to do better. Hence I will.

The worst day for hubby was day 3 (yesterday). He had to leave work early because he had no more juice left at work and was getting a headache. If how he felt was anything like how I felt, there was no way he could sit there for 4 more hours and make it. Yesterday was great for me. I felt so clear and clean! I wasn't even hungry. My mind wanted food more so than my body did. Knowing that my fast was coming to an end, I couldn't mentally understand the difference between eating on Wednesday night as opposed to Thursday morning like I was supposed to do. Fasting is truly more of a mental exercise than it is a physical one. That mind is a strong organism man!

What we've learned is that we need to be more careful about what we put into our bodies...the salt, the caffeine, the sugar, the non-essential fat, etc. And since we did it together, we also grew closer. The feeling of making a huge life change together was uniting. I'm looking forward to incorporating juicing into our normal lifestyle (especially because we have nothing but shelves of veggies in our fridge now). Since we don't eat veggies like we should, the spinach/kale/lettuce juices we made will be essential to our diets going forward. I'm excited about this new healthy lifestyle we're embarking on. I'm more excited about the possibility of less ailments in my house. Hubby's headaches have GOT to go. If I were to do anything different, it would have been to continue our fast 2 days longer. I heard that the 4th and 5th days are amazing. The energy levels, the lack of ailments that you had before, the refreshing feeling... I'm interested to experience that and to see what it does for hubby since he gets sick so often. And perhaps we shouldn't have broken our fast with a slice of pizza. lol. The pizza wasn't even all that good either! Womp.

Anyway, I'm in a good mood, my body feels good and I'm excited about our progress. Let's pray we can keep this momentum going!

What's For Dinner?

I'm sitting in my car right now. It's lunch time and I have to be sure to leave the desk or people will think that I'm always available. You know how that is. I wish there was a quiet place that I could curl up into on lunch breaks instead of my car, like a couch in borders, but this will have to do.

I've been perusing quite a few blogs on interior design and DIY projects so I have a lot of ideas crowding my mind. Life doesn't stop either so I need to get to my meal planning so that I don't starve my husband.

I was really into cooking the following couple of weeks after the wedding, but now... ugh. I'd rather go pick up something everyday. Unfortunately that gets to be expensive and unhealthy. So here I am with a self-set budget of $150 and a nagging voice in the back of my head that says "PLAN YOUR MEALS". Okay okay. I'm going to do it right now as I type. Three good meals...

www.allrecipes.com, let's see what you have in store for me.

Well first things first. We gotta have some chicken. My husband doesn't like many things with a bone in it so...

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo anyone? My sis makes a great recipe. I'll have to get the instructions from her and add some vegetable, garlic bread and wine to the mix. This should carry us for a few days.




I've been longing for some gourmet burgers and french fries/onion rings so I'll use the ground chicken we have in the freezer and hook that up. Gotta do it with the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and bacon!



What about shrimp? Eh, I don't know if I want shrimp.

A simple marinated, chicken breast dinner would be ideal. I wonder if I can hook up some mac and cheese with that. I've never done it before but I have a talent for following a recipe. And as far as vegetables go, I'm thinking that mac and cheese deserves a salad. Gotta balance out the heaviness.




And then I'll buy a few bags of steamed veggies, a frozen pizza, waffles, a bag of easy cook pasta, eggs, an apple pie and whatever else I see that'll give me some quick throw in the microwave/oven options.

If you have any, what quick throw in the microwave/oven meals do you have in your recipe book? The types you make when you don't feel like cooking... Let me know cuz I need ideas and inspiration! Thx!