Walnut/hazelnut picking!

Happy Tuesday all!

              Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Mine was busy but productive if you count buying a new fireplace (YAY!), going to Home Depot 3 times (don't ask!), working, grocery shopping at three locations,  going to a friend's place Friday night, having friends over on Saturday night, and all while avoiding chemistry like the plague, a productive time-well-spent 2 days. Phew that was a lot! Is it Friday yet? No? Dang!

Anywho, I wanted to share with you a little adventure a couple of weekends back that I had with my mom when she was here visiting. We went hazelnut and walnut picking!! In my neck of the woods nuts are pricey and so I thought why not get a little exercise and save some dough at the same time.

They use sheep to keep the grass down because they don't spray! Love that idea

A big hazelnut just fallen from the tree!

 A rooster having a grand 'ole time

It was all fun and games until this guy came around. He must have been the head honcho of the group as he stood his ground. He even stomped the ground a couple times and I got far away as I didn't want to be rammed!

 A hazelnut still in the tree before I nabbed it!

The fallen ones! They were everywhere, no slim pickings here!

I apparently forgot to take pictures of the walnuts we got too. There weren't as many around and they still were covered by the greenish shell which means that the walnut needs to be cleaned thoroughly before it actually looks like anything you would want to eat.

All in all, it was a good time! I loved picking the hazelnuts and walnuts in their natural environment, instead of from the bulk bins. If you have the opportunity to pick nuts in your area, you should do it! You'll save some money and maybe get to meet a curious sheep or two!

Sorry for the lack of photos. I'm having issues with my camera again and so the rest of my pictures are not accessible right now (if ever!). I was going to show you some amazing cookies I made yesterday but instead I'll direct you to the site where I got the recipe. Deal?

Okay so head on over to Katie's blog Making Food and Other Stuff. If you aren't already reading her blog, you should be! It's funny, it talks about fitness, it talks about baking, it talks about crafts, and even the occasional tornado makes an appearance. Yesterday she posted a cookie recipe I could not resist! They are called chocolate chips cookies with a little something extra. Sweet name, right?

So, I made them and they rocked!! Super yummy and fluffy, and a little bit chewy. Perfect cookie if you ask me. I made them vegan using egg replacer but you do whatever floats your boat! I love them, as does my taste tester! So if you have the baking itch (like me!) these cookies are a great place to start.

Don't forget to enter the CSN stores giveaway. The contest ends tomorrow at midnight!

Have a great rest of your day! I hope to be back soon with a casserole recipe and maybe a soup one too:)

The big reveal - please vote for me!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

This week is looking pretty tame so far and I'm glad...definitely need some down time:) Yet, something very sad happened this morning as I was outside looking for Nemo (seriously, he must have a girlfriend somewhere as I can never find him). A beautiful cat, just like Nemo's colorings had passed away beside my garage. I was so in shock when I first found him/her! I thought it was Nemo until I saw the paws. I don't know what happened and I feel so sad about this. I'm thinking it might have been hit by a car and ran into my car to hide (like cats do). I'm going to call the SPCA and see what I should do as it may have died from something other than being hit by a car. It had my heart beating so fast and I am still shaken and saddened by it. There was no collar on him/her and I didn't want to touch the poor thing. I need to grab a pair of gloves and see if there is a tattoo! And of course I still couldn't find Nemo at this time so that had me freaked right out. Luckily he came in minutes later:)

Ryan then had "the talk" with me saying he isn't going to be around forever and I don't want you to get crazy when that time comes. I hit him and started to cry!! Geesh! He's one to talk though! He would be crying right along with me...but shhh don't tell him I told you so:)

Okay I think it's time to move on to something a bit more joyful for the day, don't you think?

It's actually a pretty exciting day as the turbulance training contest voting has begun and I made it to the final voting!!! WAHOO!!

If I win I am for sure passing on the wealth to you all!! So it's a win win! Please tell anyone and everyone to vote who wouldn't mind either!!

All you need to do is go here

Click on the women under 40 link

Scroll down until you see Melissa (I'm the second one!)

Check the box and click vote!

That's it! You can read my essay if you want. I won't be offended if you don't! Don't pictures speak a 1000 words anyways?

PS that contest was completed eating a high raw, vegan diet!! It does a body good:) So click here to vote

PPS the voting ends on Wednesday so head on over to the site now!! Thank you in advance!

Stay tuned for my kombucha, cashew cheese, wheatgrass, and much more!

Living in the moment!

Happy Thursday beautiful people!

I'm doing one of my 24hour fasts (started at 8AM) and so I'm feeling super productive and reflective. Yes, that's what no food does to me:)....not bad, hey? I have around a week left of my 12 week transformation challenge with Craig's Turbulance Training. And I'm giving it all I've got!!! Then you get to see a picture of me in a bikini again...lol..oh the suspense!!!

Craig is so fantastic, he posts encouraging quotes every day on his facebook fanpage and on his members forum. They are oozing with inspiration, tough love, and reality checks! Seriously, they have kept me going when I doubted myself, was bathing is self pity, wanted to quit, diverted from my goals, felt like I wasn't enough etc etc.

Here is one that he posted recently that I think is so profound and something that I don't do enough of...living in the moment.

"The Secret of Health in both body and mind is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." Buddha

I'm a worrier, plain and simple. But I have gotten 100 times better being with Ryan because he takes on this philosophy without even knowing it, and it has finally rubbed off on me!

Still I find that if I don't nip it in the bud, my mind and emotions wander and I start thinking about the future (and the past) - work, babies (not preggers), school, money, my body, what's for dinner on Friday nigh and on and on it could go! Yet, I have this precious day of which I do not cherish enough and am either trying to hurry time along or to reverse it. I'm not saying I won't set goals or have ambitions, I'm just going to focus more on what I can TODAY to get me there, versus worrying about tomorrow or a week from now (or what I could have done a week ago).

It's not going to be easy for me but I think this will greatly change my perspective and make me see how grand life really is:)

I recently started watching (haven't finished yet) The Age Of Stupid (watch the trailer here) and they featured a girl in Africa who had been devastatingly affected by the work of Shell. She so badly wanted to get out of Africa and move to America to wear "nice clothes" and get an education. Then she said something like If I lived in America I would never want to die. She was referring to the bounty of EVERYTHING we have here in the Americas. And she's right.

So then why do I worry? Because I'm not living in the moment and grateful for this amazing life.

So...RIGHT NOW I'm grateful for:

Coffee - I have access to amazing organic coffee (helping me get through my fast)

Craig Ballentyne - for being so dedicated to helping people succeed in fat loss and to just becoming a better person

Internet - I can literally get a degree from all the amazing information out there and it has benefited my life in extraordinary ways

My body - For being able to carry me through life so effortlessly - even when I torment it or don't love it unconditionally.

***I'm always grateful for my love, my family, my health..I'm just living in the moment and those are what came to me right then and there.

PS I have this spare room that is probably going to be vacant for awhile so I was thinking of loading the walls with inspirational quotes and pictures. It's going to be my vision WALL! What do you think?

PPS I thought I would finish this post with some beautiful sweet pea blossoms that I picked from my work garden. They are so vibrant and fragrant. The area around my desk smells so yummy:)

Have a wonderful day...and let's try to live in the moment:)