Anyway this is what we’ve had for dinner the past couple nights:

Curried vegetables and chickpeas over saffron rice

Vegan burrito with black bean “meat” and guacamole.

We’re waiting on the documents to sign to finalize the house. If all goes as planned we should have the keys on Friday. Its been a harassing process that I’d prefer not to go through again for a few years. This house is more like an investment to us than a home. Don’t get me wrong, we love the house but we paid half of what it was worth (due to the current market conditions) and fully intend on turning around and selling it for double in a couple years when the market stabilizes. The next time we do this we’re going to be building our dream home.

Lunch was nothing special today… just soup (raw vegan cream of tomato) and a salad. The bread (which is not raw) is the last of our sourdough. We’ve been trying to eat all the leftovers to clear out our fridge for the move. It is definitely soup weather here; cold, wet and miserable!

We’re off to do an early Christmas with Brent’s family since we won’t be up here when it rolls around. This is the first time I’m seeing them since we announced the pregnancy. We’ve all been so busy that we just haven’t been able to get together.

I haven’t changed my diet at all. I’m still averaging two green smoothies a day. I am drinking a lot more water though… 2 to 3 litres a day! I’m going to try and stick to 75% raw throughout this pregnancy (at least two “meals” a day that are raw.) It’s important that I am getting enough calories (which can be a bit of a challenge when you eat primarily raw) so I’ll be occasionally tracking my intakes on Fit Day.

According to 3DPregnancy, I’ve got a tadpole swimming around in there.

Here is the requisite pregnant shot:

I can’t wait to finalize this move so I can start running again. The sidewalks have been icy up here and I don’t want to risk falling in my first trimester.

So let me take you on a mini tour….

So this is the front of the house (that’s the realtor’s car.) As you can see the front landscaping needs some work. The house has been sitting on the market for awhile and the sprinklers haven’t been turned on. We are the first real owners (the previous owner was an investor who bought the property to flip just before the market bottomed out). Brent’s mother is a landscape artist and horticultural specialist so she has put together some specs for the front yard already (including things like lacecap hydrangea, hibiscus, etc.) Its a corner lot with no rear neighbors so we have a good amount of yard space to work with.

This is a view of the front entrance of the house. The archway you see to the right of the front door leads to Brent’s office (which is the next picture) and the half bath (all the bathrooms including the half bath have linen closets. There’s space abound in this house!) The wide open space with wood floors is the formal dining room. It has huge windows in it which is nice. The door to the left at the beginning of the picture is a “utility closet”…

Brent’s office with wood floors and the room at the front of the house.

Kitchen with granite counter tops. I’m not particularly fond of the lighter wood so changing the cabinets might be something we tackle in the future but I can live with it for now. The white door leads to the pantry. The open archway leads to whats called a “butlers pantry” with more counters and cabinet space. That then leads to the formal dining room which you can see in the picture.

This is the view of the living room from the breakfast nook which is adjacent to the kitchen (you can just see the kitchen counters peeking out to the right.) It has 25 ft ceilings! I don’t know how the hell I am going to change the light bulbs in there or clean the ceiling fan. The archway at the far right of the photo leads to several things. To the immediate right inside the archway theres a door leading to the laundry room. The laundry room then leads to a three car garage. To the left of the archway is a hallway leading to the ground level master bedroom.

This is a view from the master bedroom looking down the hallway leading to the master bath. The doors on either side of the hallway are his and her walk in closets.

Our master bath… it has a jacuzzi tub (which you can see reflected in the glass of the shower doors) with a stained glass privacy window over it. Two separate vanity sink areas flank the bath so we can both have our private space.

One of three bedrooms upstairs. All the bedrooms (including the master) except the office have carpet. The main areas of the house are either tile or wood. We’ll be definitely ripping up the carpet and replace it with wood in the room that will eventually be our baby’s room but I think we’ll leave the other two guest rooms with carpet in them. At some point I definitely want to ripe up the carpet in the master bedroom and replace that with wood also. I’m just not a fan of carpet at all but I’m nervous about replacing all the carpet and somehow reducing our resale value.

One of two full bathrooms upstairs. All the bathrooms have marble counter tops and all but one have double vanities.

A view of the back of the house. Those two pitiful trees are probably going to go. I need to find out what they are first though. The property has no fence around it currently. That will be amended soon. The porch/veranda is covered. Its larger than it looks and can easily fit a table, chairs and a couple chaise lounges. We are considering screening it in and making it a true Florida “Lenai” but we aren’t sure yet. There are a lot of things I want to grow back there… fruit trees in particular. I am hoping we don’t have an HOA run by someone with a Napoleon complex. Some of the trees I am thinking of putting in the back are fig, pomegranate, sweet sop, otaheite apple, etc. I am really looking forward to having a garden again!

So here we go! This is in order of how each event happened:

10. My Sister in Law’s wedding

Theres a lot that went on over the three day event (like my brother in law stealing the hotel security’s walkie talkie’s or the groom being so intoxicated he had to be escorted back to his brides suite) but the height of it had to be when a crazy French Canadian guest (the groom is from Nova Scotia) decided at 3 am to take a dip in the duck pond (yes you are reading that correctly).

He donned the appropriate attire (a purple speedo) and did his best Tarzan impersonation as he swung on a willow branch into 6 inches of muck and duck filth. Not happy with the existing fountains at Cherry Valley Lodge, he decided to recreate one in his image. We all watched in horror as he gulped the pond water and squirted it in a graceful stream above his head. A video of this little excursion does exist…. but I think I’d buy myself a one way ticket to hell if I posted it.

9. We took a trip to Georgia

Brent and I weren’t entirely sure that Florida was where we wanted to be. Our highest concentration of clients happens to be in the South, two being in Georgia including one of our biggest client’s. So we took a trip to meet them!

8. Meeting Rhonda and Frank Duffy

By far the highlight of the Georgia trip was spending an evening with these two. Both are exceptionally gracious hosts and their home (which has been featured several times in Southern Living Magazine) was unbelievable. Over the past few months Rhonda has moved from being a client to something more. Shes been there for us as we’ve navigated some of the biggest decisions we’ve had to make. Her husband Frank is the single funniest guy I have ever met. Rhonda is the most driven, kookiest and honest person I have ever encountered and I feel privileged to call her a friend. Rhonda… this does not mean I’m ever going to let you anywhere near my silverware though!

7. The Business

The economy has really taken a beating in the past year but our business has been in a strange little bubble. We’ve had our best year to date and we have never been more busy than we are now. We are truly blessed because of this, as we know this is not what a lot of people in this country are experiencing.

6. I resigned

Brent and I have been married for 3 and 1/2 years now. Just about every three months or so during that time I have flown back to Jamaica to work. It finally caught up to us and I decided to be up here in a more permanent capacity.

5. Cleopatra passed away.

Cleo was diagnosed about a month and 1/2 ago with a condition called Megaesophagus. She went downhill very fast but we were able to make her comfortable in her last moments. I miss her every single day and I believe she is finally at peace tormenting rabbits in that big dog park in the sky. Losing her felt like losing a limb.

4. Grandma

One of my grandmothers had to have emergency surgery to remove a kidney! This was extremely stressful for me as I lost both grandfathers at the beginning of the year and was still grieving them. However, she came out of the surgery just fine and has recovered to near perfection!

3. We’re finally moving!

We finally chose a state and a city (Windermere, Florida!!!!) On December 17th a moving truck will be parked out front our place ready to be filled! This has been such a long time coming and I am so excited to get out of this state. The house is 95% packed and while it’s been stressful having our lives in boxes the past few weeks wouldn’t trade it for anything!

2. We bought a house!!!!!

We close on our first house together on the 15th of December. I cannot believe we are going to be homeowners. The house truly deserves its own post but here is a quick shot of the front of it:

and last but not least………………. the number one craziest thing is………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

1. I’M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ll be 6 weeks tomorrow. New state, new house and new life. I have never been more excited in all my life.

Iris Birthday Flower Bouquet

more to come tomorrow…stay tuned

This is truly fascinating stuff. There is a company in France who is actually taking human milk, plasticizing it and turning it into jewelry: Click here to read more!

This was our lunch today:

Fruit Tower with Berry Coulis

Yum!

As if you need another reason to eat watermelon, now scientist say that they have isolated a compound watermelon contains that relaxes blood vessels and produces effects similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra. Read more HERE!

I may never look at watermelon the same way again and unless Brent reads this entry he is going to wonder why I am serving it with every meal.

Watermelon Cooler

About 10 servings

1 watermelon

1 large cucumber (trust me)

Juice of two grapefruits (or you can use just plain ol’ water though it will be less sweet)

Juice of 1 lime

Blend together (with ice if you want a more slushy drink)!

When I first went raw, I paid little attention to exercise. All my focus went to food. Reading about it. Making it. Conning Brent into eating it. And to be honest I think that was a major part of my downfall last year.

No diet will give you 100% health, 100% of the time. More than what you eat is how you live. The lifestyle that you have. A million juice fasts will not serve you best if you are puffing away on packs of cigarettes every day. And a dozen colonics every month will be like putting a band aide on a dam if you eat fast food morning noon and night.

I started this new workout stuff only a couple of weeks ago. Already I have seen improvement in my muscle tone. But thats just the superficial aspect of working out (which I FULLY subscribe to by the way… I see nothing wrong with a little vanity). This morning as I was killing myself on the stairs I came up with my Top Ten Reasons to Exercise list. I know I know… you already know exercise is good for you right? Well did you know that more than 60% of Americans don’t exercise AT ALL??!! Yep… you read that right… thats more than half of all Americans. And more than 72 million are obese! It seems to me there is a major disconnect in what we know to be true and what we do about it. You probably already know that exercise reduces your likelihood for diabetes, heart disease, and a bunch of other stuff so I tried to refrain from rattling off a list of diseases and come up with some other benefits:

10. Sleep better

This is one of the benefits you don’t have to wait for. I was sleeping better the very first night. We spend a third of our life sleeping! Might as well be getting the most out of it! Interested in proof? Here ya go!

9. Reduces stress

There are tons of studies out there that suggest this… but we still don’t know WHY exercise reduces stress. Neuroscientists at Northwestern University are working on answering that very question. You can read more about it here!

8. Improves digestion

Exercising increases blood flow to your digestive tract and stimulates intestinal action. Constipated? Other treatments not working? Try taking a yoga class!

7. Me time

Working out allows me to clear my head and start my day on a positive note. Its time to myself everyday where I get to obsessively make lists of things I need to do without driving Brent crazy.

6. Cleansing effects

Some days I come home from working out looking like I got caught in the path of Hurricane Ivan. All that sweating is releasing toxins which has an overall cleansing effect on the body.

5. Better mood

You can read about the correlation between exercise and depression here!

4. Better mind

Improved memory, concentration and cognitive abilities. Studies suggest that exercise boosts brain cell survival due to the increased blood circulation, oxygen and glucose to the brain. If you have a history of Alzheimer’s in your family you have more of a reason to step up the workout routine.

3. Fun

As I mentioned above, I am a bit of a masochist. I dig the monotony of running up and down stairs. You, however, might not. But there are a million different ways to sneak in exercise throughout your day that are much more fun than my routine. You can take a martial arts class, sign up for ballroom dancing (and drag your partner with you), try adult gymnastics (to connect with your inner child), go to the park, join a local softball/baseball league, ride a bike etc. Not only will you be lengthening your life you will also be getting out of the house and away from the TV!

2. Sex (sorry dad!)

Luckily for me I don’t have to embarrass my father further than this as WebMD put out a great handy little video all about it: CLICK

1. Quality of life and self confidence

This is the clincher for me. Everyone has those days where their self esteem takes a nose dive. I have noticed a major difference in how I look at life and handle conflict and negative situations since I started exercising. That alone is enough to keep me going back for more (well that and the sex).

Below are photos of my raw vegan Italian dinner and a cooked vegan version for Brent:

My dinner:

And Brent’s cooked vegan version:

I had both dishes ready in under 15 minutes. Raw food doesn’t have to be complicated or involved. The only additions to Brent’s cooked version are butter beans, broccoli and fettuccine. The pesto is the same for both dishes. Most of the time we eat as simply as you see above.

And a cooked version for Brent’s dinner:

The crumble topping is a mixture of oats, raw sugar, whole wheat flour, “butter”, tsp baking powder and a tsp baking soda.

This is our little friend that I have wrote about before. His little tail is covering his head in a rather futile attempt to stay dry.  We tried to feed him before the storm came in but now his treats are in a soggy heap on our windowsill.

Tomatoes, home grown basil and “mozzarella”

Figs, nectarines and greens. Salads do not have to be boring or everyday!

Cleo is doing better today. She is still unsteady but we did get her to eat something today which is big progress! We have been spending lots of time with her.

…. and theres nothing I can do about it. I am frustrated, angry and heartbroken all at the same time.

Here’s what I had today:

1 1/2 cups bing cherries

1 large apple

2 medium bananas

1 cup strawberries

1 cup mulberries

1 cup service berries

1 fig

2 cups raw kale

1 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons tahini

1 cup watermelon, diced

1/2 cup honeydew, diced

1/4 cup Brazil nuts

1 large grapefruit

1/2 large cucumber

1 cup spinach

4 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

1/2 cup dried apricot

1 ounce pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup wakame

Heres how I did:

A more detailed breakdown:

Ok so while I made my iron RDA’s today I still fell slightly short of my zinc “requirements”. That could easily be remedied by eating another ounce of two of pumpkin seeds or having a glass of cashew milk.

I fell just short of the full 100% of niacin (which is fine since I supplement my B’s.) If I was really worried about raising my niacin levels I could eat carrots, almonds, sprouted barley or lentils, mushrooms and peaches as these foods are rich in niacin.

Not surprisingly, I ate a good deal more today than yesterday. It takes a far amount more raw foods for me to be satiated but the plus side of this is I am able to get that much more nutrients in a day.

So today in total I ate:

1 large apple

2 medium bananas

1 cup strawberries

1 cup mulberries

1 cup service berries

1 cup raw kale

1 cup fresh orange juice

3 tablespoons tahini

1 cup watermelon, diced

1 cup honeydew, diced

1/4 cup Brazil nuts

1 large grapefruit

1/2 large cucumber

1 small tomato

1/2 cup spinach

1/2 cup green seedless grapes

1 ear of corn*

1 cup of steamed kale*

*These two are the cooked items. The corn was boiled and the kale was steamed for 30 seconds with simmering water.

How did I do nutrition-wise?

A more detailed breakdown:

Not surprisingly, I am slightly under the RDA for vitamin D, B 12, niacin, iron, zinc and calcium.

I get my daily dose and more of vitamin D walking the dog 4 or 5 times a day. On the days when I am not using nutritional yeast, I supplement my B’s with a complex. Just under 71% of my RDA for iron isn’t too bad. Given that today was more of a high fruit day, it does not surprise me that I am a wee bit under on those minerals. Iron is easy to find in non-cooked, non animal sources. Dried fruit like raisins, dates and apricots are great sources of iron. So are a number of greens such as spinach, kale, collards, watercress, swiss chard, parsley and broccoli. Zinc tends to be a bit more tricky but cashews are a great way to get more zinc into your diet and you can eat them as is or make a great milk from them. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are also excellent ways to meet your quota for zinc.