It all started with a good friend who loved to frequent Starbucks.  At this time I was not into coffee, but every time I went out with her we ended up with a coffee in our hands.  I started with Mochas and was deaply in love with them and then quickly discovered a thickness accumulating around different areas of my body.  Bummer!  Then as a saving grace to my pocketbook and waistline another friend of mine turned me on to just getting an Americano with a squirt of chocolate.  This satisfied my need for the mochas, although now I had aquired a pretty strong addi

Soaked Oats

I cup organic oats

2cups almond or mac nut milk

Soak oats in nut milk overnight.  In morning scoop some into a bowl. I like to top mine with bananas and honey.  My kids like dried cranberries, honey and cinnamon. Sometimes I put a glob of almond butter on top and more nut milk.  Any fresh fruit or dried fruit will go nicely.  You could eat this in different ways almost every day with different toppings and not get bored with it.

     After being on vacation for the last five days I am excited to get back to eating a more Raw Food based diet.  Eating out practically every meal when you are on vacation quickly shows you the importance on home cooked food especially raw quisine.  I have noticed a considerable amount of grogginess, lack of motivation, a general feeling of bloatedness  and lack of bathroom regularity.  When I eat a mainly Raw Food diet I don't have any of these issue.  So, Here's to getting back to a more conscious way of eating for my health and vitality!

      After returning from a trip to Maui I gained some much  needed perspective for living either on the Big Island,HI or Maui.  We currently live on the Big Island with our two young children.  We have experienced some frustrations trying to raise our children here.  The options for schooling for middle and lower class families leaves something to be desired.  There are no shortages of great private schools but that is exclusive to those who can afford it and honestly, I think that is a very small percentage of the population here.

I have learned the greatest lesson lately.  For years I have been struggling with my personal boundaries with people.  Normally other people's expectations and feelings and needs would spill over onto me and I would take them on as something of my own to deal with, always feeling like I needed to do something for them or just felt obligated to them.  I have started saying no to more and more activities and involvements with people and at first I had terrible anxiety that it would upset this or that person and they would take it personally.  That is just another layer to

I recently watched a documentary called America the Beautiful that made me think about how I think about myself physically.  The movie shows how media shapes our personal physical image.  Let me tell you,  it is not a possitive image.  We compare ourselves to the images we see from TV, movies, magazines and music.  Most of the images that we see are altered either by the photographer or by the computer. When we see these images incomparison to our own image we end up feeling less or not beautiful enough.

Red Tent by Anita Diamant   My first and best pick that I think every woman and young woman should read!

13th Tale by Diane Setterfield  This one I couldnt' set down.  I still hadn't figured the mystery out after fininshing which is wonderful.

Garden Spells by Sarah Allen    Spellbinding book =)

Sugar Queen by Sarah Allen     So sweet and tender =)

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith      Very unusual book but it kept me intrigued till the very end.

Recently my kids have been wanting to watch the show "Super Nanny" so I've been watching it with them.  My kids are 8 and 10 now so watching the show was a great way to reflect on how far we've come.  Many of the issues Super Nanny deals with are issues that we went through when our kids were younger.  We were able to watch how they handled things and reflect on how we delt with those same issues.  It helped for our kids to see other children that were doing some of the things that they used to do or still do and then see how the parents were handling it. 

I have recently been going to a women's circle.  A women's circle is when a small group of women get together and share time together.  This particular group gets starts by joining hands in a circle and someone sings a song or says a prayer.  Then we sit in a circle around the room. There is usually a talking stick or something to hold while the first person talks. It is passed around to whomever is ready to share their thoughts or feelings.  All things said or shared in the circle is confidential to that group only.

My latest love and feel good recipe!!!!!! These are filling but very light in your tummy unlike the flour pancakes.  You can eat as many as you like and not crash and hour later!

Raw Flax "pancakes"

3 cups flax seed meal

2 TB liquid coconut oil

1/2 cup agave or maple syrup

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup water

Mix together and form into balls.  Flatten into small pancakes. ( I top mine with either sliced bananas or blueberries and maple syrup )