Outside around the house...
Mossy mossy! Did you know moss is faerie carpet?
No 4-leaf, I checked!
I don' t know why I really like this one.
Can you believe I wanted to get rid of these grasses? That was before their blooms came, showing me how neat they looked. They are all around lining the front, side and back of the house.
John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention. - more.
What are your thoughts about this woman (if any)? Why do you think McCain chose her?
I finally was able to order a Wii Fit just now! Looking back though, it hasn't been long at all since I've made it a mission to get one. But since I wanted one so badly, every day seemed to be filled with long anticipation of my cell ringing with a Wii Fit Alert!
And I finally received an alert today! Amazon had it in stock - and now it's back out of stock in a flash (what a shocker), but I snagged one up in time!
I actually had to hurry up and cancel a Wii Fit Bundle order I made from New Egg late last night. Fortunately, the cancellation was accepted and went through really quick. I'm glad I managed to buy just the Wii Fit without a bundle package. I'd rather spend less money ($89.99) than more ($149.99)!
I am so excited about getting a Wii Fit! Oh yeah, we decided NOT to save the Wii for the holidays but concentrate on buying more games for it during that time, haha!Burning incense may create a sweet scent, but regularly inhaling the smoke could put people at risk of cancers of the respiratory tract... - more.
This article only makes complete sense. I mean, it IS smoke you are creating. We get enough of that outside.
Gavin was quick to get off the school bus today - he didn't fall asleep! Now that's how I like it! The bus driver praised him and so did I and he came home very excited about school. All seems well now. Good thing, because I was starting to think that rainbow from yesterday morning was lying to me!
He and I started playing Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock yesterday (first day of school gift). We played some more today and OMG, that game rocks (literally huh?)! Brian and I ordered another guitar with a game bundle so we could play against Gavin and because the Guitar Hero games from GameFly weren't available so we decided to just buy one.
I cannot stress enough how fun this game is! I don't even listen to rock music all that much but I find myself really feeling the music while I'm playing - too funny! And it's so cute how Gavin gets into the music as well, trying to make sure he hits each note on time. He's excited about getting a real guitar some day.
Seems like the song "Slow Ride" is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the night, it's echoing in my head as a type!
The day started out great. Right when I opened the door to walk with my son to the edge of our driveway to wait for the school bus, we were greeted with this lovely rainbow.
What a nice thing to see right when I opened my door!
Wanting to battle!
Looking a little lost.
For Daddy. You like?
Ready for school!My son Gavin and I spent the day watching Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, playing Dance Dance Revolution, flying his SpongeBob kite and taking pictures. I must be an irritating photographer, because he sure was getting tired of me. I really wanted to get some photos of him though before his official initiation into 1st grade.
He spotted a helicopter in this photo, tried to get me to look at it so he could run away from taking anymore pictures. Didn't work.
This was his photo idea, not mine - posing with sticks! It seems to be a theme with him.
This tree and little bench is in our front yard. When the tree is full of blossoms, it has hoards of bees all over it. This is was the perfect time to take advantage of the situation.
He loves flying that thing.
Click image for Amazon page.I really enjoy using matcha, whole green tea in a fine powdered form. I usually use it as a superfood boost to my recipes. Recently I've been making Green Tea Vanilla Milkshakes. So delicious and creamy!
Yum! It has fresh vanilla beans in it too!
What a gorgeous green hue! It radiates health! Click image for website.Today Gavin and I went to his school's Open House. We met his teacher and she seems really nice. Gavin has already said that he really likes her and now he is even more excited about starting 1st grade. He was really excited about the library as well. He was the same way last year about his previous school's library. I hope he stays that way forever--loving libraries.
So it looks like Gavin will be riding the school bus now. He didn't ride it last school year because I was a little afraid for him. He had this thing about steps seeming dangerous and high and I had this thing about the older bigger kids maybe accidentally pushing him and making him fall and him hearing inappropriate things from bad kids. But last year I learned that most of the kindergarteners rode the bus and Gavin actually wished he was one of those kids.
My son riding the bus now just makes it all the more clear that he is turning into such a big boy now. It's going to be extremely convenient though, all we have to do is just wait by the road right outside our house, no walking to a specific bus stop. There's no sidewalk on our road so I am sure that is the reason but it makes walking him to and from the bus a very quick thing to do. I'm going to really appreciate that when it gets cold!
or so that is how I feel right now with the Amazon Text Alert feature that I signed up for last night to be informed when any Wii's got back in stock. Earlier today I got a text message on my cell from Amazon that they had them back in stock.
I knew I had to rush to buy it before they were all gone, so I called Brian to see if he felt the same way and now we have Gavin's main big gift all set for Christmas! Lately, only the bundles have been for sale and we weren't willing to pay over $500 to almost $600 for one thing. After submitting my order I returned to see if the Wii's were already back out of stock and YEP! Gone like the wind (for now). One has to act very fast on these things. Learn to move like the speed of light or try to time travel if you must. But at the least, sign up for those cell text alerts.
Her full name translated means: One who hears the cries of the world.I need to see this show! I have always been in love with Cirque du Soleil and even though Criss Angel is a little irritating, his show BeLIEve looks AMAZING. The Wade Robson choreographed performance of the Cirque du Soleil troupe on the So You Think You Can Dance finale was awe-inspiring and completely drew me in with the costumes and music. If this performance is amazing, just imagine the actual whole production!
Take a look below:
I tasted a fresh fig for the very first time. The flavor is extremely delicate but what I love about the fig is the texture! It looks kind of gross (but neat) up close (I kind of man-handled it in this photo above) but it's very interesting to bite into and feel on the tongue. And I love the tiny crunchy seeds! So fun to eat!
Why did it take me so long to finally taste a fresh fig?
Love it!
Here a couple of photos I took around the house and played around with the coloring. For some reason I mess around in Fireworks more than I do Photoshop. Anyhow, hope you like.
The Full Moon has come and gone once again and now it wanes. This is the time to push negativity out of your life knowing that the Universe is giving you extra strength to succeed in doing so. The Waning Moon is an excellent time to "banish and reject" such things as negative influences, negative emotions and thoughts, bad habits and diseases. Take the time out to figure what needs to be done to take control. Purification and protection for the home and body are best done during this time as well.
During this Waning Moon, I'll be upping my chlorophyll intake by eating more greens (and continuing with my wheatgrass juice). Chlorophyll is extremely purifying and helps rid the body of toxins. I'll also be making sure I get enough purifying Sun! I've been lacking in that department lately, especially with the dreary weather. I should start meditating and doing yoga outside in the sunlight.
I need to finally clean out the car as well (even though I'm not the one who messed it up)! So along with the house and my body, I'll be purifying and protecting the car too.
I'm psyched! I happened upon the Lightening Deals in Amazon.com's Gold Box Deals and snatched up a wireless guitar for the Guitar Hero PS3 games for only $25!!! Amazon originally sells it for $59.99.
I had thought I missed out on the deal because at first it said it was 100% claimed, but then the next time I looked on the Gold Box page the percentage was in the 70's so I'm guessing they allowed more people to buy it up! Yay for me! Or rather 'yay' for my son because I'm going to hide it until his first day of school so he can have a "first day of school" present to make him feel special. I got the idea from one of the nice ladies at Carolina Momma who I happened to be a secret friend for (sending gifts without her knowing who it was from--too fun!!). When I thought about the idea, I realized it was a really cute thing to do for a child starting a new grade (and in my son's situation, also a new school).
I'm so glad this deal came along! Not too bad of a gift for my son for just $25! Love it! Thanks Universe!
I finally retrieved my ab roller from the garage (from moving), so I started it up again the other day. My stomach is burning but I love it, because I know it's working. I have the same ab roller as in this awesome tutorial video below on how to use one properly.
While talking to my son earlier today, I was distracted by a bright yellow and black color in the backyard. I hurried and ran to get my camera, warning my son not to scare it away before I could get some snaps of it. It was a beautiful American Goldfinch! And yes, I had to look up the name! It was tearing up a clump of dandelion weeds like no one's business. Here's the best shot that I took. I had to take the photos through 2 glass doors, so don't expect much!
I haven't had any wheatgrass juice in almost a week now and I am really missing it! I discovered that I can't do the outside wheatgrass thing, that I need to stick to growing it inside for now. Growing it inside, it grows faster, you don't have to worry about bugs and birds being attracted to it and you don't have to deal with mold. Right now I have some more wheatgrass growing that looks quite at home in front of the dining room window and it's already almost ready to harvest! Why isn't it in the kitchen window you ask? Well, this house has an add on. So when you're at the kitchen sink and look up, you're looking through the bar area (which was probably a window in its past life) to the den which is the add on. So no sunny kitchen garden for me! I'm not complaining though, this house still rocks.
So below is a shot of how I drink my wheatgrass juice:
Nope, it's not pure wheatgrass juice (do you think I'm crazy?) but more like a watered down ginger flavored version to make it easy to drink. I've been blending (and straining) my wheatgrass concoction in the blender lately and let me tell you, seeing and feeling the left over fiber all ground up really lets you see why that stuff is indigestible to us humans!The other day I received my string and net produce bags from reusablebags.com. I must say they are very neat and stylish. The string bags stretch extremely well, even the teenage guy who helped bag my groceries commented on it. It feels really good to cut down on plastic bag use! I have 5 of the black string bags and 4 of the large net produce bags. I think my aura just got a little brighter!
Here is a photo I snapped of one of the bags:
If enlarged, you can see one of the net produce bags in there. Also, way more can fit in the bag!This is delicious! So easy to make and it stays crunchy in nut milk. I also like to snack on it plain, it's THAT good! The recipe is from Raw Food Real World--an awesome raw food recipe book. A quick and simple replacement of the chocolate with cinnamon makes Cinnamon Buckwheat Crispies.
All done and stored for convenience, cute huh?Largely ignored until today, I finally took the time to take a few snaps of this red flower bush in front of the house.
Tiny spiders that live in flowers are the only type that don't freak me the hell out!
click photo to enlargeAn ethical vegan I am not, though the phrase of it kind of stings in that I think I am very ethical! But my beliefs restrict me from being called one of the ethical kind.
Let us go through the reasons why I cannot be called an "ethical vegan".
click image to enlargeWe saw a hummingbird moth today! It took me awhile to research exactly what this bug was but now I know. But while outside snapping shots and wondering what the heck type of bug this was, I had to double check my eyes to make sure it WASN'T a hummingbird. The nickname for these moths suit them extremely well.
I am exposing my amateur ways as a photographer with this one: It took me a few aggravating and desperate snaps of my camera before a light bulb went on in my head to switch to sports mode for a faster shutter speed. Though I think next time I'll see if I can also manually adjust the speed to get clearer shots of wings. This moth here had beautiful translucent wings, hence the "Clearwing".
