My Cure for Digital Depression

         Has anyone else been feeling down about the current state of affairs throughout the world?  People murdering each other, landslides, floods, earthquakes, wars,  genocides (and people betraying their own countries to go help with said genocide), riots, and the list goes on AND on.   I get that this type of thing has been going on since the beginning of time and probably isn't going to stop any time soon, but it's pretty depressing sometimes.  You can't pick up your phone, turn on the tv, or check your email with out receiving the latest update on who has killed whom in the last 20 minutes.   SO to cure my "digital depression", that has been particularly bad the last few days since I've been stuck in bed with a cold, I've been working on one of my favorite hobbies: photography.  Or more accurately photo editing, because there is no way I'm getting up and going to do any photo shoots the way I've been feeling.  Instead I've been trying to get caught up on editing a lot of old shots that I've been too busy with life to do.  There's something very therapeutic about photography for me.  A big part of it, I believe is that it forces me, in a world seemingly so full of pain and wrongs, to sit and focus on the intricate details and beauty that I normally miss as I'm rushing about between calling back clients and getting contracts signed and studying and picking up kids and dropping them off again and trying to figure out what to fix for dinner and where in God's name I left my car keys..... It let's me slow down a bit and remember that even though I miss it sometimes, or can't see it through the shroud of graphic news reports, that there still is lots of good and beauty in the world.       Without further delay then, here is some of what I've been working on these last few days!

The inside of antique wristwatch that we found recently in my late grandmother's belongings.  I've always had a bit of a fascination with clock gears, and I used the opportunity to test out a new (to me) photography technique called free-lensing (I'll talk more about that in another post) that creates a little bit of blur around the edges.  Loved the detail and colors, though! 

Here's the front of the watch. Love the Saphire on the winding knob.  We actually wound this up, and it still works!

The famous First Birthday shot!  Probably the only time in your life you can get away with eating like an animal and having food smeared all of your face, and still look cute as hell.  I tried this last week and all I got were disapproving looks and a lecture on table manners!  =P

And finally, the old Stars & Stripes.  Getting whipped in the wind, but still as beautiful as ever.

Natural Medicine

When I first started thinking of making a blog (about 2 years ago now!),  I was pretty stumped as to what I should make it about.  I didn't have the infamous "writer's block" or anything like that.  There are simply too many things that I am interested in and love with all my heart.  That may come as a surprise to those of you who know me personally.  For those of you who don't know me,  I'm not the most outwardly enthusiastic, excited-about-things person you'll meet. In fact,  from what I have been told, my personality when it comes to getting excited about things is very un-American.  It's much more like the typical Brit.  Sure, I think it's great that [insert random exciting event here] just happened/will be happening very soon,  I just don't express it the way that a lot of people would (with shouts of joy and somewhat exaggerated exclamations of how wonderful it all is).  When I do, it comes off half-hearted because, well...... it is.  In my opinion most people get way too excited WAY too easily and to me it's very presumptuous, naive, and a lot of times insincere.

That being said, I do actually have a lot of subjects that I hold near and dear to my heart and that I am really passionate about.  So choosing just one to write about was difficult.  I went over and over different ideas in my head, trying to decide which one I cared most about. The truth is,  there isn't one interest that I care about so much more than the others.   I love being a mother to my 2 little monsters, I love being a fiance (soon to be wife) to Mike, I love photography, I love gardening, I love my job as a real estate agent,  I love cooking,  I love learning new skills,  I love art, and reading, and wine, and martial arts, and movies, and fast cars, and a thousand other subjects.......  How do you choose just one?   And finally I have the answer:  I'm not going to.   All of those loves are a part of who I am, and not discussing any of them just because it's not what my blog is supposed to be about, would be like disregarding pieces of myself.  

This first post, therefore, is a completely random subject that just happens to be what's on my mind today: Juicing.  For the last few years,  I have had  a lot of random health issues, that doctors haven't really been able to pinpoint to one particular cause or another.  The last couple of weeks have been worse than usual.  I've felt like a zombie most of the time, have random aches and pains, head aches, nausea, dizziness, etc.... basically, I feel horrible 80% of the time.  It's not unusual for this type of thing to happen to me once every couple months.   I am not the best eater and I have a feeling that this is a big part of the problem, because when I actually manage to take the time to eat healthy, nourishing meals.... instead of snack foods all day. I actually feel pretty great.   Problem is that with all I have to do, I don't usually make the time for it.  I'm a firm believer that our food is our most effective medicine or most potent poison, so I've decided to try to stop poisoning my system and start healing it by changing my diet.   I've owned an Omega juicer for a while now, and even used it occasionally.  A lot of times the concoctions that I have come up with have been less than appetizing.  I don't usually look up recipes.  It's just a mash up of whatever fruits and veggies I happen to have on hand that day.  I typically have a few things that I always keep stocked up, usually organic apples, ginger, and carrots.  Sometimes the concoctions turn out great and other times they taste really..... healthy.  Tonight I found one that I loved and decided to share the recipe on here.  So here you go.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.:


3 Large Carrots
1 Large Peach
1 Kiwi with peel  (Kiwi peels are perfectly edible, and very tasty too if you ask me)
1/2 of a large Beet
1/2 Lemon
1 small fingertip size piece of fresh ginger
A handful of seedless grapes

Chop into pieces small enough for your juicer and juice away! If you don't have a juicer or prefer to get all of the fiber from the fruits and veggies as well as the juice, a blender works great too.   Happy juicing and have a good night!