Liver cleanse prep

I have ordered the kit (from here.)
I picked a day to start: December 10 (It's not over Mom's group)

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/liver-cleanse-kit.html

Now I have to prepare mentally.
No grains. No coffee. No cheese. No butter. No meat.

I am going to follow this cleanse (almost) to a T.
The only thing I plan to do differently is to supplement with Collagen Hydrosate, which has glycine (an amino acid that is very important to detoxification) throughout my days. This is animal protein and I feel decent about using it. I've also decided that bone broth is a great choice (as long as it's from the pasture chickens and beef and not from the turkey that we got for free).

This is a fruit (in the morning for breakfast), nut/seed, and vegetable fast.
I am to focus specifically on certain fruits, veggies, and nuts to achieve the best results.

In order to prepare for that, I have picked the fruit I will be consuming ahead of time, so that I can purchase them ahead of time.

Fruits recommended for breakfast:
Watermelon, papaya, kiwi, plum, pear, apple, cheers, figs, or grapefruit.

Not very many of those are in season right now. So I will probably get watermelons (from Costco) and grapefruits. You can eat as many as you want, so I will plan for two g-fruits or a quarter of a small watermelon (4 cups of fruit).

Then for lunch and dinner, you can have a veggie mix or soup from these veggies:
artichoke, asparagus, avocado, carrots, beets, broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, b, spinach, romaine lettuce, salad greens, onions, cauliflower.

I will be focusing on those that are in season (and are readily available).

Snack time can be a handful of nuts:
sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds.

Since we have a bumper crop of walnuts from the trees around our apartment, I will be eating walnuts during this time.

I will be drinking water with the liver cleanse tincture, and also water with apple cider vinegar during this time, and also taking a probiotic and a ozonated magnesium oxide that will be gently cleansing my colon (it is very important to have an open passageway for the liver and gallbladder toxins to exit).

I am looking forward to this cleanse, which is five days long, and I will be updating as I go.

Thanksgiving

WE had a great Thanksgiving weekend!
I loved being able to spend thanksgiving in West Virginia with my family there, and also seeing the Engle grandparents in Harrisonburg.

Things I was thankful for this week:
A Delp thanksgiving gathering that had much less stress!
Lots of laughter and continuing to get to know them!
Braiding hair!
Lots of Laughter!
Being able to drink wine (for the first time, like, ever!)
Kids having a great time playing for hours with Ben's cousins and uncles and aunts.
Not having any struggles not eating dessert
Being able to continue my workouts.
Mom and Dad coming on Monday.
bringing Christmas carols for me to play on the piano
and a box full of elementary school memories.
and some beef to hold us over for our own quarter
Ben and I got to take two dates: a hike near the Susequehanna
and a coffee break in the morning.
We roasted our own turkey (given to us by our sweet landlord)
We drove out to West Virginia Thursday morning with no traffic or car issues
we weren't the last ones there. :P
Got to see Grandma and Dave and we were well appreciated.
Yonah loved Sarah and Matt's dogs (and Naisa tolerated them from someone's arms)
Naisa and Yonah got plenty of grandparent time
and Ben and I got to visit with family and have great conversation!
It was just enough, and then we left for Harrisonburg.
We ate dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and it was a simple Ethiopian. :)
Grandma knows me well.
We played ten thousand, and I won both games. . . I had a straight that came all the way around back to me. I had ginger tea and a back manipulation and my gall bladder felt better.
We had Ethiopian coffee and Mom and Dad were able to be there for that too.
I got to walk in the fresh air to Red Front and back with Yonah.
Our drive home was uneventful as well.
I finished up my prep for my study on the car ride.
Ben got rest and got up at nine yesterday morning.
I got to exercise in peace.
I cleaned some more interesting parts of the apartment (sorting clothes and cleaning the fridge)
The kids and I went outside even though it wasn't beautiful out: cloudy and an occasional drop of rain, and we still enjoyed being outside and breathed the fresh air.
Today we are planning on getting our tree.
I am pretty excited about the season.

I have exciting news

I have stats on my blog that tell me by which people read my blog and also from whereabouts they read.

This week, I noticed that I have a reader that is currently in Russia. 

I can no longer hold in my excitement!

Vladimir Putin is reading my blog!

I have no idea why, but it must be him. 

So thank you Vlad, for reading my blog. 

We go way back, to when you were in the KGB, and I was in... elementary school. Yes, those were the good old days. 

Putin and I on a recent endeavor (Oct 2015)

Create your own picture

We have so much in common. 

I too like to ride horses bareback while wearing trousers.

I too am not a gangster.

I too have unruly neighbors, 

but... ahh, Vlad, you do do things differently. I let my neighbors do their thing. 

But I'm glad that you find my insights so profound as to view my blog. That, *sniff*, means so much to me, my good friend.

Does my parenting give you ideas on how to do you job? I'm so glad it does!

Putin and baby Yonah. So sweet

Create your own picture

It's good to know that we rule our various territories with the same mind: I with my iron fist in this 1000 sqft apartment, and you with your iron fists, the expanse of Russia. 

I know you rejoiced when you read my daughter used the potty to poop for the first time. Thank you for relating to my family. 

Blessings to you, 

Sincerely, 

Grace, around.

My CIA operative position.

Create your own picture

i am american, but I am Christian and a song

I am an American and more increasingly I fear for the safety of my children in the world ahead. I'm a Christian and I think that refugees need to be welcomed. We need to trust God's word and God's will. God's word says to take care of the sojourners, the widows, and the orphans, and also to share Christ with them. If we don't we are cold hearted and selfish and fearful. God also has a will for our country. If we cannot be selfless and want to set up freaking internment camps, then I see American moving quickly down the totem pole.

It was  originally said that they found a Syrian passport next to one of the assailants. It was later said that they know that all the terrorists were European nationals, each who chose to become a member of ISIS and to massacre other people with their own lives.

Why do we fear refugees? Because of the unknown, that they could be terrorists. Because the media is scaring us. Why do we set prejudice upon these people? We are not allowed to cast a judgement on someone before we meet them! It is a sin to do that. God is shaking his head at this.

But at the same time, what the heck is going on in America? So much violence, so much hate. I am certainly frightened by his black lives matter movement, because it frames one race over another, with violence, just in case we didn't hear them the first time. As a woman of swiss and german descent, my families have never experienced slavery, and though my ancestors experienced persecution many, many generations ago, I still don't understand. (That's not something you keep bringing up, as Christians *should* rejoice at the option to suffer as Christ did.) Slavery was a wrong, and people still aren't over the injustices because they continued (and still continue). I understand the anger and the frustrations. But if we want every person to treat every other person equally, we have to treat every other person equally. Each person deserves the same. So I will give them the same.

As for persecution, I see it morphing in this country. People are killed for trivial things, or for nothing at all. I find myself paranoid in the grocery store. (not for persecution but for a random attack).

I am not afraid. I am not afraid.

But I am afraid for my children.

But then I remember to pray and to trust God. God is watching over each sweet baby. Even the ones struggling fleeing for Syria.

I wrote this little song on Yonah's first birthday. I want to teach it to the moms in my study group, and we can teach it to our kids and bless them with it.

Up and over, up and over, up and over
Jesus up and over me
Down and under, down and under, down and under
Satan down under my feet
Back, behind me, back, behind me, back behind me
Satan behind me fleein' me
Front and forward, front and forward, front and forward
Holy Spirit guiding me
All around me, all around me, all around me
I've got angels guarding me.




These posts are always processing, never my complete thoughts.

i am challenging myself, and if you see yourself challenged, ask the Holy Spirit if He wants to work change in you. Seek the Lord, and satan will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Why I am getting into the Christmas Spirit RIGHT NOW

Many of you remember that last year Ben and I were doing job training for Lifeway in Nashville, TN, while staying in an extended stay hotel (one room) during Thanksgiving and the beginning of November. Not only was there stress from the job itself (many of the managers that Ben was working under were going out of their way to try to get him to quit), but I was also stuck in a hotel room (with occasional walks outside when it was nice with the kids) with a five month old and a two year old. We watched lots of blues clues and backyardigens and I watched "the secret life of an american teenager" and listened to sermons. It was then still stressful when we moved to Pennsylvania and had to "camp" in our new apartment in December. We had none of our stuff, and I didn't feel the season at all. I really wanted to, but we didn't know if we were even going to be there very long.

This year, there is much rejoicing. Ben has moved on from his job at Lifeway, and has decided to accept another job that looks much more promising for his gifts and affirming him along the way and is more fiscally affordable for the long term.

So I am getting excited! We are going to get a potted tree that we can use in the apartment for Christmas smell, and to decorate with the kids (and also to purify the air in the apartment).
 I am going to make cinnamon ornaments with some of the moms from my moms Group and we're going to use those to decorate the tree as well and Ben and I are going to make some other ornaments.

We want to figure out an advent time each night with the kids to talk about the coming of Christ and I'm really looking forward to going to Christmas eve service. I'm just really excited about Christmas this year!!

We are also going to spend some parts of Thanksgiving with the Engle family which we haven't done in four years. It'S going to be fun also be different because this past year two family members have passed away and so it will be different and I hope good time I'm looking forward to seeing my family in West Virginia and Virginia.

Working on me (song)

This song I felt like I needed to write something about God still working on even though I'm Christian, and have been Christian for a long time we continue to grow and we can need to be students and children in Christ and not mature until until we die. The name Christian is so much more than a name. We are followers of Christ and need to be humble enough to call ourselves that.

Christians are slandered in media as being idiots and being intolerable and being hypocrites. Because of that, we still need to keep working on being humble and showing people Christ. we are not Christ! we are humans: we are sinful people and we do not show Christ by living by ourselves without Listening to God. We need to listen to God because God will guide our actions and our thoughts and our hearts. If we do not have God guiding our actions and our thoughts and our hearts we are just like atheists even if we call ourselves Christians.

So the song begins with me having trouble spending time in the word but knowing God is still working and me even though I can't spend as much time as I would like or as much time as I should with him.

This is busy
something to do every second
pulling me away from your grace
it's a struggle
maintaining endurance
when every movement is distracted
from your Holiness

So take this moment
breathe in you
this love surrounding
is enough to keep

Holding onto you
even when what you say isn't breaking through
I know your way is truth
when I can't understand
all the things you are doing
 you hold onto me
you are everything
even when I can't see
you are still
still working on me

I'm too busy
too much information
clogging up my focus
should be on you
your beauty
meditating on you
every movement an opportunity to see you

There is no one like you Jesus
 there is no one else who can lead us
 your grace was given to us
your grace has made us free

We have the love of Christ! New song

I wrote this song when I was thinking about how nothing separate us from the love of Christ and I really like that verse and I just felt like I needed to write a song about it that's how it works for me.

So here's the song:

Shall hardship or trouble
persecution or famine
separate us from your love?
Shall shamefulness or danger
or death by the sword
separate us from your love?

We are more than conquerors of the things! (yes we are)
we are more than conquerors with your love
with your love

Shall death or life
or angels or demons
separate us from your love?
shall Government between us
or heights and depths beneath us
separate us from your love?

We have the love of Christ!
conquer of death
creator of life
he has already won what we're fighting!
we have the love of Christ!
 redeeming me from the worst I've been
he has calmed the storms of my soul

Nothing can separate us
we have the love of Christ!

I'm not who I was

This is a song that I wrote a couple of weeks ago and every time I sing it, it has so much meaning for me: about how much I've grown in my Faith and grown and who I am in comparison to who I was years ago and that's why want to share it with you.

I'm not who I was I am new in you
 I'm not who I was I'm defined by you

My heart has changed
I have gained
you, my Jesus
no more guilty spaces
I am fully whole
and you my Jesus

I'm not who I was I'm new in you
I'm not who I was I'm defined by you

No longer broken
I am found in the arms of Christ
I am a child of God
filled up with your love overflowing

I can leave behind this shadow
for Christ has won this battle
my sin demolished
 Satan vanquished
 Christ has the victory!!

I'm not who I was
I'm new you
I'm not who I was
I'm defined by you

how to deal with inequality

the only way to change how other people view human life is to view all human life the same.

Always look at both perspectives.

Always grieve pain, especially pain of others. Do not become callous.

Uphold your promises, teach for growth, bless everyone, not just the ones who bless you.

Let others bless you.

let money be a tool not a goal.

Stop judging. Both sides. STOP JUDGING.

Look for full context.

Give love.

November: update of sorts

It's amazing the personalities that are coming forth from my kids!

Yonah listens. That's a contrast from Naisa. He picks up the food he throws on the floor (when I ask him to), he throws his diaper away, he picks up toys.

Naisa asks for "black" beans -specifically-, for dinner. Then she refuses to swallow, chewing the same bite for an hour and a half, before we force her to go to bed with a spanking.

At least she is pooping in the potty (a couple times a day!) now.

We finally have bananas in the house again, so we can feed the children on command and not have to prepare something for every snack time. I get exhausted from that. Especially when snack time is an hour after a meal.

Ben has accepted a sales position at a local small printing company about an house from our apartment. We are looking forward to it (The employers are especially! Exclamation points in the emails and a phone call the next morning ready to get things set up (does he want to have an email that says "ben" or "Benjamen"? Does he want to have a company car (YESYEYSYES) or use his own vehicle)

The first day he starts there is also a Christmas party which we are going to attend. I am very excited, because I think this is going to be a really good fit!

Ben recently had a minor surgery to cut out a sebaceous cyst out of his side, and we are still recovering from the bills that are being sent our way (and Ben is healing fine). It is also good that the hospital that was used has a financial assistance program, even for people who are well above the poverty line!

We also decided on a new health sharing insurance, called Medi-share, through mychristiancare.org. It is for Ben and I because the children are still eligible for the State assistance.

I am excited for the Christmas season!!

I am a super-empathizer

I was reading my Facebook feed. Videos and articles pop up about death, injury, pain and suffering, especially in children. I can't read them. I can't even look at them. I feel it. I feel it in my whole body and I have to move on.

I cannot read the news. I cannot listen to videos. I put myself in their positions.
What if? What if? What if? How can anyone TAKE IT??

I don't want to push away the validity of the things that happen. But I do--I push away the pain before I experience the pain that other people have surrounding them.

I hate it because when I see a video of a Syrian baby looking at a large photo of his daddy that was killed, I lose it. I imagine my children without parents. I imagine myself without a husband. I imagine myself without my children. I take steps back. I get off the Internet. I get out of my head.

I don't want to think about the possibility of something like that happening to me.

But I know eventually there will be people close to me in my family who die. And I will have to mourn them. And I'm sure it will all be different than the projected suffering I have in my head.

But since I cannot avoid any of it. I just pray the Lord give me peace in whatever situation I find myself in. And the knowledge that I will see them in heaven.

Current dietary choices: detoxify with food

This all started when I started drinking diet soda. I was in middle school, doing Weightwatchers, so I wanted to enjoy soda like everyone else (when at events) and so I started drinking it. And I didn't stop completely until 2013. And in between, especially in the last two years of high school and while I was at EMU, I drank a lot of soda. Sometimes two 20oz a day.

It is a bit concerning, considering that aspartame can reak havoc on the brain. I did not see any effects, besides headaches. I drank soda for the caffeine, for the taste, and for the fizzies. I have changed my ways majorly since then. I drink coffee now.

I never really had any problems from it, and I have always eaten pretty clean (aside from the soy consumption when I was vegetarian and vegan in 2010 and 2011). I always avoided most processed foods and cookies and things because of the calorie (and sugar) content.

So I was surprised when I started having gallbladder attacks after Yonah was born. At first they just felt like I needed to burp, that discomfort in the abdomen, but nothing would make it go away. Then the pain would spread and my back would hurt badly, from fifteen minutes to two hours. I couldn't sit still while it was happening and nothing seemed to help. Unfortunately, when I did go to the doctor about it, they were no help, because they thought it was muscular skeletal. I did some research my self and self-diagnosed. Thankfully (oh so thankfully), the gall bladder attacks stopped independently about two months after Yonah was born.

Because I was nursing Yonah at this point, I couldn't even think about detoxing. I wanted to, but dumping toxins into the blood stream while nursing a newborn is just not a good idea. Figuring that Yonah was going to nurse until he was two, I decided I needed to be patient until I would not be nutritionally needed by someone else.

Now, Yonah is sixteen months old and has weaned himself (besides the five minute nurse in the middle of the night) . I didn't think it would happen this early, but I guess it has.

Meanwhile, I started researching foods that assist the body with detoxing. There are a couple things I have been doing.

I started consuming more foods with probiotics. this is in part because I started feeling heaviness and discomfort in my abdomen after eating meat after taking antibiotics for strep throat at the end of September. I knew something needed to change, so I am eating a 1/2 cup of homemade milk kefir everyday wtih four tablespoons of flaxseed meal. And at lunch I have a cup of grated beets mixed with a 1/4 cup sauerkraut.

Milk kefir: it is 10x more probiotically potent than yogurt, and is known to specifically repopulate the gut, whereas Yogurt just helps with digestion.
Flaxseed: this is a powerful food--it has lots of Omega-3s (ALA), has a high fat and and fiber content. Flax oil in itself helps bring oxygen to your cells (which is anti-cancer, because cancer thrives in an anaerobic environment.
Beets: Beets are great for the liver. they help thin bile and are delicious
Sauerkarut: homemade probiotic that has detoxifying helpies in it because it is in the broccoli family.

of course, I'm also drinking a lot of water

Other things I do occasionally:
 oil pull 10-15 minutes a couple times a week.
 dry brush my skin before a shower a couple times a week.
apply magnesium oil a couple times a week.



I am thinking seriously of doing a liver cleanse and hoping to do an all vegetable week sometime soon. I have to get myself on board, of course!! :D