Congratulations to S and C on your upcoming Nuptials! May you give your best one to another, care protect and inspire each other, respect honor and safely trust in the other, and may a lifetime of peace be not long enough to spend in joy together. Thank you for a truly lovely day, and for being there.
Soooooooo here are the teasers!
So the time has come again for us to pause and recognize and celebrate and reflect and reminisce and love and laugh… And we want to do this with you! Consider this your official invite and informational “brochure”
In honor of our 12th year anniversary, we are building an outdoor entertainment/celebration space where we can enjoy your company more in this coming year, and we need your help. Now of course, this would not be a Smith Family project if there wasn’t some kind of twist.
Twist 1: Our space will be created around a massive heated bench made of Cob.
Something like This:
Twist 2: We need your hands, and we need your feet! Cob is a natural material made of earth, sand and straw, that is mixed like this:
Twist 3: We are using reclaimed materials for roofing and flooring, so if you have um a truck and some muscles, we kinda need those too.
We are doing this all over the course of one work week. That is we are doing this all, NEXT WEEK September 2nd-6th. If you want to spend some time dancing in muddy straw, or are just curious, or you are availing yourself to help, text me. We are providing food. Good food. Vegan, fresh food! Lol! Can hardly wait to hear from you!
A few weeks ago, My Fav and I began yet another home project (this one was his idea though). All I can say is, I am thrilled. It is not far from being finished, so I thought I’d share our new “built-in” bookcase. If you know us, you know we LOVE books and we have them literally everywhere. So I think I know where his idea came from.
Here’s where we left off a couple of weeks ago…
…And our progress through the night.
I even made my first molding!
It’s not perfect but I am super thrilled with the outcome.
We sort of followed plans from HERE. but you know us, things were changed up a bit. Eventually it will have a little brother in the other corner, but we are learning to take things one project at a time. I will be sure to post up images once it has been completed. I just love woodworking.
Oh and for those who wish to know my part aside from taking pictures, I did the cutting, My Fav did the measuring. He did most of the nailing (with the nail gun), while I did most of the hammering (using a hammer). Tonight He did the cooking while I secured the shelves. All in all, I love working alongside him and producing the things we will use in our home!
Tonight we had the awesome opportunity to preview a great film Grace Unplugged set to be released October 4, 2013. It is a dramatic interpretation of events that transpire in many of our families, with a message that can bring healing and reconciliation. I am issuing out an invite to friends and family, far and wide. Join me and my Fav opening weekend to see and support this film.
Oh and be sure to visit the website too. They have some cool freebies, including free music.
www.graceunplugged.com
Today starts the third week of my raw food vegan detox, and the first day I have invited you, and you and you too, to join me. So I thought it would be nice to share a couple of things that I have learned and those things I was reminded of these past couple of weeks. 
1. Our bodies are designed to regenerate and to heal itself. When we eat nourishing foods, our cells are renewed and strengthened.
2. We do not eat enough whole foods to live healthily.
3. Raw whole foods, fruit and vegetables have less calories than overly processed foods. That means we have to eat even more. For example, a peach only has between 35 and 50 calories. So eating one gives a boost of energy to a tired body, but eating say 7 or 8 (245 – 400 calories) can sustain your energy until your next meal AND provide you with the proper sugars and vitamins your body needs to function properly, and your cells need to regenerate.
4. After eating exclusively raw food, I no longer crave sugars. Really. Raw foods are so much sweeter than their cooked and processed counter parts. Sometimes it was too much sweet.
I have been a vegetarian for over 12 years now, and if you know me, you know that I have never tried to push my preferences onto anyone, and I will not start now. Neither am I against cooked food. Once my fast is over, I will return to cooked foods. I choose to do this as a fast because I know my body needed a break. The more work I have the worse I tend to eat. Vegetarian fast food is still fast food you know. If however, you are making the choice to join me on this journey this week here are a couple of things I suggest for you to do:
1.Purchase the largest quantity, and best quality fruit and vegetables you can. I bought 10 to 15 of various fruit each, as well as several heads of green leafy veggies. As a side note, buying in bulk will save you a little money.
2.Experiment. You know, the produce you have never prepared before? Give it a try. It is so much easier to maintain a fast, diet, cleanse, or lifestyle change, when you are open to ‘new to you’ foods. I never cared too much for radish or squash, but having tried them paired with other foods, I find I kind of like them.
3.If you are not used to eating a lot of food, which I wasn’t, then you will not be able to actually consume as many calories as you will need to function which will leave you tired, weak and/ or grumpy. Do yourself a favor (and everyone else too) and invest in a juicer or blender. Give it prominent space on your counter and use it.
4.Speaking of juicers, if you are replacing a meal with juice (don’t do this too often unless you are doing it for a purpose), you will need to drink 32 to 64 ounces per meal to have a sufficient amount of calories to function at peak energy. And lastly,
5. Melons, which are in season now, are a great buy! One personal (you know the small one) watermelon, rind and all, juiced is about 34oz and a great start to your day.
As a bonus, here is a video to illustrate what a 2000 calorie day, on a raw food diet, looks like. Enjoy!
