Jess is Juicing Again

Uh oh. If you remember a year or so ago, my mom surprised me with a juicer. I continued to create the most nasty concoctions, liquid evil, that would make even the most open minded health food fanatic cringe and scold me. In this new phase, I've decided to follow recipes, and you know what, those little juice chefs really know what they're doing! My first juice was DELICIOUS. I am addicted to a place called Thrive in Seattle. It's a raw vegan establishment, serving my favorite juices, including spicy shots of various greens. I used to favor a different type of liquid lunch (and still do from time to time), but now I've become a complete juice head.

It's interesting, I've never liked juice. Boxed, canned, or bottled juices are all so gross, they're too sweet, and I feel like they're not even good for you - there's too much sugar and yuck, don't even think about the preservatives. I used to laugh, and tease my girlfriends in college, "I don't drink juice unless there's champagne in it." Now, I've created a juice so delicious that it tastes better than a mimosa! I swear. If you don't have a juicer, and you live near, I'll make it for you and I promise it'll open your eyes.

My hijacked recipe.....
Better Than A Mimosa (serves two)
10 Carrots
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 Inch of Ginger

I'm excited to play around with my other ingredients. Juicing is so much fun! Dan doesn't seem to be quite as excited. He's more of a meat and potato kind of fella. He's a great sport, always allowing me to shove all sorts of concoctions and recipes down his throat, never complaining, but I know he needs more substance. I'll let you know how things turn out with the other juices. I think I'm going to make a dinner drink too...poor Danny.

Also, on another note. I was thinking about it last night, as I was trying to fall asleep, I'm sorry if I'm annoying. Sometimes I wonder if I sound too cheesy. Or I wonder if it sounds like I'm bragging about how wonderful my life is. My only hope, if that's how I sound, is that you feel the same way about your life. I've gone through a real gamut (engagement, calling off a wedding, marriage, divorce, getting fat, losing weight, etc), and I probably sound completely nuts, but this is the best part of my life so far. Undeniably, I am incredibly fortunate to have such a wonderful husband, kind family, overflowing network of fabulous friends, and those things along with my happy disposition (which has not always been the case) have catapulted me into a position where I believe I have the best life I could possibly imagine. Life is perfect, elephant in the room not included. Life is quite complicated, but the things that truly make me happy are very simple. It's been a great lesson for me to learn.

Turtles Are Back!

As you can see in the photo attached, my favorite neighbors, the Green Lake turtles, are back. There's a specific log where they love to sunbathe. Each time I run the lake, I always look for signs of my green buddies. It's been months and months since they've shown their adorable faces. What a great omen! I've heard before that turtles symbolize longevity.

As Dan and I jogged the lake in the beautiful sunshine, we laughed and watched everyone stop, and pull out their phones to take photos of the turtles. We hugged and reminded ourselves how lucky we are. Life is truly good! Even though we can't help but be nervous about the MRI, we still recognize how healthy I am and what a wonderful life we live.

I remind myself, often, that this stage in my life is definitely going to be the easiest. My only problem in life is brain cancer. Someday I'll have the stress of working, parenting, and everything that comes with adulthood. For now, I just need to be healthy, find happiness in things around me, enjoy laughter with loved ones, and breathe deeply, inhaling the beauty of life. It's all so simple. Someday, soon hopefully, life won't be all about me and my needs and my survival. I can't wait to worry about the pitter-patter of little feet, or a career. That will be fun!