The Concert!

I can't believe I forgot to post about the concert before I posted about the Christmas Party! LOL! We went to the greatest concert I've ever attended last Thursday night. It was awesome!!! And it felt SO great to jump around without being 50 pounds heavier! And my feet never did start hurting. Wow. So we got to see Storyside B, who's local, but now they're big famous stars in the Cristian music scene. We also got to see Sanctus Real, Aaron Shust (LOVE him), and Toby Mac. Seriously, we had the most incredible time!!! It was Toby Mac's Winter Wonder-Slam tour. Greg likes Aarron Shust as well and he's a huge Toby Mac fan. So he was having so much fun! Delaney went with us and knew over half the songs! :o) She had a blast too! They even sang a few Christmas songs!! Here's some pics, although fuzzy since they were taken with the camera phone. ;o)


Here's my lovely little sister and I

Here's Aaron Shust signing an autograph. We were next, so Delaney now has an autographed framed picture of him in the playroom!
And here we are with him!!! He's amazing!
So, bottom line, we got to see 4 wonderful musicians/groups in one night & we were right up front jamming and worshiping God for about 3 hours! It was so awesome!!! I wish we could do something like that every week!

A Christmas party

Greg had his company Christmas party last night & it was such fun! We got to buy new clothes to get dressy & even posed for pictures when we dropped the girls off at my sister's house! What a blast!! The company Greg works for is just phenomenal! He couldn't ask for a better job, boss, or group of people to work with. It was so amazing to be able to see that first hand last night!

We were able to get a bit of salad from the buffet line & some fresh fruit from the dessert area. When we returned to our seats we saw that they had a special plate of fresh raw vegetables just for the two of us. A huge plate of red, yellow, and green bell pepper spears, yellow squash spears, and zucchini spears, along with carrot sticks, the freshest broccoli I've ever seen and grape tomatoes! It was laid out on an oval plate like fireworks! One plate for each of us! It was gorgeous! And we were so full we couldn't finish it all! The cooked food buffet was very nice, and we could tell it was gourmet, but we didn't feel deprived at all. They were so thoughtful and kind to do that for us! I usually don't like being singled out for anything, but I just put a positive mental spin on it & looked at it the way they intended it. Which of course was as a nice gesture to make sure we felt included. It really was appreciated, let me tell you!!

What else was wonderful is that no one seemed to feel that food was the point of the evening. So many times the celebrations in our society are all about the food. This was really about celebrating and getting to know the spouses of the co-workers and all that. The food was like an afterthought. And I could tell it wasn't just Greg & I that felt that way. Everyone was having a great time & oh yeah, there's food as well. I loved that!!

Did I mention that I wasn't nervous about my size and appearance walking into that group of strangers? Did I mention that I was not the biggest girl there? Did I mention that my shyness was kept reasonably in check and I was more friendly than quiet? Did I mention that I glanced at a mirror at one point and saw myself at a side view and I didn't feel anything? I just glanced at myself and got back to listening to whoever was talking. I didn't dwell on anything bulging out, or start sucking anything in. I didn't think some terrible negative thought about myself. Now, I didn't feel any great thought either (like- oh look at me, aren't I getting cute) I'm not sure I'll ever be like that! Actually, I hope I never get like that. ;o) But I was content to just not have a thought! To concentrate on everything else but myself, positive or negative. I think this paragraph describes a breakthrough ladies & gentlemen!!!!!! Yes indeed! YAY!

Oh, on another note- Greg has a new work wardrobe! He finally had to get new pants. He was wearing a 40 waist all this time & when we went to see what size to buy and he began trying them on, we were shocked to find out he's now a 34 waist! No wonder those pants were looking so baggy! I think he knew he needed new ones, but with money always being tight, he just overlooked it. Whereas I had hand-me-downs around from generous friends & family and I could just try on a new size any time I felt the need. So next, we have to find Greg some new casual pants, like jeans! We did get him a sweater, a long sleeved shirt, and 2 polo shirts. All those can be work or casual. And of course he has one dress up outfit now! ;o)

4 months raw!!!!

WooHoo! We've been 100% raw 4 months! I'm so excited!

There's not a drastic change this month, but there are differences. It's like our bodies slowed down a little on the weight loss, but changes are still happening. For instance, my clothes fit looser enough to need a smaller size, even though the weight didn't drop dramatically in the last 30 days. And of course we're feeling very healthy! I've been tired lately, which I attribute to not eating nearly enough. I've already begun correcting that!

Greg now weighs 178 pounds, he released 7 pounds this past month for a grand total of 62 pounds so far in 4 months!! :o)
I now weigh 215 pounds and I released 7 pounds this month for a grand total of 54 pounds down so far!! :o) I'm down 5.25 inches during last month for a total of 51 inches!!

We're both filled with gratitude that God brought us to this path and has blessed this journey so abundantly. It's truly amazing, and we're really enjoying this transformation, inside & out. It feels wonderful to be lined up in obedience with what He wants us to be doing!








I also wanted to say that we've had to stop all junk food for the kids. We were letting them eat cheese pizza during parties, and goldfish crackers at church, cake at parties, etc. But, it's gotten very hard to help them understand our conviction while at the same time continually compromising. So, they are allowed to have cooked vegan foods once, sometimes twice a week. So far that's been like a wrap at our health food store each Saturday, and maybe some plain brown rice while there. When we go out on our date night every other Friday night, they have cooked veggies with sea salt. Other than these exceptions, they're all raw. Amazingly, it's been easier to handle it this way, than when they were eating raw mostly and then eating junk here and there. Even our 3 year old hands out any candy they give her in her Sunday School class to other kids. It seems like having the clear guidelines made it simpler for them to get used to! It's been so harmonious, I'm glad we tried it the more relaxed way, but I'm very thankful we've progressed to this instead, as it works much better for our kids!

Another birthday!

Here's the pics of my oldest daughter's birthday cakes! The first is a raw chocolate torte, which I bought from the closest raw restaurant. It was $60!!! It has some chili powder in it for a very yummy flavor combination. Good thing I made another "cake" though as some folks didn't care for the chili powder. She decorated the torte herself!!
This one is a double recipe of Raw Priestess's brownies shaped into a circle with Erin's store bought frosting times 5, since the recipe is for a tiny amount.
So all the guests said they liked my younger daughter's cake better last month!!!!! What? That torte cost $60! The brownies were quick and easy and not nearly as expensive. But wow. I never expected them to like the strawberry almond one better. I guess I really was the only one who didn't enjoy it! Greg LOVED this birthday much more because he is a chocolate freak!

But my precious 6 year old was happy though & she enjoyed her 2 cakes. ;o) As well as leftovers for 2 more days! So she was NOT disappointed and that was SO important to me. I didn't want to let her down.

And how in the world did she get to be 6 anyway? My heart hurts if I think too long about it. Incredible.