who wouldn’t want a best friend?

i love snow.

the last couple weeks seattle has been bombarded with snow, but this makes me very happy because i love snow, i love the cold, i love walking outside when everything is silent after snowing all night, i love walking in the snow when no one else is around. i love everything about snow. even if that means shoveling out my car! josh and i went out last night and took some pictures of fremont, i couldn’t believe that how shut down everything was. 

 

Christmas is next this week, and last week was celebrating the Christmas season. 

on monday josh, his parents and i went to bellevue square for their “snow flake lane” which is basically a parade put on every night through december with people dressed as toy soldiers, drummer boys and girl and snow princesses. at the very end they sprinkle fake snow on the crowd. 

on wednesday ryan, emily, josh and i all went on a Christmas date. we started the evening with dinner, followed by ice skating in bellevue square park, and then walking through the  bellevue botanical garden. which they decorate all the plants with Christmas lights it was such a good time. i really love  double dates with ryan and emily. 

 

on friday, josh’s family had their annual Christmas dinner at canlis. i really enjoy spending time with his family. the dinner was wonderful! i have been wanting to go to canlis since i moved to seattle over two years ago i am glad i got to go with him and his family i bought a new dress for the dinner (and now i have a all occasion black cocktail dress), before dinner josh gave me an early  Christmas present. which was a a beautiful necklace that actually went with the dress (but i couldn’t afford at the time i bought the dress). after dinner we went to greenlake to take some snow pictures. 

 

on sunday since my daddy was stuck in shelton, he over nighted his seahawks tickets to me. it was such a fun game, before we even got there the snow was coming down. luckily we had suite seats so it was a bit warmer then some of the other seats, and we had an indoor heated area if we got too cold. by the end of the 4th quarter the fans were throwing snowballs at the other team, and trying to hit the refs, and the cheerleaders. it was pretty crazy. such a cool experience though because  it was also mike holgrem last home game. 

ok. i need to go shovel our my car now, so i can make it home for my moms birthday tomorrow and Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas!!!! 

ps. 

my top 10 favorite things about this time of year.

1. Christmas cookies.

2. the hustle and bustle at the malls.

3. the pine smell (if you are from shelton you understand, hiawatha always smells so good).

4. holiday drinks (espresso truffle, peppermint mocha…..yum).

5. peppermint ice cream.

6. being with my family.

7. wrapping presents.

8. seeing the generosity of people.

9. having my dad wake me up at 6am Christmas morning.

10. re-connecting with old friends. 

 

acupuncture.

for the past month or so i have been getting acupuncture once a week. 

a little tid-bit  

 

ACUPUNCTURE: WHAT IS IT?

Acupuncture is a method of encouraging the body to promote natural healing and to improve functioning. This is done by inserting needles and applying heat or electrical stimulation at very precise acupuncture points.

 

HOW DOES ACUPUNCTURE WORK?

The classical Chinese explanation is that channels of energy run in regular patterns through the body and over its surface. These energy channels, called meridians, are like rivers flowing through the body to irrigate and nourish the tissues. An obstruction in the movement of these energy rivers is like a dam that backs up in others.

The meridians can be influenced by needling the acupuncture points; the acupuncture needles unblock the obstructions at the dams, and reestablish the regular flow through the meridians. Acupuncture treatments can therefore help the body’s internal organs to correct imbalances in their digestion, absorption, and energy production activities, and in the circulation of their energy through the meridians.

The modern scientific explanation is that needling the acupuncture points stimulates the nervous system to release chemicals in the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These chemicals will either change the experience of pain, or they will trigger the release of other chemicals and hormones which influence the body’s own internal regulating system.

The improved energy and biochemical balance produced by acupuncture results in stimulating the body’s natural healing abilities, and in promoting physical and emotional well-being.

http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/acu_info/articles/aboutacupuncture.html

 

at first it was making my body overly tired and me very grumpy. i felt like i was pmsing for three weeks straight, pretty sure i was a brat that whole time, and a few can attest to that. i was emotional, irritable, sleepy, and i felt nauseous. but i felt like i needed to give it more time to start affecting my body in a good way, i know that the body take a while to adjust. i am so glad i did, the past two sessions have been amazing! i have more energy, my skin looks better (not that i have bad skin) my hair feel heathier, i have been sleeping through the night, and i have actually lost more weight even though i stick to the work out program.

today during my session i was slipping into the floating stage. (after the needles are in, my body starts to relax and i feel like i am floating.) i also started to fall asleep. i wake up to my acupuncturist standing over me with a smile on her face. apparently i was so relaxed i started talking in my sleep, and apparently all i could talk about was how excited i was for snow and i can’t wait to make snow angels. a little bit embarrassing, although i am glad that’s all that was said…

i would recommend acupuncture to anyone looking to improve their over all wellness. i start yoga in december, i can’t wait.

my beautiful life in pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 years.

my two year anniversary or living in seattle came and went with out notice. sad. 

this past year in seattle has definitely surpassed last year. seattle still feels like home to me. i love everything about this city, and i think i am here to stay.

to continue tradition here are things that i have come to love this year. 

• cafe lardo- because the coffee hasn’t failed me yet
• kerry park- because it has the best view in seattle
• easystreet records- because it’s where i can find any album i need
• the stranger- because it’s always fun to read what the liberal seattiltes are complaining about
• the high dive- because there are so many good memories 
• fremont- because it’s my new home
• paseo caribbean restaurant- because you will have best sandwich ever. 
• la isla- because you wont get a bad mojito.
• kings- because its the best place to meet friends. 
• local color- because you can get a good cup of coffee and watch all the tourists (i love to people watch)
• capital hill block party, oktoberfest, fremont solstice fair, george town music festival, bumbershoot- because you can’t have too many festivals. 

happy two years to me, this city hasn’t beaten me down yet. 

 

 

 

“there’s one thing i want to say, so I’ll be brave

you were what i wanted
i gave what i gave

i’m not sorry i met you
I’m not sorry it’s over
I’m not sorry there’s nothing to save”

stars say it all for me tonight. i wish i had enough money to go see them tomorrow night.

if you want to get me fired up.

 

talk to me about traditional medicine and nutrition. 

i am not traditional when it comes to my beliefs on nutrition or medicine. 

i do not believe that everything soy is good for you, i do not believe that vaccines are good for adults or children, i do not believe that tofu is a healthy way to eat, i do not believe that a flu shot is a necessity, i do not believe that drinking milk builds strong bones and i do not believe that you should take everything medical doctors say as fact.

i do believe that God designed our bodies as a perfect creation. i also believe that God made the earth perfectly to supply us with all we need, and gave us a guideline of what to eat and what not to eat. we for the most part have destroyed that. 

if you think about it gluttony is a sin that most people over look. God says to love our bodies, to treat them as a temple to the holy spirit.

 

1 Corinthians 6:19 

19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

 

so if we are not our own, we need to treat our body that way. to me this means that we need to take care of our body, to eat well, live well, and be well. i see so many people that don’t think this is important to God, to me it is so important and i believe it is also that important to God. by destroying our bodies we are basically slapping God in the face. saying “thanks for giving me life and all but i am going to treat my body and your creation like crap.”

disclaimer: in no way am i saying i am perfect, i am far from it. however this is something that is very important to me and i will do whatever i can to learn and become a better steward of my body.

this is what i want to do, i want to help people understand the effects of the things that they do to their bodies and teach them that by eating better and how our body was created to eat you can feel 100% better. to show people that health isn’t a luxury. so many times being healthy is treated as luxury in life, why? because the media and mainstream america made it that way? well sorry i don’t agree, you can eat well on a budget and i want to show and teach families how. teach them how to take care of themselves. 

this is something that i strive to get better at everyday. 

i was reading this article on mercola.com, which got me fired up in the first place.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/09/23/history-proves-many-doctors-recommendations-are-disasters.aspx

that and josh and i were talking about health and how so many people don’t take care of themselves and then complain about being sick all the time. thats bothers me a lot. 

so there is my soap box on nutrition. i know that my beliefs are in the minority, but it is something that i feel strongly about.

happy fall.

i really like fall.

i am sitting at peet’s coffee, over looking the fremont bridge and i can see the colors of the trees changing. and it brings me some…comfort . i like the crisp cold air and wearing scarves and gloves to keep me warm. 

i love the seasonal drinks that come out in fall, pumpkin spice lattes and warm apple cider, warms my soul. 

all day i have felt this need to type my thoughts and the need to express my self, but i have no idea what i need to express. i thought maybe if i started to type this blog that it would come to me. that the weight i need to get off my chest would be lifted or the need that i need to talk to someone would be gone. but it is still here. maybe i actually need to talk to a person instead of trying to satisfy this need through a silly blog.

shoes.

gracie and i went shopping for boots.

hum…i think someone wants to be just like her aunt when she grows up..

anytime we got in the car and i asked her where we were going her answer was “shopping?!?”

welcome.

i would like to welcome you to my new blog. i decided that i like word press better then blogger. 

 

i haven’t done a life update in a while, so here you go. 

finally after 2 years of wanting and waiting got my MacBook, and i say it was well worth the wait. it feels good to finally have a computer of my very own. my next goal is to get the iphone, and yes i realize i did just get my blackberry, but i might as well switch to all things apple right? 

i started my x-ray certification a couple weeks ago, and it is hell. i really don’t like to give up my weekends to sit inside with a bunch of people who could care less about chiropractic or health. i believe that a chiropractic assistant should be a healthy person. chiropractic is about promoting health and it really gets under my skin when people promote health to others but are killing their body. it is only 4 weekends so i really shouldn’t complain that much. but honestly i loath it. 

now with that being said let me contradict myself…

i don’t think i could be happier. so much has changed for me recently, and all of it good. God has been so faithful to me. i’ve met someone wonderful. his name is josh and we met at community group, he goes to mars hill, loves Jesus, and likes me. i absolutely love getting to know him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also i have been serving communion and mars hill for the last 4 months, and a couple weeks ago was asked to be the communion lead for the 715 service. i feel blessed to have this opportunity to placed before me. especially since i am so young, it is going to be a big responsibility but after praying about it i feel like this is where God wants me to serve and i am excited to get started.

i got to see my niece this past weekend and my goodness, could she melt my heart anymore? she is so smart she isn’t even two and can count to 10, knows all her major animals and what sound they make, even knows all her colors, and calls me aunt mandy. i had gotten my mac right before i went to spokane so i brought it with me and we played on it for hours. just sitting there taking pictures with the icamera. now every time she sees a computer she says cheese.

i wish her and my sister lived closer so i would be able see them more often, so much changes in just a couple months and it makes me sad that i have to miss it. 

there is quick update. i hope that even though i moved my blog that you continue reading. i know i will continue to read yours. 

 

i am happy.