Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it - because it does!

Hey!  Been a while my readers!  I've been happily boppin along here in Austin...life is good.  I hope you all are doing well :)

By far and away - the most amazing thing going on right now in my life are the two bible studies I am facilitating.  I have met some of the most amazing people...and I am having an incredible time growing and learning with these folks.  I am truly floored by the blessings God has given me through these friendships.  So happy.

Juicing is still going well too ;)

Down 40 lbs!

Work is trucking along...I survived my Improv showcase and I am enrolled in the next level class...I am about to engage in a full force Christmas Tamales sale campaign for my rotary club...
I can't complain :)

I want to share with you something cool I read that describes how I am feeling these days.  Then I'll show you some pics from life lately:

Sept. 6, 2013

My uncle Doug passed away this morning unexpectedly.  I'm not going to be able to get home for the funeral and the distance between Maryland and Texas is really hitting me today.  :/

Doug was a wonderful member of our family.  He always made me (and anyone else with a sense of humor) laugh and I never saw him upset, angry, or even in a bad mood!  He made my aunt very happy.  He was my dad's partner in crime growing up.

I will miss seeing him at holidays...I'll miss trying out his homemade wine...and I will be sad that someone special is missing from Mountaindale (one of the places I carry always in my heart).

I know he is in a better place now but I will miss him.  He was such an earthy person.  I know I will think of him every time I get the chance to get lost in those gorgeous Frederick county mountains.

32 is the new 22

Hey everyone - I feel like it has been awhile since I've said hi!

Hi!!  :)

I hope you are all doing well.  Life is going along here at a sweet pace.  It's a little strange to be honest.  It's like things are moving along like a happy, bubbly, little brook and I can't help but feel like a leaf floating downstream on my way to a larger body of water.  Is that weird?  It's the only way I can think to explain how I am feeling these days.  The feeling is good - it's refreshing and fun to feel you are being swept along in a cleansing element - the feeling is one I only last remember feeling in my early twenties.  It's like life is an open road and the possibilities are limitless.

So I'm saying things are good and exciting.  :)  And I can't shake the feeling that I am on my way to something bigger and better than I have ever dreamed.  It is a lovely feeling!  Maybe it's the juicing...maybe it's my age...I dunno.  I'm just relaxed and happy and content :)  Good stuff.

Here's a quick little update of what I've been up to and what's keeping me moving these days:

austin, tx - home sweeeeet home

Hey everyone,
I hope you are all well!  I have been on "stay-cation" this week and I spent my time off getting my new apartment allllll put together :)  This week was also my 32nd birthday!  Normally, I spend my birthday week engaging in a lot of fanfare and bar-hopping.  This year was a lot more quiet and subdued...and I liked it ;)

Please come on in and take a little tour of what makes this apartment "home" to me!

When you first walk in you have the option of going to the dining/kitchen area on the right or the living area on the left.  This space pictured above is supposed to be the dining room but I've turned it into my study/sewing/hoop making/reading/record player area.

Banking

Evening pardddners :)

How are you all doing?  I just wanted to touch base and share with you guys a little bit about a Women's Gathering I went to this past week at the Austin Stone church here in Austin.  It was so good :)

So, it was this past Tuesday - which just so happened to be a very rough day for me at work.  There was some coworker drama going on, I hadn't gotten enough sleep, and I was feeling super overwhelmed about the tasks that make up my job.  I came home feeling frustrated and about a million miles from good.  I made dinner for myself and ate it while trying to decide whether or not to go to the Women's Gathering after such a crappy day.  My sister had decided not to go with me so being on my own wasn't making things easier.  But finally, I made up my mind to go...and on the way I prayed a little prayer asking God to give me some comfort at this event because I sure hadn't gotten any comfort during the day :/

You guys recall that I am a banker, right? Well, I get myself up to the event, grab a seat, and the speaker reveals the topic of the message.  It was on the topic of...

BANKING.

Yeahhhhh...this banker who'd spent the previous 8 hrs being extremely frustrated at her banking job perked her pretty little ears right up.  ;)  

A Simple Kinda Life

Hi everybody :)  How's it going?  I'm blogging to you live from the sun-bright city of Austin, Texas with my good pal Callie by my side.  She's writing an entry on HER blog - http://www.seizuretheday.org/ - please feel free to check her out :)

It has been a lovely couple of weeks here in God's country!  The juicing is going great, my job is getting more interesting everyday, mom and dad were in town for the 4th of July, and I get my new apartment in FOUR days!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yay!

Life truly feels simple and sweet. That sweet simplicity is something I've been thinking a lot about these days :) It is hard for someone like me (my mind is always in 10 places at once and my energy levels are HIGH to say the least) to slow down and apply a simplified perspective - but I've been more and more able to achieve this here in Austin.  Check out this devotional I read the other day:

Juicing 101

Juicing is SO easy!  I've been juicing breakfast and lunch for almost a month now and I am down 20 lbs!  Below is a quick start guide including tips, techniques, and recipes:

How do I make juice?

I've tried juicing using a blender, a Vitamixer, and a Breville juicer.  The Breville juicer was definitely the best product I've tried so far...but I don't own one myself.  I use the blender passed down to me from my mom because it's FREE!  :)   A couple tips:

- Juicers (like the Breville):  These are great.  They deconstruct fruits and veggies so that you are only drinking the actual "juice" from each food item.  You CAN drink the pulp left over from juicing but I have found it will slow your actual weight loss.  

- Vitamixer:  Vitamixers are powerful!  But there really isn't a way to remove the pulp from your juices so you end up drinking it all.  Again, that's perfectly fine, but you won't see a dramatic weight loss.

- Blenders:  I love this old school method :)  Cut up fruits and veggies (make sure to add a little water to the blender!) and blend until liquefied.  Use a small holed strainer and a bowl to remove the pulp from your mixture.  You can always put the strained pulp aside and reblend just the pulp in order to get even more juice out of it.  Don't forget to restrain if you choose to do that.

Storage

I store all of my juices in small mason jars that I picked up on the cheap at Target.  Using glass jars makes clean up easier, and it's just better than plastic in terms of keeping your juice fresh.  

Juicing Frequency

As I said above, I juice for breakfast and lunch.  I eat an early, healthy dinner (something like sauteed salmon and fresh salad, for example) each day.  You may want to mix it up and have a food lunch and a juice dinner, or something like that :)  It's just easier for me in terms of my schedule to juice during the day so that's why I do it that way.

Tips

- Try to juice fruits in the AM and veggies in the afternoon.

- Don't juice any fruit skins/rinds you wouldn't normally eat.  

- Drink water throughout the day.

- At first you may experience a slight headache.  That means your detox is working!  Calm the headache with a cup of green tea and honey.  

- NO alcohol - especially beer.  Don't be mad at me if you juice diligently but drink 3 beers at the game on Saturday and end up gaining weight!  :/  I learned this lesson the hard way...lol

Recipes: 

Lord Featherbottom's Nectar1 pear
1/4 of a head of broccoli
4-5 leaves of kale
4-5 leaves of swiss chard
1/2 a lemon

Green Moonshine1 pear
1 apple
1/2 cucumber
1 handful of spinach

Mean Green 1 handful spinach
3 leaves of kale
1 apple
handful of parsley leaves
1/3 of a lemon
3 inches of cucumber
optional - 1 inch ginger

Carrot Quencher
3 carrots
1 apple
1 big handful of spinach

Vegetable Potion 
1/2 cucumber
3 carrots
1 big handful of spinach
1 apple
1 inch ginger

Chill to the Beet (Anti-anxiety drink)
1/2 beet
1/2 cucumber
1 inch ginger
1/2 lemon
add coconut water if you can

Sunshine Elixer
1 orange
1 big handful of spinach
3 carrots
3 big leaves of kale

Mighty Marrow Calcium Drink
a cup of chopped broccoli
3 carrots
1 apple
handful of parsley leaves
1/2 lemon

Liquid Kleenex (Anti-allergy drink)1 apple
4 carrots
1 inch ginger

Skiddly-Boop-Boop-Skat-Skat!2 handfuls spinach

4 carrots
1 green apples

Kathy's Not-So-Green Tonic
3 leaves of kale
1 apple
1 big handful of spinach 
3 carrots
1 inch ginger
1/2 lemon

There are many more recipes available online!  Also, feel free to make up your own juices!  You can't really go wrong :)

Good luck!!!

it's all i got...it's my claim to fame

Letting Patty Griffin do the talking today :)

Also - I am now officially down TWENTY pounds from March.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just Keep Breathing

Hi everyone,
How are you all today? I'm writing again from Fair Bean Coffee where I am breaking my 16-day streak juice fast by eating some yogurt, granola, and fruit.  It's AMAZING.  So much so that I took a picture :)

ohhhh yeah

So good.  :)

Things are still going great here in Austin but I am feeling that weird vacuum of energy that comes from spreading yourself too thin.  I said in my last post that I planned to engage in some radical self care (i.e. ME TIME) this week and it happened to some extent - but not as much as I probably needed. So here I am sitting in a coffee shop and missing people, things, and places that have consistently brought me the feelings of peace I need.

"Catching the Light at Every Turn"

Alright I just have to tell you right away - I had my first official weigh in after about 10 days of juice fasting. I'm down 5 lbs! Yay! It is so gratifying to see results after this week.  It was especially tough because my good friend Heather was in town and it's impossible to eat sensibly when someone is visiting Austin for the first time. Ain't no way no how! But even with some highly caloric dinners...I managed to stick to my guns about juicing for breakfast and lunch. And I'm so happy I did :)  And can I just tell y'all - I LOVE seeing how many of my friends and family are giving juicing a try! I'm truly doing this diet to rid myself of toxins and preservatives. Losing weight is a much welcomed byproduct of this process but ultimately the goal is to feel  like a million bucks.  If I look it too, then so be it ;)

"Catching the Light at Every Turn"

That's the tag line for a book my mom loaned me called Sparkly Green Earrings. I am a bit of an earring diva and I love shiny sparkly stuff, so the title really got my attention. And the line about catching the light at every turn has been on my mind a lot lately.  It's exactly what I feel like I'm trying to do these days.  Life is SO busy right now...here's proof:

This is only the HALF of how busy life is these days!

Go-go Juice

Hey friends,
How's it going? I finished my first week of work yesterday! This new job is very challenging and I have so much to learn - but by the grace of God I'm figuring it out :) I just want to restate how blessed I feel to have such great friends here in Austin helping me figure out these first few months :)

So! I am blogging to you today from Fair Bean Coffee on 1st street. Katie, Mom, and Dad will be arriving to the area soon so we can move Katie into her new Austin apartment :)

My dear friend Jeremiah is right by my side working on his blog today too - feel free to check it out! He is such a funny, talented, and thoughtful writer. His stuff cracks me up :)  I think he posted today about our friendship so if you want to get a glimpse of the Becky of years gone by...feel free to read ;)

Hi from Jeremiah and Becky!

Jeremiah has been sitting here listening to me go on and on and on about my new endeavor - JUICING! So, I've decided to shut up and throw all of my thoughts into blog form :)

Click Click BOOM

"Ugh!"

That was me about a month ago, rejoining the online dating universe in an attempt to "meet new friends."  Otherwise known as, "I really just don't want to die a hopeless spinster!"

But I did it anyway.  It has not been terrible...I've encountered some really nice people via the system.  I've even met one in person.  But that's just it.  It's a system.  And it turns me off.  :(

Partner, Partner Lemme Upgrade Ya

Hey y'all!  So today was my first day of work :)  It went well.  I have a lot to learn and I am excited about what I think is going to be an amazing opportunity to grow.  Please, though, let me show you the best part of my new job:

Not just an ordinary desk to me ;)

My new office includes FULL WINDOWS (!!!!) and my very own printer!  I could hear Beyonce singing "Partner lemme upgrade ya..." in my head when they told me this was my office.  :)  It's the little things I guess.

Home Sweet Home

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the radio silence lately - there has been a lot going on in terms of starting new jobs and trying to get situated in Austin.  Life is stressful to say the least :/  It is hard to feel secure when so many pieces are shifting...but I am keeping the faith :)

I have been thinking a lot this week about "home" and how much that feeling has been missing from my life.  I feel like I haven't had my own "home" since I left my apartment in early February!  The feeling is taxing :/

"Home"...at least it was a few months ago

I think life will get back to normal once these shifting pieces fall into place.  For now it's hard to keep my balance :)

I can't wait to know Austin like I know Maryland.  Just knowing the good bars vs lame bars, the good grocery stores vs the expensive ones, the really awesome nature trails from the not so awesome ones, and knowing the back way to work vs the long way will make such a big difference for me.  Those are little things but I miss having that kind of knowledge about a place.

I know that I am meant to live my life in Texas right now.  But I am eager to find Texan friends who are like real family - people who appreciate my heart and my friendship.  I'm eager to be with friends who are motivated by the same goals I am.  I miss the warmth that comes from those people and things.  That  is what is missing from my life these days but I know it is coming soon.  I just need to be patient.

For now I will be content and imagine myself like a flower planted in a temporary pot.  The situation is not ideal, my container is plastic, and it's cramped in here.  But pretty soon, I'll get myself into some real soil.  And then I can do some real growing and flourishing.  :)

Much Love,
Becky

All About Janice :)

Hi everyone,
Happy Mother's Day!  I know a lot of amazing mothers among my group of friends and family.  I hope you are all having a blessed day!  I wanted to take a minute and tell you all a little about what makes my mom, Ms. Janice Marlene, special among the rest. :)

That's Janice there second from the left.

Portrait of a Happy Woman

Yup, HAPPY!

I am HAPPY to report that I got a job offer!  Because this is a public blog I am keeping the details private here but I can say that this new opportunity is with an established organization that is making exciting headway into the Texas market.  I am so HAPPY to be taking on a job that has an innovative edge to it and will be an interesting challenge for me!  Also, I can't wear jeans to this job, so I am HAPPY that I am going to take my wardrobe up a notch!

I am HAPPY to report that Katie received a job offer too!  Again, keeping things private.  But she is HAPPY :)

We are both HAPPY that we will be living in Austin by next week.  I am sure mom and dad are HAPPY to hear that too ;P

Most of you reading this know me well.  So I hope it's okay if I wear my heart on my sleeve for just a minute...

How does your garden grow?

Katie and I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Austin!  We have returned home having FELT the LOVE! We went up there this week intending to hunt for jobs, go on interviews, and view apartments (which we did), but this trip turned into such a bigger blessing :)  After our Houston visits Katie and I were both feeling torn about where to settle down - Austin or Houston.  But an apartment agent we met this week put it best when he paused in the middle of his sales pitch, cocked his head a little sideways, and said with a smile, "Austin is such a natural beauty."

Okay that was probably PART of his sales pitch but he was coming across so genuinely!  :)  Either way...SOLD.

Sunset on South Congress

House Tour :)

Hey y'all!

I wanted to give you guys a tour around the new Marsh homestead!  My mother would appreciate it if I would make it very clear that this home is still a work in progress.  We have not even been here one month!  In fact, I have excluded showing you the spare bedroom (aka my current room), the office, the powder room, the garage apartment, and the garage because those works are still TOO much in progress :)  All photos were taken from angles that excluded moving boxes :)

Hopefully the following partial  tour will be enough to give you a feel for the house as a whole.

Starting at the beginning!  As you can see below, the house is a Texas Historic Landmark.  It was owned by the man who founded the Sealy Mattress Company (he named the business after the town).

The previous owners gave us photos of the house before the 1995 renovations.  You wouldn't believe the transformation!  The woman who lived here up to 1995 had let the place get so run down because she was afraid any home improvements would increase her taxes!

Let's move on inside.  Here I am hanging out on the front porch:

Howdy!

Houston!

Hello :)

Katie and I spent our entire day exploring the city of Houston.  We had such a fun day!  We got our tour stop ideas from Pinterest - of all places - but it worked out well.  Katie and I set off with the idea in mind that "Austin may be proud to be weird, but Houston is funky!!"

Our first stop was the Beer Can House in the River Oaks area of Houston.  Apparently if you're a celebrity in Houston - you live in this neighborhood...and this is your neighbor:  

Beer Can House

This house is in the middle of a normal suburban neighborhood.  The story is that the owner got tired of mowing his grass so he covered his property in over 50,000 beer cans.  I could live in a house like this!  The hanging chains of beer cans sound like chimes blowing in the wind :)

Peace like a river

Hey y'all!

Sound Texan, don't I?  ;)  Let me ask you - what kind of woman moves to Texas in April and doesn't bring a single pair of shorts?  THIS woman (points at self).  I am on a tight budget so I can't run out and revamp my wardrobe.  So here is what is quickly becoming of my precious jeans:

Let's pray there isn't a freak snowstorm anytime soon :(

2013 is going to be the year the Marsh's completely bypassed spring all together.  We are in summer temperatures and it's only going to get hotter!  I love it though.  It is freeing to be rid of the cardigans and closed toed shoes :)  It's also freeing to be rid of my liquid eyeliner!  I will have to save that for special, air conditioned events going forward.  

We made it!

Hi everyone, 

First off, thanks for being interested enough in my life to read this :)  I wanted to start a blog so that friends and family could check in on our adventure without having to go through social media.  I promise future posts won't be as lengthy as this one!

Secondly, after driving 1400 miles in 2 days... I am in TEXAS!  The Marsh's (including FOUR cats and a dog) arrived safe and sound on April 8.  

Puttin the pedal to the metal!