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.

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!!!

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.

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

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...

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!