truth be told.

All I want to say is something real.

All I want you to know is how I feel. 

All I want to give is my heart.

But I'm stuck here at the start.

It's on the tip of my tongue but I'm still afraid.

Sometimes the only things words do is get in the way.

Sometimes the easiest things are the hardest to say.

But I don't want to lose you, drive you away.

All I want you to say is something real.

All I want to know is how you feel.

All I want you to give is your heart.

you make me feel so alive.

There's a certain feeling that you get. The sun on your skin warming your soul, the waves crashing against your face in the ocean, or simply floating with your eyes closed, trusting. There's a certain feeling that you get. Playing in the grass or wiggling sand between your toes. The earth has a way of making you feel so alive and sense so many amazing things. 

There's nothing better than running to make you feel alive. It's one of those things that I just love to feel. Your heart is pumping so hard, bringing oxygen and fresh blood to your body, sweat is rolling down your forehead, cooling your body, your muscles are contracting as you take each step. You truly just have every sense of life enlarged, you truly feel so alive. If you really think about it, it's amazing how our bodies work. How your body adapts to different situations and just gives you life. It's so powerful to me to run and sprint and just feel my body.

your sunken in eye

pay close attention to every single detail. don't be distracted or content. i want you to find every flaw and perceive it as perfection. notice the chicken pox scar between my eyebrows and know about the red dot that used to be placed right on the center of my nose. find that place where a mole used to reside for eighteen years of my life. feel how my pointer finger is slightly crooked as you're holding my hand. laugh at my toes, but don't feel sorry for them, you love that they're unique. learn the stories of the scars on my knees. trace the outlines of my fingertips. never stop noticing.

cuts and bruises were super cool.

Actually, they still are, but remember when you were younger and you would fall of your bike and get a sweet cut? Actually, bad example, that might make you feel nerdy. Remember when a boy would have a crazy cut and you would be like oh my gosh how did you get that, and he of course was so ready to tell an intense story about some sick skateboarding  trick? Well I was just thinking about all the scars from soccer and rollerblading and even my chickenpox scar and how they are so beautiful. Some people hate their scars and want them to go away, but what's better than having a cool conversation about it, or just the fact that it is part of your past and part of you in such a permanent way. Even if it was just a bike ride down the street, it has made its mark visible forever. 

This is a picture of a formation of a sick ass scar i received in Costa Rica. Thanks for leaving your mark Cabo Blanco!

yum.

So my mother and I moved basically everything into my room in Chapel Hill last weekend, which I am so excited about! I can't wait to live there and meet new people. While we were there we visited this lovely juice place in Carrboro, which is called Carrboro Raw. We had the most delicious juice, and I wanted to post the recipe here. It is great because I just bought a mint plant to add to my garden! 

http://carrbororaw.com/

Mint Madness Smoothie

kale greens

1 pear

mint leaves

cucumber juice as the base

happy fathers day!

My gift to my dad was a raw chocolate cake. He is new to the whole healthy lifestyle and it has truly turned his life around. I kind of gave him quite the nudge to go to the living foods institute. It changed his attitude, allowed him to drop 20+ lbs, and it just amazed all of those around him watching those changes. He has a HUGE HUGE HUGE sweet tooth and loved eating ice cream in bed, cookies, and so on...so I always try to make him a few sweet treats. This is the recipe I used, but it was quite a lot...made two pie pans full! This is super super rich and satisfying.

RAW CHOCOLATE CAKE

CRUST:

1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup carob 
1/2 cup finely ground almonds (soaked)

1/4 cup brazil nuts

1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut or cacoa butter
Pinch of sea salt (I added more than this because the salt really brings out the flavor and is just so                           delicious)

FILLING: (this is the best chocolate "syrup/frosting" you will ever have)

1 1/2 cups cacao powder

1/4 cup mesquite powder

1/4 cup carob powder
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon Vanilla 

1 tablespoon Maca

This was so delicious when i first made it...creamy and luscious, but we also then froze it and it turned into the best chocolates ever. it's like a chocolate bar. so you can do that and pop off bites for a chocolate fix.

i do not like green eggs and ham

        However, I do like green things! In fact, green is my favorite color. I also love the green movement. It is so important to "go green" for your own health, well being, as well as the earths.

        For breakfast this morning i had a raw green "oatmeal." Now this does not have to be made green, but I wanted some of my vitamineral greens powder in there because of its amazing nutrition, so i threw a tablespoon in. This is a great and filling raw breakfast and there are a lot of ways to change it around.

GREEN OATMEAL

1 tablespoon soaked flax seeds (until they turn into a sort of gel)

1/2 banana 

1/2 apple

1 teaspoon ground flax seed

1 tablespoon vitamineral greens powder

place the banana and soaked flax seeds in a food processor, then add the apples and pulse. Mix in the ground flax seed and greens powder. You can add more of all the ingredients depending on how hungry you are or your calorie needs. Also, throw in blueberries, raspberries, anything! This is a nice easy alternative to sprouting grains for oatmeal and it's definitely the easiest raw oatmeal i've ever made

i miss costa rica, entonces...

COSTA RICA!


So I have really really been missing Costa Rica; my families there, my american and costa rican friends, and just everything about the mindset and life there. Everyone cares so much about nature and the pristine beauty around them. They are so passionate about their families, and no matter what is going on, nothing is more important than spending as much time as possible with their loved ones. Money and material things might be nice, but they would rather not have as much stuff, because it means less distractions and less time spent away from the home making money for these distractions. I love the lives there and just the love and PURA VIDA lifestyle they live by. When they speak, everything is BEAUTIFUL, PURE LIFE, AMAZING, FANTASTIC...we never speak like this here. They talk about family gatherings, which includes everyone in their lives, not just blood, and talk about how beautiful it is for everyone to be together. It is just so sweet and reassuring to know that there are people like this in the world who love so much.

In memory of my amazing semester spent in Costa Rica and the amazing tortillas that our mothers would make us and our teachers taught us to make, I taught the kids I babysat to make them today. It's super easy and fun and though it may not be the healthiest choice, whole foods and homemade foods are always a fairly good option.

CORN TORTILLAS

Ingredients:

maseca corn masa mix, or just look for some corn flour

warm water

sea salt

add the sea salt to your liking and the water until you get a thick mixture that is still fairly wet, you'll know when you're doing it. Then grab a ball place it on a plastic wrap and push it out with your palms into a circle. The Costa Rican's have a very distinct way of doing this, but i usually end up using my fingertips.  Then just fry it with some olive oil!

We also made some salsa to go with it, which is super simple and quick to make. And there isn't a reason to make it more difficult because it kicks any other salsa's ass in flavor, especially canned salsa's. 

SALSA RECIPE

chop up

    tomatoes

    cilantro

    jalapeno

    onion

    throw in some sea salt

    squeeze in some lime

    chop some fresh garlic if you want

and you're done! it is literally so easy and so fresh and all of the ingredients can be bought at a local farmers market right now which is awesome! I could eat just a bowl of this as a meal, maybe add a few chickpeas to it!

stopping

"Appreciate those simple moments that make your heart stop. Look up at clouds, watch a falling leaf, or giggle at the funny things children do. Life is full of simple heart stopping moments that bring you right into the present moment and remind you that you're a human being."

-Shazzie

soup spoon.

I think that the intrigue and draw to soup for me is really just the spoon. I have always had a weird crush on their shape.

a few nuggets about cabbage and lemon juice

         I'm obsessed with lemons. I think that they make everything taste better. I literally use them in almost all of my recipes. The great thing about it is that they help things keep longer and are also great for you!

         Drinking water with lemon first thing in the morning or before any meal helps stimulate the bile secretion in your stomach and begin your digestion process. They also have lots of bioflavinoids, adding to lemons ability to reduce toxins and cells, and general detoxification. It is helpful in neutralizing body acids and helps your stomach produce HCL, which many of us are deficient in, I'm raising my hand for that one. 

     Cabbage is great for the stomach and the juice is especially helpful in stomach healing. It is most known for its ability to prevent and correct stomach ulcers, which may be due to the glutamine. It is also helpful for hair and skin health, though I do believe that all green juices are especially great for these things. It is packed with Vitamin c, sulphur, Vitamin B6, iodine, and potassium. So if you're having some stomach issues or need a little something to help you go, hit up some cabbage and lemon juice!

I burnt my hands on my steering wheel..

definitely a day to try this...

      After being in class, I came out to my car to find it hotter than a sauna and seats so scalding I had to put a towel on my seat. Of course, I didn't think about how hot the steering wheel would be, I was literally steering with the tips of my fingers. The temperature today is "95, feels like 105," I think it may even feel hotter than that! 

      Well, after driving home in my very own sauna, I needed a refreshing energy booster. You know how the heat can dwindle you energy. So what is better than a yummy green juice, I always crave them, especially in the heat. Cucumber is probably my favorite for a really hot day and cilantro, but I just wanted to use the things in my refrigerator.  

      Now, at my house we always have about 5 heads of kale for juicing so i pull out a few kale leaves, and a bunch of other miscellaneous vegetables. It was the perfect pick me up on a hot day and tasted amazing! I just wanted to post the recipe for this lovely "green lemonade."

3 or 4 kale leaves

lots of chinese cabbage

the end of some bibb lettuce 

1 carrot with greens

half lemon

3 baby cucumbers

and if you want it a little sweeter you could add half an apple or so! If you had it a little sweeter some ginger would also be delicious in it.

I always put my juice in a glass that makes me feel sophisticated or happy to drink out of, for me it's a stemless wine glass or a mason jar.

"Love is a many splendid thing"

"It pays to work on LOVE. Observe your heart, your feelings, your hurts and your emotions. When your aim is to feel love all of the time, you'll easily feel it most of the time. Unlimited endless love is work in progress for most of us, as is the rest of our lives."

This is a shazzy speaks email that I got and I thought it was lovely.

simply healthy

The dangers of Table Salt

Salt is an all natural chemical compound that forms in oceans, seas, and lakes. The salt that most of us have on our kitchen counters and use in restaurants, is not so natural though. We have taken this mineral rich salt and turned into something something not so natural at all. table salt has been heated to 1200 degrees F, dividing and isolated the chemical bond between the sodium and chloride, making it a foreign substance to our bodies. Then you add the fact that it is chemically treated with anti-caking agents, fluorine and iodine which are extremely toxic. This salt causes our bodies to retain water, it  is detrimental to our liver, kidneys, bones, heart, muscles, and just puts your body out of balance. Luckily, sea salt is a simple way to still use salt and actually receive it's benefits.

The beauty of Sea Salt

Sea Salt is a simple way to improve your health because you don't have to change the way you use salt, just make a switch from the lovely chemical salt to an all natural one full of minerals. Himalayan sea salt is especially great because of it's extremely rich and unpolluted mineral content. Himalayan salt comes from the Pakistani, Himalayan Mountains and was created over 25o million years ago in the non-polluted, "primal sea." It contains all 84 of the electrolytic mineral found in the human body and the salt deposits are in a pristine environment that has not been subject to pollution. The salts in our bodies, which sea salt helps restore, carry the oxygen to our cells that help produce cellular energy. If you want to read more about it and an especially good brand go to....

http://www.herbsoflight.com

Bleached and beautiful?

People love walking through a bakery and seeing the beautiful cakes or a candy store streamed with all kinds of sugary treats, but how beautiful is it really? Basically all of these foods are full of processed white sugar, which though this is better than High Fructose Corn Syrup...is terrible for our systems. This sugar which in its natural state is BROWN has been bleached with chlorine bleach, that has to be great for us right? I was in Costa Rica this past semester and got to watch sugar can grow all over and even got to help make some sugar cane juice. In Costa Rica with the abundance of sugar cane, people bought the natural state of sugar, which was actually these big brown square-ish shaped solids called tapa dulce.

It is funny because our brown sugar is actually not just this, but this processed down into white grains and then the juice or brown part that comes off is then placed back in the mix...I don't understand these extra steps at all, when you could have this in its natural form.

             Anyways, sugar in large quantities is not so great in general because it may lower our immune system, but we have been predisposed to crave it because it contains the most energy, so just make a better choice for sugar and try to decrease your consumption of it. Studies done with processed orange juice, processed honey, and the all glorious white sugar showed that it significantly lowers white blood cell count, decreasing immunity. This is because once heated, even orange juice and honey are like putting sugar straight into your body because it doesn't contain the life-giving substances which help natural sugar be metabolized and a lot of the vitamins and nutrients are destroyed. When you consume fresh fruits or raw honey you have vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and amino acids which helps your body with the digestion and absorption of sugar. So when you are just putting sugar straight in your body is having to create more energy to metabolize it and produce more insulin. More refined sugar has been placed in our diets....and what has been happening with diabetes rates?

Sugar in the Raw

Remember that brown goodness that I talked about from pressing sugar cane, well this is an actual result of that process, not 20 others including chemicals and fun bleaching agents. Now, this is still a heated sugar, but a much better choice over the white sugar, so if honey or stevia won't cut it for you, go for this choice!

Stevia

I for one love stevia and it is a PLANT, how great. I actually had the chance to taste a leaf the other day and it was just delicious. I think I am definitely going to start growing it and putting it in my green smoothies, yum! Now, some people have a hard time with the flavor of stevia, but I suggest trying it and seeing for yourself! Make sure not to get the white kind because stevia is a green plant so in powdered form it should still be green!

Honey Honey, how IT thrills me, uhuh HONEY HONEY

I love honey, and talked about my excitement in finding a local raw honey, and i want you to also! You obviously want the honey raw so it can keep all of it's natural enzymes, bacteria fighting abilities, vitamins, and minerals. If it is local it will also be better when fighting the common cold or building up your resistance to the seasons flu's or infections because it will contain small amounts of these bacteria that will build your immunity against it. Local is also always better for ecological reasons. We don't want food that has been shipped all over the place. Honey provides you with energy, has antibacterial, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties, and tastes delicious. Honey may also help break down bread as it is being digested. So next time you want something a little sweeter use a local, raw honey! 

See how much simple changes can improve your health? It's not always about changing everything right away, but giving yourself time to adjust to thinking in a different way and slowly making choices that will improve your health. These are such simple ways to get some poisonous foods out of your diet, without even really thinking about it.

sisterly love

My sister is going to be on abc family on Sunday doing interviews with the toy story 3 cast as well as zach efron during commercials of their airings of toy story 1 and 2. First of all, how cool that she is going to be on live t.v., but secondly, on the channel that I probably watch more than any other. Yes, I really love abc family shows...secret life of the american teenager, make it or break it...should I be a little embarassed? Maybe, but anyways, go Natalie! She has worked so hard and is so amazing, so I'm excited to see everything clicking for her, ESPECIALLY finding the love of her life and getting married in October, yayy!!

foodgasm.

                          
        So I talked about how important juicing was...at least partially, but what do you do with all of those beautiful, nutritious fibers that come out of the juicer. Sometimes it feels like you're wasting your veggies. I am very big on not wasting anything in life, but right now i'm going to talk about food. 

       We juice because our foods are depleted of vitamins and minerals from diminished unhealthy soils caused by lack of sustainable farming practices and large uses of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. In fact vitamin and mineral levels have decreased in some produce by over 75% in the past 20 years and that's before you cook it and get rid of some more.

        Juice is the savior that is helping us keep our health and vitamin levels up by putting them straight into our blood stream from the source, instead of making our body work to break them down before receiving the nutrition. Plus you are able to drink a whole head of kale...It would be quite hard to do all that chewing in one day. 

So, we want to juice, but what do we do with the pulp? In fact, one of my favorite parts of juicing has now become using the pulp. I have made veggie burgers and dips, but my favorite thing is probably raw bread/crackers. I take whatever I juiced, which is usually the recipe I posted in the last entry, and add any type of seasonings or other vegetables to the mixture and dehydrate it for 8-15 hours on 115. I usually add freshly ground flax seeds, onions, carrots, garlic, cumin, a little salt, and nutritional yeast because it gives you great vitamin levels and tastes great. I honestly like this better than regular bread, though I do occasionally eat sprouted ezekiel bread.

              

                                                            

        Now you make some hummus to dip it in or create a delicious sandwich! These are some pictures of some garbanzo beans which I just sprouted. Sprouting releases more nutrients and energy. Think about how much energy a seed must have in it in order to grow into a tree or a plant that is going to bloom fruits, you are receiving that energy! Now, with garbanzo beans I find that they are hard on your digestive tract sprouted, so I slow cook them at a low temperature after sprouting them. Here are some pictures of the sprouts...I'm a little obsessed with sprouting, I just think sprouts are so cute and it's cool knowing that I took part in that.  

     

             So after you have sprouted your garbanzo beans you can either cook them or just use them in the raw form. and here is a recipe that I usually go by..I don't have exact numbers though..

HUMMUS

All processed in a food processor....

Garbanzo beans

tahini

olive oil (keep this to a small amount to lessen fat)

garlic

lemon juice

water

miso also works really well and gives it a salty flavor, or you can add a little salt

this is the basic recipe... things to think of adding

                       cilantro

                       rosemary

                       basil

                       CAYENNE (i usually always add just a little)

                       red pepper

That gives you a general idea, but really just anything and it will taste amazing! So there's a cracker dipping option or a sandwich spread, for the crackers/bread I make

         Hummus has always been one of my favorite foods, but another GREAT spread is something I just recently started making large amounts of to keep in my refrigerator for SANDWICHES....yes healthy, raw sandwiches, that are so simple and easy for on the go eating. This spread is soooooo delicious and unlike most spreads, including raw ones, it is not that fatty and you are getting greens!

Macadamia Kale Spread

1/2 cup soaked macadamia nuts (to soften and remove tannins for easier digestion)

handful of spinach

handful of kale (OR MORE)

1 T nutritional yeast

juice of 1 lemon

1-2 T salt

2 T water or to desired consistency

                             

         And now it is time to make your scrumptious and satisfying raw sandwich! I like to put tomatoes, avocado, MACADAMIA KALE SPREAD, lots and lots of lettuce, sprouts, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, hummus, just whatever is in your fridge. This has been a great on the go lunch for me recently and I am so glad it is so nutritious, because it can be hard to make a quick salad that is satisfying and hard to take to work or class, this is perfect.

                         

summer love

         There is something about this season that leads to nothing but love. From the farmers markets and fresh vegetables to the warmth of the sun bronzing our skin. Indeed, we all take on this glow that is simply irresistible, which probably leads to all those summer romances. I have found so much love in this season and sparked quite the summer romance. I can't tell you how excited I get each time I go to the farmer's markets in our town and see the huge bunches of kale, tubs of strawberries, squash, zucchini, and the fact that the blueberries are almost ready to be picked is almost too much. 

         This morning my mother and I stopped at our weekly thursday farmers market after one of the hardest ab workouts at pilates I have ever had. It opens at nine, just as our class finishes, so we always get to be some of the first their to buy our goods. I am especially intrigued by one stand there. It is a family from Lillington, NC, called Spahr Farms. It is an older couple who sell the largest bunches of kale I have ever seen for 1.25...I almost feel like I am stealing it after being so used to seeing the high price of 2.99 on heads of kale that do not even reach half the size of these. Just check out these luscious beauties...

              

               They also sell hydroponic lettuce, and all pesticide free tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cabbages of all kind, mustard greens, peppers, and just a beautiful array of fresh local vegetables. They also have pesticide and hormone free, free range eggs and honey! I was quite excited about finding the honey because I haven't been able to find a local raw source. And oh the benefits and just beautiful taste of fresh honey! I just find the man and woman who sell these absolutely adorable and I think she enjoyed my excitement about the honey because she responded with, "we weren't really planning on selling it, we just wanted the bees for pollination." The level of consciousness of these two people just amazes me and their amazing farming abilities that are so sustainable for the environment and great for you! 

            I just wanted to remind everyone how important it is to support local farmers and how many more benefits you get when eating locally. Our foods are shipped 100's of 1000's of miles before they get to us, not only causing them to lose valuable nutrients, but also putting a strain on our environment from more fuel consumption. You are doing your body a service, the environment, and your lovely local small farms.    

            

           If you want to take it another step, you could even think about planting your own garden. I will blog about my lovely garden soon and just the empowerment it gives you and the connection you feel to your food.

           So the summer is full of beautiful and fresh fruits and vegetables that could be right from your backyard. Take this opportunity to take the next step in your health. We all know that raw fruits and vegetables have the most nutrients and benefits for our bodies and the closer to the vine, the more ALIVE they are. So won't that give you more energy and make you more alive? Buy a plethora of produce and try out some new recipes, I'll be posting some things that I have been doing with this wonderful abundance. A big one is juicing, so here's a great juice recipe, it's my go to..

1 head kale (the king of greens, I might do a blog just about kale soon)

1 jalapeno (fires up your metabolism, reduces pain, and is great for blood flow)

1 lemon (antioxidants, body alkalizer, and it gives a great flavor!)

celery or cucumber to your content! (both are wonderful for hydration)

Just a note on green juices..

They are great when you are sick or feeling tired because they cause an exchange of toxins across membranes, which results in the systematic flushing of toxins out of the body. So they're really going to make you feel amazing, helping circulation, skin, digestive problems, obesity, bad breath....

SO START JUICING AND GETTING AWESOME BENEFITS WHILE THE VEGETABLES ARE ABUNDANT!

chemiluminescence...

 is when energy as released as light from a chemical reaction, and what occurs when you see the summer night sky illuminated by the peaceful, blinking fireflies. It is also what we have been attempting to recreate in my chem lab. The active compound we have been using for this is luminol, if you were curious as to the chemical symbol pictured. 

I must admit there is a thrill in mixing the different chemicals in a cell well, waiting for one to spark, or glow, even if just for a few seconds. What is even more fascinating is the fact that this occurs in nature, inside of a tiny fly. Imagine if we walked around and could be our own personal flashlight, lighting up to attract that cute boy or girl across the street. Then again, I think we all have our own way of shining and catching attention. 

This experiment made me remember these beautiful fireflies and how they lit up my world and seemed like a shining bit of hope at night. Every summer at the beach I would catch these bits of magic and place them in jars. I would bring them onto the porch overlooking the garden, allowing the whimsical glow of the mason jar be the light for our evening conversations. 

Every summer I get excited about watching my night light up with their glow, but it seems there are less and less fireflies each year. I don't know if this is because my curiosity and awe have left me as I get older and I forget to recognize these tiny miracles, or if something really has changed. I am hoping that our tendency to disregard nature in the path towards getting the things we want in life has not started to affect the firefly in a way that lessens its tendency to glow. I worry about these things sometimes because I don't always take the time to notice beauty as it happens and I don't want to miss anything. It is frightening to know the destruction that we can cause, but also amazing the power we have to do good. Did you know that we actually have the ability to change the tilt of the earth?

I guess i just wanted everyone to remember the lights of a firefly and how absolutely amazing it is that they have this ability. To remind everyone to take the time to cherish and find that childish curiosity we still possess. To remind everyone to BE AMAZED, nature is an amazing creation. And to turn this into your own light and guide, allowing you to do something just as amazing. Let your light shine and be a glimmer of hope to someone else who needs a reminder that they can do incredible things in life. Each of us makes a difference and when we do something good, sure enough we rub off on someone else, who rubs off on someone else. And soon enough we are lighting up a dark sky, bringing happiness into everyone's lives who take a minute to cherish small wonders and recognize the joy a small action can have on another being.

A cool little eco friendly light has been created that mimics this jar of happiness. It is on urbanoutfitters.com and it is called a sun jar. Plus you get this great affect without harming the sweet flies. The sun jar uses solar energy and lights up once it gets dark, definitely a great alternative to candles or small night lights. 

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?itemdescription=true&itemCount=80&startValue=1&selectedProductColor=&sortby=&id=15210586&parentid=APT_SUMMERESSENTIALS&sortProperties=+subCategoryPosition,&navCount=112&navAction=jump&color=&pushId=APT_SUMMERESSENTIALS&popId=APARTMENT&prepushId=&selectedProductSize=

gleek.

I'm a little obsessed with the show that has stolen the hearts of many. Unfortunately I will have to take a break from my Tuesday night ritual for a while as the season has come to a close this evening. I just wanted to take a second to write an ode to the show and the amazing voices and music generated on it. 

Rachel Barry has stolen my heart, and though jealousy is a wasted emotion, I must admit to be quite jealous over her ridiculous pipes. Singing is one of my many passions and I am very grateful for the voice that I have been given, but I do wish I had trained as Lea Michele has. Then again, it's never too late to start. I'll add singing lessons to my long list of goals and to do's, along with playing the guitar, since those two go hand in hand. I had the chance to work on both of these last year, but did not keep up with it as necessary. I truly enjoyed working on my voice, believing that we should use and work on the gifts we have been given. Learning the guitar was also a lot of fun and I received a lot of meditation out of it.

the bitters.

When creating or preparing a meal it is important to cover every aspect of flavors that we experience on the vast terrain of our tongues. There's the sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami, all flavors that we perceive by our tongues taste buds. It was originally thought that our tongue was broken into sections, where each flavor was recognized by a different area, however it is now decided that it is really all over. This makes sense, because a sensation, whether sorrow, happiness, guilt, pleasure, saltiness, is not confined to one area, it is all over. It may have hints of laughter or sweetness; its a mixture of pieces all combining together and fitting somehow. Which is maybe why we crave foods in this way and they taste better when activating each flavor. We are used to a mixture in our lives and we crave what we are used to. Our meals are not always the perfect balance or blend of all of the flavors, but that's just how things are sometimes, and it's no reason not to savor each flavor. 

I want to inspire, motivate, or just entertain, but mainly make a difference. I am not perfect, and my days are not always, so I can't promise that I will always write self empowering and inspirational things, because just like our foods, my moods and cravings are different each day, but there's always love. Every day I hope to make an impression or difference in someone's life, or educate them in some way or another. Whether it's through knowledge, positivity, self confidence, or a simple action. I crave sweetness, well being, love, and confidence in my life and want others to feel self empowered, healthy and SWEETNESS in their lives too. Because I  think that we all have a continual sweet tooth in life, but occasionally we need those bursts of other flavors to give us humility, appreciation, and a continual strive for more sweet and savory things in our lives. We need that slight bitter to make us appreciate just how luscious and satisfying those sweets are, which always keep you craving more.