Friday, January 31, 2014

DAY 892... Twenty-Eight


It's my birthday. When did I get so old?!?! I definitely do not feel 28, that's for sure, but it's a daunting number for whatever reason. Last year on the blog I celebrated by telling you 27 things all about me (read it here). This year I am having a tough time being optimistic about another year. I remember 24 being a really tough birthday for me. I remember being in Vegas and crying and just feeling so sad and helpless. I have felt like that all this week! Why? My life is, although not where I imagined it would be at this point in my life, it is great. I am so blessed! I am married to a wonderful man, together we have a beautiful, talented and incredibly smart daughter who makes me so happy! I am only months away from have my master's degree, we live close to family, and I really have everything that I need. I guess 27 was a really rough year for me. A lot of things, mostly unexpected occurred, and tested me in so many different ways. 27 was challenging mentally, physically and definitely and mostly emotionally. 27 was a little damaging to my soul, and that scares me for 28. But with another year comes new opportunities and new blessings and so many memories that I have yet to make. I do feel optimistic, just very nervous and a little scared. I need to remember all of the AMAZING memories I have had during the past 28 years. That is enough to help me feel optimistic and hopeful for the upcoming year.

 Classic 80's picture of baby Jenn.
 My first birthday! I can only imagine what I was thinking. They brought home my new sister on this day and I have a cat cake... The best part about this picture is that Aniston gives me this exact same look every single day!
 My second birthday! Killer sweater...
 Birthday number three!!!
4 years old and showing Santa some skin...
 5 years old and learning to love sports.
 6 years old! Please tell me there are other people out there whose parents kept the proof's and didn't buy the actual school pictures. Once again... killer sweater!
 8 years old and the cutest bunny around! Seriously... 20 years ago? Feeling old!
 9 years old and gender confused perhaps? Also what am I pointing at?
 10 years old and loving life in San Diego!
11 years old. Photobombed by a creepy man/alien on the door.
 12 years old, still gender confused perhaps. What the heck is going on with that outfit? Everything from the polo shirt collar to the tall socks to the sweatshirt... I am so confused and a wee bit embarrassed. 
 13 years old and kind of a weirdo, let's be honest.
 14 years old and living the soccer dream. PS, I sucked at soccer.
15 years old and switching up sports! G-H-E-T-T-O! I can't believe I ever thought I looked cool in this uniform!
 16 years old and LOVING the Taco Bell! Some things never change! Also yes, that is a perm!
 17 years old and digging the sun in hair product! Thank you Gilbert for introducing me to that!
 18 years old! I have always LOVED this picture that my little brother who was 14 at the time took!
 19 years old and getting weird in the jungles of Hawaii!
 20 years old locked and loaded.
21 years old and thinking I could run races... HAHA! Don't worry it was only a 5K.
 22 years old and getting a little weirder.... Apparently being 22 and single was taking it's toll on me.
23 years old and living it up in Vegas. Roar.
24 years old. GO UTES!
 25 years old. Finally taking my bridal pictures!
26 years old and preggo!
27 years old and the cutting of the hair!

I want year 28 to be amazing!
 Here's to another year, many memories, and to getting old!
I guess as long as I don't feel 28, I don't have to be 28, right?


Monday, January 27, 2014

DAY 888... Unconventional

I guess I have always been a little unconventional. I have always preferred to do things my way as opposed to the ways that the world thinks I should. It doesn't always have the best results. But I am beginning to realize that being unconventional doesn't always mean that it's wrong. I could care less what people think of my choices. For example, I cannot even tell you how many people have told me how much they hate my wedding ring, because it's unconventional. It's rose gold as opposed to white gold or yellow gold. But I love it, so what they think really doesn't matter to me. It's my ring not theirs. And it is exactly what I wanted. And I tell them that because when have I ever held back about how I really feel? Ummm never.


I don't care if people want to tell me their opinion, but I do care when they tell me I'm wrong or that I'm am doing the wrong thing. I especially hate it when people tell me that God thinks I'm doing the wrong thing, because apparently they know what God thinks about me. Most women in my faith choose to stay at home as opposed to working. However, I love to work. Spencer hates to work. Just another reason we are so perfect for each other. I am more educated and can bring in more money and support our family so that we can live the lifestyle we want to live. To tell me that my only purpose in life is to be a stay at home mom is incorrect. Spencer is an amazing dad and is capable of teaching Aniston just as well as I am. Don't believe me? Listen to my 18 month old talk up an understandable storm, or listen to her count to 5 or attempt the alphabet. Watch her treat her baby dolls with compassion and baby them like any mother would. Listen to her sing songs after only hearing them once. She is smart, compassionate and lovable. Spencer has done a wonderful job so far of staying at home with our baby. He makes dinners and also cleans the house while I'm at work! And I have done a wonderful job of bringing home the bacon.

While we beg the world to not judge those mothers who choose being a homemaker as their career, we should also be careful to judge those women who choose to work outside of the home. Why don't you ask me what I do? I run an Afterschool program where I spend the afternoons with children, some of which cannot go home to spend time with their own parents because they both work. I get to substitute that role and be the example that they need in their lives. I get to teach them life skills and compassion. I am helping those who might not even have parents helping them at home.

I think it's great when mothers want to stay at home with their children instead of working. It is your choice to do so. I love my daughter and I treasure every moment I get with her, but Spencer and I have chosen to live in such a way that I am the one working outside of the home and it has worked wonderfully for us. When two people get married, they choose to do whatever works for them. It's not always the same as every other couple who may share a religion or beliefs. This not only applies to work but also to having children. We should strive to be more sensitive when claiming that a woman's role is to bear children. There are so many women who cannot have children, or who are trying daily, yet continue to struggle. Why can't we understand that we need to be careful with our words and how we say things? Believe it or not, there are LDS women who do not even want children. That is their choice, not yours!

I guess I am struggle a little bit with one of my classes at church. It's called Relief Society and is specifically designed for women. But I hate it. I truly despise attending relief society. First I am the oldest one there (I looked at everyone's birthday'a yesterday/oldest by 8 months) because we attend a student ward. But we are taught over and over again not to judge one another but to love one another and then women are constantly leaving the room because they are upset because tactless things are said and the words of our Heavenly Father and his prophets are so twisted into what people think they mean as opposed to what they actually mean that they become hurtful. These women believe to have an absolute idea of what is expected of women and that there's no bending, there's no adjustment that it's so black and white. But it's not. It's okay for women to not want to have children and to work. We shouldn't make those who can't have children feel as though they are missing out on all of God's blessings for women. We should build each other up and love each other regardless of lifestyle choices and differences. I know the Church is true and I love the gospel, but I do not love the corruption that has somehow weaved it's way into Relief Society. We should love each other and do everything that we can to build each other up as opposed to divide ourselves and be so cold to each other. I minute I step into the room for class I feel judged. I feel judged based on what my hair looks like or what I'm wearing or how much I weigh. I feel judged based off what my diaper bag looks like or how my child behaves. That is so wrong! Church is NOT a fashion show and a place where anyone should feel judged. Church should be a refuge from the rest of the world. A safe and secure place filled with love.

We need to be more sensitive to those who are living the unconventional. It is their right to live that way as it is your to live conventionally. Not all women will speak up as I do and tell you that it's nice that you have those feelings about my life, but your opinion doesn't matter in this case, and they might hold it in and allow it to hurt. That's not okay to me. No woman should feel judged or persecuted because of her trials or for her good choices.



Thursday, January 23, 2014

DAY 884... 125 Burpees

It seemed impossible. It didn't help that my sassy 18 month old was refusing to nap and doing everything, and I mean everything, she possibly could to distract me from my workout. Several times I considered substituting jumping jacks for burpees, but let's be honest, that would have been pointless. I even reminded myself that no one was holding me accountable and that there was no immediate reward following this feat. 

After accomplishing what seemed like the impossible, I began reflecting on other instances in my life when I thought the same thing, yet through perseverance and time, what seemed like impossible became some of my best and fondest memories and definitely became possible.

Going to prom.
I remember being 10 years old, sitting it church, and watching all the girls coming to church in their prom dresses the day after prom. I remember clearly thinking it I'll take forever for me to be that old and get to wear my dress to church. This wasn't necessarily something I thought was impossible, but it just took time. A long time. In the mind of a 10 year old it was impossible that I would ever make it to prom. I knew that time would come, and that I didn't even need to really prepare myself, but just wait. Patience is not my strong point.



Graduating high school.
Let's be honest here, everyone who has gone through high school has had this thought. It feels like it takes forever and it's hard. It wasn't hard academically for me, but socially and mentally, high school can be draining. High school can seem impossible. Kids can be mean and parents butt in too much. There's so much pressure to fit in and to be accepted. But it only lasts four years. Well, for most of us that is. It does end!!!! I can't believe that it's been 10 years since I graduated already!Now that's impossible!



Graduating college.
So this one took me longer than your average college student. Instead if the usual four years to graduate it took me seven. I changed my major more times than I can count and I just took my time. But it happened eventually. There were classes that I "had" to take that I thought would kill me! I truly thought that it would be impossible for me to survive college with a decent GPA, but after seven years it happened! But the day I graduated college wasn't just great for me, but it happened at the perfect time! The day I graduated was the day my sister and mother also graduated from the same college. I'm sure my mom thought more than once that going back to school and getting that college degree would be impossible! I mean after raising five kids and countless moves who had the energy for that? But she made it possible! Another amazing aspect of that day was that my Dad just happened to be a professor at the university where we graduated so he got to give us our diplomas. My dad didn't even get his college degree until after I graduated high school! Now he is a college professor at both at BYU-Idaho and Idaho State University, something that I'm sure seemed impossible to him. My parents set such great examples for me!


Marriage
I was 25 when I got married. It's a good age, standard for the rest of the world, but when raised in the Mormon church, that's pretty darn old. I was hassled for years about why I wasn't married and when I would get married and about how my younger sister got married 5 years before I did. It just wasn't my time. I began to think I would never get married. I began to think that for me, marriage was impossible. But for me I just needed to wait and be patient and do everything that I could do, without skipping steps or substituting jumping jacks, in order to prepare myself to be the best that I could be for my future husband. And at 8am on 9-10-11 (cool huh) it happened for me! I made marriage possible!!!


Giving birth
It seems so very impossible to be able to push a person, that you built inside you, out of your body. It happens everyday!!! It's the ordinary miracle! I remember, as they placed Aniston on my chest for the first time, thinking this baby was just inside me. What?!?! How did she get out? How did I do that? Once again it came down to taking the time to do it right and following the steps. I was prepared and my body was built for this, but my mind could wrap around the idea that pushing a baby out of my body was possible.


Being a parent.
This seems impossible everyday! New challenges and new situations occur everyday that I have absolutely no idea how to handle, but day after day I figure it out and I make it work. And I think Aniston is turning out okay. Sometimes I lack patience, creativity and so many other important qualities that every parent should have. The smallest tasks when it comes to parenting seem impossible like getting your child to bed, or getting them to eat the good stuff or even getting them out of the bath! But at the end of the day, when Aniston is in her crib full, clean and sleeping, when I am exhausted  and sore and so ready for bed, I feel accomplished because that is another day down that I made parenting possible.


Everyday there are small impossibilities, like 125 burpees, that occur. But if we take the time to accomplish them, understanding that it might not happen in our time that we would expect, and it we don't change our impossibilities to make them less effective and easier, we can make the impossible very possible and it feels GREAT to accomplish that! I truly believe that nothing is impossible when you try your hardest and do your best. Just be patient and get it done! You can do it!!!


See I wasn't kidding when I said she was sassy on burpee day! But I couldn't help smiling after accomplishing that feat!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

DAY 882... Why I Refuse to Make New Years Resolutions

Now that we have all either successfully failed in keeping our New Years resolutions or never even attempted to keep them in the first place, I want to explain to you why I never make New Years resolutions.

Failure makes people feel awful. Failure makes people depressed and upset and makes them give up on more than just their goals. Since I am prone to depression and failure personally makes me feel like road kill or at least what I imagine road kill would feel like, I try as hard as I possibly can not to put myself in those situations. Making News Years resolutions fall under "those situations". Don't get me wrong, I highly approve of goals. I think you should always have goals and strive daily to accomplish them, but once there is pressure attached to that goals, it is not a worthwhile goal. Pressure should never accompany goal setting. Once that pressure occurs, it suddenly feels as though you are trying to accomplish the goal for so someone else and not yourself. Goals are for you - not for any other person. If they happen to benefit others by chance then what a blessing, but ultimately they are for you.

I feel as though so many people make these New Years resolutions because they are given a pen and paper and told to write them down. Ummmmm, no thanks. I'm sorry, but you cannot force me to make goals. Sure, to not be rude I will probably write something down for you, but I have no intention of keeping them, ever. I will set goals in my life when I want to and regarding what I want. I feel as though when you are wanting to reach a goal, you must think as Yoda thought:


Only set goals that you want to accomplish. Goals that mean something to you and that will benefit you. I don't care if it's something as small as getting up in the morning and setting the goal that you will drink 8 glasses of water. A goal can last only 1 day! In fact, those are my favorite types of goals! And let's be honest... What your goals are are absolutely none of my business! I have no business asking you what your goals are and you have no business asking me about my goals. Goals can be very private! If I choose to share them with you than that is great, but to me, goals are personal. Once they become common knowledge I feel as though that's when the judgement occurs and the pressure hits.It's my choice whether or not I stick with my goals and if I tell everyone my goal is to lose weight and so they watch me like a hawk (because this is what happens, people are nosy and need to know everything about everyone) and then I don't. They judge. It's wrong, but it happens.

One thing, I'm sure that has been happening forever, that I just saw was instead of making New Years resolutions was picking a word for the year to stick to. I like this idea much better. I feel as though a word can be applied in so many ways and it's easier than making a thousand resolutions that get so tangled and out of control that you can't keep track of it. So this year I have chosen a word. That word is (drum roll please)

PERSERVERANCE

I like this word because it doesn't mean that you do everything perfectly the first time. This word allows you to make mistakes, but to still eventually obtain your goal. This word is hope to me. I have a big year coming up. I will graduate with my master's degree this fall, I will have a 2 year old, we will most likely be moving when I start applying for jobs pertaining to my degree, and who knows what else. I will have to persevere in order to accomplish everything on my plate. And I know that I can. Here a few of my favorite quotes about perseverance.



I think that I will continue to choose a word to help and remind me of the things that I most truly want throughout the year as opposed to setting New Years resolutions. I wish you luck if you have set goals for yourself this year. I hope that you have the strength and will power to stick to them and to better yet accomplish them. I hope that you can PERSEVERE!

And then there's this. Of all the thousands of young Frozen lovers recording themselves over the past few months, I believe that this little girl is by far the most talented and most adorable. And yes, I cry every time I watch it! Her parents must be so proud! Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

DAY 875... Sometimes I fail to believe

I am not a perfect person. I make plenty of mistakes. I overspend sometimes, I make things a bigger deal than they probably need to be sometimes, I have hard feelings towards others for less than necessary reasons (or for reasons that are so very justified), I overreact sometimes, and I don't always spend my time wisely. I'm human. However, I have been thinking a lot lately about many different things I have been told in life and have come to the conclusion that sometimes I fail to believe.

Sometimes I fail to believe that Good Things Happen To People Who Wait

I have some really good people in my life and I watch them struggle more than anyone else I know. These people are caring, generous, well mannered (how 1950's is that?), they are just good in every sense of the word. Yet, some of them struggle with infertility. These people are AMAZING with children but they, for whatever reason, are not capable of having children. Yet, we see time and time again that people who shouldn't have children or people who mistreat children or worse are having more children than they should. Then there are the people who are waiting, every single day to get pregnant, whose hearts break every time they get a negative pregnancy test result or get a negative phone call from an adoption agency, and they can afford to give them an amazing life, but as they continue to wait, their hearts only break more and more. Sometimes I feel like it's those good people who wait, who turn into the bad people with hard hearts because their waiting results in absolutely nothing. Sometimes I feel like these people are just waiting forever for nothing and I'm just not okay with that.

Sometimes I fail to believe that What You See Is What You Get

I have read blogs or seen the pictures that my Facebook friends post about their lives and they look perfect. Suddenly they drop a bombshell. They are getting divorced. I think that's the biggest thing I see. So why do they try to hide their pain and their suffering by posting pictures of a perfect family or false "status updates". People are afraid to truly be who they are because of the judgement they will experience from their peers. Who are their peers to be telling them that they are a bad person because their marriage failed? Why should we criticize those who may be trying harder than we ever try in our marriage to make it work, but for whatever reason it doesn't work out. Why should we judge their failed marriage because she finally had the strength to leave him because he was emotionally or physically abusive? What you see is not always what you get. People are more fake than ever and our constantly updating technology allows this. We should be wary of every single thing we read or see because you never know what is true. Also let's chat about how back in my single days I explored the world of online dating and I had more than a few dates with dudes who looked nothing like their pictures... What I got definitely wasn't what I saw.

Sometimes I fail to believe that You Are What You Eat

I recently watched a little documentary that was filmed in Utah about a man who ate McDonald's everyday for every meal and still lost 35lbs (I think) in 90 days by continuing to exercise. That alone proves this statement false. Of course if you starve yourself you will be thin. You won't be in shape or ripped unless you are starving yourself with chicken and greens and working out. Do we ever pause to think that possibly it is because of this statement that we have girls who are constantly battling eating disorders? Why aren't we teaching our youth how to better take care of their bodies in a healthy manner as opposed to don't eat and get thin, eat what you enjoy and you will be fat?

Sometimes I fail to believe that All Is Fair In Love And War

How is it fair for innocent children to be killed because someone is upset during a war? How is it fair for someone to go into a deep depression or even to commit suicide because the one they loved cheated on them with someone or left them. Love and war are both tricky situations. One is one of the most terrible things that could happen to innocent people and the other is the best thing that could happen to a person. How can they even be compared or close to the same thing. Nothing is fair in love and war. Basically when it comes to love and war we should all just stay out of each others business and let people either be happy or be unhappy, but not let that ruin or determine how we live our lives.

Sometimes I fail to believe that Money Is The Root Of All Evil

I have seen people do amazing things with money. Do I believe that money can change certain people? Yes. But most likely those people were evil in the first place so money didn't change them money just gave them more of an opportunity to be seen and heard and to do worse things with a larger amount of money. A thing cannot turn a person evil. The person must decide out of their own free will that they want to be evil and they personally change their attitude. Money can be good and be used for good things and those people that use money for those purposes are not evil. Basically it's the evil people who gave money a bad name.

Sometimes I fail to believe that You Reap What You Sow. 

This is such a false statement. I know plenty of people who live off mommy and daddy's money even after they are married with children. I mean your parents probably shouldn't be paying your rent when you are 27 and married. Just saying. There are so many people who have no integrity and who have no problem stealing for people. Even though these people are sowing terrible work ethic and laziness they are still provided for and are reaping more benefits than the people who I have seen who sow and sow all day long and do whatever they can to keep their head above water. I mean look at government assistance. We have so many people who are lazy and don't want to work so they have kids and collect from the government. Then there are good hard working people who are doing everything that they can to keep their heads above the water and they are barely making it by and getting less government assistance than their low life neighbors. Obviously I am very passionate about this.


With all this said there are some things that I do believe. I believe that we are never alone. Whether this be physically or spiritually. I believe that everything happens for a reason and that we learn from our trials. We may not be able to see it at that time, but when you look back you will always be able to see how you have grown from your trails and how they made you the person you are today. I believe in karma. It sucks that it doesn't happen at the exact moment that you wish it would, but it does happen. I have seen it in my own life, and I have to admit that I'm a fan. I believe that people can change. It takes a lot of hard work and time, so if someone comes and tells you they changed overnight... run. They are lying. I also believe in unconditional love. I was once told that there was no such thing as unconditional love. The teacher explained to me that parents love their children under the condition that they are their children, so they were obligated to love them. False. Unconditional love is strong and powerful and an amazing experience.

I really don't mean to offend anyone by what I post. This blog also serves as my journal and I am an honest person. I will write what I feel and nothing less. And just because no post should ever go without a picture.... Imagine if Aniston was twins! How cute and sassy would they be?

Saturday, January 11, 2014

DAY 872... Baby Number 2!!!!

Spencer and I have always wanted to have a big family. That longing for a big family has increased as we watch Aniston grow and see her love for babies and other children. She would be such an AMAZING big sister!!! People have been asking us since Ani was born when we were going to have another one. The pressure has increased during the past week since she has turned 18 months old. Apparently that is the magic age that you should either have another one of at least be pregnant. I was unaware of this.

Well here's the deal folks... It is up to Spencer and I as to when we choose to grow our family. You can give us your opinion, but you cannot and will certainly not force us to get pregnant. That would be interesting. Currently, I am the main provider for our family while Spencer attends school. During my last pregnancy the hyperemesis was so bad that I was placed on bed rest and had a PICC line and IV's.


I had to quit my job and we relied on Spencer to bring home the bacon. I cannot quit my job and abandon my family like that currently. Sure if we wanted to exclusively live off the government we could do that, but I believe that if you are capable of working and if you're not lazy, you should. I have a great job right now! There's no guarantee that I won't become sick again, in fact the doctor gave me a 50% chance of the hyperemesis returning in the next pregnancy. That's a little overwhelming. It was straight up miserable for me. This time around I need to work, I am a graduate student, and I have a daughter on top of being a wife. It needs to be right for my family.

There are a few other things that really bug me as to the nosiness of people. Don't get me wrong, I love to blog stalk and facebook stalk and know everything about everyone even though it doesn't even matter, that's just the way that I am, but do you really expect me to:

A) fill you in on the timeline and details of mine and my husband's intimate life?
B) tell you when I'm ovulating (really?)
C) take your advice on how to get pregnant fast
and
D) tell you I'm pregnant the minute I pee on a stick.

First of all, the intimate life of me and Spencer is only our business. Sorry, I just don't share details like that. I have friends who have no shame and they have instilled some horrifying images in my mind. I don't need to know about your intimate life! When I ovulate is absolutely none of your business and frankly half the time I don't even know. I am just not one of those types of girls. I appreciate the information on how you got pregnant, but everyone is different and I will get pregnant when I get pregnant and how I get pregnant. And miscarrying is one of my biggest fears, so besides my parents and Spencer's parents I will not be announcing that I am expecting until I am at least 12 weeks. I just want to be smart about it.

I don't know if it doesn't occur to people that maybe we have been trying and maybe we have been unsuccessful. Maybe getting pregnant the second time around isn't going to be as easy as it was with Aniston. Have people thought of how guilty and bad it makes me feel when they ask why I don't have another one or why I'm not pregnant? It's cool that you wanted your kids 18 months apart, that's what works for you. Everyone is different. Spencer and I are going to do what works for our family. I promise I will let you know when that day comes, and it's a day I am looking forward to. I mean look at how cute Ani is!!! I cannot WAIT to have another adorable Ahlstrom! But it's also a day that I can wait for until WE are ready.


As for now.... We are definitely NOT pregnant!!!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

DAY 870... Juicing

So remember how Spencer got me my dream juicer for Christmas? It's official, we have become a juicing family. We make juice for Spencer and I for both breakfast and lunch and then we make an awesome meal for dinner every night! Aniston enjoys sipping at the juice but she still eats breakfast and lunch. I have noticed that I have more energy, my clothes are fitting better, the fiber intake has blessed my life if you know what I mean and I am fuller after I juice than most other meals. Best part about it is that we have only been doing this for a week! I will admit, when I was entering my breakfast and lunch deets into myfitnesspal (awesome app) the amount of carbs totally freaked me out. Spencer had to remind me several times that the carbs I was getting from all the fruits and vegetables are good carbs compared to those carbs that I was getting from Taco Bell and Cheetos. Still it doesn't making seeing the carb intake as high as it is any easier. But my fat intake has decreased significantly and as long as I snack on nuts and seeds and hard boiled eggs and make sure dinner is packed with protein, I am getting, according the to app, the perfect amount of protein. Our vitamin A and C intake is through the roof, hopefully that's okay and won't kill us. But seriously I would never ever eat that many fruits and veggies in one sitting. Just not conceivable to me. We have increased the amount of water we drink and we have cut soda out completely! It's been 9 days so far and I have to admit that I'm loving it!

I have had so many friends and family members become interested in juicing lately and have asked me so many questions. To be honest a month ago if you had asked me what I thought about juicing I would have said "nasty". I remember when I was young my Grandma would also make carrot juice fresh every morning and then eat it with her cereal instead of using milk. That was my only experience with juicing. Now everything is totally different and I have a new found respect for my Grandma! I have referred absolutely everyone to the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix. Watch it. Love it! Change your life because of it! Spencer and I stumbled upon it one night late at night when we were bored. I had planned on going to sleep after he turned it on but that definitely did not happen. It is an amazing documentary and gave me my basic understanding of juicing and the benefits that I can receive from juicing. You can also check out Joe's website here and have pretty much every single one of your questions answered. The website is packed full of information and recipes for juicing. The whole idea of juicing and how it works and can benefit your health and life are amazing! My favorite scene in the documentary shows a stomach and shows how full 400 calories of oil can make you (hardly anything) how much 400 calories of junk food can fill you (about half) and then how full 400 calories of fruits and veggies can make you (completely). That blew my mind but made complete sense to me.

I will admit that I was scared of the green juices. They didn't look good. But I cannot imagine not starting my day with a glass of Mean Green every morning. I feel like a totally different person! I don't feel deprived of anything and I feel great! I haven't gotten any headaches and I'm not starving. Juicing is amazing! I know a lot of people are concerned about how much it will cost them, but it's not bad if you do it right. Spencer is a full time student who works about 20 hours a week. I am a full time grad student working 40ish hours a week and we are both parents. We have a strict food budget and we still make it work with juicing. The trick come from buying what is on sale even if it differs slightly from the recipe. We only buy 3-4 days worth at a time and that insures that none of the produce goes bad. We also invent our own recipes based off what we have, so really we are drinking a new juice every day. It's great! Let's be honest though... sometimes what we think might taste amazing tastes like garbage! Juicing like everything else in life is a trial and error sort of process.

Here are a few of our favorite juicing recipes:

MEAN GREEN
6-8 leaves of Kale (I have no idea how else you even use kale except for in juice)
1 large cucumber
4 stalks of celery
2 apples
1 tbsp of ginger root
1/2 lemon

CITRUS SURPRISE
2 large grapefruit
4-6 large oranges
2 cups of pineapple
1/2 lemon
1 cup of spinach

BEETASTIC
2 beets
3 apples
5-6 large carrots
2 stalks of celery

Also when we juice if we ever need additional ingredients because we want more juice we usually will add celery or cucumber. Those veggies will make a TON of juice and they always taste great!!! We also take the "guts" (not sure of the proper termination for this) of the veggies that the juicer doesn't include in the juice (thank goodness because I hate pulp) and we use it in breads. Today I used a cup of the leftover veggies and added it to my banana bread. Can you say yum???? Bonus, it turned the bread green which happens to be my favorite color ever. Win-win.

I highly recommend watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and juicing. Even if it's once a day you will be amazed at the benefits and how much it will change your life! Good Luck ad JUICE ON!!!