Fudgie Wudgies rawk the house!

From the First ever RawTN meetup...

The infamous Fudgie Wudgies!

Yeah, these didn't last long! I'm so glad we made them though. I definitely got rave reviews over these cookies, and they are soooooooo easy! If you beg real hard I might share the recipe... or... you might get it from my friend Revvell - you have to ask nicely though... hehe. (by the way, Revvell's website is an amazing resource for learning, as she has interviews up with so many amazing people!)

Here is Chef Brian Au raw-kin us some raw reeses cups! Oh my, have had these many times since then! :o

We met some great new friends! Some new friends with experience in overcoming cancer with the raw food lifestyle (above) And some new local friends that are just getting back into the hang of raw after the craziness of moving...

The RawTN crew was there raw-presenting as well, hehe... I had so much fun! Let's do it again!!!!!!!!!

Photo blog about Chef Brian Au's visit with us in Tn.

At the top of the blog you may notice my new mascot photo. That is Brian's spur of the moment, let's see what's in the fridge, veggie sushi. I was hesitant about the 'shrooms, but to his credit, the whole thing tasted as good as it looked!

Chef Brian Au's Raw-violis were great! Mmmm... and so quik too!
Another one of those... Let's see what's in the fridge recipes...

He really can do what he says!
Raw in ten... for under 10 bucks too!
Omg, you shoulda tasted the raw Reeses cups! Mmmm....
Then there were the tacos he made for me Friday... Aren't they pretty?! And easy!

Chef Brian in action, we caught him off guard! He is such a good sport!

And he gives away free stuff too! I am a happy camper... And so were the kids!

Having Brian here with us for 5 days was sooooooooo cool! While we hardly had time for him to teach us everything he knows, lol, he did teach us several very helpful things!


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chuck was his tour guide while in Nashville, here they are posing before heading out on Saturday...

Evidently I missed something on Friday while I was at work, because Chuck called Brian 'Samurai' from Fri evening on... Here Chuck had him pose for the nickname shot...

I believe it may have had something to do with the height of my weeds in my yard? Hmmm....

While the guys were gone Saturday, Kas and I played in the kitchen all day. Turns out she's got the knack for raw food! She made a yummy raw soup, and here you see her making tomatillo lime jalapeno salsa completely from scratch and by intuition.



The salsa was approved by the tough judging committee...




Then cleaned up...
(The aftermath..)
.
to be continued...

Life is a highway...

iNSPIRATION is an interesting thing....

Life's like a road that you travel on

When there's one day here and the next day gone

Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door

Where blues won't haunt you anymore

Where brave are free and lovers soar

Come ride with me to the distant shore

We won't hesitate

To break down the garden gate

There's not much time left today

[Chorus:]Life is a highway

I wanna ride it all night long...

(Rascal Flats)

Yes, Life is a highway- and ours has been under construction...

Don't you hate road construction?! It's always a hassle and seems dangerous going through those lane switches and cones. Ever had a construction worker almost in your driving lane... on the freeway???!!! I have.

Nevertheless, when the construction is over, usually things are much better after completion of the projects. Such is life in my house.

No, we're not doing construction. I wish. Well, I do have the paint for the bathroom (see previous post- and no, I haven't done it yet, lol.) We HAVE been decluttering many areas of our home! 4 trips to goodwill so far for things like kids clothes they'll never fit into and scads of paperbacks that have been collecting dust at the last 3-4 homes we've lived in.

Mostly our construstion has been within our family. Kassika our oldest daughter has come home and we have so many things to talk about and talk over. There have been so many misunderstandings between us, as well as between her and Tiffany. She's learned so much in the last 16 months, and is using her knowledge to move forward. I have really enjoyed the talks we've had over the past 6weeks! I appreciate that she perseveres until I understand instead of just throwing her hands up in the air and walking away.

We have instituted Family Night into our life again. Usually on Monday nights, we will eat together a cooked main dish with raw sides (I think they're getting a taste for some of it!) and then play games or sit around the piano or watch a movie- you get the point... I think it's catching on around here! :D I love spending time with my family... We miss Will and Dad though...



I have quite the construction going on in my own life as well. I've been thinking about what is important to me, and what I spend the majority of my time doing. Funny, it doesn't work. Recently I have set goals to turn this around so that I will be doing what's important to me (helping others learn about options that can improve their health and well-being), more and more. Updates on that as things firm up...





__________________________________



On a lighter note...










Here's the Pumpkin Patch we went to on Saturday, and us on our way! We had lotsa fun. Cedar Rock has the looooooooongest hayride I've ever been on! It goes all through the woods with scarecrows dressed up and even some moving ones! They have a big corn maze too, and plenty of selection of interesting pumpkin varieties. All in all a great day!
___________________________________

Next up: Raw Chef Bryan Au comes to town 10/8/08 at 5pm! Watch for yumminess! :D

finally! fam fotos... 4th of July and a healing touch...

Yeah, I know. July 4th was, like, six weeks ago. I've been "off my blogger" lately!

This was a really fun trip! Kassi came with us to West Monroe, LA. Friday, Trey and Brittany BBQ'd for us. They were so thoughtful and bought me some greens to get me through the day! :D We shot off fireworks in the hotel parking lot (nothing big, and NOT too late, lol).

Saturday, we stuck our feet in the pool at the hotel, and spent all day Saturday shopping (the guys went putt-putting)!

Kassi was on crutches and in a knee brace w/ lots of pain from a work related injury. Her knee was very swollen, along with her foot. She was on pain killers and still had to break down and rent a wheelchair on our Shopping expedition. Sunday night we went to Church at Trey's church and the pastor asked if anybody wanted to be healed. Kassi went up to the front and was prayed for. She received a divine instantaneous healing (for any who may not believe miracles still happens, just ask, I'll give you details!) She removed the brace immediately and left it there with the Pastor. They have it all on video. She has not had any problems with that knee since then either! The photo above was taken Sunday night after church. She's the one on the right.

This is me with one of my dearest friends Joan. She is now a Pastor's wife in Oil City, LA. It's a great church, and no wonder since they are an absolutely amazing family! We visited their church Sunday morning.

These are my girls! ARen't they gorgeous?! This picture was taken Friday, so Kas was sitting on the floor so that she didn't have to bend that knee...

Another photo Sunday night after church. Those are ALL of my kids! :D My four PLUS my new daughter in law smushed in the middle! I'm so thankful that we've been able to get together a few times lately...

Busted. LOL. That looks like a yogurt cup. Hmmm.... I have no independant recollection... Therefore it must be someone else's. Me n Mini-me Tiffy. Good times...
(actually, now that I look at it, I think that must be Will's (fruitfreek to all you twitterbugs) hand with the yogurt. He's wearing the striped dress shirt, lol. I think he's laying across our laps. AND EATING?! Typical.)

Sprouting Beginnings!

I've been saying that the next thing I wanted to dabble in is sprouting. I found this cute little sprouter for around 20 bucks on Amazon, so I decided to give it a shot... Above you'll see the seeds before soaking. The tiny ones are broccoli and the fat ones are lentil.

And... drumroll please... 48 hours later from those little dormant seeds, we have life! (After 24 hours I threw away the other full tray of broccoli seeds because they were all fuzzy, but now I see that the fuzz is just tiny roots! Oops.)

First thing Will did when I showed them to him was grab a fat lentil seed sprout and eat it! Good boy.

Joey wins talent contest at Bedford County Fair!

Yeah! He did such a great job singing. The competition was surprisingly tough! There wasn't a bad singer up there all evening. I had a few technical difficulties, though. You may notice one or two of them, if you are extremely perceptive...



Grand Prize: $15- The memory: priceless...

Raw fu challenge! ARe you ready?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ATBnUq1qY

raw foodie trip 2

Photos from Will's YMCA Camp in King, NC
http://s342.photobucket.com/albums/o425/rawtn/?action=view&current=b096df72.pbw

Photos from Virginia Beach with Rawbin
http://s342.photobucket.com/albums/o425/rawtn/?action=view&current=14ab78ea.pbw

Photos from the Mt Airy/ Sproutman/ Blaqberry/ Jer/ Rawbin excursion
http://s342.photobucket.com/albums/o425/rawtn/?action=view&current=dc45822d.pbw

Photos from WendiDee's home in PA/ Jim/ KDCat/ Medamoso/ poi
http://s342.photobucket.com/albums/o425/rawtn/?action=view&current=4d506eef.pbw

These are 'raw' slideshows, unaltered, lol. Will polish them up later! :D

Finally, the photos from Charlotte!

Will at summer camp!

Will appears to be having a great time at summer camp in King, NC!

I say 'appears' because there is no contact except checking the site's photo album daily to see if you can find your kid. You know he's loving THAT! lol.

Anyway, just wanted to share the photos as I'm feeling nostalgic since he's not here. It's very quiet at the homestead with Will at Camp and Joey at Annual Training!

Will and I had a great weekend with Bethany (lilgirlbigvoice) in Charlotte last weekend prior to taking Will to camp on Sunday. We went to the farmer's market, made raw treats in the dehydrator, and had zucchini 'pasta' in a beautiful uptown park with all the cranes you could ever want, lol. Met some new friends there at the park who brought raw brownies w/ vanilla cream sauce and yummy watermelon. (thank you madpryor!) We sat there until the sun set and relaxed and talked. Bliss. I have photos to prove all this, but I have to find my camera! I will try to post them tonight.

Sunday morning we hated to leave Bethany, our new friend, but Will was really excited about camp, so we went.

The drive up to King was amazing and peaceful. We marveled at the trees and mountains, blue skies and farmlands. When we got up to camp, I graciously offered to stay there in his place... I wanna go to summer camp! He wasn't buying it though. After hauling his gear off to cabin 14, I headed for the hills. (oh wait, I was already in the hills, lol)

I never knew that I loved driving by myself. Peace. Tranquility. Mountains. Valleys. Rest Areas. Farmer's markets in roadside buildings. Perfect life. Perfect weekend.

Bathroom before...

Spring madness has sprung on the RawTn household! These are the before photos...


The room by room saga has begun.

I'm de-cluttering and brightening up this cave! I've chosen this bathroom to begin in because it's the smallest room, and the most public restroom in the house. Easiest to clean and I'm gonna get the most results for time invested on this extremely looooong Friday...

Goals: Immediate--> Decorative bulbs w/more wattage & a white/ lighter shade for the window/ fuzzy white carpet washed & back down for fuzziness.

Goals: Considering--> Painting white: a) walls b) cabinet c) ceiling
--> Installing a showerhead (and the breaker for the jets)
--> Curved shower rod/ neutral shower curtain


Please let me know what your ideas are! It needs to be easy to keep clean, and eco friendly if at all possible. I'm kinda looking for a spa feel. We hope to do this in the next week & then move on to the next room...

Blissed & Blessed

One of the things that I love about this raw food journey is the people that I meet on the way!

When God created the sun, and the plants and trees to give food to us, I believe He did it with more love than we can imagine! When we eat of that fresh, God given food, full of nutrients, I feel that love. Maybe part of it is that my body has become more alkaline, which doesn't hurt either, lol.

I have recieved so much love from friends that I have met on this journey. Every day I am surrounded by well wishes, smiles, hugs and support. Thank you friends, you know who you are! (Most of them are on Twitter- A group instant messenger type thingy. Ask me about it if you're interested...) We talk daily and encourage each other to be the best we can be. We share recipes and tips, as well as sites of interest and life's ups & downs.

I want to send a special shout out to some amazing folks who have gone above & beyond the line of duty into the realm of love!

Penni @ http://realfoodtulsa.blogspot.com/ Penny was one of the first friends that I made in the raw community. We were talking about various different things, and she mentioned that her house smelled SO good because she had a load of granola in the dehydrator. I drooled, lol, and she mailed me a big pack of it! I was in a state of bliss! :D I hope that we can get together soon as we're ONLY 8 hours from one another!


Bethany @ http://littlegirlbigvoice.blogspot.com/ trying to stop drinking coffee. She suggested Mate tea, so I went everywhere looking for it & Bethany and I were co-miserating about could not find it anywhere locally. So she sent me a big bag (I'm STILL drinking that one! ) Then she sent me a great almond milk recipe to add to the mate to make it a mate latte! Yeah baby! Now we're talking! I rarely drink coffee now, and I owe it to Bethany~lilgirlbigvoice... Hopefully we will meet in person next month when I will be taking William to Camp Hanes. Fun times!


Kellie @ http://sunkitchen.blogspot.com/ I just 'met' Kellie not too very long ago. We cut up and chatter around on twitter, and generally have a great time, but when I asked everybody on there which 'raw' book I should buy first, she told me to wait. Today I got a very nice package in the mail! I am almost speechless! (That would make things difficult, considering I'm posting this blog, lol) She sent me a raw book, 2 DVD's and 3 Larabars! Score! To top it off, she took the time out of moving to send it!

*Special mention & thanks goes out to Helene Laurence http://www.harmonicliving.com/hlo/index.asp) for this message I recieved from her today: "Sent you my favorite uncook book via amazon, you should have it by end of next week! please enjoy it as much as I have!" See what I mean!

Thank you guys so much! You are rawsome! You rawk! :D hehe

The funny thing is that my phone going *ding* has annoyed my family at times and they have said that those friends aren't real. I just always say... "Oh! Somebody loves me!"

And the beet is on....

I'm just back in from the RawTn garden. Whew, 91 degrees today! For any of you who care, here's the garden good news: (and if you don't care, the bad news is further down the post, lol)

Most noticeable of all: the beets look amazing! Wow, just beautiful. They are the most appealing and abundant thing in the garden! Can't wait to throw those babies in my smoothies! (I hear you get colorful pee, lol)

Ok, tmi, next vegie: the romaine looks great. Lots of 6" tall heads coming up. Mmmm, they are gonna be good!!!!!!!!!!! Also, tiny 'salad bowl' and 'mesculin' lettuces are popping their little heads up. They're so cute, I just wanna clean off their little faces!

'Danvers' carrot tops are about 6" high. I would assume that means they are doing well...

The spinach: well, I only have about 7 plants in my 3 rows... Dunno. I will take whatever I get... I was really hoping for an abundance of spinach because we make smoothies with it all the time!

Garden beans are getting tall! About 12" so far.

One plant of basil and one of parsley doing well, lol.

Pumpkin, cucumber and watermelon plants are thriving. About 18" tall already! They are very hearty plants... The ones to try if you were doing a container garden for the first time. That and romaine. Oh, and the beets, lol.

Corn shoots are 2 inches tall and look good. This ends the report on the good news. If you are faint of heart you may not want to read on...

The bad news:

Cabbage worms got all of my cabbage and most of the baby bok choy! I could just weep. I have been looking forward to these babies for weeks! The cabbage was nearly annihilated! I pulled them and their little friends (not) up and tied them in a plastic bag and sent them far, far away to my neighbor's garden. (kidding!)

The snap beans are tall, but kinda scraggly and yellowish towards the bottom? I'm thinking maybe they got fried by being watered too close to mid-day.

White onions and chives are very scraggly so far. Maybe they don't like the soil here, or maybe they take longer to get hearty?

The last item on the bad news report has to do with the first abundant item in the good news section:

I'm the only one in my family that will touch a beet! Well, I guess the beet is on...

Global warming

Great commercial to pass on an important message of awareness...

But one life to live...

Today is my 6 month anniversary! On December 6th, 2007 I stumbled across the raw food world. I am so thankful as this path has given me a new lease on life and health... For many years I lived simply to educate my children (both scholastically and spiritually), feed my family, and just make sure the daily things of life got done. While these are all very noble and worthwhile pursuits, of which I wouldn't trade a single one, I somehow lost the concept that this is the only life that I have, and this is the only body that the Lord is going to let me use!
www.rawreform.com is the first website that I came across, and Angela's story is impressive! Check it out if you haven't already. She also has a really good section about how to transition into raw foods if you choose to give it a try. (No one recommends jumping in with both feet like I did, lol.) Also, on the right hand side of my blog page here, I've listed many other amazing sites to find out more about raw... and I continue to add more daily as I run across them.

(Like my t-shirt Tiffy bought me? :D I was so tired in this photo after work, feeding horses and gardening!)

Well folks, the results are in. I'm 26 pounds lighter now, and have so much more energy and zest for life. It's as if the live enzymes in the plants are speaking to my body on a cellular level! Dead food, dead energy. Live food, live energy, watch out! :D I am drawn outdoors every moment that I can spare!
I know, I know... you always knew I was strange, lol. The fascinating thing is that I've talked to so many people now on this same path that are experiencing similar feelings. >Back me up here, folks! :D
Moral of the story: I may be strange, but I'm not alone! Hehe...


I'm still in love with green smoothies, if I go a couple days without one (do I hear a weekend?) I crave a green smoothie: my current favorite smoothie is spinach, strawberry, banana. (Holla out to all the Chalmette family that tried this concoction on Mom's day! Miss you!)

I bring a green smoothie or two to work with me every day, much to the entertainment of my coworkers. ("Ewwww, I'll just eat my salad, thanks!"~Patty ;)

I have been making these smoothies in a WalMart blender for 5 months! I was hearing about my raw friends amazing creations using their Vita-mix's and I found myself so jealous of that horsepower! 10X more power than my 'gentle blender' as one friend (Rawbin) called it.

Guess what?

I GOT THE POWER! ***doing the happy dance!!!**

Yep, I got one! Yeee-ayyyy! This is an answer to prayer! You just can't possibly imagine, lol. I had, seriously, prayed that I would somehow be able to get a high-powered blender to help with this lifestyle. There are so many recipes out there for yummi-ness (www.goneraw.com is a great place to start looking up recipes) and I couldn't make any of them! Well, what do you think we found in Sam's Club? A vita-mix demo guy on the very last day of his tour! Thank you Mr. Vitamix man, you were amazing!


Now I can make anything. Yes, yes, I can. And I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So far in the vita-mix, I have made soups, ice cream (you can hold it upside down and it stays frozen in there!), both fruit and green smoothies, orange mochachino's (thanks lilgirlbigvoice- we do need to get together and drink some of these!), and tonight I made onion bread (in the dehydrator for the next day or two, though, courtesy of a recipe at www.goneraw.com!) and an amazing coconut, almond milk latte-like yummy drink that I am just finishing. It heated it steamy and everything right in the blender container. How cool is that. Lemme know if you want any of the recipes... ;)

All I have left to say is.... Happy anniversary to my health! Hehe... Oop, have to go peak in the dehdrator now! *Poof*'s away like blaqberry...

Tune in tomorrow- honest- I promise to do the garden update! Bok Choy lovers of the world unite! Twitter over- twitter out (YEAH, DrBetsy)

Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain... and excema?!

Another Raw Food Awakening!

I believe I've finally gotten to the bottom of my life long struggle with excema. Wheat. I came to this conclusion quite accidentally after being high raw and specifically avoiding wheat this wheat in hopes of allaying some elimination issues.

Yesterday a lovely vendor brought in a box of cookies for the office. I have a very hard time resisting free, soft, oatmeal raisin cookies. I think I had 4? Maybe 5. This morning, sure enough, the excema is baaaaaacccccccckkkkkkkkkk. (I only have it on my hands... go figure?)

This is now the second time that I've had it flare up since beginning my raw food diet. (I used to live with it constantly, but since Dec 6th, 2006, I've been primarily only eating raw fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, and had noticed that it had gone away completely at one point.) The first flare up occured after Joey and I went to our Pre-deployment Couple's Retreat in March. I decided not to worry too much about what I ate while on 'vacation' and paid for it with hands that were blistery, scaly, yuck. So back on raw I went.

I did a bit of research for this blog-post, and this is what I found...

• Atopic eczema is thought to be a hereditary condition. It is proposed that people with atopic eczema are sensitive to allergens in the environment which are harmless to others. Unfortunately when it is hereditary there is little you can do to avoid it. It is especially common in infants and children. In atopic dermatitis there is an excessive reaction by the immune system producing inflamed, irritated and sore skin. Associated atopic conditions include asthma and hayfever. The key to lessoning this type of eczema is to build up your immune system. (I.E. GO RAW!)



• Contact dermatitis occurs when substances that irritate the skin chemically come in contact with the skin. By learning which substances cause the irritation, this form of eczema can be controlled.

Internal factors

Heredity - A family history of eczema, asthma or hay fever (the strongest predictor) - if both parents have eczema, there is an 80 per cent chance that their children will too.

• Food - Dairy/milk and wheat products,acidic fruits, eggs, nuts, seafood, chemical food additives, preservatives and colorings.



• Stress - Emotional stress is a well-known trigger of eczema flare-ups. Learning to reduce stress can significantly help the problem.

External factors

• Irritants - tobacco smoke, chemicals, paints, bleach, weather (hot and humid or cold and dry conditions) and air conditioning or overheating. Scratchy clothes (like wool) can also irritate the skin. Its best to wear clothes made of soft fabrics like cotton. It is also recommended to wash all new clothing before wearing them.



• Allergens - dust mites, feathers, molds, grasses, plant pollens, foods, pet hair, soaps, shampoos and washing powders, and certain cosmetics. Ingredients such as alcohol, astringents, and fragrances may trigger or worsen eczema.

Whoa! That explains a bunch! I guess my excema is hereditary, knowing that Dad has really challenging hayfever.

Then we have the list of food triggers. On raw, the only things that I don't naturally avoid are the nuts and acidic fruits. I'll have to look more into that. I have been noticing increased itching after eating peanuts lately! But the other nuts seem ok, so far. I wonder which fruits are considered acidic? Let's go find out...

ACIDIFYING FRUITS

• Blueberries
  
• Canned or Glazed Fruits


• Cranberries


• Currants
  
• Plums


• **Prunes** leave an alkaline ash but have an acidifying effect on the body.

Hmmm. These fruits are not part of my daily staples, so I am good to go here.

I'm sure the emotional stress didn't help bring on the first outbreak, that pre-mob retreat was VERY emotional. I'm so thankful for it though! This time, I believe it's just that I haven't been as careful with my diet.

I have been using natural cleaning products for many years now to help lessen the external irritant aspect of excema. I have been using products from Melaleuca and Young Living. I feel good about not spraying chemicals all over my house for my kids to breath. I think they smell much better as well! :D

I believe that my excema will go away completely. I have a very hard time just accepting that it's hereditary- deal with it. Until it does, I will keep experimenting. Let me know what you find, as well!

~Joanna RawTn ~xoxo

Information about excema quoted from

http://www.healthy-skin-guide.com/excema-causes.html

Information about acidic fruits quoted from

http://www.essense-of-life.com/moreinfo/foodcharts.htm

A good man...

On this Memorial Day 2008 I would like to introduce you to a soldier about to head out to Texas for EMT recertification, June 20th, then on to Iraq for a year tour.

Believe it or not... he really wants to go.

He's early forties and been out of the miltary for 16 years. Here's his testimony about why he got out of the military in 1992, written early this year, to some friends we were doing a raw food fitness challenge with:

"Now before I get started, don't think that I am just trying to get sympathy. I just wanted y'all to know a bit about where I'm coming from and where I hope to get back.

On July 8th, 1984 , at the age of 20, I hopped on my motorcycle and headed back to my duty station at Ft. Polk, LA. About 2 miles from my house an elderly man turned in front of me and I hit him broad side at about 60 mph.

The impact tore my body up. The metal of the car ripped my neck open and severed my jugular vein. By the time the ambulance got there and got me to the hospital I had lost so much blood that my veins were collapsing.

I was unconscious and actually went into a coma. They did cat scans and found that I had 2 blood clots to my brain. They couldn't give me more than one unit of blood for fear of the blood going to the clots and killing me instantly. The trauma to my head also caused paralysis down the right side of my body.

The initial report to my family was, "he's in a coma. He has 2 blood clots on his brain. He's paralyzed on his right side. He has a few broken bones that we are not even worried about right now. He is in very critical condition." When my mom asked about a prognosis the doctor said, "I can only give him about a 10% survival rate. However, even if he lives, he'll be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life."

WOW!!! What news, my family was devastated. However, my family is a very Christian family and they called everyone they knew for prayer.

Whether you choose to believe in God or not doesn't matter to me however, three days later I woke from the coma. Six months later there was NO sign of a blood clot. The paralysis began to leave my body and I was able to walk and hold a cup with my right hand. Before I left the hospital they put a cast on my broken ankle and told me to take it easy. I lost from 140 lbs down to 117.... Talk about a CRASH diet.

Because I am a VERY determined person I refused to just lie there. I worked hard to get ALL of my strength back. When I got the cast off I started to work out again and found that my right knee was messed up. Further examination found that both ligaments in my knee were destroyed and the cartilage was torn. I went through two knee surgeries within that 1st year.

Before my wreck I ran 2 miles a day, I played racket ball, I worked out with weights. I was proud of my body and the shape I was in. After the wreck I worked to get back to that place. It took nearly 2 years for my to get all of my range of motion in my arms and legs but it did happen.

Because of the excessive trauma to my body, over the years arthritis set in and I started to really slow down. I gained weight and actually got to over 180 pounds. For a guy that always stayed around 140, this was huge. I also went from a 28 inch waist to a 39 inch waist.

The reason I joined a raw food fitness challenge is because I was TIRED of feeling old. I am only 44 however, I FELT OLD. I have NEVER had a good diet and I have NEVER cared about it. Now, I CARE. When I looked in the mirror and saw a vague resemblance of the man I once was, I wanted to be better than ever. Most of all, I wanted to get healthy." ~Joey 3/31/08

Now he's off again to help out this younger group of guys. Off to lend his expertise and maturity, to help in any way he can. This is my man. My husband. We will miss him so much while he's away, and wait for his return.

~Joanna RawTn

I'm sure many of you have seen this video, but if it doesn't look familiar, check it out!


Disclaimer: This video may just change your life.

Ode to twitter- Tiniest Bok Choy Celebration & a bit about me...

You know who you are! Bok choy fan club... NO more grandaddy bok choy's for me! I now have the tiniest baby boks. Actually, could they even possibly be 'newborn boks?' In a week or so I will thin them out as the package says and eat them in my salad! :D OH puhleazeeeeeee don't chirp! Ok, ok, 'nuf with the inside joke stuff! I'm just having a bit of fun here and you don't even know how to take me yet! (Come on over and join the fun at www.twitter.com if you aren't part of our group yet! Twitter is a fun way to keep in touch with likeminded peeps. I think it's a requirement that you have to be brilliant to be on there, but they are so kind that they haven't kicked me out yet! *big grin!* My twitter 'name' is RawTn) About that- RawTn- Bet you're wondering what the name's about... Well, I am a native California girl (SoCal baby! Like fer sher.) who has been very interested in all things health related for many years now. It all started with the mohawk, then the herbs, then vitamins, then essential oils, then whole foods, and now [drum roll please..............] I have just 'discovered' RAW! ****Wait!**** No, not raw meat, lol. Fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, etc. and so forth. Food as God put here for us naturally. Right out of the garden. (Not quite yet though, the veggies are still un-cooking, lol.) Anyway, this city girl has been transplanted (happily) to Tennesee as of Oct 6, 2006. I love everything about Tennessee except the abundance of bugs and the fact that my family is all thousands of miles from here! Hubby and I have four 'kids' (22, 20, 18 & 13) and live in a log cabin on 4+ acres with big big trees, a three week old garden, 12 Tennessee walking horses, 3 english setters, a cat/kitten combo and a Macaw to top it all off. We have homeschooled the middle girls through high school, and Will (fruitfreek on twitter) is the last of the Mohicans to get thru high school- which starts Tuesday! (I heard that groan!) We have quite a few irons on the fire here of late, I couldn't possibly blog about it all tonight! OH Mr. Sandman................ bring me a dream..................... (oh yeah, he'll be back from the horse show soon! Yay!)