Juice Fast - Day 5

Well folks, this is it. I've decided today will be my last day of juicing. Yeah, I know, I didn't make it to 10 days. But first of all, I don't feel fasting any longer will really give me any more health benefits (I could be wrong, of course). Secondly, I've lost 7 pounds in five days and I don't think I need to lose anymore. Drinking juice has lost its appeal. Also I think I have good enough self-control now...haha just kidding.

Today was great! I thought that it would be harder not to eat today because it's the weekend and I don't have work to occupy me from not eating. But I went out "frolicking" in the snow and that definitely distracted me from wanting to eat real food. I can't wait for tomorrow though! I've been told I shouldn't start off eating lots (especially unhealthy food) with a bang, because it will shock my body and undue whatever it is that this juice fasting did for me. But there are some things I'm really craving: pancakes, pasta & sauce (as mentioned earlier on Day 3), toast with butter and yeast flakes, pretty much anything savory at this point.

Juice Fast - Day 4

Jenn and I made different drinks for breakfast. She made cranberry, apple, lime juice. I drank some and it was really good!

For my own breakfast I made:
Grapefruit
Orange
Spinach (about a pound and it still doesn't make much juice)
Ginger
Broccoli stalks

This juice is really good! I love grapefruit juice and I can't taste the spinach or broccoli at all.

Juice Fast - Day 3

This morning Jennifer decided to only have vegetable juice, I wasn't quite as brave so I made my own juice with fruit in it. I'm scared I wouldn't be able to get just veggie juice down.

Breakfast:
Pears
Celery (5 stalks I think)
Little bit of ginger
1/2 a lemon
A bit of parsley
1/4 of an english cucumber
Carrots

It had little bits of pear pieces in it, maybe I didn't have the juicer on a high enough setting.

Juice Fast - Day 2

This morning I woke up late. Well actually Jenn woke me up as she was leaving for the school building. My roommate Ellen is gone, and she would make sure I am up if my alarm doesn't go off or something. Where's Ellen when I need her...  By the time I got down to the cafeteria Jenn had already made all the juice. What a sweetie.

Breakfast Juice
Ginger
1 Lemon
Carrots
Kale (put through the juicer this time)
Pears
Parsley

Juice Fast - Day 1

So I've decided to do a 10 day juice fast. Well I want to do a 10 day juice fast, but I think I'll go for 5 days first and see how I feel. Now don't think that I'm doing this to loose weight or anything and think I've gone crazy...no I'm simply doing it for the health benefits. Think of it as a kind of spring cleaning...or winter cleaning rather. I also want to do it to help overcome appetite and improve self-control.

The night before Day 1, Monday night, I decided I might as well eat a nice last supper. So I had chips, an orange, ramen, teff pudding & some raw chocolate desert balls, and some real chocolate. Yum. I'll have to hide that chocolate away now. =)

My juicing buddy is my housemate Jenn. Since pretty much everyone from Fountainview is gone on the California Christmas tour, we figured now was a good time to juice and there are no convenient cafeteria meals.

Crazy 60's Hair Day

Hair by Emma, Makeup by Alexandra, Photo by Ellen

Sinking at Seton

I huddled at the front of the speedboat, bouncing along with the waves of Seton Lake, head down against the wind and biting rain, when I heard a commotion at the back of the boat. Straightening up, I leaned back to see what was wrong. To my dismay water was rapidly beginning to cover the floor. Someone opened the engine compartment to find the engine engulfed in water and quickly filling higher! The engine began to bear down and Ellen revved it higher to maintain speed. The gravity of our situation began to sink in. Someone yelled to quickly get to shore! Although we were not in the middle of the lake, we weren't exactly by the edge either. Cliffs rose up sharply from the water's edge leaving little place to moor. A million scenarios rushed through my head, most included the boat sinking and us all frantically struggling through the frigid waters to what little shore we could find.

My thoughts drifted back to the idyllic beginning of the day, Saturday had dawned fresh and bright, blue skies and a few clouds outlined behind the mountain ranges outside my window foretold of a beautiful day. After church and lunch had been taken care of, I piled into the car with my three housemates to head out to the lake. My best friend Ellen had been asked to drive Mr. Lemon, Mr. Meservia and some other church members across nearby Seton Lake to a Bible study since she had her boater's license. The rest of us girls were just going along to keep Ellen company. It was her birthday after all and we didn't want her to be bored. We managed to get the speed boat off the trailer and we all piled in. There were more people than we had expected; eight in total, more than the speed boat was supposed to carry, but didn't we always carry lots of people? So we set off.

We were a couple miles down the lake when the wind started to pick up. The sky was now overcast and starting to darken. Rain drops began to pelt down, slowly seeping into our once dry clothes. It was then that we realized we were taking on a lot of water and was our boat starting to sink?!

The Leap

I stood there, toes barely hanging over the edge, breathing so fast, heart racing, palms sweating, mind frozen with fear, staring down 200 feet to the river rushing below. Could I jump, would I jump? I inched forward, though almost paralyzed by the fear. No I couldn't do it! I just couldn't! It was too much. I almost tried to push backwards, but he stood behind me, urging me forward. It just wasn't in me to jump, but it was too late...

Pizzarama

I quit work early today to come home and cook pizza for the birthday party we had tonight, or should I say birthday parties. When we young staff at Fountainview have birthday parties we have it for whoevers birthday was during that month, makes things easier. Ellen had been working with me, but she had to run get some pizza sauce.
I was chopping away at my mushrooms for the pizza, when the phone rang. I picked it up answering, "Hello."
There was a young guy on the other end, who sounded like one of our young staff on campus. He asked "Hi, can I order a pizza?"
Thinking it was one of the guys coming to our party who was just joking around, I answered enthusiastically, "Coming right up!"
He seemed a bit confused and then he asked, "This is Pizzarama right?"
I laughed, "You're kidding right?" I asked incredulously.
"Uh no," He replied sounding even more confused. It was at this point that I began to realized that he was actually serious!
"You totally have the wrong number!" I informed him. "But the funny thing is, I'm actually making pizza right now!" I laughed. He didn't.
"So do you have their number?" He questioned.
"No, sorry I don't." And with that our conversation was over, and I had a good laugh.

The Letter

Cold, biting winds whipped around Ceri and me as we struggled to pull the small boat towards the frigid dashing waves of the ocean inlet. Snow crunched under our feet and I clutched my jacket closer to me. With the salt water spray stinging our eyes we positioned ourselves in the little dinghy and began rowing on our treacherous journey. Again I double checked to see if I had the letter. That letter was the whole reason for this foolhardy trip.

Had it really only been yesterday that we had realized that the letter must get to our contact many miles away at the opposite end of the inlet, near the sea. Sending it by regular mail service would be much too slow at this point in time and possibly compromisable. Flying it in was out if the question as severe winter storms quickly arose at this time of the year, and well hiking in would take much too long. So here we were rowing amid the icy ocean waves. "Alissa," Ceri called, "do you think perhaps our boat will not be able to withstand all these waves?" fear laced her words. I too was worried. If our small boat capsized there would be no way we would be able to swim to shore without dying of hypothermia, being smashed by the towering waves, or drowning. As the waves continued to roughly toss the dinghy as though it were a toy boat, Ceri and I desperately attempted to make some headway. It seemed our rowing was doing no good. We quickly discussed our dire situation and decided that despite the extreme importance of the letter, we simply could go no further. If we did, we would die and the letter wasn't worth dying for. So maneuvering our craft around we headed back to shore, though we could hardly see it for the waves. With a death grip I clutched my oar, silently willing us to move more quickly towards the safety of solid ground. And then I looked up.

Adventures in Peru: Airlifted!

The Peru trip was nearing a close. Everything was winding down and I was preparing myself for the long trip home. First there was a 16 hour bus trip from where we were in Arequipa to Lima the capital of Peru. Then from Lima we would have to drive an hour to our hotel, then the next morning an hour back to the airport and then our flight home which was around 9 and a half hours long. The worst part would be the bus ride. I was not looking forward to that.

So we were just chilling in our hotel, which was not a normal hotel let me tell you. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. It was like an old castle, but it smelled musty and our room door didn't exactly lock and my bed was really hard, but hey, it looked cool..

And that's when we heard the news. The miners all around Peru had just started a strike. They were blocking roads and burning things. They had blocked the road between Arequipa and Lima. For the rest of the afternoon we heard bits and pieces of more news. No vehicles were getting through the road block. A bus had tried to drive forward and the miners attacked the bus, beating it and killed several people. Some said the roads would be open the next day, the day after, in a week. Who knew.

Adventures in Peru: Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca. I had heard of it, I vaguely remember reading some mission stories about it, but I really didn't know much about it at all. As we traveled towards the town of Puno, which is a main port city on Lake Titicaca on our tour bus, I learned more about it. It is 12,500 feet about sea level, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. It is the largest lake in South America and you can see it from space. As our bus climbed higher you could definitely tell the difference in the air. You breathed just as much, but you got much less oxygen. Just walking up the stairs to my hotel room in Puno put me quickly out of breath. Fortunately I did not get altitude sickness like some others.

The day after we arrived was Sabbath. Tickets for a boat tour of the lake had previously been purchased. It was a gorgeous day, nice and warm but not too hot, and I was excited for the day's adventures. We could look over and see the coastline of Bolivia from our watercraft...

Adventures in Peru: Machu Picchu

A friend of mine just got back from Peru and looking at her new Facebook profile picture of her standing in front of Machu Picchu brought back a flood of memories from the most memorable mission trip of my life.

We had finished our two weeks of evangelistic meetings, which were such an amazing and growing experience and now we were on to the touring part of the trip. On March 31, 2010 we flew into Cuszo which is the "official" city that you travel to Machu Picchu from. I love Cuzco, to me it felt almost like a European city, with narrow street ways and brightly coloured shutters (even though I've never been to Europe).

After settling into our quaint hotel room, with a toilet that sounded like a dying cow when it flushed, we prepared to head out very early the next day to visit Machu Picchu. Now Machu Picchu is not a simple place to visit.

Gas Station Destination

It started off like pretty much every other day, well every other Friday. Woke up, took a shower--you know the usual morning stuff, ate breakfast, went to work at my secretarial job. Just like any other day.

About mid-morning I received a phone call. A phone call from a friend from Florida who was at a youth conference in Edmonton called Acts for Christ (like GYC). He tried to persuade me and my friend Ellen to come. I could hear our housemate Alex(andra), who had flown there the day before, in the background laughing. I laughed too, but I was laughing off his preposterous idea! I was also trying not to laugh too hard at him on the phone, because there were visitors standing in front of my desk talking to our General Vice President and well, I wasn't looking very professional at all. Such is the problem when your friends know you are always there to answer the phone, because well, it's my job! So I laughed him off and told him all the reasons why it was literally, impossible to go. It was a 12 hour drive! Ellen was nearby and I told her about my conversation. And somehow the idea just wouldn't go away. So after I came up with all the reasons why we shouldn't go, and how it just wouldn't work out, and Ellen came up with all the reasons of why we should go because it would be so exciting and adventuresome, she won out in the end.

Mrs. Grouse's Demise

Today I drove to Pemberton to pick up my friend Stephanie from her apartment for a weekend visit. After a quick tour of her place we hopped in the car and headed back to Fountainview where I live. I was driving along, enjoying our conversation, when I noticed in the road, a grouse stepping along. She was not walking very fast. Merely meandering across the road. She was still in the other lane, and I just knew that at the pace she was going, I would surely be able to make it by her before she reached my lane. I sped up. To my dismay, she too began moving faster. I drove faster, she ran faster. There was nothing I could do. She was almost in my lane now. Faster she came!    And then with soft thud it was over. I drove on. It was too late for Mrs. Grouse. We said a few solemn words on her behalf (mostly about Mr. Grouse and any possible eggs) and continued on our trip.

We stopped in town to buy some groceries. Steph and I were walking out of the grocery store towards my car, when I noticed that Mrs. Grouse, was still, in fact, with us. There she was, wedged in my front bumper. Wings oddly flaring out, head at a peculiar angle, eyes glassed over. It was a rather shocking sight. I was not about to extract her in such a public setting, leaving her body abandoned on the parking lot pavement. No, we would dispose of her body in a more private, rural setting. So Stephanie and I set off to Fountainview with Mrs. Grouse still boldly displayed in my front bumper. As we neared Fountainview I pulled over onto a wide gravel shoulder. It was time for my car and Mrs. Grouse to go their separate ways. It was not so simple.

Sink or Swim

SINK OR SWIM

After I graduated from academy, I didn’t do anything. Oh I was headed off to college, that’s not what I’m meaning. No, I didn’t do anything spiritually. I didn’t intentionally decide to let God in my life die, but it happened anyways.

During academy I was doing alright spiritual, mostly because of my fairly steady devotional life, although I did have my ups and downs. After I graduated I didn’t specifically choose to go downhill in my walk with God. But I wasn’t doing any sharing and I began to pray less and less. I would only have my devotionals rarely and when I did I would feel guilty and rushed. I still went to church mostly every Sabbath. But being spiritual isn’t like standing on a flat plain; it’s more like swimming. I’m an ok swimmer. But if I’m not constantly moving, I sink. I just don’t float.

Crushes are for Kids

I was 5 and I was an Eager Beaver! Now for you folks who aren't sure what an Eager Beaver is, well it's like a watered-down, kiddy version of Adventurers, which is a watered-down version of Pathfinders, which is...well you get the point. We learned things like...yeah I really don't remember. Maybe what to do if your house was on fire, then again, that could just have been something my parents told me. Anyways we had a get-together with all the local Adventist Christian kids at someone's house. It might have had something to do with the Eager Beavers, but I could be wrong, if I am, I'm not sure why I just educated you on what an Eager Beaver is. Well back to my story, so all us kids were playing outside and I was up playing on this large boulder. It was pretty big (and I was really little), and I just couldn't get off it by myself. What's a girl to do? Well that's when he came along. His name was Edward and he helped me off the big rock. Apparently that's the way to a girl's heart right there; I was pretty impressed. After relating the experience to my mom, I confessed "I think I like him." Well actually I don't remember that part at all, but my mom says it's true.

So folks, that's the story of my first crush. The photo at the top was taken that same day I believe. And ironically he's the boy in the blue shirt with the red hearts (I'm the girl all the way on the right).

Five seems a little young for a first crush, but I googled the average age for first crushes and it seem to be anywhere between 4 and like 12 and 13. So I guess I was on the earlier side. How old were you when you had your first crush?