My Deepest Apologies!

No, I'm not apologizing because it has been nearly a month since we have posted here although there should be many more posts coming soon (assuming normal bed time routines continue!). No, I'm apologizing because I've been neglectful in spreading the word about the new Ecopolitan website, and an exciting new program the Ecopolitan's Dr. T has teamed up with the Raw Divas to do -- a professional 90 Day Detox!

See so many of you -- lots of online and real life friends and acquaintances have been asking me for recipes and nutritional information. And that is GREAT. I LOVE and feel honored to help out as I'm able to, including sharing recipes and ideas. In fact I'm excited to start doing more in-person "Green Smoothie Parties" soon too ... what could be more fun that nourishing our bodies while also nourishing our social selves?!?

However, because I didn't want to be pushy I always held back and didn't push many of the programs (except for maybe the many awesome free programs and information), and honestly I figured people might be scared of the term "detox." If you are like I was 6 months ago you may think that term should be reserved for those dealing with street drug withdrawal or something else similar ... however, sadly anyone eating anything close to a standard American diet (SAD) or exposed to environmental chemicals (we all are), is carrying a high toxin load in their bodies.

The results of such toxins can be as "harmless" as extra weight in order for our wonderfully smart bodies to store the toxins or it can be much worse -- all kinds of chronic and degenerative illnesses can be related to these toxins (please, go read at the links and the blog entries -- and listen to the audio Q&A here http://tinyurl.com/bs97rz and if you have more questions, leave comments on the blog there).

I have learned much of this through the last 6 months, but I still didn't think I was ready for a professional deep tissue detox ... and then I listened to the Q&A with Dr. T and Tera, and now I know that I am ready. I'm not scared or nervous, and I realize to really regain my health I need to follow a doctor-advised professional program.

So, what about the cost??? I suggest you compare it to other things you have done in your life, especially health care related, or that you are willing to do in your life. Or if you are just focusing on weight loss, compare it to the many programs available for weight loss and what they charge. I have a feeling that will put the cost in perspective.

For me the thing that immediately comes to my mind is the FIRST appointment I had with La Crosses' "Alternative Doctor" ... it was $500 when I walked out of there with a bag FULL of supplements, a few sheets advising me of what foods NOT to eat (but nothing telling me what TO eat), and of course directions to come back many times for more appointments. I spent a few hundred more dollars before giving up and moving on to another alterntaive-minded doctor in the area -- this one covered by insurance so co-pays were only $15 but I had so many appointments that I'm sure it was easily $300 before I quite seeing that doctor after very little change in my condition and many lost hours to me in over a YEAR's time. And of course many of the therapies were not covered by insurance -- Acupuncture alone cost me several hundred dollars, and I was also still on a number of supplements and prescriptions. Heck even the FREE info from the Raw Divas and Ecopolitan (and many other sites I will link to this week from my Learningtoeat.wordpress.com blog), helped me more than all of those expensive therapies!

So, yes, that put the cost in perspective for me!

And with the results of only changing my diet, why should I be shy about letting you all know about how you can find results even faster and with more assitance than I did!

I thank God daily for the abundance of REAL FRESH food He provides ... AND I thank him for the Raw Divas (there is an entire sisterhood) and other knowledgable and encouraging friends I have found along the way!

And again I'm sorry that I didn't let you all know about this as soon as I found out! The official deadline for signing up for this LIVE version of the 90 day detox is February 1st!!! However, I think I could twist Tera's arm to let you still join on day 2, 3 or maybe even 4. ;-)

If now isn't the right time for you, then listen to the Q&A anyway so you have the info for when you ARE ready. And then sign up for the FREE 7 day detox ... Green Smoothie Challenge ... or just join in the blog or twitter chatter! :-)

To your health!
~Tami

P.S. There really will be more blog posts all around soon ... Love you all xoxo

I Thought They Were Tough

Shawn here with another episode of "Overheard."

Nessa, watching a football player place a mouthguard hanging from his face mask into his mouth: "Why is that player using a pacie? Pacies are for babies!"

A Few Christmas Eve Pictures

Here is Megan right before going to bed on Christmas Eve. She put out a plate of Gluten Free Cookies, a glass of fresh Texas Orange Juice, and a glass of rice milk. Nessa insisted on the rice milk. I think Santa really appreciated the refreshing fresh orange juice.


Megan took this one when I wasn't paying attention:



The following pictures are from right after we returned home from church on Christmas Eve. We found a wonderful Methodist Church in Brownsville to attend while we were there, and we enjoyed the service that night with all of the singing.







As you can see we took our stockings with us to Texas and even managed to hang them above the fireplace at the timeshare. :-)

Home Sweet Home

OK, so I'm a little late on this. I guess I'm used to keeping everyone up-to-date via text messages and facebook/twitter updates! So, for those of you not yet joining us on those pages, please do. :-)

For everyone else, and for the record -- we arrived home on Tuesday afternoon about 3 p.m. and were able to get in the house about 3:30 after Shawn cleared the driveway a bit! We got a little snow while we were gone (sorry, no photo of that this year). The weather this morning said we're way ahead of snow fall for the season so far and had the 4th snowiest December on record. This makes me especially glad to have missed some of it!

I have to tell you that I miss the warm weather of Texas. I don't know what other warm-weather spots are like this time of year, but even with their "unseasonably cool" weather, I could get used to Texas weather in the winter and now totally get why there are over a million Winter Texans "in the valley." :-)

By the numbers:
14 days,
3454.2 miles, and
67 hours 32 minutes driving (includes all miles/driving time in Brownsville area)

See all those little tracking numbers in the mini-van are good for something!

I have to admit that we were all getting a bit stir crazy by the time we arrived home. We learned a lot about traveling during the trip, and in general I really enjoyed it and think it went well. One of the biggest things I learned about myself is that I will NOT get the zillion things done that I take with me when I have girls to interrupt me with requests every few minutes ... besides someone had to read the AAA books we took with us.

Now, it's on to posting pics and more from the trip!