A New 30-Day Challenge - Salad Style

One really interesting thing I have learned through all of my joint and inflammation issues (among so many interesting things!!) is to gear my diet to include a lot more alkaline foods and drinks. Apparently the sweet spot is to get 80% alkaline and 20% acidic.  This isn't just for those suffering from inflammation or joint pain, it's actually fascinating to learn all of the things that this type of diet can help with.  If you are interested, I highly suggest doing some research of your own, as I am certainly not an expert!

I have made so many changes with my diet over the past 4 or 5 years (removing meat, dairy, gluten,  & soda, reducing processed foods and sugar, increasing fresh, whole foods) but I have been feeling like I need to make more effort on this front. Switching up my diet to include more alkaline foods is likely to make a big difference in my health overall, including the dreaded inflammation I have suffered from for the past 3 years.  

Now, I love a good salad. Give me a big bed of spinach, kale, lettuce and I will happily pile it high with fresh chopped vegetables (sans dressing).  I am not, however, good at doing this regularly which is strange given how much I love it.  It just hasn't become a habit to include a salad into my daily diet for one reason or another.  Not to mention that it usually involves chopping whatever vegetables happen to be in the fridge and throwing them on top of greens.  Not a whole lot of planning involved.

So I am going to do a little salad challenge (similar to my bikram yoga challenge) to jump start what I hope will result in us incorporating salads several times a week, if not daily.  So I have been trolling through Pinterest to find some new salad recipes just to mix things up and keep it interesting.

Here are some that top my list...

Southwestern Chopped Salad - courtesy of The Garden Grazer

#StapKitchenReno - Update #2

Well, it might not mean checking several items off the list, but we (Chris) did knock a pretty big one off the list!  We said adios to the partition wall between the kitchen and dining room and it is amazing how much bigger the space feels now!  It is also a lot brighter now that the big dining room window is a part of the new kitchen space.  Since the kitchen is on the East side of the house, any additional natural light come the afternoon is much appreciated!

#StapKitchenReno

As you may have gathered from the title of this post, our kitchen renovation is off and running!  We have a lot to do in a relatively short amount of time because we made the silly decision to finish it in time for a big veggie potluck group dinner we are hosting at the end of August!  Crazy?!  Probably, but it will also push us to get as much done as we possibly can before then!  Fingers crossed that our dinner guests don't have to wear hard hats when entering our house come August!

Since we all know renovation updates are not my forte (understatement of the year!), feel free to click on the Latest Adventures tab above for quick photo updates as we go through this renovation. #stapkitchenreno

Here's a little sneak peek into what we need to accomplish in this space...

• Remove partition wall between dining room and kitchen
• Dismantle existing kitchen cabinets & island
• Remove dishwasher, range and microwave (and sell!)
• Remove tile flooring in dining room
• Remove and/or reroute electrical from partition wall
• Assemble new kitchen cabinets (yay, one down!)
• Have wood floors extended and refinished
• Repair drywall on ceiling and wall from wall removal
• Install new cabinets, hardware, drawers and doors
• Have new countertops installed
• Install new sink & appliances
• Install hood over new cooktop
• Tile wall above sink & cooktop
• Put toe kicks, moulding, and other finishing touches on the space.

I love how simple it all sounds!  Ha!  I am sure we are in for some surprises on this renovation.  But I am so excited to see how it turns out!

The Power of Fresh Air Makes for A Lovely Weekend

This past weekend -- simple as it was -- really filled my bucket, as my niece would say. It started with a spontaneous call from Chris on my way home from work on Friday, asking if I fancied happy hour at local, authentic little British pub.  There was no arm twisting needed here, so we met up and sat in the pub garden in the sunshine, grateful for the consistent, cool breeze.

Can't We All Just Get Along?!

{ Disclaimer: this post is likely to turn into a rant halfway through. consider yourself warned. }

Over the past few years I have spent a fair amount of time in doctors offices.  Always wanting them to help me, trusting that they knew what they were doing, and not really questioning whether our individual visions for optimal health actually aligned.

I finally - on a whim - scheduled an appointment with a naturopathic physician who specialized in inflammation.  I figured it couldn't hurt anything (aside from my bank account!) to try it and see if she had a different take on my health.  My paranoia around prescription medication aside, she spent an hour and a half with me going over every detail of my health as far back as I could remember.

After she ordered a few additional tests, she smiled at me and told me that she had no doubt that she would be able to get to the bottom of what was ailing me.  A simple, kind sentence. But hearing those words were extremely encouraging, especially for someone who had only gotten "best guess" diagnoses for the past several years.

The results of those blood tests confirmed all three of her suspicions.  I was suffering from adrenal fatigue and I tested positive for both a gene mutation, known as MTHFR, and the least likely: Lyme Disease.

My Contribution

Every once in a while (okay, it's actually much more often than that), I stumble upon a source of inspiration that seems like it was made just for me to find.  And I have to admit, I love that.  I love finding things that speak to me, that get me thinking, push me out of my comfort zone or remind me to return to a more intentional life.

Meat-free, Dairy-free, Gluten-Free, Oh My!

As many of you know, my health has been a bit troubled the past few years due to severe inflammation in my joints.  I have spent countless hours going to doctor appointments, surgery, physical therapy and having a battery of tests done.  All of this resulted in a 'best guess' diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, with my rheumatologist saying that medication was the only way to ease my aching joints and all of the unpleasant side effect that came along with it. (I won't bore you with the details.)

Master Bathroom

Okay, so the bathroom hit a bit of a snag with finishing up, which is to be expected with any renovation of this size, I suppose.  There is an issue with the tub faucet (it leaks out of one of the posts where the manufacturer attached it to the top part of the faucet - ugh..) and the store was closed this weekend so we couldn't swap out our shower doors for the smaller ones that we need. 

We did, however, get the tub, toilet and baseboard installed, along with a few smaller details for the shower.  Baby steps, baby steps.  Here's a little sneak peek. 

I promise to use an actual camera for shooting the reveal photos, the iphone just isn't cutting it these days...

Here's hoping the universe is on our side for finishing this bathroom renovation before Chris' parents arrive next week!

Tiling Adventures, part two

Well, we are making progress... slowly but surely.  And by 'we,' I definitely mean Chris.  He has been working hard on this bathroom remodel and it is looking so good!  It's fun to see all of the finishes put into place, which is also a huge relief to see that everything coordinates well together!  My design skills aren't failing me on this big remodel, thank goodness!

Tiling Adventures, part one

Well, we finally jumped into the tiling phase in our bathroom, and were pleasantly surprised with how it is turning out!  It definitely takes longer than we expected to complete a small space, but having the shower done (not pictured!) feels like a huge accomplishment!  It is really nice to see the finishes being installed... makes it feel a bit more real!

Here's the wall that I did...