Jet lag

I woke up the morning after I had arrived in Dubling feeling pretty decent, I think it was more my excitement pushing me forward. We got up and decided to go grocery shopping to have food on the 8ish hr road trip we would take stopping in Blarney and end up in Dingle. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to check out the grocery stores. Something so simple that every country has tons of but they are all so different and unique. It gives you a small look into their daily lives and I love trying all the weird foods I can't pronounce. The typical Irish grocery store as I had assumed was loaded with potatoes and tons of different varieties of bread. We bought our supplies and were on our way.


 As soon as we hit the road I was out cold, missing the beautiful view of the cities on the way to our first stop, Blarney Ireland. Blarney is a place i am sure we all hear about, its bout as famous as clovers and leprechauns, but i didn't know much about it other then there was a big stone somewhere that stupid tourist like myself come from around the world to kiss. Locals probably wouldn't do it, and i have heard stories that the people who look after the stone piss on it every morning, but i had made it all the way here, i wasn't going to turn back now. Rain started to fall as we got out of the car. The chilly light Irish rain only added to the beauty of the surrounding area, giving the landscape a hush feeling and magical sense of beauty. We walked up the the entrance payed our fee and entered one of the most beautiful park i had ever seen. Lush bright green grass as far as i could see, giant old tree scattered all over the fields, even a small river ran through the park. Everything was so beautiful and so green. Had it not been raining i would have laid down and napped right in the middle of it all.

 

Don't worry, i didn't. I couldn't take a nap because as i kept walking i saw the Blarney castle poke through the trees and tower over the park.

 

when we arrived we looked for the way to the stone, and for some reason (excuse my ignorance) i had pictured the stone to be some were on the ground near the castle or inside of it, boy was i wrong. we started to climb up this very narrow and steep stair case, we just kept going higher and higher with tiny square windows giving us a glance at the every growing distance between us and the ground. it wasn't till way after that i learned that "Blarney's tremendous rectangular great tower,one of the very biggest in Ireland". Half way up my youngest sister realised this was going to be a rather intense height and the top and she headed back down, but i was determined to make it up there and kiss that rock no matter what.

Sure enough as we broke through to the top you could see right over the ledge of the tower straight down to the terrifying depths below. Not going to lie to you i was very scared, cried for my mommy to hold my hand for a while and contemplating going back down (I'm very scared of heights) but i didn't i pushed forward. we are at the very top of the tower the center of the tower is hollow and once again shows you the chilling view of how far you have come. we have to walk to the other side of the tower on a narrow path to get to where the stone resides. we are finally in line to kiss the stone and i eagerly watch the couple ahead of us move in for the smooch and almost cry out in terror at what i see happen. You have to lay down on your back, and are literally bending over backwards as you dangle over the ledge that looks straight down to the base of the castle and if they hasn't build a small grate there to "catch" you if you feel then you would fall straight down! i freaked and said i was not going to do it.

My dad who was very much tired of all my bitching said he was going to do it this was after he has gone on and on about how only stupid tourist do it and there is pee on the stone... he got on his back leaned all the way over and kissed it. i couldn't let him have the bragging rights for the rest of the trip so i swallowed my fear held my breath and got on the floor. then i realised that i am way shorted then everyone else i had seen go before me which would require me to dangle the entire upper half of my body off the side of the tower. the was a man there who helped everyone and he had a tight grip on me but i could help being scared as i looked down at the distance between when i was now and where i had come from. the man continued to lower me more and more as i still could not reach, i had even contemplated just sticking my tongue out and maybe just giving the thing a lick if my lips couldn't touch. slowly but surly i made it, and with an incredibly quick peck i was back on my feet again ready for the next adventure.

 

 



 

A dream is a wish your heart makes

When I was between the ages of 5-8 I saw a movie called The secret of Ron Insh, and I forever fell in love with the green isle. I even told people my name was Fiona and I was born in Dublin, because of my light skin blue eyes and few freckles everyone believe me, that is till my parents put a stop to it. I was literally obsessed with Ireland my whole childhood. I did multiple projects on the history and customs. In sixth grade when we did the Modle UN I insisted on being The delegate from Ireland because of my blood line to the country(which is true we do have Irish decedents). It wasn't just the movie that made me so passionate about a place I had never seen before, something about the mystery and magic, the tales the history, I could almost smell the grass and feel the breeze like I had been there. Like in some weird way going to Ireland was my calling, even now at 24 the pull has not weakened at all, I am just as enchanted by this untouchable world. only difference is after almost 20 years of wishing, at this very moment I am sitting in London England enjoying coffee waiting for my 12:45 flight to Dublin Ireland...

I arrived at about 2pm Dublin time 8am in my head, and was pick up from the airport by my dad who had already been there for a few nights with my mom and littlest sister. We rented a car and headed to the apartment they had rented. the city was very beautiful, hard to explain with its updated yet still original buildings, clean and not crowded at all. In my head I was expecting a city loaded with people and charged with hustling energy like London, but what I saw was nothing like that. I learned that in the entire country Ireland only has 4million people. Back before the great potato famine there were roughly 8million people in Ireland, 1.5mil migrated, 2.5mil died and with only 4mil living here now it's safe to say the country never recovered.

I did not get a moment to rest when I got to the apartment, I changed in to something a bit warmer and a little nicer and we headed out for a stroll through the Dublin city center.

Saw the pub streets and the shopping areas, explored till it was time for us to go to our dinner and show of folklore, fairies, and story telling at Ireland's oldest pub, The Brazen Head. the story teller told us all about the history of Ireland, the potato famine, and a few lessons about fairies. Then ended the evening with old Irish tales, it was so much fun and even educational.

 

The Grand Canal in Dublin Ireland, this was our view from where we stayed.

After such a long day and full night I slept a rock, and work up this morning packed up and ready to head to a town called Dingle, said to be a very magically charged location...

 

A Bunch Of Junk

Long time no blog, it has been kind of crazy in my corner of the world. My fiance and i have officially moved into our very first, very own house. I am spending today laying around the house trying to get a feel for my new surroundings, so this blog wont be as creative, witty, or what ever else my other ones are because I'm so deeply embedded in my fiances rocking chair watching as many YouTube videos as i can find of one of my favorite Broadway Actresses Susan Blackwell. So sorry about that, but i wanted to blog all this before i forgot it and then got mad at myself later on for not bringing it up...

I have taken the liberty of naming my new house Eco-Home, which i do not think my housemate are aware of yet, but i know they wont mind :) I gave it this name with the intent of shrinking our households carbon footprint on the planet. So most things i have bought for the house have been Eco-friendly. All my leaning supplies, dish soap, laundry detergent, bedding, towels, even my dinning room table was mad from used materials and none of it was hard to find or very expensive.

 

Lets start with my dinnng room table since it is one of my favorite peices in my house at the moment. I love to cook and I love having company over, the more people in your house the more its filled with laughter and positive energy. My fiance and i wanted something big and homie enough to fit at least 8 people. We also are very set on having all the elements in our home, we have a brick wall, wood floors, glass coffee table, steele legs on our chairs and  now rod iron on our dinning room table. We were very excited when we found this table at the very first stand alone Timothy Oulton store in the U.S. (who is now one of my favorite designers). If i could i would buy everything in that store, most of the things he creates are made out of recycled materials. Our table was made from wood off a 100year old Chinese Junk Boat, not only is it beautiful but its eco-friendly.

 

Hippie on Campus

So i am loving my new diet/eating life style, and i am not the only one who has noticed that when i do eat too many non raw meals i get angry and not as fun to be around. So i am not as strict but i am doing as much raw food and ZERO gluten, which is why i am blogging today.

My first day of school (again) was on Tuesday, and unlike most students going to a new school i wasn't worried about finding my classes or getting a parking spot, or even having all the required books (I'm a slacker). i was worried about what i was going to be able to eat. Here in Texas we don't get a summer, its more like Hell rises from the underworld and takes over the state for months. So walking from building to building with food in my backpack did not sound like fun to me. i decided that for the first day of school i was just going to wing it. i made myself an obnoxiously large batch of green tea and packed three KIND bars, hoping that would be enough to keep me from starving on a 8hr school day. i was all set and made it till around 3ish when i stumbled upon the Subway at school. The school i went to before had a Subway that provided gluten free bread, so i thought i would check it out. it did not have gluten free bread but it did have salads! i got myself a chicken salad and water bottle, i was excited about having some sustenance before my 3hr dance class. in my mind i was jumping for joy at the thought of having a salad every Tuesday and Thursday till i got to the register and the girl asked for $10somthing, ya a salad and water $10something at a school, as if students pooped cash. so scratch that idea off the list...

Today i took  different approach, even though the salad was tasty. My mom is still in town and the family was blessed with some delicious Latin (Bolivian) home cooking, Locro ( i don't know how you spell that). Its a yummy chicken, rice and veggie soup with a Spanish flare was served for dinner last night and is lunch for today, paired with some sub pare gluten free crackers, and yet anoter giant bottle of green tea (3cups) i have obtained victory over the how to eat gluten free at school battle. i am also having a more eco friendly lunch by not having any garbage to throw away. Winning!

YAY ME!

Fresh and clean

i am going to start this blog by saying, no i am not a saint, no not everything in my possession is 100% eco friendly and organic and yes, i have shopped at walmart once or twice. Not everyone is perfect but what i am getting at is that i have a passion to learn and grow. As i look forward to moving into my first house with my fiance, it is a fresh clean start to living in a way it will not only bring harmony to our life but help make a positive impact on the earth, living together has a natural progression of, marriage, babies, and happily ever after... with all of that on my mind i would like from here out to just be full of ways to keep our home clean safe happy and healthy and do the same to the plant.

My mom, being the hippie i have always known her to be and my dad born in Portland Oregon, raised us with all the basics of a hippie life, love all, do no harm to people, animals, or the earth because all of those things lend a hand in the quality i life we have. The term you body is a temple was always push onto my sisters and i but obviously as children it made no sense. Some days i wake up and wish i had been some sort of baby genius and had retained and not fought everything my parents tried to tech me, that it all clicked when i was a toddler and that way i wouldn't have to start fresh so many times. But, life happens, we live and we learn.

My adventure for today is organic/eco friendly bedding. i mentioned this to my fiance and like a typical man his response was "whats wrong with the ones we have?' then i proceeded to explain to him what was so wrong with cotton, and i still dont think anything clicked. So for those of you who are like my fiance and need proof i have done a little home work for you. Some of this stuff i knew but still shocked me, it breaks my heart that we just let companies like the continue...

Whats wrong with cotton?


"The nonprofit Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) reports that cotton uses 2.5 percent of the world’s cultivated land yet uses 16 percent of the world’s insecticides—more than any other single major crop."

"Three of the most acutely hazardous insecticides, as determined by the World Health Organization, are well represented among the top 10 most commonly used in producing cotton. One of them, Aldicarb, “can kill a man with just one drop absorbed through the skin,” says OTA, “yet it is still used in 25 countries and the U.S., where 16 states have reported it in their groundwater.”

"that the fertilizers used on cotton are the most detrimental to the environment, running off into freshwater habitats and groundwater and causing oxygen-free dead zones in water bodies."

"A third of global cotton cropland and 45 percent of world cotton production now uses genetically engineered seeds. This poses a whole other set of issues, as some scientists fear that the proliferation of such “Frankenseeds” can lead to pest immunities and even the unleashing of so-called “super pests” that can resist virtually any pesticide."

Cooking to clean your system

There are a few things i want to blog about today, but knowing me i will only get through one topic. i finished my full week of just RAW food and passed with flying colors. i was not hungry and i was not sick, a few times my organs were tender but that is just the toxins being released from all the bad stuff i had eaten trying to get out of my system. i loved it i felt lighter and more alive. When i was younger my mom made my family do a raw food detox at least once a month. i didnt really know what for then but i know now and i will be keeping up with it. The day right after my Raw week i went to my in laws for fajitas, and i LOVE me some steak so naturally i had just a plate of fajita meat with the beans, no tortilla because i have been very good about being strictly Gluten Free. The next day i did not feel good, its my own fault i should not have gone from Raw food to fajita meat the next day, so now i am trying to get back on track, and what i have noticed is i am reaching for more Raw foods  now on my own. i feel better when i eat better. i still have not reached my goal weight but, i do feel lighter.

i was craving a way to put all my yummy veggie together and eat them at once, so i looked for ways to make some sort of bread... and i found one. it is absolutely delicious and you can edit the formula to make it sweet bread or thinner to make a pizza crust. i have already made it three times.
The Rawtarian

Feel good Foods

I went shopping at Whole Foods with my mom yesterday to get some things for a recipe i will post next blog, and i came across something really interesting while i was in the snack bar isle looking for my absolute favorite treat the KIND snack bars. i looked on the shelf above me and saw something i hadnt seen before (mostly because i have blinders on when i shop so i dont over spend) a granola bar called Kutoa, but that wasnt even the most interesting part about this treat. What is said on the box and wrapper is what caught my attention the most. "buy a bar, feed a child." So naturally i grabbed one and began reading. Every bar you buy, send a nutrition pack to a hungry child. The nutrition packs that WFP delivers are packed with the vitamins, minerals and micronutrients essential for maintaining bodily functions, growth, immunity, productivity and prevention of mortality among vulnerable populations. They are delivered to children between the ages of 6 and 59 months and effectively alleviate malnutrition and the diseases that coincide.

That wasnt even the best part, right next to the Kutoa bars was another box with a pleasant message Two Degrees Food's box said "for every bar you buy we donate a meal to a hungry child". Their mission is to empower you, the consumer, to help feed 200 million hungry children through just Two Degrees of separation. After all, in today's world, none of us are that far away. Instead of grabbing just any snack, you can go for one that feeds your hunger and helps do the same for another.

Other foods that give back:
Specially Foods

Rishi Tea

Savannah Bee company

KIND snacks

Do Goodie Brownies

Numi Tea