Is my calendar lying?

Is July seriously only one week away? Is my 3-month Michigan summer already 1/3 over?

It is amazing to me how hot it has gotten lately and how fast time has been flying. I have almost been fearing lately that I will wake up tomorrow and suddenly be twice my age, as if my eyes will somehow have blinked away another 27 years...

90 degree weather struck suddenly, like lightning, and it has remained hot steadily for several days now... I don't feel like doing much of anything in the heat, but I've been going like the energizer bunny, nonstop, regardless of this hot, humid weather.

I feel so behind on this blog. There is so much I want to say and yet I just haven't been able to make any time lately to update. I am going to schedule a full-on library day SOON to do some catching up here. There are so many changes I need to make to this page and I don't want anyone to think I am abandoning it ~ I've just been so busy that by the time I sit down at the end of each day, my head falls upon my pillow and quickly drifts away into never-neverland until my days run together like waves lashing upon the shore.

I haven't been taking many photos lately and have also decided that I really cannot make a financial living from venturing down that road. I love taking photos, though, and will continue to do so - just not for profit. All the photos I have already taken on my travels (and all the photos I will continue to take) are going to be shared with everyone, for free, in albums on my new MySpace page that I will be setting up. I am deleting my old MySpace page so I will have to eventually switch everyone over to my new one, http://www.myspace.com/faliaphotography

So if I am not taking pictures, what am I doing for money?
Lately I have been housekeeping, and boy have I been busy. I'm cleaning for several rental properties, personal residences, and summer cottages. . . and I have even made business cards since I love been artsy like that. Most of my summer will be spent working, but I am actually really pleased about that. I am hoping to save up enough money by fall to have a little financial cushion before I take off again.

My van needs some repairs (and my personal mechanic has been extremely busy working on other jobs), so I've been using it as a parked home-base/closet until some time can really be dedicated to it. It needs a cooling system flush, an oil change, new power steering lines (which I did already order from http://frankcondelli.com/mechanic.htm), among several other things. Dan, however, has recently bought his own van! It is a mighty Ford E-250 extended cargo van, and I think that we will be moving into (and leaving the state this fall) in HIS van, instead of mine. Being a 2005, his van should need fewer repairs on our long haul west. My van is really getting up there on the miles, although I plan to keep it forever, live in it on my own land someday, and convert it to a diesel whenever that day comes.

I'm currently at a friend's house, however, and everyone is watching "America's Got Talent." I hardly watch tv these days so I am going to get off the computer and join the crew. I'll be back soon, just wanted to pop in and say HI.

Gal with a Gun

I believe it is very important to know how to safely and responsibly shoot a gun. Just knowing how to shoot one can give you a sense of safety, and it is a smart idea to just learn how to use one in case you ever need to. The more that I learn about different guns, the more I want to learn, and it is as simple as that.

I'm thrilled with the timing on this photo, taken the exact instant that I fired - check out the smoke and the bullet casing actually being ejected in mid-air. How cool.

Target practice is the newest addition to my collection of interests & skills, and I'm probably going to join a Shooting Range or Gun Club so that I can try out more rifles than I already have. Once you know what you are doing and you are above-all, being safe, target-practice can be quite addictive and incredibly great fun.

Thinking about messing with me or my van?
No way Jose,
I'm actually a pretty good shot.

Round In Circles

(our greenhouse is just bursting with life!!)

(we have begun starting seeds using "soil blockers")

(the radishes are delicious, and the broccoli plant is getting huge)

I know, I know, there is no denying it. More and more days have been sneaking their way in between my blog posts. It is so easy to stumble into a never-ending routine since I am sticking around a familiar area for the summer. No surprise here, but my days have become very cyclical lately:

Shower, eat, water plants, work in the garden (and greenhouse), go clean at summer-cottage job, drive my mom to get her groceries, meet with new "clients" about my housekeeping services, read up on fixing my van (& try to locate parts), buy food, try new recipes, get together with friends I haven't seen in a while, repeat.

This week, however, I actually took a short break from the repetition, headed over to Lake Leelanau (out on the peninsula with Sleeping Bear Dunes), and attended a yoga class that my best friend was teaching. That wonderful break snapped me out of my 2-week, work-entrenched trance and reminded me that, hey! It is so nice (and essential) to be someplace new and different for a while. I really need to get out more during the week and continue to travel around to new places. Even though I am working (and trying to find work), I still need to be having fun and doing things that I really enjoy. That includes traveling around and making time to get online to type on my page. I LOVE giving tips and information and yet I've been letting myself get sucked away from it! Terrible. I need to reprimand myself and get back to doing what I love.

So. Even though I grew up in Northern Michigan, I had never been in Lake Leelanau before, where my friend is teaching yoga.

Such beautiful, green, artsy, healthy, creative, natural, unique little towns are scattered all around the Leelanau Peninsula. Wineries, cafes, galleries, hidden lakes, there are all sorts of fun places to explore. I drove thru Suttons Bay, Leland (aka: fish town), Maple City, Cedar ... Northern Michigan is just perfect this time of year. Perfect. I need to be out enjoying it more than I have been lately. Work is not everything. This is Memorial Day Weekend, and I have been, what? Working? Cleaning? Why. I should be making time to go to some garage sales, grill veggie burgers over a fire, and sip on a root-beer float (or pina colada). I want to smell like campfire smoke, sunscreen, and bug spray. That sounds so nice. I will pencil that in for tomorrow, Memorial Day Monday.

Speaking of work,

I met with a new family today about housekeeping for the summer, and they've got a house that is seriously comparable to the white house. I thought that the guest house was the actual house itself until I drove around the corner and ta-da! - A beautiful mansion of probably 4 stories and 8 bedrooms sat on a well-groomed lawn the size of several football fields. I am probably exaggerating, but not by much. The house is bigger than ANY HOUSE I THINK I'VE EVER SEEN (other than the white house), and the lawn is IMMENSE. And these people just live in it for the summer? And they want how much of it cleaned? And they have how many teenage boys (with friends over all the time) that I would be cleaning around?

I am confident and excellent at cleaning, but I honestly got a little flustered when he asked me what I charge. He wasn't the most pleasant man to talk with, and when my mouth opened and said I charge 15.00 per hour, I immediately kicked myself repetitively on the inside. Ugh. I have no desire to clean a house so big, 3 days per week, with the entire family home, for only 15.00 per hour. So, despite feeling like a schmuck, I sucked up any discomfort, decided to respect my personal feelings, called the man this evening, and told him that I wasn't comfortable cleaning his house for any less than 25.00 per hour. No sir, no less than that. I should have asked for that in the first place, but I didn't. Oh well. If I don't get that cleaning job, I think I may be happier than if I do. But, if I do get the cleaning job, then I REALLY ought to take it. That would be $300 per week, cash. We will see.

Ok, I'm going to try to find my camera and upload a couple pics to this blog. Then I will return with a new posting as soon as I can. Several days may pass, but I guarantee that I will live and die through this website. This URL address is like the parking space for my van. No matter where I am or how busy I may be, I will always eventually return. It is my home :-)

Raw, No-Bake, Agave PB Oat Cashew Etc Balls

This recipe doesn't really have a name since I just made it up, but these little treats taste AWESOME and you can make them with whatever nuts/berries/additives you have on hand. I'm going to share it with you and I hope you like it, because it is super easy to make in a vehicle, very healthy (as long as you don't eat the whole batch in one sitting!), and you don't need an oven or a stove. Just a mixing bowl, a spoon, and maybe a fridge or a cooler to help them harden. They are delicious, though, straight out of the mixing bowl, which is how I am eating them, without refrigeration. These are guaranteed to become my new, perfect, on-the-road snack treats.

These are basically little gooey peanut butter balls - only better - because they don't use white sugar... I instead used "Wholesome Sweeteners" brand Organic Blue Agave, which is an agave plant-based sweetener that is sweeter than honey, but very low on the glycemic index (making it safe for diabetics or anyone watching their sugar intake). These really aren't very sweet because I only used 1 Tbl. of Agave in my batch. Feel free to use a little more if you want them sweeter.

Mix together:

1/2 cup (heaping) chunky peanut butter (refrigerated natural kind)
1 Tbl. Agave Nectar (add another little bit if you want the end result to be a little sweeter)
a good handful of quick-oats (I think I sprinkled in a little extra)
a heaping scoop of chocolate protein powder
2 Tbl. chopped cashews (raw, unsalted)
1 Tbl. shredded coconut
a dash of cinnamon
1 cap-full of real vanilla (not that imitation stuff)
1 Tbl. water (or a little dash more if needed)

The mixture should be thick and kind of sticky. Is it too wet? Add some more oats, some ground flax seed, some wheat germ, or something else that is dry. Is it too dry? Just add a little more water. I wouldn't add more agave nectar, though, if it's too dry because then the whole batch might end up way too sweet.

Re-mix and then use your hands to roll it into tiny balls (I think my batch made 14) and either start eating them or put them in the fridge to let them harden a bit.

The cool thing about this recipe is the fact that it doesn't make a whole bunch - just enough to satisfy a little sweet tooth. You can also add dried cherries, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, raisins, sesame seeds, basically whatever you've got on hand that you think would be delicious in a peanut butter ball. Don't have agave nectar? Try it with a little maple syrup, honey, or black-strap molasses instead. Mmm. Happy Snacking.

what is this? watching my cholesterol?

My days of the week have all blended together lately since I've been kind of slacking off and takin' it easy. Since I'm not currently working, the only thing that really distinguishes this as a Sunday is the happy fact I get free weekend minutes on my cell phone. This weekend I am not parked out at the cabin - Instead, I am house sitting for someone else, taking care of a cute little kitty cat, and currently sitting here in front of a full-sized computer screen, enjoying the taste of my breakfast: vanilla yogurt (cream-on-top) mixed with oatmeal and rice protein powder.

This past week, Dan and I had a slighly untraditional date, but we learned quite a bit from it - We decided to take a little trip to the local Hospital together and participate in their once-a-month wellness program. Neither of us have health insurance, so we like to take advantage of health screening programs when they are offered at a good price - We paid 12.00 for a finger-prick which tested our blood glucose level & cholesterol levels, and we also had our blood pressure and BMI tested. Then they gave us a blood pressure log and a pedometer to count our steps, which is a neat little bonus, but I probably won't ever actually clip mine on and use it. Shh. Nice idea, though, and I think the average person is supposed to take at least 10,000-12,000 steps per day. Any steps above and beyond that will help to encourage weight loss, and 2,000 steps = 1 mile (roughly).

The results of my wellness screening left me slightly confused... My blood pressure and blood sugar levels are both really good, and my HDL cholesterol (good Omega 3 fats - like avocados, nuts, fish...) is also really good. They said my HDL cholesterol is supposed to be above 40, and mine is 56. Yippee! Also, my overall cholesterol RATIO (good:bad) is alright, BUT my overall cholesterol is HIGH. I have a 209, and it is supposed to be under 200. Hmm. I had it checked 2 years ago and it was 188, so it has gone up! That means I must be eating too many bad saturated fats or not getting enough exercise, or both! I was also told that sugar does not affect your LDL (bad) cholesterol - only saturated fat, trans fat, and physical activity....

A larger lady in the hospital walked by and heard me talking about how my results paper said I had high cholesterol. She looked shocked and commented, "YOU have high cholesterol?" She shook her head and said "It doesn't look like you eat any fat at all!"

That was my thought, too, since I try to eat really healthy, only occasionally splurging for something greasy or containing saturated fat. Maybe I've been eating too many eggs lately or splurging too much on everyone else's girl-scout cookies. I have no idea though how long it takes (days, weeks, months?) to lower or higher your cholesterol levels. Could one bad week of eating junk food affect the results that much?

I don't really know how to watch what I eat much better than I already am, but I guess I am going to try a test. I am going to try to cut ALL saturated fats out of my diet for one month, and then go back to the $12 wellness screening to see what effect that has on my total cholesterol. TRY is the key word here, although I love egg yolks mixed in with my egg whites, and now that I think about it, there is probably saturated fat in my favorite Brown Cow Natural Cream-Top yogurt that I just ate! Yup, I went and checked, 6 grams of saturated. Hmm. This is going to take some real conscious decision making. Maybe I do eat more saturated fat than I am aware of? I don't really want to lose weight, though, since the lady said my BMI is right where it should be. I weigh 116 and was told that I would be underweight if I got under 110. So. I guess if I cut out saturated fat and try to do lots of push-ups to bulk up a little (muscle weighs more than fat...) then perhaps I can maintain my current weight and lower my cholesterol. Sounds tricky.

So I guess I am currently watching my LDL cholesterol, which is saturated fats and trans fat. Saturated fats that we consume are supposed to be a MAX of 7% of our total daily calories, and trans fats are even worse for us. The American Heart Association recommends that we only consume a MAX of 2 grams of trans fat per day. Luckily I don't think anything I normally eat contains trans fat, but that is definitely good to know.

One month of wellness, here I come. I am determined to try and lower my total cholesterol under 200!! I probably won't start for a few days, though, I guess, since I've got some of my favorite saturated-fat filled yogurt that I want to eat up first. I am not throwing it away, it is so good! After I finish the yogurt, then I am starting. Eventually we will see if it even makes a difference. And then I will let you know.