HiHoRosie's Place

Try singing the title of my post to "Are you ready for some football?" Too weird? Too silly? Get used to it. hee hee! I am about ready for the start of this challenge tomorrow. I'm not too worried about how it'll go. Or maybe I should? I did have more than my fair share of cooked food prior to the lead up which isn't good nor was it my intention but I am ready to put it behind me for at least 100 days. You know that seems like a long time but how quickly time will fly no doubt. Special thanks to my sis who has been supportive of my and Yardsnacker's healthful ways and to support us even more she is doing her own personal 100-day challenge alongside us. And it goes without saying that hubby is also very supportive. To all of you who are on board with Raw Fu or are cheering me and the others on from your corners of the world, much appreciation goes out to you. Having all of this support and encouragement will go a long way in this challenge. It's been fun...

On my bus to and from work, I get the wonderful opportunity to read some incredible poetry submitted to Metro by their riders. Of course, I mean this somewhat sarcastically because there's so much of it that's not good or possibly too deep that I have zippo clue what they're talking about. Anyway, this stuff is legit - not things etched into seats or anything like that. Every year Metro asks its riders to submit their written poems, usually centered around a theme, for display on the buses. I have a good friend who tried submitting one once and was declined. Whatever. Hers was totally good too, unlike some of the others. The other day I spotted a poem that really hit close to home, which I'll explain after the poem. Here it goes. Ahem. We are the Bobbleheads by Candace Jarrett We sleepy bus riders have such small desires: a window seat, the hope of no unfortunate sounds. We drowse upright, uptight, nod and bob next to strangers. Here, friends would be loved and so usefu...

The traveling blood bank was in my building yesterday and today. I thought about donating a pint of my good-enough-for-me blood but after what happened last time , I decided nope, not gonna. I didn't want another "I tried" sticker so the gallon pin has eluded me once again. Actually, I might have been able to donate with flying colors - although I thought that last time too - but I'm going to wait until possibly next time they come around to try. I need to improve my iron levels (future post on iron maybe??) and then go with confidence. Oh yeah. Okay, this is super cool: today my boss and I were talking about a variety of stuff and I had mentioned how Sam goes to the garden on his bike almost daily to water and check on things I don't go because 1) it's too much gas to drive out there everyday and 2) I don't have a bike to tag along. He said you wanna bike? Me, uh yeah! It's his grown daughter's bike that's probably hardly been used (a mountain...

As most of you know the Raw Fu challenge starts Friday. Woo hoo! In four days. In my earlier post I mentioned that besides going all raw for the challenge (or at the very least, being 100% vegan) that I would also incorporate exercise. Not usually my favorite thing to do but I need to workout. My plan is to workout 4-5 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes (requirement: have to break a sweat) and then taking weekends off to do whatever. Since the Raw Fu challenge starts on a Friday I decided to start my exercise commitment today. I don’t have any set plan to do this or to do that for my routine but I’ll do whatever depending on the weather or availability of equipment. So today, I opted to stay indo ors and use the treadmill. This is usually my first choice when working out in the exercise facility. I got a little gung-ho at first that my pace was a little too brisk! I slowed things down a little so I don’t end up like this guy (warning: there is swearing in it): With my whole exer...

So the other day for dinner I gave into temptation and ate from a place I hadn’t been to in quite awhile. I won’t name the place but it’s a stir-fry grill restaurant. You fill up a bowl with noodles and/or fresh prepared veggies and a choice of meat if you so desire. Their motto “all fresh ingredients...grilled in front of your very eyes!” And “Where the food is always healthy.” Yeah, well call me a fool! Even though I had been there a million times with no issues before last July (about the time we started going raw) I went a few days ago and paid the price. :( This is my story… I had stir-fry with hot chili sauce (mmm) and teriyaki sauce I went home. I ate it. Now, I’ve had teriyaki meals from time to time. Not often but once in awhile I will for lunch. I’m always left quite parched, you know from all the SALT! Ugh! But aside from that all is usually well. What was different this time? Let’s break it down: I ate late I ate too much It had a lot of teriyaki sauce on it, maybe? I dunno...

As you're probably aware I recently signed up for the upcoming 100-day raw fu challenge . Many of you have signed up also (there's almost 700 people last count!), which makes me really excited and motivated about this challenge. I'm looking forward to making new friends, giving and receiving support, learning from each other and just having fun. For today's post I want to document how I got to this point and my plans for the challenge. I'll admit I was hesitant to join the challenge because I thought I had to be 100% all the time. Actually, to be truly honest, I didn't think much about it therefore, I had no plans on joining because I figured I was good enough where I was at. Well okay, for the most part but I'll explain that later. It took Lindsay's question of "Are you gonna come sign up to do the 100 day challenge? If just for the community??" that got me thinking about this challenge. Of course, I love to socialize (duh) so what's a...

ME! (applause-whistles-and woo hoos!!). So what did I win? Well, I won a Brillante Weblog 2008 award! What does this mean? I'm not sure exactly but it's fancy and sparkly and means someone loves me and I love it! Special thanks to Lauren at Ginger is the New Pink for even considering me for this honor - thank you thank you!! Gosh, I don't know what to say. I wasn't expecting this so no speech is prepared. I'm not even dressed up for it (no pictures please)! ha ha! I did toy with the idea of titling this post "My Plan for World Domination is Successfully Underway" but since I'll be sharing the joy I didn't find it appropriate this time around. ;) Now the rules state, which I'll post below, I'm to nominate seven new people. At first, I thought EASY but after looking at my list I ended up have a difficult time choosing because as far as I'm concerned YOU ALL HAVE BRILLANTE BLOGS! Lauren also had this same problem so she nominated eight ...

Just wanted to give you all an update on Sweet Pico. Aw, I just want to scratch under his chin-y-chin-chin. But alas, he is not ours to have. :( Sad I know but on the other hand I'm not terribly sad because I truly believe that he is/will be sent to a good home. Our role was to get him help, which we did and I can't imagine that it was all for naught. I also believe that if Pico was meant to be with us we would've found him. So Pico? Enjoy your new family wherever you are. You're a good kitty! The vet was able to stitch up his arm and neuter him (no baby Picos!) while in their care. We did try looking for him (thanks hon) both at the vet and at the pound. Hubby made one last try at the pound today but Pico wasn't there. When he was at the vet and hubby was calling on him, we started to get the feeling that they believed us to be the actual owners of Pico who were trying to scam them out of free or cheap medical care. We were even told after the 2nd or 3rd phone call...

Okay, I did it. I decided to challenge myself for 100 days beginning August 1st alongside many of you. View my page on Raw Fu I'm scared. :)

Love summer! It seems every chance we get we’re out in the sun or in the garden just enjoying life. Here in Seattle, there is beauty all around. You’ve heard of our rain. Everyone thinks it rains all the time (it doesn’t, maybe just half the year-ha ha!) but sometimes it’s just cloudy, which can be a drag. However, when the sun is shining you just can’t dispute how gorgeous it is here. It’s been so sunny lately I LOVE it! You won’t hear me complaining about the warmer temperatures either. I’d rather be hot than cold any day; I just love hot weather anyway and we don’t get it enough for me to complain. I will complain about my office building turning up the air conditioning way too high! Holey moley! I work in an icebox. Anyway, Sarabeth’s recent post reminded me of a picture I took recently of Mount Rainier while riding in the car. It’s the best I could do. Summers = busy. I’m sure your summers are no different. Hubby and I try not to be chained to our computers too much but I find ...

A couple of you asked about the balsamic dipping sauce I mentioned in an earlier post . Since it was my hubby who tweaked and perfected the recipe I'll leave it up to him to share his recipe with you on his blog, which hopefully will be soon. It's yummy, especially with fresh tomatoes!

Just want to send a special congratulations to my husband, Yardsnacker , who celebrates a special milestone today. Today is his one year anniversay as a super-rockin raw foodist! Woo hoo! As some of you know this can be very challenging (I know!) but he was motivated, determined and enthusiastic about each day. Way to go! It's been so great to see him change and accomplish so much over the past year. It's funny, once he started changing his eating habits early on I knew with him there was no looking back. It wasn't going to be anything temporary but an actual lifestyle change. And hey, thanks to him I've also reaped the rewards of this healthy lifestyle. Congratulations sweetie! Ya done good. Mwah!

I'm sure we all have mile long lists of food faves consisting of some staple items and some depending on the season. To add to my list of fun things I add sugar snap peas. I normally don't eat these or haven't in a very long time but lately, uh yeah! Good stuff! We just got back from Costco where we picked up a couple bags of pesticide-free sugar snap peas. I ate 1/3 of the bag as soon as we got home! CORRECTION: these are preservative-free . Thanks hubby! This was my dinner for tonight. Mmmm...some fresh roma tomatoes peppered and snap peas and a side of balsamic dipping sauce that hubby made. Super good and very filling. A one cup serving provides 1/3 of your daily value of vitamin C and 3 grams fiber. Peas are in the legume family and are rich in protein and low in fat. They are also a great source of vitamin K . You can view more info here and here . Now excuse while I go snap up some more peas. YUM!

If you’ve ever gardened you know the various challenges you face. It’s a gamble really. Some things just don’t sprout, some things fall to disease from bugs or get eaten by them. And of course, there are voles , squirrels, deer, bunnies, birds, etc. Some weird bug: Some weird bug crawling up a blade of grass: With the birds, it’s easy to blame the crows for everything because they’re always hanging around. They squawk and squeak to each other because they’re watching your every move. They know when/where you’re planting. They’re smart and crafty even though when I’m frustrated I call them stupid birds. One of them dug up one of our newly planted squash seeds and ate the inside of it. Just left the evidence lying around for us to discover. Nice. These guys need to be locked up. Well, how about this little guy? Isn’t he sweet and cute? Just an innocent robin right? Wrong! This guy is on my Most Wanted List . I actually caught him in my neighbor’s strawberry patch pecking away at a berry...