Raw Spirit

Cali, Shelley and I attended a Raw Food festival in Sedona, Arizona a couple of weekends ago. I've been a slacker and haven't posted anything for a while, but this was way too interesting to not share. In an earlier post, I remarked how I love festivals because they draw such odd crowds. I know to a lot of people, this crowd would have appeared even stranger than it did to me. As it happened, I seemed to fit in fairly well with this crowd. I have to admit, I loved being a hippy for a few days.

This is one of my favorite hippies from the festival. Look how happy he is...and so purple! Those are bunny ears on the top of his head. He wore this outfit all three days of the festival. Pew-ee! Everyone reeked by the end, though....most of us camped at the volunteer campground nearby. We were all a bunch of dirty hippies, even me.

This is another of my favorite hippies, Natan. You can't see his spiked blue hair and painted toenails, but he was pretty flashy. And he gave me a wonderful relaxation massage which I really needed after spending all morning volunteering at the "Conscious Speed Dating" event. If you've never done speed dating, don't bother! What a headache.

This is Kane. He chops open coconuts and lifts heavy things, and looks cute while doing it. :)



Check out this contraption! This hippy spent the whole festival giving people rides in this funny device. It moved like something from out of a dream. Old and young seemed to enjoy it. What it was, I really don't know.

Yoga was a daily activity. Surprisingly, I never made it to a single class.

More of my dancing hippy friends.

The whole three days consisted of free food, classes, workshops, music dancing and lots of interesting people all concerned about health and the environment. It was beautiful and inspiring. I'm looking forward to the next one in California in June. If anyone else is interested, check out the website at www.rawspirit.com. Would love to have you join me!

Lake Powell with the Fam

I wasn't really sure how I felt about taking a vacation with the (almost) entire family since it's something we haven't done since.....well, I think I was around 20 when the family last tried the vacation thing. We took a spontaneous trip to Disneyland in a rented RV. There was only 18 of us then if I remember correctly, but try cramming 18 people into a stuffy RV for 40+ hours and see if you ever choose to attend a family vacation again! I just remember spending most of the vacation arguing about what to do, and yelling at my dad in the parking lot of a casino on the drive home because I wanted to go sleep in a bed, and no one would make the decision as to whether to stay at the casino for the night and get a good night's rest or to keep driving so we could be done and over with this hellish experience by morning. It must have traumatized all of us enough, because I don't think anyone has even brought up the idea of a family vacation since then.

My brother Jerry initiated this trip, being the brave and generous soul that he is. I think I mostly came because he extended a personal invitation with several follow up calls. He was kind enough to pay for everything, too, so I knew he must have really wanted us all there. He was so sweet. I went with a smile on my face and a prayer in my heart that this trip wouldn't turn into "Family Vacation Nightmare Part II".

This time there were somewhere around 30 in attendance, but for some reason, that many people crammed into a houseboat worked much better than into an RV. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by how well everyone got along and how much fun it was to be together. I can honestly say I was bummed that I only got to stay for a day since I had prior commitments that same weekend. Granted, the scenery was stunning, the water was warm and inviting, the beach had soft red sand, and with two speedboats, water slides, and nightly entertainment, there was plenty to keep one from getting bored. However, the thing that made it the most memorable was definitely the people. My family's awesome, and knowing that we are capable of having a successful family vacation together makes me all the happier to call them my own. :)

Le Rendevous

There's something consistently odd about small town festivals. The Mountain Man Rendevous in Wyoming this weekend was no exception. It certainly drew an unusual crowd. In fact, I think this was the first time I've seen men walking around in public with loin cloths on and nothing underneath. Of course, these fine gentlemen are welcome to walk around in whatever they do or do not choose to wear..........


This one, however, is not.......

I think these were the original three amigos......

And this, of course, is a bear pushing a stroller.....

After enjoying the crazies, we spent the weekend relaxing at Rob's parent's ranch house.

This little turkey had it out for D'Ogee. He chased him away from his buddy the rooster, and must have threatened him with his waddling wattle, because by the end of the weekend, D'Ogee wouldn't go near him.
The best root beer ever.....
Hat making lady....
Saturday afternoon we cooled off by cliff jumping at the Flaming Gorge.
Well, some of us jumped. Others spent a long time staring at the water trying to jump. :0




Good times. :) Thanks Robert for sharing your very unusual but friendly hometown with us!

Cleanse day 4 and my encounter with an idiot.

I'm not feeling so great with my cleansing right now. Nausea has been my main symptom which makes me so irritable. I'll be a terrible pregnant woman. The nausea started yesterday. I managed to distract myself from it by getting a sweet massage and going to a funny movie. After the movie, though, I was ready to knock myself out with a hammer so I could just go to sleep and wake up feeling better the next day.

I did wake up feeling better at first...until I had an unfortunate encounter with a half-naked Lebanese guy that put me in a rage all morning. Between that and the nausea returning, I can't say I've felt very spiritual today. In fact, I haven't felt so hot-headed as I did today in a really really long time. It actually kind of felt good to have a legitimate reason to to want to rip someone's eyes out. If I wasn't such a professional, it would have felt even better to chew him out to his ugly face. Thank goodness for good friends who let me vent to them instead! Here's how the story goes:

I had made an appointment to show a condo to a friend of mine this morning. When I called the other agent yesterday, she told me the condo was vacant and where I could find the key to let myself in. So, Rob and I got the key and opened the door only to find someone's junk strung all over. Clearly, it wasn't vacant. Well, that's when the half-naked Lebanese guy walked around the corner. Unfortunately, when I say half-naked, I'm not talking about his upper half. Yep, he was exposed from the waist down. Who sleeps in a t-shirt without anything else on anyway?
Needless to say, it was a very awkward moment. I shut the door and said something like, "I'm sorry! I thought this place was vacant."
He came to the door a minute later (with shorts on) and asked why I was in his house. I explained as best as I could that his agent had said it was vacant and I was just trying to show the place to my client. He asked for my card, which I gave to him. I apologized, and we left. Had it ended there, I wouldn't have wanted to come back and shoot him. I mean, the poor guy...he did have a right to be upset.
What really got to me, though, was that he called me before we even got out of the building, started chewing me out, threatening to take me to court and calling me a stupid idiot. He was such an ignorant schmuck who clearly didn't understand that I was as innocent in this as he was, and it was evident right away that he wasn't about to listen to me explain that the person he should be chewing out was his landlord or his landlord's agent for telling me it was vacant. Well, I could feel my blood boiling by that time, so I just hung up on him.
Now, what really made me start cursing him under my breath was that he literally called me back no less than 25 times in the next hour! I sent his sorry butt straight to voice mail every time, but I was seconds from calling the cops on him for harassing me. He did leave a couple of messages to let me know that he called his landlord who knew nothing about this, and so he thinks that I did this on purpose because....that's where I deleted the message. I wasn't about to listen to some idiot tell me that I purposely came to his house at 10:00 in the morning so I could catch a glimpse of him walking around with his wanker hanging out. Oh, and that I brought a client with me because he wanted to get in on it, too... as if it were all a conspiracy because this was going to be really thrilling for us, and we have nothing better to do on a Saturday morning! Someone needs a good reality check if he thinks seeing him naked would be worth all of that trouble. Idiot! I'm so glad I didn't answer any of his calls. It would have been way too tempting to insult him. Moron.

Did I mention I'm a little irritable today? I think I might eat something tomorrow.

Cleansing

The last time I did a cleanse I was in Costa Rica, which is no wonder why I'm thinking so much about that peaceful place this week. I started another juice/water cleanse two days ago, and I'm surprised at how good I feel already...even in Utah. Costa Rica is a perfect place to cleanse. There's nothing to worry about...no work, no food, no social pressure. Everyone at the retreat is there for the same purpose, and I feel so supported and relaxed. I was nervous to try the same thing in my crazy world of work, friends, parties, etc. I've found, however, that I can cleanse peacefully here as well.

Wednesday was my first liquid only day. The first day or two always seem to be the hardest. That's why I don't do so well on fast Sunday. Symptoms include extreme weakness, nauseau, light-headedness, shakes, inability to focus and irritability. I went to bed early Wednesday night deciding to let myself sleep as long as I needed to the next day. Clearly, my body wanted rest.

Thursday I slept until almost one in the afternoon. I've never allowed myself to do that, even on vacation. There's always a reason to get up earlier. I'm learning, though, that cleansing the body is about more than just fasting. Our bodies repair themselves while we sleep and sometimes our busy lives require a lot more repairing out of our bodies than we allow.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Snowbird with Nicole and laid by the pool for several hours while she taught yoga. My body didn't want yoga. It wanted to rest. By the time Nic was done with her class, I was feeling awesome. Sometimes it feels so good to not have the energy to worry about anything I normally worry about, and to simply allow my body, mind and spirit the rest it deserves. It's as though my perspective is heightened and all of the distractions I'm weighed down by become insignificant. It's in that space that my spirit comes alive, and I feel extremely aware of my connection to Diety. I can actually feel my spirit tingling inside of my body. It feels like it's been buried under worries, fear, attachment to all of the earthly sensations including food, and now it is finally being uncovered and waking up again.

Fasting for one day never gives me this kind of clarity. It seems to emerge after day 2 or 3. Before I tried it, I thought people were crazy for fasting that long. Now, I understand the appeal. I've never fasted longer than 5 days, though. This time I will do 8. I know I won't always be on a spiritual high throughout it. Sometimes it's hard. I won't lie. But, I do know when I fast like this, my spirit is opening up to unusally divine opportunities to connect with God. It is well worth the challenge. It also makes me extremely intrigued to know what Christ must have experienced having fasted for 40 days. I think one could truly walk with God in that state and feel about as close to heaven as possible while living on earth. Wow..the perspective during that time would be phenomenal. Maybe one day that will be a challenge I will take on, but for now, let's see what the next five days will hold. :)

A Few Lessons Learned About Kayaking....

1. No matter how mellow the river seems, it is never a good idea to kayak without a skirt.
2. Wearing a life jacket is always a good idea, too.
3. Kayaks are not made to carry dogs.
4. If you do take a dog in a kayak, make sure he's tied to you, and it's not a bad idea to put him in a lifejacket as well.

The reason for the skirt is because even the smallest waves splash water into the boat. Once your kayak gets a couple of inches of water in it, it is surprisingly harder to keep steady. If you were to try to get out of the river in a place that is running fast without any still water near the edges, and you had a paddle and a nervous dog in one hand and were grasping on to a slick rock with the other while the current was pushing the back of your kayak perpendicular to the flow of the river, you would very easily get off balance if you had water in your boat, and you just might flip over.

If that were to happen, I would suggest first going for the dog. Toss him gently onto the river bank and then swim like mad for your kayak. If you knew you were not going to make it, jump on to the bank and run like the wind to catch up to your kayak. It doesn't matter if you have to run through thorny weeds. Kayaks are expensive, and if it belongs to a friend, you will feel especially bad if you lose it. If you dive back into the river and still can't catch it, count your blessings if someone else goes after it in their kayak. Don't forget about your dog. Go back and find him, more than likely shivering and hiding in the weeds. Snuggle him, find your friends and pray that you get everything back safely. When you do get everything and everyone back safely, breath a sigh of relief, share your stories, and laugh.


Yes, I think that is what I would do.

This is by far the safest way to kayak...just in case you didn't catch all of those important lessons.

Osmonds and Mo Tab

If you ever go to an event at the Conference Center, remember that it is always Sunday dress...or at least casual business attire, even if the event is a pop concert. Honestly, wouldn't you think that if you were going to see the Osmonds in concert, you would expect to see other people in jeans? Granted, they were performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but still....it's a concert. I guess I looked like a heathen walking around the Conference Center in jeans because the sweet old lady sitting next to me started doing missionary work. She told me about the new temple in Twin Falls, Idaho, and how I could go in during the open house and see what the inside of a temple looks like. Strange. It's not like I was wearing holy jeans and smelled like beer or anything. Funny old lady. I just let it slide. At least she can feel like she reached out to some non-members that day.

So, the Osmonds and the Mo Tab, together at last. I never would have thought to get tickets for that, but a good friend of mine did, and she invited me to go. I agreed, mostly to spend time with her, but I have to admit, I found it quite enjoyable and nostalgic. Do you remember the Donnie and Marie Show? It was a part of my childhood. I loved it. I don't remember anything about the show other than I couldn't wait to drool over Donnie. He was so dreamy. :) He's considerably older now and not really my type, but my friend still had stars in her eyes.

All of the brothers and Marie were there singing their old classics and dancing with the same moves as they did in the 70's. Of course it was cheesy, but I felt myself being involuntarily drawn in as the night wore on. They're natural performers, what can I say? They even got the Mo Tab to bust out of their formal, conservative shell just a bit with some clapping and a little hip shaking....just a little, though. That made the whole evening worth it. I doubt I'll ever see the Mo Tab snapping and swaying or jamming to pop music again!

I've been on YouTube tonight looking up old videos of the Donnie and Marie Show. You should try it. It's kind of addictive. Of course, I wouldn't tell anyone that. Shhh.......