What I have and haven't been doing this summer

What I haven't been doing? Blogging. It's not due to a lack of material, just inspiration. Tomorrow I start my second semester of grad school and since I feel like I'm more busy now than I have been in my entire life, I have a feeling blogging is going to continue to drop lower on the list of priorities. That said, I would like to share a few highlights from the last month.

My time for the last two weeks has been completely consumed by "the cleanse" This is a 28 day detox diet that I have been doing with my roommates and a few other friends. And I must say, as overly dramatic as it may sound, it has changed my life. It has completely changed the way that I think about food and nutrition. I read this article by Michael Pollan a year and a half ago. I was so intrigued that I printed it out at work and saved it in my desk. I even purchased his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and was intrigued by his theories of natural eating. However, I never had the will power and the motivation to really change my diet. This changed when my roommate Leanna convinced our roommates plus a few other friends to participate. Your diet in the cleanse is basically a vegan diet, it also restricts any refined sugar or grain, no bread, even whole wheat, pasta etc. If any of you really want the sales pitch, call me and I'll give it to you. But let me just give you the highlights and changes I've experienced in the first two weeks of the cleanse.

• Waking up is so much easier. I sleep better and can't sleep in past 7:30, even on the weekends
• I have increased energy during the day, my workouts have been much better and if I feel a little bit tired, I just take a five minute nap and I'm fine.
• I don't crave sugar. One day I was having some intense cinnamon roll cravings, but other than that I have felt great and I never feel hungry.
  
• It's been so fun to discover and cook so many new foods like wheat berries, oat groats, tamari, tempeh, kuzu, wakame and many many more.
• I love eating all my meals with friends, it's so much more enjoyable
• I went off all products I was using for my skin before the cleanse to see the difference it would make, and it has cleared considerably
• I didn't weigh myself before, but I know my clothes are looser and I would guess I have lost five pounds so far

The big downside is the amount of time it takes to cook and clean, but overall the benefits have definitely outweighed the costs. And if you aren't sold, talk to me more and we can discuss.

My other major project these last two weeks have be refinishing a table. I moved two weeks ago and we've been working on putting our house together and I was inspired by my brother, and I don't have any before pictures, but this table was just a basic brown wood table before. And here's the after shot:
If any of you are curious to know how I refinished this. I sanded the entire table first, then I painted on three coats of black paint, then I sanded down some of the edges to give it that antique look. Then I took some green paint and used a q-tip to put a little on the edges that now showed through because of the sanding, then immediately after I applied the green paint I wiped the excess off with a towel. After everything dried I put on two coats of polyacrylic. This may sound easy, but I had a lot of mishaps, the major mishap was when I knocked an entire bucket of green paint on the porch, I think I found my next refinishing project. But with a free hour or two here and there it took me about a week and a half.

I mentioned above that I moved, I hate moving and this is my fourth move in two years, but I had help from a group of my favorite guys. I was well taken care of. They not only helped me move, but Dan and Joe also helped out before and after to pick up random furniture that was purchased or free off craigslist. I love my new house, but it's always hard to move, I honestly love all the girls in both the houses on Joyce and Uhle, and continue to feel like I have 11 roommates (13 if I count the newlyweds)
Speaking of newlyweds, that's been another major part of my summer fun. Celebrating with Sarah and Hollie in Utah and Dallas on their beautiful wedding days. Their weddings were so different, yet so appropriate for both of them. I am so happy for them and for the amazing men that they chose to marry. I am truly blessed to have them as my friends and look forward to continuing to stay close despite this major life change.
That's about a wrap. Although you may not think the pictures can get much crazier than the one above. How about I try to top it by a picture of my slip and sliding into the ocean. Gracias Matt Fischer.