The Life and Times of Ash

I'm finally beginning to feel at home here. Its about time, considering I've been here for 9 months. I have a job that I adore, working with people whom I adore. Carl and I are getting along swimmingly and are working very hard to continue doing so. I have a wonderful tea shop to hang out in as well as a fantastic bar to frequent. I'm currently at Bully Blends (the tea shop) enjoying a cuppa Hermes Orange Green tea with soymilk and a tasty whole wheat, bran, and raisin muffin. Vino 100 and the Tinderbox expanded their bar, so I now have a quite thinking bar I can spend time in. Its heavy with the aromas of intoxicating cigar and pipe smoke and they get wines and beers that other bars can't. The only issue is that its pricey because they're paying through the nose to get said wines and beers. I'll support them though, because Rapid City needs these sorts of places....I need these sorts of places.

I really want to begin work on my cookbook. Time is such an issue though. If I have free time, like right now, I feel guilty for not cleaning the house. I'm otherwise busy with work or helping take care of Leo. I find it impossible to concentrate on anything when Leo is around. He's a sweetheart, but a three year old doesn't understand when people are too busy to pay attention to them. If I could afford to hire a housekeeper, then I'd free up a huge amount of time. Unfortunately I'd have to pay them in chapters of my book!

I'll be visiting Illinois in a little less than a month. I fly in the night of Sept 15th. I plan to spend several days visiting with my family. That weekend is the big Chloe and Jack birthday party. Leslie and John just purchased a new house in Naperville, its a lovely Cape Cod style home. I'm excited to see it. I'm borrowing Michelle's car in order to visit CU for a few days. I have grand plans for evenings spent eating and drinking at all the places that I've missed since moving. I'll be flying back to RC on the 23rd. It should be a wonderful trip!

Day 1 of Juicing

This mornings juicing experience was great! My recipe:

1 carrot

1 stalk of celery

1 apple

1 orange

1 pluot

Juice it all together and gulp it down! Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the pulp....

Fruits, Veggies, and Plane tickets

My mom and I got my plane tickets this morning for my trip home next month. I'm so excited! I'm going to spend four days with my family and three days in CU visiting friends. Michelle has been kind enough to offer me the use of her car when I go to CU. That will make the trip so much easier.

I'm trying to eat healthier again. My diet hasn't been the best since I moved here. Too many sweets and fried foods. I'm doing a juice fast this weekend, in hopes of shocking my body back into health. I'll post the juice recipes I'm using as I make them and give feedback on what tastes great and what needs help. I also subscribed to VegNews today. I'm hoping it will inspire me.