This Moment

This moment is precious.
This moment is yours.
This moment has blessings.
This moment has cures.

This moment is sacred.
This moment is stillness.
This moment is silence.
This moment is forgiveness.

Taken for granted, this moment...
never gives us enough of man-made time.
However, this moment in your journey,
when noticed... is most perfect and kind.

So breathe... and notice
and see the wonder.
This moment can fill time and space
in your heart forever.

by Rain Fordyce

30 days Raw!

Many of you know since I did the Peace Treaty on food, I started my raw food journey. During that time, I was reliant on my local deli and co-op that served a few raw food choices. I never learned to prepare anything fancy like pies, nut burgers or even almond milk. I was about 80-90% raw for about 3 months, feeling good, looking good, losing weight... until the stress hit: my husband decided to move to LA for a job.

Oh yeah, you guessed it! That was the end of that!

I was craving everything from cake to pizza and feeling the grounding, heavy, intoxicating joy from every bite. My life felt out of place and my food choices were a symptom of my internal chaos. I knew that the food I was eating was not making me feel good and yet, I didn't stop. For the first time in a very long time, I felt as though I was in the grasp of an addiction.

Then my husband returned to the northwest and we were not moving to LA after all. Within four days, my taste for cooked food weakened. I was ready to make a major change! I bought the book, 12 steps to Raw Food: How to end your dependancy on cooked food by Victoria Boutenko, which I highly recommend. I loved her thoughts, research and suggestions and I followed every one. I gave myself a corner of the kitchen for my raw food, my Vita-mix and food processor and two shelves in the refrigerator labeled "raw shelf."

I read every word with excitement and anticipation and within 3 days, I was inspired to make the choice to go 100% raw for 30 days.

As she honestly wrote in her book, the first week is most definitely the hardest, and oh baby...it was. I wanted my soothing pizza, I wanted to taste the pasta my kids loved so much. Yet, I kept going back to the book and got inspiration to stay on the path. Green smoothies were my mainstay the first week and I purchased the I Am Grateful: Cafe Gratitude recipe book (which I also highly recommend) and began collecting the ingredients I would need to begin learning raw food preparation. Once the week was coming to a close, began feeling the energy, and joy of the raw food and made my first nut burger recipe. And to my great surprise, it was easy and delicious!

The second week I began detox, but it wasn't as bad as the first time and I began an herbal cleanse immediately... which helped my symptoms soften in only two days. I found myself so intrigued by learning the ways of raw food, I decided to make something new every morning. I chose between something savory, sweet, green or dehydrated and found the joy of having a plethora of delicious and satifying food at my disposal... in fact, I had more than I could handle. So I began sharing my treats with whoever would try them (and some actually loved my creations!)

The third week I was getting ready for my trip to San Diego (where I am this fine morning) and I began prepping the food I would need for the 3 week journey. I packed up my Vita-mix, made what seemed like a million flax crackers, and put together a strategy to always have a fresh salad and nut burger daily. Note: Raw nut burger has become an important part of my staying raw and feeling satisfied. Although, I quit using the hard to digest soaked almonds and now use the easy-feeling sprouted sunflower seeds instead.

My fourth week was strange as being around others who love french fries, Mexican food and milkshakes (my kids) I honestly started dreaming about taking a bite... and in these dreams those bites were heavenly... I woke up knowing the truth, but geez! It really wasn't easy... However, I stayed true and I found success in my goal. I feel and look great and my energy is so high... actually, so am I!

Yahoo! 30 days, 100% raw!

Now is day 33 and I am so grateful to be on the first week of my next 30 day quest. If you have a yummy raw recipe or a joyful suggestion, please send it to rain@authentictimes.com

I would love to hear from you!

The Universe's Amazing Gift

So an update is long overdue...

It all happened when I made the decision to trust myself and ask the universe for what I truly wanted inside my heart and say it out loud for all the world to hear... including me.

I was at the cliffs (in the picture) a few blocks from our home. I knew it was time. My husband was in LA and our family was divided. Our life was not joyful 2 1/2 months after he moved down there. It was full of sadness, chaos and confusion. Was it my fault? Afterall, I made the vision board that had pictures of the beach and the sun. I was the one who carefully glued the picture of our family on top of a crowd of joyous people.

It was two weeks after creating my vision board that the universe responded, providing an amazing position for my husband in LA, resulting in our move. Last time I wrote we decided to live in Washington, while he commuted the long 4 hour car/airplane/taxi/ferry commute, each way, every 2 weeks, until we could figure it all out. Did I manifest this division?

My boys were tired of it. My husband was tired of it. I was tired of it, too. I was tired of allowing this path... so I came to the cliffs and with arms and heart open wide and with absolute resolute I shouted, "I want to stay here!"

It wasn't long after that statement that everything started to shift. A kindred spirit and neighbor came over and we agreed to destroy the vision board I had created together in a heartfelt grateful burning ceremony. When I took the photo of our family off the board before the burning, underneath were these words:

Turning It Around

We both began to cry. We knew this was the end of this part of my journey. But when... and how? The response came swifter than I could imagine!

Within a week, my husband called and told me the job they promised him was not going to happen as they had promised and he was done working for them. He said he was leaving. He was home 3 days later.

We laughed, we cried and we celebrated! Yet, our move was already in progress. We had already rented a very small house that was an hour closer to the airport and we had rented out the house we were currently living in. We sat with our choices. There was nothing else in our small town big enough for our family of four available to rent. We decided to leave our dear town and move into the house an hour away that we had put our deposit on. Our plans were in motion and we didn't know how to stop it. So we floated down it's stream. We never expected what would happen next.

3 days from the day when my husband returned, we received a call from our landlord... She told us the man who was going to rent our home had a personal emergency, and though he was okay, he decided to not rent our home afterall! She asked if we wanted to stay. So much had shifted. It seems strange now, but so much had happened so quickly. I needed time to think. Time to process. Time to breathe...

After a day of processing everything that had happened, we both decided that we had gotten the gift that I had asked for and we were all so grateful to receive it!

We are staying put! No move, no shift away from what we are growing here in this small and beautiful town and, best of all, an amazing gift to find ourselves back on a loving course, living together...

And it was all given to us from the abundant and amazing universe.