Organic Living: Update

Hello, friends! 

I truly hope all is well with you. I hope you are enjoying your Summer with good health, love,  quality family time, shopping at your local Farmer's market, and many trips to the swimming pool. 

I wanted to give you an update on our new organic lifestyle. As of today, we have been on this adventure for three whole weeks. My original plan was to take this journey two weeks at a time..meaning, I wanted to cut wheat, then sugar, then caffeine, and so on. Well, when we arrived at our two week mark, we just were not ready to add on another huge change. So instead of being on a regimen, we are taking it as it comes. I really want this to stick, and I want to it be as easy as possible. 

So, how has it been so far? Well, honestly, it has been so great! After our first week being so easy and profitable, I was afraid it would only go down hill from there. But it really hasn't. And let me tell you, that has only been possible with God's help. I pray for strength and will power everyday. He has been right by me, helping me learn and teaching me new things everyday. I have been reading the Hallelujah Acres book. {here} I get so overwhelmed with the realization of all I desperately need to change. I have no other choice than to get on my knees and ask God for help. I ask Him to give my mind the ability to retain all I am learning. I ask Him to show me what I need to know need what I need to do in oder to be healthy and live my life to it's fullest. There is so much I want to do, and there is so much I feel God showing me to do. I want to have the energy and ability to keep up with Him. {more on that later} 

After 3 weeks wheat free: 

Cury: 
+11 lbs. down
+energetic
+motivated
+happier
+less irritable 
+better sleeping habits

Kendra: 
+more energy
+motivated
+less irritable
+MUCH better sleeping habits
+no more joint pain
+mild lingering cold-like symptoms {common in a drastic change in diet}
+better abilities to hold focus


Both of us: 
+we have much more respect for people with a gluten intolerance
+much larger grocery bill 
+new perspective on food and eating
+we are full of gratitude for the many resources out there...
           >Lacy and Meg
           >eat. live. make
           >rabbit food for my bunny teeth
                                         ...just to name a few 



I would love to hear of any resources you use.

 Happy Monday :) 

Currently....

Hello everyone! 

This blogging journey has been so much fun for me. I haven't been quite sure what direction I would like to go with it. But after a lot of thought and a lot of changes in my life, I think I finally know! yay! I don't want to give away any surprises, so just trust me. It's going to be good. There will be DIYs, challenges, facts on organic living, book recommendations, must see places, talks about God, and much, much more. 

Which brings me to this... my husband, Cury, and I started a new journey in our lives- a new way of living. We are on the road to a Vegan lifestyle, and honestly, I couldn't be more excited. Cury on the other hand... not quite as much excitement. But He's determined to try, and I am so proud of him for that. 

I did NOT want to over-whelm ourselves with don't eat this or throw all of these away. I've decided to take it step by step. 

Challenge One: NO WHEAT 
Challenge Two: NO SUGAR
Challenge Three: NO CAFINE 
Challenge Four: NO DAIRY
Challenge Five: NO MEAT

We are currently in the NO WHEAT phase. Each phase will last {aprox. 3 weeks} Why three weeks? I really want to see the results of cutting out the wheat before adding on sugar. Cury wants to lose weight throughout this journey, and I don't want to not know what is helping most. I thought no wheat was going to be the easiest one. Let me tell you, it is a challenge for sure! Wheat is in just about everything... bread {obviously} pizza, pasta, cereal, pancakes, cake, scones, cookies {or any pastry} pretzels, crackers, granola bars, many dressings, muffins, bagels, any and all fast-food, the list goes on and on. Prior to starting this whole thing. I read the book, Wheat Belly,{link to purchase here} I highly recommend this read. I can't believe how much I learned. I read it because I wanted to be knowledgable of what we were about to get into. I really don't want to focus on what we are giving up. I want to focus on what we are gaining from all of this. 

So after the Wheat phase, we will add on the NO SUGAR phase and so on. At the end of this, we will be Vegans! I told my husband that I would like for him to stick with it strictly for the 3 weeks after NO MEAT, then he can decide what he will do from there. If he does decide to eat meat and a few of the other things... it will be in moderation. We will never {prayerfully} go back to how we ate before this. I am just so excited that I get to share this with you. If you have any tips, recipes, or anything else, please let me know! I could use the help :) 

After one week of NO WHEAT...

Cury:
less groggy 
less stress
headache on Sunday 
migraine on Monday *maybe detox related*
more energy

Kendra:
less groggy
more energy
no stomach aches
not so tired
not so moody
sore throat started around 3pm on Monday :/ 


Please stay tuned.. I have so much to share with you, friend.

Current Favorites...

I have a few things I am currently obsessed with. Here they are...

The Lumineers I have mentioned this group before. I love every song in the album. 

Wondermade such a unique, tasty treat.

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Flour

Local Farmer's market... One of the best parts of Summer in my opinion. 

peonies!! My absolute Favorite flower :) If you have any tips on how to grow them, I'd love to hear it. I'm not having much luck with gardening. 

The New Girl: starring Zooey Deschanel. My current favorite Television Show. They just had their season finale, but they can be sure that we will be watching reruns all Summer. Great Show! 

Rifle Paper Co. Anna Bond has an incredible talent! I LOVE everything she creates. Check out her work HERE 

WHEAT BELLY is what I am currently reading. What an eye-opener! I highly recommend.

Fox & Brie such a great Etsy shop. I want to buy soon one of these ties or bow ties for Cury. 

I LOVE anthropology! I hope I can soon design some items for Etsy with some "anthropology-inspred pizazz" :) {stay tuned}

P.S. I think Ann Arbor is getting an Anthro! Can't wait!  

My next favorite read. I am waiting for it to come in the mail. I already know I am going to LOVE it. My Mom has been reading it and telling me all about it. I'll let you know what I think after I read it.  

What are some of your current Favorites? I would love to know :) 

P.S. SOme exciting new things are coming up this Summer. I don't want to give away too much, but I'll drop a hint... It has to do with new things concerning Etsy YAY!!

Have the best day! 

-k 

Chicago in Pictures

If you know us at all, then you know that Chicago has a sweet spot in our hearts. Cury and I attending college in Chicago and it's where he proposed to me. It's our little home away from home. Cury and I were just there to celebrate our first year anniversary. Here are some photos from the trip...

Millenium Park "The Bean"

The Art Institute of Chicago

 

 Cury doesn't appreciate art quite as much as I do..he was a trooper though :) 

Me getting after him... scary, right?

My very first time at Argo tea! I LOVED every drink I ordered. I HIGHLY recommend! 

This me attempting to pull off the "indie look" I hardly made it out the door before I had to put my hat back on. The pictures made Chicago look warm, but we certainly were NOT! 

Me and my sweet :) 

1 of the 10,000 Starbucks we went to...

 see...

**NOt pictured: Shopping- Anthropology, {for the first not last time} forever21, HnM, Zara..you know, all the good places :) 

Lunch- four times at the Corner Bakery. If you've never been there, go. Dinner- at the Grand Lux Cafe. You cannot go wrong with one thing on their menu.{prices are reasonable as well} 

Walking- about 20 miles in three days. Two train rides. 

lots of kisses, reminiscing, and laughter. 

This is the Wildfire restaurant. Cury and I hD to walk ten blocks to get there, but it was worth every windy step. This is a fancy steak house, and our new favorite restaurant. We were so tired from our long day of walking that we ordered to-go, hopped in a taxi, and ate our fancy steak with plasticware. It all was perfect. It was just what we needed after all the busy city life. 

Then we went out for a late night tea run :) 

   

Millenium Park one last time... 

The sun came out just in time to say good-bye to us. 

Happy anniversary, Love

One year together..

So, I can hardly even believe it myself, but just this past Saturday, Cury and I celebrated one year together as husband and wife. Wow! It truly does seem like just yesterday that we were full of nerves about to change our lives forever. 
For those of you whom I have never met, but read this blog, or if we have met since I've been married, here are some photos from our wedding day... 

 

Dad and I had to sneak in a kiss before the ceremony :) 

  Love his face :) 

 I was able to keep my emotions together unless I was anywhere near my dad and mom. 

Bridesmaids: Beka and Leah-friends of mine since high school,  Lexi, sister/maid of Honor

US-surrounded by our supportive family and friends. 

That day is one of my sweetest memories. I don't know about you, but I am one of those people who get sentimental about everything. Even this past April, I was able to remember the exact dates of our Senior trip to Florida (FOUR years ago) I would randomly look over to Cury and say, "This was the day we went to magic Kingdom." He always responds with a, "really, Kendra?" So, if you can imagine how I was on our anniversary day. I had to tell Cury what I was doing at this hour one year ago every hour of the day. Poor guy! We did have fun reminiscing on some very happy memories. 

What did we do for our anniversary? We set up a Be You. booth at a Flea Market. How romantic, right? Well, we really did have a great time.  I will never stop being grateful that Cury and I can make the most out of any situation. Here are some photos...

 Here's our little booth we set up (at 8am) 

forced smiles at 8am

Setting up...

We met this sweet couple at the booth next to ours. They were Ayn and Tom. I hope to see them at the next Flea Market. 

Cury and I packed up our things at 4pm then headed to A2 {Ann Arbor} for Dinner. I don't know if it was smelling fair food all day or what, but we were both craving a burger. So, Five Guys it was :) You can never go wrong with Five Guys. 

Then we headed home..exhausted! Little did I know, there was a huge surprise waiting for me when I got there. Take a look...

As you can probably tell, I was pretty excited. I went from happy, to complete shock, to crying, to giggling like a little girl! I still can't believe it. All I could say was CURY!! HOW?! WHY?! all he said {when I finally calmed down} was, "Ken, I don't want anything to hold you back from the dreams you have. There is so much you want to do, and I want to show you that I believe with all my heart that you can achieve every single dream you have." How lucky am I? 

Cury, you will never know how much this gift and your word have meant to me. Because I will never be able to express those feelings properly. I am always talking about all the billion and one things I'd like to do or learn... half of the time I feel crazy, or I think you must think I am crazy. I don't think I have ever felt so much love and support in my life. Thank you for believing in me. i love you. happy, happy anniversary, my love. 

Our beautiful {much needed} new rug from my wonderful parents and sister. 

You guys are the best!! 

{PLEASE excuse our blurry photos, Cury was pretty excited and didn't keep a steady hand}

Cury and I will be heading to our beloved Chicago Wednesday night to finish celebrating our one year. I won't blog until we get back {Monday} So please follow our trip on Instagram... I am, @kengle123

Have a lovely week!