Great composting article

One of the best composting articles I have come across: 

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1323

More to come :) 

Hair... Again

I haven't washed my hair with shampoo in a week. 

And yet, several different people have commented on how good it is looking ( without knowing I haven't washed it in a week). I even got a basic trim on Thursday and the hair utter remarked at how good it looked. 

It does feel more full, and in a way, a little more heavy, because of the extra natural oil in it... But what if I got used to that? 

I think, finally, I may be making progress in the pursuit to not use shampoo and conditioner. This is my third or fourth attempt at weaning my way off hair products. This time I didn't set out to start an attempt again, it was just more of a natural coincidence. 

I'm hoping that finally my scalp will find a natural balance :) 

I've done more combing with both a regular comb and the thicker horse hair comb I have. I think this goes a long way at spreading out and distributing your scalp's natural oils.  

2013!!!! A year of amazing blessings

2013 has been full of so many blessings.  When I look back at what's happened, I'm blown away.  Truly the work of God's grace and love.


Toasts to sunny days and many blessings each and every day - every day that is like a new start to shine bright and love with all your heart.

CELEBRATION VIDEO!!!!!

love

hugs

and

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

Restaurant Spotlight: Freshii

Training in downtown Chicago for 2 weeks during late March was absolutely amazing.  Because we were working and staying right downtown, we were able to walk almost everywhere.  It really felt like we got the chance to experience the downtown lifestyle for a short period of time :)

And because we were traveling, we ate out for every meal.  Downtown Chicago has some amazing restaurants (... thank goodness for per diem pay!).  While these restaurants were amazing, finding Freshii was a very welcome treat.

Light, fresh, flavorful, healthy, green (and many other colors :), Freshii quickly became one of my favorite breakfast/lunch places.

Not only was the food healthy and tasty, the way they made it was also impressive. Proudly advertised in their store is information about how Freshii chooses a cooking alternative to the big, energy gobbling stoves and ovens that most restaurants use.  It is definitely worth it to check out their locations and see if there is one near you!!

all around eco-friendly aspects of their restaurant

Lots of fresh, healthy, grab & go options

Back from the Hiatus!

Hello Virgin Eyes!!!

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus! Lots of things have happened to this one little life the past couple of months!  After graduating and going to Australia, I accepted a job offer with Accenture Consulting in Houston, TX.  I feel very blessed for this opportunity and, being a couple of months into it now, I'm loving it!

Major highlights:

Moving to Houston!

Finding and buying a townhouse!

Starting at Accenture!

Going to Chicago and St. Charles, IL for FOUR weeks of training!  

Starting a new project/client at Accenture once I got back from training!

And, in the middle of all that, I got baptized :)  For full disclosure to Virgin Eyes readers, I also created a new blog, Grace.  I write and share stories about my relationship with God, hope, struggles, fears, encouragement, praise - what he's doing in my life and the amazing things I'm learning from Him.   And, if you're in Austin, please please check out The Well, you'll be happy you tried it out :)

As you can tell, lots of exciting things! :D  I'm working on a couple of really cool things right now for the blog, so stay posted!

No more many-months-long absences allowed! I promise! :)  

Over 'n Out .... from our new Home of Houston, TX! 

<3 

Working and Evening Bike Adventure

When in Sydney, I noticed the people were all pretty dressed up for work compared to American standards.  Granted, I was mostly in the 'CBD', central business district - pretty much what we call downtown.

When in Melbourne, the morning after going to the Aussi Open and before heading back to Sydney, I chilled in a coffee shop near the Southern Cross train station, one of the big main stations in Melbourne.

And while I was there around 8:30 till 10 ish, I was blown away by the amount of peeps all dressed up for work.  This may reveal that I seriously need to get out into the real world back in the US, but seriously.  Every time the traffic light changed, swarms of suits, high heels, mostly black polyester, silk, and other dress-up material would cross the street coming from the direction of the train station.  It amazed me -  all the dressed-up-ness and that so many people were coming from the train station.  Like an army of work people that kept coming in droves.  All walking to work.

~

Jump forward to that afternoon, back in Sydney.  With Marilyn at work till 9pm, and Vladimir out running errands, I had some free time on my hands.  Vladimir encouraged me to go for a bike ride.  I was a little hesitant at first .... left side of the road, bike I'm not used to, city I'm not used to .... I kinda started piling up the excuses in my head.  But, with nothing else to do, I headed out.  And boy, am I glad I did.  I had planned out a route that, on the Sydney cycling map, was a green dashed line all the way along the Harbor (meaning it was a separate bike lane along low to medium traffic roads).

I had no idea what a treat I was in for.  First, it was a wonderful pedestrian and cycle trail, with trail map signage every so often.  I got to the harbor and was treated to an awesome view of the Anzac bridge.  The view would pretty much follow me all the way to the part where I actually crossed the bridge.  Once I got closer to the bridge, there were tons of bikers and runners.  Bike commuters on their way home from work.  And, something Marilyn had told me about but I had yet to experience: people running to and from work, all sporting those backpacks with the waist and chest straps.... running.  Mostly in dri-fit shorts and shirts, with backpacks.  Running, home from work.  Impressive.  And, back to those bikers.  Dang!!  They be flying'!  Going over the bridge, there was a separated lane for bikers/pedestrians from the main lanes of traffic.  Since most people were coming from the city, traffic in the one direction was pretty heavy.  The bikers, passing walkers and runners, would fly down the other lane (the one I was conveniently in).  It felt like we were playing chicken, seeing who would ditch first.  Of course, they always slid over to their lane again, sliding right in front of a runner just in time :)

Resource Efficiency in Australia

I started to get the feeling energy and resource efficiency is a way of life Down Under.  While I didn't meet enough Australians to be able to make general claims about their way of life, there were specific examples that exposed me to energy efficiency, waste reduction efforts and recycling availability.  The couple we sat next to at the Botanical Gardens for the NYE fireworks mentioned family friends that just live simply and have only the appliances they need.  The plugs on the walls oftentimes had little switches where you could turn off the power supply while things were still plugged in.  The following pictures and video are some things I came across while traveling throughout the country that pointed towards good stewardship of natural resources.

Energy Star Ratings on appliances

Small washing machine and drying rack

A page from a pamphlet explaining Sydney's Zero Waste goals. Great Resource: http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/zerowaste/

2 buttons to choose from!  1 button is a full flush, the other is a half flush  

100% Degradable Bag in Cairns 

Garbage and Recycling Station at Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney

100% Compostable napkin and tray from Pie Face, a popular meat pie cafe in Australia (taken at Sydney Airport)

Sydney Airport food court

Garbage and Recycling at Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne

Calorie counts were published at all fast food restaurants.  This also gives you an idea for how expensive things were. At least to me, Australia was more expensive than the US, and other travelers I talked to had the same impression.  

Our guide in the Daintree Rainforest talking about resource and energy efficiency up in the Rainforest!  We were riding in the van back from the night walk through the forest, and once he started talking about the rainwater collection, ecotourism, and electricity, I started filming :D