Day 2

Headache and nausea. Bad day. Shaking off the diet pepsi addiction isn't easy. Had egg white scrambled eggs for breakfast. Salad for lunch and broccoli and chicken for dinner. Took a nap to try to ease the pain but it didn't help much. I hope tomorrow is better.....especially since it's payroll processing day.

Day 1

Oh my stars! It's been a year since my last post. Where has the time gone?

I thought I would use this space to journal my 5-week cleanse. Monday the 19th I agreed to try it. Tuesday and Wednesday I ate everything in sight. This includes 6 doughnuts on Wednesday. Six! And I didn't even get sick. Jee, you'd think my brain has it out for me, huh? Thursday I got under control and Friday I didn 't eat chocolate or sugar all day until I ate a small bowl of ice cream after dinner....and got sick. I had such a bad tummy ache.

This morning I got up and dressed and went to the Sunflower Market. I spent $130 on organic meats, eggs and produce. I ate the chocolate shake before I left and about 60 minutes later I was running for the bathroom. This shake is part of the plan so don't think I stopped at Wendy's or Maggie Moos.

When I got home I grilled the chicken on my George Foreman grill...that I love so much! I fixed a salad with a cup of baby spinach, a cup of arugula, one avocado, one tomato, one grated carrot and 1TBLS of Annie's garlic vinagarette. Mmm, what a great meal. For my afternoon snack I had another chocolate shake. This one I put in some ice and whipped it with my Braun. Mmmmm For dinner I ate about an ounce of chicken, 2 carrots and a tomato.

The next 6 days I can eat most veggies and organic chicken and fish and eggs. No sugar, no fruit, no grains, no dairy, no soda (no alcohol either but that's not a problem). Starting on the 23rd day I can eat one fruit, then add one each day. After the 5-week cleanse I can slowly add in other foods, but sparingly. I think this diet is close to the Word of Wisdom. ....lots of veggies and whole foods. If I cheat I have to start over. The purpose of this cleanse is to kill the yeast (Candida) in my body. Yeast feeds on sugars, that's why I can't eat any. Pray for me that I can do this cleanse. Days 8-12 I think will be the hardest. But I'll get into that later.

Day one almost over. Do you know how sweet carrots taste?

Good Things

~ Tax season is over
~ I got a refund
~ I'm gainfully employed, healthy, happy, and not upside down in a mortgage
~ New calling teaching Sunbeams
~ Luke scored his first soccer gooooaaaal
~ Kiley & Adam are preggars
~ Tami and Bryan are preggars
~ Bear's tummy is doing better
~ I have the three most adorable kitties
~ We're 100 days closer to having a new US President
~ No one I know has the swine flu, whine flu, or bird flu
~ Had a great vacation at Joanna's in TN
~ 16 sleeps away from my Alaska cruise
~ I get to see Tami J and Julie in 16 sleeps
~ I love getting to know my cousin Lynda & her family
~ My neighbors haven't harrassed me for a while
~ I'm getting together with some CA friends on Friday
~ I'm getting better at target shooting & I joined the NRA
~ I still have the most wonderful family & friends ever
~ Last and certainly the best is that I see the Lords hand in my life. I know my mother watches over me. Even when I inadvertently leave my door open all night long.

Bad Movies

I have watch several really bad movies recently. The trailers make them look like cute movies for children or really funny. In the beginning of the movie I think it will get better, but by the end I am embarrassed that I spent precious time watching the movies and disgusted with the propaganda Hollyweird pushes on the viewer. Adam Sandler has hit a new low....and I don't care what "The People" voted for last night.

I'm not even going to list the movies because I don't want anyone to say"oh, I need to watch this move to see whether or not I agree with Becky." So all I will say this 'be vewy caweful and choose wisely!'

Happy New Year!

I don't have any pictures to post form the holiday celebrations nor do I have any crazy holiday stories to tell. This year my Christmas and new year celebrations were very quiet.

I know BORING....that pretty well describes me. I got chewed out at work again so I am trying to keep my nose to the grindstone and stay out of trouble....yea, like that will ever happen! I sometimes think trouble finds me no matter where I hide. I've been thinking I should have some resolutions. What do you think of these?

-Have no opinions
-If an opinion slips through never ever share it with any one
-Ignore the fact that we will have a socialist president in a few days (ask not what you can do for your country, ask what more can your country give to you)
-Forget the American Constitution and what America used to be
-Ignore the fact that the UofU slaughtered BYU this year....and then went on to win the Sugar Bowl

All kidding aside, I am deeply grateful I am employed, have a roof over my head, a car that runs, and a strong testimony that Jesus is The Christ. I have the best girl friends a gal could ever hope for and blessed that some of those friends are also my sisters. I am so thankful I was born in America, the greatest country the world has ever known and that I was born to two wonderful parents who love and respect each other and who raised me in the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Boy, I started out thinking this was going to be a silly post and then it got serious. Thank you to all my dear friends and family. I love you as deep as the ocean and to the sun and back.

Wishing everyone a very joyous and fine 2009!

Hugs, Bex

Meals on Wheels 2008

My meals on wheels group in 2008. We've been doing the same route since July 1999. Back row is me, Kathie Evans, Marilyn Allred, Brandi Vreins, Ruth Niemeyer. Front row is Teresa Eubank, Anne Marie Evans, Julie Sorensen (a little in back), Coree Westmoreland and Wendy Larsen.

Believe and Remember

The following comes from A Child Is Born by W. Jeffrey Marsh, pgs. 14-23:

A few years ago a Church News editorial described three levels of Christmas. The first was called the 'Santa Claus level.' It is the level of Christmas trees, food, fun, decorations, colorful packages, shopping and socials in warm open houses, excited children, and exhausted but loving parents; the level at which we eat too much, spend too much, and do too much - and enjoy every minute of it. But soon the tree dries out and the needles fall. The toys break, the dieting begins, and we notice the lonely and hungry are still with us.

A higher and more fulfilling level of Christmas could be called the 'Silent Night level.' It is the enjoyment of all beautiful Christmas carols, the magnificent Nativity, the shepherds in the hills near Bethlehem, angels with their glad tidings, the new star, and wise men traveling from afar in search of the Holy One. But even this level will not long satisfy the desperate needs of a fallen world. Those who keep Christ in the manger will never find the mature Savior, and will, in the end, still be disappointed and empty.

For Christmas to meet all the expectations of both child and adult, for Christmas to last all year long and grow in beauty and spirit it must have the power to change lives. And that only happens on the third level, the 'level of the Resurrected Lord,' the level of the adult Christ. It is here we find lasting joy, lasting hope, and lasting peace. This level teaches us of charity, forgiveness, and love for the unlovable, forgiveness for enemies. This is the adult Christ who gave us a perfect example and asked us to follow Him. "Accepting that invitation is the way--the only way--to celebrate Christmas all year and all life long.

BELIEVE Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. When Christ came into the world he also came unto the world. He was sent here to each of us. His whole 'work and glory' is to bring to pass our eternal life and immortality. In Gethsemane and on Calvary, He worked out the infinite and eternal Atonement. It was the greatest single act of love in recorded history. Then followed His death and miraculous Resurrection. "I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up on the cross." "To this end was I born, for this cause came I into the world."

"REMEMBER, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God that ye must build your foundation.....a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." Similarly, if we build the symbols of Christmas on Christ, we won't fail to experience the real spirit of Christmas.

President David O. McKay observed, "What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ....will determine what you are [and] will largely determine what your acts will be."

I am still reading this book and it is opening my mind and my eyes to a higher and better way to celebrate this wonderous time of year. I highly recommend grabbing this book. At www.deseretbook.com it is marked down to half off, about $6.95. What a bargain!!

Happy Christmas to all as we BELIEVE and REMEMBER our Savior, Jesus Christ.