I remember you, waist. And what's this unfamiliar feeling of muscle tone in my arm? It's been a while since that's been there.

I am finished my Maker's Diet 40-day health experience as of tomorrow. In that time, I have achieved many of the goals I set when I started. My new goals are 200 skips a day and 75 crunches a day. I am still working on being able to to a push-up while on my toes (upper body strength has always been a struggle for me) and to drop the last two pounds that are hanging on. BUT! I dropped about 8 pounds since I started--enough for me to get myself my reward!

Here I am in the new outfit. Sorry that I couldn't get a better photo--we don't have a better full-length mirror than this. (All self-portraits should have toilets in the background. I learned that from Cathy Zielske.)

One of the permanent habits that seems to have been broken from my cleanse is my dependence on caffeinated beverages to get me through the day. I would often drink up to 3 cups of orange pekoe tea in a day before I started, sometimes substituting one of them for home-made cocoa. Okay, I still like chocolate, and have had a couple of cups since entering "Phase 3" of the diet (which is basically your everyday routine diet on this program, after the "blood-sugar-balancing-cleanse" is finished.) But I have been substituting my regular tea habit with a hot cup of water with a couple of drops of essential oil (peppermint or lemon are my favourites) and some honey, and discovered that I really like it. Most of the time, I just wanted something warm to drink, anyway. This way, I am actually giving my body the benefits of the oil and honey, as well. And my singing voice is thanking me. Last Saturday I had a cup of tea, just like I used to, and you know what? I didn't enjoy it that much. Weird. (It's partly because of the cream here. I am not sure if it is a result of the ultra-pasteurization, which is bad, bad, BAD! for you, or what, but it makes everything too creamy. And also, I have not been able to find a decent black tea here, either. How I long for some good ol' Red Rose! Okay, not really anymore. That is the whole point of this paragraph, after all.)

In other news:

(I also stole that from Cathy--it seemed to work today.)

What the heck has Talena been up to? you ask. Okay, maybe you weren't. But looking back in a couple of years, I might ask it. So, here's a quick update on my life at the moment:

We are leaving in 13 days. Eep! So, understandably, I am doing all the typical "moving" things: packing boxes, losing labeling markers, changing addresses, losing patience, saying goodbyes, losing my mind... you know. You've moved before, right? Across a continent, right? Between countries, right? No? Well, I can't say as I would recommend it.

Ironically, the Canadian government is making it much more difficult to move back than the American government made it to leave. When we came down here, since we hit the border at midnight with three sleeping kids in a van and a moving truck so jam-packed full that the entire contents threatened to land on the pavement when we started opening it, they didn't even inspect our stuff. The nicest border guards I have ever met processed the visas for the kids and I, took a peripheral look at the list I made of our goods, asked Jason a few questions about the list which he didn't know the answers to (while I was getting the visas), and let us through. It was truly evidence of divine intervention.

On the way home? No, different story. We have to fill out loads of paperwork. If we want to bring in the nearly-new used mattress we were given, we have to have it fumigated and certified. We have to prove that the stuff we are bringing is "Canadian goods returning to Canada." How the heck are we supposed to do that, when most of it is second-or-third hand in the first place?! They all have "Made in China" slapped on them somewhere, anyway! (That's a rhetorical question, by the way.)

Despite the general apathy about healthful living in this area, I have actually found a few health-minded people who have joined my Young Living team lately, so I have also been busy training them and helping them get started. I have recently learned how to do Raindrop Technique (a procedure that combines using essential oils on the spine with light massage and nerve stimulation), and performed it three times and had it done on me once in a five-day span. Thanks to this, I experienced some painful soreness as a detox symptom earlier in the week, which has thankfully subsided now. Also thanks to this detox, the last stubborn patch of psoriasis on my right hand is looking healthier than it has in years. Yay!

Last, but not least, I have been writing songs--and recording them. Inspired mostly by a reminder that someone actually wants me to write for them, I have created three new songs in the last week, one of which is probably the best song I have ever written (or at least, its my new favourite. Right now, it's my opinion we're discussing.) A friend down here who has a recording hobby is giving me a super deal on getting some demo tracks laid down, so I am trying to work that in amongst everything else that is going on.

So can you see why I haven't had much time for blogging? Yikes!

In other other news:

Jason bought a little truck, finally. It's a '99 red Ford Ranger. I can't wait to see it. It will be so nice to have two vehicles again when we are all back in Alberta. Also, pretty much a necessity, since we will now be a "rural family." I don't have pics, sorry. (I have the camera in Arkansas. Jason has the truck in Alberta. We'll cut him some slack.)

Speaking of being rural, I finally got the seeds for my new garden ordered yesterday. "New" as in, I will be starting from scratch. I have never been much of a gardener, so I will really be starting from scratch. Thank goodness for the internet! Plus, I have already used my "Phone a Friend" option and called on Robin B. to help me out. I am sure she will get a few more panicked phone calls over the summer, but I tried to choose veggies that are pretty easy to grow. So long as I get my garden created on time, I am sure it will be fine. Really, it will.

Well, I better go practice! Got lots to do today! Hugs to you, friends!