Autumn in California.

 Fall comes late to California, the leaves slowly change color as the weather turns colder with each day. By late November we get to enjoy the beauty of changing leaves, crisp air, perfect weather- not too hot, and not too cold. I am blessed to be able to live here and enjoy the beauty of the season.

I really enjoy the red, orange and yellow colors of the autumn leaves. There is just something amazing about all of nature changing, evolving into something beautiful, before it all just falls off and gets ready for cold bare winter.

Flowers and seeking God.

 When you are feeling down, feeling sad, there are some things in life that will cheer you up. The first is talking to God, He understands all our feelings. The second thing is smelling the flowers. Every spring we get to smell the sweet honey smell of orange blossoms, they do wonders for uplifting the mood.

 I bet everyone has smelled the wonderful smell of a delicious rose. Sweet, perfumed, with a hint of spice. God did make everything beautiful. God does love beauty, wonderful smells, and the pleasure of watching plants and people grow.

 So when you are feeling down, feeling sad, struggling from certain problems or illness, cry out to God, and when you see a beautiful flower, know that is for you. For your comfort and joy.

Happy and sad.

Miscarriage is a sad and a happy thing. The sad part is that you loose a little darling baby, and the happy part is that you have a little angel waiting for you in heaven.

Sometime life gives us unpredictable turns and we have to go through valleys of sadness and tears. That is when the beauty around us that God created comforts our souls, eases the sadness and makes life bearable, a little bit at a time. When I got the news that I was having a miscarriage, after having 4 children, I thought that I wont be sad, but it is still pretty sad, and you feel out of control a bit lost, and things we planned will not happen. That is when I know that God is always in control, whatever happens, happens for a reason, and He is our Life, Love and Comfort.

Our road to health.

When I married my husband and started to make all kinds of yummy recipes in the kitchen, I did not know much about healthy eating, or the good fats, and eating more vegetables. All we knew was how to eat a lot of white pasta, potatoes, breads, cookies, pizza and lots of delicious Ukrainian/Russian dishes. So slowly and surely we started to gain weight. We joined a gym, but did not like to go there and the membership expired. We did not like vegetable or fruits much, the only things we ate were corn, cucumbers, apples and bananas. We had four children and the weight just got more cumbersome, until one day my husband started to have spells of double vision, dizziness and struggling to breathe normally. He got checked and realized that his blood pressure was very high, he had high cholesterol and was overweight. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, with abnormal lab results and was overweight myself, feeling very sluggish and with constant tiredness. It was a wake up call for us.

That was more that a year ago, when we bought our fancy blender and started to drink green smoothies every morning, started to eat more fruits and vegetables and learning about healthy eating and living.  By incorporating more fruits and greens into our daily routine, has made us crave a more healthier lifestyle.

I started to read a lot about plant based diets and raw vegan living. It is very interesting and has opened my eyes to a lot of problems with our food pyramid. We are told to eat more grains and meat, while fruits and vegetables fall off our plates and we don't think them very important. But truly where are the most vitamins and nutrients hidden? Mostly in fruits, vegetables, greens, seeds and nuts. That should be our main source of nourishment. Grains and meat should be a small portion of it.
We started to eat more healthy, more natural, less chemicals and are still striving more every day to enjoy more fresh produce and eat less foods that have the calories but hardly any nutrition. We started to exercise more, especially my husband who is lifting weights and doing a lot of cardio. He lost 30lbs so far! I lost 10lbs. Isn't it amazing! Our health improved, thanks be to God.

I am so trilled to share this with you and hope that you will find this helpful and that your health will improve as well.