Six weeks ago, I started some pretty big changes in my diet and my lifestyle. The week between Christmas and New Years I did a cleanse. It was an amazing experience for a few reasons. First, I learned the difference between hunger and eating from emotions and habit. Second, for the first time in years, I have kicked the caffeine habit. There are no more highs and lows from the caffeine swing.

After going through a week of body and head aches and finally feeling lighter and more energetic, I couldn’t simply return to business as usual. I decided it was time to overhaul the diet to see how I felt. I began by eating strictly vegan. For six weeks now, I have not had any dairy or eggs. That’s right… No cheese! I thought I would never be able to do that but you know what, I don’t miss it at all. As a matter of fact, I feel more energetic and have less cravings overall and a nice bonus is my clothes are getting looser and I’m not evening counting calories. I know that it will level out soon but it has helped me to stay motivated to live healthier this year.

I realize that eating vegan alone won’t make me healthier so I am also dedicated to cutting out fructose and other refined sugars as well. This has been harder because it is in everything! I had to go through at least ten loaves of bread the other day in the store aisle to find one that didn’t have milk, eggs or fructose syrup in it. The best solution is to make my own bread and, while I have experimented, I haven’t been that motivated yet. I’m working on the learning to love to cook part. I’m getting there I think… well more so than days of old.

Finally, today I met with a trainer to start a 12 week cardio program. You see, I want to be a runner and I want to improve my cardio and endurance so that my favorite outdoor activities, like hiking and biking, are not so hard for me. I want an active life style. I have been going to the gym for a few weeks now and the other day I saw an ad for a trainer that does heart-rate based training. I came straight home, looked up his web site and emailed him immediately. This is exactly what I had in mind. I scheduled my first meeting and fitness assessment (um, I have some work to do) for this afternoon and now I have a game plan in hand and am ready to get to work.

I plan on keeping track of the journey here with updates on the vegan diet and fitness goals. The thing I’m most excited about is that this isn’t a diet but a true lifestyle change. Until science figures out the whole fountain of youth bit or making me immortal a healthy ticker will have to be my focus.

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This year I became more aware of the little body aches and pains and how tired I always feel. I have noticed that I have lost interest in a lot of my hobbies that used to fuel me and my creativity. As a matter of fact, I haven’t felt very creative at all. I find I’m spending more time sitting and reading about doing rather than actually doing myself. I’m stuck.

For all of these reasons, I am declaring 2010 a year of playing and discovery. Yep, I’m going back to the playground. I’m going to have fun. I’m going to read books that I may have never picked up. I’m going to try things I may not have an interest in. I’m going to listen to the other side a little more.

I’m going to exercise my body and mind and not judge whether it was a success or failure. I’m going to play around with the kind of foods I eat and actually enjoy eating rather than counting calories or feeling guilty when I choose something that is less than perfect. I’m flirting with the idea of a vegan diet and seeing how I feel.

I’m ready for a challenge. I’m ready to stretch and grow. I’m ready to dive into a new year. 2009 had some wonderful high points and I’m grateful for them but I think I’m ready to mix things up a bit. I’m looking forward to 2010. I think we are going to do great things together.

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December 9 Challenge. Something that really made you grow this year. That made you go to your edge and then some. What made it the best challenge of the year for you?

Almost a year and half ago I created a list of things I want to do in this life and on that list was to travel to Fairbanks Alaska to see the Northern Lights. I have already written about this trip in this Best of 2009 series but I think it definitely fits in this topic as well.

This trip was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have done in my life. This trip taught me that I can accomplish anything I want if I break it down into achievable steps and took it little by little.

First, I had to convince myself that it was fine to ask for a month off work and to let some freelance clients know that I wouldn’t be available then. I didn’t know how much I needed that month until I was in the second week and realized that it took that long for me to get use to not checking email and thinking about working or feeling guilty that I might need to do something. It is so easy now to be connected all the time and sometimes it takes going to a remote area with no service to see how nice it is to unplug for a while.

Second, we had to save for the trip and we learned how to change our priorities so that we could do this. We sold one of our cars and bought an older model that we could pay cash for so that we wouldn’t have the car payment. We ate at home more and stopped spending money on things we didn’t really need. Everything was focused on our goal of this trip and we made it happen. This was huge for us.

Finally, we left home with a very basic outline of what we wanted to accomplish and the rest was completely flexible. We had no reservations and had nothing booked. We started driving each day with a general plan and there were many days those plans changed and we went with that. It was freeing and exciting and it pushed my comfort zones to the limits some days, especially when we were driving along the Alaskan highway and were not sure if we had enough gas to get to the next gas station and we had not seen another car in an hour or so… oh and big bears live there.

I thought this trip would be the trip of a life time but that suggests that we will never make a similar trip again and I don’t think that is the case at all. If anything, it has made us want to travel more and it has empowered us to think that we can go anywhere we want. We just have to think and will it into existence. It also makes me realize that those other things on my life list are ready to be checked off as well. I just need to get a plan together and make them happen. I also need to revisit that list and tweak it and add some more.

I did make it to Fairbanks but I didn’t see the Northern Lights but that is OK. I guess I will just have to plan another trip up North. We need to see what is going on in the arctic circle anyway, because we can.

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December 8 Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?

I am an introvert and peace and quiet is a must for me. Occasionally I have to pull the shades and walk around in my own little world. I can go an entire weekend without talking to another human. I have been doing this my whole life. It is how I energize myself.

Therefore, I was having a hard time pulling out one moment that stood out more than others. There was that great yoga retreat in North Carolina led by my awesome yoga teacher Sharon that had several blissfully peaceful moments. There are the many walks in the woods that I have taken through the years with my camera. There is something peaceful about examining and breaking down your surroundings looking for a great composition.

And then it hit me, the moments I spent fishing with my dad when I was a little girl. Those morning rides up the lake were I would hum along with the boat motor. The early fog drifting around us as we glided across the water. The quiet lapping of the water when he cut off the motor and we started moving slowly along the bank and through the dead trees looking for the perfect spot. We sat in silence, trying not to scare the fish away, and then there would be a tiny splash behind us as a fish jumped out of the water. Sometimes we caught some and sometimes we didn’t. I don’t really remember that part as much as I can still feel the sun on my skin as it broke through the fog, the smell of the pine trees on the bank and the great happiness I felt in spending the day with my dear ol’ dad.

I wouldn’t take anything for those memories of the trips to the lake and the hours spent watching a float bobbing on the top of the water, waiting on the big trophy fish to bite and not being disappointed when it didn’t.

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The December 1 prompt was “What was your best trip in 2009?” and mine was an easy one to pick, my road trip from Kentucky to Alaska and back to Kentucky. It was one of those amazing trips you wonder if you will ever be able to beat.

I wrote about the trip as I was traveling so I will just link back to those entries.

1. KY –> AK – Week 1
2. Fort Nelson –> Fairbanks
3. Alaska
4. Back in the states…
5. Home and beyond

You can also see my trip photos on flickr:

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I wanna have pride like my mother has,
And not like the kind in the bible that turns you bad.

~ from The Perfect Space by The Avett Brothers

The lyrics above really touched me at the concert the other night. I have always respected my mother and thought she could do no wrong but as I have gotten older I have started to understand her on a level more fitting a friend, someone I enjoy to talk to and share interests with. One such interest is gardening.

My momma is an amazing gardener. Her flower beds are huge and beautiful and a lot of our conversations turn to topics about the latest gardening magazine that we have picked up, the best way to get rids of pests organically, the best time to plant or dig our bulbs, etc. A large number of my flowers started in her garden which makes them even more special to me.

Today I was cleaning up flower beds and getting my garden ready for winter. This included picking hyacinth bean seeds for next year that were gifted to me last spring from her and  planting all the new plants she just sent me. Of course I had to call her once to get her suggestion on a good place to put them all.

I love her pride, the good kind that is wrapped up in her home and family. Ever since I have been out on my own, I have used her example as a benchmark to strive towards when it comes to having a home that feels good. I still haven’t mastered her grace and easy skill at it but I keep trying.

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I have to say, the trip was amazing. Living like a nomad for a month and going where we wanted was amazing. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to do this and I have decided it won’t be my last journey like this. There is so much to see out there people!

So to wrap up the final week….

First, I loved Portland. It made the list as one of my favorite cities I have visited to date. I loved the music scene, the vintage stores, the crafty/artsy people, the breweries and Powell’s book store! I could live here easily and so wanted to bring some of it home with me.

Second, Yellowstone was crazy cool. I love how wild and beautiful it is. I like that is bubbly and hot and unpredictable. While driving through the park late at night, we stopped, turned off the car and looked up at the stars and it felt like we were alone in the world. It was dark and wild and you could even see the milky way. Thinking about it now gives me chills. Amazing. Oh and the colors……. Mother Nature, you saucy wench!

Finally, our last stop was Fort Collins, CO. This area isn’t new to us. John spent three months here a few years ago working at the Shambhala Mountain Center and I had visited and drove back with him when he came home. It was a great way to wrap up the vacation. We took our time exploring downtown Fort Collins and eating in the great restaurants, shopping in the interesting little shops and making a pit stop at the New Belgium Brewery to taste some of their great brew and bring back a growler for ourselves. We also spent the afternoon before we left checking out the grounds at the Shambhala Mountain Center, sitting and meditating in the Great Stupa, and eating a wonderful lunch on the grounds there. It is a great place to relax, reflect and recharge and that is just what we needed before our final push home.

So now we are back in the “real” world but boy did I bring some ideas and excitement from the trip home with me. There is nothing like taking yourself out of your regular routine and environment and throwing yourself into others to make you see things differently. I have a new appreciation for my home, Lexington and Kentucky in general. It is nice to be looking at it with fresh eyes.

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The trip through the Yukon on the way back from Alaska was even prettier than the first trip through, if that is possible. We had barely entered back into Canada when a moose walked up out of a lake and stood majestically glowing in the morning sun right by the side of the road. That pretty much summed up the rest of our Yukon experience from there. We saw amazing snowed-capped mountains above the most colorful fall foliage I have ever seen.

After passing through Whitehorse and heading toward Watson Lake, the setting sun hit the rainy clouds perfectly and we saw the most beautiful rainbow ever! It was huge and marvelous and arched across the road, like a huge gate welcoming us into the land of milk and honey. How can this site not make you deliriously happy??

We were rather worried about taking the Stewart-Cassiar because we had heard that it was rough in some places and gas stations were always a concern as well but we also heard it was a beautiful drive with the ability to see wildlife and other wonderful scenery. We decided to take the chance and I’m glad we did. Not only did we see three black bears along different parts of the road, we also saw beautiful lakes, mountains and more. I actually preferred parts of it to the historic Alaska Highway and it turns out that there were more gas stations on this road compared to the alternate route.

Prince George was just a place to sleep before we headed on to Vancouver and I didn’t see anything there that I would have wanted to stay for anyway. It was pretty much a medium size town with lots of hotels and places to eat but I didn’t see much more.

Our next stop, Vancouver, was home for three nights and we really enjoyed it. It is such a neat, diverse town with so many things to see and do. We started downtown in the Gastown, Chinatown and Stanley Park area the first day.

My favorite part was Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium. If you haven’t got the theme yet, I like critters and there were plenty to view there. We met friendly ducks, swans and, the coolest of all, raccoon at the park. They would just walk up and say hello. It was a little unnerving at first.

I had visited the aquarium several years ago when I got to spend an afternoon in Vancouver and I remembered that I loved it then and it didn’t disappointment me again this time. It is one of my favorite aquariums.

The second day in Vancouver, we started out eating breakfast at a neat little diner called The Templeton that has a lot of vegetarian alternatives. It has not always been easy finding vegetarians choices that are great on this trip, especially since the places we have visited have been big on seafood, caribou sausage and other meaty fares. The Templeton’s interior design has been preserved and much of the furnishings/soda fountain booths, stools, and jukeboxes at tables are original, since at least the 50’s.

Next we hopped on the great Canada line train and headed to the Punjabi Market area also known as “Little India”. Here we found great Indian shops with everything from Saris and silk materials to stores with trinkets and other goodies from India. We had a wonderful Indian lunch at a place called Best Quality Sweet & Restaurant that was recommended to up by one of the other shop owners. We ended the lunch with some Masala Chai… Yum! We walked until we had blisters on our feet but it was worth it.

The next morning we left Vancouver and drove to Seattle were we spent a few hours at the Public Market, checked out the Andrew Wyeth and other great exhibits at the Seattle Art Museum, visited the Space Needle and wrapped it up with some dinner downtown before we found a cheap little room on the outskirts of town. We definitely want to come back for another visit when we have more time. It seems like a great place. As a side note, I saw Kate Hudson shopping at the Public Market.

Yesterday we stopped in the Mount Rainier National Park on the way to Portland and did a small day hike near Paradise and the visitor center. I have some photos for the day but have not had time to download and process them yet so those will come later. One of the coolest things we saw on the hike was a mother deer and her baby walked into a clearing just a few yards from us and stood eating and then looked at us and slowly made their way across the path and up through the mountain on the other side. It was so peaceful and lovely. It made my day.

We are now in Portland and are finishing some laundry in the hotel before we head downtown to see what this city is all about. We have today here and then we leave tomorrow and head toward Idaho and then on to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

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In some ways, I feel like we blew through Alaska like you would an ice cream shop, just sampling the many flavors, but I also feel like we chose some of the best and now we want to come back and experience them more thoroughly. Fairbanks is a nice little town and we had originally planned on camping at the Chena Hot Spring Resort because it is one of the best places to view the Aurora. After reviewing the Aurora forecast though, we saw that it wasn’t in our odds to see it so we decided to head South and check out the North Pacific and try to see some critters there.

We spent the day driving from Fairbanks and stopping off in the Denali National Park on the way down. Denali was beautiful and we got a great view of Mt. McKinley, which we hear is not always the case. It stood out all white and snow capped against the bright colors of the fall foliage.

Our next stop was in Talkeetna and this was one of our favorites. Talkeetna is a great little town at the base of Mt McKinley where climbers and others who like to find some adventure in the Denali area often stay. It has one main street and a little campground at the end of the street that cost $10 a night. It takes maybe 10 minutes to walk through the entire town but you will find several art shops, some wonderful places to eat, a great general store, a micro-brewery and more opportunities to find your own adventure than you could imagine. Emily had told me about this little town, as well as many other great things that we saw and did in Alaska, and I’m so thankful that she did. John says it was his favorite part of the trip. The breakfast at the Roadhouse was the perfect thing to send us on our way and to Anchorage and beyond to Seward.

Seward was our destination to take a boat cruise to see wildlife and a glacier up close and personal. We had been really lucky with weather up to this point but that luck ran out a bit as we spent the next few days in rain and cold. The boat cruise started out not too bad weather-wise but they did recommend taking some motion sickness medicine because the water was pretty crazy the further out we got. John and I wanted to brave the upper deck which was not covered because they claim it was the best place to get great photos. We were feeling pretty good about cameras and position on the boat until a guy walked up and pulled out a lens as long as my leg. We discovered that, although it was cool to see the animals with your eye, they often looked like little specks on the photo. I got one of the seals that turned out decent and the Idyllic glacier but that was it. It was still a cool experience though! We saw sea otters rubbing their little bellies and porpoises came over and played with us which was exciting. We even saw a black bear drinking on the bank and then he jumped in a swam across.

After leaving Seward we headed to Homer and I would rate this as our second favorite town in our mad dash through Alaska. Maybe it was because it was a couple of days and nights of resting and relaxing and maybe it was the quirky little shops and restaurants and interesting people there. It is a really eclectic little town with something for everyone. You can go fishing if you like or check out their many art shops and museums. It is known as a place were many people visit and then end up moving there. We actually met a lady that had been there for three years that was originally from Ohio. She was really excited to learn we were from Lexington. We spent  a lot of time walking the beach and looking at the beautiful rocks. I don’t think I have eve seen prettier rocks anywhere. They were so colorful and varied. We even found some sea glass that we brought home as souvenirs. One of my favorite moments was watching a little seal swimming just a little way off the beach. It would dive down and come up with a fish in his mouth and then eat him and find another.

Tonight we made it to Tok and tomorrow we will be heading back into Canada on our way to Whitehorse and beyond. I’m not sure when we will have internet and phone again but we will update when we can!

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