Just another day in paradise

Miss me? crickets…

Still here! Alive and all.

So it’s been a week!

Got some new ink! About time right?

So this piece was a learning experience. Have you ever heard of the tattoo flu? It’s a real thing. Google it.

The day of the tattoo I was so busy. I kept thinking I’ll get something to eat in a sec. Sec never happened and then, omg, I better go so I won’t be late. So all went well til it didn’t. My artist was working and I started to feel a chill. I had my jacket over my legs and started to feel a chill. This should have been a clue. I asked my artist is it cold in here? She said “no, it’s pretty nice in here actually. So we continued. Talking and tatting.. She’s a beautiful girl and we talked about all sorts of things. Afterward I stood up put on my jacket and started to shake. There was a woman standing next to me who said you’re going into shock.. I was all what? I’ve had numerous tattoos never , have I ever, experienced anything close to this. So I walked outside to go to my vehicle. Saw a friend and told her I can’t stop shaking, she says, you’re going into shock. So everyone knows this but me? I went to my car turned up the heat and the seat warmer. Texted someone else who immediately got concerned. Isn’t it funny who you tell things to when there’s a problem? Lesson learned is all I can say. Next time, full meal. taking water and a friend.

So it took me a week to get over whatever I had and it was no picnic. Still nursing a fever blister on the lip.

So here’s a picture of the offending tattoo.

Pretty isn’t it?

It’s blue his favorite color. He loved snakes as well. I have so many pictures with him holding a rattler. I was always scared he was going to get bitten. The Orchid for strength to keep living without him in this life. Something beautiful has to come out of something so awful. Doesn’t it?

I will always miss him.

One of his favorites

I hope your heart is at peace and you are fully loved.

✌️🖤

Raq

Rejuvenate in nature

I always feel rejuvenated when I get to spend some time in the mountains. Brace yourself I took a few… ok, a lot of pictures…

I went to the city in the clouds.. also known as Cloudcroft NM.

I took my little rv to a place called Cool Pines.. the park was set in…. you guessed it… pine trees! Yes, it was nice and cool too. There was no WiFi and that’s ok by me… but truthfully there wasn’t anything special about this little rv park. We were parked in space 11, yeah my favorite number, however, the guy on his little cart parked us a bit too far up then was all yeah, maybe that’s too far up. Ya think? Then as he was leaving tells the guy behind us, who I had already waved at, and he had waved back, burying his nose back into his phone, she’s got dogs…. he responded with, I got your number… irritated… that was me.

So I set up, all the while ignoring my not so kind neighbor. Who by the way had a huge older dog himself.

Ok…. shake it off and just enjoy… which I did. I drove into town for a couple things.. and I walked into the Kings treasure, it’s a thrift store in Cloudcroft. This book caught my attention and so of course I bought it. Glad I did. I read it in its entirety before coming home. It had been awhile since I got so into a book. Something else had been my focus. That is done and gone.

The Language of Flowers

The RV always gets a bit of attention. Even in these days of social distancing. A very sweet couple from Austin Tx stopped by as they were out walking their pup. We talked about their rig and mine. They said they will be checking out the place mine came from since it was the city they were from. Lol. When I told them I had planned on a hike to a waterfall, they promptly told me, Oh no we are not hikers 😂.

I spent the evening on my love seat, outside, under the pines with my trusty companions. Oh, and I picked up a cute little bottle this lady in town told me was good stuff.

Kinky Pink!

Reading… just enjoying the quiet and coolness of the day.

I almost forgot about the parade… every evening a bunch of turkeys would go by. Cuteness!

The next day was the hike. It was a beautiful place.

The top of the waterfall was just as beautiful…

Water everywhere
Water coming out of the mountain.

The flowers were beautiful as well as everywhere!

On the way back to camp, I stopped at a little place that had some amazing veggie hoagies.. ahh dinner and a book.. who could ask for more.

Little Peepers

After a couple of cool evenings it was time to go back to reality.

Nothing like a little cider 😋

This is the cutest place. Fresh fruit, jams, ciders and lots of other homemade goodies.

It was a wonderful time…

I hope you are happy.. enjoying each and every minute of life.

✌️❤️

Raq

Music? It was the breeze in the trees.

Future?

I heard this song that I love. I loved it because it filled me with hope. Hope of the future and happiness of looking back and remembering the highlights…

Today it only filled me with sadness. Sadness for all those who are not going to have that chance. For us all….

Our world has changed and I fear it will never be the same.

Stay safe and healthy..

So much love and peace to you and yours,

Raq

Everything

Mmmmm

Baby I’m worth it…

We can have everything…

This song just makes…..

Everything ….

Dance with me?…..

In the kitchen of course

Stay inside! Dance… love.. be healthy and safe

✌️❤️

Raq

My healing journey

I would be remiss if I didn’t share this aspect of my life.

Recent happenings have brought to my attention that I haven’t actually posted this.

Brace yourself, this could take a bit. I’m passionate about this stuff. I’ve lived it you know.

🤔 I can go way back but let’s not.

I was sick and getting sicker. My doctors were cool about giving me meds for anything and everything. Then proudly saying I don’t know what could be causing this.

The change came when my migraines got worse and the mere touch of my temples sent me reeling. I remember one day the pain being so bad in my head I didn’t know what to do, sit? Stand? Bang my head on the wall? I was so scared. I also had a couple of lumps. In the places women do not want them. Breast and underarm.

For the headaches I was given stronger meds that dissolve under the tongue and the lumps well you know how that goes. Tests and maybe cut them out or watch them. I was even offered anti depressants. They help with pain did you know this?

I’m a freaking ray of sunshine most of the time in case you didn’t know. Lol. I was not into that.

Well, all I could think was I’m not into drugs and I’m not going down this route. I asked the drs how this happened and how to stop it. They had no clue. Said maybe it was due to my age and that I needed to lose weight. Jerks 😆 No real fix though.

So the heck with that! I began a search into healing. Saw the Joe Cross documentary, Fat, Sick and nearly dead. The next day went and bought a juicer and juiced for 25 days straight. That’s right no food passed these lips. Juice that I made myself from fresh organic fruits and vegetables only. Killer right? The first three days were the most miserable days of my life. I wanted to die on the 3rd. But on the fourth day? It was like the heavens opened and let the true light shine on my darkened soul. I could see hear and just think more clearly. Like this thick fog had just cleared. This was just the beginning.

So yeah, there are stages of healing when you do a liquid fast. So I knew if I messed up I would have to start all over. No way was I going to restart. Talk about motivation. The hunger actually went away after a couple days and it was a great healing experience. I stopped all my meds. Now I did this on my own and no I’m not telling anyone to do this. Talk to your drs. I on the other hand was done talking. So yeah, I stopped them all and to this day haven’t taken any again. Five years now baby.✌️

I lost a few pounds too, boo ya drs! Yeah I need to still lose more. I’m not dissing doctors, they just have a place. When I broke my wrist, they fixed me right up. I have no reason to see them otherwise. I mean even their tests are toxic. So I’m good. Did you know doctors have very little training in nutrition?

I guess I should straighten out the fact that the food doesn’t actually heal you. But giving your body the right fuel helps it to heal itself. Think of a vehicle. Would you put water in a tank and expect it to run? But look what you put in your body. We are over fed and under nourished.

I read everything I could and watched documentaries as well as YouTube videos about health and it kept leading me to a plant based life.

It’s not easy, the people around you are the worst. It’s like they think you expect them to follow suit or something. I’m not sure why but sometimes, there is anger. They seem to have the need to prove we need meat. Then there’s all the killing animal jokes and needing a burger, haha I’ve never heard that one 🙄

Then there’s the protein question so let’s get it out of the way. We really don’t need as much protein as we are led to believe. There are studies that prove it. I will hook you up to places to get info later on. So you don’t have to take my word for it. I mean take a look at the animals eaten and what they eat. No additional protein needed. Look how large they get. Plants have all the protein we will ever need. Have you ever heard of anyone having a protein deficiency?

Carbs are life!

So as I’m reading and listening I learned a few other things. The Vegan guilt. So much guilt. It’s a stage that I read about but I had already been feeling it. If you don’t want to know why, stop reading now. 🙂 But I was raised on a farm. Animals had a place and a job and were sometimes slaughtered for food. I hunted with my father and brothers. I loved to fish. I was raised by three very outdoorsy men. Guilt. These animals don’t have a choice or a voice. Don’t bother trying to tell me otherwise. This is my path and I’ll live it in peace. I just wish I had known sooner. A person cannot say they love animals and eat meat. It just cannot be. There is no humane way to kill a living being either. Sorry. If you want to see some horror watch Earthlings a documentary.

I will never in my life hurt another living creature. Never. Nor will I pay anyone else to do so.

So with the healing of your body comes the healing of your mind. Which can lead you down some pretty ugly roads. You see yourself and the decisions you’ve made as well as the relationships you’ve had and want or don’t.

I also know what I want for the rest of my life. It’s so very basic for me now. I want to be near the people I love. Have open doors to anyone who needs to hangout and veg. Lol, I kill me. But seriously, there are friends I haven’t seen in quite awhile and by gosh I want to spend quality time with them. So I’m hoping they come stay with me awhile. We are not promised tomorrow are we? New friends too. Mi casa es tu casa. I actually mean it. I tell everyone if you want to start this way of life or juice and want help, I’m here. I will juice with you even.

I will live a life that I hope inspires others to live their best life.

I believe in love! My love life is complicated. I want the one. I also want to be the one. I only want what I would give. I don’t understand how someone can say they love you, and not care about your happiness, or consider your feelings when they do something. I’m a romantic fool nothing will cure this 💕

Freedom? I am free for the most part. But only because I have taken my freedom. This may lead to more changes but I’m cool with that.

https://youtu.be/GsZjSxtame8

I go to a gym every morning and have met new people and reunited with people from my past. I have heard so many crazy stories of illnesses and when I tell my story I get the omg she’s crazy look or the I can’t give up meat or cheese! I’m not asking anyone to do anything, but you asked me my deal so there you go. The women are all omg it’s you!? You look great, and some have even said I look better than when we were in school. Damn! I thought I was kinda cute in school! Ok not really, but dang gimme a break. It’s nice to hear, but it’s not about that. It’s that I feel great, have so much energy and you can too. One guy actually checked out a website I told him about and has been plant based a whole week. He feels better and looks great. His motivator is his heart. Doctors have told him he’s very close to a heart attack. You have no idea how he made me feel today, when he told me he checked out the website and has been keeping to it. Rock on lil buddy. I told him soon as my house is ready he’s coming over to hang. He’s all into it and I’m as excited as he is.

My family? Some are veg some aren’t. I have stories! My favorite one is when my grandkids go around telling their friends I’m their plant based Grandma and they are proud of me. Shoot, I’m the cool, fruit eating, bicycling grandma. When we are together and someone asks if I’m their mom, my heart swells when they say all proud no man, that’s my grandma! 🙂

Now I want to give you info and if you’re interested check it out. See for yourself.

I’ve told you about Joe Cross. He’s obviously my hero. So check him out. His documentary is Fat, sick and nearly dead. If you want to juice fast like I did here’s a Link where you can get info, recipes and guided help if you want.

Forks over knives a great website for info and recipes. There’s a link to their documentary on Netflix there. Watch it, it’s really good. They are on Facebook too. The page is amazing and so many uplifting stories to read.

Dr. Micheal Gregor his book How Not to Die is to die for. 😆 ok, humor people! He’s nothing but info. His YouTube channel is the stuff too. He shows all the actual studies here.

Dr. McDougall The fat you eat is the fat you wear, one of his favorite sayings lol. Recipes and knowledge on that site! He has some amazing videos on YouTube as well.

Dr Fuhrman his book Eat to live is great too.

T. Colin Campbell wrote The China Study. Great book and website.

Jason Vale

https://youtu.be/Aaxa7rxEbyk

Love this documentary

If you want to talk or have questions I’m here any time. My email is in the contact info. You have my Twitter and Instagram here as well.

So live your best life now, go veg!

Many blessings

Raq💕

P.S. you may want to see this as well.

https://www.facebook.com/garytvcom/videos/1315715418565207/