A new Best Friend

Lets Rewind my life to when I was child. To when me and my siblings were children.

My younger sister was the pet owner, she was dogs and the occasional rescued pigeon's best friend.

Me on the other hand.. I couldn't stand animals.. well pets to be exact, I liked animals, just not as pets or anywhere near me.

I was the one to wash my hands immediately after touching or been touched by any pet. No I don't have a sort of OCD or anything I just couldn't stand the idea of been touched by a pet.

Well fast forward to about 20+ yrs. To the year 2014, to October 2014 to be exact.
We went to a farmers market in Houston to meet a possible new member of the family.

I had posted an inquiry on Facebook about a German Shepard (in particularly)  and a good friend of the family suggested one trough their dog trainer Sit Means Sit's affiliate Oak Forest Animal Advocates.

So Saturday Morning we loaded everyone in our Jeep to go meet and see if "Jondo" would be a good match for us...

Well...

As soon as we got there, I noticed "Jondo" right away.

This beautiful dog just walking around.

We stayed about an hour and walked with him, and played with him.

We loved him,,

We all did. Even Me.

As soon as we got home I filled the paperwork for the adoption process.

He was going to be our new family member. He was going to be ours. 

It would be a tragic story to say we didn't qualify for adoption. So I wont say that.

In fact.. Ill tell you exactly what happened..

A week later we had our very first family dog.

A mix. They are guessing between German Shepherd and a Husky.

About 2 years old.

Isn't He just adorable??

I just fell in love with this handsome boy.

When We first started looking I Knew I didn't want a puppy, I just didn't have the time or energy to invest in him. But I also didn't want a dog that was to old. I wanted something in between.
Out of the puppy stage and not to old so the children could grow up with him for years to pass.

"Jondo" became part of the family about 2 months ago.
He is the most precious pup ever.
He is most definitely NOT in the annoying hyper puppy stage.

He Loves the open back yard and runs endlessly in all Directions...

We had originally planned on fencing the house so I wouldn't have to worry about him running off.
BUT He does really good staying around the house. He listens really well, so if I cant See him, I call out to him and he will come Running back.

However, One thing was off by just a bit.
We couldn't just settle on his name.
Though we thought that "Jondo" was in itself pretty creative (John Doe) we just didn't see him as "Jondo"..



It would never have been a named we would have picked out.
SO we set out on a mission. To find him his name.
It took about a week of going back and forth, between all of us.
We all had something different in mind.... so agreeing on one name wasnt easy.

As a joke I said we should call him "Crazy"...that way if people acted a fool, I could say
"Don't make me get CRAZY on you!"

Hilarious right?!?!?!?!?!

Ok maybe not, since no one else thought so.. but good thing I wasn't serious i would have been offended no one liked the name or the joke.

We did however finally decided that he should be some type of superhero.. But NOT just any Popular Super Hero. Nothing like Dark Knight, Or Spidey, Or Zeus, We didnt want something like that..

So We thought about all the cool underdog super heros...
So Naturally Wolverine came up..
BUT THEN!!!!
I think both me and my husband thought about it at the same time....
We looked at each and smiled wide.



See growing up I was kinda of a geeky little girl.

I loved comic books and all the cartoons that little girls did NOT w
I knew everything there was to know about every comic book hero.
BUT MY all time Favorite Series of Cartoons OR Characters has always been X-Men.
I remembered growing up playing games where I was always "Rogue"
She was my favorite! (apart from the one time "Jean" became "Phoenix")
She was such a bad chick. She was Strong, Fierce, and Beautiful, Plus she had the coolest Red Hair with the White Hi-lite!
But her love life was complicated.
See her one of talents is been to absorb life or power from any other human been or Mutant. So She had been plagued with Loneliness, she wasn't able to feel the touch of any other human.
Or Mutant.

Which would pain her even more so, you see, She was able to love but because she had the ability to draw or absorb power by touching or been touched, she would never allow herself to become close to the one she loved.

A mutant named "Gambit"..

He loved her too.

Well, who do you suppose was my husbands favorite Super Hero growing up..

If you out of no where said "Gambit"
YOU"RE RIGHT!

How did you guess? Lol



We both grew up liking the most unlikely of characters. and in which, the characters were actually an item!

Awww.. I liked Rogue
He Liked Gambit..

Sounds like a match made in Heaven..
Isn't the cutest sweet next to geeky thing you've ever heard? :)

Thinking of a name should have never been that difficult. We should have had it right away. Not sure why it took us that long. It should have been a No Brainer. Yet the struggle was worth the journey. We got to revisit child hood memories.


Of course given the fact that Gambit isn't as cool as the other X-Men we had to introduce the character to our son, which he actually quite liked, because he could throw cards as explosives...

Naturally I have already had the thought of finding him his "Rogue".... maybe one day. :)

Too Ripe Too Soon.. Saving the Bananas from the trashcan

Eating cleaner and healthier has its challenges.
The most annoying one I've found, is how to keep fruits and vegetables fresh, or how to use them all up before they go bad.
And they Go bad Pretty Fast.

One Food that I noticed ending up in the trash too often was my Very Ripe Bananas.
They just went from green to brown and in like a day it seemed.
I started baking with them when they were too ripe.

Problem with that, I sometimes didn't have all the ingredients on hand, so again to the trash can they went..
UUUGGHHH that was Money in the trash.

Then I had a brilliant idea. Probably one thought about by most, I Froze Them.

Now the very first time I attempted it, I kind of left the peel on,.
again that batch made it to the trash can..


So again I tried, this time I got a plastic plate, placed a sheet of wax paper, Peeled the banana and cut the banana up some in half some in 3 portions.

Now I don't throw away bananas anymore, Even if they look horrible. (noticed my very ripe bananas yet? lol)

Frozen Bananas are great because now you have some for smoothies Or even Banana Ice Cream..

Smoothies is how they are mostly used for. Especially, because I can sneak a handful of greens in it and no one notices.. Genius.

Now I don't just save the bananas BUT my children also get their Greens as well..

One Happy Mom.



So here's a Go to Smoothie recipe for me

8oz Almond milk (chocolate flavor)
1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter
1/2 of Frozen Banana
Dash Of Cinnamon
small handful of Blueberries
handful of Greens (*Optional: Kale &/or Spinach)
Add a few ice cubes and Blend!

However If you're anything like me Its a little more complicated

8oz Almond Milk (Original Flavor)
1 Tbsp Of Peanut Butter
1/2 Frozen Banana
Dash Of Cinnamon
Small Handful of Blueberries
Handful of Greens
Ice cubes
 AND
1 scoop of Chocolate flavored Protein (My favorite is Juice Plus Dutch Chocolate)
1 tsp of Milled Flax-seed
*After blending it up just add a tsp or 2 of Chia Seeds... Enjoy!!

A very simple Tea Recipe, for when Im sick

Yesterday, which seemed out of no where, I got severely sick.
Nauseous, vomiting, fever, chills.. you know, the works.
Well, Maybe not out of now here my daughter had been sick only a day and a half earlier and I carelessly drank after her,.. I know I know, Bad Idea.

And Once upon a time, I would have resorted to Medicine to get me well.
I have nothing against medicine, though I strongly believe it should be used as an alternative or in conjunction with natural remedies.

So I fired up my stove, chopped up the ingredients and threw it in the pot of boiling water.

The kids and I have really come to enjoy this tea time together. Maybe its because I leave the spoon I Used to stir with it inside the cup, so that's how they enjoy drinking it.. out of a spoon. :)

I try to stay diligent and at the first sign of symptoms, I give this tea to my family, a minimum of 3 times a day, for about a day or two, depending on symptoms I'll decide to go longer, and I also place the humidifier in the room (with ginger water instead of plain water)

I woke up this morning feeling much better and most symptoms have disappeared.. Im still NOT 100% (somewhere between 60-75%) but considering I was completely out last night, I consider it a Huge improvement.

Here's how i make the Ginger Water for the Humidifier..

2-3 Inches of Ginger root (preferably Organic)
5-6 Cups of water

Pour water in Pot and set on high, bring to a boil,
Peel and diced up the Ginger root and add to water.
Put lid on and turn down stove to low heat.
Let simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Strain water. Set in container and let cool.
When "Cool" put inside the container for water in the humidifier and just turn on as instructed.

This technique has helped my son clear out congestion and troubled breathing, which he has had since he was an infant. Something that Doctors said he would always, and have treated with a "Nebulizer" and were always upset after my visits because I "REFUSED" for him to go on inhalers.
I just refused for Medication to be the Only alternative to healing and health.

My Go To Tea Recipe is as follows

2-3 cups of water
1 inch of Ginger Root (preferably Organic)
2-4 Cinnamon Sticks (preferably Organic)
1 Lemon per cup
1-2 Tbsp of "RAW" Honey per cup (preferably Local Organic Raw Honey)

Pour Water into a pot, bring to a boil.
Peel and dice Ginger Root and add to pot.
Add Cinnamon Sticks.
Lower Heat to just above a simmer.
Let Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the water has reached a VERY dark reddish tint.
Slice lemons in fourths.

Pour Tea into cup add. Add RAW honey, add 2-3 slices of Lemon (your preference) and squeeze the juice out of the last slice into the cup. (we are wanting to get the lemon juice from this last one)

Stir and Enjoy..
The taste of this tea its a little spiced but still very warming to me.

*RAW Honey (unfiltered) is Strongly suggested instead of regular conventional honey, Most local grocery stores carry Raw Honey, don't be scared of the price tag. I assure Raw Honey is the best.
Raw Honey contains Live enzymes and antioxidants which are essential to aid in neutralizing Free Radicals (enemies of the body)
On a side Note Raw Honey Might have a printed expired Date but in reality it Never goes bad. If it crystallizes just warm it up and its good to go. It has a NATURALLY long Shelf Life.