It's all the "RAVE"

We started a "diet" yesterday. We are playing around with a vegetarian diet. Man...we've been in California like 6 weeks and "it" is already happening. We didn't set foot into "the land of fruits and nuts" with somekind of goal of fitting in. It must be in the water.
It started with a talk radio Paul's been listening to. He bought a book and DVD about this diet and we watched the DVD and that was about all it took for me to think I would at least give it a try. It basically talked about how cancer and heart disease didn't exist 100 years ago except among the elite rich who could afford meat. In asia where meat still is not eaten in mass quantity they don't suffer from the types of diseases that we do. There were people interviewed on the movie who, when diagnosed with cancer or heart disease, decided to avoid doctor's suggestions of chemotherapy and bypass surgeries, and cured themselves of their diseases by changing to this diet. It also talked briefly about the excess amount of water used to feed and process meat, as well as the land and forests that are cut down so that we can have more land for cattle to graze...so we can eat more meat. There is a lot of destruction of the earth going on solely based on humans craze for meat!
We also watched "Fast Food Nation" which was a fictional movie, but was based on the meat industry and the plants where the cows are slaughtered. It was a haunting movie.
RAVE is an acronym for...
No Refined anything (flour, sugar, etc)
No Animal Products
No Vegetable oils
No Exception
+ Excersize

So, I guess the idea is vegetarian, and vegan, but also not just surviving on a junk sugar diet either. I've had to do a ton of shopping for different types of foods and spent about 45 minutes in the produce section of the grocery store yesterday. That's a long time for someone who isn't a big shopper!
We'll let you know how it goes. Right now we're in the "gassy" stage. Try eating fruits, veggies, and whole grain all day! Yikes! This too shall pass.
Hope you all (Gearharts, Rush's...my loyal readers) are all very well...

Slide Show Experiment

I decided to play with the slide show that Timbra had used on her blog. These pictures are from Memorial Day weekend. They were taken at "The Mission" as it is called here in Santa Barbara. Remember all the artwork seen is just pastels and sidewalk. Amazing!
Not much new here. We planted a small garden of peppers (serranos just for Paul and his nolstalgic milanesa tortas from Mexico), tomatoes, and some herbs. The girls helped me plant and water. I'll post pictures later. We also found a new beach (new to us, that is) tonight on Father's Day. The girls loved playing in the sand, which honestly we haven't really done yet since arriving just over a month ago.

I don't have much to say, but wanted to say hi to those of you who still come around. We're doing well. We're adjusting to our new home just fine and the girls have handled the change wonderfully. There are always neat things going on around here, so we've done a few different things this last week.
Last Sunday we returned to the Pier where they have the memorial for those who have died in Iraq. Maddi and I helped many others light candles around the 3400+ crosses that are there every Sunday. It was a moving experience and I prayed for peace in the lives of those families as we participated in that memorial. There were families gathered around individual crosses and it broke my heart to know that they were hurting over a lost loved one. http://www.vfpsb.org/
We also went to I Madonarri. It's an art event here at the Santa Barbara mission where artists draw pictures on the walkways using pastels. I'll have to post pictures later; there are obviously many talented artists in the area. http://www.imadonnarifestival.com/im.html
This Saturday we went to the Big Dawg Parade. People dressed in costume with their dogs and joined the parade along with marching bands and such. The girls enjoyed it a lot. It may have been better if we were closer, but they got the gist. http://www.bigdogs.com/parade/vendorbrochure2007.pdf
I rode my back around a bit last week. That was fun too. There are trail right from our house that will get us to the beach. I don't feel ready for that yet; though it's just a few miles away. I did go up a very steep hill around the corner and only got half way up. I decided to walk the rest because I was committed and when I got up there there was a parrot in front of a house that greeted me with a loud "hi," though I thought "congratulations" would have been more appropriate.
Better Go...