Inspiration and support come in odd forms:

This morning I begrudgingly headed to UVU for a signature from one of my professors, I was upset he wouldn't do it electronically. After a 40 min drive I arrived on campus and headed to his office. The first thing he said to me was "I wanted to meet you in person." I was shocked. He proceeded to tell me he'd recently suffered from a stroke, how drastically his life had changed, and how he didn't let this change affect his life. He went on to offer me encouragement, praise and support; something I needed and in no way expected from this professor. I was almost in tears as I thanked him profusely, and left his office.

I am so grateful this professor denied my request to send the forms over email. Maybe he sensed a soul in need, maybe he's old-fashioned and never sends documents over email. Either way, thank you to a kind-hearted man that saw a person in need, and uplifted me today.

Days 2, 3, and 4:

Day two was better than day one. I had more energy and didn't go through the dizzy/lightheaded phase. Tonight we cheated and went to dinner with my parents to celebrate my birthday. I tried to order healthy; my stomach still struggled with the heavy food, even though we're only 1.5 days into this.

Day three had a nasty drink that I don't care to try again. It contained two beets, twelve radishes, kale, tomatoes, jalapeno, spinach, celery and carrots. It smelled like an earthy garden, and tasted just like it smelled. I successfully gagged it down, as fast as I could, while Tyler was not as lucky and couldn't keep any of it down. It was disgusting! Hopefully this drink won't reappear often.

Day four was fine, nothing to complain about. I actually enjoyed the juices made today. Grocery shopping had to be done today, as we are running low on a number of things. This time I didn't feel as silly stocking my cart with large numbers of vegetables. I did get a kick out of the cute, teenage, cashier that had to continue asking me what things were. Every time I answered she made the funniest face…sheer confusion mixed with humor. She was pretty funny.

Hopefully we can continue on this crazy juice reboost (can't say cleanse, Ty hates that word). So far I've dropped a few pounds, so has Ty, but my skin feels great! Really smooth and firm, everywhere.

Days 5, 6, 7 & 8 here we come!!

Day 1:

Today consisted of bakes apples for breakfast, green juice for 1st snack, salad with red onions tomato and avocado for lunch, carrot soup for 2nd snack, and as much salad I can eat for dinner.

 I feel very full. I hope I feel that way tomorrow.

I felt somewhat nauseated and light-headed earlier in the day, a common side effect of eating frequently (which I don't do). The worst meal of the day was the 1st snack. The juice was very leafy-tasting, both Ty and I chugged it down as fast as we could.

Ingredients for our green juice snack

Our awesome juicer. I wouldn't use anything else! It's been able to handle everything we've thrown at it so far.

 We both did weigh in's, out of curiosity, and I'm currently at -1 lb at the end of the night. Wahoo! Pretty minimal, but exciting none the less. Catch us again tomorrow, hopefully the optimism doesn't wear off.

Healthy, Healthy!

Welcome to the healthy version of the Starks. For the next two weeks Tyler and I will be consuming strictly fruits and veggies. Sounds fun! I plan to blog our journey, as I hope it will distract me from the yummy-ness that food is.

 So let me back up to a few weeks ago: Tyler and I started to notice how unhealthy we were being. We were becoming addicted to processed food, fast food, candy, everything that we shouldn't be eating. We considered doing a liver cleanse to detox our bodies, but I couldn't find one that looked doable (or that didn't require drinking some nasty drink). Luckily, Tyler stumbled upon a documentary about a juice re-boot called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead  , and we decided to do it.

 Prep Day 11/29: Today I compiled the grocery list for only the next four days. I was very concerned anything purchased after four days would go bad in the fridge. Anywhoo..After making my list I drove to the Walmart and started the process. It was so hard to keep from laughing out loud as I shopped the produce section. You will see why when you look at the list and pictures below. The funniest part was the produce worker at Walmart that watched me the entire time. I'm sure she was trying to figure out what in the heck I was doing as I loaded 13 cucumbers and 16 zucchini in my cart.

 Here's what I bought:
6 sweet potatoes
4 white onions
5 packages tomatoes (about 4 per pack)
4 cups green beans
1 grapefruit
4 oranges
1 mango
2 limes
2 pablano peppers
2 red peppers
10 beets
6 hearts romaine
14 apples raisins kale
12 cups spinach
13 cucumber
3 packs celery
2 ginger roots
5 avocado
3 red onion
36 carrots
2 cilantro bushels sprouts
3 heads broccoli
2 pineapples blackberries
6 kiwi
2 bananas
1 pear
5 cups mint leaves
8 cups parsley
2 jalapeno
24 radishes
1 lemon
4 leeks
16 zucchini
4 cups blueberries
32 strawberries
cherry tomatoes

This is only for FOUR DAYS, for TWO PEOPLE!!

 I was struggling to keep my giggles contained :)

 Here is what I noted during the process though: I have never shopped this way, which was a bad sign. I hardly missed any produce bins as I shopped this list. I noticed which veggies and fruit I missed, and I noticed the variety of color in my basket. I know I would never purchase strictly fruit and vegetables, and so I can not compare previous shopping trips to this one. However, I had never shopped this long in my produce section. I always skim by, quickly grabbing anything that looks good without any thought or planning. Maybe everyone else is different, I always fill out my shopping list by writing; "vegetables" and "fruit," nothing more. Shopping today I discovered I no longer want to shop this way. I have to plan for produce and shop accordingly, I hope today's experience breaks me of my cycle. 

Tomorrow should be interesting, and will be the hardest. Wish us luck!

I'm Back!

It has been YEARS since I have made a post! I generally enjoy posting and hope to keep your attention :)

 I imagine if you read about our family you know us well enough to know I am a therapist intern. I have been working with an amazing group at Wasatch Family Therapy in Salt Lake and Provo. It is an amazing thing to sit with someone and walk with them through their journey of pain and happiness. Most of the time we experience both pain and happiness through the relationships we cherish. I imagine some of you have felt a wide range of emotions with romantic relationships, familial relationships, and even professional relationships. I find that my energy is often recharged simply through interaction with people I love.

 Bella and Dannielle are the first and deepest resource for energy and happiness. This is a beautiful picture of Bella from Saturday afternoon. Bella soaked her shoes with the hose so we sent her inside to change into her flip-flops. And this Vogue model returned to entertain…

 
 Yes the boots are on the wrong feet and the pose is all natural, 100% Princess.




 
 I'm sure we will have to buy Bella glasses someday, but these are just loaners.

Hmmm, who does she look like?

 These two girls are quite the duo and keep me on my toes. We all have moments that are up and some that are down. Sometimes I am surprised at how difficult it can be to focus on the positive. I heard someone use the term "cyber-envy" this week and realized I had experienced that feeling. I see pictures or posts on Facebook, things on Pinterest and I find myself desiring a bigger house, nicer clothes, the ability to write with wit and proper grammar...I then close the screen and check back in to reality with a loving wife and and a daughter that believes I am the GREATEST man that has ever lived! Have any of you ever felt "cyber-envy"? How do you deal with it?

Spring is here!!

Spring is here and we are loving the warm weather!! Recently, Bella and I took a girl's day, out to Lagoon. Bella was unstoppable, and would frequently ask why were taking another break, don't worry I bought a lot of diet coke to get through the day. Bella is getting rather tall, and was able to go on a few of the adult rides. She was very disappointed, however, when she discovered she could not go on the white roller coaster, or screamer. Bella isn't aware of our planned trip to California later this year, but I'm excited that she will be able to go on everything she couldn't go on last August.

We had to lug around 8+ stuffed animals that the boys kept winning for Bella. I secretly think they were using her as an excuse to continue playing.

We even convinced Papa to go on a ride with us!

We had such a blast!!

Why is it always so hard...

I absolutely love getting onto other's blogs and checking in on them, but when it comes to updating my own it feels like such a chore! I need to update and give a synopsis of whats been going on at the Stark house:

NOVEMBER: We celebrated my Birthday, wahoo to getting old! Had Thanksgiving with my family, and starting getting into the hectic Christmas shopping fever.


DECEMBER: Feels like we shopped almost every night. So exhausting, and expensive. yikes! Bella was so fun to watch at her Christmas performance, Uncle Josh and Aunt Denise were able to come! And not only did we enjoy the tubing hill at Gorgoza on Christmas Eve, we also had a fantastic Christmas and were able to spend some low-key time at home for the first fews hours of the morning, and then made the rounds with both sides of the family as the day progressed.

School Christmas Program:

Christmas Morning:

Going tubing with mommy:

And daddy:


JANUARY: Tyler quit his job at his Dad's office, and started an internship at a Drug/Rehab facility in Heber. A new semester started, and both Ty and I went back to school. Ty is teaching two classes this semester at UVU, and I am going back to school at the U.

Making snow angels:


FEBRUARY: Bella turned 4 on the 14th, we had a few parties and she loved all the attention. Tyler started a second internship at a Marriage/Family center in Orem.

Birthday Princess:

Opening presents:

Birthday Cake:

Daddy Daughter Dance:



Although things have felt chaotic and messy, we savor our weekends and time together as a family at night. We try to relax every second we can, and can't wait for a few fun trips we have planned throughout the year!

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone. Bella decided to be Wendy (from Peter Pan), and asked daddy if he would be Peter Pan. Ty was up to the challenge. And even though he didn't wear tights, I thought he made a fantastic Peter. Mommy made a last minute decision to borrow a Tinker Bell costume to complete the theme. We tried forcing Chester to be Nana, but he wouldn't keep the sash on his head. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the whole family.

Bella also had a Halloween parade at school that Grandma, Nana and aunt Meag attended.

Breakfast with the Princesses

We decided while we were in Disney World we would shell out the money to go to breakfast at Cinderella's Castle, when in Rome... The food wasn't anything special, but Bella loved all the princesses that came to our table for a visit. And Tyler and I later realized that since we had seen all the princesses at once, we didn't have to stand in excessively long lines to meet these princesses...bonus!



For some reason Bella was acting shy around her "favorite princess." (I think her favorite princess changed almost daily during our vacation)

Disney World!!

At the end of August we had a wonderful, albeit hot and sticky, vacation in Florida. Bella loved the rides and meeting the princesses! We stayed at an awesome Marriott hotel, and hit all the parks during our stay. We went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot (mmmmm I'm still dreaming about the yummy french pastries we ate), Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and we were also able to squeeze in both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. We were tired often, and very warm, but we survived and had fun being together as a family.
Bella's wishing star - Breakfast at Cinderella's Castle

Animal Kingdom

Bella's pouty face



Riding Dumbo

Island Park

Whew, we are blasting through this summer at 100 mph!

At the beginning of July we took our annual trip with the Stark family and headed to Island Park, Idaho. This is my all-time favorite Stark family tradition. This year the weather was cooler, so we didn't bring the boat (bummer). Instead of spending days on the boat, we went into Yellowstone and visited Old Faithful. As a small child I remember it being more impressive. Hmmm.... I guess everything looked more impressive to me as a child. We were looking forward to seeing herds of Bison, but only saw one lonely bison. We almost missed him because he looked like a stationary rock.

Bella had a blast and we loved every minute we were at the cabin!! We can't wait for next year!


Old Faithful






Bella dancing on the dock, whilst singing to herself



Now that Island Park is behind us, we look forward to taking Bella to Disney World at the end of August!! Wahoo!! (I'm not sure who is more excited Bella, or me).

New York City

After an awesome trip to Cancun we hurried home to our Bells, and left her again the next week to go to New York City. This was our second time back to NYC. This time we stayed in Times Square, making walking distances from things so much better. We saw Mama Mia (I totally ate it up, and was probably singing Abba to myself for a few weeks), and Avenue Q. Tyler was a sport, and tried to get us tickets to Chicago. They were out by the time we got to the ticket counter :(

We visited a lot of Cathedrals. They were so beautiful and ornate, but lacking in any spirituality.





We were also able to visit with the Riley's, an old mission buddy of Tylers. And somewhere in the mix of all that we attended a bunch of dental meetings. Ya, we were working while we were there.

And did I mention, that Tyler is now best friends with Flava Flav? YEAH BOY!!

See ya in a week

Tyler and I are headed to Cancun for the week. We are both very excited to have a fun relaxing vacation. Don't even bother leaving comments about how jealous you are, I already know.

Long time. . .

Bella let me know this is our "Happy Family"





A typical Bella pose when asked to smile for the camera




By far my favorite picture!


Wow! It's been a long time since the last post! So I will do a quick update. . . .We had our family pictures done in the fall of 2010. I can't believe it had been two years since the last family picture. Isabella has changed so much, it's surreal. Christmas came and went too fast. We had a wonderful time with both our families and enjoyed almost every minute of the holiday craziness! Now as the winter progresses, we look forward to Bells third birthday. People keep telling me that threes are much worse than two, I hope they are all lying to me! Although Bella makes my life complete, it would seem she is testing every limitation possible these days. I hope the New Year is finding all of our friends well! We promise to come out of our cave more often and interact with others :) More posts coming soon. . . . I hope!

Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a blast trick-or-treating while the rain stalled for an hour. Bella decided to be Cinderella and Tyler was her prince charming. It was so funny to watch Bella this year. She was so excited she kept giggling to herself and yelling after Tyler, "hurry daddy prince" or "I'm coming daddy prince." Her excitement was contagious. I can't wait to see how she responds to Christmas this year (She's already pointing out things she wants Santa to bring her).

More posts to come as our house becomes re-organized (kitchen and bathroom ... done. now cleaning up the aftermath)


This was my costume at work, I was Marie Antoinette. Bella kept asking me why I wanted "owies" painted on my face and neck. Too cute!