Upcoming Event

I was given tickets to the above event by the BEST CHEF EVER!! I am so excited to go and taste all the delicious food/wine from the area. 

Review to come :)

I love good music. Especially when it's free.

Love & War & The Sea In Between is the newest album from Josh Garrels. It's lyrically fantastic. Click on the album cover above to get to his website where you can download the ALBUM FOR FREE. 

Here are the lyrics to one of the songs:

"Revelator"

Had a dream I was alone
A vast expanse of complete unknown
Sea of glass so clear it shown,
Like gold
Then a voice like thunder clapped,
As a dead man I collapsed
I am the first, I am the last,
Now rise my son

Then behold ten thousand kings,
And every creature worshipping
Every eye was on one thing,
One man
He’s like a lion like a lamb,
As though slain he holds the plan
To make war and peace with man,
And reign on earth

Holy, Holy, is the One,
Who was and is, and is to come
In a robe as red as blood,
He comes forth
Ride like lightning in the sky,
Upon the war horse he draws nigh,
The same one we crucified,
Will come again

Top 5 places to eat in NYC...by Alec Baldwin

This is in honor of my new found love for 30 Rock. I have enjoyed Alec since I started watching the show and after reading Bossypants. If you want to go to the original site where I read this article just click on his picture.

Always-Good-Never-Had-A-Bad-Meal

Nougatine (One Central Park West) – “The food, the room, the music. All relaxing and very good.”

Rice and Beans and Sweet Plantains

La Caridad (588 Amsterdam Ave.) – “A countertop joint on the Upper Westside. When you want to…you know….eat.”

Place To Watch Interesting People While Eating Food That Is Actually Good

Via Quadronno (25 E. 73rd St.) – “Get the Tuna Affumicato and arugula salad. Also, the best vegetable puree soup in NY.”

Place To Blow It Out for a Ridiculously High Calorie Meal

Barney Greengrass (541 Amsterdam Ave.) – “Mushroom onion omelette, nova platter, bialy, veggie cream cheese, cream soda. Then take a nap. Then run 12 miles.”

Pizza

Serafina (1022 Madison Ave.) – “Believe it or not, the pizza at Serafina on Madison and 79th is excellent.”

Bonus

“Sushi at Kanoyama at Second Avenue and East 11th Street. The frozen yogurt with berries at Cafe Lalo is still the best in NY. Place to eat healthy while thinking unhealthy thoughts: dine on anything at Pure Food and Wine and stare at Sarma Melngailis all night. Still great after all these years? The atmosphere at Cafe Luxembourg.”

the journey...so far.

In my previous entry I explained how I'm in a season where I get to concentrate on my physical health. Below is a list of tools I've used to help me stay focused thus far :)

1. The Fat Smash Diet: I started with this book, I didn't finish it, but it was a great way to kick start my journey to a smaller version of me. I liked it because it gave you a list of what you could eat and how much of it and I got to be creative about how I ate what I ate. I coupled this with about 30-50 minutes of working out 5 times a week.

2. P90X: I started doing P90X when I moved in with Kelley Gurley in Charlotte, NC in February of 2010. I liked P90X a lot because it worked on every muscle of my body, and then some! I also did not finish it, but did it for two months, which is pretty awesome!

3. Running: I started running and keeping up with runners around August of 2010. It was an easy way to burn some calories and push my body farther. I stopped watching my intake as much as I had in the past and I just focused on running, further and further. I ran my first 5K in October in Riverhead, then I ran my first 8K on Thanskgiving in Charlotte, NC.

4. Chris Cuddihy: Since I've moved to Southampton, I've been attending (and now working at) Grace Presbyterian Church. Where I met Chris. He is crazy! I love him and his family and they have been a great joy for me! In February (after a few months where I did not work out or eat that well), Chris offered to train me at his house. "It will be twelve weeks long, and you will have to do everything I tell you." That's what he said to me one Sunday morning right before communion. I told him that I was in. I had no idea what I was in for.

Working out with Chris was AWESOME for me. His workout plan changed very regularly, which I really like. He pushed me in ways I didn't know I could be pushed, but he also knew when I needed a break. He's still helping me get fitter but with the summer at hand, I haven't been going to work out with him as ofter.

Lose it!: I got to a point in my journey where I was working out regularly, and hard, but not losing weight. Chris told me I was eating too much, I told him he was wrong. Turns out he was right...dang it! This website helped me log all of my calories and it also calculated how many I needed to take in if I wanted to lose weight. It's fantastic, I still use it...and yes, there's an app for that.

The Eat Clean Diet: One thing that has been SUPER helpful for me is hearing other people's stories of success, and the way I do that is through magazines like Runner's World and Women's Health and Oxygen. I was reading Oxygen a few months ago and kept reading about the Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. So I bought her book. The gist of it is that you eat five to six meals a day and you combine complex carbs (fruits, veggies) with lean protein. I like it, I think it works and it lead me to use no more sugar in my coffee. I've come to a point where I actually enjoy my coffee with just milk, which has just as many calories but it has protein, and calcium, which sugar doesn't.

Insanity: My friend Meghan Greenslit started doing a blog to keep her readers updated on her journey through Insanity, which is a kick butt workout similar to P90X but tougher and shorter.

I love it.

I love it because it's shorter and it works you HARD. I started doing it on Monday and am currently on day 5. I got to increase my calorie intake and I feel great! This works for me, we'll see if I finish :)

Family Competition: It's always more fun to add a little competition to our lives, isn't it? Well my family thinks so :) On May 16th we began a competition in my family to see who could lose the most amount (percentage) of weight in three months. Every week we have a weigh in and I've been keeping up with the losses. It's been awesome! The winner gets the money - everyone put in $35.

So that is where I am today. I'm doing Insanity, eating complex carbs and lean protein while drinking sugar-less coffee and trying to win the money pot from my family! Oh, and I'm also 55 lbs. lighter ;)

Peace and Love.

Here's a before and after shot: Left is October 2009 and right is June 2011

Transformation

I was looking through my blog and came across one titled "Detox: Day 1" that I wrote back in November 3, 2009. That's when I decided that I needed to start focusing on my physical health and I started following a book called "The Fat Smash Diet." 

Today I was thinking about how far I've come nutritionally and physically and how much I've learned. I was disappointed in myself for not keeping some sort of journal about it. So you could say that this is my attempt to update my electronic journal on my journey.

So if you fast forward to today, June 10, 2011 (19 months later). I can run faster, work out harder and wear pants that are four sizes smaller! 

I've learned so much about the connectivity of the physical body and the spiritual body. There's something absolutely fantastic about pushing yourself, physically, to places you did not think you were able! When I saw what my body was able to do, I was very surprised!

I'll do another post that will be the run through of all the things I've done so far to shock my body so it will keep losing weight and working hard.

In order for me to reach my goal I still have a ways to go, but when I look at where I came from I can't help but be utterly dismayed.

A lighter version of me.

A "Normal" Night

So, I have been living in Long Island now since March of this year. Since I've been out here I've gotten to enjoy some very unusually unique nights. Tonight was one of those.
After prayer last night a couple of us began talking about what we were doing this week. One of my friends invited me to dinner at a restaurant and then my pastor invited me to an event that a radio station was hosting to thank some members of the community. Before we knew it we had combined the events and increased our group size to eight.
It started with a open bar and appetizer night with an awesome band at the Muse. This band was fantastic and we could have stayed all night, but we left and made our way to our second destination.
At Pierres we had a live band singing Christmas music and absolutely fantastic food! We were the last ones out the door and I have to admit, the funnest table.
All in all, the night was an absolute joy and a great way to spend a Tuesday night.

Another one bites the dust...

This weekend I got to be a part of another one of my sweet friends getting married. Renee Head...I mean...Renee Miller.

It's always an amazing opportunity to stand beside a couple as they commit to love each other until death do them part. This past weekend was full of joy and laughter as we celebrated the union that God has created between Ben and Renee Miller.

Below is a picture of me, Renee and Brandi at Renee's bachelorette party.

Detox: day NINE

Today was the last day of my detox! Its over! It feels weird though that its over...there were some things I really enjoyed. Like knowing what I was gonna be eating and having a small list of thinsg to chose from made my choices easier.

I can have coffee tomorrow but I don't even know if I want it...now I don't miss it anymore - weird.

I'll write more later, I'm really tired, but it feels cool to have finished it!

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Detox: day eight

Wow, I'm almost done! Today was totally fine...I didn't have a headache, I had a delicious lunch of sweet potatoes, along with some veggies.

I went to the gym though and had a pretty hard workout and then I met someone afterwards for dinner and only had a small salad and some fruit - boo! I was still really hungry but I didn't get home till way later. Can't be doing that again!

Tomorrow...LAST DAY! Here we go!

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Detox: day six and seven

I have not written about day six and seven - which were yesterday and the day before.
On Sunday, I went to Sunday school and the church. I had a pretty bad headache and I almost had a cup of coffee while I was there because I couldn't take it, but I was able to push through! I thought "I really need caffeine." Turns out I really needed some sleep!
Yesterday was great! I had a meeting in the morning and I took snacks because I knew I'd get hungry. It was at a coffee shop and I ended up not wanting any of their delicious desserts. I also ate out for the first time - had a salad and a cup of fruit. It was great!
On to day eight today...

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Detox: day five

Over halfway done!
I've noticed that I have not been as hungry as I was in the beginning of this process. I also noticed that I am craving veggies more and more. Tonight for dinner I had a sweet potato - I cut them into circles, put them on a pan with some olive oil and salt. They were delicious! I had some beans to go with it but I wish I had some colorful veggies too, I missed them tonight.
I also had a frozen banana for dessert and it was very tasty - who knew?
On to day six...

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Detox: day four

It hasn't necessarily been hard today, I've gotten more used to what I'm eating, but for some reason I've been craving more sugar (desserts) and burgers today.
I really wanted to just cheat and eat whatever I wanted but I didn't...just wanna have a big glass of a sweet delicious drink - like coke, yum!!

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Detox: day three

So I woke up today and wasn't really hungry, so I didn't eat anything right away. I eventually had to leave though because I had a meeting, and I normally would have just left and then when I did get hungry I would have picked something up somewhere. Since I knew I wouldn't really be able to eat anything I had to eat at my house before I left. This is really good for me. To make myself plan better.

I still had a bit of a headache today because of the different things I'm eating and because of not having caffeine.

Yesterday i was making something to eat and I was gonna make rice but was craving veggies! That was fun! I haven't had this craving for veggies in a long time - I like that!

One thing I've learned is that I eat to not be hungry anymore, versus eating to provide myself with nutrition. I've had to cook a lot more since I have to make veggies and it's been delicious!

That's all for now.

Thank you Suntrust, for the reminder.

So yesterday, when I got home I noticed that I had received the usual mail. I had a letter from my bank offering me some "amazing deal" that I quickly threw away, along with a newspaper from this area with some coupons inside. And then I had another letter from a bank that I don't do business with, which I decided I should open.

It was from Suntrust and when I opened it there was one of those fake checks inside. This is what the letter said that went with it:

"Dear Adriana Pariz,
Your friends at Suntrust would like to congratulate you on your WEDDING. We know it's an exciting time as you start a NEW LIFE and plan a future TOGETHER. Now's the time to combine your earning power in a JOINT ACCOUNT."

Wow, I learned so many things in just three sentences: 1. I'm married, who knew? 2. I missed my own wedding. And 3. This is an exciting time in my life.

Thank you Suntrust, for the reminder that I'm single and the only joint account I have is with myself. Should I still claim the $100 gift?

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Detox: day two

So I woke up today and I wasn't hungry, which I thought I would be. I did have a small, lingering, headache. I guess its from not having caffeine and very little sugar. I think after one day I've already started to realize that my sugar intake (from drinks as well as carbs) is normally really high!
I had some fruit and oatmeal for breakfast and some almonds and a hot tea, that was yummy!
Last night I talked to Amy Alexander and told her about the detox. She used a few words like irritbale and tired and hungry to describe what she thinks she would be like if she were to eat what I'm eating and not eat what I'm not eating. She is right, along with some other ones like not focused, and light headed. Its really interesting to see how addicted my body is to foods that I unconsciously put in my system.
Well, here we go day two!

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Detox: day one continue

So I really miss coffee and feel like I can't focus, but I'm also learning that I don't plan my days well in terms of eating. I usually eat at my house if I'm there, but if I'm not there then I eat wherever I am - bad plan!
One take away from today: I have to plan better if I wanna eat well!

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Detox: Day 1

So I'm doing a nine day detox from junk. During these nine days you eat fruits, vegetables, beans, brown rice, yogurt, and a number of other things.
Here are a couple of things you can't have: COFFEE, bread (any kind), pasta (any kind), white potatoes, sugar, soda, meats (chicken, turkey, beef), etc.
So today is day one. I miss my coffee. I have a little headache from not having caffeine and I feel like I can't focus on anything. I haven't been home and didn't think through the fact that I have no snack foods with me, so right now I'm really hungry and feel light headed. Haha, this will be an interesting 9 days...

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The Seed

I am currently doing the Tim Keller study on Mark and today I'm reading Mark 4:3-9 and this is what TK says about the Kingdom of God:

"Jesus' kingdom will conquer through love and service, not force, through sweet persuasion, not coercion, and it will prodice loving obedience, not slavery, and therefore it will transform completely, not superficially. Jesus' kingdom is more like a seed on the heart than a boulder on the head. The boulder smashes from the outside, the seed penetrates to the inside. The entry of a seed is the most gentle of procedures."

I just love the reality of the kingdom of Jesus. He is patient and loving and I need that!
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why my weekend was marvelous

Saturday:
So, we had a retreat this weekend in Lynchburg with students from Radford, Virginia Tech and Lynchburg schools. The theme of the retreat was "The Pursuit" and Joe Naramore was the speaker. We stayed at a place called Eagle Eyrie, it's a retreat center in Lynchburg and it's beautiful - mountains everywhere!

On Saturday we played a game of "Amazing Race." Students had to figure out a clue and go to a station where they would get a task (or a question), which they had to complete before getting their next clue. I was station #3 and the task they received from me was to take a picture of four different fire hydrants and bring it back to me so they could get their next clue.

After the game a couple of us went apple picking! I had never done that before but it was AWESOME! I didn't really want a lot of apples, but when I saw a beautiful one, I just had to get it...so I left with a bag full of them!

Sunday:

After hearing an awesome message from Matt Bradner at Rivermont EPC, I left Lynchburg and drove to Charlotte, NC. I got here around 5pm and was exhausted, but I really wanted to go to Christ Covenant to see some of my friends who were visiting from South Africa - so I went.

MY HEART WAS SO FULL OF JOY as I began to see all these faces of people that I love so much that I haven't seen in so long.

I got to see Jamie Smith, who has been on staff with CO for 16 years and who I just loved being with while I was in South Africa. I got to see Haley Miedema who is a dear friend of mine and her baby Abby, and Brandon Paschal who I went to school with and who is a great brother in the Lord. I got to see Joel, Michelle and Christy, who I went to South Africa with years ago. I saw Neal Gooch and his wife and Tim Byrd and his BRAND NEW wife. I saw a lot of the staff that I haven't seen in a long time and that overflowed my heart as well! Every time I saw someone else, that I haven't seen in a while, I just got even more excited!! I kept thinking "Lord, what a privilege I've had to serve alongside these men and women whom I feel so honored to know." It was hard to leave, I feel like I could have stayed for a week in that room loving on people and getting loved by them! Which led me to think: Heaven is going to be UNBELIEVABLE! I will see so many people that I will want to be around and talk with and hug and listen to their stories, no wonder its eternity, it will take us YEARS AND YEARS to just catch up with people and to hear their stories!

My heart is full! What a great weekend!

What happens in bible study...

Tonight at bible study I gave away prizes for memorizing scripture. Natalie won these you see pictured. They are "grow in the water capsule monsters."

She decided to stick hers in her mouth.

Turns out your saliva works just as well as warm water, for those of you wandering.

But please, don't try it at home :)

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