Cleansing and Greening Our New Home

Wow, where does the time go??  Steven and I moved this past Saturday and the last couple weeks feel like a blur :).  We are finally in our new home and loving it!  Lots to do though.... our home is older and in need of a bit of TLC.  Some may find this daunting, but for me, at this time in my life, it's fun and a great outlet to let my creativity flow :).

Before we moved into our lovely abode :), I decided to smudge the space with sage.  Sage is an herb that was considered one of the most important medicinal herbs of Medeival Europe.  It has a broad range of properties including being antiseptic and anti-inflamatory.  Due to its various uses, it was not common to find a garden in this time period without this lovely herb.  Sage and smudging has also long been an important part of spirituality to many Native American tribes.  In magick, sage has many properties and is often used to cleanse and purify.  Some other uses are protection, prosperity, fertility, and healing.  I love the smell of this herb and use it on occasion to cleanse crystals, although I prefer moonlight, sunlight and using my own energy flow for this task.  Just be sure to unplug your smoke detectors before smudging!! ;) 

One major obstacle to feeling settled was the project of painting our bedroom.  At our last home, things never felt right to me and I delayed making it feel like "us" because I didn't really want to stay there.  Well, we really wanted to make this place feel like home, so we decided to paint the master bedroom, which was a dark yellow that resembled... well lets just say a type of stain ;).  So what does an earth loving, raw food eating goddess do when it comes to paint??  Go greeeeeen of course!  I researched all the eco paints out there and decided on clay based paint from Green Planet Paints.  The paint is fantastic!  I feel my hubby is safe painting away and not breathing in potent and harmful chemicals.  No typical paint odor as well.  The only complaint my husband had was that his hands got really dried out from the clay.  Yea, he did all the painting :).... What a great guy, huh?  I LOVE the color...... but since we opted for a much lighter one than the original it took several coats.  Then my hubby decided he wanted to paint the trim and ceiling as well.  There is charming trim around many windows and closets in our room so it became quite the project and needed to be finished after we moved.  Needless to say, things are just now starting to come together.  It's all worth it to have a room that feels soooo good though!

As for the rest of our little eco paradise :), we purchased a hemp shower curtain and bath mat from Rawganique.  The curtain has been working wonderfully!  Hemp is perfect for this use because it is naturally antimicrobial and antibacterial.  Did you know PVC (plastic) shower curtains out gas 108 different chemicals within the first 28 days of use?!  They continue to outgas for a very long time.  Check out more info. at rawganique.com.   We also have two air filters, which I believe are essential to a healthy home.  Lots of plants are amazing as well at keeping the air in your home clean and free of toxins.... well as much as possible in our world.  We brought along our little green friends and when things get more situated I am going to get some philodendrons and chrysanthemums, which are known for their air filtering abilities.  Spider plants are also great for this purpose.  We have our amazing crystal energies in the new home as well, and you can feel the healing and loving vibes they emit...... loooove them, such a gift from mama earth :).

The first thing I did with moving in was set up our raw kitchen!  We got a couple more items from Seed to make the transition easy and I made yummy, healthy, and easy foods all week to keep me going.  Here's what I ate today ~

12 oz of fresh squeezed orange juice... ahhhh liquid sunshine

Some raspberries

Geeeeeen Smoothie - collard, banana, raspberry, mango, maca, MSM, and Greener Grasses powder

Romaine Boats of yumminess ;)... filled with avocado, lambs quarter, raw olives, sweet onion, hemp seeds and sprouts.

Coconut water and tahini shake - with raw vanilla powder, carob and one banana

Things are definitely moving along and I am so excited for the changes and shifts taking place in my life.  I wish you all many blessings as your own journeys unfold.  Here's to the magic and renewal that spring brings forth!  Cheers :).

In Love and Light ~

Cassie

Changes and Shifting ;)

This last month has been crazy! My hubby and I are moving and things in my life have been shifting and changing very rapidly. Due to these changes in my life and the speed at which they are occurring, I was beginning to feel the blogging format may not be the best platform for me at this time. I am definitely creating a website as well, but I decided to update the blog in the meantime and feel out if it’s a good fit right now :).

Sooooo, Steven and I are moving to Sonoma. Just a town over from Napa, but it’s a completely different vibe. The place we live right now has not felt right to me from the time we moved in. It’s a three story building, with long narrow hallways and LOTS of stark white walls and vaulted ceilings. It has a very cold, contemporary feel… not my style. I have been manifesting for over a year and half now the perfect place to really facilitate healing, growth and happiness. My hubby and I have gone back and forth with the thought of buying vs. renting (we even almost bought one home), but have decided to continue renting… one of the main reasons is that we don’t know how long we will stay in this area. We have a list of places we would love to experience living in.

We are so excited to move into our new home! It’s walking distance from the town square of Sonoma on this adorable street full of character and charm. I love that this particular area has lots of mature trees and is surrounded by the beauty of the valley… not like those stark suburban streets in which every home looks the same. Our new home in particular is very greeeeen :). It has a living fence of sorts and lots of mature, beautiful trees in the front and backyard. Lots of space for our two dogs as well! The home is older, which I actually really like as it has charm that newer homes often lack. It has lots of windows and a huge sky light in the living room. As I look out the windows I feel secluded in our own little forest….love it! Being in nature is soooo balancing to me, so that was a huge priority for finding a new home. I need to feel connected to nature!  We also got the AMAZING amethyst pictured above to commemorate our new home and bring lots of magical energy into our new space :).

Amidst all the moving, many changes have occurred! I was certified in Reiki 1 and 2, by the lovely Laura Bruno. Laura is a Reiki Master Teacher, author and Intuitive Coach. She has been such an inspiration and guiding force for me. She has become my friend and mentor and it was such a blessing receiving this healing gift from her. She is very wise :). Reiki is a technique of energy healing. It can be performed at a distance or in person, by “laying on hands.” The word Reiki translates to mean, “spiritually guided life force energy.” I can attest that this healing gift promotes relaxation, yet is powerful and beautiful in its effects. The class and experience were so transformative to me, that I plan to take Reki 3 as well and become a Master Teacher myself :). I plan to incorporate this healing gift into my practice to help others on many levels and it is a fantastic tool for my everyday life, my own healing journey and my animal companions. The applications for Reiki are endless, as it is effective for all spectrums of imbalance. Physical illness, emotional imbalances, side effects from other healing or medical therapies, all of these can benefit from Reiki.

Speaking of my little ones :), I thought I would also mention my dogs and my cat, as my dogs particularly have been getting a lot of attention and questions from fellow raw foodies! Many have wanted to know what I feed them, since they are raw. Many have wanted to know about them in general since it’s not every day you see a Miniature Husky!

My dogs are Alaskan Klee Kais. They are of northern descent and are miniature Alaskan Huskys. We feed all our pets Primal... a brand you can get at Whole Foods and other health food stores. It is in the frozen section and consists of all raw, organic veggies, fruits, roots, bones, and meats. It mimics a dog’s/cat’s diet in the wild :). The organic meat is the part of the animal they eat in the wild (liver, kidney, etc.... not all muscle...which is a food primarily for scavengers :) They LOVE it!!! Go crazy for it! The ratio for cats is more meat then the dog food. Dogs are omnivores, not carnivores, so they require less animal protein and many dogs have even been known to thrive on a vegan diet if done carefully, with knowledge and supplements. I also give them whole food supplements/super foods. They get Olive Leaf, Echinacea, E3 Live and flax oil. We rotate the Echinacea every other week. They are thriving. They also chew on sun dried bones only and eat whatever my hubby and I are eating :). They love all fruits and greeeens :). They often eat the stems/spines of whatever green I am putting in my green smoothie. Some favorites are kale, red leaf and romaine, collards and chard... oh and they LOVE celery! Malachi, the black and white male, used to have this coughing problem where his throat would get really irritated. He would "hack", and I thought he may have asthma. He also used to get dandruff... no more problems for him though! Completely healthy boy :). When we transitioned our little girl she went through this phase where she smelled really bad, lol. Now she smells sweet….. they all do! No doggie odor over here, lol.

I’m sure there are many out there wondering what I eat. I thought the best way to answer this is to post my food intake for a while. My eating habits this week have been a bit different. Because of the move, hubby and I decided to make things really easy on our selves and picked up a take away box of yummy delights from Seed in Santa Rosa. I am normally very simple with my eating… basing it on green juice, smoothies and salads, but this week there are more extravagant foods in my diet! So here you go! A day in my world of food choices :):

Morning greeeeeen juice – celery, apple, jerusalem artichoke, dandelion greens, romaine

Green Smoothie – peach, cherry, banana, kale, maca,
I blend these two in after by hand. They are very sensitive to heat and the blades of the blender - MSM, probotics

Slice of raw broccoli quiche from Seed….soooooooo good!!!

Avocado salad with micro greens and golden squash – delicious dressing based with RAW coconut vinegar

I get a lot of questions that I think I will address in this blog instead of answering everything individually. I hope I answered some of your questions today and I am always open to more!

In Love and Light ~
Cassie