It's amazing that I was standing in the same spot when I took this series of photos.
They all kinda look the same and yet are completely different, no?
There are elements within these photos that do not change.
The boy.
The ocean.
And the sky.
Showing up in exactly the same spots for each image.
What does that mean because the photos look all so completely different...
Something changes.
Movement. 
Delicately stepping into the water...
Curious.
Throwing his hands up to the sky...opening his heart up to the possibilities of his life, his dreams perhaps?
Movement.
The water pulls back...glass mirror reflection to the clouds and beyond.
Waves rush forward.
...and then back again.
Movement.
Clouds come and go.
Wispy, scattered...forming shapes of angels with receiving arms. Maybe?

Are we not amazed by all these elements and their simplicity? They don't do anything...except BE still and let the movement move through them.
Imagine the boy just stood there.
The waves ceased to crash and the sky stayed constantly blue.
I believe it's the constant flux of change through us that makes life so beautiful.
We don't ever have to DO anything except be ourselves.
Stillness is enough. And while it seems passive, is very forward moving...
We are as big and expansive as the sky and the ocean.
Without having to be something or somewhere other than what we already are.
I have to constantly be reminded of this myself, and probably why I'm so drawn to the ocean.
Nature.
Perhaps why anyone is.
The movement around us might be swirling gorgeous waves bringing shells to the shore or perhaps they're crashing...violent...taking from the shore the same shells in which the day before it gave to us.
The sky, cotton candy stretched clouds...
Can quickly saturate themselves...dark, frightening and angry.
Elated, dreaming, the boy is open to the world.
Sad, hurt and perhaps full of fear...he draws inward.
Life moves through all of us like the tide, the cloud, our feelings and emotions. Does our opinion change of the magnificent and marvelous because of these things?
The ocean at it's core, is still...the ocean.
The sky...and the boy.
Can you stand, in stillness...and just be you, while the world changes and moves around you?
Not always to your liking.
Can you pick up the shells the tide leaves and be just as grateful when it takes them back?
Can you find more space in your heart for love and your dreams in the moments of difficulty, pain and pure frustration?
Life IS movement...
If we can remember this, then nothing affects or changes who we truly are.

So I can stand in one spot...on the shore with my camera.
While some things change, others remain...the same.
Life is beautiful because of all of it.
loving you...
jodi renée xo

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Woooooo.
Took a little va-cay to Puerto Vallarta back at the end of Feb and stayed at the Dreams Villamagna.
So this is a tad overdue. Better late than never however! And I've split up the photos so stay tuned for the other half...
We wanted something chill and we wanted to be pampered. Thus we picked Puerto Vallarta and The Dreams resort.
Honestly, this was one of the best vacations I've ever had. From the company, to the location to the service, the food + drink...can we say unlimited room service?
We didn't know how good the food was at the restaurants because we didn't leave the room!
Fajitas became the foundation of my diet...
Nightly hot tubs on the patio.
Lazy drinking, eating and reading on the gorgeous pacific side beach. I finally finished the book Shantaram...
So now I'll need something new to read while on the beach in the Caribbean...in less than TWO WEEKS!!! Any recommendations?
Dreams Tulum...we can't wait!
And if you're a family or couple that is vacationing in the Tulum Mexico area end of the month (or know of anyone, please contact me!)
jodi renée xo

Here to debunk the myth that food and/or healthy eating is complicated.
It's not.
We are.
We like to make things complicated.
Mother nature gives us everything we need. For some reason, that's not enough AND...OR...we're too lazy to pull things together.
Seriously though? that's just a big fat excuse.
Slicing an avocado in half with a sprinkling of sea salt - mere seconds! And you're treating your body to some of the world's healthiest essential fatty acids.
Great on toast...great in salads! (below)
Tomato, cucumber, fresh basil with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and...avocado! You can add any other vegetables if you like and honestly, it doesn't get any fresher than this for a SIMPLE, healthy summer salad.
Maybe all of our taste buds need to reel it back a notch.
Too much extra STUFF, takes away from the already amazing flavours of food. All you need is simple extras to bring out what's already there - fresh herbs, sea salt, spices, lemon...lime...olive oil. That sorta thing.
Not hard at all...is it!
And a tip when eating avocado's:

1. It's still a fat! And contains a fair amount of protein. So this baby is best eaten with other veg and NOT mixed with other proteins (meat proteins especially). We want to be sure you're reaping the fab fat awesomeness and you're actually absorbing what you're eating (NOT stressin on digestin!)

In the spirit of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo I was going to post an easy and awesome Guacamole recipe. While NOT authentic Mexican...preeeety damn close! Stay tuned!
de nada! xo
jodi renée

Labels: avocado, food, health, healthy eating, recipe, salad

making way for miracles.
Bring yourself.
And all the love you can muster.
Lose your expectations, while losing yourselves.
Every minute is magic.
Birthing a miracle.
Surrender.
That they may make their way into this world.

Love, jodi renée
Thanks Marie and Jack! ...congrats and blessings to your new bundle of magic.

Labels: baby, life, lifestyle, Oakville, pregnancy, prenatel, spring

spring cleaning...day 13
98.5% sugar free.
Sipping on my no-coffee-allowed with no-cream allowed.
What's the point if you can't fall off the wagon once in awhile?? Or at least hang one leg off the wagon for a little part of the trek! exactly.
I snuck in some brownie samples too while buying my bushels of kale at the health food store.
Not just one or two brownie pieces. Like 5 maybe. Just to make a whole somewhat brownie.
(you know you do that too)
The thing is...
The slip ups don't really matter.
The commitment will supersede giving you flexibility to still enjoy life.
Did you notice I said BUSHELS of kale.
That's commitment, and as daunting as that uber green salad above looks. Dig IN, kale is so jacked with nutrients it kinda reigns as king for the Green World.
I made some changes to the recipe (not adding the sprouts, using lime because I had no lemon) and you can find the recipe HERE or in Kimberly Snyder's book The Beauty Detox Solution.

I remember doing yoga year's ago, when an instructor said the following that stuck with me...
"If if it doesn't feel good, then why are you doing it?"
Someone else reminded me of that the other day...
The point being? Not everything is going to work the same for everyone. And life's too short to be committing to so much without leaving little pockets for life's awesomeness to come and fill.
You still want to ENJOY what you're doing. Even if it's a cleanse.
When things don't feel good, change!
Implement what works for you. Listen to your body and let go of the rest.
There is an awful LOT of mixed and contradicting information out there - especially when it comes to health. Do what works for you...
The biggest part of success is:
being happy along the way!
xo
jodi renée

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Labels: cleanse, food, inspiration, personal

Just when you thought steel cut oats were great! (they're still a touch processed) along comes groats! Meet hulled buckwheat groats. About as close to nature as this grain gets! Half a cup in a bowl of water is pretty mandate for any grain. Sometimes 12-24 hours is recommended. Nuts and grains come protected with inhibitors that UNLESS you soak them and revive them, we'll...let's just say, it's preeeety hard on your digestive system. What you're not digesting, you're NOT absorbing. So if we want all the nifty nutrients from this feed...SOAK!

Probably in the last 6-8 months these 3 books were recommended to me. Awesome and easy reads. Necessary I believe too, especially for you women! We are so hard on our bodies and when it comes to taking care of ourselves...most often...we don't. Put YOU and your body first. Sure, get your sweet ass to the gym BUTT...inner beauty is an 'inside/outside' thing...and not the other way around. Often what ails us on the outside is actually coming from within. There is no beauty remedy or weight routine that is going to have you radiating like TRUE INNER HEALTH. Trust me...kinda why I took the hint with all these books and jumped on the cleanse wagon. ...I just wish the wagon could drive by a Crackbucks!

Notice how I blurred the massive congestion on my desk! Time for an environmental cleanse of the office. Funny how everything needs a little cleaning up?? Not so ironic. Our outer world reflects our inner world. Sometimes all we need is more...space. I really need loads more space. Maybe even a galaxy's worth...

To market to market...again. Cuz I just love it there. I just don't love the produce from Mexico. Nothing against Mexico or Mexican fruits...I'm just a fan of the LOCAL produce at the LOCAL market. And speaking of Mexico! ...ahhh vacay...or how about a workation!?! ariba! (insert sombrero, guac and laptop poolside HERE.) or here...or here.

My new (old) best friends. New cuz...well there's a lot of them in the fridge now, every day...what seems like ALL THE TIME. They've always been a staple in my food frenzy though. Eating as close to nature as possible.

Prep makes everything easier, I swear! So these vivacious vegetables are all washed and ready (almost) to go! Just chop chop!

Probably the best organic turkey chili I have ever made...or eaten. And I'm totally biased. And I'm still telling you the truth. Now for ethical reasons, I try not to consume a lot of 'animal'...and on this diet, well...consuming enough calories is pretty tough. There is also some debate on 'Eating Animals' - I try to educate myself as much as possible. I bought this at a local farm from the market, hormone + antibiotic free. Really just brown some onions and garlic in olive oil...toss in all the market veg, add turkey, then add spices (cumin, cayenne, paprika, chili, oregano and salt and pepper)...organic tomato paste and stewed tomatoes. Fresh coriander and if you feel up to it, kidney beans.

yep...all of this into the ol juicer. Kale, cucumber, celery and ginger. ALL GREEN. I'm not allowed any sugar and this even means no fruit. Feel sorry for me please do...it actually didn't get bad until yesterday when I almost made a scene at the grocery store. I'm sure at some point I was salivating, looking like a crazy person. Willpower entered gracefully as I reached for baby carrots and pumpkin seed nut butter to: dip. them. in. (insert stone face because that's about as exciting as...carrots dipped in pumpkin seed nut butter.)...

Seriously what's the deal with green juice? alright...we wake up after a long night of fasting. And the only time your body gets to 'clean up' is when it's not doing any work - aka digesting. So often in the morning we slam our systems with yep, foods that slow down the system! Coffee included (whilst stimulating to start)...think of the cereals and big breakfasts society sacks down and wonders why they need a pick-me-up by noon! Not to mention this is all ACID forming foods (along with dairy, processed foods, sugar, caffeine, alcohol...) To ensure radiant beauty and longevity we might wanna try incorporating ALKALINE forming foods first (and as much as possible) into our morning routines. Nature, ironically enough, makes everything preeeety damn perfect. Giving us EVERYTHING we need. So I mix things up sometimes having the barn feed (groats) first or sometimes doing the green thang... green is better jus sayin. I hear it all the time. Which adds to my own frustration. I'm the healthiest person you know! that I know... I make a real conscious effort of taking care of my health, my body and myself because...well. What else is there? Health is the only real ticket. And yet...I've suffered from pesky 'ailments' for YEARS, and years and years. Chronic. So my passion stems from (at one point 'fixing' myself) to now just bringing myself into 'wholeness'... Nourishment, I've realized over the last year especially, comes from what you're truly doing to feed YOU. On every level. And if it's toxic... Even if it's fun for a while. A quick fix, or relationship. A burger or a bad work environment. It all adds up. We clean our homes, our cars...everything requires a really good cleaning every so often. So why would the body be any different. IN FACT. We actually clean that stuff MORE than our bodies, which is well...kinda gross. With all the stuff we consume, we'd hope that MOST of it comes out...and does. Yet your intestinal walls are tissues. I hate to break it to ya...but not EVERYTHING comes out. And often the worst stuff...stays in. So think of a garbage can, never taking the lid off and just a compiling a lot of shit...literally. Grossed out? Good! I could get nittier and grittier here but I'll leave it for now. ...alot more I wanted to write and well, I battle with falling asleep at the keyboard here. I think I've had one good day out of 6 and today wouldn't be it. Impatience is trying to get the best of me (as usual) AND I will not seek to rush this process. I'm committed, honouring where I'm at and what my body is going through. If I can shed a bit of info or inspiration along the way then... That's kinda why I'm here :) It's so irritating how much I want coffee. I even sniffed the bag of fresh grounds for waaaay too long. ...if I can do this, so can you! going to try to squeeze in some late night yoga...goodnight love, jodi renée Following me on Facebook?? why the heck not!?

Labels: cleanse, detox, food, personal