Fires Rage Near Home

Almost a year since the Waldo Canyon Fire, our city is once again beseiged by a fire, this time on the east side of town. The Black Forest fire (#blackforestfire) is the closest to us, about 15 miles from where we live. We are very likely out of danger this time. However, we know people that may have lost homes and had to be evacuated from the area. For perspective, the fire has scorched the place where we had our wedding.

There is one other big fire about 45 minutes south of us in the Royal Gorge area. We can see the smoke of that fire from where we live. It is also reported that there are at least 3 other smaller fires across the state.

Saturdays Outdoors in the Summer and Autumn

If it's not raining or snowing or windy, I endeavor to get outdoors every Saturday morning. Not exactly a new tradition, but it's something I do in the summer and fall each year I can. Around here, there is plenty to do: hiking, biking, rock-climbing, camping, fishing, to mention but a few. There is basically no excuse to not get out and do something.

Yesterday saw me do the very short Mt. Culter Hiking Trail (1 mile and 1200ft elevation, very family-friendly) in Cheyenne Canyon, as well as a drive along Gold Camp off-road on my way back. It was a beautiful morning for it.

Fitness for One Month (Results)

For May, we had decided to be serious about fitness for one month (wrote about it here). In brief, we would work out, get outdoors for some physical activities, and juice one meal. While we didn't fail at these goals, the project didn't succeed completely. By the end of the month, we had given up on some aspects of it.

We worked out, juiced, and hiked as planned, but not consistently. Sickness befell us after two weeks, some kind of cold. Juicing became too expensive for our budget that we decided to exclude it for the rest of the month. And by the end of the month, the busyness and stress from other daily obligations made me decide to quit the workouts (she continued to the end). Those were the challenges.

On the plus side: we continue to work out regularly (more her than me), have seen an uptick in fitness, shall continue juicing on a smaller scale, and plan to get outdoors as much as possible. In fact, I used this month to jump-start the summer habit I call "Saturday Mornings Outdoors" (mostly hiking area trails around the city and beyond or doing the incline).

The takeaway is that these activities can be part of our lifestyle if we want them to. And we plan to incorporate them as much as possible.

Moving In 14 Months?

How about this for way-advance planning? We recently signed another lease to stay in our current apartment until July 2014. This gives us enough time to decide where to move, and what kind of residence to live in next. Shall it be our own home, a house rental, a condo or town home, or another apartment home? Our ultimate goal is obviously to own a home (mortgage), but we will consider all options in light of life events and our financial situation over the next year.

We love our current apartment (except for the parking situation and questionable billing models), but we realize that the more we settle, the more space we seem to need. By all accounts, all our plans call for a more permanent and larger place somewhere around town. And at our current rent payments, we can definitely afford a mortgage. Especially about home owning, the excitement and anticipation is brewing.

Nutritional Adjustment

The disclaimer is that we are not becoming vegetarians, but we recognize that processed and genetically-modified foods are not good for us. So we are on a sure nutritional adjustment towards whole and natural foods. In this arena, farmers markets and local foods are the talk, along with juicing and raw food diets (still skeptical about these diets). Our goal is to have nutritionally balanced food for healthier lives and fewer illnesses.

So we are starting with juicing, replacing one regular meal with a juiced drink. Breakfast didn't quite work, but lunch has seemed to work well as a replacement. To meet the daily caloric requirements of our busy lives, we beef up breakfast, daytime snacks, and dinner to cover what the juicing does not (obviously). Two weeks in, I haven't felt much difference in energy and mood, perhaps because our juicing is not yet targeted. But I've noticed that I can focus longer on my usual tasks and my skin is rejuvenated. I also have a crazy craving for french fries.

Over the last couple of weeks, we also wanted to know how much this adjustment might cost. So far, $60 worth of fruits and vegetables is estimated to make enough juice that would last us about 2 weeks. The time commitment is less than an hour to make a batch that can last a week (certainly depends on how good your juicer is and how much time is required to prepare the ingredients). I think a $30/week for one hour commitment to juicing will be worth it in the long run.

We'll still do meats and diary but in moderation. We still love chicken, steak, fish, eggs, and milk. If we can find organic or farm-raised varieties, that's what we'll get, even if they might be slightly more expensive. We'll also still do other crazy recipes in our cooking experiments.