I hope that you have enjoyed the changing winds this weekend! We have begun to feel the first spritz of Fall this weekend, and although it was hot, it was simply beautiful outside! I cannot believe we are so close to celebrating Rawfully Organic’s third year of abundance! To celebrate, we will be adding our first day at the Houston Arboretum on Tuesday, October 5^th! We have just added the option to start reserving your box online for that Tuesday! Go for it! The Houston Arboretum will also be holding many events in October like the ArBOOretum, in which they have asked us to participate! Check out their events here!

With school starting and summer ending, so many seem to be crazy-busy. We sometimes may put ourselves on the back burner, and we forget to put ourselves first. This is a time when we have to ask ourselves: “Am I nourishing my soul?”

There are so many ways to nourish yourself that go far beyond eating the perfect diet. Sure, eating raw makes life flow more smoothly, and it keeps you running and functioning at your absolute best. But do you take time for yourself to sleep, to read, to eat, to laugh, and to enjoy simple, quiet moments?

As I was speaking with a fellow co-operator this Saturday, she mentioned to me that coming to co-op nourishes her soul. She said that when she first joined the co-op, she came because of the delicious, abundant food. Now, she comes for community, volunteering, enlightenment, and joy. She quotes that there is a difference between picking up your food at co-op and picking up your food at the grocery store. She said that when she picks up from co-op, she feels like she is taking care of herself—she feels nourished and soiled to the earth and to the community. She also states that when she comes, she makes a bigger effort to eat healthier and to get through her box. This act keeps her dedicated to healthy living. She feels good about herself, and she feels nourished.

This got me thinking about how we all truly nourish ourselves. We are responsible for our own personal and physical growth. Growing up, I was always taught that it is wrong to put yourself first in any circumstance. However, now that I am an adult, I have learned that there is only one way to help others: that is to put yourself first. If you are not healthy and cannot take care of yourself, how can you help others? What kind of an example does that set? By helping yourself, you are also helping others. The best way to help others is to live as an example. Live as an example, and when necessary, use words. Therefore, make yourself the best person that you can be. Nourish yourself so that you can help to FEED others and the world. When we change, the world changes.

Nourishing yourself begins with one step, with one bite, and with one prayer for yourself that you can find utter bliss. Whether it is being in nature, spending time with family, or eating amazing foods, try to do something everyday that nourishes your soul. FEED yourself so that you can FEED others. Here is a list of some simple ideas that you can do to soil yourself:

Create and eat a delicious raw meal

Take a nap on the couch

Read a good book

Spend time with your family

Play cards or other games

Complete a puzzle

Make funny jokes

Laugh at yourself

Play with your toes

Exfoliate your skin

Organize your room or house

Clean that stack of mess that has been building up

Walk in nature

Run a marathon

Play with animals

Volunteer! Volunteer! Volunteer!

Drive to Galveston for the day

Invite friends over

Go to a park and swing

Sing in the shower

Dance by yourself in front of the mirror

Dance with others

Stretch

Practice funky breathing

Sit in the sun

Get a massage

Whistle while you work

Jump in hot laundry

Snuggle

Lie in the grass and look at the moving clouds

Plant a garden

Play a sport

Rekindle an old friendship

Write in your journal

Enjoy good music

Create a piece of art

Smile

Support those in need

Pray for loved ones, including yourself

I hope that you take this time and this week to realize that you deserve every moment of happiness that exists. Each moment can be a perfect moment—you must choose for it to be this way. Our lives are based on our perceptions of how we see our circumstances and certain situations. If you want peace, wish it for yourself and create it around you. You have that power of choice. I hope that you take time to focus on nourishing yourself this week, and I wish that you share this joy with others. We are all so blessed.

Hugs*

Kristina

I hope that you have had an incredible week! We have definitely seen a change of winds since last week, and Fall is nearly here! This past week I was in Seattle at Health and Fitness Week with Dr. Graham, and it was my first Thursday to be away in an entire year! I definitely missed everyone, and I am back until next year’s event! We had a great turnout, and I want to thank all of the volunteers who made it happen. A big, heart-felt hug goes out to you all.

So many of you have been asking about my experience in Seattle, and I think that the one word that sums it up is inspiring. I met so many individuals there who are truly trying to perfect their path of health and who are trying to live their lives to their fullest potential. There were individuals there from Brazil/Holland, Canada, California, Oregon, the U.K., and even New Zealand, and we felt like a family near the end of the trip. What I walked away with was a deeper sense of accomplishment in achieving community. I learned so much from each person with whom I communicated.

There was one speech that someone gave one night that I found to be truly inspiring. Mike Arnstein (http://www.thefruitarian.com/) was one of the ultra marathon runners at the event, and he literally ran over 150 miles in three days while we were at the event. After he completed his run, he stood up to talk to all of us about embracing each moment of life possible to achieve our biggest dreams. I resonated with his words because I truly feel as he feels. When you want something, you just gotta do it.

His speech had one simple message: “Exercise everyday as if your life depended on it.” Doug quoted this to Mike a year prior, and Mike took it to heart. It was his one year anniversary to have exercised everyday for the past year. This takes a lot of passion! Had it not been for that message, Mike probably would not have been ready for his marathon race that he ran in New York on Sunday. I want to take his message a step further though…why not apply these words to every aspect of our lives? Why can we not live everyday as if our lives depend on it?

Live each day as if your life depends on it

Eat raw, live, and colorful foods each day as if your life depends on it

Exercise everyday as if your life depends on it

Pray everyday as if your life depends on it

Laugh everyday as if your life depends on it

Breathe deeply everyday as if your life depends on it

Meditate everyday as if your life depends on it

Give back everyday as if your life depends on it

Volunteer everyday as if your life depends on it

Share everyday as if your life depends on it

Touch everyday as if your life depends on it

Sunbathe everyday as if your life depends on it

Sleep everyday as if your life depends on it

Hug everyday as if your life depends on it

Love everyday as if your life depends on it

Sing everyday as if your life depends on it

Dance everyday as if your life depends on it

Stretch everyday as if your life depends on it

Most of our lives truly do depend on these things, but we take them for granted. We do not live according to our fullest potentials. But who says that we cannot? All we have to do is take life one-step at a time, follow our hearts, and just do it.

It has been more than one year since I have missed a day of running, and it has been more than five years since I have eaten a crumb of cooked food. I don’t plan to look back. I have run at least 6 miles everyday since last June when I had my wisdom teeth removed;
I literally was only allowed to walk, and boy did I walk! I don’t compete in races, but I use this time as “me time.” It forces me to breathe and to process my thoughts. It circulates everything in my system. To say the least, it keeps me healthy, and it is now a part of my life just like breathing or eating raw. Everything else simply becomes an excuse.

Ask yourself what is holding you back from moving forwards. What do you fear? I can think of a million and two reasons to not eat raw, to not run, and to not live passionately each day.

However, I can think of a billion and three reasons to free my soul and shine a bright light onto this earth. Combating the things that scare us set us free. When we break through, we set an example for others and become strong enough to help them.

Live everyday as if your life depends on it.

Big hugs,

Kristina!

What an amazing week! Not only have we had incredible weather, but also co-op officially has moved into one of our new homes! I want to extend a special thank you on behalf of all of us to the Nottingham Forest Club for their fruitful welcome! We had approximately 130 shares on Thursday, and with so many shares, there was THAT much more abundance! Also, on Saturday, we simply had an awesome time enjoying the Saturday morning and playing with an enormous amount of fruits and vegetables! Thank you everyone for creating such an AWESOME family.

Many of you know that this coming October will be the third year anniversary for Rawfully Organic. That first week of October we will begin our first week at the Houston Arboretum! Co-op will officially be three days a week!

I was looking at pictures from our very first day in my living room, and I started laughing at these pictures. I remember taking them because I could not believe the HUGE amount of food in my living room. I laugh now because that amount seems so small!!! The amount of food that is purchased today is more than eight times that amount!

One of the coolest things to see was how I have built relationships with each of you over time. Sometimes, you get involved with groups, and some people disappear forever—you wonder what happened to them, but you’re never really sure. We have built such an incredible community that there are few that I haven’t heard from. You all have become my conscious family, and I am so grateful to share all of our moments of fruitful bliss together.

Think of where you are in comparison to where you were three years ago. Although it may seem like it was yesterday, so much has changed in regards to how we see the world, how we act, what we consider valuable, and how we treat our relationships. I think to believe that new awakenings are happening everyday and that more and more people are trying to improve their lives on a daily basis—more are rooting themselves into what they consider to be truly important.

I am in Seattle this week at Health and Fitness Week with Dr. Graham! Yes, I am having a wonderful time, and I am working efficiently so that I can come home to share all of this beautiful and liberating knowledge with all of you! I can only say that the individuals here are truly inspiring. Just like all of you, they strive to be healthy and to achieve the best balance possible out of life.  That being said, I will NOT be there this Thursday, so I am asking ALL volunteers to come to please help sort the shares. I have asked a group of volunteers to help take charge, and I know that everything will go absolutely smoothly. I am still answering emails and running everything from up here in Seattle. I will be back in town for Saturday co-op!

On a side note, I want to include that what we have in Texas is truly a unique and special co-op. Although there are all-raw meals here, the food here does NOT compare to the variety and abundance of our shares! We are truly blessed. I am learning that you never know what you have until you have to go a few days without it! Yes, we are spoiled rotten!

I hope that you all have the best week ever, and I hope that many of you decide to come this Thursday or Saturday. We are all truly, truly blessed.

Hugs*

Hello Rawsome Reader!

I hope that you have had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend! We all noticed some of the fall winds blow through, and it felt amazing! Summer is almost gone, so this is the time to soak up any last bit of summer sun possible! Everyone is getting back into their normal yearly routine, and I can attest that getting organized is slightly stressful, but it feels wonderful! I hope that everyone is being productive and accomplishing all that he or she needs to achieve!

It has been a week of great news for all of us. Last week, we got approval from not ONE potential home, but from TWO fantastic places that want to grow with us and that want to support our cause! After a very long period of searching for a perfect place, we now have two perfect homes! I want to personally thank the Nottingham Forest Club for providing us with their beautiful parking lot located in Buffalo Bayou at a convenient location for us all. I also want to thank the Houston Arboretum for inviting us to be a part of their family as well! Both have been a blessing and a testimony that our co-op is growing into something truly beautiful: a community across the city! We all share beautiful, organic produce together, and together, we are creating a HUGE footprint!

So I bet you are wondering what the results of the survey were, right? Well, don’t worry! This week, I am using all of my newsletter space to let you know what is to come in the future! Trust me, it’s so exciting that I am bouncing in my shoes trying to visualize all of the amazing goodness that is about to be spread! Click here to see the what everyone voted for online!

Here’s is the Verdict!

1. Thursdays will stay at the same time at the Nottingham Forest Club. Click here for directions and more information.
2. Saturdays will remain the same
   AND….
   
3. We will be adding a Tuesday at the Houston Arboretum that will be the same as Thursday time right after work! HORRAY! This will most likely begin the first week of October (Ironically, it’s the 3 year anniversary week for Rawfully Organic, so it’s a perfect time to add a new home!) Stay posted for more details, and please spread the word!
   

Hopefully, this is a win-win for everyone. I was initially worried that this would be so hard for people, then I had to knock myself on the side of the head because adding one more location only creates MORE convenience! Drop-offs will most likely remain on Thursdays. I have had several questions if the food will be the same, and yes, it will be very close if not exactly the same week to week. I can only purchase what is available. Also, I want to assure everyone that no food will be carried on between days. Each day is budgeted separately according to how many participate at that location, and all receive the same amount of abundance.

With the winter coming and nightfall coming earlier, we make make the end pick-up time a little earlier around 7:30/8 or so. I will keep everyone posted. Because we are adding another day, I will also need to end a little earlier as to get to a night shift tutoring and creating art. I only hope that everyone can see how much that I love our co-op and how much I truly want us to give back and prosper. I am dedicated, and I am only grateful for the opportunity to help us grow.

I hope that you will continue to support the co-op and that these times will work for you. My goal here was truly to make co-op available to all, no matter what their schedule. I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to have the best food available to them. The change that we are creating is truly enormous. I can only thank you for being a part of my co-op family. It goes far beyond food. It encompasses sharing recipes, conversations, interests, energy, thoughts, hands, sweat, and hugs. We create community, and we go back to our roots. When we ground ourselves in the things which really matter in life, we grow and prosper internally and externally. This co-op exists because of each one of us, and we all create this co-op together. We voted for our new homes, and we got them!

Sending all my hugs and love….and of course amazing, living food!