Hello,all,

In another thread, I described myself as adaptable. Why?

Oh... let's see. For example, jobs.

10 years of college/2 years tech. school.
Studied for MCAT (Med. College Admissions Test).
Network Engineer
Real Estate Investor/House Flipper (still do this)
Mortgage Broker (still do a few loans here and there)
Plumber -I work in 92 degree heat (today), get filthy dirty, use tools, drive a truck, wear stuff on my belt, go to Lowe's everyday... and I love it!

Any such changes in your life?

Thanks,

Arilraw

Elementary School Teacher....Behavior Analyst...Private Banker...Community College Professor...Prison Chaplain...back in college now!
7 kids...two mine...two adopted...3 step kids...
Couch potatoe food addict and compulsive eater to an exercising raw foodist

a few changes

highschool dropout
shortorder cook
parade mascot (i was the a&w rootbear lol)
bookkeeper
accountant
massage therapist

lol

and still very much a work in progress

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I just love that quote, Jody.

Okay, let's see...

The regular college jobs--theater usher, sandwich maker, espresso pusher, etc.
Professional Volunteer durng our state's economic depression (AIDS educator w/VISTA, Peace Corps)
Stay-at-home mom, preschool co-op member, etc.
Something too dorky to admit
Teacher: Middle school, then elementary special ed., then elementary general ed, then international ed...and here I am!

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

Betty...I knew you had to be a teacher of some sorts. You always have so much good stuff to offer others. What are you teaching now? What exactly is international ed?

High school dropout
Future Rock Star
Super-freakin'-Genius
Possibly the sexiest man alive
Very Modest

I'm a high-school drop-out too, but not in the last 20 years...arghhh!

fancy schmancy restaurant cook - drunk and drug addict
courier - sober
tarotist (reader and workshop facilitator) - still sober
domestic personal assistant - high on life
student of nutrition and natural health - damned near blissful!

khale

Yea Khale! Awesome history. I knew you were something just looking at your zoo picture.

Islandgirl, I was excited to see that you're a teacher too! I'm also impressed that you're raising 7 kids. Wow. Maybe not having energy to exercise has something to do with that?! Oh yeah, and being a STUDENT! Just thinking you might be a wee bit hard on yourself there, Igirl. That's a big reason I wanted to be raw: I needed more energy just for ONE kid. Seriously, hats off to you.

Inter'l teaching is just teaching in foreign countries. It's a good gig, lots of benefits and cool cultural experiences. Generally people stay two to three years--this'll be my third in the Dominican Republic. I teach pull-out & inclusion special ed. to 2nd and 3rd graders. Some schools are just for US and "international" (meaning from countries other than the US and the one you're in) children, some have local children; I get to teach all three.

What are you studying in grad school?

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

Hi Betty...maybe my post was a little misleading. Of the 7 kids, only the youngest is still at home (ages 31,29,26,24,23,21,16). I have a master's in Educ and I'm finishing up a master's in Religion. I hope to get into an interdisciplinary PhD program next fall (a blend of educ, sociology and religion) called International Family and Community Studies. I want to teach at the univ level and hope to teach in another country. In fact the program requires a one year internship in another country for research and I'm looking at Costa Rica. I think its really cool that you teach in the Dominican. Do you live there now or travel back and forth for the school term? Is it hard doing the raw food thing in another country?

can we go back further?? LOL
smoker
high school drop out..wow there`s alot of us...i did manage to get my g.e.d though the year i would`ve graduated
drug user
married at 17 to an abusive alcoholic
divorced after 7 years
not a drug user
met my current husband while i managed a 7-11
business college
back office medical assistant after medical assisting school
got married after 4 years
2 kids
3rd grade teachers assistant for the past 5 years
not a smoker
student of natural health and happiness

Patty, you guys have teachers assitants in 3rd grade? What kind of dream school is that?

Islandgirl, again, wow. That Ph.D sounds awesome.

I live in the DR and visit Seattle over summer and winter holidays. It's way easy to be raw there, although it took some shifts in thinking. I mean, not having Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, I had to get more practical and focus on actual foods, rather than frills like agave and bee pollen. I found an organic drop-off (you know, a place where organic farmers leave you their produce and you pick it up once a week), and there's always an assortment of fruits in season being sold on the streets. Of course, I also rely on some foreign products like dates from Spain (full of pesticides, I'm sure), dried coconut that's probably from the Philippines (an ecoli threat, there) and the foods that I pack in my suitcase whenever I travel back from the US. But I love living there--the climate never ceases to send me into bliss.

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

That is so awesome Betty. Yeah...I was thinking, it would be pretty easy to eat whole foods in Costa Rica...since that's what the people there are eating, minus the tortillas. Dewey...you are so...should I saw...RAW? Yes...I was going back further than 20 years too...but then, they say you're as young as you feel and since I still have acne, I can't be THAT old! I recently had to take the GRE test as an admission requirement for the PhD program I'm applying to. It is heavy in math and I realized I hadn't had "math" since 1976. That made me feel really old! Thank goodness for acne!

perbetty Wrote:
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> Patty, you guys have teachers assitants in 3rd
> grade? What kind of dream school is that?

we`re one of the only schools in the valley that do. it`s a private christian school. i honestly don`t know how a teacher does it without an assistant, especially with a full class. my son`s been attending there since he was 4 and he`s 12 now...well oct 5th he`ll be 12
patty

20 years ago I graduated highschool.

I continued to waitress in a mexican restaurant for six months after graduating.

Went to work in the prepress department of a print company for four years and got married for the first time at twenty.

Hated being cooped up in a windowless room smelling print fumes all day so became a nanny.

Met the man of my dreams and left husband #1 at twenty two.

Went to pet grooming school and loved it.

worked for about a year as a pet groomer but the job fell through and decided to have kids.

Homeschooling three kids and rescuing animals now (until the youngest is older when at which time I will have a grooming shop at home) and being blissfully happy with a dream life, family and home.

pakd4fun Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Homeschooling three kids and rescuing animals now
> (until the youngest is older when at which time I
> will have a grooming shop at home) and being
> blissfully happy with a dream life, family and
> home.

ah another rescuer i want to foster but hubby doesn`t. probably because my fosters would turn into permanents...he`s a smart man LOL. i have 2 kitties who are rescues and a papillon who is a rescue and my 11 year old golden diva who i got from a petstore before i became educated about puppymills. she`s an awesome dog though...the best i ever had. my first job was a bather/brusher when i was 15 and getting paid under the table.
patty

pakd4fun...I homeschool too. This will be my 9th year...16 year old, 11th grade daughter

Wow...11th grade. My oldest is a sixth grader. You have my respect islandgirl.

patty-I love recuing animals. Now that we live in the country we have the room to rescue but not an adoption program. When we lived in Houston we fostered through a program that adopted the animals out at Petsmart. That was ideal. We rescued 22 dogs and nummerous cats in three years. It is tough when you have to let some of them go but you know you have to keep space for the next ones. It is my dream to have a large sanctuary. Now we have 10 cats, three dogs and we are getting our first horse rescue, hopefully, Sunday. I still have my horse from childhood. I would love to rescue more horses.

that`s so cool pakd.
patty

Hmm...

Y'all foster animals while I foster children.

In our area, there are 450 children in the foster care system but only 194 licensed homes...

My former thought waw, "well, ya gotta take care of your own first." Now, it's, "where can I put another child in my home?"

Thanks,

Arilraw

arilraw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hmm...
>
> Y'all foster animals while I foster children.
>
> In our area, there are 450 children in the foster
> care system but only 194 licensed homes...
>
> My former thought waw, "well, ya gotta take care
> of your own first." Now, it's, "where can I put
> another child in my home?"
>
> Thanks,
>
> Arilraw

kudos to you. i have an acquaintance who is in foster care here in vegas. i don`t know how she does it, it can be so heartbreaking sometimes. i guess you have to focus on the good you`re doing for the child right? most of her kids came/come from abusive drug addicted parents. it must be so hard to "give them back/up" i couldn`t LOL....i`d have a basketball team living with me i really really respect what you`re doing

Yes, kudos!!! I have often thought we will do that someday. I have always thought our kids should be older (teenagers) before we should foster kids. What are your thoughts on that arilraw? The need for foster homes is huge here in Loiusiana.

Wow, you say I can only go back 20 years??

Well here goes...First I am a newbie to this site and a closet raw foodist..

Heaven forbid people here in my small small community would know that I am not eating meat, let alone that I don't eat salads dripping in mayonnaise, margarine and grease. (Although that is exactly what I have been doing for the last year) But my body has been rebelling so I began to search for some possible answers to my expanding waistline and physical problems.

Heck, I am a cowgirl, with country roots, living in cattle country and working with cattle ranchers. I hope no one on here shoots me for that...

I am a High School Grad....

Married just out of high school. Lost two children, which eventually tore our marriage apart.. I threw myself into a career to hide the pain...

Worked my way up the corporate ladder to be head of Corporate Training for 11 retail stores in Washington and Oregon.

Gave up the corporate life to slow down, heal from a divorce and hope to heal my heart from my losses. I moved to Eastern Washington where I worked 3 years as a wrangler and guide for a Horse Outfitter, all the while a closet vegetarian.

For 10 years owned a small fruit orchard and horse boarding facility.

Worked various jobs in that 10 year time frame, from selling cars (I hated that job) to weight loss consultant for Jenny Craig to cleaning toilets. ha ha

Went back to school at age 42 and just last year graduated with my MS in Rangeland Ecology and Management..

Moved from my beloved West county and now living in North Dakota and adjusting to the harsh winters and spring, summer humidity. Love the wide open spaces, but hate the lack of good produce, farmers markets, and fruit stands. And of course miss my friends and family badly!

I went raw for health reasons... and have only been raw for 4 weeks... with a few deviations here and there.. So hard to go to BBQ's and company trips being raw, when the menu is planned out for you...

Well, I have gotten side tracked.. Just suffice to say my life has been interesting and nothing like I would have planned for myself. It's amazing how things evolve...

Custom "aka Custom Designed by God"

"May all your rides be filled with opportunities to learn and cherish the majestic beauty of the beloved creature we call the horse!!"

Welcome Custom...I love your aka! So you're a cowgirl. That would have made a cut screen name too. I moved to CA from Kansas where my best friend and her family are farmers, including cattle. Even though she's my best friend, there is NO WAY she will ever understand my going raw. So I just say I'm eating more healthy food choices and leave it at that. You can come out of the closet... a lot of us here choose not to share with people that we are "raw", and that's okay. I like your determination to do what's best for you. Keep it up!

Hey Custom-designed,

I'm pleased to meet you and read your great story. Congratulations on eating food that may some day save your life.

I love the quote you ended with. The horse is truly a magnificent animal.

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

custom, I enjoyed your post, is'nt eating raw good?
It seems the age of most here is about 40 something. Is that true?

I loved each and everyones post here too......................
Pam

Dear pakd4fun,

Why wait? What often happens is that the children from the fostering family begin to step in to help take care of the other children. I've seen it a number of times; the fostering children then stop thinking of themselves and begin to become quite responsible.

The trend seems to be save the bears, save the ants, save a slug, save the starving in Africa, East Asia, etc... I believe that if I cannot help save the kid or person up the block, I have no business helping anyone else until my side of the street is clean and healthy, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and vocationally (which education preceeds).

Don't get me wrong. I've also stepped over alkies who were clearly not ready to leave the gutter.

Those are my beliefs.

Have a wonderfully raw day,

Arilraw

PS My next goal? Hire a live-in raw chef/yoga master. That would be "bangin'".

Dear arilraw,

Thanks for the beautiful reply. I have a lot to think about.

Dear Custom, I enjoyed reading your post. What an interesting life you're creating. I love horses. I have had my horse since I was 9 and he was a 5 month old orphan. Now he is 29 and I am 38. My kids ride him now. He looks fantasic. I trained him to compete in Hunter/Jumper and Dressage when we were young. A couple of times we competed in Endurance. The best thing is he lives in our yard now. He's out mowing the lawn right now.

This is a great thread. I loved reading all your posts.

Yes, I am almost 40!! Life keeps getting better!!!

Thank you all for the warm welcome.. and I too enjoyed reading these post and getting to know a little bit better the person behind the name... I am sure as time goes on I will have lots of questions that I'll want to ask.. Probably need to start those questions in a new post...

Great to hear there are animal lovers and horse lovers on this site. Currently I have three horses, one which is my grandpa, he is 23 and I've had him since he was a baby.. Had his mama.. So, he's been in my life a long long time...

Again, thank you for a raw but warm, not too warm (ha ha) welcome

Custom

"May all your rides be filled with opportunities to learn and cherish the majestic beauty of the beloved creature we call the horse!!"