Beautiful Existence? Is that your real name? The answer is YES, it is my real name.
My name is how I’ve always lived… fearless to try new things, to test the waters of life and find out what’s true for me. I have created businesses to help limit environmental impact that I had NO idea how to start! (Green Scene TV in Denver, a children’s environmental clothing line EdgeweaR in Boulder) I’ve pushed the limits of upcycling designs for years and have started research on evolving humanity through social media platforms.
WHY? do I do these challenges?
So I guess you can say that from my limitless view of possibility, my yearly challenges and blogs were born! The first years challenge was so fantastic that it’s lead to me mapping out over 20 years worth of personal challenges to explore in my life! With everything from politics to pennies, coffee to communities and everything in between… I will explore that which defines our existence for a year and write all about it on my blogs. You can see some of my past and current years challenge blogs below:
2011 – Living The Goodwill Life
2012 – Parents Tested Mommy Approved
2013 – Starbucks (For 1 Year of My Life’s first challenge)
Thank you for joining me on my yearly challenge adventures… and happy reading!
-Beautiful Existence
If you would like to contact me: For1YearOfMyLife@gmail.com
These boys are my reason for being, and I am eternally grateful to be called their mommy!
This is my special mountain in Boulder, CO where my name (and my youngest son’s name) came to me and I used to sit and admire our beautiful world! 
1 Woman, 1 Year, 1 Challenge 
Why don’t you spend $19 a day a local, independent coffee shop that could use your money to actually stay open?
I normally do that before (and probably after) this year. Being a localtarian has been a part of my consumerism for quite some time. Thanks.
wow. yikes.
Good for you! That’s quite a challenge you have ahead of yourself. Good luck!
Thank you for your support!
Don’t you feel spending this much money a day to feed only yourself is a waste?
I feed two children too. So no, I’m not waisting my money.
Hello,
I am an ex- Seattleite who now has the fortune of living in London and away from Amerika. I really like your Goodwill and Green Living posts. I have just read that your new challenge is Starbucks and I had to write to say how disappointed I am that you chose a mega corporation that is not at all Northwest based, nor are they in any way green as a company (!!) or even healthy. They exist in the most far flung places on the planet and even here in wealth driven London we are battling the fact that Starbucks mega corporation refuses to pay tax on their local franchises, thus leading to the closure of many small local coffee houses. What a disappointment that you chose a Mc Donalds’ like coffee shop rather than an actual Seattle business. If you read any international news you will know that Starbucks is the current international business representing excess and waste. They participate in nothing local and their environmental impact is not great. I like the challenge idea but shame on you for the terrible example!
Eowyn-
Sorry you don’t approve of Starbucks, I know my choices won’t always appeal to everyone. BUT I do plan on incorporating the positive aspects of what I consider a “local” company to me (AKA Washington-state based) during this year and even then if 2013 doesn’t appeal to you maybe one of my future years (over 20 years already being planned) might?
I learn a lot each time I do challenge myself so the way that people engage me is going to have some effect on my challenges. That is as long as they are somewhat polite or have a point.
I am aware of issues with the company in the world but at this point I’m committing to something, am a person who does value the integrity of my word and quite honestly not sure how I could help change things? But if somebody has ideas, go ahead and share them!
Thank you & hope you still LOVE Seattle like I do! There is no where in the world like my beloved home city!!
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
I do honestly think the Challenge idea is an honorable one with noble effort. My point is your specific challenge in relations to the choice of Starbucks, or any major corporation that has proven to be detrimental its local environment. In your own statement, and past businesses as listed, you point out that you have focused on environmental impact, ecology, and recycling, none of which are part of Starbucks model or company standards. In fact they are often discussed in the opposite. In many parts of the world they are a detrimental franchise to local business and in their unwillingness to work with local laws, economy, and ecology. (I am not sure if you have traveled much but it is quite obvious.) This creates a hypocrisy of your own making. I very fondly remember the original Starbucks but I am afraid it is no longer a “local” company. My suggestion for future challenges is to do some basic preliminary research into the companies you are supporting through your financial backing. Many actual local businesses need the support of patrons.
Best of luck on your journey.
You should spend a year doing something that is actually helpful to your local business owners instead of a major corporation. There is a Starbucks in a rough part of town where I live and it definitely doesn’t pay well OR bring a sense of community to the area. How about only buying local for a year? I think you’re doing this as an attempt to be a Jared for Starbucks.
Lots of people have called me the female Jared but I don’t think he incorporated other topics related to Subway that I can remember?
Like the environment, costs, people & communities, living wages, getting politicians together, etc.
I am.
How much is starbucks paying you to promote their stuff?
I am not being paid by Starbucks. This is all on my own dime. I’ve been saving gift cards for a while and had friends & family supporting me. 😊
Hi,
That’s quite a challenge !! I can’t believe people can actually lose weight by eating Stabucks… But, if it’s true ! That’s AWESOME !!! I really love that food !
I’m from France, and we don’t have a lot of starbucks there, but when I went to NYC, I loved this shops but, for me products are too fat …..
Gonna keep on reading your blog !!
I wish you the best of luck !!!
PS: for the record your blog appeared on French News !
Valentine
Valentine-
Love your name! Ah, thanks for letting me know my challenge went on French news… I was wondering about the massive jump in viewership today!
I have not been back to France since 2007 but was just mentioning to a bunch of friends two days ago about how I would LOVE to go back soon! I’m not sure if I could survive there if the Starbucks are so few & far between?!
Hope you enjoy my challenge & learn a lot more about everything Starbucks!
Hello from France ! 🙂
I read on yahoo (in french) something about your challenge with Starbucks, and I think that it’s a fantastic experience 🙂 Good luke !!
Serge
Serge-
Yes, I woke up this morning to a much higher than normal spike in viewership from France. But hopefully your citizens like what I’m doing because I am of French heritage and I absolutely ADORE your country! Been many times in my life and plan to visit again as soon as possible!
But I’m not sure how many Starbucks there are around so I might have to plan a trip VERY WELL!
Enjoy the challenge! Thanks for reading!
Your concept of “1 woman, 1 year, 1 challenge” is really catchy, I must say. Why not make our lives a little bit funnier, after all? Finding original challenges must be very exciting (especially for 1 complete year), but why did you chose Starbucks particularly? Is your goal to denounce or to promote this kind of food? Or just to enjoy eating everyday what you usually like to eat from time to time?
I’m curious about your approach.
Julie, from France (who discovered Starbucks in Germany, to tell the truth!)
Thanks for the questions! As I’ve told many people & reporters lately, I choose Starbucks for a variety of reasons… Mostly because my year-long challenges (now in the 3rd year) I wanted to change the focus to being more on Pacific Northwest Companies & organizations because I love my home, our people produce a lot of services & products that impact many places and I’m exploring these relationships by showcasing them in my challenges. Other than the PNW focus, Starbucks has been the employer of friends & family and I have seen and heard first-hand for years what an excellent company they try to be in many ways. So I decided to do an eating/drinking challenge (which has been popular for a long time) and try out my own abilities on a deeper level with this kind of commitment to my body/nutrition while exploring everything Starbucks! Yes, I enjoyed their items before but definitely not at such a monumental or consistent level!
I had NO IDEA the world would hear about my challenge, let alone be SO passionate about it! So, I have learned a lot already just through the international media exposure!
But what all my challenges come down to (besides raw data) are the connections with the readers, the people that are integrated into my year (partners, baristas, media, etc.) and how they all help me shape my challenge day-by-day. That is one of the biggest components of my experiences (as is with most of life!) the connecting of people, ideas! With that being said…Thank You for commenting, being curious along with my adventure and seeing what happens by December 31st 2013.
I have a feeling this year is going to be GREAT!
The Goodwill challenge has such a different spirit than this year’s challenge. The premises of economy, thrift, and reuse, are not consistent with supersize me glee and plastic containers, straws, lids, utensils and 3x a day packaging for a family of 3. You express your intent to understand and support those less fortunate economically, but You did not put yourself in similar shoes, as you did in the year of Thrift. Instead you went mega consumerist.
You say you are trying to be a nutritional example, but are thrilled when your Venti Frapp order gets upgraded to a Trenti. Yeah for more waste and even more calories of nutritionally useless sugar and fat calories. In excess of 800 calories. Most mothers know that getting close to 1/2 of your daily calories from enormous liquid desserts is foolish. That is equivalent to 2 cups of ice cream as a snack, four times the suggested serving. They filled it up with whipped cream you report happily. Whipped cream is over 50 calories per tablespoon and 50 percent fat. Seems more like super size me avarice than nutrition.
Your point of reference Jared was eating a single sub with 2 servings of veggies for far fewer calories (and most importantly not adding 1/2 cup of mayo which is equivalent to what you are thrilled by!) And since you seem not to know it, fruit smoothies and even juices are a lousy way to get healthy calories.
This years challenge ought to be a Jimmy Kimmel parody. It is an example of how not to have empathy for people on low food budgets trying to feed themselves and their families a nutritionally balanced diet.
The constant shilling of Starbucks is, as you, a web marketing person know, as dishonest in its premise as saying tobacco had no side effects. Way to sell out your avowed principles. You are too smart for this hypocrisy. So which person are you, localist, economical, nutrition advocate or corporate, more for me greed flack? Your actions are not that of an advocate for good economical nutrition, and low impact on the environment. Your year long blog is not meeting the standards you said you held.
Good points all & thanks for your comments.
My suggestion is that you watch ALL my challenges over the years (since I have at least 20 now mapped out) and choose for yourself afterwards. Every brand, every year will be different in the products or services the brand offers, the theme of my challenge around it and especially the COMMUNITY I discover and become a part of For 1 Year Of My Life.
I hope you will stay tuned in and enjoy! (some years maybe more than others)
he
i’m from Africa now living at Bangalore India i read about your challenger on yahoo now my question is if your are not going to get more weight ????
Actually I was going to do another weigh in this next week, so we will find out soon if I’m still losing or maintaining? Thanks for writing in!
Hello, I follow your experience from quite far away (Switzerland), I look forward to discover with you what will go on ! Warm regards, Yves (it’s my first name, I’m a man, not Eve which is for women…)
Yves-
Thanks for reading from Switzerland. I’ve always loved your country & have many fond memories of Geneva & especially Montreux!
Enjoy the year, it’s already been a wonderful learning experience!
Hi and good feast of St. Valantin, just tell me what you like, and I like to have a good relationship with you, and share the LOVE that I feel with you! if you’re DACoRD sil te plait my answers on this day of celebration. my name is jean claude
All of the people who don’t approve of you choosing Starbucks needs to watch this…
http://mediastorm.com/clients/resetting-the-table-for-starbucks
I love starbucks and this just makes me love them more.
I heard about this on NPR last year and was one of the things that secured my decision to choose Starbucks. I couldn’t agree with you more. And I hope by the time this year is done people will come to understand what this company does for so many! Thanks for sharing the link & visiting my year focusing on a company I’m proud to call native to my beloved Washington state and one that truly tries to make this world better by being involved in positive ways! Cheers & thanks for visiting. 😊
Great challenge! Thanks to you, I discovered that a challenge is only a decision made. You could have decided to invent a free energy generator or to help more people access to another type of information but you decided to go for that unique challenge. What a beautiful existence! Thank you. My own decision is to make boats flying. Thank you for inspiring me.
Thanks for commenting and for being inspired to follow your own dreams! Flying boats sound quite interesting indeed!
I will give this a attempt but am detoxing my liver right now
Enjoy your blog )
Hey BE! (Love when an acronym captures the long version meaning! i.e. be yourself, just be…) I think your up-cycling approach to life is AWESOME! As well as your desire to put a tangible challenge out there. There’s nothing more satisfying than working towards and achieving a goal.
CONGRATULATIONS and keep living a beautiful existence and blogging about it to inspire us all 🙂 Kelly
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You was also on tv in belgium and germany, so almost time to think for your next challenge, anything already in mind?
Of course! And next year’s challenge is going to engage a lot more people focusing on nonprofits, the environment, and a common bond that most humans can relate to! Less than 3 months to go…. 😊
so I’m looking forward, blow us away with somthing amazing, we will follow you up also in europe
No problem! Glad to see Europe likes my challenges! Hello everybody from Seattle 😊
I’m looking forward to hearing about what your 2014 challenge will be!
Hope you will partake in them with me in future years! All my challenges can now have anybody participate in them starting in 2014.