taking back my health

Your body is your temple. 

The greatest wealth is health. 

You know how it goes...

So why is it that so many of us, (especially we Americans) ignore this and all too often overindulge ourselves? We eat to celebrate, we eat when we're stressed, we eat when we're sad. We don't get enough exercise. We don't get enough sleep. We try to cram 40 hours into a 24 hour day. We overwork and we underplay. 

Then we get sick. 

Or we get stressed. Or run down. 

We get tired. 

We get broken. 

We ignore what our bodies are trying to tell us. 

Slow down. Recharge. Nourish. Move me. 

Balance me. 

But we push on, trying to get one more thing done. Ignoring the signs. Carrying on.

And I am sooooo guilty of this. 

And I am already paying the repercussions and I don't like that. Now more than ever I realize that I cannot take my health for granted. Which is why I am taking back my health. 

That's right, body...did you hear me?

I AM TAKING BACK MY HEALTH.

Now, I am not really an "unhealthy" person. I choose lots of fruits and vegetables. I don't eat meat. I do yoga when I can. I run when I can. I dance while I clean the house ;-) I just feel like I can be doing more. More exercise, more whole foods.

So, I am taking back my health.

Not only for now, but for 5 years, 10 years, 50+ years from now. 

I want to be healthy for all those I love. I want to raise a healthy family someday. I want to be around, and be energetic and feel my best. I want to be healthy because this is the body that God gave me and I should be taking care of it. How can I do what I was put on this earth to do if I am too tired to do it? I want to be healthy for me, because when I am making good choices and feeling balanced, I feel my best. 

And I like feeling my best. 

All this sounds good, right? So what am I going to do?

Well, for starters I am going to really evaluate my diet. I eat pretty well now, but I am going to focus more on making sure that at least 80% of the foods I eat are organic and clean foods, and that my meals are well balanced. I am going to schedule more exercise in, no matter how difficult that may be.

And I am not going to just talk about it. I am going to do it. 

Because I cannot afford not to.

Now, this doesn't mean that I am never going to eat a french fry or a s'mores sundae again, just make better choices when I do...like choosing hand cut, unprocessed fries or homemade ice cream. I don't think this will be too difficult as I do not eat much of that stuff now.  But again, I feel like I can be doing more.
Like eating at the dining room table with the tv off a couple more nights a week. We try to do this at least once a week, but I am thinking we should bump up our goal. 

I'm going to take advantage of all the great resources out there as well, including this book and the blogs below.

fresh 365

greens and berries

limes and lycopene

101 cookbooks

rachel eats

tea and cookies

bankrupt vegan 

nourish me 

And I am just going to remind myself that being healthy is a choice. And a good one. The most important one, in fact. 

See ya, sluggishness. Optimum health, here I come!

Hmm, perhaps I need a new apron for my new cooking adventures? ;-) 

And so I leave you with this thought...
'If you want to do your best for future generations of humanity, for your friends and family, you must begin by taking good care of yourself.' ~ Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche

If you know of any healthy living books, blogs or websites that you would recommend, please pass them along!  I'd love to hear what you all do to keep up your health and feel your best.

longing for spring

February vacation is finally here! Has me wishing for warmer days and more sunlight...

 

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it will be here soon!

it's almost v-day...

I have to admit, I don't really care for the commercialism of Valentine's Day very much, but I certainly love the holiday. Well...truth be told, I love any reason to celebrate. Flag Day, anyone?

Every year I make mmb a little something crafty to express some extra love to him. I made this mini-album for him two years ago to thank him for 14 of the ways that he makes every day feel like Valentine's Day to me. Just full of the simple little things he does every day that makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

I heart this man. 

More than words can say.

 

 

In case you didn't know, this year Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year happen to fall on the same day! Hooray! ( I told you, ANY reason to celebrate...) So we're going to go to our favorite Irish Pub for lunch for v-day and get our customary Chinese New Year dinner from our favorite Asian restaurant. Yikes, I better get in some extra yoga on Saturday! ;-)

Are you celebrating? 

more catching up, more gratitude

Have you ever flown to another state and back within 24 hours?

Craziness. 

But, I took advantage of our plane ride to Florida to try and catch up on some more DYL. 

I only got one quick Real World Color layout done because my mind was spinning in all sorts of directions. I am grateful for the welcome distraction the scrapping gave me.

Yesterday mmb & I went to Florida because it was my mom's birthday and her friends had a planned a memorial service for her and my stepfather who passed away in an accident just nine days after she did, just a couple of months ago. 

I am still reeling from all of this. 

It is hard to think of life ever being the same. 

But I don't even want it to be the same. Even if I wanted it to be, it would be impossible. 

Although right now life seems to be in shades of grey and red, there are moments of clarity where I can see the vibrant colors that each day brings. Even more vibrant than before. 

This is a gift that they have given me. 

And although I am sad, and angry and confused at the way I had to receive it, I am grateful for it just the same. 

I am so grateful for all that her wonderful friends have done and for getting to see a glimpse of what her life was like in the years we were separated. She was a magnificent person, as was my stepfather, and together they were amazing. The truest of love stories. 

I am grateful for that too. 

Someday I will share the story. Once I find the words. Or maybe I already have the words. 

I am not sure. 

But I have a feeling they might come more easily once my mom's art supplies get here.

And I am grateful for that, too.  

What is something you are really grateful for in your life?

drive-by blogging

Does anyone have a couple of extra hours in their day that I could borrow?

This is a class weekend for me, so I haven't had any time to get to fun stuff like scrapbooking, or taking pictures, or spending time with the man I love and those cute little furballs that run around our home. I did, however,  get treated to a nice sushi dinner date when I got home from class tonight :-) My newest sushi love...vegetable tempura sushi, yummy!

These class weekends are challenging with their 26 hours jam packed full of info. Though I must say, I am pretty psyched about this literacy class I am taking right now and cannot wait to try out some of the new techniques with the kiddos! 

Once this weekend is over, it is going to be a whirlwind of activity around here. One, possibly two, quick trips in the next two weeks, working on assignments for this class, catching up on work for the BPS classes I am enrolled in, and organizing, organizing, organizing! I just ordered this book which I am hoping will help me FINALLY get an organized and efficient workspace for my scrapbooking. 

If you don't see me on here too frequently over the next few days, don't worry...I'll be back soon :) I'm looking forward sitting down with a cup of tea and being able to catch up on my google reader filled with all of your wonderful posts! 

Til then, I leave you with this....

 

Although I have always been a huge picture taker, I've noticed that ever since I got my DSLR that I take about 10 times the amount I used to. 

Has this phenomenon happened to anyone else? ;-)

I found this layout I made with an embellishment kit I got from Magpie Club a few months back. It was buried beneath a pile of things I have been meaning to file away (oh, PLEASE, Amazon, hurry with that book!)!

And p.s., If you haven't had the good luck to discover Magpie yet, I would definitely recommend making it a point to do so. The kits are jam packed with beautiful, high quality products. And as an added bonus they even offer a special "credit crunch" kit for only $12.50! Such a generous offer for such great supplies. Definitely worth checking out.

See you soon, blog friends!

catching up on DYL

Boy, am I behind on my Design Your Life class. But, hey...such is life at times. I'm not going to stress over it. What's the point? It will be there when I get to it, right?

I did manage to put together the pre-course layout together last night (I told you I was behind!). And while I did deviate from the traditional red, green and brown theme that was suggested, I used colors that I don't usually gravitate toward. I really like the way it turned out. I even impressed myself by changing the colors of the logo in photoshop ;-) I think I achieved my goal of summing up what I love about scrapbooking.

I'm hoping to get to some more pages tonight, but I do have some homework and organizing to get to. And I should probably get in some yoga. Hmm, I wonder if I can make a layout while doing yoga....now that would be something!

p.s. does anyone have any good tips about photographing your layouts? I would love some advice! 

baked shells with winter squash

Hello out there. Hope everyone had a nice Monday. The weekends go by so quickly! 

For this week's Melissa & Martha Monday I whipped up M-lady's Baked Shells with Winter Squash recipe. And oh my goodness, is this one to warm your soul (and your house as the comforting aroma of sage and squash drift through your rooms). You might even think it is Thanksgiving for a moment if you close your eyes and try hard enough. 

BAKED SHELLS with WINTER SQUASH

 

The creaminess of the squash and the soothing properties of the calefacient sage made this one an instant comfort food for me.

I pretty much followed the recipe, with the only variances being using fresh sage and fresh squash versus dried and frozen. I also opted to have bigger pieces of butternut in the dish so I used half puree and half bite sized pieces. 

My one complaint was that I found it to be a bit bland, even with the fresh herbs. I think next time I might roast the squash with a little olive oil and sea salt or add some caramelized onions. Maybe even some apples sauteed in a little butter and brown sugar...I'll let you know how that goes ;-)

mmb liked it just fine, but as a side dish. For you carnivores I would suggest perhaps adding pork or sausage, either would be a nice complement to the cold weather flavors in this dish.

Well that is it for this week's Melissa & Martha Monday. Meet me back here next week for another one! 

I'm off to play catch up with DYL, or do my taxes... Whichever one grabs my attention first.

Any guesses which I'll choose? ;-)