Friday, January 24, 2014

Random Things

Random things and events from the past week.

1. Received this in the mail because my oldest son took my old road bike and trainer to the city with him after Christmas.  My old trainer was a magnetic trainer.  This fluid trainer is very different.



2. Visited with the oldest son in the city last weekend and roaring river runner and I went for a long run along the river path.  Beautiful morning -10 Celcius and great scenery.





3. Oldest son couldn't wait for breakfast and raided the grocery bag.



4. Yummy brunch of oatmeal with fruit, scrambled eggs, sausages and fruit.  I had to remind myself to stop and breath.



5. Going to the watch a movie tonight being shown by the school my daughter goes to.  Can't remember the title- something to do with cloudy and a chance of meatballs?  I'm not as up on my movies as I would like to be.  There are a couple movies that have perked my attention and I have made a note of when they are (March) but for the life of me, I can't remember what they are called.

6.  Made 2 amazing recipes the past couple of day.  The first one was a coconut macaroon granola which doesn't exactly taste like real macaroons yet (but will) but tastes  more like a coconut cookie.  It is gluten free and sugar free and is totally amazing on yogurt.  I seriously need to hide it or I will need to pull the maternity pants with the elastic front panel out of storage. (lol)  Reminds me of my favourite episode of "Friends" at Thanksgiving when Joey is committed to eating the whole turkey and wears Phoebe's maternity pants.  It is totally my favourite. The second recipe was a spinach pesto chicken pizza.  It is a gluten free crust spread with pesto then topped with cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, chopped chicken, spinach and shredded cheese.  So yummy.  I also made coconut butter for the first time in my food processor.  It was unbelievable in my morning oatmeal.

7.  My next food experiment (hopefully tomorrow) will be to make "chips" in my dehydrator with the pulp from my juicer.  I have booked myself as math tutor tomorrow to both kids so hopefully can squeeze in a bit of time.  I am also booked for a long bike ride of 40 miles tomorrow with the roaring runner on the trainers.  I still need to pick out my movie entertainment for the close to 3 hours my butt will be on the bike.

Will keep you posted!  Have a great weekend.

p.s Anyone have any advice with the dehydrator and great recipes?

Are you a Friend's fan and if so what is your favourite episode?

The Thin Line of Contentment

Morning.  I am so excited it is Friday!  Nothing special happening in my day but Friday's are always good.  My brother and his family are leaving for Jamaica today- that would be really exciting.  My sister-in-law and niece are heading to Mexico today- I would be pumped. My mom and stepdad are enjoying the warm sun in Texas- that would be blissful.  My dad is in the hospital right now- not so great.  My middle 2 kids start their semester final exams today- not so exciting.  No matter how you look at things, life has its ups and downs.

It seems everywhere around me lately is talk of contentment. I think it is more than coincidental that riding the heels of the new year are the soul searching thoughts of what is really important in life. Some of us (I will speak for myself) don't really make any resolutions for the beginning of a new year but that doesn't mean that I don't think hard about what direction I want to be in.

Yesterday's devotional was really inspiring and mind changing.

 



Embrace challenges?  Be eager for them? Anxiety is growth? Don't waste energy with regret? Ok, maybe I know these things but reading and thinking brings them back in the front line.  Do I DO this becomes the question.

So, back to contentment.  I am so glad I am not content to live with things in a certain way.  I'm not happy running a 10 mile pace forever, nor bike a 5 min mile forever, or live with chronic inflammation forever.  I want to learn more, get better, remove the kinks, live happier, gain knowledge (and muscle).  Usually, this journey may have brief plateaus and may have a bit of frustration but usually has a whole load full of confidence and improved self-esteem.  It's all good right?  Well, somewhere along there I cross to the other side and I don't know it until I am so far into the Land of Ugly that I am not sure of my way back.  Where is the line?  When do I cross the line of something good and make it something bad?

The flip the coin of contentment/discontentment happens quickly and sneakily and we find ourselves unhappy with our lot in life because someone has more, or gets to go places or is faster.  This always results in us feeling BAD about ourselves, unmotivated, unhappy, and especially with negative self-talk.  All of a sudden we can't do ANYTHING, nothing is EVER going to get better and basically life SUCKS.  I think being discontent can bring healing and joy but discontent brings comparison and dissatisfaction.

Discontentment works into our finances, wardrobes, jobs, toys, vehicles, food, health, and free time.  We are a nation of unhappy people.

We are a society that spend more money than we should on really nothing because we think we will be happier and satisfied if we do.  We live in houses and drive vehicles we really can't afford.  We eat out so much and buy clothes and toys non-stop.  We spend countless hours keeping up with the tec world making sure we know what everyone is doing.  We have a "favorite" show on tv every night of the week we need to watch.

When is wanting more ever enough?

STOP! What is really important in your life?  What do you really need?  If things were taken away from you one by one- what is the absolute last thing to go?

Ok, please don't slam me, I mean no disrespect nor am I judging.  This is me and my friends and acquaintances, in my world I am seeing this.  If this makes you mad or you want to blow it off, maybe a nerve has been hit.

  • We need to be discontent with things that are not right, and take action to correct them.

  • We need to keep true to the things in life that mean the most.

  • We need to be people of change that can build on bad to turn things into good.


However, we should not hurt ourselves and those around us in this process.  Me listening to the voice in my head that's telling me I am fat and will never get faster as a runner, biker, swimmer is NOT productive.  I need to be content with the present;  I currently have digestive issues and yes it sucks and yes I get bloated more than I want to and yes it drives me batty and I acknowledge this is my life right now.  I may not be able to achieve things 100% but I can do things 100% with a less than 100% body and be thankful and grateful for what I can accomplish.  And trust that it too will pass (like the diaper phase) and I will be stronger and able to reach out and help someone who is also walking in the same shoes I once wore.

I need to be content with the snow and crazy cold weather, content with teenage kids who think I know nothing, content with less in my wardrobe, content with life.  And willing to work at improving, to ironing out the kinks and getting better; keeping my values and motives at the forefront all the time.

I think that we will find contentment only by accepting where we are in life right now.


 Acknowledging and accepting the good and bad in our lives, the challenges and pitfalls, is the start to opening up opportunities for those challenges to turned into wonderful thing!
sunset over ocean, sonoma coast


I thought I was just going to post a short pick me up encouraging post about staying positive but I guess my fingers had another plan for me today.  I do know that after reading so many posts from other blogs, lots of time what we write about is what we need so today, I needed a good dose of reality.  Thanks for hanging in.

I wish you a great day today and hope that you are encouraged.


p.s. When do YOU know you have crossed the line?

How do you get back on track?


 

 

 

 
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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Something "New"

No big New Year's posts from me as I am not much into formal resolutions.  I do have goals for myself and things I want to do to challenge myself physically, spiritually, intellectually and mentally. With that said, I hope you all had a great New Year's and this week has been great. It has certainly had its challenges getting everyone back in the swing of school and routine.  The morning are sure the biggest challenge.

With the theme of "new", I thought I would share some things that I love to encourage you to start something new.

I am starting with my 3 favourite juice recipes.  If you missed my post about my new Breville Fountain Crush, check it out here.  I absolutely LOVE my juicer.  We had a houseful of friends over just a few days prior to Christmas and if they didn't think we were strange before, they do now.  We spent quite some time talking about juicing, sampling it, testing it on a refractometer (don't ask, I don't quite understand it yet myself).  Everyone went home with literally food for thought.  The crazy things you do.  Anyway, my 3 favs!

Mean Green (from Reboot with Joe)


2 cucumbers


8 celery stalks


4 green apples


10-12 kale leaves


1 lemon


 1 1/2 inches of ginger root


This makes about 2 quart sealers of juice.  I mix it all together in a large juice pitcher then pour into my jars so it is very full.  Store in the fridge.  It serves my husband and myself for about 2 days (drinking about 2X each per day)


Blazing Beets (from Juicing Bible second edition)*


3 beets


1/2 inch piece of ginger root


2 green apples


2-3 cloves of garlic


2 celery stalks


3-4 handfuls of spinach


Blend together and pour into a juice pitcher to mix, then divide into jars.  Will fill a quart jar and a pint jar.  Store in the fridge.  Tastes super good cold just after a hard run!


*I have made some adaptation from the original recipe


Purple Power ( Juicing Bible second edition)


2 pitted plums


1 cup purple grapes


1 cup blackberries


1 tsp cod liver oil


Juice the fruit then whisk in the cod liver oil.


Hope you enjoy and happy juicing!