A Glittery Star

Today I was gifted star. Like forreal a glitter star appeared on my bag today.  I was picking up my niece and nephew from daycare and look down and found it, just hanging out there on my bag. It made me smile and got me thinking.

Recently a pillar of our community and someone I have know sense I was in middle school passed away due to cancer. Everywhere she went she spread glitter and shine. She was someone who would wave her magic fairy wand and smile and all would be okay, at least for the time you shared space with her. Our community has suffered this lose together and we will celebrate her life together soon. Everyone has a great story about her, but to me she was my best friends older sister who was nice to me and I never thought back in 8th grade that I would be friends with her later in life. 

I would like to think the star I found today on my bag was her way of saying “hi” and letting me know to take a deep breath and make it work. My life has not been ideal as of late. Not bad but not where I thought I would be in my late 30’s. This star might be the nice little kick in the ass I need to make my life what I want. 

I might just have to fram this star. 

 

Day 3,4,5,6 and 7 of 40

My intent to blog everyday is not going so well, but hey 3 times in one week is still pretty good for me. I did stick to eating pretty healthy this week. However I did break down and have soda but not as much as I usually would, so for this week of starting out I will take it as a win.

As far as movement goes I did some meditation at home and that was about it besides my Tuesday night Yoga class. I did choose to ride my commuter bike to my parents house as few times but that is only 8 houses one way. This coming week I am going to do more Yoga and try and use that Y membership that has been collecting dust for the last 2 months.

I did cook a few more times this week. On Wednesday a friend came over and we made a brown sugar glazed salmon, smashed potatoes and green beans from Home Chef. Overall it was a good meal. Because of having such a big lunch I did not eat much for dinner.

Thursday I was at a conference all day and I was very surprised by the food. Breakfast was eggs, yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit. Lunch was a make you own salad buffet. With lots of veggies to add to your greens.

For the evening I toured Buffalo Trace and got to have some amazing food in small bits so that made it easy to not overeat.

Friday I got to spend sometime at the iconic Churchill Downs and this was the day I went a little off the healthy eating plan. I went to a Luncheon to hear Joy Mangano speak about her book. The food, although amazing, was not great for eating healthy, but I did manage to avoid dessert.

Last night was our family’s annual chili cook-off. Year after year I enter a chili and have never won- well that all changes this year! I won. I entered a vegetarian chili this time around and that was the key. I also made it up as I went but did document so I can recreat. This is always a fun event filled with family and friends. Let’s not talk about the desserts that should have there own contest (some pics below).

Tonight for dinner I cleaned out the fridge. My husband hates leftovers so I have to get creative if I want him to eat them. I took the roasted veggies from earlier this week and cooked them up with some of my family’s homemade sausage and scrambled up some eggs.  I also heated up some flour tortilla shells and we made a sort of scrabbled burrito. It turned out well and he at it all up.

This week I am going to tackle some beef that my aunt and uncle provided from their farm. I don’t cook a lot of red meat so this will be new to me. I also want to try my pressure cooker that I got as a wedding present and have never used. We shall see how it all turns out.

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Day 2 of 40

Meal plan is set for the next 3 days. I work up this morning and made myself some scrambled eggs and had some coffee. Lunch was a chicken sausage with some mustard and ketchup and water. For dinner I made oven roasted Balsamic chicken with roasted brussel sprouts, purple fingerling potatoes, and sweet potatoes and hot tea. Overall I am proud of my food choices today.

I also made it to Yoga and it was wonderful. Just what my body and mind needed. If you are looking for a chill, small class size yoga, check out Haley’s Tuesday night classes at the Peterson Dumesnil House.

Tomorrow I am going to try and get to a class at the Y or set my bike up to ride. Not sure yet and will depending on timing and weather.

I am calling day two a success and onto day three.

 

Day one of forty days of health

I am doing it. I am going to get healthy. I am challenging myself to 40 days of health. I will do something everyday to get healthier.

This past weekend my husband and I traveled to Michigan and I did without soda the whole time. Three days with no soda. That is step one for me. Limit, even eliminate, my soda intake. I have also been making a more conscious effort on my water intake.

Everyday I will be taking steps to take more care of me so I can be a better person. Today I hope to do some sort of workout. I will be in the car a total of 6 hours and really need to get my muscles moving.

Tomorrow I have already scheduled a Yoga class that is being taught by the amazing Hailey Heishman. I am also going to sit down and make a meal plan so I don’t fall into the rut of grabbing something unhealthy because I did not plan accordingly.

This will be hard. I suck and following a schedule, a plan, a pattern. But I am also good at accomplishing goals when I set them out and make them known. So today is Day One of Forty.

Tonight I managed to make a healthy dinner of Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. It was really good and filling. I love the soup in the fall. I am also getting ready to start my meal plan. I will update the blog with what I am doing and make as it will help to keep me accountable.

What is your favorite healthy food to make? Eat?

Dinner day 1- Roasted butternut squash soup. 

#becauseofgirlscouts

On twitter there is a hashtag going around that is speaking to my very core, #becauseofgirlscouts. If you know me, you know my love for the Girl Scouts. My blog is even named for a Girl Scout song and I have a tattoo, along with 4 other of my closest Girl Scout friends, that is based on that same song.

With that recent announcement from the Boy Scouts I started thinking of ways I can help promote Girl Scouts and how I can use whatever platform I have to educate people on the organization and what it has done, and is still doing, for me. I am not going to sit here and bash the Boy Scouts and their decision to let girls in, because overall speaking they are a really great organization for BOYS. I will have another post on my feelings about that little announcement once I have my thoughts in order. But for now I will stay in the positive and talk about what I know.

The #becauseofgirlscouts hashtag makes me think of how many truly awesome things I have done in my life and how many awesome things I am still doing. I sat and scrolled through many of the post today and smiled and all the amazing things I read that were being posted from people all over the world. It also brings back a flood of memories and a few moments of, oh yeah, Girl Scouts did teach me that.

Here is the start of my list

#becauseofgirlscouts I can do and teach:

• pitch a tent
• camp in the out of doors
• sail several different type of sail boats
• Kayak (whitewater, sea, lake, river)
• Canoe
• Build a campfire
• Cook over a campfire (probably better than a stove)
• Speak to a crowd of people with confidences
• Interview
• Conducted myself with grace
• Plan an event
• Leave a please cleaner then I found it
• Always be prepared
• Mange money
• Change a tire
• Change oil in my car
• Lead #thebesttroop ever
• Make a darn fine Christmas ornament
• Make my own butter
• Shoot a bow and arrow
• Throw out fun nature facts
• Count out change without the use of a calculator
• Work as a team
• Manage a business
• Apply for things
• Take a group of kids for several days away from their home and keep them all alive and happy.
• Rock climb
• Explore a cave
• Remain calm in difficult situation
• Help a kid not feel homesick

#becauseofgirlscouts I am:

• A leader
• A facilitator
• A crafter
• A camper
• A teacher
• A planner
• A manager
• A caregiver

#becuaseofgirlscout I have:

• Made incredible lifelong friendships
• Traveled all over the US
• Taking classes that would not have been offered otherwise
• Been rewarded many times over
• Helped maintain a troop of 30+ girls
• Become a strong, independent, and confident women.
• helped to be a positive person in young girls lives
• seen a show on Broadway
• and many many more things.

#likeagirlscout

This past weekend I went camping with the lovely girls of troop 628. This is not something new to the troop but we did check out another council’s camp that was not that far from us but that is not really what I want to highlight, although it was a pretty great trip.

We returned on Sunday and most of the girl’s parents were waiting on us and whisked them away as soon as we let them go. One of our leaders that had gone with us but did not drive went to load up her car and discovered she had a flat tire. It is hard to tell you the defeated feeling that comes, after a very long 36 hours with 5th graders at camp, when you discover a flat tire when alls you want to go is go home, shower, and do nothing. Adulting is hard, y’all.

The adults that went were all still hanging around, as well as a few of the girls and after weighing some options. The adults huddled up and decided that we needed to make this a learning opportunity for the girls. Who need’s AAA? Not troop 628, nope. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Cause why not teach 6 5th graders how to change a tire? Note: we were in a parking lot with lots of space and lots of room to work with.

To my surprise our girls were really into wanting to learn how to do it #likeagirlscout.

As we got to work on the lesson we had a few very nice people stop and ask us if we wanted help, our girls looked at them and said, we got this, but thanks. Two of the girls parents showed up to get them and the job was not done, they begged to stay and finished and the parents let them (go parents). Over all it took us a lot longer to change that tire then it should have, but now 6 girl know how to change a tire if they ever need to and our leader got home safe. They all pitches in, asked questions, and worked together to get it done. I am so proud of them.

These are the moments that make being a Girl Scout leader worth it. The teachable moments, when you’re tired, everyone is tired, but your band together to get the job done and help improve the lives of girls. I was taught how to change a tire when in Girl Scouts and have had to use that skills on more than one occasion, now I got to have a handt in teaching the next generation an important life skill.

I hope to share more #likeagirlscout post of the next little bit as I try and get back into writing more.

Please enjoy these pictures of some amazing strong girls that I am happy to help lead.

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Grandpa

I wrote this a few weeks ago and have been sitting on it but now I feel I need to put it out there.

I am setting here, with my sisters and cousin, writing my Grandpa’s eulogy, as is tradition in my family for the grandkids to do so. With the other 3 grandparents I don’t remember it being this hard. I was reminded there was copious amounts of bourbon involved with the first grandparent in 2008, and that helped. The other two are a blur from time passing and grif.

This Sunday afternoon, my family surrounding me, words are not coming as I would have liked. He was an amazing man who loved to tell stories and would tell them to anything breathing. A proud WWII vet that hated me owning a Japanese car and told me every chance he got. When I got my tattoos he would talk with my other grandfather about how to sandblast them off. He also never understood anyone that was lactose intolerant being a proud dairyman. These are all strong memories I have of him and count my blessings.

Growing up and into adulthood, I was told how lucky it was to have all of my grandparents as long as I did and I should never take advantage of that. Trust me, I did not. Maybe that is why it has been so hard saying goodbye to the last one?

I bought my first house 3 doors from him and my grandmother. I never thought twice about it being so close to them as a bad thing. I loved being there, he would walk my dogs, watch the house, and let me know all the good, bad and ugly of the neighborhood. He took pride in my living there and so did I.

I could go on and on about the love I had for him and for that I am thankful. I am one special person for to have known him and for him to have touched my life. I will forever be grateful for that.

My heart is still aching and I know that will go one for a while, I also know it will get easier with time but I will always miss him, as I miss my other grandparents.

He lived an amazing 90 years and had a hell of a time while he was here. He loved and was loved.

Accomplished

That is how I am feeling today, accomplished.

Why you ask?

Well, several reasons, but the main one for today is, I see muscles again! Tonight, while shaving my legs, I noticed that my calf muscles are looking good.

Over the last few months I have been trying my best not to miss the Rope 1 class at Suspend and I feel that it is paying off and not just because of my kick-ass calves muscles but because I am actually seeing progress in what I am doing. I am getting stronger and better. I am remembering how to do things from week to week. I am not feeling like the new kid anymore. It’s an awesome feeling to know you can accomplish something that you have been working hard on.

So today I am feeling accomplished and I love that feeling.

Just hanging out on Burnie the rope.

 

It’s Birthday Week

This is from a few years ago, but still a fun birthday party.

I love my birthday. Always have and always will. In my family a birthday is a BIG deal. It is like congrats you made it another year, we need to celebrate. My mom makes us our favorite meal including dessert, and the whole family gathers and enjoys. The best part? You get out of kitchen duty for the night (trust me that is big in my family).

Over the last few years I have been camping with the #besttroopever on my birthday and it was a lot of fun, but this year with it being the in the middle of the week I am home and have a fun filled week planned that I am going to try and capture in photos.

My husband and my birthdays are 3 days apart so we try and celebrate together, just us with a nice dinner out and some good ole conversation. This is a nice treat for us with our busy lives.

Overall, I am super excited for what is to come out of this week and excited to be turning another year older tomorrow.

What is your favorite birthday tradition?

Slacker

Yes, I am a blog slacker. No matter how hard I try, I still slack, but I am trying and will keep trying. I have started a calendar to help, well, maybe it will help.

About two years ago and I got to talking to a friend of mine about doing a YouTube video based on us cooking with and drinking bourbon. Well the talk became a reality and we recorded our first episode of C-Squarded and we had a blast doing it.

My wonderful husband set up our kitchen like a light studio with lights and a few cameras, and all kinds of nifty other stuff.  He is also the head producer, camera person, and editor. I am so excited about this project and I cannot wait to share it with you all.

Thanks is all for this wonderful Monday.