The Importance of "Me Time"

A few weekends I discovered I was completely overwhelmed, and not just with one particular thing. Being mommy, being a wife, the cook, the master of toilet scrubbing, a friend, a daughter, a business owner by night and weekend, then working in corporate America during the week. I am so consumed with activity, it's hard to even take a breath. I literally hit the ground running when I wake up, and falling asleep at a reasonable time is a hit or miss. Normally, a complete miss between contemplating if I forgot to send priority mail out or if my daughter is too hot or too cold in her sleep. I mean, let's face it, women of today has so many, if not too many hats. It gets confusing and difficult to not just stop in the middle of the day and cry - which I have, a lot.

How did I discover the importance of "Me Time"? My husband messaged Carissa, on Facebook ofcourse, and told her he'd watch her son if we went out. I would be a fool, and she too, if we didn't say "HELL YES".

I kissed my daughter and my awesome husband goodbye then we ran to her car as fast as our heels could take us. I drank, probably a little too much, but I hardly ever do. It was so nice to be able to let all of my duties be on the back burner even if it was for three hours. I am not condoning in any way to drink problems away, but having a few drinks every now and then is absolutly fine.

The next morning my husband let me sleep in until 11, did I say how awesome he was? When I woke up, I was able to put all my hats back on my slightly hungover head - but with a fresh start. I was able to handle stressful times much easier, if I accidently put too much Stevia in my morning tea I didn't have a meltdown. After realizing the importance of this, I've made a vow to myself to stop and take "Me Time" more frequently and not go another 17 months without doing something for myself. How can I possibly be a good wife and mommy if I'm stressed?

Since then, I managed to see a good movie with girlfriends, oh yes, Twilight. I've had at least 5 long relaxing baths, and I'm going to sleep slightly earlier instead of working until my eyeballs feel like they're going to pop out of my head. In fact, at my corporate job I have stopped at least twice a day for 5 minutes and just closed my eyes and breathed...and visualized sitting on the beach drinking a Margarita or two. It is SO refreshing. Yes, I look like a complete nut doing it, but if someone has a problem with me taking a 5 minute mental break - they need a break theme selves.

So - word of the rested and slightly wise - take a break.

<3 Katie

The Spicy Blueberry

Inspired by Carissa's recent blog post with her yummy smoothie I decided tonight to make my own masterpiece. And, boy, was it a great one. I was scared to try it after looking at it, but I was surprised by the zing of it. So I'm sharing with ya'll, if you care to be adventurous.

The Spicy Blueberry

• Two handfuls of fresh organic blueberries
• Two very ripe organic bananas
• Half a lime, a big organic lime
• 3 large organic mint (spearmint)
• Half teaspoon (about) of peeled organic Ginger
• Two BIG handfuls of fresh organic Kale.
• 4-5 handfuls of Ice.

I have a cheap and ancient Hamilton Beach blender, and by ancient I think my mother bought it when I was five. It gets the job done, it might take 30 seconds longer but really if someone can't take 30 extra seconds it's not the blender's fault.

I started with blending the blueberries, 3 handfuls of crushed ice and 2 bananas. I then squeezed the half lime into the blender, added the mint and ginger. When that was "chunky", I blended the Kale. I first started with one handful, because honestly I didn't know if my taste buds would enjoy the veggie - fruit mix. It was delicious, so I added the second big handful along with one more handful of ice. -  I like to chew on the ice, however it could be replaced with water if you don't like that texture.

I made my husband try it when he got home, then proceeded to bug him by making him guess what was in it. He was pretty surprised when I told him about the Kale.

The smoothie had a ZING to it,  probably the best smoothie I've ever had. I put it in a glass jar then to the freezer for tomorrow morning. WIN!

You should try it. :) Your taste buds will thank you.

<3 Katie

green smoothie challenge

What a weird smoothie I made this morning with a combo of fruits& veggies, I thought I'd share..

about 1 cup blueberries from the fridge, about 3/4 cup fozen

about 2-3 cups spinach

1/2 cucumber

1/2 lime juice

a few sprigs of parsley

1 banana

1-2 cups water

I also added about 3/4 scoop of Amazing Grass GREENSuperfood chocolate flavored powder.

WOW What an odd combo, but it tastes great! This will be my breakfast and lunch.

-Carissa

Quick Eggplant Cheddar bake recipe

Cheddar bake eggplant parmesan Recipe

This will be in 3 parts: The Bread crumbs, The eggplant, and The tomato sauce:

Bread Crumb Ingredients:
5-6 slices of bread
Basil, Oregano, Italian seasoning

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, put bread in pan and in oven for about 10-15 minutes until bread is crispy and brown. After cooling, crumble bread into container, add seasonings and herbs, mix.

The eggplant Ingredients:
2 small eggplants or 1 large cut into ¼ inch slices
2 eggs
Bread crumbs
1/3 cup cheddar cheese
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions:
After washing and slicing eggplant into ¼ inch pieces, coat in egg and bread crumbs. Heat pan with a little olive oil and brown both sides of each eggplant slice. Place first layer of eggplant to lasagna/cake pan after coating lightly with olive oil so they don’t stick and top evenly with cheddar and parmesan cheese. Add top layer of eggplant and top evenly with cheddar and parmesan cheese. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

The Tomato Sauce ingredients:
1 can tomato sauce (can use whatever kind you like)
1 red bell pepper
¼ of large onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 medium zucchini
Seasoning. I used basil, oregano, parsley, and a small amount of Cajun seasoning as well as sea salt.
any other veggie u want to add

Instructions
Heat sauce, sliced pepper, chopped onion, chopped garlic cloves, and sliced zucchini, and seasonings in skillet.

Cook everything thoroughly. Cook whatever style noodles you’d like with this dish. Add all together and voila! YUM!

10 principals of optimal living

Tonight Id like to talk a little about a interview by Tera Warner with philosopher Brian Johnson. He has a book out called "The 10 principals of optimal living." I would just like to quickly go through each subject and give a little of my own feed back. I think all of these principals are important for all women, and men.

The first is OPTIMISM: We must learn to shape our own thoughts. A little science behind the mind, we have about 60,000 thoughts a day with an average of automatic 80% of those thoughts being negative. We must change the way we think and interpret things. There are different tools we can use to do so. One of those that I learned from Brian Johnson is the "thank you" trick. Whenever youre feeling down or having negative thoughts, think of everything you're thankful for, and repeat these words out loud "Thank you, thank you, thank you..." Another great phrase to always remember is, "I fearlessly approach all challenges in my life."

Second, is PURPOSE: I know I have questioned myself many times, "What's my purpose here, what's my highest calling?" We must remember that life is about plateaus, not the negative moments on our climb or descent, but when we have constant happiness. There are many things you can do to find your purpose, the way I like to think of it is do what makes you truly happy.

Third is SELF AWARNESS: This is pretty simple& sweet. It is knowing what your strengths are. Everyone has strengths and certain things they are better at then others.

Fourth is GOALS: Once you have worked on the first three, you must take your goal out of the abstract and put them into practice. Every here the saying, "Actions speak louder than words"..? Here ya go, get to work!

Fifth is ACTION: You must take action and get it out of the theory mode. Baby steps are OK, as long as you are making moves!

Sixth is ENERGY: Because it will be hard to concentrate on all of the above if your physical health is failing. You will have a hard time getting out of bed and living to your full potential if you have no energy!

Seventh is WISDOM: Have the wisdom to know your strengths, your weaknesses, and the fact you have the power to overcome ANYTHING.

Eighth is COURAGE: We must have courage, we must move forward in the face of fear. It may seem scary now, but think of how powerful and good you will feel after conquering your fears.

Ninth is LOVE: Where would we be without love? NO WHERE. This is all about good vibes and solid relationships with friends, family, and your lover. Support from family and friends can go a long way!

And last but not least, tenth is EN*THEOS (God within): This is your connection to a divine spark. No matter your religion it is important to have a good connection with your higher power.

All of these principals I have been putting into play in my own life and in little time have already seen an improvement in my own mental, emotional, and physical health. These are all important factors in our life's and I believe it is important for every one of us to learn to filter out the negativity. I know it seems near impossible with everything that goes on in the world today, with all the stresses, ect. BUT it can be done.

This past weekend Katie, Diane, and I completed out first hike. Although it proved to be a little challenging at the end (after 3 hours we were really ready to be done!) we pushed though and accomplished our first goal! This week we will be doing a detox and I will post some of my personal favorite recipes. I know Katie will have some updates on our hike. Everyone have a nice night and thank you for reading!

-Carissa

Interesting Environmental Facts

I was searching for a widget to add to the blog that consisted of daily tips about health. I couldn't find it, instead I stumbled upon this website. If we took better care of our Earth, we would be healthier. Period. Here are some facts that that should take just a tiny bite out of your conscience.

• If just 25% of U.S. families used 10 fewer plastic bags a month, we would save over 2.5 BILLION bags a year.
• On the average, the 140 million cars in America are estimated to travel almost 4 billion miles in a day, and according to the Department of Transportation, they use over 200 million gallons of gasoline doing it.
• Over 100 pesticide ingredients are suspected to cause birth defects, cancer, and gene mutations.
• About 1% of U.S. landfill space is full of disposable diapers, which take 500 years to decompose.
• Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil.
• Energy saved from one recycled aluminum can will operate a TV set for 3 hours, and is the equivalent to half a can of gasoline.
• By turning down your central heating thermostat one degree, fuel consumption is cut by as much as 10%.
• Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers.
• One ton of carbon dioxide that is released in the air can be prevented by replacing every 75 watt light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs.
• Deserts are advancing and taking over the land. In Mali the desert has taken over about 220 miles in as few as 20 years. Deserts can be repelled, by developing tree-planting projects, having better agriculture and by managing the land better. However, governments still are reluctant to fund anti-desertification, despite horrific droughts that have occurred in recent years.
• Despite all of the damage we have caused the environment most of it is reversible. We can restore habitats and return species to them; clean rivers; renovate buildings; replenish the topsoil, replant forests. However, these activities do not relieve the worst symptoms of the damage. We still have to fix the source of these problems, us and our vision that we must progress.

They were listed at http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/facts.htm. I recommend reading all of the information provided on this website.

Trail One: The Plan

Eisenhower State Park, near Lake Texoma, Texas

One November 12th, we plan to take off to Eisenhower State Park fairly early. The drive there is about an hour, it's North of Dallas, in a town called Denison. The weather, luckily, will be enjoyable & a bit cool. We will take the half day trail, which consist of about 4.5 miles. It should be easy hike, at least that is what it's listed on Texas Hiking Trail's website. According to the map and other information we might spot blue heron, kingfishers, gray fox and possible a bald eagle or osprey, no idea if it's even their season right now.

Diane, my mother in law will also be joining Carissa and I, along with my daughter who will be worn in the backpack and my Doberman, Louie. Louie will be wearing his own backpack, he is probably the most advanced hiker out of all of us.

Along the way, we will keep updates on Twitter. Then update the blog with pictures, and how it all turned out.

Cannot wait, I'm so pumped, just one more weekend!

-Katie

Twenty Four Trail Challenge

Carissa and I met each other four years ago through my husband. Life has evolved since the beginning of our friendship, but our friendship has remained the same. Within the last three years we've both become mothers'. Carissa to Christian, a smart-cute as pie three year old; and I to Lily, a happy go lucky, not a care in the world 8 month old.


We have been meeting weekly for dinners' at each other places. Carissa is quite the chef, she doesn't even need a recipe, me - well, to say it nicely: I am horrible. She told me the other day her favorite place was the kitchen, and I told her, I hated the kitchen. Each time we eat dinner we talk about how we both want, and need to become fit, for ourselves, for our children, for our families.


Carissa, the genius she is, mentioned finding a challenging trail to hike. When searching a place near Dallas for us to go to, I came across tons and tons of fantastic hiking locations, all within 4 hours of where we live. How is a girl to chose? Well, we couldn't, so were choosing them all.


Unfortunately we won't become fit in just one hike, so we've decided to start the 24 Trail Challenge. The Plan is to find 24 different trails to hike over the next year. We will hike the first trail on November 12th 2011. Our goal is to challenge our bodies to become fit and healthy, as well experience the peace nature has to offer. Who doesn't love being outside in the beauty God has given us to enjoy.


The Last Great Hike to our Challenge will be a two day journey at the end of the our challenge year. we don't know where yet but I'm sure once we start to meet frequent hikers and become involved in the hiking community we will find the perfect place.


This blog will keep record of the various trails we find, our experiences and the journey. Follow our blog and virtually share our journey with us, perhaps you'll be inspired.

-Katie