This Is What I Look Like

This is what I look like: 

a family fishing trip, 

Dad making homemade bread on the first day of school, 

grilled steak for Saturday night dinner with the grandparents, 

spending a lot of time on the phone with my mom once I moved away, 

Brodie barking his head off every time someone rings the doorbell, 

my brother asking if I was finished hogging the bathroom in the morning, 

the four of us all on the big couch watching a movie together on a snowy Sunday afternoon, 

a girl's shopping trip to the mall in Albuquerque, 

heartwarming movies that we all made fun of, 

hunting for Easter eggs on a camping trip in the snow, 

a sunburn, 

deer and turkeys in the yard, 

all of us running through the airport trying to make our connecting flight, 

pretty roses I got after my dance recital, 

hauling a full load of horses up and down I-35, 

spending the night in the tornado shelter, 

reuniting with old friends, 

bringing Primo the spider plant back from the dead, 

eating the best cinnamon roll ever made on the morning of my college graduation, 

murder mystery board games, 

the floating trampoline in the pond, 

random parties in high school calculus class, 

so many field trips, 

my first day of teaching, 

spending a whole day in bed reading a book so good I couldn't put it down, 

a surprise phone call on Christmas morning, 

and so much more. 

My life is me, but my life is also my family, friends, and acquaintances. Lives entwined. 

Me, today.

*I was inspired to write this post by a paragraph in the novel I'm currently reading, "The Secrets She Keeps," by Deb Caletti. 

Recipe Review- Eggplant Casserole

I didn't feel like cooking on Friday or Saturday, so I made this new recipe a little later than planned. I made Eggplant Casserole for dinner last night, and I really liked it! It reminded me of lasagna, only eggplant was used instead of noodles. I served it with a chicken breast, and it made for a wonderful meal!

*Quick note: I didn't realize until right before I was planning to cook this that it was a crock pot recipe. The recipe below can be done in a crock pot on low for 6-8 hours, or it can be done in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 30 minutes.

Eggplant Casserole

1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

2 cups cottage cheese

6 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 egg

1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves

3 cups jarred marinara sauce

1 large eggplant, trimmed and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

1. In a food processor, process cheeses, garlic, egg, and basil until combined and smooth.

2. Spread a thin layer of marina (about 1/3 cup) over bottom of casserole dish (for oven) or crock pot. Arrange one-third of eggplant slices over sauce, overlapping edges. Spread half of cheese mixture over eggplant and then spoon 1/3 of remaining marina evenly over top. Repeat with another 1/3 eggplant, half of cheese mixture, and 1/3 of sauce. Finish with remaining 1/3 of eggplant and sauce.

3. *Cook for 6-8 hours on low in the crockpot, or 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. 

Serves 6

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Life Isn't Perfect

Life isn't perfect, but it has perfect moments.

My Favorite Apps

I love going through the app store and seeing all of the new, popular apps guaranteeing me a better life if I download them. I download and try a lot of them, but then I get bored and delete them 90% of the time.

It takes a lot for me to keep an app, and keep using it often. I thought I would do a roundup of my favorite apps that I use regularly, and that I have stuck with for at least a year:

YouVersion

I love this app! I prefer to hold a physical Bible in my hands when I can, but sometimes it's just easier to be able to bring it up on my phone at a moment's notice. My favorite feature is that it allows me to keep switching the passage I'm reading to different translations. I don't know how many translations this app has available, but there are a lot (including ones I've never heard of)!

She Reads Truth

I love the devotionals from She Reads Truth. So inspiring and encouraging. The app helps keep me on track reading the new post every day, and gets me connected with an amazing community of women reading God's Word.

Audible 

I have been obsessed with audiobooks since I was a little girl. I had to have one playing while I went to sleep when I was younger, and I still have one playing most nights even now. Audible makes it so much easier to get new audiobooks, to get them cheaper than anywhere else, and to get them immediately. I usually try to limit myself to 1 book per month, but the past two months I've gotten 4 books because I was so excited about these particular books that I couldn't wait!

Beachbody on Demand

My favorite way to have more than 500 workouts ready to stream or download to my device (for those times when I don't have good internet) at any time. I have done so many of these workouts, and I want to do more! They're addicting, and the best news is that Beachbody keeps coming out with new, amazing programs so I never get bored!

Charity Miles

This app is incredible. You just turn it on any time you're walking or running or moving around, and it tracks your miles. A lot of apps do this, but the best part about this one is that you get to choose a charity you want to support, and for every mile you log with the app you earn a quarter for your charity. As of right now, I have logged a little over 372 miles, earning about $93 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. How cool is it that all I had to do was turn this app on to get money for this wonderful charity organization when I was going to be walking or running anyways?

DuoLingo 

I haven't used this app for a whole year yet, but I love it! It's free, and you can use it to learn a foreign language. I'm using it to learn German, and I enjoy it! The lessons are broken up into manageable, organized sections, and I'm hoping to not be completely lost when I'm around native German-speakers this fall.

Bejeweled Classic

I love this game! So simple, yet so engaging. I love to have this app on to keep my fingers busy while I'm listening to a podcast or tv show.

Sudoku

Another favorite game/puzzle. I love that I can actually do sudoku puzzles- they make me feel accomplished and smart! ;)

Five Books Friday

1. Continuing with this theme from the last few weeks, here's my favorite devotional from the week:

Shaun Niequist writes, "I have always, essentially, been waiting. Waiting to become something else, waiting to be that person I always thought I was on the verge of becoming, waiting for that life I thought I would have.

"Some people spend their entire lives waiting. Days pass, people come and go, relationships wither, opportunities disappear - all because they had their eyes focused on the horizon, waiting for something better. If we wait for the life that we thought we would have, we miss the life right in front of us. That would be a sad legacy indeed.

"It is hard to just be happy in the now, especially if now doesn't look like you had hoped or planned. When planted, the seeds of discontent will grow into full-fledged bitterness and despair. How much better to look around at the now, be content with all that God has given, and thank him for the blessings he has provided.

"Let God take what you thought life would be and give you a new focus. Contentment will get you there."

I loved reading this! I have always been terrible at being content with the here and now. I'm always moving, switching jobs, and looking forward, hoping that whatever comes next will be better or maybe even what I've always hoped for. This has definitely kept my life from being boring, but I need to work on being more content before taking my next leap at whatever opportunity comes my way.

Also, if you haven't read any of Shauna Niequist's books, I highly recommend them! Try these two:

2. Speaking of books, I know that I said I would have that novel I discussed last week finished by today. Sadly, that did not happen. I did make considerable progress on it, but I didn't think it was worth sacrificing my sleep to stay up last night and finish it just so I could write here that I did it. It did get a little better a couple hundred pages in, but I don't think I really needed to stick with it. I'm going to finish this particular novel just because, but going forward I'm going to adopt a new rule.

If I'm reading a book for fun, I'm going to require that it be entertaining and worth my time. I'm going to give each book 50 pages, and if I don't want to keep reading it at that point or find out what happens, then I'm going to move on.

Reading a book for fun should never be boring! We do have to read boring books from time to time for many reasons throughout our lives, so when we get time to read for the sheer pleasure of reading, it should be fun!

3. I just finished a cute little book on Wednesday called "Every Wild Heart." I gave it a try because it was about a girl who loves horses. I'm a sucker for a good horse story. This one wasn't bad, but it wasn't phenomenal by any means. I really want to read a phenomenal book! So many books I've read in the last couple of years have been average at best. Where are the really great ones hiding?

4. I bought a new personal development book on Wednesday. I've heard mixed reviews about it, but it's been getting so much buzz (and it was in the "gift for the grad" section at the store) that I just had to give it a try. I'll be posting my review within the next couple of weeks.

5. I received an incredibly thoughtful gift on Wednesday- two new books! Books make the best gifts, and these two are so perfect because of all of my upcoming adventures! I can't wait to dive into them and be inspired!

Update

I wanted to write a post that was a little bit more about what's going on with me currently.

I am officially on Day 18 of sticking with my Bright Line Eating Plan. If you don't remember, that means not crossing the four bright lines: no sugar, no flour, no snacking, and eating reasonable portions at mealtimes. 

I am also doing intermittent fasting because it works really well for my super-slow metabolism. I have successfully not eaten before 11 am or after 7 pm (with the exception of one evening when I didn't get dinner done in time, so I ate it at 7:15ish) for the past 17 days. 

Victory!

I have been too chicken to get on the scale through all of this, though. I know I need to eventually, but I don't want to see the number that I think I must be hovering around. 

I can't really tell if I lost much weight yet. I do feel less bloated, but my pants aren't any looser I don't think. I also don't think I've had more energy from cutting flour and sugar from my diet. I wish I did! I still have cravings for sugary foods and bread, mostly, but they are fleeting, and I have been able to distract myself from all of them so far. 

I want to be more intentional about the way I structure my days. I want to use my time better and stop letting myself be so easily distracted by the tv and the internet. Today I wrote out specific goals I want to accomplish each week. A week is a small enough time period that you can't waste too much time, but long enough that if you have a bad day or something comes up, then all is not lost. 

So I will report back how that goes after my first week. Maybe I should do a small, manageable, weekly goal in every area of my life. I really do want to get better, but that reminds me of interesting article I just heard about in the New York Times. 

The article is called "It's Great to Suck at Something." The author, Karen Rinaldi, talks about how much she loves to surf, but that she will never be good at it. Rinaldi writes, "By taking off the pressure of having to excel at or master an activity, we allow ourselves to live in the moment. You might think this sounds simple enough, but living in the present is also something most of us suck at. If we accept our failures and persevere nonetheless, we might provide a respite from the imperative to succeed and instead find acceptance in trying. Failing is ok. Better still, isn't it a relief?" 

I don't consider myself an expert in any subject. I have moderate abilities in a few different areas, but I can't think of something that I absolutely love that I am completely terrible at. Still, it was interesting to read Rinaldi's perspective, and I do agree with her that we need to find acceptance in trying. 

So maybe it's ok that I suck at time management and I always run out of hours when I have so much more that I want to accomplish. Or maybe it's just that I suck at prioritizing my tasks. Or maybe I suck at balance or scheduling, because even if I do the highest priority task first, I spend way too much time at it and run out of time for everything I was supposed to do after that task. 

The point is is that I'm going to be ok with that. I am going to persevere, but if I fail trying to complete my goals for the week, that's ok. There's always a new week and another chance to try again. 

The Difference Between Motivation & Determination

I think this is an important distinction to make today:

Motivation: the general desire or willingness of someone to do something

Determination: firmness of purpose; resoluteness

You hear the word motivation a lot in the health and fitness industry. People think it's what they're lacking, and that if they just had enough motivation, they could start working out and eating healthy. People will use it as an excuse: "I'm not motivated to do that today. Maybe I'll be more motivated tomorrow."

Motivation is illusive and fickle. Motivation is why so many people start and stop and start and fail on their journeys to a healthier lifestyle. Starting a new workout program or nutrition plan is exciting and novel in the beginning, but after a couple of weeks, the novelty is gone, and so is the motivation. It's just easier to go back to old habits.

Determination is what you need to succeed! Determination is not a fleeting feeling. Determination is a decision. Determination does not come and go based on your mood, your energy, your stress levels, or anything else that can sway your motivation. Determination is a constant. Once you have decided that you are determined to succeed, nothing can stop you.

So there you have it. Motivation is a feeling. Determination is a decision. Are you going to decide?

It's Getting Harder to Be Skinny

A study done by York University and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in late 2015 just came to my attention. This study analyzed date from 36,400 American adults and concluded that people in the 1970s and 80s could eat more and exercise less, while still avoiding obesity, than we can today.

Scientists are trying to pinpoint the different factors contributing to the rise in obesity beyond just diet and exercise. The depressing fact of the matter is that although eating less and exercising more may result in weight loss, more studies are showing that these methods are ineffective at sustaining weight loss in the long term.

According to the study, "weight management is actually much more complex than just 'energy in' versus 'energy out. That's similar to saying your investment account balance is simply your deposits subtracting your withdrawals and not accounting for all the other things that affect your balance like stock market fluctuations, bank fees, or currency exchange rates.

"Our body weight is impacted by our lifestyle and environment, such as medication use, environmental pollutants, genetics, timing of food intake, stress, gut bacteria, and even nighttime light exposure."

Maintaining a healthy bodyweight is now more challenging than ever, apparently.

I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have radically altered my diet in an effort to lose weight. I am on Day 15 of the "no sugar, no flour" plan. I don't plan to give up on that any time soon, but I have to wonder if it's worth it. Will I ever be able to reach a healthy weight, where I can feel good about how I look, and be able to stay there long term?

Her Time

Her Time

She has been feeling it for a while now - that sense of awakening.

There is a gentle rage simmering inside her, and it is getting stronger by the day.

She will hold it close to her - she will nurture it and let it grow. 

She won't let anyone take it away from her.

It is her rocket fuel and finally, she is going places.

She can feel it down to her very core - this is her time.

She will not only climb mountains - she will move them, too.

Somewhere near Mt. Princeton, Colorado, 2012

Savory Saturday- Spinach & Artichoke Quinoa Casserole

I did not have much success with my new recipe this week. I tried a recipe for Spinach and Artichoke Quinoa Casserole because I love anything with artichokes in it (or at least I thought I did). I thought this dish had potential because it was full of garlic, onion, spinach, artichokes, and lots of yummy cheese. It really fell flat, though. It wasn't disgusting. I ate my serving of it, and it was a pretty filling dinner. I don't know what happened to all the flavor, though! I couldn't taste anything except the quinoa...

I threw away all of the leftovers and I will be deleting this recipe, never to be made again.

Spinach and Artichoke Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of quinoa, uncooked
2.5 cups water
1 large onion, thinly sliced
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups milk
1 tbsp corn starch
2 cups artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
11 oz package spinach
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
1. In a medium pot, add quinoa, water, and a pinch of salt; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cook for 12 minutes and set aside.
2. Preheat large skillet on medium heat and swirl olive oil to coat. Add onion and garlic, salute until translucent, stirring occasionally.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray 9 x 13 inch back dish with cooking spray. In a small bow, whisk together milk and cornstarch. Add to skillet with previously cooked onion and garlic. Also add artichoke hearts, spinach, Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, quinoa (fluff with fork before adding), and pepper. Stir until cheese is melted.
4. Transfer mixture to a prepared baking dish, level and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Five Thing Friday

1. I was listening to a new podcast called Happier in Hollywood, and I was so happy to hear them do a segment on bullet journaling. They were right, that a bullet journal is an amazing thing because it can be absolutely anything you want it to be, and it's uniquely yours. I love my bullet journal! I get to flip the page to a new, blank page full of possibilities, and write anything at all that I feel like writing. I like to plan my time, make habit trackers, doodle, write random lists, record income and expenses, set goals, and more in my bullet journal. I don't know why it took me so long to try something like this! I've wasted so much of my life buying regular old planners! ;)

My weekly spread for this week, and a hippo :)

2. Speaking of planning, meal planning is such a wonderful thing to do. I bought this handy-dandy magnetic "What to Eat" pad online a few months ago, and I finally used it this week! I got to plan exactly what I'm cooking and eating and when, and then make a grocery list from that so I had exactly what I needed, and no extra food that won't get used this week. This has made life so much easier! I'm excited to plan next week's meals on Sunday!

3. My favorite devotional that I read this week was written by Sheri Rose Shepherd. She said, "Every day, every moment, we have a choice. Will we choose to walk with God and follow his example and commands? Or will we choose to walk in the other direction?

"When temptation to sin presents itself, we have a choice. Walk with God, or head into sin. God doesn't force us to do the right thing, he gives us the choice. We have the free will to walk with him or to walk away. In every moment of this day, God graciously gives you the choice to walk with him."

4. In my free Facebook community, we have been doing a mini, "kickstart your happiness" challenge based on Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project." We are striving to improve our energy, as well as our overall happiness. We've been talking about sleeping more, exercising better, tackling nagging tasks, organizing our surroundings, and simply acting more energetic. It's been a fun challenge! I hope everyone taking part in it this week has liked my daily tasks and ideas to help them have more energy. 

Please send me a message if you are interested in joining my Facebook community for support, encouragement, motivation, and fun challenges as you strive to become happier and healthier.

5. I am currently reading a novel that has started off a bit slow. I'm a little over 100 pages in, and I started it in March. I am declaring here and now that by the time I write my Five Thing Friday post next week, I will have it finished. I will review the book as one of my five things, and I will decide whether it was worth it to persevere and keep reading. In the future I might try to stop wasting my time on sub-par books. It can be difficult to find a really amazing book, though!

I read a book this week that was recommended on the "What to Read Next" podcast. The host said this was the best book she had read this year, if not in the past five years! I decided I needed to read it myself if she was giving it that kind of review. It wasn't bad. But that's about the best review I can give it. It was definitely different than anything I've read before, so I guess that's a good thing to broaden my reading horizons.

Anyway, I'm going to take this week to finish the novel I started in March, and to think about how I want to approach books like this in the future.

The book I'll finish this week.

The highly recommended book that was distinctly odd. 

May Recap

May was a crazy month! It began with my last week of teaching at Colorado Northwestern Community College, then transitioned into moving craziness. Once I got all of that sorted and all of my stuff safely piled into a storage unit awaiting my return to the US after my year of European adventures, I started a new summer routine.

Throughout all of that, I did my best to keep up with the happy habits that I decided to track throughout the month.

As you can see, I did pretty well. I slacked off the most between the 12th and the 18th. I don't normally care for excuses, but in all fairness, that was when the last of my stuff in my Rangely house was going into boxes and becoming inaccessible until I could get everything unpacked once I got to Mancos. I had 17 perfect days during the month, which I guess isn't that great since it's only 55%, but that's still 17 great days that I had!

I wasn't sure until today if I even wanted to do a tracker for June, but I finally decided that there are several things I do want to accomplish every day, and doing a tracker makes it easier to not have to write them all down on every day's to-do list. I set it up a little differently, so we'll see if I like it better.

As for whether these habits actually contributed to my overall happiness, I'm not sure. I had so many other things going on and so many transitions, that I'm not sure I could really tell if they made a difference. I can definitely say I'm much happier now than I was at the beginning of the month, but I think that's just because that daunting move is behind me and I don't have to go back to Rangely to teach for another year come August.

I can say that I do feel accomplished and like I'm making a little bit of progress every day that I can check all of those boxes, though. I'll take that as a win!

When in Mancos

I promise I will be traveling a lot later this summer (and even more once I move overseas), but in the meantime, I'm still in Mancos. I am a fan of hometown, so I still have plenty to say about it.

I am always amazed when I meet people who have never heard of, let alone tried, a Navajo taco or even just plain fry bread.

Fry bread is a delightful, flat, dough bread that is deep-fried in oil, shortening, or lard. It's light and puffy, and can be eaten with taco toppings (therefore becoming a Navajo taco), or eaten as a dessert with honey, jam, or powdered sugar. It's a little bit like a sopapilla that you can get from Mexican restaurants to give you some context.

Anyway, if you're ever driving through Mancos, I highly recommend Ted's Tacos. It's right on Highway 160 next to the only gas station in town, so you can't miss it. They have a large menu full of many delicious choices (the breakfast burritos here are also a personal favorite), but if you have never experienced fry bread before, this is the perfect place to do so! Ted is almost always cooking, and you won't be disappointed.

Tips on Tuesday: Get Organized!

I've got a lot going on this week, and I'm feeling pretty stressed and overwhelmed right now. I know I'm probably not the only one who feels a great sense of relief once I get things organized and just how I like them, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite tips on organizing my mind and my surrounding so I can think clearly and tackle all of my tasks.

1. Bullet Journal. This is my favorite thing ever right now! I love my bullet journal. I first heard about them around Christmas this past year, and I got one to try out in January. I have always loved planners, but a bullet journal is so much more and better than a regular planner. It's also a place for random lists, a journal, a wish list, and a brain dumping ground. The best thing about bullet journals is they are exactly what you need when you need it. You can have all kinds of things in between your calendars and to-do lists. And if you don't want to write anything down at all for a week or two, you don't have wasted pages like you would on a regular planner. If I can get everything flying around in my head written down in my bullet journal, I feel so much better and it all looks so much more manageable.

2. One Minute Rule. This rule states that if whatever task is in front of me would take one minute or less, then I need to do it right now. File that document. Throw away that junk mail so it doesn't clutter my desk. Close the cabinet door in the kitchen. Hang up my coat. All of these things are so small and simple, yet they have a cumulative effect that really makes a big difference!

3. Clean for 15. Every evening I like to set a timer for 15 minutes. In that time, I pick something in my house to clean and I keep cleaning until my timer goes off. I can always manage 15 minutes. I would always use an excuse to get out of a 30 or 60 minute cleaning stint, but 15 minutes goes by quickly, and if you stick with it day after day, you can really get your house in good shape! I was on a great roll with this back in January, and I was running out of things on the main floor of my little house to clean, so I used my 15 minutes to do things like sweep my basement floor. I felt so much better when my house was that clean!

4. Sunday Basket. I just learned about this strategy recently. The idea is that you set up a basket (or bag in my case) where you put mail or any kind of papers that you accumulate throughout the week. On Sundays you get it all out and deal with it in whatever way is most appropriate. You pay what needs to be paid, schedule what needs to be scheduled, trash what you don't need to look at again, and so on. It really helps cut down on clutter, and it saves time because you can be more efficient doing that all one time on Sundays, rather than a little every day. And you know right where everything is!

5. Power Hour. I really like the idea of the power hour, and this is one I have yet to employ in my own life, but I would really like to start! We all have annoying little tasks that we keep putting off, and usually whatever can happen at any time happens at no time. If there's no deadline, it'll never happen. So the power hour is one hour a week that you schedule into your calendar to get all of these little tasks done, such as calling the doctor to schedule an appointment, getting a screwdriver and tightening the handle on your bedroom door, and other random, nagging tasks.

Have you ever used any of these strategies? Do you have tried-and-true strategies you love that aren't listed here? Please share!

Appreciate the Light

The devotional that I shared on Friday by Madeline L'Engle inspired me to share another one of her quotes today:

"Maybe you have to know the darkness
before you can appreciate the light."

March Sunrise, South Padre Island, Texas

Savory Saturday - Pork Lettuce Wraps

Here's the new recipe I tried this week! And, spoiler alert, I loved it! It's definitely going into my regular, healthy meal rotation. The recipe for these wraps is posted below, with the modifications I made to leave out the sugary sauce and amp up the flavor.

Healthy Pork Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 pound lean ground pork

4 green onions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons ground ginger

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 

16 leaves of romaine lettuce 

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

lime juice

Preparation:

1. In a large frying pan, heat oil over high heat and add pork. Cook, stirring until starting to brown. Drain excess fat.

2. Stir in green onions, allspice, ginger, and soy sauce. Cook until green onions are tender, about 2 minutes.

3. Place 8 leaves on each plate and fill with pork mixture. Top each with cilantro and lime juice as desired. 

Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

These wraps were a little difficult to eat as wraps, so the only other change I made was actually eating them more like a salad with a fork. The pork was the only major source of calories in this recipe, so you get a lot of bang for your calorie-buck! It was filling, flavorful, and delicious!

Five Thing Friday

1. Loved yesterday's devotional by Madeleine L'Engle (who also happens to write great young adult fiction that I enjoyed growing up!):

"Faith means believing without seeing. If we can see it, verify it, explain it, and make perfect sense of it, we don't need faith. Faith, by its very definition, requires us to trust in something we don't understand. 

"Much of Scripture require us to take that step. Virgin birth? Unbelievable. Calming the sea? Can't be done. Raising people from the dead? Impossible. And so some turn away and decide that they can't be Christians when, in reality, those questions are the first step. Knowing that something is unbelievable or impossible means that a higher power has to be involved. That knowledge leads to a choice. Are we willing to believe the unbelievable? Are we willing to have faith?

"You may never understand the reason for some events of life on this side of heaven. But God is pleased when you have faith in him even when you can't understand."

2. Chalene Johnson is one of my favorite motivators. She's done numerous fitness videos, hosts a podcast, has written a great personal development book, and created several online classes. She wants to help others, and she's helped me a lot. 

Her timely advice in an email today was, "There are no universal 'facts' that apply to everyone when it comes to eating. There’s so much research out there that can be carefully selected to prove whatever 'fact' or 'rule' you want. Moral of the story: be skeptical, do your own research and experiment with what works for YOU."

She said it perfectly! No matter what you do or don't believe in regarding fitness, nutrition, and/or health, you can find evidence to back it up. So it's up to you to decide what works for you, and to stop letting others try to dictate how you treat your body.

3. Beachbody has recently launched a new program very different from anything they've ever done. This one is called YouV2 (You Version 2). It's a fitness and nutrition program for those who have never worked out, hate the thought of working out, have a lot of weight to lose and need an easy place to start, or have physical ailments that prevent them from bending over or doing many traditional exercises (think squats and lunges).

Anyway, I just got access to this program today, and it looks pretty silly and fun. All of the music is hits from the 1980s and 1990s, so in order to promote this program, I decided to put together a little costume to show my love of the 80s!

4. The podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin is by far my favorite podcast that I listen to. I have listened since it first started over two years ago, I think. Gretchen and her sister, Elizabeth, make wonderful co-hosts. Their advice this week is to design your summer, to be intentional about how you're spending this season so you can make the most of it. I love this advice! Summer, after the Christmas holiday season, is my favorite time of year. You can do so many things in the summer that you can't do the rest of the year, and it should be celebrated! Now I just need to think of how I want to design my summer...

5. I am a huge of fan of The Reset Girl's #listersgottalist prompts. I love making lists! She has faith-based listing prompts, and more generic listing prompts. Here's one of my lists I thought I'd share!

What Bravery Means to Me:

Being scared, but going anyway.
Choosing not to regret what I didn't do.
Having faith that everything will work out and I'll be ok.
Being strong in the face of pain or grief.
Doing what's right.
Getting to go on grand adventures.
Being a little impulsive, maybe.
Getting to create the very best of memories.

Food Pressure

It's Day 4 following the Bright Line Eating program I explained in an earlier post (no sugar, no flour, no snacking, correct portion sizes), and so far so good! I'm reading a lot of ingredient labels, but I'm still getting to eat some delicious food! For example, yesterday I had my favorite Cafe Latte Shakeology for lunch, and then I made this delicious lemongrass chicken dinner.

I am also using the Intermittent Fasting method. I have an incredibly slow metabolism, and one of the only advantages of that is that I can go for long stretches of time without getting hungry. My metabolism makes intermittent fasting relatively easy, and my favorite part about it is that it actually makes me obsess about food less.

I have an all-or-nothing personality, so going 16 hours in a row without eating makes it easier for me to tell myself that I get nothing to eat, than to fret about what and how much I can eat during every one of my waking hours. I set my eating window to be from 11 am until 7 at night. I think I would rather eat breakfast and skip dinner, but that's pretty difficult to do without becoming a hermit and declining every evening get together with family and friends. So I'm ok with skipping breakfast in favor of having a life.

Something I have noticed in the last few days, as well as in several other times in my life when I was following a diet plan that I wanted to stick to, is how much my food choices can bother those around me.

Have you ever noticed this?

I firmly believe that what or much of something someone else is eating is none of my business. What you do or do not choose to put in your mouth is a personal choice that should never be criticized.

And yet people do it all the time. I guess it must make others feel more secure and comfortable with their own food choices when everyone around them is eating the exact same thing? I don't know. All I know is that I am sick of the food pressure! I am sick of people trying to force me to eat a certain food that I do not want, or to eat at a certain time when I do not want to eat.

It's hard enough living with the food temptations that are constantly surrounding me- I don't need peer pressure to give in on top of everything else!

When In Mancos

Since I'm going to be traveling so much this year, I thought it might be fun to do a "When In Rome" inspired series of posts each Wednesday. I'll include something worth seeing and/or doing in each location.

I'm back in my hometown of Mancos, Colorado, currently, so this is the perfect place to start! Mancos prides itself on being the "Gateway to Mesa Verde." The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park really are a must-see that bring in visitors from all over the country, and all over the world. There's nothing else quite like them.

The view from my front porch.

I grew up looking at Mesa Verde across the valley every day, and as is often the case, exciting tourist attractions are much less exciting when you live so close to them. I have only ever been inside the park four or five times, and one of those times was with my driver's ed instructor practicing my driving skills. In the last few years I have begun to appreciate the fact that I get to see this incredible landmark every day.

My most recent visit to Mesa Verde: January 2013

The National Park Service (nps.gov) explains that the cliff dwelling of Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in North America. Sometime during the late 1190s, after primarily living on the mesa top for 600 years, many Ancestral Pueblo people began living in pueblos they built beneath the overhanging cliffs. The structures ranged in size from one-room storage units to villages of more than 150 rooms. While still farming the mesa tops, they continued to reside in the alcoves, repairing, remodeling, and constructing new rooms for nearly a century. By the late 1270s, the population began migrating south into present-day New Mexico and Arizona. By 1300, the Ancestral Puebloan occupation of Mesa Verde ended.

I had always heard that these people that lived and built Mesa Verde as we know it today were called the Anasazi. I think that's such an awesome name! I grew up pondering the mystery behind their disappearance. Nobody really knows why they built such elaborate villages into the faces of these cliffs, only to abandon them and never return.

According to the National Park Service (nps.gov) Mesa Verde had almost 600,000 visitors in 2015, and again in 2016. In 2015, those visitors spent $55.4 million in communities near the park (that includes Mancos!). That spending supported 814 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $66.8 million. Our economy sure benefits from such a major tourist attraction!

FYI: Many people don't realize this at first, but from the time you turn off of Highway 160 and enter the park, you still have at least an hour drive ahead of you before you get to the top and reach the cliff dwellings. Keep this in mind when you're planning your trip!

I think it's time I play tourist in my own back yard and go up for another visit!