Happy New Year - I'm So Excited For It!!!!!!

OPTIMAL HEALTH & WELLNESS HANDBOOK 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray and/or meditate.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts on things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing! (It's the hard thing)
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. God/the Universe heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God/the Universe for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about.

Finally.... A Snow Day

The weatherman predicted rain with a little snow mixed in. We started getting a light sprinkle of snow in the afternoon so we took the snow dog for a walk. Mai insisted on being dressed UP for the occasion in her princess dress and Easter purse.

What do you do when it's starting to get dark and you've finally got a ton of accumulation?
Why, night sledding, of course!
Jack broke out his Christmas night vision goggles and away we went!

Kiara wanted to sled, too.

Great fun. Unfortunately, the city wasn't prepared. It was a MESS around Portland I tell ya! But we were snug at home. Snow...hot cocoa...snow...warm bath...snow...two tired kids that slept like logs.

New Years Resolutions - Jesus Take the Wheel (part 1)

I know some people do really really good at keeping their New Years Resolutions.
Me...not so much.

While doing some reading in Romans this morning (This was one of the first books I read in my beloved Message version of the bible when I first got it..and is so fantastic!!!) I really felt like God was trying to nudge me into letting Him help me to understand what refinements of myself I might want to lean towards this year. From Romans 14, I came away with two - although each line in this chapter might be a resolution in itself:
1. Cultivate Good Relationships
2. To remember that "It's God we are answerable to - all the way from life to death and everything in between - not each other."

So I think I won't call them resolutions, let's just call them a work in me...and I'll pray to be open to His refinements.

Romans 14 (highlights are mine)

Cultivating Good Relationships

 ¹ Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.  ^2-4For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
 ⁵Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
 ^6-9What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It's God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
 ^10-12So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

   "As I live and breathe," God says,
      "every knee will bow before me;
   Every tongue will tell the honest truth
      that I and only I am God."
So tend to your knitting. You've got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
 ^13-14Forget about deciding what's right for each other. Here's what you need to be concerned about: that you don't get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I'm convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
 ^15-16If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don't eat, you're no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don't you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
 ^17-18God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you'll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
 ^19-21So let's agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don't drag them down by finding fault. You're certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God's work among you, are you? I said it before and I'll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don't eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
 ^22-23Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong.

I Feel Good Na Na Na Na Na Na Na

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. I simply can't wipe the smile off my face today! I think it helped that I got to meet Sheryl for Happy Hour last night and sit and drink good wine and blab to each other after what seems like a really really long month. I wish I could say I loved this last year, but I really can't. I can appreciate what it's taught me, but...

Boy! Am! I! Glad! This! Year! Is! Over!
Made lots of mistakes, got called a few names, realized how dark it had gotten, saw myself in a true light and although so many days seems like way too much of a struggle, I just have a huge smile on my face today. It's true - The future's so bright - even if 2010 sees a lot of struggle again, I just have to know that each year just keeps smoothing me, shining me, baring me - turning me true.

I continue to study this quote and be open to what it means in my life:

To be sure, calling is not what it is commonly thought to be. It has to be dug out from under the rubble of ignorance and confusion. And, uncomfortably, it often flies in the face of our human inclinations. But nothing short of God's call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose. - Os Guinness

A Christmas Miracle

It's a dog eat dog world...especially in our house lately. As I eluded yesterday, we had another such incident in the early morning hours. In a nutshell,  Ki scarfed down ChiChi's face like it was a chocolate and peanut butter covered bone. Whatever happened, we missed the massacre...only finding the leftover pieces. Mai, of course, was devastated by the results.

I wracked and wracked my brain to remember where ChiChi came from, but Mai does most of her own "aminal" shopping these days, and I really had no idea where she picked him up... so I gave up. Many hours later, I knew I needed to re-do the grocery shopping that was interrupted earlier in the day, so I hurried over to Winco under the pressure of the great winter storm warning we were having. The store was packed and crowded and grumpy with people not wanting to get stuck at home with no provisions. I was whipping through the aisles, bumping into people, pushing the rude entire aisle takers forward with my cart when out of the corner of my eye I spotted an entire shelf stuffed full of bug eyed stuffed animals. Gray and pink, gray and pink, pig after elephant after pig. They somehow looked familiar and I realized THIS WAS THE STORE!!! Like a crazy woman on Black Friday, I frantically started pulling those little buggers off the shelf until I found at the very back corner, one lone brown chihuahua. Holy Christmas Miracle of Miracles!!!! I am Mighty Mouse ~~~ HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could barely hold in my excitement all evening, until finally I asked Mai to bring me ChiChi's remains so we could try to fix her. In our house, the elves come every night with a little treat as soon as the Christmas tree goes up, so as I held ChiChi in my hand, I told Mai, I just don't think I have the talent to save her. Wait a minute, Mai!!! The elves! The elves! They are master toy craftsmen, I bet if you left ChiChi and a note to them by your stocking, THEY could fix her up. Mai's eyes lit up and she got to writing.

Dear Elves,
Can you fix ChiChi?

Off to bed she went, and off to work, I went...
Good as new. Or in this case...Brand New!

Mai woke up before me this morning. When I arose, I found this:
Dear Elves,
Can you fix Max?
I love you

ruh roh.

Don't look if you don't like ugly...

I woke up at 2am with leg pain and a snoring husband and swollen neck glands. After an hour and a half of trying to fall back asleep with The Noisy Nose Locomotion next to me, I finally convinced myself that the skin cancer was growing deep towards my bones and had invaded my entire body. The swollen glands could only mean lymphoma. Eventually, I fell back into a deep sleep only to wake up to a bad sore throat, but in better spirits than nighttime thoughts can sometimes bring. I was excited that after dropping the kids off at school I would only have the chore of grocery shopping and then I could cuddle up in bed with New Moon and/or take a nap. Unfortunately, while exiting the produce department with some of the  yummiest looking fresh foods I've seen in quite some time, my phone rang - Steve calling to say to get home ASAP because Ki needed to get into the doctor toot sweet.

I left my most needed crisp fruits and veggies in the cart in Aisle 1 and raced home to get Ki into the vet. We originally thought she ate something that didn't agree with her...we knew she ate ChiChi's face this morning (one of Mai's stuffed "aminals") but we've also had a ton of balloons around the house and we thought maybe she was having some type of intestinal strangulation. It ended up being her neck. Most likely whatever has been causing her to have shoulder pain for 3 months now. She's on strict bed rest for two weeks (??????????how the h.e.double.hockey.sticks am I going to keep her down for two weeks???????)

Ok, so on to my sickly scar. The kids wanted to be there when I removed the bandage that's been on since I left the doctor's on Wednesday, so after school we were presented with this. Rad.

Dance With Mai Today

Dance with Mai today and remember your inner Christmas child.



It's 13 degrees out with a blue blue sky. What more could you ask for? Well, a little snow might be nice, but for now, we'll be happy with the great weather we're having.

I go in to have the rest of my ugliest mole removed today and then we'll call that incident DONE!

Enjoy this Winter Wednesday to the fullest!!

Why do we go with the flow, or take the easier road? Why are we playin' it safe?

Hello my friend
I remember when you were
So alive with your wide eyes
Then the light that you had in your heart was stolen
Now you say that it ain't worth stayin'
You wanna run but you're hesitatin'
I'm talkin' to me

Don't let your lights go down
Don't let your fire burn out
somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
Why don't you rise up now?
Don't be afraid to stand out
That's how the lost get found
The lost get found

So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There's a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it
There's a girl on the streets, she's cryin'
There's a man whose faith is dyin'
Love is calling you

Don't let your lights go down
Don't let your fire burn out
somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
Why don't you rise up now?
Don't be afraid to stand out
That's how the lost get found
The lost get found

Why do we go with the flow
Or take an easier road?
Why are we playin' it safe?
Love came to show us the way
Love is a chance we should take
I'm movin' out of the way

Don't let your lights go down
Don't let your fire burn out
somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
(Stand out)
Don't let your lights go down
Don't let your fire burn out
(Stand out)
somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
Why don't you rise up now?
Don't be afraid to stand out
That's how the lost get found
The lost get found

So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There's a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it.

- Britt Nicole

Don't you love it when the same topic just keeps getting pounded into you from all sides? I mentioned in my last post some thoughts from Joel Osteen. I came across two more fantastic jewels from him yesterday...

"The only difference between being buried and being planted is what you expect". FANFREAKINTASTIC!!

Here's part of what's being pounded in this week - "When you have difficulties, don't talk about your problems - talk about your God".  - J. Osteen

This was further developed at church yesterday by Pastor Kip who encouraged us to verbalize our faith and to remember that faith is a lifestyle of believing, obeying, giving, persisting, thanking God and trusting...but beyond that, faith is really believing that he's doing it all right now behind the scenes and we need to verbally thank him in advance for all that comes our way and knowing that it will all work out for good.

Speaking Faith Filled Words

After my run today I had quite the pity-post to share, but I refuse to let those thoughts take up my time today. Instead I turned a few more pages in Joel Osteen's "It's Your Time" and I replace those discouraging words with some advice from him:

I am blessed. I am prosperous. I am favored. I am healthy. I am free.

When you speak faith, you are in agreement with God. When you speak defeat, you're in agreement with the enemy.

God-talk brings God on the scene. Enemy-talk brings the enemy on the scene. All through the day there are two voices competing for our attention - the voice of faith and the voice of defeat.

Now you must choose which choice comes to life. Make your choice known by speaking out. The moment you verbalize that thought, you give it the right to come to pass. When you choose negative words, you choose the wrong voice.

Get in agreement with God. That other voice may be louder, but you can override it. You can take away all of its power by simply choosing the voice of faith.

I am blessed. 
I am prosperous. 
I am favored.
I am healthy. 
I am free.

Civil War - I Gotta Feeling...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

DUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone needs a nap, or a spanking, or a time out...

...and that someone is me.

Gah...I hate days like this.

Goals and Motivation