Inspiration Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

There are many things in life that will tear you down and many that will try but fail. It is inevitable but there are always those go-to things that make you happy after that let-down or put a smile back on your face, even if it is only for a minute. Below are some of my favorite inspirational quotes. Be inspired. Inspire others.

Everything you want is on the other side of fear. –Jack Canfield

Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. –Princess Diana

Practice the pause. When in doubt, pause. When angry, pause. When tired, pause. When stressed, pause. And when you pause, pray. –Toby Mac

When you focus on problems, you have more problems. When you focus on possibilities, you will have more opportunities. –unknown

Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. –George Sand

You either get bitter or you get better. It’s that simple. You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you. –John Shipp

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. –Seneca

Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance. –David Nicholls

There’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance…Its called humility. Confidence smiles. Arrogance smirks. –unknown

Anyone can show up when you’re happy. But the ones who stay by your side when your heart falls apart, they are your true friends. –Brigitte Nicole

Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet. –Maya Angelou

Freedom is being you without anyone’s permission. –unknown

On this road called life, you have to take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you got, and remember what you had. Always forgive, but never forget. People change. Things go wrong. But just remember, the ride goes on. –unknown

Never judge someone by the opinion of others. –unknown

We don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges. –Your Positive Oasis

The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively. –Bob Marley

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. –Dr. Seuss

Fitness Goals

The amazing feeling of working out will forever keep me young! Well, at least that’s what I pray for. I have been working out more and more lately and it brings so much life to my world. I feel better; happier, more energized, kinder and more passionate about life in general. I have a friend who is a workout fanatic. She is my idol! She inspires to me get in the gym even on my easier days. I love her admiration to working out and having a diet that is almost always on point. The diet part is a bit harder for me because I love cooking and experimenting but I have never lost the sight of what living a happy and healthy lifestyle is all about. #happyhealthyliving

What have I been up to lately? Well, I try to walk our dog every night. Even if it’s only a 10 minute walk, it’s great getting Reggie out of the yard and checking out the neighborhood. It doesn't always work out like that, but we try. He runs around outside almost the entire time we are home, but it’s still great to get out and about. 

Beyond that, shoulders, shoulders and shoulders! My fitness goal right now is to build my shoulders while maintaining my regular workout. I have been hitting the gym hard to build my strength, particularly shoulders. I don't need to be huge but I do need strength. As many of you know, I am an avid outdoorsman and enjoy bow hunting more many reasons; to put some delicious food in the freezer and enjoy the glory of nature and what it has to offer. I never want to run out of venison to make Jalapeno Cream Cheese Venison wrapped in Bacon year round too! And they are amazing! But on a serious note, shoulders are a weak point for me. I’ve struggled maintaining strong shoulders through sports injuries earlier in my life and lack of consistent workouts as I began bow hunting. It doesn’t make it easy hunting when you can’t comfortably pull back the bow at your desired draw weight. So, I’m making it a point to build those muscles. And, I love muscular shoulders. Although I have access to a crossbow, I don’t think I would enjoy the sportsmanship of bow hunting as much while using one. We shall see what the future holds. 

What are your fitness goals? Take a walk every night? Maybe every othe night. Do a few squats? The power is in your hands! #faith #love #happyhealthyliving

Nutrition Myths

Did you know?

I read an article a while back and wrote a post about it. It was deleted due to reconfiguring my blog but I did save it first. Here's an overview of that article called “20 Mainstream Nutrition Myths that Most People Believe (Even though they’ve been Proved Wrong)". The article can be found at eatlocalgrown.com, but I did a brief review here...

For any of my Facebook Happy-Healthy-Living followers, you see the many food related articles I post. I’m working on getting my blog more updated with those same articles, hang in there!

In today’s society it’s hard to know exactly where our food comes from let alone if where it says it comes from it true. According to the article, eating a low-fat, high-carb diet with a lot of grains is not as good for you as we were once advised. It used to be pushed as a weight loss food program as well as preventative care for cancer. This is a myth. Many studies have been done from reputable sources showing inconclusive evidence for the statement to be true.

Another common myth is “Salt should be restricted in order to lower blood pressure and reduce heart attacks and strokes”. Now I am a fan of seasoning and always thought this was true, so hesitated on my salt intake. According to the article, on average, lowering your salt intake can indeed reduce a persons’ blood pressure by 1-5 mm/Hg. That being said, this has no effect on heart attacks, strokes or death. There is one exception to this common myth, if you have a pre-existing medical condition such as salt-sensitive hypertension, you may have increased risks that involve salt.

“It is best to eat many, small meals throughout the day to ‘stoke the metabolic flame’”. This is another common myth that I have heard from many health professionals throughout my lifetime. I’ve been blessed my entire life, thus far, with a fairly “high” metabolism. I grew up eating 3 meals a day; breakfast, lunch and dinner. As I grew older and continued to stay active, I met several friends in the health field. They almost all advised me it is best to eat 5 small meals rather than 3 larger meals. According to this article, that’s a myth and eating 2-3 meals per day has the ‘exact same effect on total calories burned as eating 5-6 (or more) smaller meals.’ I never thought of it as how many calories I was eating. I’ve never been a calorie counter and frankly, don’t know if I ever will. I eat healthy and stay active, therefore; I try not to go crazy… Granted, calorie counting works wonders for many of my friends! Some people benefit from eating often because it prevents excessive hunger. According to the article, that is true, but it is untruthful that this has an effect on the amount of calories we burn. On the flip side, there have been multiple studies showing how eating ‘too’ often can have a negative effect on the body. In on recent article, frequent meals increased liver and abdominal fat on a high calorie diet intensely. That is contradicting to what many think is the ‘healthy’ choice today.

Have you heard that “Whole wheat is a health food and an essential part of a balanced diet”? I have and I love wheat. The only issue, in today’s society, wheat doesn’t carry the same nutritious value it used to. Studies have been down that show “older wheat” compared to “modern wheat” and the difference in our production today. Modern wheat can cause an increase in cholesterol levels as well as inflammatory markers. I’ve thought about this in depth since I grew up eating mainly wheat bread and continue to lean towards wheat choices, but beyond the other health concerns, modern wheat products can cause symptoms such as bloating, drowsiness, discomfort and reduced quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. A great alternative is Einkorn, an older variety of wheat that Young Living offers in an organic form! Contact me for more information on Einkorn and other Young Living products.

These are just a few of the myths the article talks about. Click here to view the full article!

Weekend Getaway

Friday afternoon I was torn on whether to be happy or sad. My husband was leaving for the weekend to hang out with his buddies; play a little poker, golf… I missed him already and he wasn’t even gone. He's always fun to be around and my best friend but on the other hand, it was just me and Reggie Friday. YAH! I got some me time without “What’s for dinner babe?” “Do you know where my softball uniforms are?” “Is my Brewers t-shirt clean?” (Oh, because I know which one you are talking about right?) I love him to death, but I was excited to relax and enjoy the presence of my own mind without distraction, minus Reggie. He is a bit of a distraction sometimes but it is great for the mind to have alone time every now and again. A bottle of wine, a few loads of laundry, semi-weeded landscaping and falling asleep on the couch with puppy cuddles made the night worth it!

It is never the same sleeping by yourself when you are so used to the comfort of your loved one. I tend to sleep like a rock, as in, I don’t move more than an inch. It’s weird, I know! Excited for the day, I woke up early, like always! Reggie never and I mean never sleeps in when it's just us two. If Nick were home, Reggie would have slept until 10... not the case for me... My sister was coming to town to spend the day with me and I was super excited. She's only been to my house 2x and it was just to shower after Country Jam USA. We hadn't talked about what we were going to do so I just left it up to whatever got thrown our way. Thought maybe a couple of walks with Reggie, wine (of course), crafting, cooking and who knows… I really hadn’t clue and didn't care as long as I was with someone I positive.

The one thing we planned was dinner. I grew up with expectations of helping my parents in the garden and let me tell you, we had a huge garden! We canned beans, beats, tomatoes, salsa, spaghetti sauce, chili sauce, apple sauce, pizza sauce, asparagus, jam… I’m probably forgetting some stuff but you get the point. Beyond canning we had the simple job of helping pick the vegetables, snap the beans, etc. It was not always fun but definitely a learning experience we all enjoy now. I have a garden of my own now, although not nearly as big. Using fresh Zucchini and canned spaghetti sauce we made Zucchini Lasagna roll ups. This was an experience on its own, but the outcome was awesome. It taste delicious. Check out how to make it under the "Recipes" tab. 

I am definitely a DIY type of gal. My sister is too, even though she doesn’t like to admit it. I have never etched glass, but she made some adorable wine glasses for my husband and I for our wedding along with gifting us some wine she bought on her trip to Germany! I want to learn to etch glass -I’ve seen videos and it seems fairly simple, we shall see. This weekend we stuck with some simpler crafting; toilet fizzes and bath soaks. Ahhhh I can’t wait to see how people like them and I’m hoping it is as much as I do. You have a chance to win a set of Bath Bombs from me. Read the “Be Kind- giveaway” article from last week on the home page of my blog to find out more. Limited time so hurry, it ends Wednesday! These are some of my favorite products though. Toilet fizzes are perfect for those of you who leave a box of matches in the bathroom. This was the first time I’ve ever made the toilet fizzes and it was definitely an experience. They work, but the recipe needs a little adjustments. The bath bombs though, now those are awesome! Thieves was the essential oil of choice and man am I excited to relax in a bath of Thieves infused greatness! These would be great to soak your feet in too, especially if you feel like you’re coming down with a bug or the nasty flu. I absolutely love these. 

A couple drinks and relaxing night of reality tv would have been the perfect ending to a girls day with my sister but the hubby crashed our party by coming home early. No complaints, he was a great addition and kept Reggie busy! We ended the night with more wine, a camp fire, delicious s’mores (Reese’s peanut butter cups instead of Hershey) and the Minion movie on Netflix. Yep, 3 grown adults decided on the Minion movie! 

I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Never take the little things in life for granted. Every chance I get, I strive to be with those I love and those who enjoy my presence because tomorrow is unknown. Live life to the fullest and experience the things that make you happy. Love your life. Choose happy!