Olivia Eileen

What have I got to lose? Nothing. But, I'm still nervous about running the 17th Annual Army Birthday 10 miler tomorrow morning @ 6:30AM!!! And I think I have a legitimate reason :: I had mono the first 2 1/2 weeks of May. Looking back in April 29th when I found out from the Dr. that I did in fact have mono I was a mess. I had already been feeling undertheweather for 9 days. So, I was instantaneously depressed from the Dr's words, "You'll be sick for 4-6 [more] weeks. Rest and drink water.", thus entirely convinced I wouldn't be able to run the 10 miler... But, I prayed, my mom prayed, my friends prayed, my husband prayed, and I boosted my immune system with vitamins (and water and rest;))...and a week and a half later, my health started coming back! MIRACULOUSLY MY HEALTH IS BACK!!! AND I AM BEYOND GRATEFUL!!! I got to put in a couple "long" runs before the race and ended up 11 seconds off my pre-mono running ability, which is nothing race adrenaline

Besides a new hairdo, this year is looking a bit different! I even attempted a new blog during my focus crisis ;) May 2013 Because last triathlon season I competed in only two triathlons, but quite a few running races (because, hey, they were cheaper AND closer!), I'm not quite sure what this "racing" season has in store for me. But when it comes to the "life" race, I have decided not strive to do it ALL this year but focus on :: Loving better   "Your love frees my soul/ And fear has no hold/ For you have broken the chains/ Now joy fills my life/ Your spirit, your light/ I'm undone by the kindness of Christ." -Glorious by Bryan & Katie Torwalt Running faster "I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His Pleasure." -Eric Liddell Writing more "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you!" -Psalm 63:3 I made a similar paire

We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.  -- Ronald Reagan As a military spouse I know many spouses who have had friends' husbands pay the ultimate price for our great Nation, but I have not held a friend tight in my own arms who has lost her husband... My heart selfishly hopes I never have to experience those emotions with a close friend. But when you can't imagine your husband doing anything but serving our Nation...well, you get the idea. As Memorial Day Weekend drew near this year I began to realize it felt different.  The excitement of a four day weekend with my husband home wasn't as exciting as I gradually recollected where I was this time last year and the emotions I was feeling or trying not to feel... The first picture I saw of my husband after he deployed! I cried. My husband was deployed to Afghanistan the majority of last year. It was our first deployment. Many of my seasoned military spouse friend

Our sweet sugar bean was my Valentine last year as hubby was on a plane headed far away, for a long time... *sniff* BUT, this year, we are all together, so I baked cookies to celebrate ;) However, I read a poem the other night out of William J. Bennett's, The Book of Virtues, and it reminded me of our bittersweet Valentine's day last year.  So, this is for our sweet sugar bean :: who always brings a ray of sunshine and a huge smile...   The Lovable Child by Emilie Poulsson Frisky as a lambkin, Busy as a bee- That's the kind of little girl People like to see. Modest as a violet, As a rosebud sweet- That's the kind of little girl People like to see. Bright as a diamond, Pure as any pearl- Everyone rejoices in Such a little girl. Happy as a robin, Gentle as a dove- That's the kind of little girl Everyone will love. Fly away and seek her, Little song of mine, For I choose that very girl As my Valentine.

With my recent veggie centered dinner successes in the kitchen I am seriously thinking I've should've always been a vegetarian...and a vegan, but only sometimes ;) can't live without my CHEESE or HONEY !!! I mean, tell me this doesn't look delicious?!!!?? No meat. No gluten. BUT packed full of yummy nutrients :) And you can try it out for yourself... Ingredients ::  2 packages of tempeh (fermented soybeans), cut into 1/2" pieces 2-4 tablespoons sesame seed oil 1/4 cup soy sauce (we use gluten free) 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 3 garlic cloves, minced (you can cheat with 3 spoonfuls of the pre-minced garlic:)) 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup water 1/2 green pepper, diced 1 red pepper, diced 3 green onions, diced 1 cup of jullianed carrots (cheat with the packaged kind;)) 1 crown of broccoli, diced 1-2 large handfuls of greens (eg spinach, kale, mixed spring greens) 2 tablespoons water 2 tablesppons maple syrup (o

I know, I know, for any true Irishman or woman a MEATLESS shepherd's pie is practically blasphemous...but my tummy of late cannot tolerate meat! [I could probably blame that on the food documentaries I've been watching;)] So, I've taken to being quite creative in the kitchen with some of my favorite dishes. To say the least, my creative and meatless rendition of Shepherd's Pie turned out quite successful, even the second time around! If you need something meatless or different, but also comforting, this is your ticket ;) Ingredients :: veggies, broth, and "meat" (veggies) 1-3 tablespoons olive oil 1-3 tablespoons minced garlic 2 medium carrots, diced 1/2 large yellow bell pepper, diced 1 large celery stalk 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained (broth) 2 tablespoons Worcester sauce (we use vegan) 2 tablespoons soy sauce (we use gluten free) 1 cup vegetable broth ("meat") 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and patted dry 3 tablespoons raw walnuts

The next time our little one gets sick I'm running, no sprinting , to the store for a slew of new movies, tissues, tea, vitamin C, and extra cough drops ...because a repeat of communal sickness has finally taught me that once one of us gets sick we are ALL probably going to be sick!  It's been a long four weeks of battling shared sicknesses in our house, but we are finally on the mend... While my husband was sick last week, he confided in me that he originally thought I was crazy when I gave him herbal teas, garlic capsules, ricola cough drops, and a bunch of other vitamins the first time he was sick under my watch...until he got better after following my instructions ;) Now he trusts me so much with the natural remedies I research [for non-life-threatening common colds], that when I come home from the health food store and say, "here take this" he doesn't even ask me what I am giving him ;) I grew up with my mom referencing the Prescription for Nutritional Heali

My January 2013 book choice is "Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood" by Jamie C. Martin. A mom of 3 young kiddos, Martin also authors an inspirational blog called Steady Mom . I'm not quite finished with the book yet (don't remind me I only have a few days left in January!) But so far, what I've taken away from Martin's book is that proactivity lies at the foundation of intentional and professional motherhood. Martin offers simple and achievable techniques to creating, from my perspective, a proactive home environment. My American Heritage Dictionary (whoa, I just used a book off my bookshelf!) defines the adjective proactive as: "acting in advance to deal with an expected difficulty; anticipatory." After beginning to read this book one of my sub-goals for this year came into a clearer picture. I already want to be more"intentional in my relationships" with my husband, my sisters, my friends, my mom...the l

Recently, I watched Forks Over Knives documentary with my husband. If you want a convincing argument-that's not all about animal humanity-to decrease (or eliminate) your meat & milk protein intake and increase your intake of whole foods and veggies then you need to hop of Netflix and watch this documentary! My "take-a-ways" from this documentary were... The Standard American Diet is just that, SAD Childhood obesity and diabetes is PREVENTABLE (and our fault) A diet of 20% casein (milk protein) TURNS ON CANCER CELLS in our bodies A whole foods plant based diet has been proven to REVERSE DISEASE Cultural case studies showed that a shift away from a plant based diet and toward the Standard American Diet led to an increase in cancers  The biggest cultural case study that struck a chord with me was in the Philippines :: they were seeing the current generation's children diagnosed with liver cancer . The apparent cause? A shift away from their ancestral roots of a pla

 “What day is it?" "It's today," squeaked Piglet. "My favorite day," said Pooh.” -A.A. Milne I don't really like "new year's resolutions" simply because they are notoriously outlandish, unachievable, and usually cause more remorse instead of relish in achievement ! But if you ask my husband, I do like new year's GOALS. And I like to go over them on New Year's Eve and again on New Year's Day and again during the entire month of January until a detailed set of goals are decided and written down ;)  All of my goals for 2013 seem to have a similar theme that is found in two of my favorite quotations :: “Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has yet to come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering” -Ida Scott Taylor “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools