By Nicole

What an entirely cynical title. I've spent the past few months quietly fuming and praying about crummy decisions a family member is making.  Hoping the switch will flip and her brain will turn back on to smart mode.  But it hasn't happened.  As her behavior worsens, my fuming has become more vocal.  In the past few days, I have started to rant to anyone who will listen.  Not a good sign on my end. Today I found out she crossed the line.  The line that makes us set our own boundaries and build up our walls. I shouldn't have to feel like I need to protect my kids from their aunt.  We shouldn't have to worry about what will come up missing from our garage or when (not if) our home will be broken into. Steal it, sell it, get your fix. Break into your own grandmother's house while she is sick in the hospital. I'm furious.  I'm hurt. I'm not alone. Raise your hand if you have a family member like this.  If you are raising your grand...

My fitness, like my blogging, has been sorely neglected lately. In true perfect timing form, Fit Approach and Lorna Jane started an Active Living Challenge!  August is seriously our craziest month of the year, with 4-H obligations at the county fair, a birthday, football practices beginning, and the prep for back to school and church activities starting up in September.  Not to mention gardening and harvesting and canning.  But I am gonna keep on keeping on and this challenge has been a great way for me to think about fitness and healthy food every day! Day one got me planking again. Day two was a great dinner - all home grown and harvested.  I followed the instructions in one of the Costco cookbooks for pan frying the steelhead.  The green beasn were sauteed in garlic and olive oil.  I splashed in fish sauce and soy sauce somewhere during the saute process.  They were amazing. Day three we went on a family run.  I love family runs. ...

The only reason I know the last time I blogged was because my posts are dated.  If I was an awesome blogger with a ton of followers, everyone would have thought I had met a tragic end and been worried. Thankfully, it appears no one is worried, and my sudden split from social media didn't seem to impact anyone at all.  Looking back, I know I have this pattern.  Every year it seems I take an unplanned vacation from all things bloggy.  This year, that break happened to include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and whatever other media I have as well. My break has been a good one, and I don't think I'm fully back yet.  I just needed to remember what it felt like to sit up late at night in front of a glowing computer screen, hearing nothing but the tick tick of the keys and the humming of the fish tank pump. I'm on a ledge. Life with my kids and husband has been number one.  Work sucks a lot, and it takes all my energy to get through that and still be on the ...

Week Three: Believe 2/17: Spoil Yourself! - Do something just for you  today! Take a walk, go to yoga, spoil yourself! I loved that Monday was President's Day, and we didn't have to work.  I spoiled myself by sleeping in.  My hubby had to work (poor him), and the kids wanted to stay with Grandma.  I hardly knew what to do with myself the night before... but boy did I enjoy those extra hours of sleep! Aside from taking solo shopping days or getting long run hours all to myself, sleep is my favorite activity. 2/18: 5 Mindful Minutes - Do good to your body,  meditate for 5 minutes and find your zen. Without a doubt, I know I need more mindful minutes.  And I know that my mindful minutes should be spent reading my Bible or praying.  Yet, so many times I spend doing busy work around the house or zoning out on the computer or watching some mindless episode on Netflix.  Not good uses of my time.  This was a good reminder day for me. ...

Today is a day I was able to sleep in until 9:30!  That, folks, is a miracle. And it only happened because the kids are with grandma and Jason had to leave for work at the horrific hour of 5 a.m. This morning, I cleaned my bathroom counter (a rare occurrence).  I made delicious stove top coffee. I hung out with my ducks and chickens and goats for a bit.  I washed the mud and gunk off our running shoes from yesterday's trail run .  I started a few loaves of bread, made quinoa for quinoa cakes , did some laundry, put away some stuff, and found some new Facebook pages to like.  The SITS Girls have a great group, and I am happy to be a part of their network. Now I'm getting ready to steal my kids back because I miss them. Today I want to bake and go on an adventure and clean out the duck pen.  All exciting things. We'll put up a picture later.

Week Two: Nourish  2/10: Go Meatless - Skip meat today! Try vegetarian/vegan meals. I was excited for Meatless Monday, because I always talk about it, and I rarely follow through.   However... this particular Monday, I had pre-made an amazing smelling red coconut curry with lamb Sunday night for a quick Monday dinner.  This was my second lamb experiment, so I wanted to see if I liked it better in curry than I did as chops.  I can leave a lamb chop.   But. I powered through.  I picked out the meat, ate the rest of the sauce and decided to have the full meal for leftovers during the week in my lunch.  The rest of the curry sauce was amazing though, and we mixed rice and couscous and sprinkled fresh cilantro on top.  Delish. The beginning of my Meatless Monday was equally delicious.   Breakfast - Homemade greek yogurt topped with honey and granola for breakfast.  I was in a bit of a rush, so I had to eat it out of the containe...

Two weeks ago I signed up for the CoreCommit Challenge with Erica from Sweet Life .  I am having a blast! Never, in my entire existence, have I been this consistent with core workouts.  And the crazy thing is, I am noticing great results!   Last Sunday, I went for a "slow" five-mile run.  I've been awful with my mileage lately, I am not even close to successfully completing with Winter 100 Challenge... which I also signed up for!  Anyway, my calves were a bit tight, and I walked a little bit, but for the most part I felt great.  In fact, I got back to the house and felt like I could have ran another mile or two... I was so excited.  Then.... wait for it....  I checked my time... 50:something!  My "slow run" was 10 minute miles!  I about did a jig in the cul-de-sac.  My fastest 5k ever was 10 minute miles.  I can't chalk it up to mileage, so I am definitely chalking it up to these core workouts.  That and self defense c...