Change.

Workouts just weren't working out (haha) for me anymore. Either I wasn't able to take my dear little one to the gym daycare because he had picked up another cold from, they gym daycare, or I had too many things going on during the day and just couldn't get myself there regularly. 

Change was necessary. 

I used to go to bootcamp from 5am-6am and friends thought I was crazy. But really it's not that crazy at all. Since my workouts weren't happening as much as I liked I figured instead of complaining about it, or making excuses, I'd set my alarm for 4:35am and get to the gym at 5. 

Today was two days in a row and I feel amazing. I took control, made a change and am already noticing a difference in my mood just from having that hour of "me" time before the rest of the family starts their day. It's nice because, I get home at the time I would normally wake up, groggily, and make my dear husband and my older son's lunches for the day. Not my teenager just gives me a crazy look when I come bouncing in the house at 6am as he's just rolling out of bed. 

I am happy with this change and happy I am dedicating myself to health and working on being a happier person. Make a change, it seems hard, but if you don't try, you'll never know what good it could bring... 

And just for fun... since I'm on a "cleanse" day (which I'll explain more about later) I did a little easier workout today. Lighter weights, enough to spark my muscles but not enough to make myself too fatigued. Here's what my workout consisted of: 

Wide Grip Bench Press with Barbell 

Push-Ups

Cable Cross Over

Planks on a stability Ball 

Side to Side Push-ups

Incline Bench Press with Barbell 

Toe Touch/ Crunch Combo 

STRETCHING! 

Make it a great day!!! And check out today's Deal of the Day from Tinyprints! It's about that time to start ordering Holiday cards!! 

Teething, What Works for You?

My youngest son is 28 months old, yes I had to count that on my fingers because normally I just say "two". 

Exactly two years ago he and I traveled home to see my family in Northern California and his stubborn little self decided it was time to cut his first teeth at just 4 months old. While I was excited that he was "cutting his first tooth" it also made for a very stressful, un-fun trip. Ever since then, we've been teething. Drooling, meltdowns, mood-swings, cranky pants, you name it. I feel like his perfect little teeth are taking forever to come in but I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just this morning I spotted his first of four two-year molars through the gums. Finally! He's been saying his teeth hurt and has had swollen gums for months! It has been a long two years, but I've come to realize and accept that this is part of life and EVERY ONE goes through it {some kiddos and parents just handle it a little better}.

My son hasn't been the easiest teether at all. Aside from what works for us and soothing our cranky baby, I have also learned a lot about myself and patience along the way. It's helped me understand that life is about growth, constantly. I've also learned what works and what doesn't in our house as far as teething goes so I thought I'd share in case you too are in need of something to soothe that poor baby's gums!

What hasn't worked... 

Tylenol, Ibuprofen, frozen bananas or any other cold fruit or ice in a mesh feeder, and distraction. When his teeth are bothering him there is NO distracting him...

What HAS worked...

• Frozen washcloth to chew on always helped, especially when he was a baby. I'd get half of it wet, throw it in the freezer for at least thirty minutes and give it to him to gnaw away! He loved it and it always seemed to calm him down a bit.
• Chilled teething toys were, and still are, a huge hit. Even now, he will ask for his little Sophie teething ring from the freezer and when she's thawed out, he'll ask for a different one.
• A spoon. Yes, I said a spoon! When he was younger, I would plop him in his high chair and give him his little metal baby spoon that has the soft tip and he would chew on that for a good while. He still loves to chew on a spoon now!
• Baby Orajel Naturals on occasion. We mostly only used this at night when he was screaming in horrible pain, I think when he was getting those painful canine teeth. After I'd rub a little on his gums he'd always calm down, so I knew it was working. I used this one because I felt safe since it is free of benzocaine, alcohol, and dyes.
• Staying calm and realizing that this is all part of growth and there isn't anything I or my husband can do about it. Staying positive and patient while he screams in pain is beneficial for us and for him.

What are some things that you have used to help soothe your teething baby or toddler? What worked and what didn't? I'm still looking for suggestions on how to get through these last molars that are taking their sweet time to come in!

***Originally posted on East Valley Moms Blog as a contributor post***

Happy: 12 Things Happy People do Differently

I have been doing a lot of soul searching as of late; reading, meditating more, making goals and committing to them, etc... I am creating my own happiness and am always looking for more words of wisdom to help me a long the way. 

I saw this article on Huffington Post {via a friend share on Facebook} and immediately fell in love with it. It describes so much of what I feel, think and believe. I have been practicing most of these in my own life but now moving forward I want to REALLY practice them. Make them part of my daily disciplines. 

1. Express gratitude. -- When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value. Kinda cool right? So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness. And that's without having to go out and buy anything. It makes sense. We're gonna have a hard time ever being happy if we aren't thankful for what we already have.
2. Cultivate optimism. -- Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism. No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it. She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life. People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times [3].
3. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. -- Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous. If we're somehow "better" than the person that we're comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority. Our ego inflates -- KABOOM -- our inner Kanye West comes out! If we're "worse" than the person that we're comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we've done and dismiss all the progress that we've made. What I've found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn't stem from a healthy place. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.
4. Practice acts of kindness. -- Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain. (Serotonin is a substance that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.) Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside. What's even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness. How extraordinary is that? A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin. Move over Pfizer, kindness is kicking ass and taking names.
5. Nurture social relationships. -- The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships. Did you know studies show that people's mortality rates are DOUBLED when they're lonely? WHOA! There's a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with. We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.
6. Develop strategies for coping. -- How you respond to the "craptastic" moments is what shapes your character. Sometimes crap happens -- it's inevitable. Forrest Gump knows the deal. It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan. It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.
7. Learn to forgive. -- Harboring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being.You see, your mind doesn't know the difference between past and present emotion. When you "hate" someone, and you're continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are toxic for your well-being. You put yourself in a state of suckerism (technical term) and it stays with you throughout your day.
8. Increase flow experiences. -- Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still. It's when you're so focused on what you're doing that you become one with the task. Action and awareness are merged. You're not hungry, sleepy, or emotional. You're just completely engaged in the activity that you're doing. Nothing is distracting you or competing for your focus.
9. Savor life's joys. -- Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy. It's easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life's enjoyable experiences. When we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic. It's the simple things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully experience them.
10. Commit to your goals. -- Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force. Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere. When you're fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing. Counter-intuitively, having no option -- where you can't change your mind -- subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.
11. Practice spirituality. -- When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than us. We surrender the silly idea that we are the mightiest thing ever. It enables us to connect to the source of all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists. Some of the most accomplished people I know feel that they're here doing work they're "called to do."
12. Take care of your body. -- Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be. If you don't have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected [4]. Did you know that studies conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft? Not only that, but here's the double whammy... Six months later, the people who participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth.

Excerpt taken from an article on HuffingtonPost.com, you can read the full article here.

Teenager, Toddler & a Starving Momma

I eat pretty much the same thing everyday for breakfast. It's either egg whites and plain oatmeal OR my yummy RVL shake {I always prefer this one, since it tastes like eating cake}. As you know from previous posts, I love breakfast. It has always been one of my favorite meals and if I could just eat breakfast all the time I would be happy. French Toast, pancakes, muffins, donuts {yes, I said donuts}, omelets, berries, ok... you get the point.

So my teenager is taking a Culinary Arts class in high-school this year as one of his electives. We figured we'd let him take a "fun" elective class for his Freshman year and he can follow through with his three years of a foreign language his Sophomore, Junior & Senior year. So far, I am loving this culinary arts class. At back to school night we had the pleasure of meeting his teacher, who is a total hoot, and she shared with us that by the end of the year, they would be required to cook at least one full dinner meal a week. SCORE!

This week in class they made some breakfast concoction that my son said was fabulous and he wanted to cook it for me. That would be AWESOME! Of course I went to Safeway yesterday and bought him the necessary ingredients that I did not have on hand {such as chorizo}. I have been waiting for this morning of yummy breakfast that my son is cooking for me, all week.

I am a pretty early riser, usually up by 7am on the weekend since my toddler is usually up by then. When I am not doing a fasted cardio workout first thing in the morning, I need to eat pretty close to waking. Like, within 30 minutes or I get shaky. Need my protein!!!

I am thinking that I needed to coordinate this a little better with the teenager who likes to sleep until mid-morning and is also feeling under the weather. I woke up this morning, mouth watering for eggs and pepper-jack cheese with chorizo {which I haven't eaten in over two years, so we'll see what my stomach thinks of that}. But, here I sit at 8:30am, starving.

While waiting, I decided to make some blueberry muffins that I had in the pantry for the toddler. Thinking I'd have eggs to eat I wouldn't want one...

I was wrong. Do you see how yummy they look?

Yes, I ate one. And I'm still waiting patiently for my eggs, as I sit here with a growling tummy. It makes me remember being a teenager and sleeping in until 10am on the weekends without a care in the world. No job {at the age of 14} and no responsibilities other than laundry and cleaning bathrooms. No thought in the world that my parents may be waiting for me to get up and make them breakfast.

Oh to be 14 again...

High School

I remember how nervous I was going in to high school. The school was so big, classes were spread far apart and my biggest fear was that I'd forget my combination to my locker.

My oldest son starts high school next week. Less than a week away and I am pretty sure I am more nervous than he is. He hasn't said much about it, but I'm sure he's a little scared, right?

In just two days we'll be going to pick up his schedule, drop some money on books, classes and extra curricular activities. I'm most excited about him getting his Freshman ID card - yes, I still have mine. Of course we will pre-order his year book and pay for him to go to dances.

Dances.

Oh my goodness... didn't even think about dances. Homecoming, Holiday, Sadie Hawkins (do they still do that?), Prom... so many. That topic leaves me questioning, will I chaperone? Will he even want me to? I don't even feel old enough to be chaperoning a high school dance! Of course then I start thinking back to when I went to dances, every single dance except for my Junior and Senior Prom, and feel he probably won't want me there and I'm going to have to be ok with that.

Our babies grow up so fast. Seems like just yesterday he was starting Kindergarten and now he's off to high school. Before I know it, he'll be going to college and my littlest human will be starting school. I want to make a change over the next four years, make great memories and really help my son grow in to the already wonderful young man his is becoming.

Birthdays

Today is Joey's birthday. I have a lot to say, just not a lot of time right now....I need to collect my thoughts and how I want to lay it all out. Viewing some photos helps and keeps

the memories alive. I love my son with all of my heart and enjoy watching him grow through the years. I can't believe that 10 years ago today, I gave birth to him. No drugs. (go me!) He's growing to be quite the young man.

This was his first look at snow in December 2001 when we were living in Poquoson, Va. I think he liked it...and has since!

His 1st kiss with Faith. She was his buddy....This photo will always be treasured!

Springtime, 2002. One of my favorite photos of the two of us. Such a little ham (like his mom)

Happy Birthday to my beautiful child. I love you,

Love,

Mom