A Lovely Life

My hubby got the chance to attend a seminar where motivational speaker  Erik Weihenmayer spoke. Erik is a blind adventurer.  And when I say adventurer, I mean, HARD CORE.  He was the first blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the first blind man to complete the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, he's a marathon runner, adventure racer....the list goes on.  I didn't hear him speak, but J shared with me a little bit of info about him and the following excerpt from his book,  The Adversity Advantage , where he defines the difference in "Quitters, Campers and Climbers." -  Quitters  simply give up on the ascent (the pursuit of an enriching life) and as a result are often embittered. -  Campers  generally work hard, apply themselves, pay their dues and do what it takes to reach a certain level. Then they plant their tent stakes down at their current elevation. -  Climbers  are the rare breed...

There is something about getting mail out of a mail box that makes me so giddy.  I know that most people grow out of this, but I seem to be loving it more and more.  That's funny, too, because after hand writing all our save-the-dates, invitations and thank you cards from our wedding season you wouldn't think that writing anything else would sound appealing.  I actually think that all that writing to people helped cultivate my love for a handwritten note that much more! Letter writing reminds me of being a kid and being excited about receiving little stamped notes in the post.  I recently thought to myself, "why did I stop writing letters again?".  So, I  actually made it a mini goal to start hand writing letters more.  Just because.   In an age of emails, blogs :-), social networking, etc, etc, it's nice to remember how it feels to sit down in a quiet room and write a little note to someone to say hi.  I also happen to LOVE finding adorabl...

As I mentioned before , after the 1st day our 10 day clean eating diet I realized the importance of a good and healthy snack.  So, I Googled away.  There were 3 things that were super important to me: 1.  An easy recipe 2.  Something I could make ahead of time  3. Something with few, but healthy ingredients   I found two recipes that I wanted to make asap.  One was for lara bars which will be saved for another post and the other was banana chips.  I don't buy banana chips much if at all, but I love bananas and I loved how easy it seemed to be to make them.  I don't have a dehydrator, but there were plenty of oven baked chip recipes out there!  I used a variation of the one I found at Homemadesimple.com I did one batch earlier this week that didn't turn out so well.  I think it was because I was impatient (imagine that!) so I turned the heat up higher than recommended and cut the bananas pretty thin.  Needless to sa...

I've gotta play on my recent foodie posts, don't I?  Here's a little Monday morning happy for you... "In a world where you can be anything you want, be YOURSELF."   -Etta Turner

J and I have been talking a ton lately about eating better.  It's not even that we ate badly to begin with, but we wanted to tailor what we consume a bit more than usual.  Here's what our diet usually consists of: Breakfast: A piece of fruit or hard boiled egg with my favorite, coffee with cream and sugar Lunch: A salad and chicken breast  Dinner: Here's where we'd really mess up.  At the beginning of the week it was usually a protein and a couple of veggies with a glass of wine.  Towards the end of the week, though, if we didn't have something easy to prepare, it was usually left overs or take out. We don't keep pasta or bread in the house even though we both love it.  Before J, pasta was my ultimate go-to meal as a single girl.  We LOVE cheese.  Love.  And, although we don't keep a ton of it on hand, it sure is a weakness of ours. Now that we're more settled and in a time of year that doesn't involve a ton of celebration like Dece...

Bruno Mars "When I Was Your Man" This song has been playing on the radio stations a ton lately.  I heard it the other morning on the way into work and, although it's a break up song, I found myself beyond grateful.  Grateful because  a. I'm not going through a break up (and never again!)  and  b. because my husband is beyond wonderful. I was quick to remember that any past heartbreak I had been through, led me to an amazing man who later became my incredible husband.  And for that, I'm thankful. Isn't it funny how random things can just make you happy and grateful for what you have?

After a wedding, the holidays and a move into our first home, I'm finally back in the swing of being able to pick up a good read!  I'm even in the process of working on what we affectionately call my "reading room".  It's actually a spare bedroom that will be utilized as my little office/craft room/reading space until we decide to make it into a guest bedroom. I began reading again a few years ago as an adult.  I had never considered myself a reader and found it difficult to sit down long enough to actually open a book.  A friend suggested Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and I was instantly hooked!  The summers in Georgia are pretty balmly, but I loved sitting out on my balcony with a good glass of wine, a candle and a book where I'd get lost in it's story. I've just started Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio after reading another blog, www.pbfingers.com that does a monthly book club .  Several people recommended it, so I thought I'd giv...

One of the little treats that I get in the morning is cuddling with this guy: Among many other nicknames, he's been crowned my Cuddle Bunny.  In a quiet 15 or so minutes most mornings, he'll lie on the couch with me under a soft blanket while I drink my coffee.  I've grown to love these little moments and they really help to jump start my day.  It's also lovely to have this tail-chaser still for a short time! Is there something in your morning routine that helps to jump start your day?

When you make a mistake, don’t look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power. – Phyllis Bottome