A Splash of Color is Good for the Soul

I forgot how much I enjoy drawing. It’s just for me. I’m not an artist. But there’s something so relaxing about it. When my mind is too full and I need to reset myself, drawing with my four-year-old does the trick.

I also realized that I never did work through the book, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”. I bought the book a few years ago, did one of the assignments – where I had to draw my hand and then I stopped.

So this weekend, I pulled the book off the shelf then went to the store and bought a box of hexagon colored pencils. They are nice and fat and there are twenty colors. Aren’t they pretty?

We could all use a little splash of color in our lives I think!

Again, I have to tell you that it is because of my friends Brandee and Matt that I’m picking up a pencil and drawing. They inspire me as do all my wonderful blogging friends I’ve made. Each and every single one of them has inspired me in so many ways. I thank each of you and hope you know how much I appreciate it!

I won’t be doing a one a day drawing or anything like that. Just when the mood strikes. Maybe one a week. I’d like to perfect my trees. I love drawing trees, landscapes and tulips.

I figured buying these colored pencils was a good start. Now, to do the work!

My two uncles are my mom’s older brothers. They never married. Life just sort of got in the way and they never met the “right” ones. I wish they had because they are two of the greatest men I know. They would have made wonderful husbands and awesome dads.

As they are, they are the best uncles a girl could ask for. They live at home on the family farm, both retired. They golf every day in the summer and tend to a huge garden – the same garden that my grandma and grandpa tended so long ago. My Uncle Ted bakes a cake every weekend we come up to visit. I jokingly and lovingly refer to him as Teddy Crocker because he is such a good cook and baker. He has long white hair and a long white beard and looks like a cross between Kenny Rogers (when Kenny Rogers was young and still good looking) and Santa Claus. He’s the more quiet and reserved of the two and I’ve never heard him say a bad word about anyone. Uncle Tom is very tall with dark, curly hair, and has a devilish sense of humor. He is a tad gruff but beneath that gruffness, he’s quite sensitive. They both are.

Anyway, I can’t say enough about my uncles. They have always been there for me. They are two -oftentimes- cranky old guys but I know how sentimental they truly can be. They still have the cards I made them when I was very little, complete with the nickels and dimes I taped to the insides of the cards. They hold on to everything.  I didn’t know about the cards until a few years ago. It made me feel special to know they held on to that sort of thing. And watching them with my little girl is something special as well. They adore her and tease the living dickens out of her just as they teased me as I was growing up.

It’s hard watching my mom, uncles and friends age. I know they can’t live forever but I cannot bear the thought of them not being around. It’s something I really try not to think about. I don’t want to think about it or deal with it. Not now. Not if I don’t have to.

So when weeks like this – where someone I dearly love has to have surgery and is in pain – it cuts me to the quick. And until the immediate danger is over, I feel frozen and scared. I pray and I hope and I hold my breath until I get the okay that all is well or as well as it can be for the moment.

And then I can breathe again.

I’m working on a friend’s site right now and might have another one to work on after that and then there’s mine. In the process of working on the others, I’m also jotting down ideas for my site. It’s been a while since I coded so I’m trying to get back into it and refresh my memories. I am not an expert by any means. But I do so enjoy it!

It’s been a rough start to 2012. I’ve been fending off a slight depression. But since starting on Vitamin D3 pills this week, I notice a marked improvement in my mood. Plus, we got snow. And snow always puts a smile on my face. Unless of course we get snowstorm after snowstorm into the months of April and May. By that time, I’m ready for the flowers and green of spring. But then, who isn’t? Anyway, it feels good to feel good. I feel like I can start focusing on the things I hope to accomplish. It doesn’t have to happen all at once. Just one step at a time, one project at a time and that is fine with me.

I did this little drawing today when I was coloring with my daughter.

Cherry Blossoms by Tracy Mangold

My friends Brandee over at Brandeewine and Matt over at MABrotherton.com have inspired me with their own awesome pieces of art. I’m not even a tiny bit as talented as they are when it comes to drawing and doodling but I do love to draw and find it relaxing, peaceful and just plain fun. That’s what matters most of all, right? The drawing I did is sort of in line with the direction I’d like to take my site in terms of color, design and mood.

Well, it’s time for supper so I’m off. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

I’ve always loved snow days. Fire crackling away in the fireplace. Hot cocoa in an oversized mug after an afternoon of  tromping around in the snow as it falls from the sky, kissing my cheeks and eyelashes.

Surroundings are changed, the landscape transformed as the snow fills in the dips and holes. The world is renewed. The trees are blanketed yet stand stark against the white. Any spot of color is amplified. It’s beautiful.

Take the snowflake, for example. Look at the detail – that incredible minute detail – that makes up a single snowflake! How exquisite it is! How it sparkles in the sunlight!

And the peacefulness of a snowy day. Stop. Listen. Breathe in the fresh clean scent of new fallen snow. Soak in the stillness.

Winter has arrived.

Full Moon Over Lake Michigan by Tracy A. Mangold

Back Into the Swing

I finally feel like I’m getting back into the (pardon the pun) “swing” of things where the kettlebell is concerned. And it feels really good! For Christmas, I got the 18kg (40lb) kettlebell from my uncles. So far, I have the 8kg (18lb), two – 12kg(26lb), a 16kg(35lb) and an 18kg(40lb) kettlebell.

It’s hard to believe that it will soon be a year (January 17th) since I picked up my first kettlebell. Has it really been a year? I’m upset with myself over my lack of consistency and hard training the latter part of 2011. I have no one to blame but myself. I keep thinking about how much further along I would be in my training and I cringe. But it is a new year and it doesn’t do any good to sit and stew about that which I cannot change, right?

My plan this year is to really strive for consistency in my kettlebell practice and in the way I fuel my body. Consistency and growth. I need to get a pull-up bar too. That is one thing I have never been able to do (a proper pull-up) and I aim to change that. My strength has always been in my legs. My upper body – not so much – but that is only because I never properly trained my upper body despite the weightlifting I used to do. I mainly focused on my legs. That is another thing I love about the kettlebell – it works your entire body.

In terms of eating, my husband and I agreed to eliminate eating out when it is just the three of us at home. We have never been big out-to-eaters anyway especially these last few years as we’ve cleaned up our diet. If we did anything, it was order in once a month or so from our favorite Thai or Indian restaurant. Once in a great while it was more than that, but we’ve noticed that eating restaurant food messes with our systems too much. It is NOT that their food isn’t good but rather our bodies are just not used to it any longer. And as you all know, I love to cook.  Since the addition of the pressure cooker, I’ve gone a little crazy cooking and freezing meals so much so that our chest freezer is filled to capacity! I would much rather eat home cooked food especially since I know everything that has gone into it both nutritionally and ingredient-wise.

Another thing that has really been hitting me and pushing me to do better for myself and for my family is the fact that I turn 40 in March. I need to focus on my health and my fitness more than ever before. I am determined to get into the best shape of my life. I’ve never really been “out of shape” except for my pregnancy. But I know I can do better and I will!

Route 2012

It’s 2012.

2011 is in my rearview mirror. Only, I’m not looking back. All that lies before me is this brand new wide open expanse that is 2012.

Where this road is going, I’m not sure.

It’s dark.

It’s shadowy.

It’s unclear.

But it is there.

The sun is going to rise and then the way will be lit. Maybe not all at once, but shaft of light by shaft of light, the way will appear.

I have no expectations, no grand announcements, no proclamations other than what I posted the other day.

In the meantime, I’ll be cruising down Route 2012, music blaring (The Cure – Bloodflowers – at the moment as I write this), windows open, enjoying the scenery and making quite a few pleasant stops along the way.

Won’t you join me?

Prompt Courtesy of Geekin’ Hard

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I can tell you exactly what I want from 2012.

I know. I know. I said I was not going to make any plans.

That was sort of a lie.

Because I know what I am going to do. I can tell you that.

I am going to zero in on the kettlebell more seriously than ever. Playtime is over kids.

I am going to focus in on the foods we make and fuel our bodies with. Our bodies deserve our respect.

We are going to live with intent and live fully. Key word – LIVE.

Screw the crap that tries to sling itself our way. Shields up!

I’m going to stop obsessing about the numbers on the scale and just work on myself period.

I am going to be healthier, happier, fitter, stronger, better. PERIOD.

I’m going to shake 2012 before it has a chance to shake me.

I will be the one doing the shaking.

I will be the verb.

I AM the verb.

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It’s not exactly a new idea. Nor is it mine. But it has been one of the  most important things to come into my life and my family’s life.

I’m talking about the pressure cooker and nutritional clarity in general.

I’m not, nor have I ever been a junk-food junkie or a fast-food person. Sure, we indulged in fast food once in a while but not very often. That really came to a permanent halt after watching Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me”. Since then we have been on a path of learning and practicing healthier eating and becoming more cognizant of what we are fueling our bodies with.

I’ve always loved vegetables and fresh, real food. But I’m no saint. My big weakness is chips and salsa but lately, spicy foods have been hurting my throat so I’ve been avoiding too much hot stuff. Hard for a girl who used to live on jalapeño sandwiches in college. The hotter the better.

The thing about cleaner eating is that once you start down that road and if you decide to veer off for a day and try some of the old foods, you notice it RIGHT AWAY. You feel like crap. It’s like pouring sludge in your car’s gas tank. WHY would you do that? You wouldn’t! And yet, we do! The things we put into our bodies!!

Once you see and feel how awesome your body feels when you eat clean – when you stay away from the crap and when you FUEL your body with wholesomeness, it is truly freeing. I call it “Feng-Shui for the body” because it feels like everything is aligned and there is an energy flowing through you.

Enter the pressure cooker.

Last January I started kettlebells. I also began reading this wonderful blog about kettlebells and healthy food and pressure cookers! All my life I’ve been very nervous even at the thought of pressure cookers -not realizing they had electric ones. My fear comes from the fact that things tend to explode or burst into fire when I’m around. LONG, LONG story. *sigh. Anyway, my mom happened to have an eight quart electric pressure cooker – never used – in her basement. I mentioned buying a pressure cooker and she told me not to because she had one I could have. Voila! Problem solved.

Since Mom gave me the pressure cooker earlier last summer, I have been using it more than any other appliance in my house save for the immersion blender. It is now my most treasured tool in the kitchen. I cannot imagine NOT cooking with it. The things you can cook, the speed, the intensity of the natural flavors and the nutrition that it packs into the foods!!! You cannot go wrong with it! Our chest freezer is stocked FULL with two cup containers containing a variety of soups, liver pate, chicken biryani, stews, broths, etc… . I cook and freeze food for my mom so all she has to do is heat it up and eat whenever she doesn’t have time to cook.

The BIGGEST thing is that it is all healthy. Most, if not all the vegetables I use – especially in the summer – come from my uncles’ garden. Whenever I am cooking now, I know every single ingredient that has gone into that food and it is highly nutritional and good for us.

That is thee most freeing, satisfying thing I know.