how I lost weight

181-169
up to 177 now

work out 3 days per week at the ymca

Monday
empty stomach
AM 1 hr. power yoga .5-1 hr. stationary bike (5-13 miles)

Wednesday
empty stomach
AM 1 hr. power yoga .5-1 hr. stationary bike (5-13 miles)
PM 1.5 hr. sweaty power yoga

Friday
AM 1.5-2 hrs. stationary bike & weights

Saturday
yoga class
walk outside

Sunday
yoga class
walk outside
weights & bike @ ymca

eat healthy breakfast (oatmeal)
coffee AM
lots of water

fruit for snack

small lunch

iced coffee
concord grapes on the road during work

New lyrics

"followed the leader
But the leader was lost

Jessica Jenks
10/8/11

I think a change will do you good

if i could change anything in this world
politics and religion would be removed
from the minds of men
wars would cease
love would be the goal and the prize
there would be no welfare
no hand outs
or free rides
but Charity
who prevails every time

faith that everything would be ok
if i gave it all away
hope for a future
to the ones that recieved
blessings
strangers sharing food
out of the love of their hearts
not dank old buildings
waiting lines
and wenchy receptionists
on the end of the
phone line
handing the poor
a germy pen
through a hole in her
bulletproof heart
as she instructs you to
fill out the government form
you slip up once
you'll go to jail
as you sign the straight
line that's
leaving you blind

love is not a form
or a required signature
its a free gift for the needy
love your neighbor as yourself
He said
have you given yourself
a slice of bread?
give half to your neighbor
with a smile instead
show them your compassion
through the portholes to your soul
make it a human interaction
as they make themselves full
you can see the fellowship
trust
a brotherhood of man
now you're making your way up
as you offer your hand
to help your fellow sister
and her babies too
stop turning a blind eye
to the ones that need you
in an ideal world

we would not be taxed
we would be blessed to share
our shelter
our food
our lives
our best


if i could change the way
people thought
about our social situation
I would hope to spread love
throughout the nation
teach the boys to fish
so they could become fisher-Men
and the girls to be Moms
and kindhearted friends
it would take a superpower
but I think its possible
one strong willed person
to spread the seeds of love
to become a field of love
swaying in the winds of change
together
happy
free

God's *green* earth

Being "green" is this new trendy thing, that I find to be very interesting after being a recycler and a tree hugger for as long as I can remember. I think I was born a tree hugger: running my own personal spring cleanup projects of a neighboring stream as a child, scraping piles of leaves out of the water so that it could flow freely; scavening for quartz crystals in snake valley upstream and chiseling them out with excitement and fascination; doing what I would now call "yoga" on fallen pine trees; sitting under trees in the woods next to my parents house as a teenager, writing poetry by myself; making "time capsules" and burying them in the Earth...which we never did unearth; carving Jessica + Dan in a boulder in the old stone fenceline bordering my parents property; watching my Grandmother rescue offensive insects from her house and freeing them into the great outdoors with care and compassion; being warned by my Father that hammering nails into a tree would kill the tree; releasing a balloon into the great unknown with my Dad in a protest against placing a landfill on open land down the road from our house; and then recycling for the past 11 years as a habit and a top lifestyle priority, are all experiences that have molded me into the person I am today, shaping the beliefs that I hold true to my heart.

It is funny to me that now I am a environmentalist with lots of strict opinions about waste and peoples' carelessness with the trash they consume.

Let's take for example a fast food chain. I am very quilty myself of entering into the gates of the golden pathway to dis-health, and misfortune. Everyone knows it is unhealthy to eat the food, but does anyone ever think of the amount of packaging that accessorizes the nasty food-stuff they are "eating"?


Here is a picture of the perfect plastic food they serve from you know where:
I took the picture to remind me of how discusting it is and how unreal the food is, and how it just plain old cannot be good for me: look at how the buns glisten in the sunlight, all perfect and round, and well plastic looking. Gross. I swear they put cocaine into that food...maybe just a little bit...so you will return again and again. I know, you're probably saying, what's the big deal? It's a cheeseburger Jessica. You health freak. You hypocrite. Or maybe you are a religious vegetarian that wasn't raised on cheeseburgers and coca-cola and I am no longer part of the cool kids club. Ok, so say what you want. Please. Think. About something. I recycle my iced coffee cups that I buy from the same establishment. I make sure it is #1 so that I don't throw a #5 into the bin and mess up the whole freaking bin of plastic toxicity. I bought the new reusable cold drink cups with twist on caps and hard plastic straws, toting them with me to stewarts and cumbies, and dunkin donuts, to make sure I am at least not repeatedly using throwaway cups all the time. It's a bad habit. Iced coffee...highly addictive. But this is a tangent I will save for my next health/food blog.

So, I'm throwing away this beautiful purple ribbon used to wrap a small bouquet that my daughter carried down the aisle for a wedding yesterday. I was tempted to save the ribbon. Save it for a rainy day. But, sadly realize that the rainy day in which I need a 2' long piece of purple satin ribbon will probably not come, and my house is full of clutter, which is also another blog post in itself. I made the walk of shame to my garbage can. The garbage can that had a plastic liner that cracked and was ripping my garbage bags as I pulled them out of the can. The garbage can that is retro green and I bought at TJMaxx for $30 or so. The one that didn't last. So now, every time you lift that metal lid and let go after depositing your glorious contribution to the wasting of the universe, it crashes shut with a loud, ringing, disruptive, smack! It makes everyone shudder. Thoughts have been had about cushioning the lids' fall, but nothing has been done to change it, so there she sits: old, used up, dirty on the bottom and a recepticle for a startling collection of unmentionable trash. Yikes. It's just a ribbon you say! Ok, so it's just one silly little ribbon. But, by the hand of me & my family, we make about 4-5 bags of trash per month. Multiply that by all of the other individuals, families, corporations, adjust each category of peoples' and groups accordingly and see for yourself how this all works out mathematically. It's scary.

So, recycling is annoying. You have to wash stuff, and store it somewhere before you bring it to the recycling center. Oh well, if you can't plan on being a good steward with what you consume, then stop consuming and see how far you get in this life. Predictions have been made about climate changes. Religious groups argue that these changes have happened in the past. What if it is not about what party you are espoused to? What if this is not really about whether or not you worship the Creator or the creation? What if this is about your standards, and about your lifestyle and whether or not you are just a plain old lazy bum in the way you disrespect the Earth.?!

Let's just say you built a beautiful mansion by yourself. You trudged through the extremes of all four seasons laying each brick one by one, singlehandedly. You made sure the mansion was well insulated, built on a sturdy foundation that would last for thousands of years...maybe more. You handcrafted stained glass windows, and placed them into the spaces you carved out into the walls in your mind, on a piece of paper where you drew the plans for years.On the last day of your life, you placed the last slate on the pitched roof. The kind of roof that no man can even imagine how anyone was able to stand on without plummeting to their death. You climbed down from that roof, and you marvel at your creation. You know that you can now rest, because you have worked hard and honestly. The day after you die, your family puts your house up for sale. They cannot see maintaining the home.

A rich family comes along. The parents inherited money, and they never worked a day in their life. They hire servants. The servants and groundskeepers slave away to maintain the families comfort. The members of the family throw their garbage on the floor. They leave their laundry for the maids.The parents buy volumes of stuff to please their childrens senses.

One weekend, vandals come along and break in while the family is away on one of their many vacations. They spray paint the walls of the glorious mansion. They shoot holes in the windows. They steal every valuable thing they can find. The employees arrive the next day and find the estate in disarray. They work quickly to restore any mess they can. The bricks are painted, and windows replaced with cheap industrial grade windows. The kind with the plastic frames. With urgency they try to replace the damage as well as they can, but the integrity of the creation is lost and can never be recreated again. I am not saying that God is ticked if you do not recycle, but I do think that the vengeance of nature is happening right now. Hurricane threats, tornadoes, and earthquakes were not a threat in my mind for 32 years and 11 months. Not until this year. I would be offended if you messed up my masterpiece. Would you? I don't personally want to be the cleanup staff for millions of lazy people that can't be bothered to help. But I retain that position, hoping someday someone else will get the hint and pick up some of the social slack.

Wasting the creation of God is an irresponsibility. Let's not be the people that do too little too late. Find ways to make a real difference today and start implementing them into your life now. Set the example for your children and inspire them to live the same way when they can make their own choices.

I believe in being a good steward of our Earth, and you should too....

reverb nation

So, I'm working really hard right now to secure my space in the reverb nation community, on a local/national/global level. So far, so good. Every single day, I am moving my way up the "charts". I am having a hard time with inconsistencly in my ability to download my music onto my page. The reason being, is I record a song on my ipad, and then I have to email the file to my email account, download onto my windows media player/library, transfer to mp3 format on itunes, and then try to get it back to my library so that I can successfully download onto my page using the right size file. This has been working, but its really hit or miss if I can seamlessly accomplish it, and it seems to be only because I am lucky in that moment :) Tonight, I am not able to figure it out. Does anyone have any idea what might be happening?? Any feedback would help me to move forward with my goal: to get all previous songs recorded and presented to my audience and furthermore to get all new material out with no restrictions.
Thanks!

proactive mental reprogramming

During my last 40 minute run (5mph)/walk(3mph) of the day I realized what I am doing and why I am doing it. Instead of thinking about "needing to workout" and "needing to lose weight" and then not doing anything, I am challenging & committing myself to getting on the treadmill everytime I think about losing weight. I am re-programming my mind to be proactive instead of apathetic and nostalgic, reminiscing on a time when I did get back in shape after pregnancy, "back when I lost 80 pounds and fit into whatever size jeans". This is just a small plateau that I have to plow through and it is exciting to think what is at the end of this tunnel.

fresh green ideas

picture borrowed from:

www.zooble.etsy.com picture borrowed from:

Preserve:gimme 5


Anything that comes into contact with the skin should be organic. After we finish using all of our shampoos, conditioners, body washes & soaps; that I previously stocked for the house; only organic body products will be purchased.

Plastic
The next thing that I would like to eliminate from our use is any food/drink items that are contained in low grade plastic that leaches into the food and water, which is toxic to the body and stored in the body for an unknown amount of time. I will also buy preserve toothbrushes and recycle them along with my other #5 plastics. Preserve continues to pay you to send back your used Preserve brand toothbrush and then they will recycle it for you!



Check out Green Living for more information on plastics.
www.greenlivingonline.com/article/get-rid-plastic-water-bottles
I have already switched to glass food storage containers for leftovers. I recycle all plastic food containers that I can.

Recycle your #5 containers!
Think of how cool it would be to start a local co-op for #5 recycling!! Someone could host a day at their house during a certain window of time, and people could bring their clean containers and pack up a few big boxes to ship out, and then each person could pitch in a certain amount of money to pay to ship it out! For all of you skeptics out there, preserve conducted a Life Cycle Assessment study to make sure that the environmental impact of shipping recycling back to them did not outweigh the benefits of keeping the #5's out of the landfill. They assure you that the benefits far outweigh the negatives.



Things you can recycle through preserve: gimme5:
Britta filters
yogurt cups
Tom's of Maine Deodorant containers


Check out their website for more info:
www.preserveproducts.com/recycling/gimme5.html


Preserve Gimme 5
823 NYS Rte. 13
Cortland, NY 13045


Lastly, I am going to start supporting more "green" organizations/companies and implement green practices into my own business.

This summer we will be frequenting farmers markets, pick-your-owns and small farm stands to support local farms and decrease our footprint. I will also continue to buy handmade gifts from http://www.etsy.com/ to support small business and artists worldwide and keep my money out of the hands of greedy corporations and their owners.


Check out my Etsy shop!
http://www.themermaidsbraid.etsy.com/


Other etsy shops I love:
http://www.zooble.etsy.com/
www.oceanmiststudio.etsy.com
www.sweetheartsinner.etsy.com
www.loveyduds.etsy.com

workout progress

The perfect time to catch up on reading a 3 year collection of decorating, mommy, & farming magazines is during my morning treadmill walk. I'm getting life & decorating inspiration and a workout at the same time, which keeps my mind busy and distracted from the actual displeasure I get from walking on a machine. I would much rather be out in the wilderness walking a nature trail, but that is just not possible at this time of year so I'm doing the best with what I have! This morning I was distracted with my magazine for 52 minutes by my "Cookie" magazine. The morning chores are all caught up with, now its time to get into the more detailed housework: going through old clutter piles and paring down on the excess stuff that has been acquired over the past 6 years, which is about how long we have been living here.

It's exciting to be at a point in my life where I can let go of the "stuff" and truely focus on what matters: family, food, exercise & health.

31 minutes this afternoon with cross-training run/walk intervals. I even worked up a sweat.

Today's workout record:

30 min. on treadmill in AM
21 min. on treadmill in afternoon

If I can do as many yoga classes as possible per week, plus do little bouts of treadmill walks throughout each day (instead of looking at facebook and email) I will reach any goals of health I have, and will be using my time more wisely.

raw food diet challenge: post #2

So, I would say I ate about 90% raw food last week. I wanted perfection, but got human. It's alright...I learned that raw food dieting is not really my cup of tea. I need coffee to get my head on straight in the morning, just one cup is all it takes. Soy protein is a great source of protein to use as an ingredient in my morning smoothie, and if I eat non-raw items occasionally I shouldn't beat myself up over it. I will adopt raw food into 75% of my diet on average, which is a healthy goal.

organic living

I'm working on the last load of laundry for the weekend and thinking about new ways I can keep our home environment clean, safe and green.

Ways in which we have already gone green:

homemade cleaners
use cloth napkins and cloth handtowels for cleaning up messes and spills
homemade laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent
homemade bath bombs for fun bathtime

Fresh ideas for being more green:

goats milk soap instead of harsh storebought soaps
-buy from etsy shops instead of from grocery store to support small businesses

soy candles
-just ran out of our last stinky, chemical laden candle, and I will now buy soy candles only from etsy shops

make our own shampoo

pare down any residual bottles of cleaning products and bodycare products that are full of chemicals

glamour girl

fueling up after playing in the rain

Glamour Girl

Ready for a morning on Broadway

workout challenge log

treadmill and sneakers are ready for takeoff.

I lost 2 pounds after taking one hot yoga class yesterday.

It totally whooped my butt. 5 more weeks of the triathlete hot yoga series.

We'll see if I make it!

Saturday

20 min. treadmill in AM

2 hours of hot yoga in the afternoon

30 min. treadmill in PM

Sunday

20 min. treadmill in AM

1.25 hrs. basic anusara yoga in AM

treadmill in PM

laundry: part 2

Believe it or not, this amount of laundry is managed two times per week. With 5 people in the family it is not an easy task and is another one of those areas in my life in which I have to be extremely disciplined or it will take over. Literally. I have gone through so many emotional states in regards to laundry.

Two years ago; when I was about 60 pounds heavier, after having my son, Caden; if I didn't stay on top of doing laundry it would get washed and then the clean clothes would go on my bed and pile up into a mountain. I would get so overwhelmed, discouraged, and depressed by it. It felt insurmountable. It was insurmountable. I was dealing with (and still am) fibromyalgia, a slipped disc in my spine, spinal stenosis (degenerative disc disease-which is incurable), obesity, sleep deprivation, and top that off with four children to care for. During bouts of fibromyalgia you will suffer for days of unbearable joint/muscle pain that leaves you feeling completely debilitated. I would try to push through the pain to keep the house neat and clean and manageable. The messes would make me want to cry because I wanted to take care of it, but felt like I couldn't. On days when I am not suffering it is not a problem, so you go through the emotions of feeling on top of the world, to then feeling disabled. It is not pleasant. People on the outside don't understand, because they look at you and think you look just fine, but inside you are suffering in so many ways.

Organization was necessary. I let go of attachments to cute little things the kids wore and pared down to 5 shirts, 5 pants, and about 7 pairs of socks & underwear (for the boys). I asked myself (and them) what their favorite things to wear were, and then got rid of the rest. My daughter, still has so many items of clothing....but that's because she is a tweenager and we know how that story goes! This paring down diminished the mounds of laundry that I was having to lug up and down stairs, fold and put away. Sometimes new things come into the house, and then I have to go through the minimizing process again, but its much easier now, because I'll just get rid of the most logical items: stained shirts, threadbare pants, etc. It is also important to deal with the hampers the second they become full, and after the clothing is washed and dried, fold it and put it away, right away...or it will again feel overwhelming.

cleaning challenge #2

A clean alcove.

I am considering moving this magazine basket near my treadmill,

to minimalize the space even more.

books are off the floor and on my reading stand

box sorted and everything inside was given a home

boxes moved from the space around closet.

Now I will setup a special spinning place in the house

just for spinning yarn during quiet times with the family.

everything here has been sorted and gone through

and now needs a home. The top shelf of books

I have organized by color.
Disorder and disorganization is a putting off of tasks

to be done at a later time. The problem is people usually

don't 'make' the time to take care of the task

and end up with clutter messes.

I am working on dealing with life as it comes.

This is a daily discipline and does not happen by just thinking of

having a neat and organized home.

i'm so quoteable

if life throws sand at you
just build a sandbox around the pile at your feet
and have fun playing


life happens one choice at a time

drop the badditude
and embrace gratitude

what if?

the cars flow up the highway
like a flock of geese
or a flock of sheep
rectangles and lights all moving at the same speed
headed in the same direction
with one intention:
to get somewhere
what if someone went the wrong way?
what if people are headed the wrong way
down the highway instead of up
moving in opposing directions against
the flow of the flock

the level of stress you feel
is commensurate
to your
soul's struggle to return to itself

-martha beck

morning walk

I walked 22 minutes on the treadmill this morning. My children also enjoy taking turns on the treadmill and do their little 1-2 minute walks. So cute! Here's the boys posing for a treadmill picture.

Lone Wolf

Check out this rockin Native American coat which belonged to Lone Wolf. This photo was taken
at the National Museum of the American Indian in NYC.

daily news from the piano bench

I learned so much about myself and life today.

I'm not even quite sure where to start.

Take an attitude of gratitude and drop your "baditude."

I hit a bump in the road with my raw food diet again tonight.

Stopping at Burger Sling and eating a whopper jr., small french fries and a side salad
is not the end of the road, but I find it interesting how I go straight to old dietary habits
when I am truely hungry. I guess the fix for this nighttime hunger issue is to
bring healthy food in the car with me, so that I am not stopping for fast solutions
which end up being contrary to the healthy lifestyle I desire. It is interesting how some people;
myself included; after working out, will justify eating whatever they want. I have decided to
take this in another direction....I may end up eating something that is not healthy for me after a long day of work/exercise and no calories, but instead of shaming myself and feeling guilty, I am going to spend some extra time on the treadmill. Tonight I counteracted the
poor food choices I made by spending an extra 15 minutes on an incline at 2.5 miles per hour, while I finished knitting Jacob's pumpkin colored fingerless gloves that he wanted me to make.





Yoga class went really well tonight. My prayers go out to the instructor and her family that just lost their dog to old age and they are grieving that loss. My childhood dog and best friend, Gretchen, our German Shepherd (who shepherded my heart through those tough teenage years) died 10 years ago and I will never forget her and she will always hold such a special place in my heart.



I started reading "The Vagina Monologues" today and got through a very lengthy foreward and introduction by the author. This book is supposed to encourage women to be proud of their bodies and not hide in shame just because they are women. It is also, from what I gather, a book that speaks out against violence against women. This world needs more activitsts to speak out and act out against violence towards any group.



Tonight I made some cucumber, watermelon & lemon raw/vegan shampoo for tomorrow's shower. I am anxious to see how it affects my hair. The body is overwhelmed on a daily basis by toxins in the products we put on our skin, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. This may not be a daily ritual, but it seems to be something good that you can occasionally commit to, just for the momentary relief of the bodies systems. The more relief you give the body in the way of taking a break from different toxins that can be internally/externally affecting you, the better the body can use energy & nutrients to heal and repair other areas of itself. Not only does the body need physical rest through sleep and meditation, but also in the area of what we are putting into our mouths. Each day, I am going to make an effort do something loving and kind to my own body to give it rest. Tomorrow morning, I will wake up early and get on my treadmill, do yoga, wash my hair with raw, organic shampoo and eat raw fruits and vegetables. I will also inspire my children to do the same.

good morning

I woke up at 4:30 this morning to a black sky and a perfect yellow crescent moon hanging in visibility, centered amidst the branches of my willow tree. I jumped up to get my camera, but then remembered the battery died yesterday. I briefly beat myself up for not charging the battery the second I noticed it, but the distractions are rampant and you can't dwell on the past. That's my excuse.

So, I had this internal argument about whether or not I should go back to sleep at 4:30am and decided to stick with this path of discipline I have chosen for myself and get my butt on the treadmill. The 20 minute walk and time of reading was wonderful. I found great inspiration from Artful Blogging Magazine. There are some wonderful artists contained in this publication and it is definitely worth the $15 to pick up a copy. Check out www.stampington.com for more details.
I'm thinking of checking out "where women create" and "green craft" magazine as well.

This year will be a time of enhanced growth and advancement in body, mind & spirit. This decision was made before the new year and was not really a resolution but a conscious, active decision that I have been purposing myself to stick to each day. Life is all about individual, recurrent, frequent decision making that impacts all of life and makes up the past. Through these purposeful decisions we can affect our future in a positive or negative way, and I want to have a positive, health-filled future.

After I got off the treadmill I had a big glass of water and a bowl of fresh raspberries. Can you even wait for berry picking season?!

daily progress

a song for you by Jacob

Today I accomplished parts of my goals and feel that any baby step towards progress is progress indeed!

10 minutes on treadmill
5 minutes yoga home practice
ate half watermelon for breakfast with the kids
made a delicious fruit smoothie for breakfast
inspired myself & others


Today my son Jacob & I were cooking scrambled eggs and he was telling me how Daddy cooks
hard-boiled eggs for him and asked me if the eggs we were cooking make him strong and my response to him was, "any kind of egg eating makes you strong." He accepted this response happily. It was one of those moments where you feel such love for your sweet child.

We are currently drinking vanilla almond milk and chocolate soy milk as a substitute for cow's milk and my children find it quite enjoyable. My one downfall is coffee with french vanilla creamer, which I have not yet sought out a suitable replacement for.

I have to sadly admit that this raw food diet is hard to apply even with the right foods stocked. I suppose you can make it as easy or as hard for yourself as you want. Last night on the way home from yoga, Turner begged for an ice cream cone from Stewarts, which I reluctantly stopped for and then out of habit ordered myself one as well....which broke my raw food diet. Dairy is going to be the element of this lifestyle shift that will be the hardest to break.

one week of raw food

So what does one buy when they have decided to go raw?
Keep in mind there are 5 people in my household so I had to consider that we may
eat one each per family member/day.

1 pineapple
2 mini watermelons
1 cantaloupe
5 avacados
2 bunches of bananas
frozen blueberries
8 lemons
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch dill
4 heads broccoli
4 red peppers
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 starfruits
5 kiwi fruit
6 lbs. empire apples
4 pints blueberries
2 pints blackberries
2 pints raspberries
5 cucumbers
grapefruit
green grapes
5 quarts strawberries
2 quarts stonyfield farms organic yogurt
4 lbs. oatmeal
raisins

I am so looking forward to this exciting week of eating fresh food. Our tastebuds will change and will no longer appreciate the taste of processed, sugary foods, which will further encourage the consumption of life giving food!

the gift of today

life giving produce!

I have finally pared down to just the items needed on the kitchen counter and it looks great!

I am grateful for occasional abundance

I had the absolute pleasure of attending two anusara yoga classes today at Saratoga Springs Yoga http://www.saratogaspringsyoga.com/ ;where I have been attending class for one month; both taught by beautifully in-touch women who know what they are teaching. Things were learned about my own body and soul that I was not previously aware of. For example, I was told by one of my instructors that I am very bendy and have a hard time hugging in. At the later class that I attended, the next instructor told me that I am so flexible that I shoot out and explode my bright energy into forever and need to work on hugging that energy in more, with strength so that I can support my structure more muscularly. If the body expresses a manifestation of the soul, that would completely explain it because I am very flexible; almost to a fault or the point of injury; and need to work on not allowing myself to bend so much that my bone structure is compromised...i.e. boundaries. Many times, I drop my guard and allow people to walk all over my boundaries, and this has ultimately broken me in the past. I'm going to strive to build strength in each posture I take and each life experience.

Today I have also decided to experiment with a one week raw food diet. My grocery bill was $230 due to the fact that I did not limit what produce I purchased because I will be eating produce to the point of satisfaction and do not want to be starving or dissatisfied throughout the day. This also allowed for 20 bags of groceries! The children will be eating a lot of berries and melon for each meal, which they have never argued with in the past. It will be a vast improvement over the dairy/egg/chicken nugget/hot dog/pasta/pizza/white bread lifestyle that many kids are subjected to because people think this is "kid food". I want myself and my children to be extremely healthy and strong for life and this is one step we will be taking towards a healthful future.

My cleaning challenge is working. I have successfully taken care of one clutter pile in my bedroom and also organized my kitchen cabinets and counter. It is truely amazing how a clean house can clear your mind from cluttered, cloudy thinking and perception. Besides it is much easier to maintain a clutter free, minimalist living space.

uncluttered

there are a few spaces in my home that I really appreciate aesthetically.

My living room
With it's warm yellow walls
Colonial pattern and burgundy accent curtains
Blue Victorian couch
to accentuate the blues in my curtains
Brick fireplace
Oak hardwood
Pine
Cherry

The Behr Brothers & Company piano
Kohler & Campbell black baby grand piano
My dream come true
The fact that I later found that Behr Brothers
was eventually bought by kohler & Campbell
piano manufacturers
both situated in New York
And the way I didn't know that when I chose my new piano
My baby and my grand piano
Where I will write the songs that are famous,
If only famous in the ears of myself
and the friends that believe in the music

The stand where the light sits
That I bought at the salvation army
Chalk ware
Spray painted a dusty blue
in the front lawn with the boys
As they excitedly asked what I was doing
and where I would put our new lamp

The place where the treadmill used to reside
Where I spent so many peaceful mornings
Looking out the windows
At the sunrise
And the mist rising over the hills
Between the willow tree branch picture frame
Working out for health
to regain a shape that I once criticized
But should have appreciated
Because it was as beautiful as the sunrise
And I never knew it

Now I push it
on exercise bikes
And elliptical trainers
in spinning classes
pushed by a Russian girl
with an accent,
as we listen to loud
bumping pop beats
and I sweat.
zumba,
hot yoga,
cold yoga,
any yoga,
Spontaneous nature walks
planned nature walks,
walks through museums,
malls,
grocery stores,
and on sidewalks window shopping.
Dreaming of fitting into
the best boots in the world,
named "cydwoq"
handmade in California,
expensive
for expensive calves to fit into.
Trying to find a place in my body that is still mine
The place that I created and I officially own,
that for some reason seems foreign
like a girl with an accent

open mic # 1 : New Life Fellowship

Trinity. Pre-Debut of Taylor Swift's "love story" at open mic night.
January 2011

Kayleigh

Kayleigh, our beautiful Bernese Mt. Dog. She'll be 2 in July!

future rocker singing at a hockey game

Trinity was 1/2 selected from her grade to sing the American & Canadian National Anthem

at a hockey game at the civic center. That's my beautiful girl on the ice in the black dress!

the new rockin hairdo

today I donated my hair to locks of love and had the best haircut experience I've had from this awesome hairdress named Pam Bricker @ Shear Madness in Saratoga Springs. She makes hairdressing an art form!

cleaning challenge

All books will be removed from the shelf,

the shelf will be dusted, and every object will have a new

place that it will be returned to after each use.

While sorting and organizing, I will apply principles of minimalism

and feng shui to bring a peaceful flow to the space which will ultimately

bring peacefulness and rest to my body and mind when I am ready to sleep.

A seasonal bin, craft supplies, books, broken picture frame, cd's, lazy kate for my spinning wheel, and an old box that is still left unpacked from about 5/6 years ago!! One of my personal development goals is to digitize all cd's and dvd's to my computer and an mp3 so that I can then sell them all and reduce the amount of objects in my home. Less stuff, means less burden.

It's time to clean up the clutter in my sacred bedroom space. My personal growth challenge is to take care of one pile per day until my goal is accomplished. I did just recently clean off the top of this bookstand and narrowed my reading down to one book; "What God Wants" by: Neale Donald Walsche; that I have set out to finish reading over the next couple of weeks. The pile of magazines next to the stand will go to the treadmill area to be read daily as I start and maintain my new 10-20 minute/day treadmill routine.

Future Rockin' Piano Girl

This is my beautiful daughter, getting her awesome musical education on an mp3 player,

the way I used to do with my purple radio/casette player machine...

jamming out with Michael Jackson and Madonna underneath my pillow

until 'all hours of the night'

Dreaming

BIG

DREAMS