Go. Be. Do.

With much trial and error, I am finding my way to a healthier version of myself more so than ever previously accomplished in this thing I call my life.  I have been pondering what makes this time around more effective.  The answer, while muli-leveled, is quite elementary. I gave up on being perfect and became willing to be perfected. My focus changed from arriving at a destination to enjoying the journey. The first, the act of arriving, leaves little wiggle room for error.  There's an expectation to meet.  Nothing shy of that expectation is satisfying. The second, enjoying the journey, means, as long as I am moving ... stumbling ... falling forward, I am making progress and, perhaps, even making time to enjoy the milestones along the way. It may not be pretty all the time; it doesn't have to be. This is the great thing about switching gears from being perfect to being willing to be perfected: what I do (or try to do) doesn't have to be perfect to be eff...

Two years ago today, I received a call no one ever wants to answer. I heard the results of my breast biopsy. Stage 0 breast cancer. Surgery and radiation therapy needed. Thankfully, I had begun to listen to my fitness coach, Kristine, and had begun to change my eating habits and was working out pretty consistently at the Y and doing crazy things like push ups and squats for fun. It wasn't Shakeology and Tony Horton, yet; that would come later, but I had made a decision to make small, consistent changes and was seeing some positive results. The fast ball that came straight over the plate. Cancer. Strike one. I dug in deeper with my workouts. I relied on sweat, more than tears, to clear out the fog trying to permanently set in. When I was at the Y, I was in a safe place. A place in which people did not know me as a cancer patient, but just as Janet, the regular workout girl. Then, the curve ball that caught me off guard. Radiation Therapy. Strike two. You see, however, by now, my wo...

Let's talk about FAILURE.  Yep.  It's the elephant in the room, so to speak. It is high time to just get that elephant moving on out of here. Did you know that failure is part of success. Now that you are really paying attention, consider what Winston Churchill said about our elephant named Failure... Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.  Sounds crazy, but I know it holds true in my life. I went yo-yoing my way through life always husky; a little less husky; then college added 75 pounds; kept gaining; lost almost 100; had kids and gained back. Lots of failures in there.  What worked in my 20's failed in my 30's, and what kinda worked in my 30's was not working as the 40's began. Until now.  What changed? My mind. I whispered a prayer in April of 2013 and God heard it. He used some interesting characters to motivate me that summer to stop eating sweets, and, all of a sudden, I discovered I could say no t...

For those who may not know, Game Day is one of the workouts in Shaun T's Insanity Asylum. Appropriately named, if you ask me. It is insane and you have to be committed to finishing it in order to finish it. Every day of this now 16 month journey that I've been on, prior to July 6th, Shaun T and I had an understanding...it's rather one sided, of course, since he has no clue as to who I am, but an understanding, nonetheless. This was the gist of it: I don't try his workouts; he doesn't yell at me nor do I fail. Pretty cut and dry. I was happy. Shaun T was happy. Why wouldn't he be? Everyone else loves him and his Insanity this, that, and the other. I feared the man and his workouts. So, what happened that I am now blogging about Game Day? I began Insanity Asylum. And completed it. Will get the T-shirt one day soon. Before I get on with Game Day follies, let me just say I extremely disliked hated day one. I do not use this particular word lightl...

May 31st, 2015 Awoke to the sound of waves crashing on the shore and my family wishing me a happy birthday. This was an awesome way to begin my 43rd year of living, let me assure you. The day began with a workout for me while Scott and the boys enjoyed a pancake breakfast. I enjoyed a blueberry yogurt they surprised me with and Shakeology when I finished my workout. The morning was relaxing then we loaded up the car and moved on to the best birthday activity of the the day...a bucket list item for me...driving on the beach.  I was so excited! I have dreamed of this for years...and it came true, totally unexpectedly.  A perfect ending to our time on Pacific Beach on my birthday! After that exhilarating drive on the beach, we headed out for another coastal city in Washington state. On our way, we spent some time exploring along the coastline of Olympic National Park.  So many cool places to see even on a chilly and, at times, rainy day. {Side note: Did you know we h...

May 30th, 2015 Awoke to another beautiful day!  Sunshine and clear blue skies made for a perfect backdrop showcasing Mt. Rainier. After breakfast, we all went for a walk/hike back up to where the boys and I had gone the night before. Oh, the beauty of it all...even more magnificent to behold in the morning light. We spent some time in the visitors' center learning about the Tatoosh Mountain Range. Once I took my eyes off of Rainier it was evident that there were other mountains around and that they were something glorious to behold as well. {smile emoticon} The boys took some time and completed their Jr. Ranger Badge programs. (Shh! Don't let them know I told you. They thought they were too old, but we convinced them to do it one last time.) The ranger didn't embarrass them too badly either, so we were all thankful for this. The park itself has so much to do and see within its boundaries. We stopped to walk through the Grove of the Patriarchs. Huge, old tre...

May 29th-30th, 2015 The afternoon sun was still shining bright when we rolled into Mount Ranier National Park Friday afternoon. The best thing about the park is that there is no tv, wifi, or cell phone reception anywhere. Nothing to do but enjoy the outdoors and family time.  As we drove into the park, on our way to the Lodge, there was this pullover spot to enjoy the view of Rainier.  Those clouds you see above the summit were part of a cluster of clouds that lingered, hiding the summit from view for a long time. We had to leave the first vantage point. Thankfully there was this view available a little further into the park once the clouds lifted. I am not for sure what it is about Rainier that captivates me so.  It's not like I have never seen a beautiful mountain before...I'm one of the lucky 30% who has seen Denali in all of its glory.  Maybe it is because I have seen and fallen in love with such grandeur that I just could not get enough of this view. Th...

Friday, May 29th It is difficult to put into words how it felt to try to recall what I had heard as an almost 8 year old living in Indiana about the eruption of Mount St. Helens versus seeing photos, reading personal accounts, and laying eyes on the remains of such a grandeur mountain as an almost 43 year old (at the time).  Not only were the events decades apart, they were worlds apart.  How in the world did I miss or forget that the north face of the mountain disappeared? The elevation of the mountain lessened by more than 1300 ft in a matter of minutes as the peak slid down the mountain, becoming an avalanche of rock and ice debris wreaking havoc on anything and everyone in its path, due to an earthquake of a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter Scale.  Really, how does one forget that lives were lost, homes destroyed (as well as, highways, bridges, and railways), and forests were leveled/scorched in addition to feet upon feet of ash fell.  I remember hearing abou...

Thursday, May 28, 2015 Awoke to a beautiful day. Sunshine and warm weather makes me happy. So do roses. And mountains. And adventures. Adventures such as whitewater rafting on the White Salmon River in Washington State. All Adventures Rafting was an awesome, talented crew, who made the day on the river exciting, memorable, and the best rafting experience I have ever experienced. The great weather, gorgeous landscape, awesome rapids, being with the family, and everything else about the day was perfect. Our rafting photos are courtesy of All Adventures Rafting .

May 27th, 2015 It is high time to finish posting about my birthday season...we took a vacation to finish out the month of May, so I did not blog any while away.  Couldn't have in some places even if I had wanted to.  A few places remain where a cell phone will not work and there is no wifi.  And, we survived.   Gasp!   On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 27th, we flew from Atlanta to Portland. The view of Mt. Hood was stunning from the airplane! Shortly after arriving, we made our way via rental car to Multnomah Falls, located just outside of Portland.  Much to our surprise, the falls are just a short walk from the parking lot.  It was a beautiful evening to be outside and enjoying a waterfall. The drive to the falls and further on, then, to our B&B for the night, reminded us all of our drive from Anchorage to De nali National Park. We stopped to have a late dinner.  We noticed straight away that the small towns roll up their sid...

The South. It is a world all its own. The tea is crazy sweet, cows sell chicken, and "bless your heart" is not necessarily something you want said to you. I, like many others, am a transplant to this world.  My dialect and word pool is a confused mix of Midwestern, Northern, and Southern.  I say one thing and instantly I get asked by those who don't know me, "So, where are you originally from?"  I still struggle to understand "Southernese".  I often am asking people to repeat themselves for one reason or another when they have a deep southern accent. However, after 14 years, it's home. I even have a T-shirt to prove it. Toward the end of my birthday season, a gift from nature springs forth here in the South... the magnolia trees bloom .  Nothing says "Welcome to the South" quite like sturdy, yet beautiful magnolia trees full of blossoming flowers.  And this year, our magnolia did something wonderfully sweet...it bloomed a c...

We had a busy, but quiet, day at the house today. Rare event when we are all at home all day together. A gift. In between projects and rain showers, there was plenty of time to fish, swim, and play Phase 10 together. And, there's always time to smell the roses.

Sunday, May 24th There are those moments when something reminds you of someone and all you really want to do is be back with them again. I had a few moments like this recently. Okay, recently...meaning today. Take, for instance, this morning. I wanted to do something new for rest day, so I pulled up Beachbody on Demand.  As soon as I saw Shaun T's picture, I instantly thought of a friend of mine who is doing one of his programs, whom I haven't seen in what seems like ages, and immediately wished we could be in the same place for a few minutes again just to catch up. I ended up choosing "Recovery" from Insanity for my workout.  If that is recovery...Insanity is an appropriate name for the program.  That was crazy. Totally awesome, but absolutely crazy. Funny thing, though...I'm finding myself slightly less intimidated by ST's workouts. I have survived two individual workouts now... this is something, right? Go ahead and laugh.  I am. Trust me.  I hav...