Thankful Thursday

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you. -- Eileen Caddy

In an effort to share a bit of the joy and laughter Eileen speaks of above, this blog will be dedicated to moments of gratitude each Thursday.

I invite you to share the things you find yourself most thankful for throughout the week. Just send note, a photograph or both to me by noon on Wednesdays to be featured on Thankful Thursday.

If you didn't get a chance to submit your thankful moment this week, don't let that stop you. Just leave a comment down below. I am so excited to be able to share these special moments with all of you!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am so very thankful for the relationship that I have with my daughter.
Laura

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am thankful for my mom, the sweetest, kindest, most generous, free spirit on earth!! She rocks!

Kelly
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday is my day to see my grandkids, which brings me a lot of joy.Their funny stories and antics and their enthusiasm about life in general is so refreshing.

Bryce, who is 6, just started T-ball for the summer. I drove him to practice last week and stayed for awhile to watch. The coach had the boys line up along a fence to talk to them. One little guy starting harassing Bryce, grabbing his arm. Bryce kept telling him to stop but the kid was paying no mind. The coach wasn't saying anything either.

I turned to talk to someone behind me for a minute and when I turned back, there was Bryce sitting on top of the antagonist. All you could see of the boy was his little head and arms flailing about. Both boys were laughing. At that point the coach finally seperated them.

I chuckle everytime I think about that scene. Maybe the big leagers could learn something from the littleguys.

Bev
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am so grateful for a wonderful day of health coaching some of the most amazing women! And I get to do it all over again today! Yay me!!!

Michelle

Life Lessons From American Idol

If you watch American Idol, you're familiar with Lee Dewyze from Chicago. If you don't watch the show, I am including some videos for you.

Lee is a sweet guy with a really great voice. I have always liked him and have been rooting for him from the beginning. The thing about Lee is that he came on the show with a bit of a self esteem and confidence problem. He didn't believe in himself and he didn't realize how good he was. Check out this video to watch one of his earlier songs.





Pretty good, right? You can hear the nice quality of his voice but it's a bit lackluster. He looks scared to death and not really sure of himself. You can see it on his face, you can feel it in his performance.


Each week the judges would tell Lee that he has a great voice and that he just needs to believe in himself, to have some confidence, and to really allow himself to shine. It was as if Lee was hearing the words but not allowing them in. He wasn't owning it.


Then came his performance of Treat Her Like a Lady. It was like a different person was standing there in front of us. You could see the confidence on his face, he had a bit of swagger and he sounded amazing.



I felt it. I knew that something had shifted in him and he was believing in himself. It gave me goosebumps. I turned to my family with a big smile on my face and said, "He did it. He finally believes in himself!" Simon said to him, "This is the night that your life may have changed forever."







What a difference some self confidence can make!




I have been working with an amazing group of women who are currently going through the program at IIN. These women are bright, beautiful, healthy, strong, and so much more. They are going to be fantastic health coaches and the world is lucky to have them.




Some of these ladies remind me of Lee a little bit. They don't necesarily believe in themselves. They are afraid to put themselves out there and they worry that they don't know enough to go out and start seeing clients. Each week I tell them how they know as much as they need to know and that they are going to be fantastic. Sometimes they hear me and sometimes they don't.




Gaining self confidence is a journey and I know they are on their way. My greatest wish for them is to have that moment when it all comes together; to know that they are the amazing women that they are; to see themselves as others see them and to believe in themselves.




What about you? What area of your life could benefit from a self confidence boost? Maybe you're not the greatest singer in the world but I know for a fact that you have something you are good at, something that comes natural to you, or something that other people admire about you. How do I know? Because everyone has something. We are all here with something to share.




How would your life be different if you started believing in yourself? What are you waiting for? Start your journey today!

Cooking Made Easy

Photo by Emily Kovache

I was working with one of my clients last week and we were talking about getting dinner on the table. She is a single, working mom who is stretched thin trying to get everything done and often it is dinner that gets pushed aside.

She is tired of ordering take out or popping a pre-packaged meal in the oven and she really wants to give her son healthy meals but she can't seem to find the time to dig into her cookbooks, find recipes, shop for the long lists of ingredients, and put it all together. I can totally relate!

I gave her some tips on how to make dinner time a little easier and she said she felt like a weight was lifted off of her when we finished up the call. She felt like the pressure to make difficult meals was released and she was excited to start simplifying dinner time.

So what did I tell her? Here are some of the tips I shared with her:

1. Explore the Spice Aisle- There are some great spice mixtures available today that really make cooking so easy. Try out some new flavors, sprinkle them on your meats, veggies, and grains and viola, dinner is done. I just got my Penzey Spice catalog and they have some new summertime mixes that look really good. One of my favorites is Herbs de Provence. I sprinkle that on a piece of white fish with some lemon slices, throw it in the oven to bake and it is delicious!

2. Dust off your Crock-Pot- If you haven't tried slow cooking, you've got to give it a try. It is so easy and can be so good. I love making my pasta sauce in my crock pot and these days I've been just throwing in whatever I have and it's actually good. My current favorite is chicken breast with chopped up veggies like onion, peppers, and mushrooms. I throw in a couple of can of Muir salt free, fire roasted tomatoes and a can of tomatoe sauce and it is so good. I serve it with a veggie and some brown rice.

3. Cook Once, Eat Twice (or Three times)- When I make a pot of rice for a side dish, I make a BIG pot and I use the leftovers for another meal later in the week. You can make a rice salad for lunch, fried rice with loads of veggies, or even a nice breakfast rice porridge with fruit, cinnamon, and milk. I also make extra chicken breast or fish fillets so I can heat them up for lunch or chop them up in a salad. In fact, every meal I make has leftovers!

4. Remember K.I.S.S- Who says dinner has to be some elaborate meal? It is so easy to grill up a chicken breast and make a salad. It's delicious and healthy. You can throw some fish in a baking pan and while it cooks prepare a salad or a side of veggies.

5. Package Your Dinner- I like to make fish packets. I throw some veggies in parchment paper, put a nice piece of fish on top, sprinkle with spices and lemon, fold it up and bake it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I let the kids pick what they want on theirs and they get to fold it up. They love opening it up and eating their own package. The best part is it's a one dish meal and there is no clean up. Just throw the paper away!

Inspirational Music on Monday

In an effort to share inspirational music with you, I would am posting a video I created a couple of years ago. It is a beautiful song called Second Chance by Miten Premal. I hope you enjoy it.

Fun Friday

When I was a kid no one had to tell me how to have fun. I woke up in the morning and hit the door. I ran around all day with my friends catching frogs, going fishing, riding our bikes, dancing, swimming and hanging out. Fun was easy.

So often as adults we lose our sense of fun. We are so busy with our schedules, our to-do lists, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids, and on and on. We forget how to just let lose and have fun.

Recently I found myself with a free Friday with nothing to do. I started thinking about the things I normally like to do...head to the bookstore, no, I didn't feel like doing that...explore the craft store, nah, didn't sound good...go for a walk in nature, who was I kidding? It was freezing out! What the heck? I couldn't even think of anything fun to do. I ended up sitting around my house watching TV. BORING!!!

I decided it was time to spend some time creating my nourishment menu. A nourishment menu is a list of anything and everything that feeds your soul. It can be relaxing, fun, rejuvenating, social or solitary. Whatever gets you excited.

Once I got started it was pretty easy. I came up with some things I am actually excited about and I am looking forward to some more of these Fun Fridays.

I decided to start with something I love to do but always seem to forget about...photo hunts. It is such a great adventure to walk around and look at my surroundings with different eyes. Things come to life. I start thinking about getting low and shooting up or zooming in and filling the frame. I especially love to do this in nature.

Today I headed off to one of my favorite garden stores in the area called The Growing Place. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and I just spent some time wandering around and looking for beauty. What a joy! Everywhere I looked I saw something lovely.

I created the above collage with some of the pictures I took. The whole thing was so fun and I feel very happy and content. Fun just got easy again!

What kinds of things are on your nourishment menu? If you don't have your own list, now is a good time to get one started. Get started now and don't forget to tell me all about it!

Thankful Thursday

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you. -- Eileen Caddy

In an effort to share a bit of the joy and laughter Eileen speaks of above, this blog will be dedicated to moments of gratitude each Thursday.

I invite you to share the things you find yourself most thankful for throughout the week. Just send note, a photograph or both to me by noon on Wednesdays to be featured on Thankful Thursday.

If you didn't get a chance to submit your thankful moment this week, don't let that stop you. Just leave a comment down below. I am so excited to be able to share these special moments with all of you!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am thankful for my new haircut. I got a mohawk and I got my baseball number carved on the back. Now when I go to school everyone is calling me number 7. I like it.

Liam age 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am thankful for my gecko Rocco. He is cool looking. I like to take him out of his cage and let him crawl on me.

Aidan, age 7

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last weekend I was lucky enough to take a trip to Florida with my hubby. We got last minute tickets on Spirit Airlines for $37 each way. We called my mom and she agreed to watch the kids and then I called my dad and he said we could stay at his place in Florida. Everything fell into place effortlessly.

We had a relaxing trip. We hit the beach and the pool when it was sunny and we stayed in and talked and read when it was raining. We saw a couple of movies, ate some amazing meals and just connected. It was fabulous!

Michelle

Thankful Thursday

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you. -- Eileen Caddy

In an effort to share a bit of the joy and laughter Eileen speaks of above, this blog will be dedicated to moments of gratitude each Thursday.

I invite you to share the things you find yourself most thankful for throughout the week. Just send note, a photograph or both to me by noon on Wednesdays to be featured on Thankful Thursday.

If you didn't get a chance to submit your thankful moment this week, don't let that stop you. Just leave a comment down below. I am so excited to be able to share these special moments with all of you!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am thankful for Facebook...for me, it's given my authentic identity a re-birth :)

Kim Kogut Bronk

----------------------------------------------------------------

I am thankful that I was able to spend the whole day with my dad yesterday during his experimental drug infusion for Alzheimer's. We watched Second-Hand Lions while we were waiting, and he enjoyed it thoroughly.

Melissa Kaiser

----------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up this morning to the sounds of birds chirping. I looked out my window at the fresh, green earth, trees in blossom, and a parade of hyacinths, daffodils and tulips; it felt great to be alive. After saying good morning to Mom and my little bird, Pookie , I made a cup of coffee and went outside. What greeted me was a wheel barrow full of dirt clods, mud encrusted work gloves and shoes, shovels, rakes, edgers and other assorted yard tools, myriad plants in pots waiting to be planted, and a trail of dirt that led across the driveway and all the way up the front sidewalk. Where do I start?

The fact that I'd spent the past few days planting, edging and moving a whole lot of dirt didn't change the fact that there was still a lot left to do. My back was aching and my legs were sore but still . . I felt happy. I realized just how lucky I am to be able to be outside working in the garden on such a beautiful day. I felt grateful to be able to fulfill Mom's passion for the garden — she is 88 and can't get down on her knees anymore, but she can enjoy the garden through my efforts. All the more reason to be grateful that I still have the physical capacity and energy to get the job done.

It is 6:00 PM and the garden is shaping up. I am tired but jubilant, and Mom is excited to see things popping out of the ground. Tomorrow is another day, but already there is much joy in it. These are the grateful moments I wanted to share with you.

Pam Pulice

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am thankful that spring is here. I am so lucky to be able to drive down this street that is lined with these gorgeous trees. I love waking up to the sound of the birds singing, and the sun, oh the sun! It is so great to have it back, shining down and warming me. I can't tell you how thrilled it makes me to see a blue sky instead of the dreary grey one that I have grown so accustomed to over the winter. It's glorious. There is something about the air in spring. It is full of inspiration and excitement. It makes me want to do a happy, spring dance!

Michelle Geoffroy
-----------------------------------------------------------------