Give Me A Hand!

Oh man, this is killing me... whenever I injure a part of my body I learn to appreciate it more, but I have become especially aware of how much I take for granted having two good hands. I think I may have injured it tumbling or spotting at the gym, but I never remember any specific point of injury. It wasn't until I woke up the next morning, feeling like an elephant had slept on my hand, that I realized something was terribly wrong with my grabber. I though it had just fallen so asleep during the night that it was throbbing while the blood rushed back in, but it just seemed to hurt more as I gained consciousness. It has now been three long days of icing, laying around, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and creative living techniques (try putting on a bra with one hand, or cutting an orange with one hand...impossible), along with many embarrassing moments as I ran all my weekend errands with my hand up (it kills to let it hang by my side or swing while I walk). I am waiting for someone to be like hey you, you got a question to ask or somethin'? I have officially named it my "little chub chub", and I would really like it to go away! It has been soooo painful, and almost impossible to ever get comfortable. I even took Ibuprofen for the first time in several years... I feel like a hard core druggy. On Monday I am planning to get it looked at, I am hoping they will give me hand-lipo or something... I just want it to stop hurting!!! So, the point of this post is to make you feel sorry for me, and also to make you go try to cut an orange with one hand... or fold laundry, or shave your armpits...single handedly!

Love, The Michelin Woman

Silly Soap

I woke up this morning yearning for a warm and relaxing bath. While soakin' in the tub I decided to read our soap bottle, yep you heard me, I spent the next half hour reading every last word on our bottle of Dr. Bronner's Eucalyptus Castile Soap. I have been using Dr. Bronner's since I was a kid, and I am hooked for life! If you haven't seen Dr. Bronner's Soap before, look for it in health food stores or healthy body product sections of some grocery stores. You will see bright colorful labels, COVERED in little tiny, white font, words of inspiration and life's lessons. Since the ingredient list consists of only a few natural and organic products, that leaves lots of room for plenty of nonsense and good advice, unlike conventional body washes that have to fold their label twice over just to make room for all the toxic chemicals/drug facts they include.

If you try this soap, you will never use anything else! We have gallon jugs of different scents which we mix to make custom aromatic blends, like lavender-coconut, coconut-almond, or citrus-mint. It takes bathing to a whole new level of simplicity and toxic guiltlessness. Just squirt it on the Loofa and enjoy cleaning every crevice of your being, inhale... and finally rinse for clean, moist, and healthy (not just healthy looking) skin. According to Dr. Bronner, we only need two cosmetics, enough sleep and Castile Soap. Might I add concealer and eyeliner to that list?

In closing I would just like to leave you with the following excerpt from todays readings:

"Let him who is without fault throw the first stone, for only God is always perfect! So, when your fellow man you measure, take him at his best, with that lever lift him higher, overlook the rest! For we're All-One or none! Remember, more good is caused by evil than by good. So, do what's right! Maximize the good, minimize the wrong! Then the Kingdom of God's Law inspires-evolves-unites All-One! All-One!"

Not sure exactly where Dr. B. was going with this one, but all his jibber-jabber sent me into a deeply relaxed state of confusion... maybe that's the whole point?!

Be old school...GO TAKE A BATH!

Say Aaaaaaah!

Wearing pajamas to work everyday is only one great reason, although quite possibly the best reason, I am pursuing a career in Dental Hygiene. After graduating from ASU with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Spanish, I had trouble deciding exactly what I wanted to do, because the possibilities are endless with such a degree. Should I write for a magazine, should I speak at seminars, should I get into product marketing, should I be a spokesperson for a certain company...? It is nice to have lots of options, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. Although I aspire to one day become a magazine writer (early retirement plan), I got this itch to go back to school. This time, I wanted to study all the things I for some reason believed "I'm just not good at", and to learn about something totally different from before.

Dental Hygiene was amongst the many candidates of this endeavor, and the more I read about it, the more interested I became. In the mean time, Brady felt a similar urge, and was encouraged by TONS of people, to the point of being freaky, to pursue dentistry. So now here we are, putting ourselves through MORE school! It has actually been very interesting coursework, and I have really enjoyed interning at the dental office, where I get to put my, unbeknownst to them, untrained rubbery hands into patients mouths to suck up spit, and polish away the grime.

It is going to be a very long, although rewarding, process for the both of us, but as athletes, we know how to work hard for an end result and learn valuable lessons along the way. I should be done in about 3 years, and Brady... well, I always tease him that I will drop both him and our first child off at the School Bus one day. Dentistry is a profession for the most persevering of people, thats for certain. However things end up, I know we will be a great team (hopefully in our own Dental Office), and thankful for all the education we have, and have yet to receive.

Benefits of being a Dental Hygienist:
-Great pay!
-great hours
-flexible schedule
-human interaction
-get to be on your feet
-don't take any work home
-minimal paperwork
-directly helping other people
-quick gratification
and finally...
-get to wear pajamas to work!

Birthday Bonanza!

Yep, I had a birthday! I feel so grateful to be 24, and I am really looking forward to this new year for me. To celebrate, my sweet neighbor Kristelle and I went out to breakfast at this awesome restaurant called Twenty-Five & Main (I will have to go there next year when I turn 25...hehe!) here in St . George. We realized a few weeks ago at church that we have the same birthday so we were super excited to celebrate together.












After a yummy breakfast we admired their delicious and famous homemade cupcakes, we should have eaten one but it was a bit early for that. After a great breakfast I spent 5 hours at school and then my sweet neighbors treated me to another one of my favorite things... Frozen Yogurt! Brady was out of town, but I had an unbelievable day because all of my friends really went out of their way to make me feel special. This is super corny sounding, but reading the 70+ Facebook birthday wishes from friends and family made me tear up.

I always thought that as the years passed birthdays would lose their glamour, but not for me, I seem to look more forward to them each year. I have however, had my first "I can't remember how old I am" experiences over the last couple of months, but what does it matter anyway. As long as you feel vibrant and healthy, who cares! Birthdays are a day to celebrate life, accomplishments, opportunity, and appreciation, the number serves only as a cake garnish.

The Joy In Trying Again

I really never thought of it that way, "Trying again" that is. It's a process I would usually associate with wasting of time or money, frustration, disappointment, failure, embarrassment etc., but I have recently been urged to think a little differently. I have a quote by Thomas S. Monson posted on my wall, conveniently next to my goals, which reads:

"Our task is to become our best selves. One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final."


This perspective really puts me in a good place, it is comforting to know that failure can bring joy, because it happens to us every day in one way or another. Sometimes we burn dinner, pay our bills late, forget an appointment, or hurt someone we love, but it is great to know that making amends with those "screw ups" that happen, can bring joy into our lives. Exactly how to incorporate those joyful thoughts amidst a real mess of a situation, I am not so sure, but I trust it can be done.

I think most of us have been told we should "stick to our guns", "fight for what we want","chase our dreams"... but when things don't go as planned, I see now that it can be part of "the plan". We don't always get what we want in life, or I'd be a billionaire hippie woman lounging in a beach bungalow with a few kids and my man Brady, eating coconuts right off the tree at this very moment! But as long as we keep at it we can find happiness, which ultimately is the sweetest gift. And when we are happy, we are much more inclined to be our "best selves" as well... two birds with one stone!

Salsa Fresca Josefina

Tonight I decided to create my own Salsa recipe, I believe it is an essential part of becoming a real Latina woman (: I didn't use any other recipes for guidance as I usually would, instead, I just took notes and made adjustments as I went, hoping to end up with a delicious fresh salsa recipe to cherish. I am pretty satisfied with the end result (I did eat almost half of it myself already), but it could be a work in progress. For now, here it is, my very own Salsa recipe, which for all intensive purposes I will call "Salsa Fresca Josefina"... you just have to go all out with these things... haha! Enjoy, and please let me know if you try it.

Ingredients:

For the dressing...
2T Olive Oil
2T Lemon Juice
2T Red Wine Vinegar
1 Sm bunch Cilantro stemmed
1 tsp Cumin powder
2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1/2 tsp Oregano
pinch of Black Pepper

For the Salsa...
5-6 large ripe Tomatoes coarsely chopped (drain a little of the liquid and use the rest)
1/2 Red Onion finely diced
1/2 Yellow Onion finely diced
2 Green Onion stalk, snipped into bits with scissors
1/2 to 1 whole seeded and FINELY diced Jalapeno
3 cloves of fresh Garlic very finely diced
1 sm Cucumber peeled, sliced into matchsticks and then diced (I prefer English Cucumbers which come plastic wrapped and don't need to be peeled)
1 ear of fresh Corn, husked, rubbed with a little oil and roasted (on a BBQ or pan) until slightly blackened on all sides. Cut kernels from cob.
1 15oz can of Black Beans, lightly drained

Directions:
1. Begin by roasting corn so it is ready when you need it.
2. In a large bowl combine all ingredients for "Salsa", including the roasted corn kernels when ready
3. In a blender or food processor combine all ingredients for "Dressing" and puree.
4. pour pureed dressing over salsa mixture and gently toss until well mixed.
5. Let marinate for 15 minutes and serve with chips (Archer Farms Target Brand Blue Corn Chips are the BEST), Sour Cream, and Guacamole if you please.

Serves: A big party, or family... same thing!
Keep leftovers in refrigerator and use on eggs, meats, taco salad, or how I most like it... right out of the bowl!

Your Life Is What You Make Of It

LIFE IS GOOD!

Have you ever had someone try to convince you that life is "hard", "trial-some", "depressing", "dangerous", "disappointing", or any other dreary adjective. If you haven't, then that's great, keep hanging out with the uplifting people you have in your life. If you have been a victim of this dangerous and burdensome falsehood, then recognize the source and steer yourself far from it.

I was recently warned to "brace" myself for life's disasters, for deaths, divorces, diseases, and distress, (all of which I have already experienced to some extent), because "they will come and you have to accept that...life is unpredictable..." I was told. This really stirred me up as you can probably sense. I just don't believe that, not for one second! I am not going to wait around, living in fear that the worst is yet to come, or let someone try to convince me that I have no control over my future. There is too much good to be experienced, too much happiness to be enjoyed, too much love to be shared, to be spending all my time and energy armoring up for trouble.

Of course life throws challenges at us, some bigger than others, and some that will change your life or even end your life, and this is why we need to seek out all the good that we can. It is not ignorant to "toss the stones from your baggage", in fact just toss the whole bag! Live light on your feet, dance, sing, laugh, play, and enjoy every minute that you have, because I believe that is the best way to prepare for the worst. Life here on Earth is too quick to get stuck in the mud, or to spend all your time gathering an arsenal of stain remover just in case you get a little dirty. Swim in clean waters and bring all your friends and loved ones with you. Don't let "the media", a friend, or even family members make you afraid of "what could be next", because most of the time you are in full control of your life, each moment, each success, each smile, each "good day", is because you made it that way.

It is also very important to remember this simple yet profound principle:

"Thoughts become words, words become actions... Actions become habits. Habits become your character. And you character becomes your destiny. ..." and let me add to that, your influences encourage your thoughts in the first place, so choose them carefully.

Disclaimer: Okay, so I know things like food storage, family wills, insurance, schooling, etc. are VERY important, but establish yourself well and then expect the best... don't spend all day in your tornado shelter, just incase today is "the day".