"No pain No gain"

As I was working out it hit me that if we want, and I mean truly want to look a certain way, we will do whatever & I mean whatever it takes to accomplish that. Hopefully the whatever is in a healthy way. But then that sent me down another road, life...
If we want a better lifestyle or a job that allows us the healthy freedoms life has to offer then we must be willing to go thru the pain just as in working out to accomplish that. Nothing is ever handed to us or easy to accomplish & if I learned nothing else from my father growing up, it was that if we want something we must work hard for it. "No pain No gain". Funny how life & working out have so many similarities, isn't it?! For one it takes time & dedication, you must dedicate time to accomplishing your goals without whining about it. If it becomes whining then it becomes work & if it becomes work then it's not fun & we will surely give up on our dreams/goals.
My sister & I were just having some flashbacks of old days past. She is going thru this phase of looking up people from the past and it's funny where all of us are in life. As we were talking and comparing ourselves, situations and lifestyles it hit me that we should never compare anything other than where we personally are in life versus where we were in the past. Hopefully we are all in a better spot with the intention of always moving to be the best we can be by accomplishing the life God has in store for us. Bottom line is that there is always someone better then the next at something in life & that is what makes us all necessary for the world to be a better place.
As I close please remember to keep our men & woman of all branches of service in your prayers for their safe return. As they are doing all they can do so we may enjoy all of our healthy freedoms.
Good night & God bless !!

Honey-Dijon Chicken

For those of you that like a little kick in your chicken this is the recipe for you.

2-tbsp honey
2-tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground blk pepper prep time: 10 mins
2 tsp chopped parsley cook time: 30 mins
4-boneless skinless chicken breast

Preheat oven at 400,line baking sheet w/foil & spray w/nonstick cooking spray.
Combine: honey, mustard, pepper & parsley in a bowl, roll or brush chicken in mixture. Place on baking sheet & bake for 15 mins, put remaining mixture on chicken & bake for another 15 mins. or until no more pink showing.

Basic nutrition facts:
200 calories, 2g fat, 270mg sodium, 10g carbs., 34g protein

The chicken has a kick & is juicy. Make w/a potato & green veggie & your good to go!! This is definately a healthy freedom that is sooooooooo good for you.

Good night & God bless

Blessed in America

As I sat today feeding my daughter I thought to myself; "I wonder what my brother is doing?" Eating a hot meal, taking a hot shower or sleeping in a soft bed? Oh dah... Thats all of us here in America. While he eats meals out of a bag, sleeps sitting up & whenever he can, dodges bullets and showers via a baby wipe. All this so that we can enjoy our familys. I pray to god that he allows my brother to come home to our family safely.
We all are guilty of taking for granted all of our healthy freedoms we have here in America. I think some of us are so focused from time to time on the negatives going on in our lives that we dont stop to see our blessings. When it comes down to it, how important is it how much money we have or how big of house we own. Bottom line is that a person that has nothing can be much richer then the person that has a big bank account.
God gives us free will to enjoy all the healthy freedoms that are offered to us. It is then up to each individual to use them or abuse them. And me personally knowing that people like my brother are willing to put their life on the line for mine to be able to enjoy my family makes the decision for me that much easier!!!
I urge all of you to pray for the safe return of all the men & woman that are putting their life on the line for us. And when life seems to be getting you down, just look at what you do have & not what you dont have yet.
Good night & God bless !!

Reflections

As I sit here & hold my daughter & think about my brother who is due to land in Iraq anytime now, I cant help but to think of how blessed I am. Let me explain !! There was a time I was not sure if I could have children of my own & then god blessed me with one of my own, two if you count my stepson whom I love just as much. We have a special bond as well. Although it can be very stressful at times, its so worth all the sacrifice. To see their little faces light up when you walk into the room or the joy on the other parents face as they sit and play with one another.
But you see I have more of a selfish motive with my children. There is this vision I have of making the world a better place & if I can do that by raising my children to respect & love people, then I feel as if I've done a good job. You'll often hear me say that I'm just one of god's little helpers trying to do the best I can while I'm here.
And thanks to brave people like my brother, who are willing to go into a country that hates americans so that we can enjoy healthy freedoms. Many thanks goes out to men & woman of all armed forces doing what they do so that I can enjoy my family.
And that my friend is why I feel blessed !!

Todays healthy recipe: "Chicken Yogurt roll ups"

1/2 cucumber
1/2 pepper (color or mixture desired)
3 tablespoons lite vanilla yogurt
2 boneless/skinless chicken breast cubed
shredded cheddar (optional)
fajita sz tortilla wraps

Mix cucmuber & pepper in bowl. Put chicken in wrap & spread mixture over, add cheddar if desired. Roll & ENJOY !!

I promise these are delicious..

Salsa Chicken recipe

1 Cup salsa (any)
3 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 an onion
red & green peppers (optional)
Brown rice (boil in the bag works well)
1/2 cup of shredded mexican blend cheese
Lite Sour Cream

Brown chicken, mix in onion, peppers & cook until desired tenderness. Add salsa simmer until hot, add cheese & pour over rice. Add sour cream to taste.

Enjoy & warning this is very addicting !!!!

Nutrition facts:
354 cal., 10g total fat, (4g sat. fat), 78 mg chol., 644 mg sodium,
33 g carbo., 1 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugars, 32 g protein.

When we take care of our bodies mentally, physically & spiritualy we have all of the ingredients for a healthy freedom in life.

Have you ever done something & got alittle upset with yourself. Reason being that you felt you could of or should of handled a situation a particular way & did not. So one walks away feeling as if they missed out on an opportunity of some kind !! That was my ahhh haaa moment this evening. I find that I carry some old resentments with me, that then create new ones out of little nothings. Then just like that "BAM" the situation solves itself & your left feeling upset with self about nothing. We are our own worst critics when it comes down to it.

These days I try to pay attention more as to why I allow some things to set me off. Most the time its generally myself. Actually if I stood in front of a mirror and expressed whatever it is I was feeling at that moment chances are laughter would erupt. Someone gave me a sign to hang on my mirror that said "your looking at the problem" that is so true half the time.

How can we expect someone to know what we need or want from another if we are to afraid to ask? And why do we feel at times that we do not deserve just as much happiness as those we expect to get it from? A few 24 hours ago someone asked me that question and I had to think about it for a moment, my response was "well...". Well truth of the matter is that if I dont tell you what I would like or need then the only one I have the right to get upset with is myself. We are not mind readers and an expectation is an excuse for the right to have a resentment. And you know what they say about excuses !!! hahaha

My aaahhh haaaaa moment & bottom line is this, I dont want to live in fear or anger anymore. And to tell you the truth a resentment is very very very heavy to carry around. So if I feel the need to carry a resentment or to be angry about something then I'm not trusting in god/higher power to do what it is he has planned for my life!!

Good night and God bless.

Day 1

Here we go, the first day of something new and scary. But that is my goal this year to step outside the box if you will. I am a new mom and often catch myself thinking of ways to teach my kids not to be afraid of stepping outside the box. To try different things to see what they like and what they are good at. I don't want them to grow up being paralyzed by fear, like I did. It took me until my early 30's to try different things and that was pretty scary not to mention very hard.

So that is why I decided to develop this blog. To help other people no matter how young or old, to no longer be afraid anymore. One of my favorite quotes is, "Don't regret what you have done rather regret what you have not done."

My mission in life is to live happy, joyous and free on a daily basis and to assist others in doing the same. When I die and go to heaven I feel that God will ask me one question that matters, "Did you enjoy everything I gave you, good and bad?", the answer should be yes.

See in life we are given tests and until we pass those tests we will be put through them again and again. And believe me I've been put through my share of the same tests!!

At any rate I figure I have nothing to loose by putting this blog out there. So lets go on a joy ride through life together!! Remember none of us are promised tommorrow, so live like today is your last.