Do the Do!

I think we can all relate when it comes to doing anything we can, or perhaps I should say “try anything we can” when it comes to the health of our children. 

I’m in the process of trying out something that is very crunchy granola  even for me! The world of essential oils and aromatherapy is opening up to me in my household right now….. And I may just be becoming a believer (gasp!!!).

I am coming off of 3 months of continuous snotty noses and coughs, but more importantly some heavy hitting sicknesses. The flu, hand foot and mouth, roto virus, to name a few (as if I need anything more). 

So my good friend who is not in any way holistic, crunchy, or granola….. In fact she is the exact opposite of that, recommended the Do Terra essential oils brand  to me to help fight off the Heebie Jeebies. I went in this open minded and with an open wallet!!!! 

My initial investment was about $300. I bought 4 aromatherapy humidifiers, wild orange, on gaurd, breathe, eucalyptus, and lavender oils. I already am a big coconut oil user, so I had that on hand. 

I immediately started all the kids on breathe and eucalyptus in the humidifier to open up their lungs and nasal passages, I can say it really did help. I ran that sucker all day and all night. 

Were they magically healed over night, no of course not! But I did begin to notice a difference. I have diligently used the on guard (for staving off sickness) on my eldest son and he has not gotten any of the yuckies the littles have gotten! 

My favorite thing, and the most noticeable oil for me has been the lavender. I started rubbing this on my littles feet at night with some coconut oil to help them sleep better. If anyone knows my littles they know that they don’t sleep! Caris (1.5yrs) cries out about horsies in her sleep all night and looks for her pacifier constantly. Cavan (2.5) fights, cries, yells, punches, with his brother all night long in dreams! He walks the halls. It’s miserable! 

So, when I tell you they slept through the first night I was shocked! The next night, the next night, hallelujah this stuff really works!!!!! These kids are knocked out! They are snoring, drooling, knocked out asleep!!!!!

I tried the lavender on my feet one night just to see, and I am telling you sweet baby Jesus this was the best sleep I have gotten in years! I am hooked on this lavender and have become a believer! I am still using all the other oils, but I can stand behind the lavender (or sleep behind it:) 

I am shocked by how these oils have made a difference in my home so quickly. I still use modern medicine of course, but I can’t deny the difference and the effect the oils have had in a short amount of time. My house smells awesome, my babies are breathing and sleeping well! I’ll continue down this path. 



Awesome, awesome stuff! 

I have a case of the Mondays…. Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s, Thursday’s……

Today is just one of those days! Or weeks, or months actually. I’m just really feeling it today. I’m feeling the weight of life, of everyday struggles.
For anyone that doesn’t know me I am coming up on the big three five this year 😳. I have three children ages 7, 2, and 1 😳. According to my blog I am fit and live to exercise! I have all this free time to run and take care of myself. According to my credit card statements I love to shop and am apparently really good at it! My facebook page shows my happy smiling kids playing all the time and doing wonderful, exciting things…. We are a happy little family even in the hand caught in the cookie jar shots.

(Look who figured out how to get to the M&M’s!)

But my Facebook page never shows pictures of me…. The one always behind the camera, partly because I’m never showered, I don’t have time to get dressed or put on make up. You always see smiling pictures when one is rarely posted, but I never post pictures of me crying alone on the floor of my closet (daily) wondering when will it get easier? Three kids is a lot. Having two 15mths apart is exhausting.

You don’t see the pictures of me scrubbing puke off my carpets, car seats, couch because each kid gets sick on separate days. Or that 2 of my children have been rotating sicknesses for the last 2 months including 2 weeks of the flu, double ear infections (why did we get tubes?) pink eye, snotty noses, stomach viruses, possible bronchitis (find that out tomorrow!). To think that I actually cook organic, healthy food, and have a very clean house!!!! How can I not catch a break?

You don’t see that I am in bed exhausted by 8pm and haven’t watched a prime time show in years! I am lucky to get 5-6 hours of completely interrupted sleep a night. You don’t hear my kids walking the halls all night or screaming at each other in their sleep fighting over imaginary toys!

No one sees on my fitness blog that I work out for my sanity more than for my body. I actually need to exercise to fight off depression and the “blues”. Too much time off, too much rain, too much gray and I get in a major funk. Exercise is an outlet that helps me focus on something else. It is something I do just for me, it is a moment in a crazy day to focus on myself. It gives me a positive spin and I feel better pushing and exhausting myself and my mind. I need it! (My children need me to need it!)

I am living the dream here people!

I get caught up sometimes when always seeing others posting beautiful happy family pictures. Vacations, freaking Pinterest kills me! “Ain’t nobody got time for that shit”
The day to day grind just wears me down sometimes when I try to compete, or keep up. I simply can’t! My life has taken some very unfortunate turns the last year and I have had to change my way of thinking completely. About the future, myself, parenting, friends….. Every aspect. And at some point it just becomes too much to try to be perfect. Is anyone perfect anyway?

(This is a beautiful, rare picture of me with the littles, but behind the scenes Caris would not sit down and kept screaming and throwing fits. I wanted to throw her overboard. Poor cavan just wanted to eat and sit on my lap but his sister thought it would be better to throw his snacks overboard and torture him! See….. Don’t we look perfect…. Also my oldest son is at home because he puked all over the carpet in his bedroom and I’m still scrubbing that stain out!)

I have really been trying to open my eyes and change my way of thinking this year. It is so hard in the age of social media when everyone is posting images of their best selves, best smiles, best vacations, best nights out! It just simply isn’t all true. I know what my life looks like to an outsider, but that isn’t the whole picture. That is a very tiny snippet from a very tiny moment, that somehow turned out great!

So don’t get me wrong. I am a basket case, I am tired, my children wear me down.
But I’m real! I’m as real as it gets. I falter and make mistakes everyday, I am flawed…. I am so flawed! But I am trying. I am trying to be the best me everyday. The best parent, the best friend…… As long as I keep trying I think I’m doing just fine.

Sometimes I need to stop and take a breath. I need to appreciate others lives in photos and realize it isn’t the whole story. I need to cut myself some slack because I bought the cookies for school instead of baking them, this does not make me a bad mom. I need to back off on the workout that got canceled because the kids are making another unexpected trip to the Doctor, this does not make me a slacker. So what that I didn’t get to clean the entire house again, And finish the laundry, this does not make me a slob. This is everything that makes my life real. Very, very real!!!!! No airbrushing😘

Ps…. I just showered at 8:30pm and I worked out at 4am, cleaned up puke twice, and totally went in public like this.
#justsayin #thisshitisreal #livingthedream

Maybe I was….. Wrong????

It’s not that often that I, myself, as a woman….. Will admit that she is wrong. But in the case of my review on Kate Hudson’s athletic wear line Fabletics (gasp!!!! Here it comes!!!!) I was wrong, or premature, or just not a believer….. But I’m changing my tune now!
I stayed with her VIP package and have received a few complete outfits from her, and I must say they are really cute!
She has these really awesome 80’s flash dance sweatshirts that are just adorable and a little bit addictive. I find myself wearing them with jeans, sweats, and workout pants. No shame here peeps! When you find something that fits well and looks cute you rock that shit!
Her pants (capris specifically) have really upped their game from the first pair I ordered. Super cute, fun colors, and a pretty good fit too! I do suffer from droopy crotch every now and then, but the fashion side beats the function side this time around.
I seriously have to admit I unfairly and harshly judged her line. I am taking back my original review…. Giving fabletics a thumb up and saying that I will be sticking with them and anxiously awaiting my monthly arrival!

I may or may not have bought my sister this for Christmas! Ooooooh how we have changed!

Slips and slides

I’ve fallen off the wagon recently. The last run I had was 8 miles and it felt great! I was geared up, ready to push forward, gung ho…… And then nothing!
I’m not sure if it’s the holidays? The children? Or another 5,433 reasons why I have slacked off. But it has happened. My number one love of running has been pushed to the side lately.
While I’m slacking on my running and training I am picking up a new love and passion. Holy boxing batman!!!!! I’ve been hitting twice weekly 5am boxing sessions and loving every minute of it! My wonderful trainer keeps us on our toes by throwing in some cross fit moves with straight up throw down dirty boxing! This is not a UFC boxing ring, but a padded up sweat session with a spunky Latino yelling drills at you. I now hear 1, 1,2… 1,2,3…. 3,2,3 in my sleep! I anticipate the calls for which punch to throw. I get worked around a room and focus on nothing but these numbers!!!! Everything leaves my brain, the world simplifies and I just move. 1, 1,2…. Throw the punches, connect, breathe!
This has been an amazing workout. I am on my feet moving constantly, my breathing is fast and heavy and you don’t realize what a cardio workout you are getting because you are so focused. My shoulders, back and abs are screaming for a break, I love it! This is such a welcomed, fun, different workout. Not at all intimidating, mainly because of my partners in crime at 5am. It’s ok for a really tough workout to be this fun!
I love the idea of cross training and mixing it up. I am never bored, each day is a new workout and place and it keeps my mind and body guessing. I am in my twice weekly tread classes that mix running circuits at insane speeds and inclines with circuit training on the floor and weight work. This takes breathing, running, and weight training to a whole new level. The class is loud, the music is pumping, and you are giving everything you have for a full 50 mins. My body screams while running at an incline of 30, but hey, it helped me climb that damn mountain! The moves are fresh, each round or circuit is timed and completely shreds you!
I’ve also mixed in TRX yoga….. Yep, it is as brutal as it sounds! I do this class on Fridays to try and stretch out after a hard week. My abs have never been so sore! I will literally plank out with my feet in TRX bands and do runners, squats, core moves all mixed in with yoga. I have never sweat, or shook like this before, all while standing in place on a little mat. It’s an amazing workout!!!! My abs burn through out the weekend reminding me of my week.
So yes, I am guilty! I admit it. My running has slacked off and I need to recommit. But I am literally kicking ass in every other way!!!

Corn and shrimp soup

Louisianan’s make two different soups when the temperature drops, gumbo and shrimp and corn soup, with out fail!
Today we will feature the shrimp and corn soup because my taste buds just feel like it!

Super easy to make, creamy, with just enough bite!

Ingredients
Shrimp medium 1lb peeled, deveined
Onion
Bell pepper
celery
Garlic
3 cans cream style corn
Heavy whipping cream
Chicken broth
Salt
pepper
Red pepper flakes
Avocado or coconut oil and…..
1 package cream cheese!

I never said this was healthy:)

Peel, chop, and sauté all veggies in a large stock pot.
Add shrimp and cook to pink.
Season with red pepper, salt, pepper.
Throw in cream cheese and allow to melt.
Add corn and whip cream stirring.

Add chicken broth while stirring to thin.

*I prefer my soup slightly thin instead of so thickly heavy with cream like some restaurants. I want a thinner soup base not a bisque here, but you can play around with this and get the consistency you like.

Reseason, constantly taste your soup because it will get saltier with the cream cheese and whipping cream added in.
You want just a hint of background heat when tasting but not overly spicy from the red pepper flakes.

Adjust temp to slight simmer and prepare yourself for the long haul.

Do not boil your soup, just allow it to peacefully simmer for 2-3 hours.
Keep stirring, and tasting!

Garnish with a smidge of parsley before serving.

Yummmmmmo!!!!

This soup is one of the only good things about winter. Now how many days till march first? Come on spring!!!!

The fat Italian likes it:)

Roasted garlic! Yuuuuummmmmmm! What a gift from the gods. I don’t know if it’s the fat Italian that lives inside of me but this is such an amazing treat! So versatile and easy!
I eat them plain (don’t come near me for the rest of the day!) I throw them in salads, smash them on toasted Italian bread, it doesn’t matter how you do it just know that roasted garlic is amazeballs!!!!

The garlic is so sweet and nutty because you are roasting them and allowing the sugars to break down and become little cloves of happiness!

Quick and easy!

Muffin pan
Aluminum foil
Olive oil
Couple heads of garlic
Oven 400 degrees

Remove the papery skin from the heads of garlic down to the individual papers. Cut the bottom 1/4 of the garlic off to reveal the fresh cloves inside.

Drizzle olive oil all over the cloves.

Place in muffin tin and cover with foil.

Bake at 400 for 30 mins.

Let cool, then pop those little suckers out and enjoy!!!!!

So easy!

Move your Asana

Move your Asana? More like “Holy move your ass like you never have before Batman!”
That was my thinking on the second morning of my health and fitness retreat as I was rolling around making the acquaintance of muscles I had never met before.
It was a surreal moment looking out over the balcony of the condo I shared with complete strangers, that would soon become giggle partners and fitness comrades, at the beautiful beach in Punta Mita Mexico. This is where it was all going to go down this week and I better go put my big girl panties on and lace up my shoes, it’s time to get real up in here!
I am on a fitness retreat called Move Your Asana with Shanti Tilling and Heather McKenzie SweatPlayLive and #GetfitwithHeather. These two girls are the real deal! No lies, no boundaries, no jokes, the real freaking deal Lucille!
These two girls are walking the walk and living the life. Both are unbelievably fit and dedicated to health and wellness. Their freaking bodies prove what hard work and dedication can do (ok, I kinda do hate them because I can’t play the whole “I have 3 kids card here because Heather does too and homegirl is smokin!)

but seriously, they are both amazing souls, always smiling, laid back, let’s just rock through life and go climb this damn mountain type of girls! It’s absolutely contagious being around them. You will truly feel like you can conquer the world with these two by your side.

And that is one of the extreme differences about this retreat and others. You are fully immersed here with your group of fitness buddies, with your trainers, with the local culture. This is not the normal “here’s your class schedule” retreat where you break free on your own with nothing to do while waiting on your next class to begin.
A typical day starts with a morning workout, usually on the beach or poolside. We did boxing (errr merrrr gerrd I have a new passion!!!!) cardio boxing, HIIT class, and Beach Bootcamp each morning. I literally got my ass handed to me for 1 1/2 hours every morning in the most beautiful location imaginable! And I loved it! I was looking forward to it everyday.
The classes are designed to work at each persons fitness level, and Shanti and Heather are right there working with you! You are not just signing up for someone to bark orders at you. These girls are suited up grunting and sweating right along with you! It’s motivational, it works, (it freaking sucks when you get teamed up with them, holy shitballs they don’t slack off!)
After getting your body and morning kick started, Heather and Shanti (yes, your trainers!) go prepare your breakfast for you. We ate the best homemade Tamales bought from a little woman on a street corner, coconut oatmeal, fresh local fruit (not flown in from ahem Mexico:)
This is where you get to know your fitness buddies and your trainers. Complete strangers come together around the breakfast table and talk about their lives, kids, families. We talk openly with Shanti and Heather and by the end of breakfast you feel as if you are amongst friends.
Mid day is as active or as chill as you would like it to be. But who wants to lay around by the pool when you have all of Punta Mita at your finger tips to explore. Thanks to our local guide, and true friend Alejandro Gonzalez http://www.Mitaadventures.com (or as I lovingly refer to him as the Mexican Mel Gibson)

We would go surfing, or SUP (stand up paddle board).

We hiked up a river to a waterfall,

we climbed a mountain!
A freaking mountain! Monkey Mountain. Which these crazy people run up and have “fun races”. So of course me being the runner chick, and training for the half marathon, Alex gets the idea that I’m running up the mountain with him because (in my best Mexican accent…) it will be good to train Creeeestale! You run the mountain with me, no?
Ummmmmmm, no Alex, I’ll walk my ass up this mountain and try not to die falling off the side:) but thanks for asking buddy!

Also, does no one in town find something wrong with 8 women walking through town with some random guy with a machete? Hello…. Doesn’t anyone ever watch horror movies? Try doing that in my neighborhood here in the US.

After our very active adventures for the day we would all go back to the resort and sometimes have an evening yoga session…. Or drinks! Which ever you prefer, like I said, these girls are here to please!

The entire group comes together for evening meals. We usually walk to a local authentic restaurant. You really get to know your town and appreciate this part of Mexico. The locals are so friendly and eager to learn English that they were willing to listen to this white girl fumble through her 9th grade Spanish class teachings!

We bonded as a group over drinks, amazing food and sore muscles! We went to bed every night excited for the next day and ready to take on some new adventures. I’ve missed the girl power camaraderie that comes out of a trip like this.
There is something to be said for pushing yourself past your limits. Climbing that fucking mountain when you want to give up and you can barely take in another breath.
Pulling yourself up a boulder by sheer determination and grit because you know that waterfall is on the other side and no is not an option!

I’m so thankful to have met Shanti and Heather and have the chance to experience such an amazing trip! It lit the fire under my ass to try new things (boxing will now become a new obsession to add to my arsenal),

to meet such amazing people that I never would have met other wise. To see what fitness and loving living an active life can do for someone. This trip changed me. I can’t wait to grow over the next year and go back to Punta Mita showing off my new talents and strengths.
Maybe I’ll run up that damn mountain? Who knows!
So long story short, I loved my vacation……? It was a vacation! It was life changing, self esteem building, friend making, and just plain earth shatteringly different from any vacation I have ever taken!

http://www.getfitwithheather.tv
http://www.sweatplaylive.com
http://www.facebook.com/moveyourasana
http://www.mitaadventures.com

Progress not perfection?

I didn’t even see the front of this sign. I read it backwards as I was running past it today randomly placed haphazardly on the side of the road. It has no business being here, I have no idea why it was here or who put it here, but my first thought was “what asshole would put this here?” Is this to torture struggling runners? Maybe this was supposed to be motivational? Or was it for the runners not having good runs and wanting to give up half way around a lake that you have to finish the whole damn thing to make it back to your car? Why is this person laughing at me? Damn you sign maker!

Perhaps I should start at the beginning. I am normally a positive patty myself. But occasionally life likes to kick me right in the teeth and laugh, so sometimes I have to try to adjust.

Today was an adjustment day. I am out running the LSU campus lakes on a beautiful, windy, hot but ok for Louisiana fall day. I am supposed to hit 6 miles today as my long distance run for the week. I am saying this lightly because I am coming off a horrible week and a half with sick children, multiple ailments, doctors visits and normal chaos that kept me from running at all.

So I have high hopes and even higher expectations.
I start off fast and fine, and I realize by mile 2 this was not going to be a good run. It’s been a while, my knee started letting itself be known, and honestly it was just mental. I just didn’t freaking have my big girl panties on today! I was expecting this run to come so easy for me like my 5 miler did. I pushed through to mile 3 when my confidence started shattering.
I just ran 5 miles without stopping only a week and a half ago. This run today is just pissing me off! I am better than this!
Where is my mental edge today? Where is the girl that tells my brain to shut up and just pump my arms?
(Did I mention I hate young, athletic, young, bouncy, young college girls! Did I mention young? As they are blowing past me on their short run between classes?)
That’s when the sign came up. Mile 3.5. Maybe it was an omen? Maybe it really was left by some positive patty asshole? I don’t know….. But I thought about those words for half a mile. Progress not perfection.

Well damn. The asshole is right! Why am I beating myself up? Of course it’s hard. So what if this 6 miles isn’t coming easy for me. Do I want it to be easy, or do I want to work for it? Regardless of time, or having to take a break and walk for a minute, I’m still going to clock in 6 miles today as long as I don’t freaking quit! Don’t give up! Just push for progress.

So I did. I shut up. I let go a little. I was a bit more kind to myself.
I pushed for progress.
As soon as I backed off of myself and stopped worry about what wasn’t happening, I was able to fully enjoy what was happening.
My last 2 miles were awesome! Although I did have to walk/run that last mile, I still did it. That counts!

I wonder if the asshole that put that sign out knew what they were doing?
Congrats to you, because it worked! It was the mental reminder that I needed to check myself.
I was being the asshole!

Stop beating yourself up.

Progress not perfection!

Tell your brain to shut up, and run!

Why? Why not? Why ask why?

Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? But seriously…. Why am I doing this?

This is my mantra every time I start running again for the first time. It is every run, for at least the first 2 miles…. Sometimes longer.

To answer the question, I really don’t know?
I’m not a good runner, more of a shuffler. I’m not fast (oh, but in my mind I’m a freak of nature and can move!). I don’t place in races, I’m just happy to finish is more my motto. I got a free T-shirt! Woohoo!

But I do consider myself a runner! I do love it! I was never an athlete in school (though I wished I were). I never really exerted myself or pushed myself to see how far I could go.
Running came late for me. After the birth of my first child I started running for fitness (really because I had a baby to get out of the house, so I wouldn’t lose my mind!) and because I was going to try out my first race. At the time I started I thought that “anyone can do it” “this is easy” basically “I got this shit” before I had even laced up my first pair of running shoes.
I remember my very first mile on the treadmill, I was dying at half a mile….. Not just oh, this is harder than it looks dying. I’m talking “good gravy batman! I’m going to fall, or puke, or worse! Am I really this out of shape? Why are my lungs collapsing? It was definitely an eye opener.
It took me months of training, very slowly, to get to the point of running long distance consistently.

My love of running grew when I realized it was me against myself! Isn’t that the best person to beat? There is something truly amazing when you realize that it is just you against yourself. You are not racing the person next to you, they don’t exist. This isn’t a team sport with someone standing at the end of your personal goal slapping you on the ass saying good job. This is about you. This is about you getting up everyday and deciding to dig in, to run farther, to run harder. Check your fastest mile last week and crush it this week! No one else is involved. Just you! And you are freaking awesome!

Personal bests became addicting! I felt elated…. I felt like I was becoming something, someone, and I liked her! I had common interests with other runners. I could talk shoes, and routes like other people talked shop.
I had become a runner! It took me many miles, many years, many goals, but I can finally say I have become a runner. It is now a passion. It is a release. It is a part of me.

So, why do I run?

I do it because I want to! I do it to challenge myself. I do it to push myself and see how far I can go. I do it for the mental strength. I do it to belong to something bigger than myself. I do it to feel raw emotions. I do it to clear my head. I do it because I can no longer imagine not doing it!

I do it because it is in me!

Battling demons and reaching goals!

I may possibly be over my slump! I am consistently hitting four miles like a champ these days.
Perhaps it is because the weather is cooling down? Maybe it’s because I’m trying out new routes? Maybe it’s because I’m just that freaking awesome?
Whatever it is I’ll take it! My next leap is 5 miles and I’m ready to hit that next week, no problem.

Now that my distance is getting longer I’m beginning to feel my runners therapy kick in. This is my “me” time. This is when I cure cancer, rid the world of hunger and really begin to get deep down into myself and work on me. I battle my demons, my negative thoughts, the nasty part of me.
What else are you supposed to do with yourself for mile after mile other than think?
We all have negative thoughts in life. I’m not good enough, I made the wrong choice, I never should have made that comment, I screwed up! Mommy guilt, friend guilt (I was raised in a catholic family, go figure!)

I hate the negativity, I hate darkness, but I do need it. It’s self realization and reflection that moves me forward and keeps me compassionate.
But then again I’m a true introvert and speaking with myself candidly comes easy for me.
So there I am, mile after mile going over my life moment by moment. Possibly beating myself up, possibly Beating up others, trying to relive and fix every moment that I can, when it happens.
Silence…… Shhhhhhhh. Just listen, silence. It’s breathtaking, it’s so needed in my life! My mind begins to quiet. I stop saying I can’t and I just breathe. I just move my feet. I just pump my arms. I can hear my feet hit the pavement. I can hear my breath. I notice my first tree, another runner, the sky….. Everything just becomes more clear. Because the further I run and push my body the more I can focus on what I’m really doing now! This moment, in time. I can’t change the past, but I can make peace with it.

I can leave it behind and just run.

And so I will. I will run until there is nothing left, I will run until I am finished. I will smile and be proud of my accomplishment.

I will look forward to my next therapy session.

Keep running my friends!