Don't sweat it!

I absolutely adore Fridays! Plus, Summer in the City starts tonight in Steinbach, and if the rain holds off, I plan on dragging my hubby around for some site-seeing and fair food!

Fridays tend to be my day where I look at my week and am critical of myself where I need to be, and give myself a pat on the back for the things I accomplished (this is also usually accompanied by chocolate...) For instance, I didn't get quite as much packaging done for my products as I would have liked, but I did get my garden all planted! I kept up with my laundry, billings, returned phone calls and emails, walked 4 out of 5 days this week and went grocery shopping. So what if my housework got put on the back burner a bit...this week turned out pretty awesome!

We live in a society that puts so much pressure on us to be "perfect". You need to be a wife, mother, entrepreneur, car pool driver, housekeeper, chef,  sounding board, and keeper of the family schedule. It can be intimidating when you actually sit down and think of all the "hats" we are required to wear in the run of a day! Being overwhelmed and wanting to retreat to the nearest closet with a couple of KitKat bars and a bottle of wine is usually the next thought that runs through your head after you realize all of the stuff you do to keep the earth from imploding on a daily basis (or something slightly less dramatic...) Trust me, it's ok to not have it all together. Heck, most days I do good to remember where I put it, let alone have it all in one place!

My dad always said, "Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things". Well, after you scrape that mental image from your eyes, you can find the little nugget of truth that's stored in there: Life is too short to worry about the stuff today that won't matter tomorrow.

So, tonight I plan on going on a date with my handsome man! We're going to play games on the midway, eat stuff that will rot our teeth, and just have fun together...the housework can wait until tomorrow.

I hope you have a rockin' weekend and make the most of every moment you have!

Give yourself a hug for my...you are awesome! <3

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun

I absolutely love June!! And it looks like we are FINALLY getting our Spring/Summer weather in! A lot of things about this month make me happy:

• My Anniversary. My husband is a saint some days...he really is. He is my biggest fan and supporter and I love him to the moon and back. They say men are from Mars and women are from Venus, I say men are just plain space cadets (my apologies to all my male readers!!). Seriously, I love that man!

• My mommy's birthday. Now, I won't go around spreading her age or anything, but I love my mom's birthday for the reason of realizing how blessed I've been to have her in my life each year. This is the woman who is changing careers and has decided to join the RCMP. She inspires me every day and I hope, one day, to be at least half as wonderful a mommy as she is.

• It's flip-flop season! Time for painted toes, sunglasses and driving with tops down (the car, not us...) Grab a friend (or child, or parent, or dog) and go get an ice cream cone! Soak in the sunshine every glorious minute it is around!!! Winter is too long and cold to not take advantage of the beautiful weather.

I have full intentions of planting my garden this week. Actually, as I write (hopefully), my sweet aunt is on her way to go pick up my planting dirt for my raised garden bed. Then I will ditch my allergy-prone spouse and go frolicking through the plant section at Wal-Mart.

So, if you see me on the way to the cashier and I am pushing one cart of plants, while pulling a second by a waist tether, kindly stop me and remind me I only have 1 garden bed so far...I tend to get overly excited.

Happy first week of June!!

Give yourself a hug for me...you are amazing! <3

Pardon my dust, I'm under construction

The common subject to my day so far has been Change. I talked with a pregnant client about changes in her body, I talked with a mom about changes in her 20 years of married life. Change happens, and it can always bring about something better, even if it feels like you're stuck under the rain cloud and your umbrella is 3 blocks ahead of you.

From the time we are conceived, our bodies go through continuous change...we are put together so amazingly! Some days, though, change can hurt- they're not called growing pains for nothing! Dynamics change in relationships, environments change at work, your first child moves away from home, you go back to school after 20 years in the same job. Change.

I don't mean for this post to be sad and morose (poet and didn't know it!), but sometimes it is good to take a seat back for a minute and view what kind of change is happening around us. And realizing that change is not always a bad thing!

Change can bring excitement and challenges and laughs and memories. New people to cherish. New discoveries about ourselves! I have found the best cure for the "stuck-in-a-rut" syndrome is change! Learn a new hobby, join a club...talk your husband into taking dancing lessons with you (the challenge of doing that alone is worth it!) Travel. Laugh. Try a different ethnic cuisine. Go to karaoke and sing your heart out! (I know that Shania Twain wanna be is in there...)

At the end of the day, realize that life is wonderful and that no bad thing lasts forever. Every cloud does have its silver lining, and the sun will come up tomorrow. Life is about seeing through the construction dust to the work of art that is being built-YOU!

Give yourself a hug from me...you are amazing! <3

To do or Not to do- it's what's on my list

Monday. For me, Mondays have always been about setting goals for the coming week. Practical, achievable goals...you know, like shower every day.

All lack-of-caffeine joking aside, goals are very important. Daily goals, family goals, marriage goals, and future goals. The schooling system I was brought up in taught the practicality of daily, weekly, and quarterly goals and it's a practice I still feel very ingrained in my personality.

I've compiled a list of my goals this week, and hope there's something in there that you can draw some inspiration from :)

1. Take it one day at a time.
2. Give hugs whenever the opportunity presents itself
3. Don't focus on what I think my flaws are. Instead, try to build up areas in my life I know need some attention
4. Learn something new (I'm playing with some new aromatherapy combinations!)
5. Take at least 1 nap
6. Pay forward a good deed

So, weather or not your "to-do" list gets done, your house does or does not get the Martha Stewart treatment (if it does, I'm also looking for a cleaning lady...), or you barely manage to get to work every day on time with clean clothes on, remember this: Enjoy each moment as it comes and always take time to smell the coffee beans!

You are awesome...give yourself a hug from me <3

Living well and Smelling beautiful!

A lot can happen in one year- and a blog is LONG overdue!

To sum it all up:

• STILL on the weight loss journey (currently being run over by the bandwagon, but will re-join it on board soon)
• Got Married (Yay!)
• Haven't killed my husband in our first year of marriage (Yay for him!)
• Business is booming!

I love what I do- people amaze me every day! My clients keep my schedule full, my husband keeps my heart loved and life keeps me learning every day.

This past year has been a complete discovery on what "health" really means. Contrary to popular belief, healthy is not a number- it's a quality of life. Health applies to all aspects of our lives- mental, physical, emotional, spiritual...you name it! Discovering the best you YOU can be is quite the mind-bending, reality-changing rollercoaster ride!

My recent interests have been reaching into natural skin care products. Due to having sensitive skin myself, I've been learning (slowly but surely!) what I can and can't tolerate on it, which has led me to start developing my own line of Aromatherapy Bath Products!

Our line is called The Healing Touch and we have our first 2 products available - Lavender Bath Salts and Lavender Bath Bombs.

I am so incredibly excited about my new products and how they work so well! I've been having problems with dry skin on my upper arms and legs, and after using just one bath bomb, my skin feels so silky!

So, we're in the process of developing the product line, and I will be selling Essential Oils as well! Whew! I have a lot on my plate, but I feel so incredibly blessed, I don't have time to be overly stressed!

I'm off now to help create a better smelling, naturally inspired world...hug yourself for me, you are amazing! <3

Get back up again

I'm getting way too behind on my blogging.

So I went to my WW meeting on Tuesday night and I had missed the one before then. Top it all off with not tracking, eating junk food for 2 weeks and little water and exercise and, you guessed it...i was up. Almost 3lbs. I was so frustrated with myself! I proceeded to mentally kick my rear the whole way home (pausing to stop at the grocery store and stock up on healthy stuff).

It's been a better week so far. Work has been super busy and I have been faithfully tracking everything that passes through my lips. I have 9lbs to lose in 5 weeks and I have faith that I can do it! I don't "have" to lose that much, that is just what I am pushing myself to do.

I promised myself that I would try new things to get me out of the same 'ol same 'ol veggie and fruit routine. That night I went shopping, I bought spaghetti squash for the first time. O.M.G. it is amazing!!! I cut it in half and microwaved it cut side down in about 1/4 cup of water for about 10-15 mins. Brought it out and shredded the inside with a fork. It pulls apart just like spaghetti!! I topped it with low cal margarine, some of my epicure spices and 1/4 cup veggie spaghetti sauce. it was to die for!!

Since getting back on track this week, I have been feeling alot better. My IBS had flared up again (that's what pizza and fried foods will do!) and thankfully is calmed down now. I have a few other new veggies to try, including asparagus (I've tried it before just not cooked it) and I've found some new great recipes I can't wait to make!

So, I'm reigning in that weight-loss horse and getting back in the saddle again. Think I'll duct tape my legs to the stirrups so I don't fall off again...

Wagons, Ho!

This past week was kind of a write-off.

I had good intentions. Really, I did. It was just one of those weeks where life said "What goals? I don't think so, Missy!!" aaaand proceeded to dump Easter candy in my lap.

Not to mention put sweet little old ladies in my life who make full ham dinners followed by cake with boiled icing (yes, you, Grammy...)

Anyhoo...it's been a struggle to say the least. To top it all off, I had to miss my meeting on Tuesday night due to a course we were taking in the city. boo. Mind you, I was scared to step on the scale either way.

I felt like Garfield the Cat in his comics when he steps on the scale and it says some nasty comment to him about his weight, asking the other cat to please step off the scale, etc etc...I'm starting to have nightmares.

So, this week I'm trying to grab that weight-loss bull by his horns and get back on track.
I'm learning that sometimes we do fall off the wagon. And then proceed to be run over by all the other wagon's we've fallen off as well.

I gave up on tracking my points last week. This week I'm tracking everything that goes past these lips. As well, I have a date with my gym shoes in the morning. We're going to get sweaty together (have fun with THOSE mental images!)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to dust off my Weight Watchers travel pack and go...I've got a wagon to catch.