Hello all of my friends!!
I hope you are all doing well and hangin’ in there. Ya know, as far as this whole quarantine, pandemic thang goes, I have good days and not so good days.
Most of the time I have days when I am very aware of all of my blessings! I am more grateful for the people in my life, I’m so grateful for my faith, I’m grateful for the safe neighborhood I live in, I’m grateful to be surrounded by so many wonderful people and I’m grateful for the comforts of life I enjoy!
I’m also so grateful for the slower pace we’ve all been living! This has been a HUGE blessing for me! I’m spending more time doing things I enjoy and less time just checking off boxes on the to-do list.
I must mention that I’m actually a huge lover of to-do lists and organization, HOWEVER, this quarantine has taught me that SO MANY things on that to-do list aren’t even necessary and don’t bring me joy. I’m learning how to sort through things and cut out the things that just aren’t important!
So although I’m very aware and so grateful for all of the blessings I’ve seen from the whole craziness of life, there are certainly days when it weighs on me.
I’m not lovin’ the mask wearing thing, although I’m wearing one! I actually believe masks can make a huge difference, they’ve always made sense to me, but I just don’t love the whole “I feel like I can’t breathe” thing. They are certainly a nuisance, but I think they’re important.
I’m also getting tired of living life without so many of the joys I love! I know y’all feel my pain, but I miss traveling, going to concerts, going to church with a large group, going to parties and just being with a lot of people!
Strangely, I miss being able to run down to McDonalds and chill out while my kiddos play on the playground too. It’s the little things. Ha ha.
I was talking with a friend of ours in the neighborhood the other day and he said, “I hope that we just look back on 2020 and say, Man what a crazy year!” He went on to say, “I hope we don’t look back on 2020 and say, that’s when it all started and everything changed.”
🙁
That really made me think. Now I know things will probably be forever changed in a lot of ways, but I sure hope there aren’t any huge long-lasting depressing changes! I hope masks eventually go away and I hope gathering in large groups becomes a thing again!
We shall see.
Well, that’s my rant for the day! I’m definitely feelin’ weary, but I’m really trying to focus and remember all of the good and all of the blessings.
I am a believer and lover of God and I really think He’s trying to teach us all so many things. I remind myself that He is in charge and I just need to have faith and allow myself to grow and change for the better!
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Well, one thing I am very grateful for is that my gym is open! It’s been really nice to go there, be around other people, feel somewhat normal and get a good workout in!
I went to a new class on Monday night. It was a HIIT class and there was actually a sub teacher. I’d had her as a teacher before and she was great! She’s an older lady, I would guess in her mid-50s, but she looks amazing, is in great shape, is full of energy and she kicked my butt!
She also told us that she was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago during a routine mammogram. She said she is fortunate they caught it early and she just needed a couple of minor surgeries and radiation, but they told her if she would have waited a couple years it would have probably been deadly! She urged all of us to get a mammogram.
Sadly, I’m 44 years old and I’ve never had a mammogram. I’ve meant to go get one, but I subconsciously (or consciously) keep putting it off! I was grateful she told us her story because I’m going to make me an appointment and go get one now. I’m telling all of you the story too in case any of you need a gentle nudge as well!
Anyway, I loved the class she taught! It was a lot of fun, was such a great workout and I just felt good! I love workouts like that!
I snapped this pic right after class….
I also went to a fun Pilates class last night. I can’t say I’m a huge lover of Pilates, but it’s fun to change it up sometimes. I can definitely feel how good it is for my core!
I’ve heard that Pilates is a mix of ballet, yoga and calisthenics. I think that’s a great way to describe it! I’m not much of a dancer, but it’s fun to go to Pilates and pretend I am, lol!
I snapped this pic after that class….
Oh, and I wanted to share this picture that I thought was funny…
This is the nice man who checks us in at the gym when we’re heading into the classroom. I don’t want to make light of this whole situation, but as I saw him, I thought, “Man, what a crazy world we’re livin’ in!” It looks like we’re heading in for surgery, not a class at the gym!
I gotta give him mad props for the precautions he’s taking (I’m being serious, not making fun.) If you look closely, you can see he’s wearing one of those shop masks, covered with a cloth mask, covered with a face shield! Along with the lab coat and gloves.
Crazy, crazy world. But hey, I want this virus to go away just as much as anyone, so I’m grateful for the precautions people are taking! It just struck me as kind of funny when I saw him and realized the craziness of it all.
I’m so happy to be able to go to my gym though! It’s really one of the few places I go to! Other than the gym, I go to Costco, Walmart, my mom’s house, my sister’s house and out on walks. That’s about it!
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Well I thought I’d share the yummy dinner we made on Sunday!
We made chicken and veggie kebobs, quinoa and smoked potatoes. Everything was so good!
I used this marinade recipe for the chicken and I used this recipe to brush onto the veggie kebobs. I didn’t actually measure any the ingredients though, I just eyeballed them all!
Here’s my recipe for kebobs with more detailed instructions and here’s a pick of the kebobs before we cooked them!
Oh and Kev smoked them and they were fabulous! That pineapple was particularly amazing! We used peppers, zuchinni, onions and pineapple. The green peppers and zuchinni were from our garden. Yay!
Here’s a pic of the chicken and veggie kebobs after they were smoked….
We also chopped up some potatoes (also from the garden!) and onions and smoked them as well. Here they are before Kev smoked them.
I wanna say he smoked them at a lower heat for an hour+, but I’m not 100% sure. He’s the expert on smoking!
Here’s a pic of our dinner table. You can see the chicken, veggies, potatoes, quinoa and some bread I bought at Costco.
It was such a yummy meal! In fact, it’s one of my very favorite summer meals. In the past we’ve grilled the kebobs, this was our first time smoking them and we loved them so much! I think the smoker cooks them more evenly and I love the smokey flavor!
Oh, and is kebobs spelled kabob or kebob??? I’ve seen both and I’m not sure which one is right!
Well folks, I think that’s all I’m gonna share today. I’m getting ready to head up to my mom’s house. My little sister is in town and she’s here for three weeks! I always love to see her, but life gets a little crazy when she comes.
I’ll keep y’all posted.
I will leave you will a quick, simple motivational thought…
When I saw this quote, it hit me in a lot of different ways!
First off, with health and fitness, if you want to change your body and your health, you have to do things differently! You can’t expect to just keep doing what you always do and have anything change!
You have to change what you put into your mouth and how you care for your body and mind.
I also thought this quote could just pertain to life in general, especially right now! This whole quarantine is teaching us all so many things. Actually, everything going on in the world is teaching us so much! If we just keep doing the same ol’, same ol’, we’ll just keep getting the same thing!
We really need to do our own soul searching and allow this crazy time to change us and let us grow into better, kinder, more accepting, more deliberate people!
Allow good experiences and good thoughts to change you! Don’t just stay in your comfort zone and don’t just keep doing what you’ve always done….do what you WANT to do and become who you WANT to become!
There are a whole lotta life lessons goin’ on right now….let’s learn!
Okay, I’ll be quiet now. Ha. I hope you are all okay! Stay happy and stay healthy! I love you all!
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