Rediscover Walking Outdoors

Putting my feet on the earth.

Enjoying fresh air and sunshine!

Clearing my head.

Finding time to truly be thankful.

Strengthening my heart.

Working my muscles.

All because I can!

The wonderful blessing of walking outdoors.

I think there is something to say about feeling the earth beneath our feet and the air all around us.

Marvelling at God's great big, beautiful world!

And even the tiny things of nature~like tiny flowers beside the road or a bunny scurrying into the bush.

Or even the workings of a city street.

All created by a loving God.

And we get to enjoy it as much as we want!

Here are a few ideas to spruce up your walking routine:

1. Warm up at a moderate pace for a few minutes.
~Speed up to a fast pace and really pump your arms.
~Slow down to a moderate pace.
~Speed up again and add long stride walking lunges. (Ignore the passing cars~After all, YOU are the ONE exercising!)
REPEAT EACH STEP for as long as you want but at least 20 minutes.

2. Another great walking routine is actually a walk/run routine where you:
~warm up for a few minutes
~and then run for a 1/2 mile
~and then walk at a brisk pace for a 1/2 mile
~continuing to alternate the run/walk for a total of 4 miles.
*time yourself and try to beat your time.
* I did this routine for many years with a few faithful partners and it never got boring as we tried to beat our time each time and we would add walking lunges periodically.
*Vary your route if you have to in order to get a few hills in and to make it exciting.

3. Walk at the local high school or college track and walk up and down the bleachers in between laps.

4. Find an area close by where you can go hiking. The closest metro or state park may have some really good trails.
~Bring along a child and find some walking sticks and pretend you are in the old days.
You can tie a bandanna filled with a few trail snacks around your stick.
~Look for cool and interesting plants, bugs and trees.

5. Walk along a deserted beach (again, try the metro and state parks) really pushing your feet into the sand, stop and do 10 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups, 10 squats and 10 crunches. REPEAT.
When you are done, lay on the sand and marvel at the sky.

6. Run or walk as fast as you can up your own driveway, walk down. REPEAT.

We can get our imaginations going and really think of a ton of ways to get outside and enjoy the freedom we have to exercise the body God gave us.

Walk by yourself, with a baby, child, spouse, friend, neighbor.

Make a plan and stick to it.

Think of it as a blessing and a privilege, which, of course, we know that it is!

Photo from All Posters

Rain

It's raining.

I hear thunder and wind and pittering on my windows.

I feel cozy at home.

As if God gave me a vacation day in the middle of the week.

The errands can wait.

I can pitter in my bedroom and organize a forgotten corner.

I can snuggle with the children all day long if I want.

We might venture to the library and pick out new books and jump in a puddle or two when we get there.

I am calmer.

Less stressed.

Oh, the necessary will get done.

Just relax!

The rain is saying~

slow down, slow down, slow down.

Sigh!

My heart is calm.

All is green and beautiful!

Thank you, God, for this gift!

Laugh, Little Fellow

I came across this poem and fell in love with it!

It is a wonderful reminder to me to be happy always! I have so much to be thankful for!

Laugh, little fellow, laugh and sing

And just be glad for everything!

Be glad for morning and for night,

For sun and stars that laugh with light,

For trees that chuckle in the breeze,

For singing birds and humming bees~

Be one with them, and laugh along

And weave their gladness in your song.

Laugh, little fellow, laugh and sing

And coax the joy from everything;

Take gladness at its fullest worth

And make each hour an hour of mirth,

So that when on the downward slope

Of life the radiant sky of hope

Will bend above you all the way

And make you happy, as today.

Written by Wilbur D. Nesbit

The Simple Living Guide's 28 Secrets to Happiness

I spied this book on the table of a very resourceful young wife one year when a friend and I popped in on her for a quick visit.

It was the very first time I had met her.

She had a table full of canned applesauce and fresh bread warming on the counters.

Hmmm.

I liked this girl already.

She didn't even have to say a word!

So, next to the jars of applesauce, I spy a book:

"The Simple Living Guide" by Janet Luhrs

I searched for it at the library, checked it out, read it and bought it at Border's when I got a 40% off coupon.

It has chapters on:

Time

Money

Work

Simple Pleasures and Romance

Virtues

Families

Gardening

Holidays

Etc.

In the introduction it lists 28 Secrets to Happiness.

1. Live beneath your means and within your seams.

2. Return everything you borrow.

3. Donate blood.

4. Stop blaming other people.

5. Admit it when you make a mistake.

6. Give all the clothes you haven't worn in the last three years to charity.

7. Every day do something nice and try not to get caught.

8. Listen more; talk less.

9. Every day take a 30-minute walk in your neighborhood.

10. Skip 2 meals a week and give the money to the homeless.

11. Strive for excellence, not perfection.

12. Be on time.

13. Don't make excuses.

14. Don't argue.

15. Get organized.

16. Be kind to kind people.

17. Be even kinder to unkind people.

18. Let someone cut ahead of you in line.

19. Take time to be alone.

20. Reread a favorite book.

21. Cultivate good manners.

22. Be humble.

23. Understand and accept that life isn't always fair.

24. Know when to say something.

25. Know when to keep your mouth shut.

26. Don't criticize anyone for 24 hours.

27. Learn from the past, plan for the future, and live in the present.

28. Don't sweat the small stuff.

I like this list.

I would like to add forgiveness to the list.

~To forgive and to be forgiven.

Life is way too complicated without forgiveness!

Other than that, I think it's a wonderful list!

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Secrets of Women Who Never Get Sick

I took these notes from a health magazine quite some time ago and now I can't remember what magazine it was from.

Some of these women haven't been sick in 25 years!

Here are the tips that they had for staying healthy:

1. Get a massage (or reflexology:)-reduces anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate.

2. Take a cold shower- keeps you cold-free, gets skin glowing and increases energy.

3. Treat GI problems 'gingerly'- slices of fresh ginger in a mug of hot water.

4. Lather Up (A LOT)- wash hands for 20 seconds up to 12 times a day.

5. Try a cold-blasting cocktail-try the product Emergen-C once or twice a day plus zinc lozenges or spray.

6. Eat more garlic-raw garlic quartered and put in applesauce. Also, comes in capsules.

7. Stay positive!

I think I might print this out and hang it in a cupboard that I open often just as a reminder that there are some simple things I can do to keep illness away!

And let's not forget to get fresh air and sunshine, drink plenty of pure water, eat whole-foods, exercise, be thankful and happy, and live a SIMPLE LIFE!

Enjoy all the blessings in your life and have a wonderful day!

Homeschool Administration Panic!

How do you sum up 12 years of homeschooling your child on one single piece of paper?

Can you really give a grade for each academic 'class' the child took?

Of course, he gets all A's!

How can he not!

I mean, you love this child and you work and work and work with him until he masters whatever he is learning.

It might take him 2 years to get the biology with lab down.

And less than a year to get the Algebra 2 down!

It is a lifetime of learning coming down to one piece of paper~

The high school college transcript!

Well, as his administrator, teacher, guidance counselor, college prep counselor, vice principal, curriculum advisor, etc, etc, I just have to say:

The kid is brilliant!

Not according to the world's views, oh, no!

But coming from a mother that loves her child and learns of every weakness and every strength and watches the child struggle and then overcome~

It's a beautiful thing!

Struggling to read in his early years and then, completely on his own, decides he wants to read Homer and Hippocrates!

Nothing short of amazement in this mother's eyes!

No academic grade or honor can come close to watching a child grow in strength and character, confidence and responsibility, leadership, integrity, perserverence~

And believing that anything is possible.

The doors of learning have opened!

To be able to see that opportunities abound, that learning never ends and that the whole world is your classroom, is what education is all about.

Try putting that into a one page transcript!

Can't do it!

I am sure similiar feelings arise out of every parent, whether your child is homeschooled or taught in the private or public schools.

You can't put a grade on the person that God created in your child!

They are more than a grade!

They are off the charts!

They are NOTHING SHORT OF

BRILLIANT!

Am I right?

Of course, I'm right!

Be proud of your child today!

They are Masterpieces!

Let the Sun Shine In!

I was reminded of how much the sun affects our lives, body, mind and spirit!

We all know it gets us in a happier mood!

Just sitting next to a sunny window seems to calm me and bring serenity into my day.

Closing my eyes and bringing my face toward the sun somehow makes me feel loved!

And I know it is because that big bright star that we can see during the day is from our One and Only Heavenly Father who created the entire earth, Universe and me!

So, of course, I feel loved!

Seeing the sun shine on my dirty windows isn't exactly soothing, but if I move past the smudges and get outside and really enjoy the brightness of the day it somehow makes me feel less anxious and so happy!

Cleaning up the yard and getting the garden ready for planting is nourishing to the soul!

I am so thankful to have a 'bit of earth' to sow a few seeds.

The sun lifts our spirits, gives our bodies much needed nutrients and vitamins, and even helps ward off sickness and heal wounds~I believe not just the physical but the emotional as well!

It seems a bit easier to get out into the sunshine on a warm day, but just sitting by a window with cooler weather sun is so good for us!

You have all heard by now the importance of vitamin D and how it helps to build our immune system. In fact, there is quite a list of how beneficial it is to our entire bodies.

You can get sufficient vitamin D from sitting in the sun for 15-20 minutes a day.

If you sit indoors by a window, open it a little to let the fresh air come in.

You can also get it from foods such as wild salmon, fish oil, low-fat milk, and eggs.

You can even take a supplement if you feel that you are not getting enough from food or sunshine.

Dr. Mercola always has so much info on vitamin D and all the latest and greatest reports etc.

You can always visit his website at http://www.mercola.com/.

Let us all enjoy the sun and be reminded of all the blessings that God has given!

Putting our feet to earth and enjoying nature and sunshine as we walk in our neighborhood with a special person or even by ourselves is enough to slow down our minds and ponder the blessings in our lives.

It gives us a bit of time to truly be thankful!

Let the sun shine in!

Let the Son shine in!

Be someone's Sunshine today!

PS:

Our 19 year-old son just announced that he wants to be a chiropractor! I think he would be a great chiropractor! My prayer has always been for God to lead each child down the path HE has created for each one and that we, as parents, can give them the encouragement and confidence they need to go down that path.

I can see now that God has been shaping Shane's life for a path of health, fitness and wellness and I pray that wherever that path leads him that God will bless him with success and happiness!