Week 2 & Week 3: Health Challenge

Good morning dear readers,

And welcome to Spring, at least according to our calendars. :) We had a wintry mix grace the East Coast where I live on Friday, which was "officially" the first day of Spring. However, this weekend, it has been a bit warmer (40's - 50's) with sunshine and specs of green peeking through.

As you know, I missed last week! When Sunday slipped through my fingers, the week kept pushing along, full as ever (an outing every weeknight) and before I knew it, come Friday, I hadn't updated. So - see below two weeks smashed together of my updates. In the normal black is the week of March 8-14th, and this past week will be in dark green (for beloved St. Patrick's Day week), which includes March 15th - Sat, March 21st.

1. Drink honey-lemon water every morning. Check! Yes, I have faithfully done this every morning. Organic meyer lemons and a teaspoon of local unpasterized honey. I did this both weeks - horray!

2. Exercise - This are is a bit dismal. If I look at my "health app" on my work iPhone, I have walked about 2.2 miles on the 10th of March. I had the most step for week 3 on this past Tuesday, walking about 2 miles. Overall, this area is a fail both weeks. Part of it I think is I need to MAKE time for exercise. Mornings do not work for me, and so I need to put 30 minutes on my outlook calendar at work and try to stick to it. However, be forewarned - this may be a fail week, as well because Tuesday - Thursday at work we have an event I'm coordinating logistics for and will be out of the office from 7am - 9:30/10pm each day, so hopefully I can make exercise 1 day next week. That is my adjusted goal for the last week of March.

3. Sleep: Looking at my app, "Sleep Bot" on my iPhone, I will report whether I slept 7 hours a night each week or not.

Week 2: 4 nights I slept 7 hours, 2 nights I slept over 8 hours, and 1 night I slept 6.8 hours - which is so close. 90% pass rate this week.

Week 3: 4 nights I slept 7 hours, 2 nights I slept over 8 hours; one night I slept 6.4 hours. Also a 90% pass this week. 

4. Less sugar - On week 2, I ate slightly less sugar, but was still struggling with this goal. Last week, I was better about not eating as much sugar at the start of the week, and lost 2 pounds. The end of last week, we celebrated birthdays at work and so I had some cupcakes, etc, but I did not overindulge. 

5. Take high powered probiotic every day previous goal. (This is exactly what I had been taking: Renew Life Ultra Flora)
This is a complicated one. After I got sick a few Fridays ago, I tested taking the high powered probiotic on a Sunday (not on an empty stomach as I did previously), but in the middle of the day, and again I had stomach cramps and pain. Thus, after talking with a few nurses who are friends, I have decided not to continue with this type of probiotic. So - the past few weeks I have taken probably a whole total of 3. Today, I plan to go and purchase Acidophilus, which is how I gained my probiotics prior. Here's a link. http://www.amazon.com/American-Health-Probiotic-Acidophilus-Strawberry/dp/B00185UIL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427033178&sr=8-1&keywords=liquid+acidophilus+probiotic It's a much lower dose, but it did not upset my stomach.

Overall health status -

Week 2: I had work travel to Kansas City this week from late Monday through Thursday. That said, I kept doing my honey-lemon water, and reported on the other items above. However, I felt much better than the week before with the occasional upset stomach or stomach pain. Usually, it comes in the morning and after drinking my concoction, and sometimes eating breakfast (I always eat something for breakfast...its whether the pain goes away prior to eating or after), it's usually gone mid-to late morning. Sometimes later in the day (in the evening) it'll come back for a bit. When this happens, I treat it with drinking a little ACV with water or having some lemon-ginger tea or drinking a ginger chew. More often than not, this will fix the issue.

Week 3: This past week, my stomach hurt a bit more frequently. It would come and go, but it happened most every day. No nauseous feelings, which is good...but upset, and sometimes I didn't want to eat because of the pain. This next week, I'd like to write in my KEEP app or in a small book the times of days this next week that I feel stomach pain, to try and figure out the pattern. Or report if I feel good (healthy!) all day or a few days in a row. 

Thanks for taking the time read my update, dear readers. I am confident that by taking the other priobiotic and trying to incorporate more movement (exercise), I will eventually feel better and have a more fit body. It will take time. Sometimes, I think I may struggle with stomach pain off and on for the rest of my life, but maybe not. A few years back, I tried having the doctors figure it out and after many tests and procedures, they came up empty. My natural doctor has given me some different strategies that have worked in the past for a while, so there's some hope there.

May you enjoy the rest of this beautiful Sunday, and take time to stop and see the beautiful moments of thanks this week. Until next week!

Ciao,
Tina Lou

Week 1: Health Challenge

Hello dear reader friends,

Here is my first check-in for my health challenge for the year. I will go through each item and mention how I did with it. At the end of each of these posts, I will let you know if I was sick this week and if so, talk a little bit about it.

1. Drink honey-lemon water every morning. Check! Yes, I have done this every morning, and really enjoy this step. It tastes delicious and is a good way to wake up in the morning.

2. Exercise - fail. I did not exercise at all this week. Hopefully the results will be different next week, because this is an area that I HAVE to change.

3. Sleep: I track my sleep on an app on my iPhone called "Sleep Bot", so let me look at my logs for the week and see if I got 7 hours each night or not.

The first few days of the week, I succeeded. On the night of March 4th, I only got 5.5 hours of sleep. Every other night this week, I have gotten 7+ hours of sleep, so I almost hit this goal. :)

4. Less sugar - hmm...I would say I probably did not do this one. I don't think I ate less sugar this week. Maybe if I can make it more tangible and say 2 sugary items a day, then I'll know I have decreased my sugar content.

5. Take high powered probiotic every day. (This is exactly what I take: http://www.amazon.com/Renew-Life-Ultimate-Complete-Capsules/dp/B00CCCNISU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1425817754&sr=8-5&keywords=probiotic+ultimate+flora)
Well, I almost hit this one, too. I ran out, so I didn't take one on Wednesday. Thursday before all the snow got crazy and the roads were too icy, I went out and picked some up. I took one on Friday and have been feeling crummy, so I haven't repeated.

Overall health status - For most of the week, I felt good. However, on Friday morning after I took my probiotic pill, I started feeling crummy. Around 9:30am that morning, I ended up throwing up 4 times. :-( I went home and drank some 7-up and had some applesauce. I started feeling better, which is good. However, every day since then (including right now), my stomach hurts and is in pain. I'm not sure what's up (never really do with my tummy), but I know I'm ready for it to be over. I'm a little leary of continuing to take my probiotic pills when the pain started after I took it. I will probably take one today in between a few meals and see if I handle it okay.

I'm headed to KC for work this week, so I'm praying I feel better soon. I plan to take lemons and honey with me on the trip so I can keep up my morning regime.

Well, friends - I hope if you live in this area you were able to enjoy the beautiful and lovely snow and stay warm. Have a fabulous Sunday, and I'll see you here next week.

Hugs,
Tina Lou

A year long health challenge

Hello friends! And happy 2015 - it's a new year and it's moving fast. 

One of my goals this year is to be healthier. To be frank, currently I am not that healthy of a person. I am overweight, sick a lot, and do not get a consistent 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Taking small steps for improvement is my plan in 2015.

This is the challenge - to update this blog once a week with my progress. First, let me outline my goals to you. 

1. Drink warm honey lemon water every morning. I purchased some organic Meyer lemons from Mom's and some delicious unfiltered, raw honey from Virginia yesterday. This morning marks my first cup.

2. Do some kind of exercise 2-4 times a week. Since I haven't been doing ANY kind of exercise at all, I figure saying twice a week to start is a a manageable goal.

3. Get at least 7 hours a sleep this week. (This goal may change in time)

4. Consume less sugar. I am not sure how to manage this one or measure it, but I KNOW that I consume more sugar than my body needs.

5. Take my awesome probiotic pill (90 million!!) everyday. 

Well, that's all for now. Any time I get sick, I will write about it here. One of the supposed benefits of drinking the honey lemon water is not getting sick. Since I seem to be prone to sickness - especially tummy related sickness, I am curious to see if this works. Plus, honey lemon water tastes great, so there's no downfall in trying this out. Oh - I should also mention that 5-7 days a week, I also drink Smartmix zija and I think it helps me have all the nutrition my body needs daily. I know for a fact that I don't eat enough green leafy veggies to consume all the vitamins I need, but this drink definitely helps me out - plus it wakes me up in the morning. :-)

So, there you have it readers and friends, this is my 2015 health challenge. I am excited to embark on it, and I figure that if I blog my way through it, I will have some needed accountability.

Cheers,
Tina Lou 

Tumultuous changes…

Ah, it’s almost the end of August. I can hardly believe that summer is coming to a close so quickly. This summer’s theme for me has been “travel”. Every two weeks since the start of May until the close of August, I will have traveled. About once a month, I have gone to Kansas City for work, and then in between those trips, I have had personal trips to make back to Kansas.

The third week of July, I went to KC and worked at Block HQ for the Political Action Campaign in-person event. I organized all the logistics of it, and thankfully, it was a success. I am so thankful for this job; I enjoy it quite a lot, and I’m always learning something new – which is refreshing. Upon returning home, we discovered that my husband’s time at his firm would be cut short. His last day was August 13^th with no severance. A challenging time, indeed – thankfully, we can survive on my salary and his soon to arrive unemployment benefits for the time being. We’re praying that the Lord provides a good law job for him soon! So, in the meantime, we’re trusting God and trying to be patient.

At the start of August, we made the “jump” and flew to Kansas for my grandmother’s 80^th birthday celebration. It was lovely to see all my extended family – well, most of it. And my husband was able to meet my Aunt Lori and cousin Wes for the first time. It was a great weekend. I enjoyed a lot of fun cousin time in Salina. My grandmother – Mimi – seemed to enjoy herself, so that’s good. All of us grand kids collaborated and created her a photo book of memories with her. I think she liked it, and she’ll have it when she is missing us. We all live far and wide – from California, to Ohio, to New Jersey, to D.C. Thus, photo memories are important.

A few weeks ago, we encountered another lovely obstacle. Our landlord informed us that she sold our place! Can you believe it? Well, it’s happening. We have until the first weekend in October to move and find another place to live. So, we’re looking for a new home, as well. As if we didn’t already have enough to handle. On the up side, one of my close college girlfriends and her husband flew to DC a week ago – and they are living here for good! I’m so thrilled. He is stationed at the Pentagon, so they are staying with family while they look for a permanent home. I’m quite excited to spend some good, quality time with her, and just share life together.

We are loving life with our church community, as well. There is a sweet home group that we are part of, and those folks feel like family to us. We are grateful for their love, prayers, and support. This church community really knows how to love others well. It’s been a blessing to grow in our faith, knowledge of the Word and the Holy Spirit alongside such loving, lively, and fruitful believers. This summer, the teaching series has been about True Community. We have been studying 1^st John. It’s been good, challenging, and life-giving.

This past weekend, I spent with my family in Kansas City. One of my cousins on my Mom’s side got married. We had a lovely time. It was wonderful to see all of this side of the family and catch up with folks. I think the last time I have seen some of them was at my wedding, almost two years ago! It’s hard to believe. The wedding reception was so fun! Dancing with my cousins and nieces was fabulous. And it’s a great workout, as well. After the reception, I enjoyed a dip in the pool to cool off. Today, we all went to see Planes at the AMC 20 in KC that has recliners in the theatre! That is the way to do a movie. It was lovely.

Looking forward to the fall, I have a couple of hopes, and/or goals. One is to be healthier. My husband and I are going to do “Whole 30” during the month of September. I am looking forward to eating food that is all good for me, and laying off drinking alcohol for a bit. It will be good for us. And I need to force myself to exercise more…do my knee exercises, yoga, the elliptical. Oh, and I mentioned taking a Marketing course – well, after a lot of struggle, I came to discover that it will not work out this fall, which is okay. Another season it will be better. When we have less up in the air and going on in our lives…

And to close this lengthy post…a few reflections or thoughts to consider – as always, I am open to your thoughts/feedback.

-                 -- When life becomes tough and throws you curveballs, smile in its face, put on a courageous spirit, and run full force ahead.

-                    -- Welcome the surprises that life brings you and choose to embrace the upside in the process.

-                    --When one wants to give up, keep pressing – there’s something worthwhile waiting on the other side.

-                    -- Even though its hard to look past the flaws of those who we would rather not interact with, in the long run, choosing to treat them with respect, kindness, and even friendship proves to bless those we dislike.

-                   --  Always keep loving, even when it’s hard, even when you want to give up and run away. Keep loving…STRONG.

Well, friends – that’s all I have for this month. Until next month – keep living strong.

-       - Tina Lou 

Summertime

Hello Summer!

What a busy summer it has been thus far! I have been a travelling fool, as well. At the start of the month, my sister and her family (the Stucky's) came to visit Grant and I. We had a blast with them! The first day they were here we went to the National Zoo and it was great fun. We saw the elephants and the pandas among many other animals. That night was "girls night" while the guys went to a National's game. My sister and I enjoyed some delicious wine, ice cream, and chocolate while we watched Morning Glory. Good times, indeed. The following day, we headed down to the National Mall. We went to the American History Museum and saw Dorthy's shoes, Julia Child's kitchen, and the epic Star Spangled Banner Flag. Eating lunch out of a food truck was yummy. In the afternoon, we spent a good amount of time blowing bubbles and chasing them, and flying a kite! To round out our time on the Mall, we went and explored the Lincoln Memorial. It was fabulous! That night we ate in and played cards and drank lots of bourbon - sooo oh good! We loved having them stay.

The following week, I flew to Kansas City for a week long work trip. We found out that they did an internal hire for our new Chief Government Relations Officer. She's moving to DC and will be running the shop starting August 1. With her arrival, I will now have two jobs in one - horray. I will be doing "soft support" for her - booking travel, managing her calendar, reading her emails, doing her expense report, and anything else she needs all the while keeping up with my daily responsibilities. It will be an adventure for sure! A few fun highlights from the month of June include - Will on the Hill, where Members of Congress act in a play and then there's a mingling dinner afterwards. We went to that event with Anna & Bobby Tate and had a fabulous time. I will definitely want to go to this event again next year. Additionally, on the company we went to the Congress Baseball game at Nats park. It was full of great food, warm temperatures, free booze, and some mediocre baseball. :-)

To celebrate my husband's birthday, we went away for the weekend to Chincoteague, VA - the wild horse island. We stayed at Anchor Inn - a cute little inn on the water and enjoyed a lovely time. We played putt putt golf where my husband beat me, and then we went downtown for their art festival. In the evening, we ate dinner at AJ's a delicious and romantic time. You can see the beautiful sunset as the background to my blog. It was such a fun weekend! On Sunday, we headed down to the beach. On our drive there and back inside the National Park area, we saw the wild horses. It was pretty sweet. The beach was lovely. It was nice and hot, and not too crowded. We laid out, and then swam in the freezing water. There were dolphins there, too! Can you believe it?! Dolphins! I had never seen them outside of a zoo before. It was great fun.

The month of June was super full - I had something every night during the week. Needless to say, I ran myself out! I ended up getting sick at the end of the month and am still wrapping up the antibiotics to prove it. The lesson here is that I need to learn to slow down and to say no - which is not something I am well known to do. What else?

Well, last week we spent a good amount of time in Kansas, celebrating the 4th of July with family. It was loads of fun! Grant's cousin team won the Black Cat Classic golf tournament, which was grand. I had a glorious time with the lady cousins and Aunts getting maincures and pedicures done. We had fun eating homemade ice cream with both families (mine and his) and shot off a slew of fireworks. With my family, we celebrated my older sister's birthday and we shot off guns in the morning. It was a blast! Now, we are home, and I am so thankful. It is good to slow down and to be home. I need to learn to just be. Just. Be. That's all. 

On a different note, I have been thinking about going back and getting my Master's degree for a while now. So, this fall, I am going to take a Principles in Marketing course to see if I like it. Hopefully, I will and this will be the start of me going back to school and getting a Master's degree. What fun it will be! :-)

Well, dear friends - try to stay cool in this crazy summer heat. Have tons of fun with those you love...and remember to stop and smell the roses. Experience great love, and give love to others. Until next month! Choa, bella! :)

Changes: Marriage, life, adventures...

Hello there -

It has been a while...years, in fact. It feels like time to start writing again, sharing, opening up, living life in a more open way.

Since my last blog post, many things have changed. No longer am I single and living with roommates. A kind fellow came along who loves Jesus and wooed my heart and he is now my beloved husband. We have been married for a year and a half now - it'll be two years in October. Married life is a whole new adventure from single lady life. Merging two lives into one home takes a change....in perspective, way of living life, and relating to each other. We have had great times, hard times, sad times, happy times, and plenty of surprises along the way.

What else is new? Oh, I am working at a new place. Finally I am working in D.C. again, which is lovely. I am learning the "lobbying" world and it has its challenges, appeals, and surprises. Working for a great company, it has been a growing experience for me, which is always good. A bonus is that their headquarters is in KC. When I go back for work, sometimes I pop down to central Kansas with a three hour drive and see my family. I absolutely love being an Auntie to two adorable little girls. Their family is on their way to D.C. to visit Grant and I. We are thrilled! I have a fun-filled couple of days planned for us ahead.

A few of my girlfriends have also tied the knot since my last post. Four of my college girlfriends have gotten married and are experiencing the joys and newness of married life as well. It has been fun to see who people end up choosing to spend the rest of their life with and build the rest of their journey.

On a different note...my health has been a challenge in the past few years. It started before I was married, when I ended up in the hospital for bi-lateral pulmonary embolisms. What a surprise! From there, we discovered that I have thicker blood than the average person. It took almost a year and a half, but my lungs are finally strong again. My allergies continue to be a challenge, and my stomach has its days. Another surprise was discovering that I struggle with adrenal fatigue, making energy a hot commodity. In order to recover from this last piece, it will take a few years of strict discipline around my resting schedule, taking supplements, and not "overdoing" it physically. Joy. I am sure it will be good to look back on all this 2-3 years from now and see the progress, healing, and change - but in the now, it sure is not easy. Bless my husband who has had endless patience with me through it all. He has been wonderful! 

Well, in my next post, I think I will talk about fun places that I have seen/experienced in D.C. and some of the fun joys of cooking as a wife - the beauty of using pinterest as a resource. :-) 

Happy June - and welcome to summer. May this one be a purposeful, memory making, lovely one to remember for days to come.

Au Revoir!

~Tina Lou

Summertime

Hi dear friends!

It is SUMMERTIME. Ah, what an interesting and full summer it has been!
It started off with Grant and I traveling to State College, PA to visit his niece, Kaylin. We had a great time playing with her and seeing the town. We enjoyed some wonderful homemade ice cream from a small shop down there. Good times.

In mid-June, we celebrated Grant's 29th Birthday. On his actual day, I took him to dinner at Founding Farmers in DC. We had a nice time. Afterwards, we went to a singer/songwriter thing where his roommate and future best man in our wedding, Ryan Walker was performing. Later that week, a group of friends met us at Dogfish Head Ale Restaurant, and we enJoyed a tasty meal and some great beer together.

Towards the end of month, things ramped up at my workplace, and it was Busy! Work is good. I'm enjoying it greatly. We hired a few new business development people - and they have made life at the office varied, fun, and full! I'm thankful for this job and where it will take me. I feel like I am growing a lot there. Life is good!

At the end of the month, I dog sat a cute little chihuaha and doxen mix dog named Lucky. We had lots of fun! I hung out with people from my church community a lot that weekend. It was good, and much needed. The last week of June was extremely full, but good.

The first week of July, Grant and I traveled back to Kansas. Good times were had with his family on the 4th. We did some wedding stuff the next few days and just hung out with my family. My adorable little nieces, Elaina and Izzy Rue were soo much fun to play with and just spend good, quality time with. I treasured that time! On Friday night of that week, my wonderful sister & brother-in-law hosted all of my mom's extended family and we had a big cookout. :) Grant was able to meet some of my cousins he'd never met before, and it was just a great time of catching up with family.

On Saturday, we worked on different centerpiece ideas for the reception, and came up with a few winners! We also celebrated my sister, Rachel's birthday and had a great time. Later that day, we drove back to Wichita and hopped on a plane back to DC. Even though it was a great trip, and quite productive, I was ready to return home.

Just yesterday, I moved - yet again! I'm now living in Alexandria for the next three months. I moved, unpacked, and Grant and I put together my new dresser from IKEA. :-) Yay! I'm pleased to live there, and excited to see what the rest of the summer holds! It's my last summer of singleness. I will be a married lady next year at this time. :)

enJoy the rest of your summer days. Take time to ReLax, breathe, and soak in the sun. Ponder. Smile. Be. Love.