Mindful Monday: What’s Beautiful About You?

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My sisters and I had a skype conversation last week. They had just been on a hike and, in talking to each other about what they want to do with their lives, they both became very inspired. They called me for some advice, “we want to help people (women especially) with their confidence issues, how should we do it?” They already had a bunch of great ideas and we worked over a few details. They will, hopefully, be starting work on their campaign in the next couple months.

Around the same time, I got an email from my mom. She sent me a link to this video. It made me cry, of course. Watch it. It’s three minutes you won’t regret using. Continue reading →

Friday by Design: Gold Dipped Milk Jug

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I keep seeing all these painted glass beauties on Pinterest so finally I decided to do one myself. It was so easy and now I have the prettiest milk jug you ever did see. I did it just like the DIY leather belts. Set up a station in my living room and did a few coats a night. It took me about 5 days, 5 minutes a day.

Because I now make my own almond and coconut milk, I really needed someway to store them in my fridge. A few goodwill visits later, I finally found an old-school milk jug for $2. I cleaned it with soap and boiling water and set to painting it.

photo 2 Continue reading →

Thriving Thursday: Natural Deodorant for the Smelly Woman-UPDATED

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Confession: I am a smelly person. I have been since I hit puberty. My feet don’t really smell. And neither does my breath. But my armpits, WOOOEYYY! Let’s just say you definitely don’t want to hug me in an unprotected B.O. moment.

The Background: But it’s not just the smell, I also just sweat a lot. When I was in middle school, I would suffer through the 95°F weather with a sweatshirt on just so kids wouldn’t laugh at my pit sweat. Continue reading →

Wednesday Workout: Arm and Core Series

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For the most part, these 12-minute workouts have been total body. But sometimes it’s nice to work a muscle group to failure. And by nice I mean absolutely torturous but worth it the next week when you are undeniably stronger.

So today’s workout focuses on arms (my weakest area) and core. It’s really important to work all muscle groups but, as some of you may have heard, a strong core is essential to overall wellness. A strong core supports a strong spine, and all internal organs. It’s important for athletes, elderly people, recovering people, and YOU! Continue reading →

Tasty Tuesday: Chocolate Fudge Frosting

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Side note: I will have a recipe today, so as not to satisfy a terrorists hunger to be the center of attention. But, please see the bottom of this post for my thoughts…

And now, on to the frosting! Mike is out of town for a couple of weeks 😦 so I have been ultra productive in his absence. It’s amazing how a lack of company will get me motivated. So I made a chocolate fudge cake and had no idea what to use as frosting. The packaged stuff is so full of sugar that it makes me nauseas. So I made my own! And holy bajolies it is delicious.

When warm, it’s melt on your tongue chocolatey goodness. When cold, it hardens into pure chocolate bliss on top of your cake. Also, because I use coconut sugar, it doesn’t spike your blood sugar. Sweet!

ChocolateFrosting-published Continue reading →

Mindful Monday: Track Attack!

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I have a friend. She’s a triathlete and a blogger. And no, I don’t mean my kind of triathlete who does Sprint triathlons every couple of years and calls it a day. No. She’s an Iron Woman. She has the kind of desire and blind ambition it takes to wake up several hours early to ride 50 miles before work. Or to train outside in the frigid Boston winters.

Screen Shot 2013-04-15 at 7.23.37 AM Continue reading →

No Poo Shampoo is not for the weak.-UPDATED

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I don’t wash my hair. Say what?? Well, I don’t wash my hair with shampoo or conditioner. And I haven’t for 2 months now. It’s quick, it’s effective, it’s super easy, and holy bajolies it is CHEAP. I love it. (Don’t forget to check out the UPDATE at the bottom of the page.)

There may be many of you that have heard of the “No Poo” shampooing. It’s a natural beauty trend that’s been sweeping the blogosphere. It’s for those of us who are trying to get away from chemicals BUT only if the alternatives actually work. And I’m here to tell you, this works better than conventional shampoo and conditioner. Continue reading →

Thursday Book Review: The Happiness Project

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It’s time for me to give this book the space it deserves. I have written about it in two posts already (April Goals and Healthful, Happy, and Loving Project) so my regular readers know how much I love it, but let me give you some details.

BookCover

The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin, is for every person of every type of life. If you think you can get more happiness out of your everyday routine, or if you’re just looking for a bit of motivation, read it!

Basically it chronicles a lawyer turned author’s year-long quest to make a happier life for herself. What I love about it is that she decided she already loved the pieces of her life: her kids, her hubby, her location, etc, but she wasn’t as thankful for them and she knew she should be. How many of us are guilty of that? It’s probably why you read this blog (and any other blog) in the first place. You are trying to improve your life without seriously changing it.

And we have all tried. Goodness have we tried. Personally, I set goals pretty frequently but rarely do they make an impact on my life. That’s because they aren’t tangible resolutions. That’s a key phrase: tangible resolution. It has to be a resolution not a goal because goals only exist until you reach them, resolutions are forever. And you have to lay out tangible steps to make these resolutions a reality. Otherwise they will never stick.

Commandments^ Here’s my list of rules for my Happiness Project.

And here’s and example of my resolution: I want to lower my overall stress and anxiety level throughout the day.

My tangible steps to reach that goal: I will build in a walk or breathing meditation, some quiet time, in the middle of everyday so that I have a few spare minutes to reset my stress-meter. And it’s working!

Basically, this book is an inspiration. Rubin spent an entire year figuring out how to make her happiness a reality. She researched and then she experimented. She laid out a plan and then went for it. The sheer determination and will power it took to keep those resolutions was massive, I’m sure.

I have recommended it to several patients and now I’m recommending it to you. Any self-analytical and driven person should read this book. Check it out from the library, buy it here, or just follow Rubin’s blog! And no, I’m not getting paid for this, there are just things in life that deserve attention.

And if you read my blog with any regularity, you’ll see me implementing these resolutions myself. Mine need some work but I’m on the right path! I’ll keep you all updated. In the meantime, have a stellar Thursday 🙂

Love and a big smile. – Ash

 

Wednesday Workout: Change of Pace

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The weather is turning here in Peoria. It’s was gorgeous yesterday and now we’re getting some spring rain. I love being outside this time of year. Through the winter, all my workouts were indoors and I was fine with it. In fact, I loved it. But now I’m pining to get outside. So it’s time to switch it up.

Part of a lifelong commitment to working out is recognizing when you need a change. I am starting to get burnt out and need to start some new activities. So I will continue the 16-minute workout at least once a twice a week but maybe I’ll do it outside on the grass! I’ll also factor in some walks/runs and bike riding. It’s time to produce some Vitamin D!

And now … the workout!

Beginner through intermediate (12 minutes)

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times in a row

Advanced (16 minutes)

– 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off

– each exercise 4 times in a row

Exercises:

Squat Jump

1. squat jumps

PushUp

2. push ups

SquatSideKick

3. squat sidekick

crunches

4. crunches (feet on ground, legs at right angle, or legs straight in air. LIFT YOUR CHEST and SHOULDERS, not your head and neck)

PlieSquat

5. plie squat

plank(better)

6. plank (on hand and knees if too hard, with swimmer kicks if it’s too easy)

If you’re legs don’t burn, you didn’t work hard enough. I hope you’re having a fantastic day! Love and a big smile – Ash

 

Tasty Tuesday: Sweet Potato Home Fries

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Happy Tuesday! In an effort to cut back on our grocery bill, I’m only buying produce for the entire month of April. It seems that it’s really the organic, natural packaged crap that’s expensive, so we’re doing a lot of fruit and veg this month. In that vain, I had no idea what to pair with the salmon I cooked the other night, so I made it up … sweet potato home fries! These babies keep great in the fridge. They’re delicious warm and really yummy cold too.

SweetPotatoHomeFries-Published

Sweet Potato Home Fries (serves: 4, cook time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:

  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup mushrooms
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup high heat oil
  • sea salt and ground pepper

Instructions:

  1. Chop the potatoes, mushrooms, and onion into bite-sized chunks. Mince the garlic on top of the potatoes.
  2. Heat the skillet to medium first, THEN add half the oil. Coat the bottom of your skillet.
  3. Add sweet potatoes, garlic, and onions and spread in an even layer in the skillet. Cook on medium-high heat, uncovered until potatoes are browned and onions are caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the oil, slowly, as needed. Take care not to mess with them too much, flip potatoes once or twice in the entire 10-ish minutes.
  4. When your mix is pretty well cooked, add the mushrooms. These are already soft so they don’t take much cooking. Cook for a few more minutes to heat up the mushrooms.
  5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy!

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Ashley Life Update: I had a wonderful weekend at a friend’s wedding in Louisiana. Got to hang out with my immediate family (see my sister’s and I above) and a lot of friends I haven’t seen in a long time. And the 13 hour drive there and back wasn’t too bad. We set up a bed in the back of the car and then whoever was driving listened to books on tape. Man those things pass the time!

We also stopped at an epic Country Buffet in Arkansas (the best in the state). I swear I had no idea that America had areas like that. Just VERY southern. That’s why I love road trips, you see cultures you never would have explored otherwise.

AND, another plus, we finally got some communication from Mike’s job. We should be finding out our next stop in the next couple weeks and the options are looking good!

I hope you all had great weekends too! Love and hugs – Ash