It is well with my soul

We were made to be well. And we were made to support others in their wellness. In the sometimes tedious and sometimes seemingly trivial nature of our work, let us not forget that we have an opportunity in our actions towards our God, ourselves and others to share a wholeness and wellness that comes from being who we were intended to be, at our truest.

Two years after my work with them, I continue to be honored to have known the great people in the video above. There is nothing more powerful than small actions done for the right purpose, to bring dignity and restore hope.

Congratulations on such wonderful continuing progress and purpose, BHLI!!!

Healthy Heart Foods

I was really pleased to review this article today on Health.com via CNN to see that 9/10 of the listed "heart healthy" foods are both vegetarian and vegan. Oh, and in my opinion, 8 of these are really yummy! (I can't speak for flax seed, because I have yet to incorporate it into my diet.)

But these foods, for me, are really easy to eat often in the following ways:

Oatmeal...is great for weekend breakfasts, which are more like extended brunches in our household. I add fruit, jam, or peanut butter, or if I am feeling super ascetic, just have a warm plain bowl of this stuff with black coffee. This is for those mornings when I would feel sick eating a "big" breakfast, but know I should eat something.

Avocado...I pretty much exclusively eat on my burrito bols at Chipotle, as guacamole. It is so fresh there! I have yet to find a guacamole that tastes as healthy and wholesome as Chipotle's at my grocery, but not for lack of trying. As a side note, when I ate meat, I really enjoyed fresh avocado with steak. I would recommend this to folks who are eating the steak anyway.

Olive oil...I use for any chopped vegetable and generally in dishes that would resemble a stir fry (I am not sophisticated enough as a chef to actually make a real stir fry, or at least I think not. My creations are more like pan-of-leftovers-medley-I-am-trying-not-to-burn-or-ruin).

Nuts...are my go-to travel food. I prefer raw or smoked almonds. I buy a big tin and they always last me more than the entire trip. With these, I know that if I had to order a side salad as a meal, wait forever in an airport, or skip breakfast while running late for a work meeting while away, I will be completely satiated.

Berries...are usually a little expensive for me, but I prefer to eat them fresh and plain. Enter "juice bar" night, ha ha, and I will add them to smoothies. Enter extended brunch with oatmeal, and there you go!

Legumes...are so often my main course. My favorites are fresh green beans, black beans and rice, kidney bean and chick pea salads, lentils in soups, and mixed beans with whole grain pasta and spinach. Beans are also fantastic in chili of course, but my culinary prowess usually limits me to using them as part of a very simple meal.

Spinach...is good in salads, but mostly, I eat it out of a can, just like Popeye, which explains why I find so many people checking out my buldging arm muscles. Once or twice, I have been very decadent though, and boiled fresh spinach, then added oil and sea salt. I am pretty sure in either case, the added salts will decrease the heart healthiness of my spinach intake. I could tell you that my blood pressure's always been low, but it would be more helpful, I think, to say that I am constantly figuring out how to be healthy and sometimes, folks, I add too much salt.

Soy...yea, soy! Let me count the ways that I love you. Fried tofu, soy milk, tempeh, soy cheese, and when I get crazy, those little fake buffalo wings made out of soy meal. Ah. Next step, actually eating a soy bean, as nature intended.

So my heart healthy plan, from all of this, would be - keep eating oatmeal for breakfast, keep going to Chipotle, and lay off the salt!! Let me know if you have any favorite heart healthy foods too!

Training

If anyone wonders why I am constantly so goal oriented, it is not just because I am "tenacious D," crazy-stubborn woman who wants to torture herself. It is because I am surrounded by the theme, term, and spirit of "training".

For work, I attend public health trainings. I host, plan and conceive of trainings in the field of substance abuse prevention.

Unprofessionally speaking, I see life as each day training for the next, each stage of life a training grounds for the one to proceed it.

Today, my dear friend I start training to run our half marathon. I truly believe that this experience is going to make us better people and, I think more importantly, better friends to one another. It's also an opportunity to train myself to be aware of how fortunate I am to be healthy.

I thank God more for my health than for much else in this world. The race we'll run will benefit LLS, which you can read more about here. I hope and pray that my preparation for this test, as well as it's greater purpose, will help me not only to train my body and my competitive spirit, but that it will also train my mind - to understand the cause underlying the event, to have compassion for it, to be able to speak about it in a way that helps others know and care about it.

Not about me

How exciting is this?!!

Just a few days ago, I engaged in this campaign by taking 60 seconds or so out of my day, while others have devoted their lives to this cause, for the lives of "strangers" who are really our fellow brothers and sisters.

The work of everyone together and the open ears and hearts of leadership focused on more than national identity can do this important work. I am so, so excited about this, and thankful for people who continually wipe the film and grime of cynicism and apathy out of their eyes every day and remember the necessity of caring for one another as a connected whole.

The interesting and adventurous life of...not me

Recently all of the lovely people in my life have been very excited for S and about his new car, which he painstakingly selected after months (and months) of consideration, consultation and perhaps even a little consternation.

All of my conversations with people these days end up with my assessment of S's car - if he likes it, if I like it, how fast he drives, how supah dupah cool he is. Not that I mind. He is beyond supah dupah, and he worked very hard to save for and pick out his car.

And I also have to admit that I get some of the perks associated with his awesomeness - like breathing in genuine new car smell (amazing chemical processes at work, no doubt) and waving to the motorcyclists who check us out when we're on a drive. Oh, and the teenage girl who screamed, "Nice whip, bro!" out of the passenger side window of a jeep the other day.

So it's only right, that for S's fans out there, I post pictures of his new lady "Sally," who is also quickly becoming my new vehicular BFF. Enjoy, and feel free to ask questions about her, which I will field to S and reply back with an unquestionably technical and hyperbolic response. I kid. A little.

Amazing Race

Once upon a time, there were two women who dreamt of winning a million dollars the easy way…

…winning The Amazing Race together. Of course.

But as time went by, it seemed as though their dream needed the inspiration of magic, larger than their own.


 As fortune would have it, one of the women lived close by to a very special world, where everyone's dreams come true. Disney World.

And so ladies and gentlemen, let it be known that on October 1, 2011, K & D will run their own amazing race.

D, for one…

…is out of her mind excited about it.

And they ran happily ever after!

Poetic...

...how exactly do I say that with my style?

Maybe by wearing my heart on my sleeve.