What no test to check the head?! LOL, just kidding.

ER room #9, the EKG machine and I are getting pretty close. Spent the evening with them again. All is well, all is well!

I have been having a lot of symptoms that do not usually go together...the PVC's are now accompanied by hot flashes/anxiety...I have a pain in my head, ear, jaw, sinuses...nausea, vertigo off an on, low fever, bloody noses, high blood pressure and just feeling like shit. And I am salivating like a vampire or hungry dog. It is bizarre!

Poor ER nurses and doctors must think I am a hypochondriac. I had written all the symptoms down on a piece of paper for my primary and took it with me. They all looked at me like I was nuts. Maybe I am. All I know is that I feel like dookey.

All the tests came back alright. The ER doc did not diagnose me with anything. He said that there is no test the ER they could do to find out what my problem was. What no test to check the head?! LOL, just kidding. Beleive me that last place I want to spend my evening is in ER room #9 with the EKG machine and needles. I am not frustrated by his non diagnosis. He did all he could, my mess is better suited for a primary anyhow. I understand that.

I did have an appt set with my primary already but I have been waiting for two weeks and I still do not get to see him until next Thursday. Why did I go? Well, all those symptoms just got to be OVERWHELMING! They wake me up out of my sleep and keep me up. They make me irritable during the day. Not knowing what the heck was going on and the thought of waiting another week was eating at me.

I am sure it is a combination of things...allergies, anxiety, residuals from Ramsay Hunt, cavities...all of the above. So, I was sent home with the "You are not dying" chat and orders to get to the primary and back to the neurologist asap. And to a dentist. Uggg!

I am sure glad that I am not experiencing something emergency serious :) AND I do have to say that getting older is not for sissy's! Thanks Mommy for going with me!

Blah, blah, blah...life begins at the end of your comfort zone!

Finally got enouph gumption to take a walk this week...yes one this week :(

Been feeling funny, having episodes of anxiety/hot flashes. That is the only way I can explain them. I just feel like crap overall. Got an appt with the doc next week. That is the earliest he can see me. Blah, blah, blah.

Here is a quote I found that sums me up at this very moment...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me." ~Author unknown, variation of an excerpt from "The Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Neibuhr

I say the original prayer very often but like this one because once you realize that you are the one standing in the way of your own life, that is when change happens. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, right?

Beautiful day!

Love this place!

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to enter my giveaway...it ends tomorrow!



 

Where are my priorities? I must get my ass in gear!

You have not been hearing of my walking adventures because, well, there have not been any. I walked once last week and the week before that but other than that walking has not been a top priority for me.

Not sure where I fell off track. It think it started when I was not feeling well, and then just never got back at it. I could sit here and give you a million reasons why I have not done it...it have been too busy, Aunt Flow came to visit, I was tired, allergies...what it really boils down to is that I did not want to do it and walking is no longer one of my top priorities. I never put myself first.

While I do still feel the fire and passion to get healthier, I am having a hard time getting my walking shoes back on. It is so easy to tell your self the tomorrow will be the day...it is a viscous cycle isn't it?

At some point I will have to decide that TODAY is the day, not tomorrow; just as I did when I began in December. All is well!

Enjoy some photography that I have taken recently :)

Still seeing hearts if the darnedest places :)

I have been active in the yard.

Tahoe Thunderstorm

The big hill

This was a nice day for a walk

Thanks for reading folks! Love and light!

Finally...A GIVEAWAY!!!

This is a group picture of all the prizes, 1st, 2nd and 3rd!

What will you win?

1^st Prize – An array of natural body care products

Sample packs of Arbonne’s RE9 Facial products

Sample pack of FC5 Hydrating Eye Crème

One Arbonne Detox Tea

One Pomegranate Energy Fizzy Stick

One Arbonne Chocolate Protein Powder

One Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder

Two Lemon Fit Chews

One Chakra Energy Votive “happiness”

2^nd Prize More natural body care

V’TAE Happy Trails Mist (shh, this is a bug spray)

V’TAE Cuticle Crème

V’TAE Lan-o-lips Minty

Two Lemon Fit Chews

3^rd Place – A pair of my earrings

The Qualified Entry Process

Well, this is for my personal blog. This is not for any other business or project that I am working on. No purchase necessary but to be entered into this blog giveaway you have to do one of three things, initially…

1.       Connect with my blog by “Joining the site”, over the right you will see where to do that.

2.       Share the blog or a blog post. Again, over to the right you will see many options to do so.

3.       Comment on a post, diligently. Not with, “cool blog” or “nice pictures”, use your brain and tell me what you think.

As the days go by there will be other ways for you to enter. I will let you know how in a fly by the seat of your pants kind of way. You must live with the United States to be eligible for this giveaway. Anyone can enter. Please ask questions if you are not sure how to enter.

The Deadline

This will be going on from now until May 31, 2013 at 11:59 pm. The winner’s will be chosen and notified by June 2, 2013.

The Prize Delivery

If you live in Grass Valley or Nevada City within city limits, I will deliver it to you. If you live outside of either city limits it will be mailed through USPS or UPS.

The Winners

As each entry comes in it will be put on a list in the order in which it came in. When the time comes, I will be using http://www.random.org/ to choose the winning number.

Winner Notification

First, a blog post will announce the winners. Second, I will try my best to contact each winner with the contact information provided. Providing an email address with your entry will help.

The Prize Acceptance

I will allow 2 weeks to go by from the date that the winner’s are announced and if you have not claimed your prize someone else will be chosen in the same manner described above. It is a rough world out there ;)

Don’t be a bad kid

Posts/entries with profanity, sexual talk or reference, negative jabs or any other form of not acting like a responsible human will be banned from the contest and probably my blog too.

Let’s have fun!

Disclaimer: Rules are subject to change, they won't but I want to reserve that right. You never know what could come up :)

A trip to the Courthouse...there is no shortage of beauty!

Ya know, I have always been one to stop and enjoy the sights around me. Even the travels to take care of daily tasks serves as a wonderful photo shoot...creative peeps, I know you understand ;)

Nevada City is full of old, beautiful churches, buildings and plant life. Here is what I found on my walk from the front door of the courthouse to the car...

My favorite image from this shoot...I have always felt really close to the Celtic Cross.

There is even beauty to be seen at the courthouse! UG!

What are these? They are beautiful!

Daffodils!

The church that is across the street from the courthouse.

This the church, behind the church that is across the street from the courthouse.

This was a moving moment for me...double crosses!

Nevada City landscape.

And there you have it...hope that you enjoyed!

Love and light my friends!

Getting back at it and it feels real good!

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, 

change the way you think about it."  ~Mary Engelbreit

The past two weeks have been filled with pure chaos! It has been hard to schedule in our daily walks with all the catch up that has been played after taking that time off to recoup. I am back at it though! At least every other day we are out walking or being active. AND of course I took pictures for proof ;)

The past few weeks I have been pondering why it is so easy for me to get off track with changes that I start in my personal life. I have come to the conclusion that I have a weird relationship with change. As most people do, I fear it yet need it.

I had a boss tell me once that I feared change, I did not agree as the context it was given in was work related and I have always had the attitude of "if it is not broken why fix it". Her statement stuck with me though, for this time in my life when I needed it.

Now, more than ever I need change. In order for me and my family to move forward we need to tweak a few things. Today, change is encouraged. My perception of change has a lot to do with it, too. If I look at our daily walks as a chore or something that has to be done...I do not want to do it (unfortunately, this is a personality trait). If I look at it as a tool to help me change in the other areas I hope to change then it gets done and it is enjoyable. I swear, humans are their own enemy. While free will was gifted for the good in us, we can sure turn it around and use it against ourselves and others.

Here are a couple of quotes I found on change that help, hopefully they help you too! The last one is a reminder that we do not know what life holds for us once we do change but the results are usually for our benefit. Especially with those positive changes we make.

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."  ~Anatole France

"You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler."  ~Denis Waitley

"Change always comes bearing gifts."  ~Price Pritchett

Now for the photography...

We see this waterfall on a trail that we take usually when we are all together...love me some family walks!

Pup, on the trail we usually take

Yep, still seeing hearts...they are not as frequent as before but they are there. All you have to do is look :)

It was a cold morning walk on Litton Trail with my Mama...

We saw this HUGE mushroom. Anyone know what it is?

Always beautiful at the Empire Mine Trails!

A bee, I like to see these!

Nothing but blue skies and Pine Trees...love Empire Mine Trails!

The wildflowers are in full bloom!

I had some company on this day!

Poppy likes it when Alyssa rides her bike...it gives her an excuse to run fast and not listen ;)

Love this goof!

If I was a bird, I would spend a lot of time in this tree.

This makes me think of the past, not sure why...nothing specific, just "the past".

The Great Oaks...as I call them. They are just gorgeous right now!

Love it! Big. bold. Green. Fresh.

This was not taken on a walk...I stopped on Ridge Road one day before my daughter got out of school. This reminds me of my brother, his favorite flower is Lupine.

Love this pic...nothing better then blue skies, wildflower fields and evergreen trees!

So this is what I have captured the past few weeks. The next few coming up I have to work on not allowing distractions and my own perspective get in my way.

Love and light friends...thanks for reading ;)

San Fransisco, here we come!

Last weekend we spent some time in San Francisco, it was fabulous! I did not seek any exercise but I know that I got plenty. Here are some pictures of our trip...

The first day we spent being tourists in SF...this is Lombard Street

We took a ferry from SF to Tiburon where my husband's Aunts live. This the view of The Ferry Building from the back of the ferry.

The next day we walked along the bay in Tiburon. Here is the view of the city from where we stayed.

This is the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Tiburon

This is the view looking towards Tiburon and Belvedere. It was a beautiful day!

A little daisy and clover patch in the grass.

Driving home we say a heart in the clouds...they are truly everywhere we go.

We cannot wait until our next visit with the Aunties!

Motivation, I have none! Must keep looking...

Although Spring is here and there seems to be more positive energy in the air, I am having a very hard time getting motivated to walk. Taking the time off to get back to health seems to have set me back and I sure that Aunt Flow's visit is not helping any. As much as I like to see her come, I like to see her go even more, LOL!  I will find my mojo again. I have no other option then to get back to where I was and move forward.

Saturday and Sunday - Yard and house work took priority over walking. Pup was sad but I still got a good work out. Our yard is on a hill so walking up and down it a ton of times, lifting, bending and moving was enough to make me feel it...it's all good!

This is a picture of my "Woodsy Garden" in 2011

Monday - I honestly do not remember what we did this day, but I know we did not walk. Hmmmm...why can't I remember? Getting older is not for the weak ;)

Tuesday - This day we finally got back out in the elements and walked the NID ditch by our house. The ditch was full of water, which my daughter and Pup loved. Daughter likes to throw stick in the ditch and watch Pup go for them. Both love the water. There were just a few wild flowers along the ditch road, a couple blooming trees and a whole lot of sunshine. It felt nice to get back out.

Nice day for a walk!

Blossoming Landscape

Love this place!

The sun is shining and it is Spring Break, must definitely wear the bikini ;)

My dog is a maniac...the bigger the stick the happier she is :)

Wednesday - I already know that today probably won't have a walk in the plans. We have a lot to do between cleaning the carpets, cleaning the house, cleaning the car and getting ready for our trip to Tiburon. We leave Friday for an overnighter, so excited!

I know that I will not walk tomorrow either because I am going to work with my husband. He has a big yard maintenance job to start and he needs my help so my exercise will come in the form of yard work.

I love having my daughter home with me and am looking forward to our Summer schedule. I am also looking forward to her returning to school so that I can get back on track with walking and some other work related tasks that need to be done. It is amazing/concerning/irritating about how easy it is for me to get off track with getting fit. I have never been one who enjoyed P.E. or any thing that required a lot of movement. Perhaps that is why I did so well in Volleyball ;)

Love and light my friends!

Spring is in the air! *cough, cough*

While others across the United States are really mad at the Groundhog for lying about a early Spring, us Californians are happy to welcome Spring (but not so much the allergies). But mind you, we all know that if Winter does not actually come this year we are in for a long, hot, DRY Summer...let's all do a rain dance ;)

Here are some images that I want to share with you, some you may have seen but maybe some not...

Blossoms

Gnome

Manzanita Blossoms

Vinca

Daffodils

More Blossoms