I have a lot on my plate right now, and it's hard to fit it all in. I'm going to try making a daily schedule to try to make sure I do all the essentials. Today is a test run:
6:30 - 7:15 - Check personal emails, network for company, research for company
7:15 - 7:35 - Hot tub, stretching
7:35 - 7:45 - I choose joy blog
7:45 - 8:00 - Shower/dress
8:00- 8:30 - Yoga
8:30 - 9:00 - Other blogs
9:00 - 5:00 - Consulting work
5:00 - 6:00 - Hiking
6:00 -6:30 - Dinner
6:30 -8:30 - Consulting work
8:30 -9:30 - Work on song selection for CD
9:30 - 10:00 - Networking for company
10:00 - 11:00 - Relax
I hope this works!
I received a call today from the international summit Tom and I may be speaking at in Dubai. I missed the call, but it sounded like they wanted to book it from the voice message. Wow. Dubai?! In like 3 weeks? I *must* get my passport started TOMORROW. The rush passport takes 2-3 weeks to get, so I should just get it in under the wire. I really should have gone on Friday as planned.
I plan to speak with them to get the details tomorrow, and I will let you know more then!
I'm heading down to Nashville to record a CD in the end of June. I just booked our flights! When I was in Palm Springs, I was singing my little heart out while the convertible cut through the mountainous highway, and I felt so free! It reminded me of my love for singing, and specifically, my love for singing gospel music. I decided then I was going to record a CD.
I reached out to someone I know who is a recording artist, and I asked for her advice. She put me in contact with a music producer in Nashville, who has worked with Garth Brooks, Tanya Tucker and Dolly Parton (to name a few).
He had a cancellation the last week in June, so I'm in! I am so excited, I feel like I could jump out of my skin. I have a lot of work to do between now and then, selecting music, thinking of arrangements, deciding how I want to market the CD once it's recorded...
I will certainly keep you posted!!!
City side view from the top:
Mountain side view:
I took Henry for a short walk this morning before breakfast. On the way home, Alison and I climbed Rock Rimmon. It was great to be up there again. 
I've been very active with exercise and errands and yard work, and that coupled with the heat made me hit a wall today. Around 5PM, I crashed. I felt like I could sleep for days. I'm not a napper, so I didn't nap, but I probably could have!
Yummm. Bravo to Alison on the fancy cukes display. :)
We were having so much fun outside yesterday, I didn't want to take a long time to prepare a big meal. I purchased some frozen jumbo shrimp on Friday, and I used half of it in the shrimp scampi, but I had half left still.
I bought several seasoning packets at the store, and I used a garlic and herb one yesterday. I put six shrimp on each skewer, sprayed them down with butter spray, sprinkled the shrimp with the seasoning, and grilled them for a short time on each side. They were delicious!
I also used the same butter spray and seasoning to make a packet of green and yellow string beans on the grill, folded up in aluminum foil.
The meal took about 3 minutes to prepare, and 5 minutes (if that) to cook on the grill. It was as easy as possible, and oh so yummy!
Yesterday, Darcy, Stephanie and Alison rowed out to cupcake. Alison and Stephanie came in Billy and Lanie's canoe, and Darcy and I kayaked out. 
I don't know if you can tell, but this is a picture of me in my kayak with Henry:
He's an outdoor enthusiast, and I'm so glad. I went for a 45 minute hike with him yesterday, and he did great! I ran with him off and on, and sadly, I can't keep up with him! Actually, if I run (literally) as fast as I possibly can, then I can keep up with him, but it's not exactly a pace I can endure for long periods of time! LOL. I need to work on running, so I can keep up with my 2 inch dog. Pathetic!
Today, we are going to hike Rock Rimmon on the way to or from breakfast. Alison is coming up again, and I'm going to see if the girls are around. I hate to wake people up early on the weekend, but I also hate the thought of anyone missing out on such a beautiful day!
After breakfast, I want to do a little bit of cleaning, but not too much. Since Darcy isn't working, we won't need to waste our weekends cleaning anymore! I am also thinking of buying a hammock today. As I write, I'm listening to all the sounds of nature, and I think it would be heavenly to have a hammock to relax upon during the warmer months.
Naturally, you can't keep me away from the water, so after that, we'll go kayaking again. I truly love my life.
I'm not sure what's happening with the weather, but I'm loving it! For the next few days, it's going to be in the high 70's and 80's in New Hampshire. We are forecasted to have an 84 degree day on Tuesday, but then it will drop to 65 for Wednesday. I'm going to make the most of these summer days while I can! 
Jimmy and friends stopped by, and the fire grew!: 
:)
We had a great night sitting around the fire, laughing, and playing with the dogs. There were 5 of them there!
Little Henry was so exhausted, he curled right up in our laps, but he didn't want to go in for fear he may miss something! LOL
When I woke up this morning, my neck and shoulders were SORE from putting the dock in, and kayaking, so I hopped in the hot tub. As I looked across the water, the sun was rising, and the rays were streaking through the clouds in the pink sky. It was quite a sight.
I'm so thankful to live in such a beautiful place. I never forget how very special it is.
I've had a hard time with consistency lately. My routine flew out the window with all the traveling, eating out, birthday dinners, etc..., and I'm going to bring it back. This week I kept starting off each day with a good breakfast, good lunch, and then I trailed off into something unhealthy by dinner time. My bad choices are showing on the scale.
...AND I haven't been exercising. I had a lot of activities this week, celebrating Brooke's new job and then Stephanie's birthday, plus working whenever I'm not busy celebrating, but that's no excuse. I have a lot going on right now, in regards to starting up the business, writing articles, staying on top of my current work load...and exercise is constantly the first thing I give up to make room for the more "important" things.
Yet I know how important exercise is. I know it makes me feel better about myself, increases my energy, helps me lose weight and feel successful in my weight loss efforts, etc... It should be the LAST thing I sacrifice. I know this.
I'm climbing back on the wagon, one day at a time. I'm going to exercise today. My day will not be complete until I have worked out. I'm going to enter all my foods into my WW points journal online. My day will not be complete until I have done that as well.
I know the recipe for success. Now I just need to put the ingredients together! :)
I hate that we are in a tight clothes trend again. When I was in California, everyone was wearing these gross tight jeans that are the style now. I first saw them about a year and a half ago, and I was hoping they wouldn't catch on, but of course they did. They are gross, and they aren't flattering to even the thinnest people.
Sometimes baggy clothes are the style, and if you're overweight, you can hide a bit more. Then skinny clothes come back in, and we're either stuck wearing totally out of style clothes, or we look like "fat guy in a little coat." What gives?
I feel like people are getting skinnier. Is it me? Every where I go, I see really skinny people. Where people used to be average, they are now skinny. I think skinny is back in - it has to be with all these tight clothes!
I may need to adjust my goal weight! LOL. Seriously, I was never aiming to be skinny, and I always envisioned myself at goal on the built side, but not the skinny side. I can't imagine that - I think I'd look gross skinny, but who knows, maybe I could pull it off. I really, really can't imagine even wanting to be skinny.
Anyway, now that this skinny jeans trend is in full bloom, I'm hoping it's on the way out. Let's bring back the baggy clothes while I lose my last 80 lbs, okay??? Please? Thanks.
I locked myself out of my office today. (Wicked smaht) I took the elevator down to the 2nd floor to see if I could find the building manager. He wasn't in, but I found someone else who has a master key. Sweet!
She was a young girl - very thin and fit, and she took a left out of her office and started running up the stairs from the 2nd floor to the 5th. Now, I'm in a very old building with very high ceilings, and there are 2 full flights of stairs between each floor.
I didn't want to look out of shape (although I'm not sure how she could have missed that part by looking at me), so I ran along right behind her, up 6 flights of stairs! By the time we reached the top, my head felt like it was a helium balloon, and I couldn't catch my breath. She tried to talk to me about something, but I just wandered away. LOL
It took me several minutes to return to my normal breathing pattern again. I felt like a big fat load, BUT it reminded me of the stairs in my office in Boston. That was six flights too, and I was proud of myself for walking up them leisurely without having a heart attack, so I should be okay with running up six flights, and just barely avoiding passing out.
I'm glad I got that experience over with. Every time I pass the stairs, I think about how I should use them, rather than the elevator. When I'm carrying my heavy lap top bag, it's too much, but without that, I really should. From now on, it's the stairs for me. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to run up all 8 flights (from the ground floor) without having a near death experience!
I'm the first one to say that if you want to achieve grand things, you must be prepared to make grand moves. Self made billionaires didn't achieve their fortunes by adhering to caution, Ghandi didn't change the world by taking the easy road, and Martin Luther King Jr didn't lay the groundwork for the free world to be led by Barack Obama without giving his life to see his dream realized.
Now I know we aren't all going to live lives that shake the earth's core, but we can do our best to make the bold moves that will lead to true joy and fulfillment. We can be lazy, and sometimes it's easy to settle into our careers or relationships by default. I don't think it's uncommon to notice that a decade has passed, and we are not anywhere near where we thought we would be.
I think those realizations lessen as we age. At some point, we know the life we are living is the life we are going to lead for the rest of our lives. We submit to that fact, and we make the best of it...but some people know they want more, and they move grandly through life to achieve just that.
It can be a scary thing, following the road less traveled. There's a reason why the other road gets a lot of foot traffic, and there's not always anything wrong with that. The best gift we can give ourselves is an introspective look at our lives, and an honest internal conversation regarding who we are, what we truly want out of this life, and what legacy do we want to leave.
I probably think about these things more than most, or if that's not the case, no one seems to talk about these things, and I'm not sure why that is. I know I want to make an impact on the world. I want to live a generous life, and I want to do good. I don't know exactly what that is going to look like, but I try to keep myself in check to make sure I'm not straying too far from that path.
There are many things we may want/need to feel as though we are spending our lives wisely, whether that may be family, faith, success...any number of things - I think we will be our happiest if we focus on our true goals, and take grand strides to achieve them.
In that vein, I think of my dear friend Brooke. Brooke has known for a while that she wants more, and she is willing to make a grand move to achieve it. Brooke is ready to take on a challenging new career, meet new people, and live in a totally new area, and she is moving to Texas to realize these dreams. I'm so happy for her, and so proud of her! I know what a big chance she is taking, and I think it's awesome that she is pursuing her dreams with wild (but very calculated and thoroughly planned, of course!) abandon.
I find it energizing to see people living their lives, taking chances, and really trying to achieve their dreams! I think that's one of the blessings we've found during these challenging economic times - people's lives are interrupted, and they are given the gift of introspection...taking pause to evaluate the things that really matter, and really consider what they want to do next.
Brooke, I'm thrilled for you! We will miss you dearly, and we can't wait to hear all about your adventure in this next chapter of your life!
XOXOXO
Are you kidding me?
Darcy and I had breakfast at 9AM, and then we walked all over town. We didn't eat again until 4, and we were starving, so I kind of overdid it when I ordered our food. LOL
I ordered four entrees, and it came with four salads and bread. Oops. I ordered pesto pasta and a steak. I only had a few bites of the steak, but I ate ALL the pasta. It took me about three shifts, but that's a lot for me.
I got so full, I felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach. I can't remember the last time I ate that much, but it was horrid, and it reminded me of something I used to feel all the time, and something I never want to feel again.
One of the things that helps me stay on track is not letting myself get too hungry, but today, I got way past hungry, and that's always a recipe for disaster. It's not something I'll let happen again anytime soon!
I used to have to take great care with my footwear choices. When I weighed so much more, my back hurt all the time, and if I had to do any walking, I needed really supportive sneakers or I wouldn't be able to walk more than a few steps without being in major pain. Even with the sneakers on, my back would probably start hurting after walking about one block when I was at my heaviest.
When I started losing weight, my back pain was one of the first big changes I noticed. It lessened immediately, and now I can't remember the last time I had back pain from walking or standing for a long time. I've stood for hours without sitting, and I have no trouble at all. It's really amazing.
I've noticed that when I first started losing weight, I started to really enjoy walking, but the reason I enjoyed it was because it was like a new trick I could do. I was just so glad to be able to walk. I also enjoyed it because it made me feel good to be doing something healthy. I felt it was a kind of exercise, and for that, I enjoyed it.
Now, I just actually enjoy walking. It's not even related to caring that it's a form of exercise. I'm just a person who enjoys walking. I'm not sure when that transition happened, but I'm thrilled that it did. My brain is continuing to become rewired.
I was thrilled that the place we were staying was a bit of a walk from downtown. I thoroughly enjoyed every trip to and from the downtown area.
Ah yes, the title of the blog... I've worn flip flops the entire time that I've been in Provincetown. It doesn't bother my feet at all to walk and walk and walk in flip flops. It's such a nice change to not have to be orthopedically prepared to have to go for a walk!
In my 20's, I was probably living in the body of an elderly person, with all the trouble I had getting around. I was so limited, and it's nice to feel like I'm aging in reverse. I'm totally Benjamin Button!
I've probably been to Provincetown a hundred times, but for some reason today was the first time that I took a Dune Tour. We went with a small group of strangers in a large Suburban. Darcy and I were in the back seats, and it was a bumpy ride!
I had a lot of fun going up and down the steep hills, and sometimes it seemed as though we were almost driving sideways!
It was absolutely beautiful - here are some pictures:
" i thank you god for most this amazing day..." e.e. cummings
I remember reading that poem when I was in grade school. Our assignment was to determine whether or not e.e. cummings meant he was thanking God most (first and foremost) for this amazing day, or if he was thanking God for this most amazing (think bill and ted's [most] excellent adventure) day.
Knowing Mr. no rules cummings, I'm sure he was just being provocative. Either way, the statement has always stayed with me. I don't know if a beautiful day goes by when I don't walk out of my house, and think to myself, "I thank you, God, for most this amazing day." (I think with proper grammar (sometimes), unlike the original work, hence the difference from the original quote.) ;-)
I've been blessed. Within the past few weeks, I've spent time at the both the Atlantic and Pacific ocean, in the desert of Palm Springs, kayaking out my front door, running down the streets of Portsmouth with my adorable, sweet puppy, eating divine foods at top notch restaurants, laughing, singing and loving my life.
I'm sure some of you may want to smack me for being so very sunny, and don't you worry, there's more to me than just puppy dogs and sunshine (LOL), but I'm trying to focus on the positive. Life is so short, and there is so much misery. I'm choosing joy.
Times are tough. I lost a job that I really loved this past year. It would be understandable for me to lament this loss, but it would not be productive. I do my best to put my energy toward productivity and/or in the direction of overall wellness and fulfillment. I'm certainly not always successful. I hope that by writing about the ways in which I'm bringing joy into my life, I will stay focused on just that.
I am a work in progress, and I'm striving for progress, not perfection. I want to be a healthier person, in every way imaginable. I've made great strides in that direction over the past few years, but I have a long way to go.
I'll keep you posted on my journey through this blog, and I look forward to hearing from you as well!
To new beginnings!
Cheers,
Kristen.
