Because it's GROOVY, Baby.

So, I went to my mommas house today to hang and giggle like we do.  She had some gifts for me.. (she often has gifts for me.  I'm the favorite.)  I was totally excited that she got me a sex toy.  Well, I thought it was sex toy...  She hands this to me;

Sex toy, right?

She says to me, "you know what it is, right?"  Of course I know what it is!  It's practically screaming 'goofy sex toy that only your mother would give you'.  How could I possibly be wrong?  She's grinning and obviously holding back her giggle reflex.  I'm totally confused now.  It says 'washing-up sponge' on it.  So... it's like, for bathtub play?  My mom turns the package over.

I'm still confused.  Let's take a closer look at the fine print, shall we?

There it is in black and red.  Adult novelty gift.  Unsuitable for children.  So.. it's a toy , right?  But, what's with the spongey 'fro?  Mom is now laughing while I smile all confused.  She SAYS it's for washing your drinking glasses.  OK, cool.  That groovy girl will stand at my sink, at the ready, for all my glass cleaning needs.  That was the end of it, until I arrived home.

Now, I was totally ready to use this thing as a glass cleaner.  I even took her out of her package, found her a home next to my above-sink herb garden.  But then I started thinking.  Not so fast Momma.  You showed no proof of this being a glass scrubber.  In fact, I'm not yet convinced this is not an adult sex toy.  Sure, it would be soooo hilarious, a freaking laugh riot, if I displayed this groovy baby in my kitchen, only to find out years later when I have grandkids or something that it is indeed a sex toy.

Grandma, why do you keep adult toys on your sink?  My mommy keeps hers in her bedroom.  It would be, seriously, the ultimate prank.  So kudos momma.  But I'm not falling for it.  Oh, I'll put it on display by my sink.  I'll even use it to scrub glasses.  But I'm putting it away when I have grandkids.  One of the 5 bazillion reasons I love my momma.  

The Coumadin files

My Hubby has a second chance at life.  On December 9th, 2014 my husband was admitted to the hospital for a blood clot in his leg (DVT) and part of it had broke off and hit his lung (PE) causing him to have shortness of breath.  He had suspected a blood clot in his leg for 5 days prior to the hospital visit.  He had a DVT about 13 years ago, so now he is on coumadin for life.  If we had insurance, my hubs would just now be released from the hospital.  But since we didn't, he was released on the 12th, with a box full of blood thinners that I had to inject him with twice a day.

At this point, most people question why this happened.. but not us.  I had been trying to get my husband to take his health seriously for some time.  He was a pack a day smoker.  He didn't exercise.  He ate well at home, but at work he was a soda drinking, fast food eating freak of nature.  He was chronically dehydrated and wouldn't listen to a word I said.  Talk about stubborn...

My husband didn't just develop these habits overnight.  His mother has a large cocktail of ailments and is the perfect example of how not to live your life.  We lost his father a year ago to lung cancer.  Both parents smoked, lacked exercise, and didn't eat well or drink plenty of water.  This is why it's so important to be a good example to your children.  At 40 years old, my husband has to undo all the bad habits and basically undergo deprogramming so he can learn to live a healthy life.

I am very proud of my husband for listening to his Doctor.  He is now over a week smoke free.  I'm settling in to our routine of tracking what he eats and monitoring his meds and blood count.  His spirits are up, and he seems to really be taking his second chance seriously.  We have to learn how different foods affect him, and become very consistent with how he eats.

Even though this was a very unexpected road in our life journey, I am very happy to be able to keep traveling along with him.  My husband can resume his work life today, and I admit that I'm not too happy about letting him leave my watchful eyes.  I will be a wreck today, but I'm sure that all will go well.

I will keep posting the 'coumadin files' so we can openly track our progress.  If you or someone you know is on coumadin, We'd love to hear from you!

Vaping for beginners

I've been a proud vaper since March 1, 2014.  My enthusiasm for vaping is contagious, and I'm eager to show and tell my vaping experience.  Even though I've been vaping for 9 months now (and haven't touched a lightable since then..) I'm still no expert.  I'm not even sure if I'm an intermediate yet.  What I do know, is that I love vaping.  I have successfully converted a few smokers to the vape side.  I feel it's my duty as a reformed smoker to convert as many people as I can to vaping.

For those smokers out there that are ready to try vaping, I have some beginners advice that you may find useful.  I have found that most people will switch entirely to vaping in a short period of time if they just stick with it.  There is no withdrawal when you switch to vaping!  This is why people are switching to vaping so easily.

Most people find that buying a vaporizer pen kit is the quickest way to start.  My first purchase was an Ego kit that included two smaller batteries, two atomizers (the top part that holds the liquid) a charger and carrying case.  I admit that I was really excited that it came with a carrying case to keep it all in one place.. But I quickly dismissed the case because I ALWAYS had the vape out and ready for use.  It only took a week for me to need to move into a large cosmetics type case to hold all my supplies.  (I had what is called in the vaping community, 'shiny syndrome'.. I bought lots of flavors and new equipment almost daily.)

The kit was awesome, because it has everything you need to get started, except for the juices.  I quit cigarettes the same day I purchased my kit, and never looked back.  The case is especially useful for people that are 'weaning' off lightables over the course of a week or more.  You just grab your case, just like you would your smokes and lighter.

A Vape store opened up down the road from where I live shortly after I began my vaping adventure.  I highly recommend buying your equipment and flavors from a Vape store.  First, they show you how to use it, clean it, and care for it.  You are more likely to stick with it if you know those things.  Second, if you have any issues with your equipment, just stop in and they will help you figure it out.  Third, you won't have 20 bottles of flavors that you don't like.  You get to try the flavors before you buy!

If you are a smoker and you are ready to change your life for the better, GO GET YOUR VAPE ON!  You won't stink like an ashtray anymore, and you will reap all the rewards of quitting smoking, without the withdrawal.  This is seriously the easiest way to quit smoking.  What are you waiting for?

Momentum is my friend

Even the best laid plans are interrupted by life.  It's been a crazy week, yet I still managed to get my workouts done!  I had to do some rearranging, but I managed.  It's important to keep your goals on the front burner..  Even when life decides to pile a whole bunch of stuff on you.

My daily workouts are becoming part of my routine.  I feel stronger, but more importantly, I feel no pain.  I'm starting to get that invincible thought process that I used to have when I was younger.  It's quite empowering..  I just need to keep myself in check.  I don't want to damage my cape, or tiara;).

Getting in shape has made me come to realize a few things.  We don't set out to stop taking care of our bodies.  Life carries us along, and somewhere down the line we just forget to do things.  Pretty soon we have a set way of life that doesn't exactly include a whole lot of healthy.  So why do you expect to become healthy or back in shape over night?  Don't stress yourself out!

Simplify your goals.  Challenge yourself to make changes, but you don't have to give up everything all at once!  It's much easier to cut out one bad thing at a time.  If you can revamp your whole lifestyle at once, I give you mad props..  But most of us need to build momentum.  It took me an entire year of goal setting to get to this point.  I didn't give up on myself, and neither should you!

If you haven't committed to a healthier you yet, please message me.  I will help you set goals, and I'll cheer you on to reaching them.  Please don't put your health on the back burner any longer.  You are only a few challenges away from being healthy.  You can do anything you set your mind to! -Nicki

Set your goals!

I would like to take a moment to talk about goals.  Setting goals can help you achieve success in every part of your life.  I recommend setting short term goals that you can work toward and hit right away to give you a taste of success.  The momentum of achievement will help you work towards your  bigger goals!

Write down your goals.  I write mine on a notebook that I leave open on the kitchen table.  I refer to my goal notes several times a day.  Once you have your goals spelled out on paper, write out the steps needed to attain your goals.  Let's say your goal is to get healthy..  This weeks goal steps might include things like; take a brisk walk 3 times this week, start and complete the 30 day squat challenge, replace 3 meals this week with fruits, nuts and veggies.  You can break it down into smaller steps, or go as far as scheduling your entire day.

Don't just write down your goals and forget about them.  Read them several times a day and perform at least one action that will bring you closer to your goal.  You can add new goals every week.  The longer you take the little steps, the more chance they have to become a habit.

Create a vision board.  My goal list is slowly morphing into a vision board now.  I have short and long term goals spelled out for practically every area of my life.  If you don't have room on a wall to create your vision board, I recommend using pinterest..  I have a pinterest board for everything, and growing by the week.  Don't just add stuff.. Look at the things you add and take steps to make it your own!

Every morning, set a small goal that you can achieve that day.  Use the confidence that reaching a goal brings to set bigger goals for yourself.  Tell yourself that you can do it!  Remove the negative thoughts and empower yourself to success!  Every single day you are only one small step away from success.  Grab it and OWN IT! -Nicki

Positivity.. It's a contagion, and I'm a carrier.

There's a lot to be said for staying positive.  If you think you can do it, you will do it.  If you think you can't, you won't.  I've always been an optimist.  I've actually had people tell me that if I keep thinking that way, eventually I will be let down.  But I'd much rather think everything will go my way than to be a negative nancy.

Negative people are a real drag.  I will try to bring them to the positive side, but I'm not ashamed to say that I've eliminated negative people from my life.  I'm also quite proud to say that I've helped someone very close to me become a positive influence in her own life.  Positivity brings an unwavering happiness.  I'd much rather be happy than wallow in self pity.

If you doubt yourself regularly, you are undermining your own success.  Be the positive force that you need in your life.  Cheer yourself on!  Surround yourself with other positive people.  Your thoughts and actions are a vicious contagion.  So use caution when you unleash them!  Think about your thoughts and actions.  Do you want to be the kind of person that brings a smile to someone's face?  Or do you want people to go out of their way to avoid hearing how much you hate your life?

If you say you hate your life, you really hate yourself.  You will only attract others that wallow in self loathing.  That's a miserable way to live.  You are the only person in the world that can make you love your life!  The change you crave is inside you.  Changing your way of seeing life is in your grasp.  All you have to do is stop the negative words in your head from coming out of your mouth.  Believe that you have the power to be happy.  Take tiny steps to make yourself happy.  Don't just kiss the negative you goodbye... Kick her sorry ass to the curb.

Start every morning believing that it will be a beautiful day!  Write down a strategy for happiness.  Think about what you really want out of life.  Be your own personal happiness architect!  If you stumble and fall, brush it off.  If you fail, reevaluate and try again.  Don't stop until you reach your version of happy.  Then patent that happy and send it out into the world.  Don't be afraid of success.  Go after it with everything you have.  -Nicki

My Grams survived leukemia.. Using only carrot juice

My Grams is a 30 year survivor of leukemia.  Out of pure stubbornness, she said to hell with medical treatment.  Luckily, she had met a woman at her Dr. Appt that told her what to do.  My Grams embarked on a carrot juice therapy that was unheard of at the time.  Back in the 80s, we couldn't just hop on the internet and find all the information we cared to consume.  No, we had to talk to people, read books, and sometimes, we had to just take a giant leap of faith.

Listening to Grams talk about conventional medicine vs. natural cures was so scary back then.  I didn't want her to die!  She reassured me that she was getting the best possible treatment in the world.  I was just a kid.. How was a carrot supposed to cure leukemia?  Were these special carrots?  And what the hell was leukemia anyway?  Seriously, I hadn't even heard of it before..

Ah, but these were indeed special carrots.  They were organically grown with no chemicals, no pesticides.  It was like injecting your veins with nanotechnology that sought out and killed leukemia.  My mom helped her juice 5 pounds of these magic carrots every day.  It became a religion in Grams home.. I now worshipped the magic carrot.  A month and a half into her carrot therapy, she had a Dr. Appointment to check her blood counts.  Of course the Doc had been pushing conventional medicine, but after this check up, he told her to keep doing whatever she was doing, as her blood count had improved by 50%.

Over the course of the next few months, we saw all of Grams symptoms just disappear, like she had never even been diagnosed with the L word.  Every day that she juiced her carrots she grew stronger. For 6 long months, we worshiped at the juicer.  Most people have a difficult time making a once a day commitment to juicing, but she did it all throughout the day.  Grams is 83 now, and just as feisty as ever.  Her choice to use nature as a cure was the best decision she ever made.

Instead of taking pills, doing chemo or radiation, or both.. Where you break your body down in a race to kill either the disease or you... She chose to heal and get stronger.  It seems like a simple choice doesn't it?  It is for me.  That's why I juice now while I'm still strong and healthy.  Why wait until you're sick and broken down to start to heal yourself?  What if you 'let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food'?  What if eating healthy actually prevented disease?  What's that?  Eating healthy DOES prevent disease?!

We have known for a very long time that eating right and exercising can catapult you to a healthy long life.  So why, OH WHY!  Do we eat so much junk?  Why put toxic, chemical laden foods into our bodies when we can put healthy, healing foods in them?  Why crack open a soda that poisons you when your body is screaming and begging you for water?  Let's stop just blindly putting things into our bodies.  Instead, let's all make conscious, informed decisions about what we eat and drink.  If we just start.. If we just begin to use knowledge, what a difference we can make in our own health.  In our families health!

I know that many of you find that making healthy changes can be overwhelming.  In fact, I was overwhelmed not too long ago.  The secret to getting healthy is to stop thinking about it, and just do it.  Even if it's just one tiny change or tweak in your life.  Just take that first step.  Just jump, and hit the ground running.  And never beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon.  Dust yourself off and jump back on!  You can do this!  And I'm here to help you! -Nicki