Like Today

One of my new favorite addictions is the online pinboard, Pinterest. One of my new favorite people is my perfect, beautiful, baby niece that was born today, 11.22.11.

When I got home from visiting the baby girl and her parents in the hospital naturally I logged onto Pinterest, and this was the first pin I saw, "Nothing in the past or future ever will feel like today." I couldn't have said it better myself!

Welcome to the world Mackenzie Rain!

Work It Out

LoveItAll was created when I became inspired during the Lent season this year to acknowledge and celebrate being healthy and happy. And I have to say (and high-five myself) that I think I've done a relatively good job sticking with that theme. Of course there have been months I've slacked on posting, but I'm revamping my dedication to LoveItAll and will be posting more! (I was going to write 'will try to be posting more' but my fiance's favorite quote stopped me from typing 'try.' The quote is from Yoda from Star Wars, "Do or do not. There is no try.") So I WILL be posting more.

Looking at previous entries, I find it hard to believe that I've only mentioned my favorite workout of all time once or twice when talking about health and happiness. After high school when my basketball and volleyball days ended, I struggled with finding ways to stay in shape. Before college my workouts were structured, scheduled, and not optional. In college they were trying this and that (yoga to abs classes) and were few and far between. I can honestly say until I found TITLE Boxing Club, I was in a work out rutttt (One 't' didn't make the five year rut seem long enough so I added a few extra).

My whole point is not how awesome TITLE is and how I don't know how I functioned before without my kickboxing classes since they have improved every area of my life from fitness, to sleeping, to diet, to happiness, although I could go on and on. My point and advice is to find something you ENJOY doing and work it out. Let's face it- working out is hard, as it should be. You simply will not stick with something challenging if you don't enjoy it. So go find your work out niche. Whether it's running or walking or an at home video like P90X or old school Tae-Bo, just work it out and have fun. The ripple effects of enjoying yourself while getting in shape will pleasantly surprise you!

You gotta have faith

I've been thinking a lot about faith lately. One of my favorite real life examples of someone who walks by faith is my amazing soon-to-be sister-in-law, who has also become one of my great friends.

She is weeks away from giving birth to her first baby- a perfect little girl named Mackenzie. Rewind nine months to when she and her husband first found out she was pregnant: it was just days after they received news that one of her surgeries to remove cancerous lymph nodes was not successful. Rewind a couple years back and see that she has been battling Thyroid cancer and all the effects of surgeries, radiation, and healing on her body. Rewind even further and see her husband surviving life threatening melanoma, and going through chemotherapy for over a year. Because of these and other factors, the pregnancy was diagnosed as high risk early on.

When I asked her if she was scared, and how she was feeling about everything, she just looked at me and said, "You know, for me it's a total faith walk." And that's been her mentality her entire journey- from cancer, to pregnancy, and all of  life's challenges, she has continued to keep the faith. Which has inspired me to not only continue to keep the faith in God, but in others, and in myself. After all if we view life as one great faith walk, there really is nothing to be scared about.

Blame It On The Block

In all the books about writing I've read, (On Writing by Stephen King tops my favorites list), I inevitably come across a chapter on writer's block. As an on and off, okay more off than on, creative writer and blogger, I never experienced what is referred to as writer's block. Not until recently. And only recently have I realized that the frustrating, headaching, curse of writer's block and more importantly, the desire to get over it's hump and untangle the knot that forms in the mind and stomach of those who suffer from it, can actually be experienced in a bigger, meaner form: life's block.

As a naturally happy, positive, let's face it, Love-It-All-type of person, I can make sense of difficult events and trying periods. I find gratefulness and lessons in sorrowful events, and am genetically empathetic to a fault. These statements I would have sworn true two months ago. Lately I seem to repeat them as some sort of affirmations.

I know I'm happy, truly truly blessed, and am grateful every day for my life. I just find myself wondering sometimes why I can say those words without feeling or applying them the way I used to. And the most difficult part has been that I acknowledge the block I've put on my mind and heart, but true to reputation, neither writer's nor your life's block goes away when you beg it to. Day by day, ideas, feelings, sentences, and memories appear and with each one the knots are loosened. Before you know it, you can breathe deeper and truer than you have in weeks, and you start to recognize your mind and heart back in your control. Day by day. And on the great days the happy, positive, gratefulness returns. And so does the writing.

Get Your Gwapes

I love clean jokes: the cheesey, play-on-word jokes you can tell around children or your pastor without being inappropriate. One of my all-time favorites is ultimately about persistence, and knowing what you want. It's also just plain cute.

A duck walked into a bar and said to the bartender, "Hey, got any gwapes?"
The bartender said no, so the duck left.

The next day, the duck walked into the same bar and asked the bartender, "Hey, got any gwapes?"
The bartender said just shook his head, and said, "Nope." So the duck left.

Still determined the next day, the duck walked into the bar, and asked the bartender, "Hey,  got any gwapes?"
Visibly annoyed, the bartender said, "No, we don't have any grapes, and if you come in here and ask me that one more time, I'm going to staple your beak shut."
So the duck put his head down and waddled out of the bar.

The next day, the duck walked into the bar, right up to the bartender, and said, "Hey, got any staples?"
The bartender, fed up, said, "No, we don't have any staples."
So the duck looked around, then back to the bartender, and said, "Okay.... Got any gwapes?"

A Week

It’s been a week.

It’s been a week in which happiness doesn’t feel quite as happy.

It’s been a week of cliché songs on the radio about life not sounding so cliché anymore.

It’s been a week of  finding ourselves thinking over and over, “I wish it was this time this many days ago.”

It’s been a week to be grateful for the many thoughtless actions we’ve walked away from unscathed.

It’s been a week of being reminded of loyalty, trust, and friendship.  

It’s been a week where many lives have been forever changed.

It’s been a week full of prayer.

It’s only been a week.

Songs to Share

I love music, and am guilty of playing a song I find that I like on repeat for weeks. I’m talking one song, non-stop, at work, at home, in the car, a cappella. And when the obsession hits me it’s typically not when the songs are brand new, it’s when I happen to hear them in a new way, and just at the right time they strike a certain chord in me. Here are a few that, after hearing dozens of times now, I still can’t get enough of!

Dog Days – Florence and the Machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU

Fugitive – David Gray http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utLCu-Mpnqo

Fix You- Coldplay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI-o25K6B-E

No Surprise – Daughtry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyl24HRGgSU
Save Me San Francisco - Train http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zftcZYdOl3Y

Do So Anyway

This past month has been a whirlwind; so much so I have neglected one of my recently developed favorite hobbies- this blog. I should say that I’ve been so busy that I haven’t even thought about it, but that would be a lie. I have thought about writing many posts this past month, but just haven’t had the time to do it. Oops, there I go with the lying again. Okay, I haven’t been posting because, like not wanting to say something out loud in fear that it makes it too real, I have not wanted to put my all of my confused thoughts and feelings down in writing. Life in general is wonderful, and I’m thankful every day for it; I’ve just been faced with making many decisions recently, big and small, that have me excited, stressed, hopeful, and more all at once. But I’ve decided to quit avoiding organizing my thoughts and “rejoin the blog world,” as my sister Katy put it.

For now, however, I’ll let the majority of my most jumbled thoughts be, and just share something I’ve learned recently: Good Samaritans still exist.

On the 4^th of July night around 10:30, Shane and I’s one year old puppy, Brooksie, broke her collar and ran off. I’ll skip the chaos that was the next 20 minutes (we got her back in one piece and she’s fine thankfully), but I want to talk about the driver of a white SUV. A young man, probably around age 30, was driving down our street right as Brooksie broke free and took off. The driver luckily saw Shane and I running and screaming and waving our hands right before she ran in front of him. When he stopped he got out and tried to call her to him, but a firework went off and she was gone again. As Shane and I split up our routes, I sprinted panicked to the corner of our street wondering which way she went (she’s a black, fast, dog and the thick haze of smoke from all the fireworks, not to mention the constant noise, was the least ideal of situations to lose a black, fast, dog in).

The young man, having done a U-turn to follow us, pulled up and shouted, “Do you want my car? You can take it.” I told him I’d stay on foot and then he volunteered to drive up and down the street while I ran. I saw him take off searching for her, and when I turned to run down another street, he turned around again and drove down to where Shane was running. Later I found out he shouted to Shane, again asking, “Do you want my car?” Shane stayed on foot too, and the driver told him he’d keep searching around the block. Running barefoot by dozens of people lighting fountains and caterpillars in their driveways, knowing that not only Shane was looking for Brooksie, but that someone else was out searching too made me a tiny bit hopeful in what seemed like a hopeless situation.

Shane finally found our puppy who had already ran past our yard where it all started, and we quickly took her inside away from the fireworks that had her so terrified. A couple times we checked outside to see if the SUV was driving by so we could tell the young man we found her, but we never saw the good Samaritan again. The good Samaritan who offered two complete strangers his car, gave me comfort in his looking, and spent at least 20 minutes of his 4^th of July night driving around to find a dog. We will never be able to thank him; if I ever could I would not only thank him for trying so hard to help us, but for reminding me that some people still do the right thing, even when unexpected, or scary, or when it would be easier to just not get involved. It was a great example of what kindness is truly about- you may not be acknowledged or given thanks for helping someone out, but you should always do so anyway.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

Making healthy decisions can be tough sometimes, especially for someone who when asked what their favorite food is can’t ever decide between responding with, “Mexican” or “pizza.” So the past year or so I’ve accumulated a few simple tricks to cut out unnecessary calories and more importantly, add in nutrients…. and most importantly, still enjoy what I eat and drink. A few of these tips are from Hungry Girl (if you aren’t familiar subscribe now- I cook at least one recipe a week from their daily e-mails).

On eating…..

·          Substitute non-fat, all natural, plain Greek yogurt in any recipe that calls for sour cream or mayonnaise. I always use the Fage brand. It’s not only less calories, but Greek yogurt is really good for you.

·          Start buying Laughing Cow cheese- it’s delicious and something like 1/3 of the calories of regular cheese. Super easy to spread on wraps, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, etc.

·          Substitute lean ground turkey or ground chicken in any recipe that calls for ground beef. I did this for months in our spaghetti and chili before my fiancé realized it, and even then I only had to spill the beans because he looked in the pan when I was browning the meat and got really worried about the beef looking so light in color.

·          Instead of buying tortilla chips in a bag, which are fried and drenched in salt, I buy one package of corn tortillas, lightly brush them with extra-virgin olive oil, slice them into fourths with a pizza cutter, and bake them. This saves calories, salt intake, and money.

·          Over a year ago my sister and I started buying peanuts and raisins in bulk and mixing them and dividing them up into baggies for the week to take to work. It’s a great healthy snack. (I know it seems like you could buy this premade but most of the mixes include M&M’s or other stuff too).

·          Split, split, split. My fiancée and I split almost everything we order at restaurants, and contrary to some of our servers’ reactions to this, it is not because we’re cheap. It’s because our society has been trained to expect ridiculously sized portions of food, so ONE entrée is typically more than enough food for TWO people. And it does save a little money too, and you even get used to the feeling of leaving a restaurant without being so full you feel sick.

·          And last but not least, it would just be wrong to not give a shout out to my natural homies: fruits and vegetables. They’re what we’re supposed to eat.

On drinking….

·          Incorporate green tea into your day. My new favorite is the Just Green Tea in a bottle from Honest Tea (thanks Katy!) It has zero calories (like all real green tea) and ¼ the caffeine of a cup of coffee. Green tea is one of my favorite simple pleasures, and it’s actually from the earth too which I’m of course a fan of (see previous post, “Of The Greatest Worth”). For current tea-lovers: make sure you check the label before you grab a bottle. It’s upsetting when you actually look at a lot of the bottles on shelves, how many added sugars and syrups are in so-called natural teas. True green tea should have no sugar and no calories.

·          Best cocktail ever: vodka, no-sodium soda water, fresh lime juice, sliced cucumbers. I actually read about this spritzer in Real Simple years ago, and just added the vodka into the mix. So good, and a lot less unhealthy than most alcoholic beverages.

·          Water: One of my guy friends who is a crazy gym-goer and health nut, once told me that your body can confuse thirst for hunger. I haven’t done any research on that, but just in case, I try to always stay hydrated and drink plenty of water. I figure it can’t hurt!

On keeping with it…

·          I love this link from SELF; type in any food and you get the nutritional information: http://nutritiondata.self.com/.

·          Before I go out to eat I try to look at the menu and nutritional information online and have in mind what I’m going to order. Here’s a handy-dandy calculator for a staple restaurant in my life, Chipotle: http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=nutrition_calculator.

·          And last, but not least, the genius Hungry Girl – I highly recommend signing up! http://www.hungry-girl.com/.

A Man, A Plan, A Proposal

On Friday, May 6^th, at 6:45 AM, my boyfriend of five years, Shane Hendren, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!

Shane had made breakfast, let me get completely ready for work, and even let me get into my car in the garage before he called me back inside and got down on one knee. I was completely surprised!

That moment in the early morning of a beautiful Spring day is honestly the most special moment of my life so far. Witnessing the man I’ve loved for five years (and secretly loved for two years before that), get down on one knee, nervous and shaking, asking me to spend the rest of my life with him is a moment I will never forget and can’t actually put into words.

In the past few years, quite a few of my closest friends, including my amazing little sister, have gotten engaged and married to their wonderful significant others. I have been thrilled and differently emotional with the news of each one. As one can imagine, during these celebrations it was inevitable that Shane and I receive inquiries as to when it would be our time. While most had good intentions, some people were a little too direct and no matter how it was approached, Shane kept calm and collected and would only say, “I have a plan.” Boy, did he!

After accepting his proposal, he told me that arrangements had been made and I had the day off of work. We celebrated with mimosas and he surprised me again with announcing he had a weekend getaway to Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, MO set up for us.

Also in the surprise plan was a stop in Springfield, MO - the town where everything began for us. We walked around our old college campus and drove by our old dorms and apartments. The entire weekend was a dream. I could go into detail about how wonderful the resort was, and how Shane had planned everything down to the fine wine he brought for the event, but I’ll keep most of the details just for us. We really disappeared into our own happiness and celebration. It was perfect and I couldn't be happier!

I feel incredibly blessed and emotional, not only to be engaged, but with the outpouring of love and support our friends and families have been sharing with us as we take this thrilling step. In fact, our friends and families have been supportive throughout our entire relationship, which hasn’t exactly been by the book. But again, never have I felt a lack of love or support from the people closest to us. And to quote my fiancé, “Toeachizone.” I am so thankful how our relationship has evolved down our own path, I love being engaged, and I love thinking about spending the rest of our lives together. What can I say? Right now, I’m truly loving it all!

Make It Write

I’ve wanted to write children’s books for as long as I can remember. When my sisters and I were little, one of our favorite babysitters, Allison, was going through Education classes to become a teacher. I was in first grade and as an assignment, Allison needed a student around my age to write a story in a certain amount of time. She picked me, and I’ll never forget the story I wrote about a bear, a rabbit, and another creature (okay I forgot a little). I wrote and illustrated it on manila paper with a thick-point pencil, and I titled it “The Greatest Gift.” I won’t go into detail here in case I recreate the story in my future writing endeavors, but I will tell you it was a good one.

Driving to work this morning, I got re-excited about getting back to writing children’s books. I should mention that I’ve started quite a few and for no reason at all, haven’t finished one. For the past two years my only New Year’s resolutions have been to write my first book, and again, no finished product so far. So why am I sharing news of me not writing?

During my commute today I was thinking about how grateful I am; I’m in a good place right now with my job, home life is good, friendships are good, etc. During these thoughts of gratitude a little voice inside me said, “Yes, but this is not all. Don’t waste your passion or your talent. Can you imagine the level of regret you’ll feel if you never write a book? What are you waiting for!?”

Now I’ve mastered ignoring the voices in my head most of the time (hence why no one has committed me yet), but this one I have to respond to. The thought of looking back at my life having not spent it writing makes my stomach hurt. And really, what am I waiting for? Thinking about writing makes me more motivated and excited than nearly everything else I do on a daily basis. So that’s that.

Going forward I will actually be applying this quote from Stephen R. Covey I’ve loved ever since I read it in the pocket-version of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People I skimmed last summer on vacation; it reads:

"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage---pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically---to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside. The enemy of the 'best' is often the 'good.'"

TGFGF

It has been storming in Kansas City for the past day. When I drove into work this morning it was thundering, lightning, and raining, but I heard on the radio that by the end of the day it's supposed to be sunny and 70. My first thought was: what perfect Good Friday weather. I've had this song in my head all day that I remember from when my sister Erika was in New Generation Singers:

Was a cloudy day, the Earth stood still, Man hung crying in the shadows of a hill called Calvary, An innocent man, belied and scorned, had gladly borne the pain and suffering for a world that should have died there in his place, And as he did, he said...

"Forgive them, no matter what they've done. Forgive them and tell them they are loved. And give to them a chance to go on living. And give to them a life that they could never have before. Father, forgive them"

I just love that this day started out stormy and dark similar to how it was when Jesus took all our pain and suffering as His own; and that later today it will be sunny for us to remember the true Light of the World and what He did for us. Thank God for Good Friday.

Mind the Mind

Last week I spent a lunch break sitting outside Starbucks doing a crossword puzzle. I forgot how much I enjoy them; I used to do one every day. Sometimes I hid them under a notebook during class, and other times I would save it until I got home and could enjoy a quiet hour focusing on the clues and fitting the answers into the puzzle. My recent outing reminded me not only of how much I love crosswords puzzles, but of how great it feels to actually hold a pencil and paper, and read words and focus my thoughts anywhere besides a computer screen. I felt refreshed after my break, and I even completed the entire crossword (okay it was only Wednesday’s puzzle, but I’m still proud!).

Since revisiting my love for crosswords, I’ve happened across an article in Real Simple about tips to feel energized during different stages of the day. One of the recommendations for the afternoon is to take a break and do something to utilize your thinking skills; this could be making a to-do list, balancing your check book, or what I prefer, doing a crossword. I highly recommend taking this tip, not just to feel refreshed throughout the day, but as part of a well-balanced healthy life. Exercising your mind is just as or even more important than working out your body.

Also, a suggestion from me: enjoy this mind satisfying task on something that doesn’t end in ‘phone,’ ‘pad,’ or ‘pod.’ If you’re into Sudoku (something I will never ever master or probably attempt again), buy a book of puzzles. If you’re a list maker, grab a pen and paper and have at it. I know this may seem like kickin’ it old school for some, but your eyes and mind will thank you for turning away from a glowing screen for just a short while.

Feel Good In My Soul

I am so excited about the next couple weekends I can barely hold it all in. One of my best friends is getting married next weekend, and her bachelorette party is this weekend, which means over the next ten days I can truly say I get to see all of my dearest, closest, oldest, and best friends.

They are the people that when my boyfriend knows I’m feeling low, he asks - almost  begs, “Can you please plan a trip or make plans to see so-and-so this weekend?” He knows being around these friends lifts my spirit and is like a makeover for my soul. They are the ones my sister references when she constantly reminds me, “Abby, most people aren’t like you and your friends. I don’t know if you really understand that.” But I do, and I try to never forget it.

My best friends and I fight, argue, tell the truth, support one another, laugh so hard we cry, and genuinely love and respect each other like family. These are friendships of years in the making: The bride I mentioned earlier and I were in the same kindergarten class and college roommates. I have pictures with most of these people before we were twelve years old. And  I’ve said for the past ten years that a couple of these friends are solely to blame for the early onset of my smile-line-wrinkles.

Has any one of these friendships been all roses? Not even close. Has every single one been worth every phone call, plane ticket, train ticket, road trip, and bridesmaid dress I really won’t ever wear again? Without a doubt or hesitation, absolutely.

When the upcoming festivities are over, we will all go our separate ways back to where we call home- Idaho, Chicago, St. Joe, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Columbia, Omaha. But for the time being I’m going to get as much feel good in my soul as I can and enjoy the wonderful, irreplaceable times with my wonderful, irreplaceable friends.

The Four P's to Happ(pp)iness

In college I started praying daily for peace, patience, and positivity.


Peace in the sense of keeping anxiety and worry at bay, and for continual acceptance that I am not in control.


Patience, as it's said, is a virtue and one I have struggled in having my whole life. I pray to not only have patience with others, but with where I want to be in life and sometimes the slow, tedious road getting there.


Positivity is so important to mental, emotional, and I think even physical health. I pray to stay positive, not just when it's easy, but in the face of others' negativity, stressful situations, and when all I want to do is rattle off a few cuss words to alleviate frustration temporarily (I'm working on this).


So after praying for my three P's to happiness for awhile, I started thinking about possibly writing a book about what they mean to me and how I truly know focusing on them has helped me become a happier person. Then it dawned on me pretty powerfully; I was leaving out the fourth and most important P to happiness: Prayer.


My spike in feeling more peaceful, being more patient, and staying more positive was all due to the fact that I had started praying to feel and live that way. I became emotional at this thought and from that day forward have incorporated my gratitude for the power of prayer and the ability and luxury we have in being able to talk directly to God knowing he listens.

With which we have agreed

One of my favorite lyrics is from Eddie Vedder's "Society," and goes:

"It's a mystery to me we have agreed with which we have agreed."

I find this lyric applicable to many parts of life and often have it playing in my head when I find myself in certain situations. From the level of work stress we have been trained to think is acceptable, to the crazy amount and quality of food we have learned to expect, if you take some time and think about all the things to which we have agreed, it makes you wonder how and why.

This is just something I've been thinking about as it relates to living a happier and healthier life. Now I'm going to go listen to Eddie- a guaranteed happy time!

The butt stops here

This past Saturday was one of the nicest days we've had in the Kansas City area since Fall. The long-awaited beautiful weather got me thinking about Spring clothing, which got me thinking about Summer clothing, which got me thinking about swimsuit time. Thinking about swimsuit time automatically made me thankful for my new-found motivation and appreciation of being happy and healthy.

After hibernating indoors since November, my longing to be outside and be active isn't the only thing that's grown throughout the winter. It's my post-Thanksgiving/Christmas/Chiefs tailgating/New Year/Valentine's Day booty that has become noticeably bigger. And while I don't regret the piece(s) of my sister's homemade chocolate pie, or one early-morning beer outside Arrowhead Stadium, it is time to stop the winter-feeding frenzy.

So as the old saying goes regarding making decisions and ultimately taking responsibility for the consequences associated with those decisions (i.e. a plate full of Christmas cookies), now is the time to get serious: the butt stops here.

Of the greatest worth

In my first post I mentioned one staple in leading a healther and happier life is to take advantage of eating fruits & vegetables every day, not only because they are packed with vitamins, but also because fruits and vegetables are grown from our amazing earth God created perfectly.

In oddly couldn't-be-better timing my wonderful mom forwarded me an e-mail containing the following information yesterday. Now I haven't done extensive research on all the facts/percentages listed below, but even the basic truths of this info are pretty amazing.

This all reminds me of a Ben Harper song in which he is not exactly referring to fruits and vegetables, but he does say, "...... and what's from the earth is of the greatest worth." I agree.

It has been said God first separated salt-water from fresh, created dry land, planted a garden, created plants and animals..... all before making a human. He created and provided what we'd need before we were made. He also left us clues as to what to eat and why. These are best and more powerful when eaten raw.

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Iloveit Bread

After I sent my sister Erika the link to my blog containing the first two posts, she responded in disbelief:

"Yay! Can't wait to follow you! But I can't believe it's called "Love It All" , AND you talked about Lent AND someone misinterpreting a saying without mentioning iloveit bread."

And she is so right. How did I not make this connection before!? Years ago the Strasser/Albin clan members were all gathered around a wonderful, traditional Easter lunch at Erika & Josh's house. In true Erika-fashion she had created delicious Easter-themed courses, one of which included iloveit bread.

"What is iloveit bread?" you may be asking yourself as I was each time my sister or mom would mention it.

Luckily, in honor of the event, Erika started explaining the tradition of the Last Supper and the bread Jesus broke with His disciples. We all listened with thougths of gratefulness and amazement thinking about Jesus. Except for me. I was only thinking, "iloveit bread?"

So when it came time to feast I finally got up the nerve to admit out loud that I still really had no idea what iloveit bread was, and that I know I'm a horrible person for having apparently fallen asleep in all my Sunday school classes that must have clearly mentioned this awesome iloveit bread related to Jesus and one of  the most important Biblical stories ever. 

But through roars and tears of laughter from all of my family members, it turned out my sister had made unleavened bread. Although, that was the first and last time I've heard the word unleavened because to us it will always be iloveit bread.

Toeachizone

In the spirit of celebrating happiness I will share a funny memory.

One of my favorite people in the world, who I will not name, turned to me a couple years ago and asked, "What does 'toeachizone' mean? I always hear people say 'toeachizone' but I can't figure out why."

I explained that "toeachizone" is actually "to each his own," and I gave an example of a conversation that would explain the meaning:

Person 1: "Did you know Abby's boyfriend is not familiar with common phrases?"
Person 2 shrugging: "To each his own."

And so Lent begins...

I wrote the e-mail-turned-first-blog-entry below as a reply to a message my sister Katy sent me containing a couple excerpts she came across recently. 

The excerpts were:

"Now’s the time for some serious mind control. Instead of worrying about bad things that might happen, get busy trying to create the kind of future you want. The best insurance policy for tomorrow is to make the most productive use of today."

And...

"These suggestions probably sound very familiar – maybe even trite – to the point that we don’t take them seriously. Take exercise for example. Study after study proves that this is Mother Nature’s number one treatment for stress and tension. It truly is the "magic bullet." But too many of us just don’t want to go through the drill of daily exercise….So rather than carry on about how others are failing to lower our stress level, let’s just make sure we’re doing what we ourselves can do…Invest thirty minutes in vigorous physical exercise, three to five times per week. Work up a sweat."

And so my reply went....

From: Abby Strasser
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 10:59 AM
To: Strasser, Katy
Subject: RE:

Love it all! And I have been thinking about this all morning. Rocket & Teresa were talking about Lent, and instead of giving anything up, I’m going to add health/happiness to my life every day, in ways including but not limited to:

- Eating tons of fruit and vegetables. These are all grown from God’s earth and gifts that should be taken advantage of.

- Reading daily devotionals every morning and living the thoughts- I signed up for Our Daily Bread today.

- Working out- whether it’s kickboxing, walking Brooksie, etc. I should do something active every day, not only for health reasons, but because there are millions of people that would give anything to go for a walk outside, etc. but can’t because of illness, circumstances, etc.

So my goal for Lent, and the rest of my life, is to celebrate being healthy and happy- two gifts that should never go unappreciated!

I may have just unintentionally created my first blog post.