What a beautiful weekend we had--and gorgeous week ahead!!  David and I returned to our home on Friday, after a week of dog-sitting for a friend.  Loved staying at this beautiful home with a refreshing pool and hot tub, but I'm reminded of why we usually keep dogs at our home :)  We did continue to juice (traveling juicer, baby!), but there were many other food items available to us--cheese, chips, and loads of junky sweets!  This week we didn't do so well staying away from it all, but when we return, we will have to!  It'll be too close to my maid-of-honor position for me to risk the acne and weight gain!!

Saturday morning, we started off with David's delicious lattes.  Mid-day, I made us our Mean Greens and we enjoyed it in a wine glass.  Kris Carr "Crazy Sexy Life" suggests that enjoying your juice in a wine glass or other pretty glassware can make the 'meal' more satisfying.  We liked the idea and enjoyed our lunch :)

We also worked in the the backyard.  We're hosting a party at our home mid-April and, fingers crossed the weather is nice, hope people will use the back porch along with the inside of our home.  That means--weed and leaf clean-up!!  We've cleaned out our waterfall and pond, but still have some leaf mulching to do as well as the weed destruction.  In the meantime, I'm anxiously awaiting my seedlings for my 2012 garden.  So far, my heirloom tomatoes are the strongest.  Ironically, they were the last to produce last year--but the first to grow this year!?  My cherry tomatoes seem to be struggling with a number of the other seeds-cucumbers, basil, spinach, romaine, and peas.  I'll move the heirlooms to the garden next weekend, but hopeful that some of the other seedlings will begin to grow over the next few weeks.  I can't wait to see what produce I have over the Summer!!

Happy Spring!!

Still loving my career choice!

A massage client informed me this weekend of an article published in the Wall Street Journal last week.  It's a great piece on research that is being done for medical massage.  Sure, it's great to get luxurious massages from time to time (I know many people enjoy cruise/resort treats), but finding time to get a massage biweekly or monthly is the preferred maintenance if you love your body.  We use our bodies everday-- whether its through exercise, daily activities, or attending work--our bodies need a release from time to time in order to feel good.

I'm always pleased when I see research being done to prove that massage is beneficial to our health.  Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304537904577277303049173934.html

Thursday is one of my more challenging workout days during the week.  I arrive at the LJCC around 9:10 and take BodyAttack with Greer, CXworks with Mark (I think that's his name??), and Zumba with Liz.  My gym gf Jennifer hangs in with me too.  Sometimes I duck out of Zumba a little early for work OR out of pure exhaustion!  So, I try not to push myself too much after my early AM workout.

Yesterday, I had some time to kill.  I usually walk laps around the track as it is very available and the weather is enticing--but I opted for something different.  I cruised over to the library to see what could distract me.  I recently finished "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and am ready to start "The Girl who Played with Fire".  They didn't have any copies at this library, BUT they had it for the Kindle!!  I have never checked out a book on my Kindle, so it was time to learn!  Thankfully, the new Library in the Forest in Vestavia Hills is not only beautiful, but also has many eager staff members who are excited to help out!  Ron offered to take me through the lesson, even though I saw signs all over the place saying that I could come back in 2 weeks for a class to learn how to upload books to my Kindle.

It was pretty easy.  It helps that I am already familiar with Mac and that's the computer Ron was using.  There are a few steps to it, but I'm used to the few steps it takes to check out at the library--this way, I can skip the step of driving my car and wasting gas!!  Ron did not spot the available copy I found of my book, so he taught me how to check out a different book.  As soon as I came home last night, I went online to show David how to check out books from the Hoover Library.  Once there, I discovered the copy I wanted--I returned the book Ron had checked out on my device and immediately checked out "The Girl Who Played with Fire".  I shut off my computer and started reading!! 

Yes, it's important to get in a daily workout (even if its just walking for 20 minutes outside!), but it's also important to challenge our brains!  I'm happy that I was able to learn something new yesterday and I look forward to sharing this knowledge with others!