My Top Routines for Optimal Health

27 degrees out and there is no where I'd rather be than on this mid morning trek.

Half way there and the incline is about to begin with one right turn.

As I hike my mind is cleansed and rejuvenated at the same time.

As I begin to enter the "senior age category" of life I find myself grateful that fitness and nutrition have always been a major habit in my lifestyle. I haven't done this hike in a while, and it was honestly a personal test of my level of fitness. LOL! Aside from the cold air making it a bit hard to breathe on the steep inclines, and a few new aches in my hips, I was truly pleased with my fitness level.

At the top I'm inspired and filled with energy as I look out over our City of Trees: Boise, Idaho.

I found myself reflective on my own healthy habits.

Here are my top routines of keeping in shape both mentally and physically:

1. Exercise Every Day: 

Mine takes the form of muscle strengthening exercises five days of week and moderate exercise every day. Moderate exercise is important at our age. I'm also finding you don't have to go all out, we just need to move. My favorite is a two mile walk after my workout giving me a healthy hour of pure exercise.  In the winter months, walks get traded out for 8 miles on the indoor exercise bike. (But it's in front of a window, so I can watch it snow as I workout) My FAVORITE is in the Spring and summer when walking can also mean nine holes of golf or a longer bike ride outside at our mountain summer home.  I'm COMMITTED to an hour of exercise at least five days a week no matter what form it takes. Truth be told, I'm LESS achy when I exercise. And I don't forgo the stretching!!! 

2. Mental Health: 

Exercise is BIG for my own mental health. I also ENJOY  keeping a travelers journal. It fills my need to goal set, helps me get things out of my head and minimizes my over thinking. It has five sections: monthly calendar, my budget book, daily morning affirmation doodles, my journal and a project book. I'm committed to living an authentic life that is CREATED with purpose on purpose and this helps me accomplish such.  

Socially, I find myself becoming more of an introvert as I age. I use to be energized by socialization and collaboration but now find myself  ENERGIZED  by my time alone and prefer social settings with much smaller groups. I'd like to think of this as WISDOM lol...but never the less, I truly find myself relishing this peaceful transition. My blog is really my only social media and lately that has been pretty minimal. I mean, okay, I love Pinterest....but I think of that as my "filing cabinet for the internet". It's a place that stores the ideas and INSPIRATION I find. Social media is overwhelming for me. I don't like the time it sucks up and  honestly my life just isn't that interesting. LOL I enjoy my blog because it documents my quilts and I enjoy our quilt community of bloggers but overall, my mental health is FUELED by the solitude in my life. 

As we enter this pre-retirement stage of life, I have also found list making to become a thing of the past as I'm finding that solitude in the SIMPLICITY of our day to day routines . I just told my husband the other day: "I feel like we are living a life we don't need a vacation from!"  I love that feeling!! And, emotionally, this is an EXCITING transformation. I live in GRATITUDE for all the memories of raising a family that fill my heart but find myself relishing  in the FREEDOM of this stage of life where obligations are minimal and life is full of new adventures for my husband and I.

3. Water: WHY oh WHY is this soooo hard? I've RECOMMITTED  to this, which for me means 10 8oz. glasses of water a day. Luckily my lemon and peppermint teas count! My MOTIVATION is I know this habit with flush my body of toxins, lubricates my joints, helps my skin be more toned (I hope!!!!) and it helps my digestive system.

4. Clean Eating: 

This one is easy for me as I've never been a foodie person. I do enjoy my wine in moderation. 

I hope if you too, find yourself on this pre-senior path of life, that this peace is finding it's way into your heart as well and you are finding the gifts meant for us in this stage of life. 

I'm curious about ways you are intentional about your emotional and physical health? 

Feel welcome to comment and share your inspiration with us. 

With Smiles, Val

#1 of 20 in 2020: An Exquisite Back-County Gig!

Happy New Year!

Our New Year found me already checking item number one off my 20 in 2020 list:

An Exquisite Back-Country Gig!

Hubby and I packed our Winter gear and headed to the mountains.

We stayed in a cozy AIR B&B next to the Payette River:

We went for Winter walks during the day and enjoyed brunch at a cozy restaurant.

Once evening came, we strapped on our snow shoes and began a mile and half hike along a Tiki torch lite path to a Yurt in the mountains of Jug Mountain Ranch, McCall. I can't even explain how refreshing this was. The snow was soft and fluffy and continued to fall in big flakes the entire night.

We enjoyed an evening of meeting new friends....

 ...over a festive, candle lit, six course meal of the most delicious food.

 Our party hats were so fun and though a challenge to actually keep balanced upon our heads, 

we had many laughs as we tried! We were all quite a site as we snow-shoed out at 12:30am.

The New Year, like many of you I'm sure, always finds us reflective and filled with  curiosity about what the New Year has in store...as it is always full of surprises isn't it! I know for us, we'll continue to be intentional about celebrating our relationship and this wonderful life we have together. 

How about you? What is something you are planning to intentionally celebrate in 2020?
With SMILES! Val

A Winter Hike with T.H.

This holiday season our daughter got engaged! We are beyond excited for her and her new fiance especially since it means we have inherited three more wonderful grands to love and spoil! God bless them as they create their blended family with FIVE boys in the age range of two to ten. 

Thus, this weekend I picked up the oldest for his 1st weekend of "Grammy Camp".

(He can use a break from all the littles I'm sure.)

First thing we did was go on my favorite Table Rock Trail  hike in Boise.  It's a 3.7 mile hike of moderate difficulty. There are some very steep sections but also mellow parts to balance them out. 

Hiking through the quarry was beautiful with it's skiff of snow and once you reach the top, the city overlook is amazing! (Imagine his reaction we he found out we could have drove to the top!! LOL!)

I took in the views and found it rejuvenating to just watch a snow storm dust the mountain tops.

Meanwhile, my grand guy busied himself with adventuring amongst the graffiti underneath a slope. Having learned we both LOVE everything chocolate mint chip... 

.. we took this picture!  Which was then followed by a good discussion on our way down about how we both disagreed with so much graffiti in such a beautiful place and as Boy Scout, he actually came up with an innovative plan to remove it all. (SMILES!)

The hike down was a bit colder as the snow flurries caught up with us,

 but he never once complained, and we both equally enjoyed the hike. 

The rest of our weekend will find us hanging out at home. His main goal is to help me put together a my new computer. (How did ten years get so computer savy???) But he'll also hang out with Poppi and enjoy building, baking and cooking. Oh and he brought his "favorite" sweatshirt for me to mend!

Wishing everyone a great weekend.

With SMILES! Val

I'm Back! New Look! New Purpose!

My goal for 2019 was to be authentic as my husband and I found ourselves at a crossroad that would find us making an intentional, major shift in our lives both emotionally and physically.

Life's journey is full of hills and valleys and it was just time for a change.  

  I'm rebooting my blog after almost a year long sabbatical with a new face-life and mission. Physically, my husband and I spent the last year downsizing. Gotta tell ya...we love it! The simplicity is wonderful!! We think of our new home as our "transitional" housing until we retire in a few years. 

Creatively, I've just been thinking...gaining a new perspective of myself and what I want to do with my time now that I don't have a large house and yard to manage. Kinda time to follow my bliss....

Curious to see how much the grands have grown??

Here's our daughter and those little guys now:

Our big guy is six now and started kindergarten and little Jack is two.

Okay, I'm literally teary eyed posting that pic....I mean look at those smiles!

They too have conquered life's challenges with love and joy.

2019 blessed us all in so many ways that we only end such a rough patch with gratitude.

Oh and what about Jackson??? I'm sure he will continue to photo bomb my posts.  He's getting a bit grey and is now ten, yet continues to be a loyal companion on walks, hikes and in the sewing room. 

Join me for my 20 in 2020.

Okay so my life isn't what I envisioned for myself when I reached middle age...but regardless of this, I'm ready to be the one to decide where my life will bring me instead of the other way around. I know we're all crafty, quilty folk, but I challenge you to also be thinking of the kind of goal setting that is more about WHO you want to be, what you want to do. 

 WHAT KIND OF GOALS can GO IN A 20 FOR 2020 LIST?

Your list can be anything...challenges, adventures, personality goals, dreams to chase, projects to finish, hobbies to try. There is power in writing things down and then making them happen. 

I'm PLANNING TO DISPLAY AND CHECK OFF THESE GOALS through the use of a Travelers notebook and here on the blog! 

Christmas Day will find me "unwrapping" all my supplies and playing.
With SMILES! Val

Also linking with my quilty friends at:

A Mental Health Day=A Great Hike!

Once or twice a year, I treat myself to a Mental Health day off from work. So when my niece's volleyball team was in town for college play and my sister decided to drive across the state to gather a set of videos of her on the court, I knew exactly what to do.

Yep! The next day I took a mental health day. We loaded the pups into the car, took our "selfie"

 and headed to Boise (only a 45 minute drive away) for a day hike.

Our hike began at the Old Idaho Penitentiary....

 ...and our destination was Table Rock. A two mile upward hike.

 We loved it!

The view of Boise was breathtaking.

 Along with that of the foothills behind us:

Being four years apart, like many, our journey in life has had it's periods of closeness and distance. 

We married within a year of each other yet our oldest daughter and her youngest daughter are nine years apart...thus she is just beginning her "empty nest" chapter of life and coping with the loneliness and transition of such. We enjoyed one of those two days visits that found you staying up till 1:00am talking only to turn around and get up early for hiking and a little shopping the next day. 

 We literally laughed out-loud as we found ourselves driving along with  dogs on our laps,  reminiscent of the days our cars were then filled with car seats and children instead. We wrapped up our day with a visit to a quilt store to pick out fabrics for a quilt I'm going to make her and JoAnnes to pick out yarn for a blanket she is going to crochet me. I'm grateful for our visit and that we had this time to get reunited. I'm learning that it's not so much that we change, as much as it is that we grow. We're already discussing our next visit and things we'd like to do. I hope the next time you have the opportunity to take a Mental Health Day from work that you feel inspired to take care of yourself and do just that!