How I became Oprah's Ultimate Viewer

“What does it mean to be an ‘Ultimate Viewer?” People have asked me what I wrote to Oprah to earn a spot on her “Ultimate Australian Adventure.” I wrote Oprah a heartfelt “thank-you” letter about how her show dramatically influenced my life.

Twenty-seven years ago, my Mother was a freshman at Bangor Christian High School in Maine.  At the delicate age of 15 she was pregnant with me.  Many people had negative opinions about my Mom and her pregnancy, and she was even kicked out of school for her sin.  You see, we all (me included) judge others decisions and decide what is “good” and “bad” for other people.  Twenty-seven years ago, I am pretty certain that most people thought that my mother’s pregnant belly was very, very, very “bad.”

My Mom enjoyed watching Oprah, and she always let me watch the show (some parents may think the show is too mature for young children).  Something about Oprah and her ability to connect with people from every background, race, and circumstance drew me to her.  I trusted her.  I did not know her, but I deeply respected her.

I continued to watch Oprah as I grew up (before DVR, watching Oprah daily was nearly impossible-but, thanks to modern technology, now, I don’t have to miss one show!)  Her show taught me that anything is possible in life.  Negative experiences in our lives do not define us.  Greatness has many meanings, and everyone is capable of greatness.

My favorite Oprah series is “Live Your Best Life” where Oprah taught me not only the importance of healthy relationships, finances, exercise, eating, and careers, but how to have them all!

When I graduated nursing school, I secured a job at an RN on a cardiac telemetry unit.  Almost immediately, I recognized a critical emergency in our health care system.  In health care, we like to “fix” everyone by giving them high-cost medical interventions, medication, and acute care.  But, I couldn’t help but think “what if nurses promoted Oprah’s teachings in practice?  If people had less stress because they were exercising, eating well, managing their finances, and enjoying positive relationships, would we have less disease?  Could the system save billions of dollars? Would patients be happier?”  I believe YES! 

I immediately started searching for a way to bring “wellness-care” into health care and nursing practice.  I quit my job at the hospital without another one lined up!  Most people thought I was wicked stupid!  They didn’t believe that “wellness” had anything to do with nursing.  Random strangers on the street would tell me that I wasn’t a nurse if I didn’t work in a hospital.  Nurses told me I was “ruining” my career.

Three years later, I earned a Master’s Degree in Nursing.  Then I was accepted under a fully funded grant in the PhD nursing program at Northeastern University to research wellness in nursing practice. 

Oprah taught me to chase dreams, fulfill your passions, and stay true to yourself.  I am living proof that great things can happen in life (even vacationing in Australia with Oprah!).  Some people thought my Mom rearing me at 15 was a “bad” decision, but I don’t think I am all that bad after all. 

Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure series begins at 4pm EST TODAY! 

 

Meals that will even make KIDS eat SPINACH!

The two key ingredients to maintaining a healthy diet are viewing food as nutrients and medicine for your body and having fun eating and cooking at home.

The Oprah Winfrey Show recently hosted Jessica Seinfeld , and she promoted her new cookbook “Double Delicious.”  I LOVE this cookbook because most of the recipes are healthy and easy to prepare.

Jessica adds pureed vegetables into every recipe!  Pureeing is an excellent way to “hide” healthy food as a way to trick picky eaters into giving their bodies essential nutrients for optimal living.

James and I decided to have a little fun for the beginning of the year and cook every recipe in the Double Delicious cookbook!  So far, we cooked about 15 recipes from the book and they are ALL delicious. 

We cooked a cinnamon bun recipe that, believe it or not, had pureed sweet potatoes and cauliflower as key ingredients!

 I only minimally modify the recipes in Double Delicious and most of the time the main modification is adding MORE of the pureed vegetables than the recipe requires.  The concept of pureeing is awesome, but in her recipes, she only adds between 1/4-1/2 cup of pureed veggies for meals that yield 6-8 servings.  Increasing the quantity of puree doesn’t alter the taste of the recipes (most people don’t even notice the puree) and the body gets more of what it needs!

Enchilada prep- this meal lasts 2-3 dinners!

Chicken Enchiladas is our favorite recipe (so far) from the book- this is a great recipe to use up the extra home made salsa from the Funky Tortilla Casserole

Sweet Apron Jimmy!

Click here to print the Chicken Enchiladas recipe:  Chicken Enchiladas

 

Homeless Children Deserve Birthday Cake, Too

 On my vacation in Australia with Oprah and 302 of Oprah’s ultimate viewers, I met one a courageous and inspiring woman.  Oprah’s team hand selected each person who traveled to Australia based on letters individuals wrote about how The Oprah Winfrey Show influenced their life.  Every person on the trip had a story and one woman’s story brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps to my skin.

Alysha was watching Oprah one day and learned that children living in homeless shelters do not get Birthday cake. Alysha changed this for many homeless children in her community. Alysha’s husband is a police officer, and she partnered with the police department to create the non-profit company "Spouses Behind the Badge” 

Alysha obtained birth dates of children living in homeless shelters, volunteers, and donations and started changing children’s lives forever.  Alysha or one of her teammates and one officer from the department go to a homeless shelter on a child’s birthday. They bring balloons, cake, and a backpack filled with school supplies for the child.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

In a short period of time Spouses Behind the Badge grew.  Alysha started receiving calls from community agencies requesting beds for improvised children.  Before long, Spouses Behind the Badge began providing beds and bedding to needy children.

Spouses Behind the Badge & Police Officers Setting up bunk beds for deserving children!

Two beds for two little girls- I LOVE the pink bed sets!

The group's generosity continued to grow. One day, while delivering bus passes, Alysha learned of a deserving mother in need of a car.  Alysha knew that she must find this woman a car.  With a lot of hard work and perseverance Alysha secured a donated car, car insurance, and gas for this mother- what a tremendous blessing!

Here's your NEW car!!

Spouses behind the badge positively impacted homeless and improvised children, the community, and the relationship between low-income families and the police department. The crazy thing is that Alysha said that the time commitment involved in bringing a birthday cake or delivering a brand new bed- about 15 minutes.  But, the impact that 15 minutes has on lives of innocent and deserving children lasts a lifetime.

The group began because one woman was brave enough to stand up something she believed in.  Giving to others has blessed Alysha and her team's lives in so many ways. Alysha is an inspiration and her story proves that we don’t need tons of money, or perfect circumstances to do something great in this world. 

I was listening to a “stuff you should know” pod cast yesterday.  The topic was homelessness, and the hosts shared a story of a once homeless man who said, “most of the despair in homelessness is being treated like you don’t exist.”  Children in homeless shelters want birthday cake just like any other child, and thanks to Alysha and Spouses Behind the Badge- at least for one day they exist.

"Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes up his mind to do. We are all capable of greater things than we realize."

 

 

Thou Shalt Not Waste: Funky Tortilla Casserole

 

I used to grocery shop aimlessly! I would throw a few Cheeze-Its and sale items in the cart and top it off with a couple of bananas and call it a trip.  I had no rhyme or reason to my madness.  Consequently, James and I ate more, spent more, and threw away more than we both realized.

James prepping the casserole (he tolerates my pink needs)

Today we have a strict $500 per month food budget.  Food is EXPENSIVE, but we learned that meal planning is one of the best tricks to stay within our food budget.  We literally have a plan for every piece of food we buy.  Some call us insane, and I would agree.  However, I am proud of our meticulous food planning skills, and I will tell you why.

  

1.     More than half the food produced in our country is wasted, I am happy that we waste little to NO food, EVER

2.     We feed our bodies exactly what they need

3.     We save TONS of $$ which translates to paying down DEBT

4.     We don’t stress about “what’s for dinner?” every night because we already know!

5.     We have fun cooking at home and eating our crazy healthy food concoctions

I have the easiest, most delicious super food recipe to share!  This recipe was approved by my Dad, my siblings, and our two great friends in Boston- it’s a keeper!

This funky tortilla casserole is packed with seven super foods: beans, spinach, whole wheat, tomatoes, chicken and yogurt!  You will get six healthy servings from the dish; James and I eat one casserole for dinner for three nights. The homemade salsa used to create this dish yields about five or six cups, so we always plan another dinner that requires salsa.

Funky Tortilla Casserole- fresh from the oven!

Bone Appetite!

 
Print Recipe Here:  Funky Tortilla Casserole
Print salsa recipe here:  Homemade Salsa

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

I can confidently say that 2010 was the best year of my 27 years.  I lived an unimaginable dream in December when I vacationed in Australia for 10 days with Oprah Winfrey.  Even as I write this blog, I find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that I met and hugged Oprah Winfrey.  In July, I told James that meeting Oprah was impossible, now I believe that anything is possible.

My experiences in 2010 did not come without challenges.  James and I moved from our home state that we know and love to the city.  We both embraced incredible challenges in our first semester as graduate students at Northeastern University.  Through most of the months of September through December, we both believed that we made a terrible decision to pursue our PhDs.  I suffered severe insomnia, and I went as many as seven days without sleeping (on more than one occasion).  I did not even know what a good night sleep felt like for about four months.

As I reflect back on 2010, I realized that the last part of the year my stress and uncertainty was a result of imbalance in my life.  I cannot maintain happiness and productivity in my life if I put all of my energy into one small piece of my life.  In 2011, I vow to put education and my career in it’s place in my life.  The rest of my life I hope to fill with joy and experiences with my friends and family.

I look forward to sharing more amazing super food recipes and positive experiences of my life in the crazy city of Boston.

2010 highlights:

·      James and I trained for and completed two triathlons

·      We moved from Maine to Massachusetts to pursue PhDs at Northeastern University

·      I attended traveled to Chicago with my Mom to view the season premier taping of the Oprah Winfrey show

·      James lived one of his dreams to vacation in Australia

·      We met amazing new friends and neighbors

·      I ran with my sister in her first 5K race

·      I met Oprah!!!

The "O" for Oprah on the Sydney Harbor Bridge, Australia

Kangaroo Island, Australia- The most beautiful place in the world

First day of School

Moving to the City

Karrie's first 5K

I hope 2011 will bring more surprises and happiness, and I really hope to pay off our remaining debt and celebrate the feeling of being DEBT FREE!

 

5 Super Hot Spots for Food!

Okay, this is a little sneaky, but totally, worth the potential punishment I may encounter.  This summer, I moved in with my Dad and gave him a top of the line health reform plan: I invaded his kitchen with SUPER FOODS!  Surprisingly, he enjoyed nearly all of his super food breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals.  However, the big question was: “could he maintain this type of eating when James and I moved out?”  My little brother, the skeptic, said: “no way, Kelley!” 

Last weekend, I went home for a short visit, and I was pleasantly surprised!  I snooped around in the kitchen, and here is what I found:

Hot Spot # 1: Front of Refrigerator:  A complete list of super foods and their sidekicks’ to provide motivation and reminding (okay, I planted this there before I left).

Hot Spot #2: Freezer: Stalked full with frozen super fruits and vegetables.  He even had a few convenient super foods!  A++

Hot Spot #3: Inside Refrigerator:  The fridge is stocked with non-fat Greek yogurt (this took him about a week to adjust- okay he might still be adjusting), oranges, apples, pumpkin seeds, white meat turkey burgers, almond milk, and carrots!

Hot Spot #4: Counter Top:  I found evidence of an empty loaf of organic whole wheat bread (which means he didn’t just plant this bread here for my arrival- someone ate the loaf).  I believe my brother and sister converted to whole wheat bread, too (they used to insist on white which is nothing but sugar and chemicals- who wants their loved ones eating that!!?)  I also found evidence of preparation in progress: turkey meat thawing on the counter!

I love that he saved $1!!

Hot Spot # 5 Cupboard:  With one turn of the cupboard, I found three boxes of shredded wheat cereal and cheerios.  Additionally, I discovered a jar of natural peanut butter!

*On my way to the bus station, I found an apple and a Tupperware container of carrots in my Dad’s van- he is prepped with snack to combat hunger throughout the day.

Hey, if my Dad can convert (or even semi-convert) anyone can!  Additionally, he lost 4 more pounds since we moved away six weeks ago.

Health Reform Made Simple

Friday morning I had the pleasure of sitting next to a 79-year-old (still practicing) emergency room physician as we both journeyed from Boston to Maine on a concord Trailway’s bus.

He was on his way to an underserved rural town in Maine to provide care during a physician shortage.

He began sharing his earlier experiences as a physical with sparkles in his eyes.  He shared stories of “how life used to be.”  Then suddenly, his voice and expression turned from joy to sorrow. 

He explicitly expressed his disappointment in the American population and government.  He consistently stated that far too few Americans take personal responsibility for their health and life.  He felt deflated in his role as a doctor believing that everyone wants him to solve the outcomes of their health defeating behaviors.

He voiced literally no hope for the current health reform debates and outcomes generated in Washington.  With sadness in his eyes, he said: “I am happy that I am at the end of my career.  Healthcare is broken beyond repair.”

For about an hour of the ride, I reflected on his statements, concerns, frustrations, and disappointments.  As a nurse and American, I understand and believe everything he said.  The American healthcare system is broken.  Healthcare professionals in every sector of the field are overworked, burned out, and hopeless. 

You know, his expression of frustration with Washington and Health Reform echoes among many Americans.  We all want an easy solution to the crisis we face.  Some want universal healthcare, others oppose the idea and believe that they do not want people “free loading.”

The truth is: the rise of the healthcare system in our country begins with health improvement.  Health is something that our government does not own, we do.  Every day, regardless of our political status, we decide how we will treat our body.  What we eat, how long we sleep, how much we exercise, how we choose to handle or not handle stress, if we smoke, if we drink, if we find time to relax…we decide. 

Granted, some individuals are born with life changing medical diagnosis and have very little control over their health status.  But, most of us do. Barak Obama, the doctors, the nurses, medication, procedures…nothing will improve your health as well as you do. 

I was reading a few studies the other day, and I uncovered that over 75% of people do not eat the recommended fruits and vegetables, and less than 50% exercise for at least 30 minutes most days. Eating and exercise are our most basic forms of defense for almost every medical diagnosis known: cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, depression…. Everything.

Eating well is difficult and exercise is more difficult!  But, I know that I need to do my part to contribute to the vitality and sustainability of health in our country.  I believe that our healthcare system is not hopeless.  Our country will rise and recover from this devastating fall we are experiencing.  We all have to believe and do our part together before all of our amazing medical doctors, nurses, nursing assistance, physical therapists, and all other healthcare providers lose hope in us.

Enjoy a vegetable and a beautiful walk today and feel happy that you did your part to improve the health of all of us.

Tutee Fruity PB Sandwiches

Did you grow too old for some good old fashioned PB & J?!  After a small analysis, I realized that with a couple minor modifications, PB & J sandwiches create a delicious, low-cost, healthy lunch!

Step 1: Whole Wheat Bread

BEWARE of the packaging LIES!  Whole wheat bread contains 100% whole wheat, and the food advertisers LOOOOVE to trick us with their dirty games.  Always read the ingredient list.  The word “100% WHOLE WHEAT” is the only acceptable FIRST ingredient on any bread you buy!

Step 2:  Add 100% natural Peanut butter

            

Why natural peanut butter? Read here

Step 3: Add some tutee by slicing up fruity

Skip jam or jelly and give your body real delicious 100% original vitamins and minerals.  You can slice up almost any type of fruit and add it to your sandwich: peaches, pears, apples, strawberries, plumbs…the list goes on forever

-If you want a little extra pizzazz, add a few dashes of cinnamon!

Did you know that one tablespoon of smuckers concord grape contains 12 grams of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, pectin, and citric acid?? I don’t know about you, but I feel safer eating real food.

http://www.smuckers.com/products/ProductDetail.aspx?groupId=1&categoryId=5&flavorId=4

Does everything happen for a reason?

My pursuit as a nursing philosopher continues and today I believe that I might actually understand the minds of some of the greatest thinkers in our history.

How did I overcome my philosophical anxiety?  First, I purchased the book: Philosophy Made Simple and second I altered my thinking surrounding this seemingly “useless” material.  How blessed and lucky am I to have the opportunity to review and attempt to understand the thinking of amazing individuals in our history?  Furthermore, the opportunity comes to me with a full scholarship and assistantship: I am being paid to read about thinking.  I do not think it is hat bad of a gig.

Today’s philosopher, Spinoza, believed that happiness is determined by our ability to recognize that events in our life contain two properties: rational and emotional. 

Rationally, all events are predetermined in our life.  Emotionally, we can choose to accept or reject the events.  Spinoza believes that when we emotionally choose to accept that both good and bad events will occur, we will experience happiness.

We do not need to pretend that bad events are not bad; however, he states that we control the emotion tied to the bad event.  For example, we choose to accept fear, anxiety, and unhappiness when something bad happens to us.  Therefore, nothing is actually good or bad it is our emotion that determines the goodness or badness of any event.  When we adjust our outlook on the world, we are liberated and freed from the slavery of our thoughts and emotion.

Real life example:

You work with a difficult co-worker, and you obsess about his or her annoying qualities.  Your co-worker is a “bad” event in your life.  Or is he?  Is he bad, or did your emotion make him bad?  What if you viewed your co-worker’s “bad” traits as opportunities to improve your tolerance, patience, or peace?  If you change your views about your co-worker, is your co-worker still “bad?” 

I believe that James and I always experience situations that challenge our weaknesses.  For him, road rage is a weakness.  Interestingly, every single morning when we drive to school, he will get behind a slow driver, a “cutter-offer,” or a “failer” to follow driving rules.  He gets enraged, and his blood pressure spikes to extreme levels!  But, is it interesting that he experiences these types of drivers consistently?  Is God trying to teach him a lesson in patience?  Are the drivers on the road “bad” events, or is his emotion related to the drivers perceived as bad events?

For me, I always seem to develop relationships with slow individuals.  I say this loosely because I love most of the people that I label “slow.”  My college roommate, Katie (who I love dearly), she is one of the slowest people I ever met.  She could not talk and tie her shoes simultaneously.  We were late to class every day for four straight years in college.  I also experience slow co-workers, or slow partners for group projects.  My patience is tested, and I think: “why does this always happen to me? But, what if I need to slow down?  What if God strategically places these people in my life to help me take a breath, smell the coffee, and SLOOOOOWW DOWN?  If I view the situation this way, is slowness a bad event?  No. 

There we have it: philosophy 101: Rationally, events will occur and our emotion labels the events good or bad.  When we accept this, we will experience more happiness….according to Spinoza that is.  Give it a try, I will too.

Can someone drop some happiness into my philosophy book??

I officially attended my first week of classes to begin working toward my PhD in nursing.  The anticipation of moving and starting a new journey was thrilling and exciting until I sat down to begin studying my most dreaded topic: philosophy.

I read one page and immediately began drifting into dream land…I kept trying to focus my mind: 

“Kelley, think..this is important”

 My mind replies: “Kelley, this is not important- in fact, this is the least important information you ever encountered…I swear these guys were on drugs when they wrote this stuff, Kelley. Just put the book down and go do something fun.”

My mind and I argued for several hours; I believe that our argument turned vicious after we tried to study together more than 9 hours yesterday.  Finally, I conceded to my mind: 

“Wow mind, you are right.  Either this makes absolutely NO sense, or I am just DUMB!!”

When you sit down and feel like you wasted an entire day reading a Dictionary written in Chinese (and you speak English) you kinda get depressed- I’m not going to lie here.  So to try to pull me from the depression, I had to pull some interesting, applicable, laughable, spiritual, and sensible quotations from my philosophy book.

Interesting: “Philosophy” literally means ‘love of wisdom’” (what happens if you don’t understand it? Are you incapable of wisdom??? I need to know STAT!

Spiritual: “We observe a world of many things over which we require a sense of its unity into one world.”

Spiritual:  “We observe a world containing a plurality of objects; behind this there must be something that binds this diversity into one permanent unified cosmos.  Without such a “something,” we lack an overall and ultimate explanation for the world.”

Laughable:  “Sun on moist things, whereby fish developed, and within fish adult humans were originally formed who appeared when the fish form was shed.”  Yep- you got it- we are created from fish skin!

Sensible: “Everything is a process; there is no beginning, only becoming.”

Applicable: “What seems good, from a certain point of view, is good, and we cannot say objectively that one view is more legitimate than another.” Finally, we can outlaw arguing…we are ALL right!

After hundreds of pages of: X denotes X if X 1 is abc and abc isn’t a form if X 2 is def….I can comfortably pull five quotes…yep….five! Should I laugh or should I cry?? I am trying to keep things "optimistic,” I will stick with laughing.  Wait! I don’t think optimistic situations involve lying…so I change my mind- my primary choice is crying!

Shand, J. (2002). Philosophy and Philosophers: An introduction to Western Philosophy.  Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.  ISBN 0.77735-2445-0

Do dreams come true?

In my 26 years on earth, I learned at least one fact: life is short.  I blinked, and I was a married woman with a career.  Now that I am more than 25% through my life, and I need to ascertain that I do, get, see, feel, and live everything that I want.

On June 26, 2010, James and I decided to take our life into our own hands and create a lifetime “dream list.”  What are dreams?  Are they something we sometimes think about, but always believe they will never happen?   We decided to drop our attitudes about believing all our dreams that would never come true.

  

We spent several hours brainstorming everything we want in life including: vacation destinations, family, career, community service, houses, extreme dreams…everything.

While we were documenting dreams, I look at James and said: “My biggest dream is on that will never come true; I want to meet Oprah.  But, since this will never happen, I am going to leave it off the list.”

James replied: “Kelley, write that on the list!! What is the point of creating the list if you do not intend to include your biggest dream?"

He was right, and I proceeded to write: “*meet Oprah*”  Not just go to a show, I wrote: “*meet Oprah*.”

This is a picture of a snippet of the dream list created in June!!

Flash back to November 20, 2009: I was driving from work to a physical therapy appointment when the radio show announcement in the background brought me to tears: “Oprah Winfrey’s show will end after 25 seasons.”

I could not believe my ears.  I never watched television until I moved in with James (who loves TV!), but throughout my lifetime, I always committed to Oprah.  Her show taught me some of the deepest and most precious lessons in my life.  Furthermore, she inspired me to create a life of optimal health and wellness, ultimately leading to my nursing specialty.

Immediately, I knew that I must thank Oprah for her tremendous influence on my life.  I planned to write her a “thank-you” letter by the end of the 25^th season. 

In early August, I received a mass e-mail from the Oprah.com website (of course I am a subscriber!)  The subject line read: “are you an ultimate viewer?”  I thought to myself, “why yes I am!”

At that moment, I decided to compose the deepest, most heart felt letter to Oprah.  I wrote everything I wanted to say to her as if she was sitting right next to me. I copied and pasted the letter into multiple electronic fields allocated for specific “ultimate viewer” promoted questions- breaking all the rules.

Did I ever believe anything would happen to me after submitting the letter? No.  My absolute, number one priority was that Oprah would maybe read and accept my sincere thank you.

Much of what happened between my submission until today, I cannot share.  But, the point is: I was invited to attend the Oprah Winfrey show audience. 

The day I received the invitation, I cried publically at Montez catering in Bangor.  Some women sitting behind us thought I won the lottery!

On September 9, 2010, I attended what I believed to be an ordinary Oprah Winfrey show taping.  When I arrived, I was shockingly surprised.  With an audience filled with “ultimate viewers,” we watched the season premier show together.  The experience was remarkable, better than I could have ever dreamed.  I lived a moment I never believed possible. 

Oprah’s big surprise solidified my big dream: I will meet Oprah Winfrey.  Furthermore, on James’ list of dreams: visit Australia.

Another snippet of our dream list!  I couldn't figure out how to rotate- but, you see the "Visit Australia" 

Do dreams come true?  I was a naysayer: “I will never meet Oprah.” But, now I am a believer.  When your dream is yours, not your parents, your friends, not your boss’, not society…but, when your dream comes straight from within your heart and soul and when you take time to think about the dreams that you really want to live in your life….they will come. So, start dreaming, and start living.

TODAY: Final trithlon for 2010

Five months ago James and I set out on a journey we never imagined: training and competing in our first Triathlon. After we conquered our fear and doubts in May, we decided to challenge ourselves to another Tri this summer.

If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything, is ready, we shall never begin.
- Ivan Turgenev, novelist, poet, playwright

Today, we will compete in Boston in our second and final 2010 Tri. For the past three months we met multiple barriers and challenges throughout our training journey; some days we hate ever peddle every stroke, and every step; other days we just want to ‘give up’ and sacrifice our registration payment. But, we did not! We persevered and continued to embrace the challenge and use the body that God gave us!

There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either IN or you're OUT. There's no such thing as life in-between.

- Pat Riley, basketball coach

Today’s Tri is open water in the ocean, and I am scared. My open water swimming ability is kind of a disgrace (ask my brother and my cousins who have graciously followed us across the lake several times throughout the summer). However, I am not going to let fear prevent me from living. The ocean will not kill me, and I will feel amazingly accomplished when today is complete.

Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still.
- Chinese Proverb

I will recap our best tri training moments from the past three months:

#1 James and I did witness two teenagers in a car while we were on our bike and run routes (I will let you fill in the details)

#2 James crossed paths with a giant bob cat

# 3 We successfully swam across the lake and back without stopping after SEVERAL failed and stressful attempts


I am proud of us and our physical and mental accomplishments; I am blessed and honored to have an amazing husband who supports me, encourages me, and participates with me in anything (okay most anything) that I ask.

Ocean, I am scared of you, but today you and I are going to swim together.

How to buy peanut butter

“Where does peanut butter come from?” I ask myself. “Peanuts” I answer. Peanuts grow naturally on earth for us to eat. Peanuts contain natural, vital, and extremely healthy fat, protein, and fiber necessary for nerve and cell membrane development, and about a million other body functions.

Okay, if the information is true: peanuts contain fat, protein, and fiber and they grow naturally on earth, where does reduced fat peanut butter come from? Do the peanut pickers perform liposuction on each peanut? Do they cut the peanut in half and fill the jar half full of peanuts? Did they develop a method to grow peanuts with ½ the fat?

Well, the answer is simple: there is no such “food.” We cannot reduce a peanut. PHEW!

So how exactly do we sell “Reduced Fat” Peanut Butter in the store? More importantly, why do we buy reduced fat peanut butter? For starters, the food companies try to trick us into believing we are buying “healthy” food; they charge us more and slap on a pretty and jazzy label. Then, we are drawn to the label and get trapped into believing their little lies!

Luckily, we caught onto their mischievous tricks! Check out the ingredients in Jiff’s Reduced Fat Peanut Butter:

Retrieved August 5, 2010 from: http://www.jif.com/products/details.asp?prodid=330

Peanuts, corn syrup solids, sugar and soy protein, fully hydrogenated vegetable oil (might as well say: CLOG UP YOUR ARTIERS OIL), mono-and diglycerides (sugar), molasses, niacinamide, folice acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, magnesium oxide, zinx oxide, ferric orthophosphate, and copper sulfate (yum).

So, pretty much, the food companies have learned to take a perfect food and inject the food with HAZARDOUS WASTE slap on a pretty label and sell them to us at the detriment of our life! (okay, that was kinda dramatic..but, still!)

The great news is that we CAN and SHOULD buy peanut butter because natural peanut butter still exists!! The ingredients: “peanuts & salt.” Thank goodness!

My Dad picked this out and bought it all by himself- this particular kind has flax: peanuts, salt, flax- TWO THUMBS UP!

Lasagna that makes your cell membranes SMILE!!

Italian is my favorite cuisine! In fact, before James and I buckled down on our finances, I am certain that I should have bought stock in Olive Garden.


Luckily for my little cell membranes and my pocket book I have said “GOOD BYE” to Olive Garden and HELLO to home-made Italian food stuffed with super foods.

Ta-da- beautiful masterpiece (no I am not talking about my hair)

My “Live longer” Lasagna is completely vegetarian and contains 10 SUPER FOODS! I substitute lasagna noodles for spaghetti squash, meat for black beans, and I add a little yogurt to spice up the party (I mean, who doesn’t want to throw in some active cultures at any given opportunity?)

Sketti squash seperates like sketti and tastes DELICIOUS!

This recipe is tested and proved by our friends: males and females and our family. Actually, this recipe is my sister’s all- time favorite!

I prefer to add veggies to the cheese mixture to improve texture

Ready to build the lasagna masterpiece!

How can you go wrong with a pound of spinach in your lasagna?  Or how can you go wrong with a sweet hair do like this?

To turn your cell membranes frown upside-down, click here to print the recipe: Live Longer Lasagna

Do you have unhealthy recipes that you want “super food-ified?” I create all my recipes by researching unhealthy recipes and substituting ingredients. I don’t believe in diets, and I certainly do not believe that people should sacrifice foods they love. With a little TLC and creativity, you can health-ify ANY recipe. Send your favorite “unhealthy” recipes to: Optimistic Reflections and I will work my magic and post the updated healthy creation to my blog! I am looking forward to the challenge!

Custom Roman Shades for 10 BUCKS!

I am always eager to create a cozy and well decorated living environment. When James and I moved to Portland, my spark to decorate fizzled. We lived in Portland for 18 months, and I never put pictures in the frames hanging on the wall! James and I noticed that we felt “blah” when we were in our apartment, and I have learned throughout my wellness research adventures that your living environment is one of the most important elements to your overall well being; therefore, James and I are determined to create a cozy and well decorated living space in our new apartment in Boston.

The first step in our design plan is to create a budget. We sold everything from our Portland apartment that we could not bring to Boston on Craigslist and collected a small profit! We saved the money and decided to use the money for our new apartment.

Lucky me, my friend Alyssa enjoys saving $$ as much as I do and she forwarded me an amazing “how to create low-cost Roman Shades” blog post. The same day she forwarded me the post, James and I found 2 FREE shades supplies on the side of the road!

I collected fabric at JoAnne’s and Mardens and a bottle of Fabritac and solicited some help from my friends and family at the Atkinson’s household and within a short period of time, we created this little beauty!!

Office shade

James and I worked together to create the remainder of the shades for our apartment. Each shade takes about 1.5 hours to create, and did I mention that there is NO SEWING involved!!?

Bedroom shades "roman-ed"

Bedroom shade- down

Living Room Shade- Down

Living room shade "Roman-ed"  (James is an excellent vanna)

I will share the total cost of the supplies:

1. Mini blinds (2 free)+3 more= $16

2. Fabric: $27

3. Fabritac $6

4. Trim: $4.5

5. Total: $53.50/ 5 shades= $10.70 per CUSTOM shade!!

We are on our way to a cozy, cheap, and well decorated apartment! If you are interested in creating Roman shades you can view the directions here: Little Green Notebook