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Positively Weightless

A healthy life not only means physically healthy, but mentally as well. Healthy eating, healthy exercising habits, and a positive attitude are all important and help maintain balance in life. I decided to combine my love of writing and my positivity to change the world in hopes that any reader can also become positively weightless, and lead them to a healthy life.

When life gives you lemons, it isn't so easy to just get right up and make lemonade. My main message in this page over the last year is to stay positive and not let negative happenings get you down, but that really isn't all that easy is it? What happens when Ms. Suzy Sunshine has a cloud over her? What happens when it isn't so easy for her to take her own advice?

Don't worry, this post is starting off as negative, but it is very much so going to be positive. I wanted to start off that way to show that even the most positive person has days/weeks/months etc. that they throw all their own advice out the window and just sulk. That is okay. What matters is how they recover from them and how they handle them.

Last week I was informed that both me and my mother are losing our jobs next month. This is not due to anything we did or didn't do, the company is simply making cutbacks and our positions were eliminated. I am sure most people have been through similar things. Maybe not a job but the loss of something consistent in your life suddenly. I would imagine the first normal reaction is fear. Once the initial shock wore off I immediately started wondering about my car payment, car insurance, health insurance, etc. Quite frankly I was scared, and still am truthfully, and I am sure my mother had a similar reaction. It was so easy for me to just lay in bed, cry, and start thinking of everything that can go wrong because of this event. It took me a few days, but I finally decided not to let myself get in the same funk I was in back when I first graduated college and couldn't find a job. I decided I need to take my own advice.

I am trying my very best to put a positive spin on things. I am currently home using my last vacation day so I do not lose it, tweaking my resume and sending it in to various jobs. I decided to take a break to write this. Writing has always been what I do when I am emotional, but I digress. As I have mentioned in numerous previous posts, I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I truly believe that God has a plan in motion for me and, although that doesn't fully take the worry away, it does help me come to terms with it a bit. It is so easy to be angry and bitter when you are thrown a curve ball in life, but I believe it takes a lot of strength to accept that you are just walking on the path of your fate. I think even those that are not religious can take comfort in this concept.

The next thing we both have been trying to do it continue living life as normal as possible. I know that is a lot easier said than done, but you really have to try and maintain a normal everyday life. If you let something like this consume your thoughts entirely you will end up right where I was when I was initially job searching. Completely depressed and probably at the lowest point of my life. I am refusing to let myself get there again. But even despite all that, still continue to do what you love and makes you happy.

On the left, April and Me.
On the right, Me feeding Oliver carrots.
I am sure most of you know about the viral webcam at the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, NY documenting the pregnancy of April the giraffe? Well Mom and I fell in love with April and dad Oliver way back in February. I was just like so many other people watching that live feed all the time! After baby Tajiri was born we decided that on Memorial Day weekend we would take the trip out there since it was only about a 4 hour drive. We had that planned for over a month and I was of course ridiculously excited to go. We got the news about our jobs only a few days before going. As you can imagine our initial reaction was to not go because of the financial aspect of the trip, but soon after we decided we still would go, and quite honestly I think it was a great decision not only because we had a great time, but because we didn't halt our lives because of our bad news.

I took this super cute picture of baby Tajiri in the barn.
It was the best thing for us to get out of town, get our minds off of everything, and just have a good time. Canceling something we were looking forward to for so long would have only further dragged us down. As long as your plans are within reason and are not going to be a huge financial burden in the future you should keep them. One major thing changing in your life should not necessarily put a damper on everything else.

My bottom line here is that it is so easy to let something negative consume you and drag you down. Even me with all my positive posts and positive thoughts gets down in the dumps sometimes. I decided to take my own advice, pick myself up, and hopefully not just grow but flourish from this, just like a phoenix is reborn from its ashes. Keep on living your life as normally as you possibly can when something major happens, and do your very best to make that lemonade.
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I am posting a little earlier here than expected, but quite honestly I was planning on doing this recipe of mine on my page already, and I was really craving it for dinner so I decided why not? Like most of my other recipes, this one is something I just randomly tried one day for dinner and loved so I have made it a bunch of times. Mom loves it too!

Mediterranean Salmon

Ingrediants:
-Salmon (a single serving piece, your choice on the size)
-1 Red Bell Pepper
-1 Bag of Spinach
-Feta Cheese (I used fat free with herbs, but you can choose any kind you'd like. Trader Joe's has really yummy light feta too!)
-Cooking Spray
-Seasonings of Your Choice (I kept it simple with just salt and pepper)

First:

Put a frying pan or cast iron skillet on your burner over medium heat. Spray the pan with a bit of cooking spray and let it heat up. While the pan is heating up, cut up the red pepper into small diced pieces. Once your pepper is diced, the pan should be hot enough to add your pepper. Let the pepper cook until it is just soft. You can add salt and pepper to the pan now if you wish.
Second:
Once the peppers are cooked, add the entire bag of spinach to the pan on top of them. The
pan will look very crowded, but if you have ever cooked spinach before, you will know that it shrinks way down. As the spinach is cooking, stir it a few times to not only ensure it is cooking evenly, but to also mix the peppers into the spinach. Once the spinach is fully wilted, take the mixture out of the pan and put it aside.


Third:
Put your burner up to medium/high heat as you season your salmon. You should also preheat your oven to 350 degrees at this point. Season your salmon however you please. I just used salt and pepper, but sometimes using lemon pepper or garlic salt is nice as well. Once your pan has had some time to heat up, add your salmon to the pan skin side down. It is important that the pan is really hot so the skin gets crispy. I personally do not eat the skin, but I know some people do and it is preferably crispy (right Mom?). Cook the salmon to the doneness you prefer. I personal like it well done, and cooked mine about 5 minutes on each side. If you like it pink, cook it a bit less.

Fourth:
Once your salmon is cooked to your liking, turn your burner off. Take your spinach and pepper mixture and carefully place it on top of the salmon. You will probably have a bit left over and will not be able to fit it all. Once you have the spinach and peppers on the salmon, top it with your feta cheese. Once everything is on top, place the skillet in the oven and let it bake for about 7 minutes. NOTE: If you did not use an oven safe skillet, transfer your salmon into an oven safe dish before putting it into the oven.

Fifth:
Take your salmon out of the oven after the cheese has softened a bit and transfer it onto a plate. The only thing left to do now is enjoy!


I hope you all enjoyed my next healthy recipe! I will keep them coming! :-)
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Every single person in the world has a bad day from time to time. Sometimes we wake up on the wrong side of the bed, sometimes everything just seems to be going wrong, sometimes it is even hormones. It happens to literally everyone. It is so easy to get caught up in life and only view all the negative sides to life when things keep going wrong. I wanted to dedicate a post to dealing with bad days and mention some of the things I like to do to get by. Much like a previous post, Dealing with Stress, I wanted to list a few ways that I overcome a bad day in hopes that they will help someone else.

A few weekends ago I was having a really rough day. Just everywhere I turned I felt like I was going to burst into tears or scream or anything really because everything seemed to not be going right from the moment I woke up. I decided to just take a drive for a little while. I really had no destination in mind and when I first got into my car and pulled out, I just drove. It was honestly really nice to do this. Just take some time on my own to collect my thoughts and get my emotions under control. I highly suggest doing this. It did me a lot of good, however, if you are really emotional this may not be a great option until you pull yourself together and settle down a bit. You would never want your emotions clouding your ability to be a safe driver.

As I was driving I suddenly had the idea to drive out to the catholic shrine in the area. I pulled into the library parking lot I was near and looked up the directions on my GPS. I wasn't sure I would be comfortable making this drive as I have never done it on my own, but I found a route taking back roads and decided to venture out. Once I got there it was nice to walk around for a little while. It was a little cold that day so I didn't stay long, but it was very peaceful and exactly what I needed to calm down and feel better. My day was a lot better after taking a drive and ending up there. My best advice would be to pick a place you feel comfortable with. I went to a religious place, but it doesn't need to be that of course. Anywhere you think would be best for you to go and collect your thoughts and take a few deep breaths.

Ways to deal with a bad day really are personal to you just as dealing with stress is. Everyone is different and is going to find comfort doing different things. Here is a list of a few more suggestions I have just to jump start your brainstorming:
  • Take a long hot shower, put on your favorite music and sing along. I honestly am one of those people who always sings in the shower and it always makes me feel extra happy even on long days.
  • Take a nice walk or go to the gym/workout. I know so many people that workout when they are stressed or mad or upset...I am not one of those people. I personally would rather just go home after a long day at work, put my pajamas on and do nothing, but I know working out is a great stress relief for many.
  • Treat yourself to a something that is a guilty pleasure but maybe not so good for you. I do not recommend doing this one a lot because it can so easily become a habit, but if you had one of those extremely awful days where nothing went right why not have your favorite dessert that you have been avoiding because of the disgusting amount of calories in it. As long as this is a very rare occasion then it is okay. It is a pretty much known fact that humans take comfort in their favorite foods (hence the term "comfort foods"), but if you choose to do this just remember that moderation is key and use this one very sparingly!
  • Hobbies! I have mentioned this one before but hobbies are things that bring us all joy. Come home from a bad day and do your hobby. I have on many occasions started writing when I was angry or sad because of my day and it really has made me feel better. Whatever your hobby may be, it probably will help cheer you up!
  • Last but not least, cry. If you are having one of those horrible days where nothing goes right it is perfectly okay to cry and let all your emotions out. Go to your room and do it if you do not want anyone to see.
Bad days are so hard to deal with, but hopefully with the right actions and tools we can do something to get by them easily and hopefully move on. My list is only some suggestions to deal with a bad day and a list should be personal to you. Whatever helps you get by is your perfect answer.
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As promised, I wanted to start incorporating new content and ideas into my blog, so I decided to write my very first book review. This book isn't new on the market or anything like that, but I read it and knew after reading a few chapters that it would be a great book to review for my page. I plan on doing this more in the future with books I look for or just come across that I feel will fit in with my theme here. So being as this is my very first book review, bear with me! It will probably be a little rough around the edges.

Oola Find Balance in an Unbalanced World by Dave Braun and Troy Amdahi (otherwise known as the OolaSeeker and the OolaGuru) is an absolutely wonderful book all about reaching a perfectly balanced life. A lot of the topics mentioned in the book are things I have touched on in previous posts, so I knew this book was perfect to review on this page. The book's main purpose is to aid the reader with how to reach a perfectly balanced life through the 7 F's of Oola: Fun, Fitness, Field, Finance, Family, Faith, and Friends. The basic meaning of Oola in a nutshell is having these 7 F's perfectly balanced in your life. My favorite comparison in the book was to imagine each F of Oola as a spinning plate (page 33-34). You have to give each plate equal attention. Give one too much, and the other 6 start to wobble and fall. Forget one and that one begins to wobble.. see? A pretty easy concept to grasp! If not, let me give you a little sample here"

"When your life is In Oola, you’re in the zone--everything seems to be going your way. It’s like swimming with the current. You’re covering maximum ground with minimal effort. It’s a sweet spot. If you’ve ever had a sip of it, you want the entire bottle. It’s like finding twenty dollars in the couch, all green lights, Christmas bonus in July, all tweets re-tweeted, skinny jeans fit-good!" (Page 31).

The book goes on to describe and dissect each F of Oola one by one. The book also mentions things that will aid in reaching this balanced life, and things that will be counterproductive for this cause as well. Each and every chapter is a new way to help the reader understand just what Oola is and aids in understanding how one can achieve it. I have been preaching growth and balance as a person on my page here for quite some time so I am sure you can only guess how much I liked this book.

Just an example of a page from the workbook.
The most interesting part of this book to me was the structure. Every single chapter was structured the same way. It had an intro to the topic at hand, a life story from the OolaSeeker followed by a life story from the OolaGuru, and ended with a little conclusion paragraph and/or tip(s). It is almost like a contemplation of short stories that are all related, unlike the text books I had in college that were short stories together in a book with no similarities. To me this made it more enjoyable to read, unlike so many other self-help books. When I started this book I sat at my desk with a notebook all ready to take notes (especially once I decided to write a review for it as well), but only a few chapters after that and I was laying in bed comfortable just reading. The last few chapters of the book provide a basic plan to help guide the reader through their Oola journey. They even provided a workbook at the end that contains exactly what they had described in the previous chapters.

I feel like a book review is suppose to have a
silly picture of the blogger reading the book
right? :-)
It really is such an easy and enjoyable book to read. I found myself laughing and sometimes even tearing up a bit. I found myself relating to something each author wrote at different times throughout the book as well. Their advice and tips are easy enough to understand and follow if you truly want a balanced life. I can honestly say that every single F needs some work in my life and I feel so motivated now to slowly work my way up to having all the plates perfectly spinning. I highly recommend this book to everyone... I think everyone, no matter what their position in life may be would benefit from this book. As they say, just because something is balanced in your life at this point in time, that doesn't mean it is going to stay that way forever. I may have provided you with the basic outline of the book, but trust me it goes so much deeper than that. Right on the cover of the book it even tells you that it is an international best seller, so that tells you something hmm?

On May 2nd, 2017 their next book comes out, Oola for Women: How to Balance the 7 Key Areas of Life to Have Less Stress, More Purpose, and Reveal the Greatness Within You and I already have it pre-ordered. As long as I don't get any orders never to do another book review again, I plan on reviewing that one too, as well as a few other books I picked up earlier in the future. I hope you enjoyed this review and I look forward to more projects in the future. :-)
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Okay I know I just said in my last post that I will probably (for the time being) only be aiming to post every other week, but I was feeling extra inspired this week and had a great topic in mind for a new post (It must be my new Young Living Envision oil right Cheryl and Jenn? ;-) Maybe a review for a future post coming up?).

Something I think everyone does to a certain degree is compare their life or themselves in general to others... I do it a lot myself. I truly think it is just human nature. It is so easy to see others living their lives and envy them to a certain degree. It could be a fancy new car, an awesome body (in the viewer's eyes), or even their job. It is so easy to see things we do not have that another has and feel envy. It is also common to feel this way and immediately put yourself down and think "well what am I doing wrong in my life that I don't have those things?"

I will be flat out honest, one major thing I let bother me in my life occasionally is the fact that I still live at home. I really don't mind living at home most of the time though. It's comfortable and familiar, not to mention free wifi and water haha. I am really lucky to have the parents I do for loving me so much and wanting me to be able to afford to be out on my own before I venture out. It may not always feel like it Mom and Dad, but I truly do appreciate it. Between a student loan I am paying off, a car payment, car insurance, food, etc. I simply just cannot afford rent for an apartment, even if I had a roommate. I provide for myself mostly in every other way except the roof over my head. But besides all the positives I just mentioned I see others my age on their own and independent and I can't help but feel down about the fact that I can't afford to do so... see what I mean about how easy it is to envy others? I am only human and am going to have negative thoughts just like everyone else no matter how positive I am... but I digress!

I honestly think it is something everyone does at some point, in some way shape or form. I think what is important, however, is allowing yourself to realize that it is okay to have these feelings, but they shouldn't dictate your life and they shouldn't be often. If you put too much pressure on your life and the future you honestly will drive yourself crazy. I used to be one of the most stressed out people on the planet... honestly it is a wonder I made it through 17 years of schooling without a stomach ulcer. I would always be worrying about tomorrow. I do think the future is something to look toward, but it shouldn't completely consume you either. The past should be left in the past, and the future should be looked towards, but the absolute most important thing is the present. Blink and it is gone. Never depend on tomorrow coming. Find peace with your now, even if it isn't exactly where you want it to be, I am willing to bet there is a silver lining in there somewhere, no matter how dark the cloud is. Appreciate you life as it is this very second.

Envy is a completely normal feeling. It is so easy to ignore your blessings while wishing for something else. Stop comparing yourself to others! Count your blessings now because you never know when they will change. Remember that you are blessed in so many ways and that chances are, no matter what, someone else in the world is probably suffering a lot more than you are. You are the person you were always meant to be. Embrace that no matter what you wish would be different in your life, because chances are (just like me) you have it pretty good.

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Welcome to probably what is going to be the shortest post on this page to date. The first thing you may notice about this post is the name at the top of the page. Yes, I did change the name of my blog. After years of growing, changing, and learning about myself I knew it was time. My blog is a space for me to share my thoughts, experiences, tips, etc... for anyone wanting and willing to read them. I have never really done this to gain followers or page views or anything along those lines. My main purpose has always been to hopefully reach out to someone who may struggle the way I used to. Even if it is just one person I help, I consider that a victory.

With that being said, I am considering this page under construction in a way (hence the title of this post). I really want to get serious and start working toward my goal/dream of writing again. I mean that as in reworking and dedicating more time to this page, but I also have been thinking up ideas for more serious writing projects as well. I am not going to go too far into that, however, at this point in time.

What does that mean for my blog? My main goal overtime is to completely rework this page... but not completely change it. I want to start posting more often. My main goal is to post once a week, but I am going to aim for every other week to start with. I want to incorporate more features in this page as well. Recipes, positive messages, tips and tricks... these are all present already. I am actually working on something right now that will be completely new for this page, but I am going to keep it a secret for now. I am guessing my next post will be this project though. All of these features of course will have the same theme behind them as this page always has... a healthier (in more ways than one) and more confident you.

If you have stuck with me through all of this, thank you. I genuinely appreciate every single one of you for supporting me. It is going to be a journey, but I am ready to look into my future and take it.

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I apologize on my lack of posting on my page here lately. The last few weeks in March were pretty hard for my family and me, as we suddenly lost my Grandmother. To be quite honest, not only was this obviously a hard and emotional time for the family, but it was busy as well, especially for my mother and aunts and I admire them all so much for dealing with everything as well as they did.

With all of that being said it inspired my next topic for my page, but first let me go a little more into detail about my experiences during that time. For the week or so that everything was going on, it was of course an emotional time, but it also was a busy time. That meant not a lot of time to plan out meals which also resulted in eating not so great during that time. It also meant not going to the gym as well. I am not going to make a single excuse. Quite frankly with everything that was going on I just did not want to go and did not care about what I was eating that much. It happens… we are only human and most of us cannot stay on track 100% of the time. Life does sometimes get in the way.

Stress is a pretty nasty part of life. So many health problems can result from stress and it is sometimes unavoidable. Trying to avoid it can also have the reverse effect. Last week I found myself to be having what I believe was an anxiety attack. I won’t go too far into it, but my entire drive to the gym I just had a sense of impending doom that I couldn’t shake, and while I was working out I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe properly. I listened to my body and stopped my workout and went to the locker room to calm down. Just on a whim I looked up symptoms of an anxiety attack and it seemed pretty clear to me that that is what was going on. Holding onto so much stress and not dealing with it was exactly what I had been doing over the last few weeks, and it caught up to me.

There are honestly a lot of things to do to deal with stress, but the most important thing is taking the time away from your stressor to relax and calm your mind. Here are a few things that I do:


·         Reading a book: I know this one seems like a predictable answer, but to me if the book is a good one, the story absolutely captures me. When I take an hour or so to read a book I am really loving, it is almost like I am transported right into the pages. I am actually reading a story right now that has me feeling that way. Escaping to a different world is a great way to escape your problems for a little while.

·         Listening to your favorite music: I am one of those people that not only belts out songs at the top of their lungs while driving, but I also throw in a dance move or two (especially if a boyband song comes on!) I am half expecting to find a video of myself online that someone else sneaks of this haha… but don’t worry I stay focused on the road! It really is amazing how nice it feels to just let loose like that from time to time.

·         Essential Oils: Alright my sister Cheryl just recently got me into this whole thing, but I was using them in a diffuser for a few months at night before she did (yes Cheryl I know I was using health store oils which are bad). If you are really stressed it is sometimes really hard to sleep, and I am one that always had trouble sleeping. I use a diffuser at night and use some lavender oil and I more recently started adding just a few drops of cedarwood oil. Usually it relaxes me right away and I am able to drift right asleep. There are so many blends and singles that are for the purpose of relaxation and relieving stress and so many different ways to use them, but just make sure you buy the right ones.

·         Yoga: I honestly haven’t done yoga in so long and I really need to start up again. Unless I am doing a pose that is a little too advanced for me, yoga seriously relaxes me SO much, especially at the end when most videos (I have never been to classes but I am assuming they do the same) do the final rest and meditation.

·         Make time for YOU: All of the above options fall under this category as well, but I thought this should be a bullet on its own. Do whatever makes you happy and will be an escape for a while. Some people love to cook, some love to workout, some love to paint… I could go on and on. Take some time to do something you love and relax your mind from your stressors.
Stress comes from so many different sources and from so many different directions. It is so easy to let it overcome you. We are all guilty of it. The most important thing to remember, however, is to not let it overcome your life. Life doesn’t always have to be full of worry and fear of the unknown.

As always thank you for reading. I plan to get on track and blog on a more frequent basis again.

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About me




29 years old. Graduate from Buffalo State College with my B.A. in English. I am just looking to hopefully change the world through my love of writing and my positive attitude.

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