Tuesday Tidbit

I've learned a lot of interesting things over the years about health, nutrition, and just how to feel good overall.  I guess you could say it's something that's really important to me.  I like to feel good.  I like to be healthy and happy and there are definitely some things that make it easier to feel good and enjoy life.  I've decided to devote a little time on my blog to sharing the things that I've learned.  I'm going to call it Tuesday Tidbits and try every Tuesday to share something that I've learned that makes me feel good or makes my life a little bit easier and happier.

I may also take advantage of this space on my blog to share things I want my kids to know when they get older.  You know, motherly advice.  I'm always surprised when my mom shares things with me that she did when we were younger and I want to say "Why didn't you tell me that years ago?"  So I want to devote a few Tuesday Tidbits to my children about things that I've learned as a mother that also make my life easier and happier.  And maybe when I'm done I'll collect all these tidbits into a book that I can give them when they're older.  

So my first tidbit for today was a no brainer.  I'm a HUGE fan of Emergen-C.  

 I was first introduced to this fizzy little drink by a friend who was helping me train for a few races.  She said it can help you recover after a hard workout.  Ryan and I had at least one a day last winter.  You may remember some of my crazy runs in 9 degree weather last year?  I would have one of these after every run and I never got sick!  Not one single cold all winter!  When I started to get that little tingle in my sinuses or started to sneeze I would have an extra cup and wham bam, no cold.  I was shocked and sold!

This year I gave my kids a cup every time they started to complain of a sore throat.  It cut their sick time in half!  I didn't drink as much during my pregnancy because I couldn't find any sure information on how safe it was and man did I miss it!  I'm not saying it's a cure all but I know from personal experience that it definitely boosts your immune system.  It is also a great little pick me up at 4 pm (I call it the "witching hour") when you're starting to feel run down and craving something sweet or salty.

When my mom was in the hospital after her stroke last fall I brought her a few packs and watched to make sure she actually drank them.  I was so paranoid that she would catch some kind of cold while she was there. Well, she didn't and even said herself that the Emergen-C made her feel good.  She's still drinking a glass a day!

I think it tastes great plain, just mixed into a small 6 oz. glass of water, but we also like to mix it into protein shakes and fruit smoothies.  It gives it a nice little zing.

So give it a try!  I think you'll be surprised.  And next time you feel a cold coming on, take two!

p.s you can buy a big box (40 packets of super orange and 40 packets of raspberry) at Sams or Cosco.  You can buy individual boxes of 40 packets at WalMart and probably most other grocery stores.  It is usually located in the pharmacy section.

Talks and Farewells

Dallin gave his first talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday.  I was so impressed.  When they asked him to speak a few weeks ago he just said, "okay" like it was no big deal.  He wrote his talk all by himself with just a little coaching and a few suggestions from Ryan and I.  But the big shocker was that he didn't seem nervous at all.  I don't know how.  My knees always rattle together when I have to give a talk.  He said he felt a little nervous a few minutes before it was his turn to speak but that he figured it was probably just the devil wanting him to be nervous and mess up so he just decided not to listen to the devil.  I'll have to remember that the next time I have to speak.  I can't believe how grown up Dallin is.  I'm really proud of him.

Our neighbor also spoke with Dallin yesterday.  She's leaving in a few weeks to serve as a senior missionary in South Africa with her sister.  I didn't know you could serve missions with your sister!  I think that's so cool.

And last week we went to Ryan's cousin Elise's farewell.  She is going to serve a mission in Sacramento, CA doing sign language!  It was great to hear her speak.  She's watched our kids several times over the past ten years and we love her so much.  The kids wanted to take a picture of her so we can compare them when she gets home and see how much taller they are.  Watch out Elise.  They'll probably be taller than both of us!

Growing Like A Weed

To celebrate Evelyn's 2 month birthday the flowers my dad and his sweet wife Kathy sent me bloomed!  These amaryllis flowers arrived as just sprouts but have been growing like crazy, just like my baby girl (but we'll get to her in a moment).  The flowers are over 2 feet tall and are absolutely stunning.  They have been such a pleasure to have by adding a little life and color to this dreary time of year.

Now as for my big, beautiful baby... she was 13.2 lbs and 24 inches at her checkup which put her in the 97% for her height and weight.  She keeps outgrowing the cute baby clothes we bought for her.  It's sad to put away some outfits that she never even had a chance to wear...

But who can really complain when you have a baby that is just so darn Happy all the time!

Falling In Love

I read, a lot.  It seems to be the best way for me to truly relax.  Which means I mostly read books for entertainment and hardly for educational purposes.  But that's beside the point.  I came across something yesterday that I thought was beautiful and I wanted to share.  I found it in the book "Sunlight and Shadow" by Cameron Dokey.  It's a cute story that is a retelling of the opera "The Magic Flute" by Mozart.  The author took some liberties with modernizing the story and gave the characters a unique voice that was fun to read.

What I enjoyed was the main character's description of falling in love.  Her name is Mina and this is how she describes meeting and falling in love with Tern as he plays his flute...

"I was the one who did the changing.  For, as the song of the flute wove through me, I realized that I wanted it there, forever.  I wanted to make it mine, to not ever let it go.

And this is a very remarkable thing, if you stop to think about it.  In fact, as I realized some time later, it's precisely the same as falling in love.  For, to do this, your whole being must accept something new, a thing that starts out as foreign, but ends up so much a part of you that your imagination, which is pretty good, fails utterly when trying to imagine life without it."

Oh, I just loved that description.  The first thing I thought of after reading that was when I met Ryan after my mission.  In particular the night he came to my apartment and sat for hours listening to me talk about my mission.  I wasn't looking for love, I didn't even know if it was something I wanted, but after that night all I knew was that I wanted Ryan in my life.  I wanted him to listen to me and pay such close attention to me like that for the rest of my life.  And within a few short days I couldn't imagine life without Ryan by my side and I wondered how I had ever lived without him.  Good thing we got married.

But I also realized, after reading that description, that that's exactly how I felt after each of my children were born.  Here was a little person that I never met before but that I loved instantly and couldn't imagine how they had never been in my life before.  It almost feels as if my children have always been with me and that we've always known each other but that we were just separated for a while.  It's amazing that love can be so instant like that.  What a powerful thing love is.

Gymnastics

Eden started gymnastics a little over a year ago.  I've been so impressed with how much she's improved lately.  I missed watching her for a few weeks after I had the baby but when I went back she was doing things I never thought she'd be able to do. (I wish I knew what they were called).  She's definitely the best on the bars, though.  I wanted to try to get a good picture of her but she was too fast for me.

I'm so proud of how hard she has worked and how determined she is to do exactly what her coaches tell her to do.  It's a strong side of Eden that I never would have seen if I hadn't put her in gymnastics.