Inspiring Movie

This is totally Inspiring! 

Now I am headed over to Code.org! 

;-)

Daniel's Visit

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My baby brother came down over Presidents Weekend.

He arrived on Saturday about Mid-Day and then we drove out to Altadena for dinner with our Aunt, Uncle & Cousin.

Sunday we woke up early for a hike to the Hollywood Sign with our Cousin.

It was a perfect day for a hike and for being outside!

After the hike we headed to the California Science Museum to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour and then watched Hubble 3D in IMax.

After our museum tour, we had dinner at home and drove into Westwood for the best cookie sandwich in LA, maybe even CA, maybe even the world :-) Diddy Riese!

It was so fun to have my baby brother in town!

Mom's Visit

Mom mom came down for the weekend.

We went to the Getty Villa Museum.

It was a beautiful day and we got to witness a beautiful sunset on our way home!

My mom stayed for about 5 days to hang out with me!

She is amazing. She made us yummy dinners and made sure that we were taken care of!

We also got out of the house to see Les Misérables and for a pedicure.

It was so nice to have her around to keep me company!

Health - Guest Blogger

Todays guest blogger is one of my favorite bloggers!

She writes about life and is so honest & real!

Definitely check her blog out!

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hey ladies!!! im lindsay and i blog over at lindsay alexis, come check me out ;) im

helping my dear blogger friend out today as she is kinda out of commission from the

computy. we all hope you get better soon lady!!

i am going to talk about how health and fitness is a huge part of my life. truthfully i

was never interested in any of it until i met my husband. i had my times when i was

younger i am in my last year of my 20s now, dont feel too young anymore where

i went to the gym. ate healthy. then stopped a month or so later. when i met my

husband, who is a marine like la tache's, that all changed. i was forced into it.

kidding....sort of ;)

health is a lifestyle for me. it isn't something i am forced to do. it isn't something that

i just do sometimes and then stop. it is something i enjoy. something that makes me

feel great. something that my husband and i do together. because we all know there

are plenty of couples out there that one is totally into fitness and being healthy and the

other is lazy. we have all seen those people.

being healthy is something you have to want. something you have to have dedication

for. it doesn't come easy. it doesn't really come cheap either. haven't you ever noticed

if you go to let say, the habit (hubs favorite 'fast food'), a cheeseburger is about three

bucks. a salad is about 7 bucks. seriously?!?! i know the lettuce is literally from a mix

bag of greens with a piece of chicken on it. but...that is how our society operates. so

if you are on a budget so to speak, you both would get a cheeseburger rather than the

healthy option. but if you are dedicated. motivated. you would spend the money and

get the salad. OR you would go home and make something to eat.

hubs and i have actually started doing this much more recently. if we are out and

about in our area and we get hungry. we go home to make lunch, then go back out

and continue our errands. if we are planning to be out all day, we either grab a protein

bar or make sure we stop somewhere to eat that has healthier options and we split the

meal. there are so many options on what to do and how to change your ways, you just

have to be creative and really want it. bring homemade lunch to work, don't buy fast

food. make dinner at home, don't grab something on the way home. once you get into

the groove it gets easier...promise ;)

{via}

i also believe being healthy and being active go hand in hand. if you want to be

healthy, you have to eat good fresh foods. but you also have to get your butt movin'!

you have to get your heart rate up. you have to sweat. i seriously love when i sweat.

it means i am working my butt off and keeping my heart healthy. i love it! is it weird

that i love when i see sweat on my shirt too? kinda gross, but man it feels amazing. no

joke! trust me ;)

my husband and i work out together. so this being healthy business i guess is a group

effort in the A household. we push each other. we motivate each other. we are proud

of each other. seriously proud. the other day my husband actually told me how proud

he is of me because i am making exercise a priority. a top priority. and i cannot tell

you how amazing that felt. how giddy i felt. i loved hearing those words.

now we do indulge at times. we do treat ourselves to something sweet or alcoholic,

but you have to remember to do it in moderation. everything in moderation. this

month my husband and i gave up alcohol. no alcohol/wine for the entire month of

january. just to challenge ourselves. it has been hard, especially after a crappy day at

work. but we are almost there and you know what, i feel great. i am proud of us. might

be smaller steps for you...but you gotta be dedicated to be healthy. now...head over to

my favorite store, trader joe's, and get yourselves some healthy options. promise you

will not regret it ;)

{via}

Family - Guest Blog

Todays blogger is a sorority sister and friend.

She is someone I admire and always have.

She has a beautiful family & loving husband who clearly adores her!

I am so happy that she is happy!

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When my dear college friend and sorority sister, La Tache, asked me to guest blog for her about family, I thought, easy! If you read my blogs (aogdaily.com, babygomers.com), or follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you know how much I am obsessed with my little family. But what made me take pause about this particular topic was what family I would be referring to. Yes, I have my own family (mother, father, stepdad, brother - well brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.), but when I think of the word "family" the first thing I always go to is my husband and children.
Growing up family had a very different meaning for me that it does now. I have always had a lot of people to love me and take care of me, but things changed a lot when I was a kid and I was often around adults. What I wanted more than anything as a kid was siblings! Someone to play with, share with, empathize with and yes even argue with. When I was a couple months shy of my 10th birthday, I finally got my wish and my mom had my baby brother. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother a lot and I cherish our relationship, but 10 years is a big age difference! By the time he started middle school I was moved out and in college. We never really had the sibling relationship that I had envisioned when I was a young kid.

When Justin and my relationship began to get serious, many many years ago, we started sharing our visions of what a future family would look like. I knew one thing for sure; that because I was an only child for so long, I knew I wanted my children to have siblings. Siblings close enough in age that they could grow up together, but not so close that I was having babies every year! Haha. I also knew that I wanted a large family. I wanted my kids to have the crazy, busy, fun, close family that I had always wanted. Luckily, Justin, who is one of three kids agreed that a large family was what he wanted too. Seeing Justin and his brother and sister and how close they were/are really affirmed my belief that a large family is really what I wanted. We also knew that if we wanted three or four children that we'd have to start in our twenties. Luckily, when we were 25 and 23 years old, we were unexpectedly surprised to find out that our journey to having a large family was about to begin! You can read more about that here. I am so glad that we started so young because after my first pregnancy I was like, 'man, this is hard! I don't think I can do this two or three more times!' Luckily, time passed and we were able to spread the age gap between Belle and the next one three years, still leaving us plenty of time for more kids. In late summer of 2011, we were so excited to find out that baby #2 was on it's way. One step closer to the large family we envisioned.

I always pictured myself with a gaggle of little girls, but I knew right away when I was pregnant with #2 that it was going to be a boy. I thought I would be disappointed to confirm the news, but once the ultrasound technician said the words out loud, I couldn't help but cry tears of joy. A boy! You can read more about that  day here. Now we have one of each so it won't matter what gender any of our other kids are because we will eventually experience it all.

When I tell people that I want three or four kids, I often get looks like 'are you crazy?!' Just casually saying, 'eventually when we have more kids', people respond, 'oh, you want more?'. I guess now-a-days it's most common to wait until your thirties to start a family and one or two kids is about the norm, but for me, I have always envisioned myself surrounded by children, in a big, loud, crazy, hectic family. Besides, the more kids we have, the greater the chance of at least one of them being super successful and taking care of me and Justin in our old age, right? Ha!

But in all seriousness, I think the reason that I want a large family is because it's always been my dream to give my children the family that I had always wished for as a kid. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change anything about how I was raised and my extended family is very important to me, but there's something about a large, loving, stable household that has always appealed to me and I am so excited that we are right in the middle of making that dream come true, because for me, there's nothing more important than family.

our little family in it's current form: a family of four

Leisure - Guest Post

Todays Blogger is my longest life friend. We met at a tennis camp.

We quickly became best friends and have stayed close ever since.

Through high school with our girls sleepovers and college with our phone dates and now after college with our monthly lunches this gal means the world to me.

oh, and where did she find these pictures?!

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La Tache seems to find the most meaningful and inspirational quotes, and as a guest blogger I tried to

follow suit so I typed “leisure” into a quote database website and WOAH - I did not expect it to be that

hard. Quotes saying: leisure is for the lazy, leisure is reached at retirement, fill leisure with duties and

work, leisure leads to philosophy…. Basically, enough to make me very confused….

So, relying on my analytic nature, I defaulted to the very wise Merriam-Webster: “Leisure: freedom

provided by the cessation of activities; especially, time free from work or duties”. The broad definition

explains why each person’s view of leisure is so different. And while leisure could lead to laziness or

stress, I do think that it is important for all of us to take time for ourselves.

La Tache, you are always dependable, responsible and supportive of others, and even though it will take

surgery and a lot of medication, you deserve some time of leisure. I hope that you are able to relax and

enjoy this time to reflect on the accomplishments that you have achieved, to enjoy the life that you have

created for yourself and to be excited for the many adventures that you will have in the future.

I wish you a safe and speedy recovery. And if laughter is the best medicine, here are a few gems of the

past:

Leisure - Guest Blogger

Today's blogger is a great friend that I met here in Los Angeles.

She is fun & kind and I absolutely enjoy her company!

I am glad we met each other so we can be allies in this big city!

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“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never

be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

As a twenty-something woman still trying to figure out what I want to do in life, I don’t necessarily let

my past or present job define who I am. I’m not sure I’ll ever be the type of person who is known for

what I do professionally, but rather for the things I do in my life outside of work. My leisure time, and

the things I fill it with, paint a much more colorful picture of the things that make my life beautiful.

My greatest desire in life is to spend as much time as possible traveling and seeing the world. I’m a

firm believer that travel teaches you more than you can ever learn in a classroom or a cubicle. I’ve

been fortunate to already have some amazing trips stamped in my passport, including my study abroad

experience in college.

Venice, Italy

I also love to make time for exercise - there’s nothing better than a good sweat session. My current

activity of choice is boot camp – I think I’m addicted! I also made a resolution this year to get into yoga,

and I love going for a run on the beach. One of my absolute favorite things about living in Los Angeles

is having the Santa Monica Mountains in my backyard. There are so many great hiking trails where you

can get away from the craziness of the city and enjoy some fresh air (for FREE!). The Eagle Rock trail at

Topanga Canyon is a lovely spot!

Hiking in Topanga Canyon

Lastly, I like spending my free time trying new things - restaurants, recipes, museums, concerts and

more! I get so much pleasure out of eating at a hole-in-the-wall Argentinean restaurant, seeing a local

unknown band perform live, and attempting to make a meal with ingredients I’ve never used before.

As a girl who loves adventure, these are some of the easiest ways to add a little excitement to everyday

life.

Hotel Café, Hollywood – great place for live music

I encourage everyone reading this to cherish their leisure time and do the things that bring you joy to

your life!

A big thank you to La Tache for letting me contribute my thoughts to her wonderful blog! Wishing you a

speedy recovery and lots of leisure time. J

Detox - Guest Post

From the last week of October or Halloween, through the New Year we over-indulge in alcohol, caffeine, sugar, fried food, lower quality cheap party food and baked goods and we leave often exercise by the wayside.  That is equal to nine plus weeks of having our routines turned upside down.  By now, we likely have no energy, aren’t sleeping well, are bloated, and probably a bit moody. So of course, we go on a strict diet and renounce everything we like and begin a rigid, regimented diet protocol…until it becomes too hard.

Consider this; Overindulgence and renunciation are essentially the same thing and they will always create cravings for one another. One way to permanently defeat this vicious cycle is take an interest in learning how to upgrade your food, so that you can still eat foods you enjoy and you don’t feel like you have to deny yourself. There are tons of healthy foods out there that taste fantastic and that can be great substitutes for similar foods, which deplete our health.  Think about swapping white potatoes for sweet, white pasta for brown rice pasta, olive oil for vegetable, and making some of your favorite “junk” food from scratch at home. Cooking at home will always be more healthy than take out or anything that comes from a box.  Practice one new food item a week and before you know it, you’ll have a myriad of new favorite foods right at your fingertips.  

Ok, maybe this is all good advice but you’re looking for some serious post-holiday tips to really help you hit that reset button. Not to worry, I’ve got your back girlfriend!!

To get this detox train rolling, we’ve got to talk about coffee or caffeine first thing in the morning.  What coffee or other caffeinated beverages do first thing in the morning are raise cortisol levels, you know,  the stress hormone, the one we have always heard makes us fat. Well, here’s why, cortisol ultimately causes cravings for sweets, like those inherit, genetic; I’m going to win type of craving for sweets. Cortisol is also guilty of robbing our body of precious B vitamins. B vitamins are eleven members of what's known as the vitamin B complex are critical nutrients for all things mind-related: mood, memory, even migraines benefit from the B vitamins. In the right amounts, the B's can quell anxiety, lift depression, ease PMS (wohoo, you feel me girls- and boys), and boost your energy. Some B vitamins help cells burn fats and glucose for energy. Others help make neurotransmitters like serotonin (the feel good hormone). And some B's assist with the production and repair of DNA. You can see how key it is that we not rob our bodies of these precious vitamins, particularly when we are resetting after the holidays.  A much better start in the morning is some hot lemon water, especially when we are wanting to detox.  To bump it up a notch add a pinch of cayenne. This will cleanse and alkalize your system.

Next, we want to have a well-balanced breakfast to get our metabolism going and the liver working well. We must eat a breakfast containing healthy fat and protein within an hour of waking (even if you are not hungry). This will help reset your metabolism and feed your stress hormones. Waking up hungry signals a healthy liver, while being turned off by food upon waking is a sign of a sluggish liver. Your liver is your main detox organ so it’s imperative we’ve got it running on all cylinders. Skipping breakfast slows down our metabolism and our darling detox organ. A sluggish liver will make it very hard to lose or maintain weight, as well as stay healthy during cold and flu season.

What if you’re a busy girl and don’t have time for breakfast? Try a handful of raw nuts with a banana or a perfect food bar. It doesn’t get any easy or more portable than that, so no whining. Eat your breakfast!! My raw cereal is fabulously delicious and you can even make it the night before so it’s all ready when you’re time pressed in the morning:

 http://melissa-schollaert.healthcoach1.integrativenutrition.com/melissas-raw-breakfast-cereal

Ok, so you’ve had your lemon water and are well fed. What’s next? Well lovely, greens, greens, greens! Why do you need to be so green you ask, well for starters green vegetables are the foods most missing in modern diets and you need some color! Learning to cook and eat greens is essential to creating you most vibrant health. When you nourish yourself with greens, you will naturally crowd out the foods that make you sick, fat or detract from your best possible health. Greens strengthen the blood and respiratory system. One of my favorite greens factoids is that they clear congestion, which is so vital this time of the year when everyone’s all sniffly and feeling icky.  In Asian medicine, greens are related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity. Here’s what I’ve found with greens, if they’re made to taste well, you’ll always likely reach for them, your body will literally crave them. Try my collard wraps for lunch http://melissa-schollaert.healthcoach1.integrativenutrition.com/raw-mediterranean-collard-wrap-zucchini-hummus and get a double dose of greens! Add some sprouts for an extra nutritional bonus. 

Green drinks are also an easy way to get those life giving greens down the hatch. My favorite is the Evolution Green line. Try the sweet greens first and graduate up to essential greens. Most importantly when juice shopping, make sure it’s organic and cold pressed.  

Last stop on our post-Holiday reset tour, healthy carbs. Carbs you say….what, no, I couldn’t. Yes, you can and must!! It is important to make sure you are eating 3 or more servings of complex carbohydrates daily. That includes beans, whole grains like brown rice and root vegetables like sweet potatoes. This will slow down the release of glucose in your system and give you the necessary B vitamins that the holiday free-for-all stripped away. Sugar cravings fall away on their own like this instead of you having to “muscle through it”. Try my ultra-tasty sweet potato fries:

  http://melissa-schollaert.healthcoach1.integrativenutrition.com/sweet-potato-fries-5  

If you’re in the mood for something extra sweet, serve ‘em up with a dash of Ceylon cinnamon and sea salt. Mmm!

It has been a pleasure spending some time with you friends! I hope these tips will help you reset and renew in this already quickly moving New Year.  I am always here to support you, so if you’d like to talk about your health and how I can support you to finally reach your personal goals, please simply email me at: realnutritiousliving@yahoo.com or call 916-792-4281 An initial consult is always free and at no obligation.

I wish you a happy and healthy 2013!

Don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/realnutritiousliving

Let’s connect on twitter too! https://twitter.com/realnutritious

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Ok…almost done we just can’t leave out Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realnl/

“Spread love wherever you go, let no one ever come to you without leaving happier”- Mother Teresa

Joy - Guest Blogger

The following Blog post was written by one of my greatest & most favorite college friends.

I remember walking into our Freshmen Comm class, seeing this beautiful, kind & friendly looking lady sitting at a table for two so I decided to take this opportunity to sit next to her and make a new friend.

We were both Freshmen, so why not, right?!

Well it turned out that she and I had gone to the same elementary school and were in the same 4th grade class!

What a trip/small world right?!

Well since then we have been friends and our friendship has grown into such a strong and loving friendship. I am so grateful for her!

And today happens to be her 26th birthday!
Happy Birthday Beautiful!

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I think they best way to enjoy life is to find the things that bring you joy.

Although, making big plans for awesome trips to the happiest or most romantic

places on earth can be a great way to find joy in your life… but unless you have an

endless budget it might not be the best idea to only rely on the big joyous trips. It

can be a better idea to find joy in the little things in life.

Such as flavorful foods….At first I was thinking of fatty foods; such as Cookies,

Cakes, Pies and Ice Cream. But as I was thinking more about it there is an endless

list of meals that have a lot of flavor and are healthy at the same time.

My partner loves to tell the story of when a music teacher asked her class what

equals the sound of joy. A determined little boy raised his hand and replied with

his answer that it is the sound of a dog's tail as it hits the wall when they first

greet you.

A good exercise session is wonderfully joyful. Reaching your goals, with your

health, at your job, and in life is exciting and joyous.

A smile is a universal sign of joy. However, I think a face with a smile that used to

have a frown on it is so much more joyous…

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”

― E.E. Cummings

I think sometimes it can be difficult to enjoy the little things in life, but doing so

will make life more enJOYable every day.

Happy February!

Happy February!

Wishing this month will bring love, hugs & kisses!