Be Awed by the Snowbirds

July 31, 2014 Be Enough 1 Comment

Tonight, the boys and I watched some talented people share their gifts. For me, it was a blast from the past as I remember watching the Snowbirds at the PG airport.

Here are the boys in the 36 degree heat ready to watch the show over the lake. JC had great insight to bring chairs.
Here come the Snowbirds:

There they go…

Zooooom…

Earlier in the day, we had to drop Sexy Neck off at the airport. We were able to catch a glimpse of the Snowbirds one the ground.

How fortunate are we?

It was a Snowbird day!

Talented people sharing their gifts.

Precise.

Flying.

Teamwork.

Communication.

What a show!

Thank you for the memory Snowbirds.

Goals, health & fitness

Be a Boot Camper

July 28, 2014 Be Enough Leave a comment

I am in a season of beginnings.

Living daily with loss.

A time of rebirth.

Renewal.

Playing on the teeter-totter, bars and with rubber balls.

I am going to boot camp with Krista King!

Where’s Joanna? I am the lady in blue!

Thank you Krista for taking and sharing these pictures.

A new KCity friend invited me to go to boot camp with her back in April.

I was intrigued because it was outside either at a beach or in a park. I had heard through the grapevine that the instructor, Krista King, was a pilates-trained instructor with a heart for health and exercise.

When I first tried boot camp, I would describe my body as a marshmallow. After packing, moving, loving my mom through cancer, watching her die and living through profound grief, I had gained a momentous forty pounds on my six foot frame. I was embarrassed at what I had allowed my athletic body to go through. I was in the obese section for my height.

The first day of boot camp, I didn’t know if I would be able to run. I knew that I couldn’t do a sit-up. I wondered how sore I would be.

I was pleasantly surprised. I worked hard, but at my own pace. I tried everything, but knew that there was no pressure to do so. Krista King created an environment that was positive, athletically challenging for every body and it was fun to move my body in a variety of ways. I had difficulty walking up stairs two days later, but it was well worth it and just reminded me to stretch.

Now, three months later, I am fifteen pounds lighter and feeling like I can do anything. I continue going to boot camp once or twice per week as well as riding my bike and doing Jillian Michaels DVD’s to help me recover and get ready for the next boot camp.

Boot camp.

Butt kick.

Into gear,

Moving.

Shaking.

Energized.

Encouraged.

Inspired by the right instructor for me.

Finding my feet.

Firmly placed.

With God’s guidance.

It is only the beginning.

Boys, Parenting

Be Wordless on the Weekend

Image July 26, 2014 Be Enough Leave a comment

Boys, God, Grief, Parenting

Be Hearing Night Night from Nana

July 26, 2014 Be Enough Leave a comment

I looked out the car window and saw the sun setting through the cloud. I exclaimed, “A slice of heaven!”

Almost three year old OC said, “Nana in heaven!”

Then we had a family discussion on what being dead means.

OC piped up, “Nana talk to me.”

Our seven year old added, “She talks to me too!”

I asked them what does she say.

OC said, “Night night. From her house in heaven.”

Enough said.

Night night everyone.

cancer, Grief, Parenting

Be Eating Nana Jam

July 23, 2014 Be Enough 1 Comment

Each day my boys talk about their beloved Nana and share their sadness deeply and quickly. They are wonderful teachers on how to sit in your grief.

We have many reminders about mom.

Yesterday, we saw a bike that looked just like Nana’s.

Tonight, Jackson read the label on his quilt my mom made when he was two.

Today, we rested on our Nana Cabana beside the pool.

At lunch, we ate Nana jam. Lovingly handmade last year in July, while mom was in pain but we still had no idea what was coming. Careful labelled and left for us to enjoy.

Perfect with homemade spelt baking powder biscuits. OC was my helper.

Beautiful memories.

Delicious jam.

Great gifts.

Pure love.

Heartfelt joy.

Pure sadness.

Sweet strawberry jam.

Thanks mom!

I love you!

Family, health & fitness

Be Having a Trophy Husband

July 20, 2014 Be Enough 1 Comment

As I sell Green Tea Hawaii in ECity, Sexy Neck is at home with our wee boys.

This is the first time in five years (since CC was born!) that I have done any type of paid work and the first time I have ever sold any product in my life. I am completely out of my comfort zone, humbled, confused at people’s purchasing choices and having a great time. I have met incredible people.

A Tibetan monk who is giving insight into the health of the Green Tea Hawaii owner.

A wonderful woman selling deep sea lotions and body scrubs.

A mom selling tights for her daughter’s new company.

Kind.

Authentic.

People.

Try to sell their wares.

Thirty year veterans of the fair.

Newbies like me!

Sexy Neck, my trophy husband, has been holding down the home front.

Here is the text I got about their day today:
Tried to get haircuts,
costco,
ate cones,
built a pulley system for the fort, worked a wee bit on the side yard, cleaned blown done branches,
swam,
couple movies,
dinner,
magic show, books,
power outage…

I wonder if all these wonderful activities caused the power to go out?

Doesn’t that sound like a fun day?

Side note: Praying for safety for everyone fighting the forest fires to the west of our city.

Boys, Family, health & fitness, Parenting, Uncategorized

Be Sharing Green Tea Hawaii Love

July 17, 2014 Be Enough 7 Comments

My story with Green Tea Hawaii started even before I knew that Green Tea Hawaii existed. In the summer of 2013, my mom was in profound pain. She had a distended stomach. We thought it was a bladder infection. It was cancer. She journeyed through six months with cancer, living in tremendous pain. We shared many moments shaving her head, watching the boys, cutting her toenails, living each moment. Very unexpectantly the cancer continued to multiply and mom became an angel in heaven on Boxing Day 2013.

Back in mid-October, Mom went to see a Physician at an Integrative Cancer Clinic that supports each patient’s emotional, physical and spiritual health. At this appointment, they doctor covered many topics from eating, exercise, supplements, meditation and encouraged mom on her overall cancer journey. One moment that made her laugh, was when he suggested that she drink ten cups of green tea per day. It has shown that drinking green tea slows down and even stops cancer cell’s from multiplying. My mom was barely eating nor drinking at this point, so the thought of drinking ten cups of green tea made us giggle. If I only knew…

Fast forward now to March, where our family had been given a great gift from a University friend and teammate, their house for ten days in Hawaii. We were also given free access to this amazing product that they own called Green Tea Hawaii. They had samples all over their kitchen counter and we helped ourselves. Green Tea Hawaii changed our lives.

Everyone I know that has tried Green Tea Hawaii talks about the benefit of the extra energy. I now ride my bike at 6:00am, just because I want to and can. (And I ain’t no morning person!) I enjoy doing Jillian Michaels DVD’s in the afternoon and evenings because I have the energy to. Plus I still have lots left in me to be a present and loving mom to my three boys under seven. Before Green Tea Hawaii, I was struggling.

I love the L-theanine in the Green Tea Hawaii as it gives me a great sense of peace. The combination of the Noni and green tea is absolutely delicious. This is a sweet tea, but contains less than one gram of stevia and sugar. (One teaspoon of sugar is about four to five grams for those visual people.)

Hot or cold.

Shaken not stirred.

Mixed with about a cup of pure water

I have finally found my drink!

The health benefits of the Green Tea Hawaii take me back to the appointment with my mom. Each sleeve of the Green Tea Hawaii equal around 45 cups of Green Tea. Yup, you read that correctly. My mom could have drank just one sleeve and had more than the benefits of the 10 cups of tea that were recommended.

The other benefit of Green Tea Hawaii is weight loss. This is an added bonus for me as I already love the health benefits of this product. If you take one sleeve fifteen minutes before breakfast and again before lunch, it revs up your metabolism. I am not entirely sure how this works, but as of today, I have lost fifteen pounds. But nothing compares to the taste, cancer fighting and energy that Green Tea Hawaii brings me.

My dad now uses Green Tea Hawaii to help with his arthritis from his hockey playing days. My husband doesn’t drink pop or energy drinks anymore and he has more energy than before. In one weekend, he planted twenty-two cedars and fifteen HUNDRED square feet of new grass. He had a Green Tea Hawaii in the afternoon and early evening which gave him what he needed to work hard. Lastly, I have to tell you that after I discovered Green Tea Hawaii, I went to my Naturopathic Physician. Anything that I eat or drink on a daily basis, I like to check out with her. She looked at the ingredients and loved the product for me. She only cautioned the caffeine in Green Tea can disrupt your sleep cycle, so don’t have it after five o’clock in the evening. One sleeve of Green Tea Hawaii is the same amount of caffeine in one cup of Java. She loved the calming affect of the L-theanine as well as the health benefits of the high quality Green Tea from Japan and the Noni from the Polynesian Island. I am very excited and full of gratitude that I can share this product with anyone that would like to try it. Can you tell?
Off to ECity to learn more about Green Tea Hawaii.

Full of gratitude.

Full of energy.

Full of cancer fighting Green Tea.

Feeling the Hawaiian Noni love.

Sweet and cool on a hot day.

Warm and comforting on a cold day.

Healthy.

Green Tea Hawaii.

Love!

Sidenote: You can leave me a comment, text or call me if you are interested in trying a sample. I have had many people ask since this post.

Boys, Family, Parenting

Be Five

July 17, 2014 Be Enough 3 Comments

The days are sometimes long but the years are very short.

Five years ago, CC was born. This athletic, witty, smart, wondrous boy came into our family in the water on a Thursday just before lunch.

Today, full of gratitude for life, we celebrate five years with CC. He gets to choose what we eat: waffles, then Japanese food for lunch and frittata for dinner. Plus a birthday cake with vanilla icing. Decorated with a few surprises on top!

The planning started many weeks before. Here is our oldest and Sexy Neck creating a bed for CC’s teddy bear from scrap wood: