Recall a time in your life where you desperately wanted something to happen… Can you think of one? Perhaps you thought of more than one. With that time in mind were you trying to, in your own power, make things work out the way you wanted them to?

Did you want it so badly, that it was almost as if you were forcing a thing to happen? But the harder you tried, and the more upset you got, and the more frustrated you became, it seemed that what you desired most seemed to move further and further out of reach?

Close your eyes… in the moments when you paused, took a step back, and tried to see things from a wider lens, did you see that you were not the only factor in the equation?

Perhaps you even realized, although quite obvious, that others are involved and their input, choices, and decisions are necessary and critical inputs.

However, these are the inputs you have no control over. These inputs, in fact, made you acknowledge that you can only do so much.

Eventually, and some of us get there and some of us don’t - and sometimes it depends on the situation- but eventually you decide to sit back, relax and let God.

You make a conscious decision not to let your circumstance regarding the thing you want so badly get you down any longer. You make a conscious decision to relax, breathe, and drop your heavy pack because there’s nothing you can do… on your own.

In my experience, in the times that I relaxed, recognized, and remembered that I need to rely on God and His Holy Spirt living in me and that I need to demonstrate patience, because I cannot force things to happen, it was in those moments that things turned around for my good. 

I’m excited to be able to offer this title again. My hope is that it will encourage you. Remembering the times I share in the book, encourages me to remember to relax and let God now. Sometimes the timing isn’t quite right.

Take me back to my beautiful dream. My beautiful, peaceful dream.

I rarely remember my dreams after I wake up. How about you? One of my daughters does and she remembers them in great detail and she has them often.

I once heard that it’s important to write down dreams you can remember …something to do with augmenting brain function.

Anyhow, sometimes I can get back to where I was in a dream and keep dreaming…not always, but sometimes.

My most recent memorable dream was definitely “get back in” worthy, not because I had to get back in to run from or successfully defeat a bad guy, rather because it was calm. It was peaceful. I woke up smiling and the muscles in my neck and upper back were relaxed…ahhh. Snooze time is over and now it’s time to get up.

I began Thriving full-time with Thrive Classic in May of 2021. I started on Thrive Elite shortly after it launched in January of 2023.

I say skip the samples and just start! Try these vitamins for 60 days!!

More energy!
Fewer cravings for junk.
More regularity.
More motivation to make time to exercise.

I started the Ultimate Thriver challenge using Thrive Classic and switched over to Elite when my order arrived towards the end of January ‘23.

Circulate, Duo Burn, Blast, Sculpt, Biotic, Balance, and Recover are what I mostly used and will continue to use.

I have always been athletic, however the 6 months prior to the challenge were quite the adjustment.

My youngest child is now in school a full day and what I found is that I was not getting the deliberate fitness related movement in that I used to get in multiple times a week in the past.

In fact, I found that I was spending most of my time getting sucked into the black whole of laundry & dishes and not leaving the house at all before it was time to pick the kids up from school.

Before the youngest started going to school full time, I’d make it a point to get to The YMCA for her swim lessons or for her to play with other kids in The Kids Zone while I worked out.

This Ultimate Thriver challenge motivated me to get back to adding a consistent fitness routine to my Thrive Experience! I used one of my Beachbody fitness programs, I work out at the gym, I incline walked, and spent some time with a trainer making sure my form on various machines was correct.

Having the motivation to get serious about a consistent fitness routine, Thriving, and seeing my progress, made a difference! Oh and the Elite lifestyle mix (aka shakes) is delicious!!!

Ready to try my vitamins for 60 days?

Thanks to my parents who gifted my husband and me a few bottles, I have been a consumer of the adult Z-Stack supplements for over two years and have found the adult capsules to be tremendous at warding off illness. When combined, these 4 vitamin supplements are POWERFUL: vitamin C, vitamin D3, zinc, and Quercetin and keep me healthy and keep viruses away!

Check out short video if you haven’t already!

I have found Kids Z-Stack to be just as powerful and the bonus is that ALL of my kids enjoy the taste! I tried them too…they are good and NOT loaded with garbage, artificial colors and sugar.

​See for yourself!
​

Well, it's been a LONG while since I've written about anything here.  I've always felt like I need to be inspired to write and not just "blog" to blog, ya know?  Anyhow, you all have inspired me and here I am sharing again!

Last week, several people asked me to share the details about a recent meal that was a hit with my family!  When I say "hit" I mean people going back for seconds and even thirds!

I've got a cookbook that I've had for YEARS...decades actually.  It's called Fit-It and Forget-it Cookbook:  Feasting with your Slow Cooker by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllils Pellman Good.  The recipe I elected to tackle, because I had all of the ingredients on hand (except the ground beef), is called Taco Soup with Whole Tomatoes.  If you've got a copy of the cookbook or you plan to get one, it's on page 37.

The original recipe calls for 1lb of ground beef and a pack of dry taco seasoning.  These are the two ingredients I didn't have on hand, but I had the perfect substitutes for them and decided to give it a go!

I replaced 1 lb of ground beef with a 14 oz package of Extra Firm Tofu AND I used the homemade taco seasoning that I've been using since 2012 instead of running out to grab the "over sodium-ed" processed kind.

So, what are the recipes?  Let's start with the base recipe:

Taco Soup with Whole Tomatoes
14 oz package of extra firm tofu, drained
1/2 cup chopped onions
28 oz can whole tomatoes with juice
14 oz can kidney beans with juice
17 oz can corn with juice
8 oz can tomato sauce
Homemade Taco Seasoning doubled and separate
1-2 cups water
1 cup grated cheddar cheese for topping 
taco or corn chips or tortilla strips for topping
avocado and lime for topping

Homemade Taco Season Recipe (from MyPlantBasedFamily.com)

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin

Combine all seasoning ingredients and add to the extra firm tofu and onions while sautéing.

Combine all seasoning ingredients a 2nd time, minus 1 tsp salt, and add directly to crockpot.

1. Brown tofu and onions in skillet with seasoning as described above.
2. Add the whole tomatoes, kidney beans, corn, and tomato sauce directly to the slow cooker.
3. Combine all ingredients except cheese, chips, avocado, and lime in slow cooker.
4. Cover.  Cook on Low 4-6 hours.
5. Ladle into bowls.  Top with cheese, lime, avocado and serve with corn chips/tortilla strips.


The Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Feasting with your Slow Cooker is now a revised edition.  So the page number I reference above may not be the same page number in the revised edition.

We used Fresh Gourmet Tortilla Strips the tri-color ones and Santa Fe Style ones.  In the future I'll stay away from the Santa Fe Style strips not because they were rather spicy, but because they were way too salty in my opinion and overpowered the flavor of the dish itself.  The Tri-Color strips have 15 mg of sodium per 2 Tbsp whereas the Santa Fe tortilla strips have 25 mg of sodium per  2 Tbsp!