Scrapbook, Running, Yoga, and Arboone

A lot has happened since our last visit.  I have started scrapbooking again.  I think I will always be a Close to My Heart Girl. I absolutely love the products.  I find myself enjoying my time with paper and glue in hand.

In the last year, I also started my journey in yoga.  I have completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training.  It has been an amazing journey.  I also opened a yoga studio, with three amazing women.

I also have added Arbonne products to my healthcare plan.  I absolutely love the cruelty free, healthy products...and the 42 lbs weight loss.  It is amazing what you can do when you decided to do something.   Focusing on eating clean and using healthy products took time, it wasn't an overnight process, but it was easy.  For me I need easy, I need to be organized, I need trusted products, and I need to feel good about what I am using.

Now to Running - Yes I am running again.  Still slow as a turtle but I don't care I am running.  I am moving and enjoying every minute of my life...so look out world, I am back on blogger to let you know how a Southern Girl can make lifestyle changes that impact her health, her community, and touch other's lives.

~ ConnieKayA ~
A Southern Girl sharing her passion for living an abundantly blessed life.

Dementia and the Fourth of July

I remember a time when my family looked forward to the holidays. We made grand plans, spent time swimming, fishing, preparing large meals, and simply enjoying each other’s company.

This Fourth of July holiday weekend did not go as planned. Four days off, I dreamed of working in my flowers, doing a little sewing or scrapbooking, watching a fireworks display with my husband. 

But, as one of almost 44 million U.S. adults caring for an older family member (my Dad) I found myself trying to find Dad, cooking for Dad, replacing oxygen tubing for Dad, cleaning up multiple accidents created by Dad. Even sleeping was difficult, Dad was up prowling around the house two or three times a night - waking the dogs and the rest of the house.

Caring for an aging parent is hard, do not let anyone tell you it is not hard.  It is also rewarding.  As I walked into my family practice clinic the day after my not so wonderful weekend, I had to take a minute to decompress before seeing patients.  During that few minutes of peace and quiet I realized, Dad would be humiliated and heartbroken if he knew all the silly and sometimes risky things he did this weekend. 

See the blessing to this weekend is Dad does not realize how frustrating and even angry I was with his behavior.   He has Dementia.  

He does not always understand the concept of time or meal schedules. He often does not know what he is trying to find. Sometimes he cannot remember why he walked into a room. 

Caring for an aging parent is hard but, it is a role I have accepted.  The role of caregiver was once his role, now it is mine. So, we move ahead. We develop a bathing schedule, a better nighttime routine, set the door alarm to keep him safe, add a paid caregiver to help out, and keep moving forward with Dementia.

I would love to hear from you, let me know how you deal with or plan to deal with aging parents.

~ ConnieKayA ~
A Southern Girl sharing her passion for living an abundantly blessed life.

Finding Quiet Time

This week was busy but I managed to get several things accomplished.

Office charts, done.  

Volunteer health clinic grant, complete.  

Humane Society newspaper article submitted

Attended the Big Man's ceremony for the Quorum Court

Next week"s menu outlined, grocery list prepared.

Student discussions reviewed
Kennel software updated

As I was going through my email cleaning out I started reading Emily Freeman's weekly newsletter, that lead me to a her blog, where Shelly Miller shared her thoughts on The Spiritual Discipline of Idleness, Solitude, and Daydreaming.  Shelly's statement "In a busy world that prescribes more—more exercise, more diets, more involvement in community, more engagement on social media, more ways to make money, more education, and more resources for ramping up productivity—a rhythm of daily silence and weekly Sabbath is making a (quiet) comeback."

Our Front Yard in the Fall

This is where I am, trying to restructure to find some daily silence and maybe even a weekly day of Sabbath.  The Big Man and I, spent some time together today talking about how to restructure our days to allow us to have more times together and less hustle.

The focus for next week will be starting the day earlier, this will give me some quite time, time to start the day feeling less stressed and allow me to get to my office a couple of hours before I start seeing patients.  The time in the office will allow me quite time to complete paper work or work on continuing education.

Hal Elrod has written about and discussed the benefits of the miracle morning. I have read his books The Miracle Morning and Taking Life Head On.  Both books make sense, they encourage me to be a better person.  The challenge is for me to be a better person, who is not following the prescription of more is better.

So, I would love to hear, how do you find quite time? Do you practice the Sabbath?

~ ConnieKayA ~

A Southern Girl sharing her passion for living an abundantly blessed life.

Finding Quite Time

This week was busy but I managed to get several things accomplished.

Office charts, done.  

Volunteer health clinic, complete.  

Humane Society benefit, a success. 

The Big Man's campaign radio ad, written and recorded.  

Next week"s menu outlined, grocery list prepared.

Student assignments and final grades posted.

Next course set-up

As I was going through my email cleaning out I started reading Emily Freeman's weekly newsletter, that lead me to a her blog, where Shelly Miller shared her thoughts on The Spiritual Discipline of Idleness, Solitude, and Daydreaming.  Shelly's statement "In a busy world that prescribes more—more exercise, more diets, more involvement in community, more engagement on social media, more ways to make money, more education, and more resources for ramping up productivity—a rhythm of daily silence and weekly Sabbath is making a (quiet) comeback."

Our Front Yard in the Fall

This is where I am, trying to restructure to find some daily silence and maybe even a weekly day of Sabbath.  The Big Man and I, spent some time together today talking about how to restructure our days to allow us to have more times together and less hustle.

The focus for next week will be starting the day earlier, this will give me some quite time, time to start the day feeling less stressed and allow me to get to my office a couple of hours before I start seeing patients.  The time in the office will allow me quite time to complete paper work or work on continuing education.

Hal Elrod has written about and discussed the benefits of the miracle morning. I have read his books The Miracle Morning and Taking Life Head On.  Both books make sense, they encourage me to be a better person.  The challenge is for me to be a better person, who is not following the prescription of more is better.

So, I would love to hear, how do you find quite time? Do you practice the Sabbath?

~ ConnieKayA ~

A Southern Girl sharing her passion for living an abundantly blessed life.

Feeling Bad for Not Going to Church

Lately the Big Man and I have not been attending church.  At first our  my excuse was work, family and just being "too busy" but over time I have found myself questioning organized religion.
My view of church has changed, I once believed that the body of the church would be faithful with work in the community, but over the last couple of years, I see the body of the church as being content to sit in their pew and write a check.

I have watched our church dwindle in numbers, never moving outside of the walls. Yet, thousands of dollars have been poured into maintaining a big old brick structure for a few.  For me that is selfish - I want people to get out, offer a hand (without a check).  There is so much of God's work to be done in our little community.

So, I haven't been to Sunday services and I feel bad about not going to church.  I love our pastor, she is one of the most honest, kindest, hard working souls I know.  Her mission in life is to spread the word and focus on God's work.   But, I have learned in organized religion, you have to follow rules and you should not upset those with the checkbook.

So back to me, what do I do?? How do I give God what he deserves, after all he gave us his son.
God deserves His due place in our lives. Psalm 29:2 calls us to “give unto the Lord the glory due to his name…” He deserves a life of worship, and a small start of that is to spend time in His word, learning more about Him.

So..I have decided that online bible study and quite time with God are how I will give God the time he deserves.
I have started with 30 Days of Gratitude: A Journey Through Exodus

Exodus is not a book I have read. My plan is to
read the passage for the day.  I then plan to spend time using the Quieting Your Heart Gratitude Journal 

Will this process work?  I am not sure what I will gain from the process.  I do know that it is right to give God the time he deserves, so for now it will be me and God doing quite time together.

~ ConnieKayA ~
A Southern Girl sharing her passion for living an abundantly blessed life.

An Organized Life Starts at Home

An organized life starts at home.  When I wake up looking at piles of books, laundry waiting to be washed or hung in the closet, dirty dishes in the sink, my stress level goes up and my productivity goes down.

If I work late, I need to know my family is being fed and not surviving on fast food every day.  After working 12 hours a day, I need life to be simple.  I need to be able to spend my productive time without worry or regret that my home is not clean or organized. I need rest time in my safe place, home, without feeling like a failure because the beds are made or the cabinets are empty.

I took a look at my daily activities and decide which ones were (a) not that

important to either me or my family (b) relatively easy to drop, delegate, or outsource.  What I found was that there are many household task that can be dropped, delegated, or outsourced.

So when I decided to hire someone to do things for me around the house to simplify my life, I had to decide what exactly I wanted them to do.

There are household task that I can do that makes me feel better about my home, like picking throw blankets and pillows up of the den floor, moving clutter off the kitchen counters, or sorting the mail on my husband’s desk.

There are tasks that should be done but do not have to be completed by me, like laundry, making the bed, and washing dishes.  Then there are those task that should be done at least every few months, like cleaning the ceiling fans and baseboards, which have no place in my schedule.  There are also task that if left to me, with my schedule, would never be done those task include

washing the windows, wiping down the light switches, shampooing the carpets.

 

Now, some of you are thinking, there is no way you can afford to hire help, hiring someone would cost a fortune.  For me I simply calculated what I earn in an hour and then how many hours I was getting up early, skipping my exercise, or staying up late to clean my home.  It was simple math – hiring someone allowed me to be more productive and less stress equaling a simply organized life.

How about you, have you thought about hiring someone to help in your home? I would love to hear what is holding you back from having a simpler organized life.  Do you already have help in the home? If so, I would love to hear how having help has made your life simpler and more organized.

~ Connie Kay A ~

Meditation and Chicken Painting

Nothing ever really changes in my life. Thankfully I still have a loving family, with needs, a full-time family practice, rescue dogs that love me, and a boarding kennel to operate.  Sometimes I have no control over these obligations.  The only control I have is how I handle each obligation or situation.

So, I have been working on meditation. Yep, sitting quietly or standing in a tree pose helps me refocus, center my thoughts and push out negative feelings.   

• According to several books on Meditation, meditation brings the brainwave pattern into a relaxed state that promotes healing. The mind becomes fresh, and delicate.  With regular practice of meditation:
• Anxiety decreases
• Emotional stability improves
• Creativity increases
• Happiness increases
• Gain clarity and peace of mind
• Problems become smaller
• Meditation sharpens the mind by increasing focus and expands through relaxation
• Meditation makes you aware - that your inner attitude determines your happiness.

So if you see me standing in the middle of the clinic in a tree pose, know that I am working on being a better person.  

This week for my crafty side I started a painting.  I am not a painter, but there is something relaxing about sitting with a paintbrush in your hand and being able to add color and life to a blank canvas.

 

Here is hoping you have a perfect week

~ Connie Kay A ~