As mentioned in my ‘anti-vegas‘ post, we hiked in Red Rock Canyon one day while we were there. Jake and Janie had never been, and we had been twice before (here and here) and decided it would be a fun way to get in some exercise.
First we checked out the visitor’s center and got another stamp in Adele’s National Park passport! This was her second time to Red Rock!
Adele was fascinated by the lizard who was being served carrots and celery for lunch.
Maybe it was a coincidence, but Adele walked over to the “E” below and shouted “EEEEEeee!!”
Soon enough, we headed out on our hike!
A Pony Tail on the Trail!
Not a day passes that I don’t get knocked in the face by something Adele is holding. (Public Service Announcement: Don’t ever let Adele try to ‘brush’ your hair. It’s more like ‘whack-your-head’).
Not long into our hike, our happy traveler fell fast asleep!
Climbing high above the desert floor!
Oh yea… um. WE SAW A TARANTULA!!!!!!
I debated not even posting those pictures because just looking at them I get the creeps. Luckily Adele was brave and didn’t get scared at all… because she was still sleeping 1.5 hours later.
She only woke up when we got back to the car and tried to transfer her to her carseat. Lucky for me, I got to enjoy some post-nap snuggles. I take ’em when I can get ’em!
On Sunday, Adele slept til 9am which meant everyone was happy and rested when we all got up. We took full advantage and headed out to the Angeles National Forest…. making a quick stop at Jamba Juice for some breakfast on the way.
We had only been to the park once and didn’t really know where to go, but we found a trailhead, parked the car and headed out. We ended up hiking to the top of Vetter Mountain. It was a fairly easy 1.7 mile trail each way. It took us 2.5 hours or so.
Irving carried Adele in the backpack for most of the way. She looks so different in it this time than she did 11 months ago!
She did ok on the way up, but got really whiny on the way down. I think she was hungry/tired/bored. Close to the bottom, we let her walk the rest of the way back to the car. I spy a baby ponytail in the shadow!
She was so excited to pick up sticks and rocks. I got giddy thinking of all the nature hikes in our future. Just like when I was a kid!
And just for fun, here’s a video of Adele galavanting down the mountain. And bonus… you can hear Irving singing. Pretty awesome.
It’s safe to say our lives have been a little hectic lately. We laugh that we haven’t had a full normal week since the beginning of May. We love being busy, but the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to find my center again. Trying to create balance and carve out some moments of peace among the crazy. Here’s a few things I’ve been doing lately for my own mental and physical health…
Time with Irving We were so lucky to have had family around here and there over the past couple of months. We took full advantage of our ‘built-in babysitters’ and got in a few nice dates. We spent a weekend away in Boston and got out on a nice trail walk together too.
We try to get out for a walk a few times a week. Now that the weather is cooling off, it’s been so nice to get some fresh air.
Time with Adele
I’ve been trying to soak in all of her toddlerhood lately. She’s just been cracking me up. We’ve done a dance class, a music class, a few playgrounds and some playdates lately. I love to socialize with the moms and see her play with her friends. She thinks everything is funny now and her laughter is contagious. My favorite thing now is how she says “Cheese” when you ask to take her picture!
Yoga
Well, I can tell you this… my return to yoga was humbling. I am SO out of shape you guys. Woah. I can’t believe I was more in shape 9 months pregnant than I was last week. Whew! I did “Mom+Toddler” yoga and it was AWESOME. I had my same amazing teacher I had for my prenatal class. It was so much fun. A few of my friends were in the class too and all the kids just sat and played in the middle while we stretched and held poses. Adele thought it was funny to crawl between my legs during downdog. It was fun to meditate while holding my baby and take some deep breaths together. And she loved when we all did our ‘ohms’ at the beginning and the end. She clapped when it was over. So cute!
Haircut
Confession: I haven’t cut my hair in OVER a year! Whatttt? I was holding out because I wanted to do an updo in Mikaela’s wedding (I’ll have a few photos posted soon!) But I’m super excited to cut my tresses this week. Mama needs it!
Flu Shot
It’s that time of year again! With a little one in daycare, we don’t take any chances. I know the flu shot is controversial among parents, but we opted in for Adele last month and we’re protecting ourselves as well. I headed to the CVS Minuteclinic* to get mine this year. I’d never been, but it was actually pretty easy. Admittedly, I waited an hour for my appointment, but Adele and I kept ourselves busy in the toy aisle while we waited. Don’t worry, we cleaned up before we left!
Hoping Health-Tober continues! I’ve got a few fun things lined up including trying an Aerial Yoga class! My arms are hating me already.
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*The CVS Minute Clinic provided me with a free flu shot. I was happy to try it out because I had never been before. It was a great alternative to making an appointment at the doctor, waiting for the nurse, and billing insurance for hundreds of dollars (my pet peeve). I was pleasantly surprised by the service. Consider it for your yearly flu shot! Protect yourself against the flu!
I think I’ve blogged about this before, but I suffer from weekly migraines. I can’t remember when they started, but they got worse the older I’m getting. I have awful memories of lying on my dorm floor crying because it hurt so bad. Then I discovered Excedrin Migraine, Gods gift to migraine sufferers everywhere. [source]
Once I realized how well Excedrin worked, I took it at the earliest signs of a migraine. And over time, I noticed I was single-handedly going through a few Costco-sized bottles of the stuff a year. Averaging 4-6 pills a week.
Recently, someone pointed out that I was likely more addicted to the caffeine, rather than the medicine itself. This bothers me that I’ve become so dependent on it. I rather find out the root of the problem (if there is one) rather than self-medicate.
So for the past three days, I’ve been battling a migraine headache that JUST. WON’T. QUIT. I fall asleep with it. I wake up with it. This is just no fun.
The other night, I was in agony, and Irving came running over with a bag of ice cubes to put on my head. It must have worked enough because I fell asleep with it on my head.
My Migraine Triggers -Too much sodium
-Dehydration
-Too much sugar
-Eating too little too late
-Not having caffeine
-Stress in my shoulders
So I’m trying to tackle these one by one and help live a healthier lifestyle overall. It can’t hurt to try, right? Here’s my plan for a while:
No more sugar. The only sugar I’m eating comes from fruit and bread. No desserts, chocolate, cookies, candy, pastries, etc.
No excess sodium. I don’t add salt to anything anyways, but I need to focus on making sure I’m choosing my food wisely. Of course this all went out the window when I ate a grilled cheese, pickles and chips yesterday at Canter’s Deli.
Drink. More. Water. This one has been easy lately. I’ve been so thirsty I can’t drink water fast enough. I hope I can keep it up. I notice I feel more balanced when I drink more water.
Eat smart, healthy, balanced meals throughout the day. I still have a morning snack (usually a string cheese), but I’ve nixed the afternoon snack. Drinking lots of water is actually keeping me really full.
I started drinking coffee a few years ago, so I’m slowly trying to wean myself off being dependent on it for caffeine. I’ve switched to tea every other day or so.
To get rid of stress, I try to convince Irving that I need shoulder massages, but I don’t think he’s buying it. But seriously, they help so much. And so do warm baths, stretching and yoga.
It’ll be hard to tell if these changes are working or not. I never really kept a headache journal, so I don’t have accurate information to compare it to. But I’ll let you know if I have any major breakthroughs or not.
If none of these work, my next step is to look at my dairy intake. I eat a lot of cheese, and I’m afraid to find out if that has anything to do with it. (Cheese can be a migraine trigger for some people). But I love my cheese too much to even THINK about cutting it out.
Remember the time I worked out with a trainer and lost 20 pounds before my wedding? Remember I used to count calories, drink protein shakes and go for daily runs? That healthy lifestyle now feels like a distant memory to me now. What Happened? Marriage happened! A life of gluttonous eating, world traveling and a profound contentness happened. And all my healthy habits vanished with my single-dom.
Last week, at a blogger event, the girls asked me when my “tipping point” was for healthy living. I kinda stared back dumbfounded. I said that I really haven’t hit my tipping point yet. But that’s kind of a lame excuse. I’m not living healthy because I haven’t had a turning point yet. What? The turning point is NOW. Right here. This is my tipping point.
Well, can you hear that? The rumbling in the distance? The fluttering of birds overhead? The faint choo-choo-ing of an on-coming train? It’s the healthy train, and I’m jumping aboard. For real this time. I’m going to DO this. And I have a plan.
I now have a healthy living coach who made a plan for me, and will call monthly to check in and make sure I’m on track for reaching my goals.
At least 30 minutes of cardio most days. I told her realistically, I will aim for 6 days a week. 30 minutes isn’t that hard.
When I get my pedometer, I’m aiming for at least 10,000 steps per day (about 5 miles)
Begin a real strength training plan, starting at once a week until the soreness wears off.
Eat more whole foods and less packaged, processed and frozen things
I am inspired daily by the blogs and articles I read. And it’s time to act on that inspiration. I will be charting my activity daily on the blog!
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Dinner tonight consisted of whole foods! I am very aware of the lack of protein in this meal. That is definitely something I’m working on nutritionally.
First up, I cut up some cute little potatoes:
And tossed them in a bag with some olive oil, parsley, dill and some other stuff:
What’s the “other stuff”? A little of this and a little of that:
I also roasted some Trader Joes asparagas with lemon pepper:
Served with a side of spinach with a drizzle of honey:
Not bad for day one of the “let’s not eat crap for dinner” campaign, no?
Hi I'm Kelley! I'm a 30-something cancer survivor and a self-proclaimed world traveler. I am originally from Boston, but now call Los Angeles my home. Traveling is my passion, but I also love running marathons, watching soccer, eating cupcakes and planning future adventures with my Husband. In June 2012, I became a mom to a beautiful baby girl named Adele. Our lives are forever changed and we couldn't be more excited!
Kelocity.com 