Walk 166. Home again

Walked to village for dinner as fam (we were so hungry!), then I met a friend on Magnolia Blvd and we walked/talked until it got really dark. 4.1 miles

Walk 165. Pretty hike above camp

Lots of wildflowers and nice views. J complained almost the entire way, but he walked it! 1.6 miles

Walk 164. Up the hill, then around the lake

Walked up the hill with Steph (from their house) to see a pretty view of their town. 1.9 miles.

Then, walked around part of Meadow Lake (across the logs!) once we reached our campsite. About a mile.

Walk 163. Tubing the Portneuf in Lava

We rode a 4 person raft/tube down the Portneuf river in Lava Hot Springs (With J in the middle and Isaiah on a single tube). So much fun! J was scared at first, but after the first run he yelled "One more time!!" He loved the bumpins (small rapids). At the end of the run we had to walk the rafts up again. I'm hoping after 4 runs I walked at least a mile!!

Walk 162. Same as 2 days ago

Walked around Draper. 3 miles.

Then in Pocatello, we walked down to the park by my bro's house and watched the kids ride "helicopters" down the hill and play on the playground. The sunsets here are amazing.

Walk 161. Tried to hike to Timp Caves

Sis got tix to the wrong day. Ooops. Was actually kind of relieved because I knew I'd have to carry Nug (aka J) up the 1.5 miles which would be hard in the heat/altitude. We hiked up the trail a bit...

then went to Cascade Springs (so pretty!)

where the kids played in an icy creek, almost started a water fight at the fairytale bridge, Nug complained a lot, he and I saw a deer in the meadow on the way back to the car, and on the drive home we saw a MOOSE! About 1.5 miles.

Walk 160. Draper, UT

Morning walk to Starbs. It's fun to be in Utah. Everyone has really green lawns and all the sprinklers are on! 3 miles.

Walk 159. Before leaving town

3.25 miles

Walk 158. Around the village

3 walks, about 2 miles.

Walk 157. Going the distance

Disappointed in MMW again. It stayed on pause and didn't track about 1/2 mile of my walk. This has happened a lot.....I wish I had an accurate count of how many miles I've gone.

(Of what it has tracked) I've walked 375 miles since I started using MMW. And the first month I walked without it I walked around 90 miles, right? (I can't find the post! I need to figure this out for reals.)

Anyway, so I'm getting close to 500 miles. In a little over 5 months.

Yay!

Tonight I was honestly tired and didn't feel like walking. But I did it anyway. Some walks are great. Some aren't. And I don't beat myself up on the ones where I drag my feet. I usually let myself take it easy and turn around if I want to. And know that tomorrow is another day and another walk and most likely it will be a good one. (But if it isn't, that's okay too.)

Keep walking!!

2.9 miles

Walk 156. Slow walk with S

S has been wanting to go with me the last few days, but then she goes back and forth deciding. If she doesn't join me, she waits home and regrets it, but if she does walk I think she's afraid it will be like the Russell walk and she'll get too tired. We walked slowly over to the sound, walked through the village and stopped at Menchie's (where she knew EXACTLY what she wanted. A guy even commented on her delicious looking choice and how he wanted to try it.)

I'm happy she wants to spend time with me.

I'm happy she's loving being outside and appreciating how beautiful Seattle is during the summer.

I want her to feel so blessed to live in such a lovely place and to be grateful for this beautiful world.

This summer has been very unscheduled for my kiddos. No camps or swim lessons (I feel a little bad about that), not many trips planned. Just mostly unstructured days to enjoy summer (besides Irish) and be a kid. It's been great! And since we haven't been running around so much stressed to get here and there, S and I have been talking so much more. Just hanging out and talking. I love it. I love her.

I knew walking was good when I started, but I didn't think about how it would make my relationship with my daughter stronger. In fact, all the really good things that have happened after 5 months of walking are things I didn't really expect.

What a blessing.

So, my advice for today is to go on a walk with your kids.

Love,

me

Walk 155. So tired

Evening walk. Still recovering after long day yesterday (Pioneer picnic.) 2.8 miles

Walk 154. Walking fast

Walked this morning because we have a long day ahead of us as a fam. It was fun to go in the morning. I should prob mix it up a bit. 3.1 miles (15:36 pace)

Walk 153. 1.9 miles

Walk 152. Cholesterol and walking

Saw my naturopath today. Got some blood work results (they are actually outdated, but show how beneficial walking can be) I forgot to get last visit. After walking daily for two months (and not changing my diet one bit) my bad cholesterol went down by almost 30 points and my total cholesterol went down almost 20 points! I think that's impressive. (I wonder what it would be now that I've been walking daily for 5 months??)

I stopped eating wheat (gluten) on 7/4 (so 2 weeks today). I feel much less crazy about food. I think wheat was a trigger and addictive for me AND I never felt full or satisfied when I ate wheat (Funny, it turns out wheat is an opiate that makes you hungrier! At least according to this guy.) I don't feel like that anymore and it's so freeing!! I don't know if it will translate into big weight loss, but it feels great not to feel out of control about food. Hopefully just eliminating one big thing the weight (especially my tummy) will shrink. Please.

Also, wheat (or leaky gut) isn't good for folks with thyroid probs. Me again!! The plan is to heal my gut and hopefully heal my thyroid. That would be amazing! 

Walked to village during the day, then with Sarah in the evening. It was fun to walk with a friend and catch up with her. 

4.8 miles

Walk 151. Lots of walking

Walked to village in the morning, then took the kids to the park (with their play dates, Marcus and Ellery) around lunch, then walked to the library (S book club) then Albies for J. After E got home I went for my sunset walk. About 4.5 miles (It adds up quickly! We didn't get in the car all day.)

Walk 150. Milestone wallk!

Village during the day with kiddos, Magnolia Blvd around 9. 3.5 miles

Walk 149. The usual

Walked to the village during the day, along the Blvd at sunset. 3.1 miles

Walk 148. Best sunset of my life (so far)

Breathtaking, incredible, natural fireworks, yes...there really is a GOD, so so beautiful.... there really aren't words to describe it. (At least from me. Though I would like to be, I am not a poet.)

It was a great Sunday. Overcast Santa Cruz warm vibe all day. Left to walk around 8:45 pm with a spring in my step. Felt a few drops of rain and thought it would start sprinkling and even though I wasn't dressed for rain I kept on. It was warm. Was walking fast and feeling happy. I rounded a corner and literally gasped because this....

I was alone on the street and here it was. I kind of wanted to yell to everyone, "come outside!" Took my first panorama pics and turned around to see glowing red sunset through the beachy (foggy?) mist that was diffusing the light. Sprinkling, sunset, double rainbow, warm day, this was getting good. (Rainbows always feel like a message from God.)

Kept watching, walking, feeling grateful to be alive and a witness to this beauty as I walked towards Magnolia Blvd and the sound. Got there and looked up to see bright orange, red sunset with trees in silhouette.

It looked like something from a Disney movie. Walked up towards my stop sign turnaround spot and just LOOKED. The sky kept getting more beautiful, I couldn't actually believe how pretty it was. There I was walking in the sprinkling rain my shirt getting kind of wet, breathing deeply, legs moving, feeling so fortunate to be a witness to this....to be part of it. Cars started pulling over and people got out to take pics. Usually I see a few people on my sunset walks. This was so beautiful folks were stopping to take notice. It was pretty cool.

Kind of hung around the stop sign grassy area to watch. Then walked home feeling so so blessed.

The thing about these moments in life is you can't plan for them. You just have to be present and willing to let life happen. And pay attention. It's such a huge gift...one that I wasn't expecting. I am so HAPPY I was outside walking. Like I've said before....I will never regret a walk taken.

3+ miles

(Oh and Madison his his 2nd grand slam of the year. Go Giants!)

(And of course this was walk 148. Everything great happens on an 8.)

Walk 147. Pics don't match sunset walk

But they're pretty cute...

Another hot hot day in Seattle. Took kiddos to Golden Gardens before noon, which I thought would be safe and not crowded....but it was already packed! We had to park far away and walk in. They were troopers carrying all our stuff and not asking to be carried too (J). They played in the warm sun for a couple hours. Then we went and got a burger, S headed to a late-over birthday party, and J and I went for an evening walk. He was happy to go, had fun remembering previous walks (as we passed certain points along the way) and as we got home he asked if we could go again tomorrow. 3.5 miles (including an early walk to village).

p.s. we had a great dance party after S & E got home and the kids went to bed way too late. Love summer!!