How many memories have you made with your friends? I don't know about you, but mine are endless. I forget as many as we have made. This past 4th of July weekend, I celebrated my crazy beautiful friend Brenda on her birthday. We had an amazing day boating at the lake and it was just an amazing day. It was while I was sitting on the boat on a beautiful sunny July day in Iowa, that I realized I need to do a better job of being in the moment. Being in the moment is when you really take it all in and make a memory of a wonderful day.
When you find yourself feeling joy, this is when you need to be in the moment to make a lasting memory. Put your damn phone down for a few minutes, take a mental picture and ask yourself these questions:
What are you wearing?
What is the day like? What is the weather?
What is the location? Look around and really take it in.
What was your mood?
Who are the people surrounding you?
What is the occasion?
What food did you have and what did it taste like?
Did you have a special conversation?
How often did you smile?
How often did you make someone feel special?
Why is this something you never want to forget?
Memories stay with you forever if you take the time to really feel the joy during the days you never want to end. Do not take them for granted and always be grateful they happened.
Nutrition Nosh Two. Weekly Conversation.
My conversation today is with Registered Dietitian Tanya Hargrave-Klein
When I moved to the Des Moines area, about 9 years ago, I started working with a project involving wellness interventions at elementary schools in the area as a contractor with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation. The project had a group Registered Dietitians providing the education to the students and this is where I met the wonderful and Tanya. Tanya and I worked together on this project for a couple of years and we connected during that time. We have somewhat stayed in contact over the years until recently, we started working together again with the Iowa Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Tanya has always inspired me because when I met her, she was an entrepreneur and had her own business, TAVi Health Incorporated. I love the tag line of her business: “TAVi Health is your partner in wellness and health promotion. Combining the resources of an exercise physiologist and registered dietitian, a therapeutic recreation specialist, and a quirky creative director, we develop unique and innovative wellness incentive campaigns.” If you are thinking of starting your own business, this is a must listen!
Connect with Tanya: twist@tavihealth.com
Nutrition Nosh Three. Week in Review.
Every year on July 1st, I get the privilege to celebrate this crazy beautiful friend of mine! Brenda and I met when I was a dietetic intern and then worked together for a number of years. It wasn't until I moved away to Des Moines (so silly) that we became great friends!
Brenda and her main squeeze Jason, have a kick ass boat, so we were off to Lake Manawa for some sunshine, water, cocktails and great company. Brenda's sweet boys Brady and Jake joined us too!
It was the most perfect day! I also enjoy meeting all of their friends out on the lake. Over the years, it has been great getting to know them, especially Tanya! She is a blast and I look forward to seeing here every time! We had so much fun, we didn't quite make it to the rest of the festivities and fireworks that evening, but we did get a good nights sleep (wink wink).
The next day, I headed to my Mom's house and we made our way out to my cousins Denis and Christine's house for a little BBQ to celebrate the fourth.
They had quite the set up on the patio with this very cool bar made by Denis.
And Denis is a great bartender. We had everything from Moscow Mules to beer. They are truly great host and hostess when it comes to any get-together.
Christine spoiled me with my two favorite snacks, popcorn and cherries. I think I may have eaten almost all of them myself. She even made a snazzy batch of popcorn with truffle butter, so indulgently creamy, full of flavor and delicious.
After cocktails and snacks, we all hopped in the kitchen and helped make dinner. My Mom made a loaf of homemade bread and pattied the hamburgers, I made salad with romaine, spinach, avocados, blueberries, pears, candied walnuts, onions, feta cheese and poppyseed dressing (this combo was soo good, I text myself the ingredients so I could re-create it at home), Christine kept us all in line and made the beans while Denis grilled the PERFECT burgers. Putting it all together was one of those special memories I was talking about.
As nightfall came, we went outside to the perfect fire on the patio with our warm tea and coffee and I had planned a special finally for our delicious evening. But we needed sticks! Our resident horticulturist ventured out and gathered the appropriate utensils for our holiday sweet treat.
I could not pass up these unique marshmallows up at work. Smashmallow makes these tasty flavors in a marshmallow. So fun! I couldn't resist the mint chocolate chip and the cinnamon churro and a few packages of good old Hershey's milk chocolate bars. We did run into a bit of a conundrum. We forgot the graham crackers! Well, I forgot them. Good thing I can be inventive with my snacks, so we substituted some Belvita Cinnamon Brown Sugar crunchy breakfast biscuits.
And let me tell you, that was a damn delicious substitution. I personally LOVED the mint chocolate chip. The marshmallow actually had chocolate chips in them that got all melty when roasted so it made it even more oooey and gooey. I would highly recommend finding these at your local grocery store. I know I will be getting them again because who doesn't love s'mores.
Nutrition Nosh Four. Workout Playlist of the Week.
Of course my playlist had to be inspired by my girl!
What I love right now is what my Mom gave me before I left on Monday evening, two pretty great memories from my childhood. My Grandma Jose made this blanket for my sister and I when we were little girls, AND it is ALL done by hand. I didn't quite remember it at first and then my mom said, "if you look back at pictures, you will see the blanket in a lot of them" and she was right. This blanket was always with us. It will be a lovely little lap blanket to cozy me in and remind me of my Grandma and my sissy. The Life Cereal is also one of the foods with great memories and she gave me two boxes. My sister and I would always love to watch Saturday morning cartoon in our jammies with a big bowl of cereal. Two little girls watching Bugs Bunny and munching down a yummy bowl of Life. This memory makes my heart happy.
Memories stay with you forever if you take the time to really feel the joy during the days you never want to end. Do not take them for granted and always be grateful they happened.
~AE
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