On the Path to Healthier Living!

Several posts ago, I mentioned that if I hoped to continue being a 'mom' to international homestay students, I was going to have to take better care of myself. I knew I had to 'take the bull by the horns' (Can you tell I was raised on a farm?) and get my priorities back in their proper order. So finally, two weeks ago I put my foot down, gave myself a lecture and made myself map out a healthier routine to follow.

First I started cutting back on the amount of sugar and fat in my diet (gotta lose 50 pounds this year!). Then I started blogging less (that was the hardest part!) and going to bed at 11:00 p.m. instead of 3:00 a.m. so I could get up earlier and have time to go walking again--like I did six years ago when I was healthier.

Yesterday was rainy and windy, but I walked anyway! (We Pacific Northwesterners can't let a little rain stop us! If we did, we'd get nothing done!) However, this morning we had sunshine, glorious sunshine (!) and I grabbed my camera as I headed out on my walk...

...down to the nearby park...

...and followed the jogging trail that winds through the woods for about a mile. The air was a little crisp, but the sun felt good on my back.

Even though they aren't visible in this picture, the leaf buds on the trees and underbrush are pregnant with anticipation. With just a few more sunny days like today, they will soon be sporting their new, spring green outfits!

It's not hard to guess which side of the tree faces north in this picture!

This is an Oregon-grape bush which is native to the Pacific Northwest. Pretty soon that little cluster of buds barely visible in the middle of the picture will grow into a showy mass of yellow, round-shaped flowers. Then by late summer they will turn to dusty-blue berries. The berries are edible, but are very tart with large seeds, so no one eats them except the birds. However, the roots contain berberine which is used for medicinal purposes (anti-inflammatory/anti-bacterial).

Back home I noticed my crocuses were happily soaking up the sunshine. I could identify. I had walked for an hour in the sun's warmth and had loved every minute of it. (Hmmm, I see the weeds are getting a head start on me. Well, they'll just have to wait, because April 15th is coming and the tax man gets my attention first!)

Feeling healthier already!

Love,

Homestay Mama

Thanks to Bz over at The Mosquitoes Buzz, I learned how to add pictures so they will enlarge when you click on them. You can see so much more detail when they're full size.