Going To Walmart

 Hello, my good friends!

I hope life is treating you well!

It's early Saturday morning here in my neck of the woods.  I'm here in my living room relaxing and thinking about what I need to do this weekend.  And the cat has decided to climb on my lap as I am trying to write this.  I swear she tries to make my life difficult. 😂 

Among other things I need to do this weekend, I need to go to Walmart to get a few groceries.  While I know I need to get it done, I don't look forward to going.  There are people there.  What I try to do to avoid the crowds is to try to go there early in the mornings.  Tomorrow morning, I will take my reusable bags and try to get there as early as I can.  This usually means that I get there around 7 am, which is nice.   There aren't that many people and I don't feel like I'm going to walk into anyone.  And I mean that literally.  When there are too many people, I constantly feel that I am going to accidentally walk my cart into someone.  Or there are too many people and I feel like I am getting stuck in isles,.  

I couple of weeks ago I took a little vacation.  Instead of doing my shopping on the weekend, I decided to go during the week.  It was lovely!  I still decided to go out early at 7 am ish.  There was practically no one there!  I felt like I had the whole store to myself.  

So that's the trick.  If you are able and you want to avoid all the people, go as early as you can during the week.  

I will say that I probably will go back to my online delivery orders soon.  I do pay for Walmart Plus, but I do like to see my options.  However, once it starts to get cold later in the year, I have less motivation to get out there.  

That's it for now.  I hope you all have a very blessed day!

~Brandi~

Howdy, Friends!

Hello, all my good friends!

I hope you all are doing well with many things to be grateful for!

I've been having a great summer.  While I have still been working some ot, I've cut back some for the summer months.  I didn't want to look back and wonder where all the time went.

I've done some fun things, including going on a 27 mile bike ride, family get togethers, and seeing Potter Fest in Volant, Pa.  Potter Fest was semi fun, semi volunteer for work.  My sister asked me if I could help her take a couple of our clients there, she wouldn't be able to by herself.  I of course said yes.  That was a fun day, but I did tell her that next year we are just going to go so that we can experience everything that they have.  If you are a Harry Potter fan, I definitely recommend going to check it out.  The town goes all out for this event.  

One of the things that I am looking forward to in the next month or so is biking the Ghost Town Trail with my brother.  This is somewhere around 30 ish miles long, from Ebensburg, PA to Blacklick, PA.  We are starting at the top and heading down.  This won't be a round trip, I don't think either one of us would be able to go back up the mountains at that point, hahahaha.  We might try to time it with the leaves changing, that will be a pretty sight in the fall.

And, of course, I'm also looking forward to seeing Taylor Swift at the beginning of November.  That will be a dream come true for me and my niece.

On a different note, I'm trying to be on social media less and less.  While I wouldn't not check it out (I like to see family and friends updates), I'm tried of the negativity on several platforms.  I like to fill my day with as many positive things as I can, and the negative energy I see is not helping that.  What I would like to do is share more of my own positive thoughts as much as I can and spread out good energy.  I'm hoping that you will join me.  And this is in both real life and social media.

One thing I am grateful for today, getting to go for a 2 mile jog this morning.  The air was still a tad bit on the chilly side, so I didn't get too hot and sweaty.  

I hope you all have a beautiful day!

Say Kind Words

Hello, my good friends!

I hope you have been blessed today and everyday!  I know I am.

I've been thinking a lot about something lately, and also putting it into practice.  We need to say more kind things to one another.  Just by saying "good morning" to someone could help lift their spirits.  

Often times we may just walk by one another without even acknowledging that person's presence.  No eye contact, no hello's, just walking right on by pretending they're not there.  That's crazy to me.  

Let's start by at least saying hi to someone.  And maybe even add a smile as we're saying it.  Even making someone feel seen can start lifting someone's spirits.

I do by best to say some kind words to people everyday.  I'll be walking in the hallways at work and I'll start talking to someone.  Saying "good morning, beautiful," or "I love that shirt," or "your soul is shining" can make someone's day.  I can literally see people light up when kind words are spoken.

Words have power.   Let's make them good and kind words.  They can make someone's day.  And I hope they choose to pass it on.

Have a blessed day!

~Brandi~

Writing Letters, My Current Zen

Hello, all my good friends.  I hope today is bringing you many things to be grateful for!

I have started a new zen practice in the past few weeks: writing letters to people.  I like to have a bedtime routine in the evenings.  I take my dogs out, and then I take some of my daily supplements with my sleepy time tea.  I'll go up to my bedroom and start reading a book.  I'll read for my about a half hour to 45 minutes and then it's lights out.  Generally speaking, I fall asleep within minutes of my head hitting the pillow.  It works. 

As you may know, I like to be in a zen state as much as I can.  I try my hardest to not lets things stress me out or bother me.  But I am human, and sometimes the day gets the best of me.  Sometimes I just need to not think about things and just let them go.  Get away from all the negative things that may be happening out there.  

Earlier in the year, I noticed that my sister was sending some postcards to some friends, and it got me thinking.  Who doesn't like getting a letter from someone in the mail?  I remember when I was little I would be excited to check the mail.  Not that I was expecting anything, it was just fun to do.  As I got older, checking the mail wasn't nearly as exciting.  It's not as fun checking the mailbox when we start getting bills and all kinds of junkmail.  No offense, Columbia Gas.  

I also want to give people reasons to smile.  That's one of my missions in life, to give people reasons to be happy.  So, I started writing letters to my loved ones.  I even went out and bought some cards to mail out.  

I have added writing these letters to my bedtime routine.  So now when I head upstairs, I write a letter to someone.  Maybe not every night (stamps are expensive lol).  But at least every other night.  I get to take a moment and slow down when I'm writing.  It's relaxing.

I hope that those of you that have gotten a letter from me have smiled when you saw it in your mailbox.  I hope that when you were reading it that it brought you joy.  

I am going to try and continue this zen habit.  I hope this motivates you to start a zen habit, maybe even writing letters to your loved ones.

If you would like me to add you to my address book so that maybe I can write to you, please message me on Facebook.  If we aren't already Facebook friends, please comment on here with your email so that we can share our addresses.  I'm not wanting to share my home address directly not this blog, for security reasons.

Have a blessed day, my friends!

Swifties Since 2008

My niece Haivyn and I have been Swifts since way back in 2008.  She was just knee high to a grasshopper (not even 10), and I was older.  Fine, I was 30.  

The backstory, I had taken her to a Pittsburgh Pirates game earlier that year, and she did not enjoy it.  It wasn't her thing.  It's ok, I forgive her.  A couple of months later, Taylor Swift was the opening act for Rascal Flats at Star Lake Amphitheater outside of Pittsburgh.

I talked to my sister Rachael (her mom) and I got us tickets to the concert.  However, we told Haivyn that we were going to a Pirates game instead.  Let's just say that she didn't want to go to the game, and she had no problems letting us know that.  Verbally and nonverbally.  My sister lived in Blairsville at the time, and she drove to my town in the early afternoon.  We would then be driving to the concert from there.  This whole time, Haivyn is not happy.  

Keep in mind that Rachael also made sure that Haivyn was wearing her Taylor Swift shirt.  For hours, Haivyn had been letting us know how she felt about going to the game.  Including in the car as she is fuming in the backseat.  Now she's not even 10, so she doesn't know that we aren't driving in to the city of Pittsburgh.  Star Lake is nothing like PNC Park.  

We get parked and get out of the car.  We get the tickets out and have her look at the tickets.  Yes, at that time they actually had paper tickets that they would mail to you.  She sees Taylor Swift written on the tickets.  And you can literally see her wanting to jump for joy.  However, with the mood she had been in for half the day, she can't just immediately show excitement.  

She doesn't know what to do with herself.  She wants to shout for joy, but her body is telling her that she needs to continue being in a bad mood.  The battle within herself only lasted a few moments.  Her inner Swiftie won the battle.  By the time that we were walking to the ticket gate, she was showing her Swiftie heart.

The show was great.  I have no idea what I did with the memory card of the show.  I'm hoping that I find it one day.  That was the first and only time I have been to Star Lake Amphitheater.  Neither one of us have been to another Taylor Swift concert since.  But I have good news.  We got tickets to her Eras Tour for next year!  It's going to be a long wait, but it'll be worth it in the end.

I ❤️ Reading

 Hello, my good friends!

I hope this Monday is bringing you joy.  While some might think of Monday's as a drag, I like to think of them as a fresh start to the new week.  Monday Funday!

I know I have written about it before and I am sure I'll write about it again.  I love reading.  I always have, it brings me joy.  I associate reading with love.  My mom would always read to us every night before bed, it was a part of our bedtime routine.  One of my favorite books when I was just a little one was Bread And Jam For Francis, a classic.

I can't really think of a long stretch of time where I didn't read.  I would almost always have a book with me during my school years.  Every day after school you could normally find me at the library browsing through the books.  Shout out to the Blairsville Public Library for always making me feel welcome!

Today, one of my favorite genres is what I like to call the Harry Potter Genre.  Light sci-fi/young adult/mystery/action.  It's a little bit of everything.  I still love my mystery and thrillers, but a lot of times I just want a book that I can fall right in to without worrying about remembering every exact detail of an intricate plot.  

And since I broke my hand and needed surgery 6 weeks ago, I have had a lot more free time on my hands. I have been reading at a little faster pace than I normally do.  I normally average a book every other week. However, I checked yesterday and I think I have finished 8 books in 6 weeks!  Go me!  All of the books have been on my kindle, since it holding a book and turning the pages is a challenge (especially when I had either a splint or cast).

I think I will leave the debate on kindles vs physical books for a blog some other time.

What books do you enjoy reading?

It's Sunday Zenday! 7-16-2023

Hello, my good friends!  I hope life is blessing you and you have many things to be grateful for!

I am grateful that I am slowly but surely covering from my hand surgery.  My accident happened almost 5 weeks ago, but I do think I am healing quite nicely, considering.  My cast is off and the pins are out, and I am so happy about that.  I have a removable splint now, which I need to treat like a cast.  But I can take it off to take a shower, wash my hands, and move my fingers around.  I still need to be careful, but at least I can use both my hands to type now.

I am also grateful that I was able to go to a family get together yesterday.  I got to see some people that I haven't seen for a bit and it was nice to catch up and spend some quality time with them.  Hopefully I'll see as many of them as possible at the next event, our annual holiday party right after Thanksgiving.

So I was going to check how things were going in my bucket garden.  I hadn't been out back for a few days, and I wanted to see how things were going, plus give them a nice drink of water since we haven't had too much rain this past week.  And guess what?!  I was pleasantly surprised to see some patio tomatoes ready to pick.  It's always exciting to pick the first veggie of the season!  I was able to pick about 5 of them.   Each one is roughly about the size of a couple of large cherry tomatoes put together, they aren't that big.  And that's ok.  They will still taste great!  I only wish that I had some toast and some vegan mayo to make a little sandwich for dinner.

I may possibly still end up with a couple of crookneck squash, I saw a couple of flower buds on them.  But I am not holding my breath for that.  I did see some peppers.  I don't think they are going to get that big, but they will still taste good in a little salad, yummy!

I am already thinking ahead to next year.  While I will still do bucket gardening, I do plan on have a couple of raised beds.  I think the squash and the cucumbers will turn out better in those.

I am beyond blessed to have all of you!  I appreciate you taking a moment out of your day and reading my little blog.  What do you have to be grateful for?

Be blessed and have a great week!

It's Zen Day 7/2/2023

 

I hope all of you are having a blessed day!

For those of you that have read my previous blog, I believe my hand is healing nicely.  The pins are annoying, but the pain is almost gone.  In fact, I didn't even need to take any ibuprofen for my hand yesterday.  I go back to the doctor this Thursday, hopefully these pins come out.  I might still need to wear the cast for another week or so, but I can deal with that.

My bucket garden is doing nicely. I'm not sure if I'm going to get any crookneck squash or cucumbers.  I did a little bit of research on them, and they like larger spaces.  It's not that they can't be planted in containers, but the roots like a lot more space to grow.  I'll need to remember that for next year.

The tomatoes and peppers are doing well. I'm seeing some flowers on my big bertha tomatoes and mini peppers growing.  And the patio tomato plants are doing very well.  Some of them already had tomatoes on them when I planted them a few weeks ago.  Hopefully it won't be too much longer until my first tomato and pepper salad of the season.

I have been trying to do do some thinking on my long term plan to have a zen yard.  The first big step is to get a fence.  I am hoping to have that done by the end of summer or fall.  That alone will make me feel much more at peace.  I have seen some amazing ideas on the World Wide Web for a zen outdoor space.  It'll take some time and dollars, but it'll be well worth it at the end. I essentially want lots local wild flowers/plants growing everywhere.  And of course a decent amount of space for a container garden area.

Well, I think that will just about wrap up this week's blog. I will let you know next if if they take out the pins in my hand. May this coming week bring you many blessings!

I Am Grateful And Blessed! Thank You!

Hello All!

I hope everyone had a great week this past week!  The weather was decent, not too hot or too cold.  The squirrels and birds are definitely picking up that I'm putting food out for them.  I don't know who enjoys seeing them more, me or my one dog Fleury.  And for the first time a few weeks ago, I had a squirrel take a shelled peanut out of my hand.  It was awesome.

I'm going to stray away this week from talking about my garden.  Not much new in that area.  I did get a tiny little dog zen statue.  I'll try to share a pic of that next week.

As a few of you may know, I recently broke my hand almost 2 weeks ago.  I'm not going to get into what actually happened.  That's a story for another day.  And my purpose for sharing this is to talk about how blessed I am.

I wasn't wanting to share this.  Please understand that I am not asking for anyone's sympathy.  The last thing I want is for you to feel sorry for me.  Do I need help with some things?, yes.  And I certainly appreciate any good vibes you would like to send my way.

I could look back on that night and dwell on the thousand different ways it wouldn't have happened.  But that isn't going to help.  I'm not one to sit around feeling sorry for myself.  What's done is done.  I choose to be grateful that it wasn't worse in a thousand different ways.  And it could have been way, way worse.  Easily.  For one, it could have been my right hand.  That alone would have been a struggle.  Or I could still be laying in a hospital bed right now.

I am going to heal. It will be a little bit of a process, but I'll be good as new before you know it.  Someone was looking out for me that night.  And for the I am truly blessed.

Some shout outs:

*my neighbor Carl.  I truly don't know what I would've done without him that night.  He came to help me, as soon as he figured out something was wrong.  It could've been a way different ending without him.

*my stepdad Charlie. When I called him that night and said I needed to go to the ER, he dropped everything he was doing to take me.  He also took me to the hand specialist the next day.

*My mom and Bekah.  They were on vacation at the ocean.  They packed everything up and came home way early to make sure I was ok.

*my mom for taking me to my surgery (and not taking any videos)

*Bekah, for helping my put on my watch (and lots of other things around the house)

*everyone at the ER.  Not everyone has a good experience with the care at the ER, but I truly feel that they did everything in their power that night.  They were caring and attentive, along with giving me great medical treatment.  And they tried everything the could to save my 5 year McGuire ring before cutting it off.   I guess its better to lose the ring than the finger.

*Dr. Alexis Pilato and her office team.  They got me in the office asap and scheduled me for surgery the next day.

*the surgery center.  everyone there was very friendly and helpful in that stressful time.  We even laughed together when my pregnancy test came back negative.

*my department director at work and friend Laurie Smith.  I am sure then when I texted her that night what happened, her heart probably dropped.  I honestly couldn't ask for a better boss.  She checked on me multiple times to make sure I was ok that week, and also got ahold of my mom to make sure the surgery went well.

*my coworker and friend, Amber.  At the last minute, she handled not only her share of the workload, but mine as well.  Kudos to her.

*the HR team at McGuire.  It brightened my day to get a get well card from them.

*our Senior Leaders at McGuire.  Along with Laurie Smith, they helped ensure that I was able to come back to work when I did.  I have some limitations, and I am blessed that I am in a position that I can come to work with those.

*Charla Crawford, for tying my shoes.

*my family, I appreciate the love and support.

*my friends, I am blessed that you have been reaching out to check on me

*and a huge shout out to everyone that has been sending me all the good vibes and prayers.  I know that those have been helping me heal as quickly as possible.  Please keep sending them.

With all of your support, I am on my way back to being 100%.  I may not be in my teens or twenties anymore, so I know that it isn't going to happen overnight.  But my goal is to finish at the top of my age bracket when it comes to healing time.

I am grateful in so many different ways.

Sunday Zen Day 6/18/2023

Good day, my lovely friends!

I hope you are finding peace and happiness today, wherever you may be.  I have been spending an extra few days at home, just relaxing and enjoying some zen time.

I know I left off last week with talking about trying to find some strawberry plants.  So, let's just get started.

I kind of felt like I didn't have good odds finding any strawberry plants, but I wanted to try anyways.  It was already going on mid June, and strawberries definitely should already be in the ground.  And just in case some of you don't know, you really need to wait until the second year to see any fruit.

I figured I would start at Walmart.  I knew that the last weekend they still had a handful of strawberry plants, so it was worth a shot.  I wanted to get started early, there was a car cruise in town that pretty much goes from the one end of town to the other, and wanted to get a head start.  the main section of town was already loaded with cars AT 6:30 IN THE MORNING!

Well, I got out there, and there were no strawberry plants.  I checked and double checked, but no luck.  My next try was Home Depot.  They usually have a large selection of plants to pick from.  I have gotten strawberry plants fro the before, and they did well.  I walked on the inner garden section and then the outside section.  They still had a lot of veggie seedling to pick from.  Lots of tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc.  But no strawberry plants.

I came home defeated.  Even though I didn't have high hopes to begin with, I still wanted to find a couple. I was going to my local fruit market that morning, getting 1 or 2 more tomato plants.  Sine they are only a few blocks away, I decided to walk.  Once I get there, I thought I would walk around.  Earlier in the week, I didn't see any strawberries going, but why not check again.  And then I saw what I thought were strawberry leaves and I got all excited.  I practically skipped over the few steps.  When I looked at the tag, it said 'pineberries."

What the heck are pineberries?  So I went to google real quick.  They are basically white strawberries that taste a little like pineapple.  Sounds good to me!  I grabbed 3 of them.  And I also got their last patio tomato plant.  

Once I got back home and got them planted, I did a little more research on them. Along with some other interesting facts, it is highly recommended to have at least 1 regular strawberry plant for every 3-4 pineberry plants for pollination.  I had already started 1 runner from my old plants, so I wanted to get a couple more just in case.

This blog is getting kind of long, so I'll wrap it up.  I dug up 7 or 8 of runners from my old plants.  This was challenging, considering on how dry and somewhat rocky the ground was.  I planted all of them, knowing that probably at least half weren't going to make it.  And I was right.  Probably at least 3 or 4 might not make it.  Let's hope for the best.

There's really no other news from my garden this past wee.  Thankfully it has rained a few times, so I haven't needed to go out and water as much.

If you would like to donate towards my Zen garden, look me up on PayPal at paypal.me/plantbasedbrandi

One of my pineberry plants:

One of my strawberry runners I started a few weeks ago:

A couple of my sister's flowers:

Sunday Garden Zen

 

Good day, my lovely friends!  I hope your week has been good to you.

So I have been semi busy this past week trying to get my little bucket garden even better.  As you may remember, I tried starting some tomato/sweet pepper plants from seeds.  I'm not sure what happened, but they just weren't growing after they sprouted.  Almost a week ago I decided to stop at the fruit market in town that also sells some seedlings/junior plants.   I also wanted to see if they had some strawberry plants.

First, they didn't have strawberry plants, so that was a little disappointing.  But I was looking around at their other plants.  I was looking to get some cherry tomato plants, but unfortunately they didn't have any.  But I did find patio tomato plants.  I had never heard of them before, so I was intrigued.  I did a quick google search in the store, and they were pretty much was I thought they were going to be.  They only grow about 2 feet tall, so they are great for growing on the patio/porch, small gardens, or containers.  I grabbed up t a couple of them.  Now these were already past the seedling stage, and even had a couple of little tomatoes already growing on them.  I also grabbed a 4 pack of green pepper seedlings.

Once I got home and took care of a few things (including taking the fur babies out), I got to work with planting them in my buckets.  It's didn't take too long, and I even gave them a good amount of water to drink.  I have to say that I am loving the patio tomatoes already. 

So I wanted to learn a little more about these tomato plants.  So I went back to google.  Amongst some other little facts, I learned that there are indeterminate and determinate tomato plants.  With patio tomato being determinate.  This pretty much means that the tomatoes pretty much ripen around the same time, instead of getting them more spread out.  If you like to can tomatoes, you want them to ripen together so that you can harvest more.

I did more work yesterday, including going strawberry plant hunting.  But I think I'll save this for another blog post later in the week.  

I hope you all have a wonderful day, and take time to invest in yourself!

Your zen friend,

Plant Based Brandi

Patio tomato:

My crookneck squash:

Bonus picture of my squirrel friend this morning:

It's Monday Funday!

Happy Monday, my friends!

I hope you had a nice weekend.  Whether you worked (like me), chilled around the house, or went out, I hope you had fun.

I worked 12 hours on Saturday, with 4 hours of that not planned.  But hey, I'm trying to pay off a house early, so every dollar helps.  Even though it was a little toasty, we still got to go outside and enjoy the nice day.

Yesterday, I did some little odds and ends around the house, plus I just relaxed a good bit.  I had to do the usual, like laundry and started meal prepping a little for work.  But I also got a little reading done.  I'm reading Still Water by Amy Stuart right now.  I got it from one of those Lending Libraries nearby.  It's probably something that I wouldn't have bought, but it's not bad considering it was free.  And I'll be certain to pass it along when I am finished with it.

Speaking of books, it's still my dream to own a book store.  Imagine, I could tell a customer to hang on for a minute, that I'm trying to finish this chapter, and they would perfectly understand.  And if I had a used book store, I could read a lot of books before I sell them.  They're already used, so it would not be an issue if I put some extra creases in it.

So, who wants to donate some cash towards my book store?  I could also sell books online, which in many ways would be more up my alley.  

As far as my bucket gardening, my seedlings that I bought from the store are doing great.  I'm pretty sure that they are already growing in their new containers.  However, my ones that I started from seeds still don't seem to be doing much of anything.  They aren't dead, but they don't seem to be making any progress.  I might go to the store again and see if they have any more seedlings left, just in case.

I'll take more pictures over this next weekend and share with you guys.  Side note: no tomatoes just yet lol.

Have a zen day!

It's Wednesday! New Bucket Garden Zen Post

(Pictured above is my tomato seedling)

Happy Wednesday, my blessed friends!  I hope this post finds you in good spirits!I posted the other day about my new zen, bucket gardening.  I'm already so happy with the process.  As a quick refresher for those that didn't see the post a couple of days ago: I have had a garden in the past and have enjoyed the "fruits" of my labor, but I never really enjoyed the work.  However, this year, I am going to enjoy the process.  And the buckets I am using help with the weeding.  This has always been my least favorite part of it.  But with buckets, the weeding is very minimal.  

Other than perhaps getting some strawberries going, I have pretty much finished the planting.  I planted my seedlings this past weekend, as a backup to the seeds I started in case they don't make it.  I have roughly 4 tomato plants, 4 peppers plants, cucumbers, and crookneck squash going.  I even started some carrot seeds!  Even though it's not much yet, it's still nice to see the progress up to this point.

I do have concerns that maybe I sprinkled the carrot seeds a little too close together.  I am using my raised garden on my porch for these.  I've never planted them before, so if it doesn't work out it will be a lesson learned.  I don't think it's too late to plant a few more, I'll have to think about that.

I hope this inspires you to find your zen.  Please feel free to share either your garden ideas or your zen.  I'm all about learning what others do. 

My green pepper seedling:

My carrots (and one cucumber seedling):

My bucket garden: (the plants clear in the back are my sister's)

Gardening: My New Zen

(Picture isn't mine, just using for reference.)

Happy Memorial Day, my good friends!  I hope you all are enjoying the beautiful day!  Plenty of sunshine all around in my neck of the woods.

I have had my own little garden for years.  Even when I was knee high to a grasshopper, I would be out in the garden with my dad.  Now he had a decent sized garden.  Everything from tomatoes, to different varieties of peppers, cucumbers, beans, etc.  I remember loving going out in the garden and picking those fresh veggies and eating them!

I plant just the basics: sweet peppers, tomatoes, and I normally try cucumbers (sometimes they work for me, sometimes they don't).  In the past, gardening has not been my favorite activity.  I love eating them and giving them away, but I don't like the work that goes with it.  Especially the weeding.  Weeding sucks.

However this year, I have a different mindset.  With the motivation of family and what they have been doing, I have told myself that I am going to enjoy gardening this year.  

I recently moved, and the yard that I have is very rocky.  Long term, I will probably be doing raised beds.  This year, I am doing bucket gardening.  Thanks to a good friend, I was able to get almost 15 buckets at no cost.  I just needed to buy the soil.  And since this wasn't my original plan (I was going to plant in the ground), I didn't have time to research
the best mixture.  I just ordered a whole bunch of potting soil bags from the big box store.  I put some drainage holes at the bottoms of the buckets and threw the dirt in.  I started from seeds, so I was able to plant them.  I will say that they are growing pretty slow so far, so I got some back up seedlings just in case.

I already am enjoying 'the work.'  I have enjoyed the process of getting them going and watering them.  Oh, I should also say that I have a planter 4'x2' container on my porch that I have planted carrot seeds in.  I may be sharing pictures in the future, I think it would be nice to share with you the progression of my bucket gardening.  

The best part, little to no weeding necessary.

Please feel free to share your ideas for gardening.  Have a blessed day!

Be Who God Wants You To Be

Hello, my friends!  I hope you are having an amazing day, wherever you may be.

It truly is a beautiful day in my neck of the woods.  It's abut 80 degrees, sunny, and low humidity,  It's a great day to be sitting on my porch as I am writing this.

I was thinking about a quote that I received several years ago.  I was taking an individual where I work on a walk in a local park.  We were walking around the track that they have and I believe that we had just finished the one mile loop.  There was a group there from the local Lutheran church handing out water bottles and giving out notecards with inspiring quotes.  We gladly accepted the bottles of water and the inspiring message.  "Be who God wants you to be, not who others want to see."

This has stuck with me for the past 6 years.  Whether you're Christian or not, the underlying message is be a good person and make the right choices.  Regardless of what others are expecting or doing.  Do the right thing.

I was raised Lutheran.  While I may no longer attend church, I try my best to make the right choices.  I know I am not perfect, but am I doing the right thing in any particular moment.  If He is watching, is he seeing me trying my best.  And even if there is no He, am I making the world a better place one choice at a time.

So, I am trying to be who God wants me to be.

Tolerance

   

tol·er·ance

noun

1. 1. 

   the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.

   
   

   
   

   Hello, my good friends!  I hope this blog finds you in good spirits!  

   Summers is inching its way towards us, and I am excited!  I love being able to throw my tank top and flip flops on when I get home from work!  I haven't been able to go on any good hikes lately, I have been working extra to help out.  I'm going to have to squeeze at least a short hike at some point.

   
   

   In a world where there are so many differences of opinions, it is important that we be able to tolerate ideas that we may not agree with.  It should go without saying that I mean things that aren't harming others.  For instance, things such as racism, bigotry, homophobia, stealing, etc should not be tolerated. But there are so many other ideas that we should tolerate.  I consider myself to be a Pagan Christian.  It may sound like being this is contradicting itself to some, but I believe that the earth is a powerful force and we should respect it.  I also believe that something created us, God perhaps started the "Big Bang."  I respect that others may have different ideas, whether it be strictly being Christian, being Muslim, or perhaps being an atheist.  

   We also have different political ideas.  We may also have differences of opinion on what we eat.  We may have different ideas on how to raise children.  And that all is ok.

   We can agree to disagree on many things.  What's importance is that we can tolerate each other.  At the end of the day, most of us what the same thing.  We want people to be living in harmony and coexisting.  We just may have different ideas on how to get there.  This doesn't make either one of us completely right or wrong.  

   We don't have to agree with one another on every single topic.  The world would be boring if we were all the same.  Let's work on tolerating other people/ideas.  

   Many good vibes to you!  I hope you have a blessed day!

   
   

   
   

Let's Appreciate

Hello, all my good friends!

I hope this post is finding you in good spirits on this day that we have been blessed with.

I wanted to write a short post on appreciating things that we have, not to take things for granted.  Too often we like to dwell on the past or stress about what may happen in the future.  What we need to try to do is appreciate that we are in.

What happened in the past is over and done.  Learn from it, but move on.  There is no point to lose the current moment by wondering what could have been.  "If only I had done it this way" or "I shouldn't have done that" will only make you miss out on the things happening right now.

Stressing about what possibly could happen tomorrow, next month, or even next year will also hinder what you could be doing in the moment.  That's not to say that you shouldn't plan things or set goals.  We need to prepare ourselves in certain ways.  

But let's not miss out on the beautiful sunrise that we get to see on our way to work in the morning.  Let's enjoy the time that we get to talk to our families.  Let's have fun with our friends as we enjoy a meal together.  

Let's appreciate everything that we have going for us.  Many people could be praying for the things that we may have.  For instance, I am honored to serve at my job.  I have had jobs in the past where I didn't get nearly the perks that I currently have.  PTO would have been unheard of at some of the places I have worked.  Yes, I could ask for a vacation and may get it, but they certainly weren't going to pay me for it.  If I get called for jury duty, I am not losing any money.  My health care benefits are top notch compared to most places.  (And I do appreciate all the jobs I have had, just in different ways.)   

I also appreciate that I have a running vehicle that gets me to and from places.  Many people struggle to purchase a car that runs, and I have one that reliably gets me where I need to go.

I am blessed that I have no major health issues.  There are people out there that have to go to their doctors for issues on a regular basis.  And that's assuming that they can (health insurance or other issues.)

And I am super grateful that I have a warm bed to sleep in every night.  There are many people that may not know where they are going to stay from day to day.  

And lastly, I appreciate you for reading this post.  You could have spent these few minutes checking your instagram or scrolling through Facebook, but you chose to read my blog.  Thank you!

I could go on and on.  But I wanted to talk about some of the things that I appreciate.  What do you appreciate today?

My First Try Of Huel Protein Powder (Salted Caramel v3.0)

Hello, my good friends!

I hope you are having a super Sunday!  It's still a bit chilly here in western PA, but spring is just around the corner.  I am definitely looking forward to consistent warmer days ahead.

Lately, I have been trying to be more mindful of my protein intake.  Since I don't eat meat and I don't eat much eggs or dairy, I have to especially be mindful of it.  I do try to load up at breakfast, with my protein powered oatmeal.  This consists of oatmeal, a good dollop of peanut butter (Justin's), a couple smidges each of ground flax seeds and chia seeds, and a half serving of plant based protein powder.  All together, this is probably 20-30 grams or protein wrapped up in my breakfast, which is a decent amount.

However, the rest of the day, I normally don't eat an abundance of protein.   Sure, I sometimes have some plant based meat or some sort of beans, but that doesn't happen every day.  I am probably lucky to average around 45 grams of protein daily. 

Since I have moderate physical activity most days, I felt that I needed to kick it up a notch.  I also wanted to try something more as a meal replacement.  I was looking at several different ideas.  My first serious look was at Oats Overnight.  I loved the concept.  Essentially I would be drinking flavored oatmeal that was also packed with some other sources of plant protein.  They had some delicious looking flavors (some vegan, some not).  But I could not spend almost $3 a meal on oatmeal.  Sure, it was already portioned out. But I could make my own much cheaper.  Plus, I was looking for something that was a little more calorie dense.

I had heard of the company Huel before.  Plant based protein that also was a meal replacement.  So I looked more into this.  They do have a couple of different lines, some even with more protein, some just protein without being a meal replacement.  I decided to try the 3.0 line.  This was a meal replacement, but was not the most expensive in their brand.  It has about 30 grams or protein per serving.  Now, I do want to add that this isn't cheap.  I got a bag of the peanut butter and also the salted caramel flavors.  Total of about 34 servings for $75 (subscription price).  I did also get a free t-shirt, shaker bottle, and with a code they sent me, a bag of Mexican chili meal replacement.  This last one is actual food.  Just need to add some boiling water and let it set for a few minutes.

After several long days, I finally got my box in the mail.  Since it was too late in the day yesterday when I got home, I had to wait until today to try it.  I waited until dinner to open up the salted caramel powder.  I shook everything up in the shaker and I could not wait to try it!

Let me just say, the taste is pretty good.  I personally think they should add a touch more sugar to it, but that's just me.  It is for sure a protein drink.  It said to shake vigorously for about 10 seconds, but it takes longer than that to give it a good mix.  I might suggest putting it in a blender for a better blend.  After letting it set for a few minutes, it did dissolve better in the water.  I also think it would be fantastic to blend some fruit in it as well.  That would give it a little more sweetness.

I have not tried the peanut butter powder yet.  I'll give it a try later in the week.  I also will try the Mexican Chili and let you know what I think.  

Overall, for a protein powder, I would give it a 7/10.  The taste is good, but the consistency could be better.  It's not chalky, as some protein powders in the past have been.  But you can feel the powder if you don't let it sit for a few minutes.  I drank this about an hour ago, and it is definitely filling.  I am not wanting to go grab a snack.  I will also try drinking this earlier in the day to see how long it takes for me to feel hungry again.

If you would like to give Huel a try, let me know and I will send you my referral info.

Thank you for reading and I'll catch you next time.

We Can Change The World

Hello, my friends!

I hope this day is bringing you many moments of joy and happiness!

I know it sounds cliche, but we have the power to change the world!  These past few years have been tough on many people, for a variety of reasons.  Yes, unfortunately things have happened that brought about a negative energy for some.

In today's world, some people like to focus on the negative side of things, and I am not sure why.  However, I want to focus on the positive.  Energy attracts energy, so let's attract the good energy.  The more positive vibes that we send out in the universe, the more we are going to get back.   Yes, it's that easy.

We have already been doing many positive things out there.  We have been helping our neighbors when maybe they were short a cup of sugar.  We have been donating to the food bank when maybe we have a couple of extra dollars.  We have been giving our time to speak out for those that don't have a voice.

I have been seeing so many good things happening out there.  It would take me many days to even begin to scratch the surface.  At the beginning of the pandemic, I saw many of my fellow coworkers helping out by bringing in supplies to the community homes they worked at.  Whether it be toilet paper, a gallon of milk, or a dozen eggs, many helped out how they could.  

I saw many people donating to shelters.  I personally reached out to see if people could assist where I work.  We needed help getting supplies, such as cleaning products and paper towels.  And people helped, no questions asked.  And I still cannot even begin to thank them enough for their generosity.

Together, we are a force.  One small random act of kindness can have a butterfly effect.  Telling someone that they are beautiful can put a smile on their face.  Which leads to that person holding the door open for someone.  Then that person helps someone helps someone else pay for their groceries if they were a couple of dollars short.  That person in turn donates their time to the local humane society.  Which leads to those animals in need getting the needed socialization to help them find their forever homes, possibly to the original person that told someone that they were beautiful.

Acts of kindness can also spread across the world.  Your act of kindness can make its way to the child starting in a brand new school in a third world country.  It can make its way to the freed people in a recently democratized country.  Maybe it will help someone learn how to start their own business.  We can make the world a better place.

We have the power.  And don't let anyone tell you different.

Be A Good Person

Be A Good Person.......

It's that simple.  

When you have the choice between saying something nice or something that will discourage another person, say something nice.

When you can steer someone in the right direction, point them, show them, lead them the right way.

When you are able to pay it forward, do it.  (Pay it forward can be in so many different ways, this may be another blog idea.)

When you see someone suffering, give them a helping hand.

When you can mentor someone, do it.  We were all new at some point.

When your neighbor needs to borrow a cup of sugar, lend it to them.

When someone is lonely, spend time with them,

Choose to be a good person.