While it's important to detox year round, the holiday season is a crucial time to take care to detox our bodies, mind and souls regularly. The change in weather, family and added financial stressors, additional caloric intake and cold and flu season all threaten our health on a daily basis. Read on to see my detox routine that helps keeps me balanced overall.
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My newest fall recipe is now available. When Mr. Charming said pumpkin and apples should marry, I knew in that moment why it was him who I married. I'm looking forward to making these beauties for Thanksgiving or Christmas breakfast for the family. The beautiful thing? The glaze is the only place you will find sugar. And though I am pretty much 99% sugar-free, sometimes, your donut just needs a little glaze. There are people. People who come into your life. People you never expect to be lifelong loves. Lifelong friends. People who move your soul. People who rock your core. People who challenge you. People who hold you. The few that you take your walk with through this wonderful and beautiful journey. My thirties have become such a beautiful chapter thus far. The clarity of relationships, finding my purpose and the purpose of my challenges comes into focus a little clearer...... Today is the International Day Of Happiness and it has me reflecting on my own personal journey with what "happiness" is to me. As someone who always strived for "perfection", I use to shortchange myself on the happiness meter. I was of the mind-set, "when I have all my ducks in a row, I can be happy." When I get that vacation... I'll be happy. When I produce my next album... I'll be happy. When I finally meet the right guy... I'll be happy. When I can remodel my place... I'll be happy. This is toxic. And it starves you of true, real, pure, joy. Yes, I am that girl. I am the dog-mom who spoils her fur babies and gives them their own little piece of Christmas morning and who throws them a birthday party. And as our black lab/border collie Princeton is getting to be an old man, I only increase the awesomeness he receives every year.
Our poor little guy has arthritis and isn't SO much a fan of having a new fur baby around, so I wanted to make today special for him. I headed to Party City while Mr. Charming was on his way home from work and made the kitchen Princeton's extra-special party zone. This was Charlie's first year seeing a Pimental puppy birthday and he was more excited than any of us. Which isn't saying much, he's a 6 month old spaz of a Schnauzer and is always excited. So. The boys enjoyed a special dinner of rice with new york strip steak cubes, Puppy Ice Cream with a frosted donut dog cookie and gluten-free/grain-free dog cookie party favors for a later time. My carpet by the way is now covered in rainbow sprinkles. Something about that makes me so happy. They so enjoyed the day. Princeton was even an awesome sport and let mommy put a Birthday Pin on his collar while daddy put him in his birthday hat to take photos. This is what we do with our weeknights folks. I love these little nuggets though and they deserve all the love. All the love. Christmas morning is one of my very favorite times of the whole year. Mr. Charming and I spend a good amount of the holiday season running around, working a ton and hosting multiple parties. (his work, my work, his family, my family, friends) And while we ADORE time with our loved ones, friends and co-workers, on Christmas morning there's this magical quiet time where it's just him and I alone celebrating the birth of Jesus with our fur babies and it gives me joy and peace deep into my soul.
I'm just now getting around to recapping our Christmas. Truth be told I just got around to editing the photos Mr. Charming took with his camera and I hadn't yet decided if I wanted to speak on what really was going on during this season for us. But I started this blog as my journal. A place where I felt safe to expose my fears about sickness, and mental health and food issues and what I found was a community of women who were battling the same battles and dealing with the same issues and I want this space to always remain authentic. During this season, Mr. Charming and I lost a baby a few days before Christmas. A baby that showed us we are able to conceive (hope!). A baby we have been wanting for almost two years. I trust God 100% in this journey, and though it was hard, really hard to lose something we've been wanting for so long, I trust that our baby will come when God feels its right. A lot of people said that this was the worst time for it to happen (thanks for that by the way, haha) I was happy that I had Christmas and something much bigger than us to focus on. The birth of Christ. Celebrating Him as a baby took the focus off of losing ours and it healed me in a way I can't explain. I wanted to share, as this is a deeply important part of my journey and I know it's everyones personal preference to share, and it wasn't until I was in the hospital, that so many women I know came forth with their own stories of loss. I was saddened and comforted by those stories all at the same time, to know that I wasn't alone and if anything comes of me putting this out there, its that I want anyone experiencing that pain to know, you aren't alone. Now that the Christmas season is behind us and a New Year is stretched out before us, we continue to live our lives, just one day at a time. Because, as I've learned, it's much to hard to try to live it in the future. This week we go back to the doctor for a new game plan and a specialist to take the journey with us. Your prayers and good thoughts are appreciated. I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Here's to 2015! |
Welcome! My name is Mandi & I hope you stay in this happy little space a while. I'm a Christian, a wife to my Mr. Charming, mama to baby Greyson, healthy food-lover, traveler, professional journalist and Personal Nutritionist who hopes to inspire others with my story...
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October 2017
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