Summer vacation. I have a love/hate relationship with it. For my children, summer vacation symbolizes freedom, fun and testing my patience. Without the structure of a school day routine, it can be easy for children to fall into bad habits, such as watching too much TV, playing countless hours of video games and reaching for those infamous sugary snacks. While children might enjoy this freedom, spending too much time engaging in sedentary activities like these can quickly lead to unhealthy lifestyles. To prevent this unhealthy lifestyle here are a few tips on how I keep my children healthy over summer vacation and save my sanity at the same time!

 What’s for Sunday dinner?  I want to have a family dinner that is healthy and not too time consuming. And I don’t want to spend a lot of time and energy cleaning up after a busy weekend. Sunday nights are now becoming MYOP - make your own pizza nights!  

This morning I saw a post on Facebook about the four habits of happy couples:

1. They don’t leave without saying goodbye to each other,

2. They talk face to face every day,

3. They say “I love you,”

4. They surprise each other (in a good way) now and then.

Is a great relationship really that simple? Definitely not. But all four habits send the same important message – “I value you and our relationship.” That part is simple, and it’s a message that shouldn’t be reserved for romantic relationships. 

The holidays are right around the corner - that means celebrations with friends and family, holiday parties, and most of all, delicious food! However, if you’re not strategic about how you indulge this season, you might end up with a bigger New Year’s resolution than you were hoping for. On average, people gain 5-10 lbs. between November and January, and typically don’t lose this weight the following year. 

My mom died on Oct. 30, 2008. 

I was 19, on the cusp of 20. Just old enough to have a touch of adulthood figured out. Just young enough to have no idea what the hell I was doing yet.

There is nothing like racing your bike under the hot desert sun. You’re in the gate and your mind is racing. You ask yourself, what am I doing? I’m a 33-year-old wife and stay- at-home mother of two. 

In July of 2013, my husband Joshua and I heard the words “You have Cancer.” We had been married less than a year.  I don’t remember much after that. Everything was a blur. I just knew in my heart that our lives would never be the same again...

Wednesday, October 14th is Walk to School Day! (We hear the groans already.) You might say… Why do I have to walk to school? Why should I walk or ride with my child to school? And we say… Because it’s fun, it’s healthy, and it’s good for the environment.

What’s so fun about walking or riding to school? Are you kidding me?

A month ago, I was intrigued when my friend Sherry told me about this year’s selection for the One Book, One Mesa County program. Mesa County Libraries’ choice for this year’s literary event was Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, by New Yorker cartoonist, illustrator and author Roz Chast. It covers a familiar topic for Sherry and me: aging and dying parents... 

My mother died at the end of October at the age of 87. She didn’t “pass away” or “expire” or “depart.” She died. I’ve never understood why people use euphemisms rather than talk directly about death.

Her death certificate says she died of “end stage dementia,” whatever that is. She died because she stopped eating and drinking (or…she stopped drinking and eating because she was dying). She was tired of living – she was “done.”