Healthy Liftstyle

In my Lifestyle and Health course, we are focusing on nutrition and diet this week. Different diets that promote heart health, support clean eating, and improve physical health for people with chronic diseases. Removing sugars, processed foods, and unhealthy oils can reduce inflammation, obesity, and hypertension, improve cardiovascular health, and help prevent Type 2 diabetes. You can start with baby steps or go cold turkey when introducing a clean-eating diet. Be mindful to be kind to yourself, work with a buddy, find a life coach, join a gym, and focus consistently to see results. We are not meant to be isolated in life; we blossom when surrounded by the right tribe. Add physical activity to see results more quickly and to produce the beneficial hormones associated with exercise.

The picture for this post is my breakfast the other day. How pretty are all the beautiful colors?! Guess what all those beautiful colors mean? It is full of nutrient-dense, hearty, healthy whole foods! So, I suggest you shop for all the colors in the produce department, make your vegetable drawer look like Picasso’s palette as he prepares to paint, and make the variety of colors in the palette of your middle veggie drawer as memorable as a Remberant. Do the same for fruits, too! You need them and all their beauty, and they are the healthiest sugars, best suited for early morning and afternoon sweet-tooth fillers.

Here is a list of healthy diets you can start with:

·      Paleo diet (my favorite)

·      Mediterranean diet

·      Dash Diet (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension)

·      Flexitarian diet

·      Nordic diet

·      Vegetarian diet

As always, message if you would like, and we can start you on a path to a healthier lifestyle with whole foods, clean eating, and exercise.

~ Missy

Anger

Anger is an emotion that immediately stupefies a person. Anger can make a person arrogant, and those without self-regulation can be driven insane by their inability to control their emotions. Anger causes the individual to be fueled by toxic energy that psychopathically drives them to devour themselves like a self-cannibalizing snake.

Anger as motivation is shortsighted, as anger pollutes the mind and body with negative energy. It wears out the soul, creating cycles of anger that leave its second cousin, toxic energy, as fuel. A dark cloud that harbors suspicion, jealousy, shame, guilt, anxiety, and depression. None of which are positive emotions, further fueling the toxic cycle.

So when you feel anger, address it right then and there. Reflect on its cause: what is the underlying emotion? What is the anger masking, reflecting on the root cause of the anger’s source? Are you sad, lonely, hurt? Then address that emotion and its source. Then the anger monster, and it will deflate the ugly little brat.

The short and sweet of it today is that anger is an ugly monster that is often masking another emotion. One that you may not feel safe to share or know how to articulate and share. When anger knocks at your door, pause, reflect, dissect it, and work through it. Once you can do this, no one can manipulate and control you, and you will not eventually self-destruct.

~ Missy

Opinions

Opinions, as the old adage says, “Opinions are like hinnies, everyone has one.“ Some opinions are worse than others, just like the word I chose to describe them, some are a hinny, and some are a@@holes. For the most part, they purely represent what we use our backside for, crap. Once we learn this about opinions, they no longer have a hold on or over you.

Recognize that everyone has an opinion, but do not dwell on anything negative. Remember that anything negative has no power. Categorize it as stuff said, stuff lost, and mistakes that were never brought to your attention. That is what a negative opinion is: none of your business. It is insignificant, as the person sharing the negativity.

What can you do to help yourself? Here is what you should ask yourself. Who is bringing it to you, and is it valid? The first thing is have no reaction, access for negativity, and practice your pause. It is not worthy of a reaction because the nefarious opinion has no power and go about your life as if that never occurred. Most importantly, if it was not brought to you for correction by the appropriate person, it is garbage, a pedestal to cry from, an attempt to play victim, not looking for resolution. The short and sweet of it is cut the loop, excise the opinion, evict it and the offending deliverer from your vicinity. The first step to cultivating a landscape of positivity to surround yourself with.

~ Missy

Working out!

Today was a great day; we got to get back to working out. The BF is now six weeks postpartum and ready to get her workout on. She has been chomping at the bit since her last workout, three days before little Mr. Kaysen was born. They walked in, and I grabbed him for baby cuddles. He eventually snuggled in and fell asleep on my shoulder as we warmed up. So, I subbed some movements, used one arm, switched him on my shoulder between rounds, and lovingly dubbed him as part of the workout equipment, “static baby hold.” He is about 13 pounds right now at 6 weeks old, so he was like a weighted vest.

I joked that the workout was a lullaby to him because his mom worked out during her pregnancy with him, and he knew my voice at the hospital from coaching her. It was a great first workout, you know, with a two-year-old and newborn, anything could have happened, but it all went smoothly as butter. Little Miss Chloe joins in with us and “kicks” her legs and squats while we squat, and works her arms with her PVC pipe. To add to her natural talent, she carried two 3 lb dumbbells and snacked on toasted tortilla shell halves as she got her exercise on. She cooled down at the end, with somersaults on the mats.

The short and sweet today is that the day started a little bumpy but worked out fabulously. We had no clue how the dynamics would work out with a newborn and a two-year-old, but we jumped in feet first and made it work. When your mindset is right, you will make it work. Anything can happen, go for it and make it yours!

~ Missy

Principles

The principles we use to guide ourselves through our lives are the foundation of who we are. All too often, we become focused on what others think of us. In stoicism, others and their opinions are known as “Dogma .” If these unimportant viewpoints become a focus, they can begin to hound you like a rabid dog would.... So unpoetic and unjust they can be, they become harmful if given a foothold. A quote I love by Epictetus helps recognize the value of the Stoic viewpoint and understand the worthlessness of “Dogma” in your life. “There are two things that must be rooted out in human beings – arrogant opinions and mistrust. Arrogant opinions expect that there is nothing further needed, and mistrust assumes that under the torrent of circumstances, there can be no happiness.” Epictetus, Discourses, 3.1 4.8.

My short and sweet today is to remove the “Dogma” and their arrogant, worthless opinions.  Know your principles and apply God’s or whatever your spiritual beliefs are to them. Write them out, look at them, read them, and add them to your vision board. Visualize their removal, for they are insignificant mutts. What is essential becomes the focus: “Gods' Wisdom, “God’s” Justice, “God’s” Courage, “God’s” Temperance.

~ Missy

Long Fall

Today is airport day! The last two weeks flew by while Rick was home. I have been juggling work, writing, my dissertation, household chores, date nights, fun rowing practice, and some fishing during the long fall. Oh yeah, and keeping up with my daily and creative writing!

Yesterday I worked outdoors, since it was 50+ degrees, cleaning out the flowerbeds and pulling down some trees that had broken off and were dangling from the ice storm. The news is now reporting that Montana is suffering through a snow drought, yep, I am calling this winter “Long Fall”.

I climbed my first tree since I was a kid yesterday! Just shimmied up the branches to cut the two broken off top branches. It felt exhilarating and satisfying to get up there and cut the top half down that broke off from the heavy ice by myself. Baby dog lay around the front yard and guarded me from the random vehicles that might drive down the county road. And I’m sure would run up to the house to get Dad if Mom slipped up there. The short and sweet of it, make the best of the situation, juggle when you need to, and remember all the good feels are what keep you young!

~ Missy

Groundhog Day

Some days, I can sit at my desk typing and work all day without a break. Today was definitely one of those days. I was in the groove from early morning until afternoon, only to realize it was 2:30 and the day had flown by. It was not another humdrum, monotonous Groundhog Day for me. Sometimes my days can become a repeat until the weekend arrives. Once I took a break, I saw that today was really Groundhog Day! And wouldn’t you know it, olde Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. That means six more weeks of winter.

Just yesterday, on our float trip, I joked that this winter is a long fall, not winter. It was February 1st, and we were floating the river fly-fishing in Montana in 58 degree weather. I am grateful for the mild days and the opportunity to fly fishing instead of being snowed in! The short and sweet of it is to make the most of each day and the opportunity it brings! Especially if it involves the outdoors, a fly rod, and watching your bobber floating in the foam.

~ Missy

Stoicism and Mindset

While working through my morning journaling, I have begun rereading the Stoicism box set since I completed it in the third week of January. I have just finished rereading my first week of journaling from 2025. I am reading both parts, the Daily Stoic companion book, and then my work on the topic for the day. My goal is to see what I thought about the subject at the time and evaluate whether I worked on it throughout the year. Did I incorporate it into everyday life, or is it something I can revisit this year? There is always room for improvement, somewhere a tweak or change can be made. Did I get what it meant? While I had read a lot about Stoicism up to the start of the set, I had never made a conscious effort to incorporate it into my everyday life by studying the philosophy.  

What I did know when I began it was that I agreed with much of it after reading a couple of books, starting with 101 of Stoicism. I aligned personally with the morals and values of the ancient Greek Philosophers and emperors.

What did I learn in week one? I was tired of fake people, false friends, and had placed myself in hermit mode because of the ugliness in a world full of bullies, mobbers, and fake friends. I was tired of being used by people when it benefited them, manipulated, and then lied about when they did not get their way.

What do you do in a world full of ugliness? Remove yourself, learn how to recognize and deal with them. Learn how to identify what made you vulnerable, so you can avoid becoming prey to their ill intent. Remember that when people live in glass houses that shine and glitter in the sun, spread fallacies, and throw stones, there is a 360-degree effect. That stone may hurt you, even break you, but guess what, you can put those pieces back together. And when built on a solid foundation, strengthened by knowledge and wisdom, the comeback is powerful. And that loose stone, guess what it continues to circulate on its 365-degree course and will shatter that glass house built on lies and a foundation mired in a sink hole similar to tar pits swallowing the perpetrators that threw them in harm. No evil or malicious deed goes unchecked. God, Karma, whatever you believe in, the universe will bring it back.  

The short and sweet of it, no matter how bad it is, once you make a conscious decision to change and begin to work in earnest, that is when the magic starts to happen. It all begins with one minor change, and then the next will show up and be easier, and so on and so on. No matter what, as Marcus Aurelius wrote, "Disgraceful, for the soul to give up when the body is still going strong," and "The impediment to action advances action, what stands in the way becomes the way." I love both of these because they are amazingly accurate when you get your mindset right, redirect your purpose, and find your way. Lastly, by Epictetus, "The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it." Have you ever noticed that when someone is about to become or do something great, the devil attacks even harder? Switch that mindset and make all adversity your golden ticket.

~ Missy

Silver Lining

Our date outing turned out spectacularly. We made our way to a favorite fishing spot. The pit stop ~ fishing stop was a little slow. When we began our walk through the water towards the honey hole, it was rather cold and overcast, dark, laden clouds passed over, blocking out the warmth of the sun.

However, it was amazing to step out into the fresh air, walk along the railroad tracks, and cast flies from the riverbank. It was a bit precarious standing on the bank's ice shelf. But the cool fresh air tingled lively in the lungs. After a fly change and moving out of the breeze on my third cast, a sharp tug pulled on the fly rod. The tip bowed slightly towards the waters, and I set my hook! I could see he was a big guy and yelled to Rick it got one, he’s a doozey! He pulled my drag out a bit, as I let him tire out, and Rick came to help with the net. He turned out to be a nice sized mountain whitefish and made my day!

Rick had caught one up upstream from me and had a gentleman’s release at his feet. We were both excited to get out and fish, and our eyelets did not freeze at the end of January! Bonus, we each caught a nice one. I named mine Hank the Tank. We are guessing he was about 2.5 lbs and 20” long!

It was a cold start to the day, but it perked up and turned out wonderfully. In the cold, as I carefully made my way to the honey hole in the partially frozen-over water, I reminded myself that it was nice to get out and get some exercise. The short and sweet of it is find the silver lining in everything, and there will never be any disappointment.

~ Missy

Date Night

It's Friday night, and I have a date! We are going on a date night at Jackson Hole Hot Springs. The lodge is old-world Montana, full of mounts and forgotten hunting stories hanging on the walls. Driving into Jackson Hole, you can feel yourself transporting back into time to lifestyles that linger in the vast depression as you drop down away and out of civilization.

The old farming and hay-stacking equipment add to the ambiance, and losing all cellular coverage forces you to put down your electronics (hopefully) and gaze in awe at the never-ending skyline and landscape carved by glaciers millions of years ago. The drive is beautiful and dangerous in the winter. Adding to the excitement, when you arrive safely at the lodge, you will be grateful for overnight accommodation!

So, it is time to pack, get my bikini out, and get ready for a lovely steak dinner, soak in the skin-tingling hot spring, and maybe listen to an old-world story! The short and sweet is I am excited for some alone time and a date night! What are your Friday plans?

~ Missy

My Furry Trio

My furry trio is my fur kiddos. Baby Dog, aka Angriff, is my wild play hound German Shepard Dog. He is 5 ½ years old now, still a wild play hound obsessed with chasing his ball, and a spooky guard dog I would not want to run into in the middle of the night, unannounced. He guards his home and vehicles as fixatedly as he plays ball.

Teddy the chihuahua has a superpower: instigating his favorite games, keep away and catch me if you can. He has had Baby Dog chasing him through the house since he was a puppy. Baby Dog turned into a loving momma when we got him, bathing Teddy in the morning and night. Teddy would stick his head into his mouth to get a bath; he adores them. The little wild man is about to turn three. The last for our indoor pets is little Miss Afina. My little chocolate Siamese kitten, who picked me out at 4 weeks old. She is my constant shadow, still sleeps on my shoulder, or cuddles up like a plush, cottony fluff ball teddy bear. When she thinks she is alone, she will start meowing, looking for me, and has become Teddy’s favorite because she gives him multiple baths a day.

All three are the best companions I can ask for, and the best travelers. They are wonderful in the vehicle, and want to be with us.

Life would be boring without them. They adore pup cups, and opening presents and packages that arrive in the mail qualifies. Teddy was my little COVID puppy. Scared of people and took introversion to a whole new level. We joke that Teddy got a kitten because he adores her, and she him. They chase each other all over the house playing their favorite game. They try to share my lap in the jeep; usually, Afina sits on top of him. Yes, it is adorable, and I love them dearly!

~ Missy

Minor Changes Bring Significant Improvement

I have developed a plan of attack for writing the literature review for my dissertation. It has worked for me and the process. I write a little each day over two weeks, submit, and then begin writing the next submission. The same pattern, so it is ready when I receive it back for revision and adding the following submission for three articles. The structure is the same as I am reviewing the 8 essential elements of a clinical trial. I have followed it in a logistic, longitudinal order, one article at a time.

Today, I went at it a little differently for the following three articles. I broke the longitudinal order and repeated the same elements in the following three articles, with paragraphs 1 and 4 for each clinical trial. Wouldn’t you know it, I completed twice the writing in one day. Bam, just a slight change, and it was like I had engineered my own factory assembly line of writing—mass production of writing words for my literature review. Paragraph one and two, repeat paragraph one and two, repeat, paragraph one and two. . . Bam, half the work completed for my next submission in a day. Another caveat, it did not feel like I had spent 12 hours pouring over pages, writing statistics, and missing out. I got out of the house and had some quality time with Rick.

The short and sweet of it today was a minor tweak and a slight change that increased my productivity by double and reduced a week's work to one day.

~ Missy

Mantras

Mantras are also known as a sacred utterance in Sanskrit. A mantra can be a single word, phrase, or thought that guides a person. A mantra can be created to be personal, aligning with your heart and mind. Or mantras can be found just about anywhere that teaches meditative and spiritual practices. Mantras can be simple or elaborately made, specifically for each individual.

I use mantras for working out, climbing steep cliffs, and other exertive activities to keep my mind focused. I have used mantras and positive affirmations to guide me through turmoil and struggle, to focus my mind and shut out the negative. When I use them this way, they help me focus my mind when it tries to jump into a loop, or to block out the negativity in the environment.

Mantras can become your Nordic shield, protecting your mind, heart, and soul. They can become your supercharger, helping you push through and get that extra boost of endurance. Mantas can be a place to calm your heart in the storm.

Marcus Aurelius once said, “. . . I have in my soul to keep out any evil, desire, or any kind of disturbance. . . “Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.29.

Short and sweet today is the mantra that can help protect your soul, as it is your heart and mind in purest form.

~ Missy

Do the work and Find your prize!

I am going to start with a Marcus Aurelius quote “. . . It’s what the exertion of education and teaching are all about – here is the thing to be prized! . . . But by having some self-respect for your own mind and rising it, you will please yourself and be in better harmony with your fellow human beings and more in tune with the gods – praising everything they have set in order and allotted you.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.16.2b – 4 a. A great book I recommend is Medications Marcus Aurelius translated by Charles H Bennett.

This is a long quote, with more in the middle, and I encourage you to reflect on the whole quote. The gist of it is educate yourself, learn who you are, know your strengths, and work to improve your weaknesses. You will gain clarity about yourself and your life. Enabling you to align yourself with the things that are important to you and remove those that are harmful or polluting.

Why is this important? We are taught to stay at the toxic job, deal with the poisonous managers and coworkers, stay in contact with abusive and toxic family, and so on and so on. Stay, tolerate, that has been the norm. In an era where bullying and mobbing are the norm, recognize the situation and seek help. To all of these, I say leave for your mental health.

Find your mountain top full of spring flowers & blossoms and gently dance on the breeze from one beautiful bloom to the next like a honeybee. Drink the sweetness in as you bathe in the languid sunrises and sunsets. Let the mob of flies swarm the pile of pooh; it is just stinky crap surrounded by a buzzing horde anyway. Once you see it with clarity, there is no looking back.

The short and sweet of it, Do the work and Find your prize!

~ Missy

Ingredients

Today is Airport Day! We travel, the furry kiddos and I, to pick Rick up from the airport. This morning, I am grateful that there is no snow and no road hazards to travel. Yep, just this week I wanted snow, but only when it is convenient to me. Is that not how life goes? We wish and want for something, but only when it is convenient.

Who else has experienced God, the universe, or whatever spiritual deity you believe in will intervene, and bam, there whatever you were wishing for, but not ready for it? Or it showed up in a different package than you wanted, or God forbid, you were given the ingredient but have to take the recipe and put it together?

The largest challenge for me has been recognizing that I have been given the ingredient. Now I must put the pieces together, no more lily footing it. No more watching from the sidelines. The short and sweet of it is you are the baker, the architect, the designer, and the author of your destiny! Do not wait for someone or something to give you the ingredients; hunt them up, learn them, trade for them, do whatever it takes with your heart and soul, and it will be yours!

~ Missy

Final Entry

Today marks the 365th day of writing in the Daily Stoic Journal set. That makes it my final entry—one year of focused writing that revolved around Stoic philosophy. I have read numerous books on stoicism up to this point, so I thought it would be a little reinforcement of what I already knew. I stayed dedicated to the process, taking the journal set on car rides and trips, packing books and journals with me everywhere I went. Wrote in the morning before I began my day. Worked to focus on the “lesson” for the day and reflect and incorporate what I was learning into my daily life.

My plan after this was to reread each lesson for the day, my entries, and my reflective journal on then and now. Kinda keep the momentum going. I find it wildly fitting how the last “lesson” turns out for me.

The quote is from Seneca:

“ I will keep constant watch over myself and – most usefully - will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil – that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.” – Seneca, Moral Letters. 83.2

Applying the Stoic philosophy, today would be reflecting each day on:

What affliction, addiction, or bad habit did I defeat today?

How was I a better person today?

How can I improve myself today?

Were my actions the day before just?

These very shortly and sweetly wrap up how to proceed with my plans to review and reflect on my previous work and compare myself from last year to this year, which is crazy fitting for the transition from the year of the snake to the year of the horse underway!

~ Missy

Where is Winter?

Living in a state where winter is a dominant season, you learn to prepare for long stretches when the roads are not drivable and are dangerous. I have learned to shop in bulk at Costco and Winco, and make those trips happen on airport day. Fall this season has become long, drawn out. We are almost through January and have not had a winter storm, just a dusting of snowfall. Winter 2025-2026 has become the longest Indian summer I have experienced.

The prolonged warm weather has been fantastic for travel, the heating bill, and getting outdoors! Getting to the grocery store, appointments, and airport has been wonderful running around in t-shirts in January. So, what will the cost be this summer?

Summer here relies on snowfall, so the countryside is not dry. A dry countryside here equals a fiery summer season. I have had one summer season here where you could not see any of the mountains around you. The air was thick, heavy, and lacked any oxygen. Some days, you could taste the ash in the air. It was not a fun summer, trips were canceled, and it was hard to breathe. The animals struggled physically while people suffered the physical and mental effects of the destructive fires, and an environment that was suffocating.

The short and sweet is that, while the easy route may seem better at the time, there are consequences down the road. Yep, we do not have control over the weather, but we do have control over ourselves. Skip the easy route, put in the hard work, and work diligently for what you want. The reward will be worth it. No one can take that from you. There is a lesson to be learned in everything, even the winter that is playing hide and seek with us.

~ Missy

Where did the last week go?

Wow, where did last week go? I have been writing like a madman, just not on here. I jumped back into dissertation writing mode. I have kept up with my normal routine, just replaced writing here with writing my dissertation.  I picked a bug yesterday, was lounging on the couch feeling icky, and thought, 'When was the last time I posted?

So here I am this morning, making sure to get back at it. Was life that busy that I had no time for this, not quite that busy, but enough for me to think, I’ll do it later, and later just led from one distraction to the next. Appointments, the furry kiddos, keeping up with daily life, chores, and visiting kept me busy enough to think, "I'll get to it later," with "later" never happening.

Now that I am here writing this, I am reminded of something I wrote in the 1/14/26 Journaling. I must focus on lowering my daily distractions. Changes I made were turning off the notification pop-ups on my phone and setting up focus while working on my computer to avoid them as well. Do I really need each and every email notification, or the constant barrage of other notifications I receive? Nope.

Yet day-to-day life, appointments, trips to the airport, household chores, working out, visiting with friends, getting work done, and my dissertation responsibilities still caught up with me. There are two things I accomplished this week that I feel wonderful about!

I reworked and updated my vision board! Created new images for it using ChatGPT! I have been thinking about spending some time on it, but did not want to spend the money on a bunch of magazines to cut them up, and it can take a lot of them to find what you are looking for! So, I told ChatGPT the images I wanted and uploaded myself and my household to make the images for the board as personal as possible! Yep, I love it, and have been reflecting on it!

What did I learn this week? I do not have superpowers that could add more time to the day, and sometimes it is okay to redirect your focus to something that requires your attention. Just remember to get back to your commitments and honor yourself, that is the short and sweet of it! Now I am off to add some more to my dissertation!

~ Missy

Enjoy the Process

Good morning!

This morning, as I work through my morning writing, my three wildlings have each come in for attention, cuddles, and to try their best to instigate playtime. The first to interrupt, Afina hopped up and sat on my journal and meowed to be picked up and cuddled. I obliged, enjoying the nuzzles and purs, and noted that Miss Fancy Pants is becoming more vocal by the day.

Teddy appeared after Miss Fancy Pants hopped down with his gentle little foot taps on my shin. He is known to be persistent about being picked up by springing hop jumps, so he is paw tapping your knee. His favorite is being tucked into my robe, seated upright, with his head poking out, watching me work.

Baby Dog is in play hound mode. He gently places his Green Bean on my table and tap dances backwards, beguiling you with his eyes to engage in his antics. His beseeching look meets your gaze, then looks back and forth until you cave and are enticed into play. Once you reach for the coveted toy, he braces in anticipation for the throw and his favorite, the victory laps.

This is a classic example of most of my morning as I work through my routine. I would not change a second of it. I love each one dearly and cherish their joy and antics. So, the short and sweet of it today is a gentle reminder to slow down and enjoy the process, interruptions and all.

~Missy

Semester Break

As my semester break comes to a close, I am wondering where all that precious time off went. Christmas and New Year's Eve took a good chunk of time, and the festivities are always worth it. The end of the year holidays bring friends and family from afar, many of whom we do not see nearly enough throughout the year.

We have a traditional family Christmas with family traveling in from out of state. There is the traditional Christmas dinner and gift opening to close out the day's festivities. Everyone is in a lovely food coma as the kiddos and fur children eagerly unwrap their presents.

Our New Year’s Eve began with a revisit to the spot where we had our second date. A lovely hot spring that has a lodge and guest rooms. The lodge hosts live music and a New Year's Eve dinner after a heavenly soak in the warm waters, with dancing. We spent the first two years as a solo date and began inviting family and friends to join us in ringing in the New Year.

So while the time flew by for my semester break, the fun and festivities were worth it. I also managed to get some important things checked off my to-do list. What I did not complete has now been moved to my working list for the upcoming semester. What would be lovely is to add the additional things I did get done that weren't on my list to the done list. There is satisfaction in checking things off your list, so why not add the big and the little to a completed list so you can see them for that moment? A version of your own adult gold star for the day.

The short and sweet is to remember to enjoy your time, check off what you got done, be excited about the unplanned accomplishments, and start a new list! Smile and move forward, it is your race and yours alone!

~Missy