What's in Your Bucket?

I have always loved fireworks. They are loud, colorful and extremely romantic. They are part of every final Disney love scene and from a very young age every little girl dreams of her own true love firework display. I also love Canada and those who reside there. Canada has provided us with some of the best comedians and has given my family hours of entertainment via Strange Brew (epic flick if you have not seen it). Canadians spell their words correctly (colour, neighbour, etc) and Canadians are friendly folks. I have never been treated with anything other than respect and friendliness while in Canada. We were in Niagara Falls over the July 4th Holiday and everywhere you looked there were Canadian flags with an American flag next to it. I thought their respect for our holiday went beyond simple tourism efforts and nothing reflected this more than their fireworks display! We stayed in the Marriot Fallsview on the 19th floor. My mother-in-law's room overlooked the Falls and we had the best seats in the house for the display. We were enjoying the fireworks when the most amazing thing happened! Suddenly other fireworks displays began in the distance! We watched multiple displays (we stopped counting at 10) across two different countries. It was an amazing experience to watch our corner of the world celebrate freedom.

My question to you today is what have you done with your freedom? We wake up to each new day with the freedom to chose how we will behave, what we will eat and who we will choose to help. Freedom is an enormous responsibility and it is one, I hate to admit, that I haven't always taken seriously. Beyond the poor food and exercise choices are the decisions I have made to treat others unkindly or to be selfish and not help someone else when it was in my power to do so. We have all been given much. Some money, some skills and others have the gift of love, kindness and support. Take what you have been given and find why it was given to you. What is your purpose? Who will you help today? You will find that giving is the first step to helping yourself. For it truly is better to give than to receive.

Week 3 
June 29 - July 6, 2014

Week 3 started quietly and ended with a bang (of fireworks that is!)

I began week 3 still suffering from the self inflicted injury from week 2. Since running was totally out of the question, My hubby and I went to the golf course for a lesson. Who knew that hitting a golf ball on the driving range for an hour or so was so much work! I had soreness in back muscles that I didn't even know I had! Whew! What a workout!

On Wednesday, we left for a trip to Niagara Falls, Canada to fulfill my mother-in-law's first bucket list item.

She looks pretty happy!

This is my second trip to the Falls and it's beauty and power are still an awesome site to behold.

I did not do any "formal" exercise while in the Falls, but I do believe we walked half of Canada while there! The weather was gorgeous and the exercise was exhausting (darn those hills!) but the company was good and we had a lovely time.

Since my knee is still aggravated (I fear an appointment with an Orthopedist is in my near future), my goal this week is to continue swinging my golf club and to walk as tolerated. I also plan to really focus on clean eating this week, because my eating has slipped. I need to hold myself accountable to a calorie focused eating plan. In the past I have been successful with 1600-1800 calories a day of healthy food choices.  So this is my plan.

Have a good week and don't forget to enjoy the journey!