Things I Love {part two}

May 13, 2014Leave a comment

More on the Things I Love… It is so refreshing to walk around each day and capture pictures of those things in my life that make me happy. Sometimes it is the simple things in life that bring us pleasure. Other times, it is a complex feeling of love or friendship so deep that you honestly cannot fathom living without it.

The view of the backyard shed… with the homemade bird houses from the boys and the wisteria. Memories from the past with great friends and music from Woodstock ’99. Transplanted hostas from people you love. My oldest Green boy and his blue eyes. CrossFit and the change it has made in my life. Blooming irises by the front door. The youngest Green boy and his strive to be like his older brother. My husband and best friend, Mithra. Rose buds.

And, in honor of Mother’s Day and the woman who has made such a enormous influence on the mother and woman I am today, my mother Susan! She has always been there for me and has taught me how to be the best person I can be. She comes to the boys’ sports games and school events; she is their second loudest cheerleader right after me. She makes it a priority to show her grandchildren that they are loved unconditionally. She is giving. She is kind. She loves. And, she is humble.

Continue to look around you for the things in your everyday life that make you happy. The search is fun and enlightening. You may be surprised by all the little things that brighten your day.

Things I Love…

April 20, 2014Leave a comment

Being happy is so very important for your health — mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is an essential element in making a difference around you.

So, I have decided to document the “Things I Love”. I am certain that once these are identified your happiness will literally fall into your lap, soul and heart.

I started by observing those things in my home which make me smile. I share these with you now in hopes that they will inspire you to also find those “Things You Love.”

My striped cat, Maximus. Peace hearts. Cacti from Arizona to remind me of my family living there. Starfish! Glass door knobs. And, beautiful indoor nature.

Simple glass jars catching the sunlight. My kids, especially the Middle Green Boy’s smile. Coffee and all forms of said caffeine. Seahorses and shades of blue.

Hobbes, a fluffy furball that loves to sing the song of his people at 4am. My new front door wreath made of coffee filters. Me! It has taken me years to find a true love for myself. I can honestly say that I am happy with who I am and what my future holds. Family photos on the wall in DIY frames. Seashells collected on each and every beach we visit. Chester, our old man pug.

Take time to embrace those around you and find the “Things You Love”. I did and it is amazing.

Please comment below on the “Things You Love”. Feel free to post links to your own blog as you take time to document “Things I Love”.

Kiss Me I’m Irish, Really!

March 17, 2014February 24, 2014Leave a comment

I’m a Quinn. Never really thought about that last name much, but I’ve done a bit of research for this post. I wanted to know more about my surname. My husband knows quite a bit about his father’s Scottish surname and history. He hails from the McLean Clan. I reasoned that I needed to know more about mine as well. We are competitive in that way. Plus, I have the added boon of an Irish holiday to spur the curiosity.

Here goes.

Quinn Clan Coat of Arms. Pretty cool Pegasus.

Irish Derivation is Ó Cuinn. It means the descendant of the Conn (or chief). Quinn is the Anglicized version, and can be spelled Quin,too. It hails from the legendary High King of Ireland, Conn of the Hundred Battles. Sounds pretty impressive, right? Conn is derived from ceann (or head) which signifies someone of intellectual ability. Pretty much sums me up, don’t ya think? I also found out that the Catholic descendants spell the Anglicized versions with 2 N’s and the Protestants with 1 N. Probably made those religious battle lines a tad easier to distinguish later in history. The most prominent Quinn clan hails from County Clare in Ireland. They date back to 1014 and Niall O’ Cuinn, who was the first to use this surname before dying that year at the battle of Clontarf. Quinn’s began immigrating to the British North America as early as 1685 with David Quinn landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Other means of migration occurred with soldiers hired as mercenaries in Europe, the resultant aftermath from the Protestant Reformation, the lure of freedoms and wealth in the New World, and smaller crop famines throughout Ireland’s history. The biggest influx of Quinn settlers was during the Great Potato Famine of Ireland in the 19th Century.

I hail from the Quinn’s of Wisconsin. I’m really not sure how they got there either. My dad left there as a young adult and joined the Navy. He met my mother, who hails from a Baron that signed the Magna Carta, in Florida. Modern day Quinn’s move around and migrate, too. Our family ended up in Virginia thanks to the military. Good thing… cause I don’t really enjoy the cold. Although if I could afford or take the time to knit a Quinn Clan Aran sweater, I might feel a tad warmer.

The Quinn Clan Aran Sweater.

I had no idea that each clan had a different pattern for their Aran sweaters. It looks toasty doesn’t it. It also looks like it might take me 10 years to knit.

So, I think this St. Patrick’s Day I won’t wear green. I will just tell everyone that I am Irish, that I hail from Niall O’Cuinn, and that my blood runs green. Oh, and I will gladly accept any and all kisses from “hot” guys instead of pinches.

Oh, and just to prove I’m legit, I signed up at The Home of the Quinn Clan and received my certificate.

This may have to go on the wall.

New Year, New Resolutions, New You!

January 2, 2014Leave a comment

Anybody else shocked that 2013 went by so quickly? I know I am… This year I will officially have some big kids in the house. A 12 year old, an 8 year old, and a 7 year old all under one small beach cottage roof! That is a ton of boyness and all the smelly stuff that goes along with #momof3boys syndrome.

Onto more important issues now. NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS!

Yep, I said it. The “R” word that everyone and their brother spits out once January 1st rolls around, but no one mutters a week later. I feel we should continue to talk about these resolutions throughout the year. Goals and intentions make up “resolutions” and it is our desire to always be better that drives us to set these every new year. So, how do you make a resolution? How do you keep them once you make them?

Here are 4 ways to make your resolutions better and you a better person in the process.

1. Goals are part of a resolution. Goals should be attainable and of interest to the person making the goal. They should be specific enough to have focus but not too specific to be counter-productive. Goals should also be positive and have a good effect on your life and others around you. Here is a great goal worksheet from lululemon athletica. Click on the PDF vision_goals_worksheet to download your own copy.

2. Intentions. Setting intentions for the new year is also important to make your goals happen and effect positivity in the world around you. Intentions guide your actions and your aim. Make your intentions positive and bring them back to your goals. Use these intentions to direct your life.

3. Find a partner in your resolution setting. A partner keeps you accountable. A partner also motivates you to keep chugging along. Your partner should be someone that is positive and makes you a better person. My partner is always my husband. He is the supportive person I need to hold me up and encourage me to follow my intentions and attain my goals. Each year, we review what we did accomplish and have an open discussion about what we want to do in the year to come.

4. Resolutions should be rooted in what makes you happy. Too many times, we sacrifice our happiness for the everyday life. But, I really don’t think we have to do that. I think our everyday life should be happy. Yes, we have chores and other ‘jobs’ that must get done to make our lives run smoothly. Find your HAPPY. What will it take to get there? Then do it! Happiness should never be sacrificed or pushed to the side.

Here are a few of my Goals for 2014:

1. Finish my NARM PEP and sit for my Certified Professional Midwifery exam.

2. Attend and receive my Olympic Lifting Certification through CrossFit. I am already registered for the seminar in March at my CrossFit box!

3. Hold an unsupported handstand.

4. Get a strict pull-up and ring dip.

5. Help my family save money for a house renovation. This means finding extra money in our family budget.

6. Find expression through blogging, crafting, and creating.

Good luck with your New Year’s Resolutions!

Holiday Traditions. Don’t got ’em? Get Some!

December 15, 2013December 12, 2013Leave a comment

What are your Holiday Traditions?

Traditions are important. I love them. They are tied into my fondest memories from childhood. I try my hardest to build traditions with my boys – unique to our family- and instill in them traditions from my past.

Traditions give symbolic meaning and special significance to our holidays… they keep us connected to our origins and our pasts. Fall heralds the holidays… These holidays are filled with tradition in our family. This past Thanksgiving we made a paper “Thankful” banner. Each person in the family wrote on the banner exclaiming what it is they are thankful for in life. We hope to add our “thanks” each year and build upon these blessings. What a wonderful reminder of what we have and those around us to share these “thanks”.

Every Christmas season my family <meaning the girls and the kids> gather and bake cookies. Lots and lots of cookies! My favorite sugar cookie recipe is here at Martha Stewart. The kids decorate the cookies and gorge themselves on sugar. Then we package the cookies and mail them to family far away. We consider it a box of homemade love. It seems stressful and chaotic in the moment. That is mainly because there are 3 cooks in one kitchen. But, as my sister’s family prepares to move cross country to Arizona, this tradition will have a more important impact on the family. Next Christmas we will be sending each other these boxes of love. This tradition will mean more to my kids and me.

We also spend weekends watching our fave Holiday movies. Here is a good list for movie ideas. Not all the movies on the list are kid appropriate. Our must sees each year are Elf, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Christmas Vacation, and Home Alone. These movie days are excuses to slow down and just chill on the couch. With a fire in the hearth, cookies in our bellies, and snuggles under shared blankets, those movies are made special by the laughs from the boys.

Come Christmas morning we have fun opening presents that repeat themselves each year. There is always a wrapped gift with a humorous T-shirt for each person in the family. The funnest part is picking the shirt for the person. The kids also know that there will always be a pair of socks from the cats and pajama bottoms from the dogs under the tree.

This year we are adding the Pickle Ornament to our fun traditions. Here is what contributors say on Wikipedia. I bought it today at Target for $4. A Google search finds many buying options if you can’t find one locally. I chose lots of sparkles. Cause, who doesn’t like a sparkly green pickle ornament? I have already prepped the kids, too. Here is how it will go at my house… We will hang the ornament in the tree until Christmas Eve. Then, the kids will take it down and place it by the cookie and carrot plate left out for Santa. They also plan to leave a note asking Santa to hide it well. Santa will then rehang the ornament but in a hidden location in the tree. The first kid to “eye spy” the pickle will be able to open a special family gift from Santa and that kid will get “good fortune” for the new year. The middle Green boy exclaimed, “I will find it first, then I will go out and buy the lotto-ry and win millions!” I like his go get’em attitude – most of the time. And, great minds think alike. I was actually considering Lottery tickets as the special gift. One for each family member.

Put some simple and fun traditions into the Holiday mix!

Photography by Stacey Pryce of Cute E’s Photography. 2013. Lynnhaven Fishing Pier, Chesapeake Bay.

Go To Breakfast: Egg Muffins

December 5, 2013Leave a comment

Mornings are not the best time of day in my house. Getting three boys up and out of bed by 6:20 a.m. is no easy feat. And, it’s not just them. I can be grumpy and am known to hit snooze too many times.

See. This is what I have to deal with Monday through Friday. Cuteness. But, waking up the youngest Green boy is like poking a bear during hibernation. He should come with a warning sign.

But, mostly it is them… excuse my #mom0f3boys rant <deep breath in> They eat a ton of food. I mean lots. I have friends with girls and my grocery budget is about triple theirs. I am also certain that they have hollow legs that must be filled with food before it even begins to affect their stomachs. Don’t even get me started on 11 year old boys. Ravenous pit monsters when it comes to eating. <and, exhale>

To make the most of the rushed mornings, I have taken my favorite breakfast food — EGGS— and made them into easy to grab, three-bite, filling, protein-packed sanity. Hence, my hybrid Egg Muffin Cups recipe.

Spinach and ham egg muffins with 1/2 an avocado. A great breakfast.

This recipe is a great one because it can be altered easily depending upon leftovers and picky eaters. Treat them like mini-omelettes. Make them vegetarian. Make them a meat-lover’s dream. Then store them in the fridge for a week and grab one on rushed mornings, on the way to the box, as a midday snack, or to fill up the ~~bellies~~ legs of hungry boys.

Remember that protein and vegetables are what kids and adults need in the morning to jump start their brains, metabolism, and body systems. These Egg Muffin Cups are the perfect solution.

Use the recipe below, but be creative when it comes to the ingredients… Our favorite additions are kale, onions, bacon/sausage, and gouda cheese.

What do garlic and sunshine have in common?

November 18, 2013Leave a comment

How are you preventing the flu and other common colds & viruses this season?

I know what I am doing… and it does not include any flu vaccinations. The one and only time I got the flu vaccine was my first year as a public school teacher. And guess what? Yep, I got the flu. Have I mentioned that I do not like to puke –at any cost. So, suffering through the flu after getting the vaccine was not cool.

The flu vaccine from 2012 only prevented strains from Influenza Type A & B. This only represents a small number of circulating viruses – about 10%. I am not a statistics major by any means but this low percentage doesn’t add up for me. With this low percentage, there is not a huge value to the public. It does not greatly impact the number of people hospitalized by the flu or lower the number of work days lost to the flu. Just research the adverse effects of the Tamiflu. Dr. Mercola states, “However, some patients with influenza are at increased risk for secondary bacterial infections when on Tamiflu, which of course would defeat the plan of being able to jump out of bed a day sooner. Furthermore, adverse events reported include pediatric deaths, serious skin reactions, and neuropsychiatric events, including suicide committed while delirious…” Yikes! The most important lesson here is to do your research and carefully weight the risks and benefits from any vaccination or medication.

After weighing the risks and benefits for my family and I, clean eating and essential vitamins/minerals are the way we will avoid the flu and other colds this year.

Here are some easy things you can do at home to avoid the flu:

GARLIC. Yes, garlic! Several compounds in garlic are known to kill many organisms, such as bacteria and viruses. Taking garlic daily for 3 months will seriously reduce the number of colds and shorten the duration of any colds you may end up experiencing. Check out this recipe for a garlic clove soup guaranteed to knock out any viruses or bacteria in your body
Cut back on grains and sugar. Both of these will cause systemic inflammation in your body and lower your immune response. Bad bacteria feed on sugar, too. Replace these with fresh vegetables and fruits! These contain vital nutrients to have your body working at 100%.
Get more sleep. 7-8 hours every night! Lack of sleep will also adversely affect your immune system. Maybe the universe is smarter than us… more hours of dark = more hours to sleep, hmmm?
Get more exercise. I can personally attest to this fact. Staying active with 3 boys and CrossFitting on a regular basis keep me energized and healthy.
Lessen emotional stress. This is the hardest for most with the Holiday season quickly approaching next week. But, saying “No” is freeing and allows you to lower this stress. Make it a point to surround yourself with those that truly appreciate your mind, gifts, and talents. Oh, and LOVE more. Oxytocin, the love hormone, is great for releasing emotional stress. It is also contagious, so spread the love and oxytocin.
Drink more WATER! Good, pure water. Not water made into tea or coffee. Drink at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces every day. Sounds like a bunch, but you will notice a difference in toxin release, energy, and skin appearance.
Vitamin D3. New research comes out almost daily about the value of Vitamin D in our health. As these nights grow longer and our chance to get good sun exposure disappears during Winter, it is important that we keep our levels up. Vitamin D is an antimicrobial agent. It helps produce up to 300 antimicrobial peptides in your body that can help kill off bacteria, viruses, and fungi. If there is a sunny, cloudless day and you can expose large portions of your body, DO IT! The real stuff is the best. The real stuff comes from the sun. If this is not an option, you should seriously consider supplementing. Most adults can safely take up to 8,000 IUs per day of Vitamin D3. Children can safely take up to 35 IUs per pound of body weight per day. Supplementation of Vitamin D3 means that you need to also supplement Vitamin K2. This vitamin is necessary to help process the Vitamin D and create healthy bones and heart. For every 1,000 IUs of Vitamin D3, you should take 100 micrograms of Vitamin K2. We are all individuals and our levels will be different. If you are unsure of your Vitamin D levels, you can submit to a blood test to determine these levels. Ask your care provider or order a Vitami n D testing kit online.
Get adjusted! Chiropractic care is important to the central nervous system health. Chiropractors are experts in realigning the bones in your vertebral column to reduce any spinal nerve interruption. These misalignments are called subluxations. Healthy spine equates to a healthy body. If you are local, make an appointment to see the hubby at Atlantic Coast Chiropractic. If you are not local, visit his website at http://www.vbchiro.com for articles and more information on how Chiropractic can help you and your family.

Stay Healthy this Winter!

Even old pugs know the value of Vitamin D uptake!!

Back to Reality

November 13, 2013Leave a comment

Long time no blog….

I just returned from my very first vacation <by myself to see my brother> in over 15 years! Crazy talk, right? My wonderful hubby and some amazing friends made this possible. But, now it’s back to reality. And, not just in one way… The one I am having the hardest time adjusting to is the weather. I left Virginia and it was Fall (October 31st) and came back to Winter. Brrr!

Virginia Cold. Tucson Warm.

I had such a great time bonding with my new niece Camillia Rose. New baby snuggles are the best!

Camillia and I snuggling.

My brother Jim is an amazingly talented tattoo artist in Tucson. He owns Istari Studios, the best place to get beautiful tattoos! So, yes, I got two new pieces done on my forearms. Anyone who has played around on the blog may notice my fascination with starfish. Hence, the new starfish tattoos on my left and right forearms.

My sister-in-law Rachael is also a talented Aesthetician at Ooh La La Lashes in Tucson. She used her red LED therapy lights to heal my tattoos quicker and with less pain. Gotta love family!

We also tooled around Tucson and I got to be a tourist for 9 days! We took the time to shop at La Encantata (an outdoor upscale mall), checked out Buffalo Exchange (awesome consignment style store), dressed up for the All Souls Procession in downtown Tucson, ate out at some amazing local restaurants, hiked in Sabino Canyon, and drove up Mt. Lemmon to be awestruck by an Arizonian sunset.

Rachael and I on the tram in Sabino Canyon. A must see in Tucson.

My brother, Jim and I at one of the vistas on Mt. Lemmon at sunset.

All in all this trip was a wonderful reset. It was a time to reconnect with my brother and spend invaluable time with my new niece and beautiful sister-in-law.

I secretly think that this trip also made my role of mom, taxi driver, chef, and wife more precious to my 3 boys and husband.

Now back to reality… #momof3boys.

I will dream about those relaxed days in Arizona for months to come. Maybe one day we can all go visit.

31 Days of Beach Living: Day 22 A List

October 24, 2013Leave a comment

You know how we are all pressured to make a grand list every New Year. Well, I am starting a new trend. Let’s make smaller lists each season.

Let’s make the list more doable and fun!

Here is my list for the remaining days of Fall.

What will be on your list? Post some of your most favorite Fall activities.

31 Days of Beach Living: Day 20 New Life

October 22, 2013Leave a comment

Life is our most precious commodity. Closely followed by family and great friends.

I was lucky to have new life added to my family this month. A new niece to cuddle, buy cute girlie clothes for, and do awesome girls only stuff. My brother and sister-in-law brought forth this new life. And they did a fabulous job!

Camillia Rose Quinn
October 16, 2013
10:21 p.m.
7lbs 1oz 20″ long

Hold those that you love close to you and never lose a moment to hug and kiss them.

Life is precious and we need to treat it as such.

The XFit Midwife

A Mash Up of Birth, CrossFit™, Essential Oils, Good Food, Style & Family

Tag: family

Things I Love {part two}

Things I Love…

Kiss Me I’m Irish, Really!

New Year, New Resolutions, New You!

Holiday Traditions. Don’t got ’em? Get Some!

Go To Breakfast: Egg Muffins

What do garlic and sunshine have in common?

Back to Reality

31 Days of Beach Living: Day 20 New Life

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