Oh, MAN. If you saw me sitting here at the computer in my kitchen—my hair is all over the place, I’m soaking wet, I’m completely winded—if you could just smell me right now! I am one smelly girl. I just got in from running for the first time in months and boy did it feel great! Come tomorrow I know for a fact my body will be in the most immense pain but right now I feel so energized. So alive. So FREE!

(Sometimes I crack myself up. Dearest Internet, bless you for accepting stupid little comments like that.)

One of the ways I’ve decided to carry on and keep things sane and focused during these times is to start running every morning. And eating super well. I’m having second thoughts about Curling and I think I need to put it on hold; it might be a little too overwhelming for me right now. You know me and my crrrrazy out-of-left-field ideas; sometimes they don’t exactly come to fruition. But this new health kick will take its place. Running, eating well, and feeling good.

If you walk up to the top of Linda Vista Lane there’s a trailhead that leads to a path through the hills overlooking Sandy. It loops around for about four miles or so and then spits you back out in the same place. Perfect distance for a run. And, goodness, it is absolutely beautiful through there. On a good clear day like today you can almost see the Lake out there in the distance. Makes you realize there’s so much more to the world than just our little suburban neighborhood.

People are just so gosh darn friendly on that trail, too. Really, almost everyone I ran by said “good morning.” It really changes how you go about the rest of your day when you’ve gotten so much positive energy first thing in the morning. It put me in such a pleasant mood! It will be a great place to take the kids once in a while.

So today is day one of my new physical self, and already it’s been helpful. Would you believe that for the past couple hours I haven’t given any thought at all to the hole my family has dug itself into? Or to VSN. (By the way, Beverly is honoring a “vacation” for me while I sort things out, but I’ll still have to confront her about things… eventually… ugh.) Out on that path, practically in the middle of nowhere, there’s only one thing on my mind: one foot in front of the other. Everything else gets put on hold, gets stored somewhere in the corner of my mind. And now that I’m back home sitting in my kitchen, maybe some of those “what happens now?” thoughts are creeping back into my head, but I just exercised and I’m eating the healthiest breakfast EVER, so I feel great.

As soon as I got home I made myself some special yogurt. It’s DEEEElish. And healthy, of course. Feel free to give it a try. Very easy to make.

Yogurt by Margene

1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1 cup berries (your choice, I use blueberries and cut-up strawberries)
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1 tbsp ground Salba or flax seed
Dash of cinnamon
Agave syrup to taste

First spoon the yogurt into a bowl and mix in the Salba seed, cinnamon, and Agave. Put the berries and almonds on top and presto! OR: put it all in a blender, add a little orange juice, and enjoy a tasty morning smoothie.

People always associate the word “healthy” with boring or bland, but let me tell you, that is NOT true! My breakfast is perfectly healthy in so many ways. For instance, the yogurt has lots of protein. The berries have plenty of antioxidants, and they will help replenish the carbs lost during my run. The almonds have good monosaturated fats that help prevent heart disease. Salba has fiber, more antioxidants, and lots of Omega-3s. And then cinnamon helps with cholesterol and blood sugar, believe it or not. There! Everything you need to jumpstart your day. And look at all I’ve learned, people! Aren’t you proud? I’m slowly getting a better feel for healthy living by reading online or even asking around at the grocery store. There’s so many yummy healthy options out there; you just need to know what to eat, when to eat it, and where to find it.

Okay. I need a shower. Bad.

And about that hole I mentioned earlier: We’ll dig ourselves out. We’ll get by. I know we will.