Light Behind the Dark Days

Posted on by JC Rizk

There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of those lights, the light of all lights.

– Bram Stoker

This quote was on my mind quite often this week. Unfortunately, we had some losses in our lives this week, one a friend and neighbor who was killed on deployment, way too soon in her young life. Although these individuals are physically gone, their spirits live on in our memories and actions. I continue to think about the light they brought into this world, with their kindness, creativity, and their laughter. This light is what helps me cope: I know that by sharing light with others I can truly honor the individuals we lost. I feel inspired by my neighbor and all she did in her life – she was constantly creating, working hard, yet having fun with her family and friends, and always reaching for more. I feel more motivated than ever to accomplish some goals I have held on to for years.

This week, however, is about coping. I took time to meditate, to explore my thoughts and feelings, really taking stock of where I am at this moment in my life. I find that being in Utah, away from home, allows me the benefit of focusing on the simplicity of life and on what I hold most important. Not sure why, but at home, I feel like I am constantly busy, not taking the time to breathe and meditate on the truly important things: family, friends, love, and happiness. Since I do not have all the distractions here that home brings, I am focusing on self care, my husband, and my children, and taking the time to notice the simple things that make me happy. My intention is to bring this self-awareness home with me, help us to simplify life when back on the east coast, and enjoy the moments that make life so beautiful.

This week’s happiness and cathartic activities included making Valentine’s Day cards with the kids; yes, I know it’s a commercialized holiday, but one thing that especially hit home this week is that it is always a good time to share your love for others.

‘Life Journals’

In addition, I made time to update the kids’ scrapbooks. In fact, they are more like ‘life journals’, with pictures, stickers, and many memories {first steps, words, as well as trips taken and people visited}! I am very fortunate; my mom loves to take pictures and I have many albums loaded with pictures from my childhood. I decided to combine my love of writing with my obsession of taking pictures of the babies to create these journals.

I also found it absolutely necessary to go to the two yoga classes I signed up for this week. Yoga really helps me to center myself, as well as allowing me to delve into my thoughts, feelings, and acknowledging how that affects my demeanor and physicality. If you’re ever near Draper, Utah, please check out Cradle Your Soul! It’s a smaller studio, which I love, and has different classes for individuals of all levels. I especially appreciate the more intimate setting; I practiced for about 10 years, but am significantly out of practice. The smaller class sizes allow me to focus on where I am physically and emotionally. I am passionate about yoga because I love that it is all about the individual; it’s not a competition between you and someone else, only you against yourself.

The days have been difficult knowing that these individuals in our lives are gone, but I am committed to focusing on the light. Remembering the amazing qualities of these individuals inspires me to be more true to myself, which is my intention for the foreseeable future. Stay safe and see you next week!

Books & Meditation: Self Care Week

Posted on by JC Rizk

Last night, for the first time in about two years, I went to the bookstore ON…MY…OWN! I took my time looking at book covers, reading excerpts from the stories, and breathing in the book smells. Yes, that is correct; I am that person in the bookstore and I do not apologize! I did not have to run around after a toddler who wants to explore or rush because it was almost time for the baby’s bottle. I love being a mother, but let’s be honest – we all downtime and time to commit to self care.

You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. – Buddha

These are my picks from last night’s extravaganza and I am super excited to begin! I plan to start with Ruth Ware’s The Lying Game, because I absolutely adored two of her other books: In a Dark, Dark Wood and Woman in Cabin 10. I think I read both for book clubs over the last few years and they were very fast reads – they kept me guessing, and I am hoping The Lying Game does the same.

The genre I read most often would be mystery or suspense novels; I adore becoming a part of the story, as if it is unfolding all around me and disappearing into that world. Mysteries tend to intrigue me and I absolutely treasure when a book ends and leaves me surprised. That being said, you should know I am not the type of person who reads ahead or guesses the ending. As I said, I want to be part of the story as it unfolds, not the one unfolding the story.

Continuing with the theme of self care this week, I took time to start meditating again; I used some trial sessions with the Headspace and Calm apps. Once I finish these free sessions, I will choose which one I like the best. Readers: are there any other meditation apps I should bring into the mix and try out before I make my decision? Leave a comment below and let me know!

This upcoming week I will start a weekly yoga class, as well! I will be so fit mentally, emotionally, and physically – thinking about it makes me feel giddy!

After visiting a book store, starting meditation, and signing up for yoga, I had room for even another source of self care this week: cooking! I tried a new recipe from the first book I read this year, Farm from Home, by Amanda Brooks. I made some changes to her recipe and made the Salmon Stir Fry, which came out really well and will be added to our food repertoire! Check out the recipe for more information about my cooking experience.

This week I hope you all take the time to practice some self care. Please remember to share with me any other meditation apps you may use or any comments in general. I would love to hear from you!

Happy weekend and enjoy your week!

Starting anew…

Posted on by JC Rizk

Generally in the new year I get the same itch: to start writing, to read more, to eat healthier, to be more physically fit; basically, to improve myself on all levels. As a new mama, with two children under two, I find myself focusing a lot on the babes, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. However, I also know that to be the best mama I can be, I need to work on my self-care. I often find that when several days go by where I practice little-to-no self-care, I get crankier and less patient, which is unfair to my babies, my husband, and myself.

I think I’ve started the year off right so far – only five days in and in addition to re-vamping this blog, I already finished a book since the new year, which makes me happy – check out my Goodreads updates on the right hand side to see what I am reading, along with my reviews! Also, I tried some new recipes, and signed up for some yoga classes. It’s a start!

I should also tell you that my family and I are on somewhat of a grand adventure: we decided to spend the winter away from our east coast home. In fact, we are staying in Utah for three months! Currently, we are about three weeks into our adventure and are loving the fresh air, the snow, and especially the majestic mountains.

This is the view from the local park we frequent with the kids and the dogs. It seems not to matter where we are, even someplace as simplistic as the grocery store has amazing views of these mountains!

My husband is an avid skier and has been skiing already a handful of times, and the really exciting part is that he has taken our daughter, who is not even two yet, up to the mountain. Our daughter, E, is absolutely fearless and loves this time with her papa; her favorite thing to tell him when he stops at the bottom of the hill is, “Go!” It is remarkable seeing her thirst for new experiences and her willingness to try new things.

I really enjoy cooking and especially since the kids were born, do so on a regular basis. We started the new year off right with some venison tacos!
To brag on my hubby a bit more, besides being an avid skier, he also enjoys to hunt deer and goose during their seasons back home. Before we left, he was able to get two deer, which now leaves us with a freezer full of venison. Naturally, since we drove out here, we decided to fill a cooler full of our venison and bring it with us to Utah.

This morning, we took the kids to the mountain and gave the baby his first smell of the mountain air, while the hubby took E on a few ski runs on the bunny slopes. Then the kids and I returned home while he continued to ski. For me, it was the perfect afternoon to whip up some venison stew!

It was a hearty choice and the venison was the most tender I’ve cooked yet; not sure if you’re familiar with venison, but it can dry out very easily and quickly. This was a new recipe I tried, but it will certainly go into the keeper pile! Stay tuned for a page dedicated to new recipes like this one; it’s one of my goals for the next several weeks.

Now that I feel caught up with everyone, and full from venison stew, I think I will go get some shut-eye. Tomorrow is another day and another adventure awaits!

To be or knit to be…

Posted on by JC Rizk

Not sure if I mentioned this, but every year, I like to give myself goals. Not resolutions necessarily, but goals to focus on during the year. I personally love to learn and I am not picky… languages, new skills, professional development for work, pretty much any and everything. This year, some of my goals include: learning more about composting to incorporate composting into our daily lives, with our own outdoor compost bin, working on eating more local foods (i.e. meat, vegetable, fruit, etc.), and to learn to knit!

Knitting was the first goal I started on and since I have barely even clamped eyes on knitting needles and only used yarn in crafts, I started at the beginning, of course! I am what is called multi-modal, which means that I utilize multiple learning styles to best absorb new information or a new skill. I am an auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learner. What does that mean? That means that while I am listening to a teacher (who can be actual teachers, family, or friends), I incorporate visuals, which help me to remember the skill or information. Then to help it to sink in completely, I need to actually physically complete the skill or put the knowledge into action (which could be teaching someone else that information or utilizing the knowledge I recently learned). Long story even longer… to start, I went onto the good ‘ol Youtube, just like I never had in the days of old.

I watched this video: “How to Knit: Absolute Beginner Knitting, Lesson 1 – Even if you’re clueless!” by Expression Fiber Arts. Do not worry about my feelings being hurt, I was completely clueless and I am not too proud to admit it! This video was perfect, and thankfully I was able to pause it from time to time to “cast on”, or get the yarn on the knitting needle. I was so excited to get started that I failed to do some necessary research regarding the yarn — I did not roll the yarn into a ball, but kept it in the packaging that I bought it in, assuming I would be all set. Well, I started knitting and before I knew it, my yarn got tangled! I had other issues, like losing about 10 stitches, so instead of 25 stitches, I was down to 15, when I wanted to make a scarf. With all of this minor issues, my attempted scarf turned into a tiny pot holder!

Thank goodness for good friends who take these things off your hands, right?! Thank you, Christy, for being the new owner of a tiny pot holder… that may come apart quickly. Why?

My last issue was that I rushed through watching the “cast off” method of the aforementioned video, and as you can see, that pot holder does not have a sealed end. Oops! Thankfully, we live and learn. This is where the kinesthetic learning style comes in handy, because now that I have started to learn the first parts of knitting, like casting on and the knit stitch, I can only improve. Next time, I will be able to focus more on the casting off correctly. Before I start the next one though, I’m working on rolling my balls of yarn, which is taking a good amount of time… fellow knitters out there, any suggestions?!

Until next time, make sure to take some time to enjoy the simple things in life, like learning something new!

Simplicity

Posted on by JC Rizk
simple breakfast

Life truly is all about the simple things. This weekend marked a brilliant snow storm, which closed down the local area. Therefore, there was little to do but enjoy Mother Nature’s attempt to slow us down and appreciate life! I started off my Saturday with one of my favorite breakfast meals, consisting of really simple ingredients:

  • Bread (or in this case, English Muffin)
  • Avocado
  • Medium-boiled egg
  • Olive oil
  • Lemon juice
  • Chia seeds

This meal is filling and utterly delicious, plus it includes protein, fiber, fatty-acids with all these ingredients! The eggs are also from one of our local favorites, Enticement Farms, and I love how fresh local eggs taste!

Do you remember, when you are young, how you dream about a time where you are older and surrounded by great friends? Well, that is our reality! We have amazing neighbors who are kind, thoughtful, generous, and hilarious. How amazing to have neighbors who are also friends. We celebrated the snow day, and the fact that we did not have to go anywhere, by spending the afternoon together. First, we went to lunch at our local bar, which we can walk to, followed by sledding and snowboarding down a neighbor’s long driveway. This is why I say that age is just a number! You are as young as you live!

My final thought of this blog is, no matter where you live, or how young you are, take a minute to sit back and enjoy the simple pleasures that nature provides daily. I know I will!

Getting Started…

Posted on by JC Rizk

One of the first things you should learn about me, is my love for everything FALL! Autumn is absolutely my favorite season… everything about it makes me feel rejuvenated: the changing leaves, the crisp, clean air, and the cooler temperatures! This also includes the fresh veggies that are available at the farmer’s market. The husband and I moved into our house about a year ago, so I have not yet started our garden. Instead, we have herbs in our “container garden” and we do have a miniature lemon tree (also in a container)!

Needless to say, we rely heavily on our local farmer’s market. I love to give back to the community and also to have a better understanding about what food we are eating. Our plans for the future include being as self-sustaining as possible, with a vegetable garden. Husband is a hunter and at times we have venison; in addition, we have joined a meat CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and we rarely buy meat unless we know where it is coming from, which I LOVE!

Have you started to sense that I have a passion for fresh food, farmed right here at home? Excellent, let’s continue! I lovCrispy Sage Pork Chopse to cook — I love to watch the Food Network, to check out Pinterest for new meal ideas, and I have a collection of cookbooks. I become extremely excited when I am able to try something new. Tonight, I made one of the most tasty pork chops I have ever experienced, from a cookbook called One Pan, Two Plates by Carla Snyder. This meal was called Crispy Sage Pork Chops, and I have to say that the
cooked sage really added a velvety texture and a flavor similar to kale (think kale chips)! In addition, the recipe called for couscous teaming with carrots, pistachios, onion, peas, and figs! Unfortunately I could not find any figs, but I substituted them with dates, which added a sweet taste to the otherwise hearty side. We rated this recipe a 5 out of 5 stars, which means it will become a meal that is made semi-regularly.

Definitely try it, devour it, and enjoy it!