Animal Lovah,

Today I’m sharing something that fills my heart with joy–the adoption of our dog-daughter, Lola. I’m sure many people have similar stories of finding a best friend/comrade in a dog or cat they found at a local shelter. These individuals have sweet souls, unique personalities, and infinite buckets of love to give. Lola has brought us more fulfillment than we ever could have expected when we brought her home from the Ulster County SPCA. Watch the vlog to meet the super pooch and visit AdoptaPet.com to find a friend near you. Puppy mills suck, adoption rules! “Don’t you agree Lola?… Woof, woof, wag, wag!”

Peace and puppy love,
Kris

PS- Please share your pet adoption stories in the comments section!

By Sona Mehring

How can I best help my good friends and their soon-to-be-born (way too soon!) baby girl? That was the question I faced back in 1997, when those friends told me they would be delivering their daughter at just 23 weeks. My friends were going to be isolated in the hospital for weeks, if not months, and they faced the overwhelming task of letting everyone know the latest news.

This gave me an idea: a website where people could learn the latest news and leave messages for the family. The same night that my friends’ daughter Brighid was born, CaringBridge was born. CaringBridge, a not-for-profit organization, solely focuses on connecting friends and family when health matters most.

Brighid’s website instantly eased the burden of phone calls and time-consuming, emotional conversations. What I never anticipated – my ‘wow’ moment – was the true connection felt by everyone who visited Brighid’s website. Those visitors left messages of love and support that were exactly what my friends needed in their incredibly difficult time. The transformation was striking; a simple website became a compassionate community, bringing hope and healing. Brighid’s life was a short nine days, but her impact lives on in the hundreds of thousands of CaringBridge sites that have been created since.

Anyone can easily set up their own unique CaringBridge website. Users can select their website design and add health updates and photos to share their story while visitors leave messages in a guestbook, creating a network of support for both the patient and the caregivers.

For a patient, caregiver, and the family and friends that surround them, it is vital to stay connected. The basic human need of community is paramount when someone’s health is at risk. By using CaringBridge, a community can be instantly activated and engaged, bringing hope, healing, and connection to all.

Having a CaringBridge site is a good suggestion for any family going through a serious health event. I cannot count the number of times family members that have used CaringBridge have said it was the MOST IMPORTANT service used during their journey.

I also learned early on with CaringBridge that these websites are special. They connect people on a deep, emotional level. That type of connection needs to be treated with respect and never exploited.

CaringBridge has touched millions of lives – 36 million in the past 12 months alone – but so many are still in need. CaringBridge sites are free, easy, and built for one purpose: to bring hope, help, and connection to all when health matters most.

CaringBridge is a gift you can give unlike any card, bouquet, or casserole. Please help everyone know about CaringBridge. Tell a friend or find other ways to share our service.

Sona Mehring is the Founder and Executive Director of CaringBridge.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free websites that connect family and friends during a serious health event, care, and recovery. An early adopter of technology for communicating health issues, Sona lives in Minnesota with her husband and three sons.

“We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.” -Tao Te Ching

One of the rituals my young family has embraced is the last-minute search for something essential before leaving the house to do anything. Our initial rituals involved “the finding of the socks.” There were only three pairs of socks my daughter would wear to pre-K, and they never seemed to be where we put them the night before. Today, several years later, we have a far more sophisticated system involving the needs of all four family members.

This Saturday was the first day of a new swim season, so we celebrated with the losing of the goggles. My wife acts in an administrative capacity during these rituals focusing her efforts at finding the essential object while my daughter acts as a sort of Greek chorus that chants, “are we going to be late?” I perform a consulting role assigning blame and suggesting various means for the avoidance of loss in the future. And so it was while assigning blame concerning the goggles that I arrived at something worth parenting over.

My angst was not so much over being late, as I have learned to get my family moving fifteen minutes before they would reasonably need to be moving which seems to do the trick. Rather a clear image came to me: the reverence I had as a child for objects like my baseball glove, my bat, and my hockey stick. I was not a particularly wise kid like my son and daughter seem to be. But I understood that these seemingly worthless objects were the means to priceless experiences. As I accepted the need to buy another set of goggles, I understood the need to talk to my daughter about what has worth and what does not.

Later that day I sat down with my daughter and presented her with two objects that had no market value. One was a yoga mat I have had for the last eight years and the other was the key to her grandmother’s house. We discussed the fact that in and of themselves these objects had no value at all, but each in its own way delivered priceless experiences. My yoga mat is my means for serving both my family and my community. The key is really a key to a grandmother’s unconditional love. We also discussed the idea that what we put into something is what we get out of it. As a young person I treated my wrestling shoes as sacred objects, like a warrior’s sword and shield. And in those shoes I was able to experience a true hero’s journey.

Everything in our lives is essentially empty. Our marriages, our families, our friendships, our careers are all empty of any objective meaning. What we experience, then, in our marriages, families, friendships, and careers is what we put into them.

How do I juggle my life as an entrepreneur and full-time mom and still find time to feed my kids a healthy diet? The truth is that it is almost impossible to build a business, raise two small babies, feed them well and dress them right 100% of the time. But, there are a few tricks to do your best and do it right 90% of the time.

First, ask yourself: do you have to work, or do you just want to work? These are two very different things.

I started a business and decided that I wanted to see it through (kids or no kids), but I didn’t want to use daycare or even a full-time nanny. I wanted to hold onto my company and work toward my goals slowly (a lot more slowly than I had originally planned!). Typically, I am okay with this decision. But every so often, usually when a stressful event arises, I break down like the best of us. I either (a) threaten that I am throwing in the towel or (b) get mad that my company is not growing quickly enough. Then, I decide to work even harder.

However, having the “I can do it all” mentality often means that somebody is going to suffer. Whether it is your business, your free time, your relationship, or your kids—it is going to happen. And if it hasn’t yet, it will!

Establish daily goals and spend quality time with your kids!

My main daily goal is to be with my kids as much as possible when they aren’t napping. That means NO television, no internet, no texting (okay, maybe just a little texting) and so on when we’re together. I give them 100% of my attention and we play, we learn, we go to the park, we walk and we talk. I do not half-ass it. But, come naptime at 11am, it’s on! I’m all over the internet, making calls, multi-tasking, emailing, writing, designing, etc. I get as much done as I possibly can.

Do you want a nanny or babysitter? How does daycare sound?

Two days a week, I have a babysitter come and help out. She helps clean the house, get the babies up and change them, and maybe even feed them the food I’ve made. I can then use that time to prepare meals, do some extra work, have a green drink, go grocery shopping, and so on. One of those two days is spent driving to my “real” office and accomplishing, again, massive amounts of work in a short amount of time.

Evenings can be spent by going out as a family to a cool restaurant, Mom and Dad going out on a date, or heading to Grandma’s house for a meal (this is very helpful—somebody to help play with the kids and allow me time to relax).

I typically stop working at 5pm, no matter what, to just chill and eat and play with the boys. I rarely work at night, but when there are deadlines to meet or blog posts to finish, I put the babies to bed and work until around 10pm before hitting the sack. I’m an early bird.

Making time for Healthy Meals.

As far as healthy food goes, my job revolves around food. So it’s easier for me to make food than it might be for somebody else. I’ve become very fast and very good at it. It also helps that I am working on recipes for my blog and a cookbook in the works. This keeps me creative and cutting-edge. I have two little boys to practice on; what could be better?

I must say, though, that making dinner is NOT usually a fun thing for me to do. It’s not like the old days when cooking was my daily “meditation,” escape, and creative outlet. Now, it’s often a hurried process with screaming babies in the background demanding “apple juice, mama” or “hold me, mama” or just yelling nonsense like “dada baba, mama, dada” over and over again! I throw in a smile and a laugh here and there, but I am typically racing around the kitchen while pulling my hair out, trying to buy myself some “quiet” time by feeding babies bananas or giving in and pouring a tall glass of apple juice.

Still, it is important that you do give your children healthy meals, both to calm them and give them sustained energy. Healthy meals help them avoid the crashes that can cause temper tantrums. A friend of mine recently wrote this on her Facebook page:

“My kids amaze me. I made Juli Novotny’s Green Juice today and Zoe (2 years old) drank an entire cup! And when it was done, she declared “There’s a party in my tummy! So yummy! So yummy”. Srsly…I just didn’t think either of my kids would touch it with a 10 ft pole. Esp since it didn’t come in a box with Dora or a Princess on it. I was shocked. I thought she was going to throw it at me…”

My midwife once gave me a great piece of advice: “Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean your kid won’t.” (e.g., I hate when my ears get wet, so I always plug my son’s ears when I wash his hair). Our children ARE NOT US! They are their own individual beings. So give them what’s best for them—they will eat it! And they just might thank you for it, too.

Time for Yourself!

This is a must, and right now, in my life, it is lacking. I need it more than anything. Luckily, my “work” is my passion. I’m blessed in that way. I love doing it; so in a sense, it is my time away as well as my “day job!”

But I do hit walls. And when I do, my body/gut is very good at telling me what it needs. I get these little voices in my head that say “you’re thirsty” or “you’re tired” or “you need to relax and get a massage.” It sounds weird, but I am pretty tuned in to those voices. And if I ignore them, I become sick, over-tired, or rundown.

When I do hit this wall, I get a hot stone massage, an awesome pedicure, or I splurge on a great facial here in town. This hour forces me to sit down, read magazines, and forget about the work and baby world. It also serves to balance my workaholic personality with grounding greens and omegas. I drink tons of coconut water and green drinks. I enjoy an occasional glass of red wine and sometimes a good movie, too!

Try to exercise. I haven’t done this in awhile, but it’s a major piece of advice that I will give everybody—and what I mean by exercise is a good sweat. So whatever that means to you, do it. Hopefully it includes some fresh air (as opposed to a yoga studio or a gym). Get outside.
That’s my life! One big juggling match. Even if it’s not 100% perfect, I love it.

I love gummy bears! And, quite honestly, over the years, I have become a self-proclaimed gummy bear connoisseur. A family friend introduced my brother and me to Haribo gummy bears when we were kids. And ever since, I have had a love affair with those colorful, chewy (but not stick to your teeth chewy), sweet yet tangy little loveable bears.

What’s wrong with this picture? Right, a culinary nutritionist who has devoted her life’s work to teaching people about health supportive food lifestyle is talking about her love of candy. Well, maybe that’s not such a bad thing?

I just wrote an article for my holiday newsletter entitled You and Your Kids: How Much Health Food is Too Much? An excerpt:

I picked my older son Jack up from school the other day to find him wearing a necklace made of Frootloops (artificially colored “cereal” that is literally the bane of my existence). OK, I will openly admit that I took a slightly not-so-silent gasp as he ran over to me filled with pride over his creation. I pulled it together just in time to meet his enthusiasm with a smile at the same time thinking, “OMG, my kid is wearing a necklace made of “food” with carcinogenic dyes.”

So, that evening Jack’s  culinary nutritionist-mom (me, that is) decided to email his teacher to “just throw out there” that in the event that she has food related activities in the class, I am happy to make suggestions for the healthiest products on the market to use (ie. New Morning Fruit-e-O’s versus Frootloops). I received a very nice e mail back from her stating in not so many words that to teach kids about what is healthy, they also need to experience what is not healthy. Point taken.

This whole experience triggered a very important thought process for me: How much “health food” is too much? A weird question posed by a person who devotes her life to teaching people about eating healthfully. But, at the same time a very important question to ask and address. And one I deal with every day in my work and personal life.

First, back to the gummy bears. Yes, Haribo does have those carcinogenic dyes* in them, the same ones that Frootloops have, but I have come to the conclusion, after wearing many different food lifestyle hats, that a little junk can’t hurt. In fact, it is actually healthy. OMG! What a weird thought! Even so, I must add that I do have a little Jewish guilt when I eat those dyes (which comprise less than .1% of my diet).

Second, I will have you all know that I love kale! It is an acquired taste for some but raw and if cooked just right, it’s delicious (and filled with all that good stuff our bodies need). I love it raw in salads (finely chopped); sautéed in olive oil and garlic with a little lemon; and roughly chopped with onions and cooked in a little olive oil, broth and white vinegar with a touch of salt.

So, I guess the big question is (and appropriately so post-Holidays): How do you balance junk food with healthy food?

Firstly and most importantly, I want to point out that it differs for everyone. To some, junk foods are chips, candy, cookie, cakes, beverages and more that are made with “fake” ingredients (dyes, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives) and to others junk foods are the same foods with natural ingredients. To me, the first is SUPER JUNK and the latter is JUST JUNK. My choice: SUPER JUNK is for once in a while and JUST JUNK is OK in small doses everyday.

I am big on Conscious Eating. And the way I encourage my clients to become conscious eaters is to keep a food diary. They eat, write down what they are eating then look at what they have eaten. After about two days, they don’t like what they see. Thus, they start thinking about what they are putting in those precious bodies of theirs. So, just a little suggestion for all of you who want to assess the “candy” (junk food) and “kale” (healthy food) in your food lifestyle:

• Keep a food diary for one week

• When complete, highlight “candy” in one color and “kale” in another

• Assess the results, determine what you want to change and write it down

• Then ask yourself, can I replace any of the “candy” with the “kale” or can I replace the SUPER JUNK with JUST JUNK (the healthier JUNK choice)

Life is about balance. Moderation is my mantra!

I can’t end this article without adding that I have finally found the perfect natural and organic gummy bear thanks to Yummy Earth! It is even better than Haribo. My SUPER JUNK is now JUST JUNK. I can have my candy and eat it too, all guilt-free!!!

Finally, for those of you who love “candy” (literally), check out www.naturalcandystore.com. An amazing resource!

*The FDA will argue that food dyes are GRAS—Generally Recognized as Safe. Don’t know about you, but I want to eat (99.9% of the time) things that are safe versus generally recognized as safe?