Lifestyle And Dreams Over 40

10 Ways To Spread Happiness The world can be a fast-paced, isolated place. We all have moments of loneliness. Sometimes, we forget we are part of a community. It only takes a minute to make someone smile or to pay it forward. It only takes one. My daughter says I talk to everyone and I've never met a stranger. She doesn't know how I do it. It takes practice and today is a good day to start! Let's spread some happiness! Comment below how you spread happiness 😊 Smile at strangers and greet everyone with a smile 😊 Send flowers anonymously to a co-worker or friend Pay for the person behind you in the coffee or fast food drive-thru Put the phone down in a social situation Give an authentic compliment to a stranger While driving, let someone pass or pull out in front of you Say Hi to your neighbors Send a card to an elderly neighbor Listen more than you talk Ask someone if they need help

Vacation Time! Vacation day arrived. My son, Z, and I were traveling to the Oregon Coast for a few days.  Now granted, the coast is only about an hour away, but life gets busy and we don’t go as often as we’d like.  I had to wake up Z and get him moving, but soon we were off on our adventure. The first stop was Lincoln City where we visited a few video game stores (Z’s passion) and went to The Christmas Cottage for a bit of shopping. The Christmas Cottage is a favorite stop of mine, since I was a little girl.  It has everything from nutcrackers to Jim Shore collections to Halloween ornaments to nativity sets. It is an abundance of everything holiday and I love it! Next door is a candy store and we made a quick stop to pick up chocolate covered Oreos and sour patch candies. We did stop at Pig N Pancake and had a wonderful late breakfast and then hit the road to Depoe Bay. Depoe Bay is a charming, small, seaside town that just begs you to stop and dal...

Being A Good Friend Are YOU someone that you'd pick to be friends with, if given the choice? Are we being a good friend? Life is so busy these days! When I had a moment to slow down, I realized that it'd been a while since I'd spoken to some girlfriends of mine. Sure, I hadn't heard a peep from them either, but I thought I'd better check in on them and say “Hi”. It doesn't take very long to shoot a quick email, a short text, or even a quick call to say hi and that you were thinking of them. Sometimes, it just might make their day! Tips On How To Be A Good Friend: Make sure they're okay the moment you sense something wrong… Sometimes we get that pit in our stomach that says something might be wrong. Give them a quick shout and see how they are doing. You may be glad you did. Know when to be serious and when to be goofy…. Have you ever noticed that you can say something to a friend, on one day, and they'll think it's funny BUT if you ...

5 Yoga Stretches For A Stronger Back I am 48 and have been living with scoliosis of the spine since I was young. I never let it affect me before, but as I've grown older, it's developed into a bulging disc and a pinched nerve along with sciatica. I work two jobs and don't have the energy or pain endurance to go to a gym. I can't stand or walk without pain. I dread the thought of any social activity due to the walking. Here are 5 yoga stretches that have been slowly changing my life - one day at a time. It's amazing! #1: Sit criss-cross applesauce (or a variation of): Keeping your back tall, simply breathe in & out. Deep breaths to inhale the new and exhale the bad. My breath was shaky, at best, in the beginning. See it through. You'll see a difference in a few days. #2: Double knees to chest: Lay on your back and bring both knees to chest (again, some variation/as close as you can get). I'm about halfway to my chest. Use your hands to ke...

How To Set And Achieve Your Goals! Life is complicated, so setting and achieving goals should be as simple as possible. How? By not overloading our lives with too many goals. In fact, the fewer goals we set ourselves the more likely we are to succeed . Let’s keep things simple, and focus our energy on a smaller number of goals. Make A List:   When I want to make changes to my life, am determined to accomplish something, or just feel I’ve lost track, I start making a list. I list everything I must achieve, everything I hope to achieve and everything I would like to achieve. I don’t hold back, if it pops into my head, it goes on the list. I know that I will probably revise it, so I give myself permission to make my list as long and as complex as I like. The Life Changer: When I have my list, I take a good, long look at it. I try to figure out which of my goals, if achieved, would have the most impact on my life. I then choose the goals which would make the bigges...

3 Slow Cooker Faves Summer or winter, the slow cooker is a family lifesaver! If you're like me, the last thing you want to do when you come home from work, is cook a hot meal when it's already 90° outside. Pop a meal into the slow cooker, in the morning, and come home to an already prepared hot meal! Here are just 3 of my favorite tried-and-true recipes: 5 Ingredient Chicken & Stuffing (I just cook for 2, so I cut the following ingredients in half😊) 8 frozen, skinless, boneless chicken breasts 2 cups shredded cheese 2 cans cream of chicken soup 2 boxes stove top stuffing 3 Tbsp of butter Spray non stick spray into your slow cooker. Place in the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with the cheese. Cover with cream of chicken soup. Cover all of that with the uncooked stove top stuffing. Randomly place the butter chunks on top. Cook on low 7-8 hours. Yummy! This looks like a pile of doody, but my teenager said it's one of his favorites! 😀 Beef Ste...

What do you cook when your oven explodes? Yep, my oven quietly exploded, shot some flames and sparks, and died. He'd been a part of the family for several years and part of another family before that, so I guess it was just his time to go. Now, what do I cook for dinner using only a stovetop? Of course, we know how to cook many side dishes on the stove top, but is meat any good cooked that way? I say, Yes!  I've included my favorite meat recipes below, for you to try and share. Let me know how they turn out for you AND if you and your family enjoyed them. My favorite is: Sweet and Spicy Chicken 4 boneless chicken breasts, flattened with a meat mallet 1 ½ tsp. pink Himalayan salt 1 tsp. black pepper 1 ½ tsp. paprika ½ tsp chili powder 3-4 Tbsp. white sugar 1 ½ tsp. garlic powder 1 ½ tsp. onion powder 1 ½ tsp. dried parsley 2 Tbsp. butter 1 Tbsp. olive oil Juice of a lemon In a pie plate or dish, combine all ingredients. In a pan on s...