Lesson 342: Break Out of Your Funk

We're into the heart of January, Readers?

Are you in a depths of the winter funk?

Eloise is here to remind you to bust out of it!

The best way for me to do that is to get out and move around.

Go somewhere.

Do something.

Find some ice.

Examine it.

It's pretty!

The Fab Five were out and about last weekend.
Sam took part in his first Pinewood Derby with his Cub Scout Pack.

He also started basketball practice.

Can you spot Bigfoot amongst the other seven year olds?

My hubby rolled some high scores to place 18th in the first round

of the Erie Times News bowling tournament.

He'll be back at it this weekend.

For indoor entertainment, I look forward to my favorite TV show.

I love to spot talent.

One really interesting contestant is this blind country singer.

Check out his audition below.

Blind Country Singer CLICK HERE

This little cutie made J-Lo and I tear up at the same time.

For a smile, click the link below.

Little Girl Singing Let It Go on American Idol CLICK HERE

My iTunes account has been rectified 

after unauthorized purchases were made on my account in December.

Trivia Crack is back in business,

and I've been talking smack on facebook all night.

My all knowing 8th grader is the most fun to beat.

Here I am with my my team, The Triple Threat.

Natalie's the spinner.

I answer the questions.

The ones I don't know Sam guesses.

We're dauntless.

Bring it!

The biggest funk buster of my week was receiving this reward package

from a fitness challenge I pledged to complete in December.

1,133 sit ups

1,133 push ups

1023 burpees

and 43 miles running.

I got behind early in the month with the holiday prep,

and that left old Eloise with the bulk of the work to complete

during the LAST two weeks of December.

I felt like quitting and called out to my wellness friends for encouragement.

Wellness Coach, Jennifer Greenwood Taylor, from Taylor Made Wellness

responded to my call and promised me a prize of epic proportions if I 

made good on the promise I made to myself.

It was exactly what I needed to push through the final shallow push ups,

and geriatric center burpees at 9:59 on New Year's Eve

The box arrived this week.

I promised my friends that I would reveal the contents.

What would a Wellness Coach reward her cyber friend with?

A perfect card filled with personal encouragement,

written in the large, curvy script of 

a woman who loves life.

Epsom salts for Eloise's barking dogs.

A literal STACK of great reads and views.

A notebook

This was the bomb dot com of all almond butters.

And more food and drink items I've never tasted before.

Jennifer Greenwood Taylor, Taylor Made a bonus prize for me,

if I promised to throw in 100 extra burpees.

If you've ever done one burpee, you know how much they suck.

I felt bad unwrapping the gifts

 because I called her a potty word when I read her post.

My guilt was short lived, however,

as she had me at the ribbon.

This peeked out at me from underneath the wrapping.

Then this.

And finally, the anchor beneath the stack--

this:

A writing journal for my many joys!

Bible verses appear at the bottom of every gold edged page.

Yep. 

I cried.

And then I turned around to see this.

Again I was at a loss for words.

Hubby found the Passion tea

and the Naked Kale chips.

Nothing can bust you out of a midwinter funk

 like passionately eating naked kale chips.

Hubby extends his thank you,

and says Jennifer Taylor is his favorite friend of mine that he's never met.

Curious about Naked Kale Chips, Readers?

I was, too.

They are really good!

I promise you though, 

I ate them clothed.

I dared my kids to try them.

No kid bows out on a dare from their Momma.

Tepid reception from Ellen Louise.

Natalie, who cannot tell a lie,

kept her eyes downcast when I asked her if she liked them.

I even threw an Abe Lincoln on the counter and told Sam

he could have it if he ate just one leaf.

Um...

No.

Thank you again, Jennifer Greenwood Taylor

for the wellness package Taylor Made just for me!

Another way to bust a winter funk is to

bust a move to this funky song.

The photos from the week are set to Uptown Funk

by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.

The photo video appears at the end of this blog post.

Enjoy your weekend,

ELOISE

Lesson 341: Three Gifts

Find a cozy quilt and a cup of something warm, Readers.

It's a cold one across the whole country.

Snug up and enjoy your weekend read.

Here in Erie, we are experiencing our typical January weather.

It's cold and snowy, 

but it can't touch the Polar Vortex winter of last season.

Ice crystals sure are pretty though.

This winter has been long strange trip.
Sunday it was 52 degrees when I ventured out for a muddy trot.



Where the beach ball came from in the Community Park creek, beats me!

It dropped 30 degrees in six hours.

By Thursday the temps were holding at ten degrees 

with a wind chill factor of -5

 and several inches of snow.

My hotties and I exercised in it

and made some snow angels in the process!

(Great for the inner thighs)

A friend of mine gave these to me to use during my outdoor fitness adventure this winter.

Boy, do they make a difference!

Eloise highly recommends them.

This dove sought refuge in my garage this week.
He hung out there most of the day.

I didn't notice until I reviewed the photos,

the interesting perspective of the bike reflection on my van.

See Ellen's bike hanging from the ceiling?



It looks like he's decided flying is for the birds,
and is going to go for a ride.

I really enjoy this time, post Christmas.

I especially love the time during the Epiphany,

the long ride of the wise men on the camels.

Epiphany commemorates the coming of the Magi to see the Christ child.

For my readers who like to see a visual,

watch this five minute segment of the Nativity Story

Scene for Nativity Story

Pastor Keith over at South Harborcreek United Methodist always gives us a good talk on Sundays.  His sermons are one part inspiration and one part history lesson.  They are always interesting.

Pastor Keith shared with his congregation some background on the Magi, or the wise men.  From the bulletin insert:

On Magi:  Their number is unknown.  We call them the three wise men, but you notice the Bible never says there were three wise men.  The Bible says they brought three GIFTS.  Because they brought three gifts, we call them the three wise men.  But in all likelihood, this was a large caravan.

Readers, let me tell you this:  If there was a time period in history that I was able to return to, I'd pick to be outside of Bethlehem during this exact time period.  Eloise bringing in a caravan of camels.  

More from the church bulletin:  Ever how many wise men there were, there was probably a caravan of servants with them, because these were very important men.  they were men of note.  The Bible says that they were Magi, and the Magi were astronomers.  They were the scientists of their day, the philosophers of their day, men of education, men of letters.  They most likely lived in the land we now know as Iraq, 300 miles from Bethlehem.

I think I enjoy the story so much year after year is because it has such a mysterious quality to it.

How did they know that star was going to be there?
How did they see it without modern day equipment?
Who is smart enough to find pattern and order to the sky?

Yes, church bulletins can be interesting.  Keep reading:  There are over 330 passages of scripture that dealt with the coming of Christ.  Hundreds of years before Christ was born the prophets said 330 times, "This is where He'll be born; this is the family in which He'll be born; this is why He'll be born."  Somebody had calculated the odds of every one of those 330 prophecies coming true about Christmas.  They say the odds would be 1 in septillion.  

I like the wise men most of all because they didn't listen to King Herod.  He wanted them to return to him and report the whereabouts of the child.  Instead they went home a different way.  

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod,

they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 2: 12

I loved these words so much that I thought of using them

 for some Christmas gifts for next season.

I searched pinterest for some inspiration and found this one.

Cool.  

A glass block thing.

Some white lights.

A ribbon.

Silhouette outlines.

I could do that.

I had a Clark Griswold-like daydream about me entering the 2015 Christmas party, 

bearing these inspirational, homemade gifts.

Awesome.

Music in the background.

Some laughter.

A hug.

Choruses of thanks.

I could do that.

Record scratch

Kenyan walks in with these nails.

How cool!

Where did you get THOSE?

You are SO stylish!
Eloise's gift shoved to the side.

My dream is shot to hell with nail art.

The wise men brought three gifts:
gold--a valuable
frankincense--a perfume
and
myrrh--an anointing oil.

Eloise received some great gifts this season,
and I have chosen my favorite three to share with you.

Alpaca Socks!
They are the warmest, softest socks in the world.
Burch Farms in North East sells them.
Hair of the local alpacas are used to make them.

A new journal from my parents:

A place to hold all of my brilliant ideas.

A thermos!
I forgot how warm it keeps tea.

Record scratch

Tea?

Oh, Lord, she's detoxing again.

No wonder her blog topics are

weather

and

church bulletins.

Hang with me, Readers.

Doc's Detox only lasts until February 12th.

I'm going without alcohol and caffeine until then.

Oh, yeah,

and also,

sugar and dairy.

Record scratch...

this blog is starting to sound like an 80's dance club.

What are you eating Eloise?

Answer:  Everything else.

There are tons of whole foods and clean drinks to choose from.

It isn't hard at all and I feel really great.

I'll report in again in February to let you know my findings.

Just as the wise men did,

a detox participant comes to his own epiphany in the process.

What is the key to surviving the long winter?

Add some cozy warmth,

(My new $12 Big Lots tree)

and a little bit of laughter.

I put this photo frame on the piano again this year.

A year or two ago, Ellen inquired as to what color her snowsuit was

 in the snowman photo within the frame.

I guess I never told her the child in the photo wasn't her,

it was just the shot the frame came with.

I could never find one to fit, so I kept it.

For Ellen's entire life, she thought this photo was taken of her

in front of the 6 Mile Cellars fence.

Ellen is still harboring a grudge.

Her face kind of looks like this cat.

I discovered Grumpy Cat this week.

Google him for a good laugh. 

TIME reminded me it's time for bed.

No caffeine and no beer 

equals

one 

tired

ELOISE!

I didn't get out much to take many photos, therefore no video this week.
But, I do have something I want you to watch for your weekend homework.
I know, weekend homework is a drag,
but you won't be disappointed.

Don't miss the link below.
Thank you, Kristen for sending this to me.

Your Life Illustrated in Jelly Beans

Stay warm!
Eloise