Walking, Running, Riding, and Restoring

I always try to find the good in things.  So, in the midst of all the stress with the things going on in my life lately, I've found increased motivation to get out to walk, run, and ride my bike.  Lots of good ways to restore my sanity, relieve some stress, and get healthy as a result.  A win, win, win!  

I always carry my cell phone with me.  And, being the picture taking fool that I am, a lot of pictures get taken along the way.  Here are a few from the past few weeks.  They're all from Instagram....that's why they have black frames on them.

My walking partner, Salsa...

We love going to the Santa Plateau in our local hills.  It's a beautiful place!  And, it's a great place to ride a mountain bike...

It's also a great place to go for a walk or hike.  Gorgeous!

I think I could sit on one of these benches all day!

There are seasonal pools of water there.  They call them "vernal pools".  They're currently looking quite beautiful!  I love the walkway that goes over them.  Sometimes they're filled with fairy shrimp, tadpoles, tiny frogs, and little snakes.  I love it when the pools are there!

My husband and I were mountain biking there last week and came around the corner and saw a pig!  It was out for a hike with it's family.  It seemed very happy.  It would stop to nibble some grass and then look up to see they were ahead and start running to catch up while it grunted softly.  Funny and cute!  I have to say....I've never seen that before!

It was about 70 degrees and sunny that day.  Beautiful!

I love all the big, old, oak trees up there!

I was up early yesterday morning.  I opened the blinds in our living room and the sun was streaming in.  Penelope was soaking it up and looked like she was meditating.  Good job, Penelope!  A good reminder of something I need to do more of....stop, close my eyes, take some deep breaths, and meditate!

My Morning Walk

Salsa is such a great little walking partner!  Besides being extremely adorable, she's also very enthusiastic and always excited to go.  That turns out to be just the motivation I need on mornings that I'm considering the lazy alternative of not going.  She gets into the habit of it very quickly and almost expects it.  If I say the word, "walk", she bounces up and down with happiness.  Or, if she thinks I'm wearing some sort of clothing that looks like "walking" clothes or shoes, she gets excited about that too.  How could I let that precious girl down?! 

The trees surrounding our neighborhood are currently in an extreme bloom!  They must be really happy with the weather or something because I've never seen them bloom quite this much!  The ground, sidewalks, and gutters are covered in tiny yellow blossoms and pollen.  And, the trees are buzzing with bees.  Oh, and the air is very fragrant!  Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother my allergies.  Whew!

Friday!

Whooosh!  Another week has flown by!  How is it that they're going by so quickly?!  Is the world spinning faster?  I wish the days would slow down!  I'm trying to get stuff done here!

This week was a bit more productive in that I finished my weaving project.  And, I've started to get back to exercising everyday.  It's just walking with a little running here and there but it's a big deal that I'm getting back to it.  I was doing great earlier this year but fell off the fitness wagon months ago.  I haven't been all that enthused about getting back to it.  The heat had a lot to do with it.  It's VERY nice that the weather is cooling down now!  Mornings have been in the 50's and that's much more comfortable than 80's.  Especially when the sun is shining.

I snapped a couple pictures on my walk this morning.  I think it's interesting that these trees are covered in little yellow flowers when the calendar says it's Fall.  Looks a lot more like Spring to me!

Another accomplishment for this week isn't quite complete but what I've done so far feels really good!  I've been going through absolutely everything in my craft studio.  I'm getting rid of things (donating, trash and recycling) and organizing.  I'm finding so much more space!  I love that!

I also accomplished something I've been putting off...a dentist appointment.  Ugh!  I had all my old fillings replaced earlier this year and thought I was good to go and wouldn't need the dentist except for cleanings for quite a while.  Wrong!  During our June/July road trip some of my bottom teeth all of a sudden became very sensitive to cold and sometimes chewing.  The dentist checked it out and couldn't find anything wrong.  We decided to give it some time and use Sensodyne toothpaste. It's not any better and I've been putting off calling for months.  I just don't like going to the dentist!  The only  thing he found this time is that the nerves under two teeth look  inflamed.  So, I've been instructed to take Advil every six hours for three days.  He said it often fixes the problem.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  If that doesn't work I'll need to go back and get a "medicated filling" to try to calm the nerve.  If that doesn't work...root canal!  Ugh!   But, hey....going this week was an accomplishment!  Right?!  :-/

Ok....I need to get off the computer and back to work!  I want this day to be productive.

Have an awesome weekend!