Sierra and I have been active for the majority of our lives. This is something that comes naturally to us and we have both learned to love our adventurous souls and that sometimes stepping out of our comfort zones leads us to things greater than we knew we could even accomplish.  Your life journey has ups and downs and maybe you are looking for a place to step out of your own comfort zone and you’ve stumbled upon our blog. Well each week we will focus on one or two tips to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone. Being fit and eating healthy and having the courage to climb a mountain are not changes that occur overnight . It is a process that can take months or years and should start with small changes to ensure that they stick.  Forty wellness tips sounds like a lot but when we break it down one by one, week by week they will become doable.

So far our blog has introduced us to you and allowed us to share  some of our adventures and hardships with you. Our goal in sharing is to get you out of your comfort zone and to get you onto a path where the world opens up to you. We are goofy and our adventures lead us into good and challenging situations and change on the regular. We want to share our struggles as well as the things we find not so difficult and the silly things that end up happening because in our world, things never seem to go as planned!!!

We found these tips out of the doTERRA Living Fall 2016 magazine and we love them so we would like to use them and expand with our thoughts on each. Both Sierra and I use these products on the regular and you will hear about how we use them throughout the blog in our first aid kits and more.

Tip #1

“Design your program: consider your body type and the choices you’re making Think about what you like and where a good starting point is for you, don’t compare it with where others start. This is for you”

Sierra and I enjoy doing a lot of the same things but we also have other things that the other may not be as interested in. Myself, I enjoy lifting weights and Sierra enjoys yoga. We both stay fit doing different things. Both of our bodies are very different from each other. The biggest thing we have in common is that we both have learned to love ourselves for what we have been given. We’re aware we don’t fit into a mold of someone else. Letting go of the media’s idea of what we should look like and allowing ourselves to see what we could become was an incredibly freeing moment.  We can appreciate and celebrate each others differences. Staying active doing the things we enjoy is more important than looking a certain way. By focusing on a certain look you can’t see yourself for what you are made of. Doing things you enjoy to reach your health goals which is likely what you were seeking in the first place, this also leaves the stress out of trying to be something you’re not. When you are doing what you enjoy doing you will not only reach those goals but you will learn more and more about yourself as you move forward in this journey.

When thinking about the choices you’re making, it is important to identify things you want to change.  Write them down.  We challenge you to pick one thing and make a small step towards that change this week.  This could be as simple as substituting a salad for fries at one meal or taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work.  The goal is to create small new habits that will end up adding up to big life changes.

When was the last time you walked? Just a minute ago? Did you think about how easily you stood and began to walk. Did you marvel when your leg supported you when you put your full weight on it? Of course not! I never have given it a second thought either. Yet the last few weeks I dream of walking almost nightly. It has become my deepest desire. The last time I walked normally was April 28th. I went bouldering and fell from the top. I was at an odd angle when I fell and didn’t get my right foot under me properly. I landed on the side of my foot and my ankle rolled out. I desperately hoped it was just a sprained ankle but knew deep down I had done more. I had broke my third metatarsal at the very top.

My prognosis was good. It was a clean break and would require no surgery. I was instructed to wear a silly boot and keep my foot elevated and put no weight on it for six weeks Oh yea and no driving for 4 weeks……  Thats a long time to sit still. I don’t sit still. I have way too much to do. Yet sit still I did. Well mostly…..

The first week and a half wasn’t too bad.  I spent it in Georgia and Florida with my bestie having adventures modified for my crutches. Once I returned to Momtana and was spending most days by myself at home my world felt very small. I cried sitting still, I watched countless hours of Netflix sitting still, I made a quilt sitting still, I read 4 books sitting still and I napped alot with my dog.

But I couldn’t sit entirely still. I modified my work out routine to focus on my upper body and used my hot tub as a base for my knee and modified my hula hooping.

My husband would drive me to church on Sundays and over memorial day weekend we went paddle boarding.  I didn’t stand but I could sit and paddle around! It was great!!

I learned to reach out and rely completely on the kindness  and love of my family, friends and church family.

Since April 28th I have returned to driving, putting pressure on my foot and have slowly begun walking again. I have to be careful not to do too much too soon.  I will never take walking for granted again. I will never complain about running no matter what the weather is like. Because if I am walking or running it means my foot is healed!!

“Your Ticket is booked” some of the most exciting words uttered out of my mouth! My best friend is heading to Georgia for a trip of a lifetime. Our planning started before the ticket was purchased but the serious planning started immediately after.

The Appalachian trail a 2,190 mile trail spanning 14 states from Georgia to Maine. It is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world! What hiking enthusiast wouldn’t want to set their feet on this? In the months leading up to the adventure we prepared physically and mentally with workouts consisting of both cardio and weight training, we practiced with our backpacks loaded and on during hikes, we read blogs from other hikers who have been on this trail as well as talked to hikers who have finished it in its entirety. Although our intention was to do a small section at this time we even read articles about being mentally prepared for through hikes. Given the differences of Montana to Georgia my hiking experiences here gave me the ability to share information with her to get her prepared. I would go for hikes and text her almost all of the way as I thought of different things that we needed to take note of. Given the fact that Sierra is much more technical than I am making sure she had this information would help the both of us to get ready! I say this in jest and also in all seriousness about my own short comings as far as preparations go.

Just days before the flight we were so very excited. It was hard to focus on anything aside from the six and a half days we were getting ready to spend on the trail. 109 miles was our goal in just under a week. We had shuttle rides planned we were getting her off the plane and heading right to where we would begin the trail. I had bought a book and sent it to her. Its a fantastic book and I recommend it to anyone who looks to get onto this trail. We did not want to rely on electronics so having something to have in our packs was a must. Our packs had been packed, unpacked and repacked multiple times. We were ready.  We were confident in our ability to do it too. All of our planning did not prepare us for what was going to happen….

The morning before Sierra was to get on the plane she called me up. Through her sobs she had to tell me that she was pretty sure that she had broken her foot while climbing the night before. She was going to go into the doctor to find out for sure but she assured me she was getting on the plane.  After the doctor confirmed a break we were both so disappointed.

All of our planning and excitement we can’t say that it did not hurt a bit. We made a new plan. We were going to go on the trail crutches and all to where we would find a nice little camp spot and just enjoy some peace and quiet for a few days. So I got her off of the plane we got our bags secured and ready for the trip and we got to a different part of the trail where we found in the book had some water close off the entrance. And set out. Sierra is a brave soul and I can’t see my life without her as my partner in crime! She made it .3 miles in and out she came to a rock that we were going to have to climb over and it defeated her…. It was there I said we should just go to the beach. She agreed. So we hiked out loaded our bags back into the pickup and set out for Florida. No stops aside from getting gas and we did find a state park where we could throw our hammocks up to sleep.

Had we been able to hike that trail like we had planned we would have never found the gem of a place called Providence Canyon state park in Georgia. It was beautiful and to think it had been formed by poor farming habits in the early 1900s. The night before we hiked around that area was a night we will never forget. Setting up our hammocks by light of the headlights of my pickup was successful but given all of the noises of the south and not having been able to see the surroundings of our chosen campsite neither Sierra or I were able to sleep. At 5 in the morning we started to get a sprinkle of rain, so with no sleep we got up and called it a night had some coffee and set out to see the canyon and then on to the beach.

Who knew what this adventure would bring us. Who knew that one slight slip of the hand would actually put us on a path to a great lesson in relaxation. We were forced to relax. There was nothing we could do about that. There is something to be said about the spontaneity of it all too. The time we got to spend giggling about our misfortune that turned into a marvelous adventure was medicine for our souls. We forget in the hustle and bustle of life to breath sometimes. That spontaneity is an adventure in itself. That no matter what we did we got to be together and that was all that matters! From now on we will have a wonderful life experience that she and I can look back on for the rest of our lives! And who knows we have a plan to return to the Appalachian trail spring of 2018 we will see what that adventure brings when the time comes.