1. Start Early! Everyone makes fun of me because I plan my trips 6 months to a year in advance but I get the best selection by doing this.
2. Look on www.pinterest.com for ideas. This is a favorite of mine! Lots of times you can find things to do that most people don’t know about.
3. Talk to others about their favorite vacations. You can get great information from friends that have already been there. This is how we have found several of the places we went to visit.
4. Read reviews. If you look up things that you are going to do in advance you can get a feel for if you are going to have a good experience. For example, we were going to swim with the leopard sharks in California but when I looked at the reviews they were terrible for the time when we were planning on going because most people didn’t end up seeing a shark. It wasn’t a good time of year to do that activity.
5. Look for places to stay on www.vrbo.com instead of always staying in a hotel. We have stayed at some beautiful houses that ended up costing close to what we would have paid for a hotel. Always read the reviews here too.
6. Another great place to find things to do in an area is www.tripadvisor.com.
7. Once you’ve gotten to your destination you can ask the locals for things to do. We have found some great parks and places to eat this way.
8. I always suggest you stop at the visitors bureau. They can tell you about things to do in the area and they usually offer discounts or can give you coupons. 

Have fun on your vacations and don’t forget to take your BEMER for the car or plane ride. It makes the ride so much nicer…we have found that we have lots of energy and aren’t exhausted from traveling.  

​If you are looking to get more protein and less carbs into your diet but you love pasta...chickpea pasta is a great alternative. The trick is to cook it to the softness that you like your regular pasta and use it in saucy dishes. We have found that it is a great pasta substitution in mac and cheese, chili mac, spaghetti and soups. There are lots of brands out there. This is one that we like. 

My wellness journey started when my daughter got sick. Back then we were in crisis mode and I was overwhelmed and exhausted! This is not the way I would advise anyone to do it, but we had no choice. I made a ton of mistakes and I tried a lot of things that didn’t work for us. Now that “crisis” mode is over I’m still on a wellness journey but at a more relaxed pace, and I will tell you this is the way to go!

My idea of wellness is broken up into 8 categories… Bemer, Eat Well, Exercise, Give Back, Have Fun, Reduce Stress, Take Vacations and Use Clean Products. I came up with these because I want to have an enjoyable balanced life and these are what my family does to achieve that.

We Bemer every day, twice a day… just like you brush your teeth. It takes 8 minutes twice a day to help our bodies achieve good circulation which I’ve learned is the key to good health.

My approach to eating well is eating things that we still like but making them a little healthier as we go. I want to gradually introduce better foods so we don’t crave the stuff that we gave up. It’s like losing weight… if you do it gradually you are more likely to keep that weight off.

Exercise doesn’t need to be just done in a gym. If you like to work out in a gym… great! If not, make something work for you to get yourself up and moving. My family plays volleyball together and my husband and I like to walk every day.

Giving back is also an important part of our lives. I feel it is important to do things to help others. It makes you feel good and it lets you appreciate what you have.

Have FUN! This one is a big one for me. I believe that life needs to be fun so find things that you like and enjoy yourself!

Reduce stress. Stress is so bad for you. Some stress in your life you can’t avoid so make a conscious effort to eliminate the stress that you can have control over. There are lots of enjoyable ways to reduce stress… guided imagery, yoga, working in the garden, getting a massage, are just a couple examples.

Take vacations. This is another big one for me. I think it is important to get away. I like to have vacations to look forward to and I also like the break from all the day to day stuff that goes on in our lives. Vacations don’t have to be huge or long. When we were first married, we would take trips down to Amish for an overnight or just go to a local hotel to get away.

My last category is to use clean products. The last couple months I’ve really tried to eliminate a lot of the chemicals that were in my house. I’ve found some great alternatives that work really well for us and I will share those with you.
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These are my approaches to wellness. They didn’t come overnight, and they are what is right for my family. My idea is to share what I’ve learned with you. Don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to do everything at once, and if something that I do isn’t right for you, then that’s is fine too!
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I’ve been working on using products in my home that aren’t filled with all the chemicals. I searched for a long time for a good chemical free hand soap recipe that doesn’t dry your hands out. I liked some of the ones that I found in the stores but they were really expensive. This recipe is on the cheap side and it works great! It is a thin consistency but suds up really nicely and it doesn’t leave soap blobs all over the sink!
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​All you need is…
¾ cup distilled water
¼ cup of Bronner’s Pure-Castile Liquid Soap 
(Comes in Unscented, Almond, Tea Tree, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Citrus, Rose and Peppermint)

We like the Almond and Peppermint. Just mix it up and pour into your soap dispenser.
                                           
​                                                      It’s that cheap and easy!!