Juli's Blog

It’s funny what will take you down memory lane. For me today it was a name. The funny thing is that I look at that name a lot and it never strikes a memory but today, it caused a reaction; the name on my screen made me look at the date on my computer, the date on the computer had me walking to one of the few books that I still own, and looking at the back page; and there it confirmed what was rolling around in my mind. I had to do a little math nothing too hard but I was a little shocked by the number.

26 years. That meant it had been 26 years since I talked to this person. I don’t think of him very often anymore. But this time of year I always pause and think. I’m so grateful for you and what you taught me. He was my mentor and my friend and he died in car accident on this day 26 years ago.

I remember talking to him the night before Thanksgiving and lamenting that my life was not turning out anything like I planned and he said stop planning and try enjoying God’s plan for your life.

I still plan and God still undoes those plans. Something tells that if Ralph was still alive he would tell me to stop planning and enjoy what God is putting in front of you. Ralph quickly became a mentor to me when I was in Seminary. He encouraged me to explore my interest in writing portions of worship services and encouraged me to continue to use music as a part of worship.

Music has saved me more then once over the years. When I cannot find the words, there was always a song that says what I my heart is trying to say.

Ralph also taught me a few other things to live out your life:

Love God and love others every thing else will work out if you do this.

Be present. If someone else is talking about something important be present. If it’s important to them and they want to share it with you be present enough to listen.

Show compassion. You do not always know what else is going on. If someone is having a hard time. Give them compassion.

I learned so many other things too. But one of the the things that I have taken with me over the years was a saying Ralph had outside of his office door.

“Nothing so Strong as Gentleness, Nothing so Gentle as Real Strength.” Author unknown.

I don’t always know how to do this, in fact I think I rarely know. But I know that we have to try. For if we try, somewhere, somehow, someone is going to be the better for it and that, that will make it all worth it.

I am going to leave you today with some of the last words ever written by Ralph Smith Professor of Liturgics and Dean of the Chapel at Wartburg Seminary in 1994. For these words seem appropriate for today.

So over the last couple of weeks I broke one of my own rules. No Christmas till the day after Thanksgiving. But this is 2020 and I think really since March every rule has been thrown out so it is okay to throw this one out too.

It started harmlessly enough with giving in and starting to watch Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel. I realize that these movies have been on since October but I was holding firm to my rule that Thanksgiving gets it own time.

The week before it was really nice outside and I had put up the outside lights, while the ground was not frozen and while I wasn’t going to freeze putting stuff up. 72 degrees in November is extremely rare in Minnesota, and you have to take advantage of it when you can. But nothing was plugged in. I was not the only Minnesotan that took advantage of the rare November weather, I had heard others saying that they had been putting up lights for the season.

I even went to Menards that weekend with the intent of finding something new for my yard. Really I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted a Santa and I wanted a Snoopy. I love Snoopy. I always have and the Peanuts Christmas special has always been my favorite. Probably because Linus takes the time to explain what Christmas is all about and every year when I watch it, I tear up.

To think about a child explaining what Christmas really means just makes it perfect to me. I found the Santa, and the Snoopy and then I saw the price and thought you have to be kidding me. They wanted 59.00 for Snoopy there was no way even in my best justification skills I could justify that for a “piece of plastic” shaped into Snoopy. Santa was not any better in price and so I went home with some yard stakes.

Last weekend I was cold and tired and fighting a migraine. So I was looking for something to watch that could be “background” for me. I caved and started watching the Hallmark channel and honestly it didn’t help things it made things worse. It intensived this feeling of loneliness that comes over me from time to time that seems to have been made worse by 2020.

Loneliness is one of the hardest emotions to deal with. It is not like you can just say hey guys I am having a really hard time being by myself 24/7 especially in the middle of a pandemic. It’s not like you can call someone and say hey let’s meet for dinner or go for a walk. So you have to find other ways to combat this feeling. For me it was waving my rule about no Christmas decorations/songs before Thanksgiving.

On Friday I made my way from store to store looking for the right tree at the right price, because after all I couldn’t have a sad tree and the previous tree I had, had gone to tree heaven. After checking all the other stores I ended up back at Mendards convinced that they like every other store would have there trees on clearance already. WHOOPS! I should have known better that John Menard would have put anything on sale yet. After looking at every tree and a couple of phone calls to my brother I finally decided on a tree.

I set my tree up yesterday, and I had to call my big brother to come help me as I did not have the tree put together exactly and I could not get the tree apart to fix it so it was Big brother to the rescue. We got the tree together and working. My brother brought with him two blow ups one was a snow man and the other was a Santa. I had not told my brother or sister in law that I was looking for something to put on the deck but some how they knew.

Sometimes it is just the little things that help combat that loneliness. Maybe it was just going to the store to look at the different trees available or the couple of friends that I had a chance to talk to over the course of the week. But the loneliness, got less and I was able to say you know what it is all going to be okay.

So in this crazy year of 2020 I say it is OK to listen to Christmas music early, to enjoy the Christmas lights in fact take that extra drive this year to enjoy them. Watch your favorite specials and make your favorite foods.

Until Next Time,

Juli

That seems like an odd question this year. This year is different, it might just be you, or you and your immediate family instead of your extended family. No Aunt Grace, No Uncle Ken, Cousin Dave and the list goes on. The other side of that is there goes Aunt Grace’s Pecan pie.

As I have been talking with people these past couple of weeks, we have been talking about what are you having this year since it is just your family. I have gotten everything from the traditional turkey, ham, prime rib to tofu.

I was surprised to learned that some people never eat turkey on Thanksgiving. It seemed odd to me, but I like turkey, I am not a huge fan of ham or prime rib so I look forward to turkey every year. But there are other foods that I look forward to even more, stuffing and my mom’s orange Jell-O.

This is not traditional Jell -O in fact I think my Lutheran membership card could be taken away for my lack of like for Jell -O. But Mom made this Jell-O since I was a kid and ironically it came from a Lutheran church cookbook. This Jell-O has mandarin oranges in it and ice cream in it and is wonderful.

What makes this so wonderful is the fact that we only have it on the holidays. It is a tradition for us. Traditions are what make the holidays special. Who we spend them with, what we do, what we eat. It is what we look forward too.

So what do you look forward to this year with everything being so different? Maybe this year, is the year that you start a new tradition? Maybe try something different, play games, adopt a family in your neighborhood that you know is struggling. Celebrate the day.

Until next time,

Juli

Quick and easy

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to start your day with protein.

My favorite way to do that is a quick and easy protein shake.

All you need is protein powder. I prefer pea protein as I am dairy sensitive but use what protein powder works for you.

Frozen fruit- this can be fresh fruit that you have frozen or just from the freezer section. This is also a great way to use up bananas that have gone to far for eating.

Milk – again I use Almond milk because of dairy sensitive, another great one is Fairlife, higher in protein and lactose free.

Chia seeds- this adds fiber and a little balk to your protein shake.

So it’s 1 C fruit, 2 scoops protein powder, 2 tsp chia seeds and 1 C milk mix in a blender and you have breakfast or lunch to go.

If you are looking for a protein shake that is pre-made my recommendation is premier protein, it comes in a variety of flavors and gives you 30 grams of protein to start your day.

Juli

It’s that time of year that we all take a look at life and remember what we are grateful for. Yesterday was national day of kindness, I just wish everyday was that day. I want people to know that when I say, if you need something let me know, I mean it. I may not be the one that can do it but I have people in my life that are willing to help out.

I want to use this space this week to find out what people need, do you need prayer? do you need good thoughts? Someone to help with errands? Someone to talk to? able to help out? let me know. You can call me, text me, email me. I will do my best to help out and make this a better place for people.

This year especially, I think we should to focus on what we have, what we are grateful for, and what we can do for others.

So as we look forward to Thanksgiving. Our gatherings will be different, but people will be gathering to celebrate. As you celebrate remember those who are celebrating differently this year.

Until next time.

Juli

Today’s health tip is the one that you have heard a million times.

DRINK WATER – AVOID CAFFEINE

Simple enough words but hard to do. Your goal should be at minimum is 64 oz. a day but they are studies out there that say that number should actually be closer to 72 -81 oz. a day.

Start each day with 8 ounces of water before your coffee or tea, before breakfast get that first 8 ounces in then fill your mug and take it with you and keep drinking from it.

Also something to remember is for everyone 8 ounces of caffeine you drink you need to add 8 ounces of water into your diet. It is really best if you can eliminate caffeine from your diet altogether but if you cannot remember to add in that water.

The other great thing about keeping your water intake up with the winter being here is that it will help keep your skin moisturized.

So find your favorite cup, fill it up and get you water intake in!

Juli

I have a fear of snakes, some would say it is irrational fear of snakes, but it is a fear of snakes. I will walk out of my way when I see a street performer that has a snake wrapped around them.

I have a memories as a child of garter snakes – yes garter snakes, paralyzing me where I was at.  I remember one time seeing the snake, screaming, my dad coming and him looking at me like you screamed loud enough that you scared the snake away.

I was the kid that sat at the back of the class when the naturalist would bring snakes out for us to pet, and the naturalist would say “oh just pet it”  my response was always a firm “no.”

People might find this fear of snakes a little odd, as other creatures such as mice, spiders, even centipedes, don’t freak me out, they gross me out at times, but they do not freak me out.  The other thing that people find odd is that my favorite animal is an Alligator.  I love alligators. I think that they have cute faces, but what I really like about the alligator is you know the expectations of the alligator. Get in my space, and I will defend my space. Where a snake is like I will invade your space no matter what.

Fear is that way, it has no respect for your personal space, it will take over your life if you let it. If you start looking and listening to everything around you, fear will paralyze you.  That is what some people hope for, they are hoping that what they say or what do will make you afraid enough to change how you interact with them or how you think.

So how do you change that? How do you knock that fear down? Face it – so much easier said then done. I will tell you right now that me knocking out my fear of snakes is probably not going to happen.  The fear has de-intensified over the years, but I am still not petting one.

Facing a fear is so hard, especially when it is something might change how you live or look at your life. Maybe you are living in fear of the diagnosis that could change your life, or you are in fear of changing your job. Or making a move to a different state.  

Whatever that fear is plan, diagnosis that scares you to the core, make a plan with your doctor on how to best tackle that diagnosis. Want to change jobs or a move? Plan for how that will look, timeline included.  Bring in friends and family in on your plans, to help you when you feel like giving up, look at that plan, and remind yourself that fear is not going to win, having a hard time that is where the friends and family come in. Reach out to them, tell them that you are having doubts, give light to that fear, just like me screaming at the snake when I was little to let my dad know that I was in distress, this allows people to know that you are struggling but also gives them a chance to support you.

Fear can control you but in the end, you can control the fear.

Until next time,

Juli

Gratitude Journal

November is known for being the month of gratitude. A lot of people will take a thought for each day and say what they are grateful for.

One of the easiest things that you can do is keep a gratitude journal. It does not have to be anything fancy or it can be as fancy as you want it to be. But really a simple notebook that you record a couple of items each day that you are grateful for or that are positive for that day. The items can be as simple as heard my favorite song today or doggie kisses or kitty snuggles to I ran a my best time today.

The point being is taking a few minutes each day to reflect back on the positives of the day and if it has been one of those days were you are thinking UGH it can just be over now this can help reset your brain and remind you that there were positives throughout the day.

Juli

Today is Halloween a day for celebrating all the scary things in our lives. If you are my age you probably can related to these fabulous costumes that we had as children.

We would run the neighborhood, with our friends. We knew which neighbors gave out the best candy bars, who gave out home made treats. Yes! Home made treats! And who gave out the pencils and while you wanted to avoid that house you knew you had to stop because they would ask your parents if everything was ok. In the words of Archie Bunker those were the days.

Yes, I am feeling a little nostalgic today. For days when kids could run neighborhoods safely. For the days when neighbors meet up with neighbors at the local cafe for coffee. And we generally cared about people and could agree to disagree without costing you a friendship.

We have gotten to the point that if someone says something that we don’t like we decide that we no longer like them and no longer need them in are lives. Like every things else people have become disposable, in society today.

We need to stop seeing people as disposable. No one is. You can still disagree with a person and you should be able to discuss with them and still care about them. Because your opinions may differ is not a reason to throw a person away.

So today as we celebrate all that scares and frightens us . Take some time and frighten yourself a little and step past that comfort zone and hear some one else’s thoughts.

Until Next time,

Juli

One of the things I want to make clear is that I am not a nutritionist, or any kind of medical professional but I have work through injuries and done a weight loss journey so I want to share some of those experiences with people also.

So Winter is coming at us a little faster than we were planning, and you are thinking how am I going to keep myself going this winter for fitness?

I have a few thoughts… First there are a couple of trainers that I have worked with that do different kinds of personal training:

ZKFitness ZK-fitness.com Zoe is the owner here and will work with you on your fitness goals with your starting level whether you have a gym membership or are working out from home.

Jessica Siegel offers both Zoom training and zoom classes. For all skill levels. Jessica has worked for many years as a personal trainer and will design a program based on your needs and skills siegel.jessica@gmail.com

The best thing about working with someone like Zoe or Jess is the accountability factor and the emotional support that comes from having that extra cheerleader in your corner.

Don’t want to do training session but still like the idea of accountability. Tell a friend or a co- worker that you are going for a walk or bike ride or run after work and ask them to ask you about it the next day. You are 90% more likely to follow through with that walk or gym stop if you know someone is going to be asking about it and how it went.

Another Idea that you can try are some of the virtual races that are popping up all over a lot of them are offering a time frame in which the “race” needs to be completed it comes with all of the swag of an in person race and you can do it at your pace. A lot of these races are reaching out to walkers and runners a like saying come join us. This might be appealing to some as they are themed and some of the entry fee goes to different charities.

These are just some ideas for you to start your own fitness journey out with.

Juli