January Thaw, NOW BRING ON THE SNOW STORMS!

Well, January in Michigan was NOTHING like a Michigan January should be. I think at least half of the month was 30+ degrees! SO NOT NORMAL. A little thaw was nice, but bring on the snowstorms!

While in New Zealand Kwin and I were so excited to getting home (to the 2 1/2 feet of snow) so we could do all the winter activities! That first week of being home we managed to Fat Bike at the Single Track VASA trail almost everyday! We were kicking ass with our 1 mile a day biking! 

Kanyon also got some new glasses to protect her eyes during our activities! 

We were also able to cross country ski a ton; It’s my favorite when there is a lot of snow on the ground! Trails are a little slower…which is definitely my preference 🙂

Would you just look at how beautiful these sunsets are! We were defiantly spoiled these past couple weeks! Sunset paddle boarding and hiking, a must do on nights like these.

It just doesn’t feel like winter without snow…but one good thing that came out of the most recent warm episode was POND SKATING!

The combination of:

Rain+Wind+Below Freezing Temperatures at night= Perfectly Smooth Ponds!

Something exciting that happened this January:

Stand Up For Great Lakes ‘Crossing Lake Huron’ documentary (by Corey Adkins) was the feature film in the Thunder Bay International Film Festival! It was so awesome watching the documentary and getting all the emotional feelings from the crossing again! Not only that…but seeing Kwin, and all the other team members get a standing ovation for their tremendous efforts brought a couple tears to the eyes again.

If you’ve never been to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary museum in Alpena,MI it’s definitely somewhere to check out! Learning about the history of “Shipwreck Ally” in Lake Huron is awesome!

January- Goals Check In

Kwin and I love being active and preach living a happy and healthy life! This includes setting goals and challenging yourself  to be a better person everyday!

This month, my challenge was:

• NO MEAT: To some people this would be extremely challenging, and to others it would be extremely easy! Growing up I ate meat at almost every meal, but after much research I’ve slowly started to cut back. I don’t think I will ever completely get rid of meat (because I believe everything in moderation)…but I wanted to see how I could do. Honestly, it was easy and I really enjoyed it! It challenged me to get creative with other foods: Tempeh, Lentils, Quiona, etc.

Goals for the 2018 year:

• Reading everyday before bed: I did OKAY on this…definitely something I need to continue getting better at! I still tend to browse through my phone and social media a little too much. So February to be more successful at this I will plug my phone in somewhere else NOT NEXT TO MY BED!
• Yoga 3x per week: Man, this was definitely a great goal to set! Yoga has helped me physically and mentally in SO MANY WAYS.
• Being more Green: This is A LOT harder than expected! Especially being that it’s the middle of winter, and it gets dark so early (which means lights on in the house more.) I love my new reusable produce bags [I got theses] that I’ve been using at the grocery store, and switched over to reusable laundry lint balls too [Got mine form Woolzies]! Making small steps, but better than nothing. This month I want to get better at unplugging outlets that I am not using!
• Blogging more: Still struggling with this one. I feel like what I want to blog about would not be very relevant to people…but I need to get past my fear and JUST DO IT!
• Biking: Kwin and I have a goal of getting better at biking this year, so we have either been fat biking outside…or using the new Bike trainer in the basement. Getting 1 mile a day has been pretty easy (with a .5mile penalty for every day missed). I’m really hoping that all this biking helps (M22…inspiration point…you are my motivation!)

My monthly goal for February is to cook 1-2 NEW MEALS every week! I tend to get into a slump at times…especially with cooking! Thank goodness for Pinterest though, I’ve already got a lot of new recipes on the list! If any of you have must try recipes though I would love to hear them!

Puppy snuggles are the absolute best! Thankful that my mother-in-law (Chocklabs.com) breeds the cutest pups ever!

I hope that everyone’s 2018 started off great and January was a success! Now, lets make February a huge hit too!

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Sunny and 23 degrees..Winter is here!

Is anyone else as excited as I am for snow finally? 

As a child, I really did not like the winter months. I lived in the city, and there are only so many times you can go sledding down the same hill, build a snowman and have a snowball fight with your neighbors before it gets kinda old. Winter in the Detroit area is cold…and I mean cold…but is lacking one major part of winter, SNOW! Don’t get me wrong, they do get some snow…but nothing like Lake effect snow up here. Lastly, but being cold cold is almost painful to me ( I have the lovely disease Raynaud’s!)

With all that being said, now at the age of 23 I absolutely love winter! After moving to northern Michigan three years ago Kwin really exposed to the beauty and all the fun things you can do during this time of year.

Snowshoeing– Kwin and I absolutely love snowshoeing. Whether it be in the back woods behind out house, on a wine tour with friends, or just leisurely at a state park we love it.

      

Fat Tire Biking– This one Kwin got me into last winter. Due to my lack of confidence in biking, and extreme fear of losing control…biking in the winter is defiantly a challenge for me. However, I do really enjoy it! Being out in nature, riding through the snow-covered words is pretty amazing.

Cross Country Skiing– This my friends is a heck of a workout! Since running is pretty tough to do on the wintery, snow covered roads you should give this sport a try! It’s tough, and does take some practice (like Fat Tire Biking, I hate losing control of things) but is super fun.

Downhill Skiing– Growing up I can count on one hand the times I went skiing. I always wanted to learn, but never got the opportunity.  Like most the sports I listed above, I am defiantly still learning and gaining confidence with this sport too, but it’s fun and something to do with a group of friends on a winter day!

Sauna Ice Bath– The combination of heat from the sauna, and cold from the ice bath has some incredible health benefits! Improving circulation, healing injured/damaged tissue, and increasing hormone levels to fight against depression are only a few! There really isn’t a way to describe how amazing a sauna/ice bath session is on a cold winter day feels.

Let me just add, I would like to thank Kwin for have such patience with me regarding any winter sport!

As I mentioned about, I have the lovely disease Raynaud’s..which to those who don’t know is a circulation disease. Basically, whenever I am cold (yes, this can even be walking down the freezer section at Meijer) all the circulation to my hands and feet stop,leaving them white or purple in color! Not only this, but they HURT and feel like I’m being stabbed constantly. So as you all can imagine, I hate being cold and try to avoid it as much as possible! Knowing this and how much I love doing outside activities, Kwin found me some heated gloves- and let me tell you THEY’RE AN ABSOLUTE LIFESAVER!

Check them out HERE : Outdoor Research Stormtrack Heated Gloves!

Winter is just beginning, and I could not be anymore excited! Let all the fun activities begin.

I hope you all enjoyed this blog and as always, get outside and enjoy this beautiful world we live in!