Hello world! Boy, do I feel like sharing today. Could be one of those posts that you need to sit and read somewhere quiet, like under a tree, in your car or perhaps the bathroom.  Your choice of course. 🙂

This past week I have been waking up in the early hours anywhere between 3-5am.  While it becomes a struggle at the end of my daily shift, I have been taking the opportunity of the quite peaceful mornings to work on the website and I must say, I’m getting pretty excited! But before I go there I’d like to get personal, mainly because I think it’s funny.

This past month I celebrated my 40th birthday. While I have heard that body functions just start slipping, the main one I have been dealing with is my weight.  To be honest, it’s not that bad. However, I am aware of life patterns and the path I am currently headed down leads into the den of sloths.  I have stopped moving and I am reminded of it…every time I visit Publix!  (which is a lot!)

Me and the kiddos have a ritual…we cruise over to the scale to all weigh ourselves. I get upset because every time it’s my turn one of them is somewhere stepping on the scale to make me heavier!! But after each of our turns I always say, “Wow, your brain is getting bigger!” Well my brain is big enough…

So to make a drastic change, I spontaneously decided to go for a run after sending my little off to school.  Unless I have an appointment, this has to be my new daily routine.  There were a few things that helped me easily make this decision. One was the advice from my dear friend Lisa…who by the way looks ridiculously awesome these days! (She also happens to give surf lessons and is steps away from being a practicing acupuncturist.) She told me that her great results were from shorter periods of exercise with quick bursts of hard reps (or a faster pace.) So I set my timer for 15 minutes and ran slower/faster until my timer beeped.  Then I caught my breath, adjusted all my stufff, turned around to repeat and headed home.  The cool part about setting my timer is that I know I can work 30 minutes of being healthier into my day.  I also made a point to smile and say “good morning” to everyone I passed.
It felt pretty good…kind of.
Actually I felt like dying once I could see my house, but I know it will start to get easier.  

So that’s the beginning. Don’t worry, I’ll update you on my progress. But that isn’t all.  The other part of this equation is the delicious food that I love putting into my pudgy body.  I have resigned to trying my best and constantly asking my ‘self ‘ if I can make a better choice. Yesterday my ‘self’ said to be quiet as we were featuring a Portobello Panini with roasted red peppers, mozzarella, spinach and basil pesto sauce at the restaurant. I did not even argue…but I did share! 🙂

Check out our daily specials at The Island Grille…it’s all so good!

Fortunately I am inspired to eat better from a friend who has made her life passion into a business: Inspirations for Wellness.
MaryAnn is a certified holistic health coach and has online food refresh programs to help get you on track. (I have not done one of her programs yet, but do have friends that have and they felt great!) However, I do follow her on Instagram and she makes her healthy meals look fabulous!

And if that won’t do it…well my buddy Jimmy has been offering free intro classes into his new super duper exercise program right here in town! FITI Training: Functional Integrated Techniques with Intensity. Fitness with natural movements that mimic the everyday challenges that life throws at you. He is operating out of J and J Fitness 326 Moody Blvd, Flagler Beach, FL 32136. Mention Flagler Surf and maybe he will give me a free session :)))

Okay, I’ve covered the body, now on to my mind.  Like I stated earlier…I’ve been seeing parts of the morning I usually try to avoid,  so I have been turning those quiet sleepless moments into something positive.  It really is the best time to mess with the website as there are not too many folks using it and I have managed a couple tasks that seemed to take hours to figure out.  One is the webcam donation button. Yes- I put a donation button on the site! I figure that I am offering a pretty cool service, it costs me money so why not- right? It’s the American way and I need a new roof, a dishwasher and to fix my stairs that are about to fall down. But anyway… the exciting part is the store! I have been so hesitant to sell things online for a variety of really stupid reasons.  I also didn’t feel like taking the time to figure out how to work the plugin but that is behind me now.  I’m sure I will trip and fall many times before it works smoothly, but it’s there and seems to be fairly easy to navigate. YEAH ME! 🙂 So here is the link—Flagler Surf Shop and a couple of the new items I will be selling.

The other fun part of this means that I am getting closer to opening my store back up!!!! Yeah!!! I have an appointment with Score next week to help me figure out a good, solid business plan. Afterwards I will need advice on the best way to set it up financially (this is the part that I really suck at!) And then…I should be in business- Literally! Here is a link to my Pinterest Board of what I have created in the last couple years and hope to fill my space with.

Okay..this is a long post.

But I still have to cover spirit and lately I have been digging Tony Robbins. He is pretty awesome. The End.

Oh and this is a text between me and a friend this am 🙂
I’m feeling it!

Peace and Love- Carla