I haven’t been on a chair lift since 1993 -- my senior year in high school! I used to be an avid skiier but took a pretty nasty fall that year that messed up my right knee pretty bad and left a nasty taste in my mouth when it came to skiing. It was pretty sad to give something up that had been such a huge part of my life since I was like in 1st or 2nd grade! But I was petrified of skiis and vowed I’d never step foot on another ski hill especially on skiis! And I never ever did until back in Oct/Nov when we did this fall color tour thing.

I was really nervous about the chair lift ride and on the way up I couldn’t even let my grip on the safety bar (man how chair lifts have come along way since I skiied -- there never used to be safety bars on them!) go. By the time we reached the top of the hill my knuckles were white from the death grip I had on that bar! But by the time we hopped back on to head downhill I was able to move around (well as much as you can move around on those things, they aren’t that big to really move around on lol) and snap pictures and even take a quick little video (below if you’d like to watch it).

So back to the picture. This was taken at the top of the ski hill looking down on Boyne Mountain. The picture really doesn’t do justice for what it was like being up there in person. It was so cool! Caleb was so not thrilled with all the pictures I kept taking that day (as if you can’t tell by that look on his face! lol) but I can’t help it I love pics and some day when he’s older I want memories of the things we used to -- no matter how lame they were. lol

So back to this whole change thing. I set goals for myself back in January and I’m well on my way towards meeting a few of those and it’s a great feeling! I conquered my whole being weirded out over people touching my feet and had my very first pedicure a few weeks ago for my birthday thanks to an awesome friend – Kelly McCausey.  I actually fell in love with having a pedicure and definitely see them in my future! I’m 30 pounds into my weight loss journey – I set a goal to lose 75 lbs in 2010 so I’ve only got 45 more to go to accomplish that (yeah me!).

But the biggest changes I’m making are on more of a deeper level than the ‘physical’ things. I think back over the last couple years, even just the past year, and I’m amazed at how far I’ve come. And I’m coming even farther. I finally feel like I’m starting to find my way in this big ole crazy thing called life! Finally….it’s only taken me until I turned 35 but hey better late than never right?

Back in January when I said that 2010 was going to be an amazing year I meant it! And as I continue to find my way in this crazy world the year’s going to continue getting better and better!

Tishia

Product Description:

Do It or Age Quickly 60-second practices to live better, stronger and longer by by JB Berns is 214 pages (including the index) full of 21 interesting anti-aging techniques as well as stress and fear-reducing methods, herbal tea that energizes and bolsters your immune system and more.

Buyer Description:

This book is definitely not for everyone. If you’re a Christian you will find yourself biting your tongue, shaking your head and skipping over some of the practices that Bearns shares. If you’re not willing to take the time to put into the exercises/practices that he mentions in the book it isn’t for you.

So who is the book for?

Anyone that doesn’t get offended by reading something that was created from many different influences (philosophies, etc) especially Taoism and they are looking for anti-aging techniques that are simple and quick and you have a little time to set aside each day to implement what is being taught.

The Negatives:

Chapter 13 found on page 119 talks about three animal exercises that in the Taoist tradition are called the Crane, Turtle and Deer exercises. The deer exercises are a little ‘descriptive’ and require a lot of touching your body in intimate places (for both the male and female).

While I didn’t like the whole premise of what chapter 13 (and 14 too) was based on (Taoism) and what the deer exercises ask you to do I was intrigued when I came across this (found on page 130)

“In the Taoist tradition, uterine blood is meant specifically to nourish a developing fetus in the womb and afterward to support breastfeeding. If a woman is not pregnant or breastfeeding, menstrual blood represents a depletion of energy and vitality.”

I totally agree that it’s a depletion of energy but I do not agree one bit with the whole Taoism way of thinking. If there wasn’t a reason behind woman having menstrual periods then God would have not created our bodies to have them on a regular basis!

The other thing I found interesting in this section was that doing these deer exercises on a daily routine is supposed to eventually stop teh menstrual flow. Not too sure I agree with that or not but I’m certainly not about to give these deer exercises a try to find out either. (I’d really love to find someone who has purchased this book and tried these deer excises to find out what their results were).

The Positives:

There were several other sections of the book that I chose to ignore and skip over but there were also several areas I found to be useful with practices that I can put into action and have started implementing. For example chapter 15 (page 147) is all about stretching. I’ve suffered from back problems since I was in a car accident several years ago. I just started the stretching practices taught and I was surprised to notice that after just one morning my back felt a lot looser. I seem to have a wider range of movement with less pain today also.

Chapter 16 is all about rebounding which is right up my alley at this moment in time as I recently purchased a TKO 38-Inch Mini Trampoline from an Estate sale this past summer but have been a bit bored with it because I wasn’t entirely sure how to exercise with it other than get on and jump. Bearns described the benefits of rebounding and went over the basic stance and basic bounce. I had no clue there was an ‘art’ to rebounding but I’m looking forward to doing it more frequently now that Bearns broke it down and explained it in Do It Or Age Quickly.

Closing Thoughts:

As I already mentioned there were several areas of the book I found useful with things I can do and have started implementing but there were more areas of this book I skipped over and wasn’t interested in. It’s not a book I would have picked up on my own. I honestly can’t give a thumbs up or thumbs down because there were things I liked and things I didn’t.

If you are interested then please do pick up your copy of Do It or Age Quickly by JB Berns. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you purchase it!

(Note: I was given a copy of this book to review for free. I was not paid to provide this review)

So, I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket (it’s always so much easier to spend money that isn’t your own isn’t it? LOL) and figured I’d take her up on her special offer and scheduled my appointment for this week.

While the entire 60 minutes wasn’t a complete fail, this masseuse – massage therapist, whatever she is – isn’t getting any rave reviews from me. Actually my experience started bad before the massage even started.

The Bathroom

I arrived a bit before my appointment and went into the bathroom. EEEEK talk about disgusting! (Sorry to be so blunt here folks but I have to paint the picture for you and there’s no ‘nice’ way to put this).

I have a habit of looking at the toilet seat of any public restroom and what caught my eye wasn’t exactly pleasant. There was hair…pubic hair…all over the toilet seat. I’m not talking like 1 or 2 hairs here I’m talking LOTS of them.

The Massage

You probably know the drill – undress to what you feel comfortable in, crawl up on the table, cover up and (I had to giggle at this) ring the bell so she knows it’s ok to come in (I guess it makes sense I mean how else would she have known I was ready for her to come in?).

The table was uncomfortable – I’m sure there really isn’t any way around that. The room was chilly. The sheets felt a little bit warm but not enough to take the chill away that I felt.

She started at my head/forehead/temple, etc and the smell on her hands was so disgustingly strong I wanted to gag. I couldn’t tell if it was cigarette smoke or what but it was something unpleasant (even through the lotion I could still smell ‘it’ whatever ‘it’ was) and I was wondering how soon before she removed her hands from my face/head area.

I won’t go into all the details of the 60 minutes but there were times that she massaged so hard it hurt. Other times so light it felt ticklish. I now have a sore back (let me just say that I’ve always had back issues so I can’t blame this just on her or the table!) because a couple times she massaged & pushed down so hard it just hurt my back and a ‘bad taste in my mouth about massages’.

So was there any positive to my massage experience?

Yes. I told her that my neck and shoulders were super sore and I suffer from a lot of pain in them. She seemed to pay special attention to those areas and my neck & shoulders do feel 100% better. And of course another positive is the fact it was only $25 for 60 minutes!

I didn’t walk out from that massage feeling rejuvenated, refreshed, relaxed, soothed, etc. I walked out feeling glad it was over and my mind made up that I’ll never ever have another massage. Ever.

How about you – what’s your experience with a massage? Good? Bad? Please do tell! Inquiring minds want to know