One of the keys to ensuring that this process is successful is to actually select your 3 tasks the night prior, ensuring that you start the next day focused and ready to tackle your tasks. When selecting your tasks, think about your goals - both personal and professional. Pick at least one task every day that is going to propel you toward one of those goals.

The next most important aspect of this process is to get all 3 tasks completed as early as possible in your day. Not only will you be ensuring that you are crossing items off of your to-do list, but you will also be ensuring a smoother day for yourself. And if something unexpected comes up, your tasks are already done. No more scrambling.

Image source: http://ohiowaterconsultants.com/glass_of_water.jpg

Most of us don’t drink enough water but what a lot of people don’t know is that being dehydrated can actually slow weight loss and cause a decrease in essential organs’ ability to function properly. Some people don’t enjoy drinking water. Some people say that they don’t like that it makes them visit the bathroom so often However, the reasons to drink more water most certainly outweigh any excuses that these people can come up with.

• There has been some evidence that drinking cold water actually helps to increase your metabolism. This is because your body must work to heat the water to a temperature that it is able to metabolize.
• Being hydrated can help to maintain proper kidney function - allowing the liver to burn fat more efficiently.
• Being fully hydrated helps to increase your energy levels.
• Replacing sugary drinks such as sodas and juice with water means that you are also replacing all of those calories with zero calories! That means that by replacing just one 110-calorie soda with water per day for a month would equal 3,300 calories. Thats almost a pound just for replacing one sugary drink with water a day. If you consume 3 sodas per day, that would equal 2.83 lbs. per month - with such a simple switch!
• People who are fully hydrated tend to eat less because the extra water helps to create a satisfied feeling.
• When you aren’t fully hydrated, your body starts to store what little water it gets - everywhere! This causes bloating and excess weight that you would not otherwise hold onto.

How much water should you drink? Most people do well with 8 glasses of water a day (2 quarts). This sounds like a lot at first, but as your body adjusts you will find that you are able to drink more with less frequent bathroom breaks. Drink the water throughout the day and not all at once. Drinking it all at once will not give your body enough of a chance to fully process the water.

Here are some helpful tips for getting the water that you need:

• For a special treat, add a slice of lemon, lime, apple, or cucumber to your water.
• If you prefer cool water to warm (or are simply trying to burn a few more calories), keep bottles of water in your refridgerator so that you always have cool water at hand.
• Some people also find that drinking their water from a special glass (such as a goblet) helps to ensure that they get enough water throughout the day.
• Before consuming a meal or snack, drink a glass of water. This will help you to feel fuller faster.
• Can’t stand drinking plain water? Try herbal tea. Iced is even better!

Keep in mind that when you first begin to consume more water, you will also naturally begin to visit the restroom more often. This inconvenience is actually quite temporary and will eventually start to decline as your body becomes accustomed to being fully hydrated. Until then, plan ahead for frequent restroom visits.

Within moments, a feeling of peace and love washed over me as I remembered how after several years of trying to conceive a child and failed attempts with fertility drugs, my husband and I had given up hope…and I had suddenly gotten pregnant.  I was taken back to that morning when I stared at the pregnancy test in absolute disbelief.  I remembered jumping for joy and hugging my husband in the kitchen as I gave him the good news.  Best of all, I remembered the doctor placing Little Man in my arms the day that he was born.  Pure joy and love.

When I think about the miracle that he is, I can’t stay frustrated for long.  And in the time that it had taken me to think of these precious memories, Little Man settled down on his own.  Within minutes the sounds of soft sweet little boy snores were coming from the baby monitor.  By focusing on happy memories, I temporarily lost focus of the frustration that I was experiencing…and in the meantime, the frustration melted away.

So after reviewing the percentages of the herbs listed on the box, I set out to find a way to recreate this tea myself. The four main detoxifying herbs in this tea are dandelion, burdock, spearmint, and peppermint. I have spearmint growing in my herb garden currently, so that was an easy find - the others I had to shop a little bit online but found The Herb Corner (www.theherbcorner.com) — then I found out that The Herb Corner also offers their herbs through ebay. So, for $8.38 (including the $5 shipping) I purchased 1 ounce each of burdock, dandelion, and peppermint. Plus, when the package arrived, I found that the wonderful sellers at The Herb Corner had tossed in an extra ounce of peppermint for free!

So after mixing all of the herbs together, I now have 4 ounces of loose tea (which is yummy and appears to be just as effective) for around 1/2 the price of the Dr. Stuart’s detox tea.

Here are a few pictures from the last week.

Hot tubbing it….

**BTW — for those of you freaking out on me for putting my baby in the hot tub, we turned the temperature wayyy down so it was more like a pool at this point**

Thats my niece in the baby float and little man is there…and…a less than flattering view of my backside

Little man showing off a flower he picked.  His boo boo is healing…

And…checking out some turtles

I turned around for just a second to get the mail out of our mailbox and all of the sudden heard him fall and start to cry. I assumed that it was just a scraped knee but instead found his head and nose gushing blood and his mouth full of blood. He had fallen directly on one of the ear pieces from his sunglasses and it had gone right into his forehead — then he busted his nose. I didn’t know it at the time, but apparently head wounds bleed like crazy — but since I didn’t know this and I was completely freaked out that he was going to bleed to death, I put him back in the car immediately and drove him to the nearest fire station. By the time we got there both of us were covered in blood - my entire arm was drenched and shirt, pants, and shoes were covered.

After pounding on the fire station door, they carried him in and got him cleaned up and then called the ambulance. It turned out that the blood in his mouth was from his nose. Thankfully, the EMTs said that he would be fine but that he might need some stitches. The ER however felt that a butterfly band-aid would be better since the stitches would probably freak him out.

We stopped by Walgreens to pick up some extra band-aids and the employees there were SO nice. (Remember we were still covered with blood) They got him a candy bar and they even went to the back and got him two helium balloons to cheer him up. Between getting to see the fire truck, the balloons, and the pizza that I picked up he was feeling fine by the time we got home.

My husband asked Little Man to tell me “Happy Mother’s Day”. In response, Little Man began to belt out a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday to you”

I love this age!

No added sugar, no added fat. Yum.