Grow Through It

June 11, 2026June 11, 2026 ~ urbanoutdoorgirl ~ Leave a comment

This year has been a doozy so far. How are you? I have been experiencing a lot of growing, and while growing is by theory wonderful it requires a lot of energy and faith. And if you know me, I am a worrier for sure. I am excited to update on all the things that have occured so far this year, and do a massive photo dump. I’m sure I won’t cover everything but I’m excited to share. Lets start with the winter, though summer is knocking on the door.

I played tennis all winter, except in the snow, which was honestly brutal but the irony is, now I have to get reacclimatized to the heat outside. Has that ever happened to you? I also was forced into doing indoor kickball which was a ton of fun but man some sleep would’ve been great. The not so fun part? The drive!! Do not ask me how far I had to drive.. that is honestly a thing I am going to try to reduce this summer because driving for me is tiring, and at night all bets are off. I have no idea how I make it anywhere and back. seriously.

Next, I have now started a new hobby that I honestly love, and that is bird watching. Yes, you read that correctly, Bird Watching!! It is so fun and peaceful and I have met some lovely friendly people including a wonderful guide who I am excited to partner up with this year. The local park we visited felt like we were somewhere else with the early morning dew. I look forward to going back there and doing a nice walk.

The next sport I have added into my weekly reps is swimming. Which has been great. I have really enjoyed getting laps in at the pool and now I am wondering if I should have auditioned for the Olympics. Joking! Or am I? Can I also say RIP to my hair. I know for a lot of people swimming is hindered due to hair but don’t let it be. Get a good cap and get to swimming. I do feel sad for the baddie in me that wants to have straight hair more often but alas, that is not possible.

Lastly I just finished spring kickball and spring tennis knocked on the door. I have been enjoying daily walks, and just soaking up the weather. With all of this activity I have run into a hiccup along the way. I have had some knee issues that have escalated and am currently in PT. I won’t elaborate here but I am excited to begin the healing journey.

I also did my first solo hike for my birthday, accidentally. Will totally prefer not to do that again, especially when its getting dark, and its raining. For me I don’t feel totally safe, for personal reasons, but it was an adventure that will get it’s own blog post. And overall Im glad I did it (I did not intend to hike alone, and did not dress or prepare for hiking), but I was safe in the end and made a wonderful memory.

Lastly, I cannot wait to share my veggie garden and plants. My plants have currently freaked me out because they decided they wanted act weird all of a sudden. I panicked due to leaves yellowing on my fiddle. So I am doing some testing now, and an array of other things. I hope to start giving my plants rain water again. They were so spoiled and then they switched to tap (boooo). If you have any suggestions on collecting rain water please let me know!!! I feel like my plants really loved it. I am sure they are screaming at me. I cannot collect from my type of gutter, so how do you get rain water? Please let me know. My plants are so big now and require A LOT. I added 2 new plants to the line up by the way, don’t ask me why, or how, or if I have space.

Pretty though right?

I will stop here. Let me know what your plans are this summer! I look forward to sharing more tips, my experiences, outdoor adventures, and health and wellness with an emphasis on children, and senior friendly posts.

I also have a batch of lip balms in the making and some nice body scrubs that I have made in the past. Next post is on being more aggressive!!!

If you have anything you want to see or tips on anything specifically let me know. I am excited to share and grow with you as we grow through it!

cute heart on the softball field. ttyl

Are Obstacles Permanent?

March 16, 2014 ~ urbanoutdoorgirl ~ 1 Comment

This message hit me loud and clear last night when I was reading over a quote I wrote down from the great brother Dick Gregory’s discussion. A midst tons of other jewels, he stated, “You can go to the tallest mountain and laugh because it’s as big as it’ll ever be.. you grow everyday.” I just thought this was so amazing bc it’s true. What was the message I got last night?

Obstacles are not permanent fixtures.

So simple, yet for me, so profound.

Look back at the last obstacle you had.. Many times we feel like our obstacles, mountains, problems, will never end. We treat them as such. Like they’re rooted in concrete and shall not pass. Whether its in a relationship, friendship, self-imposed blocks, whatever bump is in the road, just know its NOT permanent… so stop giving your power to fleeting issues. If we become malleable, we can withstand anything. Like water, we must flow, bend, curve, and turn, with the current.. in turn, we will soon come to learn that every lesson is a blessing. Every. single. one. Thats even hard for me to say… Every lesson you ask? That friend that screwed you over? The jerk? Money issues? The impossible to work with boss? Yes. Its a lesson, just for you. To make you grow. Give thanks for it, learn from it, and either move on, or dont allow it to control you. Anyway… I could go on and on, but i’ll stop here. Always remember…

Obstacles are not permanent fixtures!!

sn: I am totally a work in progress… and I have sooooooo many obstacles that I never discuss that im sure ppl would never believe but I have faith that there is more to this thing called life and we came here to enjoy, learn, and explore. Because of this, my “obstacles” dont consume me (sometimes… haha)

Id love to hear your personal experience of an obstacle that you overcame. Did it seem like it would never end? What did you learn?

With Abundance Comes a lot of S(tuff)!!

December 17, 2013December 18, 2013 ~ urbanoutdoorgirl ~ Leave a comment

Im looking forward to writing more posts soon.. Very soon. As in starting tomorrow haha. I look forward to posting everyday at least until my birthday on January 9. A lot of exciting eco, outdoor, health, vegan, and holistic posts coming your way 😀 . Today Ill leave you with a personal story entitled “With Abundance Comes a lot of S&%^” and ill try to make this quick..

There’s a tree in my front yard that every winter once the leaves fall off it has thousands of berries that the birds love to eat. I mean tons. Well, the other day I watched as what appeared to be over 100 birds fly in the tree at once to eat and then repeat the process for 10 minutes leaving and coming back. I couldn’t help but be grateful for such abundance in my yard, I mean look at all those birds the tree was feeding. How abundant I thought. Without a thought, an hour later I prepared to leave my house to run errands, and to my surprise, guess what gift the birds left me on my car?? Yep. You got it. S*&^! Or for more common terminology, poop. Now this isn’t your ordinary bird poop. This is red berry bird poop, and when I say it was everywhere on my car, there were over 50 hits of target practice including on all my windows, handles, just everywhere, sigh. I was actually embarrassed. So embarrassed that for the first time in like 7 years I took my car to the car wash ( I usually get someone to wash it by hand).. and I thought to myself, why did it take such a circumstance for me to give my car 5 star service. Sometimes we won’t be rocked to greatness until life throws some stuff our way 😉 . The key is, don’t let it get to that point. But also, be clear, sometimes it’s unavoidable and perhaps,

The More the Abundance, The More S(tuff) You Should be Prepared to Handle… sometimes it just comes with the territory. Happy Holidays!!!

If you have any cool holiday stories please share. Hopefully they aren’t as gross as mine. lol