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Yesterday my dad would have turned 71. He has been gone 10 years meaning he was only 60 years old when cancer took him from us. It is hard to believe he’s been gone that long. We miss him every day and wish he was here to spend time with us and his grandchildren. He would have such a blast watching them play softball and baseball.

my dad at christmasMy dad fought lung cancer for 9 years. Again, it’s hard to believe that he was only 51 years old when his battle began. I was in my twenties when it started. He wasn’t old but it seemed he had lived a lot of life. Now that I am four years away from being 50 I realize how young he was and how much of life there was still to live.

I have said it before but the lesson learned from him passing away so young was that I promised myself I would live life to the fullest. I was going to be a Yes Girl! I was going to be responsible with my money but also spend what was needed to travel and see the world as much as I could. I was going to enjoy myself and be as happy as possible. Back in my twenties and thirties, I was probably also a little more daring about how risky I was going to live this life! Oh, how times have changed.

Now in my forties, I have much more freedom from a work schedule to live life to the fullest, but my mind and fear also get in the way of doing things that 10 years ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about doing. I also met my Rock who enjoys life as much as I do. Sometimes I think we have too much fun but I think that’s better than not enjoying life at all.

So today I just wanted to give a shout-out to my dad up there in Heaven. I hope you all celebrated with a nice big campfire. I hope you had a shot and beer. And I hope you keep looking down on all of us and know we are living our lives to the fullest because of you. Love and miss you, Dad.

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

I know it’s been a while since I did a post from our Friday Fixins, but we have been cleaning up our Fort Myers house and our neighborhood for the past two weeks due to Hurricane Ian. Therefore, today’s post is a delicious recipe. Even as we clean up, we try to stick to our nutrition plan. Tonight, we had wild salmon from Costco, roasted broccoli, and zucchini noodles with butter and parmesan cheese. We washed it down with one of our wedding wines, Amici. Tasty!

salmon with wine

We preheat our oven to 400 degrees. We use cookie sheets for both the fish and veggies. We line the baking sheets with aluminum foil and parchment paper for easier cleanup. We use olive oil or avocado oil spray and Nature’s Seasons on everything!

Once the sheets are lined, we wash the broccoli and chop it up into a bowl. We spray with oil and season. We mix it up, spray it again and season it again. Do this a few times until you find the flavor you like. Then spread it on a lined baking sheet and put it in the oven. Set timer for 15 minutes.

Next, wash the fish. We use a paper towel to dry. Then put it on a baking sheet. Spray the top and season with a little bit of butter, a couple of pinches of garlic, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese if you like.

When the timer goes off, stir up the broccoli and put the fish in the oven. Set timer for 15 minutes.

When there are about 7 minutes left on the time, microwave your frozen zucchini noodles in the bag. Once done, drain and season with salt and pepper. We added a bit of butter and parmesan cheese to ours.

Once the final timer goes off, scrape off the bottom skin of the salmon if you prefer. Pile up your veggies high and eat up!! Enjoy!

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

My therapist said to me once that you can communicate your feelings to someone but if their listening window isn’t open they aren’t going to hear you. Communication is the first step but making sure they understand your needs is the second.

I used to think communication was key until I realized comprehension is. You can communicate all you want to someone but if they don’t understand you, it won’t reach them the way you need it to.

~ unknown

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

 

It’s hard not to have hurt feelings when someone doesn’t like you or someone has done hurtful things to you. But keep your head high and know that you don’t need hurtful people in your life. Get rid of the toxic relationships and cherish those that love you and lift you up.

Don’t worry about the people who hurt or hate you, worry about the people who love you, because that’s where your happiness is.

www.yourpositiveoasis.com

Photo by D Jonez on Unsplash

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

Do you ever wonder why some people seem to thrive on drama? They want to be in the middle of it ALL THE TIME! Why? Drama, according to the Urban Dictionary means “creating unnecessary stress about unimportant things. Making a mountain of a mole hill to get attention.” So why do people do this?

It seems people create unnecessary drama to make their lives more exciting. People feel lonely, and they want to be involved, even when it’s none of their business. They feel they can share their experiences even if they have never experienced the situation before. They want to give their advice or have people feel sorry for them when things don’t quite go their way. I feel this quote sums it up pretty well.

It seems that people who love and create drama are never quite happy with things around them. And even when there are reasons to be happy, they sabotage and self-sabotage until the relationship, the workplace, the circumstance looks like the preferred environment of chaos they have in their head.

The biggest problem with drama kings and queens is they want to pull everyone, including you into their drama. They need others involved to feel the excitement. It’s like a drug. They need the rush. They also don’t want others to be happy. They want it to be about them. They have no interest in appreciating others or what they are going through.

So what can you do when you have friends or family members who LOVE drama? The first rule of advice is to stay calm. And at first, that family member may resent you. They may say you don’t care because you aren’t getting involved. But for your own physical and mental health, it’s better to be criticized and stay out of the situation. Eventually, they will not involve you in the drama anymore. Here are 8 Strategies to Avoid Other People’s Drama by Sharon Martin.

  1. Accept that you cannot change that person. Remember the book called “Compete Every Day” by Jake Thompson. “We have control of only three things in life: our effort, our attitude, and our emotions.” Not others.
  2. Anticipate difficult situations. If you know you are going to be around someone who is dramatic then prepare for your responses.
  3. Stay calm. Don’t react to the situation and don’t get involved.
  4. Remove yourself from the situation. If they get upset that you won’t react then go home.
  5. Don’t make it about you. The drama they create has nothing to do with you.
  6. Stay in your own lane. Worry about the things you can control.
  7. Maintain clear boundaries. You only need to be involved in the situations you want to be involved in.
  8. Get support. Talk to others and make sure you have support.

Although it is difficult to remain drama-free, there are steps you can take to minimize the drama in your life. Stay positive. Everyone is on a different journey. Embrace your journey and if you don’t like the path you are on, then change it. Isn’t it easier to support each other than to tear each other down?

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

 

Grief although lessens with time it never truly goes away. You just have to learn to continue to live. And live life to the fullest because you never know when the gift of life will be taken away.

Grief is like glitter. You can throw a handful of glitter into the air, but when you try to clean it up, you’ll never get it all. Even long after the event, you will still find glitter tucked into corners, it will always be there – somewhere.

~ unknown

Photo by Ann on Unsplash

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy