JoLynn at The Fit Shack tagged me with a "4 Things"- themed meme, and some of the questions really made my brain work. I hope I won't be graded on this. I need a nap now.

4 Jobs I've Had

1. Library - shelving books (I could often be found reading the books when I should have been shelving them.)
2. Grocery store - produce department (Wash your produce before eating - dirt, bugs, filthy hands all touch the fruits and veggies.)
3. Dermatologist's office (Wear sunscreen!)
4. Hospital, Labor and delivery - Need I say more?

All were great experiences, and I learned from each.
What are 4 ways you know you are living your life's purpose?

1. I feel at peace
2. I feel inspired/energetic/productive
3. I am met with few obstacles; doors just open; results happen
4. I "just know" - call it intuition/that inner voice/conscious

What are 4 things you do to take really good care of yourself?

1. I try to exercise and eat healthy on a regular basis
2. Continually learn and be open to new experiences
3. Maintain closeness with my family; keep my marriage a priority
4. Grow in my spiritual life

What are the 4 events that have most formed how you live your life today?

1. Going off to college
2. Joining the military
3. Meeting my husband
4. Marrying my husband

And I couldn't leave out my parents. That answer may not be specific to one event, but my life has definitely been shaped by my parents and how they raised me.

What are 4 things you do to keep your motivation up to work out and eat healthy every day?

Well, I don't exercise and eat healthy every day, even though that certainly would be the ideal. Motivation-wise, I keep it up by focusing on improving my overall health, as well as increasing my fitness so I can be stronger, faster, more agile, and flexible. Also, my motivation gets a boost for vanity reasons as well. I like to look my best as well as feeling my best!

Name 4 people who have been the most influential in motivating you to change your eating and exercise habits.

I don't have specific persons in mind. I would say those who are fit, healthy, and toned inspire me, whether they are friends, family, fitness trainers, or other bloggers. Hearing stories about how exercise and eating clean improve health and overall quality of life, as opposed to the negative consequences of being sedentary and eating junk, definitely inspire me to work on my habits.

What are your 4 reasons for staying off refined sugar and white flour?

Sugar makes me moody, lethargic, foggy, and craving for more sugar. Plus, sugar offers no nutrition, is harmful to the body, and makes weight gain way too easy. These, in a nutshell, are the reasons I want to get off and stay off sugar! (Can I get extra credit for the additional reasons?)

List 4 ways that blogging has helped you either attain or maintain a higher level of health and fitness.

1. It keeps me accountable.
2. Blogging about health pushes me to learn more about it.
3. Blogging has exposed me to many fantastic blogs with great info and ideas regarding health and fitness.
4. Through blogging I have met amazing people who inspire me. This is one of my favorite aspects of blogging, connecting with other people. That truly makes it worth while.

So there you have it! All you wanted to know about Susan, and more!

Hey, if you'd like to take up this meme, consider yourself tagged. The rules are simple:

• Link to the person who tagged you
• Post the rules on your site
• Answer the questions and share your "4 things."
• Tag 4 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs, if you wish
• Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

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Cindy had a very good one: "Ask, Seek, Give; Love living life!" That's a tough act to follow! Cindy, you have presented me with quite a challenge.

OK... here goes... "ehem"... mine is:

The best is yet to come.

I actually came up with a few others as I was trying to sum my life up in just six words.

By Grace I have been saved

Live once; die once; live forever

Daughter, singer, nurse, friend, wife, lover

Always digging through my darn purse!

Where did I put my keys?

All right; that's enough of that! Now, technically I'm supposed to tag 5 other bloggers to write their 6-word memoir. Instead, I'd like to leave the decision to partake of this fun meme up to you. If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged. If you wish to join in, the rules are as follows:

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links; and
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

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Well, I don't like feeling grumpy, so I searched for something fun and lighthearted. I came up with this mood lifting clip, and I wanted to share it with you. You can't help but laugh along.

Funny how something so simple caused total, can't-even-sit-up-straight, belly laughing joy.

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We had a blizzard here with continuous snow fall from early early morning until late afternoon. My husband and I didn't  even consider venturing outside! The roads were way too slick, and the snow plows couldn't keep up with the snow. No sooner had they finished clearing the road then snow piled up over their work.

I didn't mind staying in, though.  I exercised to an aerobics DVD, which was a fun change of pace from my usual elliptical workout. And I admit, I enjoyed watching big, white flakes of snow falling to the ground en masse, being blow around by gusts of wind. It was kind of exciting, in a way!

View from my "backyard."

When the all-day snow storm had passed, I went outside to take some pictures. I loved how the world looked fresh and untarnished with a layer of untrodden, white snow. When I stepped onto our front walkway, my foot sank into the snow deeper than I had anticipated. I felt cold, wet snow up to my calves, but I just giggled like a little kid. Here I was, outside in 18-degree weather with the wind whipping around my hair, no jacket or gloves, ankle-deep in snow, and a camera around my neck! I imagine I was a curious sight!

I discovered this interesting snow formation from the roof. The picture is through the upstairs window (best way to see it), so it isn't the clearest. Hopefully you get the idea, though. It reminded me of white bed sheets; really it did! It also looked like frosting on a cake.

This is what I saw when I opened the back door. The snow had blown up against the house and still remained in its position without the door supporting it. I thought it was rather amusing (I seem to be amused by little things, don't I)!

I hope you had a drier (and SAFE) weekend. Hopefully winter got the cold and snow out of its system and will make way for gentler weather. March came in like a lion and will go out like a lamb - isn't that how the saying goes? 

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Well, a couple weeks ago during one of these pancake mornings, my husband made a tiny, little pancake that looked like this:

See the heart in the middle? I thought that was so cool! The pancake with its little heart was unintentional, but boy, what an "accident!" I thought this "magical" pancake so cute I had to take a picture of it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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(OK, so the picture isn't the greatest; I know.  It's something I need to work on!  Let me just tell you that the food items looked very fresh, pretty, and relatively healthy. )

The advertisement reads: We promise

• To use only quality, wholesome ingredients.
• To support agricultural & economic growth in our communities.
• To partner with leading industry supplies & trusted brands.
• To meet or exceed food safety standards & regulations.
• To monitor our food, to assure freshness, quality & safety.

And we also promise to save you money.

Now I just skimmed what was written and paid more attention to the pretty food pictures. But what is the message here? That you can save money by eating at McDonald's? That they serve fresh, appealing, and healthy food items as shown in this picture?

Save money at McDonald's? Well, if you eat out all the time, maybe this would be true.  I personally prefer to avoid the fast food joints and eat food from home.  In fact, my husband and I only go out to eat maybe a couple times a month!  It's healthier, and we save money by avoiding the restaurant price tags. 

My husband and I did go out to eat at Panera Bread last week.  We shared a hearty and pretty healthy meal that ended up costing a total of $8.00. This sum would be extremely close to a McDonald's salad for me and a cheeseburger, small fries, and Coke for my husband.  And in my opinion, Panera just tastes better and has a more comfortable ambiance.

As far as the fresh, eye-catching, relatively healthy foods are concerned, I sure haven't seen them at McDonald’s!

But then again, I haven’t eaten at a McDonald’s in over a year. Maybe McDonald's did a complete overhaul of their foods and made them all healthy.  Maybe the foods at McDonald's now really do look like the photograph.  Maybe these attractive, healthy foods are hiding out at an undisclosed, secret McDonald’s location.

Or maybe I'm just going to resort to the phrase, "Negative Ghostwriter!"

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Well, then it's time to get reacquainted with these really-good-for-you foods! Check out the video below and discover that vegetables can be quite interesting and fun!

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