February 19, 2016: Day 74

Mom firing up her vintage Singer for some repair work on Garrett's jeans

Day 74 was full of sunshine in beautiful Arizona. Mom, Dad, Garrett, and I kicked back and enjoyed exercise, activities, and lots of great conversations.

Mom and I started with an early Silver Sneakers class at her gym. Kip led us in a strength-training class with a group of about a dozen. With some hyped-up oldies music, we got our strength on. Dad got in his many walks for the day and Garrett and I both found time to enjoy a run in the Arizona sunshine.

Health is very important to my parents. They have their daily activities that keep their bodies fit and eating habits exemplify clean living. I often remark that my mom has always been ahead of the pack in understanding the good and the bad on the health spectrum. She defined 'clean eating' while we were all consuming mounds of processed, fat-free foods in the 90's.

In the 70's my mom was 'uncool' at the pool, wearing a floppy hat to cover her face while we were all slathering ourselves in baby oil. Her skin thanks her today. Mom always had the newest health trends figured out before they were trendy. She was describing gluten to me in detail years before it became the newest health trend. My parents are poster children for living their lives around a clean diet and active lifestyle.

This provided great health exchanges between the four of us as Garrett and I have been working hard at improving our health. We have gone through a two week body detox and learned much about how our bodies respond, positively and negatively, to different foods. Part of my 90 day journey. Health is best worked on as a couple.

A delicious breakfast of oatmeal with all the healthy fixings

Words like moderation in eating, intensity of work out, quality of sleep, and clean eating are now common in our daily conversations. Like my parents, this is a continued lifestyle choice that can be tweaked and improved upon with time.

Our day in Arizona also included going through my mom's big projects of late; finalizing the Pick family cookbook and compiling family stories and photos for publication. This is a huge task, of which Mom spearheads with a lot of assistance from her siblings.

It was fun and refreshing to hear stories of past and see pictures from my childhood that I had never seen before. My Mom is the master family historian. It is a special gift to us that she share her research and knowledge with the rest of the family for these books.

There is so much to be learned from our past. This has become so apparent to me as I work my way into my next chapter. You have to look back to best move forward. Life lessons and life experiences define us as people. There is no better way to understand what is truly important to us; what we want to hold on to and what we want to let go.

Life lessons are inevitable. The key is what you do with them.

The net of my Day 74 was that it was a great day. Any day spent with my parents is always at the top of the list. There just needs to be more of them in the future.

(90 Days Off realization #15: Reflecting on the past and the people most impactful in our past gives us the best insight into our future)

Picture Mom took right before left to venture to Utah.
Note that the cowboy boots are hand-me-downs from Mom.
They have been 'in the family' for 20ish years.