So how can I describe this wonderful accomplishment to you all?.... Two pairs of running shoes, four months of training, fifty pounds lost..... the feeling of victory, PRICELESS! If you really know me very well, you will agree that I love good challenges and I like to push my self to see what I can do. I look for the inner strength to overcome trials. I have always done this in my life and it has worked well for me! As I have pushed my body to run a 5K, I was not always happy about it! I would complain to my friend about how much I HATED running! Then one day I experienced something amazing! It is called the "runners high"! This was better than anything I had experienced before. I started to look forward to my next run! When I had a hard day at work or in my personal life I could not wait to slip on my running shoes and start jogging around the temple!

I would feel the beat of my feet on the pavement, arms swinging in perfect motion and my breath was slow and controlled. The outside world seemed like a place far away. Once in the zone I can turn my thoughts in ward. I can be one with myself. This is a perfect time to give myself the "self love and self nurturing" that most of us neglect. This goal not only helped me physically but it has been a wonderful exercise in attitude and over coming emotions in your life and keeping everything in perspective.

Colton was able to walk the 1 mile with wonderful friends from work! I love being able to take him with me on all these adventures in our lives. The photo below is before the race! The excitement was palpable! It was so much fun gathering all the WellCare Families and encouraging them on. They have been such an inspiration to me in my life and really has helped me on this journey of "self re-discovery." Once you find yourself it is so easy to loose your self again in all the mundane and monotony of life. Life changes so fast and you must constantly be in tune with yourself. You must be in touch with who you are. The only way I know how to do this is to be in a constant state of "self re-discovery."

The path I trained on was very different than the path I had to run today. The path I trained on was straight, flat and had no obstacles. On this path I grew confident and fairly fast for me. I did not have to think about the course. I could run 4 miles and knew exactly what was coming next. This was not the situation today. There were small hills up and small hills down, the terrain changed from sidewalk, asphalt, grass and rocks. I had to look for the signs to know where to go and trust that the other runners where reading the signs correctly. I had to pace myself. I had to adjust to what was given me. As I was in the "runners zone" I thought about how true this is in life. You get comfortable with a situation and you think you know what is coming up or you think you know how your life will be and then it is changed. You must adjust quickly and flawlessly to keep your pace. Waisting time complaining or being negative about change will only make your life more difficult. These experiences and changes in life are part of your story, part of you. Each day adds up and becomes your lifetime. What will your lifetime look like when you reach your last chapter. Will it be a tragedy, drama, comedy, love story, or a documentary? Will you have regrets or triumphs!

This is Colton and I right after I crossed the finished line! I choose triumphs for my story! I want Colton to learn to love the gift of life and to be fully engaged in every moment. To truly be present in your life is a practice that most people have forgotten! "Being present" in life means to enjoy each situation and glean from it the best and most positive things you can. Truly having gratitude for the people and blessings in your life lead to more people and blessing in your life.

And what a plethora of wonderful people I have in my life to help me along this uncertain path in life. These people are towers of strength and motivation to me. Here is Heidi and her son Christian! Heidi said something so nice to me one day when I was feeling a bit low... Her comment changed my thought process and blessed me that day... Thanks Heidi! YOU did awesome today on your walk!

This is Bridgette! We have been friends since before I was married! We meet in the MCC Singles ward and have had some crazy and fun times together. What impresses me about Bridgette is that she keeps her standard very high and does not let others alter them! She is true to herself! I will never forget Lake Havasu! That was "crazy fun!" (as my son likes to say) P.S. It was awesome running beside you the whole time!
N'neka and Amber are very loving people! N'neka is very quiet and has a very sweet and silent strength about her. Amber is full of energy and cares for her son very much!
This photo has a lot of friends... Cory and Shelly... Thanks for sharing your love of life with me and complete acceptance of me. Your smile and positive attitude permeates outward and helps others. Tomika... What can I say? Your self confidence shines through and I have loved listening every week about the strength you find in certain quotes! And then Lucia and the kids!!!!! Yo tengo mucho amor por tu familia!! Your family is a testimony that trials can and must be conquered.

Well this is my adventure from today... Goal accomplished! What will the next goal be? The next adventure? Glad you asked... I have decided to take up my Flamenco dance again. I want to become so good at my dance that I can perform it with ease at one of my Dance teachers many professional performances. It is a solo dance about the queen of the butterflies! Soon I can add Flamenco dancer to my long list of other descriptors.... for example: I am a woman, I am a mother, I am a Registered Nurse, I am a sister, I am a friend, I am a runner..... soon to come I am a flamenco dancer.

Here is a favorite quote by Wayne Dyer, "When you're in harmony with the mind of God, you simply don't have thoughts that tell you that you can't do something - after all, your thoughts are of a higher energy." Life is meant to be enjoyed. Do something fun each day!

Lots of Love,

Celeste and Colton

Feeling so happy in life!

How do I go about updating everyone with our lives? So much has happened and life is so good for us right now. Before I go into details, I want to tell a story. I have always had a favorite perfume for different times in my life. I know this might sound funny. But somehow a new perfume becomes my favorite during a period of time. Then when I wear it again or smell the perfume I immediately remember a certain time in my life. I know this is really weird. Well any way on with the story…. For about 15 years I have loved the perfume from Clinique called “Happy.” Several times I have wanted to buy it but have found better things to use my money on but I continued to always try it on and enjoy it when I would visit the malls. So this past week I was shopping and I smelt the perfume again and decided this is the time in my life for this perfume. The name just completely describes what I feel….. “happy”!!!

So now that you all know I feel so happy with my life I will tell you all the things going on that have made me so incredibly happy. First let me start with this past summer. Life was very hard for a little while with my job at SCNM and studying for my Nursing State Boards and then finding a job. During this difficult time a very good friend gave me a copy of a very motivational affirmation. I hung it up and read it every day. Here is the affirmation… “Affirm that whatever brings passion, enthusiasm, and inspiration to you is on its way. Say it often: It is on its way, it will arrive on time, and it will arrive in greater amounts than I imagined.” Even during the difficult days I kept saying this affirmation. I knew things would work out. I just needed patience and faith.

This fall I found a job with WellCare Foundation. We provide free health care to single working moms and their children. What a great job for me since I know exactly how hard being a single working mom is! I can really relate to our patients and find them to be a great source of inspiration to me in my life! I love my job! It is finally so wonderful to be able to have a job that provides such passion,enthusiasm and inspiration in my life.

The next event in my life that exciting is I have lost 25 pounds and counting! I now have time and dedication to devote the necessary time to accomplishing this life long goal that I have always had. Deep down I have always wanted to overcome this flaw. Now is the time in my life for this. At work we are having a fundraiser in May. We are hosting a 5k and 10K run. I have decided that I am going to do the 5K. Some of you might think that this is not that big of a deal but for a girl who HATES jogging….. this is a huge goal for me. I know that I can do this! I just have to take it a day at a time and remain focused. I am gathering any family a friends that want to join me to come along! It is May 1st, 2010. More details to come but get your running shoes on and get moving!!!!!

And finally the last piece of news that has certainly contributed to my happiness is my boyfriend! We have been dating for about 9 weeks now! I really am enjoying this part of my life. We meet at a church dance that I did not even want to go to. My next door neighbor came over one night and dragged me out to the dance! Who knew that a great thing would come from it. I really appreciate how supportive he is with helping me to accomplish my goals in life!

Well I guess that sums up all the major things in my life… oh by the way…. My garden is dead! I have not had the time to focus on it…. But don’t worry the chickens are not dead yet and giving us lots of eggs. I have plans to get back to the garden this weekend! We will see how that goes. I hope that life is going well for all of my family and friends and if you are going through some difficult times just remember….“Affirm that whatever brings passion, enthusiasm, and inspiration to you is on its way. Say it often: It is on its way, it will arrive on time, and it will arrive in greater amounts than I imagined.” Say this often and start believing it! Life always has a way of working out for the best even if during the most difficult times when you start to doubt everything you thought you knew to be true. Just keep the faith and fight a good fight……

Lots of Love from Celeste and Colton

Update!!!!!

For all of you people that think I have fallen off the face of the earth.... I haven't! I have just been busy with life... Here is an update! The chickens are growing fast and getting ready to start giving us eggs. The two older ones have already been giving us eggs and we LOVE them. They are so delicious and much better in taste than the store bought eggs. We have planted in our garden beans, black-eyed peas, loofa gords, lemon cucumbers, peppers, sweet potatos, potatos and lots of herbs. Most of these I planted from seeds. I did plant Popcorn and amaranth but the heat, birds and ants finished these off for me. So I am working on a better system so I can replant them.

The sweet potato was about 8 inches long and about 3 inches around. We had it with ham! It was great to eat something we grew!

This is Colton's first day of school! He is doing really great this year and he loves his teacher. This is the same teacher he had in 1st grade...

Ready for the Big Day!

We have been having lots of fun with our little "ranchito". I am also sceduled to take the RN license exam of September 11, 2009 so if you can all say a litlle prayer for me that would be great. We are very excited about the new possibilities this accomplishment will give to Colton and I.... Thanks for all your love and support.

The Make Over!

OK Here is the Bathroom... Lovely, isn't it. I was horrible! Everything was wrong! If it wasn't for everybodies help I would have NEVER have moved! This was the nasty part.... the build up of junk! This house was in complete ruin!

OK here are the after pictures. I think it is lovely. This lighting is a bit off but I hope you can see the hard work. I painted the walls a lovely sea foam mist... I was inspired from our San Diego Vacation... it has white accents.The tub..... Oh the tub..... I tore down the viynl wall covering and scrubbed the tub till I was exhausted. I put on the new shower fixtures and a frined put in the new drain covers! OK so there was the Bathroon! Now on to the Kitchen... We got all new cabinets, stove, paint job and a good cleaning! Sorry it took me so long to post these. Hope you like what we have done!

Summer of Fun

Colton and I went to the Bass Pro Shop for all the fun kid classes about gun safety, archery, camping basics, plant and animal identification and fishing. Colton had lots of fun. They had these free pictures for the kids. Colton did lots of Cub Scouts goals. He is really going to town with this. It has been lots of fun seeing him grow and accomplish these fun goals.

The Perfect Morning at SunShine Meadows

As some of you know my hours were cut back at SCNM. At first I was worried and wondered how I was going to handle this but I have soon realized the true blessing this was. I woke up this morning and was going about my chores and thought what a perfect little life Colton and I have here. I wanted to capture a perfect little morning for you. I wake up about 5am. Dress for the day and excitedly put on my apron anticipating the beautiful morning. I rush out to my garden and chickens. First I peek in on the chickens. I make sure they are all there and safe. They are usually chirping and saying, “where is our breakfast?” That is assuming they could talk but that is what I imagine them to say to me. I then look at my gardens. I pull a few weeds that seemed to have grown over night. Then I water and tenderly look for new growth. I get my little garden basket and harvest the items that are ready, bright red tomatoes, corn, basil, mint and peppers. I feel thankful for the wonderful back yard we have and the ability to have a garden. I then feed the chickens and get my nursing book. I sit outside where I can enjoy the gardens and the chickens and study for my upcoming test. The mornings are still cool and beautiful. It is wonderful to enjoy the morning outside. I have also been doing a lot of canning. Last night my good friend Brad Petersen, also known as Chef Brad, gave me lots of chicken breast that was left over from a catering job. It needed to be canned! I was just the person for this job. I eagerly attempted my first try at canning meat. I called my other great friend Rachel Omerza for guidance to make sure I was doing it right…….It turned out perfectly! I now have 13 pints of wonderful chicken breast ready to go for a quick healthy meal! This morning after I did my chores out in the garden I came in and looked at my handiwork in the kitchen. Washed the jars and stored them away in my canning pantry I have created. (Many of you have seen my canning pantry) The sense of self reliance and provident living makes one feel so empowered! I also made apricot jam last night! “What a night!”to quote Mamma Mia. As I took the finished jars out of the cooker I wait for that moment that I would hear the sound very canner waits to hear…….PING, PING, PING…. Oh, how melodious! Oh, how joyous to hear the sound of all our hard work coming to fruition! (This is the sound the cans make as they seal)

One little thing that I have learned in life is to not go around shouting life’s not fair. Instead I have learned that we should look at the beautiful vistas in our life and be thankful for the wonderful things we do have. When we do that we start to see we truly have a life full of abundance and joy no matter our problems or trials.
Hope you have enjoyed our little commentary. Make it a great day and enjoy your beautiful vista in your life… whatever it may be!

Scouting, the Chicken Coop and Enrichment

Colton's first day of Scouts! He loved every minute!

Here is his first project that he did with his den.Here is our Chicken coop that Colton and I made with our two hands. As you can see why we affectionately called it the ghetto! It fell down and was not very sturdy.

Here is the new coop newly opened under new management and proudly named.."Chicks Carlton" (instead of Ritz Carlton). Jordan Came over and with the supplies around the yard we made this very sturdy and cool coop. We only bought longer nail for about $2.00! I think we were very resourcefully! It felt so good to sit back and see our hard work!Yesterday Morning Colton woke up and decided to put on his uniform and go around the neighborhood to pick up trash. This completes one of this Cub Scout Goals! He found 2 bags of trash around the apartments were we use to live!

This is the decorations and display for our Summer Time County Fair! It was a great evening. The presenters did a great job. We have a demo on Solar Ovens, The Spiritual side of Gardening, Canning meats, beans and stuff, and having a Refined home. We also had a pie contest and a talent table! It was great!

This last week has been lots of fun with getting into the groove of Summer, Scouts, my new calling and the Chickens. We are getting a few eggs each week and we are loving the fun we are having. Life is wonderful and full of abundance for us!

Colton's Baptism

What a week! Colton is now an official member for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint! He is also an official Cub Scout. I have so many thoughts I hope they all make sense! Colton is such a special person to me! He really is my best friend. We love doing things together and when he is gone I really miss him. The week before his baptism the Turley family invited him to go to their cabin on their little family get-a-way. I missed him terrible and found that I had time to clean the house and it looked beautiful! At first, I found myself thinking, "I am so tired of cleaning up after Colton." or I thought, "If I have to find one more Lego piece on the floor...." or "Why can't he keep his toys in HIS room and not all over the house." Then after the house was spotless and I had too much time on my hands I started to miss the toys all over. I missed seeing his face in the morning and kissing it at night. By the time he came back on Saturday I felt as if he had been gone for an eternity! He truly is my joy!

My Dad came down from Utah to baptize Colton. We had a wonderful time. We had more people attend than I had imagined would come. It made Colton and I feel so loved. The Priesthood Brothers had some chairs set up and before the program started, asked if I thought there was enough chairs. I thought there might have been too many chairs. As the baptism started they were setting up even more chairs. The whole room was filled. It was very humbling to see how many wonderful friends we have supporting us. After Colton was baptised and we were returning to our chairs a friend leaned over and pointed out how happy and what joy was on Colton's face. I am so glad she mentioned that because even though I was trying to absorb the whole experience and I did look at his face as he was coming up out of the water, I had not made a mental note of that specifically. Since she pointed it out I will never forget his big smile was the water washed over his face.

As a parent you look forward to your Child's Baptism day as being a major first milestone in your childs life. It represents a transition from your child being completely dependent on you to the child stretching his wings and starting on the journey of doing, thinking and acting for himself. He is now responsible for his own actions. I only pray I have taught him all that he needs to have a good start on his journey and that we have developed a relationship where he will continue to listen and accepts help and guidance from me.

We went to the scout store Monday morning to get the needed items for his Den meeting on Wednesday. He reveled in delight at the store. Sheer joy illuminated from his face at the prospect of being a Cub Scout! He ran through the tiny store looking at all the interesting gadgets and his imagination went wild with all the adventures he was going to have. We bought the necessary items to get started. Grandma sewed on the patches and as Colton put on his new uniform, he seemed to hold square his shoulders , his back was straight and he had the face of a true blue Cub Scout. He asked if he could walk home instead of ridding in the car with me. As he started home he walked with such purpose, such dignity. He walk as if to say to all our neighbors..... "I am a Cub Scout!" I am so excited to have him involved with scouts. I will update everyone with all of his Scouting accomplishments.

Well I think that is all hope you have enjoyed the photos and commentary on our lives. We truly feel blessed to have everyone in our lives.

PS... I looked at the living room this morning and it has Colton's Scout stuff and toys all over it.... but I will think twice before I complain too much! Pretty soon he will be gone on his Mission and living his life and I will miss the mess and the dirty hand prints and the freshly painted walls.....

We have an EGG!

I asked Colton to go water the garden this morning before school. As he did so he found an egg!The chicken made a little nest under my corn and laid her egg. Colton is very happy. We don't know if it was Rosetta or Mrs. Darth Vader. I think it was Rosetta because she seems to be the Mama Hen and keep Mrs. Darth Vader in her place. But we shall see. We now have a little bud of corn. I think I planted them to close so I don't know it the crop will really be that good but it was a good experiement. Here is another Photo of Rosetta and Mrs. Darth Vader..........Lots of love from SunShine Meadows!

Mrs. DarthVader and Rosetta

Give a big warm Welcome to the newest members of the Palacio Family and newest resident of SunShine Meadows... Mrs. DarthVader (the all black Chicken) and Rosetta (the black and white Chicken). We now have a total of 10 Chickens. These two should be already laying eggs! We will let you know if we got two eggs when we get home today after work and school.

SunShine Meadows

Welcome to SunShine Meadows....... (that is what we have named our new little house.)

It has been a very long time since I have updated my blog!. Colton and I have been very, very busy! Below are some photos of Colton and out garden. We have corn, peppers, chilie peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelon, honeydew, squash, and artichokes! We are enjoing have a "bit of earth" to dig into and grow stuff.

We also have added some chickens to SunShine Meadows. Our little "ranchito" would not be complete with out some farm animals. This was the day we got the chilckens... this one is affectionately named Duchess.

Look at our babies!
They sure are growing fast! The next adventure is our canning experience! We took my authentic Italian Pasta Sauce recipe and canned it! Que Rico!


We also canned apple sauce, apple butterand apple juice!Next adventure is Colton's camping trip. He love to fish and took his fishing rods to fish with his friends. He caught a blue gill. Our friend James Omerza took Colton. They had a blast.
What a boy! I am so proud of Colton. We are loving our new little house! There is much to do and I hope we have not bitten off more than we can chew! Stop by anytime to SunShine Meadows and see what's happening!