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vitalityinfocus.com, Redmond, OR (2026)

06/03/2026

Wildflower Wednesday | Spring Week 11

This week I was back on home ground — five miles through Shevlin Park on Bend’s west side.

I know these trails well. Nine years of walking them through every season. And yet every time I come back, there’s something new to notice.

This week: Rocky Mountain iris standing in the meadow. Rosy pussytoes in soft pink and cream. Wood’s rose with its single magenta bloom. Western columbine in red and yellow. Cinquefoil lining the trail. Silverleaf phacelia. Indian paintbrush. And a rain-soaked seedpod that caught the light in a way I couldn’t walk past.

Shevlin Park is nearly 1,000 acres of old-growth ponderosa pine, western larch, and aspen along Tumalo Creek. It has been protected since 1921, when the Shevlin-Hixon lumber company donated the land to the city — a decision driven by a man who had watched midwestern forests be completely logged and devastated, and refused to let that happen here.

I’m grateful for that decision every single time I walk these trails.

There’s something I’ve been thinking about this week. How peaceful it is to return to a place you know well. To know what to expect — and still find delight in what’s there.

I think that’s one of the quiet gifts of this season of life. We know ourselves better than we ever have. Our rhythms, our needs, what restores us. And yet we’re still capable of surprise. Still finding new things worth noticing.

That feels like enough.

Still noticing. Still finding joy in familiar places.

Is there a place you return to again and again — and what does it give you?

05/31/2026

A detour from the 100 Day Project — and completely at peace with that.

Last week I took the scenic route.

We backpacked into Redwood National Park — nine miles out, nine miles back, ancient trees, a rocky creek, and a seven-hour drive home that left us arriving Monday night too tired to think about painting schedules.

The Sunday that usually starts each new week of this project came and went while we were still on the trail. And when we got home, the week had other expectations for me. I didn’t try to cram it in. I didn’t pretend I was still on schedule.

I gave myself permission to let it go.

Because I’ve learned — slowly, and not without some resistance — that stepping back isn’t the same as quitting. That rest isn’t failure. That sometimes the most honest thing you can do is stop pushing and let yourself breathe.

And I did paint. Just not for the project.

After hiking through the Tall Trees Grove on May 24th, we settled onto a rocky beach along Redwood Creek — swimming, sun-warmed rocks, a dragonfly drying its wings on a pile of stones I’d collected. And I painted what I saw and what I felt in that moment. No count. No framework. Just the creek, the light, and the trees.

A lesson I’m still carrying from Sarah B. Hansen — paint the feeling, not just the facts.

I wish I had asked someone to take a picture of me painting -I was so relaxed. Or I had taken a process photo of my first plain air painting.

Now I’m back. Today is Sunday — one week off schedule — and I’m starting Week 14. This week in my painting I’m on the Elkhorn Crest Trail in the Blue Mountains — a three-day backpacking trip last August, two of my favorite wildflowers, lupine and Indian Paintbrush, and the ridge above Twin Lakes.

Last week I took the scenic path away from the route I had laid out. I’m glad I did.

Small practice. Steady presence. This is how I grow.

05/29/2026

Vitality Pillar: Nourish — Eat to Thrive

Sunday night in our house often means something on the Traeger.

This is a meal we come back to regularly — pork tenderloin with a five spice rub, smoked low and slow and finished with a homemade apricot glaze. I always cook two tenderloins at once. The three of us eat one the first night. The second gets cut up and goes into the freezer for pork fried rice later in the week. Come back next week for that post.

The rub is a blend I make myself — five spice combining anise powder, ground cloves, black pepper, sea salt, ground cinnamon, and ground fennel — rubbed generously over both tenderloins before they go on the Traeger at 225ºF. After about an hour I spread the apricot glaze over the meat and continue smoking until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF.

The glaze is simple: shallots, apricot fruit spread, ground ginger, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes, cooked down in a small saucepan until it thickens slightly. The combination of sweet, smoky, and a little heat is what makes this meal memorable. I like St Dalfour fruit spreads because they use 100% fruit…no cane sugar and nothing artificial.

The sides this time were baked sweet potato wedges seasoned with paprika and roasted until the edges get a little crisp, sautéed broccoli finished in the oven with a splash of coconut aminos, and sliced fresh mango. The mango alongside the apricot glaze was a nice touch — a little brightness that balanced everything else in the bowl.

Roughly speaking, this meal comes in around 28–30g of protein per serving and 7–9g of fiber from the sweet potato, broccoli, and mango. Real food, real flavor, and a second meal already waiting in the freezer.

What do you do with intentional leftovers — meal prep on purpose, or does it just happen when you cook too much?

Grounded. Strong. Resilient. Nourished. Vitality in Focus.

05/27/2026

🌼 Wildflower Wednesday | Spring Week 10

This week took me somewhere I’ve never been.

My husband and I drove seven hours southwest to Redwood National Park in California — where we met my nephew and his family at the trailhead and spent three days backpacking along Redwood Creek.

No cell service. No creature comforts. Just the forest, the river, and the people we love.

The scale of this place is hard to put into words. Ancient trees that have been standing for thousands of years. A canopy so tall it changes the quality of light beneath it. Sword ferns taller than I am. Everything layered and lush and deeply alive.

Can you find the old man of the forest hiding in one of these photos? Let me know if you spot him.

Flowers I know from decades of hiking throughout the Pacific Northwest — rhododendron, starflower, wood sorrel — but rarely see anymore living in the high desert. Old friends in a new light.

On the second day we hiked down to the river and into the Tall Trees Grove. I found a heart-shaped rock on the pebble beach. It didn’t make it home with me — But I keep thinking about it.

Coming home has been harder than I expected.

I’m tired in a way that isn’t just miles. There’s a low-grade sadness that comes with stepping back into screens and schedules and the ordinary pull of daily life.

I think it’s because I feel most alive out there. Most like myself.

Maybe that’s something worth paying attention to.

Still noticing. Still finding my way back.

When did you last feel most fully yourself — and what were you doing?

05/26/2026

Week 13 of the 100 Day Project — days 85–91.
This week in my painting I left the Three Sisters Wilderness and traveled north to Mt. Hood — to a stretch of the Timberline Trail I hiked last August. Twenty-two miles of wildflowers and mountain views. And the asters — purple and gold against that iconic peak — that made me stop and stay a little longer.
This is the subject that found me this week.

I’m still practicing what I learned in Sarah B. Hansen’s Splashing Paint class — how to simplify a scene, how to use color to create a mood rather than a literal record, how to paint the feeling of being somewhere rather than an exact copy of a photograph.

This week something clicked.

I don’t have to match the colors in my reference photo to create something dynamic and alive. The hint of pink to purple glowing on the mountain? That’s not what Mt. Hood looked like that day. But it’s what it felt like.

And that distinction — between what something looks like and what it feels like — has been following me around all week.

Because most of my life I tried to do things the way I thought they should be done. The way others expected. I was so concerned with what my family, my friends, even strangers would think that I stopped voicing my own opinions. I played small. I colored inside the lines.

Somewhere in my fifties that started to change.

I’ve heard this is common for women in midlife — this gradual shedding of other people’s expectations. This quiet permission to stop hiding. To stop trying to please everyone and start pleasing yourself.

These little paintings feel like that to me.

Liberation from the ropes I had tied around myself.

Here I paint first. Then I draw the lines.

“Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are.” — Brené Brown

What did you spend too long trying to match exactly — and what happened when you finally stopped?

Still learning. Still playing. Still practicing.

05/22/2026

Vitality Pillar: Nourish — Eat to Thrive

I’ll be upfront with you: this is not a crowd-pleaser.

Rob was out of town when I made this. That’s not a coincidence. When you’re cooking something that lives more in the “good for you” category than the “this is amazing” category, it’s easier to answer only to yourself.

This is beef liver with kale, mushrooms, onion, and bacon — finished with sauerkraut. I grew up eating liver and onions once a month. My mom made it regularly, and I ate it with ketchup. That childhood familiarity is probably why I still make it.

The key to liver, if you’re going to try it, is layering in flavors strong enough to carry it. Bacon and onion do that work here. The sauerkraut at the end adds a brightness that cuts through everything and honestly ties the whole bowl together.

Here’s how it came together: I cooked the bacon first in a hot cast iron skillet, then set it aside. I kept some bacon fat in the pan for the vegetables — onion until translucent, then mushrooms until softened, then kale stirred in until wilted down to about a quarter of its original volume. The vegetables went into a bowl while I cooked the liver in a little more bacon fat — no more than 2–3 minutes per side, then set aside to rest before chopping into bite-sized pieces. Everything went back into the skillet together to heat through, then served in a bowl with sauerkraut on top.

Now — why bother? Because beef liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. It’s been called nature’s multivitamin, and the case for midlife women is particularly strong. It’s rich in heme iron, B12, CoQ10, copper, vitamin A, and folate — nutrients that address the fatigue, brain fog, and depleted iron stores that many women carry out of perimenopause. A small serving goes a long way. Once or twice a month is plenty. Swipe to see why it’s worth it.

Roughly speaking, this meal comes in around 28–30g of protein per serving and 3–4g of fiber.

Will I convince you to try it? Probably not today. But maybe I’ve planted a seed.

Grounded. Strong. Resilient. Nourished. Vitality in Focus.

05/20/2026

This week’s hike took me somewhere familiar — and completely new.

My husband and I joined friends near Black Butte Ranch for a hike up Gobbler’s Nob. I’ve done this trail quite a few times, always in October or November, long after the wildflowers have gone. Never in spring.

The difference was something else entirely.

We started through a meadow filled with penstemon — soft purple spikes rising out of the grasses. In about a week it will be a sea of blue-purple iris. I’m hoping to get back to catch it.

Through the forest and up to the top — views sweeping south and southwest toward the Cascades. Broken Top and the Three Sisters on the horizon. At the base of the nob, Indian paintbrush burning bright orange-red. Arrowleaf balsamroot spreading yellow through the ponderosa pines.

But honestly? This hike wasn’t really about the flowers.

It was about the conversation. The catching up. The easy rhythm of walking alongside people who know you well.

One of my five vitality pillars is Connect — nurturing the relationships that keep you grounded, joyful, and alive. It’s also the one I put last most often. Not because I don’t value it. I do. But there’s always something pulling me back into my own quiet world. I’m an introvert at heart — I need that solitude to recharge.

And yet I always feel better after time with good friends. Every single time.

So when the invitation came, I said yes. And I’m glad I did.

Still noticing. Still showing up.

Which area of your wellbeing do you keep meaning to prioritize — but keep bumping to the bottom of the list?

Curious about all five vitality pillars? My free Vitality Blueprint is waiting for you — link to my home page in bio.

05/17/2026

Week 12 of the 100 Day Project — days 78–84.

This week I’m still in the Three Sisters Wilderness, but before we reached No Name Lake.

Lupine in its triumphant purple glory — looming across the meadow with Broken Top lurking in the background, urging us to come closer. This photo was taken on August 18, 2024, the same day that inspired Weeks 10 and 11. Three weeks of painting from a single morning in the wilderness.

This subject keeps giving.

This week I also started using a new brush — a da Vinci Casaneo quill #2, a Mother’s Day gift from my son and daughter-in-law. I picked it up for the first time on day 83 and I can already feel the difference.

What I liked:
— how the line work suggests petals and leaves without painting them literally
— the splatters adding energy and movement
— the yellows and greens charging into the background
— the way Broken Top quietly anchors every study

What I learned this week goes beyond the painting table.

Consistency and repetition are excellent teachers. I’m learning more from painting every day — repeating the same subject, working with the same colors — than I ever did watching a recorded class and spending a single day of painting, followed by weeks or months of no practice.

And I’ve come to believe this is true beyond painting.

In midlife I’ve learned the same lesson around nutrition, movement, and sleep. It’s not the grand gestures or the perfect plans that move the needle. It’s the small, repeated actions — the ones that become habits — that actually work. The ones that work for you instead of against you.

“Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”
— John C. Maxwell

What’s one small discipline that’s quietly making a difference in your life right now?

One week at a time. One painting at a time. This is how I grow.

05/15/2026

Vitality Pillar: Nourish — Eat to Thrive

We call this one Salmon Sunday — though this week it happened to land on a different day.

Three years ago we moved into this house and bought a Traeger. Smoking a wild salmon filet on it quickly became one of our favorite meals. My husband doesn’t usually care for salmon. Neither does my sister. But smoked on the Traeger? They’ll both eat it. That tells you something about what a low and slow smoke does to a piece of fish.

This filet was just over a pound and a half of wild Alaskan salmon — smoked at 225ºF for about an hour until the internal temperature reached between 135–145ºF. I use a dry rub I make myself. If you want to know what’s in it, leave a comment and I’ll share it.

While the salmon was on the Traeger, I sautéed asparagus and shiitake mushrooms with sliced onion in a little extra virgin olive oil and salt. Then I drizzled some of the balsamic vinaigrette I made for last week’s burger salad over the top — making it once and using it twice is one of my favorite ways to save time in the kitchen. Everything came together in a bowl — the vegetable mixture on the bottom, salmon broken up over it, finished with sliced avocado and Castelvetrano olives.

This is a meal that earns its place on the table in every way.

Wild Alaskan salmon is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids — EPA and DHA — which matter especially in midlife for heart health, brain function, and reducing inflammation. It’s also a complete protein, rich in vitamin D, B12, selenium, and astaxanthin, the antioxidant behind that deep color. Swipe to see why the asparagus and shiitakes are more than just a side.

Roughly speaking, this meal comes in around 34–36g of protein per serving — mostly from the salmon — and 6–8g of fiber from the asparagus, shiitakes, and avocado. The healthy fats from salmon, avocado, and olive oil round it out.

We get four to five servings from one filet. I’m the only one who will eat the leftovers, so salmon finds its way into my lunch the next day.
That’s a win I’ll take.

Do you have a meal that everyone in your house will eat, even the skeptics?

Grounded. Strong. Resilient. Nourished. Vitality in Focus.

05/13/2026

Wildflower Wednesday | Spring Week 8

Back on the Buttes this week — and along the Deschutes River, where I found blue flax blooming in the most extraordinary shade of periwinkle.

The landscape is shifting again. The sagebrush false dandelion has gone to seed — those showy, wispy heads just asking to be wished upon. The woolly-pod milk-vetch has traded its purple flowers for fuzzy little orbs, showing exactly how it earned its name. And showing up in yellow this week: largeflower hawksbeard, desert yellow fleabane, and cushion wild buckwheat. Showy townsendia in white and pink was drawing every butterfly on the buttes.

I need these walks. My body tells me so on the days I can’t get out.

Out here I’m naming plants as I pass them. Listening for birds and trying to place their calls. Watching what’s changed since last week. These aren’t just pleasant ways to spend a morning — they’re what keep my brain sharp, my body strong, my balance steady.

And they keep the darker things at bay. My anxious mind settles on the trail in a way it doesn’t anywhere else. The research backs this up — time in nature lowers cortisol, supports memory and cognition, and helps hold off depression. But honestly, I knew it long before I read any of that.

I could get my cardio on a treadmill. I could. But it isn’t the same. Not even close.

These hikes give me a physical workout and something much harder to name — a kind of wholeness. A reset. A reason to keep going.

Still noticing. Still out here.

What does being outside in nature do for you that nothing else quite can?

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