Beautiful Music

Watch "Linda Ronstadt - Los Laureles (Soft BEAUTIFUL MELODY)" on YouTube
The music I grew up listening to.. isn't it beautiful??

Fish in A Tree? NO!

Always put yourself in an environment where you are guaranteed to thrive! Do what you are good at and dont compare yourself to others.. Comparing yourself to others and their "success" only sets you back from what you could be doing.

We are all brilliant at something, we just have to find those things...

I used to compare myself to everyone.. their money situations, parenting, jobs, homes, how impecable their homes were, their cars, clothes, bodies....

But, I have learned to stop. I am happy where i am. I do all that i can to be the best person i can be. I know i am an amazing mother, I know that i am starting school to better my future for me and my kids, My home isnt sparkling clean.. its tidy but lived in lol, My body is beautiful.. I am beautiful.

I am a Genius! :)

Who is Marlena

Writing has always been an amazing thing to me. It has been a beautiful part of my life. It is one of my favorite ways to express myself. It has so much power to me.. It gives me a chance to escape.

It has been an awful long time since i have written.

Really written.

I am terrified to write.. I am scared of all of the feeling and emotion that comes with it.

Here i go.............

So much has happened in my life.. A lot that i prefer to leave out.

I cant say i had a rough up bringing .. I had an amazing mother who did everything in her power to give me the world. And the world i had.

I grew up the only child. Just me and my momma for the most part. My father wasnt really around.. In my head, he found a family that worked better for him and just left me out. Him choosing to not be my dad hurt. It still hurts. It took me a very long time to learn that i am a great person. It wasnt my fault that he was a coward and walked out of my life. His loss. Not mine.

When i was about 5 I met mario an old friend of my mom's, they had grown up together and from what i have been told, she had always loved him.. I instantly fell in love with him.  He and my mom got married shortly after and he was the best step dad a girl could have.. We had so much fun together.. One of the greatest things he ever taught me was done unconciously..

He was teaching me how to ride a quad (motorcycle) and i pushed just a little too hard on the accelerator and the bike lurched forward sending me flying off the back into the dirt. All i wanted to do was cry and go inside... Instead he walked over to me and dusted off my knees and told me to get back on and try again. I was terrified.

By the end of that day i was riding all over the place.. He taught me to always dust myself off and try again when i fall. He taught me to never give up.



to be continued...

Misplaced Fear

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

This quote is one of my all time favorites!

My Heart and Soul

My reasons for living, My pride and joy, My family!

My husband, he has helped me through so much and helps me see things in myself that i have a hard time seeing on my own. He is at my side through it all. He has my back through the good and the bad.. I am blessed to have found such an amazing man at such a young age. I found my soul mate at 15.

My Lorena, my gift from God. Yea i had her at a young age, but i think i needed her. God sent her to me because he knew i needed her! She has helped me to grow up. To become a responsible woman. She is the reason i know there is a God.

My Olivia, my baby girl. A true test of my patience lol

she is silly and stubborn. Her spirit is amazing.. Reminds me to be grateful for all that i have.

This is my everything.. They make my world go round. My reasons for waking up and seeing my life for what it is.... BLESSED!

The one that Inspires Me

 The person that inspires me.. I use her website jillianmichaels.com for help with my weight loss.

 On there I get daily exercise routines, meals, and a cool journal that lets me keep track of all of the calories i take in throughout the day and helps me see how many calories i burn a day. You can calculate everything from extreme workouts to household chores.

It is something that helps me be brutally honest with myself about what it is i am putting into my body.

this site has the same calorie counter as jillian michaels' site but doesnt cost anything... works just as well for a calorie counter and exercise tracker http://www.everydayhealth.com/eh-calorie-counter.aspx?xid=g_MCC_FunnelTestNew&gclid=CPLhgI-Zs68CFQrCtgodB0allQ

Normal?

110% Describes me lol

Normal just isnt fun, i am weird, eccentric, dramatic, and silly lol

And if you dont like it...... too bad haha i am who i am!

My First Love

My very first love.. Dance. Folklorico.

After I got pregnant at 16 I kinda just stopped doing certain things.. I let go of my passion for dance. Not to fluff my own feathers but i was good. I was a great dancer. After i started gaining weight i started to deal with low self esteem issues and i didnt want anyone to see me.. i wanted to be invisible. So i never went back to my greatest love. 

Now that i am trying to change my life for the better.. for my better, i have decided to try and find a way to bring the thing that gives me joy back into my life. I am thinking of starting with zumba. I want to get to a point that i can become an instructor. I want to be able to show people how amazing and freeing dance can be.

 Let go and just feel the music in your body, your soul, your bones!!

You Can

You can do this! I know you can.. with a little help and motivation we all can! :)

Perfect Pancakes

Best idea for those perfect round pancakes!

"Farewell Old Friend: Until We Meet Again"

"Farewell Old Friend: Until We Meet Again"

Quick Homemade Breakfast

My Breakfast/Lunch
The smoothie is absolutely delicious...
What is in it...

• Handful of frozen strawberries
• A whole banana
• 1 cup Pure Silk Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 tbsp Peanut Butter
• 1 tbsp. Nesquick chocolate powder
• Handful of Ice

And the waffle is a frozen whole grain Kashi waffle..  each waffle is only 75 calories. And a little light syrup on top.

I used the almond milk because it is less calories and it gave me a sweeter flavor than regular milk.

Jealous Bitches

Something I have had to learn is to cut people out of my life that arent rooting for me.. I have always been someone who feels like they have to have lots of friends.. (side effect of low self esteem on my part) No matter what detriment those frienships may have to me and my well being.. I didnt care when my "friends" said mean and hurtful things to me or about me.. I would just laugh it off and try my best not to show how hurt i was.

My favorite lately is people who say that they are so happy and positive but in reality they are the complete opposite and say and do things to make others feel bad about themselves.. watch out for those people. Its harder to realize that they are the negative people that will bring you down to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Now i know that i am a good person. I deserve to have people in my life that would join me on my journey to trying to be healthy rather than tell me i cant do it and i wont follow through. I now have people that are truly there for me and are willing to do whatever is in their power to help me get to where i am going.

I am so grateful for those people.. Especially my husband. He is the most supportive person in my life.. I love him.

There will always be someone jealous of your success. There will always be at least one person that tries to put you down just to make themselves feel better.. Those people need to go. You cant live a happy life when you allow "friends" to bring you down. Let them be jealous from afar.. Let them be miserable on their own. You deserve more than that.

Me and My Books

So I have a confession haha
I am a nerd.. I love reading! It is one of those things that makes my days a little better. I can read a good book and feel like I am escaping into an amazing place that my own mind has created.

One of the weird things I do is if there is a movie that I want to watch and there is a book that the movie was made about i will read the book first and then go see the movie.. which is sometimes a problem because the movies always seem to fall so short of the amazing things my own mind has created.

I just read the Hunger Games series last week.. started Monday and finished Wednesday and was so excited that on Friday I went to watch the movie. I was sooo disappointed! I feel like they shouldnt have made a movie like that if they werent going to stick to the book completely. So many details were left out and things were changed. I was so mad lol

Another thing.. after i finish reading books i feel lost lol its almost like the characters and the actual story has become a part of my real world... And when i finish reading thats it. They are gone and i will hear no more from them.. Its so depressing lol

My Paradise

Isnt this beautiful? This is like a 3 minute walk from my front door.. Its just a nice little lake. On the other side of this is the opening to the ocean... Its beautiful! When you sit on the patio you can see the waves from the ocean and hear them crashing along the shore. Its my own personal slice of heaven.

At night when everyone is asleep sometimes me and our dog Marley go for little walk along the beach. Its a good place for thought and reflection.

This is where I go when I need to feel free and at peace..
Where is your "place"?

My Curves... I Love Them!

 These are about a week later..  Looking at them i see small differences. Not too much but enough to keep me happy. :)

I am not the size i want to be but i am happy with my body shape.. I am happy that i still have a waist and i have curves. I love curvy women.. they are the most sensual thing to me.. I hope i get to keep my curviness lol

Slowly but surely we are getting there!!

Homemade Fruit Leather

Ingredients

• 2 cups fruit pulp
• 1 tablespoon lemon Juice
• ¼ cup sugar (optional, depending on the sweetness of your fruit)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150 -170 degrees F. If your oven doesn't go this low, simply set it to the lowest temperature and prop the door open.
2. Puree the strawberry pulp and lemon juice in a food processor. If you choose another fruit you can chop it and stew it with the lemon juice until it softens before pureeing it. Stewing the fruit helps it retain its color. If it is a fruit with seeds, a food mill will remove the seeds more easily than a food processor and strainer. Add a small amount of water to the mixture if necessary so that it has a pourable consistency.
3. Cover a baking sheet with plastic, wax paper, or a silicon baking pad. The temperature of the oven is low enough not to affect the plastic.
4. Spray or brush with vegetable oil, then spread the fruit puree onto the sheet tray with an offset spatula or knife to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness. Place it in the oven for 6-8 hours. Make sure there is air circulating to prevent scorching. Alternatively place it in the sun for 6-8 hours.
5. Invert the fruit leather onto another baking sheet covered in plastic or silicon baking pad, and oil, and remove the first lining. Place in the oven or sun for another 6-8 hours. If it becomes too brittle at any point, simply brush on water with a pastry brush to rehydrate it.
6. Cool the sheet tray and cut the fruit leather into desired sizes. Dust with corn starch to prevent sticking, cover in plastic and store in a cool place in a sealed container.

How to Keep up With Me

If any of you have a pinterest go follow my boards.. i have a health.. motivation board and a healthy recipes board! Just find Marlena Martinez
 And if you arent already follow me on twitter @marlenaraquel12
Also if you need some help with some motivation or some insight to a healthier living add my FB page A Journey To Health :)
You can always email me at marlenaraquel@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/ajourneytohealth/