Growing up in Central Texas we always had a garden. I loved as a child helping my grandmother tend to the vegetables. Early in my adult life I was transplanted to Arkansas, bringing my love of animals and gardening with me. For the next few years I planted a small vegetable garden. As my life got busy and I quit planting a garden. I would plant a few pots of tomatoes and think next year will have a garden. ??This year my husband (aka The Big Man), built several planter boxes so that I could plant a raised garden.

I planted tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos, eggplant, squash and sunflowers. It felt great to dig in the dirt and watch the tiny little plants blossom and provide fresh veggies.

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables. My little raised bed garden did a great job of providing me with Eggplant and tomatoes, both are ingredients in a Simple Eggplant Parmesan recipe that is one of my favorite dishes.
Coming home late from work, I would have a a slice of this dish and a glass of wine. This was a great way to end a full day of work.

Connie is a 50-something wife, mother, Nana, doggie mom, vegetarian, living in the small community of Blytheville, AR. located in the far
 Northeast corner of the State. She shares a home with her husband aka The Big Man, 14 rescue dogs and 10 chickens. Collectively they have five adult near-perfect children and five perfect grandboys and 5 awesome granddogs. Connie is a family nurse practitioner and manages a free health clinic (Great River Charitable Clinic). She and the Big Man also own and operate Bed and Biscuit Boarding. Connie is an active member of the Blytheville Humane Society. Her lbog Scrapbook Wife chronicles her journey to live a balance simple life making her little corner of the world a better place to live.

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by Jodi Coffee

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

That’s a cliche I’ve had to completely remove from my repertoire.

I am on a journey of training for an Ironman. I’ve been involved in the sport of triathlon for many years now, but this is the first time I have signed up and committed to an iron distance race. Quite daunting, yes, but something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Just in case you’re unfamiliar, an Ironman is an endurance race consisting of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles. I have completed each of the distances individually, but have never put them together. And that is key – putting the package together and fueling your body to the finish.

When I made the decision to sign up and hit “send” on my entry form, I knew what to do, but didn’t exactly know how to do it. I found myself searching for help. I turned to books and I asked friends for their personal experiences. While helpful, I still felt the need for more direction.

Not long after that, I received an email from Ironman regarding their new coachmatch program.

The perfect coach?

Free?

They had my attention!

(Just making sure we’re all on the same page here – I’m referring to the coachmatch program being free, not the coach.)

I have a type A personality living in a type B world. Having someone tell me what to do takes the guess work out. It allows me to focus on the task at hand, and not worry so much about the calculations of figuring out what to do to get to where I need to be.

With questionnaires completed, the research process began. Before long, I found my match! I had a virtual coach! Although she is very much a real person, my coach and I communicate mostly through texting and a training app. We also talk on the phone and can video call if need be.

Of course, there are complications, setbacks,and miscommunications that go along with this training process. My life revolves around three little girls. There are days that we go in three different direction. I don’t always have a set schedule. You know, life.

Life is busy.

Life gets in the way.

But I sure do love life.

Recently, I completed the Big Dam Bridge 100 in Little Rock as part of my training regimen. This event is Arkansas’ largest cycling tour and it provides supported rides ranging between 10 to 100 miles. I first participated in this great event in 2015. But the course is challenging. I do believe my words at the end of last year’s ride consisted of, “never again”.

Lo and behold, my coach highly recommended that I do the ride in order to prepare myself for the strong winds I’ll face in Arizona. Reluctantly, I signed on the dotted line and attempted to mentally prepare myself for a very demanding century ride.

This journey has been one filled with challenges and surprises. I’ve had to really work on trusting and believing – in my coach and in myself.

TRUST

Trusting that my coach puts me on the right regimen. After swimming for 35+ years, I wasn’t sure I could make many changes to my stroke. As I work on the drills and skills, my stroke is changing and becoming more efficient. I’m learning to focus on different aspects of my stroke.

BELIEVE

Believing that I have what it takes to make it to the finish. There are days I do not want to wake up in the 4 o’clock hour. I do not want to spend four hours in the saddle. But, I believe it must be done in order to prepare myself in the best way possible. (And of course, because my coach tells me to.)

Old dog – new tricks. It can happen!

As the race day quickly approaches, some of the longer and more difficult miles lie ahead. I know there are obstacles and bumps in the road to come, but I am grateful to have the guidance of a knowledgeable coach, a very supportive family and network of friends, and the blessings of the good Lord to get through to the next workout.

Jodi Coffee, who blogs at The Coffee House Life, is the mom of three beautiful and energetic little girls that ALWAYS give her something to blog about. She loves to try new things — food, travel and adventure. In her spare time…wait a minute. What is that? She enjoys training for triathlons, and is currently chasing a lifetime dream of crossing the finish line of her first IRONMAN. She is a backyard farmer, a farmers’ market manager and enjoys helping bring healthy opportunities to her community.

 

by Alicia Dowell

Many years ago, (7 long years) I started blogging. At first, it was a way to share my story as well as a way for distant family to see how our little family was growing. I shared every post on my personal Facebook before I had a page for my blog. This was at the starting point before I started using social media to help people find my piece of the internet. I was just hoping someone — family or friends — would read any of my posts. I shared a couple of pictures as my first post (by the way those pictures are still cute!). I didn’t want to just share pictures. This was the perfect place for me to share my writing. I had always dreamed of becoming a writer. Even as a kid, I could be found with at least one pen and a notebook.

So here was my new blog. The post went live and I was waiting to see if anyone read my rambling. A couple of days passed and I found out someone had read my post and it was not family. My new friend stopped by where I was working at the time to give me the encouragement to keep blogging. I don’t remember what she said but it was along the lines of: Don’t give up yet. I am still reading.

Many years later, I am glad I never gave up blogging. I learned there are many people to connect with and have met two of my best friends from blogging. Also from the one tiny in person comment, I have learned to remember to not give up; someone is still reading.

Born and raised in Arkansas, Alicia Dowell loves her home state. She grew up on her family farm in Southwest Arkansas. She was taught a deep love of caring for animals, growing a garden, and the slower way of life. Alicia married her college sweetheart and welcomed her daughter a year later. She can still be found in Southwest Arkansas on their one acre farm or on Instagram which fuels her photography habit.