Point to Ponder: Do you let the holidays control you, or do you control the holidays? Alright, alright, alright…the holidays are here and before your computer combusts from online shopping and your shoulders get stuck to your earlobes, take a moment to breatheeeeeeeeeee…..in through your nose and out through your mouth. I’m kind of exaggerating (but not really), however holiday anxiousness, stress and chaos is prevalent, and preventable! We have a choice, and it’s starts wit

Point to Ponder: What area(s) or relationships in your life can use some gratitude? Just one week ago, myself and 15 San Diego friends (some part of our iGnite San Diego community) completed the Susan G Komen 3-Day Walk. We began walking at 6:30a.m. Friday morning and our 60-mile journey was complete by 3:00p.m. Sunday. While I know breast cancer is prevalent and effects so many people, aside from my stepmom being diagnosed when I was a Freshman in college (and thankfully is

Point to Ponder: Who and what are you grateful for? For the past seven years, the week before Thanksgiving iGnite has used the last five to seven minutes in each of our classes to focus on gratitude and put thankfulness into motion by means of writing a grateful gram. A grateful gram is a hand-written gratitude note to someone you are grateful for. Then, after writing and addressing it, the grateful gram is handed back to our iGnite leader. iGnite takes care of postage and

Point to ponder: How wisely do you choose your words, especially with those you are most comfortable and close with? A couple of weeks ago we installed a pull-up bar in our garage. Actually, that’s inaccurate. Two of our neighbors installed our pull-up bar while Russell and I stood by to watch and give moral support. That’s inaccurate too. We stood by because I wanted Russell to learn. I was sincerely interested in learning too but really my goal was to have Russell absorb th

Point to ponder: What perceived handicap do you have, or in other words, what is something you’ve told yourself you can’t do or are afraid to do? Last Monday, one of our dearest friends passed away. His name was Shane Whitehurst. Shane was only 47 when he passed and while his physical stature wasn’t much, he lived the life of a giant, took no short cuts and I believe entered the pearly gates of Heaven running through the victory line of high-fives, to then meet face to face w

Point to ponder: How can you make the time and space to putter this summer? Friday was the summer solstice--the official start to summer- whew! And while I welcome and love a hot, sweaty and loosely scheduled summer, I have a love/hate relationship with it too. To get it out of the way, I’ll start with the negative first, which is that I don’t do well with the transition from an organized, routine, productive and predictable school year to a less scheduled summer and often ti

For many of us, our Fathers were and are men of few words, but the older we get the wiser their words become, and the greater impact they have on and in our lives. Today’s Journal is a celebration of our Fathers. It's full of heartfelt and funny quotes and wisdom, provided from our team and other unknown women. Thank you Fathers everywhere & Happy Father’s Day! 1. "Hold your tongue, listen, process and wait before you speak or respond to something that bothers you." - Alli

Point to Ponder: Do the free-flowing, unstructured and over-indulgent summer months derailing your healthy habits? One of the things I love most about summer is the indulgent break from routine, which includes staying up and sleeping in a later than normal, enjoying cocktails, soaking up extra sun, eating more of what I typically wouldn’t and kicking normal structure to the curb. That being said, when all routine falls by the way side, my body, mind and bowels (TMI but true!)

Point to ponder: What can you do to be of greater service to others? If not you, then who? This is the stirring question behind the Travis Manion Foundation. Travis Manion served United States Marine Corps. On April 29, 2007, 1st Lt. Travis, his fellow Marines and Iraqi Army counterparts were ambushed while searching a suspected insurgent house in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. Leading the counterattack against the enemy forces, Travis was fatally wounded by an enemy sniper

Point to ponder: What stressors, frustrations or challenges are you currently experiencing that can become your teacher and helper? While living in San Diego I regularly attend a heated Power Vinyasa Flow class. I loved this class because of the instructor. His name was Dat and he was introspective and intuitive. He was always teaching and challenging his students, both physically and mentally. It was rare I didn't leave with a nugget of wisdom. The one I remember most was

“Motherhood is a million little moments that God weaves together with grace, redemption, laughter, tears, and most of all, love.” —​Lysa TerKeurst “To All Moms: Don’t be so hard on yourself. The mom in E.T. had an alien living in her house for days and didn’t notice.” —Unknown “What is a mom but the sunshine of our days and the north star of our nights.” —Robert Brault “If you are a mom, you are a superhero, period.” —Rosie Pope “I’ve conquered a lot of things … blood clo

Point to ponder: Do you write down what you are grateful for and ask for what you want and need? Or do you wish, hope and want for it? One of the my favorite podcasts is with Christine Hassler-- life coach, author and speaker. Like everyone, Christine has her own life-changing story that led her to finding her purpose and passion, and has provided her with the personal and professional direction and wisdom that she so openly shares. Christine’s entire podcast is perfection,

Point to Ponder: Do you wake up each day excited? Last week a friend and I shared our disdain for Mondays. Although we are both self-proclaimed optimists and we don’t have a legitimate reason to complain or dread, Mondays can be mentally, emotionally and physically difficult. As we talked and tried to make sense of why Mondays are often times so hard, I concluded it's because unlike the flexible, spontaneous and less structured weekends, Monday comes with expectations, rout

Point to Ponder: Is what you are saying and doing consistent with who you want to be and the impact you want to have? I bet you are curious where this journal is going??? I gotta tell you, I am so pumped about this image and the message behind it. It goes like this: Last week, iGnite San Diego member, Erinn Hanson, sent this picture of Barbie, perfectly planking. Of course, she didn't strip Barbie down and put her in a plank, but one of her daughters did! Here's what I lov

Point to Ponder: Are you "Spring Break Ready"? Last week, while thinking about our 6-Weeks to Spring Break Challenge, I found myself thinking about Spring Break and the real “why” behind us wanting you to make every effort to iGnite 24 times in 6-weeks. In the event you think we’re trying to guilt you into exercising because it’s time to “Get ready for bathing suit season.” No way, Jose! That’s not us. In fact, how annoying and unoriginal is that line? Of course we want you

Point to Ponder: Are you getting "summer ready"? Last week, after we launched our 6-Weeks to Summer Challenge, I found myself thinking about summer and the real “why” behind us wanting you to make every effort to iGnite 25 times in 6-weeks. In the event you think we’re trying to guilt you into exercising because it’s time to “Get ready for bathing suit season.” No way, Jose! That’s not us. In fact, how annoying and unoriginal is that line? While I’m on the topic, if anyone ev

Point to Ponder: What people or things do you take for granted? For Christmas, we gave Malaine, our five year old daughter, her first pet, or I should say her first “practice pet”. Rather than get the puppy she had been asking for, we opted for the easier and other pet she wanted: a Bearded Dragon. I said “No” to a dog and “ Yes” to the bearded dragon because, as expected, I became the primary caretaker of the lizard. Thankfully, she’s a pretty easy pet and I’ve become quite

As we approach the NCAA Sweet 16, it only seems fitting to start the week with our very own sweet 16- a list of 16 inspiring, encouraging, empowering and funny quotes by extraordinary women! 1. “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”– Katharine Hepburn 2. “A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.”– Eleanor Roosevelt 3. “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.”

Point to Ponder: Do your actions, attitude and words epitomize that of the strong, confident, independent, capable, kind, merciful and hard-working woman God created you to be? Friday was International Women’s Day, a day set aside to celebrate and acknowledge all that women have overcome and accomplished. Excitingly in iGnite, everyday is women’s day- whoop whoop!…and we don’t need a special day on the calendar to be reminded of our greatness and the infinite possibilities t

Point to Ponder: What is not serving you and therefore need to quit? In March 2017 I wrote a Sunday Journal called Quit Something. I got the idea from the book Love Does. The author, Bob Goff, shared that every Thursday he quits something. Two years ago I thought this was an excellent weekly exercise because it requires us to regularly stop and evaluate our actions and life, including any pesky habits that aren't serving us. Today and as we approach Lent, I think it’s the per