Category Archives: A Perky Life

Wowzers! New Year’s Goals That Actually Work

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By Christie PErkins

new years goals

I love new starts. It’s why I love the roll over of a new year, daylight savings (yes, I’m one of the endangered few that actually likes daylight savings time), a new school year, St. Patricks Day, Sunday’s, a new bottle of shampoo or toothpaste.

Ah.

New starts are like de-junking the house. It’s our renewed effort to ditch shabby habits for new and improved habits. Often I make trite, tight, new goals to organize, improve health habits, and develop talents. Blah, blah, blah. Continue reading →

Making Spirits Bright

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by Christie Perkins

Tis the season for making spirits bright. The message is simple: Love, Laugh, Lift.

howperkyworks.com (4)LOVE. See the non-obvious beauty in others. The things that we like about people are easy to see and love. Get to know someone’s true beauty. The best way to do that is to knock down our judgments of others by thinking good things. When I was in 4th grade we read a book about a boy who could read people’s thoughts. I was gullible enough to think that maybe someone really did have that special power.

And it had me on-guard every time I was around people (though I never cared if spiders could hear my thoughts, still don’t care). Continue reading →

What are Your Unlikely Gratitude Candidates?

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by Christie perkins

Unlikely GratiIt’s a tradition to think about what we are thankful for this time of year. Often the things that we are thankful for are traced back to some reason that triggered our insight. We can rattle off the things that we are grateful for that have given us comfort in our lives. But what about those not so awesome moments. Here’s a few of my triggers for my gratitude. Check out these unlikely candidates: Continue reading →

Keys to a Successful Turkey Day

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 by Christie Perkins

5 Keys to a Successful ThanksgivingI love turkey day. I didn’t used to. Thanksgiving was a holiday that had a table full of delicious food and all I could think about was the stuffing. I hate stuffing. Someone would always try to get me to “just try it.”

I have tried it.

It’s exactly why I despise it. I don’t like marinated chicken broth bread. Ok, so I know that 99.967% of the population likes stuffing so this post is not coming on strong for anyone. In fact I probably dropped a few followers with the line “I hate stuffing.”

Forgive me. (Come on back now… if you eat it I’ll just avoid smelling your breath.) Continue reading →

How Food and Word Choices Affect How We Feel

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by Christie Perkins

ostella bistroEverything we say or do is a choice. As a nutritionist I understand the toll of what we put into our mouths on our body.

During my chemo treatments I was amazed at the power of the food on my overall well being. Even though I couldn’t taste what I wiggled down the food tube, I felt better when I ate better- when I ate foods from all of the food groups.

It was a simple choice that affected me as a whole. And even now with fully acting taste buds, I am more keenly aware of how my food choices affect me.

(And, boy, have I been flubbing that up lately. Who eats lemon bars for breakfast? Well, who besides my kids and I? Yep, bad mom moment.) Continue reading →

Gratitude Switcharoo: Give the Reason To Be Grateful

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by Christie PErkins

Don’t just look for a reason to be grateful, give someone the reason to be.

howperkyworks.com (3)Typically the month of November is a time we focus on all of the things that we are grateful for. I love it. It’s so nice to evaluate the good things in our lives. To recognize all those things that have been squished against our noses but somehow failed to see.

So typically we find reasons to be grateful. We list them on construction paper turkey feathers, die cut leaves, or more permanently- in our journals, etc. We display them somewhere (well, maybe not the journal that could be… intrusive) so we can remember all the goodness that life offers. Regardless, it’s a snazzy little thing that softens our complaint list in the month of November.

It’s nice. It’s needed. Continue reading →

If Pumpkins Can Smile, So Can You

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The Happy Pumpkin Parable

by Christie Perkins

So, I found this pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. He was smiling. No one got a hold of him and forced him to smile but by natures own undertaking he was sharing a genuine smile.

howperkyworks.com (2)A real, unforced, uncarved smile.

I just had to bring him home with me so I bought the little guy and I let his attitude rub off on me. Yes, I understand it is just a pumpkin. Not a thing with actual feelings, or moments of frazzle, bad attitudes, or glorious moments of pizzaz. I get that. But there was something magical about him.

His smile was catchy. He smiled when we fought, when we had a bad day, when the house was a mess; when my piano music was off beat. He wasn’t mocking he was just seeing the good when maybe I couldn’t.

I’m a fan of this genuine little pumpkin man.

Continue reading →

Grateful for the Handless Stinkbug Twirl

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Let the Little Things Change You

by Christie Perkins

We live for inspirational moments. Well I do, anyway.

Sometimes I will seek out inspirational quotes or messages online and find great delight in its effect on me. I rerun it over and over in my head.

But I especially love it when the day’s forward motion strikes an inspirational moment and I’m changed for the better. My own personal inspirational moment.

2015 Aug PLeasant Creek Campground 025So, I’ve had a thought that keeps pegging me: I wonder how many times I miss some inspirational moment? I miss it because I’m too stuck on the mundane task ahead of me. I miss it because I’m too busy thinking about what’s next. And I miss it because I fail to think about how it can apply to me.

And sometimes it catches me by surprise. I remember one instance nearly a decade ago that still influences me. It was such a little thing with big impact.

Continue reading →

How Volcano Day Warmed My Soul

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Cancer and Volcano Eruptions

by Christie Perkins

It was just the 5th grade volcano day.

For any other parent it would have been one of those dreaded weekend cram sessions of twirling homework hurling. But for me, life was erupting and spewing fresh hot lava down new paths.

Yep. Good old cancer diagnosis blew 5 days before volcano day.volcano day 012

The week I was diagnosed with cancer my life erupted and everything came to a halt. It seemed that all I could see was the lava flow of cancer. It was consuming me. Not that I was depressed, necessarily, but I was overwhelmed by the details of it.

One day I’m planning the sweet details of my own life and the next day my health care concerns are charring in life’s little fire. It’s like those sugared almonds I have trouble with. In one minute it’s looking good and then then next moment they are eyepopping black-ish. It’s the elite cancer lava plan I just got thrown into. Continue reading →

Back to School Goals: Aim Lower

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by Christie Perkins

I’m you’re classical textbook mom. I always encourage my kids to do their best. It’s okay if they aren’t number one, it’s okay if they miss spelling words, it’s okay to mess up every once in a while as long as they do their best unless, of course, it comes to chores then I acclimate to” Rewind and Repeat Mom”.

But, for the most part, life’s little stabs of imperfection are cushioned by smiles and circular back rubs.

So, here comes another school year where we encourage, prod, and nod perfect efforts regardless of perfect scores. It’s the effort that matters, right? Continue reading →