January Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Self” — Embracing fifty with guts, adventure, laughter. In 2020, I entered the Ms Health and Fitness Contest — at age 50! The prize was $20K and a chance to be featured on the cover of the magazine. My motto was “Want to see a real ordinary person on the cover of a fitness magazine?” I promoted myself…

March Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Movement” — Got goggles? See the world underwater. You can see by the smile on my face that I love ocean swimming. I swim throughout the seasons, rain or shine, and sometimes snow. In 2021, I completed 131 open-water swims as a personal fitness challenge. …

March Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Movement” — Got legs? Use them — for life. Loved that ZZ Top song when I was a teenager. I danced in my bedroom in front of the mirror with my hairbrush microphone and swayed to the music. I pretended I was the sexiest girl alive with my big stiff permed Ice Misted hair. In my fantasy — I…

How underdogs chase progress not perfection — “Are you just learning to swim?” That’s what a stranger asked me while I was joyfully swimming in the Pacific Ocean. I laughed and replied. “Oh — am I that bad?” I told him I’d been practicing open water swimming regularly for the past two years and I was surprised…

Love & Hearts Six Word Photo Story: Freestyle — Wet bikini bums make cute hearts. I thought of Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, “Love & Hearts” prompt that we ran in February 2023 when I was reviewing my photos. I took this shot last summer after an ocean swim. I sat down on the log, then got up and turned around. I realized my bum made…

Fitness Bit #20 | What I do to strengthen my core — Fitness Bit #19: Abs, abs, abs! In 2021, I signed up for my friend Chrissy’s fitness and nutrition program. During the process, she asked me questions about my goals and progress and we wrote about it and shared it with our fitness community. Back then, she asked me what core exercises I was doing. Chrissy: What…

Collections Six Word Photo Story: Freestyle — Got feet? Shoes for all sizes. The moment I saw this in the shoe store window, I thought of Sandi Parsons “Collections” prompt that we ran in October 2022. Who doesn’t love shoes? We’re open for submissions and invite you to submit to the current May Monthly Challenge “Water” led by my dear co-editor Vidya Sury…

Cooking Challenge (#33 Roast Beef & Sides) “I can’t believe I cooked it!” — For 2023, I’m posting meals I cook to keep a record of my cooking and baking experiences and recipes and adding them to my recipe collection from my 2022 Cooking Challenge. This is dish #33. You can read my initial cooking challenge here, my conclusion, and steps on creating your…

May Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Water” — My thoughts whenever nearby open water. I didn’t always enjoy swimming in open water, but when my 10-year-old son dared me to swim in the Pacific Ocean during the summer of 2020, I became obsessed with it. When I started swimming, my technique lacked grace, style, and precision, but I was ignorant of this. It didn’t…