What 4 Days in Nature Taught Me About Health, Life & Letting Go

Friends, welcome, welcome. So nice to see you all, and if you're able to, would love to see your beautiful faces. Welcome, Dawn. Welcome, Deb. Welcome, Hillary. Welcome, Becca. Gonna put a reminder in our Facebook group as well, and as you're all tuning in, Let me know what you're grateful for today.

Breathe, breathe in the air. Set your intentions, dream with care.

Let me know what you're grateful for in the chat. Brand new moon, brand new So Deb says she's grateful that she's maintained her weight after week 1 in maintenance. Congratulations! So proud of you. Hillary says she's grateful for finding this program and getting ready to start it. Yes, I'm so excited for you, Hillary. Patty says getting a break from travel. Yes, travel is wonderful, but it's definitely nice to be back in your own bed, I'm sure, in your own home and space. Hey, and we will get started shortly here. When you feel this crazy society adding to the strain, take a stroll to the nearest water's edge. Remember, just wait a few more minutes and then we'll get started. Dawn says, I can now bring 31 pounds of stuff in our motorhome. Love that. Okay. Becca says, I'm grateful that we still have another month or two of warm weather. I love being outdoors, and luckily the summer is not going as fast as it usually does. Yes. Glad you brought that up because that's what we're going to be talking a little bit about today. Okay, so I will get started here. So today I wanted to share a little bit about, um, a recent journey and adventure that I went on, um, in Algonquin Park. Just this past weekend, myself, my husband, and a few of our colleagues and friends went on a portaging adventure. So does anyone here know what portaging is? No. Okay, so I will share a little bit about that. Give me a back in here. Oops, just gonna adjust this here. Give me one second. Just adjusting what I'm sharing here. Oops. Okay. Pulled out a few windows here. Okay. Can everyone see my screen?

Okay.

Okay, perfect. So portaging is basically when you carry a canoe. So you're basically canoeing in the backcountry, and you carry a— once you get to land, you carry the canoe and all your you know, food. And because we spent 4 days, 3 nights in the backcountry. So you put all your stuff into the canoes, your food, your clothing, you put it all in like wet bags. So, you know, if something were to happen, if it's to rain, everything stays dry. But it's basically once, once you get to land, then you have to carry your canoe and all your bags from one lake to another. And so it's, it's very common in terms of backcountry trips, right? Especially in Ontario. I live close to a national park called Algonquin Park. It's about 3.5 hours from here. And basically it's, it's a time to immerse yourself in nature and really learn from nature. So today I'm going to be sharing a little bit about my trip and what it taught me about health, what it taught me about life, what it taught me about letting go and some of the lessons that I learned through this trip, um, I'll be sharing with you all. So, and then, you know, obviously we'll leave some time for some questions as well at the end. Doesn't have to be about this specifically, but, um, we'll leave some time for general questions as well. Okay, so basically went with a group of colleagues and friends and, um, oops. Just that out of the way. And, you know, it really wasn't just a trip. It was an adventure. It was a reset. It was a transformation. And it really was a time to unplug and reconnect with what truly matters, right? And, you know, today I'll be sharing a little bit about some of the lessons that I learned through this trip and what nature taught me. Okay, there wasn't— it was all— it was not all sunshine and rainbows. There was some very challenging moments through the trip, which I'll share a little bit about as well. So basically, a trip like this can be really healing because you really get to immerse yourself in the forest, right? So, um, there's a prin— there's a principle called Shiren-yoku. I don't know if any of you have heard of that or not, but it's basically a Japanese term, and it's basically means forest bathing, right? And so spending time in nature is essential for our mental health and our physical health. And this is backed by science, right? It's— there's so many studies that when we immerse ourselves in nature and when we immerse ourselves in the sights and the sounds and the smells of the forest, it can be really rejuvenating for our health. And science is actually finally catching up with a lot of these ancient cultures that always knew that nature resets our stress response. Studies have shown that nature helps to reduce cortisol. It helps to heal our nervous system and put us more into what we call the parasympathetic state, which we talk a lot about on this program. Because the parasympathetic state is where all the healing, repair, and regeneration occurs, right? And it also helps to increase joy and helps us be grateful for the little things, right? Sometimes we think that, you know, we're, we're not really sure what we're grateful for, but it's really those small moments in life and all the simple things in life that really— what, you know, what I realized is that's what matters, right? So there's this thing called the Nature Pyramid. Has anyone heard of the Nature Pyramid? No. Okay, so it was created by a neuroscientist. Her name's Rachel Hauptman, and it helps us understand how much time to spend in nature. Okay, so, you know, similar to a food pyramid, there's a nature pyramid. So the recommendation is that you try to spend at least 20 minutes 3 times a week in a green space. Okay? So I think that's all doable for all of us. I know some people live in bigger cities, but even in bigger cities, they, you know, most cities will intentionally, you know, try to have some parks within the city, right? So really trying to spend 20 minutes 3 times a week in nature. Okay? Not like in the city, in a green space.

Okay?

And then you wanna spend at least 5 hours a month in forested parks. Okay? So whether you have to drive a little bit to, to access that, you wanna perhaps take a Sunday a month to do a nice long hike or spend some time by a waterfall close to your house. But 5 hours in a forested park is the recommendation. And then 3 days a year, you really wanna try to immerse yourself in wild nature. Okay, so whether that's, you know, camping or doing what I did, which was, you know, this, this portaging trip, but trying to spend 3 days a year immersed in wild nature. And to be honest, this was my first time doing that. Okay, I have camped before, but it was literally one night. I just spent one night in a tent. So this was my first time. I kind of just like went all in. And went for the 3 days, or the 4 days rather, and 3 nights. And this trip really checked all 3 boxes, right? And it was very profound. And, you know, just like the food pyramid, right, guides us on nutrition, the nature pyramid guides us on our mental and emotional nourishment. Okay, so, um, really want you all to reflect on how you can spend more time in nature. Okay, so I'll share with you a few of the, the lessons that I learned on this trip. So, you know, one of the, one of the lessons was to go with the flow, right? I found myself, especially, you know, the first 24 hours, trying to resist, right? Trying to be in control of everything. And, you know, even this waterfall picture here, I was really hesitant to, to go in, right? Right. And what I realized when I saw, you know, one of our guides, she just like literally went in with her bathing suit, just, you know, basically I didn't want to get my hair wet. And so I was really trying hard not to get my hair wet in this like waterfall, which was gushing down. And my husband was like, well, like, just why are you trying to like, why are you trying to control this situation? Right. It's inevitable that it's going to get wet. So when I saw the guide, her name's Ella, she just like took her hair out of the elastic, and she just like dipped her hair back in the water. So I was like, you know what, who cares? Like, I'm gonna do that too. So I eventually took my hat off, took my ponytail out, and I, you know, dipped myself in the water as well. And I learned to let go of control and expectations and rigidity, right? And so what I want you all to reflect on is what are you holding on to that you could let flow away, right? What are you resisting in your life, and how could you, you know, go more with the flow? If it's a particular situation in your life that you're resisting, but, you know, where in your life can you learn to let go? Okay, and it's, you know, fall or autumn is a great time to even reflect on this, right? When you think of You know, autumn when, or fall, however you want to call it, the, the, the trees let go of their leaves, right? The, the leaves no longer serve them. So what can you let go of, right? What no longer serves you? Okay, so just a few questions that you might want to write down as we go through this presentation and that you might want to reflect on this weekend. Okay, the second lesson was that growth lives outside of our comfort zone. Okay, so like I said, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. So unfortunately, on the way back, we were going upstream, and it was a really windy day. And no matter how much we tried, you know, our canoe was just not going forward. There was just such strong winds. We, we passed by a few people who are going in the opposite direction to us, and they're all like, you know, brace yourselves because We were going through a river, and as soon as we went through the river, there was the lake, and they're like, as soon as you hit that lake, you're going to hit strong winds. And they told us that it's going to be difficult, and I didn't know what to expect. This is because this was my first time doing it, right? And at that point, we had already paddled for about, I think it was like 3 hours. So, you know, I was kind of at my wits' end. And I just— when I thought it was going to be over, we were faced with like one of the most toughest challenges. And so we had to basically get out of our canoe and we had to walk our canoe along the shore of the lake. You know, typically speaking, it would have only been a 20-minute paddle if there were no winds, but it took us like over an hour because we had to walk our canoe halfway. And then the winds finally settled a little bit. And as you get closer to the finish line, the lake kind of settles down a little bit. So then we hopped back into our canoe, and it still wasn't easy. The winds were still strong, but we were able to, you know, paddle that last stretch even though it was difficult, right? So real growth isn't always comfortable. It's actually, you know, real growth happens when we're outside of our comfort zone in the discomfort. Right? And at that time, I was like, I'm never coming back here. I'm like, never going to do this. But, you know, looking back, I would, I would go back, right, in a heartbeat. So it was worth it. And, you know, we need to lean into the unfamiliar and going on this journey, right, in, in terms of doing the reset, you know, it, I'm sure it wasn't very comfortable to, to first of all, sign yourself up for a program to go through the reset and the release phase of the program, right? It can be challenging, right? But as you— many of you have witnessed coming out of the release phase, out of those 6 weeks, that's where your transformation occurred, right? Going through those challenges, going through that difficult time, that's where your transformation occurred, right? You went outside— all of you took the step and went outside of your comfort zone, right? And, and enrolled in this program. So I'm proud of all of you for taking that step. Okay. So yeah, so like we can find so many like metaphors, right, with, with nature and our own lives. My third lesson was that I realized that we truly are resistant, right? This is us. We're coming out of that windy river and on the way there, the windy river, you know, we were going downstream. So it was fun, right? We were just kind of getting used to our paddling. And, you know, we were laughing and joking around, and this was us just coming out of the windy river, and it felt like we were in this windy river with the winds, the strong winds, and going upstream. This was on the way back when we were on our way home, but it felt like the windy river was never-ending, right? And the way there, it was beautiful, and I was looking at all the beautiful flowers and lily pads, and on the way back, I'm like, ah, I'm sick and tired of looking at these lily pads. Like, I just want this to be over, right? But what I realized is that we are resilient, right? We had no choice, right? Otherwise, we would have been stuck in this paddle. We had to get through, right? So I know we've all been through hard things and we've all survived, right? I'm sure many of you can remember times in your lives when you went through hard things and just remembering that that strength is within you. Okay, life will test us, but like nature, we have to adapt. Okay, and at the end of it, you learn something new, right? At the end of it, that's where the lessons are. Okay, lesson 4. What I realized is that simple is beautiful, right? Beauty is in the simple moments. We saw 3 sunsets. And 2 sunrises. And the sunsets were one, you know, my favorite moments, right? Just sitting there watching the beautiful sunset onto the lake, you know, having friends around us, having my husband around me. And those quiet moments that, you know, we shared together were the best moments, right? So I want you to reflect on what simple joys can welcome you back into your life. Okay, simplicity, as I said earlier, is what grounds us in gratitude, right? These simple moments. All right, so whether that's tomorrow morning, maybe you wake up with the sunrise and watch the sunrise with a nice cup of tea. Right? So little simple things that you can do to bring you back into the present moment. And to bring you back to, you know, gratitude, right? Being grateful for those moments. Lesson 5 was connection is everything, right? Whether it's family or friends, right? Connection with other people is truly what nourishes us, right? And I think that many of us probably learned this lesson coming out of COVID right? When we were all— had to be separated, um, is that connecting with other people is what, what brings most of us joy, right? Being fully present with the people we love. It's hard, it's hard these days, right, when we, um, have so many devices and distractions around us, right? I, I know there's times sometimes where, um, you know, I'm sure it happens to all of us, right, where I'm on my phone, my husband's on my phone, my son is on his computer, and we're in the same room but we're disconnected. Right? So, you know, and sometimes that's gonna happen, right? But where can we be fully present with people? Where can we put away those distractions and really prioritize meaningful connection with friends and family members? Right? Maybe having a couple times a week where you have a no-screen evening, right? Where you go back to maybe doing simple things like playing board games, or, you know, going for a nice bike ride. That's something we did this past week. We went for a nice bike ride yesterday. We went for a nice long hike. Right? What are things that you can do to prioritize meaningful connection with friends and family? Okay, lesson 6 was your teacher is in every moment, right? Especially when you're out in nature, you just notice that there's so many metaphors for life and that nature is always teaching, right? And that we need to take time to listen and reflect and stop doing and be more present, right? There were times where I literally just went off when we went— when we got to our campsite, I just went off in the forest to a little area where I could just sit on a rock, and I literally was just watching the water and the sun reflecting on the water and just how the water was glistening and just observing the beauty around us, right? Every moment and nature offers us insight if we just slow down enough to receive it, right? Just sitting still and breathing and noticing our breath, right? Noticing where peace lives. And many times it's not about doing more, it's about being present. And nature brings us into the present moment, right? We were just reflecting how there were so many times where we're like, You know, it's a Saturday, and if we were at home, the day would just go like this, right? But in nature, time slows down and the days feel really long. So really trying to slow down, and we all, when we went into this trip, we had to set an intention, and my intention was to slow down. And so I really took those moments to slow down. So where in your life can you slow down? Right? It's so easy to get caught up in our day-to-day life, especially when we live in the city. We rush, we go from place to place. We're always thinking about the next moment and not the present moment. Right? So how can you slow down? How can you be more present? Okay, lesson 7: let nature reset you, right? Being in nature really slows down your brain waves, right? Time slows down, just like meditation, right? And it, it really resets our nervous system, like I said, right? It, it really puts us into that parasympathetic state. So when was the last time you truly unplugged? Right? For many of us, it's been a long time since we were able to unplug, where we were able to be disconnected from our phones or our devices or our screens. Hey, Becca says, I so agree. One thing about being in nature, at least for me, is that I never think about my to-do lists. I'm basically never in my head. Exactly. Right? So this is why we need to do more of these type of things. Okay, because it really does nourish our soul. So there's many more lessons that I had taken away from this trip, and I've written a whole blog article about it. I'll post it in our Facebook group once it's up, but I just want to share a little bit about my trip And if any of you, you know, live in Ontario or want to do a trip like this, we had several people on our trip. As I said, they were colleagues and friends and team members of ours that came on the trip with us. There was one lady from Austin, Texas. There was a gentleman from Montreal. So people came from, you know, different parts of the US and Canada. And so if you're ever looking to do a trip like this, obviously you'd want to do it with a guide, right? The backcountry is quite vast and expansive. And if you've never done something like this, like you need to know certain survival skills, right? Not that we were in any danger, but we went with an outfitter company called Driftwood Paddle. This is Chris and his girlfriend Ella, and they were just amazing guides, like they didn't— it wasn't just about a trip, it was a transformational experience for us, right? They, they helped us connect to nature, be more present, connect with each other, and they really curated a whole experience. So if you're ever looking to do something like this, I would highly recommend them as your guides, and I'll put a link, um, in the, in the chat in terms of you know, their website. And if you want to reach out to them and, and see if this is something that you want to explore, um, would definitely give them a shout. So lastly, you know, I don't know if any of you heard of Lao Tzu, but, um, he basically has a famous quote where it says, "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished," right? So slowing down isn't a bad thing. I know sometimes living in the world that we live in. You know, people think that slowing down is failure, right? But slowing down is wisdom, right? What can you let go of to create space for more presence, joy, and vitality? And where can you slow down in your life, right? When we slow down, we notice— we, we notice more, right? We notice our breath. We connect with others better, right? And healing really does happen in the pause, right? Not in the go, go, go. And many of you have experienced that on this program, right? Where you may have been asked to take a little step back from doing, doing, doing and be more in the being. Right? That's where we shift into the parasympathetic state. That's where all the healing and repair and regeneration occurs. So take some time this weekend to reflect on some of those questions. Where can you slow down? How can you spend more time in nature? How can you be more present and connected with friends and family around you? Take some time to reflect on perhaps some hardships that you've gone through, and that you've come out on the other end, and be proud of yourself for going through those things and coming out stronger on the other side of it. Okay, so I will stop my screen share here, and We'll take a moment for some questions. And I'll put the website for Driftwood Paddle as well. Questions, comments? Has anyone done a trip like this before?

No.

Okay. Anyone intrigued by it or something that— and you know, you don't have to do like what I did, 3 nights. You could do 2 nights, right? I think if you're going that far, you definitely need to do 2 nights. Otherwise, it just is not, uh, worth your time, right? Um, but starting— a starting point could be 2 nights. And, um, you know, you can start slow, right? Maybe you can go on a campsite and, um, start there, right, where there's still a few luxuries, so to speak. Um, but it is— it's definitely a very unique experience. Very few people, I'm sure, have done something like this. But, um, and it doesn't have to look exactly like this. It could be, you know, your own way of, of immersing yourself in, in nature somehow. Okay, what questions do you all have? Questions? If you have a question, you can unmute yourself. Oops, second. Sorry. I know it's a long weekend in Canada. I think it might be a long weekend. In the US too. So if the weather is nice, maybe you can do your 5-hour-a-month part of the nature pyramid. Becca says, I go backpacking 1 to 2 times every year. It's always a grind, but I just can't help myself. The rewards are many. Yes, correct, they are. Hillary, I know you're new to our community. When are you planning on starting your journey?

I'm starting tomorrow.

Okay, awesome. So any questions about the, the loading phase?

No, I guess just, um, you do want us to track all the calories to be exact?

Yeah, it's just those 2 days, right? It doesn't have to be exact, but In the Practice Better app, I was going to double-check today that I made sure that I gave you access to the journals. But when you— you can use the Practice Better app to log your food, and then it'll kind of give you the caloric breakdown as well of the foods. Yeah, you do have access to the journal, so you can just log it there. So that way I know you've gotten started. And then don't forget your spray as well. Yeah. So, you know, you'll take— you'll take— start the spray starting tomorrow for the loading, loading phase. And then so tomorrow, Saturday, so Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday you'll start the release phase. Make sure you take your measurements, pictures as well just to track your journey. And then you'll be doing the 2 meals, you know, I usually let people pick the time that works best for them depending on their schedule. But the 2 meals within the 8 hours and then the 16-hour fasting window, 4 ounces of protein, 4 ounces of non-free vegetables, 4 ounces of fruit, and an unlimited amount of free vegetables.

Sounds good. I did have a question about sparkling water.

Yes.

Can you, can you use like the SodaStream and make that?

Yes.

Okay.

You can have sparkling water on the release phase as long as, you know, it doesn't have any added sugars, then that's totally fine. Yeah. Great.

Looking forward to it.

Yeah, I am too. Looking forward to it.

Do you guys have any getting started words of wisdom for me?

Yeah. Does anyone else, any, anyone have any words of wisdom for for Hillary? Dawn, Deb, I know you guys are, you know, went through it, and it's kind of— you guys are both at similar points in your journey, but any words of wisdom for Hillary as she goes through the release phase? Any tips?

Okay, I think I'm unmuted, right?

Yes, you are. Yep, we can hear you.

All right, so, um, my only tip would be kind of everything's written in the book, but, you know, following the ounces to a T is really important. I mean, you kind of have everything written there. So if you just follow it, it's, it is truly amazing because it really works. So I also did my own separate calendar that it was kind of fun for me to write down where I was in my own personal calendar. And I was writing my goal and then how much, you know, I had to lose and how much I already lost. So I was always looking at those numbers.

Yeah. Yeah. I think, as Dawn has mentioned, is the program works, right? So as long as you stay compliant, you will get results. Yeah.

Yeah. And it's, it's hard to believe. But it's true. Yeah. It's really true.

Yep. Deb, anything you want to share? You can go ahead and unmute. Yeah, I just followed the recipe. Basically, you have the 3 things you're allowed to have each meal, plus the unlimited vegetables were what I really enjoyed because I got hungry, but It was manageable. Yeah, it, it really works. Yeah, thank you for sharing. Yeah, I, um, I think really, you know, sometimes people forget, um, how much food they can eat. And I'll show you some pictures here, um, let me pull it up, of some, you know, inspiration for some meals. Let's see here. I'm gonna pull it up here. Angela put something in the comments there as well. She says, I wouldn't— I would say don't be afraid of how much you're eating and how full you feel. Enjoy all the extra calories. I wish I had just ate more often, grazing versus worrying about 3 solid meals. So Where's my folder? Here I have a folder with a— I know some of you, when you journal, you put, take pictures of your food, and, and I save a lot of them. So I have a whole folder of all the beautiful pictures of meals that clients have created. So this is one here where there's some sautéed, or it looks like barbecued red pepper, red onion, mushrooms. This is all free. And then there's some free vegetables in here as well. This is all free— cabbage, cucumber, arugula. Non-free, this is the broccolini, the protein, and the fruit here. So as you can see, like, more than half the plate is free vegetables. Show you a couple more. Hey, this one here, there's some— looks like chicken here on a bed of all free vegetables. Celery, there's lettuce here, cucumber. The non-free vegetables is the cauliflower, and then the free— the fruit is here. So once again, you know, a lot of food, and you know, there's a lot of people come— a lot of people comment that they're eating more than they usually do. Becca has a few tips. Becca, you can go ahead and unmute. Let me— you can go ahead and unmute.

Oh, yeah. One thing that really helped me, because I did the reset twice, and the first time I did the low days, I was so sick because it's a lot of calories, but I did eat, like, you know, they say to get your, you know, your favorite foods out of the way. So I was eating gluten and just with all those extra calories that made me sick. And then, so the second time I did the, the load phase, I just stuck to high calorie foods, which would be fats, right? Mm-hmm. So I would make eggs with cheese and lots of olive oil and butter. I just stuck to non-inflammatory foods. But high fat. And I felt so much better. And of course, I did— like somebody said, you spread it out throughout the day so that you're not eating in one big meal 3 times a day. Just try to do 10 meals if you can, just snacking throughout the day. That really helped. And the other thing I would say is people underestimate that if they try to have a little cheat here and there, that really stalls and it's just not worth it. So that's my other piece of advice. There was a third piece of advice, but I can't think of it right now. But anyway, that's two of them at least.

So yeah, great tips. Love that. Yeah. If you haven't had your gallbladder removed, then really, as Becca mentioned, loading up on the fats gets you to that— you know, for you, Hillary, I think 3,500 to 4,000 should be enough. I don't think you need to get to 5,000. So really, you know, focusing on the fats. There is a sample meal plan in the guide, which is a clean loading, so you're not going to feel as terrible. And that, that'll give you about 3,600 calories. So you can follow that if you wish. And then also, as, as Becca mentioned, is really grazing throughout the day rather than— and as Angela has mentioned, rather than having 3 meals It's— if you try to have 3 meals, then it's just going to be a lot of food at one sitting, and that's when you can feel kind of gross as well. So just kind of try to graze throughout the day as much as possible as well. And yeah, those 2 days are the hardest part. And then, you know, after that, the release phase is definitely a lot more easier and As Becca said, you know, sometimes people will say, oh, you know, while they're on the release phase, I'm going out or doing this or doing that. Is it okay if I, you know, or have this meal or cheat or whatever it is, as she said? And the more you can stick to it specifically during the release phase, the better the results you're going to get because If you do go off plan, then it can create, as she said, a little more of a setback to get back on track because, you know, you might go off plan and then your weight will kind of stall for a few days or go up, and then you kind of have to go back down. So you're kind of doing this yo-yo thing. So the more you can stick to it during those 6 weeks, the better the results you'll get. Yeah, and I know sometimes things come up, so it might be hard to stay 100% compliant if you have like a social, you know, 1 or 2 social events during the 6 weeks. You try your best to stick as close to the release phase as possible. Yep, go ahead, Dawn.

I'm still unmuted, so I did want to jump in. The other thing too is if you're going to a social event, what I have done is I just eat my meal before I go, so I'm not hungry.

Yeah.

And then when I go, it's a lot, you know, it's a lot easier to just, you know, not have anything.

Yep.

Because, you know, like even when you go out, like you, you're not getting organic typically, you know? So it's, it's just like the whole thing's just not worth it, but yet I could still go.

Mm-hmm.

Yep. I don't know. Because you, to me, you just gotta make it a real priority. But I mean, when you're traveling, I can't answer to that because I didn't really do any traveling.

Yeah, that's a great point. I think it's just— and then, you know, of course, as a lot of you are on maintenance and have finished the program, like, it doesn't have to be so rigid at that point, right? Then you can, like, you know, open things up a little bit and You know, not have to stick to everything 100%. It's just we wanna really maximize the results that we can get during the release phase, and then after that we can introduce things back in and still maintain our results. Hey, any other questions, comments? Quiet bunch. What was everyone's biggest takeaway from the presentation? Type one thing in the chat. What was your biggest takeaway? And who's going to be— Deb says love time in nature, very calming and centering. Yes, exactly. Who's going to be spending more time in nature this weekend? Yeah, good. I'm glad that was inspiring for you all. Becca says, don't feel guilty for being outdoors and not hustling. Yep. Hillary says, nature is powerful for connecting with. Love it. Deb says, I spend hours daily in my garden. Yeah, that's a great way to, to be outside, right? And, and be in connection with nature, right? When we— having a garden is actually super rewarding, right? Knowing that you planted something from a seed or a seedling and watch, you know, watching it flourish. And like this morning I was out in my garden. I picked like a handful of beans. I picked some little green chilies. I picked lots of herbs. So I— with certain herbs, you can't do it with all herbs, but I am something, you know, herbs like oregano and rosemary and thyme. I basically, you know, obviously pick them and then I give them a good wash. And then I basically bundle them together and tie a string around them, and then I hang it to dry. And I just let it dry for, you know, about 7 to 10 days until it's completely dried. And then I, you know, take off all the leaves, like for oregano, for example. Once it's completely dried, I take off the leaves and you crumble it and I put it in a jar. And that's my dried oregano, right? And I've even Posted a— I'll show you guys the difference between store-bought dried oregano versus home, homemade dried oregano, and you'll see there's just like a huge difference. So I do the same with rosemary, and I do the same with thyme as well. So So, and can anyone guess which one is the home versus store-bought? Bottom is home. Exactly right. You can tell right away. Don says, love the nature pyramid, time slows down. So true, but never put that together. Camped for 3 and a half weeks with husband and even one little quibble, we were both joyful. Yeah. Right.

Yeah. No quibbles.

Oh, no quibble. Okay.

Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Like, there was exactly one quibble. There was nothing. But that was 3 and a half weeks in a little tiny motorhome.

Yeah. In such a small space.

Right. But there was like the whole time it was just so joyful. Yeah. But I didn't realize till you just mentioned all those things. It's like, wow, that's probably why that happened, because I couldn't believe it.

Yeah. And you're just doing simple things, right? So that's why, that's why there's no quibbles.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe that is why. I don't know. I'm not fixing anything or—

Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, I will let you all go a few minutes early and enjoy your long weekends unless there's Any other questions?

Oh, there's one more comment. Yeah, it's a dry bag.

You want to know what a dry bag is?

No, you were calling— you said that you had a wet bag.

Yes, a wet pack. Sorry. Yeah, it's, it's a dry bag. Sorry.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But when you said that, I thought she's never gone camping.

Yeah, sorry. It's called a dry bag.

I was laughing.

It's the opposite.

Right, right, right.

Here, this is what it looks like. This is a dry bag.

Yeah. So you can throw all your— Yeah, go ahead. Yeah.

You put all your stuff in here and it just keeps it dry.

Yeah. So if you capsize. Yeah.

Thank you for correcting me. You're right. I'm not an experienced camper.

I know. So I thought that was really cute because in my head, you know. And then, um, later when you said, you know, that you've never done this before, that was like cute because it was a confession.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that was proof that I'd never done it before.

Oh, awesome.

Okay, well, have a wonderful rest of your weekend, everyone, and enjoy some time in nature, whether it's 20 minutes or if you want to do the 5 hours. I invite you to go outside of your comfort zone. Hey, and if there's any questions, just, uh, you can always message me and, uh, we'll go from there. Okay, bye everyone.

Thank you.

Have a great weekend. It's my pleasure. Bye.