Basically if you know the plot of Cinderella you can follow along here, even if you haven't seen the new film so just bear with me. So you know the basics, literally EVIL rotten stepmother and heartless stepsisters.  They honestly were nothing but CRUEL to Cinderella. Doing everything they could to break Cinderella and her happiness. 

So here's where I found the real message- In the last minutes of the film, Cinderella is leaving with the prince and turns around, makes eye contact with her evil step mother and says, "I forgive you." 

I FORGIVE YOU!?! But we just watched this whole movie about this huge BITCH and then at the end of the movie Cinderella FORGIVES HER?!?!?!?!?!?!? 

Some women watching to movie would be like "AH HELL NAH, I would've slapped her" but to me, this literally spoke to me so much. Both times I saw the movie, I teared up during this scene. But why? The message here is that in the end, all of their hatred and wrong doing (more modern day would be- name calling, twitter fighting, obsessing over someone else's social media, gossip, petty information spreading, false accusations) these are all things that are out of YOUR control. All of the hatred is coming from the other person. The reason for 90% of the wrong doings to ME my whole life, were because of someone else's insecurity. Insecurity leads to so many actions that people don't realize. Jealousy, spite, hate, envy; ALL these things are rooted from insecurity. 

The thing is is that you have to be comfortable and happy with YOURSELF. If you're not, you will fall into every trap and argument and battle with every person that is trying to bring  you down with them. DO NOT let people who are unhappy with their lives, try to make you unhappy with yours. BE POSITIVE. And when it comes down to it, keep your soul happy. There is nothing more powerful in the world than forgiving THOSE who have done wrong against you. Your conscious will be clear, your soul happy, and your mind will be free of any bad thoughts to this person. Once again, you come out on top. You're a better person because of it. 

My heart goes out to those with a troubled soul. If you feel the need to constantly bring others down to your level of unhappiness, you need to reevaluate your life. If you're not happy with your life, DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE IT. Do not obsess over other people and try to turn the world against those that are filled with light. If you find yourself speaking ill of someone, look yourself in the mirror and find out what you need to change in your own life. Turn to YOURSELF for happiness and look alive. You have an entire life ahead of you, do you want to be an evil stepmother or a Cinderella? Because I am sure as hell a Cinderella and that isn't going to change because you're trying to bring me down.

And with that being said, I forgive you. 

All who have done wrong to me out of jealousy, hate, spite, and envy. I forgive you. Now go get your life together, because I'm telling you right now, Cinderella is the only one with a happy ending. 

Added: This day and age, (mostly) women are so obsessed with social media and how they are portrayed through photos and twitter. One important thing to remember is that no matter what is happening on social media, you never know what goes on behind their phones. EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. in the world is fighting their own battles, no one's life is perfect and beautiful 100% of the time. Be kind. Don't judge people or over analyze people's social media. If you're so bored that you spend day in and day out finding things wrong with women online, I pity you. Please, for the sake of mankind, do something more productive with your life than attempting to bring other people down. 

Being nice to people is a really good idea. 

So, I haven't written a blog in a few months because I've been writing them daily for my new job, which you can check out here ---- www.oahuspineandrehab.com/blog/ ---- look under the "lifestyle" category  if you would like and you will find some of my work!

Also, I've been busy gaining ten pounds since my husband got home. But with the help from AdvoCare (shameless plug here: https://www.advocare.com/140226227) and eating healthy, that ten pounds will be gone in no time!

Anyways, that is why this blog is a recipe for literally the only healthy thing I know how to make from scratch. Which works for me because it is DELICIOUS. 

The 8th Wonder of the World: Quinoa Salad! 

Ingredients:

1 whole cucumber

1 whole zucchini 

Cherry Tomatoes (or regular diced)

Kalamata Olives

Directions: (According to photos)

Bottom left: Before you start chopping, put your Quinoa on to cook. I use rainbow or tri-colored quinoa because it's prettier but they both work. I use one cup of uncooked Quinoa, put on burner with two cups water or chicken stock. Cook like rice (10 minutes after water boils- DON'T STIR) 

Upper left photo: Start with a whole cucumber and whole zucchini and some cherry tomatoes or diced regular if you prefer.

Upper right photo: Dice all ingredients so in small squares, I cut cherry tomatoes in half just because of preference put in medium sized serving bowl! (Also cut olives if preferred)

Now, go feed your cute little guinea pig some cucumber. Oh wait.... Is that just me? 

Once quinoa is cooked take off the burner and stir, let it cool for 10-15 minutes and then add to the bowl and mix! Add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.! And you're done! 

There you go! Delicious, HEALTHY, super easy and pretty too!
This is very basic obviously you can add anything else that you want.

You're welcome! 

Note: I add extra quinoa because I like to eat this for lunch by itself. Also - my pictures don't include the Kalamata olives because I'm not a huge fan!

Here is how I feel about your attitude for a deployment. If you are CHOOSING to be negative about everything, then your life will continue to be negative. So yeah, if your whole life "stinks", deployment is going to be hell for you and your negative attitude. 

Now here's a thought: What if you went into each day being positive, and turned all of your bad, negative thoughts into good ones? Then guess what, your day will start being more positive as well. Same goes with your deployment. 

Deployment sucks. There's no doubt about that. I didn't want my husband to leave, I cried weeks building up to the deployment because I didn't want to have to live without him. And I miss him every second of every day. There is not an activity I'm doing that I don't want him there beside me (except watching my shitty shows because I don't need your comments, Nathaniel.......) But really, I have bad days where I just need to Facetime him and see his perfect face. And our wedding songs tug at my heart strings and every time I think of him being gone, my heart hurts. That's the cold hard truth, deployment sucks for all parties involved. 

Now, with that being said.... 

I have had a blast while Nathan has been gone. And guess what? He's been having a lot of fun too... and that is OKAY. 

While Nathan has been gone I have made bad ass new friends, worked my ass off, tried new foods, shopped, raised our perfect little guinea pig, I visited home, I hiked Koko Head, I had one of my best friends come visit, I swam with sea turtles, I saw concerts, I went out until sunrise, made one of the best friends I've ever had, I said goodbye to great friends, I swam, I worked out, I tanned, I got a new job, did I mention I've had great food? Above all, I  had the most amazing adventures. 

My life went on.

Every single day I woke up thinking "what can I do next?" 

And because of this, I had potentially the best six months of my life. I was lucky enough to be "stuck" in Hawaii while Nathan was gone, but it doesn't matter where I'm located because life will always go on.

Nate got to go to two countries that a lot of people will never have the opportunity to visit. He worked his ass off, got promoted, started working out everyday, he had to live on a boat, he made great memories with his friends, and had new experiences without me. 

The day I dropped Nate off to leave for deployment, I cried for about two hours. Then I washed my face threw on a bikini and went on my first hike in Hawaii. I proceeded on to go eat my first poke bowl, and then I went to Sandys beach for the first time. I surrounded myself with people and things that made my heart so full, I had forgotten why I needed to be crying anyways.

Through the duration of Nate's deployment I have seen so many girls that are so lost and broken without their husbands, having trouble living on without them.... 

And to them I say this: 

Chin up! There is nothing more powerful in this world than positive thoughts. Stop constantly looking for attention with negativity (online or otherwise) and get out and go work on yourself. Surrounding yourself with people that pity you is the worst thing you can do. MAKE PLANS. I'm telling you do as much crap as you can fit into a day, and when you're done, do it again. If you have a full calendar of adventures planned, your month will fly by, have so many fun plans that you will actually be SAD when the month is over. Do things that you can't do while your husband is home. Binge watch bad shows with your girlfriends, have sleepovers every night of the week, sleep with 10 stuffed animals, don't set an alarm, buy the foods he hates that you love, go dancing, blast Taylor Swift and have a dance party by yourself every night! 

Do what makes your soul happy. Embrace alone time. Don't be afraid to LOVE it. Appreciate all of the little things in your days that make you happy. Shake off the negative, it's not worth your energy. I'm not telling you to not ever cry, or not ever be sad. Emotions are healthy, I cry nearly every day about something. Miss your husband, miss the hell out of him. We all do. But realize that you have a life to live. In the timeline of your whole lives together what percent is this 6 months, or this year? The smallest percent imaginable. Go out and live your life so that when your husband comes back to you, he's proud of you. 

............................................................................................................................

I'm so grateful Nathan was able to go on this deployment. He was excited to do his job and at first I didn't understand that. My whole outlook on deployment was that I thought Nathan was excited to leave me here. Looking back now, I realize how unbelievably ridiculous that was of me. I was focused on all of the negative that surrounded the deployment. Nate was just excited to go do his job. In this, he was growing and becoming a better more respectable person and I'm so so proud of him. 

I grew while Nathan was gone too, and I'm happy that I did. With our countdown nearing it's final days, I couldn't be more excited. I can honestly say I have no idea where these last six months went. Because time truly does fly when you're having fun. 

Shout out to all of the people who helped me grow in these past six months.

You're incredible. I love you all. 

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for an insider's look on my deployment adventures! @mlreinert24