My Quest to Mid-Life Greatness

     I have barely had a moment to sit down and write lately as I've been a very busy girl. Thank goodness the holidays are done. That kind of stress wreaks havoc on my mental state, bank account, patience and my diet. I shouldn't really call it a diet as it was truly a lifestyle overhaul. I changed everything. What I ate, how I functioned, when I got up in the morning and how I went about my day. I only wish I would have done it sooner. I'm so much happier than I was a year ago. This time last year, I was still bouncing back from that pesky hysterectomy. I remember how much my joints and tendons hurt like hell from just walking because I had lost so much blood. And then I caught Covid on top of that and was a little bit worried it would kill me since I had just had a massive surgery. I blamed my body for everything and truly hated the skin I was in. I think a lot of us women do. We struggle to feel affection towards our skin suits. If we aren't 120 pounds, we are obese or ugly or whatever horrible idea we manifest in our minds. And isn't that just it? No one was telling me that I was fat or flabby, but I could feel it when I rode horses and when my clothes felt too tight. It was ME that had those thoughts. Goals felt unattainable and far away which was so disruptive to my confidence. My own biggest enemy has always been myself. I didn't realize how much I hated me until I finally started to like what I saw. Then, I chased that feeling and sought everyday to be better. A little kinder, a bit more patient and a bit more here in the moment. It's changed my outlook in so many things and my attitude is SO much better. Buckle in, we're on a quest today.

    My Habits of Health change is really the thing I want to credit here. In short, I removed all sugar from my life. That was tough! Alcohol was no longer agreeing with me anyway since typically after a hysterectomy, women experience strange dietary issues. Weight gain, but also intolerances and allergies will rear an ugly head. No one knows why this happens but I imagine the body doesn't love when you remove what it deems an essential piece of your life purpose-reproduction. Ugh, if i had a dollar after every time someone asks how upset I get about not being able to have kids. IT'S NOT MY LIFE PURPOSE Y'ALL. Alright, hopping off that soap box. Read my other blog post, The Saga, if you want more of that. Removing sugar was hard! It's in everything! Luckily, I had some great books that helped me make healthy choices and taught me how to feed myself. I think before I was fueling my body and treating it like a high schoolers first beater car. No cares, just get me from point A to point B.  And now? I'm fueling a racecar with premium fuel. I wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the day long before an alarm. I no longer require naps in the afternoon or an IV of coffee to keep me awake. I can go all day and into the night before I have to make myself go to bed. I still limit myself to riding 3-5 horses per day as old hip flexor injuries from working out doing P90X workouts in college tore both of mine. It's not that I can't do more, but taking ibuprofen to sleep through pain just isn't for me. I'm happily medication free now and only take daily vitamins! It's the best feeling knowing I've taken control of my health.

    As for eating healthy, it reminded me how in high school I nearly went to college to pursue cooking as a career. I absolutely love cooking elaborate meals. I have an affinity for it and can whip up some pretty excellent things with minimal ingredients or leftovers from the fridge. I'm not sure Lucas always shares my enthusiasm as he's more of a frozen pizzas and Kwik Trip meals kind of guy, but I try like hell to not be disappointed when he doesn't like something I make. Lucky for me, I have lots of friends who like eating good food or cheering me on when I send them pics of my creations. I'm grateful to those who people who are subjected to that constantly and I love you for it. I also started buying new vegetables to try and being more open minded about it. I used to detest sweet potatoes, but now? I can't wait to try some new dishes! There's nothing me and a Pinterest recipe can't make happen. Everyday, I'm on there scrolling for new ideas. That and a hot cup of tea. I hope what they say about the health benefits of tea is true because I probably put away 100 ounces of tea daily. Loose leaf tea is the way to my heart and all my friends know it. We legit had an adult tea party and dominoes dice game night a few weeks ago and it was so fantastic. I think you are supposed to be well into your 80's when you do that, but here I am at age 29, killing it. 

                                                    My Christmas Charcuterie!

    Finding other passions has done wonders for my riding. By not making riding the only thing I've attached my name to, I've ignited so much joy into my life. I can't wait to cook meals, drink tea with friends, ride my horses and give my lessons. I'm so full of life daily now. I also started to push myself outside my little Ali box and do the things I always talked about. I made a deal with my sister and road tripped down to Florida with my super nice 3 year gelding for her to take on and sell down there for me. I have always wanted to expand my sales business to include Whitney and I'm finally doing it! And who wouldn't want to drive to Florida 22 hours straight with bestie riding shotgun? We didn't sleep for 36 hours but we made some memories and I cannot believe how peaceful it is to drive between 1-5 am. Just us and the truckers out there on the open road. We had a day and half in Ocala where I showed Megan as much of Ocala as I could. We also went to World Equestrian Center, Christmas caroling and a Christmas party before turning around and coming home with a horse for a client. She got some serious trailer driving practice. When the belt tore on the truck in the middle of nowhere in Illinois, I had a not so classy mental breakdown when all felt hopeless. I was reminded of the kindness of small town folk when 5 kind fellows all climbed into the hood of my truck and fixed it. They wouldn't let me pay them in money or hugs and I still haven't figured out to pay it forward as I'm not mechanically inclined, but there's other ways I suppose. God Bless my husband for having a spare belt in the truck and for remaining calm when I facetimed him in absolute ugly tears. Thank you for loving all sides of me. And to the useless Geico agent, I'm sorry for how rude I was, but you were incredibly unhelpful and non-sympathetic to 2 stranded girls and a horse. Be better.

    Then the holidays came. It was stressy as it was my first holiday season off of anxiety meds. I killed it! I shopped WAY ahead of time and was able to coast on through. Lucas gifted me an awesome Aerogarden where I can grow veggies indoors and it spurred my gardening obsession. Why wait until spring to plant when I can turn my spare bedroom into a green house with some grow lights and seed starters now!? I spent a ton of money online buying seeds and I can't wait to get my lettuce, spinach, herbs and kitchen peppers started! I just had my first bowl of lettuce from my Aerogarden and it was so yummy because I grew it myself. Another life joy=another win for Ali. My seeds arrive Monday and I will pee myself with excitement, or because I drank so much tea. Honestly, it's a toss up.

                                                        My Aerogarden Lettuce!

    My life isn't always roses as this post does need a dollop of depressing as well to keep it real. The neighbors lovely log cabin to the south of me is my dream home and unfortunately, they priced it right out of what we could afford. We were bummed as I had mentally already moved in, but I wasn't looking to become house broke. One of my goals this year is to travel more and I wouldn't have been able to do that. I decided it was once again time to step outside my little Ali safe space and get a side hustle. Winter is slow in the horse business anyway and I have the time to do it. I'm a firm believer in that time is what you make it. You can prioritize it or waste it and that's entirely in your hands alone. I thought about things I liked and wanted more of in my life and wine came to mind. I reached out to a friend in the Clean Crafted wine biz, meaning there's no additives which didn't mean a lot to me until I bought a bottle and drank it. I didn't get a migraine, a rash or any icky feelings after! Which post surgery was a HUGE win. Did I over indulge while cooking holiday dishes on Christmas Eve when I hadn't drank in months and end up going to Mass tipsy? Yes. Did I also drop my phone coming down the steps in 4 inch heels and shatter the screen right in front of Lucas? Also yes. I am blonde after all. But the wine was nearly sugar free and it was good wine. I thought-why not get involved with this? The neighbors decided to postpone selling for a year and so my wine journey has begun. 

    The end goal for me is to buy a house/pay a monthly mortgage selling wine. I hated the guilt I felt that Lucas was ending up being responsible for all of the consistent monthly bills as the horse business is unreliable and you can't assume horses will sell or lessons will happen in the bitter cold. I want to be someone he can depend on to pull their own weight. So here I am, Ali Kuhn, Scout & Cellar consultant, ready to take you on your wine journey. It's kind of perfect since I love horses and people and horse people love wine. It  just seems obvious really. I'm having so much fun learning and I have some incredible mentors showing me all the ropes. I have my first tasting tonight and I'm so excited to put myself out there and get after it. Side hustle, but also side fun. Wanna check it out and scope out some wine? Shop with me at https://scoutandcellar.com/alikuhn or see my Facebook @AliKuhnSCconsultant

  

for fun content and live tastings that I'm sure to drag Lucas into. I'm going to have my hands full doing pages for Kuhn Eventing, Sundance Farm, Area 4, Sundance Horse Trial as well as my home page and now my wine page but hey, the more the merrier. 

    My days and my heart are full and I'm bursting at the seams with excitement. I made a bunch of goals for 2022 and named it the year of 'No Excuses'. Some are lofty, others are very attainable, but I typed them up, printed them and stuck them in a frame on my desk so they stare me down daily. I also have candles and incents everywhere as I'm incapable of passing up a candle sale. And meditation music playing so I remain grounded with all this excitement! So much so that it's time for me to get prepped for tonight's wine tasting. There's much to do. Do I even own 8 matching wine glasses? OH! Side note: I got to buy a new-to-me show coat since I lost 38 pounds and my old one is a tarp on me now. Who doesn't love buying new horse stuff? Maybe I will wear it tonight for the tasting. Extra classy. Lord it smells like an Indian Spice and Tea shop in this house. Signing off and encouraging everyone to get out there and find some midlife greatness. Hopefully it's in the form of a healthy glass of wine. 

                                                    June 2021-January 2022