It’s just that time of year in Kentucky when we go hiking and camping! The nights are cooler and not so stuffy and the fireside is inviting to chase away the chill. My family has a trip planned out to Red River Gorge within the next couple of weeks, and I cannot wait. 

My favorite part is disconnecting from the world, reconnecting and being present with those I love the most in this life, putting my phone away, letting the dust from all my busy-ness, and slowing down to think and reorient a bit and relax.

Oxygen fills my lungs, God’s beautiful creation captivates my attention and the stress just rolls away. My heart fills up to full again – camping is right up there with a stroll on the ocean beach to me.

Connecting the dots between camping and hiking literally and spiritually is the fun-themed podcast topic for the day.

Here we go!  

Day 3 of my 90 Day Collagen Journey.

And what exactly is collagen?   
Collagen is the most plentiful protein found in animal bodies, including us humans!  It's the building block and "binding agent", so to speak, for our bones, joints,  muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, hair, and nails.  It's also known as the body's scaffolding.  You wanna be strong?  Yeah...me too!

So what happens as we age? 
Our bodies' collagen reserves become a bit depleted.  For me, I've been noticing achy knees and wrists.  I was surprised to learn that many of my exercise group ladies were already on to collagen!  They regularly consumed it.

Of course, the variations for sale are enough to make your head spin.  I chose this brand mainly for the price and Amazon reviews.  At the time I'm writing, it shows 4.5 stars out of about 800 ratings. Roughly 3 out of 4 consumers gave this a 5 star review.  It is also available in smaller containers -- see the pics below.

Be careful with the dosage as it may be different for each brand.  I'll start with 2 scoops daily (about 2 T), just to see if this will elicit any change whatsoever in my body over a 3 month period.  

I'm pretty stoked because in my research on collagen, I discovered that collagen seems to help the following:  

When I received the results of my annual blood test, I stood in amazement reading the results.  I've battled high cholesterol on and off for YEARS.  The composite number seemed to linger year after year between 210 and 250.  When 189 jumped off the page, I thought, How?  What have I been doing differently? 

Here are my 100% very unscientific conclusions!

1  INCREASED WATER INTAKE
My daughter Elaine is my hero!  She consumes a gallon of water a day!  She uses this amazing and motivating, say wha?! Giotto water bottle (on my list now)!

​I'm only up to half a gallon myself - but I hope to catch her soon!  ​ And listen, this is coming from someone who really used to dislike the taste of water!  Except for during restaurant visits and consumption during tennis, it was all I could do to drink the stuff.  

But as with most good habits, the more often you make that CHOICE, the easier it becomes.  

And I started small to develop my love for H2O.  Just one 16 oz. bottle daily.  When I mastered that consistently, I went to 32 ounces.  Here's my Contigo bottle that I LOVE.  I'm doing 2 of these daily now for my half gallon, and I'm about to increase to 3 daily.  

My kiddos bought me this water filter to help with the taste!

Jordan T. Hall -- lawyer, realtor, dad, author, blogger, home improvement guy -- shares his top 3 tips on exactly HOW to graduate from college with zero debt. These are practical applications any college bound individual will want to consider and put into play as highlighted in his book Every Degree Debt Free - click link below.

But this episode is not just for prospective college students. Jordan and I also chat about the mindset of DECIDING. Or we might call it resolve and determination. As a believer we also discuss the concepts of Time, Talent, and Treasure and how everything we do, everything we put our hands and our minds to, we can do to the glory of God. 

And listen, Jordan shares a personal story toward the end of the show that will drop your jaw! It’s about a huge wad of cash and a riding lawn mower. Tune in today!​