Do you ever have those days when some things aren't going perfectly in your life and you have a few negative experiences and you start feeing depressed and bordering on feeling sorry for yourself? Well, I was there this week. I've been covering for my boss who's out of town and work ended up being pretty busy and although I was trying to maintain a positive attitude, by Friday, I was pretty drained. I felt a little angry at the world and not my usual self.

And then Saturday happened. Jason cooked brisket on our new grill (the Big Green Egg), I made breakfast, we tackled some house chores, went for a walk, and watched a couple inspirational movies. Just another lovely weekend and I realized -- I have absolutely nothing to complain about! I live in a beautiful house where the weather is always sunny and perfect, I have a job I enjoy and where people believe in my enough to give me the opportunity to cover my boss's job while he's out, I am married to an amazing man who is 100% my partner and enjoys spending a Saturday grilling the best brisket I've ever tasted...life is good! Especially when you compare it to people who actually do have something to complain about.

We watched Unbroken. Whoa. One of the most depressing, sad, and heart-wrenching movies I have seen in a while. For those of you who haven't seen it, rent it and watch it now. That is truly someone who had things to complain about and instead, he turned misery into triumph! It was hard enough to watch, I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to live.

I randomly listened to a podcast last week on Radiolab titled "Nazi Summer Camp". It was an interesting story on Nazi prisoners in the US during World War II and how they were treated by the American people. Most people have probably heard of the Geneva Convention and the rules that came out of that dictating how prisoners should be treated during war. I'm not going to ruin the story but let's just say, things were quite a bit different for prisoners in American vs. American prisoners in other countries. So, when I watched Unbroken this weekend, it was that much more painful to think about the stark difference in this movie vs. the podcast I had just listened to.

Anyhow, bottom line, I just need a frank reminder every now and again -- be happy for what you have every day because life just isn't that bad. In fact, it's pretty incredible. So, back to that brisket. Buy yourself a Big Green Egg or similar smoker (although Jason assures me that this one is the best) and follow the steps I've outlined below for some incredible brisket!

Grilled Brisket
9-14 lb. brisket
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/8--1/4 c. salt (I used 1/4 c. but it was on the salty side for me)
2 Tbsp. pepper
1/4 c. smoked paprika
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. onion powder

Combine ingredients in bowl.

Spread and massage the rub into the brisket.

Let come to room temperature while getting the grill going. Put brisket on grill and smoke at 240-250 degrees for approximately 10-12 hours (a little less than 1 hr. per lb.). Remove meat when internal temperature reaches 180-200 degrees and probe poked into meat feels like poking butter. Remove meat, wrap in foil, and let sit in cooler for another hour.

Unwrap and slice. Keep the ends for sandwiches and eat the middle all by itself -- it's so delicious it doesn't even need sauce! This is the perfect paleo dinner for my health-conscious friends and people like me who feel the pressure of a swim suit on the 4th of July looming...cheers!