Indulgent!

As a fun topic for today (and because I am obsessed with lists), I am going to list my top 10 favorite indulgences (in no particular order):

1. Dill pickles


2. Massages


3. Dark chocolate


4. Blankets


5. The buffalo chicken wrap at Cheddar's


6. Genghis Grill


7. Cool new rings


8. Decorating/shopping for home decor


9. Diet Mountain Dew

10. Puppies (especially wiener ones)!

Thankful Thursday

FRIENDS - plain and simple. That's what I am thankful for as I pass from one year into the next. It is my friends who are there day in and day out, ready to laugh with me, cry with me, support me, encourage me and let me be a friend to them as well.

I am wildly thankful that God has brought into my life the people He chose to be my friends. I have been very blessed in that area - in all of the places I have lived and all of the stages of life I have been in thus far. He always knew exactly what I needed at the time.

Here are some friend highlights from 2010:

Cindy and I in Amarillo - at Cadillac Ranch!


Barb from Ohio at the pumpkin patch!

Renee & Sara's visit from Minnesota - at the Stockyards!

My best buds, Maggie & Owen!

Girls trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas - Me, Jenn, April & Lauren!

Holly's visit from Ohio - with 2-month-old Madalyn!

Dress day at work for my birthday in August!

My crazy fantastic college friends in Orlando - Me, Renee & Allison

The Governors Girls trip to Orlando - gotta love your college friends! Renee, Shauna, Me, Claire

Mayce's bachelorette party in Gruene!

At the Gaylord Texan with Cindy & Laura for the ICE exhibit!

Mayce and I at the top of Rockefeller Center in NYC (with the Empire State Building in the background)!

Cody, Me, David & Mayce at the Statue of Liberty with NYC in the background!

Laura and I at a Rangers/Yankees game in August (100+ degrees out!)!

No More Rosie

I saw this article online and thought it was noteworthy - the REAL Rosie the Riveter died! I remember in college, my friend Claire had this poster up in her room. I love it and am sad that Rosie is gone now. What an awesome, and very recognizable, staple in our country's history!

CHICAGO (AFP) – A Michigan factory worker used as the unwitting model for the wartime Rosie the Riveter poster whose inspirational "We Can Do It!" message became an icon of the feminist movement has died.

Geraldine Doyle died Sunday, a spokesman for the Hospice House of Mid Michigan told AFP. She was 86.

Doyle didn't realize she had a famous face until she was flipping through a magazine in 1982 and spotted a reproduction of the poster, her daughter told The New York Times.

But while Doyle recognized her face under the red and white polka dot bandana, the strong arm held up in a fist wasn't hers.

"She didn't have big, muscular arms," Mrs. Gregg said. "She was 5-foot-10 and very slender. She was a glamour girl. The arched eyebrows, the beautiful lips, the shape of the face -- that's her."

Doyle was just 17 when she took at job at a metal pressing plant near Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1942.

She quit about two weeks later after learning that another woman had badly injured her hand on the job -- she was worried she'd lose the ability to play the cello, her daughter said.

She was there, however, when a United Press International photographer came to the factory while documenting the contribution of women to the war effort.

A picture of Doyle was later used by J. Howard Miller, a graphic artist at Westinghouse, for the poster which was aimed at deterring strikes and absenteeism.

The poster was not widely seen until the 1980's when it was embraced by the feminist movement as a potent symbol of women's empowerment.

The iconic image now graces a US postage stamp and has been used to sell lunch boxes, aprons, mugs, t-shirts and figurines.

The term "Rosie the Riveter" stems from a 1942 song honoring the women who took over critical factory jobs when men went off to war.

Another Michigan woman, Rose Will Monroe, was the best-known "Rosie" after being featured in a wartime promotional film about female factory workers.

Doyle was quick to correct people who thought she was the original Rosie the Riveter, Gregg told the Lansing State Journal.

"She would say that she was the 'We Can Do It!" girl," Gregg said. "She never wanted to take anything away from the other Rosies."

A funeral service is set for Tuesday. Gregg did not immediate return a request for comment.

Different Faces of Courage

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

I loved this quote when I saw it on my pastor's FB page - just goes to show that sometimes the strongest and hardest thing you can do is to be quiet and do nothing but LISTEN and LEARN. I have blogged many times about listening and how very few people these days know how to TRULY listen to someone.

I think most people think of courage as Russell Crowe in Gladiator - fighting lions and barbarians, but we don't often connect the idea of courage to quietness, listening and retreating......however, sometimes that takes MORE courage than fighting.

There are people in your life who once were a healthy component to your world, but are no longer a good influence - it takes tremendous courage to realize that and to do what is best for you and retreat, protecting what you are exposed to and how it affects you. I have had to do this several times at pivotal times in my life and it is HARD and it HURTS, even though I knew it was the best thing for me.

And this courage concept doesn't just apply to people, but to organizations you are involved in, the workplace, family members, etc. At very stressful times in my life, I made sure that I stayed vigilant about what I was exposed to and what my environment was. I believe you become a product of your environment, so you should be very careful of what you watch on TV, what kind of music you listen to on a regular basis, who your friends are, what religious beliefs you subscribe to, what kind of workplace you are in, etc. All of those things shape who you are and in what direction you are going. Sometimes it takes great courage to make changes in those areas so that what you surround yourself with aligns with your beliefs and goals for the future. Courage isn't all about the fight!

On The Cutting Room Floor

I knocked out another item on my 33-list - a new hairstyle! I have wanted to cut my hair off for a while now, but finally got up the courage to do it. The other day, I saw a Groupon for a $20 haircut with a master stylist at Tony Cao Salon & Spa in Trophy Club and I took it - made the appointment for the very next day!

So I brought in the picture of what I wanted and he just started CHOPPING hair off. LOTS of it. I was pretty nervous, but excited too. He seemed to know what he was doing, so I just went with it.....but to see the huge chunks of my hair fall to the floor was terrifying!

Here's my self-portrait in the car afterwords:

I love it! It's not exactly what the picture looked like, but I'm very happy with it! But....the next day when it was up to ME to make the style work, I wasn't too happy with my hair skills. I need to work on it some more and perfect it, so I can make it look like he did in the salon!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone reading this has a very Happy and Safe New Year's Eve! Here's to a fantastic and fun-filled 2011!

Oh, Maggie & Owen say Happy New Year too!

Thankful Thursday

This week/year, I am thankful for my health. While I am far from perfect, I have been lucky enough to have another healthy year free from disease and major problems. It is something we all take for granted until we are faced with someone who is not so lucky.

Throughout 2010, I watched a co-worker/friend lose her battle with breast cancer (she passed away in October) and just recently, I volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House with Laura on Christmas Day. Man, do those two things put your life and health into perspective!

More than ever, I am grateful to be in good general health. I need to improve in some areas, but I think I am on my way. It's something we should never take for granted!

2010 in Review

At this time of year, it's always good to reflect on the year and remember what happened and how much I have to be thankful for. It really puts the little complaints into perspective for me.

So here is my Year 2010 In Review (in no particular order):

• Adopted Owen, my sweet wiener puppy!
  
• Got in my first real car accident
• Trip to Amarillo - Cadillac Ranch, Palo Duro Canyon, Route 66!
  
• Governors Girls Weekend in Orlando
• First trip to New York City!
• Fell down the stairs and bruised my tailbone - most intense pain I have ever felt for a month!
• Laughed my butt off and had a fantastic girls trip to Hot Springs, AR
• Took a handgun class and shot a gun!
• Saw my first shooting star
• Had some amazing visitors throughout the year
• Learned how to stain wood and transformed my banister, 2 tables and all 3 bathroom's cabinets!
• Explored Texas - Waco, Crawford, New Braunfels, Gruene, Granbury, Canton, Salado, Amarillo
• Developed and strengthened several friendships and met "New Friend Laura"!
• Survived a Yankees/Rangers game in August when it was 100+ degrees
• Watched Mayce get married
• Honored with the distinction of being Mayce's baby's 'honorary' aunt! (due in May)
• Attended a "Friday Night Lights" Texas high school football game with Cindy - her alma mater (Trinity is ranked #1 in the nation!)
• Baked Christmas cookies for the first time in like 10 years (Thanks, Cindy!)
• Realized that I am a very lucky and blessed person - I have so much to be thankful for. :)
  

Out of Proportion

I saw this cartoon on KQ's Facebook page and I thought it was funny.....and then I realized that I could replace "elves" with "Maggie & Owen" and it would be funnier! They are officially off of tree duty PERMANENTLY. I care too much about how my tree looks. HAHAHA!

Change

When life is asking us to change,
we have two choices:
feeling the pain of the end or

feeling the joy of a new beginning

I saw this quote on a friend's FB page last week and I loved it (I have an affinity for cool and meaningful quotes, BTW - in case you haven't noticed!). As a person who typically resists major changes or is a late-adopter of change, this was hard to hear. I have definitely gotten better over time - and even made a series of HUGE changes by choice in the past few years......but my true nature is NOT to rock the boat or to fix what's not broken.

I often lament at what is ending during a change instead of looking straight ahead at the positives in the future. Part of this is fear of the unknown, part of it is grieving the past. But as always, God has done the most work on me during times of great change and I have gained the most confidence in myself and my abilities after I come out of a time of major transition. So why would I resist change if so much good comes out of it? That is the question of the day - I would love to know!

Maggie's Merry Christmas

And just to be different, I'm posting these weird pictures of my Maggie-girl on Christmas Eve. She's such a lady.....

Merry Christmas!

Slip-Slidin' Away

About halfway through the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, they have an ice slide! It's probably intended for kids, but I don't care - we did it anyway!

I think it actually looks like a pinball machine or something from the bottom.

PS - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the red ice piano!

Here are the ice 'shutes' where the people end up!

The ice blocks were amazing - maybe since I haven't lived in a cold place for a few years. I was just mesmerized by them! This is the stairway up to the top of the slide.

Cindy and Laura waiting in line on the stairs....

Laura and I with the ice blocks!

Finally at the top - this is a side view of the ice shutes....

Here's a girl starting her ride....

This is the view looking down - right before I went down the slide!

It was so pretty!

And at the very end, you go through an ice tunnel - VERY neat.

At the exit, there is an entire nativity scene carved in ice!

It was absolutely gorgeous when they switched the lights to blue - amazing!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM GRAPEVINE, TEXAS!!