Back to the City!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I spent mine on a ranch in west Texas (near San Angelo) with my friend Mayce. Her family has a farm & ranch (there IS a difference - farms are when you have just crops and ranches are when you raise animals for meat.....Mayce's family do both). We played with the goats, saw brand new baby lambs (born the same day we saw them!), and also took a field trip to San Angelo to go shopping. I will blog more about the adventures on the ranch once I upload my pics (I got to hold a 2-day-old baby goat!!)......

Tough Love

Charles Sykes is the author of Dumbing Down Our Kids. He provided for high School and college graduates a list of eleven things they did not learn in school. In his book, he talks about how their feel good, politically-correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality, and set them up for failure in the real world.

Lay this one on your young ones.

Rule 1.Life is not fair; get used to it.

Rule 2.The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3.You will NOT make $ 40 000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4.If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5.Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: -- they called it opportunity.

Rule 6.If you mess up, it's not your parents’ fault, so don't whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.

Rule 7.Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So, before you save the rainforest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8.Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9.Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10.Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11.Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Nothing in life is free.

Decide what you want in life, and then start the hard work of making it happen.

Stealing quotes

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." ~Mahatma Gandhi

I saw this quote on an email auto-signature from my friend Stacie and it hit me like a ton of bricks when I read it! I had to keep reading and re-reading it, contemplating the way it applies to my life. I think all of us deal with forgiveness/unforgiveness issues in our lives, on one level or another, at all stages of our journey through this world.

It seems to me that it's easy to say you've forgiven someone, but it's much harder to actually believe it in the core of your being. There are a few people who have really hurt me in my life and I would like to be able to say that I have totally forgiven them, but I think it's a process and it definitely doesn't happen overnight. I believe forgiveness is something you have to work at, struggle with, and come to terms with in your own time. Lip service is one thing, but truly releasing that wrong that was done to you takes time, work and a conscious effort (especially when the person who wronged you doesn't show remorse) and sometimes you think that you shouldn't have to do so much work when the other person was the one who wronged you, but in the end....if you truly have forgiven, then you are the one who reaps the reward (and you learn soooo much about yourself and how strong you really are and have become in the process).

Any thoughts about forgiveness from the playing field of life?

I 'heart' Pei Wei

There is a restaurant that I am growing quite fond of lately...it's called Pei Wei. This restaurant is Asian food in a 'fast-food' type of set-up. You order with a cashier, but then the staff brings it out to you at your table. Pei Wei is a chain restaurant that is owned by PF Chang. Some in the Dallas area call it "PF Chang - Lite". The food is amazing in my opinion - I always get the Japanese Teriyaki Bowl with Chicken (on brown rice). It's great and made with grilled chicken (pic of my favorite meal below).

Besides the food being great, my other favorite thing about Pei Wei and PF Chang both is that they are dim/dark restaurants. I'm not a fan of when restaurants are lit with big, obnoxious fluorescent lights - I prefer the dimmer, more intimate places that are relaxing. This is a restaurant with great ambience - check it out if they have one in your area!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving upon us, I thought it was only appropriate to reflect on what I am most thankful for in my life:

~God, who gave me life and continues to bless me at every stage of the game
~My parents who raised me in a stable, loving home
~My dog who brings me joy, laughter, comfort and companionship every single day
~Friends galore that I love and who have imprinted wonderful things on my life
~My college education
~The fact that I live in the United States of America, which is a free country!
~the Armed Forces that protect and defend this great country
~My job - working for a Christian company and for a fabulous boss who I respect
~Being able to choose where I want to live
~Being able to drive my car wherever I need/want to go
~All of the experiences, good and bad, that went into making me who I am
~Grace - we all need it!

What are you thankful for?

Iris, I'm sorry..........

Iris - I know I'm obsessed with cute animal pics (sorry about the hairless cat picture that freaked you out - I just loved the eyes!).....but this is a sweet one (BIG SWEETIES). I got it off of a friend-of-a-friend's Facebook.

What a moment caught in a snapshot! Animals really do know how to show love better than humans sometimes.......

Animal cuteness

This post is for you, Iris - more cute animal pictures!!

Look at the amazingly beautiful eyes on this cat!! It is a hairless Canadian Sphynx cat (what cat would be HAIRLESS in frozen Canada?!?!?). A weird little guy, but those eyes are just fabulous!

And who wouldn't think that this was cute - a snowy sheep!!

Canine Sleepover!

This past Friday night, Maggie and I had a house guest....but the guest room remained empty. That's because our house guest was of the canine variety! Mayce's dog, Percy, came to visit for the night while Mayce stayed over in Fort Worth with her brother and their friend. Maggie and Percy are friends already and have played many times before, so they are not strangers by any means. Since Percy is a male dog, I like to say that he's Maggie's boyfriend, but no romance has been sighted yet.

When Percy first came over, the dogs had to size each other up like usual. I wanted to capture this funny little charade on my camera, so here's a birdseye view of the 'face-off' - so funny!

Maggie and Percy had a blast running from one end of the house to the other, up and down the stairs and around the yard. It's so much fun to watch their interaction! These next pics are the dogs after they wound down and realized that they were exhausted and ready for bed!

Off to a North Stars game - errrrr....I mean Dallas Stars game

This one's for you Minnesota readers - Mayce and I went to a Dallas Stars (the hockey team formerly known as the Minnesota North Stars) game last week and we had a blast! We got group-discount tickets through a meetup.com group that I belong to ($85 ticket for $35, which also included access to the Platinum level/lounge & free wine tasting -but we didn't get there in time for all of that stuff - there was an accident on the freeway). Mayce had never been to an NHL game and she had a BLAST! We even got ice cream and it came in little plastic hockey helmets - so cute.

The Stars lost 5-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks, but we still had a great time with some fabulous seats near the goalie!

And this spirited fan.......I'm not even really sure what to say about this.......but man, I guess that's how you really show you are a dedicated fan. hee hee

What are the chances?!

On Friday night, Mayce and I witnessed an important anniversary in Dallas/Fort Worth - by accident! The date on Friday was November 21, 2008, which was the 45th anniversary of JFK's last night alive on this earth. And we somehow happened to be hanging out in the lobby of the hotel that he slept in for his last night on earth on that anniversary! Ah! How weird!

The hotel is the Hilton in downtown Fort Worth and it was very pretty inside. Mayce's brother and their friend Cody were in town for a theater competition at the Fort Worth Convention Center (they are both theater teachers in San Antonio and brought students up to DFW to compete). We went out to dinner with Dave and Cody and then decided to hang out in the upstairs lobby of the Hilton (where some of the competition was held and where some of the students were staying). Cody and Dave noticed on the wall that there were lots of framed pictures of JFK and checked it out - the pictures were telling the story of JFK's last night alive before he was assassinated in nearby downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963 and we were standing right where it happened.....exactly 45 years later - to the day!

It was probably tacky of me, but I wanted to take my picture in front of the display and Cody joined me in the photo op. After we took a 'regular' picture, he wanted to be a little wacky and suggested the cheesy old "Olan Mills" pose! hee hee

Here's another one...why do I keep doing these??

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:45am 2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds 3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Secret Life of Bees 4. What is your favorite TV show? '24' or Jon & Kate Plus 8 5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Toast or cereal 6. What is your middle name? Renee 7. What food do you dislike? Mushrooms, olives, seafood, fish, horseradish 8. What is your favorite CD at moment? An old mix CD that I made in 2000! 9. What kind of car do you drive? 2005 Mazda 6 (named "Vince"!) 10. Favorite sandwich? Buffalo Chicken 11. What characteristics do you despise? Arrogance, condescension, disrespect 12. Favorite item of clothing? My red peacoat 13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? EUROPE - hands down! 14. Favorite brand of clothing? Worthington for work clothes 15. Where would you retire to? Not sure yet.....I have plenty of time to brainstorm, though... 16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My 30th birthday (last summer) - I went to Cincinnati 17. Favorite sport to watch? FOOTBALL!! Go Vikes! 18. Furthest place you are sending this? Whoever reads my blog! 19. Person you expect to send it back first? Shooter 20. When is your birthday? August 2, 1977 21. Are you a morning person or a night person? NIGHT! 22. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2 23. Pets? My wiener dog, Maggie 24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? I finally feel like I'm where I belong - it's taken years to feel this!! 25. What did you want to be when you were little? Teacher 26. How are you today? Pretty good! 27. What is your favorite candy? Tangy Taffy 28. What is your favorite flower? Duh - red gerbera daisies! 29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? waking up tomorrow and having another shot to figure life out 30. What is your full name? LRLR 31. What are you listening to right now? TV, the dryer & Maggie breathing (sleeping) 32. What was the last thing you ate? Salad 33. Do you wish on stars? It's a fun idea, but I don't do it on a regular basis... 34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? RED 35. How is the weather right now? Chilly, but ok. 36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? Mayce 37. Favorite soft drink? Diet Mountain Dew 38. Favorite restaurant? El Camino in Toledo, OH or Cheddar's 39. Real hair color? Light brown 40. What was your favorite toy as a child? Legos, Cabbage Patch Kids 41. Summer or winter? Summer...oh wait....I'm in Texas now......FALL!!!! 42. Hugs or kisses? Hugs, big-bear-hug-I-really-mean-it hugs 43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Twist (or vanilla if twist isn't an option) 44. Coffee or tea? GROSS - neither 45. Do you want your friends to email you back? Fo Sho 46. When was the last time you cried? About a week ago 47. What is under your bed? 2 Christmas wreaths and Maggie when she's hiding from me 48. What did you do last night? Went to downtown Fort Worth - dinner with Mayce, her brother David & Cody who were in town from San Antonio 49. What are you afraid of? Having regrets later in life, doing life alone indefinitely, not living life as fully as possible 50. Salty or sweet? SALTY 51. How many keys on your key ring? 6 52. How many years at your current job? It will be 1 year on St. Patrick's Day in March. 53. Favorite day of the week? Whatever day I laugh the most 54. How many towns have you lived in? 9 (including suburbs as separate cities) 55. Do you make friends easily? I like to think so

If I Could Turn Back Time.....

On Saturday, I met up with some ladies from my sorority's alumnae chapter in the Dallas area and we took a tour of Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park. This is an 'olden times' recreation of a city back in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

The buildings that are there are original, but have all been moved from other places in Dallas/Fort Worth (some of them only moved 3 blocks to this site and some moved 30 miles). They had a mercantile, a saloon, a bank, a train station, a doctor's office, a farmhouse, a printing company, etc.

Oddly enough, behind one of the buildings, there were two random donkeys in a little pen - very weird, but I got to pet my first bona fide donkey!

Outside the farmhouse I also saw my first stoned cow! This cow just didn't want to really open its eyes, even though it was fully awake. I think it was smokin' something funny.......

It was VERY well done and I met some really cool ladies from this area that are also Tri Sigmas! Here's a picture of the ladies in the group!

All Things Europe

On Saturday evening, I had the distinct pleasure of going to a lecture at the Grand Prairie library featuring the Europe travel guru - Rick Steves! I have used his travel books when Jamie and I went to study abroad in Spain (and traveled to 10 countries during our 5 months over there). He is the god of European travel - tips on where to stay, where/what to eat, buses/trains to use (and those you should stay away from), attractions that are worth the time and those that aren't, things to make sure you see in a particular city, the history of the area you are traveling to, Eurorail Passes, tips to save money and get the most for your money, etc. etc. etc.

It was soooo interesting and there was a line through the parking lot of the library to get in - I felt like I was at a rock concert! Listening to him speak about travel throughout Europe just brought back such fabulous memories of my time over there - exploring, traveling, and finding myself. By nature, I am a person who has always liked being in my comfort zone - I want to know what to expect and what's around the corner all the time so I can prepare. But those 5 months in Europe taught me invaluable lessons about just living in the moment, being willing to explore WAY outside my comfort zone, embracing that insatiable curiosity that was coming from somewhere deep inside me, and learning new things. I really found out what I am made of and I would do it again in a heartbeat - spending that time in Europe was the best decision I have ever made in my life!

And of course, like any good tourist (or some might say 'groupie'.....), I had to get my picture taken with him afterwards!!

During Mom's visit last week, we tried a new place in Fort Worth that I haven't tried yet - the Fort Worth Water Gardens. They are just water features that are free and open to the public downtown. It's basically concrete, water and lots of plants/foliage - they are gorgeous and very well designed (great photography opportunities there). They are a relaxing oasis in the middle of a city!

This next one was a huge water feature that had big huge steps down into it. I started down in there, but had to stop towards the bottom because I was wearing flip-flop shoes and the stones were wet, so I didn't have great traction. It is VERY loud and intimidating down towards the bottom. I want to go back and explore to the very bottom on those stones in the inner pool. Anyone want to join me?? Stacie & Beth??

Here's another (more calm) pool of water - my Mom really liked this one, very pretty.

The Great Pumpkin

I saw these pumpkins last week and I was amazed at the mega-pumpkins. That big one in the picture was at least as tall as my knee - AMAZING!!

Back to Cowtown

As with all visitors, I end up at the Fort Worth Stockyards (I love it there, so you don't have to twist my arm!), so my Mom visiting was no different.

Here is my Mom standing right where the longhorns head out of their holding area to do the cattle drive each day. You can imagine how fabulous it smelled right there. :)

NEED MORE COWBELL!! I just love when those cute longhorns wear a cowbell 'necklace'!!


How 'bout them cow butts?!

Here's a mounted Fort Worth cop - they look so good in their uniform on those pretty horses. BTW - that cop's horse is named Justin and he is a retired ranch horse. We even got to pet him, even though he was 'on duty'!

And just to keep tradition alive, I had my Mom pose for the same Feed Bin photo op that I did when Claire was in town. She was such a good sport!

Here is my Mom 'in her element' - shopping in gift shops!!