Yoga Schmoga

Well, I am going to be crossing off an item on my 33-List this week - "Take a Yoga class." I have been apprehensive to do yoga because I have HORRIBLE balance and am very much a klutz. However, apparently it's yoga that helps you have better balance and core strength....so alas, I am going to try it.

The company that I now work for - The Active Network - is big on exercise and "being active", so they are actually paying for a yoga instructor to come in to our offices once a week and teach it - free to the employees. So there's really no reason I shouldn't try it, right?

I'm a little nervous.......ok, a LOT nervous, but I'm going to give it a shot and see what happens. I could definitely use the strength in my muscles and some more balance!!

List Friday

Top 10 Favorite Childhood Memories

1. Making forts out of blankets and couch cushions

2. Camping/boating with my family

3. Riding bikes around the neighborhood

4. Trip to Disney World in 3rd grade

5. Playing with my Cabbage Patch Kids in my room

6. Running through the sprinkler in the front yard

7. Jumping in piles of leaves in the fall

8. Trip to Washington D.C. in 7th grade

9. Playing teacher with our cool chalk board in the basement

10. Playing 'office' with my monopoly money at my very own desk (I remember when my parents bought it for me).

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for the awesome women at my church. I knew some of them casually from a few events over the past 2-3 years of going there, but recently the womens group has fired up into full gear and I'm really excited to get to know them more!

Here's my church:

This past weekend, I went to a Bunco Night for the womens group at one of the girls' houses. There were almost 30 fantastic, energetic, sweet and FUN ladies there and we had a GREAT time! It was so loud from all the laughing and screaming, the host's dog was even scared. :)

When I moved to Texas, I found it VERY difficult to meet people and find new friends. I guess it's just harder as you get older and most women my age are busy with husbands and kids.

Since I moved here 3 years ago (I can't even believe it's been 3 years already!), I have slowly built up a network of acquaintances, friends and GOOD friends. Everyone has those layers. I see it as kind of a bullseye in my mind. Your closest friends are in the middle and then it goes out from there. I now have a good group of really close friends that I love dearly, and through this womens group, my 'bullseye' is expanding and growing. I now have more opportunities to meet new people! YES!

And one other perk about this group expanding is that these ladies live down by me - Arlington and Mansfield. Most of my other friends live around where I work or further north, so a very long distance from me. That makes it difficult to get together on a whim or to 'just stop by and help with this one little thing'. It's nice to have friends both where I live and where I work!

Who doesn't love new and fabulous friends??

Prayin'

In the last 6 months or so, I have been feeling more and more restless spiritually. I don't think there was a single event or circumstance that caused this, but I just know that it happened. I used to love going to church and would feel fulfilled by the service. In the last few months, I have been going only about half the time and then not really feeling anything at all during or after it.

However, one of the sermons that our pastor Joe did a couple weeks ago touched on this very topic - that sometimes you don't feel God near and you just feel spiritually empty. It made me feel better that even pastors go through periods like this.....

But in the past week or two, I have made a commitment to staying the course and trusting that God is still with me and has a plan for my life, even if I don't feel it right now. I feel like there is going to be a lot of change in my life in 2011, so I want my 'pilot' with me.

I have committed to myself that I will attend church whether I feel like it or not.....and not just to go through the motions for the wrong reasons, but because I know it's where I need to be and you just never know what is going to spark something inside me one of these days and give me an 'a-ha' moment.

I also want to concentrate on prayer as being a regular part of my life, where it has been very sporadic in the past. I want to get into a routine where I have quiet time each day to pray, think, meditate, and experience mental/spiritual clarity. I already started this a few days ago and I love it!

I received an email from my church that gave some helpful guidelines for prayer, if you have trouble knowing how or what to pray. Here are some suggestions:

• Close your eyes and give thanks for 3 personal blessings of which you are especially conscious today. This helps you move toward God by moving away from a sense of self-sufficiency.
• Ask God to help one person who you feel needs God's help today. This helps you move toward God by moving away from self-centeredness.
• Ask God to forgive your mistakes and sins and give you strength to forgive others.
• Ask for insights into your personal problems and obstacles you need to overcome with His help.
• Ask God to whisper to you the most important thing you need to do today in order to 'see first His kingdom." Matthew 6:33
• Ask God to whisper to you the most important thing He wants to accomplish through you.
• Conclude by listening intently for a few minutes to what God may say to you.

I will post occasionally about how my spiritual journey is going. I am a firm believer that prayer isn't about asking/begging/demanding/pleading for what you want and hoping to get it. I really feel that a huge benefit of prayer is that it changes YOU, not the circumstance you want to change. I am hoping to grow during this process!

"Riscking" a Lot

Last week, Laura and I finally went to Fort Worth to celebrate her being in Texas for 1 year! It was in early February last year when she showed up on my doorstep, us having never met in person before! She is a common friend of Lindsay, my old roommate from Minnesota. Laura, Lindsay and I all worked for BI, but I had already quit before Laura started, so we never knew each other. Lindsay was the link that put us in touch with each other when Laura told Lindsay that she wanted to move down to Dallas and do kind of what I did - start a new life on her own in Texas!

Anyway, we decided to celebrate her "1 Year in Texas", but the ice storms in the last few weeks postponed our extravaganza TWO times. At any rate, we finally made it out to Fort Worth together to re-live that first night she was in Texas. When she arrived last February, I took her out to dinner at my favorite place - the Stockyards, of course. And what's more Texas than the Stockyards?!

So at this 1-year mark, we went back to Riscky's BBQ, which is where we ate that first night.

And here's Laura, drinkin' the same Shiner beer that she had the first night in Texas.

I just had to get a picture of this - the Cowboy 10 Commandments! LOVE IT!!

I am so blessed to have Laura as my friend. We talk about football, Minnesota, jobs, politics, travel, Europe, etc. She has watched my dogs when I went out of town, is a great listener, has a fantastic laugh and is such an encouraging, supportive friend. I am very blessed to know her!

Sittin' On The Fence

Last weekend, I got a taste of 'nature' and 'wildlife' right in my very own backyard. An uninvited guest showed up on my backyard fence and he was driving the dogs NUTS when I got home from Bunco last Friday night.

I went to the backyard when they weren't waiting at the door for me......and this is what I found!

A nasty, disgusting possum sitting on my fence - and 'securing' himself with his tail wrapped around a branch on a small tree. GROSS!!!!

Here is Maggie, giving him the evil eye.....

Owen was bothered more than Maggie, but he's just more aggressive and feisty about foreign people or animals. Owen was making all kinds of weird noises and jumping on the fence. Good thing he's short so they didn't meet up with each other!

I tried walking close to the fence and yelling at him to go away - didn't work. I went inside to get a broom and try to shoo him away with that - didn't work. I was afraid to get too close because I didn't know if he was rabid or angry. I did NOT want him to attack me or the dogs!

You almost can't even see him from far away - but Owen somehow spotted him in the dark up there while I was gone...

I think it's the tail curled around the branch that creeps me out the most! Oh, and I was panicked that he would come down from the fence into my yard and come in the doggy door after Maggie and Owen! How disturbing would that be to have a nasty possum in your house! I guess it's better than a skunk, though.......

Here's how Owen sat for about an hour and a half - until I grabbed him and made him come inside.

Here's my little watchdog, Owen!

List Friday

Biggest Pet Peeves!

1. Slow drivers in the left lane (or just drivers who aren't courteous in general)

2. Bad listeners (verbal pukers)

3. Screaming kids in restaurants (and negligent, rude parents who won't shut them up)

4. Waiting in lines

5. Fake small talk

6. Arrogance/condescension/bragging

7. The sensation of thirst

8. Humidity

9. People who have an unwarranted sense of entitlement

10. Home improvement projects that I cannot figure out on my own

Thankful Thursday

This week, I am thankful for SNOW DAYS! Although I worked from home on the snow days we recently had, it still allows me to spend a lot of quality time with the dogs at home. They like to either sleep on my lap or sleep on their favorite blankies at my feet. It's so sweet!

About a week ago, we had a terrible ice/snow/sleet/cold spell come through Dallas - and it was a very bad week to happen since it was SuperBowl week! But, because I am very fortunate, I was able to work from home and avoid the very dangerous roads (they don't treat their roads with salt or really plow anything - it's just a waiting game and they throw a little sand down).

Here's the view from my home office: (reminds me of home!)

People who have pools down here don't empty and winterize them in the cold months, because it just doesn't get cold enough to matter....and I guess there's some other reason, like the lining cracks if you don't have the pressure of the water against it when it gets cold or something like that. At any rate, it still is bizarre to see a pool full of water and snow surrounding it! This is the neighbor that lives in the house that butts up to my backyard.

And two creatures that are very happy it's snowing are Owen & Maggie. For some reason, they like the snow.....and they also like that I'm home and they get the full run of the house!

Here they are wrestling......but it looks like they are hugging!

Miss Maggie is monitoring the snowfall......

And then she retreats to her favorite blanket on the floor to take a nap.....

She is showing Owen how to monitor the backyard - he's in training........

My little baby Owen!

And here they are, romping in the snow - it's crazy that they like it since their tummies are pretty much bare - just peach fuzz!

I find it amazing that my little tiny backyard looks so big when you have such small dogs - perfect size for the two of them.....

The detectives of the backyard - sniffing for who-knows-what!

Are they making 'crop circles' in the snow?! Heeheehee

And after the snow romp, they came back upstairs to keep me company and both passed out.....

Such sweet babies.........Here's Maggie, trying to hide.....

And here's Owen in the 'doughnut' position.........

I'm so lucky to have my fantastic pups to keep me company on these snow days!

Birds Eye View - SuperBowl Style

Well, up until now, I haven't posted any of the pictures of the view that we had up in the air on my WWII plane flight......

Here I am before we boarded...

And a mechanic doing last minute adjustments......this makes me very nervous........

And we're off! Here is downtown Fort Worth - looking east towards Dallas and Arlington.

Another one looking east.........

It's so surreal to be in a plane that is using propellers!

Checkin' out the view.......

And here's Cowboys Stadium in Arlington (only about 6 miles from my house)!

This plane ride happened on the day before the SuperBowl, so all of those structures right up against the stadium are temporary things for the big game.

That stadium is such a beast!

That big white structure on the bottom left of this picture is just for the SuperBowl.

Really cool views from the air!

And here are the Steelers and Packers on the side of the stadium....

And here's me, trying not to get motion sickness up in the air...It was a great time!

And after they put us back on the ground in Fort Worth safely, I had to get a picture of the pilot! Nice job, gentlemen!

Southern Cross

Yesterday I mentioned that I bought a Groupon for a plane ride in a WWII plane over the SuperBowl festivities.....well here it is! It's a Douglas C-47 Dakota (Southern Cross).

Here I am walking out to the plane for our ride! There are only 16 seats on the plane, so it was a small group of people on each flight.

The Southern Cross logo is on the nose of the plane....

I was wondering what these circles on the windows were....turns out they are gun ports - so they can shoot things out all of the windows!

And these skulls represent the 5 jumpers that didn't open their parachutes (this was a paratrooper plane)......3 of them left behind suicide notes and the other 2 are a mystery.

This was our 'docent' if you will - he explained the whole history of the plane. It was commissioned in 1941 by TWA - as a passenger plane, but due to the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, it was pressed into military service.

After the war, it changed hands many times - even once being owned by the President of Mexico and he turned it into some luxurious bachelor pad with a full bathroom, couches, etc. Then it was a commercial plane and finally it became a skydiving plane, so they stripped everything out again to make it as light as possible for jumps.

All aboard!

I decided to sit in the front row - here was my view.....a direct line right into the cockpit!

Here's the co-pilot, getting ready to take off!

This was the view behind me.......

It made me kind of nervous because the plane was super loud (they gave us ear protection) and it vibrated quite a bit...Also, I saw all of this exposed wiring above the cockpit.....scary!

It was really cool to see what people wrote on parts of the plane's interior - all servicemen wrote where/when they served. It was so neat to read that!

And we were honored to have a veteran on our flight that day - he was in the Army in WWII. He said that he flew in planes just like the one we were in - he made 92 successful jumps! WOW!