Dallas Blooms

During my Mom's visit this past weekend, I took her to the Dallas Arboretum for "Dallas Blooms." She is an avid gardener and flower person, so I knew it would be right up her alley.

The grounds were just beautiful - perfectly manicured!

And one of my very favorite types of trees were all over the place - crape myrtles. Here's a huge one:

They had a little area for the kids to explore - Texas Pioneer Adventure. I wanted to go in, but they were only letting field trip kids (of which there were a billion) in....dang it!

I just couldn't believe how well cared for everything was - the grass was insanely perfect!

This is the Crape Myrtle Alley - my FAV part of the arboretum. They lined it with pumpkins in the fall. It's just spectacular.

Here's Mom in Crape Myrtle Alley...

And of course, we found some fountains - I am obsessed with fountains! These were 4 frogs that were basically having a spitting contest!

What IS it about moving water that is so mesmerizing?!

Here's Mom and the frog...

Everything was pretty lush, despite the lack of rain - we are SO in a drought this spring....

This is the 'poetry garden' or something like that. I loved it - it reminds me of Shakespeare and Romeo & Juliet or one of those stories. SO PRETTY.

More water features - YAY!

When we first got there, they had about 50 workers in this area, planting all of the flowers here. When we were getting ready to leave, they were already done!!

It was out of a storybook fairytale!

Very peaceful......

And amongst the beauty, there were many John Deere tractors and workers keeping this place 'in bloom'!

List Friday

I'm going to be super positive today and extend Thankful Thursday into List Friday.....

Top 10 Things I Love About My Life

1. I have 2 of the best dogs in the world! They bring me smiles, laughs, joy and stress relief. They really do keep my life in proper perspective.

2. I have a home that I love and that I am able to (for the most part) take care of by myself - a huge accomplishment and something I didn't know I was capable of.

3. I live in the great state of TEXAS - somewhere I wanted to be for a long 6 years before actually getting here. I truly believe I am supposed to be here - right here, right now. GREAT feeling.

4. I was given the gift of a great childhood and upbringing - stable, loving - with wonderful guidance along the way. This gave me such a great start to life.

5. The group of people I call friends are just magnificent people who have encouraged me, loved me, laughed with me, cried with me and supported me all throughout my life. Some have been for a reason, a season and some of them are 'lifers.' No matter which category they fall in, I am wildly thankful for ALL of them, for they are/were a huge part of who I am today.

6. I have the freedom to basically do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want (as long as it's not hurting someone or illegal). That's a great feeling!

7. I know that my God has a plan for my life and as hard as it is for a Type-A'er like me, I try to take the passenger seat in my life and give God the steering wheel and gas pedal. It's a constant struggle, but there is such peace when I am just willing to ride shotgun!

8. I don't really have too many regrets (and none of them are major). My goal is to live a life with a clear conscience - treating others how I would want to be treated, ya know - the Golden Rule thing. I am definitely not perfect and I definitely make mistakes and bad judgement calls, but in general, I try to live a drama-free life and take opportunities when they present themselves.

9. I am easily amused and entertained. I really don't need a ton of showy stuff in my life - I'm cool with my 1,600 sq. ft. house and my average car. I don't require super fancy things to be happy. Now, who doesn't love nice things, of course, but what I'm saying is that I don't put my self-worth or happiness in those flashy, shiny objects. I am grateful that I turned out that way, because it must be such an empty feeling to be chasing happiness in the next sports car. I'm just as happy in finding extraordinary things in average places.

10. I love learning - and this world (and Texas) are SO BIG that I will never run out of things to learn! Whether it's sewing, kayaking, traveling, history, science - whatever. I am intrigued by a lot of things that others would think are boring or stupid.

Thankful Thursday

This week, I do not have anything poignant or deep to say - just that I am incredibly thankful for my wonderful Lowe's store - of south Arlington.

Since I bought my first house when I moved here, I basically lived, breathed and spent a ton of money at Lowe's for the first year. I should've been a gold-level customer or something.....they even knew who I was in some departments because I had to buy so much stuff and I apparently ask a lot of questions so that people remember me!

Here are some things I love about Lowe's and in particular, MY Lowe's store:

1. It is VERY close to my house.

2. The staff is very friendly and helpful.

3. They are NEVER out of stock of ANYTHING I need, EVAH!

4. They help you load your car - and they do it with a smile. I have even had help from fellow customers who stop and help the Lowe's employees load something!

5. The garden center is always in tip-top shape.

6. I know my way around now - no more wandering around trying to find a particular department. I walk in with a purpose and I go right for it - just like the experts!

7. With each project that I tackle, I get more confident about the next one (and consequently, I don't have to do describe what I need to the Lowe's employee as a 'thingy').

8. I love that Lowe's are very different from Home Depot - much more female-friendly as far as store/display aesthetics, layout of the departments, etc.

Kudos to Lowe's and especially to the Lowe's of south Arlington!!

Tribal Dancin'

To follow up on yesterday's post, I attended an Indian Market and Southwest Showcase about a week and a half ago. I have really been meaning to go to a pow wow to see real tribal dances - I'm intrigued with all of that. So this was an opportunity to get a small taste of it in the meantime.

This first guy was doing some drum stuff with a few other guys - I love his braids! All I could think of was Dances With Wolves and the word "tatonka"!

Then the big flashy dances started - I LOVED the drums, costumes and music. SO NEAT!

The detail on the outfits was incredible....

This dance had some of the performers in weird skull masks - it looked scary! If I were a little kid, I would've been crying!

This next one involved fire - VERY cool (I'm probably a closet pyro or something - it intrigues me!).

This guy was doing fire tricks - putting his feet over the flame and just holding them there. It was impressive!

Here he is....."not" getting burned by the flames!

This guy was towards the end - he did some music with a special Indian flute (that was featured in some movies).

He had a very strong presence - kind of creepy in a way......

But the dancers that he introduced were amazing and their costumes were stunning!

Never a dull moment - they wouldn't stay still for one single second so I could get a non-blurry shot!

Then this guy did some 'hula hoop' tricks, as I call them. Very neat!

This little guy was about 7-8 years old - in full costume, and dancing his little heart out. So cute.

It was a really beautiful set of performances - I'm glad I went!

But I still want to go to Oklahoma to see a real live pow wow. It's just so interesting to me.

Arlington's Finest

About a week ago, I went to a Native American event at Arlington's convention center. I love finding things to do in my own city - without having to trek to Dallas or Fort Worth for once! While we were there, there was a break in the action, so we went outside to take a walk around. It was then that I realized how much of an entertainment mecca Arlington really is.

Here's the view of the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (the Rangers won their opener last Friday!) from the convention center parking lot.

And right next to the baseball field is Cowboys Stadium!

This is the event that we were there for - the Texas Indian Market & Southwest Showcase.

I just think that Rangers' ballpark is so pretty - the red brick, the shape, etc.

And the grass was all green and manicured already - I can't wait to see a Rangers game!

And if you look just to your right, you see "Jerry's Place" - the monstrosity where the Cowboys play.

Here's a view of the convention center, with Six Flags Over Texas in the background. SO MUCH going on in this one little area.

And there's even a youth baseball field right next to Rangers Ballpark. So cute!
.The little players were so adorable in their uniforms!

And out the back of the youth ballpark, you can see Hurricane Harbor - the waterpark of Six Flags.

And just to be odd, I'm including a weird pic of me on that day. I realize as I read my own blog that there are very few pictures of the photographer! hahaha (I look drunk too, but alas, I was not.)

On My Own

Recently, I was at home one evening and the sewing bug got me and I decided to try a solo project all on my own! I have taken two sewing classes so far, but have never done any projects with the sewing machine without a teacher present, so I was kind of nervous, but I decided to go for it.

I really wanted something to put on top of my Grandma Larsen's cedar chest (filled with family items - lots of heritage and nostalgia in there) that would be pretty and have the "L" for Larsen on it. I found an embroidered applique of an "L" and then a frame-type applique for around it. This was a while ago, but I have been meaning to put something together.

I took some extra material from the curtain fabric in the office and sewed basically a pillowcase (with the yellow curtain fabric from the guest room on the back) and then put the applique on top.

I think that the colors worked out really well (the office is yellow, the curtain fabric is brick red with yellow swirls, and then the appliques were yellow)!

It is definitely a simple project, which I needed in order to increase my confidence with the sewing machine. The project isn't perfect, but it's all mine and I did it all by myself! I'm like a kindergartner who colored within the lines for the first time!

As you can see, the right side of it goes down at an angle - I need to learn how to cut straighter lines! Haha - oh well, I love it - even with its imperfections.

List Friday

Top 10 Places I Want To Go In The Next 10 Years

1. Boston, MA

2. Savannah, GA & Charleston, SC

3. Santa Fe, NM

4. Nashville, TN

5. Southern California

6. New England in the fall (Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, etc.)

7. An old plantation in Louisiana

8. Ireland/Scotland

9. Hawaii

10. Back to Spain!