Small Treasure Tuesday: Our new home!

Who are those happy people?  And where are they?

 

Oh that's just T and me.  Standing in our very own lot where we will begin construction on our new home in just a few months!  We're building a home!  

I'd like to say this is a small treasure, but it's not.  It's a huge one.  A gigantic one of immense proportions.  I know that I have shared my troubles with our current rental, including ant problems, mice problems, squirrel infestations, you name it...well, last week's pest infestation was kind of the last straw for us.  Our lease was officially up as of Wednesday last week, so we're taking the plunge into home ownership.  Yay!

We've put the earnest money down and have signed the purchase agreement, and we are a go to get financing and become official home owners.  The exciting part is we will get to work with a design center through our builder, Beazer Homes, to customize our house just as we like it.  We're building a four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, two story home with a full basement.  It's incredible.  If everything goes as planned we will be closing on the home in late April or early May, just in time for my big 30th birthday. 

Maybe the mouse was a sign from God that it was time for us to make this move.  Who knows?  All I know is that T and I have a bunch to be thankful for this year. We're extremely blessed.  Sometimes I have a hard time looking at our life and thinking "is this my life?  Is this all really happening?" 

I'm sure I'll keep you posted with pictures as the house building process begins, but for now, we just have an empty lot with an "under contract" sign.  So exciting!

Stop by Chantel's blog and check out the other treasures people have to share today! 

  

Motivation Monday!

I have a confession to make. I slacked last week. While I’m sure I’m not the only one, I hate the fact that I totally slacked on my diet. But it was Thanksgiving, and I was out of town. We all have our moments of weaknesses. And I’ve made it my goal to seriously bust my ass this week. I can do this.

How did everyone else fair this last weekend? Did you manage to work out? T and I did have the best of intentions. We were going to walk on Thanksgiving, but it was rainy and cold as all get out on Thursday, absolutely freezing on Friday, and Saturday, when we attempted to use the hotel gym before heading to his parent’s, we realized that all of the equipment in that fitness center must have been manufactured in the late 1980s so nothing really worked. Twenty minute workout in, but hardly even broke a sweat.

Oh well, we all have our moments. My goal this week? No sweets, and I will workout every day this week. I already have Wednesday penciled in with my personal trainer, so it’s just up to me to get my ass up in the morning this week.

The trick is how am I going to motivate myself with the upcoming holiday season. I am a sucker for the sweets, and Christmas is one of the best times of the year for calorie-filled goodies. I can hear them calling my name right now.

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend, and I hope each and every one of you will participate in this week’s Motivation Monday. How do you do it? It’s easy, let me tell you how!

Just write a post about what is motivating you this week…it doesn’t have to be about diet/exercise. It can be work, personal life, goals, etc. Whatever motivates you. Write a post about it, and link up back to this post, using the fun little linky tool at the bottom. And, if you should so desire, I have an awesome button you can grab, too, to advertise Motivation Monday.

Let’s get this party started right! Hope you all can join me in getting this week off to a good start!



 

Free Christmas cards? What? That's awesome!

Attention all bloggers! I have an awesome deal to share with you! Shutterfly is currently doing a promotion where you can receive 50 free cards by promoting their site on your blog. All you need to do is do a post about what you plan to do this year for Christmas cards or about favorite cards you have done in the past, follow a few simple rules, and ta-da! 50 free cards!

Check on their site, because there's so much you can do - design your own Christmas photo cards, holiday cards, and even calendars! I've done the calendar thing before in the past, and it made a great gift idea for family members.

I've never sent out photo cards before, so this will be our first year.  It might have to be something simple, but since we've just got our new wedding photos, I'll have to incorporate those for sure.  Here's one of my favorites:

I'm so excited to order our new cards!  If you're a blogger, and you're interested, definitely visit Shutterfly and check it out!

Come back tomorrow for Motivation Monday!  I know you're ready for it!

 



Wordless Wednesday - Happy Thanksgiving!

Since we're getting ready to head to see T's folks for the weekend, and I'm not able to write a full post, I want to share with you some of the images I have fallen in love with from our wedding.  (We got the actual CD the other day).  So here's to what I'm the most thankful for this year....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It's Tuesday...and not just any Tuesday....Tuesday before Thanksgiving, which means today is my last day of real work for the rest of the week!  It seems appropriate for today to be Small Treasure Tuesdays with Chantel, because, well, having time off is a HUGE treasure at that.  That, and so is the holiday season.  I know I wrote about this last weekend with the holiday traditions T and I have, but I promised pictures....so this week's Small Treasure is holiday decorating because that truly is a treasure.

To start off with, we have our tree, adorned with ornaments that we each have from our childhood and then ones we have been collecting each year we've been together.  Isn't it pretty?

 

Now, this next one might seem odd to you all of you, but I told T before we moved into our house that I always wanted a garden gnome when we got a house.  So he bought me one as a surprise last Christmas.  Of course, I didn't want to subject Jerome (the name I gave my gnome) to the elements of winter so he stayed inside until spring.  Since it's coming upon the cold season again, we've cleaned him off, and he's joined us for the winter.  He's even in the Christmas spirit!

The picture is bad, but we got 2 little gnomes at Meijer a month ago, one for each of our hometown teams - IU and Michigan.  They don't have names yet.  Any suggestions?

On our tree, we have our "Just engaged" ornament from last year, along with this year's "First Christmas Together" ornament.

A close-up for my shoddy picture taking skills....

And, of course, we have our Guinness ornament we bought in Ireland to symbolize our honeymoon and time spent in Dublin.  I seriously heart this ornament.  It's dark like the beer, and the top is all frosty white, just like a perfectly poured pint!  It makes me seriously want a Guinness right about now...

We have 2 other trees in the house, too, but one of the pictures didn't come through for some reason.  T has a mini tree from his childhood, and that is up in our bedroom and looks beautiful in there.  I have a slightly larger mini tree from my childhood, and that is on a table in our dining room.  The picture isn't too great, but you get the idea...

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care, lights are up outside, and the house is in full Christmas spirit.  We had the lights on just for Saturday night when we put them on, and they won't be turned back on until we return from Michigan, but the house looks so homey and pretty.  It really gets me excited for the holidays!  

Stop by Chantel's blog and check out the other Small Tuesday Treasures people have to share!

 



Motivation Monday

It's Monday...the start of another week...normally, I'd be upset about this, but it's a short week, so it's less painful.  Anyway, with it being Monday, that means it's Motivation Monday so let's get this party started!

The rules?  (Because I'd really love more people to join in on this and make it a running trend...so come on, people!)  Write a post, talking about something that is motivating you this week, whether that be to work out, do better at work, quit a bad habit....whatever, and then link it up using the Linky tool on this post.   You can even copy and paste the html for my handy-dandy button, if you should so choose.  It's fun.  All the cool kids are doing it.

While I'm still on my quest to lose weight and get in shape, and that is still my motivation for the week...this week my motivation is writing.

Pre-wedding, I was well along my way in writing my manuscript.  However, as the days got closer and the wedding planning got more hectic, I had to put it aside.  And I hate to admit it, but I haven't gotten back into the swing of things since then.  Two months later, people, two months!  Come on, Nain!  Get with it!

My crit group has been awesome in giving me some great advice, and I want to implement these changes ASAP and see what I can do.  I need to just sit my ass down and do it.  But the procrastination, oh the procrastination.  It's hitting me like a freight train.  And sadly, the fates have other plans for me, too....

I had the best of intentions on Sunday.  Sunday was my writing day.  I got up, went to the gym, showered, church, and then....then, we found it.  More mouse poop.  The monster (i.e., Damian the, mouse)  that invaded our kitchen last winter is back.  Not only do we have a squirrel in our walls, we have a mouse in the kitchen.  So plans took a detour.  I did manage to get through one of my crit group's manuscripts, but writing my entire week's worth of blogs and editing a few chapters?  Um...that didn't happen so much...Stupid mouse....

So I need to do it this week.  Light a fire under my ass and just do it.  This is my plan.  Of course, the 5 hour trip there and back to Michigan will give me the perfect opportunity.  So this is my motivation...to get that momentum I had this summer and go with it.  Let's see how I do...

What  about all of you?  What's motivating you this week?







   

Mousegate 2010, Part Deux

Back when I first started this blog, I told you about our trials and tribulations with Mousegate 2010 (invasion of a mouse in our kitchen throughout the month of February).  We were never able to actually trap the mouse, but with the help of Terminex, we plugged all the "holes" where he could get in, and we haven't seen or heard from any rodent since then.

 

Until this last week. 

 

Thursday night, as I'm dozing off to sleep, T hears some scratching behind the wall.  I wasn't conscious at this point, and apparently when he pointed it out to me, I said "it'll be there in the morning....go to bed..."  But I then woke up at 3:00 a.m. and heard it myself and totally freaked out.  I thought him telling me about it at 11 was just a dream.  A bad dream at that, but nope, there was something in our wall.  It was creepy as hell.

 

Flash to last night...around 1:00 a.m...T wakes me up because he hears the thing scratching on the tiles in our master bath (the master bath is actually open to our bedroom with no door so for all intents and purposes, the thing was in our bedroom).  I heard it clear as day.  It sounded like it was chewing on something, and it was pretty loud, meaning the thing was close.  We laid there, terrified, not sure what to do.  T said he'd look up how to trap a wild animal, or we could sleep in the other room.  I didn't want to leave the bed for fear the thing would jump out and bite my legs.  (It was like that game we used to play when we were kids, when we pretended the floor was hot lava and you had to jump from object to object to get around.)  Needless to say we had to do something.  We head to the kitchen, and T gets his huge flashlight (police issued flashlight...this thing could kill a mouse if you hit it hard enough), and I grab the nearest blunt object I could find, which was our Kitchenaid frying pan.  So here's T, at 1:30 in the morning, quietly walking to our dark bathroom, flashlight in hand, with me following in tow, holding my frying pan like I was going to beat it to death as soon as it jumped out.  We didn't find it, though.  I think we scared it back into its hiding place.  We couldn't sleep a wink the rest of the night, though, because every noise sounded like it had come back out again.  Such an icky feeling. 

 

Now, disclaimer....I'm not normally such a violent person.  But I consider my home to be a hostile territory to outsiders, specifically rodents.  If you enter my bedroom when I'm sleeping, I don't care how cute and fuzzy you are, you're going down mouse/squirrel/chipmunk.  This isn't a fairy tale, and I'm pretty damn sure the mouse isn't there to sew me a beautiful dress and clean my kitchen, so watch out buddy.

 

Our landlord is here as I type this, up in the attic with T, trying to see if we can find it.  He seems to think that it's a squirrel.  That doesn't instill confidence in me at all because squirrels are wild animals and carry diseases. 

 

So it looks like we have Mousegate (a.k.a. Rodentgate) 2010, Part Deux.  This time...it's personal....

 

Weekly accomplishments

As part of my new gig as an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay, I have to turn in "weekly accomplishments" sheets with my Sales Director about how my business is going, any questions I have about selling the product, etc.  It's kind of a way for her to see if I need any assistance in any area and also to just keep a record of how things are going.

So yesterday, when I was entering in my "accomplishments" for the week, that got me thinking...during the week it's always "rush, rush, rush, go, go, go" and all I can focus on is getting to Friday evening and relaxing for the weekend.  I never really look back on my week and take credit for how it went.  I mean, what if I really kicked some ass this week?  I'm usually too tired to care, and all I can focus on is getting through the next week.  It's kind of depressing, if you think about it, and I think we should all take credit for how we did during the week and appreciate ourselves just a little bit more.  You know, give credit where credit is due? 

So how did I do this week?  Well, let's see...

I made it to the gym and worked out every single day this week, Sunday through Friday.  Wednesday was with my personal trainer, and two other days I did exercises she taught me the week before.  Yay, Motivation Monday!

On Sunday, I had my Mary Kay debut party, and it was a hit!  Mostly my family came, but I sold a lot of product and booked two more parties by the end of the year.  So yay for that!  (Side note:  Any of you interested in possibly purchasing some Mary Kay, email me :-)  Don't you love my plug?  I'm such a sales person...)

I helped settle a termination of parental rights trial successfully on Thursday, which is always a good thing.  Adoption consents were signed, and everything was smooth and civil...the way I like it. 

I practiced my viola once this week, which is quite an accomplishment.  Sometimes it gets hard to find 30 minutes here and there to dedicate to that, but I did manage to pick up the instrument at least once this week so yay me!

I wrote an article for the Examiner.com about changes in our local government.  My goal is to get back to writing 2-3 articles a week, but I will settle for one article at this point.

I got to catch up with a really good friend on the phone the other day which is a feat in and of itself.  There never seems to be enough time to call someone or email, so it was refreshing to get to just chat for 30 minutes and catch up.  I consider that an accomplishment, too. 

Sure, while I didn't get everything I wanted to get done this week taken care of (ahem, my manuscript and critiquing 2 more manuscripts for my crit group...), it is nice to look back on the week and go "hey, I actually did something this week!" 

What about all of you?  What did you accomplish this week?

 



Spin Cycle: Giving Thanks

Can you believe it is just one week away from Thanksgiving? Seriously? Where did this year go? It's hard to believe that as of next week we will only be one month away from Christmas. Craziness...

It comes as no surprise that the topic of this week's Spin Cycle, brought to you by Sprite's Keeper is about giving thanks. I couldn't think of a better topic. The year 2010 has been a blessed one for me, that's for sure.

Let's start off with the obvious one, because I'm never one to dance around a subject...

I am thankful that this year I married my best friend.  I feel so blessed to have him in my life, and every day I feel luckier.  Our wedding day, while it was a great deal of work and stress to get to the big day, was amazing.  It was everything I dreamed for and more.   T is my biggest blessing this year without a doubt.

I feel blessed to be surrounded by such incredible family and friends and thankful for everyone who shared our special day with us, especially for those friends and family who put so much love and heart into making the day so special.

I feel blessed that we got to take a trip of a lifetime to somewhere where both T and I have always wanted to go...Ireland.  We had such a great time.  The hotel was awesome, the food incredible, the city beautiful, and of course, the Guinness....

I feel thankful for the fact that I have gotten back into writing and following my passion.  I feel blessed that I have T who is my biggest supporter and cheering me all the way.

 Lastly, I feel thankful for all of you!  Seriously, I had no idea where the blogging would take me, but I have loved the entire journey.  I have met some of the best people ever through this, and I can't wait to see where the rest of this year of blogging will take me.  Thank you to all of my readers and commenters!  You guys seriously are the best!

Now stop over at Sprite's Keeper to see what  other people are thankful for :-) 

  



Happy birthday

I know I have made no secret out of the fact that I am quite proud of all of my nieces and nephews.  They are all so special to me, and I love them so much.  I couldn't be a prouder aunt.

Today is my oldest nephew's 14th birthday.  Let's just call him C, and since he's 14 and would kill me if I put a current picture of him on here, so I won't.  I'll save the identity of the easily embarrassed teenager. 

C has always had a special place in my heart.  I was 15 years old when I first became an aunt.  He was not expected, but he couldn't have been a bigger blessing in our family.  My brother and his wife were in college, and they worked hard in school all week and each had weekend jobs, so my parents would take C for the weekends to help him out.  As a teen, that would mean I would get to spend lots of time entertaining my nephew, which I gladly did.  I got so excited when he came over for the weekend. 

Weekends were always better when C was at our house. 

I can't believe he's 14 now. 

It's hard to believe that the same little baby who used to save all of his spit up for his special aunt, especially right when she put on a special outfit for the day.  (It's ok, I forgive him...)

It's hard to believe that the kiddo who used to sleep in the room next to mine and used to knock on the walls to wake me up first thing in the morning when it was time to watch Blue Clues.  I, of course, would get up and gladly watching the show with him. (Did you they show the same damn show 5 days in a row each week?  Yeah, it's ok, I did it).  He was so cute wearing his "Steve" green striped shirt and using his "thinking chair" to figure out the "clues." 

This is the kid who gave me the nickname "Nain."  He couldn't say my real name, so it came out as "Nain," and it has kind of stuck. 

I grew up with C.  He was at our house every weekend, or I would go to my brother's apartment at college to spend time with them. 

As he grew up, he became my buddy.  I would take him on special "Nain/C" dates - movies and hot chocolate, Dairy Queen after his first day of kindergarten.  I even sufferingly sat through "Spy Kids 3D," which I have recently made fun of him for when he teased his younger brother about movies he liked. 

This is the same kid whose pictures I had all over my dorm room when I went off to college to cheer me up.  He even came to visit me at school, and I took a picture of him up on my freshman loft.  He was so excited. 

This is the same kid who I (accidentally) taught how to cuss.  Seriously, I didn't mean to, but one Sunday dinner, as a cute little C sits across from me at Sunday dinner with my family going "shh..shhh...shhhhit" looking me dead in the eye.  Ummm....oops?

This is the same kid who saw his Aunt Nain go through a series of heartbreaks in high school and college.  The same kid who tried to cheer me up after a pretty bad break up by hugging me and asking "why are you crying you, Aunt Nain?  Is it because your heart is broken?"  How could I not smile when looking into that cute little face?

The same kid who two years ago met T for the first time and wouldn't let him out of his sight when the three of us were alone in the house.  (What can I say?  The kid is protective!) 

The same boy who helped my parents move me into my law school apartment, looked around the place, and he said "Aunt Nain, will you be lonely here?"  So he sent me a "Be Happy" chart, which I kept on my fridge for years.  I still have it around here somewhere...

I just can't believe that this little kid is now the 5'10" nephew who is quickly turning into an awesome adult.  Not only is he about a foot taller than me, but he's turned into this quick-witted man with good taste in movies, TV, and music.  Heck, his iTunes selection puts ME to shame!    He's a 2nd degree black belt, an alto saxophonist in his 8th grade band, and a Boy Scout leader.  He's the sweet kid I danced with at my wedding, joking about Family Guy quotes to make him laugh.

WHEN did he grow up?  Did I miss something here?  Can I just slow time down here a bit?

So happy birthday to you, C.  Your Aunt Nain couldn't be prouder to have you as a nephew.  I feel so blessed to get to watch you become into the man you're becoming. 

This first time I ever held C.  Don't judge the 1990s hair and Cosby sweater....

 

Small Treasure Tuesdays

 It's quickly approaching my favorite time of year....Christmas.  I love Christmas...the music, the decorating, buying presents for people I love, special traditions, Advent season at church, I love it all.  Last year, when T and I moved into the house we're renting, we started a new tradition we hope to keep going as we build our family.   We pick a day in November, preferably the one after Thanksgiving, we stay in just the two of us, put on some Christmas music, make some mulled wine and decorate.  We did it last year and had such fun we want to make a point of doing this together every year.

However, this year we are spending Thanksgiving with T's family up in Michigan, so that means we just need to do our decorating just a bit earlier, which is totally no problem at all.  We've decided next Saturday is the day.  I couldn't be more excited.  I love putting up our tree and hanging our stockings on the fireplace.  I love unpacking all of our decorations and seeing them, as if it were the first time in years.  So many of them have so many memories attached to them for both of us.  I have my advent wreath from my Grandma on my Dad's side and my advent calendar from my Grandma on my Mom's side that she handmade.  We each have ornaments that were given to us every year as kids, and we've started our own tradition of buying an ornament to represent where we are in life each year.  Last year was a "Just engaged" ornament, and this year we have two...a "First Christmas Together" and a Guinness ornament to represent our time in Ireland. 

I am so excited to be spending my first Christmas together with my amazing husband.  So here's to the holidays coming up and to traditions!  I'm linking this post up to Chantel's Small Treasure Tuesdays because Christmas and the holiday season is a huge blessing and treasure!

 

Motivation Monday!

It's the start of another week, which means...it's Nain's Motivation Monday!  See the button?  Isn't it awesome?  I am so stoked that my best friend Erika designed it for me, and I love it.  So, the dealio with this meme is...write a post this week (or today, since it is Monday and all...) about what is motivating YOU this week.  On the right, you'll see some html you can copy and paste it into your post.  Also, be sure to link back to my blog in your post and spread the word!  I think we can all use a little motivation, don't you?

My motivation this week?  Personal training.  T and I went to a free session with a personal trainer at our new gym on Thursday.  I was a little hesitant, because, with my heart condition, I can't really do heavy weight lifting, but it was great because all of the strength exercises we learned using only our body weight.  It really worked our muscles.  I was feeling it for days.  It physically hurt to sit myself down in a chair or get up from the chair.  We have one more free session with her this week, and after doing some looking at the budget, we've decided that it is worth it to invest in meeting with her on a regular basis. 

My big problem is that I get to the gym and I either hit the treadmill or the elliptical for 45 minutes, and then I leave.  No strength training, nothing other than just the cardio.  I'm like a hamster running on a wheel.  Well, that is only enough for me to maintain my weight, but I need to lose weight.  Looking at my BMI and fat percentage, I realize now more than ever that I do need to lose some poundage.  And I want to lose it the right way.  No fad diets, no quick loss and then it all comes back.  I want to lose it and keep it off.  So we've decided to start meeting with this trainer, and I couldn't be more excited.  And nervous, because, boy, if I feel like I felt the days after our first workout, this chick is going to kick my ass. 

I know we can do it, but I do worry about the holidays and how that will play into my plan to get in shape.  Any suggestions?

So please link up and tell me about what motivates you this week!  Have a great Monday!

Dear Nain....

I think it was last week sometime when I noticed a trend on twitter.  People were participating in a theme of "What would you tweet your 16 year old self?"  It got me thinking.  Tweets are only a specific number of characters.  What I would have to say to my 16 year old self would be a great deal more than that, that's for sure. 

I know I haven't made it any secret that a lot has changed since I was 16.  I've been through a lot, and a lot of it hasn't been good.  So what would I tell my 16 year old self? 

I would say keep up with the studying and working hard.  Sure, you might think others think you're a nerd, but that hard work does pay off.  Trust me on that one.

You're parents aren't the enemy.  Yes, the curfew is a pain in the butt, and yes, the fact that they wouldn't let you date before the time you were sixteen doesn't seem fair.  But you're lucky.  Always remember that because there are a lot of kids out there who don't have parents who love you and care for you the way you have it.  You truly have been blessed.

Watch out for those parked cars, Nain.  And slow down a little when you're upset.  Look behind you.  Objects in the mirror may and probably do seem closer than they appear. 

Follow your heart.  You love to write, so do it.  Don't give up on your dream.  It might seem unreachable, but it's not.  Do what you love.

Don't wrap your life around one boy.  Don't make him you're only reason for living, and don't make him the only way you're happy.  Yes, it probably does feel like the love you feel for him you will never have for someone again, and yes, your heart does break...but you will love again.  In fact, there is someone out there who will change your world and will fill you with so much love you won't believe it's possible.  And he'll love you for you and won't want to change you, won't be mean to you, would ever dream of breaking your heart.  Just be patient. 

Be careful who you give your heart to.  There are a lot of smooth talkers out there who say the right thing, but listen to your gut.  It won't fail you.

Along that same lines...don't take him back.  You'll know what I mean when you get to that point. Enough said.  Listen to your friends.

Your family are your best friends, your biggest supporters.  Lean on them.  They'll be there for you no matter what. 

Don't worry about what people think about what you wear, the way you dress.  People won't remember you for what brand you wear.  They'll remember you for who you are and how you made them feel.

And lastly, be yourself.  People will love you for who you are. 

What would you tell your 16 year old self?

Spin Cycle: Perfection, pure perfection

 

This week's Spin Cycle, brought to you by Sprite's Keeper is about perfection.  What is perfection?  That's a tough question...perfection is relative, I'm sure.  What seems like perfection to me, I'm sure isn't perfection to others. To me...perfection was...Ireland.   Seriously, it was.  I felt like I had come to my mother land.  It was the best vacation ever, and it physically hurt to leave.  I loved it in Dublin.  There was the food and, of course, the Guinness...

 The local culture and the pubs, and, of course, Arthur's Day, which was  a blast...

 Then there was the history, the beautiful architecture surrounding us everywhere...

 Then there was the fact that the entire trip was just me and my husband, away from everything, the stresses of daily life, technology, just the two of us and nothing to do, no deadlines, nothing.

And did I mention the Guinness?

 To me, our time in Ireland was pure perfection.  I had the most amazing honeymoon in a wonderful country and with the perfect companion.  I loved it all. 

What about you?  What is perfection to you?  Stop by Sprite's Keeper and see what other bloggers have to say about what perfection means to them...

And if you haven't already, link up to Motivation Monday because that is perfection, too!  And please note the new button, created by my dear friend Erika, at Studio E Designs.  It took me about an hour of cursing and tears to get the html to work, but it finally does!  Yay!

 



Paying it forward

A few months ago, my Dad said that he was in line at Starbucks when the gentleman in front of him paid for his coffee, too, without him knowing it.  This got me thinking about the concept of paying it forward.  So often we get so bogged down in day-to-day life that we don't look out for those around us.  Who knows if you could do one small thing to make that person's day?  Who knows if they were having a totally crap day before they ran into you, and you did one small gesture of kindness, and it totally turned things around?

I decided to put words into practice on Tuesday.  On break between two mediation sessions, starving and near brain-dead, I went to Qdoba to grab some lunch to go.  I always get my standard naked burrito to cut down on carbs, and apparently it was "free chip day" if you ordered a naked burrito.  I didn't know this, but the man before me apparently didn't understand the gimmick because he asked whether he got free chips, too, when he went to pay for his huge burrito.  When he was told no, he was joking with the cashier, saying "aw man...you can't make this exception just this once?"  So I decided that, since I wasn't planning on eating my chips in my efforts to lose weight that I might as well just give him mine.  So I grabbed him before he walked away and said "you want my chips?  I don't want them." 

The look on that man's face just made my day.  He was so excited and basically hugged me.  Hey, it was the least I could do.  Who knows what kind of day he was having?  Sometimes it's those little things that can make your day. 

So pay it forward, people!  It's the right thing to do!

  

A button...yay!

Here it is!  My amazing friend, Erika, at Studio E Designs created this for me...I love it!  Now the question...how do I post it on my blog as a button you can copy and paste in your posts?  Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Small Treasure Tuesday: Inappropriate laughter is a treasure

 

It's Tuesday - one day closer to the weekend, and it's Small Treasure Tuesdays with Chantel!  This week's treasure is....laughter.  And the ability to laugh at oneself, even at the oddest circumstances.  Or rather, the most inappropriate of circumstances.

So this last Saturday, T and I went to mass.  For those of you not familiar with Catholic mass, there is a part where you do what is called a "sign of peace" and shake hands with all around you and say "peace be with you".  Of course, when we're with family, I always hug instead of shaking hands, and when it's T, that usually is a hug and a kiss.  Well, this last Saturday, when T gave me a hug, his hand brushed me on the butt.  And it wasn't the first time that mass either.  Butt grabbing in church?  No, not cool, young man...God is watching!

So I lean over and whisper to him "I know what you were doing," and he goes "what?"  So I lean over again and say "stop grabbing my ass!"  A whisper, of course, but as soon as the words came out of my mouth, my hand went up to my mouth.  Oops, not supposed to curse in church!  T leaned over and said that he would be praying for my depraved soul. 

I guess it's no worse than cursing in the church hours before we got married when I was getting pictures taken and said that I was sweating like a whore in church.  (The dress was hot...I'm just saying...)  Or when I accidentally burped while standing up there waiting to take pictures and said "oops, bride burp." 

I shouldn't be allowed out in public.  It's amazing that church doesn't collapse behind me as I walk into it and holy water doesn't scald me. 

But at least I can laugh at myself, right?  And I'm sure God has a sense of humor and is laughing right along with me....

So stop by Chantel's blog and see what other Small Treasures people are sharing this week!

Oh, and if you didn't share your motivation for the week, Motivation Monday is still open until November 13th!  Link up :-)  Otherwise I may just develop a complex....

  

Motivation Monday!

So I'm starting this new tradition, for those of you who aren't aware....it's Motivation Monday!  For me, it's motivation to be healthy and to get in shape and lose those extra pounds that have seemed to sneak up on me over the years.  However, Motivation Monday doesn't have to be just about losing weight.  I feel that anyone needs a good boost of motivation on Mondays, because, let's face it...Mondays suck.  They just do.  I think we can all benefit from a good boost of motivation.

I so need to create a button, and if I knew how to do that, I would.  Anyone got tips on how to do this?  Because I'd love to get a good button in on this action.  So just let me know if you know what you're doing in terms of design and bloggy stuff...

So last week T and I made the big decision to join a gym.  Yes, we are certified gym folk now.  We joined last Tuesday and have already used it four times.  It's kind of nice because it's good to get a break from the normal exercise I do at home, and plus, if you're paying for it...and you're cheap like us, well then, you'll use it.  

We've also signed up to do the Mini Marathon here in Indy next May.  I'll be walking, and T will be running.  God help us :-)  I calculated my time for walking, and it looks like at a 15:00 mile/minute pace, I'll be walking well over 3 hours and 30 minutes.  Of course, I normally do a 13:30 pace, but I'm just being realistic with my goal setting, I suppose...

I am also motivated by these ladies at Reasons to Lose.  These ladies are in a three month contest to motivate each other, get healthy and see which participant can lose the most.  But it's not just about weight loss...it's also about exercises for your mind and spirit, as well, and your self esteem.  I know I could use some help in that area as well, so I am vicariously participating with these ladies and following them to see how they succeed as well.

What about you?  What motivates you this week?  Feel free  to try the new linky tool at the bottom of the screen, write a post, linking back to my blog and make it about what motivates YOU.  I can't wait to read what you all have to share!!!

 

Spin Cycle - Halloween review

It's another Halloween special this week at the Spin Cycle with Sprite's Keeper. I don't have any kiddos, and T and I didn't go to any Halloween parties, so all I have to give you is my rundown on the day. This is "Nain's view" of Halloween, if you will...opinions and all (because who would I be if I didn't have an opinion on something?)

We headed up to my parent's house to go trick or treating with my niece, Roo, and to also remember my Grandma, as this was her birthday. It was nice...we had a nice dinner with my family and a birthday cake in her honor. And, of course, we hit the trick or treating. These are some things I observed along the way...

Fewer houses participate in the tradition. Seriously, when I was a kid in my parent's neighborhood it was practically every house that had its lights on and was handing out candy. This year? Not so much. There was one street we hit where out of ten or twelve houses only three were handing out candy.

And the signal to show people you are handing out candy? You know, the leaving your porch light on thing? Do people still know it's proper to do this? Because there were several houses we hit where people had lights on but no one was home or they weren't handing out candy. Weird...and it also made me feel like we were stalkers or something.

AND, the kids...man, is it just me or are kids trick or treating at a later age this year? We passed this one couple who looked like they were in high school or something, holding hands while going down the sidewalk towards a house, and I swear the guy had the startings of a moustache. If those kids came to my house, I'd be handing them out condoms to "be safe" kids and not candy. Yes, crude, but true, especially when you see the things I see in court on a daily basis.

The costumes that seemed to be really popular in my parent's neighborhood were super heroes (spiderman, specifically), Mario, and well, yeah...that was about it. We did see these two preteen girls who were dressed up like the St. Paulie's girl beermaids...and did I mention they looked to be about 13?  Nice.  My niece was cute as ever as Hello Kitty, which I find to be a pretty creative costume.  But a lot of the costumes out there seemed to be lacking in creativity. We did see this adorable little girl who was a thing of bubbles...she had clear balloons all around her, and she was a soap dish. (Too cute, right?) I think she won the prize of most creative costume for the evening in my book.

There was a noticeable decrease in the amount of junior mints available for my niece to pick out for her Aunt Nainy. I was slightly disappointed, I must admit.  Don't people know of their minty goodness?

It was great getting to spend the time with my family, and as always, we had a wonderful time. So check out Sprite's Keeper to see what other tricks or treats people had out there! (Hey, they might not be as cynical as me...)

Happy Friday, everyone!