To the proud wearer of the pink apron...

This is just a quick post in remembrance of my friend Scottie. He was stationed near Tucson a couple years ago. While he was here, he was my home teacher and friend. Yesterday his helicopter was shot down and Scottie and another soldier lost their lives. I'm very thankful for the service he gave to this country and for the love he showed everyone. He always made time to help anyone who needed it. He helped me move at the end of July in the crazy Tucson heat, and he was always willing to listen and offer advice if needed. I think heaven definitely gained a great man yesterday. I'm sad that it means we are without him now. I know that he is in a much better place and again, I'm grateful for his friendship and service. Yesterday, being D-Day, already had so much meaning for many people and now this will again be a reminder to me of all the men and women who have sacrificed so much for us. We are truly blessed to live in this country and I'm so grateful for those who protect us daily. Thank you again Scottie for you service and friendship. 

Brave

   

So...I haven't been on here for a few months, I thought it was time to let everyone know I'm still alive! And before you continue to read this you should watch the trailer above. Unless you've already seen it before. Mostly I just wanted to steal the last line from it. "If you could change your fate, would ya?" I've seen the trailer quite a few time because...well it looks like it's going to be a great movie. Anyways, I digress...I've been doing some thinking the last little bit and thought maybe I should share my opinions and get some feedback.

This thinking started before I saw this trailer and heard the last line but every time I hear "If you could change your fate, would ya?", I keep going back to those thoughts. This already is getting kind of confusing...Lately, I have been feeling as if life is just happening around me and I'm not really a part of it. Like, I'm not really being proactive in what is going on around me or to me. I feel like I stay where I'm safe and comfortable rather than making changes that may be necessary. Also, I've been feeling very UNbrave! For those of you who knew me in my childhood, I've been told I was kind of fearless. I did crazy things like cartwheel on a cliff and balance on a broken office chair...that's mom's favorite story to share! Somewhere along the way, I lost that daring attitude to try and I've been missing it lately.

So, now my goal is to analyze. Look at my life and figure out what I'm missing, what changes I can make to "change my fate". I already know some things that I definitely want to change and have been working on those areas but I could always increase what I'm doing and put in more of an effort to really get things changed. There are other areas I want to focus on and make some changes as well. I know that change is not always easy and definitely not fun, but I've decided I can't just be a spectator anymore. I want to do something, I want to be brave again and somewhat fearless....fearless meaning, willing to try new things and not just doing dumb things! This post sounds like a lot to undertake but I just can't wait for things to happen, I want to make them happen...or at least help them happen!

As always, I hope this makes sense to anyone reading it. I'm always worried that things only make sense to me! I could write more on this subject but right now, I've got to get ready for work so....If anyone is feeling UNbrave like me, I hope you find some courage to be a little more fearless! Also, I welcome any and all suggestions that you may have!

Bread=Productivity

I don't really know what this post is about. Monday was my day off and I was still trying to recover from my overnight shift on Saturday. I got off work at 7am on Sunday morning and slept for about an hour...After church I slept for about another 2 hours. I couldn't fall asleep later so Monday I slept longer than I planned. I had all these things I wanted to get done.

First, I was about out of bread. Awhile ago, I asked Mom to teach me the secret to making bread and since then I've tried to make my own instead of buying it. I still have to make it the old fashioned way...by hand...since I don't have a nice mixer yet to do that for me. So, making bread is sometimes a process. But, every time I make it, I feel super productive! Also, since I have to make it and work for it, I don't feel so guilty when I eat it...Bread is seriously my downfall! So since I overslept on Monday I didn't start the bread til later but what's great about bread is you can do so many other things while it rises. So, I still got some other things done and got to read some which I've been trying to do more. I get on kicks where all I want to do is read a good book and then there are other times where I'm just not feeling it. I can definitely thank my parents for that love of reading!

Second, I needed to do laundry. Laundry is something that is only nice when you have your own washer and dryer...and you're only doing laundry for one person! I have only been without a washer and dryer twice since I moved out and they were awful and miserable times! I hate having to do it at a laundromat. It takes up your whole day and I'm so grateful I live in an apartment where they provide a washer and dryer. It makes it so much easier to do this chore!

Third, I wanted to do some spring cleaning in my room. My closet was looking really full and I just felt like a had a lot I needed to go through and get rid of. My deepest fear is becoming a hoarder. You know, like the ones on that TV show. Scares the crap out of me, so I'm just trying to make sure I stay far far away from that line!

I had other things on my list buy these three were probably most important. And despite my late start I did all three. Granted the spring cleaning is a little more of a process but I got started and all in all, I feel like I had a pretty productive day!

I really think it's all due to making the bread. If I didn't do that, my day wouldn't have felt half as productive! Ha ha

NEW

So let me just start by saying that I kind of stink at New Year's resolutions. I try every year and succeed for a few months before failing...A friend of mine posted on facebook about One Little Word. I've never heard of this so I read it and really liked the idea. Instead of making a bunch of resolutions this year, I'm picking one word that I want to focus on. As I was reading about the One Little Word, NEW is what popped in my head. It was kind of like those word association games where someone says a word and they want you to respond with the first word that pops in your head. Well, I feel like that works in this case.

I love this word for the year. I feel like I've become to complacent with the OLD and I'm ready to make some changes for the year. There are many aspects of my life that I feel can benefit from a touch of NEW and I'm excited for the new year and the opportunity to make some changes. I may not be making resolutions like I used to but I still have some areas that I'm wanting to change and I'm hoping that using this one little word in each of those areas will help. I guess I'll be able to tell you more about how this works next year about this time!

Anyways....HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that this year will be a happy and healthy one for each of you. I'm so grateful for all the blessings in my life and for this time of year, where we get to reflect on so many of our blessings. Despite my last post, I do love this time of year. For some reason, this year I was feeling a bit grinchy...But I'm feeling better now...my heart must also have grown a few sizes! (Just a little Grinch humor for ya)