Love & Peace

S-U-C-C-E-S-S & Winning!?

I'd love to hear your comments:

How do YOU measure success or winning? What does success or winning FEEL like?

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

LDS.ORG
mormon.org

Cake Wrecks!

Ok y'all, this sight is FABULOUS!! The cakes they highlight go from, absolute wrecks, to some AMAZINGLY stunning cakes as well. Don't just take a look at the pictures either; the humor in her comments on the cakes make the pictures come to life even more. She's quite funny... very funny to me...

Click Here For More CAKE WRECKS!

Joni-this one is for you, Eliza's birthday is coming up and I know she & Oliver love their little girraffies....

Family, Isn't it about time...

I've actually had some non-member friends out here in Louisiana that have commented on the TV ads the church runs. They love them and would love to see more of them. LOVE IT!

Have Ya Ever Thought About It Like This?

To those of you in here in Lafayette, I'm sure the majority of you have seen this video on the Waihi's blog, but I needed to share it with the "other" side....

Thanks Vicki - This is awesome!

Face Clinging Aliens!!! They're EVERYWHERE!!!

I found myself in a situation not too long ago that made me do some sincere thinking about the oh-so-real feeling of fear/pain…and what “fear/pain” really is.

I’m going to use the example of health & exercise due to the fact that this is a bit more common than the situation I was in…

Side Note, and nothing to do with this post but need to share it: I don’t care what someone’s “weight” is. There are gals who are 120 lbs and couldn't’t run to the end of the block…starting from the ½ way point. There are gals at 160+ lbs. who can run 26.2 miles, for fun, on any given weekend. So, this is more about feeling like an athlete vs. looking like a model.

Real vs. Perceived

The natural man can perceive fear and pain, this is healthy. It’s what keeps us alive day to day. If we didn’t understand that stepping out in traffic would be painful and could kill us, we’d walk into traffic on a daily basis, if we survived.

So now I’d like to look at the, real or not, perceived fear & pain of choosing a healthy life style vs. sedentary. Why should I choose being healthy? Because I KNOW exercising will:

-Reduces the risk of dying prematurely
-Reduces the risk of dying from heart disease
-Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety
-Helps to build and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints
-Helps older adults become stronger
-Helps to control weight, build lean muscle mass and reduce body fat
-Prevents or delays the development of high blood pressure
-Helps release stress

Ok, so why is it that I DO NOT choose a healthier lifestyle?



- I’ve got a health issue, and I’m sure I’ll make it worse by exercising incorrectly, and I don’t have the $$$ to get a trainer/dr. to help me.
- I’m afraid of looking stupid at the gym
- I don’t have time
- I don’t have the right cloths
- Eating healthy and taking vitamins and supplements is too expensive.
- (maybe you can think of more reasons why I shouldn't’t work out?)

Now, as I lay in bed and think about working out, my highest perceived pain, comes from the reasons NOT to work out. It’s the most tangible and immediate consequence. So, I avoid, just like I would stepping out into traffic, and I lie in bed for another 30 minutes, to stay “SAFE”.

SAFE?

WHOA! WAIT A MINUTE! WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE!
Let me re-evaluate my options…my perceived fear and pain?

- premature death
- heart disease
- depression and anxiety
- weak and brittle bones
- high blood pressure
- more stress
OR
- the lame excuses I just noted on why I shouldn't’t workout… L-A-Z-Y!

Fascinating how our minds work, isn’t it?!

I remember a story I heard about "perceived" pain. Scientists were studying rats. They didn't feed it for a few days, and then put it in a container with food, now automatically it went straight to the food to eat, releasing itself from the pain of hunger. Ok, so they take the same rat, make it go hungry for a few days, then put it back in the container with food, BUT this time they put a little grid in the floor that as the rat runs to the food and crosses the grid it sends a little shock to the rat and the rat runs back to the side in which he started, not getting the food. (The shock would not have killed it.) The scientists then remove the metal grid that causes the shock, puts the rat back in. What does the rat do? It sits in the opposite end of the food and actually dies from starvation. The rat perceives his highest pain is the shock, that doesn't really exist, and chooses starvation without trying again.

Now, I think this is mean to the rat, but, it proves a good point. Many times in our, much more significant, human brain, we perceive greater pain than is really there. And then we seem to forget to look into the future of what real pain we will cause ourselves for avoiding the smaller, or perceived pain at the moment.

So, here is my new challenge, please feel free to take it with me, the next time you need to do something you KNOW you should do; -working out -calling someone you haven't spoken to in awhile due to hurt feelings, -roll out the slip and slide, put your swimsuit on and play in the water with your children, or -THAT one dream, THE one that burns within... But suddenly this "Alien" jumps on your face and clings to you screaming all the reasons why you shouldn't, just ask yourself, OUT LOUD, "oh, com-on, is this REAL, really?"



and then ask, "What are the consequences of NOT doing it?" If you need, pull out some paper... write out all the fear and pain why you shouldn't, and then, all you REALLY need is just 1 reason why you SHOULD!

Once you have conquered that, once thought to be real, face sucking alien...
This is how you will feel, and this will be how you will protect yourself from future face sucking aliens... !!

Rock on!

“Go Confidently In The Direction Of Your Dreams” — Henry David Thoreau

There is a lot out there about "DREAMS" and "DREAMING BIG"! Walk into any school, elementary, jr. high, and even high school. It's plastered on every classroom wall, school hallway and banners in the gymnasiums, they tell us NOTHING short of winners and how dreams became reality. As we grow older and move through life, we continue to read, write and do math...but what about dream? I've come across people who laugh and say, it's a "cliche', And even worse, I've met way too many who state they haven't any dreams. If we're not dreaming, we're not living. Some have said, "I'm too old for dreams and all I really care about is my family," Well, to me, being close to family is a BIG dream! So, what about dreaming of the ability to spend more time with them, is it money or time keeping you from spending your quality years at their side?

And what about us/you, as parents, do we tell our 3 year old that dreams of being a fireman, that's he'll never be strong enough and he's too dumb to be a fireman? Of course not, but why do we seem to come up with reasons why we can't obtain our own dreams...a little hypocritical, don't ya think?

What is your dream?

- Maybe you'd love to travel a little more. An adventure filled vacation for you and your spouse, or a learning experience for your children on a family trip.

- A small cottage on a big piece of land. a ginormous home in Beverley Hills, a, a pent house in NY, or a farm in Ohio...what about a grass hut in Africa?

- TIME? Just enough $$$ to get you out of the office full time so you can spend the afternoon in the garden? or serving in your local community...or even in a 3rd world country?

- Do you wanna dance? Learn how to play the accordion, take up a hobby that you've always wanted to do, but just didn't dare, you were just too scared?

WHAT is it that YOU want? CHASE IT! WORK HARD FOR IT! LIVE IT! YOU DESERVE IT! YOUR CHILDREN AND FAMILY DESERVE IT!

Love ya!

"If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.: ~Thomas Edison

HAPPY NEW YEAR-Across The World!!!

Tolling of the bell in MOSCOW:


New Year's Eve, or Noivy God as it is in Russian, is celebrated by gathering in the Red Square to await the tolling of the Saviour clocktower, As New Year arrives, people take to the streets and go calling on friends and neighbours, celebrating until dawn arrives.
_________________________

I wanted to write a quick post, because it's been WAY TOO LONG.  But I must be short for now, I'll be back to update on what I've been up to.  Life is Fabulous! (No, I didn't go to Russia, not yet anyway...)

So.... if you DARE, please leave a post of 1 or all your new year resolution/s.

Halloween at Cabin Bluff, GA

Scott's company had an "executive get-away" last month. They held it at a place called Cabin Bluff on Sea Island in Georgia. It was soo much fun, I've never been somewhere like this before.



There was about 40 of us at the resort, we had it all to ourself. Each couple was given a golf cart to get around in. There was a fishing dock that we could go out and fish off of at anytime. They had a large container full of live bait-shrimp and another container that was the largest tackle box I've ever seen. They also had coolers along the dock full of water and beer, all of this was for us to use at our will. Never did we need to pay for a thing.

The larger cabins had a beautiful "living room" and on the tables there were baskets, some had a wide supply of chips, some were filled with fruit and other goodies. It was seriously like being at home, we could eat out of the refrigerator as we wanted, it was awesome.

They had guided activities for us: We were also able to go hunt deer and boar, we took dogs out and went quail hunting. We could go sport shooting, clay pigon shooting, golfing, fishing, whatever we wanted and there was someone at our beckon call anytime for anything, yet there wasn't anyone around breathing down your neck telling you what you could or couldn't do.

Which way'd he go...which way'd he go? (Quail Hunt)


My Shooting Coach


Women Only Quail Hunt


It was fabulous. There was a cooler of beer and water at ever hole on the golf course, as well as on the bocce ball grounds. The service was unreal, I would LOVE to work somewhere like that! Well, I'd actually love to own something like that and be able to give the specialized service and attention to the groups coming in. They cooked beautiful yummy meals for us, and afterwards we go night fishing, play pool, sit around a large fire and tell stories, Halloween night it was a big costume party and we did karaoke all night.

I don't think I explained this well, but I've been meaning to get pictures up for awhile now and I just need to get them up...so here ya have it!!!

Our cute little cabin

The View to the dock



Pool Deck

One of Scott's many catches

Does something look a bit odd about this picture...nope, the gator has actually been placed on the ceiling...I love the south!!

One of the cabin lodges

Cabin lodge

It's Halloween Baby!!!

Some of the men and their stupendous karaoke skills






Our pimp'n ride, but we usually walked, it was beautiful!


So, uummm...how'd I get clear up here in this stand? Where'd I get this gun? You want me to sit here for how long????


Funny little story: as the guide was showing me how to load the gun, he handed me a bullet to put in the chamber, I paused and looked at him as serious and confused as I possibly could and asked him which way the pointy end of bullet went in...the look on his face was priceless!!! One of the gals standing close by said it was even more funny because I don't "talk" like them (the southern accent) and I sound like some yankee from the North East. Oh, it was a good laugh!