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| Live band in a garage. Loud and fun. |
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| Back to the gym. Oy. |
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| First day of school. |
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| LOVE these moments. |
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| A new Bible study. |
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| Much needed rain. |
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| Super-fun evening with my cousin. |
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| Birthday balloons. |
Saturday, August 28, 2010
A Week In The Life Of This 40-Year-Old
Friday, August 27, 2010
On My Soapbox: The 'Be Respectful To Women' Edition
Today my husband and I were at a workplace gym. In this gym is a magazine rack which holds several different magazines (either 9 or 12 slots, I think). In each slot, each front magazine was opened to a picture or an ad of a woman. (Side gripe: Some ads, even in 'tasteful' magazines, are distasteful and on the verge of soft porn.)
Now, this took time and effort for whoever did this. And it was most definitely an intentional act.
'Sexual harassmant' was the phrase I used.
Kudos to my husband who stood there with me, closing each one of those magazines.
Which brings me to my next point: I am so grateful for a husband who is respectful of women.
Which brings me to yet another point: It is my responsibility as a woman to be respectful of my body and my husband. My body belongs to my husband. It is not meant to be put out there in a such a way that is enticing to other men. (This does NOT mean that women are not allowed to dress and look nice. I believe that a woman CAN dress and look nice WITHOUT looking slutty. There, I said it.)
And with that, I will step off of my soapbox.
Until next time...
I am Amy. Hear me roar.
Now, this took time and effort for whoever did this. And it was most definitely an intentional act.
'Sexual harassmant' was the phrase I used.
Kudos to my husband who stood there with me, closing each one of those magazines.
Which brings me to my next point: I am so grateful for a husband who is respectful of women.
Which brings me to yet another point: It is my responsibility as a woman to be respectful of my body and my husband. My body belongs to my husband. It is not meant to be put out there in a such a way that is enticing to other men. (This does NOT mean that women are not allowed to dress and look nice. I believe that a woman CAN dress and look nice WITHOUT looking slutty. There, I said it.)
And with that, I will step off of my soapbox.
Until next time...
I am Amy. Hear me roar.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Lessons I Teach Myself While Parenting My Children
I started working out (again) this week. I really don't enjoy exercise, but I know I have to do it to reach certain goals, including weight loss and a healthy body. sigh.
My plan is to do 3 miles on the elliptical several times a week. So far, so good.
Today was day 3 and I was in no mood for it, but I sucked it up and did it anyway. Not long after mile 1, my mind and body were done. D-O-N-E. My playlist sucked. The TV on the elliptical was all fuzzy and getting on my nerves. And somebody in that room stunk!
But there was no way I could stop.
For the last 3 days, I have been trying to teach my son that in order to get certain results, sometimes (most of the time) we have to work hard. Really, really hard.
He started football for the first time this year. And he was looking forward to it. But...the practices have been long and difficult. There was even puking involved. (ack!)
There have been many early morning and late night pep talks going on around here. Trying to help him understand that to be good at football, he is going to have to do the hard work, as suckish as it may be. "Eventually, your body will become used to the hard work and it won't seem so hard." I broke it down into smaller, more manageable pieces for him. At least every 25 minutes, they are given a water break. "All you have to do is remember that you won't have to go longer than 25 minutes, then you get a break."
Eventually, my body will become used to exercise and won't hate me every time I do it. All I have to do is make it one. mile. at. a. time. Revamp my playlist. And make sure I choose a machine with a properly working TV. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about stinky workout neighbors. (gag)
KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!
My name is Amy. I travel 3 miles and get NOWHERE!
My plan is to do 3 miles on the elliptical several times a week. So far, so good.
Today was day 3 and I was in no mood for it, but I sucked it up and did it anyway. Not long after mile 1, my mind and body were done. D-O-N-E. My playlist sucked. The TV on the elliptical was all fuzzy and getting on my nerves. And somebody in that room stunk!
But there was no way I could stop.
For the last 3 days, I have been trying to teach my son that in order to get certain results, sometimes (most of the time) we have to work hard. Really, really hard.
He started football for the first time this year. And he was looking forward to it. But...the practices have been long and difficult. There was even puking involved. (ack!)
There have been many early morning and late night pep talks going on around here. Trying to help him understand that to be good at football, he is going to have to do the hard work, as suckish as it may be. "Eventually, your body will become used to the hard work and it won't seem so hard." I broke it down into smaller, more manageable pieces for him. At least every 25 minutes, they are given a water break. "All you have to do is remember that you won't have to go longer than 25 minutes, then you get a break."
Eventually, my body will become used to exercise and won't hate me every time I do it. All I have to do is make it one. mile. at. a. time. Revamp my playlist. And make sure I choose a machine with a properly working TV. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about stinky workout neighbors. (gag)
KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!
My name is Amy. I travel 3 miles and get NOWHERE!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
I Am SOO Glad School Started...
...but not for the reasons you may think. I've seen Facebook and Twitter posts galore about parents ready for the kids to be out of the house after a long summer break. And while I've felt that way in years gone by, this year is different.
My kids are embarking on new adventures this year. Uncharted waters. My daughter is starting college. My son is starting 7th grade and football. I'm excited for these new phases in their lives and hope they enjoy these new life experiences.
Another reason I am so glad school has started: So that we can get back to some sort of routine. I don't do well for long without some sort of schedule. I really love summer for lots of reasons. One being the laziness: We get to stay up late and sleep late. Eat whenever and whatever we want (cookies and cheese puffs for breakfast). Go swimming, ride go carts and vacation whenever we feel like it. These are wonderful things which we are so blessed to get to enjoy.
However...
I don't do well (mentally) after floundering around for too long. Oh it's all fun and games in the beginning, but after a while, I long for some kind of order. Some kind of schedule. I hardly cooked at all this Summer. Many days were 'fend for yourselves'. (Mom of the Year award ceremony to be announced.) While we have lots of fun during the summer, I don't get much 'have-to-do' accomplished.
Maybe that's the lesson here.
The point of Summer break, perhaps?
Maybe this post just took a turn from where I originally intended it to go.
I think I just cut myself some slack...without even meaning to.
Maybe I should re-title this post "Random Post That Takes A Dramatic Turn And Doesn't Really Have An Ending"
My kids are embarking on new adventures this year. Uncharted waters. My daughter is starting college. My son is starting 7th grade and football. I'm excited for these new phases in their lives and hope they enjoy these new life experiences.
Another reason I am so glad school has started: So that we can get back to some sort of routine. I don't do well for long without some sort of schedule. I really love summer for lots of reasons. One being the laziness: We get to stay up late and sleep late. Eat whenever and whatever we want (cookies and cheese puffs for breakfast). Go swimming, ride go carts and vacation whenever we feel like it. These are wonderful things which we are so blessed to get to enjoy.
However...
I don't do well (mentally) after floundering around for too long. Oh it's all fun and games in the beginning, but after a while, I long for some kind of order. Some kind of schedule. I hardly cooked at all this Summer. Many days were 'fend for yourselves'. (Mom of the Year award ceremony to be announced.) While we have lots of fun during the summer, I don't get much 'have-to-do' accomplished.
Maybe that's the lesson here.
The point of Summer break, perhaps?
Maybe this post just took a turn from where I originally intended it to go.
I think I just cut myself some slack...without even meaning to.
Maybe I should re-title this post "Random Post That Takes A Dramatic Turn And Doesn't Really Have An Ending"
My name is Amy and I arm wrestled a Marine.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
A Week In The Life Of This 40-Year-Old
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| Museum of Living Art rocks! |
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| A new project. |
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| Date Night |
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| Seriously. If I could swim in that sauce, I would. |
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| Water Park |
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| Fi-Yah! |
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| Sunny Street Benedict. Birthday Breakfast. |
Saturday, August 14, 2010
I'm Published!
I'm so excited! Today was the release of Radical Love, authored by my friends Kimberly Parker and Donna Lowe. I got to travel to Canada back in June to take their photo for the back of the book.
What an awesome experience! I am so thankful to Kim and Donna for allowing me the honor of taking their photo.
('Have a photo published' is #15 on the list.)
What an awesome experience! I am so thankful to Kim and Donna for allowing me the honor of taking their photo.
('Have a photo published' is #15 on the list.)
Friday, August 13, 2010
Living Out Loud (Random Thoughts of a 40-Year-Old)
Sometimes that (Living Out Loud) seems like false advertising. In some things I have no problem 'living them'. In others, I sit idly by and let things happen. Why is that? And while lots of interesting/exciting things happen, I don't always blog about them, even though I want to. (see lame excuse below)
Whatever my issues are right now, I'm going to blame the heat. Seriously. I live in Texas. It's August. And I am D-O-N-E with it. It sucks the life right out of me.
I'm sitting here surrounded by party stuff from last Saturday, still needing to be put away. Boxes of decorations, supplies and memories. That's where I got (mentally) stuck...the memories. I have had a great life, complete with happy times and not-so-happy times. And I wouldn't change a thing. However, in my life before I had any real control (or took control), things happened that I still have to reconcile. And these boxes of memories triggered feelings...for what could have been, or what should be. What do I do with those feelings? Pack them away again? That doesn't seem to be working for me.
It's that time of year when school is about to start back up and I'm thinking about that 'to-do' list. You know the one...of all the things I'll do once school starts. (That actually made me laugh) My kids are old enough now that I can't legitimately use them as an excuse for not getting things done while they are home. I guess I'll be busy looking for a different excuse.
I'm entering all kinds of new and exciting stages in my life:
1) I have a child that will start college. I AM THE MOTHER OF A COLLEGE STUDENT!
2) I'm 40. And it doesn't feel much different than 39. Except a little more 'distinguished'. (or some such)
3) My son will splay football this school year, for the first time EVER. Football is a contact sport. Lord help me. (Like how I turned that around to be about me?)
4) I have my own photography business, and it has been coming along nicely.
The sadness of my brother being in prison is setting in. (This is strongly related to the 'boxes of memories') It's tough to explain my feelings on this. Although he broke the law and deserves to be in prison, it's still sad that he'll spend the rest of his life there.
I still haven't blogged about my "Christmas Around The World" dinner. And it was definitely blog-worthy. But I allowed my JOY about the event to be stolen. sigh. I'm mostly over that, so I promise to blog about it...eventually.
While I enjoy reading others' blogs, there's still a part of me that wonders, "Who the heck cares about what I have to say?" Hence the sporadic blogging.
(Clicking 'Publish Post' will cause me great anxiety. My PP brain (procrastination perfectionism) is on overload for this post.)
(Post blogpost thoughts: This entry sounds kinda heavy. That's not how I intended it. I am in an absolutely fantastic place in my life right now. Things could not be better! Well, maybe they could...if I could eat chips and queso for every meal and NOT suffer the consequences.)
Whatever my issues are right now, I'm going to blame the heat. Seriously. I live in Texas. It's August. And I am D-O-N-E with it. It sucks the life right out of me.
I'm sitting here surrounded by party stuff from last Saturday, still needing to be put away. Boxes of decorations, supplies and memories. That's where I got (mentally) stuck...the memories. I have had a great life, complete with happy times and not-so-happy times. And I wouldn't change a thing. However, in my life before I had any real control (or took control), things happened that I still have to reconcile. And these boxes of memories triggered feelings...for what could have been, or what should be. What do I do with those feelings? Pack them away again? That doesn't seem to be working for me.
It's that time of year when school is about to start back up and I'm thinking about that 'to-do' list. You know the one...of all the things I'll do once school starts. (That actually made me laugh) My kids are old enough now that I can't legitimately use them as an excuse for not getting things done while they are home. I guess I'll be busy looking for a different excuse.
I'm entering all kinds of new and exciting stages in my life:
1) I have a child that will start college. I AM THE MOTHER OF A COLLEGE STUDENT!
2) I'm 40. And it doesn't feel much different than 39. Except a little more 'distinguished'. (or some such)
3) My son will splay football this school year, for the first time EVER. Football is a contact sport. Lord help me. (Like how I turned that around to be about me?)
4) I have my own photography business, and it has been coming along nicely.
The sadness of my brother being in prison is setting in. (This is strongly related to the 'boxes of memories') It's tough to explain my feelings on this. Although he broke the law and deserves to be in prison, it's still sad that he'll spend the rest of his life there.
I still haven't blogged about my "Christmas Around The World" dinner. And it was definitely blog-worthy. But I allowed my JOY about the event to be stolen. sigh. I'm mostly over that, so I promise to blog about it...eventually.
While I enjoy reading others' blogs, there's still a part of me that wonders, "Who the heck cares about what I have to say?" Hence the sporadic blogging.
(Clicking 'Publish Post' will cause me great anxiety. My PP brain (procrastination perfectionism) is on overload for this post.)
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| This is me. Covered by GRACE. Whew! |
(Post blogpost thoughts: This entry sounds kinda heavy. That's not how I intended it. I am in an absolutely fantastic place in my life right now. Things could not be better! Well, maybe they could...if I could eat chips and queso for every meal and NOT suffer the consequences.)
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