Little Treasures

My nieces and nephews are seriously my joy. I love them so much! There is just something about a child when their face lights up when you walk into the room. There is just something about when a child sits in your lap just to be near you. Or asks you to read to them. Sigh. I love all of it. Ok, not the tantrums so much. But even then, I love the fact that they are trying to express the fact that they are NOT HAPPY. We really are blessed to be in the presence of children. Have you ever thought of it that way? Well, I have.

I came home the other day to a cleaner yard. Some yard work had been done. My brother had been there. As I walked up to my front door, there were 3 bright leaves sitting perfectly on my doorstep. It was then that I realized that my niece or one of my nephews had been there too. How did I know that? Well, they are the cutest things. On several of our outings together they try to find me the most perfect leaves they can find. It brings the biggest smiles to their faces when they accomplish this task and they feel that they are brightening my day as well. So it's kind of become a thing. What can I say, when they smile like that, it pretty much melts my heart. So here I come home to 3 little leaves on my doorstep. A little treasure left by one of my little treasures. What can I say? TT loves to be thought of by her kiddies. :)

Moab is FUN!

This last weekend I went to Moab for the first time. It was so much fun! Honestly, I feel so blessed to be able to travel around a little bit here and there. While hiking, I was just blown away by the beauties surrounding us here. I feel so lucky to live so close to places like this. I can't believe I've never been to Moab before. Believe me, it will not be a mistake I repeat. I plan on going back as much as I can. I didn't get to explore nearly enough. :)



We not only had hiking adventures, we had other adventures as well. For example, on the first day Melissa and I were the only hikers (the others were biking) and we all filled up our packs with water at the local watering hole. Well I was driving Val's car and she needed to get in the trunk and so I gave her the keys. It wasn't until they were pulling away that I realized she never gave them back to me. Needless to say, we were stranded for a little bit until they realized she had the keys. It was kinda funny. We searched the car 3 times hoping she had just tossed the keys in the car before taking off. Things like that definitely build character. lol.

Another adventure.. that night we were going to play Frisbee in the park and a few of us ended up learning how to Latin dance instead. Seriously, it was almost one of those things out of a movie. Just picture it.. a pavilion, streamer lights, couples dancing at night and a cute man and women teaching us how to move. It was actually a lot of fun. I wouldn't go straight to "Tandy had a lot of grace" but I definitely had fun trying. :) I love to dance, but I'm more of a free style kinda girl. lol. This was good for me. I really want to learn how to be more graceful in couples dancing. Practice makes perfect, right? :)

Dang the blog

Not gonna lie.. this whole blogging thing can be a little frustrating. So my laptop has been acting up lately. It doesn't like certain things I do on it. Alright, its a little older but I hate to buy a new one when this one is still working.. technically. Crap! Anyway, I haven't been able to post pics, etc. Well I finally am able to post a few pics before it freaks out. But it's only to find that I can't edit them once they're on here. Double crap! Argh this blogging thing can be frustrating. I got huge pics, double up pics and who knows what else. Hello, I'm not sure this whole blogging world is for me. I'm gonna have to try to figure this thing out when I have more time I suppose.

Patriotic Thank You!!!

As many of you know, my youngest brother has been serving in the military for quite a few years. He has been training and then serving in the war since the beginning of the year. Though it has been hard to have him so far away from our family, I cannot tell you how proud I am of him. From a very young age he has demonstrated a high level of patriotic pride. Something that he shares with our grandpa, who also served in a devastating war. A pride that I see in so many of our soldiers. As I look in our soldiers faces, I cannot help but wonder where this loyalty, pride and sense of duty comes from. As I look into their faces, I cannot help but have an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the men and women who sacrifice SO much for us!

My brother just came home for his all too short leave. He had to travel many hours to get back home and he had to travel on many different flights to reach us. But he said his travel was good. He said he had a really hard time keeping it together when they got to Texas. As they were taxied in, there were 2 fire trucks on either side of the plane and they were shooting their hoses in an arch over the plane as a symbol of gratitude because they knew there were a few soldiers on the plane. As this happened, the other passengers stood up and all applauded them. Old and young. He said it meant a lot. But it didn't stop there. As they got off the plane and went to catch the next flight, they were applauded and cheered by so many others they passed by. They were told that this is what Texas does for our soldiers. This is a regular occurrence.

I am overjoyed at the kindnesses made to show my brother and other soldiers that they are appreciated. Thank you Texas!!! Thank you for your Patriotic Thank You to soldiers!

Honoring those who Fight for our Freedom

Honestly, this whole election has been very aggravating to me. I hate politics. There, I said it! It's true. It's like everyone is so set on bringing out each other's 'garbage' that I don't understand how anyone can view politics in a positive light. How am I supposed to feel good about voting for a person who tries to smear another person while in the same breath is boasting about their own good qualities? It is completely insane to me. At this point, I feel it is a simple choice of choosing between the lessor of the two evils so to speak. Quite honestly it makes me want to throw up.

What REALLY gets me though, is all this talk of pulling out of the war. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I hate war as much as the next person. But what I am saying is that it is a complete slap in the face to those beautiful soldiers who have sacrificed their time, energy, and in some cases.. lives in this war if we pull out of it cold turkey. We dishonor our soldiers by talking about the war as if it has been a complete failure. If you were to talk to a soldier who is currently serving, you would know that they believe it to be a success. They believe it to be worthy of their service. My brother is currently in Afghanistan. He left a beautiful wife behind so he could serve his country for a cause that he believes in. He left his family so he could fight for a freedom that soldiers continue to fight for and that we as every day Americans seem to forget that we continue to have to fight for. Yes, we live in the Land of the Free but that does not mean we do not have to protect that freedom. That does not mean we do not have to continue to fight for that right. I am so thankful to those soldiers who sacrifice continually even when the media leads others to believe what they are doing is for not. I am thankful for those soldiers who sacrifice for our freedom even when it would appear that gratitude is lacking amongst the people who owe them their freedom.

Possible Addiction

Ok, so I'm going to confess something. I struggle with exercise. There...it's out! I seriously hope that my honesty only endears you to me rather than makes your love for me diminish. lol. Anyway, I really WANT to like exercising, but really the love just isn't there. Regardless, I got a gym membership and everything so that I would push myself in the right direction of this goal of mine... Ya know to exercise and like it. I'm determined to be better. I even bought a bike so that I could do more things at home too. I really think I should get an A for effort here. Well, on my list of things I wanted to try I wanted to try kick boxing. Well if you know me, you know I have the coordination of a string bean. So why, kick boxing? Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe cause it sounds tough? Maybe cause my sister-in-law did it and started to get a freakin awesome toned body before she went and got prego? I'm not really sure but it very well could be a mixture of both those things. Whatever, the point is that I wanted to try kick boxing...so kick boxing is what I tried. Dear me! It's hard (with a good teacher) but I can't even begin to tell you how much I LOVE it!!! I'm totally being serious right now! I really enjoy kick boxing. Every time I go, I come out feeling totally wiped out and totally like I had the best exercise for me. It pushes me in endurance and muscle strength. I even am sore afterwards. And get this...I'm starting to see a little muscle. HA. Who woulda thought muscle could build on these skinny little arms and legs of mine? It's very possible that this could become an addiction for me. I'm just sayin, I likey... :) Even though my schedule is insane, I'm so trying to try to keep a regular kick boxing schedule from now on! Yay!!! Hopefully it works out.

Pecan it is!!!

I welcome change, really! It's just that sometimes I have a hard time being decisive. If I have a strong opinion about something, you better believe I'm going to voice it, but when I really don't care one way or another, it's hard for me to decide. Why is that? How can I not have a problem voicing my opinion when I know what I want, but have a REALLY hard time making a decision when it's not going to be the end of the world. This is very baffling to me. If you have any conclusions, let me know. But I digress. I found THE PERFECT HAIRDRESSER FOR ME!!! Seriously! Not only is she very good at what she does, but she MAKES me choose. Yikes! I usually give my hairdresser some idea of what I want and then ask her what her opinion is or what her suggestion would be because of my little problem of making decisions. Well this hairdresser of mine listens to my ideas and then throws back several options for me, so ultimately I have to decide. Double yikes! She's perfect for me! Not only is she helping me attain Total Hot Hairstyle Status (lol) but she is helping me embrace decision making without even knowing it. Perfect!

So I got my hair done yesterday. I had a few ideas but ultimately I wanted a change. Now brace yourselves, I've been very adventurous with my hair in past years. I pretty much will try a lot of different colors. I've had red, black, brown, and of course my natural blond hair colors and various shades therein. I've had hair as short as 1 1/2 inches long to mid back length. I'd say I've been very adventurous with my hair in past years. Well, I just wanted a change and I wasn't sure what. Black again??? No, I'm not that girl anymore. Dark brown??? No, although I loved being a dark brunette, I wasn't feeling the love for it. I've kept up my blond locks for so many years that I needed a change from it. Hmm, then there it was.. Pecan!!! Just the change I needed. Brown, gold, and blond. F.U.N!!! So, pecan it is!