Good Times Great Memories - No Words Wednesday

 

Laughter Makes You Live Longer

So today is Tuesday and I thought we could all use a laugh.

 

This is some of the best stuff I could find (in a pinch). For the sake of my ego, a least muster a chuckle or two!

 

Here goes...

 

When I get old, I’m not going to sit around knitting.  I’m going to be clicking my LIFE ALERT BUTTON to see how many HOT firefighters show up.

 

Never sing in the shower.  Singing leads to dancing.  Dancing leads to slipping.  Slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked, so remember DON’T SING!

 

Never get married while in college.  It’s hard to get a good job when your prospective employer finds out you’ve already made one huge mistake.

 

The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.

 

If there is a “WILL”, there are 500 relatives.

 

 

God created the world.  Everything else was made in China.

 

I don’t suffer from insanity.  I enjoy every minute of it!

 

A day without sunshine is like…night!

 

If at first you don’t succeed, don’t try skydiving.

 

 

If ignorance is bliss, then tourists are always in a state of euphoria.

 

Eat right.  Stay fit.  Die anyway.

 

Do not argue with an idiot.  He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

 

Last but not least…

 

What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back?  A stick

 

Hope these made you smile because a day without smiling is a day wasted.

 

Happy Tuesday!!!

 

 

 

Whew...Glad I Got That Off My Chest!

OK…so I know this will be a shock to you and you may never be able to fully recover from what I am about to say, but… I AM NOT PERFECT! 

 

Yes…it is true. 

 

Let me say it again, I AM NOT PERFECT.

 

I have been doing this diet and exercise thing for about a month now.  So far…so good – at least 12 pounds are now history. That was until this weekend.  I totally blew it.

 

I don’t mean I just slipped up…I MEAN...I BLEW IT.

 

Chocolate, ice-cream, BREAD, BREAD, pizza, bread and oh yea…chocolate (did I mention chocolate  already?).

 

When I woke up this morning (at 4:50am), I was beating myself up for all the bad choices that I had made on Saturday and Sunday. 

 

I was weak -- and I don't mean in my knees.

 

I heard those feel good foods calling my name, and I answered...IN A BIG WAY! 

 

I had been so good for so long, but some days there is no turning down a bag of M&Ms and a Twix bar.  All the will power in the world, isn't going to work.

 

 

So…what would any person that felt as bad as I did about my weekend binge do?  Why…they would get up and get busy.  Walking, weights, sit-ups, Zumba, running…anything I could think of! 

 

Believe it or not, after about an hour of soul searching and punishment and tons and tons of sweat (people…it was hot this morning), I felt better. 

 

I felt better than the day I saw the 12 pounds jump off my scale.  I felt better than I had at  any time over the last 4 weeks.  I felt better than I had in years.

 

Although I had fallen off the wagon (HARD), I got up, brushed myself off and jumped right back on.  I didn’t let 2 days of bad choices change the healthier person I am becoming.  I didn’t let my mind convince my heart that I should just go ahead and give up. 

 

In all honesty, I was awake way before 4:50am today, but I prayed and prayed and prayed that my alarm clock would not go off and I could stay in the bed until 6am.

 

I was looking for an excuse.

 

Looking back now, that is probably the first time in my life I was looking for something that I am glad I did not find!

 

Had I slept in late this morning and skipped that workout, I would have been giving myself a pass on being healthy -- for at least a whole day and maybe even longer.

 

Every day I miss taking that fitness opportunity would have made it easier and easier to make up an excuse to miss another.

 

How many times have you just had “one little bite” and then “just one more” and then figured that since you had already screwed everything up, you would just start working on your diet and health goals tomorrow? 

 

How long did it take for your tomorrow to come?

 

I’m not saying that you should never cheat, because let me tell you, I AM PRETTY GOOD AT CHEATING (with food anyway).

 

Slowly but surely, I am learning just because I make one bad choice right now doesn’t mean that I can’t make better choices for the rest of the day. 

 

 

Having something that I crave and desire at breakfast, doesn’t give me the green light to be a raving lunatic when it comes to what I choose for lunch.

 

One bad apple isn’t going to spoil my bunch!!!

 

Listen to me, It’s all about baby steps. If you take enough baby steps and stick with them, you are absolutely guaranteed not to fail. 

 

It takes 21 days to make or break a habit, so why not start right now?  Twenty-two days from now, you will be glad you did.

 

You may not be the weight you want to be as quickly as you would like, but you will be well on your way to finding your optimal health.

 

If you are like me and are tired of starting over, quit giving up!  Enjoy your night and make sure you get moving tomorrow. 

 

NO EXCUSES!  DON'T QUIT!  Your success could be just around that corner.  Mine is!

 

 

I'll be starting a 30 day squat challenge on August 1st.  If you are interested, make sure you follow me by email on the side of the page or join with Google Friend Connect so you don't miss one single day!

 

~Jess

SSSHHHH…It’s too early!

Ever wake up in the morning on the wrong side of the bed…I’m not talking about trying to get in a little snuggle before you start your day with your hubby, partner or significant other…I’m talking about just being in a rotten mood from the time your feet hit the floor?

I think I told you before, I am not a morning person.  I don’t like to get up early (but I do), and I don’t like to talk to people right after I wake up.

When I was younger, hearing voices in the morning, especially ones that sang, ”In the jungle, the mighty jungle”, would make me physically ill.  I am serious! I would be sick on my stomach until the awful noise stopped.

For me, mornings should be a time of reflection.  A time to mentally prepare for the day.  A time to get your zen on.  A time to focus on what tasks needed to be completed and what goals need to be accomplished.

Who am I kidding? 

Mornings are for being quiet and leaving me alone until I have had my exercise and my coffee.  Then and only then, am I going to be ready to chat it up.

Once I am on an endorphine high and have had sufficient caffine, I can then begin to transition into the overly excited, it’s going to be  a great day, happy mommy roll that consumes my entire being.  That is, until just about the time I pull into the parking lot at work.

Just be glad you (or anyone else for that matter) doesn’t have to see my until after 6am.

Don’t think for one minute that I came up with this brilliant idea of being really quiet in the mornings all by myself. Maybe you didn't know, but this is actually a law and it is enforced by nature.

Don’t’ believe me?

Go outside early tomorrow morning.  By early, I mean sometime before the sun comes up.  What do you think you will hear? 

I’ll tell you.  Aside from the newspaper guy speeding through the neighborhood, or the man trimming hedges in the pitch, black dark (while holding a flashlight), or the loud little Cessna trying to dive bomb my house,  you won’t hear anything.  Nothing.  Zip.  Zilch. Nada.  Just silence (can you really hear silence…never mind…moving on).

No frogs.  No crickets.  No birds.  No nothing (yes, I am aware that I could have combined all that into one sentence and made it fancy sounding but I am trying to make a point here).  You won’t hear anything.

You see…there is this law in the Articles and Constitution of Nature that states that making noise early in the morning is a crime, and in my opinion, punishable by stiff fines and a long imprisonment.

Side note: Just because you can wake up early, DOES NOT MAKE YOU A MORNING PERSON.  True morning people are only a myth. They are just characters in books.  Hear me when I say…THEY ARE NOT REAL! 

Listen, I’m not asking for people to tip toe around me for an entire day.  I’m just asking for about an hour or so just for me.  That’s all.  Not much - Sixty little minutes.

I’m a smart girl!  I don’t try to punish people with my quirkiness, so I get up earlier than everyone else in my house, every day, to make this time as smooth and painless as possible. 

Lately, my internal alarm has been waking me up at 4am.  Wish I knew how to shut that dang thing off. 

Trust me, the other occupants of my house enjoy their morning quiet time too, regardless of what they will tell you.  You can defiantly tell when you have overstepped the noise bounds in our house by the moans, groans, squeals and sometimes the evil eye that is staring right at you.  I guess you could say we all complement each other well.

Apparently, the apple truly doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Uh oh…what’s that?

Quiet time is over…let’s go out and make this a GREAT Noisy KIND OF DAY!

 

These pics have absolutely nothing to do with this post other than I thought you might like to know that after 6 years of waiting, my crepe myrtles finally decided to grow (a pink one and a purple one...imagine that)!!! 

 

What Have I Been Missing?

 I prefer the Cliff Notes version of a book to the actual book any day of the week.  In all honesty, I would rather you just tell me about it and try to make it quick.

Regardless, since I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, I have made it my mission to read at least one book every month for the entire year.

I think I am up to around 6 books to date, so I wouldn’t consider my efforts to shabby thus far.

On to my July review!

I chose to read a book entirely out of my comfort zone.  The books I generally read are all on motivation, business related topics or some hobby that I am genuinely interested in.  If I am going to spend my free time reading, I want to make sure that I get something out of it.

This month, I decided to try a combo novel -- one that included romance, mystery and suspense.  I chose, The Naughty Never Die by L. L. Kellogg.

 

 

Let me tell you, I am so glad I did!!! :)

Just by the title, I should have known that this read was going to be a little spicy; however, by having never read other romances, I don’t have anything for comparison as the level of intensity, but boy was it HOT.

Josephine Callahan, or Josie, as she is more frequently referred to, is the oldest daughter of the governor of the great state of New Jersey. 

Due to an unfortunate accident, the governor’s wife died and Josie has now been required to fulfill her mother’s duties as the First Lady.

On the edge of a nervous breakdown and annoyed at her lack of privacy, Josie plans to sneak away from her security detail to have an impromptu romantic getaway with her all too boring boyfriend.

Fortunately, the Governor has learned that someone is trying to kill Josie and he has hired DJ Ryder, an ex Special Forces officer who has quite a disfigured face (although I think the rest of him looks pretty darn good), to protect her.

Due to an intentional miscommunication, from the governor’s assistant, Ryder is told to follow and track Josie and make her believe that she is being kidnapped.  He is then to hide her away for several days until the threats against her can be resolved.  According to Ryder’s source, the governor wants to teach his daughter a lesson.

Although scared for her life, Josie realizes that the bad boy that has captured her has a tender side and she attempts to tap into it so that he will not hurt her and will return her to her home unharmed.

Ryder’s sole purpose is to protect Josie.  Josie’s purpose is to be set free.  Everything is going according to plan, until, emotions start to get involved.  For the first time ever, both of their hearts are endanger of falling in love.

They are truly, THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!

Happy Reading!

Any suggestions for next month?  Be sure to comment and let me know what your favorite summer reads are.

 

No Words Wednesday - Celebrate 10!

 

 

 

Rain Rain Go Away, Come again…well…don’t come back for a while! PLEASE!

 

Has it rained where you live lately? 

For the past several weeks, if it hadn’t been so hot outside, I would have sworn it was November.  It seems almost every day we get some sort of rain shower.  Sometimes it is just a quick 5 minute down pour and other times it is an all-day gully washer. 

Normally, rain doesn’t really bother me.  When it rains, I sleep. But I can only sleep so much.  Take my word for it…bears don’t want to sleep this much.

I realize that Mother Nature knows what we need and I know we need the rain.  The animals need the rain.  The grass and trees need the rain.  We all NEED the rain.  And yes, as soon as this weather pattern passes and we go through a couple dry, hot weeks, I will be complaining about how it hasn’t rained in ages.

For now…I have had enough.

 

 

Keep looking for me to start working on my ark!  Tickets go on sale soon! 

 

Have a great weekend ya'll. 

 

 

Sights of Summer - No Words Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Bits of Thank You

Ever feel like all of your good deeds go unnoticed?  Ever feel like you spend all day doing things for others and are never recognized for your efforts?  Ever wonder what it would feel like if someone just appreciated you?

 

I do. 

 

Don’t get me wrong…it is not that my efforts are not appreciated. We are all busy just living life and we sometimes forget to thank the people who mean the most.  We forget to say two little words to people to let them know how we really couldn’t manage our lives without them.

 

As much as I love to hear THANK YOU from my husband, and sometimes get a little irritated when he doesn’t say it, I often forget to return the favor.  I forget to let him know how special he really is to me.  I forget to tell him what an awesome dad he is and how our kids adore him.

 

So…in honor of my husband today, I have decided to leave him a little THANK YOU in his truck before he leaves for work -- to remind him that although I don’t say it enough, I do appreciate him every minute of every day  (even on days when I want to just choke him).  By the way, it totally worked.  He is all smiles today!

 

This is considered ROMANTIC READING at our house.  Yes...I just realized it was the May Edition!  Ooops...still works!

I challenge you today to take a minute and tell your significant other THANK YOU – and mean it!  It’s a really simple task and will take 3 ½ seconds (seriously)! 

 

Thanking someone doesn’t have to cost a fortune and doesn’t require a lot of time.  Little bits of Thank You should be simple, special and come from your heart.

 

You never know how powerful a simple thing like acknowledging the importance of someone in your life can be.   You might get a few questions, which by the way, you should have a very good answer for.  You might see a few confused faces, especially if it is something they are not used to. 

 

Regardless of the reaction, odds are you are going to make someone’s day a little brighter.  You are going to let the people you love, KNOW that you love them.

 

I haven’t run across a relationship yet that couldn’t use a healthy dose of unexpected LOVE every now and again.

 

I’d love to hear what happens…be sure to drop me a line!

 

 

He Stole My Heart!!!

Birthdays are special at our house!!!

 

I can’t remember a time that we just celebrated a birthday for just one day.  Most of our celebrations last for at least a week or two.  Of course, the fall out from said birthdays always lasts for much, much longer.

 

On July 3^rd, my little baby boy turned double digits on me.  HE IS FINALLY 10!

It is so hard to believe that just over 10 years ago, I wasn’t a momma, a mommie a mom or any other M word (at least not one I can think of)!  I was just Danny’s wife (somehow after I got married, my own given name seemed to have been absorbed into our marriage or into outer space or into a black hole somewhere).

 

Ten years ago, I was a wife, a homemaker, an employee, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a dreamer and a whole lot of other things -- just not a mom.  I always envisioned one day that I would hold that honor, but at that point, I hadn’t achieved it YET.

 

Ten years ago, I wasn’t worried about a whole lot.  I wasn’t coordinating schedules and car pools. I wasn’t doing loads and loads of laundry. I wasn’t worried about making lunches and making sure little teeth got brushed before bedtime.  I wasn’t worried about being home on time after work.  I wasn’t worried about stocking an endless supply of band-aids (if you didn’t know it…band-aids cure EVERYTHING).  I wasn’t worried about setting an example for anyone or being a role model.  I wasn’t worried about changing diapers or what brand of formula to buy.  I just wasn’t worried.

 

But on the morning of July 3, 2003, all my worries changed.  I worried about everything.  I worried about anything.  I worried about nothing.  I worried about my beautiful little boy and I worried (and prayed) that I would be a great mom to him.

 

Lots of things have changed over the last 10 years.  I can’t say that I am a great mom, but I know I must have done something right.  Just look at this boy grow!

  

He is amazing in every way.  He has a kind heart and a loving spirit.  He is the best big brother that a little girl could ever have.  He is easy going and fun to be around.  He can draw pictures better than anyone I know and he wins the CREATIVE STORY TELLER award every year at his school (don’t tell him but I think that is an award they created just in his honor).  He is growing like a weed and will surpass all of us soon.  He is a huge piece of my heart that is living outside of my body.

 

No matter how old he is…he will always be my boy and I will always be his mom.  I love him to the moon and back every day and sometimes farther.  The first time I held him I didn’t think I could love him more than I did at that second, but I found out over the last 10 years I was wrong.  I love him more and more and more every single day.  He is my love and my life.  Ten years ago he stole my heart and I don't want him to ever give it back!

 

This weekend, we will finish up nearly two weeks of celebrations.  The last hoorah! 

 

I am so proud of the young man that my little boy is becoming.  I look forward to continuing to walk on this journey with him (although I wish we could slow our pace a little)! 

I gladly and proudly wear the title of Adyson’s mom!!!  Sometimes it is hard to remember who I was before marriage and kids, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

 

Happy Birthday Adyson!  I LOVE YOU!

What Do You See?

If you missed a few sunrises this week, you really missed it! 

 

Every time the sun rises it is a beautiful event, but this particular morning, it was absolutely breathtaking!  Can you guess which day this was?

 

The sky was painted with the most beautiful hues of pink, blue and yellow.  I can’t think of another morning recently that the sky has been so stunning. 

 

 

When I was just a little girl, I would stare into the clouds and look to see what interesting things I could find.  This day, I saw this guy staring back at me.  Look closely...can you see him?

 

 

My curiosity of what lies beyond my front door gets me out of the bed every morning. I am so looking forward to what I can find tomorrow.  I hope you find something beautiful too! 

 

Note to self:  bring a better camera.