So I'm a little behindm...but I guess you knew that. I keep thinking I have my thankful thought for today, but I don't want to pull my computer out and wait for it to load. So I'm thinking on those days, I might just type a one sentence thought and send it via text to blog. So here's a few to catch up...
I am thankful for...
06.20.10
The fact that the kids I teach make me smile. Today the front ensemble kids all wished me Happy Early Birthday and told me when they grow up, they all want to be like me. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever?
06.21.10
All my family and friends who loved me enough to wish me Happy Birthday!
06.22.10
Girls Night In! Complete with girly movie(Pride and Prejuiduce), coffee and no boys!
06.23.10
Eating your ice cream outside in the warm summer night before it melts. I feel like I have conquered a small victory when this happens.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
06.08.10: Becoming Friends with your Deli Person
It's no secret that I am picky when it comes to food. Personally, I don't like to think of myself as picky, I just happen to know what I like and am not afraid to ask for it. :D Remember last week when my deli person was so nice and made me an awesome grilled cheese sandwich, well she was working tonight when I went to store. She didn't notice me right off but I decided to tell her she made my week last week with the awesome sandwich and we immediately struck up a conversation. We must have talked for ten minutes, which is a long time in deli time. It was nice to make friends with her. She said remembered me from last time after I asked for pimento cheese and now she knows my name. She's a truly sweet and genuine lady and I'm looking forward to becoming a regular in the next few weeks while I'm here in Beaumont.
Monday, June 7, 2010
06.07.10 The Creators of Pandora
Today was another long drive from San Antonio to High Island, roughly 260 miles. There are times I just get tired of commercial radio. There's a limit to how many Lady Gaga you can listen to in an hour (in case you didn't know). After the third hearing of Lady Gaga, I turn to my phone and most of the time I listen to Pandora. If you don't have an account, you need to Google it and get one right this second. I was fortunate enough to figure out how to create a Broadway station! THIS is what keeps me going on long drives, songs I know by heart that I can belt out in the comfort of my car.
And I don't mean I am thankful for the creators of Pandora just because they keep me entertained. I have seriously given thought to the process of how it works and cannot even begin how much time has been invested. They have analyzed so many songs and then analyzed different aspects of these songs. Somehow the playlist that Pandora generates seems like it was created by me. Or sometimes it's even better than if I would have made it because they are slipping in new songs that I totally dig or songs that make me go "Oh yeah, I LOVE that song!" So thank you creators of Pandora for being big enough music nerds to make the rest of the music nerds in the world happy!
And I don't mean I am thankful for the creators of Pandora just because they keep me entertained. I have seriously given thought to the process of how it works and cannot even begin how much time has been invested. They have analyzed so many songs and then analyzed different aspects of these songs. Somehow the playlist that Pandora generates seems like it was created by me. Or sometimes it's even better than if I would have made it because they are slipping in new songs that I totally dig or songs that make me go "Oh yeah, I LOVE that song!" So thank you creators of Pandora for being big enough music nerds to make the rest of the music nerds in the world happy!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
06.04.10. Random Kindness.
Today I am thankful for the man who held the door open when I had my hands full. Random kindness never ceases to amaze me (or make me smile).
Friday, June 4, 2010
06.03.10: Kate Potter
Today I am thankful for someone I don't even know, Kate Potter. She's an amazing yoga instructor. Actually what I love about her is she has the most calming voice ever. I walked into my hotel room today and just turned it to FitTV and Namaste Yoga was on. I used to DVR it when I had a house and practice it nightly. I immediately changed out of my work clothes and threw a towel on the floor and started yoga. I had forgotten how much I missed it. And it totally thew off whatever funk I was in because Kate Potter's voice is incredibly soothing and she always ends her program with a stretch and relaxation segment. I managed to get in about 15 minutes of yoga, but it was still enough to put me in a good mood. So I headed to the workout room in the hotel and worked out for an hour. Thank you Kate Potter!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Thankfulness
...Or How Amanda is Returning to Her Roots.
Maybe not my roots, but back in the day. You see, after I moved into my house in Gilchrist and got settled in, I decided I needed a visualization of the good things in my life. I got about twenty feet of butcher paper and hung it up in the hallway. I started a list, everyday wrote down the things I was thankful for. It really helped, especially on the bad days, to realize how much greatness I had in my life. And even on those crappy days, I was able to find something good out of it. Now finding that one good thing might have taken me all evening to figure out, but eventually, I always did.
Two things recently made me realize that I need to get back to this. One was a talk I had with my Uncle GG on Saturday. We were walking through his 125 acres and looking at the trees and plants and flowers and he would stop and say "What do you hear?," "What do you smell?" Questions that should be easily answered but I found I rarely take the time to do it that it was tough. "I hear birds" I told him, "What kind?" he replied. I had no idea. It was even to tough to answer what I saw. Flowers. Grass. He pushed, what color? What kind? He reminded me that God offers so much to us, we just have to stop long enough to appreciate it. Needless to say, I spent most of the afternoon and the evening with my Uncle GG. I learned a lot, I LISTENED a lot. It was eye opening. We appreciated the small things in life. I ate bark from a tree that made my tongue tingle, I learned different types of flowers and trees that I walk past every day, I rode a tractor to my Uncle Walton's, I watched the sunset and I experienced the night sky in all its glory. It was a refreshing day and I've decided I need to slow down and enjoy what's around me instead of taking it for granted and wanting more than I need.
And right now, just thinking about Saturday gives me such inspiration of how I want to change my life. So much that I forgot the second thing that made me want to do this. Maybe I'll remember eventually. So I am going to try and post everyday at least one thing I am thankful for that day. This will be in addition to my normal rants and sharing of crazy stories, so no worries, those will still be making appearances.
OH! I remembered the second thing. Kristen, poster on my 365 photo blog, also has her own blog called Question of the Day where she poses questions (obviously) everyday. I will admit that I'm not as great as keeping up with her blog as she is with mine, but I do read the questions everyday. Yesterday, she brought up our New Year's resolutions and I was doing very well on keeping up with them. I remembered that this was my resolution about 2 years back, so I'm bringing it back for the last half of 2010. Who says you have to start a resolution on January 1st? So here goes nothing.
06.02.10
I'm thankful for...
-my Starbucks Barista this morning who was more than happy to accommodate my special request AND gave me the broken orange cranberry scone for no charge.
-the Deli worker at HEB who also accommodated my special request and charged me $2.99 for a grilled cheese sandwich instead of the $5.99 the other sandwiches were going for.
-the little girl in the mall who reminded me that kindness to strangers isn't dead.
-all of you who read this and give me an outlet when it's too late to talk on the phone. :D
Maybe not my roots, but back in the day. You see, after I moved into my house in Gilchrist and got settled in, I decided I needed a visualization of the good things in my life. I got about twenty feet of butcher paper and hung it up in the hallway. I started a list, everyday wrote down the things I was thankful for. It really helped, especially on the bad days, to realize how much greatness I had in my life. And even on those crappy days, I was able to find something good out of it. Now finding that one good thing might have taken me all evening to figure out, but eventually, I always did.
Two things recently made me realize that I need to get back to this. One was a talk I had with my Uncle GG on Saturday. We were walking through his 125 acres and looking at the trees and plants and flowers and he would stop and say "What do you hear?," "What do you smell?" Questions that should be easily answered but I found I rarely take the time to do it that it was tough. "I hear birds" I told him, "What kind?" he replied. I had no idea. It was even to tough to answer what I saw. Flowers. Grass. He pushed, what color? What kind? He reminded me that God offers so much to us, we just have to stop long enough to appreciate it. Needless to say, I spent most of the afternoon and the evening with my Uncle GG. I learned a lot, I LISTENED a lot. It was eye opening. We appreciated the small things in life. I ate bark from a tree that made my tongue tingle, I learned different types of flowers and trees that I walk past every day, I rode a tractor to my Uncle Walton's, I watched the sunset and I experienced the night sky in all its glory. It was a refreshing day and I've decided I need to slow down and enjoy what's around me instead of taking it for granted and wanting more than I need.
And right now, just thinking about Saturday gives me such inspiration of how I want to change my life. So much that I forgot the second thing that made me want to do this. Maybe I'll remember eventually. So I am going to try and post everyday at least one thing I am thankful for that day. This will be in addition to my normal rants and sharing of crazy stories, so no worries, those will still be making appearances.
OH! I remembered the second thing. Kristen, poster on my 365 photo blog, also has her own blog called Question of the Day where she poses questions (obviously) everyday. I will admit that I'm not as great as keeping up with her blog as she is with mine, but I do read the questions everyday. Yesterday, she brought up our New Year's resolutions and I was doing very well on keeping up with them. I remembered that this was my resolution about 2 years back, so I'm bringing it back for the last half of 2010. Who says you have to start a resolution on January 1st? So here goes nothing.
06.02.10
I'm thankful for...
-my Starbucks Barista this morning who was more than happy to accommodate my special request AND gave me the broken orange cranberry scone for no charge.
-the Deli worker at HEB who also accommodated my special request and charged me $2.99 for a grilled cheese sandwich instead of the $5.99 the other sandwiches were going for.
-the little girl in the mall who reminded me that kindness to strangers isn't dead.
-all of you who read this and give me an outlet when it's too late to talk on the phone. :D
Why Shopping is a Good Motivator to Work Out
...Or How It Can Backfire and Make You Sit on Your Hotel Bed and Watch TV Instead.
I don't think it should be a surprise to any of you that I have been trying to get back into workout again, especially within the past 6 weeks. I am finally starting to notice a change. My work clothes are not fitting correctly so I went to buy new pants. I am *almost* in to the next smallest size. You know, the size "that you can squeeze yourself into but you should probably wear a long loose fitting shirt so it doesn't show every thing about your body." Yeah, that's where I am. So needless to say, I opted for that option over the "my pants are so loose they are falling down when I walk" option. Flashing your underwear is generally not considered a good sales tactic. So now, to go with my new pants, I need new work shirts but have had no luck. I decided to go to Old Navy and check them out. I used to work for Old Navy, so I know how the stores are supposed to work. I can still tell you how shirts and jeans are to be folded, how clothes are to be hung, the whole deal. I can definitely tell you that everything should be sized (which is was not at this store). Not only were the clothes not sized, they weren't even on the right hanger. So a size 2 might be on a size 16 hanger. Incredibly frustrating. I was in the store for less than 5 minutes. I hope I helped contribute to a lower sales percentage for them today. I decided to check out a few other stores because I wasn't really feeling working out tonight.
I went into American Eagle because I love their underwear (I mean, I can get personal here because there's only 4 of you that read this.) They are seriously the best, but I only buy them on sale because there's no way I'm paying 7.50 for ONE pair of underwear. Lo(!) and behold, they had them on sale 5 for $15 and that's a pretty good deal for them. Usually their sale is 5 for $25, so I was all over the underwear sale. Then I thought to myself, hmmm, I wonder if I can fit into American Eagle clothes now. You see, I'm not a huge fan of their clothes but every now and then I see something I like. In past years however, my chest area has exceeded the material that AE like to put in their garments. So I decided to be daring and grab three shirts. BOOM! They all fit! However, they all looked hideous on me. They were so oddly and angularly cut that I couldn't stand the sight of them. So I was excited yet disappointed because I kind of wanted to buy a shirt. So long story long, I ended up buying 10 pairs of underwear (what was I thinking?!?) and a tube top that was on sale for 10 bucks. I'm still not convinced that the tube top works because I tried it on with work pants, but in my head, with a pair of khaki shorts, it will look great!
So I decided, hmmm, since AE is working out for me, maybe I'll stop in one of those other stores. You know, the ones that you have no idea what the brand is but they have bright colored clothes and loud music and sale signs everywhere and you think, this has go to be a good idea. I think I actually walked into a Vanity (which I used to go in back when I was in high school because they had the best nail polish.) Anyways, I grabbed two shirts and headed to the dressing room. So I tried them on and not enough boobage material. Not even enough to fake it if I opened a few buttons and wore a tank top underneath. Total bummer. So yay for weight loss but not enough to buy a snazzy shirt. As I walked through the mall I thought, man, I just need to keep at it and after summer, I'll fit into anything I want. But I got to my hotel room and the bed seemed real comfy. I pondered working out. And then I got hungry, but I still thought about working out. Then I was STARVING so I had to eat. And I can't workout after I eat. So I just looked up workouts online for the future. Does that count at all?
What's the point of this story? I don't know. I just felt compelled to tell you all that:
a)I spent thirty dollars on ten pairs of underwear
b)I can wear American Eagle stuff but it's all made crazy and
c)I should stop shopping in clothing stores for girls 10 years younger than me because it's just depressing.
I guess I'm a little talkative tonight. Thanks for hanging in.
I don't think it should be a surprise to any of you that I have been trying to get back into workout again, especially within the past 6 weeks. I am finally starting to notice a change. My work clothes are not fitting correctly so I went to buy new pants. I am *almost* in to the next smallest size. You know, the size "that you can squeeze yourself into but you should probably wear a long loose fitting shirt so it doesn't show every thing about your body." Yeah, that's where I am. So needless to say, I opted for that option over the "my pants are so loose they are falling down when I walk" option. Flashing your underwear is generally not considered a good sales tactic. So now, to go with my new pants, I need new work shirts but have had no luck. I decided to go to Old Navy and check them out. I used to work for Old Navy, so I know how the stores are supposed to work. I can still tell you how shirts and jeans are to be folded, how clothes are to be hung, the whole deal. I can definitely tell you that everything should be sized (which is was not at this store). Not only were the clothes not sized, they weren't even on the right hanger. So a size 2 might be on a size 16 hanger. Incredibly frustrating. I was in the store for less than 5 minutes. I hope I helped contribute to a lower sales percentage for them today. I decided to check out a few other stores because I wasn't really feeling working out tonight.
I went into American Eagle because I love their underwear (I mean, I can get personal here because there's only 4 of you that read this.) They are seriously the best, but I only buy them on sale because there's no way I'm paying 7.50 for ONE pair of underwear. Lo(!) and behold, they had them on sale 5 for $15 and that's a pretty good deal for them. Usually their sale is 5 for $25, so I was all over the underwear sale. Then I thought to myself, hmmm, I wonder if I can fit into American Eagle clothes now. You see, I'm not a huge fan of their clothes but every now and then I see something I like. In past years however, my chest area has exceeded the material that AE like to put in their garments. So I decided to be daring and grab three shirts. BOOM! They all fit! However, they all looked hideous on me. They were so oddly and angularly cut that I couldn't stand the sight of them. So I was excited yet disappointed because I kind of wanted to buy a shirt. So long story long, I ended up buying 10 pairs of underwear (what was I thinking?!?) and a tube top that was on sale for 10 bucks. I'm still not convinced that the tube top works because I tried it on with work pants, but in my head, with a pair of khaki shorts, it will look great!
So I decided, hmmm, since AE is working out for me, maybe I'll stop in one of those other stores. You know, the ones that you have no idea what the brand is but they have bright colored clothes and loud music and sale signs everywhere and you think, this has go to be a good idea. I think I actually walked into a Vanity (which I used to go in back when I was in high school because they had the best nail polish.) Anyways, I grabbed two shirts and headed to the dressing room. So I tried them on and not enough boobage material. Not even enough to fake it if I opened a few buttons and wore a tank top underneath. Total bummer. So yay for weight loss but not enough to buy a snazzy shirt. As I walked through the mall I thought, man, I just need to keep at it and after summer, I'll fit into anything I want. But I got to my hotel room and the bed seemed real comfy. I pondered working out. And then I got hungry, but I still thought about working out. Then I was STARVING so I had to eat. And I can't workout after I eat. So I just looked up workouts online for the future. Does that count at all?
What's the point of this story? I don't know. I just felt compelled to tell you all that:
a)I spent thirty dollars on ten pairs of underwear
b)I can wear American Eagle stuff but it's all made crazy and
c)I should stop shopping in clothing stores for girls 10 years younger than me because it's just depressing.
I guess I'm a little talkative tonight. Thanks for hanging in.
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