When I Count All My Blessings, I Get a Smile on my Face – 2nd Addition

This time last year I was brand new to the blogging world and one of my very first entries was about what I was thankful for at the time. Looking back at that blog, I feel blessed to say I am thankful for those exact same things this year. But just saying that would make for a boring blog, so this year I’m taking a different route. I am going to try and list the big (and some of the little) events or things that happened since last Thanksgiving that have been a blessing…

*Christmases at home
*A friend who understands that New Year’s Eve on the couch with take out Chinese is perfectly okay
*Progressive dinners with my amazing group of friends
*Tacky Christmas
*Being a Battle of the Books coach, and the kiddos on last years team and this years team who bring me so much joy
*Yearly trip to the rodeo
*The blisters on my feet and the pain in my legs from running b/c it reminds me that I am able to keep doing what I love
*Pedicures
*Afternoon Delight softball
*Family and friends who encouraged me to do something scary and try a new job this year
*Kids that invite me to their birthday parties
*Kids that come watch my softball games
*My kindergarten class, particularly two kids that I will never forget all my life (A & J)
*Cowtown (the race)
*Fort Worth (the city)
*Hole in the wall restaurants
*Friends that are foodies
*FW Running Company and their training group that gives me people to run with…finally!
*5 stage birthday bashes
*Cupcakes
*A church that I love
*A pastor that I am friends with
*People who love, and understand, and will talk about hockey (they are rare!)
*Trips to the ranch
*Yearly visit to Colonial
*Seeing George Straight live
*Getting to go to the first event ever at the new Cowboys Stadium
*My amazing trip to Europe
*Getting to go to Europe with one of my favorite traveling companions and all the happy memories we’ll have forever from those two weeks
*Mother/daughter trips
*Swimming with dolphins
*River trips
*Friends who are willing to help me move
*The most eventful summer of my life
*A support system that got me through the month of August
*Being a part of one of my best friend’s weddings
*Patience (particularly when it is people being patient with me)
*My new job, I love it more than I could ever explain
*The people I work with
*Seeing Paul McCartney live
*Singing Hey Jude at the top of my lungs with my dear friend and PAUL FREAKIN’ McCARTNEY (that is his real name fyi)
*New friends
*How much my friends make me laugh
*Parents who help me out so much and never ask for anything in return
*The girls in my small group
*Friends that listen to and care about my updates
*Forgiveness
*Finally getting to sit in a suite at AAC
*Stars hockey
*Being able to go see the sport I love so much in person, and often
*So Is Your Face kickball
*Music, especially discovering new bands/songs
*Pandora Radio and friends who have introduced me to so much new music
*Seeing U2 live
*Being able to move around and read and watch tv and get on my computer for however long I want
*Weekend breakfasts
*TCU’s perfect season that has made fall so much fun
*My third grade class that makes me happy to go to work every day
*Getting to go to Wisconsin for Christmas with family
*That I can make a list like this

I could keep going I know, but I will stop there b/c I doubt anyone besides my mom (love you mom) has even made it to this point. But, I will say I live a blessed life and I am most thankful for the people in it that make it so wonderful. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving today and takes some time to think about what it is you are thankful for as well.

It's my Friday, which means...Free Music Friday 9!

Okay so since today is the last day of my work week I decided we needed some music to celebrate the occassion. I'm still going to try and put actual music up Friday (I'm not promising anything but considering it IS the official start of the Christmas season it may or may not be Christmas themed).

Anyway, so I discovered a new band this week that I just ADORE. My friend who is having a baby in TWO WEEKS had a video of her maternity photos put to one of their songs so I immediately began searching for who they were and what other music I could find. They are called Secrets in Stereo and I am enjoying their stuff immensily, hope you do too. I'm sure this won't be the last time they appear here.

PS - They don't have actual videos so just listen..

Happy


Not Today (get through the talking b/c I HAD to go with the accoustic version b/c it's too good not to include it this way)


(In case you don't have patience or time)



Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Free Music Friday 8

My taste in music is very broad. I will pretty much listen to anything. Some I like a lot more than others but most of it depends on my mood. Here are some songs on my "Recently Added" playlist on my ipod to illustrate my point:

Augustana - Twenty Years (loving them right now)


Breaking Benjamin - I Will Not Bow (hockey music)


James Carr - The Dark End of the Street (b/c who doesn't need a little good soul music?)


Uncle Kracker - Smile (yes, I'm a little embarrased to share this, but oh well, it puts me in a good mood)


PS - I wanted to put up Sublime's "What I Got" just to bring it back a bit but no clean versions available on YouTube, and trying to keep the blog clean people. So, I'll leave you with this "lovin' is what I got, I said remember that.."

More to come at a later date.

Happy Weekend (or Thanksgiving Break to ever other teacher besides those in my district)!!!

TCU 11-0??? Got a good feeling it's our year!

Month 4 of 12 - Simple Life and I'll Be Okay

So this is a little bit late. Mainly because I had written about 5 things prior to tonight on what has gone on this month. This is a combination of being extremely busy but also feeling like I didn't have anything all that significant occur this past month. When I sat down to add some points to my list I remembered a bit more than I expected. However, I still think the biggest thing I have gotten out of this month is a lot of questions. So, guess I'm seeing what's coming up. Here's what I have for now!

*Making salt dough maps with 22 third graders makes one huge, but fun, mess
*Projects such as these go much better with third graders than Kindergartners
*My heart is so happy whenever my old Kinder kiddos come and give me hugs, gosh I miss that
*I should have remembered that one of my favorite things about fall is the start of ultimate Frisbee every weekend with my friends
*I REALLY like challenging, thought provoking conversations right now.
*Hearing someone say what they ACTUALLY think can be really refreshing
*Favorite musical discovery – Avettt Brothers
*I still hate Halloween
*Tacky Christmas planning will never cease to be entertaining and full of laughter
*I love simple, yet somehow manage to make things complex
*I like the song Smalltown USA and sometimes wish it was how I grew up
*Mental Health Days (MHD’s) are definitely needed and I’m thankful for good friends who are willing to share them with me
*I love getting to know new friends from work, especially when those new friends appreciate hole in the wall restaurants as much as I do
*Bear wrestling is another activity that is not acceptable in public
*Love, love, love little league football games, thankful that my kids invite me to them
*”Why Bad Things Happen to Good People” by Harold Kushner is really making me think (goes along with the whole challenging conversations thing) – not finished with it yet so can’t say much more right now
*Third graders singing in a school program with little practice can quickly turn into a train wreck, but they are still adorable
*Diary of a Wimpy Kid is one of the funniest books I have ever read
*Shopping for tacky Christmas sweaters is an adventure, a hilarious adventure though
*I take for granted being able to do things like go to work, read/watch tv/sit at the computer longer than 10 minutes
*Scramble is the most freaking addictive iphone app ever. I'm determined to become good at it.
*That should be an interesting challenge for someone who is not good at spelling.
*Watching your college football team have the perfect season is pretty awesome

Free Music Friday ... on a Tuesday

Missed a few FMF's ... going to try and make up for it this week, especially because I have found a whole bunch of new songs I love.

Here are the two most played right now:

Augustana - Fire (live version b/c I think it's always better to have something to watch, but the album version is amazing, so go listen to that too)



Taylor Swift - Jump then Fall (big surprise that I like a Taylor Swift song right? Anyway the girl is a genius and rereleased her album with some new songs, which I quickly purchased, here's my favorite)



Try to post a few more later...

If I Can Make It There...New York, New York

One of my life dreams is to run the New York City Marathon. I’m sure everyone who actually reads this (or has ever talked to me) already knows this fact, but just in case, there it is again. When I got into the whole running thing I never had ANY desire to run a full marathon. Well, I actually never had any intentions to become a runner, but see how that turned out…. Anyway, when I was training for my first half I really only wanted to do that distance and be content with achieving that goal. Then, race day happened. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life, so I decided I wanted to run a full because how much cooler would that be? However, I knew there was a good chance that I will hate the distance and might only want to run one full marathon. My theory is go big or go home…thus the dream of running New York began. I hear it’s amazing (you get to run through all five boroughs and thousands of people come out to watch) and I love the city to death (I’ll take any reason to go). I can only begin to imagine how great it would be to participate in this race.

So, back in 2008 I submitted my first application for lottery admission. The only ways in to the NYC Marathon are to have your name drawn in the lottery, run for a charity, or have a fast enough qualifying time. Well lottery did not work for me, charity required me to raise at least $3000 and I certainly don’t run qualifying times that are tougher than Boston’s! This left me stuck waiting until 2009 to apply. For some reason I really thought I was going to get in this past year. I guess I figured they should know I was a serious runner at this point and I applied like the day they started taking applications, certainly that would count for something?? Sadly, I was mistaken. After waiting for 4 months I signed in to the website to find my rejection notice. I definitely cried when I saw that once again lottery had not worked for me. Why this silly thing matters to me so much I don’t know, but it does. In hindsight I realize that it was for the best as my summer of traveling through Europe and the Caribbean, moving, and changing jobs would not have allowed time for proper training. Still, doesn’t make me wish any less that I was in NY this weekend!

Anyway, I got some good news this week: the marathon is taking lottery applications the day after the race this year! That’s THIS Monday!!!! AND, even better, they’re announcing results in MARCH! Basically this means THIS MARCH I will know if I am running NY 2010 or NY 2011. Here’s how the lottery works: If you apply three consecutive years without being admitted you get an automatic entry the fourth year. So, if my name gets drawn this year, obviously I’m in for 2010, if not, then I know 2011 is my year. Hoping that I don’t have to wait that long, but I can be slightly stubborn so I KNOW I can make it to 2011 if I have to. Think of me Monday as begin the waiting game once again!

One last thing. Special thanks to all of my friends and family who have supported me in this little adventure…those of you who who’ve crossed your fingers through the application process, at least pretended to be interested in this ordeal and listened to me talk about it ☺, comforted me when I haven’t gotten in, encouraged me to keep pursuing NY when I’ve been frustrated that it’s been such a long wait, researched charities to find me an alternate way in, told me you would be there when I ran the race, and so on. It means the world to me and I know you will be my support system when it FINALLY happens!

Free Music Friday 6

Here's my Patty Griffin day that got pushed back by my Garth Brooks excitement...Love me some Patty. Hope this makes my favorite freshman roommate happy. :)Also, please share in my excitement that the Frogs are featured this week on ESPN gameday, live from Provo, Utah. Time for us to show why we are ranked #8!!! Happy weekend.

My two favorites, live versions were my only options:

Heavenly Day-



Sweet Lorraine-