Christmas time! They say it's the season of giving! Unfortunately, that idea has been misconstrued into spending hundreds, and even thousands of dollars on gifts for every man, woman, child and dog in your life.
I love love love giving someone just the right gift that you know they'll love and getting to watch their reaction as they open it. For me, when you find the perfect gift, price doesn't matter (to a point). Whether it's $10 or $100, it's worth it to see their reactions. However a recent conversation with a friend brought up the controversy of prices of gifts. Her lucky husband is lavished with amazing expensive gifts that are just perfect for him. For her, price doesn't matter, it's seeing the look on his face. I told her I agree, but only to a point. Because if I spend too much money just to see the happy look on their face that one day, they'll have to suffer seeing my poor sorry face the whole rest of the year because I ran out of money!!! ha ha
Where I run into struggles with the 'season of giving' is when you are suppose to buy someone a gift and you have no idea what to give them so you basically just run out and grab the best (and let's be honest, the quickest) thing that you can find. For me this totally takes away that wonderful feeling of giving. I figure you might as well just chuck their gift at them and say, 'fine, here's your damn sweater'. Isn't the idea of giving is that it's something you know will bring them joy and happiness, not because you are 'suppose' to give them something. Maybe I’m old school, but when I’m in a bind with what to give someone, I like to give them homemade baking. I’m not sure if everyone appreciates it, but to me it shows much more time and caring, then just grabbing the quickest thing at the mall as you race through it to finish your shopping. I love a homemade special baking (I can’t say the same for my hips though).
For me, the true meaning of Christmas is the gift of time. It's not just about spending money on everyone, but spending the time with family and friends. My holiday season is jam packed full of many different festive gatherings. And although it’ll be a busy run, I am so blessed that I have so many special people in my life to share it with and I look forward to each and every day this season!
I know a family that has definitely figured out the gift of time! Instead of buying a gift for whose name you draw, you are to spend a day with that person. Unfortunately, and most honestly, I’m pretty sure everyone has that one family member that they’d prefer not to have to spend a day with, ha ha. But hey, let’s be optimistic. Maybe you’d find a new found appreciate for the person they are. Anyway, this family got creative!! The mother got her sons name and since he loves pickled carrots and beans, they spent the day together pickling. The son-in-law drew his mother-in-law and knowing her adrenaline junkie side, took her zip lining. A brother-in-law drew his sister-in-law and they took a nice serene kayak trip. I just love this idea of Christmas giving!
I think there’s no better way to give the gift of giving then to volunteer your time. This is something that we can do all year round is so many different ways. Although the holiday season is a time that volunteering is definitely in need. For the past 2 years I have been blessed to volunteer with the Olds and District Christmas Angels. They work all year gathering food, clothes, toys and supplies for those in need. I helped out yesterday as people came in to pick up their pre-packed and organized hampers as well as delivering hampers to those unable to come and pick up. I love the feel of knowing you are helping to help make this a special Christmas for them and their family! It warms your heart as you bring in the many boxes full for them and seeing their look of amazement and gratitude on their faces. My goal for 2010 is to do more volunteering throughout the year!
My mom’s side of the family has come up with an idea that I love. We enjoy the gift of giving and of the time spent with each other. Instead of doing the usual Pirates (or Chinese) gift exchange each year, where we'd all spend $20 to attempt to find just the right thing for whoever may end up with your gift, only for everyone to come home with some piece of crap that we'd never use and ends up in our garage sale pile. Now, instead of throwing away our $20 on something useless, we pool all our money together and make a donation. Each year, one family gets to choose where the money is donated to. This year it's been donated to Medic Canada to provide micro loans to people in Africa. As well, because my family still enjoys the time spent with us all in one room (with 35ish people, that doesn’t always happen) and fun of a friendly competitive gift exchange, we've kept it to something homemade or from your house, to alleviate the costs. Some of the top gifts this year were homemade ice cream, tarts, chocolates, Baileys and lots of yummy baking. This year I hit the jackpot (at least I think I did) and came home with a bunch of canning!! I can’t wait to dive into my pickled carrots.
So, as the festive season arrives, please remember the true meaning of Christmas. Take the time to spend quality time with those that you love. Give to those that are less fortunate. And above all, be thankful for all that you have. We don’t have to look far to realize there’s someone worse off than yourself. It’s amazing; the best way to improve your situation, boost your spirit and to find true joy is to give to others and count all the wonderful blessings in your life.
Merry Christmas to you all! Thank you for being in my life!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Mother Natures Wonder
Well, us Albertans were at the mercy of Mother Nature once again. It put a huge damper on my plans. I had a sparkling clean house, fully decorated and my party was cancelled due to the weather. So I enjoyed my fancy clean house to myself Friday night instead.
Although Mother Nature can cause havoc for us, I can't help but marvel at the power and beauty. With all the snow and the strong winds, I think we all were shocked to see some of the crazy snow drifts that were left for us to find Saturday morning.
After shovelling my way out Saturday morning (for the second time), we took a walk around were in awe at all the snow! It was a funny wind this weekend because there were drifts in places that I don't think I've ever seen before at my place. It was quite entertaining checking them all out.
Here are a few of the photos we took. The first 2 is of a drift right at the corner of the pen/driveway. It was just about over Dustin's head and was almost 2 feet above the fence! Crazy!
This is one out in the horse pen - yucky cold wind still blowing!
Although Mother Nature can cause havoc for us, I can't help but marvel at the power and beauty. With all the snow and the strong winds, I think we all were shocked to see some of the crazy snow drifts that were left for us to find Saturday morning.
After shovelling my way out Saturday morning (for the second time), we took a walk around were in awe at all the snow! It was a funny wind this weekend because there were drifts in places that I don't think I've ever seen before at my place. It was quite entertaining checking them all out.
Here are a few of the photos we took. The first 2 is of a drift right at the corner of the pen/driveway. It was just about over Dustin's head and was almost 2 feet above the fence! Crazy!
This is one out in the horse pen - yucky cold wind still blowing!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Truisms
I got this email today and it cracked me up! Hopefully it will make you giggle too when you realize how many of them are true:
1. There is a great need for sarcasm font.
2. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
3. Bad decisions make good stories.
4. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
5. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
6. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.
7. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again
8. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
9. Was learning cursive really necessary?
10. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
11. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
12. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
13. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
14. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
15. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
16. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
17. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
18. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
19. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
20. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
21. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
22. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
23. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
24. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
25. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
26. 'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
27. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
28. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
29. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
30. Why is a school zone 15 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
31. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
32. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
33. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
34. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
35. I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college
1. There is a great need for sarcasm font.
2. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
3. Bad decisions make good stories.
4. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
5. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
6. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.
7. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again
8. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
9. Was learning cursive really necessary?
10. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
11. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
12. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
13. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
14. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
15. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
16. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
17. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
18. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
19. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
20. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
21. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
22. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
23. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
24. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
25. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
26. 'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
27. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
28. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
29. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
30. Why is a school zone 15 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
31. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
32. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
33. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
34. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
35. I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Science Experiment - Conclusion
Well after actually 3 weeks of my science experiement, here are my findings:
Observation: Although my control wasn't quite as controlled as I had planned (I never seem to be able to get to bed a regular time. Plus throw in some fun weekend nights - it's impossible), I feel that I did notice a difference. Also, another variable that I didn't count on was doing work outs in the morning. My goal is to get up and walk/run everymorning. However this never seemed to happen as often as I'd like, as it it only happened 3 times in the last 3 weeks, ha ha, oops! However I do feel that it played a part in my energy levels for those day. Days that I decided I"d get up as soon as my alarm went off were reletively easy to get out of bed. Days that I was going to snooze, even after 3, 4 or even sometimes 5 snoozes, I still was having to drag my ass out of bed. It just never seemed like enough.
Results: I believe there is a difference in how much I struggled to get out of bed when I got out of bed at first alarm as opposed to snoozing numerous times.
Conclusion: After my extension and labour intensive experiment (ha ha, ya right), I have come to the conclusion that snoozing is infact a FOE. Although at the time it feels glorious and you feel like you are really cheating the system by getting to sleep longer than planned (where in reality it is totally planned because I set my alarm so that I can have a distinct number of snoozes before I really have to get up and get ready so I"m not late for work - therefore, this whole process may start an hour earlier than I actually need to wake up), I feel that snoozing does not increase energy levels or limit my sleepyness for the day. And, even though I've snoozed and unrealistically made myself feel like I got extra sleep, I still struggle to drag my carcass out of bed when it's time for me to really get up. So what did I gain. That last hour of snoozing interuppted my last good hour of sleep.
When I set my alarm for the correct time and knew I was getting up right away, I didn't have a sense of regret for having to leave my warm cozy bed and start my day the same way as if I had snoozed. It just was! It wasn't a struggle! My carcass found it much easier to get it's self up and at'em!
My energy levels and tiredess throughout the day didn't seem to depend on the snooze, or not to snooze. They seemed to coincide with simply how much sleep I got. And just like 'they' say (does anyone ever wonder who 'they' are....I'd like to be a 'they' someday I think, you'd get to take so much credit for things although that means you'd also get blamed for many things as well, oh well), 8 hours of sleep is best!! This girl definetly needs her beauty sleep (you don't think I just naturally look this good do you, ha ha)
Anyways, thanks for partaking in my experiment for you commenters. Would love to hear more comments on your snoozing, or no snoozing habits. Do you get a full 8 hours of sleep?
Observation: Although my control wasn't quite as controlled as I had planned (I never seem to be able to get to bed a regular time. Plus throw in some fun weekend nights - it's impossible), I feel that I did notice a difference. Also, another variable that I didn't count on was doing work outs in the morning. My goal is to get up and walk/run everymorning. However this never seemed to happen as often as I'd like, as it it only happened 3 times in the last 3 weeks, ha ha, oops! However I do feel that it played a part in my energy levels for those day. Days that I decided I"d get up as soon as my alarm went off were reletively easy to get out of bed. Days that I was going to snooze, even after 3, 4 or even sometimes 5 snoozes, I still was having to drag my ass out of bed. It just never seemed like enough.
Results: I believe there is a difference in how much I struggled to get out of bed when I got out of bed at first alarm as opposed to snoozing numerous times.
Conclusion: After my extension and labour intensive experiment (ha ha, ya right), I have come to the conclusion that snoozing is infact a FOE. Although at the time it feels glorious and you feel like you are really cheating the system by getting to sleep longer than planned (where in reality it is totally planned because I set my alarm so that I can have a distinct number of snoozes before I really have to get up and get ready so I"m not late for work - therefore, this whole process may start an hour earlier than I actually need to wake up), I feel that snoozing does not increase energy levels or limit my sleepyness for the day. And, even though I've snoozed and unrealistically made myself feel like I got extra sleep, I still struggle to drag my carcass out of bed when it's time for me to really get up. So what did I gain. That last hour of snoozing interuppted my last good hour of sleep.
When I set my alarm for the correct time and knew I was getting up right away, I didn't have a sense of regret for having to leave my warm cozy bed and start my day the same way as if I had snoozed. It just was! It wasn't a struggle! My carcass found it much easier to get it's self up and at'em!
My energy levels and tiredess throughout the day didn't seem to depend on the snooze, or not to snooze. They seemed to coincide with simply how much sleep I got. And just like 'they' say (does anyone ever wonder who 'they' are....I'd like to be a 'they' someday I think, you'd get to take so much credit for things although that means you'd also get blamed for many things as well, oh well), 8 hours of sleep is best!! This girl definetly needs her beauty sleep (you don't think I just naturally look this good do you, ha ha)
Anyways, thanks for partaking in my experiment for you commenters. Would love to hear more comments on your snoozing, or no snoozing habits. Do you get a full 8 hours of sleep?
Monday, November 9, 2009
10km walk = 2 day sore to walk
Sunday afternoon, Dustin and I set out for a 10km walk along the Bow River in Calgary for 2 reasons:
#1 as a finish to an activity challenge that I participated in this summer and in order to receive my winnings for being the activity challenge winner!!!! (yay for me and yay for $$$$$)
and #2 because we need to get our buts in shape which is the reason that Dustin came along. I think he may be a little miffed that he doesn't get in on the contest winnings which in all honestly he maybe should get a portion as he did accompany me on a hike trip and a bike trip so we'll see. Maybe I'll give him a few dollars to buy himself something nice. ha ha Or, maybe having a slimmer girlfriend is enough of a payback. ha ha
It was a pretty chilly day but we dressed up and headed off. It was a beautiful walk along the river with lots of good people watching. As an added bonus, it gave us a chance to have a chat along the way. For us, that's not much of a problem, we are talkers so spend a fair amount of time just 'catching up' on eachothers lives (I know most of you are laughin and thinkin this is bound to change down the road especially once kids are involved). However I can see this being an awesome activity for every couple. I believe that all too often our regular day pace of life makes us tend to push aside spending time and just talking with the one we love. Going for a walk together is a perfect chance to do that. You can get active, enjoy being outside and you have nothing better to do but to catch up on eachothers lives and just visit - like friends, rather than like roommates and parents. I think it's times like that when we force ourselves to slow down and enjoy life - that we can keep our souls happy, and inturn create better relationships in our lives.
Now being that neither of us have been doing much physical activity recently (as in we are lazy bums), we were sure to stretch at the beginning, stretch and the middle and stretch at the end of our walk. We had a turn back point (bridge) that could have cut our walk shorter, but once we reached it we were still feelin spry and figured we could continue on the whole way. About 4 km left, our bodies started 'speaking' to us. At about 2 km left, our bodies started 'screaming' at us. We decided to try a little jog to get other muscles moving and that did help for a bit - until our out of shape lungs started 'speaking' to us to!! For the last 1km we were definetly feeling it in our legs. We spent most of that last km talking about how glad we were that we did this. How great it'll feel to be done, how we're going to try to increase our activity levels from now on. This positive thinking helped us make it back to the car! The warm car! Even though I had my heart rate up, I still had frozen fingers and a body chill that was tough to shake!
We did it! And we're proud of it! We realized that we definetly need to get into better shape and increase our activity levels. Hopefully we can stick to that plan and come spring (more enjoyable walking weather) we can do our 10km walk again and see how far we've come!
#1 as a finish to an activity challenge that I participated in this summer and in order to receive my winnings for being the activity challenge winner!!!! (yay for me and yay for $$$$$)
and #2 because we need to get our buts in shape which is the reason that Dustin came along. I think he may be a little miffed that he doesn't get in on the contest winnings which in all honestly he maybe should get a portion as he did accompany me on a hike trip and a bike trip so we'll see. Maybe I'll give him a few dollars to buy himself something nice. ha ha Or, maybe having a slimmer girlfriend is enough of a payback. ha ha
It was a pretty chilly day but we dressed up and headed off. It was a beautiful walk along the river with lots of good people watching. As an added bonus, it gave us a chance to have a chat along the way. For us, that's not much of a problem, we are talkers so spend a fair amount of time just 'catching up' on eachothers lives (I know most of you are laughin and thinkin this is bound to change down the road especially once kids are involved). However I can see this being an awesome activity for every couple. I believe that all too often our regular day pace of life makes us tend to push aside spending time and just talking with the one we love. Going for a walk together is a perfect chance to do that. You can get active, enjoy being outside and you have nothing better to do but to catch up on eachothers lives and just visit - like friends, rather than like roommates and parents. I think it's times like that when we force ourselves to slow down and enjoy life - that we can keep our souls happy, and inturn create better relationships in our lives.
Now being that neither of us have been doing much physical activity recently (as in we are lazy bums), we were sure to stretch at the beginning, stretch and the middle and stretch at the end of our walk. We had a turn back point (bridge) that could have cut our walk shorter, but once we reached it we were still feelin spry and figured we could continue on the whole way. About 4 km left, our bodies started 'speaking' to us. At about 2 km left, our bodies started 'screaming' at us. We decided to try a little jog to get other muscles moving and that did help for a bit - until our out of shape lungs started 'speaking' to us to!! For the last 1km we were definetly feeling it in our legs. We spent most of that last km talking about how glad we were that we did this. How great it'll feel to be done, how we're going to try to increase our activity levels from now on. This positive thinking helped us make it back to the car! The warm car! Even though I had my heart rate up, I still had frozen fingers and a body chill that was tough to shake!
We did it! And we're proud of it! We realized that we definetly need to get into better shape and increase our activity levels. Hopefully we can stick to that plan and come spring (more enjoyable walking weather) we can do our 10km walk again and see how far we've come!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
2 halloweens, 2 costumes, 2 times the fun!
Well I had another awesome halloween. We went out both nights, which in my world, meant 2 costumes!!
Friday night we went to a family/community dance in Airdrie. We dressed up as trailer trash/hillbillys. Dustin's costume was awesome. Even his own family hardly recognized him. I got a few evil looks at the bar where we went for a quick drink aftewards so obviously my pregnant belly looked somewhat real. It was lots of fun watching the kids dressed up and having fun dancing.
Saturday night we went to a friends housewarming/halloween party. He went all out on decorations and had his DJ lights, music, strobe light and fog machine set up to totally set the creepy, spooky halloween mood. Dustin put on a mask and sat at the bottom of the steps to scare all the innocent treak or treaters. It was great to watch the kids enjoy (and be frightened) by it all.
Friday night we went to a family/community dance in Airdrie. We dressed up as trailer trash/hillbillys. Dustin's costume was awesome. Even his own family hardly recognized him. I got a few evil looks at the bar where we went for a quick drink aftewards so obviously my pregnant belly looked somewhat real. It was lots of fun watching the kids dressed up and having fun dancing.
Saturday night we went to a friends housewarming/halloween party. He went all out on decorations and had his DJ lights, music, strobe light and fog machine set up to totally set the creepy, spooky halloween mood. Dustin put on a mask and sat at the bottom of the steps to scare all the innocent treak or treaters. It was great to watch the kids enjoy (and be frightened) by it all.
I dressed up as an 80's work out chick and Dustin dusted off his old Boy Scout uniform (well only some of the orgininal uniform). They were fun costumes. I loved my hair and makeup.
Our friend Thomas had the best costume. He dressed up as the boys' hero: Captain Morgan:
The weekend was wrapped up with Dustin's neice and brother-in-law's birthday supper which was lots of fun. So it was an awesome Halloween weekend! I'm already looking forward to next year - thinking of what I can dress up as. I hope you all had a spooktacular weekend as well!
Science Experiment
For me, the toughest part of the day is that moment when you have to make yourself get up out of bed. So I usually end up pressing snooze for 2 or 3 times, putting off the enevitable. But I've wondered if it's really doing me any good, or is it making me feel worse in the long run. So I decided to do a little experiment.
Questions: SNOOZE BUTTON - FRIEND OR FOE? Does pressing snooze on your alarm clock in the morning actually leave you feeling more rested?
Hypothesis: After being a cronic snooze pusher for many years now, I'm starting to question if it allows for longer, more restful sleep, or does it in fact leave you feeling dopy, drowsy and low on energy to start your day. I am starting to think it's the latter of the two is true.
Variables: snooze, or no snooze
Control: I will go to bed at the same time each night, allowing for the equal number of hours of sleep
Materials: Bed, alarm clock
Procedure: For one week I will get up way my alarm first goes off. For the second week I will hit snooze 3 times before waking up.
Oberservation: stay tuned to my observation in a future post
Results: stay tuned to my observation in a future post
Conclusion: stay tuned to my observation in a future post
I'd love to hear any comments you may have. Are you a snoozer? Do you bounce right up? Notice a difference one way or the other?
Questions: SNOOZE BUTTON - FRIEND OR FOE? Does pressing snooze on your alarm clock in the morning actually leave you feeling more rested?
Hypothesis: After being a cronic snooze pusher for many years now, I'm starting to question if it allows for longer, more restful sleep, or does it in fact leave you feeling dopy, drowsy and low on energy to start your day. I am starting to think it's the latter of the two is true.
Variables: snooze, or no snooze
Control: I will go to bed at the same time each night, allowing for the equal number of hours of sleep
Materials: Bed, alarm clock
Procedure: For one week I will get up way my alarm first goes off. For the second week I will hit snooze 3 times before waking up.
Oberservation: stay tuned to my observation in a future post
Results: stay tuned to my observation in a future post
Conclusion: stay tuned to my observation in a future post
I'd love to hear any comments you may have. Are you a snoozer? Do you bounce right up? Notice a difference one way or the other?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Happy Happy Halloween
As my blog title says, I love 'living life' and having fun! I am definetly a big kid and halloween is a time that I think let's your inner child come out to play!!. Although I think my inner child comes out to play way too much sometimes (future blog to come: Dustin and I playing on a kids playground one afternoon). Even if you are a poised, cool, collected individual (which I certainly am not, ha ha), Halloween let's you be who ever you want to be and just let loose and have fun!!
I usually start my costume planning several months in advance. One reason being is for several years, I've sewn my own costume and considering I'm no professional seamstress - it takes me quite a while. I thought I'd go through my halloween picture collection of the last few years to share with you some of my costumes. Recent years have been more of a 'throw my costume together the week before'.
(On the left) Last year there was a group of us that went as farm anaimals. I was the sheep. There was also a chicken, donkey, pig and the farmer was missing. This picture doesn't show my outfit very well, but I had a dress made of cotton batting. (On the right) I'm a cave women. I had to laugh, that year there were quite a few ladies dressed as cave women or Pebbles. They were all cute, and pretty and dolled right up. I took it to a whole new level with crazy, wild, teased hair, blacked out teeth, dirt all over my body and a cow rib that I carried around.
(Left) Bar wench - probably one of my most favorite costumes I've made. (Right) Pregnant hillbilly - and I actually had a bartender ask me if I was really pregnant when I ordered a beer.....ya, and this baby I'm shaking on the dance floor is real too!?!??!?!?
(Left) 70's Chick - complete with a real hair piece my aunt used to wear. (Right) Chiquita Banana - I quite love how this outfit that I made turned out. Except that fruit headpiece was a pain in the a$$ to keep on.
(Left) Another 70's chick. (Right) Geisha - this is also one of my favorite outfits I made, although the white makeup was kinda itchy.
Stay tuned for this years pictures. I am so excited because I'm going to 2 halloween parties this weekend so of course figured that was an excuse to have 2 different costumes.
Hopefully in the next few years to come I can get back to sewing costumes as I still have patters for a Flapper girl and a Fairy!
Happy Halloween Everyone!
Let your inner child out!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
This Is It
This is it!!
I will be the first to admit, I’m not exactly an avid Michael Jackson fan – other than being a fan of his major hits and his oh so famous dance moves. Dustin won tickets to the preview of his show ‘This Is It’. Now this isn’t something that I would have probably paid money for, and yes, I did feel a bit guilty in going and feeling that way when there are some real diehard fans that can’t wait to get that final glimpse of such a renowned and controversial entertainer.
The footage was from rehearsals of the big production he was planning for this past summer as his farewell tour slated for 50 shows in London. Unfortunately, as we all know, that final curtain was closed all too soon. The show geared to be an amazing exhibition of lights, smoke, props, and the best of his best songs and of course, the King of Pop’s legendary dance moves – and man could he still move!! I don’t think there’s a dancer that hasn’t incorporated at least one of MJ’s branded dance moves. Who doesn’t recognize the moon walk, the crotch grab, and the theatrical Thriller dance? I still intend to learn that dance some day. Wouldn’t that be awesome to break out into the real Thriller dance moves at the next wedding your at!! Ha ha, I love it!
He definitely was a different character. Watching his interactions and his conversations with those around him was a great insight into the type of person I think he was – pretty much what I had envisioned of him. Despite all the controversy around this man, he did seem to be very grateful for those around him and to be doing what he loved! He changed the world of pop and dance forever! And for MJ, this final curtain call was appropriately named ‘This Is It’. That’s all she wrote folks!
P.S. From what I hear from stories from Dustin’s family, when he was about 10 years old he wore a hat similar to what MJ always sported for about 2 years straight – even if family photos, he had to have the hat on! I might have to track one of those pictures down for a display with this posting.
I will be the first to admit, I’m not exactly an avid Michael Jackson fan – other than being a fan of his major hits and his oh so famous dance moves. Dustin won tickets to the preview of his show ‘This Is It’. Now this isn’t something that I would have probably paid money for, and yes, I did feel a bit guilty in going and feeling that way when there are some real diehard fans that can’t wait to get that final glimpse of such a renowned and controversial entertainer.
The footage was from rehearsals of the big production he was planning for this past summer as his farewell tour slated for 50 shows in London. Unfortunately, as we all know, that final curtain was closed all too soon. The show geared to be an amazing exhibition of lights, smoke, props, and the best of his best songs and of course, the King of Pop’s legendary dance moves – and man could he still move!! I don’t think there’s a dancer that hasn’t incorporated at least one of MJ’s branded dance moves. Who doesn’t recognize the moon walk, the crotch grab, and the theatrical Thriller dance? I still intend to learn that dance some day. Wouldn’t that be awesome to break out into the real Thriller dance moves at the next wedding your at!! Ha ha, I love it!
He definitely was a different character. Watching his interactions and his conversations with those around him was a great insight into the type of person I think he was – pretty much what I had envisioned of him. Despite all the controversy around this man, he did seem to be very grateful for those around him and to be doing what he loved! He changed the world of pop and dance forever! And for MJ, this final curtain call was appropriately named ‘This Is It’. That’s all she wrote folks!
P.S. From what I hear from stories from Dustin’s family, when he was about 10 years old he wore a hat similar to what MJ always sported for about 2 years straight – even if family photos, he had to have the hat on! I might have to track one of those pictures down for a display with this posting.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
New Road
Hello everyone....or no one (depends on who's reading this)!
Let me introduce myself. I am a virgin blogger. I have read and follow several blogs and decided this might be a road for me to try!
I don't know if I have anything to offer to anyone reading this other than simply myself - my life, my stories, my lessons I've learned, and my weird daily thoughts and experiences. I've had quite a few people comment on how they enjoy finding out what I'm up to Facebook. I try to get out and about and try new things, find new adventures and to just enjoy life the best I can. So that's what I thought I could write about.
So we'll see where this goes and what I come up with to talk about! Thanks for reading!
Let me introduce myself. I am a virgin blogger. I have read and follow several blogs and decided this might be a road for me to try!
I don't know if I have anything to offer to anyone reading this other than simply myself - my life, my stories, my lessons I've learned, and my weird daily thoughts and experiences. I've had quite a few people comment on how they enjoy finding out what I'm up to Facebook. I try to get out and about and try new things, find new adventures and to just enjoy life the best I can. So that's what I thought I could write about.
So we'll see where this goes and what I come up with to talk about! Thanks for reading!
Hello everyone....or no one (depends on who's reading this)!
Let me introduce myself. I am a virgin blogger. I have read and follow several blogs and decided this might be a road for me to try!
I don't know if I have anything to offer to anyone reading this other than simply myself - my life, my stories, my lessons I've learned, and my weird daily thoughts and experiences. I've had quite a few people comment on how they enjoy finding out what I'm up to Facebook. I try to get out and about and try new things, find new adventures and to just enjoy life the best I can. So that's what I thought I could write about.
So we'll see where this goes and what I come up with to talk about! Thanks for reading!
Let me introduce myself. I am a virgin blogger. I have read and follow several blogs and decided this might be a road for me to try!
I don't know if I have anything to offer to anyone reading this other than simply myself - my life, my stories, my lessons I've learned, and my weird daily thoughts and experiences. I've had quite a few people comment on how they enjoy finding out what I'm up to Facebook. I try to get out and about and try new things, find new adventures and to just enjoy life the best I can. So that's what I thought I could write about.
So we'll see where this goes and what I come up with to talk about! Thanks for reading!
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