Patience

I came across this write up in a local community paper. I just love it. I think I am naturally a pretty patient person in some aspects and I strive to improve my patence in other aspects of my life. I think there are many people out there that could stand to have more patience!! Maybe this will help:

Patience is quiet hope and trust that things will turn out right. You wait without complaining. You are tolerant and accepting of difficulties and mistakes. You picture the end in the beginning and persevere to meet your goals. Patience is a commitment to the future.

You are practicing patience when you....
- Calmly tolerate a delay or confusion
- Are willing to wait for things you want
- Set goals and persevere until they are met
- Do somethig now that will helpe you inthe future
- Accept things you cannot change with humour and grac
- Are tolerant when mistakes are made

Afirmation:
I am patient. I am gentle with others and myself when we make mistakes. I wait calmly. I trust that things will turn out right.

Hallmark says it best

Something I strive to do is to make sure that the people important to me know how I feel about them. Unfortunetly, my deep, meaningful poem writting skills need a little fine tuning. Unless you consider this a deep meaningfull poem:

Roses are Red

Violets are purple

You're as sweet

As Maple Surple!

Anyways, I am a fan of greeting cards. I am NOT a fan of how expensive they are, but if you can find just the right card that says exactly how you feel, it is definetly worth the money and the feeling of knowing you are sharing your feelings with that special someone you are celebrating.

I quite often find the most perfect cards that I buy and keep on hand for when that certain occasion arrises.

We recently celebrated my dad's 61st birthday and I found just the right card. I couldn't have said it any better and was very happy to get to tell my dad just how I felt. I think many of us 'little girls' would agree with this card:

First guy to ever love me.
First to sweep me off my feet
or plant those scratchy whisker kisses gently on my cheek.
First man to take me seriously.
First pal I ever had.
First guy I ever gave my heart to

My daddy will always be my friend, and will always have my heart!

Mush!

As much as I can, I try to expand my horizons and try new things. I've got quite a long list of things that I'd like to go and do and see, unfortunetly I need to work harder at getting them off my list rather then leaving them on the 'some day' list.

For several years, I've wanted to take in the local sled dog races hosted in Didsbury. Fortunetly, I was finally able to go and check it out this year and am so glad I did. It was very entertaining and interesting. I was surprised at the different mixes of dog breeds. I'd highly recommend anyone to go and check out the races next year.

Cowboy Knee boarding

We were very fortunate this year with gorgeous weather on family. We spent the day with Dustin's family at his parents house. We all made the trek down to their coulee and spent a few hours tobogganning down the hill. It was great fun and every one of us took a turn taking at least one trip down. I took more than my share of 'turns' and was a bit sore the next day, both from wipe outs and from hiking back up the hill so many times. Here's one video of me going down backwards.

We had the horse saddled up and was pulling the kids around on the sled. When all of a sudden, I had a great idea....getting pulled behind the horse and going over some sweet jumps!!! So Dustin and I each took a few turns. This definetly turned out to be my highlight of the day.

Snow fun is sooo fun!

Well, I"m finally making myself take a minute and update my blog. I apologize for my absense and thank those of you who are interested enough in reading my blog to give me a hard time for not updating it. I will do my best to stay on top of this.

So,

I am not a fan of winter, to say the least!(Notice how I didn't say hate. As per my friend Robyn, it's a cold and negative word that isn't in my best good of positive energy). Since I usually don't partake in many winter activities, I realized I don't even give myself a chance to enjoy even a portion of our everlasting freezing season. This year I made sure to do my best to enjoy winter while it was here. I did do a few activites in the snow that was a ton of fun!!

For those of you who don't know (but let's face it, only my friends and family that know me well can love me enough to bother following this blog and so already know this), I grew up right next to the Olds overpass. I remember being younger and thinkin what perfect tobogganing hills the overpass had. However, as they should, my parents wouldn't let me as it wasn't safe.

But, as Dustin put it, I am now a grown up and can make my own decisions! So, while putting the safety of myself and all Highway 2 drivers aside, I finally was able to take advantage of the perfect tobogganing hill. Or as Dustin said it, the hill with the perfect fun-to-workout ratio. Explanation: The amount of fun going down the hill is directly proportionate (and worth the effort) to the size of the hill you have to haul your tired, lazy, over dressed carcass back up each time.

We had a great time and went up and down many times, forwards, backwards, sitting, laying, kneeling, etc... We moved to one spot that was close to the big light pole so we had to keep a pretty close watch so we didn't toboggan out butts right into it.

Here's a few pics and videos.

Doing my part

About 4 years ago I decided that I wanted to do more to give back. I decided one way I could do that is to donate blood. I know a lot of people are almost shocked when they know that I donate blood. They say 'I could never do that', or 'I don't like needles', or 'I don't have time'. Well my answer to that and reasoning why I decided to donate is because being scared of needles or not having time aren't options when you are the one in dire need of blood. So, praying that the day doesn't come that I'm the one that needs the blood, I will be so thankful that other people have so graciously donated, forgetting their fears and finding time in their schedules to save my life.

It's not like donating is all fun and games, but it's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make and hoping that many other people will too. I still remember how scared I was the first time that I donated. I wasn't sure what to expect and from my bad experiences with IVs during surgery, I was not looking forward to that needle. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they look after their first time donars, making sure to explain the process and make your experience as pleasant as possible. The nurses are great - I wish those nurses worked in hospitals doing IVs. They have that needle in there in no time at all!

I'm not the greatest donater. I take a long time to fill my bag. Which I think is probably a good thing for myself that I"m a slow bleeder, ha ha. And I can struggle with feeling faint afterwards, but have learned to be sure to eat and drink lots of water before donating.

Even with my little fears or experiences, I still feel donating blood is worth it to try to do a little something for someone else. Please think about donating next time a clinic is in your area or find a local clinic. It's worth it! And you'll be extra glad you did if you or anyone close to you ever needs blood.

Oh, and p.s. Drinking and eating lots after donation is a great idea too. I found out this week that an early and light supper + donating blood + early morning workout the next morning = feeling faint and queasy on the treadmill.

Happy donating everyone!!!

Positive Thinking

Are you a fickle fan? Do you jump on the bandwagon when the going is good?

I don’t know if being a positive person is something that I’ve necessarily strived for, however I have been told that it is a trait that I possess and I am thankful for that. I don’t know if I have to remind myself to stay positive or if it just comes natural. Believe me, I have my moments: moments of self pity, of sadness, of defeat. However, they never seem to last very long for me. I naturally find it easy to see the bigger picture and that things could always be worse! Granted that I’ve been blessed to have an amazing life that with only minor incidents, I am a firm believer that you don’t have to look very far to see someone worse off than you.

It’s as simple as sports fans. I went to a Flames game a few weeks ago and was appalled when at the end of the game (which by the way the Flames did basically hand the win over to the opposing team) the Flames fans began booing. What kind of a fan is that? You say you love the team and you’ll be the first guy whooping it up on the Red Mile when the Flames make the playoffs, yet here, when your team just faced a defeat, you boo them for it?!?!?

The world of Facebook allows us wear our heart on our sleeves, or should I say, on our profiles. I find it so interesting to read everyone’s status. You can get a real understanding of a person’s true personality and overall outlook on life if you take a look at their status history. Are they always complaining? Do bad things ALWAYS seem to happen to them? Or are they always upbeat? Do they have positive statements and thoughts? The ones that I get the greatest kick out of are the ones that praise positive thinking when the going is good. They are thankful for everything in their life that day because it’s a good day. (Which by the way, being thankful for everything you have is the way to attract more positive energy in your life). Yet, the very next day, when the going is not so good, these people are the first to get down on life, be mad at the world and to blame everyone around them and complain about how crappy their day is, their week is, their year is!!

Want to know what I feel is the best way to attract positive energy in your life? Be thankful for what you have, even when you are feeling down. Even when things have crumbled, be thankful for what you do have, even if it’s the simplest thing: Today, I have breath!!!!

Ever start your day off bad and you say to yourself, this is going to be a crappy day. And surprise, surprise!?! The whole day turns out to be crappy! Best way to confirm a crappy day: tell everyone on Facebook! Ha ha Have you ever said to yourself, okay, that sucked, but this is going to be a good day and make a conscious effort to look forward to it being a good day.

A friend’s recent status caught my eye recently and it really struck home. Her status said ‘took off my grumpy pants’!! YAY!!! Why can’t we all do that!?!?!? I love that she acknowledged she was having a bad day and made a conscious effort to remove her ‘grumpy pants’ and to commit to making her day better. We all have ‘off’ days. So why not try this next time you are having a grumpy day. Commit to taking off your grumpy pants. Now just think how pleasant and upbeat the world would be if we could all make that commitment!!

So just some food for thought, don’t be one of those fans that jump on board only when the going is good. Be thankful for what you have when you know you have a lot. More importantly, be thankful for what you do have, even if you don’t feel like you have anything. Realize positive thinking is most important when the going is not so good. And remember thoughts are things and words have power!!!

You can decide what kind of a day you are going to have!!

What kind of energy are you going to attract today?