AIN'T SETTLING

"I ain't settling for just getting by, I've had enough so so for the rest of my life, Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high, Just enough ain't enough this time, I ain't settling for anything less than everything, yeah"

If you are a country music fan, then you have heard Sugarland's lyrics above. Well, for the last couple of months it has become my theme song!

Have you ever settled for something in your life and regretted it later? I am sure most of us have. So often we settle for less and rationalize it away. We are inches from what we truly want, but we stop and ponder, or worse yet, we turn back. It is right there, we can smell it, taste it, and feel it, but we always seem to settle for less. Why do we settle? It is because you think you cannot get it? Perhaps you think you do not deserve to get what you want? Friends and family will turn against you? Afraid of what other people will think about you?

I am very content with my life and LIFE IS GOOD but there are areas where I know I can step it up. A few months back, I took a good look at my fitness goals and realized I was settling. I was working out and eating right but was it enough? Once I wrote out all of my goals, I knew that I had been settling. So I stepped it up. Once I took that step, I knew nothing was going to stop me from achieving every single one of my goals. Why? Because I knew my reasons were big enough, my beliefs were solid enough and my desire was intense enough and therefore, nothing could stop me.

I made the decision to never, ever give up. I recognized from the very beginning that my goals required persistence. To get me through rough periods, I knew I would have to rely on my own visualizations, plans (goals), a support group (my hubby and my fitness friends), and my own capacity for self-examination. It isn’t always easy admitting what your faults are. :-)

I took responsibility for my actions that actually empowered me to direct my life rather than be a victim of circumstance. Some people told me they would never be able to lose weight because of their genetics. In fact, one lady told me that I would never be able to have rock solid abs because I had a child. Hmmph! I think it is a bunch of hog wash. If you are blaming your poor health on genetics, you are stuck living a life of quiet hopelessness. There is nothing that you cannot do if you put your heart and mind into it. If, however, you take responsibility for all the conditions in your life, the desirable and not so desirable, you are then in a position to change. Go for it and QUIT SETTLIN!

Personal Note: We had our 1st Annual Luau at our house last Saturday. Kevin and I worked our bums off getting the Luau together. We decided to have a Friends' Luau only because my family is so massive it would be impossible to host them all together. Believe it or not, I made ALL of the side dishes and desserts and Kevin prepared all the meat for the Luau. We also set up the deck and patio with tiki torches and Luau decorations. All in all it was a great day! (for those family members who read my blog, the Family Luau is September 8)! Can’t wait! :-)

Road Without Obstacles

“A Road without obstacles, often leads to nowhere.” –Author Unknown.

All of us have dealt with adversity before in our life but my son has dealt with a lot in his young life. Wednesday marked a very sad day for my son, Scott. His Dad passed away three years ago on July 18. David was only 41 years YOUNG when he suddenly died of a brain aneurysm. To say it devastated Scott is the understatement of a lifetime. He had just graduated from high school and moved in with his Dad. I remember how sad I was when he moved out. He is my only child and I thought I had another summer with him at home before he flew the coop. Scott’s plans were to move in with his Dad because he had received a full scholarship at UMKC and wanted to live closer to university; however, it was supposed to be later on that summer. Needless to say I was a bit surprised to find him packing up his room the day after he graduated. Two months from that particular day, his Dad passed away. It was like God had conveyed to Scott to move early to spend that extra time with his Dad.

One thing I have tried to instill in Scott is that the sun will always shine. There might be clouds hiding the sun’s rays but it is still there. We just have to get through the storms first. Without the clouds, we wouldn’t be shielded from the burning sun. Without the clouds, there would be no lavish sunsets, no beneficial rain, no beautiful flowers, in essence, we would never witness God’s masterpiece.

The same is true with life’s clouds. When hard times comes we easily get discouraged but behind the clouds God is still present and can use them to water our soul with unexpected blessings.

The months and years following David’s passing have not been easy on Scott but Scott is moving on with his life. He continues on with his college life and continues to hold down a full-time job. There are still some events that will stop Scott in his tracks, like birthdays, anniversaries and/or the holidays but he definitely is a trooper and reflects on the good things in his life. And that would make his Dad especially proud! :-)

IN OUR HUMBLE OPINION

The Cutest Couple Ever! :-)

Friday the 13th Special

Good day you beautiful people. Life is good, is it not? I have to start by saying that I DO NOT think I am the best driver in the world, BUT I am a safe driver. Now for my post! :-)

I have found that we all have areas in life where we can improve. My friend who recently moved to New York asked me what I could improve on and I said my “attitude.” She thought I was being funny because she said I have a great attitude and then I enlightened her. My attitude BEHIND the wheel. When I am out and about, driving around town, other drivers, literally DRIVE me insane. It seems that everywhere I go, I am confronted with people whose driving skills leave something to be desired.

As Kevin is my witness, not one single day has gone by without viewing at the least one wreck on the side of the road. Sometimes we WITNESS the wreck. Last Friday, some knucklehead came flying off a highway ramp and decided he didn’t want to stop at the red light. We had the green light and at the very last moment, he slammed on his brakes and then gave us a thumb’s up sign. Nice, you little heathen. ;-) Well, what do you think happened? The gal behind him slammed into him! I truly am not an evil person, but, heck don’t you think he deserved it? I feel bad for the gal who hit him but she should have been paying attention too!

Why are there so many wreckless drivers out there? A few observations that I have made are people just do not give a flying rats behind about anyone around them. They drive with little regard for their own safety or the safety of those around them. My favorite is the cars that simply do not seem to come with blinkers. These particular drivers drive as if they are the most important person on the road and will actually turn into your lane without so much as a signal as if to dare you to hit them. It is insane, and the worst part is there is NEVER a police officer around to issue them a citation.

Kevin and I have watched time and time again as brazen fools cut off other cars causing everyone in their lane to apply their brakes. The backup caused in those lanes eventually lead to the conjestion. All so one car could get 2 car lengths ahead of the pack. The odd thing is about half the time someone else further up the line has done the same thing forcing the other driver to end up 5 car lengths behind were they started.

Just yesterday on my way over to pick up Kevin, some guy pulled out from a local gym, driving with one hand, talking on his cell phone, all the while trying to execute a turn, but managed to turn into oncoming traffic. BOZO! I had to come to a complete stop, which made the people behind me screech to a halt and he acted as if it wasn’t a big deal. Give me a break. People be alert and aware of your surroundings…. Many people are way too distracted to be behind a wheel. Whether they are talking on their cell phone, eating food, disciplining their children, or just not paying attention to their driving in general, they are not paying attention to the top priority of the moment as they barrel down the road in a half-ton piece of metal and plastic with wheels. When people are not paying attention, collisions will occur.

I think it is very disheartening to consider it an accomplishment to get from point A to point B and not get run over by someone not paying attention to their driving because they have their cell phone glued to their ear. So my goal is to change my attitude while I am behind the wheel. Being more courteous to other drivers. Like letting a car cut in front of me when I can see that there are quite a few cars behind me that might not let them. It might make all of the difference in someone else’s driving experience and make them more courteous and me have a better attitude.

When I told Kevin about this new goal, he simply said “that will be a challenge.” We shall see! ;-)

PHOTO IN TIME

I hope all of you had a happy 4th, particularly those with loved ones serving in the military. Our freedoms are not to be taken lightly. What some consider our given right are directly related to the sacrifices you and yours make. So from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!

I would have liked to have blogged on how we had a magnificent 4th of July but I can’t. It was just okay! :-) We got up really early (even on our day off) and worked out and then ended up getting the “cleaning bug” and decided to organize our garage for the first time since moving into our house. Ever since we moved in, it has become THE place to put things which we didn’t have a specific “place” for. So you can imagine how disorganized it was. We managed to get it completely cleaned and organized before the rain fell. Scott even had the cleaning bug and thoroughly cleaned his room as well. That in itself was a miracle! :-) At any rate, having the holiday fall in the middle of the week, without taking any vacation, to extend the holiday makes it a little hard to celebrate like normal. Although the fireworks went on well after midnight in our neighborhood. :-)

Speaking of bugs (UGH), on Sunday we were sitting out on the deck and a spider bit me on my bicep. After first I didn’t realize it was a bite, just thought I had scratched myself, but four days later, it definitely is a bite and is infected. We went to the Urgent Care yesterday just to be turned away because they didn’t accept my insurance. Geez, thanks, glad I wasn’t dying! ;-( I have a doctor’s appt. this afternoon and will have the doc take a look at it. It just grosses me out and no it doesn’t itch unless someone asks me if it does! One of my friends was trying to make me feel better so he e-mailed me this message:

"Don't worry about the spider bite, babe. I've heard of that before. Whatthey do is bite you and inject their eggs into the bite. Then, a week later,the eggs hatch and a million spiders come out.I read it in a book.I should call you Ripley from now on. You are now incubating 1000 teenyaliens.Hope that makes you feel better."

Yeah I perked right up after reading that! :-)

On a positive note, once in a while, something so simple can become something spectacular! The other day I woke up early and let my dog out and I witnessed the prettiest sunrise. I ran and got our camera and snapped a picture. It truly was breathtaking and I hope to get Kevin to post it here on the blog soon! When God paints a picture in the sky, He does it right and when I can experience that unexpected moment and capture it on my camera. I say Amen!

DOC UPDATE: I actually had 4 spidey bites on my arm. UGH! Nothing steroids and cortisone won't fix right up! Arm is feeling quite achy today though! :-( I'm sure it didn't help that I worked my biceps out this morning. Oh well....I JUST had to work out! No EXCUSES!