Complaining

I was checking all my social media outlets this morning and the following was posted on facebook by one of the fitness gals I follow.  It really resonated with me and how I've been feeling lately so thought I'd take time out to post:

(This excerpted from The Challenge to Succeed audio series by Jim Rohn ~ I pulled these pieces of the quote from www.jimrohn.com.)

"Complaining.  There's room for legitimate complaining, but if you let this deadly disease of attitude - complaining - loose it will conquer you.  Complaining can take over your life.  Destroy you and leave you without anything.  Nobody want to take along a complainer.  Nobody wants to promote a complainer.  Nobody wants to live with one.  Nobody wants to be a partner of one.  Nobody wants to have one around.  Complaining leaves you out of more opportunities than you can possibly imagine if you let it take over and grab you by the throat..."  "...Complaining is not for the winners in life.  You must focus on what you can do, not what you cannot.  And you must focus on the opportunities not the difficulties.  When you do this you will not only inspire yourself but you will be an example for others to follow as well."

I may just need to paint that bolded sentence on every wall of my house as a friendly reminder to myself.

Happy Tuesday!  Back to work...no complaining allowed!!

an overnight extravaganza

Mike got home from Burning Man on September 7th and he had Saturday/Sunday off as admin days.(I guess they think you should have a few days off after you've worked 12+ hr days for 2.5 weeks)  So - we took this opportunity to take a quick camping trip.  As you probably remember from a previous post, I really enjoy camping and disconnecting from the world every so often.

We packed up on Saturday and headed out, dropped Stu off at the kennel, and drove for about 2.5 hrs until we came to "just the right spot."  Yes, we took Boulevard and Ranger but boarded Stu for the night.  Although, I'm sure he would have been fine, Mike and I wouldn't have got an ounce of sleep because Stu is a yapper.(which is why we run a fan at night to drown out any sounds he may bark at)

We found a spot on Forest Service land with no one close by.  It wasn't a campground or anything, we just found a spot in the forest that looked good.  The dogs ran their hearts out, Mike and I played Bocce Ball(love that game!!), cooked some food, and set up camp.  Since Mike was gone for 2.5 weeks and three days prior to him leaving for that trip, he'd be gone for 2 weeks(and I was gone for a week in there), it was so amazing to just be with him and have uninterrupted time together.

Here are a few pictures for you:

I swear I have to get a gun and shooting lesson every time we do this.  I kinda look like a rock star, don't you think?  It IS legal to shoot here, in case you were wondering.

We got a couple dummies out and played with the pups.  The routine would be: Boulevard would fetch the dummy, Ranger would snatch it out of Blvd's mouth and go lay down somewhere with it(before B could bring it back to us), then while Rang was distracted Boulevard would steal it away again.  It was pretty funny.

We ended up forgetting our camping stove but we had recently bought this cast iron griddle thing so we did all of our cooking like this.  It actually working out perfectly...and a handsome chef to top off the yummy food.

Camping headquarters!

This was right after Blvd and Rang totally knocked me over and I was being attacked with licks.

Two words...Spoiled Rotten!!

I was trying to show off my Husker sweatshirt(it was a game day) and the red bocce balls...apparently Ranger thought I was trying to play.  Why the hat?  Well, we were at 10,000 feet so it was pretty chilly.

Hopefully you can see this video(make sure you have your sound on).  This is Ranger whining because he was tied up while we were playing bocce ball, obviously so the dogs wouldn't chase the balls.   This, coming from the dog, that will bite the heck out of someone if he gets "the command."  What a big baby!!!  And...as usual, Boulevard is an angel in the background.

There you have our camping trip summary.
Be sure to scroll down to see my other post today, in case you missed it!!

Lake Jumping

One of my avid readers(does it count if it's my Dad?) mentioned my blog today.  As usual I have some catching up to do so we'll start with lake jumping.

Earlier this summer, Mike took Sunday off and we went with a group to Lake Abiquiu to do some lake jumping.  What is lake jumping, you ask?  Well, I honestly didn't know so I googled it after we were invited and most of the video's online showed biking off of ramps into a body of water...um, no thank you!  After texting my girlfriend, she basically described it as jumping off some cliffs.  I would call that cliff jumping but...she called it lake jumping so lake jumping it is.  Although I only actually jumped a few times(from the lowest "cliff" mind you), it was really fun and I wish we had gone a few more times before the season turned to Fall.

Here are some pics to re-cap the day:

Can you see the guy in mid-air back flipping off the cliff?  He did this all day long.  The was the "high" cliff.  The girl on the lower bottom of the picture is on the lower cliff.

Here goes Mike!...also off the lower cliff.  I'm actually surprised he jumped considering he used to have a friend put his Christmas lights on his house in Nebraska due to the height.  :)

 Here I go - also from the lower cliff! (look at that white bod...and you better believe I coated myself in sunscreen for this too!)

The group we went with, minus me because I was taking the pic. (Mike is on the right side.)

The girls getting ready to jump.  (I'm in the middle)

There we are in the water...guess the photographer wasn't fast enough to grab a mid-air shot.

The gals after the "girls" jump. (I'm in the middle again)  My Keens water shoes were awesome for this because I could jump with them and not kill my feet trying to climb back up the cliff.

Mike's last jump.

...after jumping and climbing back up.  You can see his new tattoo he got this summer too. 

And that was lake jumping.  It was a really fun day...I thought the best part was watching everyone else to be honest.  I wish we would have taken Boulevard because he would have had a blast.(there was an area of water that you could wade into so he would have loved it)

Next up...camping trip, Burning Man, and my trip to the Philippines...
But first, I'm off to pound some pavement...to avoid helping the hubs stain the remainder of the fence. heehee!  I love good timing!

first game of the season

There is no place like Nebraska

Good 'ole Nebraska U

Where the girls are the fairest

The boys are the squarest

Of any 'ole place that I know

There is no place like Nebraska

Where we're all true blue

We'll stick together 

Through all kinds of weather

It's good 'ole Nebraska U

Go Big Red!

If you think you're a Husker fan and don't know this song than I hate to tell you that you really aren't a Husker fan.  :)  I didn't even attend the University but I know it. 

Definitely wish I was in Nebraska today tailgating & watching the game with my family and friends for the season opener.  Instead, I'm throwing my own party (everyone I know in Santa Fe is out of town, including the hubs) right here at home.  I'll be cheering on the Cornhuskers from the comfort of my own couch!

maybe you can help me understand...

Here are the facts ~

Going to the gym in the PM:
-a lot of driving traffic - takes me about 5-7 minutes longer to get to the gym in the pm
-gym is super duper hot(not sure what the problem is with their air conditioner)
-gym traffic(lots more people in the gym in the pm)
-have to periodically wait for the machines, dumbbells, or bar bells that I need
-get to sleep in until 6:30am instead of getting up at 5:24am to be at the gym by 6am
-don't get to be at the gym with the hubs
-don't have much motivation to get to the gym after a long day at work

Going to the gym in the AM:
-no driving traffic
-the gym is practically empty
-no waiting for gym equipment which means I can get through my workout faster
-gym is nice a cool in the morning from our cool Santa Fe nights
-have to wake up at 5:24am to have breakfast and get to the gym by 6am
-get to be at the gym with the hubs

So...as you can see, almost all signs point to going to the gym in the morning.  If that is the case, please help me understand why I can't get myself out of bed at 5:24am!!!  Honestly - What does an extra 66 minutes of sleep provide for me?

Ugh!  Obviously - you can tell this is a battle I fight often.  Any suggestions?  What works for you?

home sweet home

I got home from the Philippines late Tuesday night. (more to come on that later).  Mike gets home from Georgia in T minus 2 hours or so!!   He's been at FLETC for defensive tactics instructor school.(hopefully I got that right).  He passed and graduated yesterday and is flying home today.

We used a house sitter for this trip for Boulevard and Stuart and it seemed to go really well.  Stuart didn't seem as traumatized and no kennel cough risks by boarding them.  By the way, Boulevard is completely healed from his kennel cough.  YAY!  I think the sitter left our house in better order than how we left it for her.  ;)

Ranger couldn't go with Mike so we boarded him...he's a little much to handle so we didn't want to put the sitter through that.  I picked him up from the kennel on Thursday.  Imagine if you will ~ 100 lbs of German Shepard being leashed and led by me to the car from the kennel.  Ok...let me rephrase...100 lbs of Ranger literally dragging me across the parking lot to the car, my feet flying behind me, trying to resist the pull, and yelling NEIN NEIN(Ranger's "no" command) at the top of my lungs.  I'm surprised I didn't face plant into the pavement.  Come to think of it I don't think I've ever handled Ranger with a leash and now I know why.

When Mike gets home with the computer, I'll blog and post some pics about my Philippines trip.  It was incredible trip and a great reminder of how blessed we are to live in the U.S.A. and  have the things we have.  I'm so amazingly thankful for the life I live and the great country we live in!

stressed

I've been feeling a little stressed this week.  So much to do in, what seems like, so little time.

The epitome of stressed for me is apparently brewing a cup of coffee with our keurig coffee maker but...forgetting to place a coffee cup under the brewer.  Whoops!  Luckily I noticed before the drip pan, which sits under the brewer drip, was full of coffee.  It did crack me up after I confirmed that coffee was not all over counter.  Phew!

Luckily today was a productive day at work so I'm feeling pretty good now!
Have you ever done something silly when you're stressed?  It was almost a nice comic relief moment this morning with my coffee cup mis-hap.  :)