Enjoy New York

You know sometimes I really should stop complaining.  My life is not horrible at all.  In fact it's great - God has given me so many blessings.  I'm being given a wonderful opportunity.  The kind other people only dream about and here I am complaining.  Sorry about that. 

Anyhow I made this new friend today he gave me his nutshell life philosophy and his story made me feel like I need to just enjoy this. It was awesome.

So today after work I walked about.  

I walked and I walked and I walked.  

It was good walking.  

It was patient, half lost, half found walking. 

It was enjoyable walking.  And I crossed something off my bucket list - Walk across the Brooklyn bridge - DONE twice actually because I walked over and then back.  I walked clear across lower Manhattan.  What a difference a day makes.  This is where I start enjoying this more.

Photos were all taken today. 

hello new adventues. hello new york.

I traded in my yoga pants and work from home assignment today for a put yourself together project in new york city. I'd like to say I am jumping into this adventure full steam ahead and looking at it for all the opportunities to have, people to meet, places to explore and foods to eat.  But honestly I'm not.  

I didn't want to pack my suitcase yesterday. 

I didn't want to straighten my hair today.  

I didn't want to get out of my track shorts.  

I didn't want to go to the airport this morning.  

I didn't want to get on that plane.  

I just plain didn't want to.

But I did.

Now that I'm here and I'm in the city it's a little easier to embrace this new adventure - the office and hotel are in a great location .  However part of me wishes I was still back in the midwest - like tonight at dinner the service was TERRIBLE and I kept thinking about how just yesterday we had GREAT service at the Grog house back in Indy.  

I need to get myself out of this funk this is my career.  

I LIKE doing this. 

I LIKE new adventures.

I LIKE meeting new people.

I LIKE exploring.  

I will LIKE new york.

This will be good.

It will be.

No Carbs & No Sugar Progress

One week down! 

No carbs no sugar is not as hard as I thought I would be (yes I hear myself typing this). Don’t get me wrong. I still want some Dr. Pepper like nobody’s business. NOBODY’S BUSINESS! But I’ve really only cheated three times. To clarify - didn't cutt out carbs completely but rather ones with high content of yeast or starch – a friend of mine sent me a list of “approved” carbs so I didn't gnaw off my arm.  Things like Broccoli, beans, spinach, carrots, etc. I have found it’s hard to fit this diet in when going out to dinner  - how many different versions of salads can a girl eat? It’s also difficult when eating at someone’s house – which may not occur frequently for most people however four times this week I found myself at someone’s house thinking – "I really don’t want to just eat all the carrot sticks on their veggie tray" or "how hospitable is it to only eat the meat only from this lasagna". I have found that I’m not really craving anything except the soda and I think a big part of that is my allergies are still going like crazy so I am just thirsty from that and water isn’t doing it.   As not not sound completely like a complainer some things I found that I like - Almond Milk, Apples & Almond Butter, Black Beans + Peppers + Onion.

The real question is do I feel better? The honest answer is No. The congestion is still very much here.  I still have the need to carry around a Kleenex box all the time - which could be my body riding itself of whatever?  I also seem to just feel blah all day - sometimes it feels as if my head is a giant bobble head and not really my head at all. Another weird thing is I have this weird acne on my forehead? And this is from a girl who maybe gets 1-2 blemishes a month? So we’ll see what happens in week two.  

Onward and upward.

The Weekend

This weekend we celebrated birthdays.  Lots of them Jono, Lita, and Alicia all had birthday's this weekend, with a smidge of other stuff mixed in.  So this weekend there was...

Laser Tag.

Pizza (well for them not me)

Go carts.

Games.

Dominos.

Goodbye parties.

Picnics.

Thrifting.

Greasy spoons (who knew breakfast is the best meal to have out when not eating carbs/sugar).

Church.

Bowling. 

Black lights.

Small group lesson (I taught). 

Visitors.

Breakfast for Lunch or Lunfast or whatever it's called. 
Fajitas.
Watching reality tv. (really I napped she watched it).
It was a good weekend I'm sad it's gone.  
One more  week until I'm back on the road.

Happy Birthday Jono!

Happy 27 Jono!  I hope your birthday is fabulous Jono.  I couldn't not resist sharing this super awesome old school photo of you circa 1993 aren't you styling. 

Cupcake photo from here.
 

Sugar and Carbs

Today I'm giving up sugar and carbs for an "undetermined" duration.  

I might have sinus yeast infection (sounds like fun huh?)

This is fed on by sugar & carbs.

And stirs up my allergies.

Antibiotics hasn't killed this crud yet. 

So I'm giving them up at least until this goes away

To be honest I'm not super excited about it.  

Actually I'm not excited about it at all.   

Nothing says get excited about not having Dr. Pepper.  

I don't mind not having bread - probably 90% of the time we don't have bread here.  

I don't even really care about giving up potatoes, rice, or pasta (maybe a little bit the pasta) But Dr. Pepper - I love him.  

I'd rather have that than lunch any day. 

I don't mind giving up sweets - sure I like ice cream like the rest of the world but who cares.

Dr. Pepper is the hardest.

That's probably exactly why I need this challenge.

You know quit drinking soda for like 3 weeks in April?

Before that I actually quit like 4 times for several years at a time - I was no soda ever.  Never Ever. 

But that doesn't mean I'm excited about this.

Rooster even said he would participate in this - of course he would eat bacon over just about anything else anyhow. 

I didn't even get in one last DP yesterday because they didn't serve it at the restaurant we went to on date night yesterday.

I actually drank 10 glasses of water yesterday - yes 10.  Blah. It's not soda. 

Regardless here goes nothing.  

Goodbye my friend Dr. Pepper. 

PS This was my lunch broccoli and carrots. Oh and an apple - the apple was the highlight of the meal it was like the almost best apple ever.  And I would have traded a million of those apples for 1 Dr. Pepper.

Happy 2-0 Lita!

My baby sister Lita is celebrating her 2-0! Yup that's right she's twenty today! I still remember the day she was born it was smoking hot outside. Aunt Rachael and Colleen and Tim were visiting, I had a ridiculous scrap on my knee from a bike accident. I was not impressed to be getting a baby sister - the novelty of having a sister wears off when you are almost old enough to be her mother - I'll be honest I wanted another brother. But when I met her with her chubby little cheeks and her blue eyes I changed my mind.  We don't always get along and we aren't the super bestest of friends, but she's my only sister and I still love her to pieces. 

PS Yes that's right I once dropped her out of this swing onto the concrete porch (yup that's how sister's love ;).  No worries she's not any worse for the wear now Jones and Coers are a hardy bunch. 

 

Currently I...

Currently I ... 

Have a box of tissues at my side. 

Feel sleepy from a roadtrip to the world series of vintage baseball. 

Am eating thimbleberry jam and almond butter - yummy. 

Have tomatoes blooming in my backyard. 

Need to stay in more - yet need to get out more.

Currently I ... 

Have a baby quilt on my design wall. 

Am behind on running. 

Hear crickets chirping. 

Am reading an On-the-Job Training Book. 

Have a pet frog in my yard. 

Love speaking in "sing-songy voice" with Kathleen. 

Currently I...
Think I need more lists. 

Need a new housekeeper. 

Plan to get some new work clothes. 

Wish summer wasn't ending. 

Love the weather outside.

Think I'm dying for a dr. pepper. 

Am super pumped for date night tonight.
And that's what's current.

Au revoir Rendezvous - Hello Civic

So the Rendezvous aka Lou aka the Tank started having transmission problems. And when i took it in to be looked at my mechanic was like "yo girl I cannot put a transmission in this" - okay so he didn't say "yo" but basically it wasn't worth it to fix up Lou.  It was kind of a sad day for me.  Despite Lou's aging self with his gas guzzling ways, a lack of sunroof opening, and gas gauge that stopped working two years ago.  I loved that tank.  I loved having 7 extra seats and giant mirrors.  I drove it for 5+ years it had over 150,000 miles on it.  It was a good car.  And I probably most of all will miss NO car payment.  But all good things must end. 

So I went car shopping I had my heart set on a nice newer but not brand new station wagon - like a Volvo or Subaru one with a third seat if it could be found.  Well I found one actually two however at the last minute I was like 'maybe not' so I thought it over.  And at the last second I went with a Honda Civic that get's 35-40 mpg instead and it's more affordable.  Surprisingly while I miss the tank - I already like having the Civic and it's gas efficient ways. 

Da List Where Am I At?

I haven't really given a progress on Da List in quite some time. So there's no better time that the present.  

Completed:

3. Trivia night

8. Go Camping

9. Family Vacation

10. Restyle my Filing Cabinet

12. Visit Thea and Paul - (Twice too)

17. Make end tables - Bought re-purposed - DONE 

21. Kitchen Remodel

23. See some live music - Done Several Times Over!

24. Make something in my food processor - Smoothies twice. DONE 

25. Vintage Game Night 

31. Dinner at new restaurants 

32. Lunch with Jilly B 

35. Spring Break in Montreal

36. FaceTime Sammie 

45. Send JJ and FCH a MLK/Christmas Gift

46. Ride a new bike trail 

Grand Total 15 Complete!  

 

In Progress:

 2. Study the Bible more

 6. Finish 12 quilts - 4 down!  3 more in the works for near completion

11. Run 366 miles - 188 (yikes I'm behind)

 22. Monthly Hiking Adventures with Momo and Family. -4 down

 44. 10 crafty projects - 5 Complete 1/2 way

47. Document Life

50. Read a Book a Week - (WAAAAY BEHIND)

 51. Continue with the monthly videos - 1-6 DONE

8 more In Progress
I feel pretty good about this progress.  We're a little over 1/2 way thru the year and I am on track to at least complete 30 of things which is about what I finished last year so it's pretty consistent.  Perhaps I need to start making shorter lists if these aren't really "attainable" goals.

Best of Life Videos - June 2012 - Wait so Long

Summer is flying by. June was no exception to that. It was here and then it was gone. I spent the entire month here in Indy and I enjoyed that.   It was a hot dry month here in Indy. Lots of intentional-ism happened in June. I also saw lots of live music which is on Da List #23.  I took a whole lot more actual video in this month however much of it was bad so I still used photos.  Song is "Wait so Long" by Trampled by Turtles.  Enjoy this one (I'm almost caught up with these).

The Color Run

 A few weeks ago I "ran" in the color run.  It was such a fun time albeit very messy.  We got a pretty decent sized team together to run.  I had planned to run the whole thing however my congestion and allergies seem to have just worsened this summer so I ran part and walked part.  Turns out that's fine because the majority of the people aren't really running.  We started out the mornign all matchy matchy in white t's.  But as you run you get covered in color (which may get in your eyes - ick).  We ended up looking like blue smurfs of something.  Thank goodness the heat broke and it wasn't 100 degrees that morning as well.  Thanks for inviting me Amy let's do another run together sometime.

Jono and I before.

The girls getting their stretching on.

This is for the end.  I used mine in the beginning because I didn't want to carry it.

After shot - A bunch of Smurfs.

Dan looking pretty blue.

Jono looking a mess.

Amy all blue.

Jono just got hit with color by Dan.

Our feet post run.

The after shot taken in the same place as the before.

Here I am with my newest pal patrick.

It was a good time.  However was the color run worth $25 or whatever we paid?  Perhaps however I'm not 100% sold on doing it again next summer.

Best of Life Videos May 2012

As I put this together, I realized how full and awesome the month of may was. I had to trim this video down from 38 minutes. Yes 38 now it's just over 7. I struggled with picking a song probably because May seems eons ago, but I chose - 3 Rounds and a Sound by Blind Pilot and Seasons of Love from Rent.  Enjoy

Mini Family Vacation - Gettysburg

We also spent time in Gettysburg.  We toured the battlefield as well as the town and did a little shoppity shopping.  We got into some Mini Golf and spent time in the hotel pool and just being together in our hotel rooms with adjoining doors.  It was good to just be family together even if it was brief.  That's all from mini vacation I leave you with a few final photos...  PS momo was on this trip but she apparently was avoiding photos.

Kathleen Points out the memorial for the Indiana battalion.

Burford and Buford?

A little group shot from the lookout.

A little sibling shot.  I like the look with my eyes closed its all the rage.

The & Cos strike a pose.

This photo is priceless.  I wonder if this what would really happen if we came across Perry Como and Abe together?

The mini golf course was very fun  There was a cave.

I love that Dust wrote himself in as "me" and then Kathleen assumed that must have been her!  LOL

If we had been there longer I would have liked to go to the movies.

Or perhaps get a "modern vintage" tattoo.  Well maybe not!