Motivation Monday: Here's to Us!

Sometimes you want to quit.  Sometimes you don't want to get up at 5:30 in the morning.  Sometimes you are sick of "making the smart choice."  But you still do it, you still say yes, and THAT is what matters.  So here's to us.  Here's to saying yes!

Just say yes to doing it all again!

1 Year, 100 posts

Well readers, it has been a year since I started this blog, and quite fittingly, this is my 100th post!  I really cannot believe it has already been a year and I cannot believe how much things have changed.  Anything really can happen in a year.

Last year at this time I was not in the best place.  This year, I can say I am much better, though I have a ways to go.  There is a constant need for improvement.  I have spent the good majority of the last year focusing on myself, (a much needed change in priorities), but I have found this focus shifting over the last couple of months (a shift that needs to be reversed, or at least corrected).

I am a self-diagnosed workaholic and perfectionist.  Luckily, during law school I found some friends who introduced me to the fun side of life, the side that lets loose, the side that occasionally blows off commitments, the side that does things spur of the moment, the side that says yes.  Over the last couple of months as things have become more intense at work, and other priorities have arisen, I have lost a little of the fun side, but I am bound and determined to regain it.

In this new year of blogging, I want to focus on fun.  I want to focus on the enjoyable part of life.  I want to focus on saying yes.  One year from now I want to look back and see all of the wonderful things to which I said "yes!"

I hope that you are enjoying reading this blog as much as I am enjoying writing it, and that you continue with me on this journey, because I certainly love having you all here!

100 posts takes gumption!

Happy Easter!

Last night I babysat for a new family.  The kids are absolutely adorable (2 boys and a girl, all under 5), but they are quite the handful.  Because last night was the night before Easter, the parents thought it would be fun to dye Easter eggs.  I happily complied as I love coloring eggs! 

As anticipated, it was quite difficult with 3 very young kids.  Two cups of dye ended up spilled all over the floor and the entire kitchen smelled of vinegar, but we only had one egg casualty.  The result was 9 very colorful eggs covered in cute little stickers.

Coloring Eggs takes gumption!

Learning to Save Lives

Today, my sister, a friend, and I went to a CPR class.  It was held in SF and we drove up there together.  The class started with us watching a video, and then we started the practical part.

We paired up and each got a dummy to work on.  The dummies were really strange.  At firs they had no faces, and then we had to put the faces on.  The dummy we had had a dark body, but we were given a Caucasian face.  It honestly kind of creeped me out!

We did TONS of practice compressions and breaths.  It was actually quite tiring.  And then, just when I thought we were done, it was time to practice on infants.  We all switched out our dummies and this time we got a dummy with a white body and a dark face; not quite as creepy, but still strange.  It was much harder to do the practice on the small body.

At the end of the class we had to take an exam – 25 multiple choice questions.  Some of the questions were bizarre, but I ended up passing just fine.  So, now I am certified in CPR.

Learning to save lives takes gumption!

SF Giants Spring Training

If you know me, you know I am a sports fan.  I love both football and baseball.  I enjoy hockey and soccer as well.  I am a big SF Giants fan – I attended quite a few games last year, and watch almost all the rest on TV. 

This year I had the opportunity to do something I have never done before – go to SF Giants spring training!  We planned to go on St. Patricks’ Day weekend, which allowed us to go to 2 home games. 

The Friday we were supposed to leave there was a HUGE storm in SF, which caused major flight delays.  Luckily, we were able switch all of our flights from SFO to San Jose.  It was quite the pain, but we were all super excited still.  We finally got to Phoenix at almost midnight, and went to the rental car place, which we found closed.  We had to go to their sister company to get the car.  Finally when we got all the paperwork done, we went to pick a car and found that none of them started … or so we thought.  All the cars were push button starts, and I didn’t know you had to have your foot on the brake to start it … 20 minutes later, we finally got it going.  We got to the hotel somewhere around 1 in the morning and were exhausted.  I ended up crashing, while my girlfriends waited up for the rest of our group. 

We got up the next morning and made our way to Scottsdale Stadium for our first game.  We saw the line-up and were happy to find out we got the best players of the split squad!  We did a little shopping, took some pictures while the players warmed up, and found our seats in right field.  It was an absolutely beautiful day – sunny and warm with a slight breeze and a bit of cloud cover.  I got perfectly sunkissed and some much needed vitamin D.

The Giants beat the A’s and we went out to the parking lot to meet the players.  Jeremy Affeldt came out and signed things for and took pictures with EVERY SINGLE fan who was there … it was pretty awesome.  Romo sat on his car while fans watched, Sandoval came out and left, Wilson ran across the parking lot and back, Nate gave a wave before climbing into his car, and several others slipped away.  It was fun seeing them so close.  We rounded out the night with dinner at Café Lux and a little bit of shopping.

Sunday we got up and went to see the house of a friend who lives in Phoenix.  Then we headed to the stadium.  The weather was SOOO weird on Sunday.  It was pouring and then sunny, still and then windy, nice and then freezing … and it all just kept alternating.  We got to the stadium and found our seats (this time in left field).  The seats were awesome – last row so we could lean back against the fence, but still so close.

When we first got to the stadium it was sunny and they pulled the tarp back on the field.  Then the rain came in, then it cleared up.  Then it started hailing and snowing.  Through this we sat in our seats.  Then the thunder and lightening started … we decided we should probably get off the metal stands we were sitting on!  So we got down and grabbed some food, walked around the stadium, and took shelter (and sought warmth) in the store for a bit.  We were soaked through and through, but determined to stay.  We made it through the whole game, but unfortunately the Giants lost to the Padres. 

Again we stood in the parking lot to wait for the players.  This time, I got pictures with and autographs from 2 – Jackson Williams (an SF minor league player) and Brandon Belt (SF Giants player – first base/left field).  It was very exciting.  :)

After that we headed to the airport.  It was a whirlwind trip, lasting less than 48 hours.  It was a ton of fun and I cannot wait to go again next year.  Though next year we will definitely be going for longer, and hopefully see a little more of Arizona!

It takes gumption to go to Spring Training!

Motivation Monday: Love Like Crazy

Another motivation Monday!  Today’s post is one I was planning on making a few weeks ago, but then got side tracked my an article I saw.  But I did not want to let this post go, so I just delayed it.  I have lately been into country music (and my lately I mean the last couple of years).  My favorite country songs have positive messages and leave me with a good feeling; “Love Like Crazy” is one of those songs.  The chorus of the song includes some very wise words.

Click the play button to listen or review the lyrics below!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

"Love Like Crazy"

They called them crazy when they started out

Said, "Seventeen's too young to know what loves about"

They've been together fifty-eight years now

That's crazy

He brought home sixty-seven bucks a week

Bought a little 2 bedroom house on Maple Street

Where she blessed him with six more mouths to feed

Now that's crazy

Just ask him how he did it

He'll say, "Pull up a seat

It'll only take a minute

To tell you everything"

Be a best friend, tell the truth

And overuse "I love you"

Go to work, do your best

Don't outsmart your common sense

Never let your prayin' knees get lazy

And love like crazy

They called him crazy when he quit his job

Said them home computers, boy, they'll never take off

Well, he sold his one man shop to Microsoft

And they paid like crazy

Just ask him how he made it

He'll tell you faith and sweat

And the heart of a faithful woman

Who never let him forget

Be a best friend, tell the truth

And overuse "I love you"

Go to work, do your best

Don't outsmart your common sense

Never let your prayin' knees get lazy

And love like crazy

Always treat your woman like a lady

Never get to old to call her baby

Never let your prayin' knees get lazy

And love like crazy

They called him crazy when they started out

They've been together fifty-eight years now

Ain't that crazy?

Being a best friend, telling the truth, over overusing I love you, doing your best at work, not outsmarting your common sense, no letting your praying knees get lazy, and loving like crazy all take gumption!

Hiking Russian Ridge

As one of my many new year’s resolutions, I decided that I needed to spend more time outside – at least one day a month I needed to get outside and do something active.  The last weekend in February, I had the chance to do just that!

I found a great resource for different hikes:  http://www.openspace.org/.  I found a couple that I thought looked interesting, and then asked a good friend of mine if she was interested in going with me.  We luckily were able to find a weekend that was good for both of us and got excited about going on the Russian Ridge Hike.

We met for brunch before our hike at St. Michael’s Abbey in Palo Alto.  It was a perfect light breakfast before our hike, plus we got to catch up a little bit.  Then we drove up the super windy roads to get to the meeting spot.  And unfortunately we got a bit lost – taking one turn too soon and going down into the valley instead of continuing on the ridge.  Eventually we hit a dead-end and met a man with a chicken who told us that we need to back track and go about a mile further on the road we were previously on. 

By the time that we got to the meeting place, the group had already left, so we decided to set out on our own and walk some of the trails.  The first trail that we took was really short and hit a fence at the end, but we did see this really cool windmill and a beautiful view.

We headed back toward the meeting spot and decided to take another trail.  We took trail after trail after trail, just walking on the ridge, walking through the “forest” and climbing up the hills.  We talked and laughed, and sometimes just enjoyed the quiet. 

At the end of nearly 3 hours, we decided to call it quits and head home.  We got some sun, some exercise, and a chance to catch-up in a very informal relaxed way.  Plus we saw this cute little ladybug!

Hiking takes gumption!