30 Day Shred

I started a new workout program, Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I'm on my second day and I'm feeling muscles I haven't felt since before my car accident. I was worried my back was going to give me troubles as usual, but it's not too bad. Been having a few muscle spasms, but I'm managing it. 
Today after doing the workout I went for a bike ride on the trail. First ride of the season. It was tough!! The trail is still a bit squishy and it's hard to ride on that. But, I made it. I rode the bike, then got off and walked a ways, then did a run/walk back to the bike. I tell ya, my legs from the knees down were SCREAMING at me. It felt like someone had put the bottoms my legs in a meat grinder. The pain was so bad I almost threw up. Everything else was just fine, but from the knees down it was absolute hell. Once I got back to the bike I stretched... well, actually, I collapsed next to my bike and tried not to puke from the pain... then I stretched. After getting the pain to subside a bit I hopped back on the bike and headed back to town. After a few minutes on the bike the leg pain was gone and I made it home. Even though I was in so much pain, it was fun to get out there on the trail. I hope we continue having nice weather so the trail hardens up. I don't like riding in the squishiness :-P
This afternoon after I showered I decided I wanted to get some good "before" pics taken. Steve was home and the boys were gone so it was a good time to get them taken. I put on a sports bra and pair of spandex shorts and went downstairs for my photo shoot. Now, I know I'm overweight. But in my mind I still see myself as the lean, athletic 130 pounder I used to be. Reality slams into your head once you see pictures of yourself that are meant to show just how bad of shape you're really in. It's both depressing and inspiring at the same time to see myself as I truly am. Depressing that I got this way and inspired to not be this way anymore. I know that if I wouldn't have had that car accident, I wouldn't be in the shape I'm in today. But I'm not going to totally blame the accident. I could have worked through my "issues" in healthier ways. But instead I just gave up. I really did. I gave up on myself because ever since we moved to this town it had been one bad thing after another and I just gave up. The accident was the final blow and I just didn't give a flying fuck anymore. 
Things are changing though. I've been focusing on the positive things in life and doing my best to not let the negative get me down.  Life is way too short to piss around with negative people and things. :-)

Long time no blog....

Just stopping by to send out a quick hello. I'm still around, just been very "under the weather" for a while. Maybe tomorrow I'll pop in and give an update of what's been going on around here.... and change the signature pic below...lol. 

Counting my blessings tonight....

My son was in a car accident tonight. Things could have been alot worse, but he's ok. He had a friend with him and she is also ok. He hit a slippery patch in the road and spun out of control. Ended up flipped on the side facing the opposite direction after a few spins and going airborne. 

My boys are both in bed asleep and I'm sitting here bawling my eyes out thinking about how lucky I am. I have such great kids, I couldn't even imagine how I'd make it without them. They, along with their dad, are my whole life. I'm just so grateful for my family. I don't know what I'd do without them.

My hubby is working nights right now, so he had his truck, Zak had the Rainier and the Tracker is not useable right now because of a run in with a deer. So here I am without a vehicle when Zak comes in the door a few minutes after he left saying "Mom come here" and gave me a big hug while saying "Im sorry! I'm sorry! I rolled it, I'm so sorry" And I said "WHAT?!?!" It was all just so unreal. I wasn't even comprehending at first what he was saying. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

He was ok, his friend was ok. The vehicle didn't matter, the important thing was that the kids were ok.  We will manage things somehow, we always do. 

I called my mom and told her I needed her to come over, that Zak had rolled the Rainier. She came over as fast as she could. But before she got here our local police chief had come over and picked up Zak to take him back to the vehicle. I called her at home and told her I didn't have a vehicle to get up there. She was going to give us a ride, but I told her my mom was coming and she just took Zak. She said he needed to get back up there to the scene. So they left and as they were pulling away my mom showed up. Ty and I got in her truck and we headed to the scene. I about passed out when we got there and saw the Rainier. It was all just so unreal. I couldn't believe it was happening. The field the rainier was in is on top of the bluff and sloped down into a grove of trees. The Rainier stopped right at the top of the slope, a little farther and it would have slid down into the trees. From where we were it looked like the windshield was busted out. But it was just an illusion of the lights on the salty glass. I was so scared. I got out of mom's truck and walked over to the Rainier. I took a few pics of it on it's side. I almost got sick looking at it sitting there like that. My poor boy having to go through that!! 

I'm so glad my mom was able to come help us. I really don't know what I'd do without her. When everything was all over and done with and she was going to head back home I gave her a big hug and thanked her and said "I don't know what I'd do without my mommy!!!" 

Here are the pics I took of the Rainier on it's side in the field...

Walking back to the road...

When I got back to the road I took a pic of the Rainier...

When the tow truck brought it to the house we were finally able to see the side it was laying on. You can't see all the damage in the pics here, but there's some...

It still seems unreal. Like it didn't happen. I'll wake up in the morning and find out it was a bad dream and Zak is fine, had a great time at the company Xmas party he was going to and the Rainier is in the driveway ready to take us to work and school. So I guess I better get to bed... 

Count your blessing everyone, you never know what can happen in the blink of an eye. 

Crock pot dip

Today I made some dip in the crock pot. I usually make it with jalapeno peppers, but every store I looked at were either out or only had the expensive brand left. So I made it a little different, and after trying it, I think I like this version better. 

Ingredients:
2 blocks of cream cheese1 cup grated parmesan (real cheese not the stuff in the shaker can for on spaghetti)1/2 of a roasted red pepper diced1/2 of a green pepper diced1 small onion minced1 tsp. of granulated garlicBlack pepper sprinkled in to taste
Place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low until all cheese is melted and peppers & onions are tender. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers. 

Daily OM-The Purpose of an Altar

The Purpose of an Altar 

If you didn’t grow up with an altar in your home, having an altar now may seem like an exotic and unattainable idea. Yet having an altar does not have to be complicated or difficult, nor does it need to be based on a religion or a set of ideas that don’t seem to relate to you. An altar can be a simple, personal expression of what you want to focus on right now. You do not have to build anything or take up a lot of space. You do not have to buy anything new or follow a complex set of instructions to create your altar. All you have to do is have a general understanding of what an altar is and the willingness to allow yourself access to this wonderful, ancient tool of transformation. 

At its most essential, an altar is simply a raised structure that serves as a resting place for meaningful objects. It focuses the eye and provides a place for contemplation and, if so desired, ritual. All of these elements can be quite simple. One idea for a simple altar is a pot with a bulb planted in it, set on a box. This altar to growth can act as a reminder to you that all living things bloom in their time. A simple ritual might be to write down dreams you would like to see come to fruition on scraps of paper. You might place these scraps of paper in the box, or under the flowerpot, or in an envelope you prop against the pot. As the flower grows, so will your dreams. 

If you look around your home, you may find that you have already created altarlike arrangements without even really thinking about it; this is something we humans do quite naturally. A candle, a decorative box, and a vase of flowers are just a few of the common household objects that lend themselves naturally to the creation of an altar. Simply add intention and intuition, and you have created your first altar. Remember that it isn’t necessarily about the objects you place at your altar—it is the time you spend with it daily, taking the time to be with it for your sacred time. 

The Daily OM

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2009/21286.html

Bad weather this morning....

Daily OM-A Warm Refuge

Thank you, Steve, for being my best friend!! I love you!!! &hearts



A Warm Refuge

By the time we reach adulthood, many of us have had the good fortune to have at least one best friend. If we have moved around or changed our life situation repeatedly, we may be lucky enough to have had several. The best friend relationship is often our earliest intimate peer relationship, and it can be a source of great warmth and connection throughout our lives. The details of best friendship change as we grow up and grow older, but the heart of it remains the same. Our best friends are a warm refuge in which we feel free to be fully ourselves, to share our deepest secrets, to rest when we are tired, to celebrate when we are happy—a place in which we feel utterly welcome to give and receive that most precious of all gifts, love.

Most intimate relationships hit bumps from time to time, and one of the hallmarks of an enduring best friendship is its ability to ride out the turbulence and remain intact even as it faces changes. Our best friends are those who manage to love us through all of our transitions, as we do the same for them. We find ways to embrace and appreciate the differences that set us apart and offer love and support no matter what. We allow each other to be exactly as we are at a given moment, even as we allow each other to change over time. In this way, best friends sometimes feel like family. We know we will stick together regardless of where our individual paths lead.

We may be on the phone with our best friends every day, or we may not have spoken for a year, yet we know that our bond will be strong and immediate when we do connect. This bond ties us together even when we are apart and draws us blissfully back into the warm refuge of each other’s company when our paths bring us together again.

The Daily OM

Snow from the parking lot is still piled on r street. One small trail on the street 2 drive on.

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Positive thoughts spell

A friend of mine is having a really hard time right now and is doing his best to think positive. I sat down and wrote out a positive thoughts spell for him to help keep his thoughts positive. Thought I'd share it here too...



Get yourself four jars with screw top lids and set one somewhere that you will pass by it every day, and the others set aside to use later. Small, wide mouth canning jars work good for this.

Add to the jar (you can also say out loud what they are for when adding)-
Lavender and violet to bring peace and harmony
Allspice and nutmeg to bring good luck
Anise and basil to bring protection
Bay and carnation to bring strength
Cinnamon and ginger to bring success
Ginseng and sage to manifest wishes
Catnip and marjoram to bring happiness

Put enough of each in the jar to make a layer on the bottom.

Next to the jar put some paper and a pencil.

Every time you walk by the jar, stop and write something positive...
"I am happy"
"I live in a beautiful home"
"I love my spouse"
"Good things come to me"
"I am lucky"
....you get the idea, what ever feels right. Just make sure it is written in the present tense.

Every time you add a positive thought to the jar, close the lid and shake it while thinking of what you just wrote.

When the jar is full take it to a room in your home where you feel the happiest and most comfortable to store it until needed.

Take another jar and do the same with it as the first. You will fill each jar one at a time with herbs and positive thoughts then place them in the "happy room".

Once you have all the jars full, take them to the property you are purchasing and bury them, one in each corner of the property. Once they are all buried visualize a dome of positive energy coming up and surrounding your property.

This spell can be adapted for your own needs.

Dust? Orbs? Something else?

I was looking through my blog tonight and something caught my eye. I never noticed it before, but there are some weird things on one of my Birthday party pics. The pic of me holding up my new t-shirt with the skull and cross bones on it. They look kind of odd at the normal size, but when I went to put the circles around them I enlarged it to triple it's size and they REALLY looked odd. The one on the left side of the pic looks like a face looking straight on. The two in the middle, one above the skull and one below it kind of vertical from each other, look almost identical and look like a face looking to the right. The two on the lower right side are the weirdest, especially when enlarged, look like a face with a hand reaching out under it.

The only changes I made to the pic were the circles around the "orbs" and the speech bubble. You check it out and tell me what you think..

Happy Holidays!!!

Getting myself in the holiday spirit and changing the pumpkin signature to a Yuletide one....

Hercules

This is one of our cats, Hercules. He was sitting like a human on the snuggler. He's our oldest cat- about 10 years old. I wanted to test the pic messaging on here so I sent this pic.

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SAVE EASTWICK!!!

There's a new show on ABC called Eastwick. It's a series made from the book and movie 'The Witches of Eastwick'. It's a great show, really fun and a nice break from all the police, hospital and "reality" shows on TV.



Unfortunately, ABC has cancelled the show. They didn't even give it a chance. They'll be showing the episodes they have made and then it's done, they're just pulling the plug. It's really sad that they finally have something new and fresh and before it can even build a fan base they dump it.



There's an online petition that is trying to save Eastwick. If anyone out there reads my blogs, please take the time to check out Eastwick and sign the petition to hopefully save the show. It really is a fun show. Here's the link to the petition..

http://www.petitiononline.com/saveeas1/petition.html

And here is the link to ABC's website for the show...

http://www.abc.go.com/shows/eastwick

A day off....

Not feeling well at all this weekend. I'm taking the day off from everything and just resting my body. I'm glad it hit this weekend instead of next. It's a short work week and long weekend coming up next week so I want to be healthy and energized for that.

I made some of that boxed chicken soup. It's not my mom's homemade but it'll have to do. I have the whole day to myself and I'm too sick to even enjoy it...lol!! Hubby and Zak are at work and Ty is hunting. He got a 6 pointer this morning. I'm guessing he went back out with the rest of the crew. Haven't heard anything more out of him all day.

My son went on a ghost hunt Friday night. He was teamed up with a girl who, like him, is an attractor of the paranormal. They were told they can no longer be paired up. The last ghost hunt they went on was to a cemetery and they were together then too. Batteries die, weird things happen and equipment doesn't work right when they get together. I wish I could go with them sometime. Maybe I should let them come here for a night. But it would have to be on a night that Steve worked all night and Ty can go to Grandpa's or something. Neither of them really care for the weird stuff so it would be better if they weren't in the house.

We haven't had too much going on in our house lately. It comes and goes. I think it's over at the neighbors again. Whatever it is, it goes back and forth between our house and the neighbors. The neighbors house used to be the parsonage for the church across the street. The Pastor that used to live there had all the same weird stuff going on there that we do here. She actually asked me to help her bless her house to try to get rid of it. Whatever this thing is, it thrives on negativity. The more negative energy is in the house, the more active it is. Things have been pretty calm and positive at our house so it doesn't have much to feed off of.

A friend at work has been having problems dealing with the bank he's getting a mortgage loan through. Once again, as I did in an earlier post, I don't want to write the name out because I don't want them to be advertised in the Google Ads to the side of the page. I'll just say falling into WELLS means you'll have FAR to GO ;-) but anyhoo.... I made him a doll to help release some stress. At first I was going to make something that represented the loan officer that is causing him so much trouble. But that just didn't feel right. So, after thinking/meditating on it for a while I realized what he really needed to do was focus on positive thoughts and energy to send out to the Universe. I made a doll that represented him and created a positive energy spell with the help of this book...



Here's the doll...





I also gave him a St. Jude candle to light up and ask for assistance.

Best of luck to you, Greg!!









pffftttt.... and people in this town think I'm the evil spawn of Satan...lol.

Catching up...

I haven't been here for a while so I thought I'd get caught up on a couple things.

Steve and I celebrated our 21st anniversary this year. Steve had to work on the 29th so we had to celebrate the next night. We went out to eat at The River's Edge. It's a really nice restaurant in the Dells. We had the Friday night fish buffet. I was all planned to have the grilled mahi mahi (no, it isn't dolphin!!) because I love their grilled mahi mahi, but I decided to go with the buffet after I got there. We had a great time!!

Halloween was fun again this year. Even though we didn't decorate the yard, we still had a fun time handing out candy. It was sooooooo nice having Steve home this year. He usually ends up having to work. My mom came over again this year to help hand out candy. She gets such a kick out of seeing the kids in their costumes!! She put on my witch hat and and a cape for her costume. I was a devil, Steve was a scary old man and Zak made his own costume, not sure what you'd call it, but it was creepy. Ty was an actor in the school's haunted trail. He was a werewolf and did such a good job he made a kid cry.... good job Tyrone!!! Steve really creeped out the kids with his costume. He sat on our front steps and most kids wouldn't come near the steps.

Here are a few pics...

Zombie videos

Here are some videos of the zombie walk and dance.