O is for OPEN

I try to be very open in my life.

Source

I think there are several ways to accomplish this.

I try to be open in my mind and be respectful of new ideas or new opinions.

I try to be open with new people by not judging them by the way they look.

I try to be open with trying new things or traveling to new places.

I try to be open in how I spend my time by going outside and enjoying the great outdoors. 

And most recently I'm trying to be open with how I cook by experimenting with new recipes.

I think being open is such a refreshing way to live.  It is very easy to get stuck in our ways which can lead to missed opportunities.

I have found that by trying to remain open, I am able to get along with a lot of different types of people, I find out new things about myself and am overall a more well-rounded person.

my ROOTS...

As this year comes to a close, and we welcome 2012, I feel inclined to make some changes to my blog.  I'm working on organizing it and focuses my posts on the topics I love most:  relationships, parenting, every day observations and pictures.  In all honesty, my blog won't change too much, but I feel the more consistent it is, the more "theme-ish" it is, the better it will be.

I've also spent some time reflecting on why I began this blog to begin with.  Examining my roots, if you will.  I was inspired by this video, which is where I got my blog description, "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."  The message from this video, which is based on an address specifically written for women, is that we all have an inherit need to create.  I have felt that need before, and this blog has helped me feel more fulfilled, more creative.

I absolutely love this video and I hope you will take the time to watch it.  You have less than 2 minutes to spare, right?

I hope I can continue to invite readers to my blog and that you can learn from my experiences and that I can learn from yours.  Let's be creative together!

a little VAY-KAY

I meant to post this on Monday, but I am on VACATION!

Well, not really, but my husband has this entire week off from work, so we're soaking up all the extra time we have and trying to do as many fun things together as we can.

Before I sign off completely though, I should thank Karen for her lovely Blog Awards post.  I am happy to announce I won for Most Thought Provoking Post.  Haven't read the winning post?  Check it out here!

Don't forget:  Boycott Arby's and NEVER drive drowsy.

keep ME in your THOUGHTS

I did this note on Facebook and thought I'd do it again as a post.  It's pretty funny.  I answered the questions by putting my iPod on shuffle.  Whatever song came on was my answer.

  Give it a try.

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY?', YOU SAY...?

Save it for Later - The English Beat (Kingpin Soundtrack)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

Taste of Blood - Mazzy Star

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY OR GIRL?

I Didn't Understand - Elliott Smith

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Tear in Your Hand - Tori Amos

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

Sullivan Street - Counting Crows

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Lie in Our Graves - Dave Matthews Band

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

 Tell her This - Del Amitri

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Rollover D.J. - JET

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF VERY OFTEN?

Just Like Heaven - The Cure

WHAT IS 2 + 2?

All Possibilities - Badly Drawn Boy

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

High Speed Train - R.E.M.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Straight Lines - Silverchair

WHAT DO YOU WANNA BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

40' - Franz Ferdinand

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Kelly Watch the Stars - Air

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Bring Me Some Water - Melissa Etheridge

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Uphill Battle - Sarah McLachlan

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Anything but Ordinary - Avril Lavigne

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

Happiness is a Warm Gun - Tori Amos

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

Loco Man - The Folksmen (A Mighty Wind Soundtrack)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

One Week - Barenaked Ladies

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Keep Me in Your Thoughts - Stephen Kellog & the Sixers

SUGAR DOLL award

Today Kathie at Just a Happy Housewife gave me the Sugar Doll award.  I thought it was so nice of her to think of me, and I was really excited to be recognized!

Once you have received the Sugar Doll award, you have to follow... 

A Few Rules

1.  Thank the person that gave you the award

2.  Share 10 things about yourself

3.  Pass this award onto 10 bloggers you recently discovered and think are fantastic

4.  Contact the bloggers and let them know you picked them for the award

10 Things About Me

1.  I'm left-handed

2.  I play the violin

3.  I earned a Bachelor's degree in Family Studies

4.  I grew up in Utah

5.  One of my favorite pastimes is browsing iTunes for new music

6.  Dr. Pepper is my drink of choice

7. 30 Rock is my favorite comedy TV show

8.  I enjoy doing the laundry

9.   My 5 year anniversary is only 22 days away

10. My favorite color is black

  Pass this award along
I haven't discovered 10 new blogs recently, so I'll just name a few.
Cheap Wine and Cookies
Diamond Potential
 Stuff I Think About

Thanks again for the award Kathie!

MIXING it UP

Tracy:  "I'm gonna make you a mixed tape.  You like Phil Collins?"

Jack:  "I've got two ears and a heart, don't I?"

-30 Rock

During my high school days, I used to make mixed tapes for my friends.  I had such a fun time putting these together and I think, for the most part, people enjoyed getting them.

I also loved GETTING mixed tapes (or CDs, as the years evolved).  It was always interesting listening to each song and wondering why the person picked that song to be on the tape.  Of course, sometimes it was a little pathetic how much I could read into the songs.  

I remember one such experience.  

A guy I was dating made me a mixed CD.  It was during a confusing time in our relationship.  Our commitment to each other was kind of up in the air, and I was pretty certain he was ready to move on.  Then came the mixed CD.  It was full of a lot of really great songs, songs that were about love, but not in a cheesy way.  Given I knew this guy really well and the songs he chose weren't what I expected, I began to wonder how he felt about us.  But, then I thought more about it, thought more about this guy and things suddenly clicked:  he was messing with me.  Oddly enough, it didn't bother me.  One of the reasons I liked him so much was because of his sense of humor and his incredibly ability to get under my skin.  People don't usually have that effect on me, so when they do, I take notice.  So, I called him on it and we both got a good laugh out it.

In the end, I was the one that left him. 

So, are mixed tapes/CDs a thing of the past?  Am I the only one that still think they are cool?  Do people still enjoying making or receiving them?  Is it time for me to move past the awesomeness of mixed tapes?

Thoughts?

FYI...

"UR V8K8SH1 iz baqon."

-Text message from Cerie to Liz Lemon, 30 Rock

In case any of you can't decipher the above, it is an abbreviation for "Your vacation is back on."  I'm a huge 30 Rock fan.  I have quoted the show a few different times on this blog.  If you're not watching 30 Rock on NBC begin immediately.

Today's thought is about texting.  I'm a big fan of texting.  I like sending random texts to my friends and family.  It's just a fun thing for me to do during the day.  Plus, texts about small items of business like, "What do you want for dinner?" come in handy when I want to get ahold of my husband while he is at work.

While texting is really convenient and fast, it can sometimes be difficult to type out everything you want to say as if you were typing an e-mail or writing with a pen on a piece of paper (do people still do that anymore?).  Insert:  text abbreviations.  It seems as though any and all words have some sort of abbreviation in the world of texting.  Why spell out "you" when you can just type "u?"  Makes sense, right?  It's easier, faster and everyone knows what you're talking about.

So, why do I have such a hard time doing it?

I'm seriously OCD when it comes to how I send a text.  I can't abbreviate.  It annoys me.  For the most part, I spell everything out, and if I don't, I cringe as I hit "send."  

Of course, there are a few exceptions, like LOL.  Who doesn't use LOL?

Thoughts?

BOO-YAH!

My friend Karen featured me on her blog today.  Boo-yah!  Thanks to everyone who is stopping by.  I appreciate it and hope you continue to do so!

I'll post again tomorrow!

a WEAKNESS of MINE

I've been pretty "thoughtless" lately. It always bothers me when I get this way, but what do ya do?

Today, I Googled "BloG Topics." I came across this website which had all sorts of ideas. Very helpful indeed, and until I get my own thoughts in order, I'm going to borrow these topics.  Today I'm going to tackle #9: I Wish I Spent Less Money on This.  

Without a doubt, I wish I spent less money on going out to eat.  

It all comes down to laziness.  Pure laziness.  I'm not a terrible cook, and once I start cooking I have a good time.  The problem is getting around to cooking.  It's kind of like going to gym.  I love it when I'm there, but getting there is a different story.

On Monday, a new Panda Express opened near my house.  My husband really likes Chinese food.  I used to love it, but lost all interest in it while I was pregnant.  Weird.  Anyway, he had been looking forward to going to trying it, so we decided to check it out the day it opened.  Holy crap!  The place was packed.  The dining area was swarming with people.  The drive-thru had about 20 cars waiting.  I could not believe my eyes.  I couldn't believe people were willing to wait so long for fast food Chinese.  Seriously, people, it's not that good.

My husband and I weren't about to wait, and decided to eat there at a later time.  An A LOT later time.  We've since heard people waited 45 minutes to get their food. Again, seriously, people, 45 minutes for Chinese food?

The craziness at Panda Express really made me think twice about eating out.  Seeing all those people waiting to eat rice and chicken at high prices helped me realize how unnecessary eating out really is.  It's not healthy for one thing and it can be such a waste of money.  The amount of money I spend at the grocery store for two weeks worth of food is maybe the equivalent of four or five take out meals.  The amount of money I spend on food that will provide breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks is about the same as five meals at a restaurant? When I do the math, it just really blows my mind.

The real question is - why do I spend so much money on going out?  Besides being lazy, the fact of the matter is, I like to.  It's fun to go to restaurants.  I've always like it, and probably always will.  Another reason I enjoy it is because I don't have to worry about what to cook.  My husband can get what he wants.  I can get what I want.  It's simple.

Despite my love for eating out, I have a new determination to eat at home and enjoy the company of my family without the loud music, bad service or worrying about my daughter's high pitched screams (which is something she does when she's happy) bothering those around me.  In the end, it will help the budget and allow us to spend quality time together.  Have you seen those Family Dinner Time commercials?  Yeah, that's gonna be my family from now on.  :)

Wish me luck.  This is going to be difficult for me!

Thoughts?

could you SPELL that, please?

PTERQUIE (tur-key)

Today's thought is about people who have common first names, but whose spelling of the name is anything but, and people who have unordinary names.

Every so often, my husband and I think about cool names for pets.  We apparently have too much time on our hands or have really bad sense of humors because it's one of our favorite pastimes.  Our favorites as of late are Jeffrey, Scott, Victoria and Beverly.

One day, we decided Turkey would be a hilarious name for a dog.  As if picking out dog names wasn't weird enough, we took it a step further and decided how we would spell it.  This is what we came up with:  PTERQUIE.  The "P" is silent.  While this activity of ours was a total joke to Dustin (the hubby), I decided IF (and that's a BIG if - I'm not a huge dog fan) we got another dog after our current puppies (Sammie and Tod) have gone on to the next life, the dog's name would be PTERQUIE.  We'll see if it ever happens.

When it comes to naming children, is it just me or are names getting WAY out there?  For example, Gwyneth Paltrow has a daughter named Apple and Ashlie Simpson named her son Bronx Mowgli.  Sure, apples are delicious and Mowgli was an important character in the beloved Disney classic The Jungle Book, but does that mean they make good names for people?

I think there should be an unwritten law that people need to practice a bit more common sense before choosing a name.  In my book, this would include a few things.  First, the name should be a good, solid name.  A name that isn't too weird and one that the child can grow into.  A name may be way cute when the child is young, but you've gotta consider if it would still be cute when the child is an adult.

Second, the spelling of the name should be considered.  I cannot even tell you how many ways I have seen the name Kennedy spelled (Kenidi, Kenedie, you get the idea). As a person whose maiden name was constantly misspelled and mispronounced, believe me when I say it gets SO OLD having to spell your name wherever you go.  And, don't even get me started on all my awards or trophies I won that all had my name misspelled.  So annoying!

And, third, consider if the name rhymes with a four letter word or could make your child an easy target at school.  I'm a big fan of the name Tucker, but am pretty certain I couldn't go through ever naming my son that.  Of course, you can't plan your life around what bullies could potentially do to your child, so maybe this step isn't as important as the others.  But, I still think it should be considered.  

Thoughts?