Entry 10: No more excuses…

Entry 10: No more excuses…

Hello again!  It’s a rainy day here in Northern Virginia! I have been having my ups and downs this past week.  I’m not sure exactly what is causing me to feel like I’m completely losing it one second and then okay the next.  I would LOVE to blame it on my new two week diet but it’s probably not so, I’m in the process of interviewing more excuses.  The truth of the matter is we all have ups and downs, moments of needless panic, days that are just not the ideal pick of the litter. Right? It’s okay to except that fact as long as you always discover the positive is those moments no matter what.   Over the past week, I made it a mini goal to stop and really watch and listen to people.  These privileged select few individuals were a combination of family and friends to acquaintances at the gym. I have found two things about the people that I investigated.   One:  The individual put so much focus on the progress of a goal and could not see how far they have come on that goal to appreciate it.  Or two: The individual had no clue what they were doing and making excuses of why they couldn’t accomplish their goals.  I found that one either puts so much pressure on themselves to finish a goal that they can’t stop and appreciate their diligence.  It’s OKAY to praise yourself for your hard work!  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying boast to others in order to get that pat on the back.  But, you can praise yourself without being rude or condescending to others and most of the time you can find your praise within yourself and not have to say a word.  And for myself personally, I have found that the outcome of my actions speak louder than words most of the time and that is enough for me.  With that being said, you should not have to have others praise you to feel worthy or accomplished.   You’re the only one that needs to be satisfied.  If your goals are for others to praise you, you are putting your pennies in an empty wishing well so STOP IT!  Find your self-worth, your golden ticket, your reason for being and run like hell with it! This may not make sense to any of you but it’s been on my mind so, I’m sharing it.

I have struggled this week to not make excuses for myself; as you can tell from the beginning of the entry.  So I wanted to share with you a quote that I repeated to myself over and over this week.  It may help you stop making excuses for whatever you may be putting off.

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.

Bob Moawad

DIET UPDATE: So, it’s just as hard and easy as I thought it would be.  I have had some weird cravings which I will go into later.  For those who are reading my blog for the first time, I made a goal to be a two week vegetarian.  I started one week ago and I have not had any meat of any sort.  Now, my meat diet before consisted of chicken, bacon, fish, and very little red meat so, I predicted my appetite wouldn’t have such a huge shock.  My diet this past week has mainly consisted of vegetable soup, peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, granola, yogurt, black bean fajitas, crackers and cheese, eggs and maybe a few more eggs.  I thought it would be very difficult to eat out as a vegetarian and that is not true!  Everywhere I have been has had meat free choices and most of the time very tasty.  Shopping vegetarian was pretty easy too they have a whole section of vegetarian delights!  Now back to my cravings, I have woken up thinking about sushi and cheeseburgers but the real cheeseburgers that are home made and dripping from your fingers and i dont think texting your bestfriend at three in the morning about sushi is normal either.  For some reason, I have really want milk and that’s a huge change but that could be caused by my workout regimen.  One week down and one week to go and so far so good!   

MAKE NO EXCUSES!  YOU ARE CAPABLE OF HAVING ALL YOUR HEART DESIRES, AS LONG AS YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO IT!

The pictures within this post were from my hike on Saturday in the Shenandoah Valley.
ENJOY LIFE!

Entry 9: Taking a deep breathe...

Entry 9: Taking a deep breathe

Hello again!  I hope you are doing wonderful!  It’s been a while.  Every day has been an adventure full of twist and turns but I’ve managed to stay on the roller coaster. I titled this entry “taking a deep breathe” because, I have learned how important it is to actually stop and just take a deep breathe.  There are so many things on a daily basis that people worry about which doesn’t deserve that kind of stress or worry.  For instance, maybe you are late on your phone bill, or maybe you don’t have plans yet for the weekend, or maybe you don’t know what you want to eat for lunch, or maybe you just washed your car and you have a muddy driveway, or maybe someone in your family is having a disagreement that doesn’t concern you, or maybe your house is a mess, or maybe you have a pile of dirty dishes or maybe you feel like you are the only one in this world that is not married or maybe even you just want something you simply can’t have.  None of these “worries” are justified for concern.  Just take a deep breath and slowly let it out.  To some of you these may be old news but it’s a newer concept for me.  As you know from the previous entry, I am an analyzer so; minor details like these cloud my daily thoughts.  I’m slowly learning to just simply let go of things and take a deep breathe.  I always find myself at the end of a workout really enjoying those nice long deep breathes.  You know the ones where you bend your knees and swinging your arms all the way up, inhale as you go up and then exhale as you go back down.  You know those. : ) Anyway, just take a deep breath and realize that those petty worries and everything will work out just fine.  Take ownership of your time and energy to be devoted to those things that you can make great.   

Back to my goal list!  I started my two week vegetarian diet yesterday!  So far so good!  However, I dreamed of bacon last night!  Not sure where that came from but I even smelt it.  So, I think that is my mind already telling me that I’m not going to be a long term vegetarian.  Nonetheless, I will be complete the goal and I know I will learn a great deal about my normal diet after these two weeks.  I plan to eat lots of vegetables and fruits.  I’ve found a couple of really good recipes that I will try out this weekend hopefully.  I had to do a little research of what type of vegetarian I wanted to be. I came to the conclusion that I will be a lacto-ovo-vegetarian.  This is the most common type of vegetarian in North America. Lacto-ovo-vegetarian is willing to still consume eggs and dairy products but not fresh meat of any sort.  To be honest, I love egg sandwiches and who doesn’t love cheese so, I just wasn’t ready to kick those to the curb.  Maybe one day I will commit to being a vegan for two weeks, why not.  Guess you will have to stay tuned.  So, a short entry today, I’ll keep you updated on the success of my two week goal.   

May you accomplish all your daily goals and learn to take a deep breathe to simply enjoy the moment. 

SMILE!!!

Entry 8: I am my Daddy's little girl.

Entry 8: I am my Daddy’s little girl.

Hello on this beautiful fall day!  Today’s entry is devoted to the memory of my Daddy.  Today one year ago, we lost him to a long nine 9 month battle of cancer. However, I do not want this entry to be devoted to mourning his death but more so to celebrate his wonderful work he accomplished while on earth.  To those that knew my Dad, Danny, you know he was a man that had the ability to stop you in your tracks.  He stood up for what he believed and enjoyed life each and every day.  He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, provider, giver, architect, discoverer, encourager, reinsurer and so much more.  I am one extremely lucky woman to have had such a strong and wonderful father.  I do wish I could have had more years with him but the good Lord has his plans and I am not one that is qualified to ask why.  This past year has been more than difficult but I know that it has been my father’s words of wisdom and memories that pull me out of the muck and mud on those days of blue.  I know that my life will never be the same without his hugs and kisses and his stern reassurance.  I want to share just a few of my many memories with my dad that really sticks out today.    I hope I don’t bore you. 

Some of you may have already heard this story, maybe even more than once, but this is one memory that I truly will never forget. 

Memory 1: Well, it was my decision to move out to the wild west of Wyoming to finish my last semester of college on exchange.  I remember coming home to tell my parents that I had decided to move out to Wyoming for the following semester, I was nervous that my dad would absolutely forbid it.  My dad asked why I wanted to leave, I really did not have a clear answer of why I wanted to leave other then it was something that just hit me that I had to follow.  I asked him if he thought I was serious, I remember him looking down at me and saying, “I have no doubt you are serious.” Well, the next couple of months were nerve racking getting ready to leave; I definitely was scared and nervous about being so far away from home.  I had a wonderful friend, Jen, agree to ride with me out west so, I was great.  I remember waving bye to Mom and Dad on the front steps of our home on the gorgeous mild morning of January 2^nd, 2007. Jen and I drove the entire why out west.  We had a blast, stopped when we wanted, did some sightseeing and before we knew it we were at driving into the very cold college town of Laramie, Wyoming at 3 am.  I mean cold, it was -15 degrees when we pulled in.  Not to mention the main highway over the mountain from Cheyenne was closed so, Jen found a little canyon road to get us in. For this southern girl, it was a completely foreign land.  We crashed in my little dorm room for the next couple of hours until we could actually explore the winter wonder land at daybreak.  What happened next was completely unexpected on my part.  I had no clue that I would wake up and completely freak out.  Poor Jen, I’m sorry!  I woke up that morning and had no clue what the hell I was doing in Wyoming.  I was scared “shitless”, pardon my French but I was a horrrible wreck.  I couldn’t stop crying.  I remember staring out of my dorm window and feeling like my world was turn completely upside down.  So, like so many times before, I called mom to get her advice.  I told her, I was coming home, I didn’t think I could do this and I was on my way home.  After about 15 minutes of bawling hysterically on the phone with her, my Dad takes the phone from my Mom and this speech by him was one of the most memorable memories I have with him.  He told me to stop crying right then in his most demanding fierce voice.  He told me that I was an extremely bright young woman, and no matter what, I thought right now, he knew I could do it.  He reminded me that I made the decision to move out west and there was no way he would let me throw in the towel after a few hours there.  He went on telling me how much he knew I could do it and to just calm down and remember why I decided to explore the west.  Here I was, a snotty nosed 21 years old woman, and my Dad is talking to me like I am a snotty nosed 10 year old little girl.  After, he calmed me down; I was abe to clear my crazy thoughts, and knowing I had my Dad’s faith, I went on to face that adventure and needless to say I end up learning more about myself then ever before.  I am so thankful; I was able to thank my dad for that “talkin’ to” because it was a life turning speech that gave me faith in myself to face anything. 

Memory 2:  This next memory I haven’t share with anyone but it is a memory that I remember so vividly.  It was my first semester at NC State and of course, I couldn’t have a car on campus so every other Friday my Dad or my brother CP would make the haul into Raleigh to load me up.  This Friday, Dad and I didn’t speak much on the way in.  I was secretly jumping for joy I got to have my mom’s cooking and busy planning my weekend at home.  You know thinking about it, I would have complained having to drive all the way in to Raleigh in rush hour traffic after working 50 hours plus weeks but I never once heard my Dad say a negative word or complaint.  Well, it was a fall day probably much like today where the sky was blue and just warm enough to have a window or two down to enjoy the crisp air.  We were on highway 15 and just passed Gala Road when a song came on the radio; of course the radio was turned to 94.7.  And remind you there wasn’t much talking between Dad and me but right then my Dad said a statement that I would never want to forget.  “I hope I can live a life like that and if that’s all I do, I would be happy.”  I remember glancing over at my dad and telling myself to never forget this song and how he looked at that moment and I haven’t.     The song is “Something worth leaving behind” by Lee Ann Womack.  I have added the link for you.  I hope you have a second to go listen to the song that then didn’t mean much to me but today means more than I could ever imagine. 

"Something Worth Leaving Behind" by Lee Ann Womack

If you had the chance to know or even meet my Dad, I hope take a chance to remember his laugher, his smile, and his words of wisdom.  Today the hurt is still real, it’s deep but I know that I have my Dad’s strength and ability to overcome any obstacles that try to bring me down.  He was one amazing man!  I love and miss him as much as a Daddy’s little girl could.  HYAPOM!

Entry 7: Birthday and such..

Entry 7: Birthday and Such…

Hello my blogging world!  It feels like it has been forever since, I unleashed my thoughts and emotions.  Guess what?  I’m a whole year older!  Yesterday was my “25^th” birthday and I had a wonderful day. I went out to my old stomping grounds with some really great friends.  I truly have some amazing friends and now how to make me feel special and loved. 

It was exciting because it was also, my 91^st day of completing my goal list.  So, I was able to log back into FB and I did!  Oh, my goodness, I didn’t know how to navigate it.  It has changed a good bit.  I thought I was going to be on FB all day yesterday trying to catch up with everyone’s busy that I missed for the last 90 days but strangely enough, I have only logged in for a few minutes at a time.  I really don’t have the desire to be nosey, well, maybe not as nosey. : ) I only have a few more things on my current goal list to complete which are to make candles to sell at the local farmers markets and be a two week vegetarian.  I have to figure out the details/money before I can make the candles and I am hoping I can recruit a best friend or two to help make them and maybe their kitchens too.  (Hint hint) As far as the two week vegetarian, I could almost do that now!  I rarely eat meat.  So, my goal is to complete this goal once I get back up to DC and on a normal working routine.  I decided last minute last week to take this week off to be with my family down in NC.  So far it has been great to see my family and friends.  Today I drove the back roads home from Durham with Mom it was nice to talk a little about Dad. It’s still hard to talk about him but Mom was able to tell me a few stories of when they took the same back road.  As Mom, talked and told the little minor details of their excursion on this back road, I couldn’t help but remember the adventurous side of my Dad. Dad may not have been able to travel the world over but he made each day new.  He would get up early to go walk the lake in search of the most inspiring piece of driftwood.  He would spend hours in search of the prefect barn picture.  He never stopped wanting to learn everything he could learn or stop seeing everything he could see.  He would stop along a one lane mountain road to see what the river looked like and not to mention the requirement to take any random road that crossed his path. He would slowly drive dirt roads in search of anything that caught his attention most the time this would be the elusive buck with the enormous rake.   As a kid, I use to hate riding with the parents in the back seat while they drove slowly down unplanned dirt roads as they simply enjoyed their time together.  And that’s what they did, enjoyed each others company.  As Mom went from story to story, I caught myself wanting to drive slower and slower.  I didn’t want to stop hearing what Dad said, what he did, where he walked.  I would like to think I have a little bit of his adventurous side.  I just hope that I never get too busy to enjoy the little things in life.  Like driving random back roads with no aim in sight, a starry night in the country with two falling stars, hugs and kisses from a child that loves you, a sunrise with your favorite cup of coffee, a double rainbow when you thought there was no hope for beauty, or simply enjoying the company of someone special even if you aren’t doing anything but driving down a long dirt random road.

This is what a random dirt road showed me once in Colorado. 

Until next time! Lots of love!