I like comfort zones. They're comfy. Like being in flannel pajamas under an enormous comforter, I like the norm. I know I move from state to state at the drop of a hat but apparently it's still within my comfort zone. Arbonne, on the other hand, is not in my comfort zone. Well, doing classes is fine it's not too difficult and so far it's been friends and family hosting them so again it's comfortable. Unfortunately, I've run out of friends and family and now have to move on to strangers.
I don't like talking to strangers. It's a habit I developed as a child. Everybody knows you don't talk to strangers. Now however, I not only have to talk to strangers I have to tell them about my business. It's not that I don't believe in it or the amazing opportunity, I really do, it's just that I don't like to HAVE to talk to strangers. I actually haven't felt this out of sorts since I started college. This guy asked me one time, "so why do you run across campus?". Well, I didn't actually run across campus, it was more like race walking. I just remember being so scared because I'd never been to a school that big before (my high school had 50 students) and I was a bundle of nerves the whole time I was there. I remember being too scared to ask anyone where the bathroom was, so thankfully I only had 3 hours of classes. It took me half of the first semester to finally check my mail box and trying to find out where grades were posted took me forever; I did actually have to ask someone.
I did finally settle into a routine during my second year, but even still I don't think I ever felt totally comfortable there and it took me 6 years to graduate.
Anyway, Arbonne. It's an incredible opportunity and I know how to make it work, I just don't know how I'll be able to do it. UGH!
Anyway, enough whining. I am better now.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
Can somebody please tell me what's going on in Florida? Since I'm from there I take it personally when anyone criticizes it, but come on? This is just one story. Remember Jessica Lunsford? A couple of weeks after that (while we were there) it was a little Mexican girl. Yesterday I read about a man that abducted 2 little girls from their parents homes while they slept and raped them. Thankfully the girls were found safe. Those girls were from Port Charlotte which is a small beach community that I would live in and have considered safe. Then there's the little girl in this column that thankfully they found alive. I love Florida and have thought I would like to live there again, but this is really crazy. I know that no place is really safe but some places are definitely safer than others. I'm ranting, I know. I wish I had something profound to say, but it really just makes me mad.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/23/girl.found/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/23/girl.found/index.html
Sunday, May 22, 2005
We have a breakthrough!!!
Halle has a tooth!!! Well, she's going to anyway. When she stuck my finger in her mouth this morning (to chew on it) I felt the sharpness of a little tooth that has just broken through her little gums. I'm sad. She's our last baby and my days of toothless grins are coming to an end :(
Friday, May 20, 2005
aaarrrrggg!
I started a post yesterday, saved it as draft and now it's gone. It is very seldom that I have a chance to post uninterrupted, which is what happened yesterday, and now my hard work is gone. And since I saved it I didn't worry about remembering what I wrote so now I can't remember what it was about.
So now I guess I could write about the incredibly sweet date my husband took me on Sunday.
I was actually supposed to be in TN that day, but I really couldn't bear the thought of being out of town again when Travis was off. So, we made a quick trip to Eric and Tisra's (it's amazing how much fun you can pack into less than 24 hours) and headed back home to see Trav. Saturday wasn't really much of a "spend time together"day because I went right to bed when we got home. I had a severe allergy attack while in Nashville so I wasn't feeling well when we got back. Anyway, Travis made reservations for us at Ruth's Chris for Sunday afternoon with plans for the Botanical Gardens following. I had never been to Ruth's Chris before and Travis had been there twice while we lived in Nashville so he really has wanted to take me there for quite a while. I'm sure you all know that Travis works there so we got a 50% discount in case you were wondering. Anyway, we had a divine meal. I highly, highly recommend the crab cakes. They were not you're typical smashed flat breaded cakes with a few specks of white fish here and there. In fact when they came to the table I saw these long white strips in the mounds that are the crabcakes and asked Travis if they were onions. I was quite surprised when he said "No, that's crab". I was equally surprised at how wonderful they were. Next time I'm skipping the steak and am having crab cakes instead. The chop salad is wonderful as well. I decided to try it because it had hearts of palm in it and thought I'd like to try it and I loved it.
OK, so it sounds more like this is a restaurant review rather than a blog so I'll skip to the end and tell you that if you go and don't have the creme' brulee you're nuts!
The atmosphere was wonderful with waterfalls and koi ponds surrounding our section with palm trees and flowers all around. It was similar to the Opryland Hotel, just on a much smaller scale. The service was great and the only downside was that since Travis works there I met about 15 people so it was not as private as I would have liked.
Anyway, after that we had a very nice walk at the Botanical Gardens and spent a lot of time in the Rose Garden. It was so relaxing and just nice to spend time with my husband that I never see. Then we went back home to chaos, but we both felt much better for having spent a few hours away.
So now I guess I could write about the incredibly sweet date my husband took me on Sunday.
I was actually supposed to be in TN that day, but I really couldn't bear the thought of being out of town again when Travis was off. So, we made a quick trip to Eric and Tisra's (it's amazing how much fun you can pack into less than 24 hours) and headed back home to see Trav. Saturday wasn't really much of a "spend time together"day because I went right to bed when we got home. I had a severe allergy attack while in Nashville so I wasn't feeling well when we got back. Anyway, Travis made reservations for us at Ruth's Chris for Sunday afternoon with plans for the Botanical Gardens following. I had never been to Ruth's Chris before and Travis had been there twice while we lived in Nashville so he really has wanted to take me there for quite a while. I'm sure you all know that Travis works there so we got a 50% discount in case you were wondering. Anyway, we had a divine meal. I highly, highly recommend the crab cakes. They were not you're typical smashed flat breaded cakes with a few specks of white fish here and there. In fact when they came to the table I saw these long white strips in the mounds that are the crabcakes and asked Travis if they were onions. I was quite surprised when he said "No, that's crab". I was equally surprised at how wonderful they were. Next time I'm skipping the steak and am having crab cakes instead. The chop salad is wonderful as well. I decided to try it because it had hearts of palm in it and thought I'd like to try it and I loved it.
OK, so it sounds more like this is a restaurant review rather than a blog so I'll skip to the end and tell you that if you go and don't have the creme' brulee you're nuts!
The atmosphere was wonderful with waterfalls and koi ponds surrounding our section with palm trees and flowers all around. It was similar to the Opryland Hotel, just on a much smaller scale. The service was great and the only downside was that since Travis works there I met about 15 people so it was not as private as I would have liked.
Anyway, after that we had a very nice walk at the Botanical Gardens and spent a lot of time in the Rose Garden. It was so relaxing and just nice to spend time with my husband that I never see. Then we went back home to chaos, but we both felt much better for having spent a few hours away.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
What Kind of American English Do You Speak?
Your Linguistic Profile:
55% General American English
20% Dixie
20% Yankee
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern
It's funny, I've never considered myself to have a southern accent, but I've certainly never thought of myself as a yankee either and I've been told several times that I have a midwestert accent.
Your Linguistic Profile:
55% General American English
20% Dixie
20% Yankee
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern
It's funny, I've never considered myself to have a southern accent, but I've certainly never thought of myself as a yankee either and I've been told several times that I have a midwestert accent.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Y Join?
Well, there are lots of reasons to join the Y. There are other gyms of course, closer ones, ones for only women, probably cheaper ones, but they call it a family gym for a reason and not just because you can bring your kids to childcare. You can do that at any gym, but there are activities for the kids as well. Swimming comes to mind and that is included in your gym membership, but also Tae Kwan Do, tee-ball, swimming lessons, and lots more. I was trying to avoid the women's only thing and the meat market thing and from what I saw today I accomplished that.
My needs really are to have a pool for Chloe and Amanda, a place for Halle, several different workout regimes for me, weights for Travis, a place we could workout together, and a place to meet people and network for Arbonne. I had actually been putting off joining because of Arbonne. But there was a small sign at the front door of the gym that said "Hard work always leads to profit, mere talk leads to poverty. Talk about a sign! Anyway, I'll do my best and God will have to do the rest.
I'm off again this weekend to Tisra's house for another Arbonne class and my last unless I do some networking soon! I'm excited though, I'll get to see good friends again and it looks like I'll get to go to Grant's soccer game. Chloe and I are looking forward to that.
Until next time...
My needs really are to have a pool for Chloe and Amanda, a place for Halle, several different workout regimes for me, weights for Travis, a place we could workout together, and a place to meet people and network for Arbonne. I had actually been putting off joining because of Arbonne. But there was a small sign at the front door of the gym that said "Hard work always leads to profit, mere talk leads to poverty. Talk about a sign! Anyway, I'll do my best and God will have to do the rest.
I'm off again this weekend to Tisra's house for another Arbonne class and my last unless I do some networking soon! I'm excited though, I'll get to see good friends again and it looks like I'll get to go to Grant's soccer game. Chloe and I are looking forward to that.
Until next time...
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Happy Mother's Day!
Well, it really has been a nice weekend. The weather has been amazing here as I'm sure it has been in other parts of the south. Today was the warmest day we've had reaching a little over 80 degrees.
Yesterday I went out to the golf course (http://www.rossbridgeresort.com/ ) because my dad forgot his wallet, so he bought lunch for Chloe and me in the golf clubhouse. It was kind of weird being the only girls, but the clubhouse is beautiful and overlooks the courses and hills from enormous arched windows on all sides. Chloe charmed everyone she met (Hi, my name is Chloe...It's nice to meet you Mac...Thank you for giving me more tea Lisa...) and her Mommy and Poppi were very proud. After that we went to the park and had a great time.
Mother's day was beautiful. The weather was perfect and the girls were very sweet. We had to wait most of the day for Travis to get home from work, but after he got home we went to the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham (it's tampical gardens according to Chloe). As many times as I've visited Birmingham I've never been to the Botanical Gardens. And, unlike Nashville, the Gardens are free. They have a Southern Living section which my Uncle Charlie helps to maintain since he's a garden editor for Southern Living. I must admit that I was disappointed with that section. It was mostly greenery and I thought it would look more like Uncle Charlie's front yard which is AMAZING! Anyway, the Japanese garden was beautiful and extensive, we missed the bmboo section because it had recently been sprayed with pesticide (no organic growing here!). The rose garden was gorgeous and quite large. After that we thought we were done, but it turned out there were acres we hadn't seen yet. We went to the greenhouse which had 3 different sections and saw that there was too much left to do to fit it in that day so we left it for another time. Overall, it was a simple but enjoyable Mother's Day. I'm so glad we didn't go to a restaurant and wait for 3 hours to be waited on by an incredibly busy and frazzled server. I think I'd rather do anything other than go to a restaurant on Mother's Day. Unless it was an upscale restaurant where you make reservations and they don't overbook. Maybe some other time.
Happy late Mother's Day to all
Yesterday I went out to the golf course (http://www.rossbridgeresort.com/ ) because my dad forgot his wallet, so he bought lunch for Chloe and me in the golf clubhouse. It was kind of weird being the only girls, but the clubhouse is beautiful and overlooks the courses and hills from enormous arched windows on all sides. Chloe charmed everyone she met (Hi, my name is Chloe...It's nice to meet you Mac...Thank you for giving me more tea Lisa...) and her Mommy and Poppi were very proud. After that we went to the park and had a great time.
Mother's day was beautiful. The weather was perfect and the girls were very sweet. We had to wait most of the day for Travis to get home from work, but after he got home we went to the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham (it's tampical gardens according to Chloe). As many times as I've visited Birmingham I've never been to the Botanical Gardens. And, unlike Nashville, the Gardens are free. They have a Southern Living section which my Uncle Charlie helps to maintain since he's a garden editor for Southern Living. I must admit that I was disappointed with that section. It was mostly greenery and I thought it would look more like Uncle Charlie's front yard which is AMAZING! Anyway, the Japanese garden was beautiful and extensive, we missed the bmboo section because it had recently been sprayed with pesticide (no organic growing here!). The rose garden was gorgeous and quite large. After that we thought we were done, but it turned out there were acres we hadn't seen yet. We went to the greenhouse which had 3 different sections and saw that there was too much left to do to fit it in that day so we left it for another time. Overall, it was a simple but enjoyable Mother's Day. I'm so glad we didn't go to a restaurant and wait for 3 hours to be waited on by an incredibly busy and frazzled server. I think I'd rather do anything other than go to a restaurant on Mother's Day. Unless it was an upscale restaurant where you make reservations and they don't overbook. Maybe some other time.
Happy late Mother's Day to all
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
I forgot! Halle started rolling over last week!
It's so cute, anytime she's laid on the floor now she can't help but roll over. Also, if you hold her hands she'll stand up and smile really big because she's very proud of herself. She's so cute!
Mary, I'm gushing...
It's so cute, anytime she's laid on the floor now she can't help but roll over. Also, if you hold her hands she'll stand up and smile really big because she's very proud of herself. She's so cute!
Mary, I'm gushing...
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Up, Up, and Away!
Well, we've finally started the church. We had our first service this past Tuesday and it went really well. There weren't any other people there other than my family but the Lord ministered to us anyway and we're excited. Travis played the keyboard and I led worship, Dad gave a short devotion and prayed and it was a great time in the presence of the Lord.
The format of this past week is what we plan on doing for right now. Once we get people here we plan on doing a lot of drama and community outreaches. We have been talking for some time about what we want to do and feel like cultural relevance is one of the biggest hindrances to the church today- there are lots more but we'll start with that. My Dad of course, feels that at 60 years old he'll have some difficulty with the cultural relevance part but that's what we're here for. But being 60 and just starting is good too because there is a level of freedom that you have when you've got nothing to lose.
Travis has had a desire to do a sit-com with regular characters (a clean version of course) and Dad is very excited about that. There is a coffee house in Old Town Helena that has a stage and mics that we could possibly use. The ideas are flowing and it's great to finally be doing what we came here to do. The nice thing about starting your own church is that you can do this kind of stuff and you don't have to worry about old (and young) codgers mucking things up. There's nobody to complain about the "un-spirituality" of a sit-com. There are down sides too- like no salary- but that also means we have nothing to lose. We want to do community outreaches and do our best to think outside the box.
Life is exciting.
The format of this past week is what we plan on doing for right now. Once we get people here we plan on doing a lot of drama and community outreaches. We have been talking for some time about what we want to do and feel like cultural relevance is one of the biggest hindrances to the church today- there are lots more but we'll start with that. My Dad of course, feels that at 60 years old he'll have some difficulty with the cultural relevance part but that's what we're here for. But being 60 and just starting is good too because there is a level of freedom that you have when you've got nothing to lose.
Travis has had a desire to do a sit-com with regular characters (a clean version of course) and Dad is very excited about that. There is a coffee house in Old Town Helena that has a stage and mics that we could possibly use. The ideas are flowing and it's great to finally be doing what we came here to do. The nice thing about starting your own church is that you can do this kind of stuff and you don't have to worry about old (and young) codgers mucking things up. There's nobody to complain about the "un-spirituality" of a sit-com. There are down sides too- like no salary- but that also means we have nothing to lose. We want to do community outreaches and do our best to think outside the box.
Life is exciting.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Home Again
Well, I'm back. I could tell you everything we did for 11 days, but that would be way too long. There is a pretty good list of what we did with my mom in law on her blog at www.heartsrejoyce.blogspot.com
It really was great to be in Florida. I felt at home again for the first time in a long time. For those of you that know me you know that I haven't felt at home anywhere for a very long time. The weather was gorgeous, the palm trees were amazing and it was great to see that Florida sun. My hair is lighter again. It's amazing that all through high school and college people would describe me as a blonde but years in Tennessee made me more of a brunette. It's even more amazing that a few days in Florida brings it right back.
I got to go to my home church in Bartow, FL. My best friend from college (Chris) is the worship leader/music director and her husband is the youth pastor. It was really great to see them. Chris had a baby 3 months after I had Halle so I was actually there for the baby's dedication! After church we went to Sonny's (my most favorite BBQ place) and I was able to talk to Dr. White who is Chris' dad and a professor at Southeaster University- my alma mater and yes it is now a University!!! I think I talked to him more than I did to Chris- I really love that guy.
Amanda and I took a drive through Lakeland and we saw all the things we loved- the Lakeland Terrace Hotel- that's where Travis and I spent the first night of our honeymoon. It had a grand history, but declined until it was a hangout for the homeless and sat abandoned for years until someone restored it. We saw Lake Mirror which we refer to as "the dead frog lake". It's a long story and I wish we didn't remember it like that but we spent time walking around that lake when it was just Travis, Amanda, and myself. We saw lake Mirror which has a very large population of Swans and miscellaneous ducks. We drove around Lake Hollingsworth where I used to walk and rollerblade- I know it's a lot of lakes, they don't call it "Lakeland" for nothing. We drove past Southeastern University and saw the amazing changes that have taken place in the last 6 years and talked about Amanda going to school there. It really was a nostalgic trip in that regard and I realize how much I miss it.
We got to spend time with Shane and Angie and Trav's grandparents. Everyone loved the girls! Chloe was charming telling EVERYONE she loved them and that she wanted them (Oh Abuela, I wanted you! Oh Abuela, I love you! Etc...) So, everyone was crazy about Chloe.
Oh yeah, the other reason I went- Arbonne! It went well and thanks to some help from Christina and Kelly (Kelly is Christina's sponsor) I made first step to District Manager this month! I need to make the final step in May and am very much looking forward to making that so I can work on making Area Manager by the end of July! It's a lot of work but it's worth it! I'm excited!
I could write much more. I really don't feel like I've done the trip justice, but I'll have to work on it later.
It really was great to be in Florida. I felt at home again for the first time in a long time. For those of you that know me you know that I haven't felt at home anywhere for a very long time. The weather was gorgeous, the palm trees were amazing and it was great to see that Florida sun. My hair is lighter again. It's amazing that all through high school and college people would describe me as a blonde but years in Tennessee made me more of a brunette. It's even more amazing that a few days in Florida brings it right back.
I got to go to my home church in Bartow, FL. My best friend from college (Chris) is the worship leader/music director and her husband is the youth pastor. It was really great to see them. Chris had a baby 3 months after I had Halle so I was actually there for the baby's dedication! After church we went to Sonny's (my most favorite BBQ place) and I was able to talk to Dr. White who is Chris' dad and a professor at Southeaster University- my alma mater and yes it is now a University!!! I think I talked to him more than I did to Chris- I really love that guy.
Amanda and I took a drive through Lakeland and we saw all the things we loved- the Lakeland Terrace Hotel- that's where Travis and I spent the first night of our honeymoon. It had a grand history, but declined until it was a hangout for the homeless and sat abandoned for years until someone restored it. We saw Lake Mirror which we refer to as "the dead frog lake". It's a long story and I wish we didn't remember it like that but we spent time walking around that lake when it was just Travis, Amanda, and myself. We saw lake Mirror which has a very large population of Swans and miscellaneous ducks. We drove around Lake Hollingsworth where I used to walk and rollerblade- I know it's a lot of lakes, they don't call it "Lakeland" for nothing. We drove past Southeastern University and saw the amazing changes that have taken place in the last 6 years and talked about Amanda going to school there. It really was a nostalgic trip in that regard and I realize how much I miss it.
We got to spend time with Shane and Angie and Trav's grandparents. Everyone loved the girls! Chloe was charming telling EVERYONE she loved them and that she wanted them (Oh Abuela, I wanted you! Oh Abuela, I love you! Etc...) So, everyone was crazy about Chloe.
Oh yeah, the other reason I went- Arbonne! It went well and thanks to some help from Christina and Kelly (Kelly is Christina's sponsor) I made first step to District Manager this month! I need to make the final step in May and am very much looking forward to making that so I can work on making Area Manager by the end of July! It's a lot of work but it's worth it! I'm excited!
I could write much more. I really don't feel like I've done the trip justice, but I'll have to work on it later.
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