Grateful Mondays

5 things I'm grateful for today:

1.) Crazy 5K races with crazy friends. I love Austin, but I love my friends even more. :)

2.) The American track and field Olympic trials. 

3.) Swimming breakthroughs.

4.) God's amazing grace. 

5.) This little gem of a poem right here. 

Did you know that the practice of gratitude makes you happier and healthier? It's by design. What are you grateful for today?

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. ~ Psalm 107:1

Grateful Mondays

5 things I'm grateful for today:

1.) Inspiring movies like Happy.  

2.) Air-conditioning on hot summer days.

3.) Sweet and delicious home-grown tomatoes.

4.) The love of my husband.

5.) Spin class this morning at the Y. It kicked my glutes.(:




Did you know that the practice of gratitude makes you happier and healthier? It's by design. What are you grateful for today?




Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. ~ Psalm 107:1

Bucket List (Part I)

Notre Dame: crossed off my list last March

I've been keeping a small, mental "bucket list" before I even knew what to call it. Childhood history nerd that I was, most of the items I added to my early list were historical things to see, like:  Pompeii, the treasures of King Tut's tomb, and Ford's Theater (check, check, and check). As I've grown older, the list has expanded to all sorts of categories - fitness, spiritual, vocational, mental, etc. Although my list has grown, changed, and matured, my love of keeping a bucket list is still going strong.

If you're into creating bucket lists, I've come across some interesting blogs and websites on the topic that you might want to check out. This bucket list blogger gives helpful tips on starting your own list. I think 'thinking outside the box' is my favorite piece of advice. And mah voyeuristic self loves looking over his own list, too. Here's a website where you can publish your list if you want accountability, don't care to blog it, and want to have 3 million of your closest friends to cheer you on. The bucket list of this 16 year old girl with terminal cancer wins the "Most Deserving" award, and I'm inspired by some of the quirky prospects this guy has on his list. (Playing in the Rock, Paper, Scissors championships? How fun is that?!)

Here are some things *I* try to keep in mind when I'm making my list:

1.) Keep it active. My list is never meant to be definitive or complete. It's okay to add, erase, and alter. Life changes, goals change, and goodness knows I change. Go with the floooooow.

2.) Make the list my friend. This is not school, and I never want to let it get me down. If I never accomplish or become some of the items on my list, that's okaaaaay. Good gravy, it's better to make a list and work towards something than to never make a list at all. I need to remind myself of that.

3.) Make it ME. Wow, this is a big one. I don't care to skydive. Even though I think I read this on a million people's lists, it's just not one of my goals.  So be inspired, but don't not be you. Oh, and don't use double negatives. 

4.) Let it scare me. I purposefully choose a couple things that rattle my core. You know those things that seem crazy, but you deeply and secretly long to do?  I list 'em. Yeah, perhaps that's not just me nudging my oh-so-awesome micro-fine gel pen towards them in my handy-dandy-Moleskine.

5.) Search all aspects of life. I love to travel, but there are far, far more things to add to my list than just travel. I try to think of at 3 things to list from various areas of my life. It rounds me out.

6.) Never let age define the list. I'm trying to learn things at 42 (hello, swimming and cycling) that many learn at earlier ages. I try to push age aside and forge ahead on goals. As Mark Twain says, "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Amen. 

And, without further ado, here's the first installation of bucket list items I've been writing in my (beloved) Moleskine. (So sorry, did I just mention Moleskine again? ;-)) I'm not numbering them, because there is no set number and there never will be.

- Swim 800m in open water (without holding on to anything, I guess I should add) - I have the buoyancy of a lead anvil and a deep-seated fear of putting my head under water and not touching ground. (I love the ground, you see. It makes me very happy. Freud would have a heyday.) You guys who can swim forever absolutely amaze me. This is, honestly, the bucket list item that I most fear will never happen. "Fear" is the operative word in every respect of this list item.

- Go to the Olympics - I'd prefer summer (because track and field is my love, go Usain and Kara Goucher), but I'd take watching the winter Olympics in person in a heartbeat. This has been a dream for decades.


- Get a tattoo. Sho' did -- last week! And if another person tells me I don't seem like the type to get a tattoo, I'll get a third. (Oops, Mom, did you see that? I actually have two. I know you still love me. :-))


- Work in the fitness industry. I don't know how, and I don't know where.  It's just something I know I love participating in, and I'd enjoy helping others gain strength and confidence through exercise.


- Hand-make every Christmas gift - This isn't so much about about frugality as it is about putting my heart and time into every gift. I'm not on a good trajectory for finishing that by this Christmas. Lord willing, I'll have more Christmases to try.

- Blog more - You know you enjoy something if it doesn't matter whether anyone knows about it or not. Writing is that way for me. (Go, introverts. :-)) I simply enjoy it, and I'm fulfilled by it.

So, there you have it. What are some of your bucket list items? I'd love to know!





Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.   ~ Mark Twain