A Quiet Morning

I know most people are not morning people...that is not me. I LOVE mornings. L-O-V-E. Sitting alone on a quiet morning does something to restore my soul. Weird? Maybe.

This morning I woke up a half hour before my alarm was set to go off...heck, it still hasn't gone off! ha I let Toby in my room and he's currently snuggled beside me on the couch, but he's a pretty quiet partner when he's sleepy. ;) As I sit here listening to a few birds' chirps cutting through the peacefulness, watching the sun filter through my curtains...I'm struck by how "right" things feel at this moment in time.

I don't even think I can begin to explain why or how things feel right. Yesterday a former co-worker called in to talk to the boss man, but he was out, so he ended up talking to me....he laughed because he said he was surprised I still worked there. It's kind of sad that so many people feel like my job is beneath me. No, I don't even come close to using my arsenal of skills and I do enjoy being challenged on the job, but I also enjoy surprising people with my abilities from time to time. I've never shunned work. I grew up having to work and work HARD. Sure, I complain about my job, but it's not because I don't feel it's worthy work, it's because I disagree with how the corporate office thinks they should manage things. The thing is...at this job, I'm probably about the happiest I've ever been. I am finally to a pay level where I make as much as I did at my former fave job (working for the federal gov't), but the people definitely make it a good one. Plus, if you haven't noticed...I'm a homebody. I prefer to be close to my family and friends. Sure, I still miss city living and the conveniences, but in the end - I'm just a small town girl who loves her fresh country air, the wide open spaces, and the slower pace of life.

I need my daily exercise to energize myself (although it's a pretty great bonus to be consistently losing weight - I've now officially lost over 60 pounds!). I live for weekend trips to Indy to see Jenna (& Noelle) or to Lexington to see Zach. I love that my uncle, aunt, and cousins include mom and I on their endless ranger riding trips over the backroads of the area. I enjoy being able to work towards paying off my debt. I get so excited that everyone around here knows I sell Scentsy and comes to me for last minute gifts or to re-stock their supply...and I truly get a thrill from watching my team members achieve big things!

And on top of all those things....right now, I enjoy spending time with AxMan and being part of each other's lives. Later today I hope to have something new (and good) to tell you about this as well (and yes, Missy, pictures). As I was typing this post, I realized how appropriate "his song" to me is for my life in general at this moment in time. Definitely going to try hard to be HERE in everything I do. To appreciate everything that's gotten me to this point in life, good and bad.



Thank you God for an amazing day to be cognizant for all that I have and do! Enjoy your weekend, friends! :)

Day 250

It is sometimes rough being a mommy to a fur-baby. :( Toby has switched to an organic dog food after I'd done lots of research about natural ways to try to cure his seizures. We thought it was working, but then he had another one. And another. And that was all right before we left for San Antonio. We were starting to think maybe that had been a fluke or the last of them...but tonight he got sick again. Much less than normal, but I feel so bad for my lil guy. hmph

Also, on another completely random note...tonight I watched Glee for the first time since probably week 2 of the season. I used to religiously watch it, but somewhere along the lines, I got too busy. ha Tonight I was reminded why I love it. And I fell in love with a song. It's seriously been on repeat.

Day 23 - Lazy Day

Today has been much like one of my new fave (this song makes me giggle & the video is outlandish) songs...a LAZY day. ;)



Toby has pretty much slept the day away, either with mom or Jen. He did nap on me while I did a detox this morning after my 2 mile run. (side note - I am 2 minutes faster per mile than I was 2 weeks ago! WOOHOO!)


After lunch, we have all been pretty darn lazy. That will continue into tomorrow. :)

Hope the Easter Bunny finds his way to your house despite all the rain!

C25K

C25K = Couch to 5K Running Plan

Now before you start to laugh (really, it's okay, I've been laughing the past few days)...let me just say that I have a number of reasons for giving this a try.

Reason #1 - I have been overweight for some time and am really, truly, honestly committed to losing weight this time! (We all know I've been on this kick before, but here we go again!)

Reason #2 - Some of my Mary Kay friends have decided that we're going to attempt weight loss together, in somewhat of a Weight Watchers fashion (I'm taking my digital scale each week and at the end of our MK meeting, we're going to weigh in). I think this will be really good for me because if I know people will see in NUMBERS whether or not I've lost weight...I'm gonna try that much harder! ha

Reason #3 - I love to exercise. I really do. I know it doesn't look like it, but seriously I enjoy it. My work schedule makes it difficult to have a work-out partner, so I find myself slacking off with the routine after a few weeks.

Reason #4 - Our National Sales Director Linda Toupin has been talking about the C25K program for awhile now (it's what she's been doing) and I feel like it's a pretty standard program that even a novice runner like myself can follow. I installed the app on my iTouch today and was going to go ahead and do it (and half way through it the battery died!). I do like how the app is set up to work and think that I'm going to die doing it, but if I lose any weight at all because of it, I'll be a happy camper! :)

So here we go....tomorrow I will be starting Week 1 Day 1 of the Couch to 5K program. No, I don't intend to run a 5K and be a superstar like Angie; however, I would like to at least not die at the end of the 9 weeks.

Stay tuned for more updates....er, that is if I don't keel over tomorrow! haha :p

Playlist

I tend to listen to a lot of artists the general populous doesn't know or won't know for another year or two (because they aren't on a big label yet). Some examples are Colbie Caillat...I was listening to her for a year before her first song hit the radio airwaves. Loved her then, still love listening to her music now. :) I'm going to share my most recent "favorites" playlist. Not all of these artists are unknown, although it really depends on how much music and what genre you listen to! haha

My favorite genre has been indie/folk/acoustic for the past 2-3 years. I still love pop, rock, and oldies. haha Some of the songs below may surprise...I have a pretty eclectic taste and a few of the songs are older, but they are repeatedly in my most played songs list. ;)

Erin's Faves Playlist:
-Bad Boys by Alexandra Burke (featuring Flo-Rida)
-Wakin Up to Love by Shanna Crooks
-Naturally by Selena Gomez
-Who I Am by Nick Jonas & the Administration
-Set the World on Fire by Britt Nicole
-Caught in the Crowd by Kate Miller-Heidke
-The Words I Would Say by Sidewalk Prophets
-I Still Believe by Danny Gokey
-Replay by Iyaz
-Evacuate the Dancefloor by Cascada
-My Best Days are Ahead of Me by Danny Gokey
-Do You Remember by Jay Sean (featuring Sean Paul)
-Blame It on the Girls by Mika
-Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
-Hey, Soul Sister by Train
-According to You by Orianthi
-Like it Like That by Guy Sebastian
-Indiana by Jon McLaughlin (<--Indiana boy)
-When Love Takes Over by David Guetta (featuring Kelly Rowland)
-Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band
-Just for Today by India Arie
-They Ain't Far Behind by Nathan Angelo
-Dream Like New York by Tyrone Wells
-A Cautionary Tale by 650 North (<--hometown band)
-Lipgloss by Lil Mama (and yes its one of the ring tones on my phone...ha)
-Perfect by Jon McLaughlin
-Fallin For You by Colbie Caillat

Jammin' to iTunes

I find that I am much more productive when music is playing. I've always been that way. I know every word to every song...and all I have to hear is the first few notes and already know which song it is, even when my iTunes is set on randomize. haha

The other night on American Idol (yes, I watch...I'm addicted, have picked winner every year) Danny Gokey was on singing a song from his new album. I was surprised that he had "gone Country" but the fact remains that he can still sing...doesn't matter what genre. Today I had to download a couple of his new songs.

Enjoy :)

Things That Make Me Smile

Kayla's friend, Angie, whom I met at a Mary Kay party posted things that make her smile (her smile generators) in a blog post. It was a cute idea and on my myspace page, I have a slideshow that used to play and the caption with it read, "On days when I forget to laugh, I'll look back on these times and smile..." So in honor of Angie asking what everyone else's smile generators are, here are mine!

-coming home with Toby bouncing around waiting to see me
-hugs from my little buddy Ethan
-talking about life with Monica at her kitchen table
-having random conversations with Zach (& no one else being able to follow along!)
-trips with Jenna
-dinners with Mom at the Grub
-singing along to my favorite songs on the radio with the windows rolled down (summertime, of course! ha)
-sitting around a bonfire with good friends, telling stories and drinking a cold one
-spending time with my Mary Kay friends at retreats
-new Mary Kay products :)
-emails and random chats with college friends & sorority sisters
-pictures of my FFA brothers & sisters and their families
-clean sheets on the bed
-warm pajamas straight out of the dryer
-blackberry pie
-walking up and down our road at sunrise or sunset for exercise
-curling up on the couch with a good book
-being debt free!
-a good hair day on a day when I am working (not just sitting at home...ha)
-checking things off my To Do list

Hope to see everyone else post their lists on their blogs! ;)

Songs that make you say "I remember when..."

I honestly had not watched this music video until today, but I love this song! ha I really have no reason for liking this song other than it is very catchy.

Ke$ha's Tik Tok ALWAYS makes me think of Australia! Why? Well, the first time I ever remember hearing this song I was at Airlie Beach on the eastern coast of Australia. I was staying at a hotel where a lot of schoolies where staying. (Google it if you don't know what schoolies are! ha) The DJ would play this song every night...several times...it just got stuck in my head! So now this is one of my "makes me think of" songs!

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking...

...what if I had given everything instead of going through the motions?

Today I attended a Mary Kay Training and this song was the closing of the program. Wow. So powerful. I am totally in love with this song and it has been on repeat for the past hour! Makes you think. Definitely is in line with how I've been feeling this year and why I've been grabbing up every opportunity presented to me, and why I'm charging ahead with the things I want to accomplish!

Watch the video...read the lyrics below as you listen to the song. (The video is only important for the song, not the montage.)




The Motions by Matthew West
This might hurt
It’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care
If I break
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just ok
Is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions

No regrets
Not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love
Make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something

Take me all the way
Take me all the way
Take me all the way

These are a few of my Favorite Things!

Well, thought I'd do a quick update...it's been pretty hectic around here lately, although there really isn't much going on! haha Explain that, huh? The golf course closes for the winter on Sunday night. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know, I'm a little more enthusiastic than I should be about not having a job all winter long, but really...I work so many hours from March-November that I am completely burnt out by this point. I'm over the crap that goes along with taking care of everyone and everything. I need a break! :) How lucky that in less than 2 weeks I will officially be on my way to Australia! Actually, I'll probably be there by now in 2 weeks. I cannot wait!! So I've been working a lot to get the clubhouse and course ready for shutdown...and I've been trying to get everything else squared away so I'm ready to be gone for a month! I've been teaching the bosses (Matt & Jesse) how to run their payroll on the computer and pay bills with computer checks...it's been interesting! ha Their other employees have little faith in them, I'm really just hoping the computers are in one piece when I get home...I'll fix it then! ha

And I haven't done any suggestions in awhile, so I thought I'd list some of my favorite music and books!

I'm currently reading the entire Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and I can't put the books down!!! Actually, I'd probably be done reading the series (18 books I think), but I'm being held up waiting on the mail to arrive so I can get 1 of the books I need before I continue on! I'm becoming quite impatient! haha It's a cross of mystery and love/drama...so good! At least I think so! ha

And now for some new music...songs that have been on repeat on my iPod for the past week or two! I love new music and/or new artists...I'm always on the lookout! (I am just linking the music so if you don't have high speed internet, it won't slow you down!)

Alexandra Burke's Bad Boys

Michael Buble's Haven't Met You Yet

Owl City's Fireflies

Use Somebody

Argh! I have song lyrics STUCK in my head!! For the past week, I cannot seem to listen to Use Somebody by Kings of Leon enough times. It's ridiculous! :p

Other than that, it's just another rainy day here! Golf course is closed again. LOTS of stuff happening there, so hopefully the weather straightens out and we don't get as much as rain as they are currently predicting. (rain through Saturday at least) :(

Today was my day off, but as usual, just because it's my day off from actual working at the golf course, it's not really a day of rest! ha I had to go to the office for a few hours and managed to get quite a bit done. I should have been doing laundry today, but of course that didn't get done! Maybe later tonight...

Cold Beer, Rockin Music, Great Friends!

Jenna, Rachelle and I attended The Osgood Grub Company's 2nd Annual Music Fest last night...and we had a BLAST! haha We had a few drinks (aka - enough to feel good, but the line was too long to get smashed), enjoyed some good rock music, and had fun hanging out.

The lineup included: Jeff Randall & Sunday's Best, Heroes & Madmen, Sweet Dilemma, 650 North (my hometown boys), and Seven Mary Three. Virgin Millionaires were also on the list, but they didn't end up being there...that was a bummer, I've seen them before in concert though, so it was okay. ha

Here's some pics! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!