Living the Dream

Catching up

 Too much has happened...here is a photo recap!

Do It Yourself....with Ducks.

Last Novemeber Mom and I started working on Grandma and Grandpa's old table and chair set. It is a beautiful Oak set that they started married life with and has to be over 70 years old...original paint included! We spent several days trying to strip the paint until frankly we were nearly high and totally exhausted. You need the right tools for the job and we just didn't have them.

Now I am up in OH and spend the afternoon in Kathy's gararge with borrowed sanders re-attacking the furnature. And it is working!! Still have a loooot to do, but I can't beleive how much I got done in just 2.5 hours. Yay!!

And I had help, too. 6 Baby duckings squaked encouragement then took a break in the grass with me. Joy.

New and Improved

My first year of college was terribly unkind. I flew right past the freshman 15 and settled closer to 45. By Easter that year I was wearing size 16 jeans, and still didn’t really realize how bad it was. I walked everywhere, had a cute boyfriend who was forever telling me I was “hot,” and ate a salad everyday for lunch. But the problem was I was always at the cafeteria. As freshmen, we has unlimited access to “The Caf,” and would meet there in between classes to study or just hang out. I would grab a coffee from the mocha machine, and maybe some ice cream or a piece of pizza. Slowly but surely I grew and grew. Over Easter I stepped on the scale and discovered how bad it had become. Ouch.

After moving back home, I watched too much late night TV, as many college kids do. But one evening it paid off. I came across an infomercial for “Winsor Pilates.” My ticket!! It wasn’t a gimmick….if you did the workouts, you would get the results. Easy as that. I ordered the DVDs and got started right away. A few months later I was 30 pounds lighter and had abs I didn’t know I could have.

Overtime I got away from them. I joined a gym and continued to get into better and better shape. I switched to a Health major at a different school and began using the gym there. My efforts paid off. But graduation and a new job were a distraction, and a year of fried, sugary, greasy food during my overseas mission took a real toll. I’m still much slimmer than my freshman days, but not nearly as toned or energetic and I’m craving to be.

So….New Plan.

This morning I broke out my Winsor Pilates DVDs again. I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed doing them. Happy surprise. Just 20 or so minutes and I could feel all those muscles moving!

Happy. :) And Happy Easter, everyone!

La Semana Santa durante mi mision

Last year at this time I was celebrating “La Semana Santa” in Honduras, and with each special Mass and service, I find myself back at out parish of San José Obrero.

We began Holy Week with a mile long procession to remember Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem. Let by a dozen alter boys and our beloved paster, Padre Ricardo, we walked around the neighborhood with our large palms, singing and praying. The church was filled to over flowing and many of the little old ladies waved their palms for the majority of the Mass.

We celebrated Holy Thursday with many of the children at our house. Rita and Regina read from the bible and explained what happened on Holy Thursday, then Memo washed the feet of each child as I led the singing. It was a beautiful blend of shyness, joy, and giggling.

  

Good Friday was amazing. It was already blisteringly hot as we left our house around 9:30 to the starting point of Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross. With several hundred people we made our way through the streets, climbing to a high point of the city. Dozens of adults from the church were dressed as Christ, Mary, Roman Guards, and the sorrowful woman. As we came to each station, one of the priests read the scriptures and spoke about the station, as we watched it depicted before us. (By “Us,” I mean those taller than me, or quicker. I missed most of it, too sun sick to push my way through the crowds until the very end!) The most beautiful moment was the crucifixion…Christ hung above the whole city as we watched on in tears. It was truly beautiful.

The Easter Vigil was awe-inspiring. The entire band from “El Camino” (a catholic movement incredibly popular in Latin America) was there with over a dozen guitars and as many other instruments….the church was overflowing with people singing and dancing in their seats and I loved every minute of the nearly 4 hour Mass!!

What a blessing to have celebrated such an important aspect of my faith in an entirely different culture. The Catholic Church is Universal!! How cool is that?? Happy Good Friday, everyone. :)

What did you do yesterday?

I baked for hours....10 dozen of Grandma's homemake nut rolls. Happy Easter to me and mine!:)

Free from Down and Out Chic

Check this snazzy give-a-way. I want to win the Italian Love Bandit and Mr. P!! :)

Mother Nature and Wishful Thinking

Man! I feel like a woman!

...and I took two naps today.

So there are so many things I want to be writing about....the baby ducks Landon's Mom bought the other day....the sun that is finally melting the snow(!!!!) that came the other night...my table and chairs I am starting to refinish...cute new shoes....etc, etc. But I really need photos to capture the moments and my poor little camera isn't up to the challange. It is slowly dying and I am sad.

Landon's birthday was last Wednesday and I planned out a romanic Italian dinner of a few of his favorites. Sadly he was sick (sick enough to take 2 days off from work!!) and ate, slept for 1.5 hours, then went home early. He did enjoy his birthday present: a dream board! We talk a lot about the future and what we want to acheive and experiance in the next few years. As they say, you need to know what you want to get it so I bought him a large bulletin board and decorated it with photos and pictures I pulled out of travel magazines and etc. Lots of Italy, climbing, flying, and other adventurous things that he would definetly enjoy and probably enjoy teaching me to do.

We are going to have a beautiful life.

I am excited...I've been needing some wall art for my main wall and haven't been able to come up with any ideas. I was so excited by how his turned out I'm thinking about making up one of my own. :)


I really want to go shopping for things I don't need. I need to get on of these jobs!

Colorful

I looked up from reading to notice this:

What you are looking at is my beat up old salvation army chair I’ve had for years, a zebra print snuggie, a big green pillow from the Western Sahara, a travel photo box of Landon’s letters to me while I was in Honduras, my blue travel purse, a blue scarf I bought in Italy, and my crazy, multi-colored H&M scarf that has gone to Italy, England, Ireland, and Morocco with me!!

I love having such a colorful, textured, adventurous life!! :)

Weekend Update

I am behind…here are the cliff notes of the past week.

1. I’ve gotten involved in planning a woman’s CRHP Retreat at St. Pats next winter. Getting back to my YAM roots! I love it!
2. I found out this past week that my sister-in-law and a dear friend are both pregnant! Yaaaay!!! Loving babies. God is good.
3. My sister-in-law and brother are also moving to Hawaii….Thank you Army. Good excuse for a vaca!! ;)
4. Spent a few days with my fabulous Aunt Rita. That little trip will get its own post one of these days. 
5. I bought a few dresses, shirts, and two suits this week. Finally, I have a work ready wardrobe that will hopefully go into affect after….
6.  My interview Wednesday!! Prayers at 3:15pm, please.
7. My man’s birthday is Wednesday…surprises are being planned! :)
8. I should be asleep by now. Why don’t I get enough sleep??