Random Thoughts

Here are a couple today!
The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but seeing with new eyes. –Marcel Proust

The sense of wonder—that is our sixth sense. –D.H. Lawrence

Have you ever gone somewhere, that you have been to a million times, with someone new, and they have showed you something you have NEVER seen before?

We all do this, especially ME! I remember quite a few years back, when I lived in Utah, we would go to Lagoon (an amusement park) a few times a year. I got pretty bored of it because it was not new to me anymore.

One trip did change that. My friend has a foreign exchange student from Yugoslavia and she had NEVER seen anything like Lagoon before. From the second we walked into the park, until the last minute we were there, her eyes were as big as the sun and she took in EVERYTHING. I have to tell you that this day at Lagoon was the absolute best day I have ever had at any amusement park.

Everything was “wow, this I cannot believe,” wow, I cold never dream this!” There were more things she said too but those were the ones I remember right now.

I felt like I had taken a small child for the first time to Disneyland. It was so stinking fun.

I truly believe that we tend to forget to see all the new and exciting things out there in the world that are right in front of our faces every day. Have you noticed and almost everyone hates where they live? Do you hear as often as I do “Why would you move here, I can’t wait to get out?!” I did this with Utah and I did leave. I miss it, there are a lot of great things in Utah I miss and I chose to look past when I was there. Was it the state for me? No, but I would say that there are a ton of beautiful reasons to live there. My eyes have opened up in this journey and I am willing to see the good in front of me every day.

Let’s not take things for granted and enjoy life with wide open eyes and gratitude!

Have a positively positive day!

Tawna

It may have been a slip of the tongue but after my daughter said this it made me think, hmmmm what a better name to call it! This is just one of those totally random thoughts of the day!

We were driving to my friends house on our anniversary to drop the kids off at my friends house so we could go out to dinner. My daughter, who will be 5 in 2 weeks, said “Mom, why is the Fee Way always so crowded. My husband and I both chimed in “honey it’s a Free way, not a Fee way.” Then the light bulb went off in my head!

OK so there has been construction on this freeway since 2001 as far as I know and I am sure there has been construction on it before then too. It seems that they do something to it and then as soon as they are done they start all over again!

We have freeways that are toll roads, hence the fee! So this is my thinking process. If our taxes keep paying for us to drive on slow crowded free ways, and we have to pay to drive on other free ways, wouldn’t Fee Way be a better name? Seriously….I think I am going to start calling them Fee Ways!

OK there you go! Like I said, it may have just been slip of the tongue but you know, it sure does make sense!!

Have a great Monday everyone!
Tawna

BUT NOT BY ME! I have been doing it for 9 weeks and am almost crept up to 10 pounds but my hubby has been doing it for 5 weeks and is down 10 pounds. One side of me says WHIHOO awesome babe! The other side says “WTF, I have been doing it for 9 where is my 20!”


OK, OK I know…support Tawna, I am!

Reality now:
I have lost about 50 pounds since my journey started and I do not have as much weight to lose as my husband so my weight is coming off slower. This is why I do not go by scales as my first mode of satisfaction anyway, I do measurements and I HAVE lost a good amount so far in inches. I also notice my clothes fit loser and I feel good so I will quit whining now!

I can start to see some muscle definition which I LOVE, and I am seeing it before my hubby so I WIN! Ha! LOL. I know it is not a competition but maybe in a way it is a little …right?! This is why the scale is not going down and I know that because muscle is more dense then fat so of course I will not lose on the scale when I am gaining strong muscle mass!

Looking into the future of the P90X journey and all our other healthy and weigh loss journeys I know that we will both hit our goal and stay there and that is the big picture.

This whole 10 pound thing does not really make me upset, I am just playing with my hubs about it.

Have any of you seen that commercial where the woman says “My husband and I decided to eat salads when we go out to dinner and my husband now looks like this (he goes from fat to thin) and I look like this ( she goes from fat with large boobs to fat with NO boobs)? This whole 10 pound thing just made me think of that commercial!

Anyway, I am proud of m hubby’s 10 pound loss and even prouder of my 50+ loss and the fact that I WILL be a P90X grad and live to tell about it!

Have a wonderfully HEALTHY Day everyone!
Now onto Plyometrics-jump training!
Tawna
For ALL your Beachbody questions or for ordering products visit here!

Today is mine and my husbands 6th anniversary. It is a very special day indeed for many reasons and it is also the hardest day of the year.

Three years ago on this day in 2008 we had a beautiful baby boy which we named Brayden. We loved hims so much and we got to enjoy him for an hour before he left hits world and became our very special Angel. I was 23 weeks and 3 days pregnant the day he was born so we knew it was a long shot that we would be able to keep him on earth with us, and we did not win that battle.

Every day we think of him so every day I yearn to hold him again but March 26 is the hardest indeed as I can not help but think “I should be throwing a big birthday party today for my son.” Then the tears flow and so many motions beyond belief come crashing down on me. this is truly the hardest day for me to stay on y positive journey.

I have so much guilt when I feel sad because if Brayden would have stayed with us, then we would not have our wonderful baby boy Brahnan. We knew we wold stop at two children and if Brayden would have lived then Brahnan would never have been born. I could never imagine not having him and this eats at me when I yearn for my first son. It is an ongoing roller coaster that is seriously impossible to get off of, so it seems.

I am grateful every day for all three of my children. My daughter knows about her brother as we have never thought to keep it from her. so today’s decision takes it toll…..Should we celebrate his birthday today?

My daughter has been wanting to make a cake and sing happy birthday to her brother in heaven. She is always very sincere when she talks about him and this is something I just did not know if I could do or not. I have had a handful of friends in my life, which have gone through this same experience, and they tell me that they celebrate their child’s birthday every year as it makes the day more of a celebration than a mournful one.

I have the ingredients out to make a cake and I jsut don’t know if I have it in my today to do it. I am trying, but it is the hardest moment for me in my life and I am trying desperately to find the strength to celebrate today.

Anyway, it has helped to sit down and write it out. I am not sure what today’s outcome will bring. I know for a fact that I am blessed and that I am lucky to have three kids to love! I jsut wish all three were healthy and here for me to smother with hugs and kisses and joy!

Have a great day everyone!

Tawna

 

Have you noticed when you feel down and are having a negative day you find yourself staring down and the sidewalk while you are walking and not wanting to look people in the face? of course we have ll been here haven’t we.

I gave myself some homework a couple weeks ago and decided that where ever I went I was going to walk with my head up and a smile on my face and say “Hello” to everyone I met, whether I felt like it or not.

This really has not been too hard but there were a few days I just did not feel like doing it but I forced myself. You know what I realized?
I realized that forcing myself to smile and look at people helped change my mood rather quickly. About 98% of the time others would smile back and I had a lot of great conversations with great people.

I actually have wanted to get out of the house at the end of my husbands work day just so I could go out and meet some new people. When you are with small children all day long, it can get a bit lonely for adult conversation and this new attitude I was portraying has helped with that void.

I am doing this at the grocery store, mall, and even on walks when I have my kids.

So next time you are feeling down and depressed and lonely then may I suggest making a point to smile talk, and compliment others and the come back here and tell me how your day changed to better. I am willing to bet it does. I am going to keep doing this.

Oh and my kids are seeing this first hand too which is cool. I still give them the “don’t talk to stranger’s” talk but I do it a little different.

I tell them that if a stranger approaches them that is different then smiling and saying hello to someone. Unfortunately, in this world, we do have to put a little bit of fear into our kids when it comes to stranger’s but that does not mean that we need to make them scared of walking down the road or at the store and saying hello and nice to meet you to people. This is a fine line I am playing around with to find the right solution!  I get compliments all the time on how friendly and sweet my daughter is and I really owe that to my journey to positive thinking!

Have a great weekend and make a point to  make ONE new friend today. If you make more then that is even better!

Tawna

Oh…come link up to my own personally sponsored blog hop all weekend!

We were taking a little walk to the post office the other day and for the most part our city is pretty clean but there is about a 1/4 mile or so closer to the post office that seems to always have it share of trash thrown everywhere. Not sure why it is that particular spot but it is always there.

There was one piece of trash in particular that instigated this whole post….a cigarette butt. Why you may ask? Well…my daughter was trying to pick it up! Ewwwww….gross I know but she did have her reason.


We met a couple, very nice actually, on the corner waiting for the light to change so we could walk across. They happened to be smoking and I was trying t to be rude but I did not want my kids right in the middle of the smoke and was happy the light changed quickly. They walked in front of us and as we came upon the next corner the guy threw his finished cigarette on the sidewalk. My daughter immediately bent over to pick it up and I told her “don’t touch it!” For one it was still lit and that would hurt and the other we were right on the corner of a busy street, and lastly, we don’t know where that guys hands of been!

She proceeded to say, very loudly, “Well Mom, I live in this town and he just littered it up, I want to throw it away!” At first I said “shhh be careful what you say out loud.” Then after I said that I told her, “i am sorry, you are right that was wrong and you do deserve a clean city. The cigarette butt is almost in the street and still burning, I wanted you to be safe and not pick it up.” We were half a block away from this time and if I could do it different I would. I would have stepped on the stinking butt and wrapped it in a baby wipe and thrown it away for her. Why is it that we (I) as an adult are worried of what our kids will say when what they are saying is true. Why should be be OK living in a dirty world just because we are scared to piss off those littering it up!

We have picked up trash before and thrown it away, this situation just seemed different to me at the time.

What my 5 year old said makes you think doesn’t it? She is 5 and I am pretty sure the guy who threw the butt was at least 25 years old. You would think that another 20 years of life experience would teach him not to litter. 

I am not trying to offend smokers, believe me, I am sick and tired of all the litterers thinking its OK to throw their trash out for others to pick up. News flash, it doesn’t just disappear someone is being your Mother and cleaning up after you. AND this is not always happening either and that is why there are certain places with a whole lot of trash.

This is our world, why don’t we treat it with respect and use the trash can, the ash trays in our cars, etc. that are meant to be used!

Thanks for letting me share my opinion today!
Happy Thursday to everyone!

Tawna

Cell phone etiquette…is there any. I am so sick and tired of people answering and using their phones at inappropriate times. Yes..there are inappropriate times for a cell phone (it least I think so).

Have any of you been out with someone and as soon as you sit down, SMACK, the cell phone gets put on the table. “Hmmm, I guess they are waiting for a better offer,” is what I always think of.

I get that if you have kids at home and you want the babysitter to be able to check in with you then that is OK but don’t answer every stinking text and call from everyone else when I am with you. I used to do this and after a few times it just hit me “I am being so rude!” so I have stopped. I especially do not even take it our if my hsuband is with the kids because if an emergency arises than he is quite capable of taking care of it. I always tell hime where I am at so if it is a dire emergency then he can get ahold of me. Isn’t that how we did things 205 years ago before phones?

I can’t stand going out with those who are text addicted. I find myself watching them text, laugh, and entertain themselves more with their phone than with me. OK so if I am so boring than please do not ask me to go anywehre anymore because I don’t want yu to sacrifice your time from your “real” friends.

I have actually started turning my ringer off and charging my phone in the other room in the evening and not worrying about who is texting me when I am watching movies with the family, playing games, etc. No on else is more important than them!

Another big pep peeve i have is talking on the phone while getting help from customer service in a store OR while checking out. come on people..really?! Are you so important that you have to take a call in the middle of a conversation? There is this feature called “missed a;;” or “voice mail.” Use it.

Now when there are times I have tried and tried to get ahold of someone and they do call I ignore the call and call them right back. If I am on one line and they ring through the other line I will say “Oh I have been trying to get ahold of this company all day, can I call you back?” However, if it is just another friend etc I say “oh that is just so and so, I will call them back late.” That way my friend I am talking to does not feel less important then the call coming through.

All I am saying is that there are right and wrong times to be addicted to your phone. It kills me how many times I just watch people and see this happening all over. I just wish that etiquette for phones would come back and that people would be more mindful of other people!

Have a great day!

Tawna