Memorial Day 2011

First I want to THANK all those who have, are, or ever will serve in any capacity to keep our country free.  Your bravery and courage is what keeps this country strong!

There are many many families at home today missing their loved ones who are currently away from home serving their country.  They may be in a different, town or state, but most are in a completely different country altogether.  And those who are away from home deeply appreciate the love, prayers, and support that comfort them through their days until they can return home to their families and loved ones.  Keep sending your support, your treats, your letters, and your packages to those away from home.  Happy mail is always appreciated, but never more so than to a soldier away from home and living without any of the day to day luxuries we all take for granted.

I am proud to be an American!!!  I'm proud of how our country goes to the aide of other countries, whether it be in a time of war, peace-keeping, or to help from a natural disaster.  We not only serve ourselves, but serve others who aren't able to help and defend themselves.  The United States of America is truly the GREATEST country on earth!

Many of us are celebrating a day off from work today, having cookouts with families and friends, going to cookouts with families and friends, shooting off fireworks, and celebrating all those who from the beginning of this country to current day have done their duty to keep America safe and free.  So even while we are enjoying a day off with family and friends.... we truly are celebrating all of you who have served and/or are serving this country every single day, every single holiday, in every single place around the world.

So once again..... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!  My flag is waving in honor for all of you, and for this GRAND, GRAND, GRAND country of the USA!!!!

Tornado Season

Spring is the prime time for thunder storms and tornados... and I live in Kansas which is referred to as "Tornado Alley"!  I have my storm shelter in my basement ready to flee to at a moments notice.  No matter where you live, a random tornado or heavy thunder storm can occur... I STRONGLY advise that you... A) know where the safest place to hunker down somewhere in your home, and B) you have some basic staples at hand in case of any emergency.

Even if you do not have a tornado, it is always possible with Spring/Summertime storms to lose power for hours or days.  Just in case you aren't sure exactly what you should have on hand in case of any kind of natural disaster/emergency... below is a list of some very basic and common sense items to have on hand.

1.  Bottled water

2.  Flashlight(s).... with fresh batteries

3.  Candles

4.  Water proof matches and/or lighters

5.  Blankets/towels

6.  First Aide Kit/Medical supplies

7.  Extra batteries for flashlights

8.  Cash

9.  Some sort of non-perishable food supplies... such as peanut butter crackers, crackers, beef jerky, canned food such as canned tuna/chicken/deviled ham... etc.

10. Battery powered radio (preferably a weather band radio)

11. Generator (if possible)

12. Cell phone

13.  Spare clothing


There are many items that could be added to this list... but the above list would get you through the first day or so of an emergency.  I have an actual storm shelter in which I can store these items to have at the ready any time night or day... if you don't have a storm shelter and/or basement area in which to flee... you can get a plastic tote and store the above items in it to have ready to grab in a moments notice.

I certainly hope none of us will ever experience an emergency circumstance... but truth is... some of us will be in an emergency situation sometime in our life time.  Just recently the massive devastating tornado that struck Joplin Missouri a couple days ago has hit close to home to us Kansas residents.  My husband has had to be in Joplin the last couple of days because one of the businesses that was leveled was one of his stores... therefore he has 90 employees that need help and assistance of every kind... from emotional support to financial support... they lost their homes, their jobs, and some lost family, friends, and neighbors.  This is the first time that my husband and I have personally experienced a natural disaster and/or the effects of the aftermath.  Our hearts are with all the residents of Joplin.

Please take time to prepare your household for any kind of natural disaster.  Pay attention to the weather sirens when they go off, and please DO go seek shelter.  It doesn't matter how many times you have to run to shelter on false alarms, or that storms pass over without any damage... ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS take the precautions necessary to keep yourself and your families safe.

Life is precious...

S2H

S2H stands for "Switch2Health", which is a new 'smart gadget' for encouraging exercise and/or physical activity.  The other day as I was signing on to yahoo to read my email, I noticed this news blurb about the top 10 new 'smart' ideas, and of course there was a picture of several new gadgets which caught my attention.  I clicked on the news blurb and discovered the S2H gadget and was so impressed by it, I immediately ordered one... it arrived in the mail in just two days and it has become my new favorite thing!

The S2H is a rubbery band (like a wide watch band) that has a digital mechanism inside that tells the time, date, and amount of physical activity you have completed.  It measures physical activity in 15 minute increments and is measured in 4 separate bars, it also has an 'activity coach' (which is either a smiley face or a frown) to help encourage you to be more active.  Once the wearer has all 4 bars completed, a code appears in the digital read out.  Each device comes with a serial number that you download onto the website (S2H.com)... once you activate your device and create a user name and password, each time you accrue 60 minutes worth of physical activity and have been given a new code, you download the code into your account and then are credited points that add up to free stuff.  This is truly the coolest thing ever!  I have had my watch for 2 days and have already accrued 180 points.  Of course the more points you accrue and bank, the more stuff or bigger stuff you get.  The products available as free stuff vary from free DVD's, gift cards to Best Buy, Sears, Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, ToysRUs... just to name a few.  Talk about incentive to get up and get your grove on!

The physical activity needed to fill the necessary bars include 'brisk' walking, running/jogging, jumping jacks, vacuuming, dancing, sports of all sorts (basketball, soccer, football... etc.)... again... just to name a few.  Basically you need to 'move your body briskly'.  I will be wearing this device as I clean house this week to see how many bars I can fill just doing my normal routine of scrubbing, dusting and such.  I did learn the hard way that... once you fill your bars and see the new code... IMMEDIATELY go download it into your S2H account and reset your watch because... if you continue to do physical activity after the code appears you DO NOT get credit for those minutes of activity.  Once you have downloaded the new code, you immediately reset the watch and begin again.  Thus... you can actually accrue lots of points in any one given day depending on how much you move and/or groove.

It is a very light weight device that fits snuggly on your wrist, it works on both left and right wrists... and of course it serves as a very mod and cool looking watch as well.  It comes in several different interchangeable watchband colors... although... when ordering your original device it comes in a standard robins egg blue...  they are $19.99 per device, and the interchangeable colored bands are $2.99 each.  I went to the S2H website to order the different colored bands.  I ordered my original device on Amazon.com, but they can be ordered directly from S2H.com as well... price is the same either way... but I have found Amazon.com delivers in 2 days.

I am highly recommending and promoting the use of these sweet little gadgets, and LOVE that I get freebie stuff just by doing my everyday activities, and that it encourages me to go above and beyond to move more to get more free stuff!  When is the last time anyone offered you free stuff to exercise or move your booty!???

My husband and I both have pedometers that we wear on our waistbands everyday to measure how many steps we take a day.  To be 'healthy' it is recommended you take 10,000 steps a day.  Joe and I started wearing our monitors about a month ago and I have to tell you... it is really hard to get in 10,000 steps a day.  It is not as easy as you think, and it was a big eye opener to discover that I thought I was an active person and got in my required 10,000 steps a day, only to discover that I have to actually work hard to get in my steps.  Joe and I have made a game and competition with our pedometers and getting our steps in, comparing our 'numbers' each nite before bed... this makes it quite fun to encourage each other.  We both work hard at eating healthy, staying active, and keeping in shape.  I also endorse wearing a pedometer as well... you would be surprised just how hard it is to get in your steps!  S2H has a pedometer coming out soon (not available yet) that also come in the bright festive colors of the watches that will also accumulate points.  I am keeping my eye on them and once they do hit the market, I will be trading up my pedometer to an S2H one, to not only keep working on my steps, but to get even more free stuff with those points.

Check out the website.... S2H.com.... the $19.99 price of one of these watches will quickly pay for itself and keep giving you freebie awards as long as you keep active and keep downloading your results.  Why not have get free stuff while getting into or keeping in shape and good health!!??

UPDATE....
After posting this blog, I did indeed wear my S2H watch while I did my normal house cleaning chores... and YES!!! It does record that as 'physical activity'.... just another reason to endorse this 'smart' gadget... you get freebie stuff just doing your normal daily stuff!

UPDATE #2....
Just an FYI.... I earned my 60 minutes of physical activity code this morning while doing house chores... I entered my code and cleared my watch... then this evening I did my normal 60 minutes of exercise which earned me another code... but... when I went to enter in my new code, I got a message of "with the standard S2H device, you can only enter a code once a day".... it's a bummer I don't get credit for my exercise... but I'm sure this is to avoid several people using one watch to accumulate extra points... makes sense, and I still burned lots of calories with my workout anyway... and I STILL 100% endorse this product!

Random Smiles

This past week it has felt like Summer here in Hutchinson Kansas with the temperatures being in the high 90's if not reaching 100!  HOT HOT HOT.... just like I like it!  On these very Summer like days I took several walks around the countryside neighborhood and saw many things that gave me random smiles and/or caused me to remember random sweet memories.  Listed below are the random, simple, sweet smiles I enjoyed this past week.

1.  I found a dime (heads up)... which is 10 times better than finding a penny... literally!!

2.  I saw a bunch of daisies that had bloomed and were waving in the wind.... daisies ALWAYS make me smile!

3.  I saw 2 tiny birds chasing a HUGE hawk away from 'their' tree... the tiny birds won!

4.  I saw that same HUGE hawk soaring and gliding in the air on the wind.... BEAUTIFUL!

5.  I saw one lone sweet pink flower growing all by itself amongst a field of weeds.

6.  I came across a gaggle (is it a gaggle?) of female turkeys strutting across the road while Tom Turkey stood by with his feathers fully spanned out in what looked like pure pride for his girls.

7.  I was listening to my ipod while I walked and heard several of my favorite songs that I haven't heard in awhile.

8.  I smelled fresh cut grass.

9.  I saw a Dad outside playing basketball with his young son... they were having such a good time.

10. I saw a tumbleweed blowing around in the wind in front of me.... it looked like it was dancing to the music in my ear that it obviously couldn't hear.  That actually turned my smile into a full belly laugh.

11. I saw other neighbors walking/running, we smiled and waved at each other.

12.  And while cleaning my house after my week visit from my Daughters and Grandson babies, I found a blanket the babies had laid on and it still smelled like them.

Thats it.... but those sweet simple smiles kept me smiling and remembering all week in such a great mood!  Cooler Spring weather has now returned for a couple of days... the HOT HOT HOT days will return next week.... and I'm ready for the non-stop HOT HOT HOT days of Summer!  I can feel the excitement in the air that school is almost out for the Summer!  I see pools being opened and prepped for splashing, swimming, and floating.  In case you haven't guessed.... Summer is my all time favorite time of the year!  My pool is open, my welcome mat is out.... I think the Cousins need to take a road trip for our annual pool party!

Smiles to all!

Mother's Day 2011

This was my absolute 'BESTEST' Mother's Day EVER!!!  I spent the weekend with all 3 of my daughters and my two new Grandson's here in Kansas!!!  A totally unexpected gift to have them all here, but especially to celebrate with both my Daughters on their first Mother's Day!

Back in March when Grandson #2 was born, my Daughters planned a "Girls Trip" to Kansas for a long weekend visit while the new Mommies were still on maternity leave...  it wasn't until 2 weeks prior to the visit, that any of us realized it was going to be Mother's Day weekend!  Amber (my eldest) had already visited here in Kansas with her boyfriend (Ben) for New Years, but the other two Daughters had yet had the opportunity to come visit and see our new home.  This was my Daughter's 2nd cross country road trip together... just 5 years ago, all three of them drove from Kentucky to LA to take the youngest (Lauren) to begin her studies at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising).  There were many hilarious stories that came from that road trip... and there are many more hilarious stories from this recent one as well.

As a Mom, I am soooooo grateful that my Daughters are so close to each other, and make sure to take every opportunity to be together with themselves, as well as Joe and I.  There is nothing sweeter than a close knit family, who are ALWAYS there for each other.  You can only imagine my pure sweet delight when we all discovered it was going to be Mother's Day weekend during their visit.  It was the best gift any Mother could wish for!!  The visit was PERFECT, but the time flew by soooo quickly!  Amber gave all of us Mom's a 'Family Tree' necklace that had a birthstone gem for each person in our individual families.  I of course had the most gem stones.... one for joe and I, one for each of my Daughters, and one for each of my Grandson's.  The two new Mommies (Jessica and Lauren) had a gem stone for themselves, their husbands, and their sons.  We all just LOVE LOVE LOVE our necklaces and the thoughtfulness of Amber.  Amber ALWAYS finds the most creative gifts... we will all cherish these necklaces forever!

Not only did we celebrate Mother's Day together, we also celebrated Cinco De Mayo and Derby Day as well.  The girls began their journey early Wednesday morning (May 4 @ 7:00am) and arrived in Kansas late Wednesday evening around 10:00pm.  On Thursday (May 5) we had our own little Cinco De Mayo party with carnitas (slowly roasted pork butt), fresh homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, lime cilantro rice, black and refried beans, and of course margarita's!  For dessert we had lemon angel cake roll!! YUM!  On Friday (May 6) we dined on salad, grilled steaks with braised mushrooms and onions, sauteed parmesan new potatoes, and sauteed brussel sprouts... for dessert we enjoyed fresh berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries) with creme anglaise.  Saturday (May 7) we had a Derby Party crab boil with more lemon angel cake roll and derby pies.  Finally on Sunday (May 8), which was their last day/night of their visit, we went to Mother's Day brunch at the country club, then later that evening we went to Ken's Pizza (our favorite pizza ever!) and topped it all off with a visit to Freddie's for frozen custard.  Needless to say.... our bellies were bloated and stuffed from arrival to departure of their visit.

We held babies in our arms, we laughed, we told and retold family stories, we drove around our sweet little town of Hutchinson, we sunbathed, and we just hung 'together' as one family unit again.  Their visit finally made this new house feel like 'home' again.  I am deeply grateful and appreciative that the husbands and boyfriend shared the girls and babies with us on this special weekend, especially knowing the new Dad's would have enjoyed spending the "first" Mother's Day with them as well.  THANK YOU BUNCHES boys!!!

I am sure there are many more 'special' Mother's Day weekends in our futures.... but none will EVER be as special as this one!  I still have a big ole smile plastered across my face!  I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day as well!

Spontaneity

As I've gotten older I tend to be more 'scheduled and planned' vs. the 'spontaneity' of my youth when 'flying by the seat of one's pants' was more the normal behavior.  I enjoy both planned and spontaneous events, but it's the spontaneous ones that tend to be more fun because there is no built up expectations or rules and it's living life moment to moment... totally unscripted and thus, usually way more fun!

Joe and I had a wonderful 'spontaneous' weekend for Easter this year, it was soooooo much fun... and totally worth all the hours of driving to accomplish it.  Since recently moving to Kansas from Kentucky a few months ago, and all 3 of our daughters having significant others in their lives, and having to share holidays with both sides of the families... Joe and I had no plans for Easter other than attending Church Services and then going to Easter Brunch at the Country Club here in Kansas.  But.... Joe's schedule unexpectedly opened up on Thursday afternoon, making his Easter weekend start a day earlier... so.... we spontaneously decided to hop in the car and drive the 12 hours to Kentucky to spend one day with our daughters, their significant others, and our two new grandsons.  It turned out to be one of our BEST Easter Holidays ever just because it was soooo unexpected!

Joe and I drove until midnight on Thursday... woke early and hit the road Friday morning and arrived at our eldest daughter's (Amber) and her boyfriend's (Ben) home in Lexington KY at 11:00am.  The four of us then went to Keeneland Race Track and spent a day at the races.  We lost, we won, we lost.... but we had sooo much fun!  After the races were over, we picked up some pizzas and went back to Amber's house, where our other two daughters and their families joined us.  We had such a fun night together, especially because none of us thought we would get to spend time with any of the others.  

Saturday morning we gathered again at Amber's home where we dyed Easter eggs, hung out together, and had a cookout to celebrate our Easter together, later that night we cuddled up and watched a movie together before we had to head back to the hotel and prepare to get up early, early, early Sunday morning to begin the 12 hour drive back to Kansas.  Our daughters all already had plans for Easter Sunday with their significant other's families, so celebrating together on Saturday was perfect, especially that we were all able to be together sooo unexpectedly!

This is the first Easter in my life that I was not able to attend Church Services or any other Easter celebration because we spent the entire day driving home... but... I wouldn't have changed a thing!  The great part about spending so much time together in a car driving is the wonderful conversations that occur to fill the time without any interruptions.  On the way to Kentucky we spoke excitedly about getting to see the girls and spending time with the new grandsons... on the way back home to Kansas we recanted all the funny stories of the weekend, how much the grandsons had grown since we last saw them and, about how fun it was to spontaneously hop in the car and make that long trip just for one day of family time!  It was such a much nicer Easter than I had anticipated and am soooo Thankful and Grateful that Joe and I both enjoy spontaneity and all the joys it brings!

Sometimes 'flying by the seat of one's pants' is the most exciting thing you can do.  Next time you have the opportunity to do so, GO FOR IT!!!  You won't regret it!