June Currents

Current Read: Yesterday I started reading And The Dark Sacred Night by Julia Glass for the sole reason that it was in a stack of books John brought home from work (working for a publisher has it's perks). I know nothing about it but am fifty-five pages in and haven't lost interest so that's good. I recently finished The Secret Keeper (very, very good) and The Aviator's Wife (also very good!) I guess I'm on a reading kick. That's typical of summer. Yahoo!

Current Playlist: I'm so boring. I like listening to the same stuff over and over. It's a mix of pop and worship music, but this song is my current fave and I put it on repeat often.

Current Color(s): Navy and white with aqua.

Current Food: Gazpacho. So yummy! I've been trying to eat more veggies so this soup is an excellent way to get all my servings in each day.

Current Favorite Favorite: Lazy summer days at the pool!

Current Addiction: Shaved ice with our homemade sno-cone syrup! They are perfect on hot, sunny days.

Current Wish List: A getaway with my husband. Psssst--I think my wish is going to come true soon.

Current Need: An audio cord to connect my iPod to my car's AV output jack. I splurged and bought one for myself yesterday ($2). I left my old one in the rental car I had while my vehicle was being repaired.

Current Triumph: I feel like surviving May and June was a triumph. Crazy-crazy-crazy busy months! OH YEAH! I finally beat the game 2048. HUGE triumph.

Current Annoyance: I got a pedicure a couple of weeks ago with a gift card I'd had for over a year and forgotten about. WORST PEDICURE EVER! The polish was sloppy and the girl didn't even exfoliate my (rough, gross) feet. Wish I'd used that gift card on a massage or something instead. Oh well. :)

Current Mood: It's summer...how can one not be HAPPY!?! And relaxed! Yay!

Current Blessing(s): Will is home from his work crew assignment at Crooked Creek. After almost a month away, it's so nice to have everyone home together again. Another huge blessing is having John home with us for a couple days a week this summer. He moved to a part-time job earlier this year that allows him to work only three days a week which makes for some nice family days together and I LOVE THAT SO MUCH!

Current Outfit: Shorts and a t-shirt. I wore a skirt TWICE this week and that's rare for me so it must be noted. 

Current Excitement: The 4th of July is almost here. It's my favorite holiday and I'm excited to spend it with my family.

Current Project(s): I'm taking the month off from projects. Ha! I'm finally moving into my lazy summer stretch and I just want to enjoy it without having "projects" hanging over my head.

Current plans for the day: Well, the day is winding down but I'm going to make dinner soon and start prepping for tomorrow, which is my "get-everything-done-so-we-can-play-all-week" day.

Peace out, peeps!

A lesson learned

I've just returned from Las Vegas for Beachbody Coach Summit. I'm a Beachbody coach but I also work part time for a friend who has a highly successful Beachbody business. I went to Summit as her worker-bee assistant, but also for fun and learning for myself. I had a great time, but man-oh-man, Vegas is weird and definitely lives up to it's reputation. I saw a LOT of things I wish I hadn't. Ha!

I had a realization on the flight home that I've been mulling over for a few days. It was one of those "aha" moments for me.

The flight we were on didn't have seat assignments. You choose your seat on the plane based on what's available when you board. By the time we boarded, all of the aisle seats and window seats were taken. So I found a middle seat between two guys that weren't too scary looking. Well, actually one looked normal and the other looked a bit like a thug, but the seat was close to the front so if I had to take a middle seat then at least I could exit the plane quickly after we landed. Strategy. 

Since it's kind of creepy to stare at your seatmates, I didn't. But the "thug" next to me had lots of piercings and tattoos and was dressed in mostly black (goth) and I was certain that the music he was listening to on his iPod was nothing at all like the music on mine. Judgement.

Usually on airplanes I do not enjoy talking to people. Which is the complete opposite of my personality. If you were to ask my children, they'd tell you (while rolling their eyes) that I talk to anyone and everyone all the time--in the grocery store, in the drive-thru, in parking lots, elevators, etc. I'd watched my boss on this trip talk to everyone around her and we joked about her making friends wherever she went, so I decided I should probably be a tad friendlier to my seatmates. It helped that the USA-Portugal soccer match was in it's final moments while we were boarding so that made for easy conversation since the whole Las Vegas airport was watching (and cheering)! We made small talk about the World Cup and then about football. They were impressed with my knowledge and my all-girls fantasy football league! I thought that our enjoyment of football was where our shared interests ended so I put my earbuds in and put some music on and felt like I'd done my best to be polite.

As we neared Denver, the "thug" next to me opened his window shade and peered out at the Rocky Mountains. And since you guys know I LOVE the mountains, I peered out too.

The strangest thing then happened. That "thug" got so excited and started pointing things out to me about the things he was seeing out the window--the mountain streams, the passes, the birds, the clouds. Everything. He was giddy about the beauty of the place we both call home. We then had the nicest conversation about hiking and 14ers and the stunning beauty of Colorado and how much we both love where we live. It was a sweet moment. I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to be his mother and I'm pretty sure his lifestyle is much different than mine but ya know what? We connected over beauty. It was so cool to find something in common with someone so outwardly different than me...and it was very moving to see his response to it.

So the thing I can't stop thinking about?
DO NOT PRE-JUDGE someone you haven't met. Be open to conversation. Be open to connection.
If I'd gone through my normal air travel routine I might have missed a moment of true beauty. We're all more alike than we realize sometimes. The guy I had labeled a thug turned out to be a really nice guy with a giant love of nature and people. And fyi, he talked my head off the rest of the flight. And I enjoyed it.

Lesson learned.

Catch-Up List

I feel like the only way I can semi-catch up here on the blog is by making a list of what we've been up to. So here we go.

1. We have two weeks of summer under our belt. All of my kids finished up on May 22 and the slower pace of summer has been amazing. No daily schedule? I'll take it. Actually, I still have a bit of a work schedule to follow but my kids? They are gloriously free from the calendar and clock. I love the rhythm of summer. I'm looking forward to a couple more months of this slower, relaxed pace.

Above: Went to lunch with this group of Abbey's friends after their 6th grade continuation ceremony. They were giddy about being out of school. 
Below: Froyo to celebrate the end of school! I'm missing a kiddo in this picture; Will was out with friends.

2. I celebrated my birthday a week or so ago. It was number forty-four. I had the BEST day--actually the best week--and felt loved and celebrated. On my birthday, I was reflecting about where I am in life right now. I'm in a really good place. I've intentionally stepped away from some unhealthy people/things over the past few years (but specifically THIS year) and the people and things that remain in my life just feel right. I'm tempted to be sad that it took me forty-four years to get to this place but instead I choose to be grateful for all the twisty paths God led me down to bring me to where I am today. I'm much wiser for it.

3. The last week in May was a doozy. I had a minor fender-bender in the elementary school parking lot one morning when a dad rear-ended my vehicle in the drop off line. Ugh. A few days later my washer AND dryer both died, followed promptly by the death of our garage door. Ch-ching. Things are looking up though. My vehicle was repaired last week and my new washer and dryer are great and being put to daily use. I've heard bad things happen in three's. Since that was FOUR, I'm hoping I'm off the hook for awhile.

You can't really see the damage--and thank goodness it wasn't too much--but part of my bumper and some trim was damaged as well as lots of scratches. It looks brand new now!

4. We took Will to Crooked Creek Ranch (a Young Life camp) last week where he'll be serving on work crew for most of June. He worked there last year as well but has a different job this summer. I haven't talked to him since we dropped him off nine days ago (they surrender their cell phones) but he called one afternoon while I was out and talked to John. He's doing well and really enjoying it this year. I'm pretty proud of him.

So grateful for this place and the role it has played in my son's life. 

5. While I was getting Will ready for camp, I started digging through/cleaning out closets and decided to have a garage sale. I'm really not a big garage sale girl--too much work for too little moolah--but we had a ton of good stuff and John said he'd help me so we scheduled it. It went off without a hitch and we made a decent amount so it was all worth it in the end.

6. I didn't really have time to paint the girls' room this week but they'd been begging me for awhile and I actually bought the paint LAST YEAR and never gotten to it, so we tackled it together. Key word: together. They went with a light purple. It looks really good, now we just need to find some new bedding. Decorating is not really my strong suit--searching for bedding, accents, and actually pulling a room together feels like climbing Everest to me.

She wanted to use the little roller...until she realized how much harder it was. 

7. Speaking of climbing mountains. I hiked one of my favorite peaks yesterday with two friends. Eagle Peak is on the US Air Force property and is a hard, steep climb that rewards you with stunning panoramic views at the top. It was so cloudy here yesterday that once we were at the top we couldn't see much at all. Clouds obscured the entire USAFA property AND Pikes Peak. This is the best photo I took in between a small break in the clouds. It was pretty cool to be above the clouds but I felt bad for my friend who had never done this hike. We kept telling her about the awesome views at the top...and then nada.

8. Abbey went camping with a friend this weekend. She loves to go camping with this family because according to Abbey, "They camp a LOT differently than we do, Mom. They don't rough it in any way." It's true. We're tent campers and usually pick remote sites and bring in all of our own water and use the bathroom in the woods. The family that Abbey is with has a huge camper with all the amenities. They camp at sites with swimming pools, paddle boats, drive-in movies, bingo and more. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get that girl in a tent again. Ha ha.

9. Since Abbey and Will are both gone right now, that left Sarah as an "only child" this weekend. She has thoroughly enjoyed that, as have John and I. We took her out to eat last night (Chipotle--her choice) and took her shopping (her favorite thing). She and seven friends went to see the premiere of The Fault In Our Stars last Thursday night. They all met over here and John drove them to the movie. There was LOTS of giggling and teen girl chatter...and I loved it. She is blessed with some sweet friends and I love seeing them all together like that.

10. I think I've hit the highlights of the past few weeks...
I love blogging but sometimes time just gets away from me. I'm hoping to settle into MY summer pace in a couple of weeks. It just seems like it's been non-stop for me lately...
Peace out, peeps!