Resolution?

Maybe.

I have had quite a few thoughts rumbling around in my brain for the past month or two concerning the New Year Resolutions that I feel I should make or would like to make.  That being said, how many do I really believe I can accomplish and how many are me blowing smoke out of my mouth?  Whoops, it can't be smoke, I quite that over 4 years ago, yea me!!!

Anyways, here is my list.

1. Get the knee fixed. Scheduled for the 7th so this one is easy.  It's pretty much done.
2. Get back on track working out.  Now see, I have slacked quite a bit in the past 6 months and I am not sure why.  Other than it might have something to do with my knee having a torn cartilage or it could be that I am bored with my workouts.  Let's hope I can figure this one out, I don't want to gain anymore weight this New Year.  That is definitely not on my list.
3. Quite drinking diet soda or soda of any kind.  I just love my Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper, but I think it is holding me back when it comes to being as healthy as I want to be.  You know, that elusive goal that we all have in the back of our minds?  Yeah, that one!  I'm sure it's on this list somewhere.
4. Take a class on photography and understand the whole photography process better.  I got this one in the bag along with getting the knee fixed.  I have signed up for a photography class, just a short community class, which is for four 1 1/2 hours class sessions.  I guess it's a good start on learning all that I want to learn.  Good basics.  I will still need to feel more comfortable with the tech stuff but I guess the class is a good start.
5. Lose 30 pounds.  Now this one I have struggled with the past year.  I lost 55 pounds over the course of one year and managed to keep it off for another year but over this last year, more like the past 6 months, I have gain back about 7 pounds.  Do you think it has anything to do with the knee?  I hope that's what it is, otherwise I am in trouble.  Boredom has set in and I need to struggle out of it.
6. Talk to my Heavenly Father more.  I need to put my Heavenly Father at the top of my list, but as you can see I have not.  So this one will become priority #1 for me.  I promise to you all, and to myself, that if I do nothing else this New Year but have a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father, then it will have been a most successful year.
7. Run a half marathon.  midMan can not figure out why I would want to do this, but those of you who run or jog, which is what I do, will know.  In the process of training I hope to be able to increase my time and still be able to breathe.  Breathing seems to be my issue, if I want to breathe and not gasp for breath, I need to train.
8. Get my family on a better diet, even if it means doing it on the sly.  I really need to figure this one out.  Maybe if I give them no choice when it comes to food, fresh or nothing, they will get it.  But they just might hold a revolt and kick me out of the kitchen for good if I do that.  Hmmmm, maybe not such a bad idea.  (Have you all noticed that everything is about being healthier?  Is this good or am I missing out on some unhealthy fun?)
9. Live a little more frugally so that we can pay off some more bills.  Let's hope midMan and tailEnd understand.

I am sure that there are plenty more that I have forgotten, but tell me, what do you guys think?  Are resolutions good things or are we just setting ourselves up for failure?  Do each of you have a list?  Do you feel you can accomplish all that is on your list?  Do you list items on your list knowing that you probably won't succeed with just that one?  Or do you set yourself up to accomplish all of them?  Are resolutions good or bad?

I personally feel I have set myself up to succeed.  They are all not easy and most are not too hard, but I think with some hard work on my part I can accomplish each one of these and feel better about myself in the process.  Maybe that is what resolutions are all about; feeling better about ourselves.

I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year with many Happy Returns.

Love to All,

midRae

One Word Wednesday.....

Amazing!!

Love to All,

midRae

  

Here we go again.  Yeah!!  And now it's time for that weekly fun carnival that we all love, 'not me Monday!'  Let's all join in and see what we got.  I'm sure we have a lot of those 'not me's' just stored up from Christmas.

Let's gooooooo..........

It was definitely not me who was really excited that my brother-in-law and his wife left Christmas early with her family and stopped by my house for a couple of hours on Christmas day.  Nope I would never cheer at the fact that they were mad at each other and decided to go home early.  Nope, I am not so selfish that I would then tell them that I was really glad that they came to visit me and my family.  Argument has since been forgotten and all is grand in their world.  But I sure was NOT excited, seriously, I was NOT excited, at all, to see them.

And it was for sure not me who had my tree undecorated, bare as the day it was born, out of the tree stand, out my front door, on the back of midMan's truck, out to the local landfill and back home by 10:15am Saturday morning.  And we were so not the first one's at our local landfill with a tree this year, and the landfill guy did not ask us in surprise, "Just your Christmas tree?' 
(He looked like Santa, too.  White beard and rosy cheeks.  Ask me if I wanted to die)  Nope, it was definitely not me who crouched down in the passenger seat hoping no one in the neighborhood would notice how fast my Christmas decorations came down. 

And it sure was not me who let out her breath in a great big whoosh, clapped my hands with joy, and proceeded to kick back and remember the wonderful Christmas that was just had by all.  Nope I would never ever enjoy Christmas and thank my Heavenly Father for all of the blessing that I and my family have received over the past year.  Nope, never, not me.

Love to All,

midRae 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Love to all,

midRae

One Word Wednesday.....

So, as you can see there is no photo.  Let me give you a description of the photo that didn't get taken.


It snowed last night.  WoooHoooo, a White Christmas.  Out I went into the cold this morning to shovel the driveway and walk, along with the neighbors driveway and walk.  Here I am, 40-something years old, bundled up in my favorite work coat and Dayton's, my middle child and kindred spirit's,  gloves (I don't own any of my own).  Picture this........


Under all of the warm stuff, the coat and the gloves, I am dressed in my LEI light pajama bottoms, you know the kind you get at Wal-Mart that are thin, so that when you have night sweats you don't just melt and die, but warm enough that after the night sweats, when you start freezing, they will keep you from shivering right out of bed.  Then on my cute little toes I am wearing some knock off Uggs, bought at Payless Shoes, quite a few years ago.  My sister gave them to me when her daughter told her they were ugly.  I was thankful for them and snatched them right off of her feet.  I really shouldn't wear them anymore, but I love them and they are so comfy, just not too fashionable.  Then on the upper half I am wearing a cute, at least in my eyes, flannel pajama top I got at Wal-Mart.  Its red, goes down to just above my knees, so yes it was hanging out real pretty under my coat, and I have searched for a year for just this pajama top.  And on the cute morning head there is no beanie, but there is my stringy, yucky, night hair pulled back into a pony tail.


And the label for this wonderful word photo is............

'Winter Workout'

Luckily I decided not to get tailEnd out of bed to take the photo.  At least lucky for you.  This is not something you would like to see just before Christmas.  I am sure it would have ruined the whole season for you.  And good thing midMan was at work, he wouldn't have let me out of the house.

Love to All,

midRae

Grandpa Trees

Last week, when I posted a picture of the 'Grandpa Tree' I received a couple of really nice comments.  This did give me much hope in the area of 'midRae someday taking really good photos that people might like.'  Rolling this over and over in my brain, I decided to share a few more photos that I took last February.  Please enjoy.

I know that I still have a lot to work on but hopefully these may brighten someone's day, and maybe they will remind you each of a wonderful 'Grandpa' whom you know and love.  I know that each of these photos do remind me how wonderful and full of knowledge my Grandpa's were, showing the length of their time here on earth with such character.

Love to All,

midRae

Quick addition:  All photos were taken here in Cedar City.

Not Me Monday..........

  

Here we go again.  Yeah!!  And now it's time for that weekly fun carnival that we all love, 'not me Monday!'  Let's all join in and see what we got.

 

 

So, it was not me who did not participate last week.  I would never have a period of time in my life when I would never have anything to contribute to "not me" Monday.  Nope.  And it was not me, who again, and again, and again, has started a new diet today.  Nope, I never fall off of the diet wagon each and every weekend.  Nope, not me.  And I would never sabatage my diet efforts by enjoying kitchen time, which is so amazingly fun, each weekend, definitely not me.

 

And on a much better note, it was not me who signed up for a digital photography class for the month of January.  Nope, I would never attempt to take better photos and try to understand the whole process better.  Nope, not me, I really enjoy living in the dark and leaving my photo taking up to chance. (yeah right, and I 'm the one in control of my world, NOT!!)  And it was not me who finally scheduled her surgery to fix the torn cartilage in her knee.  Nope, I would never live with the discomfort and continue jogging 3 miles each shot, since July.  I would never, ever do that.

 

And it was not me who completely forgot that the car insurance payment was coming out of the checking account today.  Nope, that was so not me.  I always make sure that I have plenty of money in my account each and every day, just in case. (hahahaha)  Good thing they will try twice.  Whew!!

 

And it is so not me that is sitting at my desk at work, wishing each and every one of you a great and wonderful Merry Christmas.  Please take a moment and remember why we are all celebrating with such good cheer.  I love you all and Merry Christmas.  I hope this time of year is all that you wished for.

 

Love to All,

 

midRae

Time

Time.

We all seem to be running out of it at this time of year.  We are always looking at our watches, our phones, our computers, the stove, the microwave, and a million other ways that we have available to tell us how far behind we are in time.  Some times we feel we just can't catch up.  And then some days we get to just sit and forget that there are so many things taking up our time.  Just like the other evening when I was trying really hard to do this, sitting on the couch visiting with midMan and tailEnd, when.............

tailEnd asked me what time it was.  I told him to look over his shoulder and he could see what time it was.  He looked over his shoulder, at my cute little wall arrangement which you see above, looked back at me with a sheepish little grin and said, 'What time is it?' 

HUH?!?!  WHAT?!?!

That's what I thought, seriously.  

But then I remembered that tailEnd has forever, at least since I got this clock, had a really hard time figuring out what time it is.  Is it the Roman Numerals, the clock itself, or are the words a big distraction?  What is it about this clock? 

As I thought about it, I realized that most everything that we look at today to see 'what time it is', is digital.  To us older folks we look at this clock and just know what time it is, it's second nature.  We do not even have to think about it.  We just know.  Our children on the other hand have always had something digital real close, like the microwave, phone, computer, alarm clock, there are a million more ways, to tell them what time it is.

I am not going to get real philosophical about this, whew that was a hard one to spell, but I bet if you ask your children you will find that they too, would hesitate in telling you what time it is if they were looking at my clock.  I don't think it makes tailEnd any less smart than he is, and he is really brilliant (like all of my boys), on course to graduate high school with an Associates Degree from SUU, but I do believe this is something he should be more comfortable with. 

I think we all know what tailEnd is going to be working on this Christmas holiday.  And please don't judge him; I think I am the one who has been more than a little remiss in their duties as a parent.

HUH?!  Go figure.  That would never be me.

Love to All,

midRae

PS...Yes I did take the photo of the Grandpa Tree.  I am glad that it was so well received.  I'm really working on all of the photography stuff so hopefully I will say that it can only get better from here.

One Word Wednesday.....

Grandpa!!!

(I have this thing about big, old, bare trees in the winter.  They speak to me.)

Love to All,

midRae

Weekend Drive

midMan and I are notorious for sneaking out, on a Saturday morning, at about 6:00AM, and going for a nice little drive with each other.  We usually stop by the local convenience store and get midMan his French Vanilla Coffee and a maple bar, I on the other hand go straight for the Diet Dr. Pepper and donut holes (they really do cancel each other out, at least in my dreams), if I allow myself to forget about the perpetual diet, which I usually do lately.  I am holding my own in the diet world, but just barely, somebody rescue me please.


Anyways, back to our ride.  This last Saturday we planned, thinking it would have snowed overnight, to get some really cool shots when it got light enough.  I could just see the awesome pictures I was going to get just as the sun peeked over the mountain.  The colors, ohhhhh the colors.  But as usual, with Utah weather, we were sadly mistaken.  We ended up in the middle of what I will call FogSnow. 


Yes, FogSnow.  What is FogSnow you may ask?  Well the only thing I can say is that it doesn't leave enough snow to make things really dramatic but it does leave enough of something in the air to make all of your pictures seem really washed out or grainy.  Granted, we tried to make the best of it and really did enjoy our ride. 


As we got to the south side of Kanarraville, this is what we saw.  Isn't he pretty?  I can just picture midMan laughing his head off at the thought that I just called this deer pretty.  He thought it was big enough to shoot.  To bad we have no license and it was in town limits.  There is no way this deer is going to see the end of his life any time soon, he's a smart one and I am sure will stick real close to town.  But gosh, isn't he pretty?

Not to bad, but as you look you can see that it was snowing a little bit and the deer was on the move.  This combination does not make for the best shot but it was my favorite, I just love the look of power that you can see in the deer.  Isn't he pretty? (lol, do you think midMan is rolling on the floor laughing?  I bet he would be if he read my blog.)

On the way back towards Kanarraville, in almost the same spot, we came across this Golden Eagle.  It patiently sat on the fence post and let me take one picture, again it was snowing just a little bit, then he decided that that was enough and he was out of there.  Luckily I got this photo just as he was getting ready to spread his wings.  midMan was so excited that we got to see it.  (I sure hope your monitors are better than mine at work, because all of my pictures look so dark when I am at work looking at them on my computer, at home they look amazing!)

Please enjoy.  We sure did.

Love to All,

midRae

Random Thoughts

I saw this on my friend mommassoapbox and just had to share...........



Random Thoughts for the Day
(my thought added in PURPLE)


1) I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2) Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong. (been there)
3) I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. (can I take one now?)

4) There is great need for a sarcasm font. (that would be for me, I want it)
5) How do you fold a fitted sheet?!
(I think I figured this one out, big ball in the corner of the closet)

6) Was learning cursive really necessary?

7) Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood. (what is MapQuest?)

8) Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9) I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10) Bad decisions make good stories. (so true, I have a few to tell)

11) You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day. (I do this quite often)

12) Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13) I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14) "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.

15) I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
(I think they just retought talking to me)

16) I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
(I gave up doing this a long time ago, comfort is where it's at)

17) I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18) My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad, what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?
(Who still has a four year old?)

19) I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

20) I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than with Kay.
(been there, long, long, time ago.  See #10, also can ask midMan)


I think we can all relate to more than one of these!  I sure did!!!

Love to All,

midRae

Little Bits of Christmas

It looks like a lot of my blogging pals have shown off their wonderful and great Christmas decorations, so I though I might as well join in the fun and show you all what I got.  Which, by the way, is not alot. (hehe I can rhyme)  I am really not into decorating a whole bunch, in my mind it's that much more that I have to dust and clean up when Christmas is all done and over with.  And this is all year long too, for my whole life, I just do not get into decorating.  Maybe someday when I have Grandkids.  We'll see what happens then. (this most likely will never happen, I'm so, so very bad)

I would much rather have my little Nativity.
Purchased for less than $20 and I love it.  It even came with a manger.

The LEGO Santa that my kids made for me years ago.
And I do keep it each year.  Sometimes a piece will break off but we always
make sure he looks good for Christmas.

The Woodsmen Santa that we purchased last year for midMan.

(midMan really loves this guy, he speaks to him just like my tree spoke to me)

The cutest little Snowmen,

 made with 2X4's,

that my best friend made me years ago.

And my tree.

  You know the one that spoke to me last weekend

and smelled like a campfire?

It's nothing fancy, but I love my tree every year.

Each one we get is special in it's own cool way,

like this one that is flat in back, and has a few holes here and there.

But this one really spoke to my heart,

and will be the center of our Christmas JOY, 

and will remind us all

what the season is really for.

Love to All,

midRae

Amazing Giveaway!

You have to check this out! 

MckMama over at mckgiveaways.blogspot.com is giving away an HP Touchsmart 600 Computer.  It is so amazing and I want one.  You all should head on over and enter.  Would it not be amazing to have this little gift under the tree?  I know I would be all smiles, from ear to ear, if it came my way.

Love to All,

midRae

One Word Wednesday.......

tailEnd.

Isn't he just the cutest.   Such a jokester too.  He did not make this easy.  Most of the shots were of him having fun.  He is not helping me to learn, but then again, maybe he is.

Love to All,

midRae

Not Me Monday.....

  

Here we go again.  Yeah!!  And now it's time for that weekly fun carnival that we all love, 'not me Monday!'  Let's all join in and see what we got.

So here we go.......

I did not floss my teeth this morning and find that I had caught one of my long hairs between my teeth in the process.  Nope.  And I did not have one heck of a time just getting a hold of that hair.  Nope, I would never, ever lose one of my many long hairs in my mouth, caught between my teeth, and fight with it just to get it unstuck from between my teeth.  Nope not me.  EEWWWWWW!!

And I did not miss the most perfect picture of the moon this past week at 6:45AM in the morning on the way to work just because I left my camera at home.  Nope, I never leave my house without my camera, and I never ever miss photo opportunities that present themselves to me at alarming frequencies.  I would never think to do that.

And I did not get the most perfect Christmas Tree this weekend, and it did not smell like a campfire, and my midMan was not laughing at me as we got it.  He was not laughing at the fact that I was all aglow with the joy of finding that one tree that spoke to me.  Nope he would never, ever, not in his lifetime or mine , ever laugh at me.  Nope, definitely not my midMan.  And then we did not get out all of the air freshners in our house hoping that the campfire smell would dissipate.  Nope, not us.

So hope on over and join in the fun.  We love to see what did not happen to each of you.

Love to All,

midRae

Explaination Needed.

I decided that I probably should have included an explanation with the 'One Word Wednesday' post this week.  So here it is.

My midMan loves to look for discarded treasures, whether that be in a camp ground or in a park.  My first experience with this was the day I went into labor and delivered our oldest son.  It was 4:00AM and we did not want my labor to stop, so here we go, walking and walking and walking.  Thankfully we leaved real close to the park so we hiked a few laps around and through.  On the first trek through the park we came across a brand new little TONKA truck.  The first words out of midMan's mouth were 'Treasure!'.  The next few words were, 'We are for sure having a boy.' (no ultrasounds way back then) 

So as time goes on we always stop at old camp sites and he wanders and looks and usually is able to find something.  Now that something can range from a little bit of rope, a nail, a bloody arrow (from around bow hunt), a single tent stake here or there, maybe even a stretched out hanger for roasting hotdogs, and countless other items.  He has 'Treasures' all over the place.  His view is that you never know when you may need it.

So this is what we did last weekend, in between all of the hiking in the snow, 'Treasure' hunting.  He managed to find some rope and two tent stakes.  Not to bad in his mind.  The only thing I have to say is that it's a good thing he likes thing to be clean, neat, and in there place, otherwise we could have a serious hoarding issue. 

Love to All,

midRae

One Word Wednesday

Treasure!

Love to All,

midRae

College?

OK, so I mentioned a while back about possibly going to college. By going to college I meant taking 3 credits per semester and learning a lot more about photography, but not getting a degree. So, I applied to the local college, and believe it or not I was accepted, even after they realized that I graduated high school a long, long time ago.



So today I got my ‘T’ number, their way of knowing who you are, and I searched and searched and found the first class that I wanted to take. So excited and only 5 spots left in the class, I was there! I signed up for the class online and then I looked at the cost and just about fell out of my chair. I’m serious, I had to grab onto the desk just to keep my balance. They wanted over $800.00 to take just one class, for a total of 3.0 credits. Are you kidding me!!?? So much for my continued education.


But wait! Continued Education? What’s this? I just found out today that SUU does offer Continued Education classes, granted not a huge selection, but they do offer one photography class in the winter/spring and possibly a different one in the fall. I am there! Again! This one, a little more affordable, only $70.00 to take the class. I am so there! Now I just need to go sign up.


Oh and about college, I withdrew. Otherwise I would have had to take and pay for the ‘Class That Cost More Than My Camera’. But I did decide that if I ever lose my job I am taking my 401K retirement money and going to college. It would more than cover the cost. And I could eventually have more earning power in the long run.


Here’s looking towards the future and putting college off for a few more years.


Love to All,


midRae