Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Living the Journey {fears}

Do you have an irrational fear? Or maybe it isn't irrational, you know exactly why you're afraid of that particular something.

I have my fair share.
I hate flying! It is such a trust - to put your life entirely into someones care and to be utterly helpless and defenseless. (Oh, and if you share this fear, don't put yourself through watching Flight, trust me!)

I'm not exactly the most relaxed during storms. There is just something about the unknown. And hello, "Act of God" there is a reason insurance companies call it that - it is beyond our control!

Doctors. Something about going to the doctor makes me so uneasy. Even for a routine check up. I go out of my way to make sure that I am the most comfortable I can be when I visit the doctor. I research the practice, the physician, what the visit is for and what to expect. I usually read up on this two or three times before I make it to the office.

Today I had a doctors appointment, we're starting the work on doing some genetic testing to see if I am a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis.  Something that I don't usually talk about is the fact that my little brother has CF.
This is a visit that we've known for a while will be necessary for our peace of mind. It's the responsible thing to do. 

As I was visiting with the doctor a multitude of things came up, throughout our conversation (it was a long visit) we discussed my faith. Later in the conversation she made a passing comment that I seemed very well educated on matters pertaining to this visit. I thanked her because it was obviously meant to be a compliment, but it got me to thinking. I wish I could blame my excessive and thorough knowledge simply on my familiarity with the disease because it is in our family. The truth is I know so much because I trust so little.

I don't trust the pilots - I don't have a personal relationship with them.
I don't trust the weather - I can't control it.
Doctors make me nervous - because they can bear bad news.
In short, I don't trust the unknown.

It's really a complete contradiction if you know me in real life.
For as much as I don't trust these things, I am beyond trusting of people I meet and those I know and love.

I know that I need to work on my trust issues.
There isn't anything wrong with being prepared - but some things will always be an unknown factor.

My prayer tonight -

Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

I can see that chariot, and I can see the horse. I can visualize them and have a trusting relationship with that horse. I need to remember that the ultimate trustworthy individual is God - nothing is out of control.

Bad pilots, horrible storms, unplanned diagnosis.
They're all in His plans.

_____________________________________________________________

I hope you'll join us this week!!
Rules:
- Follow Rebekah & Myself
- Grab a button & link up
- Share a blog about how you are Living the Journey or any general post
- Visit other blogs and see how they're Living the Journey

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Binging



Have you seen the new Netflix Original Series, House of Cards?
I was reading an article about the series and how they developed it (and of course now I can't find the article to link back). I found it very interesting that the whole season was available at once. They suggested that it was the new trend of binge watching of shows.

In all of my social media classes associated with my Mass Communications classes, I never encountered this idea. It was such an "ah hah" moment for me!  I'd never thought of the way I watched TV as binging, but it's so true! 

My first TV binging was in the pre-Netflix days (ya know, back when we wrote on stone tablets...).
My Dad, brothers and I all really enjoyed the TV series 24. We would go rent a season of 24 on a Friday evening after a dinner out, head home and veg out infront of the TV.
By the end of the weekend, we would have essentially watched 24 hours of television. 

Since then some of the shows I've "binged" on are; Greys Anatomy, Army Wives, Heroes, House of Cards, Baby Daddy, Sister Wives, Bones, Weeds, Rescue Me, Private Practice, Breaking Bad and Burn Notice.  And those are just the ones I can think off the top of my head. 

When I binge watch TV, I'm always doing other things, Netflix usually being the facilitator of this delightful habit, it's handy that I can watch on my laptop as I work in the kitchen or do things other rooms of the house. It isn't as if there are countless hours with me plopped in front of the television doing nothing.

Binge watching drives John nuts! He would prefer for us to watch one or two episodes at a time and then a couple more a few nights later. 

Is this something you do? Is binge watching really becoming a trend as we have more access to lots of television content at once?  Is it a gender specific habit? Am I alone in my unhealthy habit?

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Living the Journey {3} Busy Times

As bloggers we're so accustomed to sharing content:
Real life happens, we take pictures, draft it, edit it, post it.

I saw this as I was perusing Pinterest a while ago - I thought it was so funny!

haha

Have you ever had a time when real life is happening, or better yet - it's happening and consuming all of your life? There is plenty to write about but it just isn't the appropriate time to write about it? That is where I am right now. 

The timing is off. Maybe I worry about it too much - I only have one "in real life" friend who reads my blog with regularity. There's just something so real and final about putting something out there for everyone to see.  Sometimes things just need to stay private amongst family.

I can't wait until the timing is right and I can just talk about what is going on.
In the mean time, I figure it's just another chapter in life.

I hope you'll join us for Living the Journey!
It's all really simple! You just link up a post about what is going on in your life - or how you're Living the Journey (so anything will work, really!) and grab a button!!

Rules:
- Follow Lauren & Myself
- Grab a button & link up
- Share a blog about how you are Living the Journey
- Visit 2 other blogs and see how they're Living the Journey

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Living the Journey {2}

This week has been a whirlwind of craziness!
I'm officially working full time all the time - before I worked about 3/4 of the time and then during busy seasons at work I worked full time & then some. 
Silly, I know, but working full time can be exhausting!!

With all the craziness of being this busy it really makes me appreciate the smaller things in life.

Like sweet tea...
sweet tea
Source
the beginning of baseball season!
(pitchers & catchers reported yesterday!)




Texas Rangers Neon Sign- MLB Man Cave Sign
Source

A good candle...
WoodWick Candles
source

And finally, my favorite:
When the husband has dinner waiting on me when we get home from a long day of work!


I hope you'll join us for Living the Journey!!





Lauren & Rebekah (two best friends since childhood) wanted to find a way to combine their blogs for one day a week in a way that everyone could participate. So they took the best of their two blogs, and Living the Journey was born! So every Wednesday, link up and tell us not only how you're Living & Learning, or how you're Enjoying the Journey; but how you're Living your Journey.

Rules:
- Follow Lauren & Myself
- Grab a button & link up
- Share a blog about how you are Living the Journey
- Visit 2 other blogs and see how they're Living the Journey

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Desire to Inspire: Judging

Thursdays usually roll around and I feel awful for not having a post ready or in the works to link up with Amanda for Desire to Inspire. It's such a great link up and I enjoy participating when I can!
This week, I had two, yes two, posts in the final stages of writing - so there's no excuse for me now!
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Judging - it's something that can happen so fast you don't even realize you do it.
I'm a critical person, I look into everything for meaning. 
What did she say? She must have meant....
So an innocent thought of "what did that mean" can quickly turn into or reflect judgement on my behalf. 
Judgmental, snap comments are as much a habit as anything we do.
Sometimes I have to remember that it isn't okay to say whatever is on my mind.

A great example of this was me sticking my foot in my mouth the other day - 
I was entering payments in the office and I came across a check that was covered in sprawling chicken scratch. If it weren't for the saving grace of the name & address at the top, I wouldn't have known who it was from or what it was for.  As I looked up past invoices for this client to attempt to decipher the amount the check was made out for (praying that she was paying an exact amount) I popped off to a co-worker that this lady needed to go back to grade school. That she wrote like a three year old. 
That was the moment that my co-worker provided me with the piece of information I was missing.
The key piece of knowledge that would have been the difference between my judgmental comment or a showing of grace, patience and understanding. 

The lady who wrote the check is legally blind.
Of course her handwriting is less than perfect.

Embarrassed, I stuttered out a semblance of an apology Oh, I didn't know, whoops.
 In my mind I attempted to console myself and reign in my reddening cheeks. 
How could you have known I thought.
It's not your fault, no one told you. 
 And yes, I suppose to a degree that was a tactless off the cuff comment.
What it really brought to light though is the truth.
How often do I judge without knowing the circumstances.
They could have been raised differently, they may not know better, I don't know what is going on in their life, ...

I need to do a better job of extending Grace rather than passing Judgement.


I hope you'll consider joining in Desire to Inspire!
A Royal Daughter

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Living The Journey {1 The little things}

Good morning!! I'm so excited to be hosting our first link up with Lauren!!

Sometimes in life when things are stressful it always seems to be the little things piling up that make life crazy. 

- Like how many more days will we have fog?!? It adds 10 minutes to my drive!
- Going full time at work!! Exciting (and I guess that's more of a big thing...) but then I realize all the things I have been putting off doing in the 2 hours in the morning I don't work and now I don't know when I'll do them.

Sometimes it's hard to look at the big picture. But today I'm trying to remind myself to keep my eye on not the little things that can bog down joy, but on the big things that matter in the long run!

I hope you'll join Lauren and I today & every Wednesday!!

The rules are simple:
Follow Lauren and I.
Grab a button & post it in your post or on your sidebar
Write a post & link up! We want everyone to be able to participate, so any post is great!! 
Visit other blogs in the link up! Lauren and I did this as a way to network and grow our blogging community - get out there and meet some great new bloggers!!


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

All the Cool Kids do it...

... don't forget that this Wednesday is the first link up hosted by Lauren & I!!

Lauren & Rebekah (two best friends since childhood) wanted to find a way to combine their blogs for one day a week in a way that everyone could participate. So they took the best of their two blogs, and Living the Journey was born! So every Wednesday, link up and tell us not only how you're Living & Learning, or how you're Enjoying the Journey; but how you're Living Your Journey (no particular post is required, just your participation).



Inline image 1

Monday, February 4, 2013

My tactless thoughts on the Superbowl

 

What is the point in blogging if you don't take the opportunity to share your less than lovely views on certain things. Here are my opinions of the Super Bowl: the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

- I was bawling like a baby when the Sandy Hook kiddos were singing God Bless America.

- I already didn't exactly like Go Daddy. Their advertising campaign lost me long before now. Primarily because it is ineffective. I've sat through tons of Go Daddy commercials and didn't know what their service was before I read a blog post discussing their move to a self hosted site. Fail on Go Daddy's behalf. And let's just go ahead and seal the deal with Sunday nights commercial.

- Unnecessary Roughness? Of course because they're a bunch of overpaid children who are allowed to do what they want when they want.

When the power outage came, the humor broke out in our home. Some of my favorite tactless jokes from the night at the expense of New Orleans:
  • Someone must have tripped over the extension cord running into Houston
  • This just in from NOLO: the Federal Government was responsible for the electric bill
  • It's a conspiracy - George Bush did it!
  • Thank you NOLO for making Dallas look great! 
    • We can't control the weather - what's your excuse?
Favorite Commercials:
  1. Jeep's "Whole Again" commercial. Brought tears to my eyes.
  2. I'm a Ford girl - but hands down, the Dodge Ram, "God made a Farmer" commercial wins! (love Paul Harvey!)
    Then I had to look away from the Twitter feed about the commercial because apparently America is rather ignorant about the hard work that goes into providing the food they eat. #spoiledfirstworld
  3. Taco Bells - "Viva Mas" commercial! LOVED it!!
  4. The Budweiser "Baby Clydesdale" commercial, because how can you not love it?
  5. The Tide Commercial!