A sign of the times

Life has been on the busy side... which is quite obvious from the lack of blogging

and during the craziness we've been blessed with Spring!

Thank goodness finals are officially over and we can actually get outside and start enjoying the gorgeous weather!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with more updates on life in Denver!

Grocery Shopping

I have a fabulous husband.

No, seriously.

He goes grocery shopping for me us.

Every week.

Even though I actually enjoy grocery shopping, it's hard for me to fit it in during the week. Jon has Wednesdays off so he decided to take over task, and he's been rocking it.


Today he did a reeeeeaaaaaalllllly good job though :)

Why yes, he is the world's best husband :)

I absolutely LOVE fresh flowers... he knows me so well. He may have also brought me some ice cream too... although I doubt that will last as long as the flowers will.

The Lotus Ponds

Because we still have visitors, blogging has been put on the back burner to an extent.

As I'm going through all of the photos from the last visitors I can't help but feel just completely blessed by all the people we've had take time and money to come see us! Thanks!

So, last year Jon and I went to see some lotus ponds, and ever since then my Mother has decided she needed to see them! So we did!

It was a HOT day... ,and truthfully as bad as I feel for ya'll in MN you have no idea what heat is, but I still managed to get some fun shots of the very few open lotus blossoms.  So beautiful, I think they may be one of my favorites!

I was really itching to take one of these bad boys for a cruise...but no one was with me on that one.

 

Jamie and Danielle thoroughly enjoying the heat :)

 

These leaves were HUGE and the texture was so much fun!

I love the little pods in the center.

Pretty in Pink!

I love the lotus ponds and it's just one more place I'll really miss visiting when we're back in the good 'ole

US of A.

Monday's Meditations: Decisions

For every action, there is a reaction. For every too there is a fro. For every decision there are rewards or consequences.

What happens when you make the same decision as someone else, but with an extremely different outcome?

This past Friday, the 23rd, my dad would've celebrated his 58th birthday.

But 14 1/2 years ago to the day he lost the chance to celebrate anymore birthdays. I don't like to dwell on these types of days and they usually pass by with little notice. Or if I do notice, I really don't bring notice to it. I'm one of many who have lost a loved one. And through all of it I know how absolutely blessed I am to have had 10 short years with my dad, and know I'm even more blessed to have an amazing step-father.

Many years ago my father made a decision. A decision to leave his wife and children to live a very different lifestyle. My dad chose homosexuality. I'm not sure what his reward for this decision was, but I know the consequences have taken their toll on everyone involved.

Obviously those consequences resulted in disappointment from family members, limited time with his children, AIDS/HIV, and ultimately... death.

To say that this wasn't devastating would be a lie. But I truly think that my family is tight knit and stronger because of his decisions. We are more accepting of others. We are able to share emotion freely and able to talk about difficult things. Those are some of the rewards amongst all the struggle.

But I guess my question is what about  other men, who made the same choices and decisions, who've reaped some of the same consequences... and yet they have lived through it all.  The reason I'm even contemplating any of this, is because of an article I found on CNN.

30 years with HIV: 3 men reflect

It got me wondering why things just turn out so differently for what you think should be happening. That's not to say I'd want any of these men dead... but at the same time I couldn't help but wonder why they weren't and my dad is!

These men made similar choices to my fathers. These men have lived with AIDS/HIV for 30 years. Some of them have had numerous surgeries, been on numerous drugs and medicines. But the fact remains, they have LIVED. While my father had months... they have had years!

I guess I'm just interested in and amazed at how life paths can all seem so similar, and yet they turn out unsimilar 

What small difference in each of these men's lives added up to the result in an early death for some, and long lives for others?

Now granted, I don't know that the quality of life of some of these men is all that fantastic. But it's still hard for me to comprehend how they can live with such a horrible virus for so long, when we saw it eat my father away in just weeks.

Decisions in life can be really small and simple, and some can really change our lives and those around us. I just never really thought before how seemingly similar life decision can have such different results from those around us.

And to be honest... that's what I enjoy about life. I like that we are all different. I like that a good decision for someone else, might be a terrible one for me. It's what keeps things interesting and really makes me think about how I was created so perfectly unique. 

But it also gets me wondering to whether I put enough thought into some of my decisions. Do I really think about who I may effect? Do I think of the rewards or consequences enough?

Do you think about decisions too much or too little?

* this post isn't meant to be depressing or a "pity me" post in any way... it's more the circumstances just kind of came together and got me to thinking about this crazy thing we call life :) *

Monday's Meditation: Pipe Dreams

I have a lot of dreams or goals that I'd love to accomplish in my life.

First of which is figuring out what flower this is!!! Seriously... it was gorgeous and on a tree in our neighbors yard. I WANT these flowers. I NEED these flowers. and I MUST have them.

I also have dreams of having kids, staying at home with them, traveling, and just having a lovely long life with my husband.

And most recently I'm coming closer and closer to reaching my dream of grad school for psychology. It's been a goal I've had for years. And I'm so close to getting there, and yet I've found a new dream creeping up on me.

As many of you know, I really enjoy working out, exercising, and being healthy in general. I spend the majority of my free time at school looking up fitness tools, and researching different theories, aspects of training... etc.

Really I love it.

I enjoy watching the biggest loser, I enjoy reading fitness blogs, and weight loss blogs. I love to see people transform and I thrive and feel proud of complete strangers when I see the whole process of their weight loss or reaching their fitness goals.

So, even though it may just be a pipe dream, I really want to be a personal trainer. That, or teach some sort of fitness class at a club. And quite frankly I think that psychology fits in perfectly with this dream.

I have always love helping people with issues in their lives. I enjoy helping others find clarity and peace in their lives. And I think that being a personal trainer would just emphasize that in a different way. I'd be physically seeing those changes and people dealing with those issues.  There is just so much more to fitness and weight loss than the actual weight. So much of it is emotional and mental and the fact that people just have to work through issues. And that's where I come in :)

I'm not sure if this will every happen, or if it's just something I'll always think about. But right now I'm strongly considering looking into it while we are out in CO. It could be the perfect part- time job I would need while getting my Masters.

In other fitness dream news... I finally finished P90X... woo hoo!!!! And of course now I'm on to the next insane schedule :)

Oh and if you know what flowers these are ... please let me know. I'm dying here!

Something to think about: What are some dreams or goals you've had? What would you like to accomplish in life?