He Loves Me...

The one on the right.
He lives in the neighborhood by my house where I run. He is super affectionate and has a very chicoesque quality about him where he wants me all to himself and bullies the other horse out of his way until it’s just me and him. I don’t know his name, so I’m currently referring to him as Willard. Willie for short. Willie makes me miss having a horse to love, but one day, when we have more money for a new compound, I will have my own again. Until then, I will keep running to neighborhood next door to see Willie because he loves me, and for right now, that’s good enough for me.

Love in his eyes.

Staying On Course.

“A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all-knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.”-Eleanor Roosevelt


I love how encountering the things you don’t like in life push you closer to the things that you do want in life. Or how seeing what you don’t like in a person drives you to be a better person. I am not the perfect person and I’ve certainly experienced being emotionally troubled in the past. I would even go so far as to say that I don’t know if the person I am today would want to be friends with the person I used to be. Thankfully, I have grown and am a much different person now, but every now and again you experience something or come in contact with someone who reminds you just how important it is to continue evolving and developing your values.
Even though I try to live my life in an understanding and compassionate way, not everyone else does. I’ve learned how important it is to not engage in that behavior because the test of my character comes from how I handle myself in the face of negativity. Now, more than ever, I realize just how short life is and how important it is that each person live their life with love and not hate. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost on the path that you’re traveling because saying is a lot easier than doing. Being someone who has spent a lot of time in the past being lost, I always try to remind myself of the basic things that encompass how I want to live my life and that shape the person I want to be.

*I believe we should all have our own beliefs and viewpoints, but be tolerant and open to those who’s are different than our own. What is point of having a mind if you don’t open it?? If you don’t understand, then educate. Spend more time listening then talking. Take the time to try and understand. If what you believe is different than what someone else believes, it doesn’t automatically make them wrong. We’ve all had different life experiences that make up our individual frame of reference and we should all learn to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before we judge.

*Attitude affects everything. I think we all spend so much time focusing on the bad that we miss the good that someone may have to give or maybe we spend too much time complaining about what is wrong with this world that we fail to see what it has to offer. Your mindset can be the key to everything. It’s how you see the world, how you see other people. It can determine whether you see a setback or an opportunity or see a friend or a foe, so get your mind right.

*Be confident in yourself, but always remain humble. Trust me, if you’re arrogant or conceited, the world will see through it. If you spend a lot of time talking about how great you are or how great your life is, you’re really only trying to sell and convince yourself and not the people around you. Confidence can be seen in how you carry yourself. You don’t need to broadcast it. Don’t let your ego run your life. We all at one time or another let our own pride affect our relationships with other people, but in the end, if you don’t get over yourself, you’ll be left with only yourself.

*Spend less time competing with others and more time helping others. We’ve all probably heard, “he who dies with the most toys wins,” but the author of this trademarked phrase is a jackass. Don’t waste your time trying to be dominant over the next person. I’m pretty sure that having more possessions than the next person is a goal that even the biggest Neanderthal would laugh at. You won’t prove your worth through superficial possessions, or by being prettier than the next person, or how well connected you are. What defines your worth will come from what you do for other people and how you love.

Lastly and to sum this up…

* Believe. Live your own life. Laugh at yourself. Hustle. Be Original. Suck it up. Be Grateful. Inspire and be inspired. Do without being asked. Read. Do something no one else is doing. Pray. Go against the grain. Love. Smile at a stranger. Give to the less fortunate. Exercise. Talk about ideas, not people. Step outside your comfort zone. Encourage. Embrace. Take a chance. Pay it forward. Create. Forgive.

So...

Life has gotten pretty interesting over the past week and I’ve had no time for blogging, but here a few of my favorite stills from the past few weeks.

Teen Talent

We spent Sunday evening at a talent showcase where Ryan’s little sister, Melissa, was participating with her church group in different drama categories for both the Middle School and High School students. Their show will eventually be taken on the road to Nashville, TN to compete against other teens from various church groups. She was singing, she was acting, she was dancing, and she was GOOD!  I was so impressed with her abilities and stage presence. Even though the showcase started at 6pm on a Sunday, during the playoffs, I was so impressed with the work and dedication of this  church community which is providing these teens with a platform to cultivate their craft. There is a lot of inspiration and hope to be drawn from watching teenagers who are really good at something AND who are working to build on that talent through the avenues that are available to them.

“Juney bug”-Status Update

Yes, I’m calling Junior, “Juney Bug” now. Poor goat. Hank gets “Big Sexy” and he gets stuck with this horribly effeminate nick name. It's shit like this that could, quite possibly, be what’s behind his overly zealous need to delve so far deeply into Rut that he repels people with a single wiff of him. It probably also explains why Jr. has to attempt dominance over Hank at all times, even though he fails miserably. Moving on….

Ryan took Jr back to Kannapolis the Wednesday before New Year’s Eve to have his leg evaluated for what would be, the very last time. He had developed a little sore spot so the vet was inclined to not even bother with a soft wrap for his last couple weeks of recovery. So, he finally has his cast off and even though his leg looks a little crooked, he runs around on it like a champ. I think it gave him a little too much extra confidence, though. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, Jr had Hank engaged in yet another battle that would not go his way.

New Years Eve

Well, today is Snow Day #2. I’m pretty sure I’ve been in my pajamas for almost 48 consecutive hours now and feel very little remorse. Over the course of the past two days I’ve managed to do a ton of laundry, ate breakfast in bed, shoveled the driveway, finished reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy And Denim, ate lunch in bed while watching music videos, played in the snow, learned how to work my video software at a very amateur level, edited and organized a ton of photos, did yoga, and of course, monitored my work email. It’s been like a mini vacation, but one that forces you to stay home and catch up on all the rest and relaxation you always complain about needing, but that there is never a good time for.

So, New Years Eve…..

We went to Georgia as we normally do, but instead of hitting Greg & Lisa’s annual NYE party, Tom got us tickets to The PunchLine in Atlanta. I had never been to a comedy show before so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had sort of imagined a struggling comedian with awkward delivery and poor stage presence, but I was totally wrong. There were two opening acts, one being Flip Schultz, and one headliner, Dale Jones. I can’t remember who the other opening act was, probably because he fell more in line with my original vision and brought more crickets than laughs. Dale Jones was a semi-finalist from season 6 of the Last Comic Standing and was hilarious and crazy.
After getting our laughs in we went to dinner with Ryan’s dad, sister Madison, uncle Joe, uncle Mike & his partner Joanne. We were finished with dinner well before midnight. Now, this is where things get interesting. NYE is not really one of those occasions that you can really fly by the seat of your pants. We had already ended up dining at a desolate Mexican restaurant instead of the rockin’ bar and grill across the street which had been our original destination of choice. Given our current location and the likelyhood of finding a respectable establishment to bring in the New Year, we focused on the next best choice which would really only have to meet a modest set of criteria. Booze and some music. Oh, and of course, some coverage of the peach drop. Now, when you’re desperate and find yourself setting the bar this low, you are bound to end up with wild success. Why? Well you really don’t care where you are. You are more concerned with who you're with and just having a good time. The name of the bar is Rudy’s and it’s a biker bar. And a honky tonk. In Georgia. And it reminded me of home. Enough said.