Day 22 What’s an inside joke you have with someone?

Happy Hump Day!


Well, if I have an inside joke with someone, me telling the world, or the 15-20 people who normally read my blog would defeat the purpose wouldn't it? So instead I want to know something from you all. What is your favorite sweet thing? (This actually is going to require you all to leave a comment.)


Why am I asking? Well, first I promised a friend (or two?) I would make them something for Opening Weekend. Now, a certain cake food (the kind that comes in cups) may have to be included but I have no idea what flavor to make because I was recently told everyone doesn't like chocolate. Um, what? Those people are aliens, right?


Somewhere on my Pinterest I have a recipe for Dr. Pepper cupcakes. If you aren't from Texas and you somehow stumbled into this blog, let me explain, Dr. Pepper is considered the greatest drink on the planet earth....to Texans. (I am a Hoosier by birth. Don't tell my friends, but Dr. Pepper is alright. I prefer Diet Cherry Coke.)

I have admitted that my downfall is ice cream. Blue Bell Tin Roof is like little bit of heaven. Obviously I am not bringing ice cream to the Ballpark. The other options are brownies which personally, I prefer but since I am not eating this stuff, that doesn't matter, or some form of cookie. This is a Rolo cookie. Wow!



Yes, I will be noshing on this stuff: Mmmmmm! Or something a bit healthier than raw sugar because I have a mission to complete! :)




So help me out! If you see me on Opening Day/Night, what do you want from me?


Simply,
Laura
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Challenge 21: What I would regret if I die tomorrow

These are such happy blog challenges! No not game 6. Actually, maybe that too. :( This one is easy. I would regret not having a baby. I don't care if I have a child naturally or adopt but I have always wanted to be a mother. I'm not sure it will ever happen but if it didn't, I would definitely regret the lost chance. Yes, I have names picked out. They have changed over the years and may or may not be negotiable if a father ever shows up. My little girls name is Kayleigh. The name has the same meaning as Laura which I thought was cool but already having 4 nieces and a nephew with L names plus my own makes any more L names super unlikely. If I had a boy I would love to have James in his name. That was my dad's name and if I use it as a first name I would probably call him Jamie. Of course, if a dad ever did show up, I realize he may have dibs on his son's name. Guys are like that for some reason. I always thought since I am the one that has to carry the baby for almost 10 months, I should get right of first refusal on the name as compensation. So far, that thought hasn't gone over well with men I know. :)


I do love my puppies however and they are like my 4 legged kids.
Ries is my long haired dachshund. Ries is short for Riesling which was the only German word I could think of that wasn't Dirk Nowitzki. Her name was supposed to be BEVO but if you look at that face you can clearly see their is nothing BEVO like about her. \m/

Sadie is my pound puppy. She is the happiest dog on the planet earth. I actually couldn't believe someone had surrendered a wire hair dachshund to a kill shelter. I picked her up the day she became available. She is Ries' dog. Neither one of them know that. Ries is a typical long haired dachsie and she gets anxious when I am gone. She loves other people but she only trusts me. Sadie trusts everyone so it makes it much easier to have her '


Simply,
Laura
- Posted from my iPad all rights reserved


Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad all rights reserved

What are the 10 most significant events of my life? Challenge 19

10. The day I bought my house. It was Feb. 1999. Buying a house as a single person before I turned 30 was a major life event! I intended this house to be a 5 year home but my life didn't take the turns I thought it would.




9. The day I started working for GEICO. Who knew I was going to make auto insurance a career? I remember when I went to orientation the AVP saying "Nobody grows up saying 'I want to be in Insurance'. You can only have so many astronauts & firemen." (Ah, firemen!)
8.& 7. The day my nephew was born & the day my triplet nieces were born. Both days are equal. Love those kids. They changed the world for most of us.




6. The day we moved to Texas. Indiana will always be my home but Texas has been good to me, mostly.




5. The day I decided to go to The University of Texas. I'm not sure it was the best choice for me but I made some awesome friends and UT will always be in my top 2 Universities. The heart loves who the heart loves and I love Texas & Notre Dame.




4. The day my dad was diagnosed with non-hodgkins Lymphoma.
3. The day the surgery to remove my dad's cancer was unsuccessful.
2. The last time I saw my dad. I asked for his cherry jello & asked him why his cheeks were black. (Chemo). I had no idea it would be the last time. I was only 5 and by that time, we had spent months out of three years at the hospital.
1. The day I lost my father. I can't stress this enough. It has shaped every part of my life, for better or worse. I don't think it is surprising that I am still single or deep down, that I am probably more than a little afraid of loving a man. It has taken the adult me years to calm that devastated little girl who lost the first man she ever loved and turned him into a hero that no other man could live up to.
Hopefully, that is the last time in this or any challenge that I have to touch on 1-4. I will always have a special place for my memories and my past but I have turned my attention to the present and future and that is my focus.
Natalie Grant has a song called Live For Today. That is kind of my plan. Here is the chorus:
I'm gonna live for today
I'm gonna follow in your way
I'm gonna let my little light shine
Like there's no tomorrow
I won't worry about the past
I know my future is intact
So I'll choose to live my life one way
I'm gonna live it for today
















Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad all rights reserved

Simply,
Laura

Day 18 Challenge: My (baseball) goals plus Stars pictures!

I am not going to make this one too deep. My personal goal is to see all the major league ballparks before I die. So far I have seen a few that no longer exist and a few that do. Obviously, I spend a lot of time at this place.





I have also been to this place a couple times!




And these ballparks that are no more:


I spent a lot of time in that old ballpark growing up. Here is the view I remember. A ton of bad baseball was played at this ballpark but there are even more great memories!


This was a terrible baseball park!


This one wasn't as bad but the new one looks amazing, on TV!



I have also been to this place in the off season. Haven't seen a game there. If I do, it will be a Cubs game and clearly I will be pulling for the visitors!


That image brings me nightmares & I apologize to all of my Rangers friends but this is an honest blog!

Remember guys:






Here are some pictures from Friday.
I went shopping with my friends Rachel, Monica, and Julie and we came across this shirt:


We didn't buy it thankfully because we later found it at the Rangers Pro-shop where we can actually use our discount! (I may or may not have purchased another Rangers shirt. Don't judge me. All my old ones are too big!)

Later we went back to Monica's. Here is Rachel trying to protect herself from Kappy, Monica's hair loving bird.



Here is the Rangers Pro-shop. True story, that place next to Josh Hamilton where the Ballpark now sits used to be CJ Wilson. Before CJ it was Tom Hicks. I am glad they replaced it with a Ballpark image because clearly the spot is people cursed.


This is Monica (wearing the Rangers shirt) Rachel, Lenetha, and Julie at the Stars game!


Here are more Stars pictures:






(I have crazy eyes in all of these because I am taking the silly pictures!)



We started out here:


and ended up here:


And naturally, the Stars win because we brought them lots of good luck and GOALS!!!!



Kari was awesome last night, by the way! Got to meet up with my favorite Stars friend from Twitter last night. Jerry, it was awesome. So glad you were not disappointed! Next time, bring Mrs. Jerry over too. Can't wait to meet the lady who you talk so glowingly about! We will see you at the Ballpark soon, friend!






Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad all rights reserved

Challenge 18: Who I admire most. Plus Friday's Diet update.

Without a doubt the person I admire most is my Mom. I have often said that God took my father when I was so young but He knew it would be okay because He had given me such an amazing mother. My mom was 25 years old with a 2 year old and a newborn when she found out her husband had non-Hodkins lymphoma. It is a cancer that was a death sentence to 80% of the suffers. (I am happy to say that today that isn't the case, it is survived by about 80% of people today because of early detection). Two and a half years later my 27 year old mother became a widow. Honestly, I probably would have had a breakdown. I can't even imagine living through that loss. Mom will tell you it was her kids that kept her sane. Five years after my Dad passed away my Mom decided to move to Texas. She was a single mother with a ten & eight year old and she knew absolutely nobody in Dallas. She moved because she felt it was the only option for all of us to move on. She is a truly amazing woman. She loves her family and is a great mom. She drives me crazy sometimes but honestly, I am pretty sure everyone's mom drives them crazy sometimes.



Argh! This week has been annoying. I have been sore since Monday so my workouts have been hard. I made some diet changes including adding a green smoothie into my diet and I am expecting to see some health benefits. Honestly, I don't get anywhere near the veggies & fruits I should so I am hoping this helps. I am struggling. I am constantly hungry late at night, the worst time to eat. Part of this is because my schedule is off. Being home, I actually forget to eat or I am out running around and I won't eat fast food so I miss lunch or don't eat it until 2:30 and you know this means I don't get hungry for dinner until about 8:30. Insanity! So, I am going to concentrate on getting in regular healthy meals on time. I go back to work at the end of next week so that will at least get me back on schedule. All of that to say, I lost only 2 pounds this week. I do realize that is not a bad result. I just have gotten used to the 5 pound weeks and was hoping for a few more of those! Yes, I realize that isn't realistic. I also realize my body is still adjusting and will be for a couple more weeks to all the changes from the Myomectomy. That is okay because there is a light at the end of this tunnel. In 2 more weeks I can return to kick boxing, kettle bells, and Zumba class and start on Ab work again. I tried to do some Ab work at home and I have done a Zumba DVD but neither was all that successful and I shouldn't have attempted either yet. I don't do waiting well, if you haven't figured this out.
Total weight lost 58.

So, here are a couple of photos of my new sofa & the final product once I finished refinishing the $8.00 coffee table. The 2 throw pillows on the sofa are old & won't be staying but I can't say how proud I am of my new living room & how thrifty I was! I may never buy retail again. As you can see, Sadie & Ries love their new sofa.
Finally, I owe my neighbor Sharon for not only telling me to go look at CCA but also doing my bargaining, driving the get away truck, helping to move the sofa, and lastly getting Tony and Chris to actually move the sofa into the house. Thanks to Tony & Chris for their muscle! One piece of advice to anyone looking at furniture. Measure! This sofa almost didn't make it into my living room. It was a tight fit getting it through my entryway.






Smile everyone, you made it!


Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad all rights reserved

Challenge 17- I think? Something I wish I could say to someone.

Isn't it silly that the hardest thing in the world for me to say is no? I wish I could say it without disappointing people. They had all the managers at my office take a personality test and it turns out I scored 97% in people pleasing. Let's just say I wasn't shocked. Do you have any idea how exhausting it can be trying to make everyone around you happy, all the time? I realize that I can't really make anyone happy. You chose to be happy or not. Still, no shouldn't be such a struggle.




Some small stuff I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful for my Opening Day tickets. Okay, this one maybe kind of big but I have to put it in there. I have gotten Opening Day tickets to the Rangers every year for, at least the last 5 years and the last two years required mini-plans. I remember when it wasn't hard to get Rangers tickets & the Ballpark was only half filled. Now I am forced to share my team with people who don't actually know why Robin Ventura will hear boos forever!



2. I am thankful that I didn't have to give up this stuff for Lent!


3. I am thankful for OPI. In a blog later in the challenge, you will see just how thankful. (Brace yourselves!)



4. I am thankful for the incredible soreness I have had for the last 3 days! Every time it hurts I remind myself that everyone doesn't have the ability to just move.




5. I am thankful that the T-shirt I wanted to wear on Opening Night was available in a size smaller since it was out of stock in the size I ordered. Hopefully, it will fit....fingers crossed & lots of green smoothies in my future. (This shirt is not it. Sorry, you have to wait!)



What are you thankful for?

Okay, just have to brag a little. Check out my $8.00 coffee table! I refinished the top last night. I get my 'new' sofa tonight & will share tomorrow.


Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad all rights reserved

Challenge 16 What People Notice

Does it seem to anyone else like all I talk about in these challenges is me, me, me? This is a 'Getting to know Laura' challenge because at the end of 30 days you all will know things my Mom doesn't. Please don't tell her. Thanks! ;)




Physically what people notice is one of two things, my hair or my eyes. (Forgive he curly hair but I wasn't in the mood to straighten it today.) I am just grateful if it isn't my nose! My God-daughter once told me that her dog always barks at me because he thinks my hair is on fire. She reminded me of this when she saw my hair was back to it's natural color. My hair by the way, will be staying red. Sorry to all the blonde fans. It's National Ginger Awareness Day today, by the way so love a redhead. Remember, a little feisty goes a long way! :-0




My eyes are hazel but the green and light brown colors blend to look kind of like dark honey. I had a doctor once say they look the same color as my hair. The red hair not blonde or brown. (Yes, I went brown once too.) Truthfully, I am forever trying to get the green to show up because I would love to have red hair and green eyes.








What people notice most about my personality is that I am totally obsessed with sports. (Did anyone miss this?) Football, basketball, even hockey are all fun and I love watching my teams including the World Champion Dallas Mavericks (#BeatTheLakers) but by now you know my true love, my heart belongs to the back to back American League Champion Texas Rangers. I attend over 25 games a season, most in the blast furnace of Texas heat, not including post-season. As a longtime Rangers fan the fact that I can type the words, not including post-season brings a smile to my face. I love my team. I can't wait for baseball season to start again. Oh, wait just a minute. Hold everything. Pitchers and Catchers reported TODAY! It's baseball time in Texas! Happy Dance!








Today is Ash Wednesday and if I do it right, I will be at church at some point this afternoon to get my sacramental. I have debated a lot over what to do for Lent. Everyone always thinks it is about giving things up but you can take things on as well. So, I thought I would share what I have decided. For Lent I am going to spend more time each day in prayer and actually reading God's word. As a result I would expect a drop off on my use of social media, especially once I return to work. This is a good thing. I spend way too much time on Twitter. I love my Tweeps but it is time to experience life away from my phone and iPad. I didn't get a cell phone until I was 30 and now I can't seem to live without it. That would be logical if I was actually using it to speak to people. I rarely call anyone. I do use Facebook & text but mostly, I tweet. Way. Too. Much. It is time for me to break up with my phone and concentrate on other things for a time.




Remember today, we all have blessings, look for yours & Go Rangers!
Hugs!
Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad all rights reserved

Simply,
Laura