P90X

Well, a few days ago, I was watching a bit of Dr. Oz. His guest just happened to be Tony Horton of P90X fame. Now, a couple of years ago, my daughter, Suzanne and I started the P90X exercise program. We continued for approximately 30 days and stopped. It was HARD!!
I managed to persevere for that short amount of time, but eventually, I started finding reasons why I couldn't exercise on a particular day. This continued for about a week and then.....no more P90X.

Now....quite unexpectedly, there is good old Tony Horton, talking with me through the television screen. I have to say, Tony looked really good.......older than in his videos, but still a shining example of good health.
I started to think about the P90X program. When I was doing it, it was really good for me. Now, I had already made a semi New Year's resolution to add Yoga to my physical training regime. I'm testing for a first degree Black Belt in TKD in August. I want to amp up my training schedule so that I can knock that test "out of the park". The P90X actually has a great Yoga dvd included in the 12 dvd set. So, I rustled through my dvd collection and there it was......my stack of P90X dvds.....waiting there for me, not actually calling my name, but eager for me to blow the dust off them and start to "Bring It" as Tony says.

I've got two P90X routines now under my belt. While they are hard, I was surprised that in the interval between when I stopped before and today, I've gotten a lot more fit. Kudos to my martial arts teacher and diligent TKD training!!

So.....my New Year's Resolution is this......
To stay on track with P90X for the entire year.....
Black Belt here I come!!

Things I Cannot Live Without

This morning as I was rushing to leave for church, my husband sat in his chair talking with me. We had to laugh because as I was apologizing for leaving a huge mess on my computer desk, clearly the items dear to my heart accounted for the clutter found there:

My computer
Not one, but two, bottles of Diet A&W Root Beer
Lots and lots of make up and skin creams
A large oval make-up mirror
An eight by ten photo of us in Hawaii, taken five years ago on our 30th wedding anniversary
My blue appointment book which literally contains everywhere I need to be and when I need to be there (I panic if I lose this!)
My alarm clock
My cell phone
My Bible
And....a cup of hot water with lemon.
Everything a girl needs to survive her day!!

Homegrown Roses

My love of roses began when we lived in Midland, Texas. The previous owner of our home had planted about a dozen huge red rose bushes which gifted us a bounty of roses each year! Then, when we moved to our home here in Waxahachie, I missed those rose bushes, so I eventually planted a few rose bushes of my own. Today I had the pleasure of cutting some of my homegrown roses for display.

 Recently,I found this vintage (circa 1930 to 1940) flower frog vase in a thrift store for only $3.00! Similar ones are going for $30.00 on Ebay. I think the roses look quite nice in the frog vase.

This was so satisfying!! I do love roses!!

The Original Three

On a Saturday not too long ago I enjoyed dinner with three of my adult children. I tend to think of them as "The Original Three" because they were our first three biological children before we began the adoption journey. Siblings in our family are spread out from age thirty-nine to age fourteen. (Because some of our children came via adoption, two of our children are actually older than "The Original Three".) Consequently, our youngest children only lived with "The Original Three" a year to a few years before this trio flew the nest. Even today, with families and busy lives of their own, they still remain tremendously committed to our big  family! Thank you, God, for "The Original Three"! My heart is full with gratefulness that I have the privilege of being their mom!

Old Texas House......Happy Halloween

The Old Texas House hails from Gonzales, Texas. While visiting there last weekend, I discovered this wonderful old Texas house all ready for trick or treaters!

Tiny Texas Houses!!

Last weekend, I traveled to Austin to visit with three of my adult children....Stephen, Alison May, and Suzanne. Saturday morning, Alison May, Suzanne, and I drove to Luling, Texas. Luling is the home of a company named Tiny Texas Houses, a totally appropriate name because, well, the houses are Tiny. At least, the houses are much tinier than the houses I am familiar with! Check out www.tinytexashouses.com to read about the vision of this company's owner, Brad Kittel. Basically, the idea is that we Americans live with much too much materially, and our lives and environment would be simpler and happier if we lived with much less. Kittel uses salvaged building materials to construct these tiny houses. This is such an interesting concept to me. I have always been interested in lifestyles that are different from "normal". Settling down in a Tiny Texas House would definitely fit the "different" sort of living bill!
Check out these pictures.

Thoughts on the Midlothian TKD Tournament

This past Saturday, my TKD do-jo held its' annual TKD invitational tournament. Other schools from Texas and Oklahoma participated. I have to say that I am disappointed in my performance.  I just recently learned my new pattern,Choong-Moo. Choong-Moo requires me to perform a 360 degree jump turn. Needless to say, it is going to be several months to a year of persevering before I can complete that turn. So....I didn't perform my pattern up to the standard needed for competition. Next time, I won't enter a tournament unless I know I can perform the required pattern consistent with competition standards. This was my first tournament where I didn't place first, second or third, and I was sad. On the other hand, I left the tournament wiser than when I started. Watching the younger black belts with their crisp kicks and punches helps me to aim higher and farther in my pursuit of TaeKwon-Do.