Simple.

There's this saying that I've seen in e-mails here and there and it goes like this: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways at an insane rate of speed, wine in one hand and chocolate in the other, with the body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Can I just say that that is completely not any desire of mine for life. Now, I have some family members that use this phrase in their signatures for their e-mail, so if you're reading this, don't be offended. I don't mean to offend anyone. :) I'm just saying that I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, including what I want out of life and I've come to this conclusion: I just want to live a simple life. Is that weird?

Now, I'm not saying that I don't want to have any fun and I'm not saying that I want to be numb and lifeless to life, either. After all, I'm always up for getting together with friends and family, playing games, going to various events, etc., and having a good time! I'm just saying that I don't want to be extreme about life. I think that if I live a quiet, inconspicuous, Godly life, I'll be happy. I couldn't ask much more than that, really. I don't feel a need to work up the career ladder and be uber-successful, nor do I feel the need to do wild and crazy things in the event that I regret NOT doing them when I'm older.

I just want to have a simple life. That's all. I'd be happy with that. :)

Friday's To-Do List + Weekend Plans

On my list for today:

1. Write letters (I have about six that I'd like to get in the mail today)
2. Filing
3. Pay and organize bills
4. Load new pictures onto Snapfish and then order them
5. "Read" some books that are due back to the library today (I will just have to scan through them because there is no renewal possible on them. :(
6. Sort through an order of Snapfish pictures I recently received and put them into a photo album.
7. Label the new photos in the photo albums.
8. Create some goals for myself in regards to a healthier lifestyle and what I want to achieve by summer 2009.
9. Go to supper with a friend. Yay! :o)

Pretty big day, huh?!? :) I'm already excited for the sense of accomplishment that I'll feel when I cross these items off the list today. Wahoo! :)

The rest of my weekend is shaping up nicely, as well. Tomorrow I'm going to go to a rodeo in Cheyenne and then for Sunday, I've already received a lunch invitation, so it will be a social weekend! :) We just received word, too, that gospel meetings are starting again, so my weekend will finish up with a gospel meeting on Sunday night. Can it get better than that?! :)

Enjoy YOUR weekend! If you have a blog, make sure to let us know on Monday what you did over the weekend!

Decisions, decisions...

It never ceases to amaze me how, in life, when things are supposed to "happen," they happen. And when they're not supposed to "happen," they don't. Simple as that! So why do we agonize over life decisions?!? Maybe I'm just speaking for myself on this one, but it seems like I can piddle away SO much time on thinking about the "what if's" and the "what if not's" and I'm just a wreck! I'll pray about it for awhile. I'll consciously WORK on forgetting about it and letting it go. Sooner or later, though, I'm right back to fretting. *sigh* So, when the time actually comes to MAKE the final decision, it's awesome to me that I can be loudly spoken to and that I can have the experience of knowing what to do. Now, what can be rather traumatic, in my mind, is if you KNOW the answer but you choose to do the opposite. Oy.

On my most recent experience, I'm just SO thankful that I was spoken to (loud & clear!) about what to do. I really am thankful! :) So, I'll just sit tight now, and work on accepting the final decision that I followed through with. It's not that I don't have peace about my decision, but I understand that there may be doubts and second-guessing in days to come and I want to be ready for that. Already I can see that the future holds a lot of lessons for me with just this one experience! After all, I will now learn to: a) pray more about what might be ahead and to just be willing for whatever, and b) to just trust that what God is arranging for me for the future will be even BETTER than I can imagine. So I have to trust that and move forward and just take things a day at a time.

Back to work!

Mom & Dad left this morning. We went out to breakfast and then I left for work and they left for the remainder of their trip. They're going to head north and then west and then back home. It should be nice for them!

On Saturday, we took a drive up to the mountains. And the pictures I took that day were the ONLY pictures I took during Mom & Dad's time here!! We really didn't do anything except relax and just have an easy vacation with nothing planned. I sure enjoyed it! I hope they did, too! :)

So, here are some scenery pictures of Saturday. If you want pictures of the family, go back to this post -- the one I put up from my trip home last December. :)

I took these next two videos because I just thought that it was such a serene sight. I love streams and rivers and lakes and such. I LOVE them! Maybe it's because I grew up in a state that has a TON of lakes and rivers and now I live in a place that has FEW. Either way, I enjoyed the power of the streams, but the beauty, too.

An Update

Well, my dad is feeling better now! Wahoo! :) He got to feeling better yesterday afternoon, so that's great. In the meantime, my mom & I just hung out together. We went shopping for awhile, ate our meals at small coffee shops in the area, and played some scrabble. It's been a nice and relaxing time! No pictures yet, but maybe I'll get some in the next few days. :)

They made it!!

Yay! My parents made it to town today! :o) The only bummer...my dad is sick. Mom thinks it's a bit of the flu and I wonder if it isn't food poisoning or something. We'll see how he is feeling tomorrow! Hopefully it passes quickly!!

So, I will update this when I can, but don't hold your breath on anything before mom & dad leave! :) I'll for sure post pictures after they leave (which is planned for Monday). If I can get some pictures up before then, though, I will!

Recharging

Yesterday...was a blast! I went to our local park where they have a ton of festivities going on and I wandered around there for about an hour or so. Then, at noon, I headed off to another park on the other side of town for a cookout that some of my friends were having. I ate way too much food during my time there, but there was so many options and it was all SO delicious! :) We played some frisbee, chatted, played volleyball (or rather some people did...I was not one of them because I was too tired by that point!) and just enjoyed the day. I came home, took a shower (because I was totally sweaty and gross from playing frisbee) and it was at that point that I realized something...I hadn't put any sunscreen on in the morning. Luckily, I had tried to stay in a shaded area as much as I could, but I did end up baking a little bit! Ugh. I hate that. Anyway, I was pretty tired at that point, so I took a short 30-minute nap. I then headed over to another friend's house for a cookout there. We had hamburgers and corn on the cob. It was SO delicious!! I hung out with these friends for the rest of the evening and we watched the Colorado Rockies baseball game on their TV. It was a very entertaining game! At about 9:20, we headed to the local golf course and set up residence on their greens to watch the fireworks. As always, it was a great show! I dropped my friends off and then headed home and crashed. I was exhausted!! I slept for about 10 hours last night (yikes!) and I am feeling SO lazy today! I have a to-do list to work on (laundry, dishes, sweeping, etc.), but I plan on taking A-L-L day to work on it. :) And I might just even get a nap in there, too. :)

So, it was a great day yesterday and I plan on just chillin' out and relaxing for the rest of the weekend now. Everyone needs to recharge after a packed day like that! :) I hope the rest of you had a great day, too! If you have a blog, make sure to let us know what you did for the 4th! I'd love to hear!