Taylors Dog Obedience Class, Week 9...

Morgan went to class with us last night to cheer Taylor on... and check out all the cute male labs in the class of course too!

She watches on as the competition at the end of class begins...

All the dogs do pretty good at the beginning of the pyramid-down stay challenge...

Taylors friend Newbie (a black lab that looks almost identical to her) stands up looking at her master checking to see if she can leave? I thought it was Taylor they look so much alike... my heart was in my stomach!

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As the competition goes if they break command, you have to go pull them out and the last dog standing wins.

Taylor made it down to the last 6 dogs and when she broke command she didn't just sit up or squirm out of line like she normally does and luckily she didn't go distracting another dog... that is normally her game.

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This time she just got up and trotted off... she was done! It was almost comical.

She had finally figured out the game and when you are done you GET to leave... so she was done and she left!

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It was just so much like who she is... such a free spirit!

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She still isn't perfect in class, with all the dogs and smells, but she minds and does her commands with just hand signals now. She has come so far and she does really well in all the environments we were having trouble with her around our home, at the park, with the neighbors, and even going on trips to D&B now. So we are so proud of her. We hope she get's her diploma next week, we will see.

School sign up stress ~ chilled out by Wed water sports.

Wednesday I went with the teenager to get signed up for school.

His class schedule came in the mail and it was a mess, he was missing two classes and in two of the wrong classes for his grade level, and they didn't have him in a Seminary class. So it would take some work to get it right. But we went in with confidence it would all be good by the end of the day.

Boy were we wrong. They had changed the structure and re-organized the process of getting all these students through 6 stations to get signed up for school (all this outside the actual class schedules).

It wasn't working at all!

My best description would be trying to thread a huge ship rope through the eye of a sewing needle.

It was hours and hours in a single line that ended outside of the school, so the 1st hour we were standing in the HOT SUN!!!

I was not a happy camper, but I brought lots and lots of patience with me, so we survived it.. barely.

And at the end of the day, we couldn't even get into the counselor to get his class schedule changed for another week. So there you go. A fun time, and the teenager would absolutely NOT let me take pictures of him!

Luckily for us for mutual that night the kids had planned some water sports activities.

But you know what happens when you put the kids in charge.... Yes, the water balloon volleyball was over in about 2.5 seconds with everyone soaked and nothing else to do.

So My Strong Silent Mysterious Man ran home and grabbed a couple of huge tarps Uncle Fred had brought us from Louisiana (they saved the day) and set up a water slide!

They threw a little liquid soap on it and the kids finished the nights activities on it.

They tried to get another game of volleyball going, but this was definately the main attraction... they had so much fun. And much to my surprise, no body got hurt! Wahoo!

The teenager... you can see his golf tan on his ankles, his feet are so white!

It wasn't even much of a hill, but they got it pretty slippery...

And a good time was had by all!

A Quiet Sunset...

Last night after my Strong Silent Mysterious Man got home from his really long extended day at work, he announced he was going to bed early. It was all good, but even with just one child in the house, it can be challenging to keep things quiet enough for someone to sleep, as our pups really like to run and leap on the bed as you walk through the room. I guess it is their opportunity to get higher up and get a pat on the head as you walk by, they are harder to miss than when they are at a lower level. Anyway, pretty hard to stay asleep when a dog runs and leaps on top of you... much less three of them!

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So I spent some time on the back porch trying to wear the dogs out so they would come inside and sleep or at least maybe be quiet.

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I watched a beautiful sunset and then it dawned on me to grab my camera (I have gotten out of the habit of carrying it with me lately for some reason).

There wasn't much to take pictures of and I only had a partial view over the fence by the time I grabbed my camera... but I wanted to remember the peace, quiet and beauty of the moment! I don't often take time to be still and listen... it is comforting and helps me to see a little farther outside of my circle of influence when I do, especially when I grab my camera.

Something I love about photography is that when I am holding a camera it helps me see things with more compassion, and from a larger perspective... that doesn't always seem to be my own. I tend to see and feel things that God has created, or things I feel like he would love. It is a smaller view through the lense with much smaller periphial view, but it opens up so much more to my mind than what my eyes can see.

I was trying to decide if I liked sunrises or sunsets better. My flowers have a view of both from my porch and it was interesting to me that all of the blooms face and reach towards the sunset side of their pots.

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I wonder if that has some significant hidden meaning?

Project Me...

My sweet sister is always finding new ways to stay inspired to reach her goals... and luckily it often rubs off on me when she runs it all by me!

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I am so lucky to be the one she runs it by, it's the best position to get the "rub off" affect, I don't think she will mind if I blog about it.

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She is working on her weekly goals between now and our annual Women's 5k Walk Celebration in September. (yeah!! I am so excited she and my Mom are coming over to do this with me this year!!)

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She is calling it "Project Me"!

(I really love that it has a name!!!)

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As part of her goals she has the fitness routine building up each week so that she is in a better position by the time the 5k is here. And part of her nutritional routine includes the water drinking everyday.

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And to keep herself accountable (this is where I fall on my face) she has emailed it to me and my Mom, and then sends a weekly update on how she is doing or not doing.

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Well I have to say, when I got the 1st email... I was like... "I should really be getting ready too". It all crossed my mind and I thought I had pretty good intentions and when I left the computer, all the intentions were gone too!

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Then, when the 2nd email came in reporting on week 1, I felt much more panicked... like it was going to sneak up on me (seemingly like everything else usually does) and I wouldn't be ready (AGAIN!!!). WEEK 1, I am already a week behind!!!! Eeeeekk!!!

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So I began my self talk and decided I needed to get some things in place so I would be happier facing a 5k instead of regretful.

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So yesterday I got my water bottles all filled up and in the fridge with filtered water from a new system my husband was really thrilled about.

(yes the man that doesn't drink water thought we needed a filtration system... probably so I would quit buying bottled water... I can't believe I haven't blogged about this before, anyway another story for another day)

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Today, I woke up to a phone call from my bff making sure I was meeting her to start our walking back... (I had set it up, yep good intentions, and then forgotten about it).

On my way to go walk, it hit me, I hadn't drank one ounce of the water I had prepared for the day before.

Uggg! This "Project Me" wasn't going very well so far!

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But, I was on my way to go walking!! So it might be salvageable!!

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We walked the track at the high school and started out with a goal of 2 miles, so my bff put 8 pebbles in her hand and dropped one every time we made a lap... when the pebbles were gone, it would be 2 miles and we would be done.

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I swear she was picking up pebbles along the way or something... every time I asked to see where we were, there seemed to be more than I thought there should be.

(which is why she found a method of keeping track! I tend to cheat and forget when there is no accountability... I think I am seeing a pattern here).

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Anyway, it was harder mentally, than physically... but when it was over, the satisfaction so much more outweighed the bad self talk I would have experienced had I not done it.

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And something unexpected... it kind of kick started me into drinking my water for the day, I felt a stronger desire to read my scriptures, and make a couple of dreaded phone calls, and check on my neighbor, and play with the dog.

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What I have been contemplating through this entire process... is when I give myself good things, that help me feel better, and focus on what might be good for me. Whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually. It does begin to flow over into other areas of my life, with almost immediate results!!

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I can be a better Mom, a better wife, and sister and friend, if I take the time to focus on "Project Me" first!

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This is not an easy concept for me, but it does work that way!! I know this and have experienced it over and over and over again in my life. Why I can't keep it going and reach some all time big self goals in my life, I do not have that answer yet!

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It all goes back to the Daffodil Principle I love so much...one bulb at a time!

2008 Beijing... Let the Games Begin...

We have had a relaxing weekend and been able to watch some of the Olympic games.

I always enjoy them, and have some favorite events. I am much more intense during the winter games. But I do have some favorite summer events too.

I am not as much of a fan of the team sports, like basketball or volleyball... but I watched some water polo this weekend and was surprised to really enjoy it.

I knew I wanted to watch the opening ceremony... but my man thought it would not be fun to watch thousands of athletes walking into a big stadium.

We were late turning it on, but still caught a great deal of the artistic portion of the ceremony.

It was soooo awesome! I loved it!!

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man even really liked it... he didn't realize there would be so much history revealed. He was really into that part of it, and all the symbolism.

I am sure I will get him to do this again in the future without putting up so much of a fight about it.

He has a sister that is really an Olympic enthusiast and was able to take her kids to some of the venues when it was held in SLC. And I threatened to call her a few times and sick her on him if he didn't get in the mood soon. He is finally into it and was hooked the rest of the weekend to keep watching it.

I find myself very annoyed by journalists on world events, but I have to say they are doing a pretty good job this time. I only got really perturbed once during the men's gymnastics broadcast when they kept throwing out the "Chinese Curse" from the past. And for each athlete that had struggles or weakness with routines in the past, they would keep bringing them up. That really annoys me! But for the most part they are doing well to show the good things and the beautiful culture of the Chinese in their journalism.

The teenager and I stayed up late to watch the men's 100 meter freestyle relay, and we were not disappointed!! I was on the edge of my seat yelling as loud as one of their Mom's were!

So exciting for the US team!!

I love how watching top athletes from all over the world, makes me feel like being a better person. A more humble, more disciplined person. I love watching the sportsmanship in these most intense competitions! It makes me want to raise the bar for myself and do better, in all areas of my life!