Henry David Thoreau Quotes

This evening I went to Starbucks to study again and this time I was reading Henry David Throeau. I was reading exerpts from his work entitled WALDEN, or LIFE IN THE WOODS. I was reading chapter 18, which is entitled CONCLUSION. This was the last chapter and my teacher asked us to pick a line or two out of the piece and say why it meant a lot to me.

Lately I have been pondering my dreams and goals and trying to figure out why I cannot reach some of them.

Here are the quotes that spoke to me:

"That if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected."

I also like this one:

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

The first one really had me thinking why don't I advance confidently in the directions of my dreams? I don't because I let negative self talk get in the way. I let temptations creep back into my life. I try to do everything on my own without calling on God. I need to have faith in myself and the confidence to do what I want to do. Whether it's get my teaching degree, lose over 100 pounds, do a Half Ironman, or write children's books. I need to walk with my head high, not listen to my negative talk or the negative talk of others, I will meet with success unexpected.

The second quote I love. I have built so many castles in the air. I have mentioned them in the last paragraph. Now alll I need to do is get those foundations built. I need to first have my foundation be built on my relationship with Christ. I attend weight watchers and am losign weight. That is my foundation for my weight loss castle. I am starting to set up my training plans so I can do my Half Ironman Triathlon. I am almost done setting up the foundation to my teaching castle and I will write a children's book someday. I will build my foundations to reach those castles in the sky.

Thanks Hanry David Thoreau for writing these thoughts and giving me something to chew on tonight at Starbucks.


Speaking of Starbucks something happend tonight that I found odd. I was at the side counter where people mix their drinks getting a napkin. I saw a lady doing some crazy concoction with her drink, so I was asking her about what she was doing and she was explaining it to me. I noticed the man with her walked away. I got my napkin and thanked her for letting me bother her. The man walked back over and said, "That's ok. Anyone who is reading WALDEN is a friend of ours." I said thanks and walked away.

The only way he knew that was to walk over to my book that was open by my computer and see what I was reading. My table was about 6 feet away. He had to make a conscience effort to figure that out. I don't really mind that he did it, but that just seemed odd to me. That's all.

Also, I am putting my comment link back on my blog. Feel free to comment. I just needed a break to figure the whole blog thing out. Thanks for understanding and thanks to those of you that have emailed me comments.

Auditions are done and so is my Weigh-in

Parker did a great job auditioning on Friday night. He made mommy so proud. He sung his heart out and then went and learned a dance and rocked it. He was very nervous and even told me at one point he had flutters in his stomach. :-)

They just posted the cast list about 5 minutes ago. Parker was cast as a Gosling and as the voice of a baby spider.

The opening night is October 24 and the show will run for two weekends. They will be doing two days of school shows, so that should be fun. He actually gets out of school that day. :-) He's happy about that. If you would like to see him in his first major theatrical debut you can buy tickets at www.cytchicago.org or you can email me and I can get you tickets. October 25th is the family show where tickets are discounted. Just let me know.

This year they will be reading Charlotte's Web in school, so he is very excited to be in the play.

We prayed about this audition and talked about how God would put him in the exact role that was meant for him. He just wanted to make it and is very happy. There were kids from age 8 all the way to 18 trying out, so he knew that he probably wouldn't get a lead. He has a great attitude about it.

I will keep you posted.

In other news, I weighed in at Weight Watchers yesterday and lost 2.2 pounds bringing my weight loss back up to 14.8. Feels good to be losing again. :-) I also went to the gym for the first time in about 9 weeks. I finished my physical therapy on Thursday. I have not had to wear my boot and so the first chance I had I was back in the gym. It's amazing what 9 weeks out of comission can do to a persons body. I did an hour of cardio and did pretty well, but could tell I'm out of shape. I cannot wait to get back on my bike now. I"m going for a ride today or tomorrow. I'm taking it pretty easy this first week to make sure I do not reinjure my leg.

Gotta run for now.

Parker's first audition

Parker is part of a theatre group called Christian Youth Theatre (CYT).
He did one of their summer camps in 2007 and we have not been able to sign him up for a class because it is a big committment. He has wanted to sign up for classes for awhile now and try out for their productions. We have told him no several times because of time contraints. This has been really hard because we know he is talented and this is his passion. At age 3 he told us his gift from God was his voice. As parents we have had to decide how long do you say no to something your child is passionate about, how long do you put off his passion.

Last year we signed him up for voice lessons. He goes once a week. He will continue them again this year. We love his teacher and she is right in Wauconda. :-)This summer he did another theatre camp. We finally decided that we would let him sign up for a class and try out for a production at CYT. This works out because I am not student teaching until January. If I was student teaching right now I would not be able to do it.

Last night was his first class. He is taking a Dance class. He never has. He was a little nervous because there is only one other boy in his class, but he came out at the break and said, "Mom, we are learning a hip hop routine to a Jonas Brother song." He was pumped.

Auditions are this Friday. He is trying out for Charlotte's Web. He has 1 minute to sing, dance, act, or whatever else he can to show his stuff. He is going to sing one minute of GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME from High School Musical. He will be dancing to it while he sings.

After the singing audition he goes in with about 9 other kids to learn a quick dance. I think they have 10 minutes to learn it and then have to perform it for the judges. I think he will do fine. Early Saturday Morning they post online if he gets called back, and then Sunday they post online if he has been cast or not. This will be an anxious weekend for him. It is his first real audition. He auditioned at church for a musical, but everyone that auditioned got a part. So, this his first real one where he may or may not make it. He is very talented, but what I keep telling him is you never know what the directors are looking for when they are watching you.

Please pray for him this weekend. Please pray for us as this is going to take up the whole fall schedule. Pray that Tricia will be understanding because a lot of focus will be on Parker. In fact, if he makes the show, opening night is on her birthday. We already had planned to go out to dinner and take her to see High School Musical 3 with friends. She is doing ok with it now, but pray that her attitude stays good. Pray for me as I will be the one that has to drive him everywhere and parents have to committ to serve 25 hours if your child is in the play. Just pray for us in general as we take on this adventure.

Watch out Broadway. Here comes Parker.

Ironman Wisconsin

Only 11 days until I volunteer at the Ironman Wisconsin.
I am excited. I am checking in gear on Saturday.
Sunday I will be doing body marking, working a run station, and giving out finisher's medals. I will then stay until Midnight on Sunday to cheer for every last athlete out there. I cannot wait.

If you will be in Wisconsin competeing or volunteering let me know. There are some of us here in blogger world getting together for dinner. I cannot wait to meet you all after getting to know you online.

Please email me and let me know if you are coming.
mommymeepa@aol.com

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

I am writing an essay on two of Ralph Waldo Emerson's works. I have found some quotes that I like.

-"What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think."

side note: As a Christian I would add to this saying that all that matters to me is what Christ thinks. So many times it is easy to fall into the trap of worrying about what others think or trying to figure out why someone did something. All I need to focus on is what I need to do and whether or not it is bringing glory to God and what He thinks. If I can just apply this to my life everyday things would be so much easier.

-"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

-"To be great is to be misunderstood."

-"Insist on yourself. Never imitate."

side note: Emerson writes a lot about how in our education we imitate a lot and rely on the past, so that is where this quote comes from. It's such a simple quote and it got me thinking about what do I imitate and what should I be imitating and it kept bringing me back to God. I am made in His image and need to imitate Him as much as possible in my everyday life.

-"They (man) measure their esteem of each other, by what each has, and not by what each is."

side note: In our society so often we talk about what we own, what kind of job we have, what kind of car we drive, where we took our latest vacation, and how educated we are. It is easy to focus on what we have and this quote was a great reminder to me that I need to be focusing on what a person is rather than what they have. I have never been a very materialistic person, but it was still a great reminder to me.

All of these quotes were taken from the essay Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Hope you enjoyed them.

No more procrastination for me

I wrote about procrastination the other day and it is something that is hard for me to figure out the reason I do it, but I have come up with a plan. Before I watch TV, read blogs,talk on the phone, or check email I will do what needs to be done on my TO DO list. I know this might seem like a no brainer, but this is what I need to do.

So For Now:

NO TV (and that means Olympics too)
NO EXCESS PHONE TALKING (sorry Cindy and Dar)
NO READING BLOGS, NO WRITING BLOGS, NO CHECKING EMAIL (Except my college account) and no FACEBOOK

Until I:

READ MY BIBLE AND PRAY
DO HOMEWORK
WORK AROUND THE HOUSE
WORK OUT
and
EAT FIVE SERVINGS OF FRUIT AND VEGGIES


Gotta Run!!! There's homework to be done!!

Facebook

I told myself I would never join MYSPACE or FACEBOOK, but a lot of people told me I should. So after hearing it a bunch of times I took the plunge this week and joined FACEBOOK. It's been interesting and have already found some elementary school friends of mine. I think I will be primarily using it to show off pictures, but I cannot do anything for awhile because I do not want it to take time away from my homework.

Email me and let me know how you use facebook. Is it to mainly find friends, share pictures?

Procrastination

I have always had a problem with procratination.
It has really been bothering me lately especially today. I have put off some things that I shouldn't have and it is causing some problems for me now. It will be ok in the end, but I'm tired of always having to put pressure on myself in the end to get things done.
I want to know why I procrastinate. I want to know what causes me to do it. Why haven't I learned by now that procrastination just leads to big headaches and that I don't do better under pressure?
I will ponder on this and try and figure it out tomorrow.

WW UPDATE and LEG UPDATE

Well, I went to Weight Watchers today and had a 2 pound gain. I have been on vacation, to a wedding, and really busy. I know those are not good excuses, but I just have been eating out way to much. I am glad this weigh in is behind me. I was going to skip it, but I need to go for accountability. It does not help when I avoid the truth, so the truth is I gained 2 pounds. That is all there is to it. It's behind me and I am just looking forward to a new week.

I went to physical therapy yesterday. I am almost done. Only 2 more weeks. YAHHHOOOO!! I talked to the doctor breifly and he said I can start weaning myself off of my boot. And for those of you who might have read that wrong I did not say booze. LOL He also said I can start working out again, but to take it slowly. I am so happy. I have worn that boot for almost 7 weeks now. I didn't wear it today to weight watchers and it was weird. It is so nice to be able to walk again without a limp. :-)

Tricia is not as lucky as me. She just got cleared on Tuesday that she was done with Physical Therapy on her left knee. Well a day later her right knee started hurting and she now has Osgood Schlatter's Disease in her right knee. She is handling it very well. She has 4 more weeks of physical therapy and then we will see how she is doing. She started this whole journey the end of May. She ended school with a NO GYM note and she will be starting school with a NO GYM note. Poor thing. Like I said she is handling it well. In fact she is handling it a lot better than I am. Once school starts some of her PT appointments have to be at 7 in the morning so she doesn't miss school. UGH. We will get through this. It's just going to be a lot of crazy scheduing for us. But God does not give us more than we can handle, so we will be fine and we give Him the glory through all of these trials. I keep praising him that our handicaps are temporary and that we will be healed. Thank you Lord for that.

Goals for the rest of this week

This picture really has nothing to do with this post, but I loved the picture.

Thursday (Goals are in no particular order)

-Go to the gym
-Read 5 more chapters in "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
-Do a lesson in my literature class
-Read my Bible


Friday

-Do another lesson in literature class
-Read my Bible
-Go for a walk or go to the gym
-Work on the house
-Read 5 more chapters in "Uncle Tom's Cabin"

Saturday

-Read my Bible
-Go to Weight Watchers NO MATTER WHAT
-Go to the gym
-Read 5 more chapters in "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
-Read of next lesson in literature class

I am really good at setting goals and not so good at following through. TV is usually what gets in my way and now with the olympics on I'm constantly distracted. I need the next few days to be productive, so I am not going to turn on the Olympics much. TIVO is a great thing.

I am reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" right now. It is for a class, but it is a great book. I have only read 10 chapters, but it is really good. It will give you a new perspective on slavery. I was in tears today reading it. It is a long book, but I would suggest it.

I have really let myself go within the last week as far as my eating has gone. I did pretty well in Utah and the such, but just haven't paid much attention to my eating lately. If I want to do longer distances in my races and such I need to get my act together. UGH!! Why is this so hard sometimes. I can do this and I want to do this. Hang in there girl, you can do it.

Let's see how I do with these goals. I know that I can do it. I just need to stay focused and away from the TV.

MELISSA, STEP AWAY FROM THE TV.

Blog thoughts

On my trip to Utah I got to have lunch with two of my favorite bloggers, Benny and Nytro. We started talking about our blogs and blogs in general. Why do we blog? Who are we blogging for? what happens when we see a lot of comments of none at all?

I started my blog in 2005 when I went away for 5 weeks to a fitness camp. I had a lot of friends and family who wanted updates and I did not want to email everyone indivdually, so HERE'S TO A HEALTHIER was born.

My last day of camp I decided to do a sprint tri summer of 2006, so I kept my blog going. I wrote about my family, my life, and my health journey. Along the way I have met some incredible people. It has been amazint, but lately I have been struggling with the whole blog thing. Some of my friends have gone private with their blogs, which I am not going to do, but I am going to disable my comments. Some days I am bummed to see no comments, thrilled when I see some comments and thrilled when I get over 5 or even in the double digits. I often start to wonder what can I write to make more people read and comment on my blog. That's when I started asking myself who I am really writing this blog for? Is it for me or my readers? Lately, it has been more for my readers, not me.

A few of my blogger friends have now gone private with their blogs, some have quit blogging all together, and some are just starting again with blogging for themselves. So from here on out I blog for me. Read along if you woud like and I would love you too. If you would like to comment please feel free to email me. Most of you that read my blog know my email address. If not you can go into my pfofile and find it there.

I am at the beginning of a journey to lose 130 pounds and training to do a 1/2 Ironman in 2011. I would love you along for the journey, but the person I need to do this for the most is me, so that is who I will be focusing on now in my blog.

I will be focusing on my relationship with God, my family, my helath, my fitness goals, my friends, my house, my education, and my happiness.

So for right now it's all about me baby!!

I cannot wit to see what is going to happn!!

Here's to a new blogging me!! Cheers!!

So proud of our soldiers

I always write about our American Soldiers at Memorial Day and Vetern's Day. That's not a bad thing, but I decided that I need to write about our soldiers today.

I was at the airport waiting for my flight to Utah and there were soldiers wating for a flight. I have taught my kids since they could talk that they need to thank soldiers for serving our country, so as soon as we approached the gate my daughter said, "Mom soldiers." They were sitting in groups of three and three guys were by sitting by themselves. She walked up to the two groups of three and thanked them and walked up to one of the other guys and thanked him. I shook aplll of their hands. I just had such a sense of pride today when thanking them. I was watching them. They were all so young. Laughing having fun just hanging out waiting to come or go. I'm not sure which way they were going.

I talked to a soldier once that said at anytime you are out on the field you know that at anytime you might have to save your fellow soldiers life. He said that it really makes you get close. That you do become brothers. It was so obvious to me that these young men were brothers.

While they were waiting a little boy walked up to them. I wish I could have taken his picture. He was in awe. He kept looking up and down at their uniforms. He was smiling and talking to them, asking them questions. He had them all smiling and he posed for pictures with 6 of them. They were still talking about it when he walked away.

I got to board the plane in the first group, so I got to watch everyone board. When the soldiers walked by I was joking with them and it was a lot of fun. I had them all laughing. I heard someone else thank them. It was wonderful. My dear sweet hubby got me a first class ticket while he and the kids were in coach, so I went back to say hi to them and noticed every single soldiers were all asleep. They were out. They looked so exhausted.

It got me thinking how proud of am I am. These are all sons, brothers, husbands, uncles, cousins, and friends. They sacrifice so much, but they never complain. In fact when my friend was injured in Iraq he was counting the days until he could get back. I do not know if that is how I would have reacted. As soon as he was able he did go back. The men and women of the armed forces have my greatest respect and I appreciate all that they sacrifice to make our country what it is, the best country in the world.

No matter where you are politically, whether you want our troops out of Iraq or to stay in Iraq. Whatever you think of George W. or the new presidential candidates, please remember our soldiers. Some of them have told me they feel like we care more about the politics then them. They need our support no matter what we think. These boys at the airport reminded me of that. I need to be doing more than I already am, so I signed up to support two soldiers in Iraq. I would encourage you to do the same.

When we sign up for a soldier we use www.operationmilitarypride.org

We have done this and are still friends with our soldiers that we supported years ago. Please consider doing this. It will change your life. The soldiers I have supported in the past told me they always liked the packages, but what meant the most were the letters. Pictures that my kids drew ended up being hung in a palace that used to be Saddam's. When I would send my soldier birthday presents I would sent treat bags for all his guys. It is so much fun!! If you sign up let me know how it goes. I would love to hear the stories.

I know that our country is going through a hard time. We are all paying a lot of gas, our homes, food, and this election coming up is huge, but if you can put this aside and think of all the wonderful things our country has to offer. Think of all the opportunities we have, all the priviledges we have, and all of our freedoms and remember the men and women in the military past and present that have helped make this the greatest country in the world.

To everyone that has served, is serving, and will serve thank you very much. I appreciate you and all you have done and will do. I thank God for my country and my freedom all the time and do not take it for granted. Thank you so much.

Heading to Utah

The happy family and I are heading to Utah today for our final vaca of the summer. Keith has a conference there and the kids and I do not. When Keith is not at the conference we will be attending themed dinners. We will be having OktoberFest, A Mountain man dinner outside in the mountains with TeePees, Native Americans, and Mountain men for entertainment, and the one I am looking forward to the most having dinner in the Olympic Stadium and having Olympic athletes entertain us. The kids get to go to them all except OktoberFest. There will be time for some hiking and fishing as well. The kids will be part of a day camp while there. They will get to ride a mechanical bull, ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain, a zip line, and go down an alpine slide. It is a concrete slide built into the side of the mountain that you ride a little sled down. I've done that when I was younger. It is a blast. The kids are looking forward to all their activities and I am looking forward to time with the family.

One thing that I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, looking forward to is that I will get to meet two of my favorit bloggers while in Utah. Benny and Nytro live close enough to the Snowbird ski resort (where we are staying) that we are able to get together for lunch on Sunday. Benny (www.ironbenny.blogspot.com) and Nytro (www.lifeisnuts.blogspot.com) have been so encouraging to me in my journey. I do not think they even know how much, so I am excited to be able to tell them in person. I have met some of my triathlon blogging buddies in the past and it is really neat to finally meet the people in person that you have come to know so well online. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)

On another note, I reinjured my leg yesterday at home and now have to have another month of the boot and physical therapy. I'm very frustrated, but realize that this too shall pass. I realize how blessed I am that I do not have to deal with being handicapped on a daily basis for the rest of my life just for a short time.

I get back on the 6th and will try and post pictures as soon as I can.

Be good to yourself and each other. :-)