Epiphany?

Wow, 2 blog posts in 1 day? Within minutes of each other? I must be off my rocker...

I have this app on my phone with thousands of quotes. I love it. I try to take something from it every day. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in other things, I forget. But not today.

I was just skimming through all the quotes and it made me think of my most favorite book ever. Before I tell you the title, let me just tell you, if you read it, it will change your life. Even if it only changes your life for a minute, I promise you, it will! There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe how marvelous this book is. It has this incredible ability to make your perspective do a complete 180.

I am a very glass half empty kind of girl. I complain a lot. I always think things could be better. But every so often, I am reminded of this book and its message and I take a step back and say "whoa, D, do you really have it that bad?" Sometimes I think the answer is yes, and sometimes it really is. Like when my grandma died. Where is the bright side of that you optimistic pricks?! PS- Yes, I call myself D, as do many people.

So here it is, the greatest book ever written, in my humble opinion. Please read it. You won't regret it. But more importantly, take something from it. The people in your life will be thankful that you did.

If you don't have time to read the book, you can watch the actual lecture here. Grab the tissues!

Can't believe it

I cannot believe we are almost halfway through March and I haven't written in my blog in almost a month. Will someone please remind me I need to do this a couple times a week? Yes, I am that girl. I need someone over my shoulder yelling at me to do things. So what.

Anyway, this year is flying by! We are already planning our summer vacations, Jack's first birthday (OH MY GOD! WHAT??) and plenty of other things.

A big shout out to one of my best friends, Ms. Ashley Nelius, who got engaged a few weekends ago! I am so happy, excited, thrilled, and over the moon for her and her new fiance Brad. I love him! He is seriously one of the sweetest guys you will ever meet and they could not be more perfect for each other! So hopefully we will be booking a trip to Alaska for their wedding soon. (That one was for you Robin!) I guess I'll take the time to explain that little joke. Ashley has said before she was thinking of a destination wedding, which we all know, Danielle does not do bathing suits. And since it's all about me, and the bride's older sister Robin, we decided Ashley will be getting married in Alaska, where we can all wear snow suits. And more importantly, be covered up. Yay!

My 26th birthday is coming up in less than a month. I am FREAKING OUT. I know I've said that about every birthday after 21, but for reals this time. I am closer to 30 than 20 and I just feel sad. I won't be in my mid-20's anymore. I feel old and responsible. It sucks! Who wants to be 26? Certainly not me. So if anyone has some positive pick-me-ups or words of wisdom, send them my way.

Mike decided that we are taking Jack to SeaWorld for his first birthday. He is our first born and we wanted to do something BIG. So since he is too small to ride anything at Disneyland, we decided to take him on a seeing adventure at SeaWorld. I'm pretty stoked. I haven't been there since I was a kid. And a friend of mine who was recently there, told me they serve booze! Even better.

We have also decided that since Arizona is like hell on earth during the summer, Jack and I will be spending a lot of time in Flagstaff this summer with my parents. I am actually really excited about that for a couple of reasons. #1- it's gorgeous up there in the summer! I think the average is mid 80's + pine trees = does it get any better? #2- I will have an excuse as to why I don't want to spend my entire summer up in Idaho with my mother in law. What sane, sober, daughter in law would do that anyway? I want to take the time to find all the good hiking trails, restaurants, camping areas, and all the stuff the "highlanders" do for fun. So again, if you are a local Flaggy, send me some tips!

I have a few things I want to plug today, so here is my list:

World Market- amazing wine & beer selection for spring!

Pat's Run- sign up for a run or a create a shadow run for a really great cause!

Ash & D- 2003

Our skinny days! :)

A random act of kindness

I am getting worse and worse about remembering to write in this damn thing! Ugh!

Welp, not much has been happening. We are going to Vegas this weekend for my little brother's 21st. Holy shit I feel old. Being 5 years apart, our milestones are also 5 years apart and I remember turning 21 like it was yesterday. Time flies! I got a new car a few weeks ago, thanks to my awesome husband. I told him what I wanted and he just came home with it one day. How cool is that? Pretty damn cool. Oh! I do have an amazing story to share. This happened to me today. Bear with me or bare with me? Meh, whatever. I don't get sappy often so enjoy :/

This morning I woke up, reached over to my nightstand to grab my phone (it doubles as my alarm clock) and I couldn't feel it! So I picked my head up off my pillow and look over and its no where to be found. At first I thought "Oh shit, some little phone bandit snuck into our house, up into our bedroom and jacked my awesome iphone 4! Well, props to him for not waking me up in the process, he earned it." Then I realized I was still half asleep and I sat up, started to look for it and found it. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH OH MY FUCKING......FUUUUUUCK!"

Oh it was there. Inside my water cup. That just so happened to be half full of water. I took it out and of course it didn't work. How the hell did that happen you ask? I have no fucking clue. But I was pissed. Literally 2 days ago, we canceled our home phone because we never, ever used it. So now, I was stuck at my house, with an 8.5 month old and no fucking phone. So I run downstairs, e-mail Mike and told him to call me on Skype. Thank god for modern technology! What ever did people do before cell phones? No seriously.

So we decide to take it to the Apple store to see if the geniuses at the Genius Bar can do anything to save it. I was so devastated. Its no secret that cell phones are more than cell phones these days. It doubled as my camera & video camera. I had tons of pictures and videos of Jackson on there. I am also one of those people who does not back up my phone often, so I had no clue what I had saved and what I hadn't.

Cried the whole way to the mall, walking through the mall, and even in the Apple store. Our associates name was Tyler. He was this cute little hobbit look alike. He explained what happens when the inside of the phone gets wet and then said those words I did not want to hear "there is nothing you can do except replace it." I started bawling. Not just crying, bawling. Side note- I also started my period today so you can imagine what a peach I was to be around. He explains to us that there is an upside. "An upside? A fucking upside to this? Well Mr. Glass half full, do tell!" He explained us that a brand new iphone 4 would be $600-$700 to replace, but because my phone was less than a year old and he could somehow work this into the warranty, he would only charge us the upgrade price of $199. "Sold!" We were elated. A few hundred bucks and still plenty of money leftover for Vegas.

So Tyler goes to get the phone and I again, start with the water works. I just could not control myself. Those are images I could never get back. I never thought how precious those moments really were until I didn't have them anymore. Tyler comes back with my new phone, and I'm still crying my eyes out but I am trying to keep my composure because now the entire store is staring at me, asking what's wrong, and probably thinking Mike beats me.

Tyler: Danielle, raise your right hand

Me: (Raises right hand)

Tyler: Do you promise and solemnly swear to not drop your new phone in water or at all?

Me: I promise to not drop my phone in water or at all.

Tyler: Do you promise I won't see you back here with a damaged phone anytime soon?

Me: I promise (starting to giggle a little...)

Tyler: Well then, here is your brand new iphone, on me

Me: WHAT? OH MY GOD! ARE YOU SERIOUS? NO! No, I can't accept that. That is too nice

Tyler: I have a 5 year old son. I did the same thing to mine a few years ago and I was devastated. Anything I can do to make this situation better for someone else, I'd be glad to.

And there you have it. Some random Apple employee I have never met in my life, out the kindness of his heart, did the most amazing thing just because he didn't want to see someone else go through what he already did. Well, it was the most amazing thing to us. Who seriously does that? I cannot thank him enough, he seriously made my day. No my whole fucking week!

Now to the really good part. Oh, you thought that was it? Not quite silly....

I get home, all excited but still a little bummed about not being able to save my pictures. I sync my phone and my entire phone is restored!!!!!!!! HOORAY!! I got all my pics, my videos, my contacts, my calendar, everything I needed. I only lost a few things from the last few days. I cried, again. But these were most definitely tears of happiness & relief.

I don't know what I did to be having such good karma right now, but oh man, am I ever counting my lucky stars. So thank you Tyler for making this day amazing for me, it wouldn't have been the same without you.

No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind

action leads to another. Good example is followed.

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all

directions, and the roots spring up and make new

trees. The greatest work that kindness does to

others is that it makes them kind themselves.

-Amelia Earhart

Causes

Somewhere I said I was going to start writing in my blog more. Let me be the first to say I am terrible at keeping promises. I am narcissistic and I always let my life get in the way. Oh well, deal.

I am all about causes. I think people who are Oprah rich (like Oprah!) should help the less fortunate. What else are they going to do with all that money? Wipe their ass with it? Although they very much could, and I probably would for shits n giggles (no pun intended) I think helping a "cause" is a much better way to get into heaven. I do not think St. Peter looks too highly on people that waste Benjamin's to wipe their butt. I am also all about causes that are near and dear to your heart. Now, I think its great to get involved, period. But I often wonder why people get involved with things/causes/charities/events they have no ties to? Let's be fucking real people. Like really real. I have this theory that there is no such thing as a selfless good deed. Yes, just like the Friends episode. People often say "I do it because it's the right thing to do." Um, bullshit! You do it because it makes you feel good about yourself. And there is nothing wrong with that. Why has society put such a stigma on people that feel good about the charity they do? I have a friend who did the 3-day cancer walk for breast cancer. To my knowledge, no one in her family has ever had breast cancer. I found that odd. And while we are on this topic, why not a Cancer walk? For all cancers? Breast cancer isn't the top cancer killer in women. How about lung cancer? Pancreatic cancer? Shame on you walk/run organizers. Don't discriminate!

Anyway, back to being really real. I was wasting time while trying to fall asleep tonight and decided to visit one of my favorite blogs. I won't give you the name because I don't want you wasting your time on their blog, I want you to stay here. So tough. There was something that caught my eye. It was a post about a children's hospital in Texas where kids design art and they sell it for you to buy. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Children's Art Project is definitely something you need to check out. Here, cancer is not the focus, the art is. And its beautiful. What could be more beautiful than an child putting their thoughts, dreams, and visions to life? As a newbie mom, I have a soft spot for anything having to do with sick kids. Not to mention, everyone in my family has been taken because of some form of cancer. Double whamie.

So there, that's my cause for the time being. I also have a soft spot for animals. But I really don't feel like bawling my eyes out so I won't post any animal links.....today.

Not a good start

So 2010 was the year of hell as far as health goes. 2011 is not off to a great start either. Yesterday I went for a fantastic run, came home and did my jump rope workout. I was so proud of myself. I felt great. As I got done jump roping, I walked into my kitchen to get some water and SNAP! I stepped wrong and swear to god felt the worst pain ever. I looked down and it looked like a golf ball was attached to my ankle. I immediately started screaming and crying.

To make a long story short, we went to the ER because things were not calming down. My ankle isn't broken but another part of my foot may be. So my workouts will have to be put on hold. I am on crutches and have a walking boot that I have to wear for 6-8 weeks. I tore all my major ligaments and some tendons. I am in tons of pain but they gave me some good drugs. I follow up with an orthopedic surgeon soon. Too be continued....

Well hello there beautiful

I just don't even know where to begin. It's been over a fucking year (Oh, I tend to have the mouth of the sailor. Ask the kids to leave the room) since I have posted anything. So so so much has changed! So whoever you bet that Mike and I wouldn't last, pay up. We are still together and more in love then ever. Cue the aw's. Since I last posted, the only real thing that has changed is that our son has arrived! He will be 8 months old tomorrow.

Wow. Really? 8 months? Jesus Christ time is flying. Remember when you were a kid and a week seemed like forever away? Getting older blows.

Anyway, Mike is in a great position to allow me to stay at home with Jack. His real name is Jackson but I call him Jack, you can too. At first, I wasn't loving it. There are no words worthy of describing to new parents what having a child is like. They are nothing but crying, hungry, poopy little takers! I thought for sure I was going to shoot myself those first few weeks. But we made it through. He is growing like crazy, crawling, and things are starting to get fun.

A new year is recently upon us and one of my New Year's resolutions was to be active every single day. Even if it's just walking up and down my stairs 2o times. I need to get off my butt and do something! I have made a conscious decision to start training for a 1/2 marathon. I know, I KNOW! I am bat shit crazy and you think I can't do it. Shit, I don't think I can do it. But I have a friend who just ran her first this morning. I am so inspired by the way she has really taken her life by the reigns and just goes out and does things. I want to be that person. I don't want to be the person who says I am going to do this, and then it falls by the wayside. Nope, that is not me, not anymore! So here I am, spilling my guts to you all because its time for some accountability. I have my shoes, my gear (except for a watch thingy that will tell me my distance and time. What are those called?) I am to start training tomorrow. I am hoping I can get Mike to do this with me. I need that companionship and accountability, and what better way to bond than to do something like this together? I'm excited. I'm scared. I still think I am bat shit crazy. I even went and got this amazing book called "The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women." Even if you have no intention of running a marathon, go get it. It's a funny read while pinching off a loaf.

I am off now, to enjoy my last carb-filled meal at the ol' mother in laws house. Wish me luck!

"Rarely, you will find glory without struggle." Let's do this.