Let's bowl, let's bowl, let's rock and roll!!

We gathered up our collection of Jens and went bowling yesterday! Bowling is fun. I learned to bowl with my church youth group and when I went to college, they had college night every Tuesday, so I went to that too (well, I liked bowling and the cute football players were always there..) I'm not super good (yesterday I got a 115 and a 113) but I love it. JJ isn't usually a fan, but he got high score for both games yesterday! maybe it's because his wrist strap matched the shoes. I flat out think Jen called ahead so she could coordinate her outfit.If you have bowled with me before, then you have already made fun of my bowling stance. If not, you can use this as preparation for your jokes. At least I have good turnout.
Our bad ass selves...
and um, the cutest bowling group photo ever!! We're even stacked up like pins. Damn, that's good.

Here's the video I took of us all at the bowling alley yesterday:

Brrr.

I want to go for a jog, but as I sit here and look outside, I wonder if I should just succumb to the cold and do a workout video instead. Then I take a minute to remember where I came from and decide to stop being such a wimp and go put on my warm gear.

Dance Video!

This is a routine that I taught when this song was newer, but a student requested that I bring it back and I did! I'm so glad, I love it!

oops!

Wordless Wednesday will continue next week at its regularly scheduled time. ...on Wednesday.

Reflection: January 6, 2009

The hardest thing I've ever had to do was leave John so they could prep him for surgery. It physically hurt me to walk away from him as he was lying in the hospital bed with the nurse starting various pre-op procedures. She let me stay 5 extra minutes while she went to get the last of her supplies and then I had to tear myself away and walk into the hall by myself. By myself. What was going to happen? The surgery was going to be 5 hours long and anything can happen. Would he come out of it? Would they get the cancer? What if the cancer had done damage to his pancreas? What was going to be left when they were done cutting? Would he ever leave the hospital? What was going to happen to the rest of our life? his life? my life?  Was I going to be a 33 year old widow? All those thoughts raced through my head as I walked through the white hallway, leaving John in the hands of the nurses and doctors. Now I knew it would be a hard day, but knew that it needed my positive thoughts to contribute to it's success. I prepared for my day by getting a bunch of pictures printed and brought my scissors and glue and photo album with me to keep me focused on all of the good things in our life. As I was sitting there with my project, a little old lady came up to me and told me how smart I was to bring my pictures and album to do while I waited. She said that she had a stack of pictures and should be doing the same thing. She asked if she could sit down with me while she waited for her appointment. I continued to work on my album as we chatted. I don't remember everything we said, but I told her about John's surgery and the seriousness of it. She talked about living alone and her son and how he usually brought her to her appointments (she was alone today though). Before she left to go to her doctor's waiting room, she asked what my husband's name was (I guess I had been referring to him as "my husband"). I remember thinking that it was weird that I didn't want anyone with me that day (although people offered, and thank you to them) but that I enjoyed talking to her. A little while later, presumably after her appointment, she came back and said that she wanted me to know that she had lost two husbands and that I would not be losing mine that day. She reached down and touched my shoulder and said "Whether or not you believe in God" (we hadn't discussed it) "I said a prayer for John, and he's going to be just fine." I got tears in my eyes and thanked her and she walked away. Now I don't know if I believe in angels or not, but I can't honestly tell you if she walked out through the doors or just simply vanished.

I might have done that backwards....

Yesterday, I posted about a super awesome, nature-filled, serene way of starting our new year. That happened after a day of recovery from spending NYE partying like it was 1999 2009 !

(Always wear cute panties. You never know when the opportunity to take part in some acrobatic feat will present itself... )

Out with the old, In with the new.

We are happy to leave 2009 behind. It was a rough year for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Not that it was devoid of good, but in general, everything seemed to be harder than normal last year. In the spirit of looking forward and thinking positively, we (JJ and me and our partners in crime, The Jens) decided to start the year with a beautiful hike around Silver Falls.
There are so many amazing waterfalls and about half of them, you can walk right behind!!
To lighten our loads and make room for the good that 2010 has to offer, we stood behind one of those waterfalls and got rid of that which has weighed us down.
While I didn't have any baggage to burn, I did have a goodbye that I hadn't quite finished, and I brought a little rock with his sharpie drawn picture on it and gave it a final squeeze and tossed it into the water.
I also have a lucky penny that I found a month or so ago and I tossed that over the side as well, hoping that it will come back as my job. As we walked around each beautiful fall, we talked about our goals and plans for the next year. Everything we want is attainable (except the lottery, that might need a little help from the luck department) .
The fact is, we have to roll with the punches. It's not always easy and that which does not kill us, does make us stronger. I trust the universe and find myself stretching my arms wide and ready to fall forward into what I think will be a really great year.