How to Look Happy

I got to spend most of my weekend with my happy-go-lucky niece Anna. She really is a ray of sunshine, and she was absolutely delighted to get to go to a rodeo event with me. (Some friends of mine were putting on a roping event.)

At the end of the night, one of my friends even let Anna ride his horse. She of course was on cloud nine!

How to Look Mean

I tried to post this days ago...but I've been having technical difficulties. So frustrating.

Recently after a lovely dinner at my sister's house, my nephew Colin started explaining to us how he gives "mean" looks:

Then he went into more detail:

It makes me smile!

"All I want is to be happy being who I am..."

A couple weeks ago, I watched an incredible movie. I've always been moved by music, and this foreign film's plot revolves around the role music can play in our lives. It's a Swedish film called "As It is in Heaven" and the climactic song is "Gabriella's Song." I've been singing the English translation to the music and wish I could record it for the English-speaking world. Here are the translated lyrics, but I encourage you to watch the clip of the film on YouTube, linked below:

It is now that my life is mine.
I've got this short time on earth
And my longing has brought me here
All I lacked and all I gained
And yet it's the way that I chose
My trust was far beyond words
That has shown me a little glimpse
Of the heaven I've never found.

I want to feel I'm alive
All my living days
I will live as I desire
I want to feel I'm alive
Knowing I was good enough

I have never lost who I was
I have only left it sleeping
Maybe I never had a choice
Just the will to stay alive

All I want is to be happy
Being who I am
To be strong and to be free
To see day arise from night
I am here and my life is only mine
And the heaven I thought was there
I'll discover it here somewhere
I want to feel that I've lived my life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxmgkxRrpZE

What a Difference 3 Days Makes

I had the most incredible weekend. I attended Discovery! -- a three-day personal growth seminar that a new, dear friend told me about.

Besides making 35 wonderful new friends, many of whom are in the Austin area, I have a new lease on life. I feel truly blessed and hopeful about my future, secure in knowing who I am. I can't wait to share the new me with the world!

My class included people of all ages -- one of whom I learned as I friended him on Facebook was born the year I graduated high school! Ha! I got a good laugh out of that. But it feels like he's a younger brother, and I'm looking forward to seeing him and his sisters this weekend at a rodeo event he's participating in.

Lots of good things to come. I can just feel it!

A Catch-Up Post

I know, I know...sorry for my absence from the blogosphere. I've been keeping busy, both at work and personally, and I've also been avoiding a few blog stalkers. But as commenters may have noticed, I'm now moderating comments, and I've taken other steps to protect myself as well.

So what have I been up to? Let me start with last weekend...

I had a date on Friday night with a really cute, young guy who makes me laugh and is very affectionate. We even had a sleepover! (Relax, it's my 7-year-old nephew Colin.) His older sister Anna had gotten to spend a one-on-one evening with me a few weeks ago, and last weekend it was "finally" Colin's turn. We had a nice evening, and I enjoyed the way he talks and phrases things. He asked me lots of questions he'd never asked before, such as "What do you do for work?" And he bragged about his dad to me, almost as if I didn't already know him, and told me all the things his dad could do!

On Saturday, I spent most of my day with Colin, Anna and Jenn, and on Sunday morning, we four competed in an Adventure Race! Anna & I were a team -- Furry Friends -- and Jenn & Colin were the Star-Wars-themed Bounty Hunters. The race encourages participants to wear costumes, and in my opinion, Anna and I had some of the most practical costumes for the event. (Many people just wear them for the costume contest at the beginning and don't wear the costumes throughout.) Anna and I agreed to dress as kitty cats. I shopped around and found some cute lycra tops in a black-and-white stripe, waterproof ears and tails that we wore with black bike shorts. Oh, and then there was the waterproof makeup for our noses and whiskers!

We had a blast, and Anna enjoyed "meowing" at the spectators and race volunteers. And I was pleased that I had trained enough to more than keep up with Anna -- she admitted I was dragging her through portions of the run and hike.

And later on Sunday, Jenn and I attended our weekly Bollywood dance class! It was a fun and love-filled weekend.

Enjoying the Texas Hill Country

I awoke to the sound of rain today. I love that sound. I never really heard storms in NYC, other than occasionally hearing the wind against my high rise apartment window.

I'm also enjoying the sound of my wind chime again. It was banished to the dark space under my couch while I was in NYC when my plans to hang it in the living room were dashed with the concrete in the ceiling. As soon as I unpacked it, I hung it on my patio here in Austin -- it was up before any pictures were on the walls!

And one of my favorite sights is between work and home: a beautiful view of the green hills here in Austin. I found this similar picture online so you all can enjoy it, too:

The Understudy, Part II

Sorry it's been a few days. I haven't felt like writing, and I've been busy with other things.

To finish up my babysitting story, everyone did pretty well, although unfortunately the big kids were late to school on the second day due to the dog getting out and not obeying the command "Come."

Also on day two, Nana and Grandad came home from two months away. The kids were SO glad to see them. Evelyn was so cute, she just held on to them and didn't speak.

They were also ecstatic to see Mom & Dad again on Wednesday.



Graham had a VERY loose front tooth -- the one remaining baby tooth on the top middle -- and Steph encouraged him to wiggle it out of there, and he did! He looks a little like a cute vampire with both top front teeth out, and he has a bit of a lisp, too.