Foto Friday: It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas

 

The light display at “Symphony of Lights”

 

 

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

 

Beautiful decorations and floral arrangements at Homestead Gardens! A “must do” every Christmas season. Go check it out.

RANDOM: No Regrets, Unforgiving, Fit & Phabulous

I recently read an article about the Top 5 regrets of the dying and 2 of them stood out to me based on some recent things that have happened and/or been said to me:

 

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. ~~ Well, that won’t be one of my regrets. I won’t wish I had lived true to myself. I am who I am and I am doing all most of the things I want to do with my life. I live this life out loud; large and bodacious and I try to drag as many friends/family along with me on this most awesome journey called life. the only people who I have bent/adjusted to/for are my children & husband, but even still – I CHOSE – and The TravelDiva has managed to stay True North.

 

Are you living life true to you?

 

2. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. Ummm, DUH! I’ve always had “the courage” to say how I feel and to express myself. Maybe it’s more of a lacking a filter instead of courage, but I have managed to navigate the military, corporate career & entrepreneurship with enough of a common sense/decency filter to be pretty damn successful. What I have found; however, is that there will always be people who believe it is okay for them to say any damn thing they want any which way they want to you without so much as a by your leave and then get their panties in a bunch when you check them or you don’t allow them a pass. You mad…oh well.

 

Do you hold all of your feelings & thoughts inside? What’s that feel like, because I would suffocate.

 

No regrets.

 

I tried to extend an olive branch to a FB friend who ~ 2 YEARS AGO!! ~ internalized and made all about him something I wrote about on my blog regarding elite athlete snobbery. He promptly unfriended me and I hadn’t heard from him since until he commented on a mutual friends page. I sent a message holding my olive branch and flag of truce, hoping that time had soothed over this complete misunderstanding. NOPE. The door got slammed in my face. I was told that the way I hurt his feelings was “unforgivable” ~ PERIOD and that he was not going to reconcile ever…Like EVER.  WOW. Good thing I’m not dependent on man’s forgiveness to be absolved of my alleged sins. Glory to God. Funny thing though…since he hasn’t mastered privacy settings yet, I was able to see some one of his recent posts on forgiveness where he said he had learned a lot form being able to forgive.

Really, boo? I think you need to go over that lesson again.

 

Are you hanging on to a slight, a hurt, a hate? Are you unforgiving as if you NEVER EVER do/say anything that hurts or is wrong? You know the only person you are hurting is YOU right?

 

A complete stranger saw a picture of me running in a race. Her comment about someone she doesn’t know anything about was “Hmmm, I bet she comes in last a lot.” Wow! A friend of mine who heard the comment handled it superbly and the stranger didn’t speak to her for the rest of the day. My friend was so crushed – NOT! My thoughts…No dear, I have NEVER come in last in anything I have done, but I bet her narrow ass would or be laid out in the back of a rescue vehicle. SMDH. People need to stop it with projecting their issues, hang ups, insecurities and all those subjective notions of what beauty & fitness should looks like for evey one. STOP IT. STOP TSK TSK’ING EVERYBODY AROUND YOU AND WORRY ABOUT/FOCUS ON YOU! Seriously. Here’s what I know – I know who and what I am ~ made in God’s image. My issues are mine and yours are YOURS. Don’t mistake this Athena physique, red lipstick and a smile for weak & lazy. This Athena Goddess will rip your scrawny arm off with her bare hands, throw you out on the lawn to feed the zombies (or simply to feed those turkey vultures on my neighbors widow walk) and keep it moving. Thin does not necessarily equal fit/fast/beautiful. That ugliness that come of your mouth ~ all that snark & demeaning comments ~ make you look like the big fat pig you roll around with when you do that mess. TRUST ME. It’s ugly & you smell.

 

I hope you are not one of those people. Don’t be THAT person, mkay? Grow up.

Foto Friday: Columbia Turkey Trot 10K

Last Sunday, Princess Erin and I ran the Columbia Turkey Trot 10K and Princess Cara ran the Turkey Trot 1/2 mile Fun Run. Princess Cara even got her BGR Pink Pom Pom.

 

Fitness is the Family!

 

 

 

 

Princess Cara came in 2nd overall and 1st Female. I’m telling ya’ll ~ watch out for her on the podium. I hadn’t run since the Army 10 miler ~ yep, tree sloth after season syndrome had taken hold ~ so, I decided to do a 3:1 run:walk for this race AND I knocked off 2 min from my previous 10K with a 15 sec faster pace. WHO KNEW!?

 

 

Are you in the “off season”? Yeah, I got about I more week of total whatevzz before I have to get back on the job of keeping it tight and training for the Disney Princess Half-Marathon.

 

Who runs a half marathon for their birthday? *raises hand* Crazy Cakes.

A Blessed Thanksgiving

We are all lying about in various states of coma, watching football, drinking, sleeping, eating, drinking, stupor, wait~what happened? And so on...An awesome Thanksgiving!

There is so much to be thankful for. I pray that today was just as awesome and filled with good times and great friends.

The Death of the Target Christmas Champ

There have been lots of chatter about when the Target lady was going to show up ~ it IS Black Friday this week ~ and we should have at least seen her getting in shape.

Where is she? Inquiring minds and hard core fans wanted to know. I posted up on the Book of the Face, liked the Target Fan Page and asked THE question ~ WHERE IS THE TARGET LADY!?

The response I got left me saddened and feeling some kinda way about shopping this Holiday Season and Target was at the top of my hit list of for getting the first BiterGram. Yeah, let my walker gnaw on your ass for a bit. HUMPH!

RETIRED!!!! Da Hell!??? Best advertising campaign ever (next to Allstate's Mayhem, IMHO) and you retire her??? Has Target lost their minds? Guess so! And their current ad campaign ~ Blah, Yawn.

See the picture for the FB conversation.

Mad about it. How about you? Do you miss The Target Christmas Champ?

Foto Friday: Twilight Team Edward

Princess Erin, Princess Charlee and I went to see the “midnight” (it was actually at 10pm) showing of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt. 2

 

It was AWESOMMMMEEEE!!! If you’re not a fan, cool. Do you! I had a great time and this was the first time I have ever gone to an midnight opening of a movie. The audience was FUN!! The ladies in front of us brought the Edward cutout and people lined up to take a picture with him.

 

The battle sequence ~ BEST PART…and with the audience gasping, screaming and cheering just made it that more exciting. Without giving anything away, one of the best moments was when the entire theater, in unison, screamed “YEAH!!!! FEED HER TO THE WOLF!!”

 

Bella was straight up GANGSTER.

 

Some of my favorite lines:

Bella: “You knicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?!!!!!”

Jacob: “C’MON!! Dracula 1&2…Creepy.”

 

I’ll leave you with this: It's all fun and games until Alice shows ya that your future is not so bright, huh?

2012 Thanksgiving Feast Menu

It’s that time of year again for giving thanks, sharing blessings with family & friends and feasting till you explode. Every year, the Queen Mum and I put out heads together to plan a menu for our Thanksgiving Day Feast featuring old favorites yet always adding in/trying something new.

 

Once again, I believe we are going to put our foot off in this dinner ~ of course, we are having help with the superior culinary turkey roasting skills of our BFF Joe Pollhein, Sr. (yeah, that turkey last year ~ finger lickin’, tryptophan inducing awesome). P.S. We are at 15 people so far. I LOVE IT!!! So, without further ado:

 

Thanksgiving 2012 @ True Blessings Estate

 

Appetizers

Avocado, Bacon & Tomato Crostini’s

Crab Rangoon Dip

 

Main Course

Cider Bourbon Glazed Roast Turkey w/Homemade Gravy

Crown Roast of Pork w/Fennel-Apple Stuffing & Cider Bourbon Sauce

Glazed Ham

 

Cranberry Sauce w/Pinot Noir

Three (or more) Cheese Macaroni & Cheese -Erin

Queen Mum Baked Beans

Balsamic Green Beans

Spiced Mashed Squash w/Marshmallow Meringue

Wilted Garlic Kale

Cornbread, Sausage & Pecan Dressing

 

Dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

 

Libations

Pumpkin Spiced Mudslides

Coquito De Mami Morrillo

Wine

 

We gonna throw down. The doors to the Estate are open if you don't have a place to hang your hat & pull up a seat. Bring a bottle of wine and wear stretchy pants (or bring some sweats for the inevitable tryptophan coma). Give me a holla if ya wanna join us.

Do you plan a menu or go with the traditional staples? Do you have your menu planned yet?

Foto Friday

I thought I'd start something new here with a Foto Friday. I take a bunch if pics with my iPhone and don't always do anything with them.

Well here is the first of hopefully many Foto Fridays ~ sometimes wordless, sometimes not.

I added a gift last night to some memento's the FM and I received for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. It made my smile and I am thankful & blessed for the covenant we made.

WE VOTED!!!

                 

Over here at True Blessings Estate, ERRYBODY got in on this voting thing. Me,  the QueenMum and my Sis got it in early.

                      

My sister almost didn’t get to vote, but intervention by our Congressional Office made it possible. After all those years of black sheep kinda trouble, she got it together ~ is putting her life together ~ and it meant the world to her to get to vote for the 1st time in her life. Thank you to the Honorable Elijah Cummings office & staff that made sure that her paperwork & registration got certified. Why she running round my house yelling and giving hi-fives talking bout how her “paid her dues” vote gave the President the state of Maryland.

 

Maybe.

 

                 

            

Even more awesome was taking my Grandmother out to get her vote in. Since she is losing her eyesight, she needed someone to go with her to help read her ballot. My sister & Princess Cara went with her to help. Once again, my sister was so proud when they asked for her ID and if she was a registered voter (you have to be a registered voter to help another person with their ballot) and was going BOOYA! when they pulled her up on the screen. GmaWillie GOT IT IN!!!!

86 years old, yesterday and STILL FLY!!!

 

I hope you got out and voted. As my friend, my brother from another mother & classmate, @Preacher1987 said so eloquently this morning:

 

There are places in the world today where, if you have the audacity to question or criticize the policies of your leaders, the government can and will arrest you, harass you, detain you... or worse. The United States of America is NOT one of those places.

There are places in the world where everyone is not free to worship as they choose, if at all. There are places where worshippers must literally go underground to hear the Word, worship the Lord, and fellowship with other believers. There are places in the world today where professing faith in Christ is a dangerous and possibly fatal declaration. The United States of America is NOT one of those places.

There are places in the world where those who govern do not have to have the consent of those they govern. These places have "elections", but these displays are largely for appearances only, because if you don't "vote" for the powers that be, you and your family end up disappearing. Or worse. That doesn't happen here, in the United States of America.

There are places in the world where women are considered so poorly that they must cover their entire bodies all day long, they can't go to school to get an education, and they have no voice in how their lives will go in their communities. There are places, even in 2012, where the minorities in certain countries are still discriminated against, to the point where they are marginalized when it comes to the political process. That's not the case in the USA, where women and minorities shed blood, sweat, and a lot of tears to ensure that all of us would have a voice in this land and truly be the UNITED States of America and so it comes down to this. The sun rises this morning on one of the greatest things about the USA: our collective right to vote. We have discussed, argued, debated, and reasoned with each other (sometimes). We have placed pictures and banners and memes for and against our candidates of choice on our pages. It's been funny, and intense, and painful, and infuriating, and worrisome, and ironic, and at times quite entertaining. But all of that has no significance, no meaning, no POINT at all, if we don't finish the exercise and go vote today (if you haven't done so already).

WE DID!!! I hope you did too!

Cooking w/Love: Amazing Avocado House Party

Now this was a great time!