Fade to Black

I have really enjoyed having this blog up to share in my past project of New things each day as well as the 365 photo project. But with my schedule becoming increasingly busy and my photo project also being up on my Facebook, I don't see the need to continue this blog.

I will be keeping this up for a couple of days before closing it entriely. If there are any of you who want to stay in contact via facebook, please leave me a comment with your name. Since I moderate all comments before posting, I will make sure your name is not published on my page. It's been great keeping up with you all and I will continue to follow your pages.

-Jackie

Wordless Wednesday

Photos, Photos, Photos

I am slowly getting into this 365 photo challenge and trying not to be hard on myself (as some of my friends doing this are pretty polished photographers...one having her own studio.) But I am enjoying doing this. There are a couple of days I had a lack of sleep and kicked myself for not bringing my camera, but as the days have gone on I have found myself going out of my comfort zone to get photos and thinking outside the box. Without further adieu, here are my shots for this week.
This is the shirt I had custom made after my Grandmother passed. It says it all!
This is our underground parking lot that was supposed to be done by January 1st. It probably will be done by...Spring?
On the way to a client appointment. Doing a lot of hurrying up and waiting.
Pretzel on his nightly romp outside.
This is the Ice Houses on one of the Nearby lakes. I wanted to get a photo of the actual fishers that were out but the skiers kept getting in the way.

Hope you all have had a great wknd!

-Jackie

A "New" Project 365

I tried this project a few months ago but ended up stepping away from it due to the loss of my Grandmother as well as some other things that had come up. But I am jumping back on the Bandwagon of the Project 365 photo challenge. Here are my first shots of the year!



This is my puppy looking out the window at yet another round of snow that our state is well known for!

This is my husband putting up the Valances in our living room. I love how he can just balance off the chair like that!

This is the snow globe I found at Walgreens over Christmas. I just love it. To the left is a photo from my 30th Birthday Cruise to Key West/Cozumel and on the right is a gift we received at our wedding.




This is my favorite kind of popcorn (the mix of cheese, caramel and regular popcorn). I was eating this as I was in front of the TV getting suck into a episode of the Bachelor. (Of Course since it was a drama filled week, my husband got sucked into it also.)

So that's round one of photos for you. Hope you enjoyed. Until next time.

-Jackie

New year, new Goals

I do not do New Year's Resolutions. I do however, set my goals at the beginning of the year and then revise throughout the year as needed. In college I used to set a ton of goals for myself (about 20-30). I remember in 1998 I acheived all of my goals but 2 of them. These days I limit myself to 3 or 4. For 2010 I have named 4 goals for myself (one is a continuance on the caffiene reduction and exercise I started in September) but the one I am going to talk about today is the one that is most important to me. That one is being a more positive person and surrounding myself with positive people instead ones that insist on bringing negativity into my life.

This is something I have struggled with in my life. I used to think that if I looked for the worst case scenario I would never dissapoint myself. In mid 2007 I began working towards being a more positive person, and I was making progress. Then 2008 hit and knocked me flat on my butt, so much so that by the end of 2008/beginning of 2009 I would present people with a laundry list of issues I faced in 2008. It also made me shut myself off from the world for awhile and isolate. The second half of this last year was the time I finally began to stop apoligizing for the person I am and get back into the world.

This is not going to be an easy goal (I already thought about giving up on day 2 when I was struggling) but it's something I am very dedicated to doing. I will keep you all posted on my progress.

Take Care,

Jackie

The Soundtrack of my life--an end of the year entry

My friend Angela posed a good question on her Facebook the other day: What songs would you choose for your personal soundtrack? After a lot of thinking about it here are a few of mine.

1) Dixie Chicks--Wide open spaces. I love playing this song whenever I am going through a new chapter of my life. I feel like this song is timeless.

2) Nancy Sinatra--These Boots are Made for Walkin'--(Not what you might think), instead of the song being about a cheating lover, I make it to be about people who try to walk all over me (like my last CM consultants).

3) How you Live (Point of Grace)--This is a life song for me. It's how I want to live my life.

4) If you're going through Hell (keep on going) Rodney Atkins--A song that has really helped me get through the bad times.

5) The Facts of life theme song--I love the 80's, I love 80's Cit Coms and I love this song. It really fits me especially that part that says "When the world never seems to be livin' up to your dreams, then suddenly you're findin' out the Facts of Life are all about you."

6) Love of my life (Michael W. Smith and Jim Brickman). It is one of my husband and I's songs.

7) It's so hard to say goodbye (to Yesterday)--Boyz 2 Men--This is one of the newer songs in my "Soundtrack"......this is the song I listen to when I want to remember my Grandmother...the line that sticks with me the most is "And I'll take with me the Memories...to be my sunshine after the rain."

8) Hands (Jewel)--Though it's considered a "Secular song" (though I am someone who listens to all kinds of music not just Christian), I love how it talks about helping others, being God's hands, and standing up for what's right.

9) That's what Friends are for--It's another timeless song and about true friendship.

10) Vienna (Billy Joel)--Even though I am a huge Billy Joel fan, the first time I heard this song was the first time I saw "13 going on 30"....it's a song I like to listen to when I am getting caught up in the chaos of the world.

Hope you enjoyed my list and hope you all have a Happy New Year. May 2010 be a wonderful year for all of us!

-Jackie

Christmas was delayed/a end of a 7 year Tradition.

As some of you already know, my family Christmas was delayed due to the Winter Blizzard that Hit MN, the Dakotas and Iowa especially hard (and made it's way on down all the way to Texas)! Because of the storm my sister and niece were not able to make it up and we were not able to either because the Highway leading to the road by my Mom's was covered in ice. Needless to say we have rescheduled for New Years day but my Brother (the chef) is stuck working that day. =( Major Bummer.


But that's not really the subject of today's entry. Today I wanted to talk about Christian Radio stations. Since 2002 I had been listening to one main Christian Station called KTIS. In the early years I used to look forward to listening to it on the way to work and was involved with helping the station by volunteering and contributing financially. I also enjoyed attending events like the Point of Grace Concert at Mall of America that they sponsored. But over the last 3-4 years the station has adopted more of a "corporate" format adopting the catch phrases like "Keeping your family safe on the way to work and school," introducing games like the "Family name game" that leave people out of contention if they don't have children and they play the same songs over and over again. I contacted the station a few times and even offered suggestions as to how they could change the station to minister to everyone but I was ignored on all attempts.

Last night I read a "rant" entry from my friend Dan who recently moved to Atlanta from MN (he works for Delta). He was expressing his frustrations over how the radio station in Atlanta (The Fish) has adopted the same corporate format and the same contests, mottos and songs. I same to find out through the open discussion that there was another radio station here called KLove that plays a variety of songs and doesn't have the corporate motto or catch phrases. I turned them on on the way to work this morning and my mood instantly lifted. It was at that point I decided to end my 7 year relationship with KTIS. I e-mailed them, explained why I was done and now I am on my way.

I am once again looking forward to my drives to work with my new radio station friend, KLOVE!

Take Care,
Jackie