One adventure I can live without

I was out the other day just driving around and came upon this snake sunning itself on the road. Snakes are not my favorite thing but this is a King snake, good for the garden, etc. So I waited while he slithered off the road and then we were both on our way.

Go For It! The 7 Keys to Success

I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in a seminar this weekend put on by the Go For It Foundation. The founder, Judy Zerafa was the speaker and it was an incredible experience. The whole program is aimed at young kids in an attempt to change the way they see themselves and provide them tools for a lifetime of success. The principles are some I already practice, but are critical for adults (those of us who didn't learn them when we were young). I'll share the 7 keys with you, what you should know is that in her research she interviewed 35 of the most successful people in the world. The one question she asked each person was this... "What do you think you know that know one else knows about achieving success in your life?" The pattern of the responses boild down to these 7. Of the the 35 people interviewed, most only knew 3-4 of the keys and only one person knew all 7. That person is Oprah Winfrey need I say more. So here are the 7 keys...

1. A Positive Attitude. Most of us think we have one, but if you stop yourself every hour and ask these 4 questions, you will be surprised. What am I thinking? What am I saying? What am I doing? What am I feeling? It is the negative self talk that is the most defeating thing we can do to undermine our success. Find a way to change the negative to a positive.

2. Believe in yourself.

3. Build positive habits. This is a little harder, so I'm going to give you the gift she gave us. You have to reverse the negative images that have built up in your subconscious mind over the years. The way you do that is #1 stop the thought from coming in and #2 get yourself some 3x5 cards. Take some time to think specifically about those things that you sincerely want to change. On a card your declaration goes like this "I Ann Anderson, am always on time" The first word must be "I" the next 2 words should be your name so your subconscious gets that you are talking about yourself. The 4th word to give it power must be "am" it puts it in present tense and set it in motion. 2 other powerful words are "always and only" then the rest is specific to the behavior or goal. "I Ann Anderson only crave healthy food and drinks." These postive statements you should read just before going to sleep and then again when you wake up. It has a lot to do with the brain being in the Alpha state. You can do it any time during the day but the end and the beginning of the day will have the quickest and most impact. You can do as many as you want and as many as you have the time to read. Email me if you want help with this one.

4. Make wise choices. Every choice you make produces a result and a consequence. Think about the choices you are making and make sure they are in alignment with the result you want.

5. Set and achieve goals. If you aren't physically sitting down and writing your goals, you really are just wishing for something to happen. The critical part of setting goals is the writing and reviewing of them. If it is hard to write, get a poster board and put pictures on it of what you'd like to achieve, it's called a Vision Board and it is highly successful. Once you achieve a goal, celebrate it and replace it. Work toward a goal by doing something everyday.

6. Use creative imagination. Act as though you already are the person you want to become. The term for this is experiential visualization. Close your eyes and think about what it would mean, pay close attention to how you feel and let yourself experience a successful end result.

7. Be persistent. Never give up. If you falter today, forgive yourself and start again, but do not give in to defeat. Remember to look for improvement, not perfection.

Good luck, I hope you'll give this a try. It is very powerful and if you do it and set the example in your homes, you will change the outcome of all of those around you.

http://www.goforitfoundation.org/

Just for fun

She's my buddy and constant shadow...

The 777 Tag - Thanks Nik!

7 things I CAN do

1. Bake awesome bread

2. Sew

3. Rock Climb

4. Belly Dance

5. Fly

6. Tell stories with the best of them

7. Climb trees, skip and get through the rails on the fence

Bonus - Do anything I put my mind to.

7 Things I can't do

1. Give up

2. Stop remembering

3. Quit hoping

4. Eat fish

5. fail

6. stop loving my family (all of them)

7. wondering what might have been....

7 things that attracted me to Bruce

1. his cowboy boots

2. his eyes

3. the goofy way he dances

4. safety

5. he likes me just the way I am

6. his story

7. he looks a little like Richard Gere!

7 things I say most often

1. Here's the deal

2. AWESOME!

3. Incredible

4. Let's rock this thing!

5. Git er' done

6. You ROCK!

7. WHAT?

7 People I admire

1. and the 3 folks I admire most are the father son and the holy ghost, they caught the last train for the coast, the day the music died....(sorry, couldn't help myself!)

2. My brothers, Dan, Tim and Barry

3. My friend Susan L.

4. Oprah (most of the time)

5. Moms

6. Richard Branson (Virgin Atlantic)

7. The strong females in my life, sister's (that includes the in-laws) and nieces.

7 Favorite foods

1. Chips and Salsa at Medina's

2. Green Chili and the burritos at Medina's

3. Fresh fruit in season

4. Gnoochi

5. raw nuts, especially round pecans

6. hot homemade bread with honey

7. Berries and whipped cream

Taggy Poo!

I am...unstoppable

I think....all the time about crazy and wacky stuff

I know...that there is a purpose for my life

I miss....my dose of Trish

I fear...running out of time

I feel....incredibly grateful

I hear....a tractor in the distance

I smell.... I still need my morning shower!

I want....to travel

I crave....family

I cry....over all that's been lost this year

I search...for the meaning to all things and usually everything else I misplace

I wonder...what the point is sometimes

I regret....more than a few things

I wish....I could have had children of my own

I love....flying

I care...about my family

I always....seek to forgive and be forgiven

I have...an incredible life

I worry...about everything

I am not....willing to give up

I remember...camping at Oak Grove

I believe....that there is good in everyone, you just have to look hard enough

I sing...off key and usually to Hannah who runs growling from the room

I argue...a lot just for the sake of making my point

I write...emails to friends from High School that I recently reunited with

I lose...my train of thought sometimes (can you say, Where is Springdale?)

I listen....but not always as good as I should

I don't always....get it right or just get it, period

I don't understand....why things happen the way they do

I can usually be found....hanging out with the critters

I need...to be needed

I forget....half the stuff I start out to do everyday

I am happy....when I am busy

Tagged: Karen, Misty and Peter

November 373 Whiskey Delta

My big adventure last week was a bumpy flight in Whiskey Girl. Some of you don't know the story behind my tail number, so here is the short version...373 are just lucky numbers but the WD or Whiskey Delta is a tribute to my Grandpa Dev who also flew a Cessna. His name was William Devenish. Shortened down she won the tag of Whiskey Girl. The N at the front designates that it is a plane registered in the United States. N373WD ready for take off!

AAAAHHHHH the colors of Fall!

It is so beautiful here in Colorado right now, crisp days and nights cold enough for an extra quilt on the bed. I took a walk yesterday and these are just some of the images I captured. Enjoy!

Farm Update

I took Booner to the vet last week because he was moping around, he had gained a lot of weight, was acting a little depressed and when I comb the shedding hair on his back, there was a huge bald spot. Overall you could tell that he just wasn't feeling himself (can any of you relate?) The vet checked him over good, drew some blood, weighed him - a whopping 148 lbs! The last part was the urine sample, it was silly following him around with a cup on a stick while he sniffed the trees and bushes, but it worked. When the tests came back they revealed that his thyroid was low and that he had crystals in his urine (that should be a good thing right?) which had the probability of turning to stones, YIKES! We put him on antibiotics and thryoid tablets and he is like a new dog, frolicking around and the spark in his eye is back. He needs to lose about 10 lbs, same as me. So we are working on it together. Something tells me he will win but it is great motivation.

Part of the daily regement is walks (brisker now), ball throwing and a dip in the pond. Check out Sadie, she looks like a coyote when she's wet. She LOVES the water and don't try to take her ball away, I bent down to pick it up this morning just as she lunged for it. Her hard head connected with my jaw and I saw stars! That will definitely leave a mark.

Life on the Ranch

2 part post today and sorry about duplicating the tree shot below :-) just some more great shots of places on the lower 40.

Fall in the Country

We are having an incredible Fall this year. 3 weeks now of clear skies and temps in the high 70's. Looks like rain (fingers, toes, legs and arms all crossed) this afternoon. I just went to town, yeah, the big metropolis of Kiowa to pay the annual registration on my car, and decided to take a little drive to look at the colors. I drove south to Elbert, stopped into the convenience store for a little refreshment and then turned east on a dirt road.... many twists and winds later, I made it back to civilization, it was pretty, but dusty. The pictures are all from a recent walk with the dogs, hope you enjoy! Wish I could capture the way it sounds and the way it feels, it is like heaven!