Resume and thoughts on life

On the top of my "to do" list for the past 2 years has been, Update Resume. Actually I didn't have an old one to update, so it really meant, sit down and create one. Well, I can finally scratch that one off my list of things to do and I feel such a huge relief! It almost felt as ominous as doing taxes or something. Last week when I started, after working on it for awhile, my stomach hurt so bad I couldn't stand up straight (don't know what that was all about).

Some of the things that have been running through my brain center around the uncertainty of the world, hope-despair-hope about the economy and whether I am actually ready to get back out in the world and slug it out (this time with younger competition). This part I am certain of, I miss having a steady income and being able to go and do whatever I want and doing my part to stimulate the economy. It has been good to have to reign myself in and take a good look at the knothead I had become. From that perspective, I do think I've grown and hopefully I am a little more humble and a lot wiser.

I worry the most about getting caught up in all of it again, in ending up working with some of the same types of people and having less tolerance and less ability to stick with it when things aren't going my way. Maybe that's not the worst that could happen. I think knowing when to walk away from a bad situation might actually serve me well. One thing I do know is that I cannot tolerate the stress like I used too, nor do I want too. Just writing about it is making my stomach twitch!

So sticking with the worrying theme, I worry about not having enough, about Bruce who turns 62 in November carrying the insurance load for us and the security of his job. It just feels vulernable to me to not have a backup. So the quest begins, I've been posting my newly minted resume and looking at different possibilities.

Let me end though with this, I am so grateful to have been able to take time off, to have the freedom and ability to re-charge, renew and just be. I love being at home, the daily walks with the critters, even feeding horses night and morning every day of the world. I love being able to spend days at a time in Hurricane with my family and friends, and I have treasured every one of you that have made the trek to Colorado to explore and hang out, that is time and memories that are very dear to me. So the thought I throw to the universe is this...I would like a great job, with travel, working with and for incredible, talented, intelligent, fun loving people. Making a great income with great benefits that allows me the freedom to wander, explore, be with friends and family and to thrive!

You were meant for the greatest of things.
For Summer nights and angel wings.
For hopes and dreams to understand
For ocean breeze and pure white sand.
For laughs and wishes in the night
For life and love and all that's right.
This is what you're all about.
Be true to yourself.
Take your next flight out.

What if?

It's a normal day, nothing extraordinary happening, you are walking down a path or hallway or sidewalk that you've been down many times before, but today there is a purple piece of paper you notice in the middle of your path. Your first thought is to just pass it by, but on second thought, you bend down, pick it up, unfold it and read the following...

...it is no accident that you are here today. You know deep within that your life is at a choice point. Perhaps you know exactly what's next but can't make the first move. Or maybe you just know there's something missing. Ask yourself these questions....

What if you had the power to recreate your life?
What would you hang onto?
What would you let go of?
What are your dreams and wishes?

More from the weekend

Some more random shots from the weekend. The deer is real, honest! He was just grazing away on someone's lawn, unbelievable!

People must think we're crazy because we're always trying to take pictures of the 2 of us with the timers on the camera. The fun is to try to beat the timer and get a funny picture, this one as you can see, I didn't beat it, but a good hair shot anyway!

And one where we both made it. Check out my skinny minnie sister, wow!

Don't ask us why we're all crouched down on this one, I couldn't tell you. Must be so you can see the rock behind us!

Karen supported our parents in the "Hurricane's Biggest Loser" contest, she looks fabulous! My mom lost about 17 lbs and looks incredible as well. Me, I lost 8 lbs, but am still working towards my goal. After seeing this shot of Karen, I have incentive to crank it up a notch. Congrats Mom and Karen!

And today it's snowing......

This is my poor garden. First rain, then snow, then sleet, then more snow! None of it stuck but it is still 36 degrees outside with a north wind blowing. What happened to Summer and Fall???

Garden of the Gods

Yesterday was a really fun day and it capped off a really fun weekend with my sister, Karen. We started out going to a craft fair (it was a bust, the economy is really taking it's toll here) and ended up spending some time in the park. Here are a couple of my fav pics from the day.

The Shack

I finished reading and listening to The Shack yesterday and WOW! So much to think about and so much to absorb. It's hard to believe that it is fiction. If you haven't experienced the story, do it! I found it easier to listen to but I also read in between listening, the narrator just brought it all to life for me. I know you can download it on iTunes as well as get the audiobook. Deep....

Also last night I saw a new episode of The Locator on WeTV. That is such an awesome show about bringing people together who have been separated for any number of reasons, last night a father and daughter. After that episode, there was a new show premiering called The Adoption Diaries, and it is another great watch. The episode was about a young couple in IL that could not have children of their own so it followed their journey through an open adoption. It showed the emotions from all sides and was emotional to watch, but well worth it. Left me with a lot to ponder on this beautiful Sunday.

Picnic in Grafton

I had the most fun week in Hurricane last week. It all started with Peach days and hanging out with family. The first night I was in town, I got to have Brecken and Kenzie spend time at my house with me. Kenzie spent the night and we got rocked out of our beds around midnight with a huge, beautiful thunderstorm. On Saturday after the parade, Barry, Teresa, Kenzie, me and mom went to Grafton for a picnic and pictures.



After Grafton we headed up to the apple orchard by Springdale and picked apples, yum!

On Saturday night, Brecken came for a sleepover. If you look close at the Vette, you can see him in the co-pilot seat, great way to roll for little guy! We had a fun time eating, playing, eating, eating, eating, playing, eating some more, watering the plants outside, watching the quail, eating and making animal sounds (he loves the cow hides on my living room floor).



I spent a few hours discussing the woes of the world with my big brother, catching up on vacation with my big sister, hanging with my mom and dad and even caught the Sky Ranch BBQ on Labor Day. I got to hang out with Trish and Nat, Trish and Ryan, Andy and even spent time learning about zoning and buildings at the LaVerkin City offices. In my spare time I mowed the big lawns for the first time and planted trees and flowers. It seemed like I was always going somewhere or doing something! But it was a great week and it went by way too fast.

PUPPIES!

Yep, Miss Sadie is pregnant! By my calculations, given a 9 week gestation period, we should be expecting puppies the week of October 5th. Guess Booner can still get the job done. Fingers crossed that everything goes well, the puppies will be full German Sherpherd, long hair black/tan/silver coloring, smart, sweet and gorgeous!

Vinegar (TAFFY) Candy Gr. Dev Style

One more great recipe from my childhood. We used to beg for this because it was so much fun to "pull" the taffy. Seems as I've taken a couple walks down memory lane, we were always begging for something, sounds like the kids nowadays! Anyway, here it is. Let me know if you try this and how it comes out. Have FUN!

Vinegar Candy(Taffy)

2 C Sugar
1/2 C Vinegar
1/2 C Water
1 Tbs Butter
Pinch Baking Soda

Combine sugar, vinegar, water in a pan and cook to light crack stage (not sure what that is on a thermometer, but if you drop a small amount into a cup of cold water, it should crack). Add butter and soda and stir. Remove from heat and pour onto a butter pan or platter and let it cool until it is cool enough to handle. Pull with buttered fingers until stiff. Then stretch it out and cut into pieces. We used to sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

You can add flavorings/coloring as well at the same time you add the butter and soda.

Grandma Dev's Million Dollar Fudge Cake

Fudge Cake
Makes 1 8x8 or 1 round layer

2 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1/2 C Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 C Mayonnaise
1 C Cold Water
1 tsp Vanilla

Combine and sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Add Mayonnaise, water and vanilla, blend well. Pour batter into greased pans. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Double recipe for larger/sheet pans.

Double Boiler Icing

In the top of a double boiler combine
2 Egg whites 1 1/2 C Sugar
5 Tbs Cold Water
1/8 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Light Karo Syrup
or
1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar

Place over boiling water (bottom pan) beat on the 2nd speed of your hand beater until blended. Then cook beating constantly on high speed until mixture will stand in peaks. Remove from heat. Spread on cooled Fudge cake

This is an old time favorite of the grandkids (that would be me, my siblings and cousins). I baked up the cake the other night and for high altitude you should probably add a couple Tbs of Flour and cook it about 5 minutes longer. The middle fell on mine after I took it out of the oven but the cake was AWESOME anyway!

Rocky Mountain Air Show

We went to Rocky Mountain Metro Airport yesterday for the annual EAA air show. It was pretty cool, in a new and better location but hotter than blazes It got up to 101 degrees before we bagged it and headed for the car. We had found a couple airplane wings to stand under for shade but it was still hot! I have a sweet farmers tan line on my arms now to match the tan line on my feet.

17 Years and Counting

My sisters all think he looks like Richard Gere, I think maybe a little like Dennis Quaid either of which are darn hot. We've been married 17 years today and that is so hard for me to believe! He's a good guy, treats me well and takes good care of me. Other than a little snoring and talking in his sleep, he's pretty easy to live with. And he got me a new lawn mower for my new lawn in Hurricane, what a stud! Ok, that was just tongue in cheek, in past years, he's given me diamonds, really nice diamonds (3ct yellow for our 15th) a Rolex and the list goes on, so I really am happy with the lawn mower, really!

Happy Anniversary Skid!

The 5 Dysfunctions

Back in my working days I picked up a book by Patrick Lencioni that I'm sure most of you are familiar with. The title is The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. The principles apply to work but more so to life in general and more specifically to families.

The 5 areas are simple ~Trust~Conflict~Commitment~ Accountibility~ Results with the foundation being trust. That seems to be what all relationships turn on, if it is there then the relationship has security, if it is not there, the relationship crumbles. Let me take the 5 points a step further for consideration and thought.

These are the things that keep us from achieving the relationships we want to have.

~Trust - The absence of Trust=invulnerabilty
~Conflict- The fear of conflict=Artificial Harmony (or the excuse to walk away)
~Commitment- The lack of commitment=Ambiguity (you get out of it what you put in)
~Accountability - Avoidance of accountability=low standands (you have to be brave enough to accept your responsibility and also strong enough to hold others accountable for theirs, but it has to be = on both sides)
~Results - Inattention to results = status and ego, both of which are artificial and only important to you.

If you haven't read the book, read it. Although it is written in a business story form, the application is much broader than that.

Look what I found in my Garden!

Ok, this is in the same vein as Nat's Forbidden Fruit. I apologize to anyone that might be offended, but it is too good to pass up. I picked this pepper a few days ago.

Sister Adventures

Karen and I got the bright idea to ride the 4 wheeler out south of my house into the desert. We were gabbing away, laughing and taking silly pictures like usual, but the problem was.... we had on flip flops, shorts, it was getting dusk and we were walking around through the brush like bone heads! We got some fun shots, but this is how lucky we were. On the way back to the 4 wheeler, something caught Karen's attention, you guessed it - there was a RATTLESNAKE! Lucky we saw it first, but wow, it freaked us out! We got on the 4 wheeler and beat it for home, lesson to selves, long pants, boots and helmets!

In case you're wondering why there is no picture of the snake, well, would you have stood there and pressed your luck? Well really, would ya?

The Hacienda

We have spent this week in Hurricane and it has been very busy, but a lot of fun. It is so nice to actually have grass out the back now. Even though there are some spots that still need a little help, it is a HUGE improvement over the dirt and tumble weeds. Next the trees will get planted and then the hammock.....

The most fun week!

I've had the most fun week I can remember. I had a little visitor that just loved to be outside on the ranch with the dogs, kitties and especially the horses. It was so fun to see the world through his eyes. This is just a teaser, I will post more pictures later. ssssst!

If you were a bird, would you land here?

From the outside looking in....

From the inside looking out....

A couple funny pictures of Hannah hunting the bird feeder in my office. It's pretty funny to watch and listen to her. After a while the birds figure out that she can't get them and fly in for lunch. The things that entertain me.....

Hootenanny Networking Blog is LIVE!

book mark it http://annie-hootenanny.blogspot.com Please share with everyone so we can get a lot of good input as well as a great turnout. I need your help to make this work!!!!

Il "I'm in Heaven" Divo Night!

WOW! Second time seeing the guys in concert and they were phenominal! Totally 1000 times better and more powerful than listening to their recordings, it literally sends chills down your spine. They sang 2 songs that they have not yet recorded, Bridge Over Troubled Water and The Impossible Dream, both were unbelievable. I am in heaven still today, can stop humming and smiling. Next goal, seeing them live somewhere in Europe, like Spain, Italy or Switzerland.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hal-le-e-e-e-ju-ah!