New Vacuums Rock!

I brought home my new vacuum last night. After figuring out a problem (my little turquoise lever to lock the canister wasn't locked), I took off and enjoyed the splendors of my new vacuum.

It's funny how cleaning goes from being a chore to being fun - all you have to do is get a new toy! This vacuum was great, with good suction and my carpet has never felt this fluffy and wonderful before! Plus, even though I was only vacuuming a hallway and a bedroom, I had to empty the dust cup 3 times!! (In my defense, I took about a month researching and procrastinating before I bought this, so my carpet was in need of a cleaning...but heck, we don't wear shoes in the house, but it's still amazing how much crap your carpet can collect.)

It's a Bissell 82H1 Cleanview Helix and I bought it from Amazon for $79, an upgrade from my last vacuum, a hand-me-down $59 Eureka. I love that I don't have to buy bags and that it works on hard floors, too. If it lasts me for 3-4 years, I'll consider it money well spent!

Chile Roasting Party

Chiles roasting away...

Under the grape arbor

Apples piled up, like a trough to feed the local elk

Croquet in the backyard

June Wedding

It was so great to go see my friends in California this summer. In June, one of my friends, Jan, got married at the Long Beach Aquarium. We all had a lovely time and the best part was getting to see these gals.


Brett and Julieann (one of my better photos - I had so much red eye!!)


And here is the wedding girl...my caption for this photo is: "Here, sweetie, have a drink...relaxxx!" (I wish that I had gotten a better photo of the bride - darn lighting!)


Jan looked beautiful and the wedding was a blast.

Here were some of the cutesy little jellyfish at the aquarium!

Optimist or Pessimist?

I say it doesn't matter whether the glass is half empty or half full - it's whether the glass holds a margarita.

My boss announced today that he is leaving the company in a month's time, much to the surprise of everyone in my division.

As I've visited with folks today, it seems to be a time for worry and reflection. I haven't really seen much in the way of hope from anyone. Perhaps it's too soon to expect that from people.

My coworker said, "Well, I decided I can either be really negative about it or not be really negative about it." I thought that was an interesting take. I pointed out to him that the two options weren't being negative and being positive, but either being negative or having a lack of any emotion towards it.

I told him that it's like saying either "The glass is half empty," or "I don't want to talk about the damn glass!"

I follow the belief that the quickest way to upset people is to mess with:

a. their home
b. their money
or
c. their children

And right now, in essence, a lot of my coworkers are probably feeling like their money is being threatened.

The other belief that I have is that things eventually work out - one way or another. In about 4 weeks, we'll know how this is going to work out (or at least begin to get an idea).

Momentum & Redefining Priorities

I recently started to use Google Reader to quickly browse through new posts on my favorite blogs and websites. I love to cruise through what's new at Gourmet, Design Sponge, I Will Teach You to be Rich and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, among others.

In one of my quick perusals of new posts this week, I saw one titled The Curse of Momentum. I skimmed the article and felt that it really resonated with me.

It basically says that it is a lot easier to keep moving in the direction you're already going than to stop, reevaluate and change course. So, we either keep going with the flow or we make some changes, put the effort in and see what the payout is.

In alignment with this has been my dawning revelation that buying a new home isn't all that I thought it would be. I thought that it would be this life-defining moment where I would feel an indescribable security and sense of well-being. And really, it hasn't done too much to change my life, besides take away that feeling that I'm throwing away money on rent.

When I figured out that owning my own home wasn't everything I dreamt it would be, I asked myself again: what do I want? And the answer was simple. I want to be in love and I want to travel the world and have amazing experiences.

Now that I've redefined my larger priorities, I have to ask myself, what am I doing to get what I want?

I plan to continue to do a couple of things. First, I will continue to do things that scare me. Second, I will continue to try and meet new people in all different types of circumstances.

Then comes the new things I'm going to try. I am planning on doing an exercise that Wisebread talked about on their post: Feeling Stuck? 100 Ways to Change Your Life. I plan on always trying to experience the feelings of hope and openness to change. And I am going to work on discovering specific ways that I can achieve my goals. (Any recommendations are welcomed.)

Everyday is a new day to embrace life and move forward. And I hope that I move forward in the direction I want, instead of just moving with the momentum.