Waiting to Speak

A friend and I went to Celebrity Bakery for lunch yesterday.  We had an interesting conversation starting with picking out each others worst tendencies.  ...after pretending we were both perfect, it became us declaring our personal worst.  

We both brought up waiting to speak.  

Now that might sound polite and unselfish, but personally I think it's the rudest thing imaginable.  It's where you don't necessarily listen to the person talking to you, but you wait for them to finish speaking for you to say what you wanted to say.  It's extremely one sided and you might as well talk to yourself in a mirror.

It's not like you do it to everyone or even all the time.  I might not of even noticed it if we hadn't had this conversation.  It's scary to think that you could be doing this without even realizing.  I want to become a better listener.  A confidant that takes your words to heart and gives you a sound board that listens with intent.  

Love, Sarah

You+Style

I had so much fun on this outfit shoot with Rebekah Maynard at the Nasher.  I'm collaborating with You+Style for weekly outfit posts.  Click here to see the full post!

 

Love, Sarah

Bikram Yoga Survival Tips

I love Bikram yoga.  Before my back injury years ago I would go religiously.  It was the hardest moment when I knew I had to give it up.  But for some crazy reason I mustard up the courage to give it one more shot two weeks ago.  ...and I made it through!  

The first class I was very gentle and the next class I did all the postures!  No crying, not even an ounce of pain!  I'm so excited that I want all my friends to come with me.  The only problem is there's always a ton of tips that I give when I invite a friend.  I thought what better than to write a post that I can share for everyone.

Here's my survival tips for Bikram yoga:

WATER - Drink tons of water before and after class.  Also bring a large bottle with you.  I only take about two sips in class, but then it's ready for you following.

EMERGEN-C - This little package is life or death for me.  If I don't take one 30 minutes before class I'll have an extreme migraine that lasts about 24 hours.  I've been taking a package after class as well.

FOOD - Don't eat anything at least 2 hours before class.  I even go a step further and make it 3 and usually a healthy meal.  I do however always eat a banana 30 minutes before class.  

MAT - I have a cheap mat.  I've seen some people with fancy thick ones, but to me... a mat, is a mat. Oh, and they have some there to rent -but trust me- you'll want your own.

TOWELS - Here's a HUGE tip, bring TWO beach towels.  One to lay over your mat during class and the other to cover your car seat after class.  You will produce so much sweat that you think you'll just turn into a puddle.  Gross, but so true.

CLOTHING - Wear the least amount of clothes that you feel comfortable in.  Trust me, no one will judge you, but you want to feel like a bad ass when you go.  I find when I feel the most comfortable and confident my mind is able to stay less distracted.

GO - This might sound like a duh, but trust me, you'll come up with a million reasons not to come.  I do.  Like... I ate too much junk food, it's too hot outside, I didn't drink enough water, I would rather go home.  But, the crazy thing is when I've convinced myself not to go and I still go, that's when I have my best classes.  I think I take off all my expectations of myself and I'm just proud that I'm in the room. It's like a second chance to just do your best.

Yea!  You made it through my survival tips.  Now when do you want to join me in a class?!

Click here for Bikram Dallas' site.

Love, Sarah

  

Dylan's Summer Weekend

 Paul has been super busy this weekend getting our FJ and four-wheelers ready to ship down to Costa Rica.  He asked me not to plan anything so he can get it done.  But when I heard that Dylan's brother was in Colorado visiting Paul's dad and Betty Ann I knew Dylan needed a fun adventure too while he stayed in Dallas.  

 Dylan has only spent the night one night at a time, but I asked if he wanted to stay the entire weekend and he accepted the mission.  The first thing we did was write down his goals to complete.  

The next morning we went full speed ahead and went to the Museum of Science and Nature.  We hit up the planetarium and watched Flying Monsters in the IMAX also.

Next up, was how to accomplish "plane".  He wanted to go in a glider.  I remember we had just received a delivery at work from Office Depot, so we stopped by and picked up the boxes.  I had a roll of cameo duct tape in my craft closet (b/c who can walk by that without picking up a roll?)  and we created a glider.

Our neighbor had given us the tip of creating pizzas from scratch with all the ingredients coming from Jimmy's.  We did a competition with Dylan and me against Paul.  We were so stuffed after eating the pizza that we couldn't decide who won.  (The pepperoni's were in an Olympic design before baking.)

Today, we had to leave in a hurry to make it to the movie in time, so we had red-velvet cookies for breakfast.  Yummy!!

We've been watching the Olympics throughout the weekend and currently watching while waiting for his Dad to pick him up.  

Yea!  Fun weekend with Dylan is complete.

Love, Sarah

favorite posts

I've been blogging for several years now and I decided to pull a few of my favorite posts since the beginning to share.  Feel free to click the titles of each picture to see the full story.

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My Facebook 
March 2012

Whenever I think about giving up Facebook, I just think about this post.  A lot of special people are wrapped up in this one space.



Beautiful Wreck
February 2011

I wrote this post an hour after my Cayenne was totaled.  I read this post occasionally to remember the feeling of gratitude for safety and life.



Grandparents House
July 2012

This will always be a personal favorite of mine.  There's just something about your grandparents house that fills you with serenity.

An Unexpected Friendship

August 2010

A life changing moment for me and I have it all captured right here.

Corbett Wedding

May 2012

After doing this post I was blessed by the warmth the Corbett's gave me for these pictures.  It was the first time I felt my pictures were a gift.

Family Time
November 2011

We rarely have a day where Paul and I have nothing going on and just stay at home and hang out with the pets.  This day was so fun and extremely special.



Serena: Beautiful Day
May 2010

We don't get to see Serena nearly as much as we would like.  This post gives me some of the warmth of just sitting next to her and enjoying the same air and marvel in her beauty.



Dynasty
September 2011

I'm extremely camera shy and especially with something to this extreme.  But for this outfit post we just had a blast and I loved looking all 80's diva.



Mother-Daughter Spring Getaway
March 2011

My Mom and I have so much fun together.  I posted way to many pictures on this post, but it was such a wonderful day!



I Live in the Moment
June 2011

I still relate to this post 100% and it reminds me to keep living in those moments.



Sleeping with Spiders
July 2012

This is one of my favorite stories from Costa Rica and it taught me so much about my own mental strength.  

Sunrise and Ride

November 2011

 This picture might be one of my personal favorites.  It doesn't hold the most meaning to me, but I love getting lost in it.

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I value your friendship and being apart of my little blog.  I would still do this without readers, but it makes it so fun to be able to share it with you!

Love, Sarah

Sleeping with Spiders

Over the years I have posted many spider/insect pictures from Costa Rica.  ...but, I don't know if I ever shared the story of how I fell in love with them.

The first time we ever spent the night in our home in Costa Rica, it wasn't technically ready for us, but we were too excited to care if the doors weren't able to completely shut properly.  That night, Paul and I left all the lights on in the house to go into town for dinner.  Once we returned it was pitch black except for our house that lit up the jungle.  When we opened the door it was like the "inside-out game", our house was full of insects.  Drawn from the depths of the tropical jungle in search to explore this illuminating light, every shape, color, and size of bug was going insane inside our home.  Flying, crawling, screeching they were filling every square inch.   

Paul immediately turned off the lights and I grabbed a flashlight.  But, there was no point fighting against them.  The more I waved my flashlight, the more they came straight at me.  At that moment I knew that I could in a split second loose my mind and have a panic attack.  I drew every ounce of self control in my body and pulled back the blankets on our spider infested bed and laid down in the midst of them crawling all over me and went to sleep.  

The next morning it looked like a battle zone.  Most the bugs had either died or covering the windows looking for their way out.  The ceiling fan had taken out a pile of flying ones that landed on our toes.  At this moment is when I fell in love with Costa Ricans insects.  I could view them up close and personal with either lifeless bodies all over our floor or pressed against the glass.  They were gorgeous.

Here are a couple of pictures of my favorite crawly friends.

How beautiful and unique are each one of these guys?  

Love, Sarah

Grandparents House

I love my grandparents house.  It's meant different things for me over the years, but has always held a special place in my heart.  

My grandpa timed my grandma that it takes her an hour to find each piece for her puzzle.  So she usually waits for me to come over and finish off whatever puzzle she has going.  Once I'm done she always says she doesn't know how I do it.  It's our little thing.

 When we first moved to Texas from NY in 1994, we lived with my grandparents until we found our own place.  I use to play with my Littlest Pet Shop on this couch for hours.

 Lookies never guess, they look it up!

That's what my Mom always says when you don't know something.  We have come to this exact book shelve countless of times to find our answer.

You knew what was going to go down when she opened this closet.

I think every person in our family have had their behinds in these folding chairs.  They have been in attendance of every birthday held at their house for years.

Handmade game by my great-grandfather!  You throw jar rubbers from a distance onto the hooks.  My mom has been playing since she was a kid.    

I hope that my children one day get to meet my grandparents and come to this house.  It reminds you of what America is all about.

Love, Sarah

Smoke and Mirrors

Everyday Jose checks in with us from Costa Rica to let us know how it's going.  He usually sends some kind of a picture or little story of the days account.  Today he sent a picture of this sweet bird and said it ran into our window.  I'm trying not to be dramatic but I feel a little guilty that our home was the end of this little guys life.  

One time while we were there a hummingbird ran into the window.  I ran outside and found him laying on the ground.  But when I picked him up and rubbed his belly he eventually came to and flew off.  I don't think this guy was as lucky. 

Here's to seeing smoke and mirrors and navigating safely today.

Love, Sarah

Work

Here's the deal, I can't sleep again and my mind is going crazy about a tricky subject to talk about. 

Work.

Luckily, I love my job and everyone that I work with.  The sticky part is I'm craving change.  So, do I talk about it on my very public open to anyone to read blog, or keep to myself?  Then again, I always think about you.  Maybe you're going through the same or similar situation and we can help each other by being open and sharing.

Let me fill you in on the low down.  I work at a production company that is .4 miles away from my home, in Downtown Dallas in the coolest building.  I call my co-workers friends and I couldn't appreciate my boss more than I do.  I make exactly what my goal salary would be and I get to vacation pretty much whenever I want.  I have freedom to be completely myself and wear whatever crazy getup I want each day.  Yeah, there might be the occasional hiccup with some pretty stressful times, but it's like your own family.  You can talk crap about the situation, but if anyone else says a word, you'll go to bat for your team.

So you might be wondering what the hell is wrong than.

Well, I don't feel like I'm reaching my maximum ability.  I feel that after two and a half years, I pretty much know what to expect the next day and there's something in me that wants to do more.  Not more on my to-do list, but more in utilizing my abilities.  I was telling Paul tonight that I'm craving the days when I worked three jobs.  Not the 17 hour work days, but the idea of waking up in the morning and getting prepared to be a bad ass.  I try to remind myself of this speech, and that I'm not special, but this stirring continues to come back to me. 

Trust me, I want to slap myself for even thinking this is a problem.  I too, know so many people looking for a single job, let alone complaining about a perfect one.  Do you sometimes feel the same way about your current job?  What do you find helpful to keep your mind in the game?

    ...hopefully now I can go back to sleep after clearing my mind.

Love, Sarah

Rainbow Moment

Just this second I was sitting in the house having a party pooper moment, when Paul yelled for me to come up on the roof.  He was watering the plants and saw this rainbow.  So I grabbed my wide angel lens and went on up.

 B.  I have no idea why Paul is watering the plants when a storm is moving in.  What?

Thanks for getting me out of my funk, Paul Beauregard and God.

Love, Sarah