It's Time....

for a new post!

I'm so tired of seeing that stupid blog about how terrible Tron was. I have nothing really to say at the moment but I felt the need to post something else to keep things moving. :-p

In other news:
I was reading back a year ago to this post I made about my resolutions and goals for the year 2010. I am happy to report that most of my goals I accomplished. However, there are some that haven't materialized yet, namely the running another half marathon thing. My knees have given me too much trouble lately, and between Taekwondo a few nights a week and bowling and studying, I just haven't had the time to devote to running. Maybe this year?  Speaking of school, I am glad to report that I have maintained my 4.0 GPA and have actually changed degree plans a few times. After a lot of research, I have finally settled on MBA with healthcare emphasis as the best route for me. Plus it gets me finished faster; I'll graduate at the end of this summer as opposed to next spring!  Another one of my goals last year was to stick with TKD and get to at least red belt, which I have done! In fact, I just tested for my black stripe this past Tuesday. Which means that in about 4 more months, I'll be black belt! Watch out!  Another of my goals was to join a young professional or volunteer group; that hasn't panned out either but its more because of a lack of time than lack of energy. I did join a quilting group though, does that count? And I've been doing a ton of sewing. Check, check, check.

Now its time for new goals and resolutions for 2011. Here are a few that I'll share with you. :-)

1. Lose 10 lbs by May 1
2. Achieve black belt status by June
3. Join a church and attend regularly
4. Get involved in some way at said church
5. Graduate in August with a 4.0 GPA
6. Save more money by bringing my lunch to work every day instead of buying in the cafeteria
7. Pay off one of my credit cards by August
8. Have plans in place to visit my brother in Morocco, either this fall or next spring
9. Celebrate my 30th birthday/NYE in Times Square, NYC
10. Spend more time with my parents 

There you have it! These among others will be my goals and resolutions for the coming year. Help keep me accountable!


And finally, here are some pictures of me from the tournament that my TKD school put on back in December. I competed in the forms, breaking and sparring competitions. I got 2nd place in forms and breaking......

I beat out 3 black belts for 1st place in Sparring :-)

Must Be a Guy Thing

So Luis and I went to see Tron last night. I will admit, from the previews, it did look like a good movie and one that I wanted to see. So when he invited me on a date last night, I was all about it.


After actually seeing it though, I was a tad disappointed. The best part for me was the music. A little trance, a little techno, a little hypnotic at times. It was really excellent. Secondly, I enjoyed the graphics and special effects. The little glowing lights that flashed out of the motorcycles (I don't remember what they were called in the movie) and the way the whole tron city glowed was cool.  And Quora's black hair. That was awesome. And.....that's about it.  In all honesty, I thought the movie sucked overall. I kept waiting for the scene that would pull me in and make me forget I was in a theater, but that never happened. The fact that it was in 3D was part of the problem; I kept fidgeting with my glasses the whole time, and bits of light kept reflecting off the plastic lenses and I could never get a clear view without having to constantly adjust and tilt my head certain ways. Why it was in 3D to begin with, I have no idea; I don't remember a single 3D effect. I think the whole thing would have been better if they left it in 2D. Luis actually agreed with me on this one. Also, I thought the acting was terrible. Whoever that kid was that played Sam was ridiculous. Especially at the beginning pulling all his shenanigans. The plot itself was really hard to follow and I felt like I had no idea what was going on. How did Sam's dad get into the....what was it? A computer? Where, exactly, were they? How did that laser thing transport him there, and what was that laser thing? And why did that disk thing have all his information from before he entered that world? Wouldn't it only have info that he learned while in that world and not in our world? What would have happened if CLU and the other "programs" got into our world? Would they exist as programs and computer viruses or would they take a human form? WHY WASN'T ANY OF THIS EXPLAINED?!? Ugh I just can't stand that. Luis couldn't even explain it to me after the movie was over. He eventually had to admit that it wasn't a movie to understand but one to appreciate the graphics and special effects. Fine. Whatever.

I need something more than just flashing lights and a good beat though. On the drive home I started grasping for anything I could get my head around to make this movie have some kind of impact or meaning in my life. I finally decided on the parallels it could have drawn between God and man. God created man in his own image and gave him the world to crate a utopia; just as Flynn created CLU in his image and asked him to create the perfect world. Human nature sets in and corrupts CLU though, just as it corrupted man, and he becomes self-righteous and evil, committing genocide on an entire "population" of iso-....iso-...I don't remember. Iso-somethings. He kills them all because he considered them imperfect and unworthy. And that's about as far as I got. I almost tried to relate Sam to Jesus, as the son of God (Flynn) who comes to Earth (Tron) to save the world....but that got a little complicated so I had to stop.

I guess some movies aren't meant to have a deeper meaning. Some movies really are created just to show off flashes of light and loud noises and cool costumes and fast motorcycle-thingys and other special effects and video games. And they are "TOTALLY AWESOME"!

Must be a guy thing.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

the stockings are hung


o Christmas tree


Christmas dog


Christmas dog is tired of his antlers


handmade present - mug rug


other side


winter wonderland


snow-bowl


keystone


handmade present - doggie ornament




rudolphs

Thankful

A Few Things I am Thankful for:

• Loving and supportive parents
• An amazing and inspiring brother
  
• A wonderful boyfriend
• The best of friends, through thick and thin
• My precious Didgerdoo who is the best dog ever
  
• Puppies in general
• Freedom
  
• Mexican food
• The Dallas Cowboys
• Classic rock
  
• Rainbows
• The Rocky Mountains
• and much more....
  

Weekend Warriors

McDade Fight Team:
Danielle the Destroyer, Sarah the Slayer, Lou the Luchador , Brian the Battler




Luchador: "What did you just say to me?"
Slayer: "I will cuuuuuuuut you."

Fabric Fun!

I've officially caught the Christmas bug. Me and my mom went shopping this weekend and I got lots of awesome holiday fabric. I then spent much of my Saturday sewing up some Christmas-y goodness! Here is a little sneak peak:







This last one is a picture of a little potholder I made for part of my momma's birthday gift. I LOVE these fabrics! They are from the Paradise collection by Patricia Bravo in the Sunset palette. I think I am going to have to get the Sunrise palette also. I also recently bought a ton of Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

More people like Gray

The following are excerpts from an email conversation I was privy to earlier this morning:

All;

This morning on the way to work, out in the country, Gray happened upon a car that had left the road, and was upside down in a swampy area a few miles from his (Gray's) house; the water was deep enough that all he could see were the back tires of the car sticking out of the water. A few other cars had stopped, but the emergency vehicles had not yet arrived. the man who had been driving the submerged car was on the road, frantic, and bloody from trying to beat open the windshield of the car to rescue his 2-3 year old daughter who was strapped in her car seat; now upside down and under water. It was 40 degrees this morning here in Dallas at 6:00 and at least that cold there in Raleigh. After dunking into the brackish and black water, trying, and determining that all of the car doors were jammed, Gray convinced a few of the spectator men to help to try to turn the car over, right side up. It took several tries, and they were able to do so just as the emergency vehicles arrived.

It is unclear yet if the toddler has survived or not. From what he knows, Gray estimates she was under water for most of 30 minutes. Gray remembered to throw his cell phone into the car before going into the water, but his wallet and insulin pump are waterlogged and not working, respectively. Gray went home to shower and change afterwords, and he is in the office now. I have asked him to call his doctor, not only about the insulin pump, but to also see about a general antibiotic from whatever might be living in that nasty water, and for any potential lagging body ache and aftershock.

Please keep all involved in your thoughts and prayers.

We are proud of you Gray!

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Wow. How scary and heroic….I wonder what happened to the girl….will he be able to find out?

­______________________________________________________________________

He said he would find out later today.

Gray's dad was a firefighter, and Gray was a volunteer one while in college.

He says he was mostly shocked and appalled by the number of people unwilling to do anything except stand there and watch, or just drive by.......

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Gray is awesome! And you wonder why we love him!!!

A true hero to that family for sure! Duke is a really great hospital and praying for them both to recover.

Hope you get your pump dried out/replaced!!

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You are the Man, Gray! Hope all are OK and words don’t even say enough.

______________________________________________________________________

Gray,

You are my Hero!!

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Thanks, I'm clearly Hero for sure. To a point I felt so helpless. But I couldn't just pass by and not help...it could have easily been my family.

The little girl was under very long. The girl and dad were taken to Duke... Please pray for that family...

-Gray

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Gray is awesome! And you wonder why we love him!!!

A true hero to that family for sure! Duke is a really great hospital and praying for them both to recover.

Hope you get your pump dried out/replaced!!

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Not Awesome enough…

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8576281/

-Gray

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Gray

I am proud to know you. You did what you could to save the child; most folks would not have taken the initiative that you took to get her out of the water. You are a brave man. You are in my prayers for peace as is the family you tried to help. Rest easy my friend, I understand you’re hurt.

______________________________________________________________________

Excellent words, Carl. Thank you and I think you speak for all of us.

One of the things Gray told me was that the majority of bystanders either just kept on driving, or would only stand and watch. He had to cajole the few who finally did go into the water with him to try to turn the car over.

It takes a very strong person to be willing to try to help others at their own expense.

You did good gray, and we are all so sorry for the tragic ending....

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....

I don't know about you, but I've had all day to reflect on this, and it has just made me sick to my stomach. A sweet little girl died because not enough people would help her frantic, bloody father to try to get her out of the upturned car. If the world had more people like Gray, there may have been a happier ending to this story. Please remember this the next time you see someone who needs help. You could save a life. We all owe it to each other as human beings.