Monday Mantra: 08/31/2009

~ STRENGTH ~



Some days, OK most days, I feel like this…



As I go through life one thing that people always say to me is that they admire my strength. Times have been difficult for me, but I am going to dig deep and pull in my inner strength to get through these times.

As Winston Churchill said… “If you’re going through hell, keep going…” and “Never, never, never give up…"

So I will hang onto my strength and conquer my battles.




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Wordless Wednesday: 08/26/2009

Mantra Monday: 08/24/2009

~Ride it out~



So OK, I’ve become quite obsessed with the movie Finding Nemo…I guess it has a lot of hidden meanings to me; plus I’m a kid at heart and LOVE cartoons. I am taking the advice of the Sea Turtles in this scene and hanging on for the ride. Often times in life I tend to get a little too serious…so this week I am going to try and relax, enjoy life and go with the flow.

I hope that everyone has a great week.

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Massage, Jazzercise and Chuck-It…OH MY!

So I woke up feeling a little punk this morning. Considering the things that have been happening in my life lately it was good to have a day like today. First, one of my friends is in school to become a massage therapist and she needs clients…so uhhh YA free massage so someone can learn, where do I sign up?!?!?! Julie did an AWESOME job, I usually have lots of problems with my knees after I teach Jazzercise but tonight nothing, I felt great! So I’m sure you are asking me…how can I get hooked up with Julie? Great question and thank you for asking! Julie is welcoming anyone who is willing and you can contact her directly for details, CLICK HERE to send her an email. She RULES!!!

After my massage, I went home and created a new Jazzercise set for my last Sunday class (I’ll post the set up onto my site as soon as I can). Due to Football season starting, I had to give up my 4:00 PM Jazzercise class at the Aurora Center…I know, I know, football REALLY? Well for those of you that don’t know, I am a HUGE football fan. I also run a Fantasy Football league (which I have been told is the more organized and well put together league that some folks have ever participated in). So that soaks up the majority of my Sundays during the fall…and I have to prepare! I will miss the students at the Aurora Center, but I am still teaching some classes there (Shameless plug), if you are interested in knowing my teaching schedule you can always check out my Jazzercise blog at http://JazzerStephanie.com (End of shameless plug).

And last, but NOT least after dinner Tucker gave me the hint that he wanted to go play ball. Recently when at the pet store, I saw a ‘Chuck-it’ and I wondered…WHY haven’t I bought one of these before? I have two BIG dogs that love to play fetch…so let’s check it out. So the pups and I geared up (me toting along my new iPhone…AWESOME!) and we headed out to the school soccer field. The chuck-it was SOOO much fun! The pups were pooped afterwards and for those of you that know me…a tired puppy is a good puppy.

So for waking up and feeling a bit punk, this ended up being a really good day for me. I got to spend time on me to help me heal and embrace my independence again. I have already started brainstorming on my Mantra Monday post…so keep your eyes open for that. Here are some pics that I took with my iPhone of the pups playing with the Chuck-it. Enjoy!






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Wordless Wednesday: 08/19/2009

WOW, I'm a big cheese-ball!

What I am grateful for today: 08/18/2009

I had a rough day today…so when I got home I was a bit crabby. I walked in the door and Jessy had one of her ‘babies’ in her mouth…so Tucker RUSHED in grabbed his and they both pitter-pattered around squeaking to their hearts content cause Momma was home.







They got so excited that it cleared up my ‘grumpies’ and I ended up taking them to the soccer field to play fetch. However, Tucker is not the best ‘fetcher’ out there…he gets the ball, just doesn’t bring it back.



There is nothing like the unconditional love of a dog.

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What I am grateful for today: 08/17/2009

~Linkin Park~

So as I stated in my Mantra Monday posting…life has been a bit rough for me. However, I pop in my Linkin Park CD’s when driving and life seems to get much better. This is one of my favorite songs by them…if you can tolerate it and listen to the words; it fits perfectly with my situation right now.

Linkin Park – In Pieces


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HIKING: Elk Mountain Open Space

We went hiking a couple of weeks ago up in Evergreen Colorado…this hike was just a little bit over 2 miles so Furio was able to join us (YAY!) . We have enjoyed hiking so much this season that we ventured out and bought a couple new books…this was the first hike out of the book 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Denver and Boulder. We choose to take the Elk Meadow Open Space: Sleepy S Loop. It was a beautiful hike, but the best part was the off-leash dog park at the end of the trail…of course it depends on ‘who’ you talk to, but I’m pretty sure that was Jessy & Tucker’s favorite part. This was a nice easy trail with beautiful scenery. Here are some pics from the outing…

Dallas, Furio, Jim & Jessy heading up the pack…


Tucker all geared up and ready to go…


Jim & Jessy…


The pups at the dog park…


The gang checking out Furio in his cave…


Furio in his cave…


My boy finally rests…


CLICK HERE to see the whole album…

2009-ElkMeadowHike

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Monday Mantra: 08/17/2009

~Keep a steady pace and focus on your goal~

I have been presented with many challenges over the last few months, my life has been in a holding pattern but I have finally been released and I am ready to move forward. During the next few weeks I am going to have a lot of challenges, so I must keep a steady pace and keep my eye on the prize. Things happen for a reason and I will get through this as a more educated person.

Make it a great week everyone!

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Wordless Wednesday: 08/12/2009

Evergreen Mountain Loop Hike

This hike was amazing! Since we had such a great time on the Maxwell Falls hike we decided to break out the 12 Short Hikes in the Denver Foothills-Central book again and pick a longer more difficult hike. So we opted for the Evergreen Mountain Loop! I was amazed by the amount of wildlife that we saw, but of course my favorite was the field of wild flowers.



I was bummed that I forgot my Rocky Mountain Wildflowers Pocket guide, so I didn’t know what the purple flowers were, but I looked it up as soon as I got home. I had never seen a Horsemint Beebalm Wild Bergamot before.



They are amazingly beautiful. I got some pictures of them…some day I’ll get a high tech camera just for these purposes. Any who…it was an amazing hike and I’m excited to go on our next one! Here are some pics from the hike, Tucker kept sneaking into the frame so there aren’t many of them without his head.

The start of the hike…


The Hayes’ and Jessy (she likes them better now *sigh*)…


The view from the top…


The gang…


Another beautiful view…


The pups were exhausted by the end…


These are just a few of the pics, so make sure to check out all of them!

to view all of the pics in the Album.

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