Living life to the fullest

Two weekends ago, I met two different women.

They were both in their 60's. But I met them at different places and different times, one in the morning and the other in the evening. They didn't know each other nor do I think they ever will, but I learned something that day.

The first woman I met began to tell me that soon she would turn another decade. She told me that she had dedicated her life to a job for over 30 years and soon she would retire. I remember her being in awe of how fast time flew for her . She couldn't believe that she had committed to her job for so many years. She never complained but it sort of seemed like she wished she would have done more. She talked about her retirement as if it was going to finally give her life.

Later that evening, I was at another location, and I met the other woman. This woman was completely different from the first one. Although they were probably close in age, she talked about everything she had done. This woman was full of memories! She talked about how she had worked in PR for several years, then her husband and her began to publish the first colored front page newspaper in Texas. She continued to tell me how in her career for many years she continued to grow and learn. She said she would never retire because she loved her job. Then she told me about all the countries she's visited. How she loves to travel and collect antiques from different places. This woman rambled on and on and honestly I was entertained.

I came home telling Gerson about them. I'm not sure what defines "living life to the fullest" but the second lady seemed like she was living life, regardless of her age, she was living it to the fullest.

It really got me thinking about my life. I too want to live life to it's fullest. I don't want to think back and see that I did nothing but commit 30 years to Corporate America. I love my job and enjoy working, but I want to make time for other things. I love new experiences. I actually keep a journal of simply memories. When I remember a memory, I write it down, cause I don't want to forget them.

Making dreams reality is not always easy, but I feel so good when one of my dreams come true. Or when I experience something like never before.

Last summer Gerson and I visit the Dalmatian Coast. Our last stop was HVAR Island. And through out all of the cities we visit we had wanted to kayak, but all the excursions were extremely expensive. So at Hvar, there was a beach by our apartment, and this guy was renting the kayak for 30 Kunas which is basically $5. So we decided to rent one and kayak! We had never kayaked and maybe this was stupid and dangerous, but Gerson and I took off. We kayaked several miles from shore, and eventually we couldn't even see the shore! The water was crystal clear, and it was such a beautiful experience. We just talked and talked sitting in our kayak in the middle of the ocean and felt very blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Croatia, and experience such things.

I want to continue building memories as those. I want to do things that I've never done before. I want to serve and help others without expecting anything in return. I want to travel the world and embrace other cultures. I want to work and learn from my workplace. I want to be open to learning new things. And I want to live life to the fullest ... whatever that means! :)

RACE

A while back, I began to buy signs to hang in my apartment. I don't know why, but I like them. I think they're fun. I really don't know much about decorating or interior design, but I really like them. Maybe it's because I love words. Who knows?!

Here are some of the ones hung on my wall

I love this one! I got it at Pier 1 Import and love the colors to it. It INSPIRES me to be colorful. :P


This one is pretty cheesy but it's cute.


I think this one is my favorite! I don't know why I love it, but I do. It's super simple... BECAUSE... you're welcome to fill in the rest. :)



Well, I bought a new one Labor day weekend while I was in Fredericksburg with my girl friends. I had seen them with Gerson and liked them from the beginning but we couldn't think of a word so I decided to wait since I knew I was returning the following weekend with my girls. They're wooden letters that are wrapped and glued with magazine paper. So I went back and stood there with my friend Mariela. We kept on thinking of different words and then I said "How about the word, RACE" and she asked "Race?"

So I told her that I sometimes thought of my life as a race. I feel like I'm preparing for a marathon, and I'm preparing to win the race.

I believe that God has given us so many talents, dreams, and desires, but if we don't prepare well, and run the race to win then someone else will beat us to it. I know I've written this at least once, but I will write it again : If we do our part, God will do His! ... The key is doing our part, preparing for the race and running the race to win the prize!

And then I also thought that some of my favorite verses (of the Bible) have the word RACE in it

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the prize... 1Corinthian 9:24

or

If you're worn out in this footrace with men,
what makes you think you can race against horses? ... Jeremiah 12:5

and

This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that's left now is the shouting— God's applause!... 2 Timothy 4:6


So I bought the word RACE. I still don't know where to hang it, but I like it.



What word do you like???

One man's junk is another's treasure...

About 2 years ago, when I moved to SA, I gathered a whole bunch of my clothes to list on Ebay.

Gerson has been an "ebayer" for quite a while. He bids, buys, and sells.
True Story: Gerson bought our IMAC by selling everything we found useless in our home. He did not use one penny from our accounts to buy the computer, it was all saved through his ebay sells.

So I thought I would give it a shot. I listed old clothes that I wouldn't wear or that didn't fit anymore. I specifically remember listing a dress I had bought in 2006 (the year I got married) at Forever21 for $3. I wore it once and my sister told me it made me look pregnant, so I never wore it again. Well last year I sold that dress for $25 plus shipping. I could not believe it! The saying "One man's junk is another man's treasure" is very true.

My apartment is 500 square feet which means it's tiny, which means no walk-in closet for me, which also means sharing closet with the hubby, and which means not enough space! We can't keep too much of anything in our apartment.

But I love fashion. I wouldn't consider myself a shopaholic, but I do like trends. So I began to buy seasonal trends by first selling some of my old clothes. It helped me keep my closet less filled AND continue being fashionable!

I don't sell all of my clothes. I just sell the things that I know I won't wear anymore, the pieces that are faded, or that have "what was I thinking?!" written all over it.

Well, it's that time of the year again for me to sell some of the old to get some of the new! And I thought I'd share this with you incase you're wanting to make extra cash... or if you want some really nice boots for the winter, but still don't have a clue how you're going to buy them.

It has helped us a lot since we live on a tighter budget now.

Scared for my life!

So I'm sure you're familiar with the popular 21st century online coupon, GROUPON

A couple weeks ago, I saw that the daily Groupon was for an unlimited fitness bootcamp class for 4wks. It's a $300 value given for only $20! Greatest deal I've seen on Groupon. So I thought, eh, what the heck, I'll do it!

Well, I remembered today that I had to register cause classes begin next week.
The online registration literally scared the bejeezus out of me!

They clarify that just because us Grouponers paid 20 bucks for the class doesn't mean we can slack off and attend when we feel like it. They expect us to take it serious, to change eating habits and attend 80% of the classes, which mine happen to begin at 5am, 4x a week for 4wks! I seriously thought I was signing up to be part of the U.S. Army!
I'm imagining a muscled trainer screaming in my ear to get down and give him 20! If they only knew that I can't even do one push up. :s

And I've got to be honest, after 10 minutes of registering, it took me about another 10minutes to simply click on the submit button. I was thinking "screw my 20 bucks!" but I didn't, I submitted my application, and now I'm determined to commit to 4 wks of bootcamp.

I'm scared for my life!