Where Have I Been?

I took a nearly 4 month hiatus from blogging, and boy does it feel good to be back.  When your schedule picks up you are forced to sacrifice something, and well, blogging was one of those things.  Now that school is out for the summer I am hoping to squeeze in a few posts over the next couple weeks.

The biggest reason blogging had to take a back seat is... drum roll please... we finally sold our apartment & bought a house!!!  It was a 4 year process, but definitely worth waiting for.

Not only did we buy a house, we moved cities.  We left the center of a busy city and moved to a little village with roughly 1,100 residents.  It's a big change, but a good one.  Now if I can just learn to sleep through the quiet nights!  Where are the sirens, motorcycles, and barhopping crowd when you need a good night sleep, ha-ha?

A lot of the roads leading from the main cities to our village are barely big enough for two cars.  But they are lined with trees & farms, which is a much better view than the concrete & endless buildings we had grown accustom to in the city.

Sure the house is going to require a lot more upkeep but so far we're happy to do it.  We were out doing yard work this morning with pleasure.  We often stop, look around, and smile at the improvement from where we used to live.  Patience does pay off.

There will be plenty more posts to come about this new phase of our lives, so be sure to check back periodically. 

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Where To Now?

It's more than 2 weeks into 2014 and I've barely posted a thing.  Where to now?
Like a good little blogger, last year I did my best to maintain a schedule, 2 posts a week + a Wordless Wednesday.  And inevitably like most creative people the schedule seemed to suck the fun out of the idea behind my blog.

My blog is supposed to be random... I'm sure you read the description, right, ha-ha!

So, back to where it all started, I'll post when I have something worth saying.  I'll participate in WW when I have a worthy picture, not just something I found in my stock because it's Wednesday again

And you know, another reason I put off the 1st big post was because last years was so darn good, I wanted to raise the bar and instead my blogger brain shut off.

This year already seems quite busy, and I can only have so much on my plate.  I want to give 100% in everything I do, and that's not always possible.  Often if I can't give 100%, I give 0%... that's not really a solution either. 

Here's to doing what I can, trying to live in the moment, and taking each day for what it's worth... instead of just rushing on to the next activity and next day.

Oh yeah, and I'll eventually update my "Goals for 2014" (sidebar)... and yes, again 1/2 of them carried over from last year!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Jazz Dance

Well, I've done something I never expected... I joined a jazz dance class.  For someone with no rhythm or grace this is a huge step.  Sure, when I was 3yrs old I took ballet, and somewhere in my 20's I participated in a solo salsa class with coworkers, but this, this is different.  Salsa I understood, besides tripping over myself or forgetting the steps, my body knew how to make the moves.  Even street dance or hip-hop would be understandable for me, I like rap, and since my teenage years I've found myself trying to copy the videos (I should be ashamed but I'm not).  But jazz dance, border line modern dance, what the hell have I done!  A small speck of a conversation has spiraled out of control and now four moms have signed up for the 30yr + dance class.  Fitness wise, moving around for 45 minutes is great.  Social wise, meeting these moms from my daughters new school only makes integrating into the school easier.  But confidence wise, wow, what a blow!  Flat out, I am really bad at jazz dance.  I'm used to exercise classes, water aerobics or pilates, but this is way out of my comfort zone.  Someone has to be the worst in the class, I guess.  My body build doesn't agree with the moves, and my lack of gracefulness is startling obvious.  When my friend said, oh it's 30 +, I guess I didn't take the class serious.  Turns out all of the women in their 40-50's have been dancing for over 20 yrs and all of us newbies in our 30's have 0 experience, and they're putting us to shame.  As I performed the chasse or jazz walk, I felt more like an elephant charging through the room.  I am a confident woman, but this is really bothering me.  I know it will make me stronger in the end, blah-blah-blah.  It also doesn't help that the other moms just seem to get it, the teacher even called one elegant.  Then there is me.  You hear all of these talks about body image, that a lot of women don't truly see themselves as they are...and well, I'm going through this.  Looking in the mirror during class I feel twice the size of everyone else, and my bulky frame doesn't resemble their slim physiques at all.  I keep reminding myself we're all different, and that I've only attended class twice.  I know I shouldn't snack at night, but I do, we only have one life, and it's understandable I have some extra weight.  I keep reminding myself, these women also have their insecurities and all I can do is keep trying.  I've signed up for 6 months, and if I haven't progressed by then I'll go back to my comfort zones.  I keep telling myself new experiences are good, and that stepping out of my comfort zone will only make me a better person.  But it's not helping yet.  It also doesn't help that I am competitive, and I'm failing as of yet.  I don't usually write these kind of posts, but it's really been playing on my mind.  I'll do my best to keep you updated over the next 6 months of classes, one thing is for sure though, I AM NOT A QUITTER!

Twenty-thirteen

I didn't plan on my below Wordless Wednesday post to be the 1st of 2013, but it just happened that way.

Yet somehow it says so much :

- be flexible
- keep trying
- stay focused
- get in shape
- support each other
- build on relationships
- try new things
- learn new things
- work together
- experience more culture
- travel more
I could probably go on and on, but you get the point.

I'm not big on resolutions... yes I do set goals but no where is it written in stone that they have to be obtained within 1 year.  These goals are something to look forward to, to strive toward.  I have a short list off to the side of my blog with my goals for 2013, and yes half of them carried over from last year.  Why... life happens.  I always try and tell myself to control the things I can, and that makes the uncontrollable a little easier to handle.  But talk is easy.  Maybe I should work on doing more and talking less, ha-ha!
 

For those of you who made resolutions, bucket lists, goals, whatever you want to call them, good luck.  And for those of you who didn't, goals are a good thing, try setting at least one for yourself and build from there.
 

I wish you all success, happiness, and good health this 2013!