Dance Dare #3 - My Mother's Day Weekend

Hey Super Cool People in Blogland!

So the other weekend WOULD HAVE been the weekend of my first Half Marathon - taken place in Oregon... HOWEVER (those following my blog know what happened), instead we went on an AWESOME family camping trip.

It was SOOO needed and SOOO nice.  We procured a used tent trailer and headed out.  I was NOT going to feel sorry for myself and waste the weekend.  I don't know about other mom's out there, but often Mother's Day is hard for mom's.  Especially since losing my own mother so long ago - it's often been a hard holiday.  But I've learned that if I don't like something in my life, that I can CHANGE it.  I am thankful to BE a mother of four amazing kiddos!

We were able take some of our bikes and we camped by a beautiful lake.  My daughter and I climbed the nearby mountain for an amazing full vista view of the area.  The rocks were different shades of orange and brown making the area so vibrant.  We rode our bikes around the lake through little pathways barely big enough to walk, we paddled boats on the lake, played games in the trailer, celebrated my baby's 12th birthday, played with his Nerf guns throughout the camp, climbed some big trees, and took a ton of fun pictures.

I also wanted to shout out a big THANK YOU to Holly at 300 pounds Down for her kind comments and highlighting me on her blog post!  That was truly touching to me. 

I recently started a gratitude journal and it really helps me be focused every day on the rich blessings of my life.

Life is truly to be celebrated.  

Even when there is tragedy, there is ALWAYS something GOOD to find.

I've been LOVING my new running buddy and we've been getting out 2-3 times a week for 3-6+ mile runs.  I've got girls camp this summer with my girls and the other young women from our church and that's going to be awesome.

And of course MY FIRST HALF-MARATHON in July.  Woo Hoo!  

I hope I can rock it like my friend Joy has!!! :)

I CAN do Hard Things... and SO CAN YOU!

What are you looking forward to this summer?

Today, I put together my third Dance Dare Video for those who may want a giggle at my expense.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Poem Video - Change Your Life?

My daughter wrote a poem that I thought was amazing.

So we made it into a video.

If you watch it, be sure to watch it all the way through.

We had a fun Mother's Day weekend and I have much to share - will blog about it tomorrow.

ENJOY!

~Margene

Beauty is where you LOOK for it

I LOVED living in Oregon.  

The trees and greenery and flowers and beauty are everywhere.  You can see retail stores on one side of the street and a forest on the other!  One of my favorite parks called Rood Bridge Park had a few miles of paved and unpaved trails, tons of trees, creek with a running stream and little bridges, dense forest, open grass, pavilion, and playground.  It was just so cool.  I did a lot of my runs when training for my first 5k at that park.  Great for bike rides, cub scout pack meetings, easter egg hunts, photo shoots, and catching tadpoles in the pond.  I couldn’t imagine leaving such a place.  

One of the houses we lived in was right next to a thicket of 50+ foot tall pine trees.  When our windows were open, the birds and sounds we’d hear made us feel like we lived in the forest.

The view here in Utah is different.  
It’s not as green or lush, and not near as many trees.  

However, the mountains are tall and stellar and stand like sentinel guards surrounding the valleys.  They are breathtakingly gorgeous.  One can peer from one end of the valley clear to the other.  The sky is so blue and so close, it feels like you can reach up and touch it.  And there are rocks.  Carved, chiseled, and enamored with colors; there are so many rocks in every size you can imagine.

We live on the edge of our own little frontier.  There are paved roads that end in dirt roads.  There are two wheeled trails that turn into a single trail.  There is SO much to explore and I want to explore it all... on foot or on a bike or on an ATV.

So the other day, I got the hubs and my boys to come with me and we traveled down a dirt road we haven’t been down before, next to the mountain in our valley.  We discovered a road that went in a little canyon and behind the mountain that could only be traveled on with a vehicle like our suburban.  At one point I couldn’t help but stop and get out and suggest we climb up part of the rocky mountain to get a view.  

What started out as a  little stroll turned into climbing that whole mountain!  It was rocky and there was a single little trail and for part of it - I even RAN up.  I LOVED the fact that my body could run up a rocky mountain!!  You cannot even tell how high up we really were but it was pretty stoic and surreal.  

 

My 11 year old son kept going and wanting to go higher.  

And we were rewarded with a MAGNIFICENT view of the valley.  It was INCREDIBLE.  

We could see our group of homes like tiny dots off to the far right.

After what seemed like hours we were back down and driving out of the canyon when the cows that were grazing around decided to stand in the road.  This particular calf stood it’s ground with us, staring us down.  I’d move little close, it would back off but but stay in the road.  

Call it courage, or maybe just stupidity... 
but what a curious and questioning little cow!  
I find that beautiful!


I feel like I’m looking at the world through different eyes than I once did.  
I feel like I am experiencing the world.  
I love nature!

Life is Beautiful!  But only when you LOOK for it!

Where do YOU find beauty?

You would NOT have seen me do this 2 years ago!!

Being heavy has held me back SOOOO much over the years - the majority of my adult life!

It's made me fearful of being in front of people, cower to try anything new, shy away from social settings, fail to make significant friendships, push my family away and in general have a negative depressing view of myself and life in general.

Is ice cream, brownies, cookies, and overeating worth all that?

NO WAY!

It's SO DANG FUN to let myself be "ME".

So, being ME, and hearing of the challenge of "Dance Dare's"... I knew I had to do it.  

A Dance Dare is where you dance behind an unsuspecting person or persons without being seen by them - and of course capturing it all on video.  

Ellen Degeneres highlighted many of these on her show, and after watching some of them, I knew I wanted to give it a try.

It was actually quite scary the first time or two.  It's not as easy to do as I was thinking.  But it was WAY FUN.

So if you want to laugh with me or at my expense... here are my first two dance dares!!!  And let me know if YOU do any cuz I'd love to see them too! ;)

ENJOY
(Note - the wise screen effect makes us look bigger than we are!)

Dance Dare #1  (Margene and daughter)




Dance Dare #2 (Margene, friend and daughter)