Monday, January 31, 2011

Day 10

Day 10: Something You Are Afraid Of

This is going to be really strange....

I have this horrible fear of walking into a public restroom stall and finding a dead body. I know. It is crazy. It is never going to happen. I know this. At least I hope I know this. Anytime I walk into a public restroom I have to slowly tap the door open so "if" something is there I can prepare myself. It must be from watching shows like CSI, Criminal Minds and NCIS. This doesn't happen in places I am comfortable like church, Target and Chick Fila...just the more unknown and not as busy restrooms.

You may begin laughing, but it really is something I think is going to happen someday. I'm weird.

I'm also afraid I will never finish this 30 day blog challenge.

Day 9

Day 9: Picture of Your Friends

I have some really great friends. The best actually. My friends are all different and all very dear to me. They are funny, loyal, silly, sweet, spunky, fierce, laid back, caring and above all else... a friend. I love you guys!

P.S. I'm really bad about taking pictures and uploading them from my camera. There are some people who are not represented who I love to death. I'm sorry. :)






















Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Day 8

Day 8: A place you have traveled

I absolutely love to travel. I love to see new places and experience new things. I have been lucky that I have been able to see a lot of different parts of our country. I haven't traveled outside of the United States that much, but I have a few times. My absolute favorite place I have ever been is Costa Rica!

My family took a trip there right after I graduated from college. We spent about eight days traveling all over the western part of Costa Rica. We went white water rafting and ate the freshest fruit I have ever had. We had a big twelve passenger van and a driver that stayed with us and helped us navigate. There were nine of us on the trip. We spent a few days at a volcano and hot springs resort. I remember sitting in the hot springs and looking up in the trees to see a family of monkeys above me. It was amazing. I love monkeys! The last few days we spent at the coast enjoying the beach and all that jazz.

We hiked over and active volcano, saw an amazing crater lake, took zip lines through the jungle, repelled down waterfalls, ate amazing local food and met a lot of amazing people. I hope to go back some day. If you ever have the chance to get to Costa Rica....do it. There is so much to experience and it is such a beautiful country. It is definitely a once in a lifetime kind of trip!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Day 7

Day 7: Favorite Movies

I love movies. They make me happy. I love it when they make me laugh, cry, cringe, scream or feel any kind of emotion at all. I absolutely love scary movies, but I have a hard time finding others to partake in my joy with me. That means I end up watching a lot of them alone on my couch.

Enough about scary movies. Here is a brief list of some of my favorite movies of all time from all genres!

Elf
Home Alone
My Best Friend's Wedding (I always think the ending is going to change)
The Burbs
Love Actually
Newsies
LA Confidential
Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion
Legally Blonde
Primal Fear
Dead Poets Society

Friday, January 21, 2011

Day 6

Day 6: A Picture That Makes You Happy

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Day 5

Day 5: Favorite Recipe

I try to eat as healthy as possible, although I have a really big sweet tooth. I'm always contradicting myself. Sorry. So, because I try to be healthy and I love sweets I am sharing a great healthy dessert recipe. It is for baked walnut cinnamon apples. It is a perfect cold weather dessert. Enjoy!

Baked Walnut-Cinnamon Apples
4 apples1 c raisins
1/4 c walnuts
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp natural vanilla extract
1/2 c water

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Core and pierce apples with a fork in several places around the center, to prevent them from bursting. Mix raisins, nuts, cinnamon and vanilla in a small bowl. Fill center of each apple with mixture. Place in a glass baking dish and pour water into pan. Cover with foil and bake for about thirty minutes or until tender. Serves four.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Day 4

Day 4: Parents


Hands down I have the best parents in the entire world. You can try to argue otherwise with me, but you will lose. First, I have to say that I am the luckiest girl in the world. I am adopted as you probably know. God knew exactly what he was doing when he placed me with my parents. We are a perfect fit. I believe I am there to create the perfect balance within our family.

My parents have always been wonderful examples for me and my sister. They taught us to be kind, generous, thoughtful, hard working and determined. I believe my parents are the most generous people on the planet, both with money and their time. A lot of people look at generosity in financial terms, but my parents are equally generous with time.

My mom is very smart, friendly and caring. She is a physical therapist by trade, but stayed at home after my sister and I came around. Lucky her! My mom is always volunteering at her church, the Blue Star Mothers or the Republican Women. If there is ever a box packing for troops she is there no matter how early it is in the morning. She helps prepare dinner for her congregation every Wednesday evening. She is one of the first to sign up to help register voters at the State Fair every year. She is always willing to let our sweet Bailey stay over if we are out of town. I'm just in awe of her kind spirit. She will do anything for the people she loves.

My dad is brilliant, focused and goofy. My dad if a very funny man, but don't tell him I said that. If you don't know him well he may seem quiet, but if you are in his circle or a small child he is the silliest person in the world. He is a pediatric surgeon and has devoted his life to making their lives better. I always loved going to the hospital with him on the weekend when I was young. He would go in to round on patients and my sister and I would play in his office with the office skeleton. It was awesome! He spends a lot of time working with children who are severely disabled. He is very involved with The Children's Center in Oklahoma City which is a fantastic place. He cares so much for those kids and I have been lucky to grow up with that example. He is also a rock star on the golf course. He has always taken a lot of interest in our activities growing up. Every weekend he would take me to the batting cage in high school and college. Despite his extremely busy schedule he always has made time for his family. Both my parents gave up their weekends for years to drive us to Tulsa, Dallas and other various places to swim, play soccer and softball...and they still like us even though I'm sure a lot of those weekend were awful.

They made sure we experienced everything we could growing up in school, family trips, sports, knowledge, entertainment...I could go on and on. They didn't let us quit when we started something. I know I got my determination and drive because of that and that is something I want to teach my kids. They taught us that good things will not be given to you, you must work for them. They let us make mistakes, but made sure we realized the consequences. They let us be individuals, but guided us through our crazy teenage years.

One of the best things about my parents is how much the love and accept our friends and loved ones. They were always willing to open their home to a big group for a watch party, slumber party or team party. So many times I would call and say "all these people are coming over" and they would just say, "great!". I love that. They have always treated Kody with respect and would do anything for him just like they would for me.

The long and short of it...my parents rock.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Day 3

Day 3: First Love

I told Kody about my 30 day blog topics. He asked me what the next one was about so I told him. I asked him who he would pick as his "first love". I wanted to know what direction he would go....more the first crush/elementary school route for first "real" love.

Here was his response:
"I'm not sure, I would have to call my mom and ask". Ummmm...is that disturbing to anyone else but me? Regardless, I'm going the first crush route since that is obviously why he would need his mom's help.

I lived in Oklahoma city until the end of second grade. I went to a private school and loved every minute of it. I had the coolest friends. Well, I have the coolest friends no matter where I am, but I really loved my early elementary school friends. I remember my first love very well. His name was Matt. We were the best of friends. We were in the same kindergarten class and first grade class. I would go over to his house to play. We played at recess and just had a lot of fun. I was so excited to invite him to my birthday party. Since my birthday was in the summer it was always a great time. I remember I invited boys and girls to my party. I had addressed all the invitations myself. I was so proud. I even kissed his envelope before it was sent. Young love.

If I were to tell you about my first "real" love, I would tell you about Kody, but I'm not going to do that. Sorry.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Day 2

Day 2 - The Meaning Behind My Blog Name

I started this blog on March 13, 2007. I was twenty four years old. I had been married just over a year, moved to a new city and bought a house, had a big girl job, etc...however, I still felt like I was sixteen. I love to have fun and not take life too seriously. I always feel like I'm too young to be reponsible for the things I am responsible for even though I am a very responsible person. The idea of growing up is just strange....

Not much has changed over the last four years. I'm getting closer to thrity and I still feel like I should be heading to swim practice after sixth hour. The older I get the more and more I realize that I want to enjoy my life. I'm not going to let work, money and other circumstances change who I am. I have always had a very fun spirit, or at least I like to think so. Kody helps keep that going as well. We are just a silly, weird couple and I like it that way. Sometimes we look at each other and say, "are we really old enough to be doing all of this?"

I'm not afraid to admit that I love to read books like Twilight. I love fun candy like twizzlers. I still watch Saved by the Bell reruns. I don't care if I look like an idiot in front of my family, friends or complete strangers. I love going to my parent's house and feeling like I live there and I don't have to worry about a thing. All in all...I just don't feel like I'm a grown up yet and I like it that way. I hope I always feel as young and free as I do now.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Day 1

I'm a copy cat. My dear friend Brooke has been doing a 30 day blog challenge and it has been a lot of fun to read it. I don't think I'll be as great at it as she has been, but I'm giving it a whirl. Hopefully I don't fall off after day three!

Day 1: Introduction, recent picture & 15 interesting facts

Hi, I'm Ginny. I love to be with my friends and family. I just celebrated five years of marriage with my husband, Kody. We love our precious pup, Bailey. She is our child until nature dictates otherwise. I work in marketing and advertising. I'm ultra competitive, but I try to be nice about it for the most part.



1. I'm a CrossFitter. I makes me so incredibly happy to push my body and mind further than I think it can go. I compete in CrossFit events and coach at a local CrossFit gym. It is awesome. You should try it...now.

2. I write a blog about the Paleo diet. I have a read quite a few books on the topic and find nutrition and the way it effects our bodies very interesting.

3. I'm love Twizzlers. Yes, I understand that is kind of a contradiction to number 3. :)

4. My favorite Christmas present I got this year was my Lululemon hat which I am wearing in the above picture. It makes me feel gangsta. I like it.

5. I was born in Florida. Florida is one of my favorite places in the world.

6. I over plan everything. I like schedules and to know how things are going to go. As much as I like to try to be spontaneous, it kind of freaks me out.

7. Kody and I watched the first five seasons of How I Met Your Mother in less than a month. It was legen....wait for it....dary.

8. I think my sister is one of the coolest people on the planet. Although we have always been somewhat competitive with each other, she is one of my best friends.

9. I would live in sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt if it was socially acceptable...thank goodness it my house it is!

10. I love to dance. I dance in the shower, in my house, in the car, with my friends. I don't need music...it just comes naturally.

11. I'm doing my first sprint triathlon in February. Super pumped.

12. I made Matt Damon laugh once.

13. I'm absolutely terrified of flying. The smallest bump or weird noise sends me into an internal panic. However, I love to travel so I just deal with it.

14. I can talk people into almost anything. I'm very persuasive in my arguments. For a long time I was planning to go to law school because of this, but I talked myself out of it.

15. Kody and I quote the movies Elf and Home Alone at least once a day.

The end....until tomorrow!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A New Year

I feel like 2011 is shaping up to be a good year. I feel less stress and anxiety about the future than I did this time last year. This time last year we were about one month away from match. We had no idea where we were going and what Kody would be doing. Now, we are settled and happy.

I also see that God is bringing some amazing opportunities to us. I'm not sure what all of it means yet, but we are optimistic and willing to take a chance! There is no time like the present! More on all of that later.

One thing I am so excited about is getting involved at church. The class we have been going to is great. There are so many couples from college there, but we are five years removed from that so I feel like we are starting fresh and new. I know we are going to make great new friends and we also get to be surrounded by wonderful long time friends. The best of both worlds!