Pressing On

Annie loves running with me. Each morning she waits for me to get ready for the day. She watches my every move to see if I go straight for my running gear. I might confuse her at times if I don’t jump in the shower but fail to put on my running clothes, “Are we going for a walk instead?” Oh but once those Brooks shoes come out of the closet she starts to pace. When I open my middle drawer for my running glasses, it’s game on and she is literally under my feet, weaving in and out, jumping up and down. I will not be going anywhere without her. She is very clear about that. Even if I need to use the bathroom one last time, she pushes her way through to join me. It’s adorable and makes me think that she actually might like me and enjoy my company.  Yesterday was Tuesday which meant for us it’s a cardio day. We run on Tuesdays and Thursdays during most weeks. I love the cooler tempts right now and in Arizona, 47 degrees means we bundle up. I think Annie understands more than I realize.

Have you ever heard of Happy Tail? Me either. At least not until our semi sweet chocolate lab came home from boarding with Happy Tail. They explained to me, it’s because Annie is so excited when anyone walks by her kennel; she wags her tail so fiercely that it beats up against the crate. This caused her to rub the fur off of a spot on the tip of her tail. Eventually, the skin broke open and it bled...... therefore she had been diagnosed with Happy Tail.  It cleared up until she had to spend a little more time in her kennel recently. At first I didn’t even notice. Only wondering where all the blood on my walls was coming from. Once I realized it was that Happy Tail again, I wrapped it with gauze and some first aid tape. That lasted only until the doorbell rang and a guest arrived. Several rapid wags and the wrap went flying like a severed finger and the bleeding was all over the walls along with our guest’s pants. So embarrassing! But also poor Annie. It had to hurt. I knew it hurt

Often times, I see something that stops me in my tracks and I’m thankful I have my phone so I can snap a photo. I’m one of those who has over 15,000 photos and probably at risk of losing storage space. But I just can’t bring myself to delete the pictures I have taken over the years. Each picture is a memory or story for me. Sometimes I might later see something in that photo that I didn’t see when I took it.  We just got back from an incredible week in Maui. The beauty there is next level and I have an entire album to create of the photos I took. I would stop on our runs to snap a shot of sea turtles or video the waves crashing on the rocky shore. The sunsets and rainbows took my breath away, so I took at least five shots of each one I saw. Ok. I went overboard and should clear up some storage space but it was just amazing! I can’t believe I get to do this!  Jim found a walking trail nearby at what must be an abandoned golf course. We set out for the exercise piece of it but w

Today I did something I didn’t think I would. In fact, I said I wouldn’t. Didn’t think it was wise. I’m somewhat of a cautious person. Some might even call me paranoid or in my younger years- oh, who am I kidding?In all my years- a scaredy-cat. Maybe it goes back to my childhood nightmares when I was terrified of being kidnapped. Or not wanting to swim in the ocean EVER again after seeing Jaws. Maybe I’ve read too many stories or seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds. But I do lean to the side of caution more often than not.  This week, I tagged along with Jim on a business trip. That’s not the thing I did that I said I wouldn’t. He had bought me tickets for my birthday to see Chris Tomlin at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. Something we both have wanted to do for some time. I had heard about this place. We had seen Chris Tomlin before and love him. So, I was very excited about this trip and the experience of a lifetime.  The concert was AMAZING! It was an incredible night of wo

This last move brought us to a new development and we have loved watching this community being built around us. Last spring when we put our deposit down, it was literally a piece of land. We were one of the first in our subdivision. So to see the roads, houses and landscaping go in has been exciting to watch.  With this being our first time to build from the ground up, we were able to document nearly every step of the way. We have photos of the foundation poured, the framing, dry wall and most of the final stages. Jim even walked through and wrote some of our favorite verses on a few of the door frames of the house before the drywall went in. Definitely a special house for us.  Jim enjoys watching the process of the builders who literally drop off a giant wood “ kit” that is numbered off. One day it is just a pile of 2x4’s and what I would assume to be planks and rafters ( I googled it 😉 ) and the next day is a framed off house. It’s impressive. We have watched

Jim rarely calls me early in the morning when he travels. I usually get a “good morning ☀️ ” text around five since he knows I’m up. But when my phone rang at 5:45 a.m. a few weeks ago, I was startled. He was quick to tell me he was fine since he knew it was out of the norm for him to be calling, but  that he did have a story for me.  “The weirdest thing just happened. I’m in my hotel room and that phone on the desk rang. At first I just stared at it thinking, ‘those actually still work?’ Then I answered it and a lady on the other end said “Is this James Rice?” I said “ Yes, this is Jim.” She was furious and came back with “James Rice from Phoenix Arizona?” “Yes, who is this?” “This is _______ Rice. You’re stealing my husbands identity!” I said “ excuse me?” Then she just went off about some email she received from the hotel and continued to accuse me of stealing her husband’s identity saying,  “I’m calling the police” I said “Go ahead, I have all the identification I need to prov

I have this old bookshelf that is one of maybe two items that have actually circled back to Phoenix with us. Most of our furniture is long gone and we have replaced it with new and updated.  But this bookcase is something that hung on. I don’t know why. It’s not like it’s some high quality item. It sits in my study and I do still love to hold a book. I use my Kindle App a lot but there is something about turning pages and the smell of paper and ink that I enjoy. I also like to loan or give books away after I’ve read them. Many, I keep because they hold a special place in my heart. Some have been life changing. So, the bookcase is still a necessity for me.  However, I did want something new and updated so I decided I would paint it. I mean, looks easy enough. They have this new (not so new but new to me) chalk paint I’ve heard great things about.  They promise it to be a one coat wonder. No priming, sanding or stripping. Yes please!  So, I bought a can, set the books out o

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the desert look more beautiful. Is it just me or is it blooming more than usual? We have had more rain this winter than I ever remember Phoenix having outside of monsoon season. So, maybe it is blooming more than the norm.  When we first moved to Phoenix back in 1999 I remember thinking it looked so brown, dry and lonely. Maybe that was because of my attitude back then. I did not want to be here. It truly was a dry and lonely place at the time and I couldn’t see the beauty in the desert at all.  When I looked up “desert” in my dictionary app I got: “any area in which few forms of life can exist because of lack of water, permanent frost, or absence of soil.”  Also, “any place lacking in something.” The desert doesn’t have to necessarily be a physical place or even one that is mostly dry, brown and sandy.  ←This picture was taking three years ago from our front porch.  I remember this day well. I was in a de