Legacy

It's been too long since I've written anything, anywhere.  I figured I have a few minutes to stop in and share.  

As a fangirl, I saw posts today about a lady that passed away today from melanoma.  What I've seen is amazing.  To see one person has impacted so many others, even those she hadn't met face to face.  I never met her, I'd seen her posts from time to time.  

In the past couple of years life and death has been brought to my attention and slammed in my face way too often.  It's something that sometimes we have to get real and look at.  What kind of a legacy will you leave behind?  I want to share what a few of the people that have been lost in the last few years left as their legacy. 

Jeff - a devout follower of Jesus.  Even when struggling with cancer, he was amazing.  He was the third in his family to have cancer.  Many years before his daughter had cancer in her eye, she survived loosing one eye.  His wife survived through breast cancer.  Then he tackled brain cancer. He lost the battle after more than two years, he was given only a couple of months.  He was a leader at our church that taught us how to love God to the best of our abilities.

Joyce - she was the mom of a dear close friend of mine.  She was always joyful when I was around her.  She saw that God had worked wonders in her family's life. 

Josephine - grandma to My I.T. Guy.  She lived an amazing 103 years, almost 104!  She saw the world evolve and change in ways I'm sure she never thought possible.  Can you imagine seeing that many years?  She was full of spunk and taught my mother-in-law how to cook amazing meals, who passed it down to her son.

Norma - my aunt.  I don't think I ever saw her down.  Seriously.  She was they type of aunt that made every niece and nephew believe that they were her favorite.  I know the truth though, my sister and I WERE her favorites! 

These are only four examples of legacies.  What will you leave behind?  How will you leave your mark on the world?  Even if it's a small mark, will you make the difference in at least one person's life?  

Are you able to "pay it forward?" 

"Little ripples make big waves" - Amanda Tapping 

www.sanctuaryforkids.org 

Sanctuary

When I was younger, much younger, I used to come up with stories for TV shows.  A few times I would even write them down.  I'd use the characters from the show and create my own episode.  

Little did I know that I was not crazy for doing this.  That there are many other people in the world that do the same thing.  It's called Fan Fiction - aka - FanFic. 

As I became an adult I slowly walked away from this part of my life.  I used to follow actors and shows. It was a great escape from all that went on in my life.  No, my life wasn't horrible, as a teenager, it was pretty normal.  I really enjoyed being a fangirl, though.  As I said, I walked away from this.  I had to grow up at one point.  

This all changed in 2008.  A new show came out that I got completely enthralled with it.  It's called Sanctuary. This show began as a webseries, airing their 12-15 min segments online. After several episodes/segments aired SyFy picked it up.  It was wonderful.  It was a whole new world for me to explore.  

The difference with this show, the cast and crew.  Amanda Tapping played the main character Dr. Helen Magnus, (she's from Stargate SG-1.) Well, her, Martin Wood and Damian Kindler put the show together and got feedback from their fans. This alone was different.  They took a different path with this show.  I don't remember when I really started watching Sanctuary, but I have seen every episode that I can tell you almost every line and miscellaneous information regarding the episodes.  

Sanctuary brought me back into the world of fandom. The fun thing was that this time I have the internet at my fingertips!  Social media is a great tool for us fans and the actors that use it.  Sanctuary had their own website: www.sanctuaryforall.com, they were very interactive with their fans, which has created a great group of people who had a link - Sanctuary.  

Anyway, after chatting with other fans I learned about fanfic.  There were others who wrote stories for their favorite shows, and as I learned, for comics, movies, and books as well. So, I started writing once again.  I pulled out those stories from my head and put them in the computer.  Then I put them on the website to get feed back.  

www.fanfiction.net/~catzchaos 

This is where you can find my writings if you are interested.  I do have a favorite story that I've written.  When I read it myself I am still amazed that I wrote it.  It's titled Secluded for Sanctuary.  I have several other stories that I've not posted there that are running through my head.  They will eventually get out of my head and written.  I've had a bought of writer's block for a while now and am just trying to get past that to finish the story I'm on.  I know where I want to go but just can't get past one point. 

So, this is just a taste of what goes on in my head.  

More to come about being a fangirl!

A Healthier Me, in the Making

Working on self improvement.  This is my journey.  Today I have failed at my exercise and eating goals.  I am lucky though, I plan on having a tomorrow to begin again.  I've been working on getting healthier for many reasons.  It's not about being skinny, or thin.  It's about becoming healthier.  I am about 55 lbs overweight and my body feels it.  I know I will not be able to loose all that weight, but that's ok.  My goal is NOT a number.  It's about the way I feel physically.

I started in November working on our stationary bike.  There are different tension levels, I began at #3.  My rides lasted anywhere from 30-60 minutes.  My average is 30 mins with reaching about 6 miles or so.  I would do this 2-3 times a week.  I started to feel a little better.  

So, I started to watch what I was eating and recording it on an app called MyFitnessPal.  There's a website as well.  MFP connects with my FitBit (really cool pedometer). Doing this has helped me to see what I was eating and my activity level.  I didn't change much of what I was eating.  

January started and I added in slight changes of what I was eating and more aerobic exercise.  I started doing the Jillian Michels 30 day shred.  Well, it kicked my butt the first two days.  By day 4 I could tell the difference.  It wasn't as difficult to do, but still exhausting!

I took a week off due to the fact that I pulled something in my back. I did ride the bike a couple times, but not like I had been.  So, tomorrow I start once again.  Tomorrow I will do my full hour workout.  

My goals:
I want to be able to actually run part of the BIX7 in July.  It's a 7 mile race in Davenport, IA.  I've walked it 3 times.  Last year was the best time I had, so if I actually run part of it I will do even better. 

I want to be able to jog 1 mile straight by the end of the summer.  Don't ask me how, but I'll get there!

Become more flexible. 

Basically feel healthy. 

So, feel free to join me on this journey, it is one of many.

Simple Thoughts

Well, it's Saturday.  I've had a busy day as per the norm for me.  I started my to-do list for the weekend earlier this week.  I got a few things done today and have tomorrow to get more done.  I prefer to clean and do things around the house when no one else is here most of the time.  I guess you can call it my time of Solis. 

I like to have time alone, just to think, time to relax, time to just do nothing.  Down time is always a necessity for everyone.  I believe that everyone needs time to regroup and clear your head.  

On my good days I'll listen to loud music or watch shows, ok, I do that on my bad days too. Today is a good day for me.  Got things done, slept well last night (actually slept in too), and chilling now.  

Today my demons are not lingering ... they're busy doing something else.  Today my focus was on getting things done.  Tomorrow my Christmas tree and decorations come down.  It took a week to get them all up, I'm sure it will take me a day or more to get them down.  Yes, I know it's Jan 18th!  Usually my decorations go down the first weekend after Christmas.  

My family usually celebrates Christmas with my sister and Mom at our house (Thanksgiving is at my sisters).  We had planned to celebrate last weekend, however, that was changed due to a death in the family.  We attended a funeral then celebrated our Christmas at a nice Italian restaurant.  It was a first for our whole family.  Even though we had a difficult morning, the afternoon with The Ten of Us was nice.  

I am very thankful for my family.  My mom and my sister are awesome!  We have an amazing relationship.  I think everyone should have a relationship with their family.  We get along, we love each other, we talk, we agree to disagree respectfully. I think that's important.  I feel that family is one of the most important things that we will ever have. Both my sister and I have amazing relationships with our kids.  Luckily, our kids have realized this as well. Even our kids get along amazingly.  

I know, this is nothing deep today.  Nothing amazing.  Just my thoughts. Take them for what you want.

Demons

Today is just another day.

My mornings are usually the same: take My IT Guy to the train, come home and work out, clean & do misc stuff around the house until it's time to get ready for work. Well, today I came home from the train and found that a strike plate needed to be replaced on an important door.  So I did that.  I didn't do my workout.  I'm kind of glad though, I pulled something in my back earlier this week and today it's horrible. 

Do you ever feel like you make more mistakes than others?  I feel that way more than I should.  There are days when I feel like I'm full of mistakes.  It's so difficult to stay positive on those days.  This is where my mind goes - to the negative.  I have little demons in my head that are louder than they should be at times. 

Which brings me to the song Demons by Imagine Dragons.  Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of this song?  

When the days are cold
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold

When your dreams all fail
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood's run stale

I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come!
This is my kingdom come!

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

When the curtains call
It's the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl

So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you've made

Don't wanna let you down
But I am hell bound
Though this is all for you
Don't want to hide the truth

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come!
This is my kingdom come!

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go

Your eyes, they shine so bright
I wanna save that light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes

It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

I know we all have demons. Mine seem to be all around.  Appearing to me daily.  It's a battle so many people have to face, on a regular basis. Sometimes our demons scream so loud that we can't hear anything else. What do your demons say to you?  Mine tell me negative things.  Thing's I'm not ready to share here.  One day, be patient.

So at the end of the day, my demons are no longer whispering at me, they're being too loud. The good thing about this though; it's the end of the day. Tomorrow is a new day and so many great things can happen.  This is how I get through at times.  Sometimes it's just me leaning on God.  He will get me through each day I'm here.

So, let me know what you think.  Do you have demons that linger and whisper to you? What do they say to you?    

Introduction

Welcome to my new blog. I have decided to start writing once again.  This time I will try to keep up with it better.  I have a previous blog that I just can't seem to get into to create new postings so I figured I'd just start a new one.  New year, new blog.

This will be a work in progress, just as I am a work in progress. For reference I have a family that I will refer to as: my husband is My IT Guy, my oldest daughter who is almost 23 will be The Artist, my second daughter who is 20 is My Mini-Me and my 15 yr old son is The Minion. I know it sounds silly, but I thought I would add some personality to this blog right off. I'm a part-time receptionist working noon to 5pm, living on the outskirts of the Chicago burbs. 

The purpose of this blog?  To share with you the things that are forever in my head.  Please feel free to follow, "like" and comment anytime.  I will try to post as often as possible.  I do love to write, so that will not be the problem, it's trying to find the time to do it. 

My interests vary: God, photography, fandom, fanfiction, writing, singing, music, ASL, kids, healthy living, and much more.  I'm sure I will cover all of things at one point in time.  Lucky for you, this is just my intro so I'm not going to keep going and going even though my mind would let me.