$1,000,000,000,000

That is a whole lot of money if you ask me! Our national debt is now over 1 trillion dollars, and I fear it is only going to get worse. I think I am mentally exhausted when it comes to our Country right now. I'm afraid because Washington is out of control! Please Please Please contact your congressmen and those from other districts and states to let them know that you will no longer allow them to take any more of your freedom - in fact, ask for it back!

It has been really busy at work and home this week so I haven't blogged much, but I'm working on some thoughts for y'all (serious and fun). Anyway, I'm heading out of town this weekend to visit some friends and family back home so I might not be writing too much until next week. I am still trying to stay caught up with all of you though. Have a super weekend!

Down, Set, Hike!

Now I have kept it pretty secret where I live in the great state of TX, but I think some of you know which city by now. Well, here is another hint about the area. This is where I was yesterday:

(Sorry the picture isn't great - it was taken on my cell phone while stopped at an intersection)

I was attending an ASCE meeting, and we got tour this new football stadium and enjoy some yummy food. Sometimes being an engineer pays off because you get to tour neat projects!

Now this next picture was taken in a field level suite, but it doesn't look much like a football field because it isn't. The workers were installing a soccer field for an upcoming game:

This is actually the walkway the players will run through to enter the field. The picture is a little blurry because I was walking at the same time - bad idea, especially when taking pictures with a cell phone. I left my camera at home. The players actually walk through the middle of the VIP club for the field suites so they will get to watch the players run out for each game:
I just almost can't believe this is place is a sports arena. Granted, they are holding many concerts here too, but it is just so shiny! This next picture is looking out the world's largest sliding glass doors located in the end zone. What a pretty plaza area outside:

Here is another view from up above down to the field. Sorry it is blurry again. You can see the giant structure hanging down in the middle, right? Well, that is the world's largest HD TV screen. It is huge (like 60' x 130' or some crazy huge size), and they it is really like a small 7-story building hanging there. It has two elevators that come down out of it to the field and take the technicians up into the structure. About 10 will stay up there during games to make sure everything runs properly. It is hanging 90' above the field - what a way to view the game!
Here is a view out of the highest level of suites. It was very plush and nice. It had a beautiful bar and private restroom, and the glass panels open up before the game so you can still feel like you are at the game:

Here is another view out of the box. You definitely can't miss the gigantic HD screen:
This is a shot down into one of the club areas I believe. We were looking down on it while going into the upper level suite. It is all just so chic for a football stadium:
This is actually the area we had our meeting. We got to sit in the plaza area of the end zone. It was a pretty amazing view there, too:

This was the actual view out onto the field from the end zone plaza. This place is massive, but so impressive. I don't know that I'll ever get to attend a game here, but it was still neat to see:

I have still been pretty busy getting things done in life, but I'm on my way to more organization, and hopefully a healthier body. I have kept with my running so far, and now I'm doing it in the morning which is so much nicer because the sun isn't all the way up yet! Hope you are all having a great week so far :)

Organizing Life

Sounds like a pretty tall order, huh? I decided that there are many things in life that will always be out of control, but why not put in order the things I can and then just learn to roll with the things I can't?

Sometimes when I think about my mom, I just marvel at all she did for our family. She worked full-time from the time I was about two, and she somehow always had the energy to run us girls around, feed us home-cooked meals almost every night, clean house, do the laundry, take care of the yard, and so many other things. I just have my hubby, me, and our dog and I feel worn out and overwhelmed most days. I seriously don't know how she did it! My Dad was and is a great Dad, but my dad is not really a Susie Home-maker if that makes sense.

Anyway, I decided that since I'm a creature of habit and crave structure most of the time, why not make myself a little to do list for each night of the week so that I can better keep up on the chores without feeling overwhelmed everyday. Here is what I have so far:

It is a little hard to see, but it makes me feel good to feel like I know what I expect of myself each day. I have also tried harder to go to bed at a decent time so that I'm not feeling so rushed in the morning. I'm getting there!

I just decided that if I wasn't happy with something, then why not change it? For example, I wasn't feeling so great about the way I looked, and it only took one picture on the 4th to make me realize again that I need to get back to being healthy. That day was when I decided that I wanted to try running for me, just to get healthy, not to run marathons.

Well, I have only started running this week just a few times, but I think it is already making me feel better because I feel like I'm finally doing something. I'm definitely starting slow, and I have already been scoping out some new shoes. My "old" shoes (I've had them for a year, but let's be honest, they haven't been worn hardly at all and still look pretty new) are still holding in there just fine, and I have decided that if I make it to August and am still going strong, new shoes will be my reward.

Anyway, the hubby finished painting LC (the motorcycle) this last week, so I'll post pictures once we put her bits and pieces back on. Hopefully he can ride more so we can start riding together because I just won an awesome riding jacket on ebay.

This weekend should be good, and I think the right kind of busy. Hunky Law Student has a take-home final to work on tonight until 7 PM tomorrow, but then we get to spend some much needed fun time with some good friends. Also, I was inspired by Ginger Snap's jewelry making and picked up some beads this week to make a new necklace. I'll let you know how it goes! Finally, I plan to make Casey's peony pin so that I can get that shipped off to her.

And for a quick update, my blogger account seems like it is finally back to normal! I can comment again, my dashboard is normal, and I'm hoping that means that my scheduled post will come back, too. I may not blog as much as I was (pretty much once everyday), but I plan to keep it going for now, especially since Blogger is giving me headaches right now.

Well, I do hope y'all have wonderful and relaxing weekends. Enjoy!

Running Shoes

Thanks for all of your comments in my last post. I don't plan to quit blogging entirely at this point, but I think I will maybe just lay low and post if I feel like I actually have something to say. Now, onto the title.

I have never been a runner, and I thought I was vehemently against it. However, after reading so many of your stories about running (and talking to my lovely SIL, C.C.), I feel inspired to start. I think I might eventually enjoy it, and I know it really helps you get in shape.

All of that being said, I am just reaching out to some of you avid runners to see if you recommend any brands of shoes that are more affordably priced? Since I'm just starting out I don't want to break the bank until I really get into running. Plus, I think I have to prove to my hubby I am going to stick with it before he will be cool with me buying new shoes so I hope my current ones hold out for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, any recommendations would be much appreciated!

Blogging Break?

I don't know why, but my love and enjoyment from blogging just hasn't been there. It is hard to do at work (and probably frowned upon), and I just don't have time at home all of the time. Plus, my dashboard is still weird at work, and I can't comment on certain blogs that I love and now I'm afraid they think I don't read them anymore, and finally my scheduled posts don't post at home or at work.

I feel like it all started a couple of weeks ago when I accidentally tried to make a scheduled post, then hit post after I finished, then realized my mistake and tried to back track, and now it is all just jacked up. I still love reading your blogs, and I have been, but I'm just not sure if this is a passion for me anymore. I don't always have the time, and I will never be a professional blogger. I mean, this post alone is full of nonsense and run-on sentences. I used to be a grammar fanatic, now look at me!

Who knows what is going on with me, but maybe I need to turn my time back to the things that I feel like don't stress me out. I don't know. I'm not gone forever, but I might be laying low for a bit. I just wish I lived close to all of you so I could hang out with you in person. I think I might be missing human interaction with friends these days, because I honestly I just don't have that many down here. I have a few good ones, but everyone is so busy (including me), and I just feel like I'm kind in the ring of everyone's secondary friends, and I miss having those close girlfriends that I can tell anything. Just life - I need to quit whining!

In the meantime, I hope everyone had an amazing Independence Day. I know I did!

Giveaway Winner Announced!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway! I really wish I could make you all a peony pin, but not until I win the lottery and can quit my job. (which will never happen since I don't play the lottery)

Anyway, I entered your names multiple times in an excel spreadsheet, numbered them, and then hopped over to the Random Integer Generator and out popped number 3!

Number 3 was assigned to....



CASEY at Ever-Changing Life of a Military Wife!

I'm so excited to make your pin and send it to you! Let me know what color you want and tell me how to mail you things overseas - I have no idea! Email me at sassyengineer@gmail.com.

I hope y'all had great weekends. I will be posting pictures from America's Tea Party - it was great!

Happy Independence Day

(photo from:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/
Fourth_of_July_fireworks_behind_the_Washington_Monument,_1986.jpg/362px-Fourth_of_July_fireworks_behind_the_
Washington_Monument,_1986.jpg)

My husband sent me this email from a coworker of his, and I thought it pretty much perfectly summed up Independence Day. I "x-ed" out his last name for his privacy, but I hope you enjoy it.

Independence Day 2009

When the calendar page turned 233 years ago to July 4^th, the American colonies had been engaged in the American Revolutionary War for almost a year. Delegates from the Second Continental Congress had been meeting in Philadelphia to consider a declaration of independence from Great Britain due to grievances forced upon the colonies without fair representation. Drafted by a Committee of Five that included principal drafter Thomas Jefferson and founding fathers Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, a draft resolution was passed on July 2^nd with final wording approved on the 4^th. The words adopted that day became immortal and set our emerging nation apart from others in history, the most salient being:

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. And they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these, are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

We did not then, nor do we now, perfectly adhere to the moral standard so eloquently expressed. But over time the Declaration’s fundamental standard of the rights of man has steered our republic to do right and redress wrong. The signers of the document understood that an unshackled spirit of individual liberty would provide each of us citizens a ladder to climb above our beginnings and reach our dreams. Not all would, but anyone could.

As each man affixed his name to the Declaration, he signed his own death warrant as a traitor to the Crown. There was enormous risk that the loose coalition of states with more differences than similarities would not hold together against the greatest military power then existing. But the cry of freedom was more unifying than any motivation the peoples of England or their armies could evoke.

We have much to be grateful for and much to celebrate. Without arrogance, we must resist the current fashion of seeing ourselves only in the negative. No country has ever done so much for so many others, often without credit and seldom with reciprocity—we do so because it is our national character to seek liberty over repression. There are faults and inequities even now, but they are overshadowed by our unlimited possibilities as a united people with institutional respect for the individual.

Fly the flag proudly this Independence Day.

David XXXX

June 30, 2009

Y'all know how much I love our Country, and I plan to celebrate it today and what our forefathers gave to us so many years ago. I do hope you all have great celebrations and remember what those before us have sacrificed and given up to give us the American Dream and the freedoms we enjoy. Let's not throw it away!

We'll be off at a huge Tea Party, so I'll post pictures afterwards!