Niagara Falls

This has been the year of travel for Miss Amy and I have had a lot of fun....and it's been a LOT of work. I have been promising to post pictures of my travels to London and Scotland but there were over 500 pictures to sort through!! I finally did it but I will probably post them in a series because there are so many pictures....Anyway, here are some pictures from my trip to New York and Canada this year. It was AMAZING to be there at the falls. So peaceful, and just intimidating looking at all of that water and those waterfalls. The sound was awesome. I actually enjoyed being there by myself for the short couple of hours that I had. There is something about the atmosphere that makes you just sit back and take it all in and think.At night time some buildings from across the canyon shine lights on the falls and it looks like a H-U-G-E amazing, beautiful and crazy rainbow. The spot I was at in at the Falls was called Rainbow Bridge and this is the view at night...WOW!

You could tell I had never been there before because lots of people brought coats, winter coats, umbrellas, gloves, hates etc. The falls are so massive and it just gets you soaking wet in certain spots. By nightfall I was freezing!Here are a few pics of many. It was so much fun. And I must say that I was proud of myself. I was driving from New York to Canada with directions but I didn't exactly have directions to the Falls. Eventually I found signs and I stopped off at huge canyon but when I got out to look over the edge there was no falls and I serisouly thought maybe they turned them off for maintenance or soemthing because I really drove forever and thought I was there. I found someone and asked them and I had to drive down another 10 miles or so and found them.This was at the very mouth of the falls. I was actually a little nervous to get so close. I saw idiots sitting on the rails to take pictures and they could have EASILY fallen in and died. It was so neat from this view...

The area and city of the falls is beautiful! It is so calming and trendy yet small town feeling.... Downtown area is really neat but I didn't visit anything else except the falls and they was great enough for me. They had the most gorgeous park areas I have ever seen and I was missing Dusty and wishing we had a few days to camp there or something....one day :-)

Cookout Resources

So I was just informed I am planning a cookout in a few weeks for all of our employees and their families. This constitutes 75-100 people. I only have 2 weeks to try to squeeze planning in. Do you know of any tips and or resources online that can help me plan this thing? Or just personal experience or advice?

My Texas Cowboy

This is Dusty in one of his MANY photos dressed p in his cowboy gear. His mom said he went everywhere in it and everyone just was blown away at how cute he was. We still have that shirt and belt of his. The belt is leather and has his name "Dusty" burnt in the back of it. They are treasures to me. I think they are adorable!

Practining his daily roping skills

This is actually Dusty on George Strait night at one of the Houston Rodeo's. He got to take his picture on this bull. I am sure it was one of the highlights in his cowboy career....

And he wonders why I call him my cowboy. :-)

New Dress

This post is mostly for the girls because it's always exciting when you get a new dress and have LOTS of compliments on it. I love it when that happens, it like it justifies buying it somehow :-) Just kidding although I paid $30 and I ususally don't pay that much for one piece of clothing but dresses that cover everything and that are actually cute are hard to come by.

AND this is a first time in a long that I have looked in a picture and liked my hair. Yay for new hairstlyes. So far I don't have really any complaints about my hair. Melissa, are you next?! Charla?

It's Official! I feel like a fitness instructor :-)

Dusty and I have searched long and hard for equipment to get me started on my journey of fitness instructing. As you all know the first type of instructing I will do is Turbo Kick. It's funny how you end up where you started. I remember getting up at 6 am when all the "big kids" and mom and dad got up to go to school and work to watch, and sometimes do, Mousercise :-) and here I am full circle trying to work towards getting up at 5 or 6 am again to take and teach Turbo Kick. I am doing better with my practicing but as you all know I freak out a little....OK OK....I freak out a lot when I start something new like this and put so much pressure on myself. But, as Dusty reminded me today that one of the reasons that it is so much fun to do Turbo is the FUN Factor! I need to lighten up and just have a blast with it and as soon as I do that, I will do awesome!

It's lots to remember and it's lots to do, but this is what I want to do so I gotta just relax and know that this is my time to learn the ropes and before you know it I will be amaza-za-zing :-) Hopefully next time I come home to visit I can go somewhere to do a class with some of you guys. Maybe Makayla, Isaac and Jackson again. They did so good!

We have invested in some professional audio equipment for me and it's also things that we can use in our future band room and family room. We have already hooked up this AWESOME PA to our tv and watched Jurassic Park through it and it was so flippin clear and loud....and I STILL fell asleep during the loudest most exciting part. (I swear I have a sleeping disorder....) The sucker's volume was only on a 2 and you could feel the vibrations of the dinosaur's roar sitting on the couch. It's like having surround sound. The thing takes me like 10 mins 0r less to set up and when we want to we whip it out for a movie. I am also considering another way to make money off of the equipment but more on that later.

My mic is actually wireless so there is no cords or belt pack I have to wear and so far it is serving me well. It feels really good to have it on and get used to the sound of my voice cause I used to not like my voice on a mic. Now I just don't even think about what I am hearing so much because I am trying to teach a class!

...and the back of my hair because you haven't seen it curly yet....

Airlines Join Together.

Obviously the airlines are hurting from rising fuel costs as well but I felt good to see the airlines join together to use their power and influence to try and do something good for all of us. I received this letter from Delta and United Airlines.

Hello Mrs. Rhoads,

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now. For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers. Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation. Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs. Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper. The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem. We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

	Richard Anderson CEO Delta Air Lines, Inc. Gerard J. Arpey Chairman, President and CEO American Airlines, Inc. Bill Ayer Chairman, President and CEO Alaska Airlines, Inc. Dave Barger CEO JetBlue Airways Corporation Mark B. Dunkerley President and CEO Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. Robert Fornaro Chairman, President and CEO AirTran Airways Timothy E. Hoeksema Chairman, President and CEO Midwest Airlines Lawrence W. Kellner Chairman and CEO Continental Airlines, Inc. Gary Kelly Chairman and CEO Southwest Airlines Co. Douglas Parker Chairman and CEO US Airways Group, Inc. Douglas M. Steenland President and CEO Northwest Airlines, Inc. Glenn F. Tilton Chairman, President and CEO United Airlines, Inc.

Guess what Makayla?

Hanna Montana was right down the street from me today doing a concert for the 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everybody!

4th of July Food Ideas

Dessert Ideas

Picnic Food Ideas

Here are some Family Fun 4th of July dessert and picnic suggestions in case you are doing a get together tomorrow.

Short curly hair....

This is not a good picture but wanted to show you what it looked like the very first time I tried to curl my hair. I just scrunched it, didn't curl it any special way. I was in CA and I had to take a picture of myself. I am anxious to really have time to sit down and play with it to really see how I can fix it.

Turbo Kick w/ Chalene in the CA!

Well as most of you know I was off to California last week. I had another conference out in Burbank, CA and I was able to go down and take a Turbo Kick class with the Turbo Queen herself, Chalene. It was SO FUN! She is just as every bit of fun and energetic as I thought it would be and I learned so much of what being an awesome instructor is made of. The energy was insane in the room and everybody in class was feeling it. I felt so lucky to be able to go down and take a class from her. She was testing a new "routine" or Round on the class and that was a blast too. *Chalene is the creator of Turbo Kick, the kick boxing program I am certified in....*

After our TK class I got to take a hip hop class, Hip Hop Hustle. She created that program too. Wow. So much fun! It was my first hop hop class in a while and it left me wanting more :-) She is crazy good at hip hop too. Wow! What fun! I can't even describe to you how fun that was for me. It's crazy that the people in her home town just take 5-6 classes from her a week and it's just normal for them. That would be insane if she was just my regular teacher. They are lucky and I am lucky I got to go. After class she took some time to talk with me and take a picture with me. She was so kind and helpful. I asked her a few teaching questions etc. It was just a great experience and I can't believe I just got to go do it.

After those couple hours of working out I went down to Newport Beach to layout and walk up and down the beach. My mind was still going over and over what Chalene and I spoke about and I was thinking about our classes I had taken that morning and I just couldn't believe I was there on Newport Beach in CA after a couple of classes with Chalene. What a perfect day!


Me and Chalene after a couple hours of working out. Great fun!


Newport Beach


Newport Beach

"I Let Them Scalp My Hairs, Alright!"

Well, well well. I got myself a new look today. I took the plunge and chopped my hair off!! Wow. What a feeling to have your ponytail cut off!!! It was SO FUN. My stylist was really fun too. She was just as excited as I was. Melissa and I had been talking about it and I just decided to go for it and do it. I LOVE IT! I think it is a kind of sophisticated cut. I just really really like it. I was completely freaked out when she handed me my ponytail.....yeah.....that is a feeling I can't describe. The workout clothes pictures is because I got some new tennis shoes in the mail today too. So, of course, I had to try them out with my new haircut!

Here are a few pictures. What do you think?!

My First 5K!

I finally ran my first 5K today! When I got up this morning at 6:30 I woke Dusty up so he could wish me luck and the only thing he said was, "I have been thinking. Maybe you shouldn't run today. People usually train for these things."

Ha Ha Ha Ha.

In retrospect he was mostly right :-) It was a lot harder than I thought. I actually don't like running but I have always wanted to run a 5K. Go figure. I even had to stop off at a store and pee during the race. I took them literally and stayed really hydrated and it took a toll on me.

The race was called: Break the Silence and it was a run to help raise awareness and rally support for those affected by abuse and pornography. It was such a great race and their message was very powerful. Instead of having numbers on our backs we had messages from anonymous abuse and pornography victims, stats on the widespread and devastating effects of pornography etc. When you ran you read the messages on the backs of people in front of you and you really did feel empowered to keep going.

It was a free race but at the end a won 2 Jamba Juice gift cards and a t-shirt! :-) Overall it was a great day and I have something checked off my bucket list.

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY

....say this out loud in a Mexican voice.....

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY: WATER

My vieja gets mad and I don't even know water problem is!

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY: BRIEF

My homie farted gacho, bad, and I couldn't brief.

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY: MUSHROOM

Orale vato, when all my familia gets in the car, there’s not mushroom.

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY: CHICKEN

My vieja wanted me to go to the store, but chicken go by herself.

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY: LIVER & CHEESE

Some vato tried to sweet talk my ruca. I told him, orale loco liver alone, cheese mine.

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY: JULY

Ju tol me ju were goin to the store and July to me! Julyer!

MEXICAN WORD OF THE DAY: WAFER

I wanted to go with my mom to the flea market pero she didn't wafer me!

Back from Canada / My Trip of "Firsts"

So I am back from another trip. This time it was from Canada and New York. I flew into New York and then drove into Ontario, Canada. All the while forgetting my passport and answering a question wrong at boarder patrol. I don't recommend doing that. It makes you really nervous even though you are completely legal and it ticks the people off behind you.

This was a trip of "firsts" in several ways.

New York

I have always wanted to go to New York but not necessarily NYC. This was perfect for me. I flew into Buffalo and saw some beautiful parts of New York during my drive.

Niagara Falls

I have always wanted to see Niagara Falls and I drove right through on my way to Canada so of course I stopped off for a few hours to see it. There are several pictures forthcoming. It was a beautiful area. The falls were amazing and the falls at night are spectacular.

cross Canadian border

I just thought this would be cool to do. It was cool going into Canada but not so much going back when I answered a wrong question :-)

go to Canada

I just wanted to add that I feel like such a big girl now that I have driven in New York and to Canada and back all by myself! I think dad might have another heart attack!

ate a cold meat wrap

OK. This one is really weird but I have never eaten a wrap with cold meat in it and I finally did and it wasn't so bad. I still prefer it to have hot meat in it. (and NO deli meat)

Air Force One

When I was sitting on the airport runway for over an hour waiting for our plane to get fixed at least I got a consolation prize...I got to see Air Force One right next to us! Then when we were ready to take off we had to wait for the Air Force One helicopters to take off.....and that made me miss my connecting flight, but hey that was kind of cool.

sleep number bed

• Dusty and I always talk about wanting to get one and I have to admit they are amazing. When I first got in the bed it was really firm and I held down the button to make them softer and it felt so nice. My sleep number is 20 think. I played around with it for a while and I think that is where I did best. It was so nice.
  

• First time I ever got an answer like this:

(You need to know this was the dumpiest hotel I have ever been it. It was dirty, scary and just awful)

• Amy: "Do you have a non-smoking room I can be moved in to?"
• Clerk: "Well you don't have to smoke."
• Amy: "I understand that. I just wanted a room that doesn't have the aroma of smoke. It is making me sick."
• Clerk: "I don't think we got any of those."

Sure enough, the sign outside just said "Smoking Rooms"!!!!!! I have never heard of that! Needless to say I switched hotels and that's how I got into the Radission with the nice sleep number beds.

Power over Pizza!

So Dusty and I are on Day 5 of a 10 Day kick start workout / diet program in junction with Turbo Jam. We are basically just working out everyday for 10 days while eating foods with optimum protein and complex carbohydrates, low fat etc. It hasn't been too bad but it's when you do this that you realize how much food can be a temptation. The foods we have made have been flavorful and we have been very conscious eaters which is a big change for us :-) It also helps to do this together and give and get motivation from each other.

My problem is 1) sweets and 2) portion control. I have no understanding of how much is enough. Another part of this thing that we are doing is trying to retrain our bodies in a sense that feeling satisfied is enough; I don't have to feel full every meal.

I have resisted every kind of chocolate imaginable and today even pizza! I thought about eating it and not telling Dusty :-) but quickly realized that I have power over my body. I have power over what I feel. I chose not to eat any of the chocolate or even pizza. This is a major accomplishment for me. So when it really came down to it, it wasn't too much of a temptation.

I know that I will eat pizza and chocolate again and probably too much of it at times but this little experience has been great for me to really realize the power I have over my body and how my unconscious living and eating can have severe effects on my overall well being. So next time I will consciously pig out on chocolate and pizza (ha ha just kidding). Seriously I have felt empowered as I have striven to live the Word of Wisdom a little better and create the life and health that I really desire.