Thankful Thursdays, February 23

A photo-plentiful Thankful Thursday awaits you.

Today I'm thankful for:

Cara B.I'm so glad to count this girl as one of my friends. 

My two Bon-Bons. (Natalie's wearing a shirt that says "I'm a little Bon-Bon" and posing with my Bon-Bon.) The height of cuteness. Can you handle it?

My pink scarf!  I got it for Christmas, and I love the punch of color it brings.  

(Also this picture shows off my one short tooth, if you look closely.  Not a Thankful Thursday item, but something to note.)

Rock Hill's Cookout. The only hamburger I've ever had that even comes close to comparing to my dad's.

My "excuses" for going to Sky High last week.

My upcoming vacation plans:

Going to see my little sis in the deep South: Jackson, MS

Going to work with Springbreakthrough for the 3rd year in a row. 

Going to see my favorite cousins and my granny.

Today was a beautiful day. Life is good.  Even when you think it's not, there's always something for which to be thankful. Whatcha got this week?

Jumpin' Jill

Guys, I finally made it to Sky High  in Pineville this past weekend. It was everything I hoped it would be.

Turns out jumping for one hour is a good work out, even if you aren't in the aerobics class that they offer. I sweated it up!

If you missed my last post about it, it is basically a warehouse filled with trampolines.  The main floor is about 8 trampolines wide and about 12 trampolines long.  The side walls are also trampolines, so you can literally "bounce off the walls."  Separating each trampoline is some padding (the yellow lines in the pictures below).  The padding is NOT fun to jump on. I don't recommend it at all.

In addition to the main area, they also have a trampoline dodgeball court (we did not partake of this), an awesome trampoline foam pit and trampoline area just for kids 8 and under.

I took my 5-year-old niece Julia and 7-year-old nephew Zach as my "excuse" for going, but I think I loved it more than they did.  I mostly stayed in one spot and tried to do new and creative jumps while getting my heart rate up.  Julia jumped up and down the length of the main area, bouncing from one trampoline to the next with a huge smile on her face the whole time.  Zach worked on mastering the "bouncing off the walls" thing.

We also made several trips to the foam pit.  This was AWESOME.  You bounce off of a trampoline into a giant pit of soft foam.  I only did it twice, because, while it was awesome, it was mega hard for grown ups to pull themselves out it. The foam pit wanted to keep me each time, but I persevered and climbed out.

The audience that Sunday was mostly children, with a few teenagers and a few adults (all of whom had children with them).  There were a lot of people there, but it wasn't crowded.  They only sell a certain number of slots for each hour, so it should never get overcrowded.

Now my goal is to make it to the Airobics class.  Hopefully next week. They have them Tuesday/Thursdays at 6 and 7 p.m. And, they're cheaper (only $7 per class, as opposed to $12 for regular jump times) than jumping for an hour. I can't wait. Who's coming with me?

I tried to think of any questions you might have, but let me know if I didn't cover anything in the comments section below.  If you're in the Charlotte area, you should go check it out for yourself!

 Now's the part where you will envy the prowess of my photography skills.  You will look on these photos and think to yourself, "Gee, why does Jill not write a photography blog instead of this exercise nonsense?" Enjoy.

Posing for a picture

About half of the court.

Photo of me by Zach.

Julia bounces off the side wall into the foam pit

Julia climbs out of the foam pit.

Thankful Thursdays, On Friday

Did I totally forget to write a Thankful Thursday post yesterday? It looks like it and for that I apologize. BUT - Friday is an even better day to be thankful, so I assume you will not mind if I take up the thankfulness mantle today.

Disclaimer: I don't have any pictures to share this week. I know, I'm a lame blogger.  Sorry!  But good news, we get a slightly fresh format for our giving thanks.

So today I'm thankful for:
A Mexican dinner that brings friends together.
A car that runs.
A dog that smells.
A phone that has internet.
A blog that has comments.
A niece and nephew that will hopefully get me to Sky High this weekend.
A pair of pants that fit.
A run that makes me feel alive.
A comfortable desk chair.
A morning fog that makes me feel like I'm living on the moors.
A bed that lets me rest.
A mom that is here for the weekend.
A cold that's maybe going away.

And also, I'm thankful for grammar and cheesy television shows like Jane by Design and Hart of Dixie.  They didn't fit my format, but I'm still thankful for them.


What are you thankful for this week?

And because I was slack and collected no pictures for you this week, I'll leave you with this nugget that my sister found on Pinterest.

Source: tumblr.com via Jill on Pinterest

The Happiness Formula

Last weekend I toured the World of Coke in Atlanta. When you first enter, you're shepherded into the Happiness Factory Theatre*.  Once there, you watch a short film that promises to reveal the secret formula to happiness. 


Naturally, as I am interested in happiness (who isn't?) I took notes, in my phone, on this six minute, animated film that featured a talking creature that closely resembled a thumb.


These are the keys to happification according to the World of Coke, summarized for your benefit :

1. Be active.
2. Spend time with friends and family.
3. Live in the now.
4. Be curious; keep trying new things.
5. Share with others.

I thought it was a pretty good formula for happiness. I can't really even think of a good way to improve on it or additional things to add.  What do you think? Do you have a different formula for happiness?

Meeting a Coca-Cola polar bear in person was everything I
hoped it would be.

 I think the Happiness Factory is a reference to a Coca-Cola commercial a few years back that shows a person putting a quarter in a vending machine and then it shows what is happening inside the vending machine to make that delicious coke pop out.

Love Dare

So last week on one of my sick days, I watched the movie "Fireproof," and I expected to fully hate it.

But I didn't.

For those of you who don't know, Fireproof is a movie made by Christians in Georgia about a couple who are having a hard time in their marriage.  While I do love actual Christians, I wasn't sure about about a Christian movie about people who fight a lot. Sounded cheesy, and I hate watching people fight onscreen (and in person, too, I guess).

And while it maybe did not quite have the polish of a Hollywood movie, it was easy to get engrossed in.  And while it was about showing love in marriage, and I am not married, I still got a lot of good ideas about how to share love with those around me.

From Pinterest.

The same day I was reading the section on Love in this book called "The Happiness Project."  The Happiness Project is a non-fiction book written by a woman who decided to spend a year focusing on 12 different aspects of her life where she wanted to be happier. Coincidence that I read the chapter called "Love" on the same day as I watched "Fireproof"?  Maybe. Or maybe it was just because it was a sick day and I had a lot of time on my hands.

Anywho, with this fortuitous alignment of both movie and book, I got the message that I needed to hear/read/think about love.  After all, love is for more than just couples. What all of that means for this Valentine's Day, is that I'm going to try to be better at loving those around me. Let me count the ways:

Compliments.
Cards.
FB wall posts.*
Phone calls.
Baked goods**.
Listening.
Free babysitting.
Kind speech.

How do you show love?


*I once jokingly told someone that FB was my love language.  But I don't really think its a joke.
**Only occasionally. I'm not  Betty Crocker. Or Meghan Murray.

Sleepy Poet

I could not be more exhausted right now if I tried.

Something about being sick (yes, I'm still sick) makes me crave sleep even more than usual.*  But being sick, cruel mistress that it is, keeps me from sleeping because of the hacking cough waking me up in the middle of the night.  That's some tough stuff.

But sleep is an important part of our health, and should not be overlooked. To that end, I've written a sleep an ode**, in hopes that it will be flattered and will come to me tonight and cradle me in its sweet embrace. (did I take that metaphor too far?)

Sleep can be an enemy or a fast friend
For when it comes easy, everything it mends.
But when it stays far away
I'll be grumpy the next day.
So, Sleep, please, be nice to me tonight
Take me to dreamland when I turn out the light.


Are you and Sleep in love? Or is Sleep more of an elusive enigma for you?  Share your sleepy thoughts in the comments.


*My usual is 9 hours a night on average.
**Ode writing is one of my favorite past times. Did you know?

Thankful Thursdays: February 9

Today, I am most thankful.

I'm thankful for a fabulous weekend with the Fives.
We went to the aquarium and to the World of Coke, but most importantly, we LAUGHED A LOT.  It was wonderful.

Cara- sorry your eyes are closed in this picture. But it was the
best of the fish. AND your hair looks beautiful!

I'm thankful I went swimming last night.
It was my first workout in 10 days.  Last week I had conflicting schedules and no energy. Then I was gone over the weekend and sick at the beginning of the week. I didn't exactly feel like driving back to the gym last night after work, but I'm so glad I did. And when I started and wasn't sure I was going to make it five whole minutes, I'm glad I just kept swimming and made it to 30 minutes. Ten minutes past my goal! I love swimming. That never happens when I'm running.

My beautiful pool. I shot it blurry so it would
look to you, like it does to me when I swim
fast.  Cause I'm that fast. Ha!

I'm thankful my swimsuit still fits.
Even though it is a little worse for wear, I'm glad I can still pull it on.  Spandex (isn't that what suits are made of?)  is an amazing fabric.

I'm thankful that I did my taxes this week.
And that means money is going to be magically bequeathed to me by the federal government in a few weeks.

I'm thankful for Nestle TollHouse cookies.
They've been my treat this week and a wonderful treat they have been. So easy and so good.

I'm thankful for sick days.
I came down with a bad cough this weekend, and I needed a few days on the couch. I'm glad I have more sick days stored up than one could ever use. Judging by the distance my coworkers kept from me and my hacking cough yesterday, I maybe should've spent one more day at home.

I'm thankful that this guy decided to put on a show for us at the aquarium last Saturday.
Seriously, watching this octopus move was mouth-gaping-open amazing. At first I thought he was just a rock in the corner of the tank, then, just as we were about to walk away, he started moving, dancing over to us, waving and dancing back.

Hello, Mr. Octopus!

What are YOU thankful for this week?