Dreaming of our new Dream House

in Stowe, Vermont! I have been compulsively entering every day this month and have until February 18th to get daily entries in.It is good to have dreams, right?
You are definitely invited to come stay with us 'cause we will have lots of room.
Keep sending the positive thoughts... and I'll keep entering!

Conversation with Kippy

Last night, Kippy and went to a girl scouts' cookie kick-off together and afterwords, we went grocery shopping together. Kippy was particularly helpful during the rather boring event of shopping. She used my cellphone to call Steve to check to see if there was anything on the list beside the fridge that I forgot to bring with; she was patient; she was cheerful. I had to check a couple times to make sure it was my kid!

When we finally made our way to the check out line, which was long, Kippy asked, "Mom, can I get some tic-tacs?"

I thought back on how pleasant she had been & quickly said, "Sure."

Kippy then asked, "Should I get the orange ones or the mint ones?"

I shrugged my shoulders, saying, "Doesn't matter to me. I think the mint flavor freshens my breath more."

Kippy immediately said, "Then I'll get the orange."

I didn't think anything of it. Kippy grabbed the orange tic-tacs and several minutes later told me, "Abby always asks my opinion and then picks the opposite of what I say."

I thought about this a second, realizing that Kippy was giving me the exact same treatment and replied, "Wow. It must make you feel pretty powerful to know that your opinion influences Abby's decision & choices."

Kippy paused a minute or so and then replaced the orange tic-tacs with the mint flavored ones saying, "I think the mint flavor freshens my breath more too."

I kept my thoughts to myself, but was glad to see that Kippy ended up making the choice she really wanted. Maybe next time Abby tries to jedi-mind-trick her, Kippy will remember her own power.

Wordless Wednesday

11/28/2010

My new obsession.

I already hinted about this in my recent post about our afternoon at Spidahls in December, so this really isn't going to come as a big surprise. I am in love with Cross-Country Skiing! In December, Steve (ever the supporter) did research on the cost of the equipment on-line and I about had a heart attack and said "No way!" I did think about maybe getting some used equipment from play it again sports in Fargo or from Craigs list. Mostly, I just tucked it away in the back of my mind.

On January 9th, I went x-country skiing with a girlfriend to Glendalough State Park. She had her own equipment while I used the rental equipment available at the park. This is where I found out that not all rental equipment is created equal. The equipment at Spidahls is top notch, the equipment at Glendalough is prehistoric. Seriously. The boots, bindings and skis are at least 30 years old, ill-fitting and could barely glide. Yet, the park itself was BEAUTIFUL, SERENE, with WILDLIFE and wonderful TRAILS. I felt the same lifting of my spirit just being outside, even through my feet were killing me by end of 1 1/2 hours. I badly blistered my left heal & bruised the middle toenail on my right foot and am in the process of losing it completely. The Equipment was a fail. And I began to reconsider Steve's idea of getting my own equipment.

I researched & researched & researched. I learned about waxed vs. non-waxed, the different binding types, ski widths & lengths. I priced high-end, moderate & low-end packages. I finally found this package from LLBean which had everything I wanted, except the price was high. Steve said, "Buy it." I didn't want to without trying on the boots after having such a bad experience with the boots not fitting at Glendalough, so I held off.

We made plans to go to Fargo on Saturday, January 15th to celebrate a belated Christmas with the Matherns. While we were there, we made a stop at Scheels so I could try on boots.

Um... well... lets just say it went beyond trying on boots. As it turned out, Scheels was offering a sale on their x-country ski packages, which were 25% cheaper than a comparable package from LLBean. The salesclerk said they didn't have many boot sizes available, but as luck would have it I wear a 6.5 & it fit perfectly. I was so excited about the cost savings, that I talked Steve into getting a ski package as well! Yup, I am a typical female... love a bargain, to the point that I spend MORE than I would have if it was regular priced.

On Monday, we all had Martin Luther King day off. Abby elected not to go skiing, so Steve, Kippy & I went to Spidahls in the beautiful 20 degree winter weather and had a spectacular time. I felt SO fast with these super light skis. I was lapping Steve & Kippy on Liz's Loop & Emma's trail. My heart was racing, my back was sweating, & my spirit was soaring.

Best of all, my feet were warm and comfortable. No blisters, no bruised toenails, no twisted ankles or sore shoulders. It was almost 2 hours of perfection.And as two of my friends separately pointed out to me, when I make up my mind about something, I make it happen, come hell or high water. Not sure if that is a good thing or not, but I will own the fact that I am an extremist... an all or nothing type-gal... and borrowing a quote from Marcel the Shell, "I like that about myself."



Kippy thinks it is a blast too.



And I love that this is another activity my hubby & I can enjoy together. Although, I think he will probably want to advance to carrying a rifle across his back and getting involved with the Skiing and Shooting Biathlon.

2010 in Review Lindgren Style

We had a great 2010 and looking forward to making more memories in 2011!

An afternoon at Spidahls

On Thursday, December 23rd, we were able to make the most of our afternoon by cross-country skiing at Spidahls. It was one of those perfect winter days with absolutely no wind and around 20 degrees. It has actually been two years since we have been to Spidahls and the difference between our first experience and this experience was amazing. The girls were both much more coordinated and we were able to spend a lot more time skiing.
I truly fell in love with Winter during this afternoon. The peaceful serenity and the beauty of the snowy woods touched my heart. I have to admit it may have been due to the fact that my heart was literally racing. I always get cold when I go downhill skiing, but the cardio work required to cross-country ski keeps me warm from the tip of my toes to my fingertips.
After 40 minutes, we were all sweating and had to go back to our vehicle and shed a layer of clothing & drink some water before we headed out for the more challenging intermediate trails.
We were able to go on several trails that we hadn't been on before and put in a solid 2 1/2 hours of skiing. Everyone was tired and happy when we left.
Only one small glitch... which ended up turning into a larger problem on day 2, was a silly little biff I did while cruising downhill. My left ski took a hard left as it came out of the groove, while the right leg tried to stay right and my body got confused and tumbled along twisting my left ankle and wrenching my right shoulder. It really didn't hurt at the time, but that evening the ankle swelled and the shoulder ached. Old age just isn't that fun!

Despite the little set back, I went out cross-country skiing again last weekend and had a wonderful {injury free} time at Glendalough State Park with my friend Kelly. I think I am ready to purchase my own skis and make this a regular Winter-time activity in my life.

Winter wonderland

A beautiful frosty day at the farm the day after Christmas. I love Mother Nature's gorgeous, glitter sprinklings. Can't get enough of hoar frost... even tho' it was brutally cold.

I'm glad I went out and froze my little fingers off trying to capture the beauty. I was particularly intrigued by the fence, as you can see.

A New year and a New theme

Last year (2010) was the first time I picked a theme for the year and I felt like it went pretty well. Not perfect, but I certainly had something to strive for and felt like I hit the mark more than once. It also didn't leave me feeling disappointed in myself like previous New Year's resolutions have. My theme was CLEAN and I managed to work on cleaning up some of the negative things my inner critic (Mic) chirps about in my head - I still have a ways to go, but at least I recognize that Mic is a whack-a-doo {mostly}; I cleaned up a lot of what I had been putting in my mouth, resulting in more energy and better fitting clothes; I cleaned up my act and reached several personal bests in races I had entered; I cleaned out my horrible, dark, scary crap-room and transformed it into a cheery, happy place; Most of all, I hope that I improved as a person, wife, mother, daughter and friend in 2010.

Which now brings me to the new one-word theme for 2011. I thought about this a lot and finally decided that my new theme in 2011 would be POWER.

No, I am not going to work on becoming a body builder, although I greatly admire the dedication it takes to become one. The power I am striving for is related to emPOWERment, feeling POWERful internally, and reducing the feeling of POWERlessness. I like the definition I found online, because I think it has a broad application.

pow·er (pour)n.

The ability or capacity to perform or act effectively.

I can always work on improving my performance in so many aspects of my life. So far, I have made a couple of steps toward this theme.

1. I joined Phatty Natties 6 week weightloss Challenge today. First, because I have felt like sugar has taken over my life. Second, I want to gain back the balance of fitness and nutrition that have slipped in the past several months. I hope to feel more powerful physically and emotionally and in some ways, just accepting the Challenge does that.
2. I signed up for a self defense class for women called IMPACT, offered at UND in March. I'm not sure I am brave enough to confront and share some of my past baggage, so this is a huge step for me, but I really feel like it will be a way to give my self-confidence the boost needed to make me feel more empowered and assertive.

I hope to be mindful of incorporating POWER as my mantra and theme in 2011 and will try to share some of the successes and challenges I encounter.

Happy New YEAR! Share any New Year's resolutions, mantras or themes that you have.