Things I do to relax

I run or walk. I love being outside. Sometimes, I love to complain about the weather. At the end of a walk or run, all is well with me and the world. 

I love going for a bike ride! I could bike for hours and leisurely pace. 

I love watching fire! We fired cable tv and hired Apple TV. These days we buy our shows on iTunes and watch exactly what we want with zero commercials lastly, I enjoy browsing and pinteresting. I could happily wander the mall or Pinterest and feel relaxed at the end. So, how do you relax? 

TV and random pics

At the beginning of the year, I was fed up with the cable service (the lack of decent service.) Plus the bill was outrageous! So I turned in the dvr and turned off the tv. Instead, I bought Apple TV. I was a little nervous about whether it would work or not. We've had some hits and misses. 

Misses

1-Hulu stunk. The same commercial 3 times in one episode? No, thanks.

2-iTunes had an issue one day and sold us corrupted episodes. After, hours of my time, I barely got the 10 free tv shows. Who puts somebody on hold for 40 minutes and doesn't check on you every 5 or 10 minutes? Apple customer service does.

3-The stupid box has to be reset regularly. It's annoying but it gets back to working in a few minutes of the reset.

Hits

1-HBO. It is awesome and we are getting into Game of Thrones. Now I'm a TV snob too. 

2-No commercials. Fox throws a bunch of previews for their other shows at the beginning of an episode but that's forgivable. All other TV shows are enjoyed without interruption. Love it! 

3-I never miss an episode. When I buy the season, the newest pops up automatically.

4-I can watch my shows. Exactly what I want to watch. This means less hunting around trying to find something.

5-YouTube is great on Apple TV too. 

I made a crown of mustard on my burger in honor of Game of Thrones. Haha! As you can tell, there's more hits than misses. I don't have to worry about missing out on the severe weather. My iPad has apps for that. I'll call this experiment a success. Now I just wanted to get into Netflix too but Blue is skeptical since Hulu was such a disaster. 

My shows

Naked and Afraid, Dual Survival, Mythbusters, Hell's Kitchen, Rediculousness, Pawn Stars, Game of Thrones

Do you have Apple TV? What shows do you watch? I'm up to season 2 on Game of Thrones! I won't be looking for any spoilers but I will get caught up. 

 

Thankful Thursday - Blog Hop Edition

 Dear Friends, As we know, tragedy can be heart breaking. These are the times I turn to being thankful. Reminders of the good things I have, turn my mind away from the negative things we are surrounded by. Please join me. 1000 Things I'm Thankful for 21- Health 22 - Safety 23 - Family and Friends who texted me on Monday 24 - Friends to pray, cry, and console with 25 - Opportunities to give back 26 - TV to inform and help me stay weather aware 27 - Coffee and tea to energize 28 - A car with no hail damage 29 - Churches providing assistance 30 - Friends who stayed safe from the storms.   Clearly, being thankful can bring out my selfish nature and its nothing to be ashamed of. Link up your thankful thursday posts below and grab my little button. Click around and I'm sure you'll be inspired. I am looking for co-hosts, guest posts, and blog swap opportunities. Let me know if you are interested. <center> <a href="http://www.esthernorinedesigns.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p633/esthernorine/Snapbucket/064B5285_zpsa92b64ee.jpg" height="250"width="300"/></a></center> <p> a</P>

 

Silly Saturday

Do you have weekend traditions? We do! Generally the weekend includes catching up on TV, playing Yahtzee and drinking good drinks. We have fun every weekend and in a marriage that's very important.

Love you hunny!

Silly Saturday

 

Welcome to Silly Saturday, a light-hearted post designed to bring a smile.

While living in Anchorage Alaska and going to the University of Alaska Anchorage (Go Seawolves!), we decided to spend spring break in Homer, Alaska. Trust me...this is not a hopping spring break destination. We went because I scored us a free hotel room.

Score!

While enjoying some much deserved adult beverages, I was watching tv while the boys played a game. Music videos were blaring and there's a chance P. Diddy's music video was on. (I don't really know what his music videos or music is like so it could have been any other artist.) I had a moment of brilliance.

I will be known as E. Diddy.

It has stuck ever since.

Most people earn their nicknames but I gave it to myself.

Silly?

Unequivocally, yes.

Please stay tuned for Serious Sunday, which is never really serious.

The Boys:

E. Diddy (self-portrait):

Serious Sunday - Hawaii Edition

Welcome to Serious Sunday. Today's story comes from Hawaii, circa Fall 2001. While attending the University of Hawaii Hilo, hubby and I lived in the dorms on campus to cut costs. We also got rid of the TV, for the same reason. Dorms are created with concrete blocks and do not get good reception for anything including a radio. I don't think we had a phone either. It was semi-backwards living for us. On September 11th, we were awoken at 5am or so by a ton of knocking on the front door. I dragged my butt out of bed to find out that school had been canceled that day. The Resident Advisor didn't go into the details but said the tv in the common area was turned on to the news. I grabbed my handy radio to listen to the reports and was quite shocked (as the rest of the United States was.) I dragged R out of bed to tell him what happened. After staring for multiple hours at the tv in the common area, I was convinced having no tv was a bad idea. We bought a tv that day. We also took a hike up Rainbow Falls to decompress a bit. I felt trapped since all planes were grounded. Not a good feeling. We finished the semester and left Hawaii for a different school. Semi-funny story from that same time: We had a film camera and was waiting on film to develop. The cheap version is to ship it off to Honolulu and get it processed there. (Seriously, I have no idea why that was cheaper.) Our photos didn't come back for an extra week, since planes were grounded. I couldn't tell you what happened to those photos, so here is a photo from Honolulu our second attempt at living in Hawaii. I'm linking up with Nicole of Local Sugar who currently resides in Honolulu Hawaii and has great pics of the island. Please stay tuned for Make a Difference Monday.

Photo above is from Denver Colorado Botanical Gardens.

 

My favorite activities

These are my top ten favorite activities to relax and unwind after a stressful day.

1: Writing- usually about anything,

2: Reading - I like to read books that help me learn about myself and interesting subjects,

3: Music - I love playing the piano and listening to music,

4: Tv watching - favorite shows include Biggest loser and Extreme Makeover Home Edition,

5: Crocheting - I like to make scarves and give the finished product away to the needy,

6: Walking - I like going out for a walk, a run, or a hike in the forest,

7: Biking - I love going out on my bike and hitting the road. Its so freeing!,

8: Photography - I love taking photos of architecture, food, and flowers,

9: Shopping - I don't even need to buy anything. Sometimes its just relaxing to browse,

10: Hydrating - tea at Starbucks, or relaxing with a beer or wine at a nice bar. Its hard not to feel relaxed after hydrating.

Chillin' like a villain

Awe, sweet traditions. Tuesday is my chillaxin’ night where I watch tv until bed time. I enjoy watching America’s Got Talent and then voting for my favorites. Some of my other favorite tv shows include: Hell’s Kitchen and Mythbusters. Apparently, I don’t like regular tv as much as reality tv. What is your favorite tv show?

Distractions are good

Today’s rating is Positive.

Work was less demanding, I had a good conversation with HR at a company for a potential opportunity, and scheduled an appointment to show off the home. A lot was completed today, which is always very good.

I read an article about what to do when you hate your job. I found it useful because it is so important to distract yourself from a stressful situation. I find that I need a new distraction every day. Some days, I’m distracted by tv and other days I’m distracted by an activity with friends. This has been an effective strategy for me. If you find yourself blue and wallowing in misery, find something positive to distract you from the tough situation. You’ll feel better, like me.

Wonderful Weekend

The weekends rating is Positive.

Friday, my friend came over and we had fun watching tv, playing Yahtzee and having a few drinks. Saturday, I went to another friend’s house. We watched a movie, ate leftovers, and fresh baked brownies. YUM! It was a lot of fun!

As I tried a new church today, I realized that I don’t need church. I need people who love God, who want to have fun with me, and who want to encourage and possibly push me to love others more. We all need people around us to do the very same things. We help each other out and that’s how God created us, relational beings that need to be with others.

I have let relationships fall aside. Possibly for quite stupid reasons. I now ask for forgiveness and if you want to reopen those doors with me, please email me at estherdavison@rocketmail.com. I welcome opening old friendships and creating new ones. Lets walk life together and try to have some fun too.