from the heART: baseball, baseball, baseball

Living in Phoenix, we are fortunate in having the pleasure of Spring Training baseball games during the lovely month of March. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, I went to a game last week. Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco Giants. Not one who particularly loves to watch baseball, I sure do love the atmosphere and good company. Both of which I enjoyed.

We had baseball, beer and babes.

from the heART: 73 donate blood

Number 73: Donate blood turned out to be more easily acquired then I thought it would be. United Blood Services came to my work and I felt I had no other choice but to sign up and be able to check another item off the list.

I haven't donated blood since high school, so my nerves did get the best of me. The anticipation and build up to the actual donating is awful! You sit and wait until someone comes to get you and you sit through a series of tests, questions, (and in my opinion the worst part of it all) the prick on the finger to test your iron. After passing all the tests, they take you over to the donating chair and sit you down. There seemed to be a lot going once I was seated and so I continued to just sit. Watch others begin, watch others finish, watch the ladies package up the donated blood, watch one girl almost pass out.

At this point, all the watching was not easing any nerves I was having but then finally it was my turn. The lady was very kind and hooked me up and off I went donating!

Then the watching continued. I watched my two friends finish donating, then watched them enjoying cookies and juice. Watched one girl across from me get hooked up. Then watched her get unhooked after finishing. I continued to sit and wait (and yes I was squeezing the tube but didn't seem to be speeding up the process). After multiple check-ins from the lady in charge, and readjustments, I did it! I was finished! I then received my cookies and juice and a sticker that said "Be a hero, donate blood!" So I am proud to announce, that I did donate blood and you can call me a hero!

from the heART: seven month update

1. swim alcatraz
2. complete a half ironman
3. buy a puppy
4. do bikram yoga
5. move out of arizona
6. vacation to new york
7. ice skate on a frozen lake
8. go hunting with pops
9. attend a concert
10. travel to europe
11. take a tap dance class
12. hot air balloon ride
13. get new glasses (in the process of ordering from Warby Parker, check it out)
14. go fishing
15. start volunteering regularly
16. get a bikini wax
17. cook at least one homemade meal a week [0/143]
18. join the chi omega alumni phoenix chapter
19. mail snail mail letters to family and friends
20. make tea cup candles
21. second shoot a wedding for lex
22. annual trip to an art museum [1/3]
23. read 5 unread books on my bookshelf [0/5]
24. watch sunrise over water
25. donate hair to locks of love (getting closer)
26. start a vegetable garden
27. fly a kite
28. soak in a bubble bath
29. make wine bottle glasses
30. go on a spontaneous trip
31. run [another] marathon (currently training for one in april)
32. skype with a friend once a week for 6 months [0/24]
33. finish seasonal paintings
34. learn to play the guitar [better]
35. make a xmas card with video link
36. get wisdom teeth removed
37. blog at least once a week [0/143]
38. go to a drive-in movie
39. subscribe to a magazine
40. see a broadway show
41. picnic in a park
42. make a homemade pie from scratch
43. read the bible cover to cover
44. buy a new computer (always on my mind)
45. go paint-balling
46. finish scrap-booking college
47. go a week without spending any money
48. sing karaoke
49. go apple picking [in wilcox]
50. watch on golden pond [name sake movie]
51. purchase a home
52. own a chicken
53. take a new license photo
54. attend an NFL game
55. whiten my teeth (bought the kit, just need to start)
56. go sledding/skiing/or snowboarding
57. pay for the next person in line
58. leave a ridiculously large tip
59. hike the grand canyon
60. run a half marathon a year [1/3]
61. visit lex in tucson
62. finish my state quarters collection
63. sew a dress
64. go on a wine tour
65. deliver holiday cookies to our neighbors
66. ask a guy out on a date
67. go para-sailing
68. drive/ride on a motorcycle
69. go paddle boating on tempe town lake
70. tape record mom and pops story of how they met
71. host a dinner party
72. make a piece of jewelry
73. give blood
74. go to the zoo and feed a giraffe
75. become an educated voter (I’d say about half way there)
76. annual trip to the beach [1/3]
77. go camping (trip is planned)
78. have sunday school class memorize the Lord's prayer
79. hit the bull's eye with a bow and arrow
80. write a letter to myself to be opened in ten years
81. invest my savings (very close to completing)
82. complete a yearlong thankful journal (started on the first of the year)
83. handstand for ten seconds
84. send someone flowers just because
85. go on a mission trip
86. buy a paper shredder
87. order dessert for dinner
88. go salsa dancing
89. go to a psychic
90. complete a 365 day photo challenge
91. complete a 1000+ piece puzzle
92. get picture taken with santa
93. visit nicole in memphis hawaii (moving in april)
94. buy a road bike
95. go to a movie by myself
96. go to a comedy club
97. build a snowman in pinetop
98. send and receive 100 postcards from postcrossing
99. fill all empty frames in house (I have art taped to the glass and just need to place it inside)
100. get [another] piercing
101. witness a miracle

from the heART: not quite what i wanted

As noted in a previous post, I've been trying to cook more. This past weekend a group of friends got together to play volleyball and cookout. My brother being the stellar cook that he is, took to the grill. We had hot dogs, bratwursts, chicken and the best grilled zucchini ever!

Being inspired by our bbq, when I went shopping earlier this week and came across zucchini I quickly snatched some up. When last night rolled around and I did not have any dinner plans, I decided it would be a perfect time to grill up my zucchini and I couldn't have been more excited.

After working a ten hour day at work, it seemed a lovely idea to head home, make some dinner and simply relax. Which is almost exactly what I did...

I arrived home and immediately went to the kitchen and took out my zucchini. Grabbed a knife and started slicing. As I'm slicing, I think to myself, I didn't think zucchini really had a smell. And I KNOW the inside of zucchini don't appear this transparent. Yup, you guessed it, cucumbers!

from the heART: what's in a name

A few months back something very exciting happened to my older sister. Yes! was her answer to her boyfriend, now fiances, question of marriage. Like I said, something very exciting happened. And just like that, with a very simple answer came a not so simple whirlwind of planning a wedding. It has been wonderful seeing everything come together and I cannot wait for mid April!

However, as I've quickly learned, planning a wedding isn't all fun. There are extremely important decisions to be made people! What ties should the guys wear? Should we have a DJ? What kind of cake should there be? Okay, so I'm only kidding with those questions but weddings and marriage do bring up actual important questions. One question that my sister recently has been mulling over is, what about her name? I cannot speak from personal experience (just yet) but it seems very bizarre that it will only take one short day and I will no longer be Chelsea Moody. I'll be completely honest. I love my last name, probably because I love my family and I really do take pride in being a Moody. This is something that I believe my sister feels the same.

She asked today "i've been thinking about my name change...so initially, my immediate thoughts were to just drop moody and go nicole ashley wise. buuuut, lately i've been toying with the idea of nicole moody wise... have you stopped laughing yet? i know it sounds ridiculous, but i never use my middle name anyways, so why not keep moody as a middle name because it is fun?? thoughts?"

My response to her was quite simple. If your middle name does not hold any special meaning or significance, why not drop it, and move your last name in place of your middle name, keeping it somewhat a part of you. I know we will always be Moodys at heart but it wouldn't hurt seeing it still there on your drivers license, right?

from the heART: kids really do say the darnest things

I began teaching Sunday school over a year ago now and the kids each and every week never fail to put a huge smile on my face. This past Sunday as the kids were coming in and joining our circle our discussion turned to names. We started talking about each of their full names, first, middle and last. But that seems boring, so instead I asked them "if you could change your name to anything, what would it be?" The girls sat and thought about it for a second, and Kate decided she would want to go by Grace, while Natalie said she would like be called Samantha because then she could also go by Sammy or Sam.

The boys all remained pretty quite and that didn't seem fair, so I called one of them out "Hey Ryan, if you could change your name, what would you like be called?" Without even a hesitation in sight he stated very matter of factly "Bruce." I have no clue where or how he came up with that name, but I loved it!

If that wasn't enough excitement for our class for one day, well Thomas hadn't yet sown up. Yet once he did, he came in with a fury. As he approached our circle it was clear that he had either been crying a whole lot OR as he put so nicely as he sat down "I HAVE PINK EYE!" My follow up question "Oh that's interesting, are you on medication?" "Nope." Followed immediately with a thought of, Oh my, OK class, no one touch Thomas or your eyes and let's just pass around this hand sanitizer, you know, just for fun. Well I am happy to report that its been two days and my eyes feel just fine, so here's hoping that is the same for all the kids in class that day.