Play Ball !!!

With baseball season now in full swing, thought I'd go back in time a little bit, you know, all the way back to early March, and ramble on about a baseball related adventure...

So what in the world is a Southern California born and raised lifelong Angels fan doing sitting in a baseball stadium wearing Kansas City Royals gear AND actually rooting for the Royals??? And, at the same time, rooting against the Padres, another SoCal team...really?? 

Long story short, my brother and his wife live in North Carolina. (And, um, what does that have to do with rooting for Kansas City?) They live in an area that has multiple minor league baseball teams within reasonable driving distance. They started going to games, and enjoyed it so much, they became boosters for the Burlington Royals. (OK, now we're starting to see a connection here..) As boosters, over the years they have developed relationships with some of the players, one of which is a young catcher named Xavier Fernandez.

OK...so what does that have to do with my Arizona Adventures?? Hey, guess where spring training cactus league games are played? Exactly!! So, fast forward a bit, and you'll find that this year, Xavier was invited to play with the Royals in Surprise, AZ. Keith and Karen decided that it was a great time to jump on a plane to visit AZ, watch their favorite player, and, oh yeah, spend time with me... 

Since I only have Angels shirts and hats, they loaned me a Royals shirt, and bought me a hat so I would at least look like a fan. I had never been to a spring training game, and I have to tell you it was a lot of fun. 

So, again, what is the adventure, you ask? Actually, it was watching the adventure of someone else. Someone working on living their dream. Working their ass off and seeing the dream getting closer. To get a taste of what's coming. And it was exciting to watch.

In spring training, you have the veteran players getting back into the swing of the game and the routine, and you have the young "up and comers" ready and eager for a chance to play and to show what they can do. In the later innings of the game, the well known players are taken out of the game, and the "unknown for now" players get some experience. 

What surprised me is how many of the fans started to leave the stadium when their favorite players were no longer on the field. In my opinion, all those who left early missed the best part of the game. Sure the kids are still learning and no, you don't quite know their names yet, but this is the future people!!  Some of these kids ARE the next stars and well known players. Were mistakes made? Of course! But, they are eager and willing to work hard and travel all over the country just for the opportunity to play ball.

THAT'S the adventure. How willing are we to work on our dreams? Not just to have a dream, but to actively work on it? To give it our all and see what happens? To take whatever steps are necessary, big, small, and in between?  

Xavier is working daily on his....and setting an example for the rest of us. No guarantees, but man, what a ride. Sometimes we can learn a lot from someone else's adventure.

Here are some additional photos from the game...enjoy!!

Perfect Arizona day for baseball...

Of course, you will find my brother and I looking at everything 

through our cameras.....

Prepping.... 

 The trot in after getting the call....

"Put me in coach.....I'm ready to play..."

 

Xavier and two of his biggest fans...

Just a little bit farther....

So yesterday my day took a different direction than I expected, so the list of 1,000 things I was going to get done this weekend now has 997 things on it. So, after I jump out of bed this morning to get things done, how did I start my day? Went for a hike, of course. A long hike. One that took pretty much all morning. And now I'm blogging about it...oh wait, posting on my blog was on my list, so only 996 things left to do! Woohoo!

I actually have a blog draft on an entirely different topic that I was going to finish and post today, but during my hike a new story was starting to write itself. 

I typically hike the same sections of trails at Cave Creek Regional Park, in differing combinations. After building up to it over the past year, I usually do a loop that's about 3 miles. Parts of it are on the Go John Trail, labeled as Moderate/Difficult, and it's 5.9 miles long.  Occasionally it has crossed my mind that I'd like to try to do the whole trail, but that's as far as it goes. Don't have enough time, it's too hot, I'm not ready, etc., etc.

Today I get to the park, my car goes to the Go John trail head parking lot. OK. I start up the trail. It's a beautiful day, nice breeze, only gonna be 75 degrees today, and I'm thinking, you know what? I can do this! Of course, then I stop every 10 feet to take a picture, and then realize at this pace it will be dark by the time I finish...if I finish. So, not sure what came over me, but I said to myself "let's do this!"  and only stopped every 50 feet to take a picture....

Let's just say it was an interesting challenge. Apparently the parts of the trail I had been on previously were the "moderate" parts. However, as I started up the trail (up is the operative word here), coming down are those finishing the trail who had started the loop in the other direction:  families with kids, people with their dogs, basically people of all ages, shapes and sizes. OK, confidence is building. No problem!

Let's just say I found out I'm in better shape than I used to be, but, good grief, I guess I have a ways to go. I did find the "difficult" parts of the trail difficult, and I was being passed by people who should not have been passing me - in the "difficult" sections. Sheesh!  (Oh, go ahead and go around me, I'm just stopping to take photos, yeah that's it, I'm stopping to take photos...)

But here's the thing. I did it. I stretched my comfort zone a little more, I went twice the distance I usually do, and completed my self imposed challenge.  Personal victory!!

Did I save the world? Nope. Did I cure diseases? Nope. Did I impact anyone else in any significant way? Nope. But you know what? It felt good. And small personal victories are something we need to do for ourselves, recognize them and celebrate. 

Have you tried something new? Did you get out of your box? Did you do it with a light heart and with an attitude of fun? Did you get the results you expected? Maybe, maybe not, but who cares?? You did it! Small victories add up. 

Photos of the morning's journey:

The start of the trail....starts off innocent enough.....

Had to stop a couple of times for traffic crossing the trail....

(the lizards, grasshoppers, dragonflies, birds and butterflies elected not to pose for photos today)

Where I would normally go right....left turn!

Ahhhh... a nice level section....

Hmmmm.... when you can see that you have a lengthy incline coming your way

Keep going left....

OK, this is a little more "incline" than I was thinking, should have taken a rest at that bench I just passed...

Follow the yellow brick  desert rock road....

Keep going left.....

Crap! Sigh....keep going up....

SERIOUSLY??? Keep going up....

Woohoo! made it! look at the view....

OK, can I just say that I'm more that a little glad to see that the parking lot is mentioned?

Parking lot in sight!!! Only about a mile to go....

And, lest you think I didn't enjoy this journey, photos of the beauty along the way...

 

Oh, and a word about reading labels...when you run into the store on your way to the park to get batteries for your camera and sunscreen, and you decide to pick up an extra water and a snack bar, do not be fooled by the products around the one you picked up - READ THE LABEL:

After it had been bouncing around in my backpack for two hours, I opened this  bottle of SmartWater - and quickly found out that it was LIGHTLY CARBONATED.  I needed a quick cool down anyway...

And when you reach into the Cliff bar box marked Blueberry Crunch, also READ THE LABEL... I wonder if the caffeine is organic too

 And when you get home, take off your shoes and socks, you see just how much of the desert trail you brought home with you...

Have a fabulous day my friends, have fun challenging yourself, and celebrate yourself when you do!!

Commitment and Randomness

So I made a commitment to myself when I started this blog to post something at least once a month. Thought that was reasonable. Thought that I would probably post more often than once a month. And yet, here it is, the end of another month, with me saying to myself AAAHHH! Where did the time go? It's a short month and I need to come up with something in the next 3 days, and I'm busy two of them, so it needs to be tonight! AAAHHH!!!

Usually I have an idea rolling around in the back of my brain that turns into a "download" that becomes the blog post. This month has been a crazy month, with no download coming through at this point, yet, here I sit typing. Because I said I would. I never said it had to be good, or perfect or earth shattering. I just said I would write. Hmmmm....who knew that just putting something out there would be such a challenge. 

The perfectionist comes out - well, miss smarty pants, you're just going to upload random shit?? It needs to be clever. It needs to be funny. It needs to have a message. The pictures you use need to match the message. Give it up for this month -  if it isn't going to be something you know you're going to be proud of, then maybe you just skip it for this month. Wait until you're inspired to write. 

Then the doubter comes out - Don't post something just to post something. You'll embarrass yourself. You don't have that many readers anyway. I'm sure no one will notice whether you posted this month. Wait until you have something useful to say.

The excuse monger comes out - You don't have a good idea, you didn't get a good night's sleep, work has been super busy, it's a short month, you have a million other things to do....

If you follow Ondre's Intention Calendar, you know it's the month of Truth. And, truth is, I made a commitment to myself, and yes, perfectionist /doubter / excuse monger, I hate to disappoint you, but I am going to post. It doesn't have to be spectacular, it just has to be mine. Lighten up!! It's just a blog! Sheesh!! Supposed to be fun!!

So here's my random post....

Most of the photos I post online are of the absolutely spectacular sunrises and sunsets we have here in Arizona. When most of us think of the desert, we think sparse, we think cactus, dirt, rocks, snakes, etc. Well, we also have spring here too, and more varieties of plants than most realize. We are shifting out of winter, where everything kind of settles down and regroups, and moving into spring, where the new can come out and be celebrated. So to continue with my randomness, and to shift focus to the new that is coming, I thought I'd share just a few of my random discoveries on my recent outdoor adventures....

 

So, my lesson from this? Commitments don't have to be hard, serious, heavy.  Send your perfectionist/doubter/excuse monger away.  Life is short - let's lighten up and have some fun!! 

How Many Adventures Can You Fit Into 3 Hours??

When you think about having an adventure, what comes to mind? Lots of planning? Having to travel? Spending lots of money? Something that can't be done very often?

The other morning, after staying overnight at a friend's house, I had a series of spontaneous grand adventures - I spent 3 hours with a 6 year old.  

It started innocently enough, gathering in the kitchen, trying to wake up, figuring out what to eat for breakfast. And then the adventures began something like this:

"Welcome to my restaurant! Have a seat, let me get you a menu! (whispers - here, pretend this is a menu...) What will you have?" Apparently in this restaurant they have pretty relaxed standards - pajamas, no makeup and messy hair were acceptable....

After a short discussion of all of the options available, my server (with a little help from her aunt) served me a simple breakfast of tea and an English muffin with cream cheese.

Apparently this restaurant also has a jewelry store, and a custom bracelet was made for me while I ate.

As soon as the restaurant closed, it was off to the hair salon to take care of the messy hair issue. We needed to take turns being the customer. (My daughter is 23, so let's just say it's been a few years since I've done a little girl's hair.) After managing to create a passable ponytail with the perfect ribbon attached, it was my turn to sit in the styling chair. With my short hair, my stylist was challenged, however managed to come up with new ways of using every clip from the drawer to create my new look.  (and no...no photos were taken of this new style....)

After closing the hair salon, two cardboard tubes were discovered.  Well, that can only mean one thing: Sword fight!! Not sure what we were battling over or who won, but it was quite the competition.

After getting dressed and making ourselves ready for the outside world (yes, I changed my hairstyle much to the disappointment of my stylist), a new adventure was suggested. "Let's go jump on the trampoline!"  Um, sure? And outside we went. Auntie went and joined in, but guess what? Apparently the guest in the house is supposed kick the aunt out and climb in to jump. What the heck? So, yes fans, the final adventure of the morning was me having fun on a trampoline with a 6 year old. 

Whew! All of these fun adventures were spontaneous, free, and we never left the house. And we fit them all in before she needed to leave for her next activity.

When did life become so complex? When did having adventures become a thing so big we stopped having them? When did we stop having zest and zeal for life? When did we put the energy and excitement for just being alive on hold?

What do you consider to be an adventure? It could be:

big or small
loud or quiet
alone or in a group
spontaneous or well planned

This month some of my best adventures have been pretty simple: chasing sunrises/sunsets, finding a park with an awesome view where I can eat my lunch, people watching at a coffee shop, learning to use my camera in new ways, hiking a new section of trails.

However, there is also the pull for some bigger adventures, and I've got some in the planning stages....and I just renewed my passport....so we'll see what opportunities the universe opens up....

My message today? Be adventurous! Explore! Keep redefining what having an adventure means to you. See where your curiosity might take you! It doesn't have to be big and complicated.  

Ask yourself: How can I just enjoy being alive today??

Have a fabulous day my friends! Be open - you never know what fun adventures might come your way....

Hard to tell, but yes, we are jumping...

What a year!

I think most everyone will agree that 2018 was quite the year and it held several surprises. Many we enjoyed, and some we would have rather done without. 

A year ago, I packed everything I owned into my Honda Fit (along with an irritated cat), said goodbye to my beloved beach, and drove across the desert to start over in Arizona. No job, an apartment I had rented sight unseen, and I only knew 3 people in the area. 

The lessons have been many to say the least. As mentioned in previous posts, there have been many curve balls, sharp left turns, some rocky slopes and some downhill slides. 

And ya know what? There were also the unexpected, awesome things that made me grin from ear to ear. And the positives completely outweigh the negatives. Actually, as I think about it, the negatives became positives with the growth and ultimate outcomes they spurred.

While I loved my two years living at the beach (southern California girl!!), my love of the desert has come back, my connection with nature has grown and my love of photography has been reawakened. Put me outside with a camera? Heaven. That was one of my happy surprises - had no idea how much joy something so simple could bring.

My biggest shift this year was in being able to change my focus from letting go of the past to focusing on what I want to be, do, have in the future. I've spent a lot of time the last 3 years letting go of the past, which was a process I needed to go through. I gotta tell ya, it's a lot more fun to focus on where you want to go instead of where you have been. 

I'm learning to take life a lot less seriously, stay out of the drama around me, and create fun as much as I can wherever I am. Life is short no matter how many years we have here. 

So I end the year with a good job working with good people, I just moved from the apartment into my own home, and I know more than 3 people....

So what simple things can you find to bring yourself joy? How many positive outcomes did you have to what initially were negative events? How much fun can you create? What are you focusing on for the future?

2019 is the year of Adventure - and I am sooooo looking forward to it! Buckle up Buttercup! Let's go see what experiences we can have and enjoy our time here!

Happy New Year everyone!

More sunrises to see.....

More sunsets to see....

And there is always light behind the clouds