There's no place like home... There's no place like home. Toledo is my home!!!! It's so nice to ride through the streets where I created so many memories. Growing up, I never imagined that my life would look the way that it has. I'm sure that I will come back in 10 years and feel the same way all over again. From the corner stores, to my old neighborhood, to my school- GO EAGLES!- to just little things. I love reliving those memories! I had so many good times in good ol' Toledo. People can say whatever they want, but Toledo shaped me. It's such a small bigger small city! It's nice to revisit where it all started.
It really puts things into perspective. I'm still that Toledo girl walking to the bus stop. Crying in my bedroom over some boy. Worried that my friends are mad at me. Excited to get my first car- Ford Probe baby! First kisses, first heartbreak, first job. Ballet, coming closer to friends, coming closer to Christ... When life was so simple... Life really hasn't complicated itself- I complicated it! I complicated it with my dreams, high expectations, lack of satisfaction with my current situation, the never enough attitude, etc. I so want to strip the layers of complexity that I have carefully layered on the simple package that was once me. Get back to Toledo me. Where the little things are all I need for happiness.
While at Miami, one person we met with had a note on his computer. It said, "The secret to happiness is low expectations." At first I thought goals are necessary to be successful. In order to have success you have to set your goals high. I realized that this quote was not about setting low goals- it was about contentment. learning how to be content and enjoy the moment. Something that I desperately need to find a way to do. I'm a planner. I plan everything and plan to plan everything! While this helps me to be prepared, ultimately, instead of being busy living, I'm busy planning to live. Once life is happening, I'm already moving on to my new plans. The answer is SLOW DOWN. Slow my thoughts, slow my actions, turn towards what's around me, not always what is in front of me...
Today we began the day with a little horseback ride with Mom. It was pretty cool except for the human sized mosquitos that tore me up from head to toe. My horsey was named Skipper. Skipper was honestly the best horse I have ever rode. He responded immediately to my directions and didn't take off tearing through the forest with me clinging on to his mane. M rode Anthony- this monster size Cydesdale lookin thang. He kept tryin to run up on Skipper's booty.
After the mosquitos sucked all the blood out of my body, we returned to the barn. M and Moms trotted and I waited for my heart to pump more blood back to my body so I could function. 
I don't do trotting. in fact, this is what I think of trotting:
After the horse ride, we swung back to my Dad's house, ate a little lunch- got the horsey off our skin and jetted over to my niece's tennis "match". That was really just them playing against each other.
Had a good time there and then returned back to the house to relax before going to dinner with some friends. Gotta love a T-Town fav: J. Alexander's.
Getting ready to hit the hay! Tomorrow will be filled with breakfasts, visits to fam and friends, and then dinner with more fam before concluding our journey on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment