Iowa Jenny

Not sure how I will use this space yet. Likely to be a collection of things of interest.

[iowajenny]

A Tree Named Vera

This is the year of the perfect Christmas tree. The kids and I picked it out the day after Thanksgiving, the earliest we have ever done, to make sure we got THE perfect tree. We wanted 12-14’ and not too fat so that it would fit nicely in the corner of the living room. We found all that in Vera. The shop has name tags on all the trees and our Vera is tall, slender and just the ideal shape. None can compare. We all walked straight to her and she was ours within 10 minutes of our arrival.

Vera was delivered today and I was shocked when they struggled to get her in the door. She isn’t as slender as I remembered...and she is top heavy, threatening to topple forward. She looms and extends far out into the room and into the windows behind her. I texted the kids with a pic and we all had a laugh. Vera isn’t quite as perfect as we remembered! Oh well...I got out the clippers and hacked in an access point to give Vera some water. I also hacked off a few branches so we can see the TV. Lawd, what have we done?!

That is when I found her name tag.... Arlene. We didn’t get slim, perfect Vera; we got fatty Arlene. Arlene the Monster Tree.

I called the store. We want Vera! But, Vera is gone. Someone else got perfect Vera. We have fatty Arlene who is after my complaints now FREE, fatty Arlene. Gee thanks.

Yep, I realized I was fat shaming a tree. SAD.

Now, I adore Arlene the cheap, top heavy, fat monster tree. She is a voluptuous, sexy beast! She just oozes over-the-top fun and celebration. Someone else can have Vera,the lesser tree. We have Arlene...

May your holiday season also be filled with wonderful, unexpected blessings! Embrace the perfect imperfectness of it all.

[iowajenny]

The Iowa River was a beautiful mirror this morning.

[iowajenny]

[iowajenny]

One of my most beautiful turkeys. Let’s see if I can outdo it this year.

[iowajenny]

My blue ribbon cowgirl!

[iowajenny]

Protecting us at night from vicious intruders.

[iowajenny]

War Damn Eagle!

[iowajenny]

To ponder. Here is the first line from the first pamphlet distributed by the White Rose Society in Munich in March 1942.

“Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. “

[spoonofconsciousness]

#SuccessfulSaturdays

10 Lifestyle Habits That Will Help You Create Success

1. Exercise - refreshing the body and mind. Moving into the body allows us time to work our stresses and rejuvenate the mind.

2. Meditation - making time to do nothing. We can become consumed by the idea of chasing our success and this can result in us becoming overwhelmed by our daily tasks. Meditation allows us time to wipe the mental slate clean and approach future tasks with a clear head.

3. Self-love - being there for ourselves. Failures are going to come thick and fast along the road to success and we need to be there for ourselves during the hard times if we’re going to keep pushing forward and chase our dreams.

4. Affirmations - priming the mind for greatness. Repeating affirmations such as “I am in the process of manifesting my success” helps us to reinforce the belief that we will reach our goals rather than just hoping it will happen.

5. Creativity - expressing ourselves. Creativity dissolves resistance inside us that has been created by stress, trauma, unexpressed emotions and negative energy picked up from others. 

6. Positive energy - surrounding ourselves with positive people. Being part of a mastermind group or having accountability buddies is a vital part of achieving success - like-minded individuals encourage each other to win.

7. Authenticity - being true to ourselves. Doing what we love is the surest way to be successful, life’s too short to miss out on what we love and too long to do what we hate.

8. Focus - blocking out distractions. Removing distractions such as negative people, television and drama is how to we remain focused on our goals and invest the most time into them.

9. Visualisation - creating a clear mental picture of the dream. Knowing exactly what we want our future to look like allows us to map our actions to our goals which speeds up the process of manifestation.

10. Work - putting in the hours. The most important part of creating our success is what we choose to do with our time, investing the majority of our waking hours into achieving our dreams will make them a reality - it’s just a matter of time.

What makes us successful is how we use our time.

Peace & positive vibes.

[motivation-and-fitness]

Don’t doubt yourself. You’ve got this.

[iowajenny]

This girl makes me smile every day.

[npr]

Suspect In New York City Truck Attack Worked As Commercial Truck, Uber Driver

Sayfullo Saipov, the suspect in the truck attack that killed eight people on a bike path in Manhattan on Tuesday, has been hospitalized. Police are reportedly analyzing a note left in the truck.

[iowajenny]

Starting this Tumblr journey, I am devastated that it only took a few days before another incident hit our world. Even more awful is the “response” coming from the White House.

[lostinhistorypics]

Tim Burton showing off a Halloween costume made by his mother, 1967.

[iowajenny]

Happy Halloween!

[iowajenny]

This UPS dog thing is all the rage. Denied! Time for some online shopping.

[jumbo-shrimp]

[iowajenny]

Reminiscing about the epic hike to Havasupai this past March. Bucket list stuff. Need to work on next adventure.

[trosonke]

[iowajenny]

First up under things that interest me ... RAGBRAI. Planning on riding again in 2018. Captures the feel of the ribbon of RAGBRAI riders enjoying the experience.

[nprontheroad]

Bike rack, Iowa style.