moved.

I have moved my blog to a different address.

please follow me there.

nov-uhl-tee.blogspot.com

XOXO

rodeo.

Yes! This is a rodeo, but not just any rodeo… it is the National Finals Rodeo… in LAS VEGAS! Thus, it is a rodeo, but on steroids AND with fireworks and lasers!

The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) consists of 8 contests: Bareback, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping (Header), Team Roping (Footer), Saddle Bronc Riding, Tie-Down Roping, Barrel Racing, and Bull Riding.  To compete at the NFR, each cowboy/cowgirl must be one of the top 15 competitors in their field... So you're only watching the very best! A national champion is decided in each field at the end of the 10 day event.

I attended Night 5 and enjoyed myself immensely… it is really is a show. There is a huge party outside of the Thomas & Mack Center. There are big white tents were alcohol is served with girls dancing on the bar and a mechanical bull gyrating in the background! The rodeo itself about 2 hours long and you had better pee before you sit down, because you won’t have time during the rodeo. It is nonstop.

 

The following are some photos from the night.

  

  

Inside the tent: dancers, drinks, and dudes on bulls



 

Cowboy Ken

Cowgirl Barbie



 So, how does your local county rodeo start out? Well, the NFR has fireworks and lasers!

The 8 events: as seen from my seat



Bareback



Steer Wrestling





Team Roping (Header) and Team Roping (Footer)



Tie-Down Roping



Barrel Racing

and... finally... Bull Riding!
(complete with a barrel and championship clowns, too!)

Proof I was there! I didn't really "fit in"... I needed a hat, wranglers, boots and most surprisingly...bling!
Those cowboys and cowgirls really know how to layer on the diamonds!

Even if you aren't a "rodeo person", you'll have a good time at the NFR.

This is a link to the official photos from the NFR photographers.









kissing checklist.

Kissing Checklist by Rachel E Foster

This 'Kissing Checklist' is the third in a series of kissing checklists from Rachel E Foster! Users are expected to cross off as they kiss!

This edition is a lovely letterpress print hand printed by the artist using black ink on off white printers paper with a deckled edge.

  "I made these in the hopes that the users will literally use this as a checklist, crossing off as you go."       

  -Rachel

Kissing Checklist by Rachel E Foster (1 of 3)

Kissing Checklist by Rachel E Foster (2 of 3)

Kissing Checklist by Rachel E Foster (3 of 3)

My brother showed me a new website for a gallery called KEEP CALM GALLERY they are based in London. I really enjoy the typography art.  I would like to do display these as a set of three or even do a big grouping like this photo from Pottery Barn.

I thought that this set of three were really cute... Maybe I'm just in that kind of mood!

I like them... yes... yes I do. 

good life.

On this holiday where we celebrate gratitude... I feel grateful.

I am grateful for many things:
-Family
-Friends
-Faith
-The country that I live in
- and thousands more!

I have an powerful feeling that I'm just living "the good life"... The life I live is not "perfect" and not one that I had planned. I definitely want to improve and better myself. On the other hand, I do feel like I have been very fortunate to live the life I do and to have lived special experiences the world.

I'm in love with a OneRepublic song "Good Life" ... It just feels right to me.



My toast at Thanksgiving dinner "To the good life now and a better one tomorrow!"

spice.

I LOVE pumpkin... anything... pie, roll, cake, etc.

I always have loved that “taste of the holidays”, even in June. So, I have been making some of my favorite pumpkin deserts and realized that there were 4 things in common. ALL my recipes have the spices Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Clove.

These are the spices that rule my taste buds!

The following is a super easy recipe for pumpkin cake that my mom got from her friend Lisa Provstgaard. (give credit where credit is due)

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients for cake:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 can of pumpkin, 14oz

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Nutmeg

1 tsp. Ginger

1 tsp. Cloves

1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

¾ cup Water

2 eggs

Directions:

Mix together for 4 minutes

Pour into a nonstick or sprayed 9x13 pan

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

Ingredients for topping:

½ pint (8oz) of whipping cream

½ cup of brown sugar

8oz Cool Whip

Directions:

Whip cream until it starts to thicken

Add brown sugar and mix until thick and sugar is dissolved (peaks)

Fold-in Cool Whip by hand

Spread on cool cake and refrigerate

It is one of my favorites and is a big hit at my house!

Enjoy and have a wonderful Thankgiving!

perfection.

How I live and my day-to-day lifestyle have been on my mind a lot lately. A few friends of mine posted links to this CNN.com article and I really liked it.  I liked it enough to print it out and I have thought about it a few times. Since this blog was started with the idea of “I am a happy person. I want to be happier.”

So in the spirit of this blog, I present “Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect.” By Brené Brown.

Editor's note: Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent 10 years studying vulnerability, shame, authenticity and courage. She is the author of "The Gifts of Imperfection" (Hazelden) and has a blog on courage.

(CNN) -- The quest for perfection is exhausting and unrelenting, but as hard as we try, we can't turn off the tapes that fill our heads with messages like "Never good enough" and "What will people think?"

Why, when we know that there's no such thing as perfect, do most of us spend an incredible amount of time and energy trying to be everything to everyone? Is it that we really admire perfection? No -- the truth is that we are actually drawn to people who are real and down-to-earth. We love authenticity and we know that life is messy and imperfect.

We get sucked into perfection for one very simple reason: We believe perfection will protect us. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame.

We all need to feel worthy of love and belonging, and our worthiness is on the line when we feel like we are never ___ enough (you can fill in the blank: thin, beautiful, smart, extraordinary, talented, popular, promoted, admired, accomplished).

Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it's a shield. Perfectionism is a 20-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it's the thing that's really preventing us from being seen and taking flight.

Living in a society that floods us with unattainable expectations around every topic imaginable, from how much we should weigh to how many times a week we should be having sex, putting down the perfection shield is scary. Finding the courage, compassion and connection to move from "What will people think?" to "I am enough," is not easy. But however afraid we are of change, the question that we must ultimately answer is this:

What's the greater risk? Letting go of what people think -- or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?

So, how do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to embrace our imperfections and to recognize that we are enough -- that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy? Why we're all so afraid to let our true selves be seen and known. Why are we so paralyzed by what other people think? After studying vulnerability, shame, and authenticity for the past decade, here's what I've learned.

A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don't function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick.

There are certainly other causes of illness, numbing, and hurt, but the absence of love and belonging will always lead to suffering.

As I conducted my research interviews, I realized that only one thing separated the men and women who felt a deep sense of love and belonging from the people who seem to be struggling for it. That one thing is the belief in their worthiness. It's as simple and complicated as this:

If we want to fully experience love and belonging, we must believe that we are worthy of love and belonging.

The greatest challenge for most of us is believing that we are worthy now, right this minute. Worthiness doesn't have prerequisites.

So many of us have created a long list of worthiness prerequisites:

• I'll be worthy when I lose 20 pounds

• I'll be worthy if I can get pregnant

• I'll be worthy if I get/stay sober

• I'll be worthy if everyone thinks I'm a good parent

• I'll be worthy if I can hold my marriage together

• I'll be worthy when I make partner

• I'll be worthy when my parents finally approve

• I'll be worthy when I can do it all and look like I'm not even trying

Here's what is truly at the heart of whole-heartedness: Worthy now. Not if. Not when. We are worthy of love and belonging now. Right this minute. As is.

Letting go of our prerequisites for worthiness means making the long walk from "What will people think?" to "I am enough." But, like all great journeys, this walk starts with one step, and the first step in the Wholehearted journey is practicing courage.

The root of the word courage is cor -- the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage had a very different definition than it does today. Courage originally meant to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.

Over time, this definition has changed, and, today, courage is more synonymous with being heroic. Heroics are important and we certainly need heroes, but I think we've lost touch with the idea that speaking honestly and openly about who we are, about what we're feeling, and about our experiences (good and bad) is the definition of courage.

Heroics are often about putting our life on the line. Courage is about putting our vulnerability on the line. If we want to live and love with our whole hearts and engage in the world from a place of worthiness, our first step is practicing the courage it takes to own our stories and tell the truth about who we are. It doesn't get braver than that.

Amen.

sleep.

Simplify my life!



Worth Avenue Collection by Ralph Lauren



When I moved Back to St. George, I was given an empty bedroom in my parents house. It had a queen size bed and I had my massive stash of linens from when I worked at Ralph Lauren. It was time to create a bed that said "Kenley Chapman sleeps here." I chose a bed set from the Worth Ave Collection (see photo)... except I made it more masculine with pillows in a brown hound’s-tooth print, a coordinating hound’s-tooth wool blanket, and simple silk throw pillows.  It was beautiful and I loved it. However, the room isn’t large enough for the pillows, they covered evey inch of available floor space nightly. 10 of the 12 pillows are just for looks. Thus, they need to go on the floor before sleeping and then be returned to their home in the morning.... 2 times EVERY day. (Fun fact: All dry clean only)

I quit.

So I decided to do a white and ivory bed like I had seen done so many times at Ralph Lauren and Pottery Barn. I pulled from my linen storage and found a white duvet, 2 white pillowcases, an ivory matelasse coverlet with 2 matching matelasse shams, and 2 ivory pillowcases. The bed turned-out great and suits my sleeping style better. Yes it is white and it will show dirt, but I want to sleep in a clean bed and all the bedding is machine washable!

(Pottery Barn video on how to do a white bed.)

I went from 12 pillows (10 of which were for decoration only) to 6 pillows that I can sleep on.

Life = simplified.