Request

After receiving my tenth request for a Gus story I thought I better update on what Gus has been busy with lately. He is, after all, an extremely busy fella!

Yep, that about sums it up. Between barking fits of rage and confusion, Gus has been snuggling and sleeping these past few weeks.

Positive Thoughts

Sometimes I get a little bit down and out.

THEN I go out on Quote Hunting. I truly believe attitude is a choice! If I am having a terrible day, I try very hard to reset and think positively or find the good in the day.

Today I am quote hunting and finding some great ones.

Favorite today:  

Train your mind to think in terms of 'possible' and 'can be done'.

The difference between can and cannot are only three letters. Three letters that determine your life's direction.

Positive and negative are directions. Which direction do you choose?

Reality is the mirror of your thoughts. Choose well what you put in front of the mirror.

The mind is the decisive factor in your life, but who decides for the mind?

To think negatively is like taking a weakening drug.

Positive thoughts are not enough. There have to be positive feelings and positive actions.

Being resolute, decisive and courageous in small matters and in big ones is being positive.

Positive thinking and negative thinking are attitudes. They are points of view, and show the way people handle their affairs.

Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative and more happiness.

When you have control over your thoughts, you have control over your life.

When you change your habitual thoughts, it is like changing the direction of a train.

Affirm the positive, visualize the positive and expect the positive, and your life will change accordingly.

When there are difficulties and you feel down, this is the time to visualize, think and expect the positive.

Do not let circumstances influence your thoughts and moods. By rising over them mentally, you will eventually rise over them materially.

Perspective on the Day

Today was full  crappiosity and feelings of not happy. I got home but do not even remember driving home. I grabbed Gus, got him in the pick up and headed to the Vet for his wellness exam and to get a few lumps checked out.

Two minutes into our drive Gus starting seizing. He has these often and I know there is nothing I can do. Having them while driving totally sucks. I drove way to fast for the conditions, made it to the Vet and got Gus calmed down. I was pushing back tears of frustration, got him weighed and sat down to wait. I was utterly pooped out.

Gus curled into me and we sat there waiting to see the doctor. He was totally exhausted from his seizure and just wanted to be cuddled.

A really cool gal was sitting near us and we got to talking. We chatted about our dogs and were wondering about the roads. I started to relax and thanked God for putting this neat lady into my life at  that moment.

Then a cop car pulled up and a deputy got out. The deputy came in to tell the people at the desk that there had just been a terrible accident on the interstate. A woman was killed and her dog was in the vehicle. The woman had left the Vet's office 10 minutes ago. She had complained about her daughter being sick with strep throat, having a terrible day and wanting to just get back home safely.

Then...she died.

The woman was thrown from her vehicle and died. Her dog was carried into the vet office, her husband was taken to the hospital. She was gone.

I guess it really put life into perspective. I am still sick to my stomach after watching the dog be carried into the office and knowing what the dog had just experienced. All night I have been sitting here thinking about the woman and how her life ended. She was totally stressed out, having a terrible day and was just trying to get home.

I have another reason to feel blessed. I made it home after my visit. I got to hug my husband, talk to my mom, eat dinner, play with Gus, pet Sandy and thank God for life.

Retreat

I love to read. I read books, blogs, articles, letters, internet sites, magazines, and just about anything I can! Right now I am reading this book:

 I got this book at the Martin's Lutheran Church Women's Retreat.
Bill and I are dealing with some major road blocks in life and are doing OK, we found out icky news the day I left for the retreat and are attempting to filter through information and allow God to guide us through. It is strange how such a terrible day, with dissapointing news grew into a faith affirming weekend. Anyway...Luckily Pastor Paula was at the retreat, I was able to chat with her, assess life, and enjoy the retreat.
Actually the word enjoy does not even begin to describe the retreat. It was totally awesome. I absolutely loved the women that were at the retreat and learned a great deal about some great people. I also learned about myself. We were able to focus on our strengths throughout the weekend. We used the book Living Your Strengths to guide us through the strength exploration.

I was able to find out what my strengths are and how to better use my strengths. I never actually read the book but plan to start that this weekend. It was also fun to learn about the strengths of the different women that I got to know. I got to hear fun stories about how some of the women met their spouses, information about their kids, where they grew up, what interests they had and other interesting facts about them. It was definitely an experience that I will treasure and plan to repeat next year:) I had an awesome roommate, had a great time tying blankets and loved the discussions with the group and individuals. Oh and playing games late at night...that was really fun!

Each day I am amazed at how God works. I am amazed at how he truly does have a plan for each of us and how completely different his plan is compared to my plan. (Oh how I think I have things figured out;)  I am not sure what the future holds but I am sure that God is in control and I will grow through him. Finding peace is such a tricky thing to do on our own but with God it is not tricky at all. For now I will keep on attempting to focus on my strengths, keep on reading and finding peace with each day.

V-day...oh how I loath YOU!

That is right, I Dana Christine Stansbery declare V-Day the dumbest holiday in the history of holidays.
I know I have blogged about this terrible holiday before but I must reiterate how much I actually dislike heart day. A whole bunch.

The day at school was not too bad. It was 81 degrees in my classroom and I had sweat running down my back most of the day but nothing major happened. I had a few behavior problems but nothing too terrible. Maybe if I had my own children I would like it more?!?!?!

I fake it pretty well for my students. I even had a big elaborate V-Day box that my amazing JET, Jenna Kost made for me. (Jenna is the best JET I have ever had...sorry Kara, April, Mariah, Tayler, and Madison).

If you want to know why I hate V-day so much please refer to post #2 in February 2009 on my blog.

Highlight of the day...my nine year old friend made a Valentine just for me and delivered it to me in my classroom. She is so darn sweet!! That makes the day a bit more tolerable.

Tonight my big plans are to lead my fellow Ameniaites at our city council meeting. Then I hope to fall fast asleep with dreams of St. Patrick's Day...now there is a holiday that makes sense;)

Disclaimer: If you are reading my blog and do not realize that I am mostly joking then relax, I really am mostly joking.

Baptism Day

Laken Hadlee Kapaun was baptized in Christ on 

February 13, 2011

Our Goddaughter, Laken was baptized in church today! She was awake the entire service and fussed for just a bit when Pastor Paula put the water on her head. She is so sweet and incredibly cute:) After the service, we had dinner at the church and got to visit with Justine and Adam's families. They are great people and I love being around them. We are so blessed to have amazing friends!

T-shirt Attachment Disorder

I have self-diagnosed myself with T-shirt Attachment Disorder.
Symptoms include:

• Holding onto T-shirts from your Junior Prom, Middle School Years, your husband's '97 Homecoming shirt, Elementary Basketball Camp and your husband's junior high band shirt
• Being able to fill your entire bed with a heaping pile of T-shirts
• Crying when you realize you can NOT get ride of any of the T-shirts because...well because...ummm....mmmmm...
• Purchasing totes to save the T-shirts