whoa...this ⬆⬆⬆ is so freaking perfect! i've been a journaler most of my life. i've always kept a diary. i haven't always been consistent but i have kept some sort of journal most of my life...for years, i wrote only when i was upset. then i learned it was ok to record happy times. that it was actually so much more lifting to write during happy times!

i do hope someone listens or else i wouldn't write so publicly...like in this very public blog!

i do write because i need to. i have found that blogging is very cathartic for me. i know when i haven't been blogging...i can feel it in my soul. and sometimes these posts are plain nonsense...writing about my daily crap and nothing more.

i don't write much about what is broken inside me. i tend to keep those thing much more private. i might elude to them but generally i don't give specifics here on the ol' blog. i think you can appreciate that, gentle reader. some things are meant to be kept private, although i can relate the experience here.

and writing does bring me back to life at times.

and i love that about writing.

when i was younger, i fancied myself a poet. some where in storage, i think i still have my notebooks with poems.

i tried my hand at writing a novel a time or two, also. i wonder if those notebooks are still hanging around some where. i'm gonna have to check that out when life slows down a tad...like after the world show...life after thanksgiving...life after christmas...

i can only hope that i write enough here to keep you interested in returning, gentle reader.

i can only hope that what i write hits home for you some where along the way.

i can only hope that what i write helps you in some manner.

and if that happens, then my job here is accomplished!

thanks for tuning in!

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check out these awesome cupcakes my mom and nephew made! i woke to this text message this morning and i thought it was great! i love jack and all things jack! way to go, guys!

and so this morning kirofamily jumped on aeroplanes...the girl and i got on one headed south, to the ranch while kiroman jumped on one headed north to chicago.

the girl and i had some time to kill so we headed to an awesome mall in dallas. we made a stop in the true religion and louis vuitton stores and left empty handed! kiroman will be so proud! however, the stop in the nike store, the vans store and the northface store can not say the same thing!

and then there was this cute little cookie place and they had macarons!!! you know the girl can not and will not pass up an opportunity!!

oh, mrs fields, how i adore your bite size cookies! and the girl adores the white chocolate chip macadamian nuts! so we both dove in for what we wanted!

and then it was time to leave the mall. we were done. we were bored...i know, right? weird to be bored at the mall but we were done. game over. time to head to the hotel. and on the highway, we saw this...the girl attempted to get a photo of this cool ass car but it was hard as we were exiting. i have no idea what it was...hard to see but it was on a trailer and had been fully restored...pretty cool!

and i chatted with kiroman once he landed in the windy city! he said it was chilly there...i should have had him take screen cap of his weather to post with this. i must say that we are copletely loving this weather though!

as we were headed down the highway, the girl spots this sign. she can't believe she is seeing what she is seeing! i mean, really...who approves such things? and then we were chatting and the girl says "aren't condoms always to go?" she has a point, gentle reader...i sure don't want to see anyone using them in the store! good grief! i tell ya, there's never a dull moment when we are traveling! never!

kiroman texted me this photo of andy arriving in chicago...they are all gathering to dig into the chiropractic philosophy! i think it is so cool that there are such committed kiros, willing to spend extra time to learning and owning the philosophy of chiropractic...they aren't there to learn how to sell, to learn how to close, to learn how to market, to learn how to capture emails...they are there for themselves and for the sanctity of chiropractic! you go, guys!

and this was posted to kiroman's facebook page so i snagged to post here!

later, i saw this posted on facebook and it brought a huge smile to my face! let me tell you the story of the blue watch...a few weeks ago, this man ⬆⬆⬆ was in the city for a seminar. kiroman and i went out for drinks and a bite to eat with him, his beautiful lady and two other awesome chiros...kiroman had on this very same watch. shawn [ yes, his name really is shawn and it really is spelled the same way i spell it and he really lives up to the coolness of the name...cuz i am older than him...so there is west coast lyle and midwest coast lyle and now we have west coast shawn and midwest coast shawn... ] commented about it. and kiroman attempted to give him the watch but he wouldn't take it. so all night, there was banter about this watch that actually drifted over onto facebook...finally, i told kiroman that i was going to buy that watch and send it to him. so i did. i bought it. i sent it. and it was all a surprise. i love to do that...i love to send surprises. i love to put a smile on someone's face unexpectedly. it's pretty cool! it was even cooler to see this photo posted!

i snagged this off kiroman's facebook, too. andy brought it for kiroman this afternoon. see? there is someone else out surprising unsuspecting peeps out there! try it, you'll love it!

ok...the girl and i finally made it to our hotel. we decided that a little down time was in order since we stayed up way too late last night and had to be up early this morning. i admit, i laid on the bed, caught up on facebook, moved photos around, edited photos all for the blog while watching sons of anarchy on the ipad...ummm...just started season one on the plane ride down here...ummm...hooked already! the girl did take a little snooze. then we decided to have movie date night. we headed out to see ender's game, which was fabulous! i haven't read the book but i will be downloading it tonight so it will be at the ready in my que! after the movie, we hit sonic and the girl came away with a strawberry cream smoothie. you can see that she has documented her day of cheating quite well!

today also starts thirty days of gratitude...after this post is finished, i will get to work on my page for today. i don't have a plan for how often, when or if, i will post...i'll keep you updated as i figure it out!

i am grateful:

• safe travels of the whole kirofamily today
• for our awesome house/critter sitter
• for having a fun movie date night with the girl
• for being able to download tv shows from day one
• for the convenience of using technology