Ripper's Realm

You are…

ripper0863 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:00:14 +0000

You are so independent, you are not afraid to fight for what you believe
You are a woman who is strong, fair and you wear your heart on your sleeve

You are a nurturing person deep inside, you are a more than you really know
You are a mother, a daughter, you are a sister and a friends love you do show

You are all of those, you surround yourself with love, you are a giver of life
You are the world to me, you are my whole existence and soon to be my wife!!!!

Love you babe

Where it all starts…

ripper0863 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:12:38 +0000

Some tips from one of my favourite websites… http:\\www.eas.com

It all starts with what you put into your body. The old saying you are what you eat is so true. Food is what we need to fuel our bodies and much like a car if you put bad gas in it, it just wont perform at its best. Leanne and I have started on the road to a healthier lifestyle. Here is a tip that you may find helpful from EAS. I love this website and this company as they truly have a good outlook on nutrition and exercise.

Successful Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping is an important part of the Body-for-LIFE program. When your pantry and fridge are stocked with healthy foods, you are less likely to make an unhealthy choice out of hunger or lack of time. The healthy choices start at the grocery store. In order to have a successful shopping experience and a successful week of eating, it is important to plan ahead. Here are some tips for a successful shopping trip.

Plan your meals and leftovers for the week. Sit down and decide what you want to cook and eat for the week. This is a good time to assess the ingredients you have, and what you may need for specific meals. You should also consider the portion sizes of meals. If you make grilled chicken or barley salad, make extra and take it for lunch the next day.
Pick a day to do your shopping and cooking for the week. Choose a day when you have time to do the grocery shopping. It’s easier to go once per week, so you don’t have to worry about ingredients or make multiple trips to the store throughout the week. Many past champions have chosen to do all shopping and cooking on Sunday.
Don’t shop hungry. Always eat a healthy snack before you head to the grocery store. If you shop while hungry, you are more likely to fall victim to unhealthy cravings, grabbing salty or sugary ‘quick fix’ snacks to curb your hunger.
Shop around the perimeter of the store. As a general rule of thumb, the majority of your food should come from the perimeter of the store. This is where fresh produce, fresh meat, and whole grains are.
Wash, Prepare and store food. When you get back from the grocery store, the best thing you can do is immediately prep your food for the week. Wash your fruit and veggies, cut them into snack size pieces and put your food into snack bags for your mini-meals. This is also a good time to prep some of your meals, so you have a stress-free week of eating.
Freeze your food. Freezing your food is a great way to relieve stress during weeks when you don’t have a lot of time to prepare meals. When you have extra time, it is always a good idea to make extra food and freeze it in singe-serving portions that you can easily grab for lunch or dinner.

Supersizing our life…

ripper0863 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:42:06 +0000

On the road to change is a mantra that I have said many times before in my life but now I truly see that for things to change I really have to do something different in my life. The same old routines that we fall into as our lives progress are traps that are hard to avoid. Gone are the days of activity that would not only stimulate the mind but would also give us some physical fortitude as well. What happens when we succumb to our lifestyle’s that just want to kick back and relax? Are we all destined to become couch potatoes that do nothing but work all day, come home, eat, and then plunk down in front of the TV. Is this where we have evolved to? What happened to the days of our youth where we spent all day doing stuff. Could have been out riding your bikes, perhaps playing road hockey, maybe hiking up a mountain exploring and yet as we grow older those simple pleasures of our lives disappear in a sea of materialistic anarchy. We feel that we have to work, work, work, because we have wormed our way into that proverbial hole in the ground that is so tough to get out of once you are in it.

It is an evil circle that we plunge into but truly it takes a long time to get there. What starts out as our way of life turns into a pit of despair as we feel the pressures of our day to day existence. We fall into what has become the bane of today’s society and that is the allure of convenience. We have found ourselves in the trap that we need to save time to get things done. Everything is faster, quicker, bigger….but in the end does it save any of that. Sure you might get dinner 20 minutes earlier than before but at what expense does it come to you. Are we saving time now to only have it taken away later on when our lives are indeed cut short because our bodies are riddled with toxins and chemicals that quite frankly have no need to be there in the first place. Eating clean used to be the norm when I was growing up and now it has been replaced by fast foods, easy to cook foods and ones that are full of things that I can’t even pronounce. Proof is in the pudding so to speak when we have to use acronyms to describe an ingredient…ie MSG……….WTF????

Meals used to be easily defined by what they were. I used to have soup, or a stew that was homemade with ingredients that were found naturally. If they expired and went bad it was horrific as we would be wasting such an amazing thing as good clean food. So what happened to that? Now we find chemicals that are put into our foods that preserve and suck us into tastes and such that truly have no right to even be in there. How important is it that these foods last for days and days and days? What are we giving up of ourselves just to save some time and energy? Cmon people it is time to jump out of those get it fast, get quick and make it as big as possible thoughts that has permeated our entire culture.

Slow down and avoid the drive thru. Park the car, walk to the door and open it. You may find by making just a small effort like this you can be on the road to a much longer life. Now that is what I call supersizing.. !!!!!!!!

this thing called life…

ripper0863 — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:55:15 +0000

When I think of the sun, the clouds, the days that float by
I see our life together, two souls as one, it makes me sigh

The starry nights filled with love’s magical embrace
I see all worry gone from your angelic face

Laying in each other’s arms, our time is with each other
Soon a married couple, I am in love with a mother

You enable me to see that we can be more than we are
A future filled with love and desire, you are my shining star

As we find our way thru this thing called life
I am excited and happy that soon you will be my wife

Love you babe!!!!

Do what is right for you…

ripper0863 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:47:39 +0000

Trying to put one’s life in order can be a daunting task even for the most organized person in the world and to be honest I am definitely not one of those. When looking at all the things we need to be aware of in our lives that will enable us to just exist can be exhausting. Trying not to stress about money, health, kids, insurance, bills, work, family etc. life starts to become something that we may not want or that we feel we have no control over. How about focusing on the things that make us happy and not the ones that make us crazy. You need to ensure that you take care of the mundane tasks, but we can always find more time to do things that are just for us.

Do what is right for you and not because of someone else. That is the only way to stay true to yourself. The moment you start to do things out of guilt or pressure from those around you is the moment that resentment starts its wicked journey into your life. No one needs that and certainly no one deserves to be guilted into anything. Guilt is an evil thing that is manifested from someone else’s desire to control what we do and that is just wrong. What gives anyone the right to put a guilt trip on someone else?

Is a guilt trip just someone’s way of expressing themselves? Is it something that could be talked about in a different way so that it comes across as conversation instead of making someone feel guilty? I don’t know if people actually think about it like that or not but wouldn’t it be nice to not have that in our society. Peer pressure, guilt, controlling attitudes are somethings that we are faced with everyday and we all get it on a regular basis. From family, from friends, our spouses and even from those you work with. The next time you are being presented with someone packing your bags to go on a guilt trip, take a moment and think about what they are trying to accomplish with their comments. Are they really trying to guilt you into something or perhaps they are just trying to get their point across and don’t know how to do it so it doesn’t come across in anything but a shitty way. We have all done it and I am sure a lot of the times we dont think about it as we are saying it. We all need to be more aware of what we say, how we say it and realize that what we say can have an impact on those around us that may cause hurt and anger. The recipient of that hurt and anger doesn’t deserve to be treated that way and if you were to turn it around you must ask yourself if that is how you would want to be treated.

Anyway, I digress as I started out by saying that we should only do things we want as opposed to what others say or think we should do. Resentment comes way to easy and that is how friendships and bonds are torn apart and sometimes never to be replaced. That is the sad part of it all.

The next time you are chatting with someone, think about how that person is feeling the moment you throw some guilt at them for not behaving the way YOU think they should. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but learning to express them in a positive way is a difficult task at times.

Time to quit dreaming and just do it…

ripper0863 — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:15:26 +0000

Well another year has passed and my life has been filled with more happiness and contentment than I have ever felt before. It is amazing to me that I have lived this long and have not had the pleasure to find that inner peace that comes along with contentment. Every year that Leanne and I are together our bond grows stronger and stronger and with that comes a desire to have it never end. I want to live out the rest of my life in the arms of this amazing woman who literally leaves me breathless with her neverending love and capacity for warmth that just never stops.

I realize tho, that to live my life the way I want to and the way I should, I will always be at odds with it. My health is the biggest concern and I absolutely have to start taking care of that side of myself on a more consistent basis. I posted about this a year ago, and although I didn’t fulfill my goals of losing weight, I have found that I can certainly maintain by making better eating choices and not overindulging. I am now going to start a fitness program that will be suited for me and my ability to accomplish it will only be hindered by me being lazy. I suppose that is why I have always struggled with my weight all my life.

Now it is time to do something about it. Leanne and I eat well, we watch what we put on our plates and try and stay away from the crap meals that do nothing but make your pants tight, and not in a good way either. With our wedding coming up it is time for me to refocus and do something for our future and that is too ensure that I will have one.

It really is time for me to quit dreaming and just do it. No excuses anymore. It is time…

I know…

ripper0863 — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:36:12 +0000

I know that your love has found its way deep into my heart
I know that your smile rocks my world, it is off the chart

I know that your hugs make me feel safe and secure
I know that your kisses are from your soul and are so pure

I know that your dreams are the exact same as mine
I know that your time with me will age beautifully, like a deep dark wine

I know that your love for me has never waned or faded
I know that your need for us to be together was never jaded

I know that your thoughts of us have always been strong
I know that your sense of us, has never been wrong

I know that the two of us were always meant to be
I know that the two of us together is special, now the whole world shall see

I know that I want you in my life forever
I know that the rest of my days will be with you and I together

I know…..

Things can always be worse…

ripper0863 — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:28:05 +0000

Ahhhh, the sweet sounds of Xmas. You all know them so well. You know, the hustle bustle of angry people in the lineups. there incessant grumblings that never cease to amaze me. How can these people get mad about the crowds, the lineups, the stress that is Xmas. It’s not like christmas is a surprise or that it just all of a sudden shows up one day like a burst water line in your house. Plan for it folks so that you are not always in a rush. If you do find yourself in a long lineup, do what I do and look around you. Try and see what people are thinking, what they are feeling and if you find that one person who is grumpy or frowning, then wait till they look at you and make sure you give them a big smile. That smile will become infectious as they say and it will spread a warmth that only a smile can give.

Think of all the things that make you happy at this time of year. Maybe it is a hot cocoa by the fire with that special someone or perhaps it is a faraway dream of going to a hot tropical locale. Children’s smiling faces as they rush down the stairs to see what Santa brought them for Xmas. Isnt that what it is all about? The kids at this time of year bring such joy to my heart as I remember back to being that age and having that magical feeling deep inside that only Xmas brings out. I used to call it Xmas tummy as I would get all excited dreaming, hoping, praying for that one special gift that I wanted all year. Now that I am older I find that I have slowed down a little at this time of year and I try to take more in. No more am I in a rush to get Xmas over as soon as possible. I want to enjoy the time I have with our families. It is times like Xmas that make me appreciate life, family, and things in general just a little bit more.

I laugh at people grumbling in lineups. It truly is the wrong time of year to be upset about lineups. Why are they grumbling? Is it because of all the people or are they mad at themselves for not preparing better for the holiday season. Lineups go out the doors and around the block, but as long as you find a way to share a smile then your day will be so much brighter.

So take some moments this season, and look around. There are always more people out there that are in way worse shape than you are. Funny tho, they are never the ones that need to be smiled at. It always seems that it is the more affluent people who get grumpy. Perhaps they should be looking at their own lives and try to find out what it is that is happening that has them feeling down. Smile people…things can always be worse.

Many times a day…

ripper0863 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:05:14 +0000

Many times a day my heart pace quickens because you smile at me
Many times a day my soul has found its mate forever you shall see

Many times a day my desires are fulfilled and they overflow with love
Many times a day my devotion to you soars like feathers on a dove

Many times a day my thoughts are of you and I and all that we are
Many times a day my dreams come true, they shine like a star

Many times a day my world finds its way because of you
Many times a day I think of us, it’s all I can do

Many times a day I find I can’t stop thinking of us
Many times a day I see that you love me with no fuss

Many times a day you are the only woman I see
Many times a day I cant help but love you and me

I love you Leanne Robertson!!!!!

Close to bliss…

ripper0863 — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:14:32 +0000

As each day passes we get closer to that place we call bliss
It is a place that we find when in love, perhaps caused by a kiss

Eight months from now you and I will become one
Two souls bound together each day the passing of the sun

We were meant for each other, I have known right from the start
You have my soul, you have my devotion and you have my heart

Nothing will stop us from all that we are meant to be
the world is ours for the taking, two souls combined, our love is free

We open our minds, we open our hearts
We open ourselves to each other, our love is off the charts

As we grow as one, our time becomes so special to me
We have so much to give to one another, forever you shall see

Forever is a long time, but it is not for us to decide
Now buckle the fuck up, and enjoy the ride

I Love you Leanne. You have made me the happiest guy in the world