Author name: aliciadowellAdmin

For the last few years, I have participated in the one word for the year. https://aliciadowell.com/2021-word-for-the-year/ https://aliciadowell.com/a-lost-list-and-year-word/ https://aliciadowell.com/2019-started-with-a-bang-and-a-list/ https://aliciadowell.com/new-year-of-discover/ I have spent quite a bit of time choosing a word. At first, there were two which stood out to me: Act and Brave.  There are many things I have dreamed up and wanted to do but never acted on. My husband or my friends can tell you about this. I could blame many things but truthfully I am scared. Imposter syndrome is tough to deal with. However, I am learning to deal with it and tune it out.   I began to form my post in my head of my one word (or two words) for the year. I usually start the idea of a post in my head and get to paper or my computer as soon as I can. I grabbed my journal to write down the ideas I had and my mind sorta just washes the ideas away. Now I have no word for the year. This hasn’t happened to me before and I am not sure how to take it.   I take to what helps my brain to get the creative juices flowing: podcasts, reading, and just writing. As I am listening, one word keeps popping up in most of them. After hearing it again, I write it down and start listing how this word could help me focus on what I want to do this year.  I hear this quote which seals the deal for me: “The creative process is not simply about what is being made. It’s entirely a mystical process that teaches us how to move between the eternal world of the soul and the physical world outside.” Christi Johnson.  CREATE  This word holds so much I want to do this year. So much I want to create and bring into everyday life. Create things which have been living in my head for so long. Create opportunities for me to bring joy to people. Create art. Create the big scary things I have wanted but never thought I was good enough. Create whatever I can dream this year.  I hope you will create with me this year. Do you have a word of your own for 2022? I can’t wait to hear about it! 

It is not often I have adventures outside of Arkansas but it does happen. A couple of months ago, I went to see my friend Taylor in Texas. We ended up making a day/evening trip to Ft. Worth. So grab your adventure shoes, water and lets go! I will be the first to admit, I did no research on Ft. Worth. I had no clue places I should go, eat at, or skip. However, this made the day a blank slate for us. (Bless my friend for dealing with me saying all the time: “I am good with anything.”) We did the tourist thing of going to the Stockyards. If you haven’t been, you should go. We didn’t get make it in time to see either one of the daily cattle drives but one day, I will make it back. We did go and visit lots of the shops. One shop grabbed our attention because we are both tea drinkers. It is called The Spice & Tea Exchange. You can shop online too. There were two parts to the store (spices and then tea) and the tea side was my favorite side. Of course I had to get Glitter a t-shirt. I also opted to skip on the rodeo this time but will be back to see one. One thing which was offered was pictures with cows/horses and their owners who were rodeo people. I almost took a picture with a big long horn bull but passed due to the amount of people wanting to get one as well. We also went inside of a couple of the hotels which are located in the stockyard areas. One was called The Stockyard Hotel. It has been there for over a 100 years. The inside was very simple with a Western charm to it as you can tell from the photo below. I bet if the walls could tell their story it would be a good one. Another one was the Hotel Drover. It is a newer hotel which gets it name from the drovers who drove the long horn cows through Texas. Even for a newer hotel, they took a lot of time to make it look like it belongs in the Stockyard. I will say even though we didn’t see everything, you could for sure make an entire afternoon experience in the Stockyards.