“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying.

Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day.

Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now.

There are only so many tomorrows.”

~Michael Landon

While I've been taking the last month off from blogging (evidently, it didn't seeeeem like that long to me) I have been:
~spending quality time with family and friends
~including short walk/hikes in the woods
~celebrating 16 years with my amazing husband
~watching lots of British T.V. on Netflix (love you Netflix)
~hanging with the girls at a girls night...good times
~teaching myself to crochet (so far so good)
~working
~reading
~just being
....Life is good.

on my nightstand.

When things go topsy-turvy, upside down, when things hurt and I'm trying to heal I turn toward books. I try to look up and in and hold on tight to beliefs that have gotten me through so many tough times. This is not always easy which is why books can be so helpful. At least to me.

So, on the nightstand right now are The Me I Want To Be by (one of my favorite Christian authors) John Ortberg.  I just finished a powerful chapter on Surrender. I love his humor, his honesty and his straightforward ideas on living our best life. I picked this book up a few months ago and right now is the perfect time for me to be reading it.

Next is The Gift of Imperfection by Dr. Brene Brown. Her blog Ordinary Courage has been in my reader for several years and her words are truth and thought provoking. Courage, Compassion and Connection. Setting boundaries, loving and belonging - so many great topics woven together.

Both of these are easy to read, tender to digest. I find myself stopping, thinking and exploring...it's all good. I just wrote my cousin and in our exchange I think I said it best as, "I'm raw right now so right now is the perfect time to tend my heart and grow."

The last book in the pile is The Awe-manac. This one is fun filled with daily doses of inspiration for creativity. While I haven't been fully engaged with the book I have been following along daily, reading, reminding myself that writing/creating is important to me and my well being. The website for the book is a fun stopping point for me in my blog reading.

And of course at the bottom of the pile is my journal. Never far from me I use it for prompts, spontaneous writing, lists to keep my mind from forgetting what it is I'm suppose to be doing...

“The greatest and most important problems in life are all in a certain sense insoluble. They can never be solved, but only outgrown. ” - Carl Gustav Jung

Things have gone a bit topsy-turvy here. Well, not here exactly but around me. Some extended family issues, some friend issues that need time and attention.

It's always eye opening to work through the hard stuff and sometimes I think it is even more of a learning experience to work through the hard stuff that isn't one's own. When it's not my own I can step back and evaluate with fresh eyes. Even when my heart is breaking. Even when I am crying. I can put the emotions aside for a moment or two and really evaluate.

A few things I've learned in the past few weeks:
- help when I can. listen when I can. be open.
- don't judge
- it isn't about me. I'm a tool to be used for the project, not the project itself.
- when praying for change be specific.
- sometimes the best way to help is to step back
- love

So, I am going to continue to help and learn. To heal and grow. To love.

In other news:
- I have my word picked out for the year. There is lots in my journal about it and it's proven to be powerful to me so far.
- I'm reading a great book by one of my favorite authors.
- I'm feeling a creative burst coming on. I wonder where that will lead me.

Happy day my friends. Happy day!

Loving right now:

1. OhLife. Every evening this site sends me an email that says, "How did your day go?" Then I respond with a sentence or two, a list, or a paragraph that says something about my day. I always want to write a daily journal, just a line or two about my days, however while I do write a lot it isn't daily happenings more introspection, etc...So, this site is perfect. Loving it so far.
2. the Project 365 app for my iPhone. I've started 365 projects in the past only to quit at some point. I'm thinking if it's on my phone maybe I'll actually do it everyday. We'll see. I love the calendar view of photos. My plan is to not have a plan - no theme, no stretching my skills - just me taking a photo a day that reflects something in my life.
3.  Angry Birds. I'm addicted that's all I have to say about that.
   

Happy Day Happy Day!

Here it is. Another "year according to facebook" post. Kinda cliche but I love it! Some of my statuses make me chuckle, all make me realize how much has happened over the past year...I'm definitely adding this to my Journal Your Christmas book (which is coming along albeit slowly).

Last day of winter break. I'm so not ready. I'd love another week at home with my guys...yet, here we go!

“Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you.” - T.A. Barron

Happy New Year from our house to yours! We celebrated with Archer's annual New Years Eve party with all the usual suspects in attendance. (here's a look at last year...)
We are savoring the last few days of winter break...moving slow and enjoying doing a bit of nothing.
Getting ready for the new year...I'm choosing a word, getting organized and ready. Here we go...

Happy New Year!

twas the night before Christmas...

...in wordle form!

Merry Christmas Eve friends!

I've been having a good December journaling and making stuff. Loving the Journal Your Christmas class...so much fun and so much inspiration all over the world.

I was hoping to share more as I went along but let's just go with what I've already photographed. Deal?

Title page:
It's actually two pages, simple. love, LoVe, LOVE the Starbucks bags...I have several just saving 'em up!

And somehow I missed the 2nd page for Dec. 1. Oh well.
Here is December 2. Journaling is under the photo of our snow covered home. Love it. Took the photo on Thanksgiving and now I'm just sitting here in the Pacific Northwest wishing for more cold, white goodness. Please.

The weather outside is weather. Name that movie! (*I thought the title was apt for the PNW...we take what we get and we never really know it's going to be...some years it's rain, wind and floods; other years it is snow, cold, and ice...)

Happy December friends!

Sunday Citar

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ” - Melodie Beattie

So thankful for these boys. For time spent with family. For laughs and love. For goofy grins and having fun. So thankful.

I think I'm ready. Or as ready as I'm going to be. I adore Christmas. I love everything about it...well, almost everything...I'm not going to get into the things I don't love right now.

This year I decided to participate in Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas (JYC) class. I just finished the True Stories class and I fell in love. In love with the class. In love with my journal again. In love with the other bloggers (and non-bloggers)...LOVE.

In the past I've made a few holiday scrapbook pages but this year I decided I really wanted to take the time to savor the season. Archer is getting older (*sigh*) and I want to document more of our everyday and look back as well.

Every year I keep a little notebook with all my Christmas *stuff* in it - mostly shopping lists and to-dos. This year I went bigger and being on a journaling kick I knew I really wanted to focus on the journaling aspect of the JYC class. This is the cover to my holiday journal.

The front of the journal will be for lists and to-dos and random notes and the back will be to respond to JYC prompts.

I got a little more organized than years past and printed out calendars from Thanksgiving to January 6. So far I've added birthdays that I don't want to forget in the midst of holiday planning and celebration.

Of course I still want to scrapbook but I'm not going to stress myself over it. With all the journaling in the book ^^^ then I can make pages through December and finish up after the New Year if I want. No stress. :) I chose the little Noel album from Making Memories. I then bought a few pieces of coordinating paper, came home and went through my supplies and pulled out anything I thought I may use in the album...I've cut sheets for the inside, ordered some lined cardstock for writing and I'm set. I've even started collecting ephemera (like The Woods coffee sleeve) that I may want to add into the book. 

I kinda like the family in the front...maybe I'll keep them. Or maybe I'll pay Archer $20 to let me take a great picture of him over the season and put that there. Or maybe a picture of a cat. Probably a cat. We'll see...

So, here we go. Thanksgiving, Troy's birthday....

Happy Day friends!

HaPpY mAiL!

“Do all the good you can, and make as little fuss about it as possible.” - Charles Dickens

I got home today after working at the museum, running errands, celebrating a friend's birthday with some delicious pumpkin dessert only to open my mailbox to this:

HaPpY mAiL!

what fun!

Awhile back I won a little gift pack from Leslie at the Words of Me Project and it came today. Today, this cold, cold day...I was able to check the mailbox and be warmly surprised with her generosity.

Over the summer I participated in her 31 Days Creativity Challenge. It was so much fun and a little note inside my fun-filled envelope said she's hosting it again in January! What a great way to start off the new year. I will be there!

I chose today's quote for Leslie. Her blog is full of creativity, of inspiration, of positiveness yet also very real. She lets people know it's not all rainbows and butterflies (she loves a good butterfly) but keeps her head up when things are going south and she does it with very little fuss (I am not a big fan of fuss!). 

Thanks Leslie for the gift pack! LOVIN' the butterflies and the new notebook is going straight in my purse! And thanks for giving of yourself so generously via your blog! Looking forward to January (but hoping for a slow December to savor the moments).

Just a little wordle using one of my favorite poems.
Happy Friday friends!

You Learn

After a while you learn the subtle difference

Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning

And company doesn't mean security.

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts

And presents aren't promises,

And you begin to accept your defeats

With your head up and your eyes open

with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,

And you learn to build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans

And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

After a while you learn...

That even sunshine burns if you get too much.

so you plant your garden and decorate your own soul,

Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure...

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth...

And you learn and learn...

With every good-bye you learn.

by Jorge Luis Borges

translation by Veronica A. Shoffstall

“We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.”

Louisa May Alcott

Thankful for morning coffee, afternoon madness and evening tea. Thankful for a sweet boy and a loving husband. Thankful for warmth inside on cold, rainy days. Thankful for a best friend who is family and with whom I'll be celebrating her 29th birthday (again) tomorrow. Thankful for a fun job where I get to work with amazing ladies and cultivate my love of footwear. Thankful for today.

Sunday Citar

“None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Went on a trip to  the auto parts store with the husband. Filled with vintage treasures just ripe for photographs.  I actually enjoy the auto parts store...

“If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.”—Lucy Larcom

“Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.” —Napoleon Bonaparte

“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” - W. Clement Stone

(I noticed I take LOTS of feet pictures...oops...Where are the feet?)

Thankful for 

good friends

truth in love

honesty and humility

walks in the leaves

a camera at the ready

 

“The best things in life are never rationed. Friendship, loyalty, love, do not require coupons.” - George T. Hewitt

“Learn to limit yourself; 

to content yourself with some definite work; 

dare to be what you are 

and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not;

and to believe in your own individuality.”

Henri-Frederic Amiel

Loving fall leaves, days filled with sunshine and rain, crisp days, apple cider, pots of chili, and the call of the indoors as the days grow shorter...

Love that I was able to go on an autumn walk with my little cousin Dawson and that he pointed out perfect leaves, skittering creatures and summed up our walk with, "Isn't this magnificent?"

Yes sweet boy this is definitely magnificent.

Best investment ever? SpongeBob costume. 'Nuf said.

Tired little SpongeBob. 2003.

Inspired by Mel over at I Speak Melsh I decided to do a wordle from my posts over the last week. I'm so glad I rediscovered this site as I had done a few of these a couple years back for Archer's scrapbook.

Thanks Mel (glad I found you via True Stories - so much good coming from that class!).

Happy Friday friends!

Today I will...

“A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside. ”

Dennis Waitley

Today I will make my coffee at home. Maybe. This isn't set in stone. :)
Today I will sit in the quiet and write in my journal. Loving True Stories!
Today I will put chicken in the crock pot so I don't have to worry about dinner after being gone all day.
Today I will spend the day at Stampadoodle with my best friend/cousin creating whatever we decide.

Today I will share a tuna melt (ala Avenue Bread) with said cousin. Tuna melt which will be brought to us by a dear friend who joins us for a "Stampadoodle lunch" every Thursday.
Today I will listen and laugh with my people.

Today I will head to the doctor for a little consult.
Today I will accompany my sister to Halloween City to make a final decision on her costume. I'm voting for Little Red Riding Hood..."Little Red Riding Hood. You sure are looking good. You're everything a big bad wolf could want..."

Today I will share "Li'l Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham and the Pharohs with my sister. I'm sure this will convince her on her costume choice.
Today I will smile at a stranger. Yup I will. People need more smiles.
Today I will watch t.v. with the boy. We tend to only do this on Big Bang Theory nights.
Today I will go to book club and hopefully eat some bread pudding. 
Today I will be thankful for my life, my family, my friends, my sandwich...

I am very much enjoying True Stories (as I've stated above). So many great ladies. Loving their blogs. So many great ideas...such as starting every sentence the same (I did that did you notice...haha).

 

Have a great day my friends!

True Stories: FAQ

 

After one day of the True Stories class I am absolutely loving it. :) 

Yesterday one of the prompts was

"What questions do others ask you?" 

After thinking on this I came up with quite a few questions. I've decided to share a few that I get often.

Q: Is Jerrie short for something?

A: Nope. My mother is a very practical person. She always says that she named her kids what she was going to call them. Therefore, Jerrie is Jerrie, John is just John, Alex is Alex (DeAnne doesn't seem to fit in this pattern). Mom wasn't big into nicknames (no Johnny) however we've all had a few given by cousins, friends...

Q: What do you do (as in a job)?

A: Huh. I do plenty. Cemetery secretary (say that ten times fast), I work at a shoe store a day or so a week, substitute teacher occasionally, publicity/publications at the museum, mom...

Q: Where did you come up with Archer's name?

A: Long story short from my mother-in-law. She was watching BBC and someone with the name Archer was a character. She told me the story about trying to switch Troy's name to Archer in high school and him having nothing to do with it. The name stuck and when we found out a baby was on the way the only boy name we had was Archer.

Q: Where does Archer get his curls?

A: Me. Although Troy has some wave in his hair (when he has hair) the curly curls are all me.

Q: How many kids do you have?

A: one

Q: Are you going to have more?

A: no

Q: Why?

A: Why did you have more than one? 

Q: Don't you think Archer needs a sibling?

A: no. Ask him - he'll tell you NO!

*As you may have guessed this line of questioning drives me batty! Seems kinda personal doesn't it? 

Sometimes I go into a whole spiel about how he has several families that consider him not only a friend but a brother, that he seamlessly blends into other families, that he comes home from friend's houses thanking us for not having more kids but that he truly loves his brothers and sisters he claims not by blood but by choice...sometimes I'll be short and think people are rude...

and finally...

Q: Do you own stock in Starbucks?

A: I wish. I should.

The question and answer prompt was huge for me. More posts may be coming from this one. 

Finally, do you have a question you'd like to ask me? Leave it in the comments section...