“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.

“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!

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.

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).

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

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!

“Go for long walks, indulge in hot baths, question your assumptions, be kind to yourself, live for the moment, loosen up, scream, curse the world, count your blessings, just let go, just be.” – Carol Shields

Have a great Monday!

Sunday Citar

“The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship.” —Amelia Earhart

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” -Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

“When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home” - Thornton Wilder

"There is no place like home..."

Home after a short (yet long enough) trip to Las Vegas. Had a blast with my sister and brother and parents but oh-so ready to be home. It's amazing how much I can appreciate the quiet and slowness of our little town after only a few days. Happy Day my friends!

Oh ya. Headed here today with my family (and when I say my family I mean this is like a true family vacation - my mom, dad, brother, sister).

"Las Vegas looks the way you'd imagine heaven must look at night. " - Chuck Palahniuk

“Vegas is everything that’s right with America. You can do whatever you want, 24 hours a day. They’ve effectively legalized everything there.” - Drew Carey

...and I'm off!

“Be yourself. There is something that you can do better than any other. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that.” —Unknown Author

So very thankful for Thursdays with my sweet cousin. A day for us to catch up, reflect on our weeks, laugh, share and CreAtE! I know that I will not regret saying no to work, no to laundry, no to others when I show up at Stampadoodle with my basket full of *stuff* and our sandwiches from Avenue Bread. As our lives stay busy and full it is good practice to take the time to stop for a day, slow down and just be...

And LOOK we made some cuuuuuuttttteeeeee things! Can't ask for much more than that.

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.” —Barbara Bush

I love walking into Stampadoodle and being greeted by Wendi (the owner) who is just as excited to see us as we are to be there - we start a tab for supplies and off we roll...

Happy Friday friends. Take time for you!

Sunday Citar

“I doubt that we can ever successfully impose values or attitudes or behaviors on our children; certainly not by threat, guilt, or punishment. But I do believe they can be induced through relationships where parents and children are growing together. Such relationships are, I believe, build on trust, example, talk, and caring.” —Fred Rogers

"Adolescence is a period of rapid changes. Between the ages of 12 and 17, for example, a parent ages as much as 20 years." - Author Unknown

“Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So... get on your way.”

- Dr. Seuss

The boy started driving. He's cautious and serious about the task, he's attending a driver's education class, he practices...He is my baby, my boy, my heart. As he embraces this milestone in his life his mama watches, sits next to him, offers words of encouragement (and a few words of panic) and prays. As he drives himself into this next chapter mom learns the true message of let go and let God. Here we go...

"Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest." Luke 12:25-26

Fall is in the air.

Even though temperatures are hitting the 70s (what the heck Washington?) autumn still reigns. Foggy mornings, beautiful autumn colors, chili on the stove...Yesterday I picked up a big pot filled with beautiful mums. I love opening my door and being greeted by a smile of flowers "Welcome to fall" they seem to shout!

 

“Don't be afraid to be amazing.”

—Andy Offutt Irwin

This school year my lovely cousin and I have started a tradition of going to Stampadoodle on Thursdays for a few hours to visit and create. It gives us a chance to catch up, decompress and is our true "day off" in the week. Moms don't always get days off so it is wonderful to spend a few hours, mid-week, to just stop and spend time on ourselves. 

“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

—Bertrand Russell

wordless Wednesday

“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. ”- Henry Ward Beecher

Monday Monday! I'm trying this thing where I start Monday with a smile. I'm trying to be positive and uplifting (well...if you're one of the few that talk to me before seven a.m. you may be lifting your eyebrows in surprise). I figure it's a good way to start the week. Positive. Uplifting. It's gotta help bring the rest of the week on with a little more happy. Right?

So how did I do? I'd say I had a good start (after eight this morning at least). Greeted my people and situations with a positive nod. Had a nice conversation with a friend. Went to the shoe store and brought Kelly a coffee and subsequently worked for her for the remainder of the day. (That is what happens when you take her coffee so if you don't want to work you better not be nice to her...). Signed my boy up for driver's ed. What? Yep you read that right. Had a little bad parenting moment right around dinner time. But for the most part starting the day with a smile worked.

"You cannot put the same shoe on every foot." -Publilius Syrus

Today I am going here (well kinda...it's close to here)

with her (ok...that's not really her but that's how she says she's going to look so I'm going with it)

 

to see a LOT of these.

And I'll leave you with a few shoe quotes to get you thinking...

"Funny that a pair of really nice shoes make us feel good in our heads - at the extreme opposite end of our bodies." ~Levende Waters

“A pair of shoes can change your life. Just ask Cinderella.” -Anonymous

"I’m having a wicked shoe craving." -Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"He noticed my shoes! I think that was the highlight of my whole day! He liked my shoes." -Serena Williams

"I can’t be funny if my feet don’t feel right." -Billy Crystal

"I’m going shoe shopping. I need a wagon." -Hilary Banks (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)

one spider web. two ways.

“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, 

but small ones come daily.”

Ivy Baker Priest

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. ” —F. Scott Fitzgerald

I wish I could say I've used the past week to just rest and get rejuvenated...oh I wish. I woke up Sunday after the fair with a sore throat (blah) and this week has been non-stop and emotional. So, the whole family decided to take today to ourselves. Naps, working on Mabel, journal writing, playing WOW, watching t.v., just doing a little bit of this and that and a whole lot of nothing (just what we needed!).

I think we're ready to start the new week. Minds fresh. Thinking positive thoughts. 

“Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious.”

—Bill Meyer

“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” —Louis L'Amour

Fair. Day 6. I kinda feel like this pig. I want to just lay down and fall asleep where ever I may be. We still have today to go and tomorrow for clean up...It's been long, exhausting, loud, fun, filled with fabulous food and I am so glad it's over...Six days is plenty (according to me and this pig)!

These kiddos (and their parents) traveled hours to their favorite fair and camped out in our yard last night. We're always glad to see them and sad to see them go...Soon school will start for the biggest little and spur of the moment impromptu visits north will be harder for them. We may have to actually travel ourselves (gasp - this is not our forte - might have to fix that).

The Ferris Wheel means fair to me. If there isn't a Ferris Wheel it isn't a fair. One trip through the carnival is plenty for me...The lights and action are necessary for me to take in for just a few moments.

So, last day. I'm always excited for the fair to begin and more than ready for it to end. I will grab one last scone and possibly a corn dog and bid farewell until next year.

“The happy heart runs with the river, floats on the air, lifts to the music, soars with the eagle, hopes with the prayer.” —Maya Angelou

“If we do not lay ourselves at the service of mankind, whom should we serve?”—John Adams

Today I want to express my gratitude to the farmers who work tirelessly 365 days a year to bring us food and drink. They serve us daily and we don't even see it. Thanks to the farmers! Yesterday I visited the Farm Friends booth at the Northwest Washington Fair and talked to some farmers - there is some exciting stuff happening in the local farming world!

Fair week means not a lot of free time to sit and think, sit and read, sit and blog, sit and anything...relaxing is for after. For now I will battle crowds, eat greasy food, monitor our building, contact security as people try to sneak in, sell centennial books, eat more food, decorate milk bottles, sell milk bottles, drink lemonade, browse at exhibits...all the good stuff that comes with getting to work for a week at the fair.

Today I will see cows and have a treat (elephant ear? possibly)...