This is Me

I had been planning to write a post about the "Real Me" when my friend Some Girl beat me to it.  She did such a good job, that it could have almost been word for word about myself.  Check it out here if you'd like to see what she wrote.  After reading her post, I got to thinking more about my true self.   I am far from perfect, but I also try to be a good person.   I slip up and snap at the boys when I'm tired or frustrated.  I spend time on the computer when I should be playing with them. I'll do almost anything to help a friend.    I swear, although I try not to.   I try to do good things. I'm impatient with, and yell 'IT'S NOT YOUR TURN!', at drivers who can't seem to figure out how to use a four-way stop.  I'm pretty good at going with the flow (except at those darn 4 way stops).  I'm selfish and want things my way. I let my kids eat sugar, drink pop, and watch TV, but I also make sure they spend a lot of time outside being active, and learn the difference between treats and healthy choices.  I have a strong faith.  I'm almost never brave enough to talk about it.  I leave dirty dishes in the sink almost every night.

I am introverted to the point of seeming rude at times.  I really wish I wasn't.  I really wish I could be more bold and outrageous.  For example, if you dyed your hair cupcake pink, I would think it was pretty cool, and secretly wish I could do something so bold.  (I think I'd go for white with pink stripes.... seriously.)  If you invite the whole neighborhood over for a cookout, I would think it wonderful and welcoming.  But I'd also be cringing at the thought of having to talk to people I don't know well.  I wish I were more outgoing.

But, take all the good and bad, and I'm happy with my life.  Not that I'm not working on improving things, and finding balance.  I am.  But I'm happy with me, right here, right now.   I wasn't always able to say that.

First Workshop

On Saturday, I went to my first yoga workshop.  Or specialty class.  Or whatever it's called.  It was on Yoga Nidra, which is yogic sleep, or conscious relaxation.   A very relaxing class, literally.  I got three big things from this class.

1.  Yoga is about calming the mind, and controlling your thoughts.  Even the physical practices of yoga are about focusing your thoughts, and quieting that voice in your head that won't.shut.up.  I kind of knew this, but needed the reminder.  I call it the Be Still, and know that I am God process.  I need a lot of practice on this one.

2.  Each of us has an energy, and depending on how we live our lives, that energy is different.  If we drink, and smoke, steal and do drugs, our energy will be very different than if we live our life practicing faith, reading scriptures, and doing good works.  That's what the teacher said!  I loved hearing that in a yoga class.   Before going to the class, I was a little worried that there would be some weirdness or other that I would have to ignore, and instead I heard "read scripture and do good works".  Take that people who think yoga is devil worship!  ;)

3.  It's very annoying and irritating when people fall asleep three minutes into the hour long practice and start snoring!  Okay, seriously, it was.  And they did.  Several of them.  But I'm being thankful this week, not resentful, so I'm going to focus on being thankful for learning the process of this practice. I am not going to be frustrated that I couldn't concentrate because of the snoring, and lawn mowers, and traffic, and thingy banging on the roof in the wind.  Maybe it was all a test of my ability to focus and clear my mind.  Clearly I failed, since I found myself annoyed and thinking of possible facebook status updates regarding the snorers!  Oh well.  Practice makes progress!  ;)

It's important to take time to truly relax and let the body rest.  I've gone to other restorative yoga classes (without the snoring) and come out feeling more refreshed than if I'd taken a nap.  

May you be blessed with some true relaxation today.

It's Monday, Again?

It's Monday again.  How does that happen so quickly?  This last week seems like it just disappeared from underneath my feet.  I'm trying to keep the huge pile of things that didn't get done last week from overwhelming me.   I purposely chose not to do them, and to spend time with family.  I am glad that I did.  I spent time during the week with my sister and her family, and with my parents, and it was wonderful.  This weekend, we spent most of our time at my mother-in-laws house building a new deck.  Well, watching my husband build a new deck... :)  And I'm glad for that too.  Really,  I'm most thankful for both being born into, and marrying into, wonderful families.  I am so blessed.   Not many girls get to love their mother-in-law like a second mom. 

This weekend was also Palm Sunday.  I may be weird,  but I think that is one of my favorite holidays.  It is upbeat, and happy, and celebrating Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling prophecy from hundreds of years prior that he would be the Savior.  People are waving palm branches,  crying out "Hosanna!!" as he rides into the city.  Now, I had to look up exactly what that means, because sadly I wasn't sure.   It started out as a plea "Rescue me!  Save me!".   By the time of Jesus, it was more of a term of adoration, and they were basically expecting him to save them from the Romans.
Palm Sunday is always one of the services which touches my heart the most.  Because when Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, He KNEW that he was going to die on the cross.  He went anyway.  He went for me!  He went for you.  He went for all of us.  So the thought that He knew what was coming, and went anyway, just gives me chills.  Add into that the cries of Hosanna!! (Save me!!), and I can't help but tear up at some point during the service.  It's just that powerful.

Last week, I kept my goals short:  Enjoy family, and Be positive.  I think that was very successful.
This week, I'm going to do the same.  I'm going to:
1. Be Thankful
2. Take the week for myself.  Not that I'm going to lay on the couch eating bon bons and watching movies all week.  I'm going to focus on doing things that take care of me.  Eating well, yoga, prayer, whatever.  Too often, I let myself and my needs slide to the bottom of the list.  This week, I'm going to be thankful for the blessed life I've been given, and take care of myself.

May you be blessed with a Thankful Heart this week. 

***Disclaimer: This post (and others) makes it sound like I know what I'm talking about regarding Jesus, and God, and all of that.  I don't.  I spent years having no belief in God at all.  And although I've found my faith again and been going to church for about 8 years, I still am really clueless.  I know that Jesus was born on Christmas, and that He was crucified and died on Good Friday, and that He was resurrected on Easter Sunday.  That's about it, as far as really understanding things.  I'm working on filling in the details.  I do a lot of looking things up online (google is great!) , or in books, when I come across something I don't get yet. ( Like Good Friday.... Why on earth is it called Good Friday if it was the day Jesus was crucified? ) That's next on my list! ;)

Please hold...

I've been spending the week balancing the usual stuff with visiting with my sister and family who are here for spring break.  We live far apart, so time together is not to be wasted!  I've also been working out in the yard a lot, enjoying the spring weather.   So, not enough time or energy for blogging.  But I'll be back in a few days.  In the meantime,  here are some of the pics from our trip to the Botanical Gardens.

  Hope you are enjoying the spring weather wherever you may be!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!  Just logged in to do a quick post, and I see that I'm up to 5 followers!  Woo-hoo!  Thanks to all of you, whether or not you hit the follow button or subscribe ( I have no idea how to know about who is doing that), or if you just stop by once in awhile.   Please take just a second, really, just a second, and CLICK HERE for something I really want you to know.  Then come on back and finish this post if you're up for it.


So, now that you know how glad I am to have you here, here's the next Monday Morning Staff Meeting.
First, the roundup from last week, then I'll tell you about my big lesson for the week:

Go somewhere new.  We went to two new parks and found some cool play areas.
Read something.  We read several new books from our awesome re-opened library.
Explore something.  We were going to explore the new library, but someone got sick, so we had to postpone.
Build something.  We built more onto the tree fort with daddy.  Okay, so I just watched, but  3 out of 4 family members helped, so I say that counts. :)
Clean something.  Hmm.... cleaned A LOT.  Some major stuff, some daily stuff.  My house looks so much better now, and I just want to do more!  (See mom, you were right.  Eventually I grew out of the messy stage.  It just took 38 years... )
Grow something. Managed to keep my flat of Impatiens seedlings alive for another week.
Cook something.  Didn't do any new recipes, but still cooked, so that's good enough.
Plant something. Planted some stuff along our new path to SomeGirl's house.
Investigate/Scout something.  Saved for next week, due to sickness.  

So, what was the big lesson from the week, I'm sure you're dying to know?  Well, you may or may not know that I guest posted over here last week for Fraddling Friday.  I spent the week thinking about how I was fraddling.  Fraddle is doing something someone else loves because they love it, and you love them.  Because I was thinking about it all week for that Friday post, I spent a lot of time thinking about something I wasn't looking forward to doing.  And I started telling myself to think about it with a different attitude.  I started telling myself, "Be thankful, not resentful."  I started saying it to myself in my head, Be THANKFUL, not resentful.   I am THANKFUL, not resentful.  And then I started to be thankful for it.  Thankful for the chance to do something that would really make the day of someone I love.  Thankful to be able to do that thing.  Thankful for the chance to share that thing with the person I love.  And I stopped resenting it.  The result was that I wasn't stressed out and resenting that thing the whole time, and instead had a nice day.  

There are two quotes that I really like about attitude.  The first, is by Winston Churchill who said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”  He was so right.   The other, is from Francesca Reigler, who said, 

 "Happiness is an attitude. 

We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. 

The amount of work is the same.”

 

My to do list for this week is going to stay simple.  Just two things, really.  

1. Spend time enjoying my sister and her family visiting.

2. Be positive about things, even things I don't like, and choose happiness over misery.  (That pretty much covers everything, if you think about it...)

 

I am choosing to be happy and strong.  How about you?  Is there something you could change your attitude about and make life happier for yourself this week? Leave me a comment and let me know.  I'd love to hear from you!

May you be blessed with a positive attitude, and the ability to see the bright side of things this week.

Come visit!

I'm guest posting today over at SomeGirlsWebsite for Fraddling Friday.   It's my first guest blogger post, so come visit me there and check it out, and let me know what you think.   I've been tweaking it all week, so it's a good one, I promise!

See you there.

A Sunbeam to Warm You

St. Patrick's Day is has always been a special day for me, being part Irish.  There is a part of me that has always been fascinated by stories of Ireland, and the lush green country there.  Someday, I hope to go visit and explore it myself.  

In college, I met my future husband on St. Patrick's day.  So, in honor of the sixteenth anniversary of the day we first met, I've decided to share a traditional Irish blessing with you.

 May God grant you always...

A sunbeam to warm you, 

A moonbeam to charm you, 

A sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you. 

Laughter to cheer you. 

Faithful friends near you. 

And whenever you pray, 

Heaven to hear you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! 

 

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.