time is fleeting...

                                                 and 2010 is about out...



This past year has been delightfully active and interesting... filled with lots of traveling... Austin, Florida, NYC, Steamboat, San Francisco and of course... FtWorth! and plenty of company... siblings, parents, nieces, nephews, daughter, son-in-law and 4 out of the 5 grands!!   whew!  It's been a year to look back on fondly while making wonder-filled memories to cherish.  And I've only taken 19,500 images to document all of the fun! LOL

Last year around this time I found  myself drawn to a few blogs and have followed them all year.  Two of them have been life changers for me.  The first one is written by Christine Kane who is a Mentor to Women who are Changing the World.  She is a wonderful writer and quite the motivator.  This summer I took her UpLevel Your Life Mastery Program and found it to be so beneficial that it will be something I'll look forward to repeating year after year!  If you want to experience a game change in your life you should definitely subscribe to Christine Kane's blog!

In Resolution Revolution: A Better Way to Start Your Year  Christine writes about choosing a single word for the year as opposed to making the endless lists of New Years Resolutions that go by the wayside... by February (if you make it that long!)  Finding that one blog and implementing that one idea made my year ~ oh so...  different.  And I mean that in a good way!  ☺   Last year the word I choose was focus.  I thought it sort of funny and a bit ironic since I have such a love for photography but as the year went ticking by I found it to be a very personal choice.  Suffice to say it worked its magic!  So as this year ends and 2011 is begining I am once again pondering my word for the new year.

The other blog I found myself on weekly was Ann Voskamp A Holy Experience.  I love the way this woman writes!  She has a way of capturing your attention and leaving you with the desire to ... just - be a better you while acknowledging God in all things.  With her large family {6 that's -SIX- kiddos-homeschooled and husband, The Farmer} I find her truly incredible ... how does she find the time to write?  Her simple humble style is so powerful... encouraging and inspiring ... just a beautiful testament to her faith.  It's been through her words that I've been reminded of the importance of grace.

On Mondays she posts her continuous one thousand gifts reminding me the importance of gratitude in all things... and inspires me to keep track (actually writing) of gratitudes daily to the One that matters.  A gratitude journal is key for keeping my attitude lined up in the right direction.  What a beautiful gift this woman is for the rest of us!

I want to thank both of these ladies for sharing themselves in this cyber world.  It would be pretty unlikely without the big www that I would have had the opportunity to make such a connection and for that I am truly filled with gratitude!

Best wishes for 2011!
Happy New Year!



❤

sniffles and sneezes!!! happy new year....

wow…

here it is the eve of a new year and i feel like crap! we had such an awesome Christmas in Texas but from the minute we landed in Columbus i knew i was catching a cold… i briefly thought - hhmmm… i don't think i've been sick all year. in fact i couldn't remember the last time i was ill. when we arrived home i found the vit C and the echinacea and started taking it right away. the next 2 days chuckie made sure i was getting plenty of fluids but i basically just kept right on going… laundry, taking down Christmas stuff etc… after all just a little head cold… by sunday it was clear that chuck was coming down with it too so i broke out the vicam etc.. and reminded him to start with the vitC, echinacea and fluids as well! we had no appetite but would remind each other to eat. of course, he had to go to work on monday but we both were sleeping pretty poorly. each evening we'd come together to compare notes on how we were feeling … and my - the glass is always half full guy would announce that we are over the worst of it and tomorrow we would be on the mend! and the only problem with that wonderfully over- optimistic statement was that it fell flat and every single day this week has been worse then the day before. today i woke up to both of my eyes 'glued' shut with mucus!!! YUCK! … not a big surprise since the one would not stop 'watering' last night. anyway today i didn't even bother to get out of bed. not because i don't have the desire to get better but because maybe that's just what i need to be doing!!! …spending a day or two in bed!
now i am going the long way around not to tell you that i am so ill that i can't get out of bed but to tell you about an epiphany i had this afternoon perusing the world wide web!!! with the new year upon us i have been looking for a direction… for my life. i have been visiting different blogs and trying to widen my world to find my way! it is so easy to find some things you like but to quickly get off track of your original purpose or hunt by further clicking on to the next new blog/page/advice/artist/photographer/life coach/mom/etc…… the information highway is HUGE and a click of the mouse takes you way out of your way most times! …
so anyway, this afternoon, as i was sitting up in my bed i felt an inkling of self-pity … just feeling a little sorry for myself and this minor health and well being set back! after all i'd been so faithful to my daily walks and better eating habits and now i'm doing good to get to the bathroom and back! Luckily i saw a lesson in all of this discomfort! I have found some blogs written by some moms with children that are just fortunate to even be here! and the grace that these women have about these little miracles that they take care of daily… some hourly is unbelievable! how in the heck could i be pouting around for feeling some discomfort in my own blessed life???
i think it was around this time that some of the life-lifting blogs that i've been ear marking for this new year also came to mind!
a lot of those reminded me of the encouragement that i was not only gathering from them but from things i was taught long ago… in another life-time and it was basically just this:
we are to be thankful in ALL things…

yes even this doozie of a cold that is making me so uncomfortable!


i know that might not be a revelation for you but for me-
it's a biggie!

knowing that all happens in perfect time-
with an open heart and head i am looking forward to
the lessons i'm to learn in 2010!

happy new year to you and yours!

oxo




freezing drizzle then snow flurries woo~hoo… then for the next 5+days highs: 20's low's teens!
i love living up here in the tundra…. i love all 4 seasons…. truly i do!




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"Focus" - my word for 2010!

This is usually a visual blog for me. A place where I've shared my latest images... of things that made me smile... kind of whatever was going on at that particular time. For some reason lately I have been fumbling and stumbling about NOT doing my normal stuff for this time of year. At first I was bothered that I didn't have the desire to do the same old same old until I realized "It's OK ...I'm not breaking any one's rules but my own... self-imposed as they where!" So just because this is normally a blog of photos doesn't mean it always has to be that! Oh I still want to share pictures!!! But thought I would also point to some sites that I find useful in steering me at any given time!

Earlier this week I found an interesting post about the New Years resolutions we all make... and then promptly break! Instead Christine Kane suggests we choose a word! Just one word to sort of set the bar for that year! You can read about that idea here: Resolution revolution a better way to start your year!


I love that idea and thought if I'm going to do things differently ... here's a good place to start with a brand new year! So I am in the process of choosing my word for 2010! It's ironic that the word that keeps calling my name is FOCUS! Now doesn't that make perfect sense?? I keep wanting to put it back but it is just insisting: my word for 2010 IS FOCUS! ...at a time that I feel like I am vacillating all over the place with - my direction to take any of my artistic ventures!! and most especially my photography!!!
I'm going to ponder this just a little more but I'm pretty sure that's it... I told my daughter about this and as I was explaining it to her she said "my word for the year is CALM" She knew it immediately... her 2010 word is calm. OK OK my word for 2010 is focus!

By the way, I look back on some previous years and know I've had years where the word found me and stayed with me all year! Even though a couple of those years were really tough those WORDS helped me get through them! For one such year the word was gratitude! Yep, that year was a doozy!!!