Yesturday was a complete No good, very bad day.
I have these every once and a while. You know the kind, the one where nothing seems to go your way, and really it doesn't matter what did go right, you wouldn't recognize it anyway? That was the day I was having. I am hopeful that today will be better. Because Today I will remember to write in my gratitude journal, I will remember to get the sleep I need and I will remember to stop comparing myself with others around me. I will work on being the best version of me I can be and I will focus on the good and the positive. There is so much of it. I will remeber the lessons I have learned over the past few months and put that knowledge to work.
Yes, today will be a better day, and I am looking forward to it!
I hope you have a better day, I know I plan to.
Being Together!
All of us!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Time to be Grateful
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends! I guess it is official and I can decorate for Christmas!
We had our real first snow fall last night. I have admit that I love the white stuff. I love watching it fall, cozing in by the fire, playing in it and the way that it changes the light in my house when it is on the ground. So thank you mother nature for sending it my way!
There is so much to be grateful for right now. I am excited for the season, my warm home, my dear children and dear husband, my health, my chickens (heehee), food on my table, my sight that I can see the beauty around me, my hearing that I can hear Jacob's giggles, my legs that allow me to get out and enjoy the weather, my voice that I can be heard and sing carols...I wonder if others are grateful for this ;)
The list could go on and on. I love Sarah Ban Breathnach's book Simple Abundance. She suggests that we all keep a gratitude journal. It is a great way to see the joy in your life. She has a website too that I will add to the side bar. She shares a quote by Melody Beattie, who also has a great blog that I will add.
We had our real first snow fall last night. I have admit that I love the white stuff. I love watching it fall, cozing in by the fire, playing in it and the way that it changes the light in my house when it is on the ground. So thank you mother nature for sending it my way!
There is so much to be grateful for right now. I am excited for the season, my warm home, my dear children and dear husband, my health, my chickens (heehee), food on my table, my sight that I can see the beauty around me, my hearing that I can hear Jacob's giggles, my legs that allow me to get out and enjoy the weather, my voice that I can be heard and sing carols...I wonder if others are grateful for this ;)
The list could go on and on. I love Sarah Ban Breathnach's book Simple Abundance. She suggests that we all keep a gratitude journal. It is a great way to see the joy in your life. She has a website too that I will add to the side bar. She shares a quote by Melody Beattie, who also has a great blog that I will add.
"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."
-Melody Beattie
-Melody Beattie
So I challenge you all to take a look at what you are grateful for in your life. It doesn't have to be anything huge. I came across a gratitude journal I had started when my children were babies. My lists include things like, my dishwasher, my bed, my family, nap time, warm apple pie and fitting into my old jeans! It is usually the simple things that bring the most joy
Hey and check out these other sites!
I hope you have a happy, grateful day, I plan to.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Just Be Still
Since coming home from my visit with my Dad, I find I am filled with a great sense of contentment. I have always been the one who has tried to prove I could 'have my cake and eat it too'. I took the statement, "You can do anything You put my mind to", very literally. I have always fully believed that to be true and have spent the first 30 odd years of my life trying to do it all.
In high school I was involved with basketball, yearbook, students council, badminton, cross country running, S.A.D.D, (but I think it was called something else), and somewhere in there I managed to pass my classes, hold on to a boy friend, attend most football games, carry a job and hang out with my friends. I remember my dear mother trying to tell me that I was doing too much and something would have to give...hummm, maybe I could have earned A's instead of B's and C's...
Then I moved away from home, got married and had three wonderful children. Still trying to help out at church, have wonderful birthday parties for each one of my sweet darlings, babysit other peoples children, write, keep up with laundry, and occasionally homeschool my children, work full time, take care of chickens and sheep, remember date night, renovated our home, attend all of Jacob's Dr. appointments and be a good wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister, aunt and neighbour.
I have always been on the watch for the next project, something I could throw myself into and feel I was doing enough. Something that would fulfill my need to prove I could do hard things.
I am still working through why I have felt this way and what has changed. But what I want to share is the joy that comes from just being still. Still enough to listen and to hear what it is you really want to be doing. What is it that really brings you joy and contentment? If we stop running around in circles trying to keep busy, doing what we think others want or need us to do, if we can carve out some quiet time in our lives where the T.V, MP3 players, cell phones and computers are turned off, we will be amazed at what we hear.
I have spent the last few weeks creating a chicken coup and yard. I have calmly and quietly, built the nesting boxes out of old 2X4's and have enjoyed every minute of it. My family is still alive. They have eaten and have clean clothes on their backs. Because you know what? When we stop and listen to that inner voice and do what it says, we have more energy and desire to do ALL that needs doing.
I have signed up for an online writing course. It feels so good to be taking another look at my book. I love reading others ideas and suggestions about ways I can improve it. It feels great to be taking myself seriously.
I have spent some mornings just standing watching my chickens...I LOVE my chickens! They make me so happy!
I have just about finished organizing the basement and the laundry is all caught up! I feel I am doing less and getting more done. I am NOT trying to accomplish someone elses To Do list, just my own and it is working!
There is a power in trusting ourselves. I think for a long time the world has been telling us that we should have it all, do it all and be it all. I believe we can, but not the way the T.V commercials show it to be. We can HAVE all we need to be happy today, just by opening our eyes and seeing the blessings that are right in front of us.
We can DO all we need to be content if we stop trying to keep up with everyone else and begin living our own life.
We can BE our very best self when we take the time to be still and find out what that looks like and trust ourselves enough to follow through.
I have never been happier!
I hope you can take the time to be still day! I plan to.
In high school I was involved with basketball, yearbook, students council, badminton, cross country running, S.A.D.D, (but I think it was called something else), and somewhere in there I managed to pass my classes, hold on to a boy friend, attend most football games, carry a job and hang out with my friends. I remember my dear mother trying to tell me that I was doing too much and something would have to give...hummm, maybe I could have earned A's instead of B's and C's...
Then I moved away from home, got married and had three wonderful children. Still trying to help out at church, have wonderful birthday parties for each one of my sweet darlings, babysit other peoples children, write, keep up with laundry, and occasionally homeschool my children, work full time, take care of chickens and sheep, remember date night, renovated our home, attend all of Jacob's Dr. appointments and be a good wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister, aunt and neighbour.
I have always been on the watch for the next project, something I could throw myself into and feel I was doing enough. Something that would fulfill my need to prove I could do hard things.
I am still working through why I have felt this way and what has changed. But what I want to share is the joy that comes from just being still. Still enough to listen and to hear what it is you really want to be doing. What is it that really brings you joy and contentment? If we stop running around in circles trying to keep busy, doing what we think others want or need us to do, if we can carve out some quiet time in our lives where the T.V, MP3 players, cell phones and computers are turned off, we will be amazed at what we hear.
I have spent the last few weeks creating a chicken coup and yard. I have calmly and quietly, built the nesting boxes out of old 2X4's and have enjoyed every minute of it. My family is still alive. They have eaten and have clean clothes on their backs. Because you know what? When we stop and listen to that inner voice and do what it says, we have more energy and desire to do ALL that needs doing.
I have signed up for an online writing course. It feels so good to be taking another look at my book. I love reading others ideas and suggestions about ways I can improve it. It feels great to be taking myself seriously.
I have spent some mornings just standing watching my chickens...I LOVE my chickens! They make me so happy!
I have just about finished organizing the basement and the laundry is all caught up! I feel I am doing less and getting more done. I am NOT trying to accomplish someone elses To Do list, just my own and it is working!
There is a power in trusting ourselves. I think for a long time the world has been telling us that we should have it all, do it all and be it all. I believe we can, but not the way the T.V commercials show it to be. We can HAVE all we need to be happy today, just by opening our eyes and seeing the blessings that are right in front of us.
We can DO all we need to be content if we stop trying to keep up with everyone else and begin living our own life.
We can BE our very best self when we take the time to be still and find out what that looks like and trust ourselves enough to follow through.
I have never been happier!
I hope you can take the time to be still day! I plan to.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Musings of a Happy Chicken Owner!
I have to tell you, I am in love with 31 beautiful hens! We have adopted them from two different friends of ours who had to give them up for various reasons and we are glad we did.
I get up every morning, get the kidlets out the door to the bus, come in for breakfast, tidy up a bit and then I rummage around my fridge to see what looks wilted or past it's prime. I take it to the cutting board where I chop it into chicken bite size pieces and fill my #10 can. I then slip on my rubber boots and head to the beloved chicken coup. I open the Door and there are 31 beautiful ladies happy to see me, yes I guess it could be the can full of food, but I like to think it is me!
The best part is that I don't have to be out there at the crack of dawn because they need time to lay their eggs. That fits perfectly into my day. Just about everyday some of them get out and we have to go out and put them back in. But secretly, I love watching them roam around the yard. Today I found two perfect brown eggs tucked away in a thicket behind the coup.
If you have ever dreamed of owning your own lovely hens, do it! They are wonderful!
I hope you have a cheery day, I plan to!
I get up every morning, get the kidlets out the door to the bus, come in for breakfast, tidy up a bit and then I rummage around my fridge to see what looks wilted or past it's prime. I take it to the cutting board where I chop it into chicken bite size pieces and fill my #10 can. I then slip on my rubber boots and head to the beloved chicken coup. I open the Door and there are 31 beautiful ladies happy to see me, yes I guess it could be the can full of food, but I like to think it is me!
The best part is that I don't have to be out there at the crack of dawn because they need time to lay their eggs. That fits perfectly into my day. Just about everyday some of them get out and we have to go out and put them back in. But secretly, I love watching them roam around the yard. Today I found two perfect brown eggs tucked away in a thicket behind the coup.
If you have ever dreamed of owning your own lovely hens, do it! They are wonderful!
I hope you have a cheery day, I plan to!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
A Month of Planes, Trains and Automobiles
It has been over a month since I last posted (this sounds a lot like my journal entries) So much has happened and I have grown.
I hope that you won't mind me using this as a way to process, writing seems to do the that for me. And if you find me being too real for you, I hope that you will not be offended.
On the 6th of September my children returned to school and my Mom came for a visit. We had great plans of all that we would do and accomplish while she was here. It was her first visit to New Brunswick and to our new home. I was eager to get her opinion on Reno's and decorating. There is just something about having my Mom to bounce thoughts and ideas around with.
While she had only been here a couple of days when we got the sad news that her father had passed away. So we decided to pack up my van and make the two day trip to Ontario so that she could be there for the funeral and we could still be together. We took Jacob with us so that it would be easier for everyone left at home and he was pretty excited to have the time with his mom and grandma!
My Grandfather has been a tricky person in my life. There have been some issues that I have had to work throw and I was so grateful that I had taken the opportunity last summer to sit down and talk some things over with him. I had first thought that that discussion had been for him but I can see now that it was totally for me. I am grateful that I listened to that inner voice that said, `now is the time`. So with all demons being dealt with, his funeral was not a time of figuring things out, but a time to reflect and enjoy the love and companionship of family.
A week later we were home and settling back into our visit. We had some wonderfully, hard talks over other difficult areas of life with tears and laughter soothing the way. I was able to see for the first time why I feel so driven to prove myself and to accomplish something great.
Finally I am beginning to realize that I just might be enough as I am. (Don't hold me to it, I am not completely committed to that statement just yet!) But I am beginning to let go of the need to be enough in others eyes and just be enough for myself.
And to see if that is true, I was given another opportunity to look it straight in the eyes. Just over a week of being home from that funeral, I was afraid I was heading to another one. My Dear Father, who was just getting out of surgery was not doing well and we were all called home to be with him. As I left my family and boarder a plane, I found myself filled with regret. Regret that I had not taken the time to sit down with my Dad and be real with him. To let him know that I was sad we weren't closer and that I wanted to be. As we gathered around his bedside and stories were shared, I realized that I had wasted precious time. I had been waiting for him to make the first move, to be the adult, the dad, and step up to the plate so to speak. And I realized that I should have been the one to do that. All of the frustrations and points I was trying to make with him were not worth the time that was lost.
I am happy to report that he did make it back home. I have been able to spend some time with him and to have some good discussions. (May I add here, that the T.V is great if you are trying to avoid having a difficult conversation and it comes in handy if you are stressed right out and looking for a good laugh.)
As I got on the train and left him, maybe for the last time, I was so grateful again for the gift of time. I love my dad. He is a good man. He doesn't do things as I do, and there are choices he has made that I would love to change, but I have come to see that in many ways I am like him and that that is a good thing. He has taught me to be strong, to fight for what I believe in and to say what needs to be said. I am grateful that he is my dad and that I have had the time to figure this out.
When I got off the train in Toronto and climbed into a taxi to get to my hotel I had a wonderful sense of well being. It has been a whirl wind of a month. I am exhausted, but full of gratitude for the lessons I have learned, the time I have been given to learn them and the ways I have grown.
I hope you have a wonderful day and always chose to take the time. I know I plan to!
I hope that you won't mind me using this as a way to process, writing seems to do the that for me. And if you find me being too real for you, I hope that you will not be offended.
On the 6th of September my children returned to school and my Mom came for a visit. We had great plans of all that we would do and accomplish while she was here. It was her first visit to New Brunswick and to our new home. I was eager to get her opinion on Reno's and decorating. There is just something about having my Mom to bounce thoughts and ideas around with.
While she had only been here a couple of days when we got the sad news that her father had passed away. So we decided to pack up my van and make the two day trip to Ontario so that she could be there for the funeral and we could still be together. We took Jacob with us so that it would be easier for everyone left at home and he was pretty excited to have the time with his mom and grandma!
My Grandfather has been a tricky person in my life. There have been some issues that I have had to work throw and I was so grateful that I had taken the opportunity last summer to sit down and talk some things over with him. I had first thought that that discussion had been for him but I can see now that it was totally for me. I am grateful that I listened to that inner voice that said, `now is the time`. So with all demons being dealt with, his funeral was not a time of figuring things out, but a time to reflect and enjoy the love and companionship of family.
A week later we were home and settling back into our visit. We had some wonderfully, hard talks over other difficult areas of life with tears and laughter soothing the way. I was able to see for the first time why I feel so driven to prove myself and to accomplish something great.
Finally I am beginning to realize that I just might be enough as I am. (Don't hold me to it, I am not completely committed to that statement just yet!) But I am beginning to let go of the need to be enough in others eyes and just be enough for myself.
And to see if that is true, I was given another opportunity to look it straight in the eyes. Just over a week of being home from that funeral, I was afraid I was heading to another one. My Dear Father, who was just getting out of surgery was not doing well and we were all called home to be with him. As I left my family and boarder a plane, I found myself filled with regret. Regret that I had not taken the time to sit down with my Dad and be real with him. To let him know that I was sad we weren't closer and that I wanted to be. As we gathered around his bedside and stories were shared, I realized that I had wasted precious time. I had been waiting for him to make the first move, to be the adult, the dad, and step up to the plate so to speak. And I realized that I should have been the one to do that. All of the frustrations and points I was trying to make with him were not worth the time that was lost.
I am happy to report that he did make it back home. I have been able to spend some time with him and to have some good discussions. (May I add here, that the T.V is great if you are trying to avoid having a difficult conversation and it comes in handy if you are stressed right out and looking for a good laugh.)
As I got on the train and left him, maybe for the last time, I was so grateful again for the gift of time. I love my dad. He is a good man. He doesn't do things as I do, and there are choices he has made that I would love to change, but I have come to see that in many ways I am like him and that that is a good thing. He has taught me to be strong, to fight for what I believe in and to say what needs to be said. I am grateful that he is my dad and that I have had the time to figure this out.
When I got off the train in Toronto and climbed into a taxi to get to my hotel I had a wonderful sense of well being. It has been a whirl wind of a month. I am exhausted, but full of gratitude for the lessons I have learned, the time I have been given to learn them and the ways I have grown.
I hope you have a wonderful day and always chose to take the time. I know I plan to!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Here it is, the first day of school has finally arrived! I love it when it rains on the first day. I think it makes it easier to sit inside all day long. I always felt like I wasn't missing out on as much when I was a child and had to trudge off to school leaving the summer behind.
Today we are under a rainfall warning; this may be taking it a bit far, a misty morning would have sufficed. But the kids all got out the door to their various destinations looking wonderful in their new clothes, carrying their new backpacks full of new pencils and paper. And here I sit in a very quiet house enjoying being alone.
I hope you don't get the wrong idea, I love spending time with my children! It wasn't that long ago that I was teaching them myself as a home school Mom. But this year, I feel a need for order to return more than I ever have before. I can't help wondering if it has something to do with the amount of T.V that was watched in the last two months. It was draining and felt like such a waste of time. The weather didn't help and I was hoping that my dear children would see the difference for themselves. Some did and some are yet to feel it.
So a new start all around.
We will rededicate ourselves to living more fully, learning and growing
I hope you have a wonderful day! I plan to.
Today we are under a rainfall warning; this may be taking it a bit far, a misty morning would have sufficed. But the kids all got out the door to their various destinations looking wonderful in their new clothes, carrying their new backpacks full of new pencils and paper. And here I sit in a very quiet house enjoying being alone.
I hope you don't get the wrong idea, I love spending time with my children! It wasn't that long ago that I was teaching them myself as a home school Mom. But this year, I feel a need for order to return more than I ever have before. I can't help wondering if it has something to do with the amount of T.V that was watched in the last two months. It was draining and felt like such a waste of time. The weather didn't help and I was hoping that my dear children would see the difference for themselves. Some did and some are yet to feel it.
So a new start all around.
We will rededicate ourselves to living more fully, learning and growing
I hope you have a wonderful day! I plan to.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
September!
Well, here it is the first day of September! I LOVE this time of year. I love the cooler evenings, the preparations for school, the anticapation of apple pie, cozy woolen sweaters and the feeling of new beginnings that seem to be in the air. I have already talked about my plans for the school year. I am looking forward to the big yellow school bus stopping at the end of the driveway so that I can get to it.
I had a bit of a cranky afternoon yesterday. I'm not sure why, I was just a bit snappy. At one point I said to Nathan that I was sorry for being grumpy and that I wasn't sure what was wrong with me. He shrugged at me and said "It's no big deal Mom, you always get like this just before school is about to start!"
Smart-aleck.
I admit it, I am ready to get my house back in order and set up our routine again. We have been eating crazy food at crazy times. The pile of laundry that is invading my laundry room is incredible. Lets not even mention the family of dust bunnies that are living under the couches and beds!
But I am getting ahead of myself. We still have a long weekend of carefree days ahead of us! Bonfires, walks on the beach, the smell of the sea, ice cream cones and late nights.
A few more days to enjoy just being together.
I hope you enjoy this first day of September, I plan to!
I had a bit of a cranky afternoon yesterday. I'm not sure why, I was just a bit snappy. At one point I said to Nathan that I was sorry for being grumpy and that I wasn't sure what was wrong with me. He shrugged at me and said "It's no big deal Mom, you always get like this just before school is about to start!"
Smart-aleck.
I admit it, I am ready to get my house back in order and set up our routine again. We have been eating crazy food at crazy times. The pile of laundry that is invading my laundry room is incredible. Lets not even mention the family of dust bunnies that are living under the couches and beds!
But I am getting ahead of myself. We still have a long weekend of carefree days ahead of us! Bonfires, walks on the beach, the smell of the sea, ice cream cones and late nights.
A few more days to enjoy just being together.
I hope you enjoy this first day of September, I plan to!
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