Happiness...my choice.

Yes, as the years pass I realize how much happiness is a choice. How I desire to always choose it. When smacked in the face with difficult people (who seem to make it their daily ambition to get under my skin), traumatic illness, death, when others choose actions that dramatically affects so many around them and in the world, and just plain boredom, I can still choose happiness.
Happiness has a bad rap. For some they will say I may not be happy but I have joy.(This is stated in the most pious form.) Please pardon me if you have said that from the deepest part of you. I realize that we have been trained to believe that God does not want us to be happy. That somehow carrying around a burden is my responsibility. But for some they say this almost as an excuse of sorts to keep from making the choice to be happy.
Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life and life abundantly." I really think He would love for my choice to be to rest, breathe, and love. When I act in faith that all is well and in it's perfect order then I can easily choose happiness. When I know that my life is perfect and resting in the hands of a loving kind Father then I can choose happiness.
This is my goal. This is the way I want to live. I choose happiness.

Christmas 2009

I had so much fun this year with these Scrabble board for each neice. Each board was personalized for each individual. I stole this idea from Lisa and am I happy she created the idea to begin with! They were a blast and I think they were a hit! Diane was so tickled to show Zoe their nativity. We had Christmas dinner at Diane and Charley's. There was a photo op and we took advantage of it! In attendance: Mom and Dad (celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary on the 22nd), Diane, Charley, Meg, Dave, Bev, Angelica, Zoe, Hadassah, Alex, Travis, Staci, Aubrey, her boyfriend Micah, his brother Nathan, Lizzy, her boyfriend Alec, Leila, Phil, Jim and me!

2010...Wow.

And so here we are. 2010. Amazing. My life is so full it's hard to imagine that one more good thing can fit. But I welcome it. Yes, all things that come are good. Sometimes I question that fact, but the reality is everything happens for a reason. It will take it's place in my life and provide whatever it came to provide. I just get to take hold of it and grasp it for what it is to me.
I am ever so grateful for 2009. With it brought a wonderful 2 new great neices (one arriving at just the last minute!), a potentially awesome deck for fun and beauty in 2010, illness and wellness, new friends, the beginning of a new great nephew, triumphs, weight loss and weight gain, so many memories of laughter and tears, creativity and the birth of more creativity.
2010...here I come. Watch out cuz I am on a roll!

2 Sides to Every Story

It's a funny thing...we always want others to see our side of the story but often we only see ours and ours alone. It's a tough thing to see the possibility of someone else just doing the best they can. I know it's tough for me. When another chooses to act in a way that I would not choose I can quickly move into judgment. I can quickly say "What an idiot! Why would anyone see that as a healthy idea or action?" Well, the reality is: Very few of us choose the hard way. Most of the time people choose what they perceive as the best way possible. Believe it or not, that woman ahead of you in line isn't really that rude, she may have a sick husband at home and the line has not moved in the last 5 minutes and she just wants to get home to give him his medicine to get him comfy and resting. I would love to say that I have decided that once and for all I will always see the world as there is two sides to every story. But I will fail. Unfortunately, I am new at it. So I am asking for some assistance. I would love to count on you (yes, YOU) to provide for me the necessary reminder that I can choose to see that there are other ways of looking at someone and their behavior. I would love to shift into that magical place where I can actually choose to love someone unconditionally and I believe this may be key in that goal.
So when I see my world, I can see that everyone is simply doing the best that they can. When they ask for some insight or suggestion from me I will be there to help. But until then, I must respect that God is at work in each and every one of us in His perfect way and orchestrating the world we live in to teach us. He is much better at it than I would ever be. So, I trust Him. And I trust you. I trust you to be learning right along with me.
Whew.

It's a beautiful day...

It is still dark outside, so how do I know it's a beautiful day? Since my eyes opened from a wonderful restful sleep (and sometimes these days that isn't a given) I have been in gratitude. I can see twinkling lights from the Christmas trees around the house. I hear a purring sweet sound in my ear. My sweet man has his hand resting on my shoulder. I see pictures of loved ones and upon seeing them I have floods of memories rushing in. I know the sun will come up because God is in His splendor and has created a world where the sun always comes up. I know today I will work, smile, laugh, maybe cry, love on people and they on me. I know tonight I will feel my granddaughters arms around my neck. I know my grandson will call me at least 5 times today if not 6 to ask when I am coming to pick him up. I know I will have energy to do all this and tonight when I lay my head on the pillow I will rest again.
I am grateful for all of these. And so much more. I choose today to see all the things I have thanks for and in so doing it will all roll just the way it was intended. And it will be easier than if I started off without gratitude.
That works for me.

20 Little Things to Treasure in Autumn

I found this list on The Inspired Room blog:

20 Little Things To Treasure in Autumn

Quiet dinners by the fire
Reading mystery novels in darkened rooms
Flannel sheets at the end of a long day
Candles Flickering
Smelling cinnamon, oranges & cloves
Pumpkins
Roasts, Potatoes & Carrots
Fluffy feather beds on a cold night
Watching movies snuggled in soft blankets
Cozy socks
Pie in the oven
Warm crackling wood stoves
Squash with buttered brown sugar
Chili and corn bread smothered in honey
Wind blowing through leaves
Glow of lamps through windows
Laughter filling a room
Scrabble and popcorn
Caramel apples
Family


So here's my list:

Leaves falling on Main Street
Cats snuggling in a little more
Soup: Jim's favorite Autumn Squash Soup
Squash: You know the hearty dense baked sustenance
Blankets
Inspiration: Feeling the juices flowing, this is the time of year it comes for me
Planning: For Thanksgiving, Christmas, parties, programs at church, Advent
Getting out the Recipe book
Meat roasting in the crock pot
Trees showing off their beautiful colors
Daylight Savings Time: An extra hour!
Long Sleeps: So much easier to sleep in the cool
Martha Stewart magazine
Noticing other's creativity: Others are so creative and then I steal their ideas!
Browns Oranges Rusts Coppers: The colors of fall
Planning where to put the Christmas Trees
Socks: I never wear them until now!
Crisp Air: Love it! So invigorating!
Hot Tea: I pull out my tea pot and my pretty cups and saucers
Bold Coffee: You know the kind that tastes like a meal!

That's the ones off the top of my head. What are yours?

Emilie Sloan: Emilie Sloan Tote Bags - Silver Spoon Pre-Emmy Event Sept. 2009

Emilie Sloan: Emilie Sloan Tote Bags - Silver Spoon Pre-Emmy Event Sept. 2009

Dinner at the Loft

I asked Jim to go into the closet with the ladder and retreive the toys from up there. We don't have many little ones around normally but are prepared when they grace our home. There is a kitchen and one box with assorted toys that are simply thrown in. We were having a big dinner at the house and I knew Carson and Abbey would be coming. So when Carson realized there was a kitchen he not only wanted to cook for everyone but was willing to wear the badge of honor:the apron. So sweet. He had a ball.

Learning...

It is an amazing complexity of life...learning. In order for me to learn most of the time it requires some kind of pain. Sometimes big pain, sometimes small but usually pain. It gets my attention like nothing else. When pain hits it is the loudness of it, the strength of it that grabs my sight and awareness and then I can get the lesson. I find it interesting that when I choose to learn from difficulty rather than mope and complain and relish in the injustice then I have a new set of eyes. I then can see where my part was played in the drama. I can see where I knew this was a bad idea or when I should have spoken up or how I could have caused a whole change in the chain of events by being aware and speaking my truth. No one else can speak it for me. I alone know my heart and its stirrings and I alone am responsible to be true to it. So this time I have learned with some significant pain that when I am struck with the "gut" feeling I must act in love and honor all the while preventing others pain as well. If I had simply spoken what I knew to be true then I would have been unstung and others would have been spared it as well. Yes, I could wallow in that alone for days, but I refuse it. I love it instead because it is my teacher. I learn from this experience and learn it well. I learn that when God tells me to move or act or speak then I must. Unless I want more pain and more learning! Then I remain in the victim-hood of life and never learn a blessed thing. That is my choice.
Today I choose to learn. I love this lesson and its pain too for now I know more than ever how to listen to the still small voice and do as it says.
Can I hear an amen?
Onward to the day I go.

A fun place to look

I found this fun fun fun site with all kinds of stuff!!! Check it out:
http://www.livinglocurto.com/
There is a link on my blog list too. Make certain you look at the spectacular house tour. Unbelievable!

Have the best day full of creativity, imagination and spark.