Just bee happy

Isn't it funny, how you can be going along in life, practicing to be your highest self, and something...or someone...comes along to really challenge you?  To make you *truly* put into practice what you know you're supposed to be doing or how you're supposed to be acting?

And how sometimes, that person or situation shows up at precisely a time when you need it most?

I saunter through life a pretty gracious person.  Due to circumstances several years ago, it was forced upon me to choose who I truly wanted to be.  I mean, really think about it, really face the music.  Most people don't get that chance in life.  And I really, truly am grateful I did.

So it's interesting to me when a 'reminder' from that time in my life comes along and challenges me all over again.  I find it really intriguing that the bigger part of me is fine, in fact, almost non-reactive about the reminder.  But then there's this little *worldly*part of me that goes, "No, you SHOULD be *angry*sad*whatever* when put in this situation.  You SHOULD re-live the drama, and make the person next to you re-live the drama, and you SHOULD definitely NOT let it go!" I definitely don't want to believe that the Universe orchestrated it, or that it's showing up 'for a reason.'

But...alas...I know better.  I know that there are no coincidences.  I know that everything and everyone that shows up in our lives is there for a reason...and that reason is to learn, grow, know the essence of God.

Which is what makes it interesting to me. 

We are not dictated by our experiences, we are dictated by our responses.  We get to choose to be happy.  We get to choose how we respond.  And that's really pretty cool.  This self realization could change the world, if only we could take ourselves out of the center of our own Universes. 

Meh.  Now I'm waxing philosophical.

Go for it!  Just be happy!  Make the choice to just be happy!

I'm off to look in a mirror and say this to myself.

love, C

I (mostly) love Mondays!

What are Monday's like for you?

For me, Monday is the day to re-group my family.  I do the master calendar, the menu for the week, the grocery list.  I tackle the pile of laundry, get the house in order and make my to-do list for the week.  I coordinate schedules, driving schedules, school projects and Dr. Appointments. Somewhere in there I throw in about a million other tasks, but the main focus is getting us all set for the week ahead!

So, when my children have a Monday off, it throws ME off.

And it happened twice in January...the last two.

Needless to say, I am SUPER excited about getting a Monday back! Tuesdays just aren't the same. I can't quite get my poop in a group on a Tuesday.  I mean, we manage.  I do it all as I would a Monday, but it's just not with the same energy and enthusiasm...and it means what's supposed to get done on a Tuesday...doesn't.

Welcome back, Monday!

Happy 2012!

Welcome to a New Year...

I just love the rejuvenation this time of year can bring.  I also enjoy September as a time to get back to goal setting and restructuring, but with 4 growing kiddos, it doesn't happen as well as it used to!  Fall is SUCH a busy time when you have a 14, 12, 10 and 7 year old.  And it always seems that there is a bunch more going on.  Add that to trying to get back in the groove from a summer mentality, and you have a recipe for not-so-much-success!

So, onto January.

Honestly, I think I've waited for this all Fall.

I plan on 2012 to bring SO MANY GOOD...no...GREAT things to me! 

I'm fairly ambitous in my goal setting this year.  I'm trying to be more specific about each of them.  I read somewhere that it's not enough to just say you're going to lose weight, or exercise more...that you have to tell yourself how much, and how, etc...to really be successful.

Yes, these are both on my list!  Having lost 40 last Winter, (and then gaining about 10 of it back all Summer and Fall) I can be proud...but I have about 30 to go...and I will do it!

I plan to be letting go of some long needed to let go of things.  Say "no" more.  Say "yes" less.

After experiencing yet another less-than-fulfilling holiday season because of so many committments...I'm ready to get back to basics.

What/Who really matters most.

Activities that make me happy.

Making time in my life to do the 'little extras' I used to do for my family instead of letting them fall into the "maybe-if-I-have-time-after-I-do-this-other-stuff" pile.  There was WAY too much of that this Fall!

In the end, I do believe it's so important to contribute to my children's school, and to various civic organizations.  But not at the detriment of my family.  It is not possible for me to do it all...and do it all well.  This year, I'm going to choose to do fewer things...and do them well...and choose to do those things that make me smile in my heart. 

I realized this past weekend that it is easy to say that an activity I'm doing for the school 'only takes 12 or so volunteer hours,' but in actuality, it is always on my brain...therefore, it takes countless hours from me!  And it muddles and clouds and contributes to a long list of muddling and clouding that is filled with things that I don't love, love, love to do!

For someone like me, it takes baby steps.  Baby steps are a theme in my life.  I've been talking and taking various baby steps for the past few years now. 2012 is year for me to let go of my security blankets and step into my life as I want to be living it! 

My girls gave me this for Christmas:

I think it's true.

And I'm inspired by what Oprah has to say about Stepping into the Light and reconnecting with what makes you feel happy and makes you feel good.


http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-on-the-Power-of-Intention-Oprahs-Goals-for-2012


May you feel powerful and inspired in 2012!

Sunday, Sunday, so goooood to-ooo meeee...

Can I just say...It's absolutely GORGEOUS here today?!  So exciting!  The air smells amazing and it makes one want to get outside and dig in the dirt...(someone that's not me...LOL)...but I still enjoy the beauty of the weather!  I'm so ready for summer, and can't wait to have the kids home!

Our hardwood floors get refinished in the Dining Room tomorrow.  Because of the water damage and settling from the flood in the kitchen, there is much patching and matching to be done...so, we cleared out the room today, saying goodbye to the buffet and hutches we were so proud to buy when we bought our first home 13 years ago.  In their place will go 2 built in buffets on either side of the pocket doors that will match the kitchen cabinetry; a project I've always dreamed about and am now going to see happen!  The kitchen itself is plugging along.  The countertop guy will be here tomorrow to template, and then we'll be 3 weeks down the road before the countertops go in.  Then the rest of the cabinets and appliances can make an appearance.  This has been a long journey!  In fact, a friend the other day referred to it as "epic."  And boy, is she right!  I should've kept a journal!  It will all be very worth it in the end.  In fact, I'm kind of glad to not be going back to the dinner routine while school is still in session; too difficult to get back into the swing of things.  However, I'll probably only get to just move into the new space when I'll leave for my month back East!  Oh well...still very worth it!

Olivia graduates from 8th grade this week.  There's a bucket o' committments built around that...dinners, dance, fun day at Fairmont Hot Springs, lunches, hair/nail appointments, pictures, decorating the facility, parent's dinner out, teacher letters/gifts...not to mention history project presentations, 3rd grade invention project, Kindergarten field trip and graduation, book signing, out of town visitors, appointments, and workouts, too!  It's going to be a busy, busy week...and to top it all off, we'll leave for Spokane on Saturday to go see "Wicked!"  **whew!**  Deep, deep breaths...

My workouts cannot give, because I have 3 weeks until my 40th, and I've committed to working out every single day until then to see how it really affects my body.  I'll be honest.  Throughout this whole weight loss, I don't think there is a week that I've done more than 4 workouts!  And I have about 3 more lbs to go before I hit 40lbs off!  If I can do that, and maybe a bit more, I'll be thrilled...and so, I really want to see how doing my longer runs every single day will pay off.  I'll keep you posted!

Until then, enjoy the bounty of Spring, and Summer!

30!!!

I'm SOO excited!  Last Friday I hit the big 3-0!  I know, I know...you thought I was older...juuuuuuust kidding!  What I did was hit the big 30 lbs off...finally...broke through the plateau and hit it!  Who knew I just had to exercise more?  ;-)  I battened down the hatches, reeled in the diet, kicked up the exercise, and BAM!  Here I am.

So, now I really do get to order my 1/2 way there reward.  I had started pondering what I would get several weeks back when it looked like it was right around the corner.  Took a bit longer than I thought it would.

 Oh well!  I'm happy!  Especially happy because I also know, that even though I wasn't dropping on the scale, I was dropping in inches.  About a month ago I tried on some very coveted Banana Republic black trousers that I haven't been able to wear in about 3 years.  They were tight, barely buttonable, and because of that, gave me a horrible looking pooch (ya know what I'm talking about)...plus, they were very tight in the thighs and rear end.  Definitely un-wearable, even with a longer top.  Soooooooo...I tried them on Thursday because I started going through all of my clothes and guess what?!  Yup! They slid right on, and I could even grasp fabric in the thighs...nice and roomy!  YIPPEE!  Even though that scale had barely budged, I went down in size...Exercise really does work!  (Duh...)

So now, onto ordering my special treat.  It's something Springy-feeling, something fashionable that will always fit no matter my size.  And definitely something I would never just get for myself, so it feels a little luxurious.  And it's not something for the kitchen, tho...I also have to order a looooooooooooong list of stuff for that project, which is going to be a serious chunk of change.

My largest-you-can-buy Whitehaus Fireclay Double Bowl Farmhouse Sink is going to ROCK!  It's definitely fashionable, and luxurious...but it's season-less...

Makes me **smile** just thinking about it...

Painting is the FUN part!

I spent the day with DH (dear husband) doing some more prep work on the walls in my son's bedroom.  The walls were previously wallpapered, and now are in some rough shape!  So it's taking a bit of time to ready them for the paint.  Not the best way to spend a day, necessarily, but...it was fun to be doing some work on the house again!  It's been awhile.  We're fortunate to be able to hire a lot of it out.  But for years we did most all of it ourselves, and it was fun to re-visit those times!  In fact, there is a certain joy in looking back at our early years, how little we had to work with, and how much fun it was to be efficient with what we had.  I look back at the old pictures, and remember how much I labored in our first house, painting, repairing, decorating...now, I don't have as much time, having 4 kiddos and a world of busy-ness!  Sometimes keeping up with everything that needs to get done around here seems like a chore.  I look back on our 10 years in the house and am amazed at how much we've accomplished.  Sometimes, I look at the projects I've done, and I can't believe I did them!  I used to be MUCH more ambitious...!

I have a friend down the street who reminds me A LOT of the younger me.  She has talent for decorating, and making unusual use of different items, and enjoying the thrill of the hunt: finding a great deal at a garage sale, or Goodwill, and making it her own...I do miss those days...I really have no use for them anymore, because I've reached the point where I don't need to acquire any more stuff.  And I have the money to buy things already done.  Which is where I always strove to be!  I'm in my dream house, with the money to fix it up, and the money to furnish it...incredibly blessed!  But I love looking back at the days when my creativity really blossomed, and most everything I used had my own mark on it.  Sewing curtains, recovering chairs, painting furniture...yup, it was fun!  I hope my own kids get to have fun doing the same thing someday.

So, off to sand down the walls...and to relish the good feelings that come from doing the work yourself!

YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS!

I think I did it!  I think I did it!  The scale FINALLY budged today...I may have broken the plateau.  I kicked up my workouts last week, have reigned the diet back in and voila! Having to break through a plateau is frustrating and challenging, and so I really am hopeful that I DID IT! 

The meat fast is going well.  No cravings for it at all.  I am loving my new favorite lunch, which I am alternating every other day or meal with a Spring Mix/Spinach Salad and canned salmon.  Salmon can rev the metabolism, or so says Dr. Nicholas Perricone, and I swear it's true! When I'm eating it regularly, my body runs hot.  Plus, my skin looks amazing, so that's a plus!  A squeeze of lemon, topped with ground pepper and a bit of salt, then tossed with the greens...what you have there is a very Mediterranean tasting, light lunch!  MMMMMM!  But look now, I digressed.  The original lunch I was talking about is this:

 YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS!

It's a whole wheat sandwich thin, split in 1/2 and toasted, then topped with some Laughing Cow cheese, roasted vegetables (red and yellow bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, red onions, garlic, olive oil) and ground pepper and salt.  SO satisfying, and absolutely one of the best things I've ever tasted.  I'm using Macaroni Grill's roasted vegetables for now, until I get a kitchen again.

Which brings me to...

We now have the shingles on the roof, and the insulation going in!  Woo Hoo! It's about time, huh?

The weather is beautiful, and I hope it keeps up, because there is A LOT of work to get done!

Off for some yummy deliciousness and to do a few errands before picking up the kids and starting the madness!  (You mommies know what I'm talking about)!

C