Life...As I See It

Thoughtful Friday

Thoughtful Friday

Operation NICE

As a regular reader of I decided to join Melissa in this assignment. 

Today's Assignment: Make a Release
Taking on more and more responsibilities or rituals or habits only make life busier. So while I can say something like, "I need to relax more, so I'm going to start giving myself pedicures every week, and drink a glass of wine at night, and spend an hour a day reading," that will only make things worse. I need to release the parts of my life that distract me from the things that I love. But I needed to start small.

So starting today, for (at least) one month, I'm giving up trashy gossip blogs. It's a guilty pleasure, I admit. I got into the habit of checking them multiple times a day, reading about celebrities that have no effect on my life. Why? I have no idea. But I do know that I was making excuses for not keeping in touch with the people I love. So in the workbook, where it asked me what I'm going to replace this time with, I wrote, "Communicating with family and friends." Now I'll have that extra 20 minutes to jot a quick email to a friend and that extra 15 minutes to call my grandfather. No more excuses.

I think this small purge could be a great thing! Anyone care to join me? Have you been feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day? Is there something that you can rid your life of that will give you more time for the important things? Let me know what it is!

What am I giving up? Not giving up. Just cutting back on computer time. I could easily spend hours on the computer. Just browsing from site to site and blog to blog. There are so many other things I love and want to do so about 2 weeks ago I decided that my computer time was one thing I could change to balance out everything else. 

Thoughtful Friday

Thoughtful Friday

"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth." ~ Mark Twain

What's been going on...

• still trying not to get sick and all I want to do is sleep 
• happy that I have a 4-day weekend 
• major house cleaning this weekend 
• going running today because it always makes me feel better
• looking for 3-up album to use for Alyssa's cheer scrapbook
• loved Grey's last night and next week looks even better  
• waiting for my new PSE6 to arrive (I've been without PS way too long) 
• decided on a new way to organize photos on my computer so I'm going to tackle that task this weekend 
• something new in scrapbooking  House of 3    

• reading a really good book right now (the kind of book that makes you stay up too late to read just one more chapter)

 

Have a great weekend!

Thoughtful Friday

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. 

"One can't believe impossible things."

"I dare say you haven't had as much practice," said the Queen. 

"When I was your age I did it for half an hour a day. Why sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

~Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Please don't tell me it's snowing again.

2. Can you meet me for coffee in the morning?

3. The color red makes me want to do a little redecorating!

4. I have a craving for Starbucks' Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte.

5. If my life had a pause button, I'd pause it everyday around 4:00.

6. Eyes are all telling.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going out of town, tomorrow my plans include watching my daughter compete in a cheerleading competition and Sunday, I want to create something!

Thoughtful Friday

And in the mood for something decadent. Something chocolate. Design Sponge shared a recipe I want to try...

Chocoholic Torte

Thoughtful Friday

We're packed and ready to leave for Alyssa's national cheer competition in Indianapolis. 2 days at the second largest competition in the world. I can't even imagine! This competition is what all of the hard work is for. The hours of practice. 100s of round offs, back handsprings, tucks, stunts, pyramids. This is their goal of the season. 

And while we're in Indy, thanks to Face Book, I get to have dinner with a friend from college. I haven't seen her in 16 years. Hoping the weather cooperates for travel. We're looking forward to a few days away. A break. A new place. Friends. Family time. 

Have a great weekend!

Thoughtful Friday

click on photo for larger image

Goals. Gratitude. Happiness. 

Just 10 minutes...

And Now for Something Completely Different

Thoughtful Friday and Friday Fill-Ins

Thoughtful Friday...

Friday Fill-Ins...

1. Friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget.
2. Good health; it's physical and mental.
3. I'm ready for my next race.
4. My husband's shower soap is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.
5. The oldest ornament I have is a cloth angel my mother-in-law gave me for our first "married" Christmas.
6. Take 4:40 a.m., a quiet house, and hot coffee mix it all together and you have my favorite part of the day.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing my son play the sax in his first band concert, tomorrow my plans include going to the gym, a haircut, shooting family portraits for a friend  and Sunday, I want to buy a new Mac!

Computer problems...hardware? software? internet? The only thing I'm sure of at this moment is my computer gives me a headache. So, I'm going to attempt a blog post which means using Windows Live Writer, Photoshop and the internet. Any of which may be the problem.

Belated Thoughtful Friday

This is the latest addition to quotes I've collected this year for my word of the year...TIME.

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein. ~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.

WeekIntheLife

I have the photos of my Week In the Life album but can't post them. Yes, computer problems. Love how the album turned out! In the meantime I can share this...

My WITL album is 12x12. I went big because I took a lot of photos and didn't want to have to pick and choose to make it fit a smaller album. This is only 8x8 and is the first page

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return. ~Mary Jean Iron