Day 27: My Favorite Things About Spring

Ideally, I’m just happy winter is over.  🙂  By the time Spring comes it is time and I feel it, and I think most people do.  I don’t know how it is in places that don’t get snow in the winter, but there is definitely four seasons here in central Alberta, Canada though they have the tendency to interweave with each other at times.  I think the only month I have not seen snow here is July.

Spring. Renewal.  That’s what I like about Spring.  Renewal is something that happens every day but in Spring you can see it.  Birds coming back from the south, baby birds, baby wildlife ( I live in the country).  The time before the buds on the trees come and the grass turns green is pretty ugly.  It’s dirty and we need rain to wash it away so the new growth can come. Luckily, that ugly time usually isn’t too long.  Geese!  I love them.  At our other place just a few miles away I heard them once in a while but we are further into the country here so we hear them and see them.  They fly right over our house and we have a huge pond in the field where there go.  We don’t get too many in there.  Just 4 or 5 but I just love them.  This morning when I took Duke for a walk we were watching them.  I also love the ducks that go into that pond.  I love how they sound but they usually fly away so we have to be VERY quiet.  Not easy with a dog or two.  I have grown to love our outside birds and watching them and learning about them.  It is so cool when they babies join them.

One thing that bugs me about this time of year though is we live across the street from a bee farm.  Right now all the hives are laid out on the lawn waiting to be delivered to places around the countryside.  In the meantime, the bees think they should come here. When the sun is shining really bright you will find the bees at our back yard.  Tons of them.  UGH!  They aren’t there to sting but that many of them are so annoying never mind the fact that I have a kid who is allergic to stings.  Luckily, once they are delivered to their summer spot the rest of the time is fine, until late Fall.

There is something that affects a person psychologically when Spring comes too.  There is a feeling that Spring brings more than new life to the things around us, but perhaps us as well. There is hope when a new season arrives.  Hope that maybe we can move onto our next season as well, a rebirth that says, ” let’s try this again.”  I like that.  It’s a second chance.  I think that is my favorite thing about Spring…HOPE!  It reminds me of a sunset.  The end becomes the beginning and it is really sweet.  ❤

What is your favorite season?  Why?  Have a wonderful and blessed day.  Enjoy the renewal of not only a new season but a new day!!   I loves you!

 

Day 26: Multiple Faces of me

This will be a totally fun post with few words.  I will post some pics from the app FaceApp.   One comment I will make is that it freaks me and my youngest son out how much  we look alike when I am in the “man mode” picture.  Also, my old self looks very much like I do now.  Excuse the picture.  It’s not a great picture of me but it makes it even funner.  🙂

 

Oh my GOSH!  Too funny!  The teeth ones are so funny.  My original picture is the top left one in the collage.  If you are looking for a good laugh, try this.

Have a super duper blessed day friend!  Smile big and if you don’t want to, use the FaceApp.  🙂  I loves you!

Day 25: Things That Hold Me Back

It’s not a thing that holds me back, it’s a person and that person is me. My thoughts and fears hold me back.

My thoughts that are lies. Lies that I am not good enough, that I can’t do it for whatever reason. My thoughts that say it’s too late. The “not good enough” lie can show itself in anything. If you believe you are not good enough then that is the way you will act. Friend, that is a complete lie. You are good enough and can do whatever you want to. It’s in your hands. Change your thoughts. Know the truth and believe it.

My fears that are fears. Fears that won’t allow me to try something new. Fears of failure and not making it the first time. Fears that talk way louder than any of my positive thoughts and meld together with the deafening sound of the lies.

They are best friends; my thoughts and fears.

The beautiful thing is that this doesn’t have to be the end. I can change my thoughts and I can fight my fears. AND that’s what I do. I have made it my beginning!

What holds you back my special friend? Fight it!!!

I’m Cheering you on my friend!  I loves you!

Day 24: A Day Late

I didn’t even make it to my computer yesterday. I was off running first thing in the morning with my husband and then by the time we got home it was time to get ready for Family Night and enjoy the evening. It was a GREAT day!

Minimalism in my Life: I was so excited for this one and yet late. Weird how that works.

Since I discovered “minimalism” things have changed in my life. The first person I came across was Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist. I was getting his emails and read his book The More of Less. I forget if it is through Joshua Becker that I heard of The Minimalists. That would be Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. You will have to go to their website to hear their stories. They are worth checking out. There is so much great information on their website. It is there I learned of The Minimalist Game. You are basically getting rid of things every day of the month based on the date. I played it for two months: February and March and got rid of 929 things. It was so freeing. I was so ready to do this. It was time. Not because I had tons of stuff but because I wanted to minimize my whole life and this seemed to be the way to start it. It worked GREAT! In a physical way, how it has affected me most is in the way I shop. I was never a big shopper but sometimes there are things I just want, just because I have the money to buy it or else it is a great deal. I have learned to distinguish between what I need and want and I am learning to bring those two terms together and in some

In a physical way, how it has affected me most is in the way I shop. I was never a big shopper but sometimes there are things I just want, just because I have the money to buy it or else it is a great deal or it’s just plain cool. I have learned to distinguish between what I need and want and I am learning to bring those two terms together and in some cases, they are the same. I am happy about that. It has also caused me to research more what I am shopping for so that I get not only a good price, but it’s a good item that will last me. For example, I am on the outlook for an electric roaster to also use as a crock pot. I want to buy something that I know I will use lots. I am taking my time because I already have a crock pot I can use. Another example is my wardrobe. I am still in the process of getting rid of things and adding things. I am on the outlook for tee shirts that I am happy with and so far haven’t found any. I do have a gift card at a store in the city that I think will have what I want. I just haven’t taken the time to go there. My goal is to have a small wardrobe that I wear everything and I love everything. These are the biggest changes I notice in me about minimalism.

On a different level, it has and is helping me with discipline. Playing The Game two months in a row every day had me doing something every day and I actually did it. I’m not that great at finishing what I start so this so was encouraging for me so I decided to do something this month as well, on a daily basis. That is where this 30 Day Challenge came from. Today is the first day I have been late but I refuse to beat myself up over it. In fact, if I could give myself a pat on my back, I would! You Go Self!!!

Spiritually, minimalism has taught me about meditation and prayer in a different way. I have already been going through a paradigm switch with my faith, but add minimalism and hearing some of Josh and Ryan’s thoughts on stress and anxiety and how to handle them has been invaluable. Going into this I already had an open mind to hear new ideas and I am so thankful that that. Since Christ is in me, He is on this journey with me and for the first time in my whole entire life, I have moments of peace. Better yet, I am understanding that peace is not something you achieve, it is a state of mind. It is Christ in Me.

Oh friends, if you decide to check this out, let me know. I do not call myself a Minimalist but I love many of their ways and they have made their way into my life. I am so grateful, so so very grateful!

Have a super duper blessed day friends! You are so amazing if you have come to the end of this blog. It’s the longest one I have done. 🙂 I loves you!

Day 23: What Do I Wish For?

I wish people would be kinder. It makes me so sad that we are so ugly to people just because they think different from us. There are so many diversities of people in the world and it is natural to flock with like minded people. I don’t have an issue with that. My issue is when this community of like-minded people are nasty to those who think different than them. Unfortunately, this is a humanity issue. Every group does it. Maybe not everyone in the community does but as a whole they all do it and it looks bad for everyone in that group. That is why we have wars. Right from Day 1.

We can’t control what others do. That is what is causing all this anyway. We need to step up and take responsibility for our own actions and decide what we do have control over. I don’t have a problem with peaceful marches but if there is nastiness, I think it’s wrong. I am intrigued with the Science March that happened this weekend but I (this is my own opinion) wasn’t too impressed with the Women’s March that happened a few months back. I know even in that, there were those who were kind, but they don’t get shown much on media. It’s usually the ugly people that sell the news best.

What can I do? That’s the question we need to ask ourselves. Maybe marching is your thing. Maybe it’s not. That’s ok. We all answer this question differently. But one thing we can ALL do is to be kind to each other. It is so tiring…everything is set up to divide. Politics, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Race, Gender, Wealth, never mind all the little things that come out of these issues. I’m sure there are more but I can’t think of them off hand.

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I honestly believe this quote. Even if the world will not change because of something one person does, you may change the world of one person and in my opinion, that is worth a whole lot more. Even if you will never know how you have made a difference in that one person, you will be able to sleep at night and your quality of life will be way better and way healthier.

Friend, What do you wish for? Please feel free to answer this question. I found this a hard question to answer.

Have a super duper blessed day friend! Enjoy your day even if it’s snowing (it is snowing here today and last night…UGH). I loves you!

Day 22: Something I Would Like to Change About Myself

This is an easy/hard one. Easy in the sense is there are lots of things and hard in the sense of keeping it down to one and not so many details that I put myself out there too much. I was never good at balance…HEY that is the one I will choose!

If I could change something it would be that I would be more balanced as a whole and in little things. I am an all or nothing kind of girl. Always have been and as I’m getting older I notice that it is in everything. It’s like I do one thing in the moment and my whole life has been and will be affected by it for the rest of my days. If I am not perfect at anything (and actually I am not) my way of looking at that is I am not good at ANYTHING. This lack of balance that I have holds me back from trying new things, meeting new people and well, going out anywhere in general. Lack of balance and anxiety but that is a whole different topic. 🙂 See, told ya. Lots I would like to change.

So, “if I am not perfect at something I am a failure at life.” That is such a horrible mantra but one that I have brought through life. It is only through counselling that I have been made aware of this and I have been trying to deal with it ever since (the last four years or so). I never felt like I was good enough or measured up. I know why I am this way and it is still a struggle but I have learned it is a “LIE” and some things are only in the eyes of the talker. Just because someone sees it this way, doesn’t make it so. But it gets buried into the deepest of hiding places in your soul and festers. It’s tough.

But I do want to say that I have made some headway in this area. I am learning to balance this out in a realistic and truthful manner and that is helping tonnes! I’m still horrible at balance but I guess that will be a life-long struggle, situation to situation.

I will share with you how I am learning the lies of that horrible mantra. I am learning and starting to believe in tiny bits, who I am in Christ and most of all, that I am loved by Him 100%, no matter what. It doesn’t matter what I say or do…nothing I can do can change His amazing love for me. My whole life I felt unloved (not saying I was unloved but I felt I was), not only by God but by friends and family. It had festered so long that I was unlovable, that I was unworthy of anyone’s love including God’s. So now, to discover how wrong I was and not only that, to discover that even though I thought that about God, it doesn’t change how He feels about me. I am not only worthy and lovable…I am WORTHY, VALUED and LOVED! Once I started to grasp this, it made a huge difference in not only how I look at myself but how I look at others! Friend, you are WORTHY, VALUED and LOVED!

Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it. 🙂 I don’t want to turn this blog into a religious one but it is important that you know my faith my identity and worth in Christ is the reason I can and do write this blog. I give Him the glory so don’t be surprised if in the future you see me talk about more faith stuff. For now though, my identity in Christ is what is healing me.

Oh friend, I hope you know how much you are loved!!!! I loves you so much!!!