Choice

[photo from the internet]

When you're spinning down emotionally, step back from your thoughts. Choose where your thinking is taking you. When your thoughts take you back into negativity, redirect them as often as you need to.

Once a Month [old stuff] Give Away

Okay - so I have bunch of stuff that needs to GO - and I'm really tired of seeing the OMG abbreviation everywhere [I try hard to make my mind read 'oh my goodness!] so am hoping that we might also come to think of it as
'Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway!
I plan to randomly draw a name from the comments on this post and send that person a little bag of goodies that hopefully they can use [new to them and all, you know...]
Just post a comment about your favorite post this month!
Time's up at midnight [central x] on the last day of the month.

Garden Update

Lots of growing going on ---

Wildlife – warning this is too cute!

When S came to our house one day this weekend she kept saying, “we’ve got to go get the baby raccoons out of the road before they’re hurt” – after assurances that we would NOT be bringing said raccoons home we headed out with bucket in tow. When we got up the hill, we found that at least four other families shared the same concern and had already herded them out of the street, but the little rascals kept wondering back out toward traffic. Too cute:

I kept thinking – surely Mama Raccoon is around somewhere viciously waiting to grab whomever touched her first baby – but we never saw her… One of the men stated with confidence that he had raised a raccoon in the past and would take them home and care for them – so off they went hissing and growling in the bucket provided.

Encyclopedia of Your Ordinary Life -P

A few years ago I had the opportunity to complete this extraordinary scrapbook album designed by CathyZ and based on the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal. While I still haven't read the book, I love the concept of this album - a random sampling of those ordinary facts about your life [my life.] The homework involves keeping a list, A to Z, of random memories for several weeks and then gathering photos [or not] to support these memories. Love it. The album is really very simple [a la Cathy Z] and easy to put together with only two square photos per page and two to four 'definitions.' Have I said I love this album? And I want to share some of my life with you so I've committed to do just that in 2009 [keep in mind this was completed during the summer of 2007.] I'm going backwards and today I present:P

PRAISE SONGS
Choruses and songs sung to the Lord – anywhere I might be, -out loud, or just by myself in my head. Praise time is one of my favorite times of worship at church. – Just singing praises to my King! I love hearing Craig sing next to me. And seeing our boys sing praises to the Lord is a special blessing. The photo shows Drew as he begins choir tour to Mexico and Arizonza.


PHOTOGRAPHY
I’ve loved taking photos since my pre-teen years with my little ‘110 Instamatic.’ We thought it was so neat to have a flash built right into the camera [before that we had to place a flash bulb into a socket each time it was needed.] Craig and I became close friends while taking photos together [and developing our own black and white prints] in college using our Canon AE-1s. And now with the digital abilities we have today I feel like I’m in ’photography heaven’ I’m not a brilliant photographer, but with digital I can take a million photos and usually have at least a few that turn out looking brilliant.

Some Knitty Goodness

I've seen these around - coffee cup sweaters - an alternative to filling our landfills with all those paper collars so I thought I would make one and kind of designed it myself [made two actually - the first one fits a smaller cup and doesn't have the stripes around the top and bottom.] I think it's pretty cute - all done up in the Fiskateer colors!
And it only took an hour or so to stitch it all up!
It really does keep the coffee from being too hot on the hands
and soaks up the sweat of my ice tea too!

Free Faithbooking Class! Beginning June 1st!

Free Faithbooking Class! Beginning June 1st! Based on the book:

Catching Fireflies – Teaching Your Heart to See God’s Light Everywhere

by Patsy Clairmont [Best-Selling Author and Women of Faith Speaker]

In the book, Patsy writes, “I hope this book will offer you new understanding and thoughts that kindle your desire to seek God in fresh ways. Together we will explore different kinds of illumination that help us find that path…. I believe just as surely as God had a place assigned for the sun, moon, and stars, He has a place for us as His light holders. A place where we get to shine.”

The book is not required for this class, but it’s an EXCELLENT read [doesn't it just look yummy?!] and can be purchased at the link above, as well as at most bookstores [I picked mine up at Barnes & Noble.] I love the different kinds of light that Patsy uses to illustrate God’s goodness. It was so hard to pick only 5 for us to focus on together, but I plan to share some of my favorites [and the ones that touched my heart] with you during our five weeks together. I'm changing things up a little for this class - all ‘classes’ will be posted on the blog, www.bepresentbereal.blogspot.com Anyone can participate for one or more weeks. Excerpts from the book will be posted on Mondays with Faithbooking Prompts and a sketch for your use. My take will be posted on Wednesdays. I’d love to see your work! If you’re participating, please join the FaithBasedPagesClasses Yahoo Group [link on the blog] where we will share discussion as well as our faith based pages. A participation prize will be randomly drawn from those who complete all five lessons [layouts must be posted on the Yahoo group above to be entered. ]

Okay OKAY already!

I’ve been unpacking and sorting and putting things away from INSPIRED! all week and this led to re-organization [yes Lisa – I now have more paint than will fit in my little paint cubby… and it’s FUN] and then, of course, attempts at completion of projects… whew what a sentence! Keep in mind that it was my first time to try some of these artsy things and I realize improvements can be made. With that said – here are my projects - above and below -- [ta-DAAAA]:

I’ve also spent a fair amount of time decompressing and sorting through yahoo posts and face book photos from the event – This really is the best event I’ve ever attended – haven’t been to CE or the new CKU format so they may be comparable – but I have been to a LOT of events – both as attendee and as a vendor / teacher – in the past few years. And I can say without a doubt that INSPIRED! Is the best ever to me! How fun is this?!

[photos not taken by me. hee hee hee]

I’ve tried to write snippets of the experience [I’m cheating and using these for the CZ class [at BPS] about using face book / twitter for your journaling.] In an effort to not bore you too much – I’ll just share the three [okay four] things that I think made INSPIRED! extra special:

1. TIME to completely immerse myself in the process and totally forget the outside world, magical!, dare I say it? Almost like Disney? [Those who know me well now know I really REALLY loved INSPIRED!]

2. LIMITED REGISTRATION – only 250 participants here folks! What a difference this makes in the feeling of intimacy and relaxation – and SPACE.

3. Designers! Designers! Everywhere! Teaching! Participating in classes! And going from class to class telling us all how great we are! It was really fun to have some time to see how some of my favorite designing minds work – both in and out of the creative environment.

4. Introducing my sweetie to Cathy Z in the elevator – like she was a regular person – lol! Craig and I love to travel and explore new places together and it was extra nice to have time with him after a long day of creativity. And he had fun with a fair amount of personal shopping while there. Sorry I was so wiped out by Sunday, baby.

Quick Garden Update

I think the drought is officially over! We've had rain 5 - 6 days out of seven for the last few weeks and my garden is looking good.
[Say that in your best Ron Weasley voice...you know, from Harry Potter...]
The new rosemary looks a little washed out - but I'm hoping it will recover soon!
There's some weeding to be done because last year I mistakenly let the rotten tomatoes fall to the ground - so now there is a gazillion
little tomato plants all over the place!
And some 'regular' weeds too..Still - it's all growing well - I think the little pepper was a bit stunted by the cold weather because the boys asked if it was jalapeno and the answer is:
Uh, no, it's a bell pepper.
When we got in from being out of town [at Inspired! I still plan to tell you all about it!] I found that my tomatoes had grown so much they were already toppling over...
so I've put wire baskets around them for now - but we know we'll need to build a more substantial cage for each of them as they grow.The tomatoes and beans all have blooms!
I have put one good 'dose' of miracle grow on everything - so I know that has helped.I just love to see it all grow!

Let’s Stay Hydrated!

Note: this was written several weeks ago and reserved for posting --

I was listening to Dr. Oz the other day [or maybe some other XM Radio doctor show…] and they stated that Americans, as a rule, don’t keep themselves hydrated enough. No surprise here. I’ve always been a big water drinker – “straight-out-of-the-tap-no-ice” for me, but was a little surprised by the formula given: divide your weight in half and THIS NUMBER is the current number of ounces in water we should be drinking each day! Let’s just be honest here and say that I’m not drinking QUITE THAT MUCH – but I’m working on it. And I do try to stay hydrated.

Another random tidbit of knowledge – some say that most headaches are caused by dehydration and that if the headachy person will drink a Gatorade as quickly as possible then the headaches will go away. Have to say – I don’t have headaches often [not counting those obvious sinus ones I have this time of year] so I tried this – and it has worked for me and my occasional headaches on more than one occasion…

Edited: I didn't follow my own advice and failed to drink my usual [usual for me is almost always a large cup of coffee and a 32 oz tea during the morning hours and at least 64 oz of water throughout the afternoon, and maybe a little more water in the evening...] amount of water while attending Inspired and guess what? I was so headachey and so tired by the end of the weekend that I was a pitiful mess. I've spent the last few days pushing fluids [let's talk gatorade people! There's now one with half the calories!] and am just now feeling a little energy coming back. I'll need to stay mindful of this and STAY HYDRATED.

Inspired was almost too wonderful to explain... but I'll try later on in the week....

For now, please join me and pray for a precious girl in our lives and her friends as they are on a mission trip to Timbuktu these next few weeks. [130* there! Yikes!]

Cookie of the Month

The story the woman eating lunch at Neiman-Marcus and asking for the recipe for their famous chocolate chip cookies, then receiving a bill for $250, has been circling the internet for years. Here's the recipe for Neiman-Marcus' famous chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Whether the story is true or not, this cookie recipe is delicious and makes 110 cookies using chocolate chips, nuts, oatmeal and a Hershey bar. THIS is my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie - sort of mix between cowboy cookies and the classic chocolate chip - just right!

INGREDIENTS:

• NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (recipe may be halved)
• 2 cups sweet butter
• 24-oz. chocolate chips
• 4 cups flour
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 C. sugar
• 1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
• 5 C. blended oatmeal
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 C. chopped nuts (your choice)

PREPARATION:

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes at 375 degrees.I baked about 10 minutes and as always - I use self-rising flour and omit the baking powder, soda, and salt...

Makes 110 cookies. Enjoy with milk or coffee and feel like a million bucks!

Be Real

[photo from the internet]

Taking The Risk

Permission To Be Real [author unknown]

Most of us are familiar with the idea of keeping it real and have an intuitive sense about what that means. People who keep it real don’t hide behind a mask to keep themselves safe from their fear of how they might be perceived. They don’t present a false self in order to appear more perfect, more powerful, or more independent. People who keep it real present themselves as they truly are, the good parts and the parts most of us would rather hide, sharing their full selves with the people who are lucky enough to know them.

Being real in this way is not an easy thing to do as we live in a culture that often shows us images of physical and material perfection. As a result, we all want to look younger, thinner, wealthier, and more successful. We are rewarded externally when we succeed at this masquerade, but people who are real remind us that, internally, we suffer. Whenever we feel that who we are is not enough and that we need to be bigger, better, or more exciting, we send a message to ourselves that we are not enough. Meanwhile, people who are not trying to be something more than they are walk into a room and bring a feeling of ease, humor, and warmth with them. They acknowledge their wrinkles and laugh at their personal eccentricities without putting themselves down.

People like this inspire us to let go of our own defenses and relax for a moment in the truth of who we really are. In their presence, we feel safe enough to take off our masks and experience the freedom of not hiding behind a barrier. Those of us who were lucky enough to have a parent who was able to keep it real may find it easier to be that way ourselves. The rest of us may have to work a little harder to let go of our pretenses and share the beauty and humor of our real selves. Our reward for taking such a risk is that as we do, we will attract and inspire others, giving them the permission to be real too.

Encyclopedia of Your Ordinary Life -Q

A few years ago I had the opportunity to complete this extraordinary scrapbook album designed by CathyZ and based on the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal. While I still haven't read the book, I love the concept of this album - a random sampling of those ordinary facts about your life [my life.] The homework involves keeping a list, A to Z, of random memories for several weeks and then gathering photos [or not] to support these memories. Love it. The album is really very simple [a la Cathy Z] and easy to put together with only two square photos per page and two to four 'definitions.' Have I said I love this album? And I want to share some of my life with you so I've committed to do just that in 2009 [keep in mind this was completed during the summer of 2007.] I'm going backwards and today I present: Q

QUIET CLEAN HOUSE

As a working mom. one of favorite little selfish pleasures is to be all alone in my own home. And if it’s nice and clean, then that’s an extra treat! I sooo enjoy sitting in our living room and looking out of the house at the trees in our front yard. I’m blessed to have such a sweet family of boys and I love every minute I have with them, but, on occasion, I do enjoy being alone in a quiet clean hose.

QUOTES

I’ve always kept a little book to write down favorite, random quotes I find. They can be about anything – love, friendship, God, life, etc. It’s fun to refer back to quotes that spoke to me at different times in my life. Now my quotes are more likely found tucked away on the computer in a file all their own.

QUILTS

Little bits of memory that are sewn together with love. Some of my earliest memories are of bedding down in Mama Moland’s back bedroom with five or six quilts piled on top of us during a cold winter’s night! There were always cousins around to share the fun and if we were lucky we got to sleep in the big feather bed up front! And when a storm ‘came up’ we’d head to the cellar and bundle up under quilts and tell ghost stories by the light of kerosene lanterns. I love quilts - whether they are full of fond childhood memories or newly purchased – they represent a tradition of warmth and caring in my family.

Be Present!

Seven Ways to Stay in the Moment

Each day and each moment of each day is a gift that we all have been given. When you stop to think about it you know this is true. But it is an easy fact to forget when you open your email, look at your to-do list or see a steady stream of people asking you for help or to get something done . . . now. The world conspires to keep us moving faster and to multi-task at every turn.

Unfortunately most of the time when we are moving at that frenetic pace we aren’t at peak efficiency or effectiveness. We know this too, but too often we don’t act on that knowledge. What we need to remember is the value of right now.

And right now…

is right now.

The value of the present moment.

When we stop multi-tasking and live remembering and valuing the present moment we will paradoxically get more done. We will have better relationships, we will learn more that we can apply in the future and we will enjoy ourselves more each day.

To get to these benefits we must get past the pace and seemingly the expectations of the world around us. We must find ways to slow down enough to be present in each moment. The rest of this article offers seven ways to be present so you can reap the great benefits of doing so.

Be grateful for the “present.” Let’s put first things first. If you want to be more present in every conversation and situation, you must be grateful for that moment. Even if you don’t like the situation, when you are grateful for the opportunity you are better able to stay mentally in the moment rather thinking about what you will do “next.”

Note: Granted, this first piece of advice is a bit philosophical and doesn’t provide you with a specific strategy or tactic, but this philosophy will drive your ability and willingness to do all of tactics that follow. Read on for the specific actions you can take.

Take a deep breath. When you find your mind wandering beyond the current situation, start by taking a deep breath. This breath can serve as a reminder to help you refocus and to center you as well.

Focus on the present moment exclusively. Do one thing – just one thing – at a time. The crux of remaining in the present is to focus on the task, person, situation or whatever is in your current moment. If you are thinking about what you are going to say next, what you are going to do next, or what you are going to have for dinner you aren’t focused on right now.

Reduce the noise. Turn off the iPod, the radio or the television unless that is your current moment focus. The noise and distractions around us can easily pull us away from the current moment, divert our focus and reduce our effectiveness.

Refocus your inner voice. When you notice yourself judging, analyzing or having another sort of mental dialogue in the current moment, shift your mental focus by saying to yourself, “now, now, now” or some other phrase that will help you bring yourself back to the current moment, situation or activity.

Be more observant. Pay closer attention to the present moment! Notice what your senses are noticing, but what you may be unconsciously tuning out. What is the real message under the words you are hearing? What do you smell, what can you taste? What do you hear (in addition to the words)? When you open yourself up to be more observant you give your brain something to think about that is relevant and helpful in the present situation, rather thinking about another time, place or activity.

Ask “What do I want to remember about this moment in time?” I once read the advice that when you are on vacation at a place you truly value, that you should take an omni-sensory, three-dimensional picture of everything about that place and time in your mind. Taking this “picture” helps you savor the moment in the present and helps you remember it forever. This advice combines the concepts of being grateful and being observant. I believe this approach can be used anytime, as a way to capture a moment for memory, for future reflection and more. You can stimulate this activity by asking, what do I want to remember about right now? Or a similar question that works best for you.

These activities will make a difference in your results – both personal and professional. The benefits mentioned at the start of this article will all be yours as you perfect the habit of being in the present moment.

Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved, Kevin Eikenberry and The Kevin Eikenberry Group.

Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of speaking, consulting and training services. He also is the author of Remarkable Leadership – a book that will help you improve results as a leader, regardless of your job title. Contact him to learn more about how he can help you or your organization improve your skills and results.Published:3/19/2007

Random thoughts on us for today ---

What is your current obsession?

J: Knitting – I even think about it in my sleep!

C: Fishing – fishing- fishing

Which item from your closet are you wearing most lately?

J: Flip-flops

C: Fishing shorts

What’s for dinner?

J: Bacon and tomato sandwiches – yum!

C: Same

What was the last thing you bought?

J: Spray-on tan ;-D

C: Fishing lures

What are you listening too right now?

J: Rick and Bubba radio show

C: Friends and family sharing a fun hobby

Say something to the person who tagged you?

J: This is fun!

C: Why are you doing this?

Favorite vacation spot?

J: Beach or Disney

C: Same

What are you reading right now?

J: Catching Fireflies by Patsy Clairmont

C: Who has time to read when there’s fish to be caught?

What four words would you use to describe yourself?

J: Friendly, honest, fun, & trustworthy

C: Same

What is your current guilty pleasure?

J: Ice cream

C: Fruit packets

What will be the first spring thing you do?

J: Planted my garden in March – loving having the time to care for it!

C: Check to see if the crappie are biting – and they are!

Where are you planning to travel next?

J: Charlotte, NC

C: Same

What was the last thing you watched on tv?

J: House

C: Same

Happy National Scrapbook Day!

WHAT?!?!


You didn't get anything in your stocking?!

Choice

Be honest about what gets your time, attention, and money.
Are these choices supporting the life you want to create?