welcoming March

Let yourself be

silently drawn

by the stronger pull

of what you really

love.

~Rumi

welcome 2010

Happy New Year! 2010...sounds so futuristic and yet the promises it holds creates a jazzy little tune in my mind and a cozy feeling in my heart when the numbers sound from my mouth - twenty-ten...twenty-ten. It sounds like raindrops on a greenhouse pane, like renewal. It feels like a deep breath after forgetting how to breathe. Christmas has vanished and left its sweet smiles and memories all packed up waiting to be rediscovered one year from now when we drag everything out once again and reminisce the gifts, the time together, and the reality at having been graced with one more year. Each year is a good year. One follows the last...and so it seems we grow, we learn, we experience, and become wiser, stronger, more in tune to what it is we really want out of life. It is the new year that brings us the opportunity to reflect, to renew the vows we make to ourselves, and to embrace all that is dear to our hearts. Twenty-ten is poetic for so many reasons. It is the dance we dare to learn, the reclamation of our selves as we turn up the music and aspire to be.

I hope everyone had a special Christmas and a safe, enjoyable New Year's celebration!

welcome Marley - the sun conure

Introducing Marley, the new addition to our family...thanks to my daughter who makes more money than she knows what to do with. He is very sweet though. He's still a baby at two months and loves to snuggle. We are going to be great pals.

spring's precious moments

I spent most of the weekend trying to get writing assignments finished, but I had to steal away from the piles of books and crumpled papers to experience this moment and share it with you...

Who can resist the feelings

of hope and joy

that one gets from participating

in nature's rebirth?

~Edward Giobbi

spring has sprung

Let the song begin

Did you think

spring would

never come?

Did you think

rain could

overpower the sun?

Did you think

suffocating snows

would deny

The earth

bursting forth,

could the crocus die?

Would grey

always mask

the dawn?

Could silence

always quiet

the song

Of a songbird

alone

on a limb

One bud

bursts forth

let the song

begin.

s.k.lindeman

looking forward

I love the new year and the sense of renewal that comes with it. I enjoy finding planners and books that inspire me to write about all that is precious in my daily observations. This Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude is a treasure I found wherein I hope to be disciplined to write everyday...just five simple things I am grateful for on a daily basis. Do you keep a journal of special thoughts or memories or a notebook with favorite quotes or bible verses?






I found this planner with my name on it, so naturally I had to have it. It's full of inspirational bible verses and stories out of the life of author and artist Joni Eareckson Tada. It even has spaces for prayer requests and places to jot down goals ~ I think it will help me stay organized (not one of my strong points).

For Day 1, it was difficult to limit myself
to five things I am grateful for.
There is so much that fills my heart ~
Scroll over the photo to see today's entry:

Another fresh New Year is here…

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me

to live each day with zest…

to daily grow and try to be

my highest and my best!

I have the opportunity

once more to right some wrongs,

to pray for peace,

to plant a tree, and sing more joyful songs!

~ William Arthur Ward

I hope everyone had a nice New Year's celebration!

Mine was very quiet and low-key with good food, good company and a good movie!

welcome 2009

We've Holidays and happy days,
and memory days galore
And when we've toasted every one,
I offer just one more
So let us lift our glasses high,
and drink a silent toast
To the day, deep buried in each heart
that each one loves the most.


Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year celebration...thank you for the kind and encouraging words you each have shared through the days of 2008...the friendships that are fostered here mean so very much to me and always reassure me the world is never too big for sharing and caring....here's to 2009! May it be a year of memorable joy!

goodbye 2008

These days are glorious and blessed. They are filled with a number of things to do and each morning when my feet touch the cold floor I am so thankful. Looking back on 2008 I wonder where the time has gone...each month held something significant to my days and before I can embrace the new year with new goals and fresh ideas, I always feel like I have to pay homage to the days that carried me through to here.

In 2008:

I got to know me a little better in this stage of life. I began to see myself outside of being a mom and decided I'm going to be OK when the kids leave the nest.

Two left the nest, one came back...and I learned being supportive no matter what I'm feeling is humbling and I'd have it no other way.

Spending time with my biological father while he was dying was the right thing to do.

Studying and losing sleep and being doubtful was a reality check that college in my 40's is much more difficult than it would have been in my 20's....but helped me gain perseverance and a new appreciation for learning.

Children will rise to the occasion of what you expect from them...if your expectations are low, so then will be their efforts...self-esteem goes a long, long way...but it isn't everything...at some point they really do need to feel their own worth, not just hear it.

Getting outside of myself and serving homeless people has taught me a lot about humanity. People who "have" aren't nearly as likely to share as those who have very little and people are most generous around the holidays...apparently, caring is seasonal. Homeless people don't scare me anymore...they've helped me become more of a people person.

Everyone has a story and it is worth my time to listen no matter how old, what color, or who they voted for.

Friends are very, very precious and each one is a treasure to me.

My parents are wise beyond words and it is very difficult watching them grow old and I wonder if it will be as difficult for my own children when it is my turn and will they think me as wise?

Laughter truly is the best medicine.

A due date is a due date and no amount of procrastination is going to extend it.

Walking daily helps clear the mind, stretch the legs and lower cholesterol.

I do not make New Year's resolutions because everyday is a new starting point when there is something I want to accomplish...but here are the Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for Americans. I thought they were pretty typical...the only one I would add is to be more ecologically minded in consumption....oh, and to smile more...and I can see where the list can grow and grow...it's a good thing there are 365 days in the year to improve upon things. I can relate to a couple of these for sure!

1. spend more time with family and friends
   
2. exercise more


3. lose weight


4. quit smoking


5. enjoy life more


6. quit drinking


7. get out of debt


8. learn something new


9. help others


10. get organized
    

Wishing you JoY as you celebrate special memories of 2008 and gather hope for 2009!

fortune cookie 101

I hope this is a good sign.

I applied for graduation today!

Even though spring seems so far away,

I'm starting to get excited about it.

I think I'm going to decorate the top of

my graduation cap with shiny glitter!

welcome september

Today was my first day back to school. I guess no matter how old you get, there is always a degree of anxiety when the first day arrives. It's that acceptance thing. Will I be the oldest one in the class? Will I know anyone? Of course my concerns are always put to rest once I get situated at a desk. The students in the same major tend to migrate in a pack from course to course so I knew a few of the students today and I was relieved there were at least three others that were my age or older...that always makes me feel better somehow. So another school semester starts and by next week I'll be bogged down with an unreasonable amount of reading and writing, but I'll be that much closer to my goal...and quite honestly, some days I forget what that goal is. I feel like summer just zipped right by. When I stop to think about this summer I know in my heart it was a summer of change for me. Both of my kids moved away for college, one moved back (the grass isn't always greener on the other side), my parents have aged tremendously, leaving me to wonder how much time I have left to share with them. I actually took charge of my heart for the homeless...normally, my do-good ideas stay safely tucked inside my head waiting for....the right time? An excuse? Initiative? It's been a summer of personal growth for certain. I've learned I can fix window screens myself, I can monitor pool chemicals, I can take solo road trips, I can cook for up to 20 people at the drop of a hat and I can re-imagine me at this age exploring new avenues...fine tuning my tastes, or changing them altogether.
I like season changes...there is always something new to discover.

a beautiful day

a day defined by grace

understanding

a mother and daughter

breathing in the sweet scent of lavender

tasting lavender tea, lavender scones, lavender lemonade

a little girl all grown up

treasured moments marking change

the end of one season

is the beginning of another...

welcome JULY

I want to embrace this moment...

this day...this journey.

to seek simplicity in all of its forms...

I want to see where this road leads...

but I want to stop and observe along the way...

I want to feel the grass between my toes...

...and I want to have peace of mind knowing

all is as it should be even when I question.

I want to explore the possibilities

each new day brings.

welcome JUNE

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.

~Gertrude Jekyll

artwork by poet Sylvia Plath

busy bee

I'm tired...takin' a break...I've been working diligently in and around the garden and in the house getting some long overdue Spring cleaning done. I've been washing windows, screens, planting flowers, pulling weeds...you know, all THAT stuff.
It's actually so very nice to be outdoors.

I am always amazed at nature...every year we are gifted with these crazy Japanese Maple trees that just sprout up everywhere. I find them, transplant them and then watch them grow. They are beautiful trees. Pretty soon I'll have a whole forest of them that I can share with others.

Anyone need a Japanese Maple tree?
The little seedlings are so cute. I almost admire their perseverance and ingenuity at the spots they take root in...I'm sure there is a life lesson there somewhere, but I'm too tired to think that deep today.

Welcome 2008

At last here we are...the first day of a new year...a fresh outlook. I hope the upcoming days, weeks, months are a reflection of how my time celebrating their arrival was spent. It was a safe, simple, quiet evening spent watching movies at home. This morning I went outside to get firewood and everything was so still. A blanket of fog had rolled in and the sun was doing its best to peek through...a perfect morning to be January 1st. in California. Today I am making a mental check list of all the things I need to take care of before school starts back on Thursday, because I know the next five weeks will be spent behind the pages of the twelve books I have to read. I am also mulling around resolutions in my head, something I don't take too seriously, but they are fun to contemplate. Of course I know they are things I should be doing anyway, but it helps me feel more organized and motivated if I have an actual list to look at. My New Year's resolutions include the typical health endeavors such as walk more, eat healthier, etc, but this year I am making spiritual resolutions as well (something not to be taken as lightly). I want to take more time out to hear God, not just hear him, but hear what He is saying to me. I want not only to be led by His word, but to be led by Him pulling on my heart and in order for this to happen I must be very attentive and open, something I wish would transcend discipline and become more natural for me. So as the new year begins, my mind is full of all things that need improvement. There's no time like the present...I'm off to start on this house!