Tag Archives: changes

Looking back, looking ahead and looking around

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January.  Ordinary time.  Fresh off the heels of an awesome (although shorter) Christmas and Advent season.  A season that we decorate our house to the brim in celebration of a sweet baby who came to save us from ourselves.  He came to an unwed couple, on a long and dusty journey in a stinky animal shelter.  Yep, he nailed our lives right on the head.  Imperfect people on a journey surrounded by a world of stinky temptations.  He tops it off with the most magnificent light, guiding us straight to HIM, accompanied by wisdom, preparation and love.  What a way to start the year!

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From Thanksgiving to Epiphany, it’s a month+ long party and celebration!

And so, this morning, as I drink my coffee and enjoy my quiet time, I plan the day and week ahead and pause to look back on last year’s “Resolutions” and to ponder the year ahead.  I’m joining in a link up of 2014 with a lovely group of ladies and see that we ALL want a fresh outlook for 2014, each trying to be a  better person one day at a time.   I’ve joined in at In Honor of Design, however, they are all linked and you can get to a multitude of fantastic sites from there!

Looking back:

  • Losing weight.  Wellllllll, I’ve stayed pretty steady in the actual numbers department, however, I have definitely made a much more focused and consistent effort in actually working out this past year AND healthier dishes, snacks, etc.  I’m certain it comes down to portion size and/or stress eating, so always room for improvement.  I feel good though, so I’ll just keep on keepin’ on!
  • More Joy-filled and focused.  Hmmm.  I’m going to say that I  am honestly so task-oriented that the JOY gets lost in the day-to-day.  The fact that I am working on it is a good one, the fact that I am less that consistent is yet another area to just keep plugging along, one day at a time.
  • Use and learn my real camera more often.  Fail.  Flat out.  Although…..I have recently started pinning photo tutorials and joined a photo website (free) with a bajillion tutorials and areas to join in and have work evaluated in a constructive criticism manner.  This might just be the year…..

It would seem 2013 was a big fat failure in the resolutions department OR it would seem that it is what it is….life…not always perfect and just taking each day as it comes and try to do a little better the next time.  It’s precious time wasted to moan and complain about all the imperfect moments that I wish I woulda/coulda/shoulda done differently.  It’s taken me 43 years to figure THAT out and a daily work in progress.

Looking ahead:

My word for this year will be “Be Present”.  Okay, that’s two words, but it’s my blog and that’s what I am picking.  Rather than changing all these individual things and ideas and re-working the wheel and all, I just want to be present in whatever I am doing.  Chilling the Eff out on multi-tasking when I am with my family and friends.  If I’m making dinner, I’ll make dinner—not make dinner, start laundry, change clothes and pack lunch for the next day.  If I’m talking to my kids or husband, to stay put and talk, not talk and and half-listen while I putter around taking care of a million small details at the same time.  It’s going to be hard.  No joke.  Honestly, I’m going to have to take a couple of days to really think about what I can do to re-train my brain to just SLOW. DOWN.

Looking around:

There it is, though.  Now that I am done blogging this out, I can get dinner going…THEN get ready for work.  Because TONIGHT we have a game to watch, folks.  It’s going to be a great one!

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For more inspiration on 2014, go check out IHOD and the multitudes and get ready 2014….here I am!

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7 Christmas QTs

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Linking up at Jen’s Blog today so that she has some reading material while she is under the weather.  Moms really aren’t allowed to get sick, so I am always baffled when we do.  Baffled.

Hoping Christmas was lovely for you and if not perfect, hopefully you found some moments to hold tight to….like I did.  Ours was a great Christmas, however, for the first time in our family, I felt a shift.  The shift of teens in the house and only 1 of 4 still blessedly smitten with Santa, the Elf and the whole shabang.  It was subtle, but it was there.  Compound “the shift” with having done our family dinner with the in-laws on Christmas Eve and grandparents and step-dad having come and gone after breakfast, mom and sis out of town, and zero plans for anything EXCEPT relaxing and enjoying the day……I was in a constant state of post-Advent Zombie-ness (if there is such a thing).  Aimless.  Lost.   Shuffling.  A month of bustling and scurrying to and fro to a sudden halt……what does one DO with that?  I mean, WTH?!?!?  Clearly a 2014 goal needs to be getting comfortable with relaxation and learning to embrace that idea.  Anyhoo, it WAS lovely…Advent was wonderful and we are so very blessed to be together and loved and healthy and happy; there is nothing to complain about, because it’s ALL good.

Traditiona Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls for breakfast. So flippin' delish!

Traditional Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls for breakfast. So flippin’ delish!

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Our tree. Pre-present carnage. Simply the best morning light, I’m not sure what I will do after our tree is down….it’s an essential part of my morning coffee and Daily Readings.

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The Hubs on video, videoing me taking a picture of him.

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This kid. 16 and questioning everything, BUT….he opted for Midnight Mass with his brother and I versus 11 a.m. Christmas Mass with Dad and the girls. MM wore us all out. He and the cat caught a few winks after presents. Smart kid.

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Next year she will be in Middle school. THIS year she put Zebra cakes on her list for Santa and he came through. That will never happen again. 10 is an awesome age, is it not?

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Headbanz. Christmas games and camaraderie. Love these moments.

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When I don’t have anyone coming for dinner, I don’t focus. I misread the brisket times and well…..Christmas dinner was scrambled eggs and toast and PIE! Christmas dinner was served on the 26th and a total winner. Worth the wait. We’ll call it a win, even though it was a day late!

That wraps it up for today.  As usual, I am going to be rushing to get out the door in time for work, so enjoy the day!!  P.S.  for those of you without cable, may I suggest Chromecast?  The Hubs got it figured out yesterday and SO.  COOL.

Blessings!!

iOs7 & 7QTs

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Friday is my favorite day of the week and also a day to recap and join in with Jen and Crew to see how everyone’s week has been going.    With this week’s iOs7 update, I thought I’d share a few observations of my 24 hours with it thus far.  By far, NO exhaustive tutorial, just some mere observations as I continue to navigate the changes and have my children school me.download-2

  1. As with the iOs6 update, the update took quite some time to download.  For me it took over an hour (I can’t give you an exact time because I had to leave my precious to go to an open house and went…..GASP…….with NO phone!).  The hour download does NOT count the time it took to back up my phone first and then remove 1.8g of space to allow the download–a frustrating event in itself.
  2. White.  Holy cow.  There is a LOT of white.  Backgrounds that is.  White background in the texting section.  White background in the notes section.  I’m going to have to lower my brightness, it’s a little distracting.
  3. New font.  Sans serif, I believe?  Automatically put in a password protect to get in.  (of course, you can remove it in settings, but I’ve been meaning to do that for awhile….so, eh, nod to the procrastinators).
  4. When I opened the weather section for the first time I saw this:
    Zero info.

    Zero info.  However, in full disclosure, it did load in time and gave the usual info along with an active background of moving clouds or rain…depending on the weather in that area.

     

  5. This little trick via my 16 yo son:  instead of sliding the bar to the left to wake the phone up, touch the middle of the bar and slide UP.  You get this fancy schmancy screen to adjust all kinds of stuff AND…..there is a flashlight already downloaded.  I actually use that.download-1
  6. The camera features are new:  there is a panoramic option, square option, (regular and video also still available) AND some fun little edits AS YOU TAKE THE PICS.  Fun.  Especially if you are a Instagram lovin’, photo documentin’ mom like me.
  7. New ring tones and sounds.  Good to know because you may not recognize your phone ring the first time your phone rings and wonder where that noise is coming from and who’s phone it is.  Maybe.

That’s all for now.  Can’t say I full on LOVE it.  I’m getting used to it.  But here is one last bonus….when you hit the home button twice to close out apps, just tap on the app and slide up.  Poof.  Off.  Just like that.

Now go and enjoy your weekend!!

Time flies

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School is back in and HOLEEEEE. CRAP.  Summer done washed away my memories of how freakin’ busy the fall is.  Lord, have mercy.

We are starting to hit our rhythm now that we are done with Labor Day’s brief respite and it’s starting to come back to me.  Plan.  Plan.  Planplanplanplanplan.  Ahead.  The planner aheader gets the easier night.   Truth.  Young mamas, take note.

Last night I had the amazing GRACE of our 16 yo son calling me at work to see what he could do to help with dinner.  Be still my heart.  The boy got those meatballs simmering and then whipped up the awesomely hugemongous spinach salad to go with the Angel hair past and meatballs.  WinNING!!!  He also chauffeured me to me grandmother’s to pick up some family tree papers to add to our 11 yo’s family tree project .  A sweet treat.

Then taking our almost 14 yo to his French horn practice we had a raucous discussion on men’s hairdos (the  boy is FINALLY going short–fingers crossed and double crossed, I think the Bieber look is on the way out!!) and somehow we were rolling on a drag queen discussion–don’t even ask–and Mama made a huge funny because that kid was almost hyperventilating he was laughing so much.  Mark another “W” in the column.  A banner evening.  Topped off only by waiting for the horn prodigy for a mere 30 minutes in which I was able to read, get caught up on some emails and do a chapter in my study with my awesome friend.

Tonight I got a great walk in while our youngest was at cheer practice and came home to chicken and dumplings in the crock pot which EVERYONE loved….seriously, do you know how hard it is to find a meal that they ALL love???!!!!?  Insanity.  Hubs and the 16 yo enjoyed watching the World Cup Qualifying Final with the US and Mexico, I kicked the 13 yo off the computer and made time to blog.

I should stop while I’m ahead.  It’s only Tuesday.

Dang, that first week of school is HARD!!

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Happy earlier bed times…I mean 2013-2014 school year!!

One week under our belts here.  Please don’t take this as boasting….please.  Just don’t.  But…..it went pretty well.  I even experimented with doing my MWF (scratch Monday to just Wed/Fri this past week) in the a.m. and had Hubby wake the kiddos so that our 5th grader is ready (almost) for me to take her to school when I get finished at 7.  So far, so good.  (The high schooler is long gone at that point and the middle schoolers still have an hour-ish before they leave).  We also had cheer practice on Tuesday and Thursday.  Lawn mowings at the end of the week.  Of course, no real homework to speak of until Friday, overall, I simply can NOT complain.  Disgusting, right?  Hopeful, yes??  Yes.  I vote yes.

Scenes from a cheer practice. Girls under cover, mama in the car.

Scenes from a cheer practice. Girls under cover, mama in the car.

And so why in the he-double hockey sticks were the Hubs and I flat exhausted this week?   Flat. Out.  Exhausted.  Hopefully we will get a second wind and adjust to our schedules and school life–which as history shows, we will.  Until then, I will sing the praises of the iced coffee and the franchise of the Donut that is Dunkin’.

ye olde afternoon pick-me-up

ye olde afternoon pick-me-up**

**of course, adjusting bedtimes, dinner routines and getting back on the healthier eating choices will help, too.  DD is just so tasty and convenient, though!

Because we can't be having THIS scene every night, those kids DO like dinner.

Because we can’t be having THIS scene every night, those kids DO like dinner.