Tag Archives: encouragement

7 and splendid!!!

7 days of blogging…DONE!  Thanks for the fun, Jen!

This weekend is a perfect reason why people move to Florida.  Just spectacular!!!  My genuine apologies to those of you still surrounded by snow, mush, more snow to come, hopefully you’ll enjoy a little glimpse of spring/summer here and perhaps….PERHAPS…..it might be enough to propel you through.

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Honestly, though….I don’t know how you do it.  Hubby would love to move to New Hampshire in a hot second…me?  I’d love to visit and would even consider a “2nd home” (LOL)…but live?  No.  Can’t do it.  Listen, it’s already pretty consecutively in the 70s here and I put the flannel sheets and fleece blanket on under the heavy comforter.

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Again.  Thin blood.  I’d die.  OK, enough bellyaching.

Off to the produce store before I pick up the girls from their Religious Ed classes…no dillydallying!!

A brief message from our Homily this morning from our priest…”God loves us for WHO we are to Him, not what we do.”  Stuck with me.  Sticking with me.

And the ever-present always-hopeful-reminder:

Matthew 6:34  

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”

Happy Sunday!

Trading earth’s cross for heaven’s crown

Dear Lisa,

Woman.  It is the most breathtakingly STUNNING day here today.  A rough start with the rain and wind this a.m. but now….oh.  My.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Nice wind.  Hovering on the 70’s….just barely.  I can’t think of a better day to celebrate you.

Somehow I managed to make it through with 3 tissues.  Your humongous family, your beautiful girls and your brave and valiant husband filing in just made my heart ache.  In the same breath, my heart was filled with joy at the sheer numbers present.  You seriously made an impression on a lot of people, an indelible print on their hearts.  Way cool.  What a blessing to call you friend.

Your faith and courage in your fight with Ovarian cancer could not help but to spill over on to everyone you came in contact with.  Sharing that faith just came natural and so did encouraging your students and friends to live life to the fullest.  Embrace every day and when you introduced Brendan (and our family) to the story of Nick Vujicic your genuineness and love of God became that much more real.

Thank you for your friendship.  It was a true blessing to know you.

A few words from today that I KNOW you’d be shaking your head “YES” to:

  • You traded earth’s cross for Heaven’s crown.  WOW!  I just love that.  You are free.  You are free.
  • When we let go of fear we step out and grow in faith.  Like taking off without training wheels for the first time.  May we ALL be propelled to grow in faith by crushing fear with the same German stubborness you had.
  • Fight the GOOD fight.  Life is busy and we get pulled in so many directions.  May we all focus on those priorities of living this life and fighting the GOOD fight.
  • Life is hard.  So many people, situations and choices constantly turning us sideways; faith is what guides us through.  A beacon of hope.  You stayed focused on that faith in God’s plan to the very end.  I can think of no better race that was run.

Rest in peace, my friend.  Until we meet again!

XOXO

Tracy

The bluest of blues.  Sky today.

The bluest of blues. Sky today.

A conundrum of sorts…

Holy cow, y’all it’s almost February!!!  Where in the HECK did January go???  This month, for us, has had our dance card filled EVERY weekend this month and while it certainly keeps us busy, I am a person who needs some downtime.  After a month of go-go-go, we are happy January is almost gone-gone-gone.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time:  All-state concert, Savannah visit with my mom and her Hubby, All-county concert #1 (followed by #2 concert AND LAST this weekend).  All good stuff.  I just need to decompress on the weekends at some point and there’s been very little of that.  The other problem all this busy-ness brings is the whole “physical health” resolutions has taken a back seat with the extra running around.

The interesting thing, and here is the conundrum, is that while I haven’t been wholly UNHEALTHY, I’ve not focused ONE BIT on exercise (got it in when I could or managed to get out of bed in the morning chilliness), nor have I focused on my food (although I’ve stuck to my mostly normal eating habits).  Yesterday, I wanted to brace myself for moving back into regular and scheduled exercise AND food-journaling with our 16 year-old and guess what?  Down 4 pounds.  You’ve got to be kidding me.

No worries though, now that I’ve typed it and am moving back into focus on health, I’ll be right back up….but hopefully not.

Isn’t life crazy like that?

Dear, Biebs

Dear Biebs~(can I call you Biebs?  well, I did….I am older than you)

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Listen, it’s about time we had a little chat.  See, I have an almost teenster here in the house that absolutely adores you.  Beliebster to the max.  She has 3 other siblings that mock and ridicule her puppy-love for you in an unending fashion.  She can take it though, her love is strong.  Today, she was embarrassed for you.  Really embarrassed.  She is going as far as taking her iPod case cover of you off and going back to her polka dot number.  That’s a big deal, dude.  She is still mulling over removing the posters, mainly because there is such a large selection of your younger, more well-behaved days.  Concert?  Out of the question.  Movie?  Nope.  Lately, your 19 year-old shenanigans are fodder for many teaching moments of “What NOT to do” and “How NOT to behave”.  Our boys are SO over hearing it.

You had a pretty good run there and I’ll admit, I was smitten with your adorable-ness.  However, now.  Now.  Shake my head.  You are in luck, though.  This country we live in has an immeasurable ability to forgive our celebrities for their poor decisions (especially our younger celebrities).  We’ve all made mistakes; the question is what do we do with the knowledge we gain from those mistakes?  So, I offer you up a few little tidbits of “elderly” advice:

1)  Don’t smile for your mug shot.  Let’s try to look a little repentant, K?  Presentation is everything.

2)  Time to pick some new friends.  Change the playground.  Your homies…they’re steering you WRONG.  All.  Over.  The.  Place.  Fo’ realzie.  Go low under the radar.  Friends or hangers on?  There IS a difference.

3)  Eggs are for hardboiling or scrambling.  Bake with them.  Put them in a smoothie.  Juggling perhaps, but tossing.  Vandalizing.  Boo hiss.  Not their function.

4)  We don’t always get along with our neighbors;  practice civility and kill ’em with kindness.  Spitting is just gross.  Love thy neighbor.  Goes a long, long way and sometimes, if you have the flu or have a major crisis in your life they are there with chicken soup or a grocery bag of food to help you through it.  Your neighbors probably just want to help you pack.  And move on out.

5)  “That” is NOT where you are going to find a nice girl.  You know what I am talking about here. You may find a nice case of something requiring some antibiotics, but a nice girl?  no.  Move on.  Eww.  Just eww.

6)  Call your mom.  I think you need some time with Mama, a nice little old fashioned what-for.  If she’s not available, come on over.  I’m happy to yank your ear over some hot chocolate and a “family meeting”.

7)  You’ve got a lot of years ahead of you and a lot of talent.  Take this time off and use it wisely.  Recreate your image to a lesser thug-life image.  Let’s pull it together.  Maybe you could get together with Justin Timberlake for some pointers since he’s managed to be wildly successful without crashing and burning.  Just a thought.  Haven’t we had enough Lindsay Lohans and Amy Winehouses?

Until then my friend, my daughter is off-limits.  (Probably forever, but at least until you show a decent track record of behaving a little/lot better).  Her heart will mend, but she’s learned a good few lessons on what kind of man she doesn’t want to be with (I sure hope so, anyway).

Blessings and best of luck on your recovery time in rehab.  (that’s generally the next step after something like this, right?)

Tracy

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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