Venti Soy Chai Latte with a shot of Droid...

This week I am going through a personal crisis.  I dropped my smart phone in my cup of hot chai tea.  Really.  Don't ask me to explain how it happened-  the cause, whatever it is, is foolishness and doesn't save my phone :(  It is dead (sniff, sniff)  I am in mourning.  Oh, how I loved that phone.

But I haven't even had it that long!  How did we get by without them before?  I still had my paper planner just a year ago, my address book a year before that.  Oh, and a home phone.  Nope, no more.  I love the modern convenience of my phone!  I have all my contacts, my calendar, my to-do list, my running program, etc on my phone!!  Yikes!!!  Not to mention that it is my home phone as well, so I am always accessible- unless of course the phone is swimming in chai. 

But I must admit, that the quiet is not so bad.  That I can sit quietly, alone with my thoughts and my journal, and not be interrupted by every beep of my phone.  Maybe I should learn from this....  unplug...  let it go...

Have you found a quiet peaceful moment today?  Either planned or unplanned??

(And, seriously, do you know where I can get a good deal on a new droid????   Quiet, shmiet...)

Sending along a Mantis moment...

One day last week I was on my way to Walmart (rush, rush, rush) on a busy errand day, when I stopped to get gas (stress, gas is so expensive!  how far should I drive to save a few pennies?)  Then I saw her- a big, beautiful praying mantis sitting on top of my gas pump looking at me.  It was a small and amazing little moment that I am glad I was present enough to see.  I love praying mantises?  Praying manti? I truly think they are elegant, majestic, thoughtful, (and I have to admit, a little cool that she eats her man when his job is done)

I would love to show you the picture I took with my smart phone camera, but alas I cannot.  See my next post for that story!!!  :(

So, I decided that maybe she was an omen, sent to pass along a message to me.  I looked up the symbolism of a praying mantis online and love what I found....


"The mantis comes to us when we need peace, quiet, and calm in our lives.  Usually the mantis makes an appearance when we've flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us because of the external din we've created."  She symbolizes stillness, awareness, creativity, patience, mindfulness, calm, balance, and intuition.


So today I pass along this message of the mantis to you.  Slow down, be quiet, and honor the still small voice within.  She deserves it. 

The Beauty of Women...

I had the pleasure of attending a local church's women's event this week and it was breathtaking!  I have been to events like this before, but I am always taken aback and so completely moved by the amazing beauty of women.

The event included worship with singing, a gifted speaker, and prayer.  All were truly lovely and I love to see how God has gifted so many people in such different ways and how seamlessly it all comes together to pull off a night like this.  Singers, truly blessed with the most amazing talent and glad to lift up their voices in praise.  Speakers, with their courage and gift of sharing their stories and being truly honest and open with the hope of helping someone who needs it.  Hostesses, with the gift of hospitality and service who arrive early and stay late to set up and take down beautiful decorations, candles, and yummy food. 

I don't get teary as often as I used to.  I am not easily prone to crying these days, but this night I was moved to tears.  Not by the music, or the heartbreaking and triumphant story told by our gifted speaker.  But by the beauty of ordinary women surrounding eachother- friends and strangers alike-  to lift up the hurt with open arms, encouraging words, and loving prayer.  How beautiful!  What an awe-inspiring moment as I looked around and saw God's love pass from woman to woman in that room.

 "Walking with a friend in the dark is better that walking alone in the light" Hellen Keller


I think we should all strive to carry a little of that spirit around in our hearts and on our sleeves everyday and with every woman we encounter.  Let us look at eachother as sisters, imperfect every one, but not as rivals, or competitors.  But simply as sisters, all trying to do our best, with our own individual struggles and gifts, each unique and imperfectly beautiful.  Let us reach out our arms and offer encouragement and raise one another up and see where we might go...

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them"  Mother Teresa

Read me Wreath

I love to try and create something new!  Honestly, for me, trying a new craft is about the best thing!  Once I make something once, I am not that good at making it again.  Did I also mention that I love to read?  Reading and crafting.....  fall in love and get married and make this baby!

It is a wreath made entirely of book pages.  I know, it really is awful to destroy any book.  Have you read The Book Thief?  Amazing story about Nazi Germany and a girl who is so desperate to read and with such limited access she has to steal books, one from a book burning pile!  But I digress.....  this was a paperback that I owned.  I wanted to use a book that I had read and loved, but didn't need on my shelf ready to loan to a friend.  So I chose one of my Harry Potter books.  I think it might be the Half-Blood Prince.  No matter, I can still enjoy it this way!

I absolutely take no credit for this idea...I found a tutorial online and used materials I had already.

See, the remote as one of the more important supplies.  This was a lot of pages!!!  And it gave me a great chance to catch up on Project Runway!!!

Honestly, it was super easy to do and didn't take that long, and certainly didn't cost much money! 



 

Does anyone but me have a love/hate relationship with their glue gun?  Yeesh...

Oh well... totally worth it!!!

The Maize is Amazing!!!

How fun does wandering through a giant maze of corn sound???  OK, thankfully I have never seen Children of the Corn, or I could never have made it through this!

The Amazing Maize Maze is a Huntersville tradition.  This was our first visit, and definitely not our last!  It is on 7 acres with over 2 miles of pathways through a giant maze!  That's a lotta corn.  The goal is to try and collect pieces for your map from 12 different mailboxes hidden throughout the maze, and then of course, find your way out!  I am proud to say that we did it in 1 hour and 34 mins.  (That is probably a terrible time, but whatever!  We made it out alive!!!!  :)

The kids LOVED it, although not as much as the dads, I think!  It was really a great family outing and I totally recommend it!  The guys are already talking about going back and trying to run the whole maze (really?)  and also want to try one of the flashlight night mazes... uh.... nope... 

We had our own "corny" zombies during the day!!!

Letting go... Starting kindergarten

My baby was born almost 6 years ago when I was 30 1/2 weeks pregnant.  He was ready, I was not.  He is the strongest, bravest, most amazing soul I have ever known.  Many preemies suffer from chronic illnesses, or seem fragile somehow.  "Fragile"  is never a word that could be used to describe my E.  Breakable, apparently, but not fragile.

He has been a source of amazing joy and frankly, daily terror, ever since.  He has what our OT calls sensory processing disorder.  His affected sense is movement and touch and he SEEKS it!  He was a climber before he could walk, he rode his bike without training wheels when he was 4 and tried to jump a ramp the same day!  I don't think he has ever set foot on our bottom stair, he usually jumps from the 4th step to the bottom. 

At the ripe old age of 5 1/2, he has broken both arms, had two accident related surgeries, had stitches three additional times, impacted his front teeth and fractured his jaw, suffered temporary nerve damage in his hand and is constantly covered in bruises and scrapes.  He has no pause button.  Once the plan is in his mind, it is in motion.  And, oh, the plans he has....

So this little hurricane started kindergarten last week.  I have been worried about this day for years, holding on tight, making myself sick.  And do you know what?  He is doing amazing!!!  He is spreading those bruised and battered wings and is soaring!!!  I could not be more proud!!  I know there will be stumbles (literally and figuratively) but today I choose to let go and watch him fly!!!

Letting go...

Oh, how I resist those words.  I am not good at letting go-  I hold on, hold on for dear life!  But is that the best way to live my dear life?

I love roller coasters.  (Well, frankly, I did when I was younger and they didn't make me so dizzy that I felt sick!  Ah, the joys of aging....)  But I did love the thrill of the ride, but I could never let go.  Not once.  I had a death grip on that bar so tight that my hands ached.  What would that ride have felt like if I had relaxed that grip?  Even more exhilarating?  Freeing?  And I still (presumably) would have ended up in the same place at the end of that ride, right?

Dueling Dragons Coaster, my favorite!!!

I hold on to a lot.  I am a sentimental soul (ie, hoarder), a protective and loving parent (ie, helicopter mom), guarder of memories (ie, still not fully over the hearbreak of junior high). 

So my goal as I enter this new chapter of my life is to let go, loosen the grip, keep my eyes open, and enjoy the ride!

The fruits of my spirit?

So one of my favorite bible verses is Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control"

What a beautiful picture-  and frankly, the only way I have patience and gentleness on most of my days as a stay at home mom is with the help of the Holy Spirit!

But it gets me thinking... what would be the fruits of my spirit?  That is what I am on a journey to discover and produce.  I am a home body, and I love to live in a warm and beautiful space.  I am in love with my husband and my children and I love our little life here in NC.  I love to read, and I feel most clear of thought when I am writing with a good pen or pencil in a pretty journal.  The older I get, the more I appreciate the inherent beauty of nature, and people, and silence.  (I have always considered myself an extrovert, and I still love being among a fun group, but these days I crave solitude.) I love to exercise my creativity by designing and creating something new.  I enjoy making jewelry, sewing, and all forms of crafting. I love family, and I am proud of my Okie and Texas small town roots.  I love learning something new and I love the feeling I get when I try something new.

So what does that fruit look like???

The journey continues.....