Friday Finds ~ Savoring the Simple

I am finding after being off for a full week now, the layers of stress are starting to melt away.

I love playing with the Waterlogue app.  Unfortunately, it is only on the hubby’s iPad which he is constantly on.  This week I wanted to play with some of my recent photos and found the only time I can get my hands on it is while he is in the shower.

I am finding it easier to notice the little things to photographs to document my day.  This morning I was able to catch these evening primroses before they folded up for the day.  Amazingly, they grow in the cracks in the sidewalk where there is little if any soil.

Oh, were you using the computer?

Allistair is enjoying the fact that I am home during the day now.  Unfortunately, he wants to be in the exact space I am occupying.  I spread an old t shirt out on the desk hoping he would nap on that.  As you can see, my laptop was more preferable.  I did not get much blogging done that afternoon.

 

Now there are 4

The dryer ball saga continues…  I gave up and purchased two new ones (pink) after the teenager swore they were not in his room. I went to do laundry after he did several loads and guess what I found…yep, the missing-for-months-dyer ball sitting innocently in the dryer. 

We rarely have room for dessert but the one exception for this is when creme brulee is on the menu.  Because we enjoy it so much, we don’t bother to share, we each get our own to savor.  I save the brittle caramelized topping for last..yum!

 friday Finds

Joining the celebration of our week at Kim Klassen’s Friday Finds.

Roses, carnations, chocolates, or balloons…what kind of Valentine are you?

 I thought this Maxine-ism would be the perfect way to celebrate today!

1.        I found valentines awaiting my arrival at the coffee pot this morning.

2.      More snow today (insert sad face here).

3.      To get myself in the mood for Valentine’s Day, I visited a couple shops on my way home from work last night.  It wasn't love that I felt in the air, more like stress to pick out that perfect gift.  I watched one gentleman circle the cards with what looked like jittery apprehension.  I guess he decided to skip that altogether as he headed towards the flowers after only scanning over the cards.  He first picked out a dozen yellow roses (joy, friendship, “I care”), put those back, tentatively looked at some mixed bouquets (missing you), returned to the roses, then looked up and caught me spying on him.  I don’t think my look of amusement with the addition of having my camera out helped his indecisiveness.  I wanted to suggest a mixed bouquet of roses (you mean everything to me) but decided an apologetic smile and walking away was a better move. 

4.       It was a balmy 31° yesterday but I couldn't believe it when I saw a guy on this ride past me into a store parking lot.  I tried to catch up so I could snap a shot of him on the bike but he had already disappeared into the store by the time I found where he parked.  With ~3+ feet of snow still on the ground, I thought him to be overly zealous.

5.      With March madness on every basketball enthusiast's mind these days, college sports wear is taking over the coveted entryway of most stores.  Being the U of M girl that I am, I couldn't resist taking a snapshot of this t-shirt. 

*Follow up:  First there was 1, then there were 2, now there are none…the dryer ball saga continues.

So, what do you prefer getting for Valentine’s Day?  I enjoy flowers, especially this time of year when a touch of color and the deep inhale of their fragrance brings me out of the depths of this gloomy, midwinter funk.  But, I really enjoy it when the hubby cooks for me.  Mind you, this has happened only a handful of times so I am not hopeful.  Guess I'll follow Maxine's lead and devour some chocolate.

Thank you for stopping and I wish for you a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Joining the celebration of our week at Kim Klassen’s Friday Finds and Nancy’s Radom 5 Friday.

Taking ACTION in 2014!

The time has come to choose my One little word for 2014.  I have been mulling this over in my head for several days now.  Through my morning reading’s self-knowledge continued to be a reoccurring theme.  This is something I feel strongly about, getting to know myself better; what drives me, finding my strengths, learning what truly matters to me and what makes me happy, and most importantly, discover what I really want to do with the rest of my time here on earth. While this is all good, it is inner work and I have been reading and doing inner work for at least 10 years now.  I need to get doing, which takes me back to my daily journal where I committed to Take Action. 

I need to start doing the things I am reading; doing what inspires me, doing those things that make me happy! 

So I chose action as my one little word.

Action (noun)

1.        the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim.

2.      a thing done; an act.

Cover for my One Little Word journal.  Still needs "something"...not sure what yet.

No New Year’s Resolutions.

Instead of making resolutions (never seem to keep them beyond January) I made a list of
Ways I can be more happy in 2014:

1.    A Clean House.  Keep up with the house work and “stuff” piling up.

2.      Get out more.  Taking walks and getting out to take more photographs.  My inspiration for this came from Sarah at Paisley Rain Boots.

3.      Doing more for others.  I was inspired by the Random note project and Random acts of kindness (RAK).   I am carrying these in my purse so I can spontaneously leave them wherever I am. 

Notes I created for the Random Note Project

Had done this previously through 29 Gifts but that is no longer running so now doing as RAK's.

4.   Entertain at home.  Invite more people over.  I allowed my perfectionism to prevent me from having people over; always concerned that my home wasn't organized enough, clean enough, neat enough and people would judge me.

5.  Marriage.  Become closer, have more intimacy and do more together. 

6.      Get unfinished project done.  Make a list of all my unfinished projects that are collecting dust around the house, sort them by large and small projects then begin tackling them a couple per month at a time

Idea:  The Unfinished Projects – Project.  Create a blog button and have others post their unfinished project list then take before & after photos of completed works.

7.      Be healthier.  Consciously eat healthier, get out walking more, and get weight to what feels good. 

8.     Acquire self—knowledge. Find my strengths and develop them.  Recognize my passions and embrace them.  See what’s tripping me up and how I can learn from it.  Live in the present, rather than the past. (Dowrick, 31)

I am going to incorporate this list with my One Little Word for 2014.  By taking ACTION for each of these, I will gaining insight to the happiness I've been striving for.

5 Random Finds

1.  I find that by taking the time to search within and writing everything out on paper that I want to achieve, I've already taken that first ACTION step.

2. This is the first time in months that both dryer balls wound up in the dryer at the same time.  The second one magically appeared 2 days ago.  Wondering where it has been (guessing the teenager's room in a sleeve of a shirt that he now has to wear because it's the only clean one left) and how long it will remain here.

3.  Loving the fact that this is now out quarterly.

4.  While my husband I jokingly call ourselves "old fogies" because we are often in bed by 9:00,  we made plans to go out and stay up until midnight to toast in the New Year.  We made it!

Toasting in 2014.

5.  An unexplained phenomenon: my Christmas cactus re bloomed in the same week that my Easter cactus decided to send out 2 blooms.  This is the second year in a row they've done this.

What unfinished projects are laying around your house?  Would you be interested in my idea of The Unfinished Projects – Project?  Any suggestions you may have as to how I could launch this idea would be most welcomed!

Happily linking up with Kim's Friday Finds and Nancy's Random 5 Friday.

Dowrick, Stepahie, Choosing Happiness: Life & Soul Essentials.  New York: Penguin Group, 2007.