Peace

Peace can come from the strangest of situations.

My peace lately has come from the terrible weather.  It has been freezing rain and grey outside.  This does a few things.

it keeps me inside

it keeps me puttering

it keeps my mind going in a gentle hum instead of a roaring blur

inspires me to organize

to spend time with my dotter in her nest (top bunk, complete with beautiful lanterns from Cultures)

to plan out my meals for the week so that my family can get back on the healthy wagon after the holidays

to read about clicker training and start with my beautiful new puppy

to watch out the window as the grass turns from green to grey, a shiny, translucent cover building on it

I close my eyes and hear the peace around me.  It has a sound you know.  The sound of my dotter reading out loud.  The pup playing with her toy.  The cats scurrying around.  My honey typing away on his laptop.  The gentle patter of the frozen ice drops on the window.


Those are the sounds of peace.  The simple tasks I worked away at...peace.


I have vowed that this year, I will find a moment of peace in everyday.  No matter how hectic.  I will see the good wherever I can.  I will take the time to make memories with the ones I love.  2011 opened my eyes to lots of things.  2012 will be the year of change.

Be sure to love the one you're with.  XO
 

The New Year is a Comin'

I'm not one for resolutions but it does help to set a goal and what better time to start then the first of a new year.

I think this year physical fitness has to rank up there pretty high.  I am a healthy eater for the most part but the exercise thing...I make excuses on why I can't.  I have to get back in the groove I was in before, like two years ago, gym every day or at least four times a week.  So, that complimentary one month gym pass is going to serve to get my mojo going.

Mental fitness is going to take priority too.  I read.  I write.  I do quite a bit to fire up the brain.  The mental fitness I am speaking of...distancing myself from toxic people.  People who lead a lifestyle that I just do not share, I have to put distance.  People who are passive aggressive guilt-trippers.  Have to step back.  I need my emotional self to be 110%.  I have a busy job.  A busy family life.  There is no room for the garbage.  I say garbage because I have tried to "accept" these "traits" in others but I just can't anymore.  I have a wonderful family and an amazing group of friends.  They deserve my best and I can only give that to them if I'm not consumed with the bullshit.  So bullshit free (reduced, that's more realistic) in 2012!!!  And a slightly slimmer ass.  2012 is already looking good.

Love the one you're with!!

Christmas is coming...

...The goose is getting fat.
Please put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny then a half pence will do
And if you haven't got a half pence then God bless you.

It is that time of year again.  For some it can be very difficult.  They are barely getting by.  Find it hard to get something small for the ones they love.  Feel guilty because of that.  Haven't got food to put on the table.  Miss someone they love.

This time of year, if you are blessed with abundance.  Share it.  Share your physical goods and your emotional ones.  It just takes a moment to show someone you care.

Love the one you're with.  XO

I never met you...

...but I miss you.

I know that you were loved from the second I knew about you.

I know that you were a part of me that I never got to hold.

I can almost smell you and feel you if I close my eyes.

I remember the day you left like it was yesterday.

I know that everything happens as it should.

But it doesn't change the fact that I miss you.

More today than ever.

Slowing down

I wish I could say that's what I'm doing, slowing down.  It's not.  As my girlie gets older, I get busier.  As I take on new challenges, i.e. work, I get busier. As I get more involved with volunteering, I get busier.

But I am slowing down.  Does that make sense?

I think I would call it prioritizing.  Being selective about what I say yes to.  Being selective about who is in my life.  Eliminating mental clutter so that when I'm in the moment, I am truly in the moment.  I have rules for myself now.  No phone at times when the ones I love need and deserve 100% of my attention.  This can be challenging because my work now requires me to sleep with my phone.  Not literally but yup, it's on my bedside table at night.  Same goes with my personal tether to the world.  9:30PM and unless it's something important, I don't answer it.  No calls, no texts, no email, no Facebook, no Twitter.  Makes me enjoy times like these more too.  Times where everyone is taken care of.  The tasks for the day are wrapped up and I can escape to a place where I can get my thoughts out there.  Clear my head.

I watched and listened to my girlie laugh tonight.
Full out belly laugh.
Eyes squinting.
Head back.
Full of life.

That is what makes me slow down.  That's what puts perspective on everything.  I could have kissed her face off.  And I did.  When I snuggled in to put her to bed.  When she asked me to hold her hand.  My world stopped.  I was in heaven on earth.

As always, love the one you're with.

Nature in us

eyes upon the future

not looking to the past

time streaming by

slipping between our fingers

cup your hands

capture the moments

let them flood over you

smile

feel their warmth

revel in the truth of the moment

don't fight it

let it wash over you

through you

clean

refreshed

renewal

like the leaves on the trees in fall

they served their purpose

they provided shade

they drank in the light

now they start to die

but no tears

rejoice in the idea of renewal

bare like the branches doesn't mean alone, naked, vulnerable

it means shedding the old, which served you well and preparing for the new

feel nature around us

in us

through us

Love

Graduation from BMQ

Something ended this weekend but it was also the beginning. I graduated from my Basic Military Qualification. Made top three! I was in the running for Top Candidate...didn't get it but that was fine with me. I really didn't want to have to parade out in front of everyone. If you could see my drill, you'd know why. HAHA The TC award went to a very deserving person!!! Very proud of him!!

This is the beginning of a whole new career for me. A part-time career but a career just the same. Just because I am doing it part-time doesn't mean I just have part of my heart into it. I am so dedicated to this it's ridiculous. I believe in the people we have in our military. I believe in their talents and abilities to serve with honor, dignity, loyalty and courage. I'm so proud to put on my combats, big red and white flag on my shoulder. [big smile here]

And I've got a new start on some other things as well but that can be for a later post.