One Little Word 2014

  Well, the end of another year and what a year it has been.....this year has brought 3 weddings and a funeral and a birth....all of which we had no idea was happening at the beginning of this year!!  It was with many different emotions that we experienced these events...and as a family and as a person, there was a lot of learning going on.  I think the biggest word/phrase I've taken away from these specific experiences is...letting go....  In the big scheme of things we really have no control over so much of what happens and that can be ok.  On the opposite, I really learned that there are some things that I can control, if only for a period of time.  

   I have really become more confident in my abilities in certain areas of my life...most importantly my health.  It's been a matter of choice...and that IS all up to me (for the time being with God's blessing:) What I eat, why I eat and how much...it's not easy sometimes but the reward is always better.  I feel better...more energy, less sick days and it's wonderful to see that it can be such a positive example for my kids.  I have started running (and I am NOT a runner!!) and made the big leap and signed up for a 5K in May.  Even Virg has jumped onboard as well!

When I look back on my word for 2013 ACCOMPLISH I really am aware of how that impacted my choices.  Thinking about what would this accomplish.....  When I set myself up to achieve certain goals I went with what I knew would help me to accomplish the end result I wanted.

The last few weeks I've been thinking about what word would be mine for 2014...

make

I found a manifesto of sorts from Uppercase Magazine and the word was there....

I printed it out and will frame it for my creative space upstairs:)

We are excited to be going to the Outdoor Classic Hockey game tomorrow...we will have to dress very warmly!!!

Looking forward to making my word work for me again in 2014.

Blog Your Heart

One of the blogs I read quite frequently is this one: Just me my soldier and our 4 chicks  and I SO enjoy her honesty and her love of family and the simple and real things that matter in life.  She recently asked her readers to "Blog their Heart"....write what's on your heart...not thinking too much about it but just writing, so here goes...

1. Seasons of Life....It's funny how when my kids were babies/toddlers I thought those were the hard years.  Oh I can't wait until they start talking..start walking...start school....Now my "babies" are teenagers of the ripe ages of 17 and 14.  Ethan just got his license almost 2 weeks ago and now I think...wow, now the real worrying starts:)  I worry about what the world will be like for them and if they'll be happy in their future lives...

2. About Time...saw this movie

and it has really stuck with me:)  I LOVED it...the music, the actors, the script, the scenery...most importantly the words and their meaning....when it comes out on DVD I'll be one of the first in line to purchase it for my movie library!!

3. Couch to 5Kapp... I've started it..I don't like running any better..but I do like how I feel once I've completed it and soon I hope to sign up for a 5K.  The kids have even become little exercisers:)  It's a good thing for all of us.  I'm even sleeping better at night and losing the bit of weight I wanted to get off that I've gained over the last 6 months..yeah!

4. One of a Kind Gift Show... looking forward to attending this show in Toronto again this year.  Usually it is just myself and another friend but we've got another 2 gals coming as well.  I'm hoping the weather co-operates and I get some wonderful gifts bought as well as enjoying some girl time with wine and a nice dinner on the Friday night.   Here's the link : One of a Kind Gift Show Toronto

5. One Little Word... for this year has been ACCOMPLISH and it truly has helped in my navigation this year:)  I frequently conquer up what my focus is and although I haven't always accomplished the monthly projects thru the class I have used the concepts and gotten so much from Ali.  I've even begun to think about what my new word for 2014 will be but will let it simmer for a bit.....

Just have 5 things but hey, haven't written here in so long....

There's a little dusting of snow out there...perhaps this will help to get me in the spirit and get some Christmas cards started....

A new Season...a new Life....

Lots has happened in the last few months...wedding, funeral and a birth...all the stuff that makes up life.

My sister was married in Vegas in August and it was nice that most of the family could attend..I did miss having my Mom there but she does not fly..no way..no how.  The weather was stifling but we did enjoy the cabana time earlier in the day which occur the day before the big event.  After we returned the funeral was held for my grandmother, Margaret.  It was a beautiful day and it was wonderful to see how much her life has touched so many, including my own.  Then just a few short weeks ago..SURPRISE..Matias was born!!  He came home just this past Friday and I ran over to finally have my turn holding him (I took the picture above as I held him.)  Thankfully both he and his Mom are doing well and he is gaining weight and sits around 5 1/2 pounds now.

We surely will be having many things to be thankful for this coming holiday weekend.

I'm hoping to do some more Project Life pages..still working on August but I am still happy with this project...love looking over my pages and remembering and seeing the changes.

Beginning of a new season

Well spring is almost over and I'm going to miss it:(  The weather here the past 3 days has been spectacular...which means sunshine and temperatures in the 70s...this I can handle.  It means walks in the morning and sometimes after dinner....gardening without having to wipe your brow every 2 seconds and bending and turning until your back says no more!!  I love that we can eat outdoors and no bugs to worry about as we enjoy meals I've enjoyed preparing as this weather just puts me in the mood to cook. The arrival of summer in a few weeks means that Victoria will soon be graduating from grade school...which means both kids will be in high school next year..yikes!!!  Am I really that old...yes, I am that old.  Just yesterday I was holding a 4 day old baby....it seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago and I was holding my 4 day old baby girl.  Although Megan was quite a tiny little thing.  My Victoria was never that tiny!!

I am looking forward to cottage time this summer...we have my sisters wedding in August and a trip to Vegas in September as well.  I'm hoping to make my summer to do list soon...we have some get togethers to plan out there as well as a few concerts we've gotten tickets for which is something we haven't really done in the summer.

A track and field meet is happening tomorrow for Victoria and she will be in 4 events!!!  She is nervous but I think more excited:)  Keeping my fingers crossed for her...

ALmost ready for Easter.....

Well today was a day about friendships:)  Usually Thursday is the day I take the morning to do a walk with 3 of my "besties" and we go for coffee afterwards.  Today it was a quick walk and short coffee with 2 of them as we had other stuff to do.  It was a nice visit and the sun was out but still a little chilly. Later in the morning I had my friend, Sue over and she brought some lunch and we did a bit of crafting...mostly talking.  It was wonderful!  She's good for the soul.  You know when you have a real connection to people?  You have wonderful talks about stuff that really matters?!  Sometimes there are tears..sometimes there are tears from laughing so much too...just great connections.  I feel so fortunate to that with a handful of really good FRIENDS.

Today was also the day that Victoria's best friend moved into a new home.  Her Mom had called me in the afternoon and I stopped by to pick up some stuff to bring over to the new house and then left to get the kids from school.  I brought them all to Mc D's to get some dinner and they wanted to stop at Petsmart.  There are weekly requests to go there so we can check out the pets...YES we have enough here...we are NOT getting any more LOL  After that we had a bit of time before we were to meet at the new house.  I wanted to bring some flowers so we stopped at Fred's and I picked a hydrangea plant and then a roasted chicken, some potatoes and veggies and dip.  We worked at unloading the 2 vehicles and the moving truck.  I went to work at cleaning up some in the kitchen and set up the microwave and cleaned and put away fridge contents.  I wasn't going to stay long...but I'm glad I did:)  I was going to go get groceries but that wasn't going to happen...I will have to go Saturday.


My  grocery list is long, I don't have the eggs to decorate yet, I haven't figured out what I want for the table.....

Today was a good day:)

  I'm tired and I'm not looking forward to the grocery shopping but I was there today for people.  My purpose today was made clear...THANK YOU..I heard you:)

Feeling better....feeling busy

Hard to believe that February is coming to a close soon....I have been doing well at creating my weekly Project Life pages and enjoy doing them.  Virg read over the last couple that I did and really enjoyed them, makes me feel good:)

Last week we had the second wedding of the month!!  It was a nice ceremony of Virg's longtime friend, Ravi.  Then back on Valentines Day his younger sister, Leticia was married.  Both weddings were planned kind of last minute but were both happy occasions.

With last weekend being the long Family Day weekend we enjoyed a weekend away with 3 other families.  Unfortunately Victoria was sick and ended up missing another 2 days off school and although I felt like I was catching the same bug I was able to fight it off with vitamin C and echinacea so that was a blessing!!!  The kids had fun being together and above they are in the clothing section of the COOLEST store The Bomb Shelter in Akron, Ohio:)

Not much longer until our family vacation to warm and sunny places...I can't wait especially now that I hear we are in for more snow tomorrow and colder temperatures for the next 5 days...ugh...spring come NOW...PLEASE:)

I was reading one of my favourite blogs this morning...Lucky 13 and decided to check out how to add some icons to my side bar....and ended up downloading a new template design..I LOVE it!!!  I certainly need to fix it up (and trying to figure that out:) perhaps I'll ask Ethan!  Some things are needing to be corrected such as the wording on the header isn't really properly centred.  Learning as I go along.

Today is the beginning of the COLD.  Although the sun was peeking out a bit and some fat flakes were floating down it did look pretty and happy to be INSIDE looking out.  I need to write up my to do list for the week.  I started it as part of my weekly routine to get stuff done.  I do a better job having it written down and am a geek about checking it off...it makes me feel like I did accomplish something:)

Last week was a great week for accomplishments.  We finally have the wheels in motion to get our staircase done.  We have had our hardwood upstairs done since last March and feel like we've found the right guy to finish the stairs.  This also means painting the hallway so I was able to bring Virg to Home Depot on Sunday and I have picked up 3 colours to sample.  I think the middle one is it but may do the lighter one on the left.

Tonight is a meeting to help/inform parents on helping our high school students for next year choose their courses....still can't believe next year both my kids will be in high school...eeekkk  She says she's excited, a little nervous....must say I feel the same way.  You see I can still see her and hear her...her little 4 year old self...and now she's the big cousin to this girl...time flies by.

Today was creativity day..yeah!!!

Well I had a to do list for some creative things I wanted to accomplish today....

I got my Project Life title page completed...

I have 1.5 cards done:)  and I signed up for Ali Edwards  One Little Word at Big Picture Scrapbooking!!  I have listened to the podcast and have my handout printed out and some ideas written down for my January assignment.

The sunshine today was gorgeous and hoping the rain holds off until later in the day tomorrow...looking forward to seeing the ladies for coffee in the morning.  On Friday I have plans for lunch with my Mom and dinner with Keri...yeah lucky me.

Word of the Year

It's funny...I know I'm driving my hubby nuts:)  I have been contemplating my word of the year for awhile now. My word for last year was  embrace and even though I fell off the monthly assignments I did really try to live my word.  Whenever a situation came up I would just say to myself "embrace" and move forward.  No judging...no second guessing...just embrace.  I made a point to embrace and spend time with those who matter and mean the most to me.  I would embrace the more difficult times, the questions...look to where I knew hope would lie.   I will continue to use my embrace tactics as I continue in this new year...I want to accomplish a lot.

I kicked around words such as finish, plan,  hope, trust, fulfill, grace and thought it was create because that sounds good:)  But really the word picked me....as I searched dictionary.com and looked up quotes...there it was   accomplish

I know Virg listened to me and he said create....he knows me so well, I know he wanted me to have him say that...because I DO love the word!!!

But we've been talking about things we want to complete around the house, in our lives, with our kids...and really this word is to encompass my whole life not just the fun, happy things, right?

 If you are to accomplish all that one demands of you, you must overestimate your own worth.
                                                                  
Our wishes are presentiments of the abilities that lie in us, harbingers of what we will be able to accomplish.                                        
                                                                                     Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

I have done page layouts and canvas with my OLW in previous years...not sure how I will visualize accomplish for this year.

Part of my plans include having the kids plan and prepare one dinner a week, one day a week for creating, actually setting up an etsy site, finishing renovations in the house...number 1 the stairway:), and Virg has been kicking the idea around of a half marathon...now this one...I'm not sure I can do that.  Guess I should look at the first quote :)

Tomorrow is the day to take down and put away Christmas decor...this holiday went by SO quickly.