Sunday Inspiration: Limitless

Thankful Thursday: August 26, 2021

 

I Am Thankful For:

A completed to-do list

The sound of rain

The bestest husband ever

Strawberries and yogurt

Our son-in-law and grandson making it home safely

Power back in sooner than expected

An end to the rain

Sunshine

Flood waters starting to recede

Time to paint my nails

Lazy morning

My mom didn't cancel her check up

Meet the Teacher with the grandkid

An afternoon out with my husband

Good checkups for the dogs

Sushi dinner

Monday Musings: Unexpected

"Expect the unexpected"  You've probably heard this saying hundreds - maybe even thousands - of times in your life. This past week has had me thinking about the unexpected. 

Several communities in our area suffered from some devastating flash flooding this past week caused by Tropical Storm Fred.  Now, what you have to keep in mind is that I live in the mountains of western North Carolina.  Not exactly a place where you expect to see the destruction caused by a tropical storm.  We've had the remnants of hurricanes and tropical storms sweep through the area before, but the flooding that took place this time around was unprecedented.  (Does anyone else feel like the past 2 years are starting to make us a bit numb to that word - "unprecedented"?)  Floodwaters for one town were even higher than several years ago when we had back-to-back storms come through. 

Also unexpected -  medical news for a family member, which is going to lead to surgery sooner rather than later.  I'm not at liberty to discuss details right now.  Hopefully, we'll know more soon. But in the meantime - any prayers for a speedy resolution and recovery would be most welcome.

Can we ever really be prepared for the unexpected?  Probably not.  But we can try to prepare for how we react when unexpected things come about.  Some we can do something about, some we can't.  Either way, we have to be prepared to make adjustments and continue moving forward with the circumstances where we find ourselves.

All things considered, I did pretty well with my goals for last week. Between the rain and losing power for an entire afternoon due to the storm, I didn't create new listings for my Etsy shop. And I wasn't as consistent with tracking my food as I wanted to be (I can only blame that one on myself).  But otherwise, it was a good week.

My goals for this week:

• Create Sunday posts for the 4th quarter
• Write at least 3 new blog posts
• Set goals for September
• Create at least 5 new listings for the Etsy shop
• Drink at least 64 oz of water per day
• Track food in the iTrackbites app

What are your plans or goals for the week?

Sunday Inspiration: The Unexpected

 

Thankful Thursday: August 19, 2021

 

I Am Thankful For:

Vacation with extended family

My mom house and dog sitting while we were on vacation

Safe travels

Giraffes outside our hotel room window

Baby giraffe (also the baby rhino, baby zebra, and baby gorilla)

My dad's 75th birthday

Going on a ride that seemed scary

Mimosas flights

Finding the courage to do something that scared me

Watching my daughter's face light up like when she was a little girl

Feeling like a princess

The "gray stuff"

Fireworks

Mimosas

Reuniting with my doggies

Sleeping in my own bed

Getting back to my normal routines

Monday Musings: Disney

 Last week was our big family vacation.  A full week at the Walk Disney World resorts. Five days, four parks.  We played hard, ate too much, and walked miles and miles every single day.  It was fun.  It was exhausting.  I may try to share more details by writing a recap for later this week. But you can definitely catch the highlights all week long on my Instagram.  (In fact - I hope people don't start getting sick of all my Disney-related posts!)

I will say that if you have any Star Wars fans in your family - Galaxy's Edge is a must-see!  One of the highlights of our trip for me was to see our grown daughter's face light up like a little kid when she walked into that area of the park and especially when she saw the Millenium Falcon.  Which the entire family had a grand time "piloting" on Smugglers Run.

All the females in our group wore appropriately-themed outfits for each of the parks.  Animal prints for Animal Kingdom, Star Wars for Hollywood Studios, Disney characters for Magic Kingdom, and "World Traveler" t-shirts for Epcot (created for us by my youngest sister).  Were we just too cute?  You better believe it!  

Since I was in vacation mode, I had no goals set for last week except to relax and have fun.  Mission accomplished.  Rest and relaxation are exactly what we need from time to time.  

Now vacation is over and it's time to refocus and get back to my routines.  

Goals for This Week:

• Create Thankful Thursday drafts for next quarter
• Begin selecting Sunday Inspiration quotes for the rest of the year
• Ship open Etsy orders
• Create 5 new listings for the Etsy shop
• Track all food 
• Drink at least 64 oz of water each day

What are your plans and goals for the week?

Sunday Inspiration: Enduring

 

Thankful Thursday: August 12, 2021

 

I Am Thankful For:

Hearing the Hawks calling to each other

Teeny tiny ice cream sandwiches

Reruns of The Office

Playing with my dogs

Cinnamon coffee

Cloudy skies

Pretty pink toenails

When I feel the Holy Spirit nudging at my heart

Vacation plans finalized

New tennis shoes

Monday Musings: Family

 My mind has been on family a lot over the last couple of weeks.  Planning for our family vacation.  My "baby" sister was visiting.  And my Dad's birthday is tomorrow.  

Families can be wonderful.  They can be loving, supportive, and nurturing.   They can also be complicated,  frustrating,  and messy.  Mine has been all of the above at one time or another. 

We all need family.  Whether it's the one we were born into, adopted into, joined by marriage, or one we created for ourselves. They're the people that, even when we feel as if we can't live with 'em, we know deep down that we can't live without 'em.  

Sunday Inspiration: Conquering Fear

 

Thankful Thursday: August 5, 2021

Even when life is super busy, I make time each day to think of a few things that I am grateful for.  For a few minutes, it slows me down and helps me to focus on the things that are really important - not just my to-do list.

 I Am Thankful For:

My "baby" sister coming to visit

Clean sheet day

Sitting on the back porch

Long conversations

Hugging my husband

Cinnamon muffins

My dogs

An afternoon with my mom and sister

Allergy eye drops

Breakfast for dinner

Disney shirts

Sunshine

The grandkid discovering snap circuit kits

A family cookout

Strawberry dump cake

What I'm Reading Wednesday: The Nature of Fragile Things

I featured this book last Wednesday on my Instagram, but I didn't get around to writing a blog post for it, so... here ya go!:  The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner 

Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops a deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.  

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear. (Description courtesy GoodReads)

This was a good story. Well written. Set against an interesting historical event.  I know that so many people really love this book.  And while I enjoyed it, overall it fell a little flat for me.  My problem is that I can't quite put my finger on why exactly that is the case. With the exception of Sophie, none of the other characters ever really came to life in my imagination, feeling more like bland stereotypical background characters.  Perhaps it's because I was hoping for more from the scenes involving the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and it's aftermath.  Maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace to fully enjoy the novel.  (shrug)

Please, don't get me wrong... It's a very good novel.  A nice distraction. And I don't regret reading it.  But, it just fell a little short of expectations for me.  

Currently... August 2021

August used to be such a big, busy month in my life.  But now that my kids are all grown - that has changed.  I no longer have all the rush and excitement of the back-to-school season.  I mean, I'm not gonna lie - my heart still skips a beat when I see all those brand new notebooks and pens in the store aisles. But if I buy any of them, it's purely selfish enjoyment now - not due to a long list of required items. 

July was a blur and I fell short on almost all of my goals.  This seems to become a trend and I'm not happy about that.  I didn't even come close to walking 30 minutes a day.  My crochet top is close to being finished - but not done.  I added several new items to the shop - but not the 15 I was shooting for. I have Sunday posts planned for the next several months, but not the rest of the year.  In fact, getting the outlines created and scheduled for Thankful Thursday posts for the rest of the year is about the only thing I can fully mark off the list.  I'm not exactly proud of this.  But the plan is to buckle down and be able to stay something different at the end of this month.

Working On:  Getting back on track...  with setting and accomplishing goals.  With my health.  Drinking more water.  And 

Celebrating:  My dad turns 75 this month!  And after the past couple of years that he has had - kidney failure due to a retained kidney stone, a massive heart attack followed by triple bypass surgery, and another episode leading to a heart cath and stint - it is definitely something to celebrate!

Wanting/Needing:  To dig deep and find the motivation to get things back on track (as mentioned above)

Eating:  My favorite lunch recently has been a veggie wrap.  I start with some hummus and then pile on greens, sprouts, cukes, red or yellow pepper, tomatoes, shredded carrots, garbanzo beans, and some feta or goat cheese.  Delicious!

Loving:  My New(ish) "What I'm Reading Wednesday" feature.  I adore books.  Reading has been one of my very favorite things to do ever since I was a little kid.  And I adore telling others about the books I'm reading.  I've struggled a little bit with writing the posts because I feel as if I'm coming across all school book report-ish.  But hopefully, it's not as bad as I think and I'll get better as it goes along.

Thinking About:  How close we are to the arrival of autumn.  Fall is my favorite season.  I'm already wondering how soon is too soon to put out all my autumn-themed decor.  Should I wait until after Labor Day, or can I get a head start on it after the middle of August?  What's your opinion?

Goals for August:

• Get everything ready for vacation: packing, dogs and house prepped and ready for the sitter, etc
• List at least 10 new items to Etsy shop
• Write 2 posts for shop blog/newsletter
• Get everything ready for vacation: packing, dogs, and house prepped and ready for sitter.
• Finish creating Sunday posts for the rest of the year
• Create healthy meal plans and stick to them!

What is life looking like for you in August?  Any big plans, celebrations, or goals for the month?

Monday Musings: Hiking

You may have noticed I was quiet last week. I apologize that I didn't get much posted, but I had a good reason.  My "baby" sister was visiting for the first time since before the pandemic began.  No offense, but it was more important to me to spend some time catching up with her than writing a few blog posts.

Since I wasn't posting last week, I didn't get a chance to share about the epic hike we took on Sunday, July 25.  It was about a 7-mile hike.  And yes - my legs were so sore for a couple of days afterward!

The Female Offspring and the Grandkid came along for the adventure.  We saw some beautiful river scenery, the remains of an old logging/lumber community (where apparently my husband's great-great-grandfather worked at some point), and also a rattlesnake.  YIKES!!  I can honestly say that I had never seen a rattlesnake in the wild until this hike.  That part I could have done without, but the rest of the hike was fantastic.

I enjoy hiking and I'm not sure why we don't go more often.  It's good exercise and being out in nature has a wonderful calming effect. Especially when you are walking alongside a mountain stream.

I also didn't get around to setting any weekly goals last week since I knew I would be busy and needed to be flexible with my schedule.  I was a little worried that I would feel behind by the end of the week and be hustling to try and catch up.  But, surprisingly, I don't feel that way at all!

My goals for this week...

• Start prepping for vacation later this month
• Give the master bathroom a good cleaning
• Ship current Etsy orders
• Take photos of new items to list in the Etsy shop
• Work on Sunday posts for the rest of the year
• Take car to have tire fixed

What are your plans and goals for this week?

Sunday Inspiration: Together