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Heartfelt Blessings Christmas Card

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What to do, what to do?

I think that being a Mom somehow automatically means life is busy. I have especially noticed this as my children get older. Each new season brings new understanding of time to their little minds. It also brings added interests. What do we try? Soccer? Dance? Gymnastics? Piano lessons? Their are so many valuable things to get involved in and such great things to expose the kids to (and of course they have their individual interests too), but we just can't do everything. We have decided that each kid can be involved in one activity...but then there must be exceptions to that rule. Life is full of choices and one of the things we have to decide is what is best for us, what do we need to say no to and what do we spend our valuable time doing. There are only 24 hours in each day. How will I choose to use my next 24?

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Christmas Cards

well, in an effort to save money I used coupons for some of my Christmas cards, a calendar and the shipping.  I saved $80 in one transaction!  That was cool.  And if I embed this code in my blog, I get $10 towards my next purchase on Shutterfly.  Here is my attempt at that!

Stationery card

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My dream job

Someday I want to... Probably most of us have thought that at some point. There is some dream job out there that that we idealize as the perfect opportunity. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, as it were.
It occurred to me today that maybe my dream job isn't really what I am called to do. Maybe it doesn't really line up with my talents and skills that God gave me. Maybe I idealize it because it is something I admire, despite the fact that it isn't for me. I think I would be much more content if I started seriously looking at the gifts and abilities I have and how to use them best and stop looking at the things I WISH I was good at.
If only I could be a "....", well, maybe that wouldn't really be me.

Motivation

Over a year ago I decided to train for a half-marathon.  Yes, I decided to run for 13.1 miles.  I know it sounds crazy but my mind set when I heard someone else talking about it was "If she can do it, I can too."  That proved to be good motivation for me to get in the habit of running.  I found a training schedule that gave me a good rough estimate of what to run and when.  I then adapted it to my own life and truthfully, didn't do all the work it recommended.  Race day came and there I was.  At the start line of my very first race, 13.1 miles.  Yikes!  My goal was just to finish.  I not only did that but did it in much less time than I expected.
The problem after that was that I had no more goal to work towards.  I stopped running.  I realized I hadn't been a runner for the enjoyment of it but the challenge.  In the next 6 months I ran about 3 times and it was a chore.
This year I decided I needed to incorporate exercise into my life again for many reasons.  That motivated me to get my running shoes back on and go to the gym.  I actually enjoyed it.  I was glad that I went by the time I got home and decided I needed a little motivation to keep me running.  What did I do?  I decided to do the half-marathon again and I even recruited a running buddy!  The challenge of having someone to keep up with is powerful to me.  I don't want to be left behind when she takes off at that start line.  So I got out my training schedule again and set my mind to it.  In the last couple weeks I realized that I am a runner.  I enjoy it.  It makes me feel good.  I look forward to the challenge.  I don't have to make myself go now.  I actually want to run.  What a difference.
I still like having the challenge of setting a goal and being accountable to a friend to keep improving but I have finally crossed that line from "someone who runs" to "a runner." 

Full vs. Empty

I came home from grocery shopping tonight and as I rearranged my fridge to fit my newly acquired items, it felt like a kid puzzle I needed to conquer.  You know the ones...they have one square missing in the self-contained board.  The sliding and manipulating of the pieces is remarkably similar.   Fresh milk in back, older in front.  Both milks have to be accessible (baby's and family's).  Veggies together, leftovers together, fruit together.  And of course, fresh fruit has to go beneath the older fruit in the drawer.  Yep, that sounds about right.  A game of moving things to the right spot just to find out I have to move them again to get something else in it's right spot. 

I guess that is kind of how life is.  Just when we seem to have things figured out (or at least working pretty well) we find something else out that just mixes things up a little. 

But they do say that a full fridge is more efficient than an empty one and I would venture a guess that a full life is better in a lot of ways than an empty one!