It's the Little Things...

I've been thinking a lot lately about some of the things I've learned about myself since turning 40. These are things I wish I would have known/realized when I was 20.

Now these aren't huge in the eyes of the world, especially in the second list (those just help keep me sane). They won't change my life forever, they won't save the world, nor will they put my kids through college. But I have found that these simple things can make a big difference in the way my day and peace of mind play out.

All my life I've been running and trying to slow down - only to slow down and see that it didn't make a difference. I've begged God over and over again to help me live my life and not just watch it go by. Then He showed me that He has been doing just that. I just haven't been paying attention. (Sounds a lot like my report cards in elementary school.)


Things that really make me pause and enjoy life...



Babies - They hold the true innocence and joy of God. I can't help but have tears in my eyes when I hold a newborn, or laugh when making silly faces at a toddler.

Fresh Cut Flowers - They are so bright and colorful. They bring life to any room.





Animals - I don't have to be holding one to appreciate them. No worries, I'm not in danger of becoming an old lady with 50 cats. But since we've moved to Colorado, we see a lot of animals all the time. Some wild, some on farms. I love watching the eagles soar overhead, or the baby calves run and play together. It's been amazing to see how even horses care for each other. Just driving by farms we've seen them nuzzle up nose-to-nose and just stand like that for what seems to be forever. We even saw a baby calf being born as we drove by. I tried to get Matthew to stop, but it's not exactly his idea of an exciting afternoon.
Animals show a fun part of God that I don't think other things can. His creativity is amazing.

Nature - This one doesn't always catch my attention immediately. Probably because it's all around. If I literally stop like I do with the others, I would never get anything done.
I can say that not a day goes by that I don't notice the beauty of the snow capped Rocky Mountains. There's also nothing like seeing the pine trees that hold snow by the handfuls after a winter storm.

Little practical things that make a big difference for me...

My house could be a complete mess, but if my bed is made and my room is straight - all is right with the world.






We could be totally broke and not have a dime to our names, but if I have two sizes of garbage bags (white kitchen and large lawn bags in the garage) then all is right with the world. Keeping an extra roll of paper towels in the cabinet even brings a feeling of rest. That may sound lame, but those are also the things that I'm most likely to forget to buy at the store. So I can let go of a tiny bit of stress somewhere.


When I turned 40... I just felt so cheated by time. It went to fast.
But on the flip side, I think I've come to some pretty big realizations about myself. I can remember about 5 years ago when Matthew came home one day to give me the day "off". He said I needed to go out and do something for myself that I would enjoy. You've got to be kidding! I didn't have a clue as to what that would be. I was actually afraid and drove around in circles for a long time.
I think I finally ended up at Sonic for a Diet Cherry Coke.

I'm very thankful that God is revealing to me exactly who I am in Him. Grant it, it's taken a while, but I can be a bit hard headed at times. I know... shocker!


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Finally...

I have been wanting to change the whole layout of the blog, but had no idea how.
So, of course, instead of learning how and fixing it, I did the whole "avoid" thing.
That always gets things done so much faster, don'tcha think?

Unfortunately, it took me several hours to do so, so now I've lost my creativity to post.

So for what it's worth... There ya go.





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The Winner is...

My biggest duh! moment of 2008

This year we sent out over 100 Christmas cards.
Unfortunately, only about 50 had addresses...




This is a sampling of them. I love it - if you can't read the stamp from the Post Office, it says, "Returned for BETTER address". Should read "Returned for ANY address, dork".
I'll blame it on the kidney stones and percocet.


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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Finally, our first real snow in Colorado and it's absolutely beautiful.

A little scary to drive in at one point, but still oh so gorgeous!





I'll put some better pictures up another time.
We just got home and I don't want to go back out right now.
That's the funny thing about snow, it's beautiful... when you're sitting inside by the fire. ;)



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Dilemma...

Alrighty, I've worked hard not to put much on my blog about the "rocks".

But I've come to a point, that I just need to vent a little.



Over the last few weeks I've fought sleep... well, constantly.

The meds they have me on for the kidney stones make me uber tired. There have been a few times I would sit at the computer and contemplate tapping into the wisdom of Tom and Jerry by putting toothpicks between my eyelids to keep them open.

'member that? (If you're under 30, you probably don't.)


So this evening (or yesterday evening) we went out to dinner with some friends and I didn't think twice about having iced tea. I thought the caffeine would help fight the effects of the meds, which in turn would help me be more alert so that I could enjoy the evening. That probably would have been a fabulous idea if I only had a glass or two... not six. Hey, I'm supposed to be drinking a lot of fluids, right?

Which brings me to my dilemma.
It is now 5:37 am and I need to be up in less than an hour to get ready for church...

Do I go back to bed and watch the red numbers on the clock turn one at a time, or do I just stay up?

Tomorrow will be a long day. There is a play practice after church, which means we won't get home until 4:00ish.
I guess I can always hide in my office and sleep while Matthew and Ben are in rehearsal, but I was hoping to get a lot of stuff done in that time.

I think I may just stay up. You know what would happen if I tried to go back to sleep now, don't you? I would lay in bed, again watching the numbers change on the clock, and gently fall asleep at 6:29 am... just in time to hear the alarm go off at 6:30.

I'm praying God imparts some supernatural energy to get me through the morning.



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