Five Minute Friday: Focus

Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking

Five Minute Friday: Focus

Go.

i love fridays. i love that for five minutes i can tune out the world around me and write and think and process.  for five minutes the to do list on my wall doesn't matter and the incessent tuggings for my attention fade quietly into the background.

for five minutes through laughter or tears i can quietly sit and type and think.  five minutes when i can be creative without strings attatched or judgements made.  five minutes when i know i'll get a beautiful comment from someone else offering their encouragement.  five minutes to connect with the world but more importantly to connect with myself.

stop. take a breath. take a moment. think the thoughts. write the words. focus.

Stop.

Thankful Thursdays Top Ten #74

Yes...that is birthday ice cream.  The cake I was going
to give her went bad and I wasn't about to make ANOTHER
cake to sit around our house after that one and before her
official birthday cake.

What a crazy busy week.  I seriously feel like I have been running all week - starting with a 7:30am text message Monday morning scheduling a meeting.  All good though - busy is better than bored!  I have four big projects I'm in the middle of so four different to do lists taped to my wall, all while planning my girls' birthday party this Sunday.  Fortunately we keep things pretty low key so making a cake and blowing up some balloons should pretty much have me covered at this point.

So hubs makes fun of me because we tend to have rather drawn out birthday celebrations in my family.  So we did Grace's birthday with just our family on Wednesday, will do a mini-party on Saturday with my parents and grandparents (Great Grandma and Big Poppa - where did she get that??) and then their party on Sunday.  It's nuts.

Thankfuls...

1. Still thankful I'm not famous.
2. I'm thankful for Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst. Oh how this book speaks to me.
3. I'm thankful for Princess Program starting up again!
4. I am thankful for the Newsboys and songs like "God's Not Dead" and "Revelation Song".
5. I am thankful that two weeks into my three month Sunday School commitment it is going well :)
6. I am thankful for friends that I'm reconnecting with.
7. I am thankful for my Hello Mornings group that encourages me to get up and get my quiet time done!
8. I am thankful for Hershey's Simple Pleasures chocolate - they are tasty good.
9. I am thankful for simple and fun birthday celebrations.
10. I am thankful my kid is still young enough to think getting underpants and tights for her birthday is fun.
11. I am thankful that she LOVED the game I got her...and that apparently she can play it without me ;)
12. I am thankful I live within walking distance (on a good day!) to the library.
13. I am thankful for encouragers.

Glad I'm Not "Famous"

I was looking for a blog I used to read online today and in the search it came up with "Blog Name" then underneath "Blog Name Haters".  Then I got looking into a few things and realized that yep, they were right - pretty much every famous blog/person/tv show has a "haters" group too.

I realize there are people in my life who don't like me or might chat about me behind my back - it's a part of being out there but sheesh, to have someone dislike me or my family or something SO much that they feel compelled to not only talk about it but also to post about it on a regular basis.  Breaks my heart.

I'm guilty, I know.  There are people, things, etc that I don't like and while I try to be reasonable about it I do get caught up in the moment sometimes.  (For example, a frustrating experience at Walmart/Target/Meijer/etc - is it the store's fault? corporate's fault? or the cashier's fault? and does it really need to be shared everywhere??)

I don't know - it just makes me sad to think that there are people out there scamming other people, that there are people who's single comment gets taken the wrong way, but mostly that we are such a train wreck society (again guilty myself, not pointing any fingers that don't point right back at me) that there is a platform for this sort of thing.  Makes me want to really think about what I'm watching, reading etc, especially when it comes to the "reality" type shows and blogs in general. 

</end rant> 

Five Minute Friday: Graceful

Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking

Five Minute Friday: Graceful

Go.

this is kind of making me want to cry.  graceful?  i'm not.  i mean, i have moments where the words come out eloquently or the movement looks smooth...but not usually.  i feel like graceful people are the ones that are comfortable in their own skin and with their own thoughts.  i feel like i'm too often at a comparison point...

...i wish my house was decorated like hers...

...i wish my meals were as healthy and good as she can make...

...i wish i knew how to get my kids to listen like hers do...

...and on and on it goes until i have so devalued what i can do, what i am doing, to the point of insignificance.  i wish my confident self would tap me on the shoulder and remind me that i have a three year old who needs trained - just like her kids did when they were three.  and she cooks those meals because it is fun for her and relaxing, just like saving money with coupons is for you.  and well, we have friends that can decorate. 

i wish my confident self would remind my un-graceful self that blogs are the pretty picture and the people who know me and are friends with me aren't going anywhere.  that i may not have it all under control but the important things, yeah, i've got those.

grace: characterized by elegance or beauty of from, manner, movement or speech; elegant

Stop.

Thankful Thursdays Top Ten #73

So thankful today!

1. I am thankful for family pictures!
2. I am thankful for better sleep.
3. I am thankful for great Bible study Monday night.
4. I am thankful for friends' weddings coming up!
5. I am thankful for sermons online.
6. I am thankful for Sunday School planning fun!
7. I am thankful for my husband being on my team parenting.
8. I am thankful for lots of work to be done!
    (But Morgan, I need you to come help me get my office under control)
9. I am thankful for chats with my friends, Chick Fil A, phone dates, park dates and more.  I need them.
10. Princesses.  Big ones, small ones, all my girlie princesses.  I love them.