December 2011 Blog Posts (90)

I've just finished reading Country Chronicle by Gladys Taber (1976, American Reprint Company, ISBN#0-89190-596-0). I had been invited to be the first patron of our local public library to read the book when it arrived because it had been ordered as one of several in memory of my mother. When asked how I would like the plate inside the book to read, I requested the following dedication: "In memory of (Mom's name) - A library volunteer who loved the words of Gladys Taber." And as Mom…

Is there anything more beautiful than the sky just as the sun is setting in the wintertime?  When there is still enough light to see but dark enough that traffic would need turn on their headlights.  When you can see the outline of the trees but not any details.  When you're only outside for a minute or two and your family waits inside for you to come back inside to begin preparing dinner. There is a stillness, a peacefulness that comes with winter that  we don't experience during the other…

Well, I must say I haven't been very diligent about this blog.  I can say however it has been an excellent week!!  I was able to get to the gym four times and have productive workouts.  I have dropped two pounds this week.  I have been eating waaaaay better.  I haven't had processed sugar in two days.  That is a miracle for me:)  I feel good too.  It's funny how a little clean living can effect the body.  I'm going to start next week with a new trainer and hope I can get great tips and…

Ive never been this hungry to share my feelings well atleast not in a while. Ive tried therapist before but they made me feel crazy. Anyway, I try to deny my true feelings because i think they are just too extremely difficult to feel. Alot of my feelings seem bad, I feel like I am evil. If people really new what i was inside they would turn away like they do anyways. I keep them away cause the more i feel the more i let them in the more uncontrolled those feelings…

Achieve your 2012 Goals With These Simple Tips

I overheard a conversation in the locker room at the gym today between two ladies who were regular gym-goers.  One of them commented on how quiet it was in the gym this morning given that it was the holidays.  The other reminded her…

My good friend Chris recently told me that his son is 14 years old, the very same age that Chris was when I first met him years ago. As I watch the snow falling outside of my window. I think of how fleeting time is -- how just like the snowflakes, the days (and years) come and then melt away. As we prepare to close out one year and usher in the next, I find myself reflecting a lot about time. In fact, I just read a poem this week that began, "What is time?". Time is a strange thing. It has…

I remember 1991 as if it were yesterday. Well actually, I think the winds started blowing in my life the year before. My mother had become increasingly ill, my long-term relationship was eroding before my eyes for reasons I did not understand, and 1991 was to be a year of major changes in my life. for the first time in decades I was living on my own, my mother was dying, my father was doing all he could to stay strong and care for my mom, I was back in school working on my fourth degree and…

December 30, 2011

How to manifest what you want in life:

We offer a service that you can get with or separate from a reading called “submit a manifestation”. This service is our way of trying to help you manifest what you want to achieve in life or with something specific in life. For example: we have submitted manifestations for things like: helping people who are in the hospital heal faster, helping people sell their home, helping people manifest the job/career they want,…

This amazing little story by Kurt Kauter has always been an important reminder of how powerful we really are!  Check it out: 

"Tell me the weight of a snowflake", a coal-mouse asked a wild dove.

"Nothing more than nothing", came the answer.

"In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said.

"I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow -- not heavily, not in a raging blizzard -- no, just like in a dream,…

Not a new me. More of the ME I have become.

My husband and I stole a couple of hours today from our regular routine in order to walk at a nearby state park. Winter hasn't hit its stride yet in our state. Normally frigid, gray and snowy, the sun was shining, the temperature peaked in the mid-40s, and there was only a bit of snow and ice to hamper our brisk pace. A few other nature-loving souls had the same idea, for we came upon a couple throwing snowballs at each other and a young foursome bravely and deftly swishing about on the…

Last week, I wrote about Zoë’s cousin Bruce and his request for lemon drop cookies. To be honest, I have never made them before. I figured they could not be that hard to make, but it was one of the things he remembered about his wife who had passed away. So the morning he was leaving, I woke up early and began making lemon drop cookies and quiche he had requested. I knew this was exactly what he had wanted this holiday season, so I knew he was going to be excited. What I was not prepared for…

As winter arrives, and the cold, long darkness sets in, I am on a quest for wellness in mind and body. I am turning 40 this year and want to embrace it with open arms. I am writing about it so that I can be held responsible for my actions. The quest begins... I started taking the most blissful yoga classes that leave me glowing with a sense of peace and serenity that was lost upon me for years. Next is horse riding once a week. It requires all of my focus so there is no room for a roaming…

Now-peace.  My friend Clyde used that term in a letter to my husband and me.  I love the term now-peace because it makes the concept of finding peace accessible and achievable now, not some elusive, hoped-for event for the future.  After all, now is truly the only time we know that we have (although my plans, worries and fears would trick me into thinking otherwise).  The ability to find peace and embrace it right now is worth the effort.  Now-peace has become my personal meditative…

Our Family wants to participate in the 21 day Challenge for 2012.  Since we are all vegan we want to know what we can substitute for the salmon, sardines and egg and still get the same health benefit?  Thanks!

Do you set yearly goals? What do you want to accomplish in 2012? 

@ [Fitness, Health and Happiness]

I admit it, I'm a nerd.  So now that I've signed up the the Mind+Body Challenge, I'm obessively researching what it's all about, to see whether I'll really be able to do it.  Can I really cook (or prepare) breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks every day?  What will the rest of my family eat?  Should I tell them about the Mind+Body Challenge?  Is this really in accordance with my attempts to simplify my life, or am I overcomplicating my already reasonably healthy life?  And most important,…

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you.   What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.  -Mary Pickford

Get up.  Start fresh. These are comforting words, words that most of us need after the holiday season.  It is nice to know that today we can make a new start.  We can refocus.  Sit down today and think about what is important to you.  Place those first on your calendar.  Looking forward to the new year and new…

My mom loved Constant Comment tea. So when I read a book lately in which the author referred to Constant Comment, I thought of Mom right away and the many conversations she and I had over a "cuppa" throughout the years. I think there's no gift more intimate among good friends than a gift of tea. This holiday season, I gave my friend Ellen some Constant Comment as a remembrance of the special friendship she and my mother had. I gave another friend Betty chai tea -- a favorite of hers, and I…