No mistakes in it....

Another year is drawing to a close,

 and many of us seem to sit back and re-evaluate the year we have just lived out.

I find myself focusing on everything as one big jumble (and often- mess),

when really, 

one needs to re-visit each moment and take from that moment~only what is needed.

One can learn from mistakes this way.

(I hope?)

And beauty can be found in the simple.

"Sometimes I lie awake at night and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?'

Then a voice says to me, 

'This is going to take more than one night.'"

~Charles M. Schulz 1922-2000

Enjoying the last few days of this year, in anticipation for a new one.

A brand new year.... with no mistakes in it.  

Yet.

:)

seemingly simple~

Do you ever wonder about the things we miss~ 

when we pass the seemingly simple things by?

(click on photos to see simple:)

~inner beauty~

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”                                     

- John Wooden

Mornings

This morning....

I was called to the back door,

 and my son handed me this:

 Two mornings ago....

I opened my eyes to this view:

Every morning...

I start with this:

The 4:30 mornings....

 when I drive to town for my run/swim sessions:

For me....

there's no time during the day when I feel more alive~

 than the morning.

~

~And YOUR favorite time of day?~

Barrel of Fun

I was sitting on my porch swing the other morning....minding my own business and trying to enjoy a coffee while madly swatting killer mosquitoes....

when my gaze kept being drawn to this barrel.

I had good intentions of cutting it in half and 

making flower boxes out of it to sit at the end of my driveway.

(Thank you dear sister-in-law who gave it to me FIVE years ago to do just that.)

Of course...it still sits where I plunked it, 

~or rather, rolled it~

when we were building our home.

(Another..."I will get around to it one day" project.)

Now the barrel sits like a permanent fixture. 

And I can't seem to find it in me to move it.

Now since that Barrel-Staring morning, I cannot seem to get the

Beer Barrel Polka

(click above link to listen. Or not.)

out of my head!

{A catchy little tune driving me a tad batty.}

~~~~~~~~~~~

I think feel a backyard Polka-party coming on...

(feel free to bring your accordion;)

Throw open the window!

This morning as I walked into the kitchen to chat with my son before he left for work,

I stopped in my tracks when I glanced out the window.

{For days we haven't seen the sun.

The last time I remember seeing it?

Well...even if I look back on the calendar days I honestly couldn't tell you when it was last seen.

It's been more than a week for sure.

Gray, 

white, 

fog, 

horizon meeting land in one large white wall.

It's been dismal.}

But this morning...I saw it.

It took my breath away.

I actually had to throw open my window to let in any amount I could.

(With our record who knows how long such things will last!)

There was no way I was going to miss a minute.

I think my son understood while I ran around the house looking for a camera to use.

And he understood while I stood on the counter to snap pictures from every angle.

I even think he understood when I didn't add a bag of cookies to his lunch bag and he had to do it himself;)

~~

{I was really beginning to wonder if we could still see in color.}

{ I kept sunglasses on all day today.}It was a good day.

morning chores....

(Definition of Chore:  An unpleasant or burdensome task.)

~Nothing "chore-ish" about this time of day.

It is simply.... 

the best part of the day.~

Beautiful in the Mundane

Driving to work I stopped to look at this.

Walking to get my mail I watched how shadows fell.

Washing the dishes I enjoyed this view.

Hiking a trail I left a smile for whoever came next.

It's finding beauty in every day mundane which sometimes keeps me going.

It can be 

quite a 

beautiful Life.

~~~

This and That

Drinking in the SUNSHINE....

anywhere I can find it today!

~~~

Simple things such as.........

This season's first cross-country ski.

Or in....

Silly Popsicle Towers I find on my counter.

And even....

A new member added to our family.

***

Just This and That things.

~~~~~

And something you may just want to check out over at my Cousin's Blog {OUR LITTLE LOVE NEST}

Dee is one amazingly creative person.

(I'm pretty proud to say I'm related to her:)

She has designed this Adventure Calendar for the new year

which is now up for sale in her Etsy Shop.

Take a peek.

Adventure Awaits.....

~~~~~

Have a wonderful weekend !

(I think my weekend will be spent training that new member of our family.....)

Heartfelt Walk~~~

One day last week....(after a very trying and tiring day).....I decided to go for a walk.

Of course I took my camera...

~

...and just took pictures of everything that made me smile.

It was a smile-filled walk.

This particular capture held me though.

It was almost as though this tree had a heart.

It held me in a sense of wonder.

Of awe.

That's what nature and being outdoors does for me.

It makes me feel alive again.

It gives me heart to get through the next round of another day.

~ My Heart-Full tree ~

A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least, but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart.

Hal Borland

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Simple

Reflecting on Simple

My Simple List:

~ walking has to be one of my favorite things to do~

~ being with those i love~

~ thinking of everything, and then again- of nothing in particular~

~ eating my favorite food~

~ reading too~

~ watching my kids learn~

~ finding a new place to explore while i'm out in my wooded backyard~

~ sitting quietly on my back hill under a moon~

{and my list can go on and on}

Oh how I wish it was only my Simple List that

 I had to get done today.

~~~~~~

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.  

~John Burroughs

~~~~~~~

Have a wonder-full weekend.....

The Lighter Side~

We all lead double lives.
I'm sure of it.

There are the lives we want people to see ~
and quite simply the lives we don't.
It all varies in degree and levels, but unless you wear your heart on your sleeve and bare all for no one in particular (yet everyone) to see, we have at least 2 sides to us.

My "blog life" comes across as pretty happy.
Surface.
And I like it that way.
I want to share the positive and look on the bright side.
It's nice to escape that which surrounds you on a daily basis- especially the not so pretty.
Not only that....but my other life can get pretty darn negative.
Ugly.
And truthfully....no one would want to come near.

I don't do this to cover anything up...I just enjoy the moments while I post to imagine what life would be like without the ugly.
It's the part of me that longs for tranquil moments and happy places.....where candy apples and smiling kids and majestic mountains loom and stay- regardless of the day.

As for the other part of my life...it's a continual journey.
A battle of sorts....including not so nice people (myself included), moments of embarrassment, not so nice words, and struggles of self and relationships.

I like an escape once in awhile...hence this blog.

So if you're ever curious about my other life...or feel I'm not truthful in my posting....just ask.
Or better yet....my book will be published soon and you will find it all over the place:
 The "How to Battle Habits" section, "The "How to Get Along" section, The Horror section......you get the idea.
(Just want to be honest that my life isn't all roses....)

On that note, this past week was full of battle.
But as this is my escape place...here are the Lighter Moments of this past Week:

~Moments of Smile~
When I got excited over the fact that my Christmas Cactus was blooming in October...I could hear my 8 year old in the other room stating that, "It sounds like that plants' timer is off."

The fact that COMBINING is FINALLY Over!!! Instead of 18 hour days, my husband will now be back to the normal 8-10 a day. (It is STRANGE seeing him in the house....all of us are scared to blink, thinking he may disappear again...) AND- I now have help in the taxi-ing department;)

~Moments of Disappointment~

Finding out that the 200km bike ride I was going to register for and take part in next June, has a mandatory $2,575 entrance fee. (Granted- the $2,500 is going to charity, but if you're a dollar short you can't ride.)

And...finding out that these had all been eaten and I had no ingredients in the house to make more.

~Moments of Terror~

Getting an unforeseen bill in the mail.

(Don't have a picture of this one... too scary.)

Being at a stop light in the city - looking over and seeing a man pounding his steering wheel, yelling, cursing, throwing his hamburger, a pack of smokes, and anything else he could grab- out the window, hanging out the side of his car shaking his fists....{and I was just hoping he didn't have a gun in his vehicle.}

Never did find out where his anger was being directed...unless he just didn't like his hamburger....

A perfect demonstration of Road Rage.

~Moments of  feeling Blessed~

Finding this note on my pillow when I got home from work late at night:

Opening the back door and being handed this:

There.

The Lighter Side of the week.

Much nicer than the other side.

~

Wishing you all a Wonderful New Week.....

on both sides!

Shut it Off

So my husband ran over his cell phone yesterday.
With a very large and very full grain truck.
He didn't find it until nightfall.....went searching for it with a flashlight and found it face down, glowing, and making twisted and strange music.
It was squished.
Cracked.
Useless.

I am not happy- for the fact that we now have to put money out for another piece of technology we seem not to be able to function with out.

But it was a good day for him.
He stated it was really nice to get his work done...and not once did he have to answer a phone, talk to a soul, or run and do things that weren't on his list to do.
(I'm sure he'd get to a point where it would become necessary once again...but for today- he had a holiday.)

I remember when as a teen...I never left the house without a quarter.
Pay phones were on most corners, and if one wasn't handy when you needed it....Tough luck.
You ran out of gas- you either caught a ride or walked.

Of course now we don't have such worries.
Unless you run over your phone......
OR....
go here:

My last post took me into these photos and it made me miss my mountains.
I never got my hike in this year...but have made it a point to  backpack into the wilderness for a few days- at least once every summer the last couple of years.

This is one place I have found where my phone is rendered useless.
(Well...I DID use it for these pictures:).
But of course there is no signal as you are miles from civilization. One of the main reasons I go.
To get away.
To breath.
To not have a phone in my hand or a computer at my fingers.

The first while I'm out there it's unnerving.

What if I should need something?

Who would I call in an emergency?...there are bears and cougars and a ton of steep rock.

And then...you look around you.

You actually stop...and hear Nothing.

No one is near you (besides your hiking companions).

And the beauty takes your breath away.

And you don't NEED anything but the pack on your back and your feet to carry you and your eyes and heart to take it all in.

You store this all up in your mind and soul,

so that when you DO have to return to civilization....

you have enough stored to help you make it until the next trek into beauty. 

When you can once again leave your "technologically advanced" life behind.

And your phone doesn't work.

~~~

Of course...it could all be very simple to fix without taking the trip 

or running over your phone with a grain truck.

I could simply just shut it off.