Quotation

A little known fact about me is that I like Maya Angelou!

I have rediscovers a few of my favorite quotes by her today and thought I would share.

Enjoy!

 “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

― Maya Angelou

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou 

 

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.
- Maya Angelou 

  

While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation.

- Maya Angelou

 

 History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

- Maya Angelou 

The rub of journaling

   This year I have been trying to get myself into journaling more. However I am neither the most entertaining, nor imaginative person when it comes to journaling topics. As such I found and printed off this “helper” from the Paper Coterie web site. 

  

   The idea is super cute and solves the age old issue of writers block. Basically there are 52 questions that you randomly pull out of a jar, or in my case a make shift envelope I engineered from left over Christmas wrapping paper that I glued to the back cover of a journal I purchased for $0.52 (Creative? Not much. Cheep? You bet!). The questions range from simple inquiries, quite silly queries, and a couple a hard hitting doozies (yes, I said doozy).

   

   The question posed last week was not, I believe, intended to be as perplexing as I made it out to be. It was something to the effect of “What is something you regret not learning?” Again, not that perplexing, right? I could have answered simply with “the harp,” “cooking skills,” or “the ever elusive game of “water polo.” But no, I of course cannot make it simple.

   

   After some introspection I decided that the something I regretted not learning while I was young would be the skills of foresight and adaptation…Why you say? Well I’ll tell you.

   I have never been really apt, or even, dare I say, fond of change. The unknown and unfamiliar has always clenched my heart like a raccoon upon finding something shinny, or like that one creepy guy in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Dramatic? Maybe. But truly change and I did not play well together. 

   Imagine little Sara. A petite little thing that never had to relocate as a child, never had to change schools, not even many of her friends or family left or altered her world in many ways. 

I must clarify that she was not immune to any change.  However the changes she experienced, like entering high school or starting to drive where a part of her life, but most of these were celebrated and anticipated events that marked steps into womanhood (though I won’t go into the fears connect to becoming a woman. You can ask my mother about the tearful nights concerning projected boob development later).

   As I look back I feel like the gift of a little foresight may have not only calmed a few fears, but maybe given me a bit more courage to explore beyond “my world” sooner than I did. Maybe some of the obstacles in my life would be easier.

   However, as I re-examine the question and the projected results I find myself doing a proverbial double take.

   If had been more efficient with my foresight-ic and adaptation-al (I realize these suffixes are in no way in line with any English major’s acceptable parameters…Boo parameters.) abilities, I may not have made some of the decision that brought me to where I am.

An example; If I had the foresight to see what 3 years of a private collage would do to my later finances I probably would have looked into alternative options. 

  What if I had?...

  Aye there's the rub!

   I would not have attended a school that was base to the most wonder filled and adventurous years of my life. I would not have made the many friends who are held dear to my heart and were culprits to most of my memorable adventures. MOST terrible of all I would have not met my husband, who I owe my current happiness to.  

   I suppose it all boils down to how much fate, destiny, and providence play a role in your current beliefs.  I have begun to believe that though I may have saved myself a lot of heart ache and trouble if I had learned things a little earlier, I would not be who or where I am today. And I am happy. Change still is not my best bud by any means, but I have found him to be a tolerable and in some case an enjoyable companion.

The welcome home party. 

i haven't seen this much ice since i lived in virgina

This one is not as entertaining but it does show how solid the snow/ice is

Aussie didn't know what to think about the ice. What you are about to watch is a dog on a half inch sheet of solid ice.

*snow* *SnOw* *SNOW*

Today was fun in the snow!

Aussie sure enjoys 

the snow. 

We were the first ones in the field!

It's like a blank canvas.

Aussie and I made a little snow man.

I made a snow angel.

And on our way home we saw some holly berries!

Come on 2013!

Soooooo, let’s be honest with each other. 

If you are glad to see 2012 gone raise your hand. 

OOOOOH MEEEE!  PICK ME!

Those of you who did not raise your hand in agreement, kudos to you. 

I however am not one of those. I will be glad to see 2012 slowly, or more preferably yet less likely to, quickly recede into the back recesses of the unused parts of my temporal lobe.

I am not saying that the year of the dragon did not contain some positive.  It did…I just can’t think of many at the moment.

2012 was a year of stress, hard work with little to no reward,   unwanted social pressures, unwanted work pressures, people I would rather have deleted from the entire year,  optimism beat down to the depths of  pessimism, and a whole heap of financial anxiety…To say the least.

I am not expecting 2013 to change things over night. But the blessing of the New Year is new hope, new optimism, new anticipation, new opportunities, and some old revived faith deliberately and full heartedly thrown in.

Come on 2013!

I used This video in a group last night. I thought it was rather powerful.

A beautiful Book of Mormon Story

AMEN!

Das’ right! I show that I am semi domestic.

I made PESTO! Completely natural, amazingly delicious, and made from scratch…Let me rephrase that just in case there are those of you who still don’t believe in my domesticity. I made homemade/ homegrown PESTO! (I underline the word homegrown here to emphasize the fact that Adam and I are capable of having a successful garden. You heard right. I have two very fruitful (or leaf-full) basil plants in our herb garden!)
What is pesto you ask? Well pesto, pronounced pest-o, is a sauce originating in Genoa, Italy. It traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil and pine nuts blended with olive oil and parmesan. The name comes from the Genoese word pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation, with marble mortar and wooden pestle (get it? pesto? pesta? pestle?...Pretty awesome huh? Remember to reference the bottom of this blog for more on this). However, the slightly untraditional and yet so much easier way to make pesto is not "pounded" but thrown half-hazardly into a food processor.

 Lovely shade of green, no?

A basil leaf from the garden. Potent yet very tasty little buggers.

These jars will stay good in the fridge for up to 8 weeks, and up to 6 months in the freezer.

You can't really tell in this picture, but the two bottles on the bottom are a different

shade than the ones on the top.

 Why? Because I planted two different basil plants in my herb box this year. 

Large leafed "Sweet Basil" and the smaller leafed "Pesto Basil"

I wanted to experiment to see which made the better pesto.

Verdict: I cant tell the difference. LOL

Pesto is great on pasta, chicken, fish or bread. It is a well known fact that I really like warm pesto-butter French bread. If you have not had it yet imagine the yummiest garlic bread you’ve ever had. Then add 40% more flavortastic-ness! To make pest-butter you mix ½ cup butter with 2 tablespoons of pesto. Then you spread that mixture over your favorite French bread and broil it until the butter is melted and the edges of the bread look golden. Yummmmmm!

Soooo, if you have yet to experience that exceptional taste that is pesto-butter French bread I suggest two things:

1) TRY IT! But you can’t just go to the store and buy it. Store bought pesto is far too oily. So if you can get your hands on the homemade stuff that is the way to go.

2) Come on over to my house and I will share with you the amazingness that is pesto-butter French bread!

Additional

I recognize that I have made some…o.k. quite a few new words in this post. Nevertheless, please keep in mind that some of the most used and beloved words have been made up, and in most cases were complete b.s. In fact, you could say all words started that way. Like the aforementioned words pesto, pesta, and pestle. These words were derived from the same Italian word pestare, and yet one could argue that they were MADE UP!…Yup, I still think that’s pretty awesome! My made up words may not be in the Webster’s dictionary, but they are most definitely derived forms of bonafide words found in the English language. I like to think that I am just adding to the cacophony that is the English language.

Belly Dance Shots

My lovely sister in-law and I took some time out the other day and 

went around the town taking some belly dance shots.

It was a really bright day so I look a little washed out, but they have a really artistic flare which I like.

Here is what came of it.

Like I said we went around the town, so here are the Green Wall pics.

I think this last one is my favorite...It took a lot of work, the wind wasn't working with us.

Belly Dance classes start again the first Tuesday of August.

It is a blast! so come on in and join us at The Grateful Pose!

Have positive mind

"It is not the place, nor the condition, but the mind alone that can make anyone happy or miserable."

Roger L’Estrange

Can we all agree that happiness is a positive emotion? Or that happiness is something that cannot exist in a negative state? Have you ever been happy and miserable at the same time? I haven’t. It goes back to not having enough room. If our minds are preoccupied with the negatives of our predicaments, where are we going to fit in the positive?

I conducted an experiment in ninth grade. I had been in a funk of negative-ness for weeks. I couldn’t figure out why I was so damn angry all the time. I won’t bore you with all the details; I’ll just say that one of my writing teacher said to me “fake it till you make”. I’m pretty sure that her point was if you fake that you are an author you’ll write, then you’ll get plenty of practice, and then one day you’ll become good and you will be a good write. So I wondered, if that works in the writing world why wouldn’t it in the emotional realm…Far fetched, no? Well I was willing to try.

My goal: Fake a smile 10 times a day. I know, I know, that sound horrible, but that was where I was at. So went around for a good week faking smiles to at least ten of the people I saw. After about a week or so I realized that those ten had become more like twelve. That meant there were a couple of honest to goodness smiles in there. Long story short I worked myself out of quite the icky period. It wasn’t spontaneous. It took quite a bit of false smiles, but I can truthfully say that by the beginning of tenth grade I was a genuinely happy person who genuinely smiled a lot. After years of contemplating why in the hell that would have worked, I understand a lot of the science behind my little experiment. It’s all to do with the endorphins releases when a person smiles. Interesting, no?

Anyway, it’s all about trying to have the whole a glass half full kind of attitude. Which is hard sometimes…Ok, a lot of the time, but the point is that your mind can make or break it. When you catch yourself calling your reflection the mirror fat, or when you call yourself stupid, or worthless you need to tell yourself to STOP!!! Get into the habit of recognizing the negative self talk and flip the switch. Comment on how sexy your hair looks or remind yourself how many people in your life love you. Find a few things positive to counteract the negativity. One day positivity will conquer those negatives, and you’ll be better for it.

Count your blessings

"Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have."

Unknown

Seeing what we don’t have is a lot easier than seeing what we do, which is funny if you think about it. The things that we have are right in front of our faces and yet sometimes they are the last thing to be recognized. Pause to count those things in which you do have. Remember to take the time to appreciate that which you are blessed with, like family who put up with your crap, like friends who like wise put up with your crap (willingly even), or just the simple fact that you don’t have to sleep out in the cool or rain.


Besides everyone had to start somewhere. James Oppenheim said that “The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.” If you are always seeking that which you don’t have in order to be happy, when will the happiness come? After you have the newest and greatest piece of technology? With the way technology advances you would never be content.


The happiest people I know don’t rely on “having” in order to be happy. They don’t need certain job or certain level of income. They don’t have to be the perfect weight, or the perfect body. Instead, they learn to be happy with what they already have. Be happy with what you have.


This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t progress or have goals to better yourself or your position. It simply means that one should appreciate that journey as much as the destination. Appreciate the steps along the way, and remember to stop to smell the roses.

Be yourself

"The summit of happiness is reached when a person

is ready to be what he is."

Desiderius Erasmus

This may be the most difficult to achieve. Finding yourself takes a lot of searching. But once found is the compass to life.

Character

"Character is the basis of happiness and

happiness the sanction of character."

George Santayana

When you are true to yourself and others, you will be at peace. In short, keep the promises you make to others as well as the ones you make to yourself.



Develop Your Talents

"The more passions and desires one has, the

more ways one has of being happy."

Charlotte-Catherine

A lot of my friends call me Jack. “Jack?” you say, “Why Jack?” Well, from what has been explained to me is that it was derived from the phrase “Jack of all trades.” Still confussed? So am I.

I am a curious person and I love to learn…I also must admit that I get bored pretty easily. Because of these facts I have dabbled in many different genera of experiences. A small example: Since a young age I have been curious about different cultures. I wanted to immerse myself in all of them. But having grown up in a middle class home in the middle of the American West I didn’t get many opportunities to do so. My solution? Dance. I learned as many different dance forms I could get my hands…or feet into. From Pointe I learned the refined discipline of Victorian Europe. In Capoeira I learned the strength of the Brazilian people. I’ve learned to jig like the Irish, Salsa and Cha Cha like the Cubans, Swing like an American, Shimmy like a native Moroccan, and even walk like an Egyptian. You name it I have done or would love to learn it.

The same curiosity I have for dance and culture has translated into most parts of my life. And by so doing I have found talents that I didn’t know existed and in so doing I have found a lot of things that give me joy.

A word of warning: Be careful with your curiosity. Monitor what your curiosity is and if it fits with your values and morals first. As you may know, curiosity did kill the cat after all. And curiosity is a road that if not monitored with constant map checking can get a person lost.

Relationships

"Life’s truest happiness is found in friendships we

make along the way."

Unknown

Why are relationships so important? Can a hermit not be happy?

The ways in which humans deal with one another has as much of an influence on their behavior as their instinctive reactions. That’s what distinctifies mankind.

Humans, by nature are social creatures, in fact one of the most social on earth, and therefore have a strong desire for belonging. So, the simple answer is that only through relationships can we love and be loved. And that, my friends, is the essence of belonging.

My apologies to all those hermits out there reading this blog.

Let It Go

“One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.”

Rita Mae Brown

It is difficult to find room in your heart or mind for happiness if it is filled with regrets. In other words; it is hard to think or do things that make you happy if all you can think of is what burdens you from the past.

Do you still clutch on to memories of was or what could have been? Was your heart broken? Did you do the breaking? Where you not trustworthy? Where you too trusting? Did you live through a traumatic experience? Each mistakes, misgivings, wrongdoing, and regret hold so much weight. That is probably why they are so hard to get rid of.

We fear that lifting a heavy burden out of our theoretical back pack might be more painful than we would wish, so we do not. Carrying it seems easier; I mean you’ve already got the momentum built up, right? Stopping to take the time to remove it may ruin what you’ve worked so hard to get.

Not to face it may seem less complicated, but it is not. One burden’s weight may not seem like much but when others are added it may become the straw that breaks you. Our bodies and minds get weary and small things tend to become more like a millstone around the neck if they are not confronted and resolved.

Let it go. Whatever that process may entail for you, just let it go. There is nothing you can do to change the past, so I say take it at face value, learn from it, maybe you’ll want to make recompense for it, and then let it go. Then you’ll be better able focus on the present and your future.

Take responsibility

The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage. Thucydides

One of my favorite mottos is “you can’t control the people or the circumstances around you, but you can control how you respond to them."

For example, there are certain people in this world who just annoy me, and there always will be. I can choose to always let that ruin my day (which would be a lot of perfectly good days gone to waste), or I can choose to accept them for who they are and move on.

If I gave someone the power to make my day a good one or a bad one where is my freedom? I would be bound by the will (or sheer stupidity) of others. I will not give over that power, because that to me is the ultimate annoyance.

That kind of freedom does take courage. If I choose to not blame another for the crappy day I had then I have no choice but to take responsibility for it myself. That is defiantly not the easier way, but it sure gives me a lot more options.

Before and after: An Aussie tail (hehe...Get it?)

 Aussie in all her hairy glory

She wouldn't let it go

Hairy rump

I finally got it away from her, but boy did she pout 

Can you say fixated?

Sad puppy 

Later, after a grooming ordeal, we had one happy and cool pup.

Presenting The Hairless (and a whole lot skinnier looking) Wonder!

Much better

I think she agrees..If you cant tell 

Does she look like a hyenna to anyone else?

I never noticed she has such a big tounge