Happy Photo #2

A watermelon candy stick and a nice walk :) They used to sell candy sticks like these on the counter of the campground we went to when I was a little girl...it's funny how a simple thing can take you back :)

Happy Photo #1

OK. . So it's more than 1 photo today but Margo's being so adorable :) got my chores done a little earlier than expected and grabbed some cuddle time with my girl.  Nothing like a purring kitten...Happy Friday:) #100HappyDays

100 Happy Days

So a good friend of mine is doing this facebook project called #100HappyDays where she is posting a picture of something that makes her happy every day for 100 days.... and I'm always intrigued by these sorts of challenges (though I often fail miserably at them- it's still fun to set out on them!) and I do like to make lists and it will turn out to be sort of a list so here is my beginning to my version on this.  Starting probably tomorrow I'm going to give it a go, I figure it's can't be a bad idea to focus on something that makes me happy every day and it'll get me to post on here a bit more regularly :-)

You can read more about the project in general here:
http://100happydays.com/

My goal will be to make 100 posts before the end of the year... because I know myself.. and posting everyday will probably just not happen. 

Looking forward to sharing happy moments!

P.S. I have a few predictions that these pictures will tend towards the food/beverage/books/kittens category... we will have to see what else I can come up with :-)

Book Thoughts: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

 

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

I read this book simply because it seemed like an entertaining book about hiking... and as an unlikely serious hiker myself, about to attempt the Inca Trail, I thought it would be a fun (and maybe informative) read.  It was all of those things, but I didn't realize when I checked this book out of the library that it would also strike a cord with me on other levels.  I identified with Cheryl from the first few pages and while I never engaged in the kinds of destructive behavior she does while facing grief and uncertainty I certainly felt her pain as she described nightmares she would wake up from, or the feeling of loss of control after losing her mother and her family essentially falling apart.  I cried with her and laughed with her and was proud of her (and maybe a few times questioned her sanity but I'm sure people question mine sometimes too).

Definitely recommended reading, if you're a hiker or not, the story is about the journey both physical and emotional.  Definitely worth the read.  And if you're the kind who likes to read books before you see movies definitely give it a go because the movie is slated to be released sometime in 2014.

P.S. Here's hoping my Inca Trail comrades and I are more prepared than Cheryl was... plus... you know, we'll have a guide and each other.  After all, this girl is afraid of the dark... and the dark alone in the wide open wilderness... no way :-) 

2013 Wrap Up- Better Late Than Never?

Well just like my Christmas cards - my end of year blog post is running a little late.   But it will be completed before those cards will. Though I did buy some Happy New Year cards which are now also out of date that I still plan on sending maybe in March(ish).

So my Owning 2013 list had a few items that didn't get done: 
1. Read Rebecca
3. Take a Dulcimer Lesson
4. Paint a painting
5. Put together granny squares of moms into throw blankets
6. Back the quilt top mom finished
7. Ride in a hot air balloon
8. Learn tatting - complete a project
14. Watch Casablanca
18. Ride a mechanical bull... someone out there recently said this was on their list too.. speak up and let's get it done :-) 

Some of them I've added to my Rocking 2014 list and others I've decided are really OK for me to just let fade away into the sunset...

More importantly I did do a lot of awesome things in 2013 -- some from my list and some just because.  I've taken up hiking to prepare for an epic adventure to Peru in the spring, I shot a gun for the first time, I read some awesome books, went on an incredibly fun and relaxing vacation with the Florida branch of the family and just learned to relax and enjoy life a little more (I'm still working on this... most of my friends would probably say my worrying level is still a bit high on some sort of scale of how much normal, well adjusted, people should worry but progress is progress).  I also added an adorable bundle of fur to my life and made quite a few new friends and spent quality time with old friends and family.  Oh and I saw a ton of super fun concerts with an awesome partner in crime :-) Not too shabby really. I'll take it.  

So a couple favorites from 2013:

Book: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell granted I didn't get much reading done this year but this would have been a stand out no matter how many books I read.  My short review of it was: simply beautiful, great, writing.

TV Show: Walking Dead -- it's really the only thing I watched regularly.  I've also recently started House Of Cards and I'm enjoying that too.  I've learned setting and action/plot aren't really what drives my watching.. as long as there is character development and relationships to follow I'm good with zombie guts or backroom politics :-)

Movies: I don't know if they were a 2013 favorite for me but I did finally see the original 3 Star Wars movies thanks to some very persistent friends.. and I think that's notable :-) 

Songs:
I have so many favorites from this past year but I'm especially fond of these 3
Compass by Lady Antebellum
We Were Us by Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban
Drink a Beer by Luke Bryan  

I can't get through this verse without tears:
Funny how the good ones go
Too soon, but the good Lord knows
The reasons why, I guess

Sometimes the greater plan
Is kinda hard to understand
Right now it don't make sense
I can't make it all make sense

-----------------------------------------------------

I had lots of changes in 2013, and change is a good thing, so world - feel free to keep bringing it :-)  And I'll keep trying to keep my head above water and have some fun and make some memories in the process.  Happy New Year everyone... only a month and a half late :-)




 

Five Poems

So I had a to-do item on my Owning 2013 list to write 5 new poems... well I didn't get it done yet but I'm going to rectify that with some awesome haiku :-)

1.
Two Thousand Thirteen
was not so very awful
wine makes it all good

2.
I got a kitten
call her badness and stink bug
and sometimes Margo

3.
Didn't read enough
adult books to make my goal
read kids books instead

4.
my kitten is cute
then she tries to eat my nose
then she gets time out

5.
I can be quiet
sometimes but usually
means I'm in a funk.

6.
I can also be
loud.  like crazy awesome loud
more often than not

And I wound up writing 6... will make up for all the other stuff I didn't do... right?  right?  :-) 

So many things to be thankful for...

So I dropped the ball with posting something I'm thankful for every day on facebook... so I thought I would give a few things the attention they deserve... I still might not do it justice but here goes...

1. I'm thankful for my family.  Young and old far and wide, those I talk to every day and those I touch base with just once in a while, all are important to me.  Families aren't ever perfect and that's what makes them beautiful. Every family is different and I happen to think mine is spectacular, each member individually awesome.

2. My parents - I still feel them with me everyday because our bond was so strong, and for that I am forever thankful.  When I'm having a rough day I can hear my dad saying "chin up, kid" and I can almost feel my mom brush her hands down my hair like she would do when I was sad.  My tough side (which sometimes hides) comes from both of them... I think the word feisty could be used for either one.  When I need to channel my "inner feisty" I just think of them and my backbone gets a little stronger :-) My mom had spunk and my dad had a bravery that I think is unmatched, and they both had an awful lot of love to give.

3. My friends -I have awesome friends that I've known for 20+ years and awesome friends I've known just a few months and I am thankful for every single one... They are a support system that I don't even begin to know how to be thankful enough for. When I lost my parents and found myself on my own again in what felt like rapid succession I thought I would feel a bit like an orphan and alone in the world.  But I was wrong.  Through every crisis I've ever faced my friends have been there to encourage me, make me laugh, dry my tears, feed me Hoffman's milkshakes and literally hold me up if I needed it.  Not a single one of them ever lets me forget who I am and that I'm tough enough for whatever life throws at me.  They're also good at being silly, going on adventures, challenging me to get out of my comfort zone, eating sweets, drinking wine, having fantastically inappropriate conversations and just plain ridiculous fun! I *am* one lucky girl.

4. My health - I've worked much more on this in the last few years, realizing that mid-thirties is probably a good time to start taking better care of myself (ok mid twenties or earlier might have been a better idea).  I'm thankful I have the energy to do fun things. I'm thankful that my body proves me wrong when my mind says "I can't" and I think it's been fun challenging myself in new and different ways whether it be by trying a new food that's healthy and delicious or by taking up a new hobby (I'm aching to try some trapeze work after the Pink show last night!)

5. My path in life... This is really overarching but I like where I am today, and who I am today and so because of that I need to be thankful for every step that got me here.  Even the ones that made me angry or sad. I was blessed to have a childhood that gave me a solid foundation for life- for all of the experiences and opportunities my parents and organizations like 4-H gave me during those years. I'm thankful for college where I learned to love poetry and art and to think about the world in a different way, and I'm thankful for the sometimes rocky path I've had as an adult when I've felt like a new crisis was being slung at me on a regular basis. I'm thankful for my career which lets me use my brain to solve puzzles and lets me be around awesome coworkers and customers everyday. 

6. Tough times - This is going to sound crazy.. but more than once recently I've caught myself saying "you've had harder days than this - this is nothing - you can get through it".  I'm sure there are tough times still to come.. maybe even tougher than I've already dealt with but I know exactly which days and moments have been my toughest so far and when I think I'm having a rough day I can look at those and know that I'm on the other side of them now and whatever is going on shall pass too.  Tough times make for a tougher Jen :-) but never a less sensitive or caring Jen.  So for that I am also thankful.  

AND THE TOP TEN SILLY THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR:

1. Coffee
2. Chocolate
3. Kittens
4. Baby Goats
5. Hot baths
6. Good wine
7. Warm blankets
8. John Green Books :-) OK that should have been on my main list!
9. Songs that make me dance in the car
10. Songs that make me cry in the car