There is JOY in the morning!

"May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy each day."    Thich Nhat Hanh

Hung out to dry...

As winter nights approach, I've pulled out the down comforter, flannel sheets and mattress heating pad.  Nothing like a nice toasty bed on a cold winter's day!

I wanted to freshen them up after being stored away for months to I hung them out in the sun and brisk breeze... the fresh smell took me back to my childhood and the wringer washer, rinse tub and clotheslines. The towels and jeans would be a little stiff, but OHhhhh the fragrance of sunshine and fresh air!  No one has been able to reproduce THAT fragrance.

I did. Did you?

Abundance is my birthright...

I'm still participating in the online course to help re-align my financial balance with the Universe as I claim that which is mine.

I can honestly stay that positive affirmations, regardless of the subject, truly work!  I will not provide in-depth details of the class, but as I began, I will give you a little 'taste' and some personal results.

Lesson 4: Provided a prosperity symbol that should be placed in plain view.  A place where it would be seen often... a reminder that all I need is provided easily and abundantly.

Lesson 5: Is an ongoing project as I collect items to place in a Feng Shui Wealth Vase.

Lesson 6: Is collecting a few ounces of water from places that represent success or financial wealth, and pouring the collected waters into a vase that sits in the kitchen.

That catches me up.  I am heading out to vote and to collect the waters.  I'm thinking I'll drop by a couple of banks and get some from the water fountain, and maybe in a few days I'll get some from the Belterra Casino.

** As for results or signs that all this is working:
It appears my issues with Unemployment are worked out, and I recieved all past monies owed, on Saturday. 
I needed a new printer cartridge, and found a Target Gift Card from last Christmas.  The card was $25, the cartridge cost $25.96 ! 
In searching for a job close to home, with daytime hours and benefits...  a new dental office is looking for an office manager position (4 miles up the road), and I am not freaking out 'WANTING' the position, I am trusting it will be mine if it's meant to be.  I know the right job for me is out there... I won't settle.

So off I go to do my duty and vote!!

If you can believe the 'wooly worm'...

It's going to be a MILD winter !

Homemade Bean Soup

So today is sort of gloomy... cool and gray.  It looks like rain.  Steve and I are both a little lazy and want something to eat that is warm, filling, and convenient while we click between the Louisville football game and the NASCAR race.

What could be better than bean soup and cornbread?

This is an "almost homemade soup":

In a 2 1/2 qt. soup kettle add

• 1 can great northern beans
• 1 can navy beans
• 1 can red bean
• 1 can large butterbeans
• 1 pkg. smoked sausage (diced / sliced)
• 1 medium onion (diced)
• 1 green pepper (diced)
• 1 can Rotell tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 chicken boullion cube
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups water

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 30 - 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.  This is a great soup to have with tortilla chips and a little hot sauce, or cornbread.

* You can substitute any beans you like.  I love to add black beans or large red kidney beans for a colorful bowl of soup.

ENJOY!

OK, so I need to get serious again

I've lost 35 lbs since February!  That's wonderful, isn't it??  Well, I still have 30 more to go.  Currently I'm at a standstill... a plateau.  I am bouncing between 173 - 175, and I can't seem to break the 173 'pound barrier' !  LOL

So, today I'm going to focus on moving more.  Housework, although helpful, is NOT to be considered exercise!  Back to the treadmill and floor exercises.  UGH!

This is me at 173:

I'm thrilled to see that I have a WAIST... and that I don't have the muffin tops that have been with me for a couple of years!  This brings me JOY.   

I will post my progress each week... complete with photos!  This will give me some accountability.

After lunch, it's time for a ride...

Can you hear it???   When it's idling it says, "potato - potato - potato"...   that's when you know it's a real Harley !   LOL

Not such a lazy Sunday

We've been busy all morning!  It's just now noon, and we've finished the laundry, had breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, made the bed, vaccumed and straightened the living room, and collected all the leaves in the yard.  The leaves were the toughest job!  The wind wasn't very cooperative.  After that we cleaned off the porch and swept out the garage.  The yard looks a LOT better:

There is a "chill" in the air

So soup is on the menu !  Tonight we enjoyed steaming bowls of homemade vegetable soup

Warm pumpkin bread

and really good coffee!

Now we are stuffed, and being lazy.  Me on the computer and Steve watching the NASCAR race in Charlotte, NC. on tv.

I love cooking and putzing around doing nothing !

Turkey in the straw !

These turkeys are fattening themselves up for someone's Thanksgiving Dinner !

It's that time of year.

The trees are putting on their fall colors...

Pumkins and Scarecrows come out of hiding...

I enjoy the fall of the year.  It's like earth's 2nd chance...  old things are tossed away, and after a period of hibernation, all things will become new.



A Blank Mind

Sometimes I have no idea what I want to talk about...

Can't see the forest for the trees...

Mt. Carmel Methodist Church

"You can't see the forest for the trees"
I've heard that phrase so many times.  On this particular day it hit me square in the face!  Traveling south on HWY 421 I glanced east to see the Mt Carmel Methodist Church.  It's a lovely small rural church with a fine steeple.  Years ago it became etched in my memory when I saw it aglow in a dazzling sunset.  Back then (30 + years), the trees that you now see were just young sapplings and the church was completely visible and striking...  much like God's welcome sign on a lonely road.

Fast forward to the present; the trees have grown and now shade, protect and yes... "hide" the church from immediate view as you travel on HWY 421.  This lovely church is still there, you just have to look past the trees... thus:

"You can't see the forest for the trees..."  Isn't that a wonderful analogy?

If we focus on the small things in life, the minor distractions, hurdles, detours, disappointment etc.  we can't see the big picture... it doesn't mean our goals, dreams, healings, prosperity, or peace aren't available or coming!  We just need to get our focus off the minor details (trees) and on to the BIG PICTURE !
May God bless each of you with an abundance of joy!

Joy is a warm bath !

I WANT this tub !

When I was traveling for IHG, I was lucky enough to be treated to a beautiful suite in one of the lovely Holiday Inns in Indiana.  Imagine my delight when I walked into the oversized bathroom to find this lovely, deep soaking tub!   Aaaaah !

Our little farm house doesn't have a bathtub, we only have a shower.  And when I travel, I don't usually like sitting in a hotel bathtub.  This time I made the exception. 

Tonight I'm wondering... how often do I fail to find joy in the small daily things I do? If I had a tub, would I take time to truly relax and let my mind reset itself to a calmer more lucid time, would I allow my muscles to un-tense... would I let "Calgon take me away" ??   And like that night in Indiana, would I stay until I was PRUNE-Y ?  

The joy of the Lord is my strength...



Jesus Laughing







I love this picture.  Laughter plays a huge part in my life.  In my coping skills.  In my health and mental / emotional well-being.  The image of our most loving God laughing brings great comfort to me.  Look around you  (wink)  you KNOW God had to have a sense of humor !

Getting Serious about blogging

This is the view from my deck.  Who couldn't be joyful here?







I have a lot of time on my hands. I've been unemployed since February... yet, here it is late September ! Where did all that time go?

There is no need to try and catch up now. Just move forward. Suffice it to say that since February:

• I went into a deep depression, but came out on the other side with an entirely new perspective (as will become evident as I continue to write).
• Crystal Bowesox did NOT win American Idol :( BIG disappointment for me).
• As The World Turns ended last week. I grew up with the iconic Hughes family. I cried as Dr. Bob Hughes turned off the light in his office with an emotional "Good Night", and the globe on his desk glowed in the dark and began to turn!
• We've had the hottest and dryest summer on record.
• I've lost 33 pounds since Feb. 4th! Yes, you read that correctly... THIRTY-THREE POUNDS!

I will be writing about all of these things and more, and how they influence and filter my perspective in my search for ... J-O-Y.

Stay tuned !

My journey into joyfulness

My first attempt at blogging:

I began thinking about blogging when I saw the movie 'Julie and Julia'. I envied how Julie could just sit down and click out her feelings and thoughts so clearly and openly! My thoughts are like b.b.'s rolling around in one of those little hand held games where you try and maneuver them into a hole. There's SO much noise in my head! I think the first thing I need to do is learn how to calm the playing field... get it level... and let the b.b.'s settle into their own little niches! Until I accomplish that feat, you will have to be patient with my ramblings.

I'm obsessed with joy. I love the word and the thought... I just wish I knew how to find it and hold on to it.

My office is a testament to my need to find joy. Bookshelves lined with wonderfully talented authors and motivational speakers; Joyce Meyer, Wayne Dyer, Steven Covey, the Olsteens, Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins... the list goes on and on.

My iPod is crammed with songs about joy, and love, and peace, and over-coming.

I have CDs and DVDs... all promising at least 90 minutes of J-O-Y! But where is it now?
Where - is - MY - joy?

*This is where I should type some deep and insightful thought... something that will cause you to want to come back every day to drink from my wealth of wisdom, and insight, and my ummmm... my joy-full-ness' ! Well dear reader, here's what I've got:

Joy won't come from reading someone's ideas about it. It won't come from listening to someone talk about it, or sing about it. Joy will come NOT as we put motion to our thoughts, but only when we put thought into our motions.

Come on this journey with me, if you too are looking for your 'joy rising'... let's test this theory together!

See you soon!

Finding contentment in what you've got

"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have."



We live very simply. Small home with furnishings that are a little tattered and worn.

Sometimes I look around and I wonder why I can't decorate like my sister. She has this knack of pulling things together. Her house looks like something out of Martha Stewart Living! I have been known to refer to her as Minnesota's Martha Stewart! But my home IS what it IS!

This winter I realized how muchI love the little corner gas stove that looks like it's burning wood. It's so warm and comforting to sit next too. Our girls (dogs) are sleeping peacefully on the sofa. It's covered with a sheet and a blanket to protect the upholstery, but it looks in disarray most of the time. Still, hearing Maxine snoring from beneath the cover brings a smile to my face as I type from my office here in the next room. Maxine and Harley love their lifes. They are content on the sofa with the wadded up blanket, next to the fake wood-burning stove. They are filled with contentment with what they have, resting assured that everything they need is just a nap away.

Joyce Meyers puts it this way: 'Those who want to enjoy life must learn to enjoy the journey, which is filled with waiting. Eventually we reach our destination only to begin again on a new journey to another place; therefore, to never enjoy the journey is to never enjoy life."

Today, I enjoyed the syrupy slowness of the hours ticking away, listening to the soft snoring of my beloved Boston Terrier... the warmth of the fire... and even the steely gray sky threatening yet another snow. All I have, or need... is just a nap away.