31 Things - First 5 Days/Things

Since being home full-time one of the first things I realized was that I'd neglected my creative side for a long time. I looked around  to see what my friends were doing and discovered and started following several blogs. Ali Edwards is one of those blogs that I like to follow. She offers classes periodically . I'm already signed up for her One Little Word class which helps me to dig deeper into my 2012 word (RENEW). Ali is offering a new class called 31 Things. Each day I get a prompt and then a break down of this prompt in the form of questions to help me flush out how this word plays out in my daily life. I write down my thoughts and then take a picture to help conceptualize that word in my every day surroundings. I'm having so much fun with this project and keeping up with it...that's a miracle! Here's a picture of all the pages I've done so far:

First day was about Jewelry and I titled mine 2 Rings. Fancy Watch. Fisherman's Bracelet and 1 Sapphire Stud Earring.

Morning and Read were the prompts for Days 2 and 3. I enjoyed writing about my morning routine which is so different now that I'm home. I love to read so it was interesting to think about all the different things that I read and how I read them.

Days 4 and 5 got a little more complicated. We were asked to think about the word spirit for Day 4. I decided to include this scripture "For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:24 (NLT) I liked to write about the ways that God's Spirit is evident in my daily life. I also used a download image from my friend Angela Moore's blog. Day 5 was conversation. Haha...I love to talk so this one was so much fun. I decided to take a who, what, when, where type of approach:

• Who: Maddie, Debbie, Chelsea, Emily, Greg, Nathaniel, Momma...GOD
• What: Conversation, communication, connection, guidance
• When: Any Time...I love to hear from people and about them all the time
• Where: Just about anywhere is good for a conversation: kitchen, laundry room, car, bathtub, store, even in the movies but don’t tell the kids...they hate when I text there
• How: In person, phone, texting, email, facebook, twitter...PRAYING 
• Why: For connection, for information, for help in tough situations, to vent, to laugh, to learn, to grow and be challenged, to love more and deeper.

I plan to share on my blog a bit of each of the days and the prompts that I am writing about. My hope is that through these 31 days I'll catch the blogging bug and make that a part of my new normal life...

Fill in the Blank Friday

I have a friend whose blog I love to follow. She started doing something called Fill in the Blank Friday and I really have enjoyed gaining some insight into who she is by reading these Friday posts. I want to be a more consistent blogger and believe this might really help me in this endeavor. So starting today, May 18, 2012, I'm blogging on Fridays and filling in the blanks. Here's Angela's blog if you want to follow her as well.

1.  Something that is very near and dear to my heart is reading and growing. Some days I get so absorbed in what I'm reading that I loose complete track of time. I love to read things that cause me to think and question what I understand to be true. I love to read inspiring stories or just plain old novels. I've recently started reading more material related to health and fitness and enjoy finding new exercise routines or healthy meals to prepare for my family.

2.   Today is good cause to celebrate because it's Friday and that means the weekend is finally here! And this weekend is going to be relaxing...no company, no parties, no races. Now, I love all those things but sometimes it's nice to just chill during your weekend.

3.  The most fun I ever had was really? I don't like this fill in the blank. I have fun in so many different ways that I can't really pinpoint a "most fun I ever had". I've been having fun lately thinking, planning, shopping and helping Chelsea get ready for her wedding. What a beautiful time in her life and I get to enjoy it with her!

4.  True friends are not just the ones that "like" you on Facebook. True friends are the ones that you can call in the middle of the night because you are sad and need to talk. True friends are the ones that will listen while you vent but then give you good sound advice.

5. Something that makes me terribly happy is watching my family grow and discover new things. I love this season because we are all in such different but fun new areas of growth. From the top down we are changing before our very eyes!

6. A good way to spend a sunny day is on my back patio listening to the waterfall from the pool while drinking some sweet homemade sangria. Oh man, I really need to get some of that going soon!

7.  My favorite celebratory food is a thick juicy steak with a loaded baked potato. I also love a slice of bakery style layered cake like you get at a wedding or fancy party. We had a wonderful cake at Chelsea and Chris' engagement party last weekend...dang I wish I had stashed a piece away for just this moment.