Weekly Photo Challenge, “From every angle”

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “From Every Angle.”

Happy Monday to all of you!! I hope your day can be good from every angle 🙂 Here are some pictures from when we were blessed to go visit Paris. This is the famous Basillica. Was a LONG walk, but very worth seeing!

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Another beautiful sight was the courtyard of the Louvre! First a view from the inside looking out.

Now we are outside, but not as close..Hope you enjoyed these shots from different angles. So what does your life look like from different angles? Is there one angle you would rather look at than another?

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Friday’s 6 word story!

SMILE! Spread light to the world!

Seeing through someone else’s eyes!

A week ago I wrote a post on Eating Disorders, more specifically anorexia. I was writing to bring attention to something that is very real and that more people suffer from than you may think. While I don’t suffer from it myself I have walked a close path with it this year. I would like to share a poem  that touched me deeply. A poem written by person that has  personally struggled with eating disorders. I hope you can understand a little more about it as they express their feelings. Thanks for reading and once again please, if you know someone that you suspect struggling with this,  be there for them, get them help!

I have an eating disorder. It is not had or used to. It is present tense. I am Learning. It is learning to love myself. It is learning to let others love me. It is that I DESERVE LOVE!.

I am TRYING. It is trying to listen to my body. It is about ups and downs. It is trying to give myself what I need. It is letting others give me what I need. It is trying to recognize needs of others without hurting myself.

I am going SLOWLY. It is being patient and gentle with myself. It is going through the day, hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute. It is not being everything to everyone, not even to myself.

I am ACCEPTING. It is accepting drugs as a way to heal myself. It is accepting the words depression, anorexia, bullemia as tools to describe not label. It is accepting the help and care of others. it is accepting food as a necessity not an enemy.

I am BEAUTIFUL. It is beauty irrelevant of size or number or grade.

I am ALIVE. It is fighting to remain that way.

I am PAIN. It is trying not to hurt myself.

I am on a JOURNEY. It is laughing, crying, cartwheeling, eating. It is OK.

I AM OK!!!

Be the Coffee Bean!!

Did the title grab your attention? 🙂 I heard this story this morning and knew what my blog had to be about today. May it speak to you!

There was a young woman who was devastated as she talked to her Grandma about all the trials she was going through. She felt so worn down and was ready to throw in the towel and just give up. Her Grandma didn’t say a word, just listened as she took 3 pots out and put carrots in one, a egg in another one and coffee beans in the 3rd pot. She proceeded to boil water in each of the pots and she just sat there with her granddaughter as the pots boiled. She put the pots in front of her granddaughter and asked what she saw. “I see carrots, a egg and coffee.” She invited the girl to feel the carrots and the egg. The carrots were very soft, the egg had a hard shell for it was hard boiled. The grandmother told the girl to take a sip of the coffee, she did and smiled as its rich aroma was in the air and its sweet taste delighted her taste buds. She smiled, but was confused and asked, “What does this all mean Grandmother?”

Her Grandmother replied, “Think of this, Which are you?” Are you the carrot that seems strong at first but with pain and adversity you wilt. You become soft and lose your strength. Are you the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat. Did you have a fluid spirit that has now become stiff after trials and hardship? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside you have become bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean that actually changes the water. The very circumstance that brought the pain. When the water gets hot it releases its fragrance and flavor. When things are at the worst, do  you get stronger and release your sweet spirit? When the hour of adversity gets the worst and things get darker, do you rise above it and make yourself better through it all?

So now do you know the answer to the title of this post? Which are you? Or what do you want to strive to be?

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Good Morning! Today is a special day for it is my brother’s birthday! Even tho he is no longer with us, he died way to young, we can’t forget his birthday! So in honor of him today my quotes center around living life to your fullest, for that is what he did! He is an inspiration to me to make the most of every day and to spread kindness to everyone I meet! Happy Birthday Nelson! I LOVE YOU! Thanks for the impression you left on your little sister and so many others!

1. Some die at 25 years, but aren’t buried til they are 75. ( Don’t be like that, my brother died at the young age of 23, but he packed as much into life as he could!)

2.”You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take!”

3. “Life is not about the length, its about the depth!” Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. “Life is about using the whole box of crayons!”

5. “Today is the oldest you have ever been, and the youngest you will ever be!” (so make the most of it!:))

6. “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away!” ( have always loved this quote, I have it on a plaque in my house)

7. “It’s better to look back on life and say, “I can’t believe I did that!”, than to look back and say, “I wish I would have done that!”

8. “Enjoy life now, this is not a rehearsal!”

9. “Never get so busy making a living, that you forget to make a life!” Parveen Hussein (such a good reminder in this busy world!)

10. “Sometimes you never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory!” Dr.Seuss ( SO VERY TRUE!, Cherish those moments now!)

Well you got a extra dose of Thoughts today, more than normal, but my guess is that you don’t mind 🙂 Have a wonderful day and spread cheer today! Best birthday present you can give my brother 🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge, “Today was a Good day!”

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Today Was a Good Day.”They are ready to start our good day! When we go visit my husband’s family in the summer we usually save one day to go exploring on a hiking trail. Good weather, great company and great trails, what more could you ask for?Up the steps we go and of course a great place to pose for a picture.Now it is time for a short rest!Sounds good to me and my hubby to sit awhile.At least long enough to snap a picture 🙂Back to hitting the trails!What does my lovely niece see??Apparently she is just in awe of her wonderful Uncle Brad 🙂His sister is obviously not as awestruck 🙂A nice sight to see as we are hiking along! Yes, enjoying the great outdoors while getting exercise and chatting and laughing with those you love makes a Great recipe for a GOOD DAY for ME!

Friday’s 6 word story!

Don’t let a label define you!

How did you wake up?

I woke up this morning rubbing my hands together, how did you wake up? Why was I doing that? No, it is not a common occurrence 🙂 I was waking from a dream of where someone had put glue in the soap dispenser and I had dispensed a huge glob of it on my hands. Couldn’t figure out why the soap wasn’t rubbing in and getting so sticky. When it dawned on me what had happened and I was going to go yell at the conniving prankster, I woke up! Dreams always end before they are supposed to! LOL! BUT I was glad to wake up to that dream instead of the one before where I was right next to a big black bear that had turned into a wolf! Never stood so still in my life with fright! OH YES the beauty of dreams, you never know what to expect, especially with mine it seems!

Here is hoping to a GREAT DAY for all of you! I hope no Big Bad Bears or Wolves come to scare you today but if so, just stand very still and they will disappear 🙂 And as you go about your day make sure to check the soap dispensers before you get yourself in a sticky situation 🙂

The 1st day!

Good Morning! School has started! Summer is over, even tho the temps say its not! A new school year is upon us, whether we want it or not, and I say where did the summer go?

My daughter enters 10th grade with a broken hand, messed up knee and sprained ankle. Was not exactly how she dreamt the first day would be and was nervous about getting bumped in the hallways and having to deal with stairs in her crowded school. Praying things will go smoothly.

My youngest starts 8th grade today, she is nervous for she has harder classes this year. She is very bright and the teachers have seen that and  are putting her in accelerated classes. I have all the confidence that she can do it and praying she has that same confidence in herself and doesn’t stress over it.

As the days grew closer to school, one thing that was similar between both my girls is the questions of the unknown. Will I have lunch with my friends? Will this class be too hard, and many more. How much easier would it be if all the answers could have been in front of them, and aren’t we like that to an extent. What will this day hold? Will this problem be resolved in the time I want it to be? It is easy to think that if we had all the answers, life would be a breeze, BUT that is only if we got the answers we wanted!

What if my daughter knew that no friends would be with her at lunch and my other daughter knew that the class would be too hard? What if you knew that your problem wasn’t going to be resolved?  We would end up feeling so much worse! So no matter how we don’t like unanswered questions I think they have their place. We have to determine not to be bogged down by the unknown, and do the best we can. Cherish each moment, try not to sweat the small stuff and take a day at a time! HAVE a AWESOME DAY My FRIENDS and I promise I will try not to watch the clock, waiting in nervous expectation for my girls to get home from their first day of school. I will try to stop the questions going off in my head about What If’s and live today for today.

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Hello! Sorry about the lateness with this post. My girls start school tomorrow so back to early mornings which is not my forte! BUT my posts will be earlier 🙂 Since yesterday’s post was somber in tone I decided to post quotes that make you laugh today. If you haven’t laughed today yet, here you go!

1. MATH – Mental Abuse to Humans! ( Sorry to you math lovers out there, but I totally agree with this!)
2. “My dentist told me I need a crown, I was like, I KNOW, RIGHT!” ( This made me laugh out loud cause of conversation with a dear friend several times about how we both so deserve CROWNS for what we have dealt with :))
3. “Everyone brings JOY to this office, some when they enter and others when they leave!” ( I hope the office you work in has more JOY from those who enter :))
4. “That’s not gray hairs on my head, it is strands of glitter!”
5. “In bed the alarm goes off at 6am, you close your eyes for 5 minutes, open them and its 7:45am! At work it’s 1:30pm, you close your eyes for 5 minutes, it’s 1:31pm!”