Author: my13daychallenge

Challenge 15: Live in the Moment · my13daychallenge

In the Moment

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When I was a young teen, my mother decided her kids needed to have more culture in their  lives. She read us a book about the 50 most influential people in the world of art.  After listening to Mom read about each artist,  my siblings and I would suddenly take an interest in becoming whatever we had just studied. We wrote plays after reading about Shakespeare and made little sculptures after learning about Michelangelo. We didn’t have any clay lying around the house so we improvised by taking the bag of sandwich bread from the top of the refrigerator and squashing it until it turned into what we thought was a giant glob of clay. We then made our sculptures.

My dear mother was such a good sport about it. Money was very tight and we had just used the entire loaf of bread.  She didn’t scold us though. She just laughed and then told us that we would have to eat our sculptures the next day with peanut butter for lunch.  My Mom was living in the moment on that day.

It’s easy to forget to live in the moment. Life is busy. I have a to-do list a mile long and it’s easy to worry about tomorrow instead of living today.  For my next challenge, I will pick one activity each day and really stop and enjoy the moment. I will  force myself to be fully present  with the moment and treasure the experience.

 

Will you join me on this challenge?

 

 

 

joyful moment · Musings

The Debate

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Whenever we go on a road trip, the Accountant and I end of having the same debate. Do we stop and smell the roses or do we get there as soon as possible?

It’s always a debate. I want to get to the destination, but I also want to enjoy the beauty of the moment. I’m glad we stopped the car for this one. It was a gorgeous view near the border of California and Nevada.

I will be announcing a new challenge tomorrow! I’m super excited about this one and think it will make me work really hard.

joyful moment · Musings

Let’s Go to Jail

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This is the time of year where items like the good stapler and self-adhesive envelopes are a hot commodity. For my non-teacher friends, that means it’s the end of the year and everybody is doing report cards.

I was working on mine when a dear colleague announced to me that she was a thief who needed to borrow my stapler. I just started laughing, because she was the kindest thief I had ever met.  She asked permission, apologized for stealing and then promised to bring back the item as soon as she finished putting together her summer math packets.

I couldn’t let someone “steal” without going to jail though. So, I stopped writing comments on report cards and did this instead.

It told my friend all about jail and the terrible fate that awaits her for the crime of “stealing” a stapler.

You get a swimming pool.

A 60 minute relaxing massage every single day

Unlimited Netflix to watch movies

A $2,000 bonus check

And a chef to cook your food

Welcome to Stapler Jail!

Musings

The Viral Blog Post

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This post is going to go viral. It has everything that’s really important for written communication these days.

A cute baby

A heart-felt message in 100 words or less

And a million people liking the post without really reading what it says.

Yes, this post will defiantly go viral.

 

Change the World · Musings

My Palm Sunday Psalm

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Father,

The world is in motion. Changing. Moving. Shifting. The bombs drop. The hearts break. Anger is stirred and kindness seems to be forgotten. Will peace ever again be here upon Earth? –Amee

Dear Little Child,

Hold on. The crashing wind can destroy the outer branches, but the roots are still strong. The billowing tide can tear down the old but the truth is still here. Ever present. Ever faithful. There is nothing lost that won’t be found and God will somehow make everything right in the end. –Father

Father,

It’s hard to have faith when the world is in on fire. I do what I can, but there are more fires than I have strength to put out. –Amee

Daughter,

A little faith is all you need. Love one another. Do what you can. Be still and know that I am God.  –Father

Father,

It’s me again. I tried to be still. I did a great job for 5 minutes. Then, I watched the news. Did you know there are wars, pain, poverty, disease, so much inequality and broken hearts all over the world?  What are you going to do about it?    –Amee

Amee,

I created you. And your sisters and brothers. It’s time to get off your knees and get to work by making the world a better place for all. Jesus will come some day, but you don’t need to wait for then to make a heaven here on  Earth. All who praise God and serve his children can find rest to their souls. –Father

Father,

I love you. You are my God so I will do my best. This is my Palm Sunday anthem to you. With all love and deep respect.

–Amee

 

 

 

 

joyful moment · Musings

Wearing your Heart on the Wall

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I got my feelings hurt. It wasn’t a serious offense, but sad enough in the moment for me to tell myself that I needed to toughen up so I would never have hurt feelings again.

I was going to become a Vulcan and master all emotions, and then I looked over my shoulder.

The light fixture in the room when hit with sunlight made a gigantic heart on the wall. I was mesmerized. It was a heart! A giant, adorable heart. My resolve to never feel again melted away in that big heart.

It was just too cute not to smile.

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” –Brene Brown

Childhood memories · Memory Lane · Musings

Random Thoughts on the day before

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I’m turning 39 on February 27th. It’s kind of weird to be turning 39. I don’t know what to expect for my 39th year of life. When I was 15, I wrote my life history.  It wasn’t your normal life history. Instead of writing about my past, I wrote the life history for my future. It was 25 pages long and included a month by month analysis of my life from age 15 until my 20th year high school reunion at 38. I ended my life history at 38.  I had quite the epic life that included normal dreams like going to college, getting married, having twins and some not-so-ordinary plans like being an ambassador to Russia and fighting aliens in order to save the world. The last line on my life history was this. “She retired at 39 from her job at the space station. Amee’s little family, which included her handsome husband and their four kids, moved to a tropical beach paradise planet where they lived the rest of their lives in absolute happiness. The End”. It sounds delightful and I only have one more day to make it all happen.

When you are young, you know you will grow up but it’s a far-away fantasy thing. You believe anything is possible including intergalactic space battles and two sets of twins.  I am now twenty years removed from writing my life history. I still have a dreaming heart, but I’m old enough to realize that some things will probably never be. Unless there is a quick miracle in the next 24 hours, I won’t be fighting aliens above planet Earth or be the mother to four children.

I’m not really, really old yet but I’m not young anymore either. I’m standing in the middle land staring at my future that I never thought to imagine when I was 15. The future is really unwritten from this point on.

Amee on the path

I love this photo of me. My very talented Aunt Marla took it  when we were on a hike. I’m on the path but I can’t see behind the curve. I have to just keep going on and hoping that the view and journey will be marvelous.

Life is kind of like that sometimes. Here is my future. Unwritten. Unexplored and ready to be beautiful.  I hope to make it a good one.

 

 

Uncategorized

Awkward Love Week

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In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve decided to share embarrassing, awkward and funny moments related to dating and crushes.

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I was 15 and head over heels for a young man named Jeff in my Sunday School class. (names have been changed so I don’t get sued)  I would stare at Jeff when the lesson got boring.  Jeff always sat by the window next to the blue curtains and I would just imagine that one day he would turn around and say hello to me. One day Jeff did turn around  and said in front of everybody, “Amee, stop staring at me”. I was mortified but I couldn’t let a cute boy think I was actually staring at him. So, I smiled and said, “I’m not staring at you, Jeff. I’m admiring the cute pattern on the blue curtains behind you”. Awkward!  He just rolled his eyes. I wanted to disappear and a bunch of the kids in the Sunday School class laughed.

What’s your awkward love moment?

Challenge Ten: Clean Up

Housework made easy

my13daychallenge

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I hate housework. There are about a million things I’d rather be doing instead of scrubbing toilets and dusting the fans. Now, don’t get the wrong idea here. My house would never be on a hoarders show. It’s just that I don’t like housework. The problem is that the Accountant doesn’t like doing housework either. We don’t make enough to hire a maid to clean our home every day for us so we are stuck doing it ourselves.

Enter the Bribe Chart  Job Chart

We take some one dollar bills and assign money to various chores around the house. It almost makes housework fun. The other day I happily vacuumed  the whole house just so I could collect my dollar bill.

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The Accountant has really taken to this system. The other day I went to clean the bathroom and it was already done. Apparently, he likes money too.

my13daychallenge · Wonder Women

Wonder Woman: Meet Sarah

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Have you ever met a guardian?  I have. Meet Sarah.

Sarah is a guardian of nature. She loves the woods. Her passion for the great pines has inspired her to share that love with her family and friends.  She takes her kids on nature walks, introduces them to snow and loves to spend time outside in the wild. Sarah is a guardian in other ways. She is a person who guards, protects and preserves what she feels is true and beautiful.

sarah-s-picture

Like many of the Wonder Woman I’ve spotlighted, Sarah’s first response to an invitation to be recognized was a statement of not having done anything really spectacular in her life.

Sarah, you ARE doing something spectacular. You are taking what you love and sharing it with others.  That’s something beautiful, noble and long lasting.

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Sarah is a Wonder Woman.