my13daychallenge – my 13 day challenge

Gratitude Days #1-16

November 22, 2017by my13daychallenge

It’s November so it’s time to start my annual tradition of finding something I’m thankful for every day this month. Here’s what I wrote down for days 1-16.

Thankful day #1: Today I’m thankful for bowling and my bowling buddies. I’m also thankful l can watch the World Series and bowl at the same time. It’s a happy evening.

Thankful day #2: I have a working car. That’s a blessing.

Thankful day #3: I am thankful for a job. I think every job has its moments. My job can be crazy at times,but the benefits of employment outweigh the drawbacks. What are you grateful for today?

Thankful day#4: I’m glad l have a library card. I love the library. They have many great resources there. I just got two free Phoenix Symphony tickets during my little library trip today.

Thankful day #5: Clouds
Thankful day #6: My parents are wonderful people. I love them and I’m glad they are in my life.

Thankful day#7: I’m thankful for shoes.It’s nice to have a way to protect my feet. What are you thankful for today?

Thankful Challenge Day 8: I’m thankful for Jesus and all that he has done for me.

Thankful day #9: Soup
Thankful day #10: I’m thankful I got to go to lunch with some friends today.
Thankful day #11: Veterans and their families for sacrificing for my liberties.

Thankful day #12: Music
Thankful day #13: The ability to walk is a blessing.

Thankful day #14: Eggplant paramesian is delicious. I ate it for the first time this week. It’s wonderful and I’m thankful to try something new.

Thankful day #15 Clouds

Arizona the beautiful state
Thankful day #16 Arizona is beautiful. I just love the desert landscape. (And thanks to the person who owns this house. I’m sure you wondered why a stranger was taking a picture. The view was just too pretty not to take a picture of it.)

Challenge 15: Live in the Moment, my13daychallenge

In the Moment

July 4, 2017July 4, 2017by my13daychallenge

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?

Challenge 14: Gratitude

Grateful Days 1-24

November 26, 2016November 26, 2016by my13daychallenge

It’s time to start my November tradition. I write something I’m grateful for every day for the entire month in my journal. Here’s my list for the first 25 days of November.

Day 1: I’m grateful for music.

Thankful Day #2: I’m grateful for bowling with my friends after a long day at work.

Thankful Day #3. Windshield wipers that work

Thankful Day #4: The weekend is here!

Thankful Day #5: Walking. It’s a gift.

Day #6: I’m grateful for all the rights in the Bill of Rights. It’s a blessing to be able to assemble with other people, pick my own church and express ideas in written form with others. It’s a blessing that you have that same right too. I may not always like how other people exercise their rights, but l will defend and respect their right to do so. The day we only look after our own civil liberties at the expense of others rights is the day that we all start to lose.

Day 7: Family and Friends
Day 8: The ability to vote

Gratitude Day #10: I’m grateful for puffy white clouds. I love clouds. They are so pretty. I saw a beautiful cloud driving home from work today. It made me just smile. Clouds are cool. I bet you are wondering what happened to yesterday’s gratitude post. Well, I wasn’t feeling very thankful on November 9th so I took a day off from the challenge. I’m back though today and will try to be thankful for something every day for the rest of this month.

Day 11: I’m grateful for all veterans and their families. Thank you for your service.

Day 12: Grateful for my legs and feet

Day #13: I’m grateful for books.

Day 14: I’m thankful for a working car.

Day 15: I’m thankful for my free pen. Some one gave me a free pen today and I was very happy to get it.

Day 16: I’m grateful for my bed. It’s good to have a bed to sleep in . l would be a very grouchy person if l had to sleep in a tent every night.

Day 17: I’m grateful for my siblings.

Day 18: I’m grateful to have a job. (And now I’m off to that job.)

Day 19-20: I’m grateful my Grandma got me a cookbook for my graduation gift many years ago. I love this book and use it all the time. In fact, l used it tonight. I felt like eating some deviled eggs but l couldn’t remember how much mayo to put in. This book has everything in it. It’s amazing. Thanks Grandma. I’m still enjoying the gift. (By the way, Nathan said he loves this book too. He likes to eat.)

Day 21: I’m grateful that I’m not a Pilgrim and that I don’t have to cook over an open flame every night. The 6th graders went on a virtual field trip to Plimouth Plantation this week. The students enjoyed it and it made me remember to be grateful for things like a modern kitchen and indoor plumbing. I would have made a terrible Pilgrim.

Day 22: I’m grateful for my parents and how they have put up with all these years.

Day 23: I’m thankful for good people who are trying to make the world a better place. Last night, Nate and l participated in a choir that sang for an interfaith Thanksgiving service in Tempe. It was a sweet experience and l felt God’s love as we came together with songs and messages. I’m glad l was a part of it. I even ran into my dear coworker Diane which made it a special treat. We took a selfie.

Day 24: I’m grateful for my Mom and the joy she brings to the world.

Thankful Day 25: I’m grateful for Jesus, for my family and for the ability to turn off my alarm clock and sleep in until 7:30 a.m. I normally start my day at 5:00 a.m. so sleeping until 7:30 is a wonderful treat. I’m also thankful for cousin Carrie. I got to see her today and she is one of the coolest people I know on planet Earth. She’s intelligent, fun, beautiful, creative and just an interesting person. I love hanging out with her. I’ve got to find her job in Arizona so I can see her more. (Or maybe we can both find jobs somewhere exciting like London)

create, Musings, positive thinking

The Magic

August 26, 2016August 26, 2016by my13daychallenge

There is a scene in the Wizard of Oz movie that I love. Dorothy has just defeated the wicked witch with the help of her friends and a bucket of water. The good witch Glinda comes and with a friendly smile tells Dorothy that she’s always had the power to go home. Dorothy just needs to tap her ruby slippers and believe that she is a magical person. It’s a profound moment. Dorothy realizes anything is possible.

Here are my slippers. I’m ready for my magic to start.

“You’ve always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself”.–Glinda from the Wizard of Oz

Musings

The Great Big Political Secret

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016by my13daychallenge

My parents As young 14 year old kid, my candidate did not become President. I was devastated. My wails could be heard all over the house. I knew the world was coming to an end as soon as the President-Elect was sworn into office. (I was a dramatic teen. If you don’t believe me, just ask my brothers.) Eventually, my Dad came into the room to comfort me. He told me, “Amee, I’m going to let you in on a big adult secret.” Of course, I stopped crying. I was 14 and I loved the idea of knowing a grown up secret. Dad told me that sometimes his candidate won and sometimes they didn’t win. He told me that the world kept on spinning either way. He felt that what happened in our house probably mattered more than what happened in the White House. The important thing was to make your community a better place, vote your conscience, work with others for the good of everybody and not be a brat to people who don’t vote like you vote. It was a good lesson then. It’s a critical lesson now.

Dad, you’re a wise man. I’d vote for you for President. Mom, you’re also amazing. I’d vote for you too.

“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

Memory Lane, Musings

Joyful Moment #201

March 26, 2016March 26, 2016by my13daychallenge

It’s time for a joyful moment. I love those automatic doors that swing open and shut all on their own. The logical side of me knows there’s a mechanical, scientific reason for how the doors detect your presence which triggers a switch to make them open. The magical side of me still loves the thrill of the doors opening for me. It all stems back to being four years old. I went to the store with my mother and Aunt Becky. The doors automatically opened at the entrance to the store. It was the first time I had ever realized that doors could open all by themselves without me pulling on them. It delighted me so much. I knew as I walked through those magical doors that I was a princess. After all, why else would the doors open for me?

Today I went to the grocery store. The doors opened up for me and I smiled. I must still be a princess.

Musings

Take Me to Your Leader

January 6, 2016January 6, 2016by my13daychallenge

I’ve tried many times over the years to make a homemade face mask that will magically erase all of my acne. I finally gave in and bought one of those face masks from the store. The package says it will magically erase all of my acne. We will see if it works. The fun part is that I look like a green alien. Greetings Earthlings! Take me to your leader.

I will be announcing my latest challenge on this blog tomorrow morning. I’m so excited. I wonder what the challenge will be. I guess I better start thinking about it so I can announce it. (Actually, I do know what it will be. You’ll have to wait to to find out though. )

Be happy! Be yourself!

Challenges, Memory Lane, Musings

The Christmas Candle

December 22, 2015December 24, 2020by my13daychallenge

Each night for the 13 days before Christmas, my siblings and I would sit at the dinner table. In the middle of the table sat a burning candle. Mom would read us a few scriptures to teach us about Christ. Then we’d sing a Christmas song. One-year Mom told us that when the candle was all the way burned down to the bottom with nothing but a little wax left that she would make us a special cake. We were all very motivated by the idea of cake so the next night we each came to the kitchen table with our own candles. As Mom would read, we’d take our candle’s flame and gently encourage the Christmas candle to burn faster. This went on for a couple of nights as my poor mother tried to read us the words of Christ and we tried various means to make the candle burn faster.

The Christmas candle was taking forever to burn all the way down to the bottom so we decided to meet before mom’s readings and burn it on our time. We felt guilty about just burning the candle though so one of us read the Bible while the others started burning little holes into the Christmas candle. Mom came in and saw what we were doing. We thought we might be in trouble but instead she just laughed and said, “Wonderful! I’m raising a bunch of pyromaniacs who read their scriptures”. Then she went and got a lighter and joined us in our quest to burn that candle all the way to the bottom. (By the way, lighters can burn candles faster than other candles can burn candles. We got to eat cake that night!)

(This cute little Nativity set was a present from my awesome sister Jenny.)

My latest challenge is connected with Advent. The 30 days before Christmas I’m remembering Jesus by reading some scripture verses and doing 30 days of kind deeds. The hope is that this will make Christ the focus of my Christmas celebrations. So far, it’s been a good experience.

And no, I’m not going to tell you what I did for my good deeds because it’s suppose to be anonymous. I’m also a little selfish because I want all those blessings in heaven. Don’t have any idea what I’m talking about? That’s okay. I will fill you in with the Bible story. When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount he said people who do good deeds get rewards in Heaven. There’s a catch though. The angels don’t write it down on their heavenly Ipads if you blab all around town about it. Oops. I just told the entire internet all about my good deeds challenge. Somewhere there is a little angel who is hitting the delete button.

This challenge really has made this Christmas special though. What are you doing to make Christmas a wonderful time for you?

Wonder Women

Wonder Woman: Meet SJ

December 13, 2015December 13, 2015by my13daychallenge

Have you ever met a mermaid? I have. Meet SJ.

You might be wondering how I know SJ is a mermaid. Well, she meets all the characteristics of the mystical ocean creature. Mermaids are natural beauties. They have kind, generous personalities with a flair for love, beauty, music and romance. They have passion for living life by their own design. Mermaids can live in the water or on the land. Home is based on who and what they love. Their love isn’t defined by geographic or cultural boundaries. SJ loves greatly. She’s kind, thoughtful, intelligent and creates a joyful atmosphere wherever she goes. SJ is an artist as she crafts intricate hairstyles in her career as a cosmetologist. She sings and plays instruments. She’s also a romantic soul, because she and her boyfriend write telegrams to each other. (That’s got to be the coolest, retro thing I’ve heard of in a long time.)

SJ is a Mermaid. She’s also a Wonder Woman because she is herself.

Be a Wonder Woman. Be yourself.

Tag: my13daychallenge