Day 2

Here's is my day 2 entry.
The quote reads: "People who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life's circumstances to push them down and hold them under." -Charles R. Swindoll
I plan on putting up several other quotes in my room as well. I need to constantly be reminded to think positive and believe in myself. I pray I can make it through the next 19 days - this is harder than I thought it would be.

Day 1

Well, here is my first entry. I actually wasn't going to share it or at least I was going to blur the journaling but I changed my mind. I decided to just throw myself out there. I'm not sure why but I just feel like I should. And it's not in any way an attempt to have people feel sorry for me but rather I hope that if someone else out there feels the same way I do, perhaps something I say might be able to encourage them.
Oh and yep, I noticed the spelling mistake this morning. I almost re-did it but then thought, "let it go, this is part of loving yourself, you're not perfect and that's okay." So I left it. And the swirl at the bottom is one of Rhonna's brushes, downloaded from 2Peas. :)

The 21 day challenge

Rhonna Farrer posted a challenge on her blog last week - the 21 day challenge, because it takes 21 days to develop a habit. It totally inspired me so I've decided to participate.
Here's the cover of my journal. I'll be posting more as I go along.

The cover is significant of many feelings I'm having at this point in my life. I want to be better, believe in myself, believe in my dreams - the sparkles and flower signify those things - but I still feel so uncertain of myself, I don't believe in me, I struggle with loving who I am right now - hence the distressed looking paper, rough edges, the cracked UTEE. I want to work on me. I need to work on me. I need to change my mind about who I am. I need to be more positive and develop a healthy view of who I am. So that's part of my challenge - to change the way I think of myself, one day at a time, one thought at a time - replacing the negative, believing the truth. I have a few ideas of how I need/want to do this and that's what I hope to do during these 21 days.
I apologize for the crummy photo but I didn't get a chance to take a photo of my journal in the daylight and I haven't quite figured out how to adjust everything in PS yet. However, I really wanted to post this today and make a commitment to doing it.
Thanks so much, Rhonna, for the challenge and the inspiration!

but oh so worth it...

I meant to add that to the end of my last post. I love running. It truly is my stress release. It's my time to think, pray, dream, forget, let-go, sing (okay, not outloud, that takes too much energy ;) ), just whatever I need to do. I started running when I was in Grade 3. My parents put me in track when I was 8 years old. I continued with it until I finished high school. Most of my friends were from track during that time. We spent a lot of time on the road, traveling to and from track meets. I have a lot of fond memories from that period in my life. When I went to university, for my first year, I competed with their cross country team. My second year of university I went to a different university and was training for the cross country season, hoping to try-out for their track team but unfortunately I injured myself and stopped running for a period of time altogether. During that time I re-evaluated why I ran, what I wanted, who I was, etc. It had always been a dream of mine to go to the Olympics but I decided, with some sadness and a sense of loss, that it wasn't meant to be and I needed to decide if I wanted to continue running at all. Thankfully, I started to miss it - A LOT. And I realized that running was something that had become such a huge part of me, a part of who I was, that I needed to start running again. So I did. And I'm still running. But now I run for me, for fun, for exercise, and for lots of other reasons too. And truth be told, it's not always easy to get out for a run. There are lots of days when I would rather stay inside, do other things, make excuses, be lazy but when I actually get out and start running, I feel so much better. And there are also days that running is hard, I'm out of shape, can't go as far as I would like, feel like I'm pulling a trailer behind me, have trouble breathing but I keep going because I know those days are few. There are many more days where I enjoy my runs, where I experience peace and satisfaction and just feel so much better because I ran. So I keep on going.

Not my smartest idea...

HA! I decided to go for a run today after I got home from my dentist appointment while it was snowing out (ya know those nice big, fat, fluffy flakes?!). Boy, I must have been a sight to behold! Covered from head-to-toe in fluffy white stuff, drool coming down my chin (due to my nicely frozen mouth from the dentist), tears streaming down my face (from the snowflakes pelting me in the eyes), breathing so heavy (from trying to force my way through the snow)! And now I'm wet, cold, sore, tired and yes, still frozen! I think it's time for a nice hot shower before I head out for coffee with a friend. Let's hope the freezing disappears before I meet her or I'll be drooling coffee all over my chin! :)

My next class

Here is the layout I'll be doing for my next class, Spring Treat. One is the evening of March 2nd and the other is the afternoon of March 25th. If anyone is interested in taking it, just contact Bliss!!!! I still have to add some stamping to the layout today at the store but wanted to scan it before it headed off. I used vellum to cover/soften the bright patterned paper on the big circles and flowers. The flowers are punched out of chipboard and then covered with patterned paper and vellum! Thanks so much for looking!!!!
Thanks to my friend Tammy for the adorable photos of her little girl! Yes, that is a tulip leaf she's eating! SO CUTE!!!

Our weekend

We were fortunate enough to have our good friends and their 4 girls come and stay with us this weekend. We had a really good time. It was busy, energetic and a little bit crowded in our basement suite at times but SO much fun. These girls are amazing - so well behaved, polite, funny, beautiful and just down right enjoyable to be around. And our friends, Bonnie and Sheldon, are just awesome. We had some really good talks and lots of laughs. They are supportive, encouraging, honest and so down-to-earth. It is truly a blessing to call them friends.
Oh and I'm so happy because the girls let me practice my photography on them! Here are just a few that I got - coming to a layout near you soon...

The Dentist, an Exam and the Cold

WHEW! It's been a crazy few weeks so my apologies for very few blog posts. I finished up a course I was taking for work last night, Intro to Accounting Principles. I did very well on the exam last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I was dreading taking it. Our bookkeeper at work is quitting at the end of our year, which is the end of this month and so my boss asked me to take over. I must admit I wasn't thrilled about this possibility when it first came up but after the first night of the course I changed my mind and ended up signing up for a second course in April. HA! The biggest reason I enjoyed the course though was the instructor. She is FANTASTIC!!!!!! And after chatting with her last night I found out she's also a scrapbooker and is going to come and take one of my classes!!! Now how cool is that?!?!?! She will also be teaching the course I'm taking in April. Don't laugh too hard but I'm actually looking forward to it!
Today I spent a few hours at the dentist getting a root canal. I must admit, I am not a very good dental patient. The minute I open the door and the smell of the office hits me, I feel nauseous. I've spent a lot of time at the dentist in my life so you'd think I wouldn't mind as much any more but I'd just rather not go. However, my teeth don't seem to agree with me on that one. So there I was again today. The freezing has FINALLY come out and I can swallow again. YAY!
And now, the cold. It is very cold here today. We've had an awesome winter so far - very little snow and lots of warm. That changed suddenly yesterday when this system moved in. We are currently sitting at -27C (for my American friends, that's equivalent to -17F). So that run I was supposed to go for today just didn't happen. Thankfully it is supposed to warm up a bit tomorrow and Fridays are usually a day off of running for me so I'll just go running instead tomorrow.
We have a busy weekend planned. Some friends of ours and their 4 girls are coming to stay with us. I'm looking forward to it even though I know it will be crazy and energetic! I hope they'll let me snap some photos of them!
And I have to extend a HUGE thank you to all my blog readers. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you read my blog or even care to know more about little ol' me. I wish I could give you all BIG HUGS! THANK YOU SO MUCH for caring about me! Smoochies!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm so glad I get to spend my life with this AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, FANTASTIC man! He is my my best friend, my biggest fan, my source of comfort and strength, my personal comedian, the love of my life!

YES!!!!!!!!

I just got confirmation from Canada Post that my HOF package arrived at CK today! I am SO relieved! I feel like dancing around the house (and I don't dance so this is BIG, REALLY BIG)! ;) I literally jumped up OFF my chair and yelled HALLELUJAH! when I opened the email! NOW, I can rest!
I just had to share my excitement!
Smoochies!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELINDA!!!!!

Wishing you a day filled with joy and happiness, Mel! I miss you and love you! I wish we could come to Taiwan to celebrate with you, my beautiful sister!

Today

We went cross country skiing in the mountains and it was AWESOME! The weather was gorgeous, it was softly snowing and we were with good friends. What a fantastic way to spend the day!

some ramblings...

This past week I signed up for another half marathon. It's in May in Red Deer and I started training this week.

I received a letter from my sister in Taiwan this week. She sent me a GORGEOUS bracelet that they picked up while they were in Thailand for Christmas. And then last night she phoned me!!!! It was SOOOOO good to hear her voice! I miss her SO much! Her husband is in Nova Scotia right now for a medical school interview so I think she was a little bit lonely for home too! He flies back to Taiwan next Tuesday.

I'm going to be teaching another class tomorrow at Bliss creating this mini jump-ring album! It's not quite finished - gotta do that at the store before the class but it's called, "10 Things I Love About You" - just in time for Valentine's Day!

And on Monday evening, I'm going back to school! EEKS! It's actually just for one course - intro to accounting - for work and is only 4 evenings. But it's going to be one VERY BUSY week next week!

Tonight we're having friends over for make-your-own-pizza and games. And a little bit of ice cream cake too, in celebration of my friend's birthday on Sunday! Fun stuff!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Powerful stuff.

I just re-read this quote my friend Mary sent me:

"'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Marianne Williamson

I needed to hear that AGAIN today. Maybe I should just post this on my mirror at home and in the car. This week has been a tough one. This was a good reminder for me.