Simple Pleasures

2012 Reading List

I love reading people's reading lists. I thought I would post a a few of my own that I plan to read this year.

59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute.

Hunger Games

Re-read Great Expectations

What Women Fear

The Resolution for Women

Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way

 

No Higher Honor

 

I Changed My Mind

I know I said I wasn't going to make resolutions.

Well, I changed my mind. Which is ironic, because one of my resolutions is now to be more decisive. I'm decisive as all get out about the little things, but here lately the big things have thrown me for a loop. Matters of the heart. Those murky, gray areas in life. Someone once told me, "Often wrong, but never in doubt...Make a decision and move on." Indecisivness is so unbecoming. I'm seriously getting on my own nerves! In order to work on this area, I think I have to go deeper. When making big decisions, I think the following questions need to be asked of oneself:

1. What am I afraid of?

2. What insecurities are causing my confliction?

3. This leads me to belief. With insecurity, there is unbelief. What should I be believing God for that I am currently not believing? Do I really TRUST Him with my life and heart.

4. In 10 years, what impact will the decision have on my life?

5. What does God say about it?

6. Am I making the decision based on emotions or truth? I naturally have an all or nothing personality. This makes gray areas so taxing for me! I operate 90% from an emotional place. I feel deeply and truly can empathize with different view points on a single matter. The dichotomy of making a big decision gets me every time. Balance is essential.

    "A woman can know faith in her head and fear in her heart."

                -Ann Voskamp

7. What do the people you truly value and trust have to say? Have you sought good counsel on the matter? Don't ask too many people; just your close inner circle. The fewer the better.

8. If you have a child or want to one day, what advice would you offer to them. This one usually seals the deal for me. 

And then: Bravery, courage, and the guts to make the decision. 

I do have more resolutions, but I'll end here for now. Here's to being more decisive, confident, and self assured in life!

Rewinding to New Year's 2011

I thought it would be fun to recap what I was doing last year at this time and because my resoulution hasn't really changed since then. Instead of being all listy with the same old resolutions, I want to remain present. In the moment. No worrying about what might have been or what is to come. I want to live out the now. 

Here are two links to last year's posts. Enjoy!

New Year's Post 1

New Year's Post 2

For Next Year...

THIS idea is so dang cute, I can't even stand it. Find details HERE!

 

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art - write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”
-Neil Gaiman

More 2011 Reflections

I don't have anything specific to say. I just feel like blogging, so I thought I would throw out a few more reflections.

I struggle with being myself sometimes. I know so many successful, smart, talented, kind, and ambitious people. And to be honest, sometimes I want to be them, which has got to break God's heart. He crafted me individually and uniquely. Why I struggle believing that, I have no idea. I should embrace that concept instead of trying to be a carbon copy of another. God and I work on this together. All. the. time. I see so much improvement in this area compared to where I was even a year ago. I am so thankful He is a God that doesn't leave us where we are and rescues us from our crazy selves.

To reiterate this point, see the example below. God made one Monet. ONE. Home girl attempted the one and only Water Lilies. Don't do that. Don't be someone you are not. It turns out badly. Really, really badly. Bet you can't guess which one is the original. 

 

Next:

I worked with a little boy this year who was having a really hard time keeping it together at school. Children like him are one of the main reasons I feel satisfaction in my career. I get the opportunity to problem solve on a child's behalf and make life a little easier for him/her. But this little guy taught me a whole lot.  A lot about grace and the beauty of fresh starts. He needed to know he was loved and accepted no matter how many chairs he threw or tables he jumped on. Did that mean there were no consequences? Of course not. But it did mean we would start fresh after each incident. We all have the basic human need for acceptance no matter where we have been or what we have done. All of us.

So, in efforts to help little wild man, I made this behavior chart for him. I knew he loved trucks and racing so after a particularly hard day, I sped to the nearest store for truck and car stickers. I came in the next day with a plan. A plan that offered fresh starts around every curve and turn and crash. The little guy bought in to it, because is was attainable and doable and just plain FUN. As adults, we may not need a behavior chart with stickers, but we do need to know that one mistake isn't going to ruin us or define us. And one mistake, for heaven's sake, does not have to dictate our entire day. We have to believe that each day is a new start; sometimes each hour. We all have those days. And we have to know that we aren't in this race alone.That behavior chart and little boy taught me a lot. About how to love myself and others more correctly. In case you were wondering, he made it to the end of the day, getting to call his mom to brag and earning a prize before leaving along the way! Proud moment for all of us. I might have cried. 

An End of Year Reflection: Part 1

I thought I would do a little blog series on what I've learned in 2011. It will also be a fun way to recap some funny 2011 moments. 

OK...Here. we. go. I have done a LOT of dating this year. Gross, gross, gross. I hate dating. With all my heart, but as a single woman getting ready to turn 30, I figure I better meet God half way on finding my person. Here are a couple of rules you MUST follow if you decide to make a go at Match.com or any other online dating site. 

NEVER talk to a guy who takes a picture of himself in the car or in the bathroom mirror. I mean, WHO DOES THAT?! 

OK...I might have done that, but not to post on a dating website! I sent these to my mom, because I either wanted her to see that I was having a good hair day or to see if she liked my outfit. And just maybe to show off my self in my new car. But in all seriousness, when guys do this, RUN. It's creepy.

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Speaking of men, and because I happen to be blogging while watching the Broncos/Patriots play, Tim Tebow has been a big part of 2011 in the sports world. And in MY world. HA. He has helped set the standard for a Christian man in a secular setting. My Uncle Gil just sent me a text saying he prays for all 3 of his girls (I'm number 3!!) to find a "Tebow like" man. It made me cry. I don't think girls are as crazy about Tebow as they are about what he represents: Not a perfect man. But a man's man who loves Jesus unashamedly. He seems to strike the perfect balance between sensitivity/compassion and toughness. Doesn't get much better than a man who kneels in prayer and then kicks some tail on the football field. While he looks really good on the football field, I really think that Tebow would get equal attention in any other highly publicized job. Because it has nothing to do with his profession. Instead, it has everything to do with having courage and principles in a tough world; With a person's faith matching their behavior. I know several men and women who live a life of character and integrity. I know that tons of men live out their faith in secular society, but they rarely get the spot light and attention. I have to give it up to Tebow for representing that caliber of man. 

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Take the leap. Live out your dreams. I have had the best time with Leading Ladies this year. I'm grateful for all of the girls who have chosen to invest their time and hearts in this club. They have truly been Leading Ladies. 

Bless their sweet hearts. They are trying to understand what a flower is all about. I think I messed mine up.

That's all for now. More 2011 moments and reflections to come!

 

Pretty

 

Thanksgiving Reflection

“Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart —  transforming the disposition and the whole character.

Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.

An occasional burst of praise, in the midst of years of complaining, is not what is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days; and no songs when skies are cloudy—will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always.

This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken. We must persist in being thankful.

When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.

Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”

J. R. Miller, 1912

Excerpt found here

Cute