To see the full list of questions, head here.
6. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
I would say that I am naturally good at the beginnings of aesthetics, photography, listening, concern for others, decorating home, and music. Let me stress the words “the beginnings of” because I believe that I was born with an innate ability to do those things, but that didn’t mean that I WAS good at them without putting in the effort. I believe in working on things.
This morning we didn’t go to Church. In fact, we haven’t been to church in over 2 years… and it’s probably a lot closer to 3 years if I’m being honest. The funny thing is, in a non-prideful way, I feel closer to God this morning than I have in a long time. We have never ceased in loving him or striving to follow him, we simply have not found a home in a church. It’s honestly that simple.
It’s almost noon. I woke up at 7:00 am made Dan cinnamon rolls, set the table with a tiny easter basket, ruby tulips, a card, and fresh coffee. I went back in the bedroom and woke him up with Keith Green’s Easter Song and a waterfall of kisses. We enjoyed a sweet breakfast full of sugar, read the Easter story, told stories of Easter’s in our childhood, and called our families. Dan left for work and I read a little bit, did my hair and makeup (which I never do but want to start) and listened to a little Charles Trenet as I cleaned the house. The house is not spotless. Im not finished with hardly anything I have started today so far. But I’m smiling. My heart almost burst when I looked down the hallway and saw Hattie standing up and peering out the front door with her tail wagging.
I believe that God wants us to enjoy our lives, as broken, humble, and unfinished as they are. He is close to me today and I am smiling and thankful for his creativity, that fills my day with his beauty.
My hope for you today is that you will be filled with a little happy today too….
I am going to embark on a little blogging mission to see if I can re-focus my spare time a little better, (wait what is spare time again?). Sometimes I feel like when I finish work for the day, I honestly don’t know what I want to do or myself. There are a lot of projects that I could work on and get done, but there has to be something more important out there. Perhaps Im not exactly looking for something more important but instead Im looking for something more FUN! I just want to make sure that I have realized what it is I WANT to be doing with my time. Does that make sense? Therefore… why not explore…
I am going to do it a little differently then suggested in the blog I found it in originally. I just want to really delve into these questions rather than only taking the 60 seconds as allotted. 
Check back and I will be posting my answers to these questions. If you are on board, you can play along too!
<—– cheers to you
1. What makes you smile? (Activities, people, events, hobbies, projects, etc.)
2. What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?
3. What activities make you lose track of time?
4. What makes you feel great about yourself?
5. Who inspires you most? (Anyone you know or do not know. Family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
6. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
7. What do people typically ask you for help in?
8. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
9. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
10. You are now 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair outside your porch; you can feel the spring breeze gently brushing against your face. You are blissful and happy, and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. Looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most? List them out.
11. What are your deepest values? Select 3 to 6 and prioritize the words in order of importance to you.
12. What were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? How did you do it?
13. What causes do you strongly believe in? Connect with?
14. If you could get a message across to a large group of people. Who would those people be? What would your message be?
15. Given your talents, passions and values. How could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? ( to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)
Thanks to http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/life-on-purpose-15-questions-to-discover-your-personal-mission/
Happy monday…
I feel like I should be a little better about actual updates on actual happenings in our life. The idea was spawned from 2 of my friends who came back to blogging (Kacie and Josie) and it was nice to really read what has been going on with them in a platform that is so much more restful than facebook or twitter. I want to be able to go back and read about OUR life too. So… here goes…
We have been trying to find peace in 100 different ways. It seems that peace (the counter balance of stress for us) is something that we were hugely lacking last year. I can’t tell you the number of times that we just collapsed in front of the TV (blast that thing) and didnt talk to each other for 4 hours… just to find our Zen. I dont like that. I dont like that the only place that I can find relaxation is with TV. The funny thing is that TV is actually stimulating… not relaxing. I want to cancel the cable… just because it feels like a drug that zaps my creativity and happiness away… to settle for something completely un-cool. Perhaps Im being a little dramatic but thats just how I am.
Lately Dan and I have been working on peace finding down a lot of different avenues. We are organizing our finances finally. We are keeping a close watch on both business and personal and using spread sheets and mint. It has not exactly made a HUGE change so far, but its only been one month. The one thing I will say for it is that I FEEL more in control, which is half the battle right? We have a small amount of debt and some lofty goals and we want to be able to not only be responsible (in the Dave Ramsey way) but also be brave with our money. One big change… and freeing change… is that we have finally started tithing. It has always bothered me that we dont tithe, especially since we dont go to church and we make more money than the typical american. I want to give back and i felt guilty basically every single month, not giving. We are actually tithing now and it really does make me feel less horrible about myself “Jesus-wise.” I know that Jesus and God dont need my money, but I also know that I dont need it as much as some people do either. (I talk like we are wealthy, which we are not). So thats whats new there.
We are also trying to do yoga more. Yoga is good for the body and it is good for my mind. I feel like my brain is going a million miles a minute and yoga is the only place so far that I have found can calm that beast. its a struggle and im not very good about actually going… but I try.
Veganism is a fight daily. All I want is non-vegan food when we are trying to be vegan. Its yet another beast that I wrestle with. I have found a few AMAZING recipes that help and I will keep fighting. (dont mind last week…. that was a fail
On a positive note, now that weddings have stopped and I can get my hands around the to do list that was a mile long, I am finally able to do a few personal projects that I have wanted to do for literally years. That is what this winter will be for me and I couldnt be more excited about it.
<3 b
SO last year right about this time, Dan and I went vegan for 3 months. I didn’t really tell anyone because I was afraid off all the pressure and the making fun. Stupid I know. Well we fell off the train of course, but we did learn a LOT about diet and health and good and bad foods. It was really enlightening.. and on that note, it was LIGHTENING, as in I lost 15 lbs while we were vegan. uh YEAH! If that wasn’t enough to keep me vegan… i’m crazy. I didn’t even add exercise to the regime and I STILL lost 15 lbs. That’s impressive to me. We felt better. My skin looked better. My hair looked better. We had more energy. etc etc etc Clearly it was a good thing.
Why did we quit? Because we are lazy. Being vegan is HARD… really hard. It’s expensive. You miss out on social events. You miss the culture of food. etc etc… we gave up.
Well we got back on the vegan train… ish. I say ish because we came up with a more manageable plan for ourselves that lets us “cheat” without really compromising our mojo in vegan diet.
Here’s the plan: We are vegan at home. Wednesday is cheat day. If we go out with friends we can be normal too. That’s it. Ill keep you updated and also tell you some of the recipes that are working for us.
I blog often. I am relatively consistent and pretty good at it I think… that being said, its not here! I blog for our business, which is strange since that is not the only aspect of me. I want to try and blog more often here, which is never really worked out for me. I have been being pretty good about journaling in my real journal and I don’t see why I can’t take a little time and do that here too. So… I am going to try. Just because I failed time and time again does not mean I cant try again. Thats the spirit right??
Lately I have been really struggling with being happy. Paired with a family emergency in september and a really stressful wedding season, I was unable to smile basically. Dan has been AMAZING throughout the process and I am taking steps to find happiness within myself, since thats what they say you should do. So far, the best medicine I have found has come in the form of a gratefulness list. I have heard of making these for years and never really believed that it would really and truly help until I got to the point that I needed something… anything. I took a notebook, and placed it right next to my journal in a sweet spot in our bedroom. Every day I sit down and write out some goals,bucket list items, a line in my “One A Day” book, journal, and write out a few things that I am grateful for. They are not all mind-blowing, or crazy important but they ARE things that make me happy and I am thankful for. I swear, even after only doing it for 4 days, I genuinely feel happier. I am noticing my blessings and taking the time to thank the Lord for them daily. As little as it sounds, it has already started shaping my days and making me smile. You should try it.
I will stick to it this year… because I’ve simply had enough of not taking care of me.
