Life List in motion

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." - Henry Ford

 "Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." -Ashley Smith

I could feel, for some time now, something within me was changing. A creative side has been coming out like never before and I'm loving every minute of it! I give full credit to this blog and all the ones I've read the past year which have tapped into a place within me that is now runneth overing! I'm ready to close, but maybe not latch, some doors to my past. I've done and learned a lot for being only 27 years old. I'm ready for more. I'm ready to learn. So, scratching down on paper some time back, I created a Life List of what I'd like to do/accomplish/try/adventure into. When I turn 90 years old I'd like to look back, take a deep breath and say to myself, Damn, that was good.

This is a new phase of life for me...and it is in motion...


'The list' is made of simple, and humbling items. Nothing glorious. Only a few items are on it now, but I am not limiting myself to only these. More than likely I will branch off and explore different territories, turn around back to the original ones, and then branch off again.

Here are my first  're-dos, make-overs, and mess-ups' pieces. Two Adirondack chairs and an outdoor table. After power-washing, sanding, re-stabilizing, and painting them the color of 'Moonstruck', the chairs have become a treasured set! The table got a fresh spray coat of 'Dark Walnut' and new tiles. The perfect set for a lazy, country summer night, a glass of sweet iced tea, and a sweet pup! Sorry, I didn't take any before pictures (I know I should have. I'll know better next time!) but here is the final product.

Ahhh! What an awesome feeling to enjoy something from the work of my own hands! Like my garden, the reward just taste a little more delicious!

A shout out goes to my dad and brother who made these chairs about 17 years ago! They are like new again, guys!

For further adventures, here goes nothing...

babies and cupcakes

2011 must be the year for babies. This year alone I will have attended 6 baby showers. I haven't been to 6 baby showers in the past 10 years! Lots of babies coming! LOTS!
Here are some pics from my sister's second baby shower from this past weekend.

 (needed to show that someone wrapped their gift in a Maker's Mark bag. Like it!)

 And something sweet to go with this sweet baby???? CUPCAKES!!!

Here are some photos showing the progression of the sun and beach! I guess I could have made it more of a 'baby' theme, but I think I was probably in a beach mood when I decided upon the sand and sun!

the mind

Men are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own minds.  
~Franklin D. Roosevelt

As our heart is our motor, our mind is our guide. Without one or the other, we will be stalled or lost. Confused and broken down. Left to be aided by a loved one, or stranger. 

What a miraculous tool we hold in our heads. So easily taken for granted and underestimated. 

Much greater than any computer, gadget, medicine, equipment. And so strong it can either kill you or cure you. Strong enough to take away pain. Strong enough to change physical outcomes. Strong enough to do whatever you ask it to do. Strong.

But fragile. Given bad or no attention, the mind will slip. With age, weakness sets in. With illness, it forgets and gets hung up. Easy to lose, and almost impossible to get back. Fragile enough to get tangled. Fragile enough to make you unrecognizable. Fragile enough to make it impossible to remember your children's birthdays and names. Fragile.

The saddest thing I have ever witnessed, is not the loss of a body, but the loss of a mind.  So this is my wish: I wish for more people to shut up and exercise their mind. Stop talking and start thinking. Spend time with your very own thoughts. Strengthen your mind, use it, learn about it. And in return, it will teach you about yourself. It will show you a world of possibilities and endless love.

The mind has the potential to make anything possible as well as the potential to become your worst enemy. Allows us the potential to be free or captive. Mr. Roosevelt, you are right. It is not the world around us that we are prisoners to. We are only prisoners of what has been placed upon our shoulders.

Stop. Think. Pray. Meditate. Reflect. Calm yourself. And heal yourself. 

If you know someone who's mind to going, be kind to them. Love them. Respect them. Care for them. They may not be able to communicate or act like they did once before, but they still have feelings. They have emotions. They have love to give.

Sirach 3:2-6

My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten,firmly planted against the debt of your sins —a house raised in justice to you.

weekend-n-review

The first day of every week I wake up and before I jump out of bed, I stop to think back about the previous weekend. I question it. Scrutinize it. Pretty much just flat out interrogate it. Were you fulfilling? Did you offer rest and relaxation? Did you give me the mental and physical break that I need to make it through this upcoming week? Were you fun and make me laugh? Did you fly by too fast for me to even realize that you were there? Well did you? DID YOU?!?!?!?

9 times out of 10 the weekends will confess and say yes they did go by too fast. They were speeders! Shame on them! But why were they speeding? Because they were offering me fun. Smooth answer, huh? Well...maybe...I was having fun. And this weekend was no exception.

Saturday morning we rose early, (no seriously, super early, at like 4:30am) to head out camping. Sleep would not keep me away from water sports, camp fires, grilled food, and s'mores. Mm mm s'mores. We headed out with our bikes, tent, and bathing suits; well really our car was filled almost to the roof with items. Did I mention I was looking forward to the s'mores? Just checking.

So, I'm not going to give you a play by play of what we did over they weekend, I'll just hit on the high points. We swam in the lake, tubed, rode our bikes, jet skied, ate lots of good food, built fires, laughed, told stories, drank cold beer, and had S'MORES!!!!!  All jam packed in 2 days.

And of course it's not the 4th of July without fireworks. Shawn and I came back on Monday, tired and worn out! To be quiet honest I really thought the 4th would go by with not a single firework seen, but my husband surprised me. Unlike him, he offered to take me for a drive. So we drove, got ice cream, and parked our cars up on a hill. While enjoying a chocolatey dessert, we had a full 360 degree view of colors, lights, and booms!

Yes, Mr. Weekend. You are off the hook. You did offer me fun. You were fulfilling. And you did give me rest, relaxation, and a romantic evening. Any weekend that ends with fireworks, is a good one!

photos

They say a photo is worth a thousand words, and I believe them. I think a photo is also priceless.

I'm no photographer, but I sure do love being behind the camera. Capturing life as it's unfolding before me. Telling it's own story. For now. And for years to come. One single picture may only be a fraction of a moment in the past, but it can release a long stream of stories now.

Pictures bring you back. They bring you back to a place and time and experience that even people can't do. It's amazing how a good photo will put a scent in front of your nose or a taste in your mouth. A single dimension, piece of paper will make you feel...something.

They are tangible connections to our Remember When's.

So I'm posting the old and the new.  The one's that make me smile. Make me pause. Make me laugh. Make me get a bit of nostalgia.
Enjoy each of these stories...from my life...

Sisters

Recently I had a friend say to me...
I just love listening to you two.

Who? Us? Why?

Because I don't have a sister and it's fun to see how you two interact.

She was talking about my sister, Becky, and I exchanging casual banter.
I've been thinking about that comment for the past few days. Sisters. I know not every sister combination is like Becky and I, but wouldn't it be cool if most were? See, my sister and I are not just friends, we're best friends. I can be brutally honest with her and she with me. We will joke, laugh, cry, console, or not talk at all. Secrets don't exist between us and even hell couldn't keep us apart. That's our relationship. That's the only relationship that I've known with her. Sure we've had our ups and downs, but that's all they were. We, like most people should, just get over disputes.

This past Wednesday, I had a scare like I've never experience before. Becky was in a car accident, but at the time of receiving the phone call, I had no idea what condition she was in. And if she was ok I was then afraid that something would be wrong with her baby. I was afraid for her, for the baby. That's my sister. Nothing can be wrong with her. She is suppose to be perfectly fine. Period.

Praise to God that she and the baby are in perfect condition.

But, what is it with sisters? A sisters' bond is thick. More knotted together and closely woven. It's intertwined. There is an underlying connection between ourselves, our pasts, our presents, and our futures. We pick up where the other one drops off. We give and we take. And at the end of each day, we accept and respect eachothers differences.

Thank you, Christy, for helping me recognize my relationship with my sister.

Thank you, mom and dad, for creating me to be a sister.

Thank you, Becky, for being a wonderful big sister. We have been great sisters for 27+ years!!!

Annabelle and Katie Jane, I wish for you to grow closer everyday!! They have been sisters for 4 years!

Feel free to post a photo of you and your sister(s) and let us know how long you have been sisters!!!

rethink

Here's what I want. I want to be home with my kids. I want Shawn to be home with his kids. I want our kids to never know their parents to have to go to 'work'. I want to give Shawn a life that I can't even imagine for us. I want to fly first class and do it without blinking an eye. I want my kids to have the opportunity to try and do everything their hearts desire, and I say GO FOR IT! I want our alarm clock to be our kids. I want my parents and siblings and their families to be able to take trips with us, whenever and whereever we decide to go. I WANT MORE FAMILY TIME! And I know it's possible.

But most importantly, I want to give. I want to give back to the church that I love so deeply. I want to be able to go to Mass every morning and be able to take my kids with me. I would love to go to a country that needs help and be able to build schools, doctor's offices, and wells for clean drinking water.

I know you're probably thinking, Sarah you're absolutely nuts. That could never happen. Both parents able to stay home? Unless you win the lottery, yeah, right!  Yeah right is right! I know people everyday leaving their 'jobs' (and I say jobs because a lot of people don't like going to their careers) and staying home with their families. Taking trips, experiencing life, and expecting more from life. Expecting more for themselves. 

And so, I've been praying. Praying for a sign, or opportunity to cross my path with God pointing, saying, this is what you need to do.

It took almost a full year for me to get that sign. But I have no doubt in my mind that I've gotten it. Shawn and I get to help others, and that in return, it puts extra money in our pocket. We can do it from home and with little time put into it. It's a business. A very well designed, very lucrative business. And I'm talking a potentially six figure, side business. We both believe that this is how we'll get to stay home with our kids. Getting to watch our children grow into little people, and into adults.

I know there are many people who bring in very good pay checks. But I also know that they work 60+ hours a week. Waking up, going to work, getting home late, missing family functions and kids games, sleep, repeat. Is that life? Or living?

Recently, I was blessed to hear Frank Luntz talk. He is a close hand to many high authority people, including the President, because of his knowlege of politics and the English language. A man who works in Washington and sees the in's and out's of every political move, is afraid of our economics. He is worried about where our country is going. Well of course that frightened me also. But, he did say that businesses and companies that are multi-leveled are the most secure. They are teams. Working together. Everyone does better when they work as a team. He said, "Don't help them because it helps you. Help them because it helps America."

I liked that. I know about team work. I can do teams!

So Shawn and I joined a team. And that entire team, not just Shawn and I, want to see us reach our dreams. What business do you know of cares about your dreams? What business do you know of that will openly pray with you, asking for your dreams to be reached? I don't know of any.

At first, I had every excuse not to join this business, and 'team'. I'm too busy. I've got family obligations. I've got this and that to do. Ugh, I'm too (fill in the blank)________.
Guess what. Excuses don't set you free. Excuses won't do anything for you but keep you where you are. And most importantly, to me, excuses won't help me reach my dreams.

I believe with all my heart that God wanted you to read this. I don't know what you're wanting out of life and I'm definitely not trying to pressure anyone to join us, but I am trying to challenge people to rethink their life. Rethink how long it's going to take them to be free from a 9-5, part time, grave yard shift, disappointing, hair pulling, insecure job. Rethink that age of 65 when 'the man' says you get to live your life now. Rethink the possibilities of what God may have in store for you if you took a chance.

Rethink.

Live life extreme. Live first class.