Five Minute Friday - VALUE

Join the Five Minute Friday fun. Start HERE! 

The word for today is VALUE. 

Value of time. I've been so consumed with work and getting everything done that I don't think about time. I'm starting today with my crew to take inventory of our time. To think about how we use our time. To consider how we are wasting our time. When my four were younger, I was creative on how we spent time together. Time together is a luxury now that I have two kids in college. They may not always be home at the same time.

We try to take time to go to my mom's when we are all together, and ht her house, time seems to stand still. We value time together there. We laugh, play games, or just be. We are seeing, as a family, that time together is precious. 

During the Christmas holiday my entire crew will be home, and we intend to place more value on the time we have together. Planning for family time is important with so much going on in all our lives. I think if I can pass on anything to my children it's to learn to appreciate time together. We've always made time for each other, but getting older makes it harder. The gift of time is a gift to be valued. 

NaNo.... Let's Go!

I'm always so encourage when I hop around the IWSG blogs. NaNoWriMo is in full swing, and I'm already behind. The beginning of course falls right in the middle of my first round of parent conferences. With a touch of inspiration, and a strong cup of coffee, I'm off to catch up! Happy Wednesday IWSG friends.

Are you participating this year?

Christmas!

I love that Hallmark Christmas movies have begun! 

What is your favorite Christmas movie? I do believe mine is It's a Wonderful Life! 

Take 20

In a recent conversation with a friend, we discussed the importance taking time for yourself. The non-sharing time of motherhood that has to be guilt free and just for you. Wait.... what? We are allowed to do this??? 

It is necessary for the people in your life that you love, and for your personal growth and survival that you take a minute to collect yourself.... daily. 

I've battled taking time for myself for a while. Being a single mom there is a lot of guilt that comes with alone time. I could be doing 10,000 other things other than focusing on me. Do you have any idea how much laundry the people in my house create? So why in the world would I waste time on me when my world needs attention... constantly? 

What good am I to any of those that I love if I don't take of myself and be the best me I can be for them? The best me.... takes time. A better me... takes effort. A healthy me.... take a lot of discipline. Time to take time... don't you think? Time to take just 20 minutes a day for me. Today, part of my 20 minutes was given to exercise... uninterrupted... no sharing.... no talking exercise. The other part of my 20 was writing. I don't write as much as I should, and it's so much a part of who I am. My mind was clear and I felt like I could rejoin my family and give them more attention.

I'm going to take that 20 minutes a day..... EVERY SINGLE DAY.... and see what happens between now and Christmas. Check back in, and you are welcome to join me! 

The A to Z's of Yard Therapy - C is for Creativity

C is for Creativity.... now I'm intimidated. Being creative when I'm writing... easy. Being creative in my garden... cringe worthy. I love pinning on pinterest. You are welcome to follow my never ending lists of things to do! I have the usual boards... writing, research, fun, road trips, chocolate, recipes for dinner, oh... and the bazillion teaching boards. Oh... click here.

There is that one board I call Garden Therapy, and then one for Outside Dreamy for all the amazing things I want to do outside.

The A to Z of Yard Therapy - B is for Breaking Ground

Breaking ground.... a new beginning.

I always love to start something new. I'm the queen of starting new projects. I'm a preschool teacher, writer, single mother of four. My goals are numerous. My dreams overflow with brilliance... that waits to be materialized.

My little garden area will be quite the project to finish, but I will finish.

My manuscript will be quite the book when it's finished, and I will finish it.

As I sit in my living room I can count MANY projects unfinished. The joy of being me is that I know each new project is like breaking ground. A new beginning. A fresh start. A new way to reinvent myself. Isn't that what we all do? Isn't the goal to try to be a better version of ourselves? There will always be something to distract us from the purpose of completing a goal. Me... I am taking the A to Z as a personal challenge to move on from the breaking ground stages and produce something amazing!

Good luck to the A to Zers visiting today! May your breaking ground lead you to brilliance!

Leave a link to your B post when you drop by! I'll be sure to return the visit and perhaps bring others with me!

The A to Z's of Yard Therapy - A is for ACCURACY.

A is for ACCURACY

I have a love hate relationship with gardening. In my family the joke is... don't give it to Vanessa because she'll kill it. Really... I do try to keep plants alive. Growing anything takes accuracy. Getting things right to make things grow. We'll see how the garden shapes up as we travel from A to Z. 

I think my outward failures have been a reflection of inward darkness. We've all been down dark roads. Shaking the dust from my shoes and moving on. Don't you just love a fresh start? 

The same goes for my writing. I have a love hate relationship with editing. Commas seem to be my nemesis. Too many or not enough. Overused or sadly forgotten. I write... and it consumes me in such a way that I forget things like.... punctuation. I lack accuracy. 

Accuracy is a new goal. Learning to look at a situation, evaluate, determine what needs to be done accurately to improve, and move on. 

Learning to shoot a bow with my son. Yeah.... I'll get back to you on that accuracy in a later post. 

Happy A to Z everyone! Let the fun begin! 

Beginning.... just let that word wash over you.

Sometimes a song speaks so clearly to your spirit that you feel like God is solidifying the words into your heart. I heard this song on the way home, and though I've heard it many times over, today was the day I was meant to believe it.

Dearest friends, give yourself permission to be happy.

I love new beginnings. I want my family to always know they can always start anew and bring their lives into a place of hope, a place of joy, and a place of peace. My fab four have been through a lot of trials, and we have walked together through the storms by God's grace. Two daughters that write, one daughter that's an amazing artist, and a son that's the smartest kid I know! I am so proud of the amazing people God gave me to raise!

Inspired and writing today with great joy!