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!

The Gingerbread Man Adventures!

I wear many hats in life, as do we all. One of the favorite parts of my life is teaching. I'm a writer, yes, but teaching is part of the beauty of me. I live it! I love it! I teach Pre-K, and I have a rambunctious, wonderfully sweet, amazing class of kids at the age of four!

This Christmas season the class made a collaborative Gingerbread Man after we had Gingerbread as our theme for the week. As gingerbread man are prone to do, ours ran away! He has been having grand adventures all around the world!

Friends are downloading his picture, enlarging, cutting him out and taking pictures everywhere! If you would like to join in the fun, his picture is below. You can post your pictures in the comment section below, and I will share them in class next week!

We are having a snow day here so a friend took him outside and made a snowman!

Have fun, sweet friends! 

Always Time to Write

Someone asked me a day or so ago if I had written anything lately. I said I was editing a piece of work. Written anything.... nope! Writing is like any other skill. It must be practiced. I've always told others to write each day! Keep writing! There's always something to write about!

I sit here without inspiration. I sit here without motivation. I sit here without the joy of writing.

However, with the IWSG, I feel like I can take a deep breath and move forward. Time to just do this! Time to get my manuscript in the hands of a publisher. Time to finish my next manuscript. Time to create something new and wonderful! What genre.... I surprised myself with my second novel, so who knows. You'll just have to stick around to find out!

I look forward to sharing my process and my success with those who drop by my blog for a visit. Come back soon, and don't forget to say hello! There's always time for friends, and always time to write!

Now, back to the joy of who I am.

Five Minute Friday.... CONNECT

I've always enjoyed being a part of the Five Minute Friday group. If you would like to join in the fun, hop over and like the FMF facebook page.

We take the prompt word and write whatever comes to mind for 5 minutes. This week's word is.....
CONNECT.

Ready, set, go.........

We often fail to really connect with other people. I am guilty of doing so myself. I am a textbook introvert so I can easily not talk to people and move right along with my life. I get busy with my family and with my work and tend to neglect everyone else. So, my dear friends, I apologize for not making effort, but I intend to change that.

I love spending time with my fabulous four, but as they get older they will be moving away to college (yeah, try next fall!). I want to make it a point to connect with my children on a daily basis so that when the time comes for them to spread their wings they can fly with the foundation of family. We connect as we laugh. We connect as we cry together. We connect as we pray. Daily connection with the people you love comes through quality time. It's my Love Language... that's a different story.

So as we connect, reconnect, disconnect.... be sure to take time to have quality time to connect with the people in your life. Make this the priority the keeps you going!


Hey, let's connect!

An added note: We are still watching the eagles! It has been so amazing to watch the hatching and the feeding! Hop over and see on the Eagle Cam.

Five Minute Friday... HAPPY

I love Five Minute Fridays. I have a chance to stop for 5 minutes and simply allow a free flow of thought about whatever prompt we are given. Hop over to Kate's blog and join the fun! Lots of giveaways and lots of fun this week. 

This Friday our prompt is.... HAPPY. 

This is my five minutes of writing. Give it a try! 

HAPPY

I never think about the HAPPY of life. I never think about the SAD of life. I make my choice each day to find a way to be happy. Life takes wrong turns and sometimes how you think your life will turn out doesn't always...... NEVER happens. I allowed sad for a while.. not anymore. I think we focus so much on what we don't get out of life that we miss all that we have. I have a beautiful family. My fabulous four make me happy, and they fill my life with joy. My family makes me happy. We are all in each other's business, but it's great fun to be loved so deeply by so many. My job makes me happy. I love teaching, and I love my new job! My writing makes me happy. Being a writer is who I am and I can get lost in the words flowing from me. Happy is what I choose. Happy is a choice. Choose happy because SAD takes so much out of us that we have nothing left to give those we love. Is it hard? Yes, on some days. Is it worth it? EVERY SINGLE TIME! I love my life, and along the way there will be more things that bring me to a HAPPY place. For now, I enjoy each moment I can take with a smile and know that my HAPPY is simply because I have made that choice.

Five Minute Friday - Build

It is fantastically ironic that this week's word is build. I was listening to the radio today on the way home from work and heard someone say, "We have to build a relationship with each other, with our families, and with God."

How often we cast our family members aside and don't think about building that relationship. It's easy to overlook those closest to us. It's easier to take them for granted. We give our best to so many others when the ones we love deserve the best of us all the time.

Sometimes I'm too tired to do anything, but the coming home to my fabulous four means I don't have to keep on going all the time. The accept me, they encourage me, they love me, and it isn't for any other reason other than for the fact that I love them completely. I should be giving my best to them. I'm tired.... all moms are tired.. but I want to know at the end of the day that my best was what I gave to make the world of my fab four a little brighter.


To be a part of Five Minute Fridays, hop over to Kate's blog and read all about it!