Month: July 2010

A Lesson from Childhood!

A Lesson from Childhood!

Today is Day 7 of My 30 Day Life Makeover!! To say that changes are happening at my place of work is quite the UNDERSTATEMENT!! That is something I am ABSOLUTELY SURE of!!! What I am not sure of is how I will be faring 

My Real Age! EEK!!

My Real Age! EEK!!

Ok, let’s get down and dirty!! I just took my Real Age Test on realage.com, and girrrrl I just found out that I was 39.5 years old – THAT IS 5 YEARS OLDER THAN I REALLY AM!!!! AAAAAACK!!! “Life is not merely to be alive, 

Change of Perspective!

Change of Perspective!

Today I just got home from a rough day at work, too many assignments, not enough time, not enough staff people, and too many expectations. I then leave the office late, hit traffic, and finally get home to counters full of dirty dishes, dog hair everywhere, smelly laundry that was washed, but then accidentally left in the washing machine – OOPS!!!

I squinch my eyes, so I don’t see the chaos that is my place, and head to the fridge where my dinner of leftovers await – only to find that my sweetie has “helped” me watch what I am eating, by eating all of my leftovers – I just knew I should’ve stopped at the grocery store on the way home – silly me!! A bowl of cereal it is!

However, in the midst of this seemingly bad day, someone instantly changed my perspective. When I pulled up to my condo, one of my neighbors was heading to his door, and as I got out of my car, he asked me how I was doing. I gave him the stock answer of “fine, how are you?” He gave me a reply that literally stopped me in my tracks, and completely change my day. He said, “blessed!” Can you believe that??? Blessed!! What a phenomenal answer!!!

Many years ago when I was a youth director for a non-profit organization, one of the things that I used to always tell everyone was,

“Don’t get yourself so busy that you forget what you are doing it for.”

I think that is what I have done, especially today, I forgotten why I do what I do, and that is to serve my purpose and leave the world a better place.

Today is Day-5 of my 30 Day Life Makeover Challenge, and the lesson that I needed to hear today was Take Stock of All of Your Blessings.My assignment for you today is to sit down in a quiet place with your journal and a pen, and take some time to list out all of your blessings. They can be big, they can be little, they can be silly, just as long as they’re yours. I won’t list all of mine here, because then I will be here for hours – even after the day that I’ve had! but I will spend a few minutes sharing with you the first ones that come to mind:

  1. I am God’s daughter
  2. My husband loves me
  3. My family loves me
  4. My friends love me
  5. I have a home
  6. My puppies love me
  7. I have my health
  8. I have a great paying job
  9. I have a reliable, comfortable car
  10. I have a ton of books
  11. My bills are paid for
  12. I have a fun movie collection
  13. I live where I want to live
  14. I live in a country where I have freedom
  15. I have a FABULOUS closet
  16. I have independence
  17. I have a pool I can use whenever I want
  18. I have music
  19. I can sing
  20. Life really is good!!

I now have this song stuck in my head, it is a little chorus that we used to sing in church on Sundays. Maybe you know it, and maybe it will get stuck in your head just like it is in mine!!! 😉

“Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what they Lord has done.”

On other Life Makeover List stuff, how are your Kaizen cards going?? I have to admit I haven’t kept one going for the past couple of days, but I will get back with the program!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!!!

What a Difference a Day Makes!

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Welcome back!! Today is Day 4, of my 30-Day Life Makeover! I have decided to continue my 30-Day Life Makeover lessons, but I will be posting them on the weekdays only! I need my weekends for creative pursuits so that I don’t burnout! You many 

Mountains of Books!!!

Mountains of Books!!!

One of me dear friends, my adopted grandmother, passed away a few months ago. Like myself, she was an avid reader! She loved any great mystery, or any good children’s/young adult chapter book, and she had quite the collection. Well, before she passed away she 

All Things French!!

All Things French!!

Bonjour!

I have had a FABULOUSLY lazy day today!!! YUM!! I Really needed that!!!

Normally I am awake at 7:30 like clockwork on a Saturday morning, that is as late as I can make myself sleep in!! Well, this morning I was SHOCKED when I saw the time when I woke up this “morning”; the clock read 12:30 PM!! WHOA!!! Because of the extra temperature outside, my sweetie had insulated our bedroom window with a heavily quilted blanket, which has caused our room to be VERY dark!! I can’t say that I am complaining, I really haven’t slept well all week, and I feel like I am finally caught back up!!!

Anyway, I have been hanging out with my Sweetie this evening, and reading blogs that have to do with anything French and just collecting some REALLY SWEET pics!! I thought I would share a few with you! ENJOY!

These pictures makes me long to go to Paris, and bring back a whole horde of furniture and accessories, have them reupholstered, and open up a French Boutique!!! Ooh La La! That would be a dream come true!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

30-Day Makeover, Day 3!

30-Day Makeover, Day 3!

Day 3: Go Gather Your Dream Team! Welcome to Day 3 of our 30-Day Life Makeover!! How is everything going?? Were you able to do your Kaizen activity today?? I would LOVE to hear in the comments section up above, what types of things you 

The Definition of Insanity!

The Definition of Insanity!

The Definition of insanity is doing the same things over, and over, and over, and expecting a different result!!! What are you going to do differently today then you did yesterday?

30-Day Makeover, Day 2!

30-Day Makeover, Day 2!

Welcome back!

As you may remember we are going through the 30-Day Life Makeover, and yesterday we came up with our dream list that contained everything and anything that you wanted to do, be, have, learn, etc. How did that go? Were there any things that showed up on your list that surprised you?? Did you find the list easy to come up with?

What I would like for you to do next, is to go through your list, and choose the top 5 things that NEED your attentions RIGHT NOW (and for the next 3 months)!!! If 5 is too overwhelming, choose 4, or 3, or 2, or even 1 – just to get the ball rolling. You don’t have to know how you are going to accomplish these top 5 things, but you KNOW that they NEED your attention!!

Your list will look different than mine, but here are my Top 5:

  1. I need to lose 100 pounds, and gain energy, flexibility, stamina, and vivaciousness.
  2. I need a happy, passionate, and trust-filled relationship with my husband, where we both feel like we are being supported and nurtured equally; or I need to leave and find all of that with myself.
  3. I need to have a home that greets me when I come home every day from work, and reflects who I am as a creative, passionate, glamorous woman who absolutely radiates joie de vivre.
  4. I need to have my finances in such a way that all of my bad debt has been eliminated, I have at least 6 months of income stashed away for any emergencies, I have a versatile stock portfolio that will continue to grow no matter what the economy, and I need to be living within my means so as to have money left over to enjoy the good things in life – people, and experiences.
  5. I need to have a career that is honoring to my authentic self; one that is creative, artistic, challenging, fun, and filled with laughter, great people, and one that I am more in control of.

So my short version would be:

  1. Health
  2. Marriage
  3. Home
  4. Finances
  5. Self-employment

Now, when you come up with your top 5, make sure you ABSOLUTELY LOVE your list, because this is going to be a b tool in helping you manage your time for the next 3 months. From now on, this list will be known as your ABSOLUTE “YES” LIST!!!

An Absolute “Yes” List is the list that you will use to decide what you want to be doing at any given moment for the next 3 months, and will help you carve out minutes or even hours out of your week to accomplish what you want.

For example:

Say I just got home from a long day of work, and I really feel like I need to relax, so I plop down on the couch and settle in for a nice long television watching spree. At the end of the night I say to myself, “Oh man – I didn’t get anything done, where has my day gone???”

What would have happened if I would have called on my Absolute “Yes” List?

Same scenario:

Say I just got home from a long day of work, and I really feel like I need to relax, and I ask myself what could I be doing that would be both honoring to my Absolute “Yes” List , and still help me relax? My mind answers my saying, “How about taking a mini walk to unwind (health),  asking my sweetie if he would mind helping me cook dinner with his mad-fantastic cooking skills in the kitchen (marriage), crank up some playful music (home)”, etc, etc. Do you see what I mean??

Now, I am not saying that you have to be “On” all the time, no, girls – we definitely need our downtime, and there are days when a long sit with the tele is the only thing that will hit the spot, but where will that get you if that is your norm?? I know where it has gotten me! And holy crap – I need to go smack my younger self and say,

“Snap out of it – GIRL, you have OPTIONS!!! THIS IS YOUR LIFE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!!”

An Absolute “Yes” List is also something that is VERY helpful for someone like me, where I have challenges standing up for myself and saying “no”. I must confess that saying “no” has been a weakness for me – I swear it is genetic!!!! 😉 I am sure there are a few of you out there who have those same “genes” too. So this is how the Absolute “Yes” List helps me.

When someone asks me to do ANYTHING, I usually say “Yes” without actually thinking about what I want. Do I feel like babysitting a bunch of 4 year old banshees, while all of the other women go get pedicures???? Probably not, but I would say “Yes” and then be kicking myself about it the whole time I was watching those adorable, snot-nosed little tricycle-motors!!! However learning to say “no” is really a gift for both you and the asker, because your friend wouldn’t want to have you resentful towards her because you were the one who said “yes”; and by saying “no” to something you don’t want to do will reinforce to you that your TIME is valuable aka YOU ARE VALUABLE!!!

This is where your homework assignment of bringing some 3 x 5 cards, a mini notebook, a journal, or a pad of paper comes into play. For the next 29 days, including today, I want you to write on one side of a card/sheet of paper your Absolute “Yes” List, and on the other side of the paper, I want you to write the day’s date, and write down EVERY SINGLE accomplishment, action, step that you took towards accomplishing those goals. It could be BIG or little! (I have posted a pic of a sample daily card up above!)

This is called Kaizen!!! Kaizen is a Japanese word that means continuous improvement. No matter how small the action you take to continuously improve yourself, the next day you take the same small step, and the next the same small step, pretty soon you will have created a whole new future for yourself by compounding your small steps, into what will appear to be LEAPS and BOUNDS!!!

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

I recommend reviewing your Absolute “Yes” List at least once every 3 months, because as you grow/learn/change, your list will grow/learn/change too!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me in the comments section above, I do check my e-mails throughout the day. I look forward to being of service!

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for Day 3 of my 30-Day Life Makeover!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!

30-Day Life Makeover, Day 1!

30-Day Life Makeover, Day 1!

And so it begins… My life purpose is to empower women to take control of their lives and live the lives that they’ve always dreamed of. A little about myself: I am a 34 year old, married, but separated, barren, overweight, woman who has a