HAPPY WINTER

The snow stopped falling last night and clumps of snow began melting and falling from the laden branches on our property as we shoveled our driveway and walks for the second time this storm. I actually enjoy shoveling snow. 

Shoveling snow is a perfect workout.  I can breathe the fresh cold air, push the snow, lift and toss, walk and let my mind run free at the same time.  It is a great way to escape everything else.  

And here is something else. With snow shoveling,  you can clearly see all the results of your labor.  Long cleared walks and driveways. Unlike vacuuming, where you know you have done the work but really can't see it the same way you can when you have shoveled snow.

I love winter. I believe it was 28 earlier this morning and our high today will be 36.  I love the cold temperatures, and wearing layers and scarves and boots.  I love cozy blankets, fuzzy socks, and sipping mugs of hot tea!  It is here for only 3 months and then it is gone and another season will come.  I embrace them all with joy.  It is part of why I love living in Virginia.

I also love cooking winter meals.  I am making some kind of soup today for dinner.  I am not sure what kind exactly, but it will be hot, hearty and delicious!  

I'm back inside now, cozy  and warm under a fleece blanket enjoying our snow covered woods view from my window and thinking about a mug of hot tea.

SNOW DAY

After much preparation for days for the big storm, it began to snow last night at 6 p.m.  This morning we awoke to about 5 inches of white fluffy snow covering rooftops, trees, cars, driveways and walks.  Good morning gorgeous pure white snow, cold temperatures and gray skies.

We got notifications that church was cancelled, businesses closed and our trash pick up a day delayed.  Snow plow trucks cruised up and down our neighborhood road.  We watched, cradling mugs of hot coffee, as tiny snowflakes continued to fall softly in a dance like fashion. And when it stopped mid-morning, Bruce shoveled our driveway and walkway and I headed into the kitchen and prepared the pork shoulder to go into the crock pot for a Carnitas dinner. 

As our dinner cooks, while we stay warm inside, under blankets, with the TV as background noise, I am setting today as the day to continue to fine tune my schedule for the new year.  I began a workout routine last week and I admit, it was a slow start for me.  But, as slow as it was, it did help set a foundation of purpose for me for my health goals.  A beginning.

I am excited after seven months of seeing the health benefits of  KETO way of eating, to now be weaving into my new lifestyle, a schedule for exercise, a routine that will include heavy resistance training with HIIT cardio sessions.  I am also making a daily schedule for consistent writing and am working on meal planning, too.

I am happy making the most of our snow day inside. 

PURPOSE

I escorted the end of 2018 out by conquering my biggest fear and living out my word for the 2018, FEARLESS.

I have (for years) been terrified of the idea of flying in a small plane (mostly, crashing) which seemed like an inevitable end.  I was even reluctant to sit in the plane (on the ground), as it gave me tremendous anxiety.  It was a crippling fear that made my palms sweat and my heart pound uncomfortably, anytime I even thought about it.  I was certain that if I flew in a small plane, it would crash and I would die.  For the past 12 months, I have worked on diffusing this fear and by early Fall, I told my brother that I would go up in the plane with him before the end of the year. I committed to it and continued to work on it

We were in San Diego over the holidays, visiting family and my brother called the day before we were to go spend the day with them and invited hubby and I to go up in his plane. I had a slight moment of hesitation, but I felt ready.  It was December 30th.  YES. I flew and sat in the co-pilot seat in my brother's plane (a Cessna 182) above San Diego's back country.  The day was perfect.  Clear skies and no wind.  I loved it!  It was such a breathtaking flight.  I will admit, a tiny bit of anxiety crept in as we began coming in for the landing, but I shook off the overwhelming fear that has limited me from flying with him.

I worked on other areas that I allow fear to hold me back and realized I allowed it to stifle my creativity.  I entered 2019 feeling more confident and sure of myself in the areas that FEAR had held me captive.

2019 brings a new word.  One that has been pestering me for some time, but especially in the past few months. It has been lingering in the back of my mind, and I have had many discussions about it.   PURPOSE.  What is mine, and how am I to live it out?  I also am choosing to live with PURPOSE, on PURPOSE this year as well.

I know that writing is a huge part of my PURPOSE and most of my focus will be on becoming disciplined in daily writing time.  The venue in which to direct my writing will also be part of my challenge for my PURPOSE for this year.

PURPOSE.  A blank canvas for me to create and make my own.

RETURN TO PRESENT

I've not written here in much too long.  I have missed telling stories, whether or not they are read by others.  I have missed sharing, making a recorded place marker in my own history.

Though these last days of late summer still beckon me to find cool water to splash in,  my heart is longing for the leaves to change color and drift down to cover my backyard.

I want to find warmth in a bonfire and a glass of red wine.  To wrap myself up in a soft blanket and cover my arms with a fleece hoodie in the glow of that fire.  I am yearning for shorter days and the chill in the night air to chase away the humidity that I am weary to breathe one more day.

This year has passed by too quickly, which seems that is what life brings us as we grow another year older.  We've welcomed a son-in-law and a new grandson this year and were blessed to return for visits with our family in California.  I've grown friendships and deepened my walk with God.  It's been a good year, not without a share of disappointments and sadness too, but I choose to look at all the good in our life.  There is a lot of good.

We are blessed. Bruce began to search for his biological family, early in 2018 and closed the loop meeting his two sisters on his mother's side and, soon we are meeting his brother on his father's side.

We have made a lifestyle change in the way we eat.  I have returned to Bulletproof and Bruce has adopted a Ketogenic diet to improve his health.  Both of these are very similar and he is moving toward 100% Bulletproof with me.  Adding physical exercise has also begun to be a priority for us again.  It feels good to have each other in our team efforts and support each other toward good health. We are feeling and seeing the positive effects of this focused effort. 

I  have made a commitment to invest in daily writing.  I have neglected this part of me for too long (again).  I will make it part of my self-care routine--which I am learning the importance of lately.  I have carved out time for more time with God in the Bible and study and my writing needs to be moved up in my priorities. 

I am reading more this year, since beginning a book club with some friends.  I have discovered that I am picking up other books off my bookshelves too, in addition to my book club read.  That is helping with my writing endeavors too. My ideas are churning again.  I no longer feel creatively stagnant.  I can feel the push to write what is bursting to be told.

So, as I look forward to the season of Fall and search for a hint of her arrival, I will begin to also celebrate this season with gratefulness.  Taking each day and counting the good and savoring each moment for what it brings me.  I will take more pictures and write more stories. I will take care of my soul and nurture my writing and artistic side.

I will not be a void.  I will not be absent.

EMBRACING MINIMALISM

When I first heard the word minimalism, I imagined a very stark and uninviting way of living.  And even though, at the time, I didn't believe I would ever adopt that lifestyle, I was curious and wanted to learn more.  I began reading and educated myself in the ideas behind it and acknowledged that my life would benefit from a minimalist approach to acquiring things and keeping some of the things I already had.

As I embraced the minimalist's view of "stuff", I began closely looking at the "stuff" in my house and boxes of "stuff" in unopened in my basement, I began to feel uneasy and stifled.  I could feel the heavy presence of the "stuff" that takes residence in closets, cabinets, boxes and tubs and I began to feel claustrophobic and guilty!  There was so much I was not using and others could!  That was very powerful to me.  It made me feel selfish and I never viewed myself as such. 

I know that just about every area of my home can use a purge. 

I did manage to clear out a lot of things when we moved across country, but I brought things with us that I thought "I may use that in VA even though I rarely used it in CA."  And I haven't used a lot of it.  My lifestyle is not that different here than it was there.  So I plan to sell a lot of the items that are still packed carefully away in the basement and begin to clear items that are in my home and that do not bring me JOY.

I have many things that DO bring me joy in my home and they are not going anywhere.   I have a large jar displaying beach rocks that my parents collected on a trip to Europe decades ago.  It reminds adventure and love and makes me happy to see it.  I also have beach rocks, shells and sea glass in a shallow glass bowl that I collected over my lifetime. Beaches in San Diego and San Felipe, Mexico. A photo my dad took of the harbor also hangs nearby.  A pair of metal owl candle holders perch on my fireplace mantle and remind me of a far away best friend. My grandmother's wooden clock stands next to them.  Another fond childhood memory of the ticking and chimes in my grandparent's home and all the goodness and love of time spent with them. 

My office bookshelf is full of many items, that all bring me contentment, and displayed in one central place and it is inspiring to me as I write.  Quilts handmade by my great grandmothers are out where I can see then and remind me of my heritage and hard work to make the life I have.

My kitchen went through a big purge when we moved, as did my wardrobe.  I am still working very hard to continue to eliminate more from my closet and keep things that work well together and are more monochromatic with a few colorful accessories to keep it fresh.  Of course, now that we live in a four season climate, my wardrobe has changed, but the theme is the same.  I can already see the benefits and I feel more put together.  Plus, it takes me less time to figure out my clothes in the morning or for special occasions, now that I have adopted this change in my closet. 

I am ready to clear out the rest of the clutter that has no meaning, and unburden myself of the weight of "stuff".  My minimalist journey has been very liberating so far, and I am looking forward to see what else I will make changes to going forward.