Homegrown Hospitality

Mini Moleskin Sunday

I added a new page to my little tiny Moleskin journal this morning before I hit the trail...

and decided to make a little collage of several of the pages inside

Happy Sunday!

Doing Something

We all need to practice JOY on a daily basis, regardless of what is going on, how things might look and how we might feel and sometimes, that is difficult for me (It probably is for you to but I am going to throw myself under the bus so you do not feel like the spotlight is just on you.)

So, how does one practice joy???  First, I need to CONSTANTLY remind myself that JOY is NOT feeling (even though it is very easy to forget that) 

Joy is a choice and a gift.

Often times, we look for joy in other people in our lives, in the places we go, the possessions we have, yadda yadda yadda..when really, and you knew this was coming...the only true source of Joy is GOD...yep, only God.  Joy is not based on outward circumstance but on inward certainty and I personally anchor myself to that thought..because it is FAITH...yay!

okay, so let me interrupt myself by giving you a personal example:

Right now, I am training and on Sunday mornings, a group of girls & I get up EARLY and hit a trail called Dreaded.  Hello...with a name like that, you know it cannot be good...and regardless of how many miles I may be able to run on a flat surface, getting up this hill just WALKING is HARD. Personally, I pray, I focus and listen to music the ENTIRE way up, struggling at times to breathe, stopping for seconds to pick up heart shaped rocks and continuing to push myself...because I KNOW what is at the top.  

For me, GOD meets me there (after HE pushes me the last 1/4 mile of the hill) and it is worth every single step because the beauty I see (after wiping the sweat out of my eyes) is amazing.  

That is JOY.  It is not that I "feel" JOY because I made it to the top, but because I chose to do it based on the fact that I KNOW GOD will meet me there (even if it is socked in with fog like it was on Sunday and we could not see anything) 

Now because I am 99.9% visual and need to have a image to sometimes "get it" I doodled an example! 

You can choose to look at life like this, feel like you are a weed among the flowers and let your "outward circumstances" overshadow your decision to choose joy....

 

or you can choose to look at things differently...choose joy regardless of what is around you and know that YOU were created for a specific reason.  You may feel like you are a weed, but YOU are a weed with a purpose by-golly!

 

Doing Something...

I am going to take a few days off from the ol' blog to catch-up on some things I have been needing to do, wanting to do and have been thinking about doing..

I won't be long and will be back soon...in the meantime, is there something YOU should do or be doing?

Practicing:Business

I have a right brain...or is it a left brain??

You know, the side that is "creative" and not so "academic"...and well, because my 2012 word is PRACTICE, I am "PRACTICING" using my left brain (or my right..whatever side it is!) to build up my skills in BUSINESS.

I NEED (not just want) to be a better business person for HIM...for YOU and heck, for me, so I am working (and doodling) away at a REALLY amazing course taught by Beth Nichols and Kelly Rae Roberts and man, are we digging in deep!  Each day, I am learning more and more, not just about business, but about ME and my soul and my dreams and how is all applies to life. 

I have had several Oprah style "Ah-Ha" moments during the past 5 weeks of this class and had another one last night and doodled about it.

It is my the foundation of my business...and for life, duh. 

Sometimes I (we) think we need to "search" for some amazing life changing hidden secret that will be "the answer" when really, it is right out in front of us, just waiting patiently to be read, heard and applied.

duh.

So glad God is so patient with me (us) while I (we) complicate myself (ourselves). 

It Matters.

If you know what it is, it is your responsibility to use it.

It matters.

Two Chickens

are way better than one....

Happy Valentine's Day

Remember this from a few weeks back?

Well, my intention was to post a picture of a cute little bag full of chocolate kisses tied with ribbons and then attach this cute little valentine to it..

but we ate all of the chocolate kisses before I could put it together...DANG IT!

so...

I bought another bag of kisses with the same intention...and then we ate those, too!!!

Hey, at least I am honest!

So, Download Valentinecards...go ahead, buy the kisses, print out the valentines and good luck!
 

Practice:Simplification

I am not sure if Simplification is a word or not, but it makes sense to me and I am practicing it on a daily basis, along with a few other necessary things (God & a list)

 p.s. yep. it is a word, I checked.

Better Late Than Never

I am so deficient in technical skills when it comes to computers that I can almost see the brick wall being put up in front of me as I type this and my head hurts as I TRY to read all of the explanations (probably because I need to put on my dang glasses, but I can not find them..I need a chain!).

Apparently there are "feeds" that you can "subscribe" to which would make it so much easier for you when it comes to reading my blog with the other 100 you read...(I sure hope you know what that means...) Personally, I am wondering, a survey of sorts..do you really read blogs or do you just look at the pictures? (like the first 7-9 pages in people magazine where you see all of the photos?)

anyways, now you can "SUBSCRIBE" to this blog..6 years later.."Better Late Than Never" by clicking that orange button over on the left sidebar under the "Stay Connected"  (yes, I know that the little orange button is not centered like the other buttons above but I am not going to even try to figure that out right now because I do not want to.)

I think it is about time to invest into a little help for me...and for my computer skills, too!

Here this will make me feel better, a picture of a new piece of Faith Filled Funky Folk Art 

oh, and just in case you do not know what a feed is, you can read this and then tell me:

A link to Feed 101 http://support.google.com/feedburner/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=79408

Little Reminder Big Reminder

Life can be pretty simple, we I just tend to complicate things (I know we all do, but I will throw myself under the bus so you do not have to admit it out loud) so here is a little reminder (in my tiny doodle book) 

and a big reminder for you to right click, copy, paste, color and do....