Day 8 - A Cup of Joe

I invited a new neighbor over for a cup of Joe and I made a new friend

When I was a child my mom would call her friends, or family and they would get together for a cup of Joe. They would sit around the table and talk about life, worries, happiness, and troubles. There was no problem a cup of Joe wouldn't fix and you can always get to know people over a cup of it.

Today I refer to my cup of Joe as coffee. I have this neighbor who lives down the street whom I have spoke to on occasion while getting the mail or in passing. I always thought she was so nice and funny and thought I would love to visit, so I would say "Lets have coffee." We always had good intentions, but it never seemed to work out. When running into her the other day I said, "Lets have coffee this Friday at my house." She agreed and today we sat and visited over a cup of coffee. I was so glad we did. I felt like I made a new friend. I had a great time getting to know her and sharing stories. It was almost like we had been friends for a long time.

There are so many things that come up in life, that we don't always take time for. There was a time when people knew all their neighbors by first name and considered themselves friends. I am happy to say that today I made a new friend on the block and I think this will not be the last time we talk over a cup of Joe.

Take time to get to know someone new. You'll be surprised at what a cup of Joe can do.

Day 7 - To the Moon or Bust

We flew to the moon tonight and had an amazing adventure.

I have had a Colormehouse rocket in my closet for 6 months waiting and saving it for a special day. The girls and I have colored the Colormehouse houses and LOVE them, but the rocket I was saving for a very special day. Today, today is that special day. In fact, every day is special. Why save things for another day, why not enjoy everyday and make every day count? You never know what will happen tomorrow.

With that I sent the girls upstairs to clean. You can imagine how happy they were about being sent to thier rooms to clean. You would have thought I sent them to scrub toilets and tubs with all the crying. When they went upstairs, I ran to the closet, got out our rocket, threw down a drop cloth, and set it up. Within 15 minutes they were asking to come down, rooms clean.

When they came down and saw the rocket, they all screamed, even Kyndall! We got out all our markers and starting drawing. The kids played in it all night and went to the moon several times laughing and screaming and giggling as little girls love to do. As they landed on the moon they would come out jumping up and down and then would head back to earth when they could no longer catch their breath. Kyndall kept yelling MORE! MORE!!

It brought me so much happiness to see them playing together and having so much fun. No TV, no Wii, just their creativity and their imagination leading the way. I plan on leaving this out for days and when it finally goes back in the closet it won't be there too long because I plan on taking many more adventures to the moon. We flew to the moon tonight and we had an amazing adventure!!!!

Day Six - Shopping for Eyelashes

I have always wanted to try fake eyelashes. Today that happened.

Today started out great. I figured I would get myself dressed up and put on a little make-up. I love make-up but the truth is I hardly have time to put it on so, a little blush, powder and mascara, and I am good to go. Today I wanted to take the extra time for foundation, concealer, eye shadow, you know, the works. I sat at my table with the pretty little lighted mirror my husband got me for Christmas and got started. Everything looked perfect except I needed to curl my eyelashes. I curled my eyelashes and took a look and HOLY CRAP!!! I think I am missing part of my eyelashes. No really! OH NO! I have somehow manage to cut off a portion of both my eyelashes, each side. That damn eyelash curler was off track and it snipped my eyelashes. I couldn't help it, I actually laughed. What the hell, a good excuse to get fake ones! I call my husband, he tries to show sympathy but he just can’t help it, and he starts laughing. I cut my eyelashes off today and so began my new thing for the day.

I have always had short eyelashes but come on, did I really need them this short? I have ALWAYS wanted to try fake lashes but for some reason thought they would be hard to apply, or that they would look crazy on me but I was soooooo wrong. I went to the store and bought a couple of different sets of eyelashes. I also bought a new mascara claiming to lengthen my lashes by 40%. I tried them both. Sure, the mascara made some of my lashes longer, but no matter how hard I tried, my short lashes stayed short. After applying the mascara the difference between the cut ones and the uncut where even more noticeable, and I looked like a crazy person. Next I tried the fake lashes and LOVED THEM. Why didn't I do this before? Anyone out there who has short lashes TRY IT! I couldn't believe how real they looked and I felt so dang fancy. I got new eyelashes today and I love them!!!

Day Five - A Memory Box

Today the girls and I created a memory box for 2010.
I thought if I am going to take a year on, I want something to put all our memories in. Something we can go to later in life and laugh, something we can go to at the end of the year and make a scrapbook out of it. I got a large plastic bin, got some permanent markers, stickers, and we all went to town. I told the girls we would write each thing we did on this bin, and by the time the year was over it would be covered with memories. The bin is a project that we started today, but that we would work on through out the year. My girls loved it! It was so cute to see all their faces as they added their decorations. It was even funnier to see my husbands face when he saw them with permanent markers. Today we made a memory box and I can't wait to see it at the years end.

Day Four - A Surprise Kiss

My sister-in-law makes the BEST cookies during the holiday season. A peanut butter cookie that contains a chocolate kiss inside of it. They are called a Surprise Kiss. My husband and I looked forward to her making these every year, but now that we are all in different states, we haven't been able to indulge in this mouth watering treat for a very long time.


Today I set out to master this recipe. I had the girls help too. The girls favorite part was licking the beaters, but isn't that everyone's favorite part? I love to cook, and normally it is a lot of fun, but tonight I dropped an egg on my shoe, and just about took my pinkie off with my beater. To top it off I burnt my hand trying to get cookies out and accidentally said a four letter word in front of my kids that I would never admit to.Even after all that, I would have to say these cookies were worth it. They are the kind of cookies that people eat the entire batch in one night. They are the kind of cookies where your mouth really does water. They are the kind of cookies where you say mmmmm mmmm, mmmmmmmmm to, and cause people to stare. They are by far the yummiest cookies to date. I tried a new recipe today and it was delicious!

Day Three - Trying a new local church

Day Three of this journey was try a new local church. This is something I have wanted to do for over 2 years now.

Trying a new local church seems like it would be easy to do but over the past 2 years something has held me back. I grew up in small church across the street from my childhood home, where I grew to know people well, and where many of us were like family. Some of my best memories in life were there, and some friends I still have to this day. Many things I learned there I've carried with me through out my life and have made me who I am today. I have known "my pastor" since the age of 6. I was confirmed by him, married by him, and he baptized my girls. I had a great experience growing up at our church and I want my girls to have a place just like I did. I also want a place for my husband and I to go to learn and have fellowship. This is important to us for many reasons. Sooooo what was holding me back? Hmmmm it is almost silly to admit but here we go.

1. My husband works a lot and Sunday morning he likes to have off.
2. What if we go, and it is terrible, and the service is so long.
3. What if they make us stand up and introduce ourselves.
4. What if it is not a fit for us.
5. What if they ask us to come to the front and introduce ourselves.
6. What if the sermon is soooooo long.
7. Last but not least, what if they make us stand up and introduce ourselves.

Yep, I admit it! For being an outgoing person, I do not like being made to stand up and introduce myself. It makes me soooooooo uncomfortable I could sink down into the pews and die.
It doesn't help I have difficultly sitting still for too long. Any longer than 30 minutes and I have to get up and move around, or I just start doodling. I think it is a side effect from long lectures in college. (:

Today is day three so I made a goal and I stuck to it. We got the girls ready, ourselves ready, and headed out to try a local church. The first thing that happened was my daughter saw one of her very good friends in her class, she screamed with joy! My other daughter was slightly hesitant but by the time I picked her up had made 3 new friends. Our youngest went in with no tears but smiles and didn't look back and guess what? No one made me stand up and introduce myself. Now, if they had, I still would have enjoyed myself because the message was outstanding. I kept looking at my husband as if to ask, "Is he talking to me? I swear, he is talking to me!" Have you ever had that feeling? Like someone put a speech together special for you. He talked so much about what I am trying to do this year and how new possibilities require courage. It is true. Trying new things can be scary, uncomfortable, nerve racking, but the reward can also be AWESOME. I tried something new today and I am so glad I did.

DayTwo - Letters of Thanks

Today I sat down and wrote 10 thank you letters. I wrote 10 women in my life who have made an impact.

I love email. As soon as email came along I guess you could say I got lazy. Email has made my life easy. Just a quick type, hit a button and there ya go, you are done. Taking time to sit and write on paper and send it in the mail takes much more time, but what is wrong with taking time. Taking time to sit, to write, to say thank you for all you do and have done, to write it with your hand and not just buttons. I still have paper letters from friends, family and even one very special letter I have kept for years. This one letter was sent to me after high school from someone I barely knew and they thanked me for being nice. They said they had a hard time making friends, felt a little alone but that I was always nice to them and it made a difference in their life. People sometimes gave me a hard time for being too nice. But that letter, that letter said I made a difference, and that made all the difference in the world for me. Treat others how you want to be treated. I am far from perfect, but it is a rule I still try to live by.

So that is what I did today, I took time to thank 10 woman in my life who have made me smile, laugh or even sat and listened to me bitch and cry. I want them to know they have made a difference in my life and that I appreciate them and everything they do. I wrote it on some pretty paper, stuck it in the mail and away it went and I smiled. It felt good.