JustMeAgain

Hello December!

December always seems to be telling me,"it's just me again, bringing in the holiday cheer. And the magic."

December is always a good month (just as much as any other, except maybe a tiny bit more) to do any (and perhaps all) of the following:

1) Wake up excited every morning, and thankful.  In December, I feel like every day has a little bit of extra magic in it.

2) Let your inner and outer child come out and play!  Whether it is through craft projects, house decorating, or simply just looking at things through refreshed perspectives, December is the perfect time to just BE AND FEEL CREATIVE.

3) To look for ways in which you can make a difference in someone else's life.  Whether you do it through organized groups, or in the quiet space of your own home, doing a simple act of kindness can brighten your life more than you ever imagined it.

4) Spend precious family time together.  Every one of those moments are so very significant and memorable.  From the little tantrums over those darn lights on the tree (don't ask my husband, he hates having to put them up) to the marveling over the finished Christmas tree (or the nativity set), the delightful feeling that peppermint mocha lattes are back in season, or the re-runs of your treasured Christmas specials on TV; enjoy them all, every second of fun counts! 

5) Work hard to make things happen in situations when you know every extra effort can make a difference. You know this one applies every month of the year, but December is always a good excuse to remind ourselves that every action causes a reaction.  Being mindful of every little thing we do is very important. Specially in the season of giving.

6) Cheer, celebrate and reward, as much as possible, all those souls who make life magical. The people who inspire you, invite you to be a better you, or bring you joy and happiness. Make them know how much you appreciate them.  We need more people like them in this world of ours. 

7) And, if you have the time and energy left at the end of the day, try to do a little something for yourself.  Whether it means checking your email, updating your blog (if you have one) or reading a good book; think of you, too.  You deserve a little pat on the back every now and then.  Don't forget yourself in the process. 

*The pictures in this post show a really fun quick little project created by my daughter.  She was inspired by an idea she saw at HDTV to use candy and cone trees, but she certainly added her very own touches of creativity.  She never ceases to amaze me.  She also decorated the tree this year (with a little help from her mom, of course!)

Life unfolding

And continuing to keep me in awe of all the things to be grateful for, not just one day, but always. 

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you all enjoyed a truly magical holiday weekend. 

 

  

Happy day

Happy day, originally uploaded by Maria Hammon.

Oh, what a good day indeed.

A day with the excuse to be grateful for all the blessings, the moments of beauty and inspiration, for all the love. Let's take today's reminder and keep it in our hearts in order to be thankful every day, every hour and every second.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends! I hope that wherever you are today, you are spending the day doing what steers your soul, spending time with people you love, and eating some awesome food. Tons of love to you all.

And may I invite you to something REALLY amazing next December 12, 2009?  Join in the project:  Help-Protrait.com

Looking back

Sometimes it is fun to just look back, briefly, at life how it was and how it is.  For me, it helps put things in perspective and to try to keep focus on what really matters in my heart of hearts. Perhaps that is why I've always loved to journal, to scrapbook, and for the past five years, to blog, too. 

Just for fun, I looked back at posts I had uploaded in this blog somewhere mid November of each year, since 2005.  These are the ones I found.  I realize that in so many ways, I am the same person, but in many others I am not.  Life changes, circumstances change, but some things are unchangeable. For me, the things that rank highest -at all levels- are my faith, my family and friends, and that never ending search for attaining dreams. 

November 17, 2005 -A post about my daughter's photography during one of her school field trips in which parents were not allowed to attend.  I was very impressed by the quality of those pictures!  She's always been talented.  Since the day she was born.  I am pretty sure she was holding her head up looking for a camera or a canvas. She had work to do.

November 17, 2006 - A post about scrapbooking evolution. 

November 21, 2007 - Just a quick little post about being thankful. I kinda still like that pumpkin picture! 

November 21, 2008  -A little post remembering words of wisdom from my dad.  I love sharing bits and pieces of the wonderful memories I have from my dad.

November 17, 2009 -A quick little entry about dreams and where they go.  More than ever, I'm still wondering!  :D

The last five years have been blog-happy.  So, thank YOU my blog friends.  Many of you have become such dear and trusted friends after all this time ~and despite the huge distance that attempts to separates us, but doesn't really.  I could not imagine my life without you.

Where did I do all my talking about life, growing up and inspiration before there was a blog in my life?  Perhaps inside some of the pages of the many albums/journals/three ring binders that I've collected through my life (yeah, I've lost count.)  Want a visual?  You'll have to promise not to laugh too hard and maybe I'll share some photos of my 60-70 something albums.  Don't worry, just a picture of all of them together.  Going through the pages would certainly take months, ha ha.

 

Tia Lupita

 
I love being an aunt! 

It is such a wonderful opportunity to love other little people in your family as if they were your own children, only with the added benefit of not really having to worry about the college tuition. Or having to wake up all night when they are babies.  As an auntie, you pretty much get the icing on the cake. And can melt away with all the little giggles and hugs and awesome little things they do. 

I just finished looking at more pictures that my sister sent me of my little niece in Mexico (I cannot wait until my next trip there so I can see her in person and take a gazillion pictures of her and all my other incredibly cute nieces and nephew.) 

I also just had a wonderful Sunday with baby Jayden.  Oh yeah, and his parents, too.  Jayden kinda takes center space when he is around and it is easy to forget the rest of the world.  But who could blame me?  He is a sweet as a sugar pie wrapped up in whip cream and topped off with the best and most wonderful chocolate syrup ever known to man, or woman.  Seriously.

Being an aunt (or Tia Lupita, like my nieces in Mexico call me) is, in addition to being a mom, the best thing ever.

And talking about Sunday, in the morning I attended one awesome church sermon followed by an equally fantastic Bible class.  I feel so lucky to have such an incredible church to go to.  So grateful for that.  Lately I have been so inspired to get back into Bible reading. It's been addicting, again.  I remember a couple of years back I had been reading it every day, but then I let life and busy get in the way.  Fast forward to a few months ago when I posted a list about all the things I want to do with my life,; and that little nagging feeling of running out of time because there is still SO MUCH I want to do with my life and I simply keep getting older!  A wise friend reminded me then that it is really not about how much we can accomplish in life, but about HOW MUCH LOVE we put into the things that we choose to do.  She asked me if I was really investing my time into things that matter.  I took that to heart. And since then, I have been re-assessing my priorities, my commitments and looking carefully at how I choose to spend my time.  This Sunday's sermon was so on target for me.  Our pastor said, "first we make our commitments, and then our commitments make us...every day we are exchanging our lives for the commitments we choose."  I literally repeated that quote in my head a few times after I heard it. He was saying, it's simple, all we have to do is choose wisely. But there is such great responsibility attached to those two words.  Certainly not always easy to apply the test of value to all we do, but nothing that is easy is ever worth doing. Stuff doesn't really last forever (not matter how much we want our stuff to last.)  Values matter, and never depreciate.  And they truly determine who we are at all times. Those are the things to strive for. To accept the challengee of waking up spiritually EVERY day and do what is valuable to our spirit.

So grateful for wise friends who remind us of important things. And for Pastors and insightful teachers.

Oh, and about that list, I think I've taken out a lot of really silly, unnecessary, things.  I have added a few important ones ~including a Missionary trip to Africa in the next few years. This one particularly has been in my heart for some time, but I never really gave it a serious thought. It's about time I do!

So, how was your Sunday? 

P.S. In case you were wondering, snowboarding and ski jumping are certainly NOT in that list of mine.  At least for me, they do not look like a fun thing to do.  They look more like death waiting to happen. But the photos in this post were editing work created by my daughter (I personally think they rocks.)  The photo and editing bug has caught up with her. What can I say? It's in her genes.