I have become an avid follower of Emilie Ahern's blog, almost stalkerish! ;) I came across Emilie over on Scrapbook.com a couple of years ago, and while I admit that I am partial to any scrapper/crafter I find myself particularly partial to Lds scrappers more so. When I began my blog over there it became apparent that there were a fair few lds girls around and its quite the norm to add people randomly as your friends, check out their galleries and even bump into them on a forum once in a while (being a very big American site its not an easy place to stay unlost!!! lol). As i'm a blog lover (do I sound really dodgy yet? Oh boy!!) I hooked up to a few lds girls blogs from there and while I not longer play over sb.com due to time I do keep up with blogs. Emilie has produced some fantastic stuff, she's sassy, funny, smart and just downright amazing and I love her take on life. So i've become a blog stalker just for her!! ;) Occasionally we will swap an email, though I must confess that is mainly because she is going to produce one of her amazing layouts featuring one of her delicious recipes for the Christmas Calendar Project! I figured that as I have added Emilie to my top 10 favourite blogs as well as Operation Nice (which I found whilst visiting another favourite blog) I would shout out about someone who I genuinely admire....and share the link to her blog so you too can have a chuckle! Operation Nice is a fantastic blog/site that surpasses the bitchfests on scrap smack blogs, instead of focussing on what we dont like about an item, person or anything else in that world (which lets face it becomes totally hypercrital when we express that attitude then turn our heads just 90 degrees and tell our child to go do something else...then back again we justify the evilness by 'our rights') so as I really hate contention, unfair judgements and stuff of that nature I have often found myself becoming more internet-reculsive when it comes to forums, message boards, popular blogs etc. Operation nice is just a lovely place to read a realistic, funny, down to earth something that will inspire us all to think, do, enjoy and be the best we can. I know I would much rather work on my good side than feed any natural not so nice inclinations and then try to justify them!! Anyway, I just wanted to share something well worth reading here on the cyberworld of blogmania! :)
By the same token I have decided to do a little blog of my own to share moments through the day, now I dont intend for it to be anything more than somewhere other than for me to just (prettily) document a moment from my day but if anyone wants to play along they are most welcome to. stop-for-the-moment is just my little bit of something and if just one person gets a smile, a giggle or an idea then uses it to better their moments then thats another job served eh?
Going back to Emilie's blog, she posted about her gorgeous little family a few days ago and challenged her readers to follow suit. I thought I would take that challenge and share some randomness about my little home, here goes:
- In my house we have a very loud noise level, all about laughing and having fun.
- In my house I decorate everything with ribbons!
- In my house we eat together and talk about anything, even after the meal has ended.
- In my house my 19 yo son keeps me grounded with his reasons why he shouldn't wash up!
- In my house my daughter reminds me i'm not perfect but good enough for a donut!!
- In my house Charley asks a million questions and gets true answers every time.
- In my house I am a neat freak unless its toys or craft stuff.
- In my house we all have a say in what goes on, including my 4 yo son.
- In my house the front door is always open, i'll open it to you the first time, after that you walk in and make the place your own.
- In my house we cut our sliced meat into shapes from cookie cutters.
- In my house I never know how many i'm feeding so I cook plenty, often with extra kids perched on the stairs eating, talking and giggling. Priceless.
- In my house even our visitors will wait for a blessing before eating, almost like they insist on it.
- In my house there is a no-dressing day where we can chill out, veg or whatever we want to do in our pj's.
- In my house its orderly, organised and yet somewhat chaotic.
- In my house we all have the right to individuality, to expression and to be treated respectfully.
- In my house I have two rooms desperately needing to be painted before I start another two rooms cos I dont like the colours!!
- In my house its relaxed, easy, open and full of love, happy stuff and learning.
- In my house we celebrate almost anything, a tooth coming out, a night without nappies, anything!
More on the serious side there, but as i've been thinking alot about the lessons/talks in church today i'm in a relatively sombre, relaxed and pondering mood. Life is wonderful, do you know that? No matter what worldly thing is going wrong, life really is great. If it's not, work towards that better place, we all deserve it.
On Operation Nice the other day, the readers were challenged to write about the things they like about themselves, an undiluted and humble honesty that we rarely afford ourselves with defending it. Well i'm all for the undiluted self appraisal, in moderation it is an essential tool to have to work on, keep and maintain our God given life essental tool of self esteem, self acceptance and self worth. So here are some of the things I like about me:
- I love to give, time, service or anything that will help, smile or please another
- I am an eternal optimist, I dont mind my low moments because they get me back on track.
- I am humble unassuming and rather laid back.
- I love everyone for they they are, not for who I think they should be.
- I'm not affraid to openly say I admire, respect, love and/or like someone, even a female.
- I love how I parent my kids.
- I like my nails. I have never bitten them and I love them, more so when they are filed!
- I like my hair, its long, its dark and it looks good up and down.
- I am a good friend, listening and (sometimes) give good advice!
- I am a daughter of God, I am striving to be all that He wants me to be but accept my imperfections as part of the journey.
- I enjoy my own company and having company.
- I like to learn, grown and then share.
Which now takes me onto the next thing I want to share, forgiveness, while I dont feel the need to publicise the pitfalls, upheavals and challenges i've endured in the last 2 years of my life I do however feel that its my time to seriously assess my understanding and effort on forgiveness. The saying 'Bad things happen to good people' is a constant reminder to me that even the best get crapped on, get lied about, get abused and/or get pushed aside. There is a difference in my reactions to all the above, I have chosen the way of Jesus Christ rather than the world. I prefer to take a step back, look, think, pray and do what I KNOW is right rather than what is expected or accepted. I act, not react. In all of this I have spent a lot of times wondering how I can turn things around, make it easier, put it right but in all said and done we cant always do that, we are not responsible for someone elses actions so I step back, give it time, become submissive yet hold on to my self worth and knowledge of what is really right. Over time it gets easier, the offender gets fed up, moves on or away and eventually another challenge arises for us to deal with. Whatever we do in life, we have choices, each choice only lasts for a certain time, even challenges, no matter how hard, but there is always an end. Often we get to the end and we say 'I wish' or 'if only'. I try to do that at the start of a challenge, take myself forward to the end and hope I can do what I think I will wish I done by the end of it. Challenges can often not last so long with a grasp like that, its how we deal with them that makes them a little more bearable. Either way, we learn, we grow and we thrive from succeeding. When quiet triumph and victory is ours, celebrate it in prayer, sigh a big sigh of relief, smile, treat yourself to that fantastic lipstick or cd. Be thankful it has taught you, shaped you and strengthened you but whatever happens never ever be unprepared to forgive. Without forgiveness we have learnt and become nothing. I can say that after some very serious abuse/events in my life, I've suffered more in 36 years than most people I know in a lifetime but I am who I am because I choose to forgive, to move on, rise above it, not become a victim or survivor. I've chosen to be who God intended me to be, period. Forgiveness moves you from the pain, dulls the memories and demotes them to a place they belong in, equips us to take that next step and start a new day. Forgiveness is a licence to say 'ok, you cannot affect me anymore' or 'I still have a work to achieve and I want to start now'. Forgiveness makes way for a lot more love, happy times still waiting to happen. I love the forgiveness principle, and trust me i've had some SEVERE things to work on to forgive people for but i've done it. It is possible. It is priceless.
I think this is probably the longest and deepest post i've gotten into on this blog! But for my own purposes and reasons I need it all here, and if just one person benefits from anything I've said then thats just awesome. Otherwise it serves a purpose to me that I have recorded.
My next post will not be so deep and probably not so long!! :)
