Hello Everyone ...
All together now .. out loud .. let out a big Woo Hoo!!! Not because it's the weekend (remember I'm trying to live each and every day to it's fullest even if it means I am at work) but because we've made it through another work week alive!!
It doesn't matter where you work, there are weeks when it's just a bad environment to be in. I know this is true for not only people that work for and around others, but those that work for themselves and even those whose job it is to be a stay at home wife/husband/mom/dad. Sometimes the stars just don't line up right for those around you causing them to be a jerks and by default drive you nutty!!
It can be such a challenge to "be good-do good" when everyone around you is screaming, cussing, throwing things, huffing, or puffing. We have to deal with enough crap as a team, why make it hard on those on our time .. as in our co-workers? Don't get me wrong, I certainly have moments too and a couple years ago would find myself complaining all the time at work. But I kinda figured if it was that bad of an environment I should get out, so I did!! But even then, I didn't get "hostile" around my co-workers. Back in the day at my old job I would share only with those I knew had similar work woes and openly shared them with me. It was like a "bitch and complain" work support group. We were all negative about work with each other so no one seemed to really care if the other was negative.
These days I am overall really happy at my job. I have bad days at work, but I like to think that I just complain about my own situation in my head, under my breath, or to a very select few and move on. What really makes my skin crawl is people that have a temper at work on a regular basis. It creates a hostile work environment that even if you "laugh off", will be a breading ground for your own bad mood to grow!
If you made it through your work week without being "that person" then pat yourself on the back. If you were "that person" then take a moment to see if being so vocal, hateful or ??? really helped the situation. Chances are you, it didn't do much but raise your blood pressure and really irritate everyone around you. Either way, lets ALL use the weekend to "De-stress ourselves" ( I'm singing that to the tune of Madonnas express yourself right now, ha ha).
In closing, just wondering what can we all do next week to de-stress instead of stress ourselves and those around us. I am buying noise canceling ear phones I think :-)
Grace and peace to you,
Stacy
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Hope Floats ... or does it?
Hey Everyone,
Was just thinking about relationships tonight. The boy/girl kind. Well... I guess also the boy/boy or girl/girl kind too .. so let's just say the romantic kind :)
Why is it that so many of us (especially us girls) tend to cling on to someone for no good reason other than "hope"? You know, hope that they will change, hope that they will go back to the way that they "used to be", hope that they will wake up tomorrow so very sorry for some hateful thing they have said or done. I guess we love them and care for them and that is really why we are still holding on so tightly .. but why?! I mean when it gets to THAT point .. and I know you know the one I'm talking about .. then is true love even present anymore or is the relationship just force of habit .. too much of a hassle to get out of (i.e. you live together, are married, have kids, etc) .. fear of being alone .. or possibly even due to being brain washed into thinking we can't live without that other person?!
No matter the reason we "cling" ... so many of us freaking do and it's so not cute! Now
I'm guilty as charged. In my past at one time or another I was a clinger. I guess that is why I get so frustrated when I see these girls (or guys) do it now. I think to my self, "Oh my goodness how pathetic you look .. please stop"!!!
But why ... WHY?! Why is it that when a significant other pushes us away by their horrible words or actions we run faster and faster toward them? Literally .. we run so hard that we shove them down most the time. Then after the fact we say, "Oh no, what did I do to make you fall"? It's bull...crap! (actually it's called insecurity but that is another blog entry in itself)
Why would we ask if it's our fault or apologize for anything in that case? Why do people pull this reverse psychology crap? They do something wrong (like treat you like crap and/or disrespect you) and somehow you end up begging them to stop acting that way and to stop being a jerk and then the next thing you know you are all of a sudden apologizing when they are the ones that should be on their hands and knees!
That entire "We want what we can't have" theory is so pathetic - but sadly I guess this is proof that it is so true!!! But why?? Why in the world would we want someone to chase after us?? How can that make you feel good about yourself?! Is it a control thing? Is it a arrogance thing? Now, this could go both ways, because when we have a friend dating a guy like this .. what is the first thing we tell them to do? We tell them to back off and make him wonder, make him want you, make him wonder ... because he'll want what he can't have. Why are we as humans engineered to react to this treatment?! Why can't we all just appreciate what we have and not have to play these silly mind games?!
Life is not always good. People let you down. There are lots of steep mountains and scary looking bridges to cross. I blogged about this because I was just thinking about how I'd rather run this crazy race we call life all ALONE if I didn't have a REAL man to run with me. So many people have a person that they literally have to DRAG along .. or maybe they are being drug by someone. Either way, what is the point if you aren't gonna be there to hold each other up in the end? Oh wait ... "hope" .. right? Hope that no matter how bad they treat you now they will somehow be better and still be there in the end ... um .. WRONG!! If they aren't gonna run along with you during the good times AND bad then they don't deserve to be there with you at the finish line!!
I used to both drag and be drug and I still have the scars to prove it. Thanks to a great God who listened to my prayers and answered them on HIS time ... I finally have a real man. One that will run beside me no matter the challenge or distance. If for some reason he's not by my side at the moment .. I don't have to look back to check on him .. cause I know he's there.
Ladies .. only a little boy would allow you to drag your feet and hold that pretty little chin down. If you are dragging your man along beside you ... clinging to hope that he will change ... hoping he will see the light of day ... hoping tomorrow will be the day he says he's sorry and wraps his arms around you .. get ready to fall down hard girlfriend .. and let me tell ya .. the longer you allow the dragging .. the harder it's gonna be to get back up when you do fall!
I'm not saying someone isn't capable of change. That would be like saying there is no such thing as God. Everyone is capable of change if THEY WANT TO CHANGE. But they have to pick up their own damn feet and move. Sometimes it takes baby steps .. and that is okay .. as long as they are ready and wiling for the work it will take to be a better person and partner.
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Take Back Tuesday's -- Happy Tears ;-)
Hey Everyone,
Tonight Doug and I just watched the tear jerking movie "My Sisters Keeper". I heard from some people that had read the book first that it wasn't that great. I didn't read the book so I was very eager to watch it. We ordered it from netflix months ago but were never in the mood to watch a movie that would make us cry. Well, comcast gave us no choice since the cable was "temporarily unavailable" .. again!
Pretty much from sentence one of the "sister's keepers" narration .. I was crying. I won't ruin the movie for anyone that has yet to see it, but because of the way it made me feel and who it made me think about, it is the inspiration behind this weeks Take Back Tuesday.
After the movie we both sort of sat there with this "happy/sad" feeling that we knew we would have even before we started the movie. As with many movies such as this we instantly started talking about death. We talked about living wills and our wishes once we were gone, but then the conversation lead to what it always does when we are reminded of passing on .. our sweet grandparents.
We love all of our grandparents equally, but like many of you we were both closer to one grandparent more than the other. My sweet granny, who was also my best friend, died of cancer in 2001. It was a blood cancer that attacked her body called multiple myeloma. Doug's grandfather died in 2007 due to complications from old age. We shared about 2 hours worth of stories. Back and forth we had no problem sharing memories. Some were similar while others were very different. Many of these stories were ones each of us had heard the other tell before, but we listened as if it were the first time, because it felt so bitter sweet for both of us to reflect.
Doug talked about the charming, strong, good man his grandfather was. He laughed as he told me how his grandfather would tell him time and time again about the time he was serving our country in Japan one of the men under him in rank threw a helmet on his head (as he was scolding them for not wearing one) .. just in time to save his life. He talked about his grandfathers artistic ability and the paintings he had created over the years .. specifically two he painted for his grandmother. He talked about a summer when he was about 13 and his grandfather picked him up and took him back to KY with him to spend the final 3 weeks of summer. A smile that fondly reflected on better times quickly turned to a quiver of Doug's lip when he went on to talk about the last time he saw his grandfather alive. He also shared some stories about his grandmother. It was obvious his grandparents loved each other so very much and even more obvious that Doug still loves them just as much as he did before they were gone.
I talked about my granny. I described the way she smelled, the way she pin curled her hair and the time she cut off that pretty hair and I didn't agree! I closed my eyes and described her HUGE garden and laughed as I told the story about how she kinda didn't like her neighbor because she always thought she was flirting with my papaw (haha). I talked about the other really little things I can remember, like a specific red plastic cup that I would fill with water and put beside her bed. It had a black guitar on it and I believe it said Nashville, TN :-) Of course my memories took the same tragic turn as Doug's. I talked about watching her die of cancer and how I had a hard time telling her it was "okay" to leave us here on earth. In fact, I never told her in person that it was okay. But we were so connected .. she knew when I was finally "ready" to let her go. I remember that moment well. I went downstairs at about 2 o'clock in the morning and had a heart to heart with my college roommate. I cried and told her that my aunt had told me I needed to tell my grandmother it was okay to die. I told my roommate that it was okay for her to go, that I would miss her, but I would always carry her in my heart. My granny died the next morning.
I could write pages and pages of stories about my granny and by talking to Doug he could do the same about his grandfather. I could also fill another 10 chapters with stories of my dads parents. My mamaw isn't doing well, but is still alive. Her husband .. my papaw mccloud .. is no longer with us. I could fill a book with stories of how my mamaw always picked the meatballs out of my spaghetti and meatballs because I didn't like them. I remember how she cut open bags of chips with scissors instead of ripping them open. I remember how she would freeze sprite for me and I'd eat it like dessert with a grapefruit spoon and how my papaw taught me to ice skate (forwards and backwards) and ride my bike.
The memories we have of someone special are given to us so that we never really have to let go of them. Sometimes we need these memories to hold on to because the person we love is really sick and we want to remember them the way they were. Sometimes it's because they are gone to a better place and are no longer with us here on earth and then there are even those rare cases where for whatever reason the person we want to remember just isn't in our life anymore.
The point of this Take Back Tuesday is to get you thinking about your grandparents (or if you prefer, whoever that person is that you love, but have lost). Sometimes it's hard to want to remember someone when you've worked so hard to forget that they are no longer with you. But the memories we have from someone that was good in our life are just that .. GOOD! Memories are kinda like our own little time machines that can take us back to be with that special persona whenever and wherever we want.
As my eyes fill with tears and I think about how I'd give anything to have even one more day with my grandmother, my heart is smiling because I was loved by her. I hope you have as many happy memories with your favorite loved one as I do with mine.
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Tonight Doug and I just watched the tear jerking movie "My Sisters Keeper". I heard from some people that had read the book first that it wasn't that great. I didn't read the book so I was very eager to watch it. We ordered it from netflix months ago but were never in the mood to watch a movie that would make us cry. Well, comcast gave us no choice since the cable was "temporarily unavailable" .. again!
Pretty much from sentence one of the "sister's keepers" narration .. I was crying. I won't ruin the movie for anyone that has yet to see it, but because of the way it made me feel and who it made me think about, it is the inspiration behind this weeks Take Back Tuesday.
After the movie we both sort of sat there with this "happy/sad" feeling that we knew we would have even before we started the movie. As with many movies such as this we instantly started talking about death. We talked about living wills and our wishes once we were gone, but then the conversation lead to what it always does when we are reminded of passing on .. our sweet grandparents.
We love all of our grandparents equally, but like many of you we were both closer to one grandparent more than the other. My sweet granny, who was also my best friend, died of cancer in 2001. It was a blood cancer that attacked her body called multiple myeloma. Doug's grandfather died in 2007 due to complications from old age. We shared about 2 hours worth of stories. Back and forth we had no problem sharing memories. Some were similar while others were very different. Many of these stories were ones each of us had heard the other tell before, but we listened as if it were the first time, because it felt so bitter sweet for both of us to reflect.
Doug talked about the charming, strong, good man his grandfather was. He laughed as he told me how his grandfather would tell him time and time again about the time he was serving our country in Japan one of the men under him in rank threw a helmet on his head (as he was scolding them for not wearing one) .. just in time to save his life. He talked about his grandfathers artistic ability and the paintings he had created over the years .. specifically two he painted for his grandmother. He talked about a summer when he was about 13 and his grandfather picked him up and took him back to KY with him to spend the final 3 weeks of summer. A smile that fondly reflected on better times quickly turned to a quiver of Doug's lip when he went on to talk about the last time he saw his grandfather alive. He also shared some stories about his grandmother. It was obvious his grandparents loved each other so very much and even more obvious that Doug still loves them just as much as he did before they were gone.
I talked about my granny. I described the way she smelled, the way she pin curled her hair and the time she cut off that pretty hair and I didn't agree! I closed my eyes and described her HUGE garden and laughed as I told the story about how she kinda didn't like her neighbor because she always thought she was flirting with my papaw (haha). I talked about the other really little things I can remember, like a specific red plastic cup that I would fill with water and put beside her bed. It had a black guitar on it and I believe it said Nashville, TN :-) Of course my memories took the same tragic turn as Doug's. I talked about watching her die of cancer and how I had a hard time telling her it was "okay" to leave us here on earth. In fact, I never told her in person that it was okay. But we were so connected .. she knew when I was finally "ready" to let her go. I remember that moment well. I went downstairs at about 2 o'clock in the morning and had a heart to heart with my college roommate. I cried and told her that my aunt had told me I needed to tell my grandmother it was okay to die. I told my roommate that it was okay for her to go, that I would miss her, but I would always carry her in my heart. My granny died the next morning.
I could write pages and pages of stories about my granny and by talking to Doug he could do the same about his grandfather. I could also fill another 10 chapters with stories of my dads parents. My mamaw isn't doing well, but is still alive. Her husband .. my papaw mccloud .. is no longer with us. I could fill a book with stories of how my mamaw always picked the meatballs out of my spaghetti and meatballs because I didn't like them. I remember how she cut open bags of chips with scissors instead of ripping them open. I remember how she would freeze sprite for me and I'd eat it like dessert with a grapefruit spoon and how my papaw taught me to ice skate (forwards and backwards) and ride my bike.
The memories we have of someone special are given to us so that we never really have to let go of them. Sometimes we need these memories to hold on to because the person we love is really sick and we want to remember them the way they were. Sometimes it's because they are gone to a better place and are no longer with us here on earth and then there are even those rare cases where for whatever reason the person we want to remember just isn't in our life anymore.
The point of this Take Back Tuesday is to get you thinking about your grandparents (or if you prefer, whoever that person is that you love, but have lost). Sometimes it's hard to want to remember someone when you've worked so hard to forget that they are no longer with you. But the memories we have from someone that was good in our life are just that .. GOOD! Memories are kinda like our own little time machines that can take us back to be with that special persona whenever and wherever we want.
As my eyes fill with tears and I think about how I'd give anything to have even one more day with my grandmother, my heart is smiling because I was loved by her. I hope you have as many happy memories with your favorite loved one as I do with mine.
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Take Back Tuesday -- Did I Shave My Legs For This?
Hey Everyone ...
The forecast in Nashville this week calls for sunny skies and warm temps once again .. LOVE IT! As long as it's not cold, dark and dreary like TN winters tend to be ..I am good!
Here are just a few of the things I love about warmer weather .... People are in a much better mood, eating on patios, the pool, cook outs, all the beautiful green trees and flowering plants, comfy dresses, more pedicures, a great tan .. I could go on and on :-) However, there is one thing I don't love about the bright sunshine and warmer temps and that is we wear less clothing. I don't dislike wearing less for the "fitness factor", I hate less clothing for one reason, it's time to break out the razor and shaving gel every day instead of say once or twice a week, haha!
This "Take Back Tuesday" is dedicated to reflecting back on the very first time you .. shaved your legs :-) This is pretty specific to the ladies, but I guess you guys can share the first time you shaved your face if you really want .. hehe!
I don't remember how old I was, but I am guessing it was just before I entered middle school or maybe early middle school .. 6th grade possibly?! I don't remember what caused me to start begging my mom to"let me"shave my legs, but I remember bothering her every single day for weeks. She finally said "fine" and I remember the actual "event" of shaving pretty clearly.
I locked myself in my bathroom with what I remember to be a disposable razor and thick white shaving cream. I took my evening bath and then got out of the tub to actually do the deed. I remember standing and propping my leg up on the wall, then on the hamper, on the side of the tub, on the vanity. I tried everything to get every little hair and NOT cut myself!!! (I was told I better not cut myself).
I don't remember being coached by anyone on how to shave, other than the basics of go in this direction, use shaving cream and don't cut yourself, ha! I remember my method was using what seemed like an entire can of shaving cream and with exact precision shaving each and every spot on my legs .. slow and steady. As the moments passed, I can even remember my dad knocking on the door to "poke fun" at me.
When I was finally done ( I had to have been in that bathroom well over an hour, maybe two) I ran my hands up and down my legs with a big ole smile on my face....I did it!!! My legs were as smooth as a baby's butt and I hadn't cut myself .. not even a single nick! I free of all that ugly hair and for a "tween" felt very much like a "grown up" at that very moment.
The next day was warm and sunny. Seems like it was summer break cause I don't remember going to school and showing off my more mature legs. I remember sitting out on my granny's red porch swing admiring my little limbs, letting the twins that lived next door (who were two years older and likely the culprit behind me wanting to shave) feel how "smooth" they were! I remember how excited I was when my big sister pulled in to pick me up. I just had to let her feel what a good job I did shaving for the first time. She was 8 years older than me, so her approval was very important ya know! I remember her telling me I did a better job than she did .. that they were smoother than her legs .. I felt so proud, ha!!
Funny how something I now dread was once something I begged to be able to do! Ahhh, what a "Take Back Tuesday" moment. Do you all remember shaving for the first time? I know, it's a silly subject, but maybe it made you smile .. it did me :)
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
The forecast in Nashville this week calls for sunny skies and warm temps once again .. LOVE IT! As long as it's not cold, dark and dreary like TN winters tend to be ..I am good!
Here are just a few of the things I love about warmer weather .... People are in a much better mood, eating on patios, the pool, cook outs, all the beautiful green trees and flowering plants, comfy dresses, more pedicures, a great tan .. I could go on and on :-) However, there is one thing I don't love about the bright sunshine and warmer temps and that is we wear less clothing. I don't dislike wearing less for the "fitness factor", I hate less clothing for one reason, it's time to break out the razor and shaving gel every day instead of say once or twice a week, haha!
This "Take Back Tuesday" is dedicated to reflecting back on the very first time you .. shaved your legs :-) This is pretty specific to the ladies, but I guess you guys can share the first time you shaved your face if you really want .. hehe!
I don't remember how old I was, but I am guessing it was just before I entered middle school or maybe early middle school .. 6th grade possibly?! I don't remember what caused me to start begging my mom to"let me"shave my legs, but I remember bothering her every single day for weeks. She finally said "fine" and I remember the actual "event" of shaving pretty clearly.
I locked myself in my bathroom with what I remember to be a disposable razor and thick white shaving cream. I took my evening bath and then got out of the tub to actually do the deed. I remember standing and propping my leg up on the wall, then on the hamper, on the side of the tub, on the vanity. I tried everything to get every little hair and NOT cut myself!!! (I was told I better not cut myself).
I don't remember being coached by anyone on how to shave, other than the basics of go in this direction, use shaving cream and don't cut yourself, ha! I remember my method was using what seemed like an entire can of shaving cream and with exact precision shaving each and every spot on my legs .. slow and steady. As the moments passed, I can even remember my dad knocking on the door to "poke fun" at me.
When I was finally done ( I had to have been in that bathroom well over an hour, maybe two) I ran my hands up and down my legs with a big ole smile on my face....I did it!!! My legs were as smooth as a baby's butt and I hadn't cut myself .. not even a single nick! I free of all that ugly hair and for a "tween" felt very much like a "grown up" at that very moment.
The next day was warm and sunny. Seems like it was summer break cause I don't remember going to school and showing off my more mature legs. I remember sitting out on my granny's red porch swing admiring my little limbs, letting the twins that lived next door (who were two years older and likely the culprit behind me wanting to shave) feel how "smooth" they were! I remember how excited I was when my big sister pulled in to pick me up. I just had to let her feel what a good job I did shaving for the first time. She was 8 years older than me, so her approval was very important ya know! I remember her telling me I did a better job than she did .. that they were smoother than her legs .. I felt so proud, ha!!
Funny how something I now dread was once something I begged to be able to do! Ahhh, what a "Take Back Tuesday" moment. Do you all remember shaving for the first time? I know, it's a silly subject, but maybe it made you smile .. it did me :)
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday Funday
Hello Friends, Enemies, Spy's and Strangers, (HaHa)
I have learned over the past week I have all of the above that visit my blog. So hello to you all .. I'm sure glad you logged on no matter who you are.
Ya know what .. I love life ... I really do. I've certainly hated it at times. It's likely that I hated it a week ago even, but overall I really do like it and today I LOVE LIFE!!!! Why? Because it's SUNDAY FUNDAY!!
Some people like Fridays .. others enjoy Saturdays .. but Sundays are by far the best day of the week in my household. We get to catch up on rest and each other and to me that is priceless!! The work week is so busy for Doug and I, so Sunday's are the only FULL day we have to REALLY enjoy life and each other!!
What is Sunday Funday in the household of "Stoug" you ask? (That is our celebrity name by the way, haha, stacy + doug + stoug). Really it's anything we want it to be. Some weeks it's staying in bed and/or the house all day long (literally). Others it's going to church, sometimes it's going to visit family, maybe going for a "Sunday Drive", going shopping, catching a movie while eating an entire tub of popcorn, cleaning the house, eating somewhere yummy, etc. Speaking of food on Sunday Funday, when we first started dating we had a Sunday Funday Buffet that we enjoyed for dinner. It was just sort of a combo of anything we wanted to eat. Homemade baked fries, tater tots, grilled cheese, turkey burgers, chips, other junk food and sweets, etc. Sunday Funday is SIMPLY what WE make it and I love every single second of it!!
Today, we caught up on sleep. It was our plan to not get out of our PJ's and lay in what we call "our cave" all day and all night and watch movies. I guess it's true that plans are usually meant to be broken because we ended up doing the opposite. We opted for venturing out of the house. We ate sushi on a patio while enjoying the gorgeous sunshine. Next we went to PetSmart and loved on the homeless kitties, did a little shopping at Target, then enjoyed a "sunday drive" before going home, where we spent time sitting on what was once my granny's porch swing and talking before catching up on DVR recordings and finally falling asleep in each others arms :-) SUNDAY FUNAY is one of the simple things that make life worth living!
Sorry for the self serving blog entry. I said that "simply stacy" wouldn't be like that. Oh well, I didn't have anything else to write about today and figured it was better than nothing. I really am trying to make this a habit!
Maybe it wasn't totally self serving. Maybe I gave you an idea to turn your Sunday into SUNDAY FUNDAY! If it's already part of your ritual then please share with me how you like to spend your final day of freedom before the work week begins :-)
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
I have learned over the past week I have all of the above that visit my blog. So hello to you all .. I'm sure glad you logged on no matter who you are.
Ya know what .. I love life ... I really do. I've certainly hated it at times. It's likely that I hated it a week ago even, but overall I really do like it and today I LOVE LIFE!!!! Why? Because it's SUNDAY FUNDAY!!
Some people like Fridays .. others enjoy Saturdays .. but Sundays are by far the best day of the week in my household. We get to catch up on rest and each other and to me that is priceless!! The work week is so busy for Doug and I, so Sunday's are the only FULL day we have to REALLY enjoy life and each other!!
What is Sunday Funday in the household of "Stoug" you ask? (That is our celebrity name by the way, haha, stacy + doug + stoug). Really it's anything we want it to be. Some weeks it's staying in bed and/or the house all day long (literally). Others it's going to church, sometimes it's going to visit family, maybe going for a "Sunday Drive", going shopping, catching a movie while eating an entire tub of popcorn, cleaning the house, eating somewhere yummy, etc. Speaking of food on Sunday Funday, when we first started dating we had a Sunday Funday Buffet that we enjoyed for dinner. It was just sort of a combo of anything we wanted to eat. Homemade baked fries, tater tots, grilled cheese, turkey burgers, chips, other junk food and sweets, etc. Sunday Funday is SIMPLY what WE make it and I love every single second of it!!
Today, we caught up on sleep. It was our plan to not get out of our PJ's and lay in what we call "our cave" all day and all night and watch movies. I guess it's true that plans are usually meant to be broken because we ended up doing the opposite. We opted for venturing out of the house. We ate sushi on a patio while enjoying the gorgeous sunshine. Next we went to PetSmart and loved on the homeless kitties, did a little shopping at Target, then enjoyed a "sunday drive" before going home, where we spent time sitting on what was once my granny's porch swing and talking before catching up on DVR recordings and finally falling asleep in each others arms :-) SUNDAY FUNAY is one of the simple things that make life worth living!
Sorry for the self serving blog entry. I said that "simply stacy" wouldn't be like that. Oh well, I didn't have anything else to write about today and figured it was better than nothing. I really am trying to make this a habit!
Maybe it wasn't totally self serving. Maybe I gave you an idea to turn your Sunday into SUNDAY FUNDAY! If it's already part of your ritual then please share with me how you like to spend your final day of freedom before the work week begins :-)
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Hello World
I’m reflecting on the words of a Lady Antebellum song right now called Hello World. (I just love them by the way .. they are so very kind).
A part of it goes a little something like this ...
Hello World. How’ve you been. Good to see you my old friend.
Sometimes I feel as cold as steel
And broken like I’m never gonna heal
I see a light, a little grace, little faith unfurled.
Hello World.
Uhhh, how I love that song!! If you haven't already, listen to it from beginning to end, more than once. Personally for me it says a lot. It reminds me how life flashes before our eyes. Before we know it this short life will be gone and most of us will sit in amazement asking ourselves what we have done with all this time?!
We live in this fast paced life in which everything, except what really should, matters. I turned 30 a week ago yesterday and I spent my day at the spa. It was such a nice gift to give myself. I've beat up on my body for the past 30 years so I thought I should thank it for holding on, hehe :-) While laying there getting a fabulous massage I found myself in deep, yet comforting thought. I suddenly started seeing flashes of all these faces. From people that I only knew from pictures as an infant, to friends I've not talked too much since childhood. Then I saw faces from young adulthood and then on to faces of today. Some of them made me smile while some made me cringe a little. Regardless of why they came to mind, they were all people that made up my the past 30 years of my life.
Years, months, weeks, days, moments have gone by so very fast. I really can’t tell you where the time has gone, because as fulfilled as my life has been, I think I’ve wasted a bunch of it and that makes me so very mad at myself. Reflecting on the past 30 years, I can easily tell you that the most consistent thing I have to show is that I did alot of worrying about things I couldn't change and wishing for time to pass even quicker!
Years, months, weeks, days, moments have gone by so very fast. I really can’t tell you where the time has gone, because as fulfilled as my life has been, I think I’ve wasted a bunch of it and that makes me so very mad at myself. Reflecting on the past 30 years, I can easily tell you that the most consistent thing I have to show is that I did alot of worrying about things I couldn't change and wishing for time to pass even quicker!
Remember how growing up we wanted the school year to hurry and end so it could be time for summer break? Then in my “tweens” I remember wanting to hurry and be 13 so I could officially be a teenager. Then all l I could think about was being 16 so I could drive, 18 so I could be “an adult”, 21 so I could legaly drink if I wanted to, 24 so I could rent a car and so on and so on! Later in my 20’s I wished Mondays would hurry and be Fridays so that my weekend would get here faster. There is no denying that most of the past 30 years have been spent wishing my days away. Why did I do that to myself?! Why do we wish our days away when they are already so limited when you think about it. The time we get here on earth with the people we love is over in the blink of an eye. Why do we waste so much time wanting it to hurry and pass us by?
I don't know why, but I do know that I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to LIVE each and every day. I want to know that when God decides I’m no longer needed on this earth that I HAVE LIVED MY LIFE TO IT'S FULLEST!!!!! So far in this life, I’ve had my fun, met wonderful people and experienced great things, but still yet I feel like I haven’t really lived!!
For a lot of people (and even myself at times) we make excuses for whey we aren’t living. It’s always someone elses fault we aren’t happy. True, many times situations are out of our control, but most of the time it’s up to US to decide the outcome! My goal for the next 30 years of my life is to make every single day make life worth living. I’m not sure how to do that just yet, but it’s my goal.
Speaking of, someone asked me what my goals were. Of course they were talking about my career and my "family" status. I told them I didn’t really have a goal for that anymore. I felt like for the longest time my career goal was to be the main anchor where I could tell stories, both good and bad, to the people of my hometown. Well, I can check that off my list and I feel very good about that. In my personal life I had a goal to get married and have a baby by the time I was 30. SCORE .. well sort of! Watch what you wish for, because I got married alright, but to the wrong man. While we were together for quite some time, I was miserable in my marriage for only a short time. I did what I said I would never do and filed for divorce and thankfully was without child in the process.
So, see what can happen when you have YOUR OWN goals?! God didn't agree with my "goals" and boy am I glad!! Had my goals and my life plan panned out, I would still be married to the wrong man, unhappy, possibly with child to make matters worse and in a job that I dreaded going to each day. So I no longer worry about goals anymore.
It was when I stopped being on some time line I finally became happy. I’m now the dreaded 30 and have finally met a real man and am at this point indifferent about having children. I took what some would consider a "downgrade" in my career, but have found in so many aspects that it's actually quite the upgrade. So from now on when someone asks me what my goals are, without hesitation I know the answer.
My goal is to just live. Take time to look around and stop to smell the roses as they say .. which goes back to the song reference. I don’t care what that means as long as I go to bed each night feeling somehow fulfilled. If 30 years from now I want to be able to look back and say ..I know I screwed up here and there but at least in some way, even if it's small, I savored each day I was given! If I can even come close to saying that then I’ll be one really happy 60 year old lady!
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Take Back Tuesday -- Friendship Bracelets
Hey Everyone,
I almost always have something on my mind. Some simple topic, or ten, that I could blog about. But most the time, as simple as they are, the subject matter requires a bit of thought and in depth writing. I want to try to update us much as possible so more of you will visit www.simplystacy.com every day, so I am going to do a few fun things each week. It will give you a reason to come to my webpage and also get me more in the habit of writing something.
From now on, Tuesdays will be deemed “Take Back Tuesday”. I am going to be thinking of something that takes me back to a more simple time in my life. I want you all to share your “Take Back Tuesday” moment with me too! It may be something from when you were 2 years old maybe even 2 days ago. If it takes you back to a simple time .. then let’s share!
My Take Back Tuesday topic for today is Friendship Bracelets. I was reminded of these on Easter Sunday when Doug’s niece Tasia was showing me what seem to be the 2010 version of the friendship bracelet. I can’t remember what they are called. They are jelly looking and when you take them off they look like different animals? By what she said, it sounds as if you collect as many as you can by switching and trading out with your friends. May not be the same as the Friendship Bracelets of the 80’s and 90’s but her little animal bracelets made me think of them.
I remember making, receiving and wearing many friendship bracelets. The history behind them is you make one for a friend and put it on them. They make a wish and wear it until it falls off by itself, at which the wish is supposed to come true. Seems like we always made ones that “matched” each other if I remember correctly. I don’t remember who all I shared Friendship Bracelets with or what my wishes were, but seeing those bracelets on Tasia made me think back to the unique friendships we had as children.
Sadly, many of the friendships that have made up my adult life have been just as fragile and replaceable as they were back then. Guess some things/people never change. The only difference between then and now ... You can’t find a new best friend by the end of recess :-)
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Just Breathe ....
You can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand.
And breathe, just breathe
Woah breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe.
I like the words to this Anna Nalick song. So very true. I guess I already touched on a part of the songs meaning in my blog post "If Only". But today I'm talking about the "just breathe" part. It seems we all have a hard time doing that simple "inhale-exhale" thing.
Let me share a recent experience I had with just that. It happened earlier this month ( I started drafting this blog on 3-4 .. sorry). I experienced something I can't quite explain. It was a sensation. A rush of adrenaline I guess you could call it. It as so intense and so quick to come about, that it literally almost made me feel as if I wasn't in my own body for a moment. Instead of getting "hot" like one might when they get mad, I got very cold? I felt as if this "wave" of ice cold air came over my body and then lingered on my scalp. Then the roots of each hair on my head slowly started to tingle. This sensation soon passed, but as my heart pounded, I looked down at my chest to find it "normal". You see, in an instance such as this it would typically be bright red and splotchy. When I experience any extreme emotion I get like that. This time there was nothing of the sort. Instead I glanced at my shaking hands as they typed on my keyboard. They had turned a strange shade of gray/blue. They were very "cold" looking. Maybe because in that very moment I became a cold person. The thoughts crossing my mind, the negative energy, everything in me at that moment was nothing but negative!! I may not be proud of what I was feeling but at least I can admit it, right?
Someones ignorance and shallowness ticked me off so bad I almost let them get to me. In this situation it wasn't "what" they said .. it was the simple fact that they said it. You see I have learned to just not care what people say about me. If they are talking bad about me and the person they are gossiping to/with wants to believe them without forming an opinion of there own, then they aren't someone I would care about anyway.
We all know that people only bash people they don't know for one reason. Yup, that green eyed monster called jealousy. So I always try to simply follow the wise words of Dr. Seuss who says "Those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter"!
I've experienced great loss, extreme fear, a lot of anger and the worst kinds of betrayal. Almost every spectrum of emotion one can experience I have experienced to some extreme, or I've watched someone experience it, but I never quite felt the way I did in that one moment. Not sure what made it so different? But I felt it .. that's for sure!!
This moment made me think ... what really drives our emotions? What is it that makes different situations strike different chords within us? How can in one instance we react with a cool and level head and then in another similar instance go off like a freaking bomb?!
If it's true that any emotion, if involuntary, is sincere, then what does how we react to things say about who we really are? Or does it even say anything at all?
I don't like who I was in that moment. But then again I don't like the stupid, idiotic, self centered, fake, shallow girl(s) who made me feel that way. In this instance, had I acted on my emotions, I would have "pleased them". So I just held the emotions in. But what if I hadn't? What if I would have decided to do everything my mind wanted me to do? Does that make me a bad person for even considering such things? Or is it just normal human emotion?
Maybe people shouldn't be shallow, immature and fake like this little group of "besties" and we wouldn't have to worry about negative energy at all?
As my granny would say .. "If all people were just like my Aunt Ernestine the world would be a better place"! My aunt is just one of those rare GOOD people out there. I have a few people in my mind that I wish everyone in this world would be like .. don't you?
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand.
And breathe, just breathe
Woah breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe.
I like the words to this Anna Nalick song. So very true. I guess I already touched on a part of the songs meaning in my blog post "If Only". But today I'm talking about the "just breathe" part. It seems we all have a hard time doing that simple "inhale-exhale" thing.
Let me share a recent experience I had with just that. It happened earlier this month ( I started drafting this blog on 3-4 .. sorry). I experienced something I can't quite explain. It was a sensation. A rush of adrenaline I guess you could call it. It as so intense and so quick to come about, that it literally almost made me feel as if I wasn't in my own body for a moment. Instead of getting "hot" like one might when they get mad, I got very cold? I felt as if this "wave" of ice cold air came over my body and then lingered on my scalp. Then the roots of each hair on my head slowly started to tingle. This sensation soon passed, but as my heart pounded, I looked down at my chest to find it "normal". You see, in an instance such as this it would typically be bright red and splotchy. When I experience any extreme emotion I get like that. This time there was nothing of the sort. Instead I glanced at my shaking hands as they typed on my keyboard. They had turned a strange shade of gray/blue. They were very "cold" looking. Maybe because in that very moment I became a cold person. The thoughts crossing my mind, the negative energy, everything in me at that moment was nothing but negative!! I may not be proud of what I was feeling but at least I can admit it, right?
Someones ignorance and shallowness ticked me off so bad I almost let them get to me. In this situation it wasn't "what" they said .. it was the simple fact that they said it. You see I have learned to just not care what people say about me. If they are talking bad about me and the person they are gossiping to/with wants to believe them without forming an opinion of there own, then they aren't someone I would care about anyway.
We all know that people only bash people they don't know for one reason. Yup, that green eyed monster called jealousy. So I always try to simply follow the wise words of Dr. Seuss who says "Those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter"!
I've experienced great loss, extreme fear, a lot of anger and the worst kinds of betrayal. Almost every spectrum of emotion one can experience I have experienced to some extreme, or I've watched someone experience it, but I never quite felt the way I did in that one moment. Not sure what made it so different? But I felt it .. that's for sure!!
This moment made me think ... what really drives our emotions? What is it that makes different situations strike different chords within us? How can in one instance we react with a cool and level head and then in another similar instance go off like a freaking bomb?!
If it's true that any emotion, if involuntary, is sincere, then what does how we react to things say about who we really are? Or does it even say anything at all?
I don't like who I was in that moment. But then again I don't like the stupid, idiotic, self centered, fake, shallow girl(s) who made me feel that way. In this instance, had I acted on my emotions, I would have "pleased them". So I just held the emotions in. But what if I hadn't? What if I would have decided to do everything my mind wanted me to do? Does that make me a bad person for even considering such things? Or is it just normal human emotion?
Maybe people shouldn't be shallow, immature and fake like this little group of "besties" and we wouldn't have to worry about negative energy at all?
As my granny would say .. "If all people were just like my Aunt Ernestine the world would be a better place"! My aunt is just one of those rare GOOD people out there. I have a few people in my mind that I wish everyone in this world would be like .. don't you?
Grace and Peace to you,
Stacy