day nine: forgiveness (fun-a-day)

I love working with maps, and thought it was a perfect background for my intention of the day:  forgiveness. Forgiveness for roads traveled, and forgiveness for acts by those who were with me on those roads. I had a big moment several weeks ago when I realized how much shame was eating away at me. I realized I need to forgive myself for my past. It's not even that I've done terrible things - it's more about things I regret saying to someone, or something I did in my life that may have hurt someone. I can't change the things in my past, but I can learn from them. And forgive myself for them.

(I did pick Chicago on purpose, since that's where a lot of my past was spent, but I don't have to forgive Chicago for anything - I still love that town!)

day eight: motivation (fun-a-day)

This is Mount Rainier - can you tell?

This came to me today while I was attending the public memorial service for the ranger I mentioned earlier. It was a beautiful and heart-breaking service, and one that I don't think I'll ever forget.

The mountain itself, combined with Motivation, makes a ton of sense to me. It represents many things:

- It's my view from my office. I somehow got a fantastic, unobstructed view of Mt. Rainier out my window, and 14 years into living here, it still makes my heart skip a beat whenever I see it

- I heard someone state today that the mountain stands as a permanent memorial to Margaret Anderson. When leaving the service, the previously cloudy view was stunning in clear, blue skies. As a memorial, it reminds me to appreciate my life because you never know how long you have.

- The mountain itself is somewhere I want to spend more time - it represents a spiritual and physical health that I need more of in my life.

day six: connection (fun-a-day)

Connection is a word I wrote down on New Year's - it can be applied to so much! Connection with my self, my relationships, nature...everything, really. Instead of focusing on where I'm going, I'd really like to concentrate on where I am in each exact moment. This seems to be a tough one these days.

I decided to move away from embroidery today, and had some fun with wire instead.

day five: strength (fun-a-day)

day three: love (fun-a-day)

So, sad story. A woman named Margaret Anderson died today at Mt. Rainier. She was a law enforcement park ranger and was shot by a man who had blown through a routine traffic stop. My work scheduled a meeting about it first thing this morning, and it's been heavy on my mind all day.

It's been a giant reminder to acknowledge and appreciate all the love in my life, and a reminder to express my love to those who are so important to me.

RIP Margaret Anderson.

day two: patience (fun-a-day)

This popped into my head while I was with my incredibly tired toddler who is learning to kick, hit, bite, and climb. The more tired she is, the more likely she is to do one of these things. My sleep is less and less these days, and the year has not started out exactly as I had hoped. I can get lost in all of the things I want to accomplish - from cleaning the kitchen to creating a business to taking a nap. Instead of feeling overwhelmed at all of this, I am exploring ways in which I can bring more patience into my life.

day one: integrity (january fun-a-day)

I saw a post about this event and had to sign right up! Each participant picks a project and does it everyday for all of January. Then in mid-February, all participants display their projects at a local venue. Unfortunately there's nothing like this in Seattle yet, so I've signed up for one in Portland (http://www.funadaypdx.com) on February 11th.


My project: one affirmation or intention, in craft form, every day. I can pick any craft to represent the affirmations, and at the end I'll display them all together. I love how this ties into the new year - instead of resolutions, I'm going to focus on what I want to nurture in my life every day, in a creative way.

Today's word-of-the-day: integrity

[in-teg-ri-tee]; the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished

There were several definitions, but I liked the one above best. To me, "being whole" includes putting my intentions into action. Simply, doing what I say (or think) I'm going to do. Like crafting/art. Making good food. Exercising my brain and body. Being the person I want my daughter to know me to be. Being the person I know me to be.

single dad laughing

What a powerful post.

"Be bold about your weaknesses and you will change people's lives. Be honest about who you actually are, and others will begin to be their actual selves around you."

balance

I checked out an old friend's blog today. She started it a few days ago when her husband left for an 8 month traveling job - it seems like a great way to check in with herself during a time of huge adjustment. As someone about to have a huge adjustment of my own, I thought it was a fabulous idea. I borrowed the above graphic from her website as a reminder to myself to find balance in my life during a time that will most definitely be swayed heavily in the direction of being a new mom. I couldn't be more excited about that role, but I do need to make sure I'm checking in with myself so I don't let everything else in my life go by the wayside.

My hope is to eventually make my own graph with a few different categories. But this one certainly will do for now!

eating wild

How did I not know about this before?

Healthy Choices 2008

It's Thursday - I started my Healthy Choices 2008 commitment today - eating pretty well and drinking MUCH more water. I gave up coffee on Tuesday and replaced it with green tea. It's working out! I'm not exhausted, and it feels good to not be tied to the coffee pot. Oh! And big change - I convinced Cristopher to toss out our TV. We still have a little one but it's not hooked up to the cable, so only DVDs can be watched. And now nothing but a stereo (well, and a computer) are in our living room. Funny - tonight we were making dinner and when I thought of the fact that we weren't going to set up in the living room and watch something while we ate, I actually panicked. What will we DO? So we sat at our table which we rarely do, ate some delicious pork tacos then got up to do other things.