Celebrate the Small Things and Do You Have Goals?

Many thanks to Viklit for starting and hosting the weekly Celebrate the Small Things blog hop!

I am, sadly, going to lessen my Celebrate posts after June. I love this sweet group of writers who gather together to celebrate each Friday, but I have found that I am into a haphazard blogging schedule this summer. I might do a Celebrate post near the end of July, and I'll be keeping notes in my journal because I love celebrations. :) Plus, it reminds me to give thanks and have an attitude of gratitude.

My family and my writing are taking precedent over blogging this summer and I haven't been a good visitor, plus I have lots of visitors to get back to after the sweet love and encouragement I've received the last few weeks. I plan to use more of my blogging time for visiting and less for posting.

This week, I'm celebrating:

1. All of the Celebrate the Small Things bloggers - you are wonderful!!!

2. Every day I feel a bit better. I still have tests to undergo and specialists to see, but my health has improved. I've been given permission from my doctor to walk a mile and bike a few miles now - yay! Back to activity. I'm also starting to do more yoga although I'm keeping it light and easy.

3. My husband - he's been a huge help these last few weeks, an every day encouragement, and he gives great hugs and a shoulder to cry on, as needed.

4. My daughters - wow! I'm just so filled with mama pride I might burst. They've cooked, cleaned, and experimented with allergy-free recipes, and even given up their favorite super-hot spiced dinners for me (although they still keep giant bottles of their fave hot sauce on the table for extra seasoning).

5. My youngest brought home a gold medal and two third place ribbons from the Seattle kayaking regatta, and two second place and two third place ribbons for the Bellingham kayaking regatta. She even raced "up" an age category at the Bellingham regatta in the team kayak boats.

6. My oldest gracefully handled two 12 hour days of dance rehearsal and recital time. She danced with the two "itty bitty" classes that she helped teach all year, and she danced in two of her own dances. I did manage to get her out of the backstage area for some much-needed sanity breaks on both days - by arranging that with my parents (go, grandparent power!).

7. My dad (age 76) helped give motorcycle and motors scooter sidecar rides at a special event for kids with muscular dystrophy last Sunday. He had a blast! My mom provided sideline coffee encouragement.

8. Laurel Garver at Laurel's Leaves and Elizabeth at Unicorn Bell hosted two guest posts by me for my slow-to-start Champion in Flight book blog tour. Many thanks to them, and many thanks to those who stopped by for "Getting Past the Myth of 'Enough' Time" and "Writing Through Release Day."

9. Tara Tyler's latest release, Broken Branch Falls! Go, Tara!

10. Today is my mom's birthday! Happy 73 years, Mom! Thanks for showing me how to smell the roses, name the plants in my yard, and love with joy!



And . . . if this post wasn't long enough, I'm going to give a quick check-in for Do You Have Goals?

Yes, somehow, in the midst of a crazy life, I am writing and publishing.

"Seedlings," a flash fiction piece, will be published by Brilliant Flash Fiction (date to be announced), I submitted a bunch of other short pieces that are on the "wait and see" list, and some that were rejected (but I did finish and submit them, so I still count it as a victory).

I published Champion in Flight this month! Had a book signing! Two guest posts!

So far, my crazy goals and my crazy life are working together. Summer may change that momentum, but I hope not.

Get Healthy Blogspot

Get Healthy Bloghop

Stephen Tremp, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Michael Di Gesu, and L. Diane Wolfe have teamed up for a Blog Hop that focuses on health.
The Objective: Share with everyone something you have done that affected your health in a positive way.

So here are my 3 top tips, followed by a video:

1. Just Dance . . . in other words, just move - no matter how awesome the dance moves are, or anything else for that matter. That's my biggest tip, and the attitude that helps me get moving when I've falling into a sluggish state. Just turn up the music and move . . .

2. Pray before eating. Taking a moment to pray over my food (even snacks) helps me remember to treat this body like a treasure instead of a trash can. (I'm still working on this one, but it definitely makes a difference.)

3. Surround yourself with positive, loving people.

Speaking of which, I happened to know this guy, Dennis Nichols, who recently did a TED talk on healing hearts. He's a heart surgeon, the husband of a beautiful lady-writer named Grace, and the father of eight kids (5 adopted). It's kind of a longish video, about both physical healing (and heart transplants), and spiritual healing (a different kind of heart transplant), but it's definitely worth a watch.

(You might need some tissue though . . . he's a army surgeon who's been deployed in combat zones and he stops mid-talk with tears running down his face)




And if you don't have time to watch it now, bookmark it and watch it later.

And if you just can't make the time, I'll tell you his key note: Love. Love the face in front of you. Love, and make a difference in someone's life.

So, that's my bonus tip: LOVE! (It will keep your heart healthy)

Thankfulness for Life!

In the last five weeks, I've been caught up in specific blog challenges, fests, hops, and a wonderful guest post by Karen Lange. I'm thankful for all the wonderful hosts of those challenges, fests, and hops, and I'm thankful for Karen's gracious wisdom about blogging.

Meanwhile in the non-cyber world, life is barrelling along at a breakneck pace, and I feel like I'm bursting with thankfulness for life!

So I thought I would share a few bits of that with all of you with some pictures.

In our homeschooling life, my oldest daughter and my husband have been joyfully creating different experiments for her homeschool co-op Backyard Ballistics class. Their most recent creation for that class was a carbide cannon, but I have pictures of one that they made earlier: the potato gun.

This photo was taken in the last week of March, when my daughter had just undergone minor foot surgery (see note at bottom), so that's why she has a sock over one foot (it's actually over a big bandage) and a crutch on the ground next to her.

My youngest daughter has been building all our own science experiments with very little help (she doesn't want it). This last week, she built her own balance. We have one but she wanted to build her own from her science kit.

With a small group of homeschool friends we went out this last Tuesday and celebrated a particularly low tide in our area. These were just a few of our discoveries:

Plus, five girls, one boy, and three moms managed to bring home a few buckets of sand in our shoes.

And in our dance life, my youngest got her first full pointe shoes (slightly different than demi-pointe)

My oldest is up for her first pair of full pointe shoes, but her feet have this tendency to grow in May, so we are going to wait through the month and see if her feet get a size bigger in the next thirty days. We inevitably buy her new shoes the week before the June recital. Soft shoes like ballet slippers, and jazz shoes just stretch. Tap shoes and pointe shoes don't.  Their ballet teacher simply said to move from demi-pointe to pointe when they needed new shoes . . .so she has to wait.

*Her foot surgery involved removing what the foot doctor thought was a wart, but turned out to be a small bit of metal or glass cocooned in protective skin tissue. She recovered enought to ski in one week, and recovered enough to dance in two weeks, although her foot doctor just said last week that she is fully recovered.

Day 11 of 100 Days of Revision Update

Aagh. I'm about 1,000 words behind my goal today. And the last bit of revision still left me with an extremely awkward conversation . . .need to fix it, but I need to move on and fix the rest of the mess too. There is only so much rewriting a scene can take before it just shatters into meaningless bits.

Oh, Those High School Dances!

Oh, Those High School Dances! Blog Hop is the brainchild of hosts Kelly and Emily, and looked like too much fun not to join.

Here are the rules for participation:
1. Post pictures of your high school dances. (Make sure you tell us which one is you if they're group pictures.)
2. Share with us your funniest high school dance story.
3. That's it!

There are three categories to win prizes.

The three categories are:
1. Best Dressed
2. Funniest Dance Story
3. Cutest Couple

A little heads up before you dive into the photos here: I had a hate/love relationship with high school. There were moments I hated, and moments I loved. One of the many reasons I homeschool my kids is to protect them from the seriously painfully boring moments of public school, and from the trials of bullying (which I feel is a byproduct of public school's "lord of the flies" social system).

However, I loved school dances. Not because I often had dates. I usually didn't. I went to all the "non-formal" dances with my friends, and even sometimes all by myself - usually I ran into someone I knew who I could hang out with. I just liked to jump up and down to music. Seriously. I was that nerdy kid who stood right next to the speakers, and danced all night long and considered the slow songs to be a perfect opportunity to take a restroom break. When I did want to dance during a slow song, I asked guys to dance with me. Some of them said no. Some said yes. But I didn't wait for them. If I had, I wouldn't have danced. Sorry, for you guys out there, but some of you are too slow, or too picky in your dance partners. 


 A few weeks before my senior year Homecoming, sulking because the first guy I asked said no, I was stopped in the hallway by my friend Gabe, who was determined to break me from my poutiness. She knew that a mutual friend of ours, and a guy that I had always admired but was "just friends" with, had also been rejected by the one he had asked. So, Gabe pulled me along the hallway until we met up with Tor, and said something along the lines of, "Tor, Tyrean has something to ask you about Homecoming." (I did? Oh...) and I can't remember what I actually said, but it was a pretty bad invitation, in the midst of which I realized I was actually nervous and his answer mattered. (Maybe I liked him more than I previously thought?)

His answer, "Yes, but I'm not renting a tux," with a mischevious smile.

(Hmm, what did he mean by that? )

No matter, I was giddily happy, and when the night arrived, I was nervous. Very nervous. I went to pick him up (yes, I did the driving), his dad sat me down on the couch and proceeded to ask me questions. His dad happened to be the assistant football coach at our high school, taught martial arts, and was generally intimidating even on his nicest days. I was terrified. "Oh, yes, I'll have him home by midnight," I promised. Then his mom came in and rescued me with a laugh, and welcoming smile, chiding her husband for bothering me.

Then Tor came into the room, and wow, he looked sharp and handsome!

He didn't rent his tux, he owned one! (passed down to him from his grandfather)

And I'm not going to get into the details of the evening after that, but I will say it was the best date I had in high school. Tor and I didn't become an item, mainly because I was completely clueless, but we did have one wonderful evening. (and it wasn't the best date of my life, just high school - added for the sake of my green hubster)

Plus, we had an awesome group of friends to hang out with for most of the evening. Please note that the two girls in red weren't dating each other, but they had dresses and no dates, so they came along for the fun (the rest of us wouldn't let them stay home that night and feel sad). Oh, and yes, I'm really short, and I generally had tall friends.

So, next up, Senior Prom. Again, I asked someone, and again I was rejected. There were four other guys I almost asked, but didn't . . . including Tor. (long story of somehwat painful cluelessness there) But my friend Gabe, the same who induced me to ask Tor to Homecoming, told me in no uncertain terms that I would be going to our Senior Prom, no matter what. It turned out that our friends, Trina (in the white dress) and Liza (in the black dress that you really can't see here) both had guys stand them up at the last minute. Seriously, guys who said they would go, and then backed out! The nerve!) Anyway, Gabe and her date Greg (who I knew well since he was one of my neighborhood friends), shared their evening with the three dateless amigoes, and for that I will always be very, very thankful. You see, even though I had a rebellious streak, I couldn't see going to the Senior Prom all by myself. I just felt that would be too hard, even if I did already have tickets. (I was determined to go, even if I was scared of going alone.)

Part of my high school counter culture rebellion included wearing my black high tops everywhere, with everything during my senior year. Why? Because I liked them, and no one else did. I know that in the 80's they were featured in magazines, but trust me when I say that at my small town hick high school, girls did not wear high tops with dresses. Well, except for this girl.

Yes, I had a super bad perm, and I look pretty dorky, but I still love this picture. I love my beautiful friends, and my shoes, and the attitude I had that night. I was going to have fun, no matter what. And I did. I had an awesome time. I danced until the dj packed up his gear. Two guys that seemed far out of my league danced with me because they liked my shoes. When a couple of people verbally harassed me (yes, I was insulted and bullied at every high school event) I laughed at them. I couldn't believe they thought they could hurt my joy.

Even on Monday morning, at school, when a girl walked up to me and streamed obscenities at me and then proceeded to tell me that I ruined her senior prom with my shoes, I couldn't help but smile.

For me, going to Senior Prom, in those shoes, with my awesome friends, made me feel like I had conquered all that was bad in high school. I felt invincible.




Day 9 of 100 days of Revision Update
I admit it. I got up late and scoured my house for pictures for this blogest, and I haven't done any revision today. Aaah! However, yesterday I had met my word count revision goal, and I know I can do the same today. It just might not be until tonight when my kids are in dance class. I did do something I hadn't planned though - I changed the first three chapters (again). However, I managed to do it in a way that will coincide with chapter four pretty nicely. From here on out, it's just polish time.

A to Z Challenge: D

A to Z Challenge

Theme: Creativity Toolbox

D = Dance

“Writing is a dance of language.” – Ivan Doig

Dance sets you free, gives shape and definition to a moment of music or silence, and focuses your mind rhythm and movement, the shape of space in a room, the feel of air cupped on your fingers, and the steady floor beneath your feet.

Have you ever danced with your words?

One of the reasons I love the quote, “Writing is a dance of language,” is that it brings up imagery in my mind of a writer dancing with words like a ballroom dancer perfectly partnered. I’m not sure my writing has ever achieved that, but I like to dream of a day when it might.

Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Ninja Captain Alex

Sticking with my theme, and trying to keep this all short, I have just a bit of advice to give for anyone who is struggling with their writing. Dance with your words today. Enjoy it!

Sensational Haiku Wednesday hosted by You Know That Blog?

The theme this week was open. This group of haiku was inspired by a young dancer my family knows who lost her ability to dance in an accident. She had to undergo physical therapy to regain basic movement and is beginning to be active in life again.

accidents happen

long held plans, glorious dreams
lost in a moment

she leaps only inside

floats across stages in dreams
swept away by pain


balance eludes her
yet she holds herself straight, poised
in the wings of life


the curtain rises
she lifts her chin, raises her
voice and sings out proud

So, please, dance today. Dance out loud. Dance in your head. Dance to loud music. Dance to silence. Dance with your words.

Shake It Up Tap Performance

This video is of my daughters' most recent tap performance. It isn't the hardest routine they've done, but the counter rythm part was challenging . . . so when they get to the part where they are not doing the same steps at the same time, it's on purpose. It's kind of like learning the rules of writing, and then breaking them for an affect.


So, do you ever go counter rhythm in your writing just to see what happens?

D is for Dance, and 365 Days of Blessings Day 310

D is for Dance!

Dance:
1. to move one's feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, especially to the accompaniment of music.

2. to leap, skip, etc., as from excitement or emotion; move nimbly or quickly: to dance with joy.

From some of my earliest memories to this very day, dance is a word, and a verb, that has shaped my life. I'm not a competitive dancer, or a professional dancer, or a dance teacher. I don't have great skill, and there have been many, many years that I haven't practiced any particular type of dance. But I still love it. I love moving rythmically to music, or just to the sound of my own made up rythm. I love dancing with joy. I've even danced when I've been angry or sad, in a determined decision to dance myself back into joy. I like dancing with a crowd, or a partner, or just by myself. One of my favorite metaphors about faith involves dance. One of my favorite quotes about writing has the word dance in the midst of it.

"Writing is a dance of language." - Ivan Doig

Do you love to dance your way through life and writing too?

Dance Blessings:

1. One of my earliest memories of dancing as a child involved dancing around the living room to my mom's classical music and pretending I was with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.



2. And of course, there is this classic, that has inspired me to dance through puddles - a necessary ingredient to enjoy living in the Northwest.


3. Plus, my favorite dance from that same movie, with Donald O'Conner and Gene Kelly is Moses Supposes

4. Then, one of my more recent favorites in dance and rythm:


5. I didn't like my desire to tap dance as a kid being compared to Shirley Temple so I refused to watch all of her movies until my kids were little and did different versions of Shirley Temple dances for their first recitals. They wanted to know who she was, and so . . .I rediscovered Shirley's amazing talent with them. This is one of my favorites:


6. Baryshnikov in White Nights gives this intense performance, showing how dance can express sadness and grief:


7. Back in that early 80's breakdancing craze, I was totally into that, and loved it. However, if you want to see some pretty cool breakdancing from a more current time this lady is pretty amazing. This is a commercial clip, but I still like it:


8. There are cool Christian Hip Hop Teams, which I discovered not that long ago:

My daughters were able to take a few classes from this same teacher just a few weekends ago at a Hollywood Dance Connection Convention in Seattle. My oldest daughter loved it - the first time she's really enjoyed Hip Hop.

9. Dancing with my Dad, with my Mom and my Grandma, with my Husband, are all amazing memories for me. I love dancing with family and friends.

10. Dancing is in the Bible too, especially when there is a celebration.

Scripture Blessings:


"Then young women will dance and be glad,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow."
Jeremiah 31:13

365 Days of Blessings, Days 300 thru 305

Life has been full, and blessed, and I have lost count . . . so here is the best blessing count I can give for the last several days. It's long, so just skim if you are daunted by the length. I'll try to keep them daily and short from now on.

1. Spring Skiing.

2. Fresh snow.

3. Math homework done on the car ride to the ski hill.

4. Lettuce wrap sandwiches for lunch for three days in a row, and no complaints! My kids actually like them, and continue to like them.

5. A big bundle of red grapes.

6. Coke Zero. I know it isn't good for me, but I still like it.

7. Winnie's War by Jenny Moss, a book that I added into our homeschool curriculum. This book by a first time author gives us a strong, young heroine who battles the Spanish influenza that swept the country near the end of WWI. I'm not sure it's on my top 100 must read books, but it is well written and I highly recommend it to anyone studying this time period with a 4th-6th grader.


8. My favorite quote from Winnie's War:
"Hope is a thing with feathers -
that perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -"
This is the epitaph that Winnie writes for her mother's grave. Trust me, this book will make you seek out a box of kleenex.

9. Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray is part of my older daughter's curriculum, and I highly recommend it for anyone who would like to read a story based in Medieval times, following the exploits of a young minstrel who gets separated from his father and his dog.


10. My favorite quote from Adam of the Road:
"'A road's a kind of holy thing,' Roger went on. 'That's why it's a good work to keep a road in repair, like giving alms to the poor or tending the sick. It's open to the sun and wind and rain. It brings all kinds of people and all parts of England together. And it's home to the minstrel, even though he may happen to be sleeping in a castle.'
It was, somehow, a solemn moment. Four wild geese flew overhead just then, and made it so that Adam never forgot what Roger had said and how he looked when he said it."

11. Recently, I learned that the most well known haiku poet, Mtsua Basho, was also a samurai. How cool is that?! And why didn't I know? Oh well, I know now, and I love it!

12. The old pond:
a frog jumps in,-
the sound of water.
-Basho

13. That great blue oak
indifferent to all blossoms
appears more noble
-Basho

14. speaking out
my lips are cold
in autumn wind
-Basho

15. Won't you come and see
loneliness? Just one leaf
from the kiri tree.
-Basho

16. With dewdrops dripping,
I wish somehow I could wash
this perishing world
-Basho

17. The bird, a dark speck
against the storm clouds, wings home
before the winds strike.
-Tyrean

18. Pulpy lemonade
tastes summer sweet on gray days
- a hint of sun inside.
-Tyrean

19. Having a haiku moment! Just try writing one!

20. Learning more about haiku poetry while teaching it to my writing class. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to share my joy with them. They found it to be a painful writing exercise, but I'm proud of them for trying.

21. Haiku Diem is a fun site where one poet is attempting to write a haiku each day.

22. Hollywood Connection Dance Convention! Seven hours of dance classes each day for each of my daughters, plus a competition that took place Saturday evening.

23. My daughters received Silver in their age group, and dance category!

24. Christian hip hop teachers are cool.

25. My oldest daughter had an awesome time at the convention.

26. My youngest daughter survived the convention . . . and had some fun moments. She liked her Jazz and Sassafrass classes the best. She also liked performing at the competition.

27. My oldest daughter knows how to take care of herself in a room full of 100 dancers, with 4-5 friends with her and a few parents she knows. She was confidant enough to step out when one teacher went over the top with her criticism of the class' "fumbling feet" and "inability to focus." It doesn't sound that negative as I write it, but this teacher was cranky and down on a bunch of 11-14 year olds who were giving their best, and I wasn't the only parent who took offense. Thankfully, only that one teacher at the convention was out of line. The rest were awesome.

28. I loved how the tap teacher worked on the kids' performance techniques and personality.

29. I also loved how one of the jazz teachers spent time teaching the kids life lessons in joy and self-worth.

30. I was wowed by my oldest daughter ability to learn hip hop. Hip hop is usually not her style, and she did great!

31. The petite Jazz and petite Tap groups from our Dance Company took First Place Gold in their age category! They were awesome! (and they are 6-7 years old)

32. Counter Rhythms, a select tap group number, and Flapper Fusion, also did awesome at the competition.

33. I learned some valuable parenting lessons this weekend.

34. I also learned that without keeping my focus on Christ, I am lost. I know that doesn't sound like a blessing, but it is. I needed a reminder on Sunday morning when my youngest had a series of meltdowns at the convention. Finally, we took time out and took time to pray, and we worked through it.

35. Flashmobs with my daughters.

36. My youngest daughter talked on the phone yesterday with a friend! This was a Big, huge step in gaining self-confidence with friends.

37. My oldest daughter had a conversation with my youngest via cell-phone to encourage her before she called her friend.

38. Our beagle has learned to "talk" to use kind of like our older Rhodesian Ridgeback does with a series of throaty rumbles. However, our male beagle has a higher pitched rumble, with a series of yawning whines. He's looking at me right now with that I-need-attention-now look.

39. The joy of petting a dog, or two.

40. Have I mentioned before that my daughters have taught our cat how to give "high fives"? I never knew a cat could be trained to do something like that, but they read about it in one of their books, and started training.

41. Kids are optimists most of the time.

42. I have experience in being miserably, painfully shy. Again, this is one that doesn't sound like a blessing, but it turns out that it is one now. My youngest daughter is experiencing some of the same kind of social anxiety that I once experienced, and she knows that I understand what she is going through lately so she is willing to try taking some of my advice . . . like smiling at others, saying hi as a start, and then finding something to compliment or a question to ask. If we can get someone else to do the talking, then we don't have to . . .

43. Prayers for my daughter's self-confidence.

44. Prayers for all the girls, and women in this world who need to know the love, joy, and peace of having Christ as their savior, and shepherd.

45. My daughters are both looking forward to seeing some of their friends today at our Wednesday Family co-op, which is a smaller, less formal group of kids and moms coming together to play, do Science experiments, Latin practice, Writing, and Art.

46. Looking forward to Lectio Divina tonight for our Lenten Worship. Holy Reading can be very meaningful, and wonderful.

47. Our new church has an interim website online with three of our Sunday sermons, and two of our Wednesday night worships online. I highly recommend the sermon videos with Pastor Joel Parker, Pat Lelvis, and Elizabeth Cochrane. ILCGH - check it out to see some of what we've been up to these days.

48. Just now, I got over my fear about what I looked like and sounded like on camera and actually watched the video of the message I did last Wednesday night. The Lord definitely showed up and provided His grace, while I tried not to "um" too many times. Lenten Message March 23rd With God's help, I did ok for a formerly painfully shy kid. I prefer jumping around and pretending on stage in front of a group of enthusiastic VBS kids. It's harder to just be me in front of a group of people.

49. I've lost eight pounds since January 1st. Not quite the 20 I had hoped to lose before mid-April, but I have a few more weeks . . . maybe I'll at least lost another 7 for a total of 15 by then. I know this is mostly vanity, but it's about health and fitness too. A facebook friend of mine challenged me to try to lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday, and I have 4 and a half months yet to go for that goal.

50. The more weight I lose, the higher I can jump! I'm just working on my own personal anti-gravity method.

51. The more weight I lose, the longer I can dance!

52. My youngest daughter started the day with reading in bed.

53. My oldest daughter started her day with dancing in the living room.

54. I started my day with push ups, sit ups, leg lifts, ironing, Bible-reading, biking, and blogging.

55. Experimenting with a new muffin recipe. Here it is so far:
1 and 1/2 cups of my gluten free flour mix (Garbanzo bean, Fava Bean and Sorghum flour)
1/4 cup of sugar
2 Tablespoons flaxseed
1 Tablespoon Chia seed (replaces eggs and some oil)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon guar gum (replaces that nasty gluten stuff that naturally occurs in wheat)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Then
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 overly ripe bananas mashed to a pulp
1/2 cup coconut
1//4 cup almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 to 1 cup water (I didn't measure this well enough to be sure, and added too much later, then let it sit and thicken for a while)

Currently cooking in a 350 degree farenheit oven.
So far, the dough scrapings taste delicious!

56. My childhood inventiveness in the kitchen is now paying off. I always wanted to create "my very own" recipes. Now, I have to make my own to eat without IBS, rashes, headaches, or other food intolerance symptoms. All my childhood experience has made me less fearful about subsitutions, and even (gasp in shock from any professional/proud amateur chef) not measure things exactly. If I waited to measure everything out exactly while subsituting, I would go crazy. Sure, this way, I have some flops. But I've learned some basic amounts of different ingredients that work well. An "eyeballed" amount, or a pinch work fine when I cook every day.

57. My daughter is challenging me to scissor leg lifts . . . I can only do five, but five is better than none.

58. My dogs have a lot to say today, determined to love me away from my computer.

59. I love the book of Acts in the Bible, and how women show up in the Biblical account. Lydia, Damaris, and Priscilla are all my heroines.

60. Just realized that my cooking experiments could make a great allegory for my writing life . . . may have to put together a post on that tomorrow! Hopefully those muffins turn out well.

61. (an extra blessing on a 60 day count? God provides!!!) The steadfast endurance of the Lord's apostles. From them, we have a Biblical adventure that rivals the Oddyssey for excitement, and teaches us how to follow Christ!

Scripture Blessings:


"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." (Paul is saying goodbye to the disciples in Ephesus) Acts 20:22-24

365 Days of Blessings - Five Days in A Row! 229 thru 233

Five Days . . . many thanks . . . a tiny notebook with white polka dots on a field of blue with a fingerprint flower smiling up at me . . . a place to capture all the blessings, poems and story ideas for five days . . .


Friday Blessings
1. Cocoa muffins - made and packed.

2. Cinnamon bake - made and packed.

3. Pizza, chili, and bread - made and packed.

4. Breakfast.

5. 1 mile walk.

6. Prayed for a miracle, and husband came home just in time to help me.

7. Reservations for the dogs and cat at Bayside Animal Lodge, where they get loved as well as kenneled.

8. Youth Snow Trip!!!

9. Car ride with a friend.

10. Getting there - driving into camp in the dark, walking into a bright, big chapel filled with teens and adults from four different churches.

11. Singing a fun version of "Be Still, and Know that I am God."

12. Warm cabins to sleep in.


Saturday Blessings:
1. Taking beginner level skiers from the bunny hill to the chair lift successfully!

2. Teaching wedge turns, and seeing skiers gain more control and confidence.

3. Riding on the chair lift - I am so thankful I don't have to walk up the hill.

4. Taking a short black diamond side trip through powder with my youngest daughter.

5. Taking a boarder with three days of experience on intermediate runs, and being impressed by her tenacity and ability.

6. Watching my husband teach boarders with joy.

7. Watching my husband teach our youth director how to ride in the park.

8. The confidence of youth.

9. My oldest daughter (almost 12) taking charge of a group of level 1 skiers, and leading them on various easy runs.

10. Worship at camp.

11. A room full of different definitions of adventure - awesome definitions!

12. God calls us to the greatest adventure of all.

13. The Rainsin Sketch . . . "We are the raisins that make, the cereal taste great. Oh Yeah!" and "Spoon! Spoon! Spoon! Spoon!"

Sunday Blessings:
1. More sleep!

2. Tasty breakfast!

3. Sleepy bus ride to the mountain.

4. Skiing in the rain with enthusiastic kids.

5. Dry clothes.

6. Warm heaters.

7. The Mt. Baker lodge cat let me pet him.

8. Time to relax.

9. The "Do Run Run" rhyme game on the way home from the mountain.

10. The story game on the way home from the mountain . . . kids outside my writing class like this game!

11. Playing "Freeze!" - the improv game.

12. Awesome worship at chapel at the end of the day.

Monday Blessings:
1. Time to sleep in!

2. Chapel worship with three youth groups as a way to start the day.

3. Creative worship with sculpting, drawing, praising, praying, reading, singing, and hugging!

4. Breakfast and packing up on the last day of camp.

5. A quick car drive - traffic actually flowed, and it was a great trip back.

6. Talking on the phone with a friend about new hope in Christ!

7. Writing poetry in my head while driving.

8. My awesome students from both my Shakespeare Class and my Writing class who made my presentation table so cool for our home school cooperative open house! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

9. My youngest daughter helped me put together my tri-fold poster boards for my classes. She has a great eye for visual flow and detail!

10. The wonderful help of a parent-teacher who gave me sticky letters to use on my writing poster board! Thank you!

11. Watching my youngest daughter sing "Jesus Loves Me" in Spanish, and then watching her sign with her sign language class. She is so talented! (and I know I'm biased)

12. My oldest daughter performed with her guitar class, even though she didn't feel prepared and she didn't want to. She did a really good job, and I am proud of her for getting up there and playing.

13. My amazing and wonderful husband went the extra mile yesterday with all his hard work helping with packing up with the youth, unpacking at our house, and picking up our dogs and cat from their kennel time.

14. Our dogs looked happy and well fed! They were calm, and happy to be home. (our last kennel experience left their ribs showing, and they acted like they were panicked)

15. God sees us safely home.


Tuesday Blessings:
1. Sleeping in for a long, long time.

2. Ice, and heat make for a better day when you wake up with a sore neck.

3. Clean laundry.

4. Washers and dryers.

5. Conversations about facebook conversations . . . appropriate or inappropriate content.

6. Mint Tea.

7. My kids are dance, dance, dancing.

8. Loving up the dogs and cat after days away.

9. Just being home.

10. New hope in God's direction for life.

11. Testimony shared in a dance studio lobby!

Scripture Blessings:

"With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it." 1 Peter 5:12

365 Days of Blessings, Day 191

Giving Thanks and Praise for these Blessings today:

1. Dancing in the streets of Seattle! I didn't do this, but a wonderful young woman from our dance studio did, and it is so much fun, I thought I would share:
Umbrella

2. Finding this poem in my archives.
A Sonnet of Praise
So great my mind can’t hold you or conceive
Of your vast, amazing, grace-filled being
It takes my soul a moment to believe
To surrender my notions of knowing
To the great I Am, the One who is three
singing the Word in perfect harmony.
Created, directed, redeemed by love
that lights our ways like the wings of a dove
whose feathers shimmer in the morning rays,
shining for the truth, the life and the way.

3. Reading through my poetry, I've realized that I write a lot about my dogs and this strikes me as both funny, and fitting. I grew up reading Snoopy comics, and watching the Underdog and Scooby Doo. Now, I write about my Rhodesian Ridgeback and my Beagle.

4. Christmas lights.

5. Sleeping in on a home-school morning. We are so thankful for being able to sleep in when it's needed (like when someone is sick).

6. A girl with three pony tails at dance classes.

7. My oldest daughter loves glitter and sequins. She is wearing gold sequined boots, a gold sequined scarf-belt and a silver sequined neck scarf over her dance clothes tonight.

8. The Nutcracker Coloring contest at our dance studio.

9. Giggling dancers.

10. The Lord provides us with joy.

Scripture Blessings:
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
Psalm 51:12

365 Days of Blessings, Days 188 and 189

Another double dose of blessings in one post. Tonight I'm giving God Thanks and Praise for these wonderful blessings, both big and small.

1. The Living Nativity. Praise the Lord for His Son, Jesus!

2. All the amazing volunteers who make the Living Nativity possible.

3. The Kraft Family of GoMissions. They are amazing.

4. Worship with the Kraft Family.

5. The Kids Message and the Sermon with the Kraft Family.

6. The Global Market, our church's way of having Christmas shopping and giving to people in need at the same time.

7. Making big plans, dreaming big dreams, and praying deep prayers for our faith family.

8. My husband and my kids putting up the basic Christmas tree.

9. The Mary Bridge Festival of Trees.

10. All the performers who share their talents at the Mary Bridge Festival of Trees.

11. The Jazz Swing Choir who sang and danced at the Festival of Trees this year - they took me back to high school, and wowed me.

12. "Operator, Give me Information" - an awesome jazz choir song.

13. Seeing my girls tap dance.

14. Standing on stage in front of hundreds of people, holding a bike and three jump ropes. (People actually thought I was going to do some kind of tricks with them - LOL.)

15. Wonderful good friends.

16. Sharing tears with someone who cares.

17. Trusting the Lord with our lives, and our faith.

18. A faith-filled, Christ-centered, mission-minded Pastor with a heart for families, and youth, whom we have been priveledge to know as our Pastor and our friend.

19. Teaching my youngest daughter that she can get up and move forward after making a mistake, or even two or three. (This was actually really painful today, but we made it through to the other side after a lot of tears.)

20. God leads us forth in joy.

Scripture Blessings:

"Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me;
LORD, be my help.”

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
LORD my God, I will praise you forever."
Psalm 30:10-12

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."
Psalm 100:1-3

365 Days of Blessings, Days 182 and 183

So, yesterday I had a really blessed morning, and early afternoon, and then the sore throat kicked in. I tried to ignore it. Today I feel like my head is in a vise, and I have knives in my throat. So, I should just wait another day to count blessings and give thanks, right?
Wrong. I think I need to give thanks today.
So here goes:

1. Kids practicing for the Christmas program, re-telling the Nativity story with songs and fun.

2. A great worship service.

3. Lighting the first advent candle, and starting to prepare for Christ's birthday.

4. Seeing a feisty little girl get baptized yesterday . . . her eyes when she got wet, and then the wide reaching hands when she saw the baptismal candle. She just glowed, and it was sweet.

5. I am able to count, even with a head ache - I had to throw that one in here because I almost labeled this as number six. Whew.

6. Singing joyful praises to God.

7. Hearing a great sermon, packed with a wake up call for the season of advent, the beginning of a new church year. Wake up, Happy New Year! (It's a Lutheran church thing)

8. Hearing the choir, combined with the bell choir, a trumpet player, and a pianist. Wow.

9. Looking forward to celebrating next Sunday with the Kraft family, a missionary family that focuses their work in Bolivia, and includes the whole family from age 7ish and up.

10. My youngest daughter made three angel crafts in the last 24 hours. She is ready for the Christmas tree to be up, so she can hang her new ornaments.

11. My husband brought home a wreath.

12. My classes at the homeschool co-op are wonderful.

13. My mom is a huge help when I'm sick.

14. My youngest daughter watched a movie with me today - a kind of "get well" tradition involving humor, and laughter. Over the Hedge was our pick today.

15. We saw Tangled yesterday and really enjoyed the antics of the chameleon and the puppy-like horse.

16. Tea in large amounts.

17. Soft couches with big pillows.

18. A second Turkey, bought on sale, and roasted today, will feed my family for a week, and I won't have to cook for a little bit. Besides, roasting is easy. I just had to get up every half hour and baste. Not so hard with a kitchen timer, and thankfully my family doesn't do stuffing, so that takes out the work part of turkeys.

19. The bicycle made it into the van for tap company. The new tap trio routine for my girls and a friend of theirs includes a bicycle, three jumpropes and three energetic girls in tap shoes.

20. My husband took the girls to dance class, bicycle included.

21. The Lord gives me shelter, so I can rest.

Scripture Blessings:"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1

365 Days of Blessings, Day 164

Blessings and Thanksgiving!

1. Walking until my shoes have holes in them, and then being able to buy a new pair.

2. New shoes fly with my feet, as if they don't want to stay on the ground.

3. The owner of the Dance Collection suffered a break-in and a loss, and yet she maintains a great attitude, giving thanks and praise for safety. I'm praying for her protection today, and for God's blessings to pour out in her life despite the hardship.

4. We know this amazing family, with hearts of great faith, who pray and give praise through all difficulties. We're praying for them today as their youngest prepares for surgery tommorrow.

5. A friend of mine traveled today to comfort her sister and her sister's family, and I am so thankful for her amazing strength and her ability to comfort and encourage others.

6. The prayers that surround two of my cousins lift me up, and I am so thankful for the prayers of family and friends.

7. I am thankful for the creative imaginations of the kids at the dance studio . . . talling each other their ideas for stories, and telling funny stories about their pets.

8. Although there are days when I have "personal space bubble" issues, I am thankful that some of the kids at the dance studio sit near me when they have their conversations and include me in them too. It's a priveledge.

9. Time to write . . . even though it has been scarce yesterday and today. I'm way behind on my NaNoWriMo, but I have hope that I will be able to catch up tonight, tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.

10. God hears our prayers, whenever and wherever we pray, whether we are kneeling, bowing our heads, standing, raising up our hands, or with our eyes wide open sitting at a traffic light, or in public, or private, by ourselves, with family or friends. Prayer is awesome. Thank you, God!


Scripture Blessings:"Let my prayer be set before You as incense,The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."
Psalm 141:2

365 Days of Blessings, Days 160 and 161

Blessings and Thanksgiving:

1. Listening to “Everybody Dance Now” at a Dance-a –thon hosted by Metropolitan Ballet. The rhythm rumbles through my muscles and pours movement through me.

2. I meant to sit and write, but hey, Zumba class was too fun to pass up.

3. I wrote 1500 words in an hour, and then more later.

4. Then, I meant to sit and write some more, but Bollywood class was too fun to pass up.

5. My muscles received a wake up after a long coma.

6. Sweat – yes, I’m thankful for sweat. It’s way better than panting like a dog.

7. A Free Writer’s Workshop hosted by my local library. My local library is awesome!!!

8. A Writer’s Coach: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Work by Jack Hart.

9. Polishing up a piece of writing in the workshop.

10. Meeting writers. Each of us is unique, and we love storytelling and words.

11. Focusing on the craft of writing for three hours.

12. Regaining momentum for my NaNoWriMo.

13. Knowing my Theme for The Crystal Sword: Only faith defeats darkness.

14. Getting my character back into the plot, even if takes tripping her up, and sending her sliding on her backside into the right place.

15. My kids have been dancing all day.

16. My house is still a mess, but writing and dancing make us happy.

17. Free Movie Night last night at my church brought 225 people in the sanctuary on a Friday night – some family faces, some friends, some new faces.

18. Toy Story 3 warms the heart, jiggles the belly with laughter, and tears up the eyes.

19. My husband brought my tap shoes to the studio – I’m tap dancing in less than 30 minutes!

20. A Dance-A-Thon supporting Celebrate His Birth, a nativity ballet.

21. God gives us life that is truly life, joy that is truly joy, and rest that is truly rest for the soul. I don’t always think rest looks like sleeping on a white cloud . . . sometimes it looks like a dance, changing up the rhythm of a weekly grind.

Scripture Blessings:
"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."
1 Timothy 6:18-19

365 Days of Blessings, Days 148, 149, and 150

Wow! Three Days . . . I've been counting my blessings in my head, but I've fallen behind on my posts.

1. My husband helping my daughters with their costumes.

2. Costumed birthday parties.

3. A funny modern retelling of the prodigal son parable.

4. Multi-colored knee high socks.

6. Fun shoelaces.

7. Free Dress Week at the Dance Studio.

8. Jasmine, Pink Lady, Punk Rock Dancer, and Water Fairy all in a row on the dance studio couch.

9. Tiny, pumpkin shaped candles.

10. Microwaves . . . I'm glad they were invented.

11. Thermos jugs that keep dinner warm when a microwave isn't an option.

12. Making it through three doctor appointments, three lessons, a long line at a gas station, and many, many red lights . . . we were late a few times, but stayed safe and mostly sane.

13. Overhearing my husband explain one of his favorite on-line games to a six year old boy.

14. That same six year old boy showing us how many push-ups he can do, and proudly wearing his new yellow karate belt all around the dance studio.

15. Have I mentioned that the dance studio families start to seem like blood relations after awhile?

16. Moms and dancers, and uncles, brothers, sisters, and . . . well, you get the idea, especially when new costumes are enthusiastically put on, or even when they aren't . . . just witnessed an extremely talented 10 year old dancer lay down on the couch and say, "oh, mom, now?" Makes me laugh.

17. Sparkles.

18. 25 cents worth of candy.

19. Tiny purses that just hold enough . . . wallet, cell-phone, change, keys, and a few pens and scrap paper.

20. Dancers leaping.

21. Bridges.

22. Cars . . . yes, I’m thankful for them.

23. Lights reflected on water.

24. Warm sweaters.

25. Warmth.

26. Carpooling with family.

27. That feeling that you get when you are almost home . . .

28. Turning into the driveway.

29. The joyous welcome of dogs.

30. God’s welcoming arms, every time we turn to Him in prayer.

Scripture Blessings:

"I will go back to my Father and say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."
Luke 15:18-20

365 Days of Blessings, Days 135 and 136, Manic Monday and Too Busy Tuesday

Manic Monday

1. Map-building for plotting with my writers' workshop adventure class.

2. Shakespeare live, with students reading through part of Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 1 with paper swords for a sword fight.

3. Facilitating for a different writing class, and just listening in on some of the teaching there. I like hearing different methods for writing process. I find it interesting, fun, and fascinating.

4. Having an awesome conversation with another homeschool mom!

5. Having awesome conversations with dance moms.

6. Doing the dance mom walk, 2 miles.

7. Writing character sketches, and character setting sketches. So much fun!

8. Dance fun, and excitement with dance kids happily chatting, playing and dancing together.

9. Ballet class with Damaris, an excellent ballet teacher, and a wonderful friend.

10. Home to watch the last 20 minutes of a movie before bed-time.

11. The scene in The Silver Chair when Prince Rilian is freed from the silver chair.

12. Praising God in all circumstances.

Too Busy Tuesday

1. Letting the girls sleep in a little bit.

2. Seeing neighbor friends on a wonderful 2 mile walk with sunshine overhead.

3. Fruit and toast for breakfast.

4. Talking about our history lessons. We love history.

5. Harriet Tubman.

6. Hatshepsut.

7. Writing dialogue with my daughters.

8. Picking out paint for our bathroom, and countertop colors and materials.

9. Watching the girls pick out paint colors for their room, hoping to combine neon green and blue.

10. Dance, dance, dance again with the dance mom walk coming soon.

11. Prayer.

Scripture Blessings:
"When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed." Matthew 14:34-36

365 Days of Blessings - Day 120

365 Days of Blessings, Day 120 - a bunch of mostly unrelated but great blessings that I'm thankful for today -

1. The Lord is my shield.

2. I'm still reading some of the 198 posts from The Great Blogging Experiment!

3. Sweet, wonderful bloggers who have stopped to leave me encouraging comments about my "Writing Compelling Characters" post and my blog in general.

4. A good night's sleep.

5. Two baby gifts, unwrapped yet, waiting to be taken to their new, fresh from God, owners.

6. My day is planned to the fullest, but I'm still going to grab a few minutes here and there to write, relax, and hug my family.

7. Teaching about Hannah's prayer for a son this morning with 4th and 5th graders should be fun. We have the Bible story, a craft, and a game. I'm not sure if we'll have time for everything, but having more to do with 12 energetic kids is a good idea.

8. Looking forward to a Baby shower this afternoon. I've often wondered at that phrase "shower" . . . when did it come to be used for brides and babies?

9. Yesterday, I had some concern over my poem at Every Day Poets. Reading it yesterday morning made me see the mistakes I didn't see before when I submitted it. Turns out though, that the main concern anyone else had was over whether I knew correct composting procedures. As I told my husband last night, "I was prepared to take criticim of my poetic form, but don't you dis' my mom's compost!" LOL. The things I take seriously sometimes crack me up later.

10. Yesterday, I watched my two daughters dance at the mall, and they are so comfortable with tap dancing in front of crowds now that it amazes me. When they make mistakes, they just keep smiling and tapping.

Scripture Blessings:
"Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying 'Lord, save us! We're going to drown!'
He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."
Matthew 8:24-26