thoughts on starting a creative business.....

 

It's easy to get discouraged, but it's only through moving forward that you will persevere.

the tediousness of paperwork can steal creativity....however, you must create or there will be nothing for people to buy

"If you want to find out how to become a millionaire, ask a millionaire, don't listen to all the people who never did it tell you that you can't."

unknown

Be persistent!  Remember that every person you come into contact to, from the grocery store to church is a potential customer!

Keep it fun!   You started this because it's something you love doing......never forget the love of the creative process!

 

Make it a great day folks!

Because laughter really IS the best medicine!

We're gearing up for surgery around here. Hubby is trying to freeze 45 loaves of bread by March.....we'll see how many he gets made. Doing this means that he's having to make 10 loaves of bread a week as compared to the 5 loaves we normally eat in a week......

I've all but stopped playing most computer/app games. I found they were stressing me out. Angry birds, rather than relax me always made me tense up.........

Now I have a game called Fish Farm. I love it. I have 9 different aquariums, All I do is breed, feed and sell fish.....and I spend a lot of time watching them swim......I especially like it when they swim through each other.....

Spend time this week sitting and dreaming.....then try to follow your dream......you never know what may come out of it.

Things I learned from Grandma

originally posted at Extraordinary Mom's Network 11/3/08





My Grandma taught me …

To speak softly and carry a big jar of cookies.

The amount of time it takes to put on a pair of knee-highs and keds is exactly equal to the amount of time it takes to start a conversation that’ll last all day.

There is never any reason to be jealous, for you will always have a special place in the heart of someone who loves you, a place that no one else can ever take.

Homemade pickles taste better.

The best beginning to any sentence is “Say, how’s so and so doing (or such and such going) these days?”

How to handle walking in on two kids (my brother and cousin) after they’ve used the wheel of your stationary bike to grind an entire package of cheetos into a big pile of dust…on your white carpet….”Well, you’ve been having fun!”

Talking about your hurts doesn’t make them go away, but focusing on your happys will make the hurts smaller.

Rolls can be bought frozen ….but cookies must be made from scratch.

Every morning when you wake up, you decide if you’re going to have a good day.

Make each child feel as if he or she is your favorite. (This from a woman with 5 kids and 11 grandkids.)

Putting a lit match behind your teeth only makes you look like a jack-o-lantern if you have a really big smile (she did).

You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in.

Spraying perfume on the yarn flowers we'd just made makes them “just like real.”

Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds you up or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of.

I love reading articles that celebrate marriage!

rather than the typical drivel predicting when Brad Pitt's going to ditch Angelina or whatever....

Secrets of Longest Celeb Marriages.
user

by ThirdAge.com, on Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:50am




Martin Sheen and Janet Templeton (Getty Images)


Staying married is tough enough for ordinary people. But in the midst of all the temptations of Hollywood, it’s sometimes impossible. That’s why we’re all the more impressed with these couples who have made a life together. Here's how they did it:

Martin Sheen and Janet Templeton: Weather the Tough Times Together


Sheen, 71, and his wife are approaching their 50th anniversary this year. Although Sheen’s struggled with alcoholism, and the couple’s son Charlie has had a few notorious blowups, they’ve remained together through the hard times. And he values her as much as life itself. Though he’s famously liberal, Sheen is pro-life because Templeton was conceived as the result of a rape, and he once told an interviewer that if abortion had been available at the time, she would never have been born.

Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens: Choose Carefully

Douglas, 94, and his wife have the longest-lasting marriage in Hollywood – 57 years. Douglas credits that to his steadfast, supportive wife – “You can tell a lot about a guy by the woman he marries.”



Alan Alda and Arlene Weiss (Getty Images)

Alan Alda and Arlene Weiss: Keep a Sense of Humor


read the rest here.

I LOVE stories like this!!

Runner carries injured foe half mile to help in middle of race

By Jonathan Wall

Josh Ripley didn't have to stop. Running in a recent cross country meet for Andover (Minn.) High, the junior varsity runner was making his way through the trail at the Applejack Invite when he heard a loud scream during the first mile of a two-mile race. Most of the other kids running didn't pay much attention to Lakeville South runner Mark Paulauskas, who was writhing in pain at the time, as they passed by.


click on the above to read the whole story!!

Prepare Yourself

My bloging hiatus is about to end!!!

Last night was the LAST of my Tuesday night women's meetings at church. while they were wonderful I am ready to be done with the weekly commitment. However, I've made friendships that I know will last a lifetime.

Tonight, after my boss tried to sideswipe me, is my last night at the hospital. It's been real, but not at all fun. And I'm glad to put this particular job in my rearview mirror! Again I leave here with many good friends.

So, I'm off on a brand new adventure!
It's exciting and fun, but I am a dedicated creature of habit. It will take me some time to create new habits and get my routine down.

For now, I'll leave you with a movie quote, who can name that movie??

"Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts. So, when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will!"

morning y'all.

Hey there folks! in case you were wondering where I've been....

I'm spending my free time quilting this gigantic quilt so that I can take enough safety pins out of it to put together my sister's quilt.

Oh and I'm trying to read all of the posts in my reader that I've been missing this month!

And we're planning parties for Sugars (she'll be 4 March 2) and Gator (he'll be 6 March 18)

So, I read a really terrific post about St. Valentine's Day from my favorite humor author this morning and have gotten permission to repost it here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

From SherryTex, who's 10th child is almost 6 weeks old now! (yeah, she needs your prayers!!)


Happy Saint Valentine's Day


Back in early January, late December I was surfing the web, reading some of my favorite Catholic bloggers. As a lurker and sometimes participant in "7 Quick Takes Friday," with my blog via "The Conversion Diary" I saw the saint generator and thought about it but didn't push the button. Then I saw a link again when I was over at First Things reading another favorite of mine, “the Anchoress." This time, I decided to try. I got Saint Valentine of Rome. Feeling vaguely disappointed, like oh, I already know this saint....I scanned his biography but didn't give the matter much thought.

Two hours later, my second daughter was helping in the kitchen and explained out of the blue, how she loved all the celebrations at her school except for Valentine's Day. I asked why. She said, "It is just an excuse to give paper and candy, it doesn't have anything to do with the real Saint Valentine." I gave my educated Mom answer, "Saint Valentine is patron saint of marriages and happy couples, having celebrated the sacrament for early Christians who wanted their relationship to be reflective of the person of Christ. It's the beauty of sacramental relationships as versus their lesser imitators, relationships not rooted in a desire to be faithful, forever and oriented towards deepening the other's connection to God." I thought I was on a roll. "It is as the difference between fine chocolate and carob; vintage wine and grape juice, a deeper fuller relationship than can be imagined by this world or those who love the world first." I'd overdone. It happens. She sort of rolled her eyes a bit and left the kitchen. But I knew right then and there I needed to go back and start to know this saint better. Saint Valentine had asked for my attention twice in one day. God doesn't do random.

Now my middle daughter had struggled with double vision since November. Over the weeks, we have been scared out of our minds about the possibilities --cancer, tumors, stroke, blindness, diabetes; you name it, and had all sorts of tests to try and determine the cause but to no avail. We also had her eyes tested in November and December and visits to a Neurologist and were in the process of trying to bang down a door for an Educational Psychologist on the theory that she might be seeing things that weren't actually there. All we ever got was "We don't know. Let's do more tests."

The week I accepted the invitation to let Saint Valentine be a source of inspiration and education in my faith for the year, I got a phone call. The team of specialists had discussed my daughter's case and asked that I take her back to the eye doctor. They were finally able to address her vision properly and now she has glasses that correct her vision and her handwriting which had deteriorated to the point of being illegible is beautiful. She is 8. She fell asleep that night reading. I can't tell you the last time that happened or how much great joy and blessed relief seeing her resting with the lights on and the book over her chest 3/4ths of the way through brought me.

I went back to reread the story of Saint Valentine and the part about the daughter of the jailer being cured of her blindness leapt out at me. I had not seen it or taken it in before. Saints are God's means of bringing the community of Heaven and Earth closer together, of connecting us in our modern world and sensibilities with the universal timeless truths of our Church, as revealed across centuries of faithful witness.

So I'm heading out to buy chocolates and cards for my children and a little something for my husband. We've already sent flowers to my mom and his as part of celebrating this Saint's feast day with a bit more emphasis and personal enthusiasm for the traditions however hokey they may appear. The hearts and flowers mean a lot more than Halmark's bottom line with the focus on beauty and truth; how much we love and how much we want to love. And I want my kids to know that while you can go overboard with words and sentimentality, you can never go overboard trying to be loving to others, it's an infinite gift to give.

Happy Saint Valentine's Day!

P.S. If you want to use the saint generator, go to http://jenniferfulwiler.com/saints/. I'll be spending this year in Saint Valentine's tutelage.

"God doesn't make mistakes"

Zumba...

Hey! I found the video of my cousin, the Zumba instructor, being interviewed by her local news.

Check it out!



Way to go Jess, you're a one woman party!!

Perspective.

The following is an article I first wrote for my church newsletter for the December 2006 issue.


Over the last month I've been working my way through The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, I've finished Vol. I and I can now tell you the plot to every Sherlock Holmes story ever written. Here you go... Someone comes to good old 221-B Baker Street with a set of events/facts. These all add up to person A being guilty of something, ol’ Sherl sees the facts from some off the wall viewpoint and puts them together to show that in actuality person B is really the guilty party. He then employs various ways of proving himself right.



I'm not a big fan of Halloween, it's seemed to me that it just encourages greed and gluttony...things we try to teach our kids to avoid. However, wanting to allow my 3 year old some fun and not be known as "that mother" -- you know, the mean one who doesn't allow anything "unwholesome" (read enjoyable) in the house -- I tried to find some way to celebrate this non-holiday with a good message. So, instead of going out and collecting a bunch of candy (no I wouldn't let him eat it anyway) we stayed on our front porch and gave candy away. He had a blast!! He loved seeing all the costumes and got a big kick out of putting candy in the various containers....or throwing it at the folks when too excited. Since we had approx 100 folks come through our neighborhood in the 2 hours we were out there he saw many fun costumes and had many folks exclaim over him. He actually looked a LOT happier than the kids (and adults) that were busy filling up their pillowcases. As we sat there refilling our bowl to be sure we didn't run out of candy ("Need more candy for kids mom!!") It went through my head that it truly is better to give than to receive. Sonshine learned all about giving and I enjoyed a very nice greed and gluttony free Halloween.



OK, we've all heard the glass half full or half empty bit before. But, truly, something as simple as a change in the perspective you're viewing a set of facts/events from could change the way the whole picture looks. My Grandma used to say that we decide each morning if we're going to be happy that day. Also known as "You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in." As we spend the end of this year reviewing the events that have passed, let's try to look at them from a different perspective. Maybe it isn't so much the event itself that is bothersome as much as how we are viewing it.

I challenge each of us to start the new year off deciding to be happy with whatever comes our way. And keep looking for just how to make lemonade out of that great big lemon you've been handed.



Love you

Sarah



"When someone gives you free fertilizer for your garden, you don't complain about the smell." Earlene Fowler

Priorities!!

found at The Jungle Hut

Dad's On Retreat!!

So we woke up EARLY this morning and drove to the church in our jammies to drop Daddy/Subvet off at just before 7AM for his Christ Renews His Parish Retreat. We'll be picking him back up tomorrow afternoon about 4PM.

Till then, what's a Mom and 3 hooligans to do to pass the time??

Well, since the sun was just starting to rise we started OUR retreat time by driving through Chik-fil-A for coffee!! and breakfast in the car to watch the dawn. We talked about how the sun always rises in the East and sets in the West. We watched as the sun turned us all red. We got excited as the parking lot lights turned off one by one with the increasing light. We watched 3 large flocks of blackbirds converge in the empty lot and search for their breakfasts.

Then.....

Finally.....

The moment that made it all worthwhile....



*no camera with me, all pics from phone, sorry for the poor quality*

Then we started home.

We marveled at the mist in the lowlands.
Passing the big cemetery on our way Gator asked to go see the statue. So, of course, with no time table but our own whims and fancies we turned in for a closer view.



The start of another day!


Wish us luck. My plan is to get Gator OUT of daytime pullups this weekend!! And I have an outing or two planned just to pass the time..... ;-)

So, in addition to the private duty job that's waiting in the wings for a start date, I interviewed yesterday for a NICU internship. Since they're both night positions 3 times a week these are not mutually exclusive and should by some crazy huge blessing I get to do them both I will be one extremely happy woman! I've been trying to get into this internship for 2 years without ever getting called so here's hoping! I should know about the internship by Halloween, the private duty is a done deal, once Shelley's able to hire me. I know she's ready, God Bless her!!

So keep those prayers coming! Amazing things are happening!


I'm sitting at the end of the dark tunnel,
blinded by the light.
I can't see what's ahead
I don't know which way to turn.
I'm just sitting here,
waiting to feel Jesus' guiding hand,
Grateful for the light ahead.

"Let the sun shine in"

So, Tuesday night I put on facebook:

"It's always darkest just before dawn."

And man oh man was it DARK just then!!
work = hard and crappy
home = hard and crappy


Late yesterday afternoon we found peace at home and the first rays of light started to glow.....

Then out of nowhere, for no *apparent* reason I asked a facebook aquaintance (you know one of those a friend of a friend folks) if she was looking for a nurse.....and the sky became colorful.

Today before work I called the lady and we talked for over an HOUR!

The clouds are breaking and the horizon is full of rich hues in every color. I am basking in joyful anticipation of the glorious sunshine that's growing ever brighter and clearer.


We still have some details to work out so I won't go into specifics just yet. But know this:

In our every day lives same as in every day's sunrise, God is in control.

don't be a cow!

driving to and from work I pass a handful of different herds of cattle. The other day I noticed a cow and her calf eating at the fence line.

I wish I'd taken a picture!

Have you ever seen a cow eat at the fence line? Do you know what they do?

They cram their heads through the barb-wire fence and stretch their necks as far as they can while the barbs are poking their shoulders so that they can steal some of the grass from the other side of the fence.

Nevermind that it's EXACTLY THE SAME as the grass between their hooves.

Now, if you took that cow and walked her around the fence to the same spot that she was stretching to eat....can you guess what she'd do?

uh-huh, cram herself through the barb-wire fence to eat the grass that had been between her hooves, all the while trampling the hard earned prize of only moments before.


Why?

Because the grass is always greener on the OTHER side of the fence.


In the busyness and bustle of life it's easy to get lulled into a bovine mentality. In the midst of the lazy days of summer we long for the structure of school, during the full school calendar we long for the spontaneity of summer.

and there's always that desire that's just out of reach which will somehow make our lives oh-so-much-better, the grass that is oh-so-much-greener than what's currently under our feet.

Goals are a wonderful way to ensure that you're moving in the desired direction. However, we must remember to take an appreciative look inside our fence. Take stock of those wonderful things that lie easily within reach before we set our sights beyond the barb-wire.

and remember, "if the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it just means there's a septic tank buried under there somewhere...." John Gray.

So, here's my reminder to myself:
Don't Be a Cow!!

smile

When reading a book about the life of my confirmation saint, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla I was touched by her writings and letters.

especially this, from a letter to her husband written a few days before their wedding:

"St. Gianna wrote some of her thoughts on the value of a single smile, which her husband would later call her "true hymn to joy."

Smile at God, from whom every gift comes to us;

smile at the Father with ever more perfect prayer;

smile at the Holy Spirit;

smile at Jesus who you approach at Mass, in Holy Communion, and in Eucharistic adoration;

smile at the person who represents Christ on earth: the Pope;

smile at your confessor, the one who personifies God even when he challenges you to reject sin;

smile at the Blessed Virgin, to whose example you must conform your life, so that, seeing you, people might be led to holy thoughts;

smile at your Guardian Angel, because this angel has been given to you by God to lead you into Paradise;

smile at your parents, brothers, and sisters, even when they challenge your pride;

smile always in forgiving offenses;

smile in associating with others, banishing all criticism and murmuring;

Smile at everyone the Lord sends you during the day.

The world seeks joy, but cannot find it far from God. We must understand that our joy comes from Jesus.

With Jesus in our hearts, we bear joy--he is the strength that helps us.

Happiness is having Jesus in our hearts.

But the secret of happiness is to live moment by moment, and to thank the Lord for everything he sends us out of his goodness."


So, have you smiled today?