Archive | December, 2012

don’t call it a resolution, it’s re-focusing

28 Dec

i’ve always loved new things and experiences.  like the first day of school after goofing off all summer. new clothes and a new notebook with that first blank page just begging to be written on with your new pen from your new book bag (didn’t have backpacks back in my day.)

lately, i’ve been experiencing a lot of “new” things.  new city, new neighbors, new state, new co-workers, new office, new house – lots.  but my favorite kind of new is a new year.  typically, i put a lot of thought into starting anew.  not just resolutions but keeping my mind focused on what is important and what is not.  if you’re not careful, you can get wrapped up in the small things thinking they are the big things.

163848_10150164132759498_837987_n

so it is about this time of year that i seek out photos of times i can remember being, well … exuberant.  i use that guidance i may need to get re-focused. here is one such photo:

298_26119568905_3193_n

the reason why i chose this picture is because i can remember feeling really good about myself.  healthy, confident and pretty.  not that i’m not those things now but once again, it’s about re-focusing for a new year.  i was eating well, enjoying myself and life and was inspired by the people around me which is always a bonus.

the other thing i do is download (or buy) books that help with this re-focus.  i love the first page of quotes in this book .  i haven’t read the book yet, so i’m not endorsing, but read these and tell me they don’t make you feel something!

————————————

To change one’s life:

Start immediately.

Do it flamboyantly.

No exceptions.   WILLIAM JAMES

Saying is one thing and doing is another. MONTAIGNE

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

We know what a person thinks not when he tells us what he thinks, but by his actions. ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don’t just stand there; make it happen. LEE IAO COC CA

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. WALTER BAGEHOT

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it. H. NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF  

They talk most who have the least to say. MATTHEW PRIOR  

There are very few people who don’t become more interesting when they stop talking. MARY LOWRY  

Noise proves nothing—often a hen who has merely laid an egg, cackles as if she had laid an asteroid. MARK TWAIN

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions CONFUCIUS    

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

——————————

so here’s to us digging in, re-focusing in 2013 and being the best we can possibly be.  for us and for those we influence!

il_570xN.380893162_jvd0

keep calm and don’t forget to be awesome from therekindledpage on easy.

 

Tags: , , , , ,

obsessed with tradition – and here’s a good one

13 Dec

i don’t know about you, but i love hearing about a friend’s family tradition around the holidays.  but never have i actually been a part of a family’s tradition and – felt so honored.

here’s the tradition

so ever since they got married and had their first child – a son – they made the decision that at thanksgiving, they – as a family – would design an ornament.  between thanksgiving and christmas they would make the ornament and then one would go into a box for their son and then they would have a certain amount to give to people that had an impact on their lives throughout the year.

ok stop.  how cool is that?

then they had a daughter and they continued the tradition.  so at the same time:

1. the children get a box when they get married (or older, whichever comes first) of meaningful ornaments from EVERY YEAR they’ve been alive.  that the family thought about and made together

and

2. they get to give away a certain amount of ornaments to people and friends that meant something to them.

i love this.  ya know why?  i got one!  and i treasure it.  and i can’t tell you how much i’ve thought about this tradition.  mostly because i’ve thrown out all my ornaments or they really didn’t mean anything.  but since this is the first christmas that is just my wonderful husband and myself – i want to start something that affects us and others.

it’s never too late to start this tradition of your own.  i think rof and i need to do it. but it may have something to do with either marinade or holiday spirits.

what is your holiday tradition? 

Tags: , , , ,

hello detroit

4 Dec

i’ll admit this.  

wherever i live is cool.  that is not to say that because i am somewhere that is why that place is cool.  it’s just i can’t possibly live somewhere that isn’t alive.

full disclosure, i love chicago.  that will always be my city and only my city. i embraced it with everything i was when i was in my teens and 20’s.  i grew up there and i drank that city in every morning and celebrated it every night.  i never, ever took it for granted.

then the move to dallas.  at first, i hated it.  i didn’t know her and for that matter, didn’t know anyone else.  luckily i had a job i loved and met my husband whom i love more.  dallas is to rof just as i am to chicago.  his passion for dallas transfered to me and we’ll always have the warm friendships we’ve made and we’ll always be texans.

but now we’re all about a new place.

this is a place that people have no problem feeling free to scrinch up their nose and say “EWWWW good luck to you” based on absolutely nothing.  they’ve never been here.  a place that does have it’s issues but more than that has a tenacity, passion and extraordinary beauty.  

take  a look at these pictures.  know where we are now?

IMG_8664 IMG_8665 IMG_8666 IMG_8667 IMG_8668if you were to say detroit, you’d be right.  i snapped these pictures from the top of a parking garage on my way from a client meeting downtown.  it gets so much better.  i can’t wait to share with you.

Tags: , , ,