Student Award Breakfast

The oldest son shaking hands with Chancellor Rogers

Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Physics
for the academic year 2011-2012

the oldest with his faculty advisor.

Grandma & the oldest ~ look'in good you two!

Fortune Cookie Friday

When in doubt, just take the next small step.

Imperfections

"When we are guilty of a fault we must never attribute it to some physical cause, such as illness or the weather.  We must ascribe it to our own imperfections, without being discouraged thereby. Occasions do not make a man frail, but show what he is."  St. Therese of Lisieux

*****

Can we change our imperfections into something palatable? Can we make a life long alteration to our foundational behaviors?

Tip Tuesday

Did you know candy cigarettes continue to be manufactured and consumed in many parts of the world. However, many manufacturers now describe their products as candy sticks, bubble gum, or candy.

So what is the Tip Tuesday you ask ~ 

Be on the lookout for bad ideas!

Here is the packing for the ones I remember buying 

at the corner store just down the street.  

The ends were painted red to look like a lite cigarette.

Temptation

Under a temptation which seemed to me irresistible, I said to her: "This time, I cannot surmount it."

She [St. Therese] replied: "Why seek to surmount it? Rather pass beneath.  It is all well for great souls to soar above the clouds when the storm rages; we have simply to suffer the showers.  What does it matter if we get wet?  We shall dry ourselves in the sunshine of love.

* * * * * * * *

Above from the counsels and reminiscences of Soeur Therese in the book The story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux.  She is also known as The Little Flower of Jesus.

Prospects

Summer’s prospects of warm and sunshine cheer my soul up a tad. It has been a very long, cold, and lonely winter.  I have felt disconnected and forgotten.  As I search for my place to belong, know that your love and constant faith in me has given me strength and the joy to smile.  I think of you a million times a day and my heart carries love for you that is steadfast and forever.

Bring on summer’s light and joy!  Guide me home!

Bye~Bye Snow

Hooray for bye-bye snow time and welcome good ole summer time!

All My Days

Currently listening to All My Days by Alexi Murdoch

Peaceful song for a Monday morning!

...

Do You Believe?

Have you ever believed in something so whole heartedly that it came true?  Have you ever wanted something so very much you would give your last dollar, your last chance to make it happen?

What in your life drives you forward?  What do you want most of all ~ above all else?

From the dust, mud and caked on layers of the long years, let your passion shine.  Live that dream you have always wanted.

One hitch ~ it has to come from the inside out.

The Look Back!

Are you good at the look back?

After you have visited with someone you care about do you look back as you walk away or as you are pulling the car out of the driveway?  Do you look back for another chance to wave, that last chance to share a glance and a smile for one more moment to remember?

If you have not been in the habit of partaking in the look back then it might be time to start a new tradition. 

I will forever cherish the long wave good-bye.

See you later!

Lost~n~Found

Living in a haze of white and gray has put a damper on my ability to find the happy.  Winter was long, dark and filled with questions.  I was unfocused, unproductive and on the edge of quitting. What was there to care about?  The dishes ~ nope.  My job ~ big fat no! Eating ~ if cheese was not involved I seldom cared.  It's a good thing that for Christmas we received a huge box filled with East Coast cheese, so there was plenty of the lifesaving goodness in the refrigerator.

If only there was goodness outside the icebox.

It is time to close the refrigerator door, the cheese is all gone anyway, do the dishes and get back to what we do best around here ~ smile!

A few friends have abandoned me during the darkness of this troubled winter and in the eyes of some of our family we have all drifted so far North that we are no longer visible to their hearts.

Ashes on the wind across the frozen pack-ice heading out to no-mans-land.

The lion's teeth of March bit down hard on my heart as we passed through the eye of the storm and in the calm still of the hour it was as if I was dead.  Neither did I have the strength to breathe nor blink. In this stillness I could only see a few bright stars overhead and they beckoned unto me to step out of the storm and without their guidance all would have been lost.

The refrigerator door is closed, the dishes are done and put away and my heart is filling again with the gratitude of love received in the small gifts that life brings.

May the winter melt away and summers color fill our hearts with joy.

Answer

Currently listening to Answer by Sarah Mclachlan 

...

Hero

The power of a hero to come along and save the day depends on the strength with which he was born, the courage he earned along his travels and the heart with which his mother showed him that he carried.

Always remember the power of the hero that is with in you.

Love, honor and courage of heart to travel the righteous path.

Not Sure

Not sure what time is was or how it happened but the one thing that I know for sure was that it was snowing.  Lazy quiet snow, you know the kind that drifts downward in a meandering fashion that only adds to your boredom.

It is always snowing it seems like, every time I look out the window.  The only thing that changes is the shape and size of the piles of snow.  Our world is always white and gray with each moment blurring into the next.

So what happened you ask, the lethargy once again settled in and took hold of my day.

Clover Lane

1. Getting up earlier than the kids, if at all possible, even for 15 minutes, makes my day magically run so much smoother.

2. If I want to get any big project accomplished, I need to break it down into tiny steps so it won't be overwhelming and I won't feel frustrated.

3. Planning meals and ingredients and a weekly shopping trip is essential.  Trying to think of what to make for dinner at 5 p.m. makes me miserable, as does not having the right ingredients.  And hungry children at 6:00 p.m. are really really scary.

4. If I want free time, it MUST be planned.  It will never just happen.  Someone will always need something.  It is up to me to plan for it, and if I complain about not having a minute to myself, I only have one person to blame: me.

5. Positive reinforcement goes much farther than nagging, harping, and criticizing

Found this over on Clover Lane.  Smart lady!
updated 9/25/2015 ~ link removed as it no longer works

Moving On ~ vs ~ Moving Forward

While standing in line awaiting our turn to be next we over heard a bit of the conversation that was happening just beside us.  An older fella asked another younger looking fella "how are you doing since his father has passed away"?

"We are moving on" said the younger fella in a rather monotone voice without much inflection in his words.  Then he proceeded to talk about what his Mom was up to and what he was doing these days for his job or job prospects as it were.

We moved up in the line and these fellas drifted away from us and my heart thought for a moment ~ moving on ~ how can you move on at the loss of someone so great in your life as my Dad is to all of us?

You move on from a bad job.  You move on with your life after a bad relationship but to move on after the loss of my father is not for me, nor for any of us I figure.

Moving forward ~ I choose to move forward with my life ~ best I can muster on some days.  On other days I feel stronger, there is strength to be gained in the joining of our hearts and the banding together and I am thankful every day for the hugs from my strong sons & husband!

We are moving forward ~ best we can ~ gaining strength everyday ~ I know Dad would be proud!

Ice Art Competition

Spend an afternoon at the Ice Park enjoying the wonderful ice carvings at the World Ice Art Championship 2012

Sunny Days

When I talk about the sun shinning and looking forward to springs arrival I think that it is only fair that I share with you what our landscape still looks like.

It is going to be a while yet for all this white stuff to completely melt away before we truly see the brown of the ground beneath but the sun shine is nice even if it is only + 7 degrees F.  Our youngest son shoveled off the lower roof already once this year so the snow load is lighter. Also note the oh so blue sky ~ gotta love that color!

Hope you are enjoying spring in your corner of this wonderful world!

Birthday Program

When you call our house phone line this is what you might hear:

Birthday program you're on the air...

This serves a three fold purpose: 

1. It might indeed be your birthday and man wouldn't that just extra make your day.

2. If it is not your birthday you will just think to yourself, did I call the right number and then think ahww those crazy people at that house. But we did make you smile ~ admit it!

3. If someone is calling us that does not know us and only wants to sell us something or ask us to participate in some survey, well they politely say "excuse me we have the wrong number".

Either way it was nice talking with you! Hope you have a great birthday!

Broken Glass

Perspective ~ see the glass as already broken.

The essence of this teaching is that all of life is in a constant state of change.  Everything has a beginning and everything has an end.  Every tree begins with a seed and will eventually transform back into earth.  Every rock is formed and every rock will vanish.  In our modern world, this means that every car, every machine, every piece of clothing is created and all will wear out and crumble; it's only a matter of when.

A glass is created and will eventually break.

There is peace to be found in this teaching.  When you expect something to break, you're not surprised or disappointed when is does. Instead of becoming immobilized when something is destroyed, you feel grateful for the time you have had.

Obviously, no one wants their favorite drinking glass or anything else, to be broken.  This philosophy is not a prescription for becoming passive or apathetic, but for making peace with the way things are. When your drinking glass does break, this philosophy allows you to maintain your perspective.  Rather than thinking, "Oh my God," you'll find yourself thinking, "Ah, there it goes."

With this awareness you'll find yourself not only keeping your cool but appreciating life as never before.

...

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff  by Richard Carlson

Chapter (lesson) 53