Divine Greene Girl Games

Hello!  I’m back at least for the month of December so please excuse the haphazard look of my blog.  I planned on having a gorgeous look to it by now but life just doesn’t permit it sometimes.  Or is it all The Nutcracker rehearsals?

A few years ago, members of my family participated in a little game.  I sent an email everyday and posed a question about The Holidays.  I’m hoping to have everyone participate again but this time by leaving comments on my blog.

So, because it’s late, and because I want to get this party started, here is the first question:

What is your earliest holiday memory?

My earliest holiday memory is the anticipation of Christmas Eve.  Usually out-of-town family members arrived on Christmas Eve and things started to kick into high gear by evening.  My mother would have been in the kitchen all day with some help from my sisters.  My father would have been in his chair reading a newspaper, occasionally venturing into the kitchen for a cookie.  Our Labrador retriever, Cindy, with her big red bow on her collar, would be busy sniffing out treats and handouts.  There was a general flurry of activity was non-stop from morning until bedtime.   The smell of the tree, bags of gifts, plates of cookies, my grandmother demanding kisses, and all the last minute errands contributed to my excitement.  Jess is already bouncy and wiggly and barely able to contain her excitement for the season.  I get exhausted just watching  her but as I think back to those first memories I remember being just as bouncy and wiggly.

Please comment with your thoughts.  I’d love to hear.  This is not meant to be formal.  Just a venue for sharing and commenting on other’s comments is encouraged!

Under Construction

I’m working on an overhaul for my blog so no posts for awhile. 

Ten Years

I came across this picture the other day.  Sagey was just a pup, she was a handful and we were on our own.

Now ten years later, the scenery has changed but I still have my hands full.

The other day, Mark and Jess went to the Daddy-Daugher Dance.  What a handsome couple, huh?  But unbidden, my  mind’s eye flashed forward another ten years.  The scenery will change again.  Mark will be next to me behind the camera as we snap pics of Jess and her prom date.  The thought was too bittersweet…

…so let’s just freeze frame here for awhile.

Home

Last Saturday, as Jess and I were returning home from some errands I was surprised to feel myself strangely peaceful even with a houseful of chores to face.  So I took out my handy dandy little smart phone gadget and snapped some pics of my drive home.

This one is through the neighbor’s property.  Old cars and farm equipment under snow can squeak by as picturesque in the country.

I never get tired of the scene at the end or our driveway.  It’s a different picture every day.

p.s.  It was back to chaos once I stepped inside.

Illumination

Time for bed everyone.  We’ll keep your night lights burning.

Resolve to Improve

Look at all the dust on that screen!  See how much I’ve used my treadmill in the past year?  I confess I wiped off the screen before I took the picture.

Many people don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.  I still do.  Every year I make several.  I make the standard ones:  lose weight, exercise more, keep the house clean.  I make the noble ones:  attend church more often, get involved with politics, contribute more to a non-profit.  Sometimes I keep them in my head and sometimes I write them on a scrap of paper that gets lost in the piles.  But each year one resolution emerges as dominant.  And every year I improve on something.

This year, spurred on by Jessie, I made the resolution to move/exercise at least 30 minutes a day.  Have I already broken it?  Yes.  But I’ve been on the treadmill 7 days out of 12 in the New Year.  And I will keep on trying to improve on that record.  Some days I don’t have the time or the energy.  But it’s a more conscious thought this year that I need to keep moving.  I’ll make some little goals along the way to keep up my motivation.  I think there is a 5k in May in our town that I would like to try.  Walk or run, I’ll make it a goal.

As for the less dominant resolutions I’ve made, the New Year is only one of the times through the year that I make the “fresh” start.  I  also do this at my birthday, around the first day of spring and again in September when Jess goes back to school.  So, this year,  instead of thinking of these times as “do-overs”, I’m going to think of them as “re-commitments”.  It’s kind of another kick in the pants to keep moving and improving.

Sometimes, it can be embarrassing for me to admit that I make resolutions.  I run into so many people who don’t or at least won’t admit it if they do.  “I don’t make them,” is often disdainfully stated when it comes up in conversation.  Then I feel a little trite and think, “Wow, they must really have it all together!”  But can a person really have such a perfect life that they don’t need to improve or reflect on anything they can do better?

So that is why I still make resolutions.  To improve.  Improve my life, my health, my attitude, my giving of self.  I will always make them because I think I would feel like I’ve given up on myself if I don’t.  I don’t think I could live like that.

Do you still make New Year’s Resolutions?  What are they?

Happy 2013!

My 2012 in Photos

 

A Safe and Happy New Year to All of You!

Love,
Shelley
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 1,900 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 3 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

These Wonderful Things…

…are the things we remember all through our lives.

Merry Christmas from the Wesleys!