Everyone who knows me knows I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Christmas and Easter holidays. I go all out for those Holidays with decorations and special food..well thought out gifts and really cool Easter baskets (if I do say so myself!). However, I try hard all year to show appreciation for His Birth and my gratitude for Jesus' sacrifice, not just on those holidays..but every day.
So how does that all apply to Earth Day? While I love the idea of a day we all stop and do something for the good of the Earth and for Mother Nature, I also know that a good percentage of those who get out and do something on Earth Day really don't do much of anything for the earth the rest of the year. EVERY DAY should be Earth Day. Giant corporations are constantly pumping toxic sludge into our environment, we use our cars every day and fly on planes, both of which add to our carbon footprint. So much is done every day that negatively impacts our planet that we all need to do what we can EVERY DAY to have a positive influence on the earth. What can we do?
The biggest thing we can do is RECYCLE! Plastic,paper,soda cans....become a recycling NUT just like me! :) The next best thing we can do? Take less trips in our cars! Plan your day so that you get more errands etc done on ONE trip instead of making two or three or four trips! When you go to the grocery store, look for 'locally grown' produce and meat. The further our food has to travel the larger its impact on the environment and THAT is all added to OUR individual carbon footprint! Buy paper products made from recycled materials. Have electronics fixed instead of 'replaced' if possible. Consume less of everything.
We can't expect the earth to survive for long at the pace we are going. We need to act NOW and we need to ALL do our part. To be honest, you don't even have to do any of the above mentioned things religiously to make a difference. If you have a recycle bin in your home and just throw in ONE SODA CAN a day, you'd make a HUGE impact on the environment! Start small and go from there!
Oh..and Happy Earth Day! Keep smiling Mother Nature, we really DO love you!
Hugs to all,
Jaye
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Never Settle
In the past, I have settled. For less than what I am worthy of. Or deserving of. At the time I thought it was all I deserved...or wanted....
I married young. I was 20. I married someone who is probably not a bad sort. But I didn't marry him because I loved him, or was 'in love' with him. I married him because it was what I was supposed to do. He was a 'good catch'. He was the same religion. Very active in that religion. He'd spent two years at a farm run by that religion, having donated two years of his life to this organization. He preached. He taught. He was handsome. His family was well placed and well thought of. He was perfect. And so I settled.
Throughout our ten year marriage I settled often. I put off college even though it was what I really wanted to be doing. I didn't hold down a job, because he wanted me to be a stay at home mother. Now don't get me wrong. I didn't 'settle' EVER when it came to my children. I loved being at home with them. But once our youngest was in school full time, I still stayed home. Because that is what 'he' wanted. So I settled. I took up golf even though I hated it. I REALLY wanted to go canoeing..or hiking...or pretty much ANYTHING but golfing. But I didn't. I settled. I became a scuba diver because he wanted a dive buddy. I agreed on the house plan he wanted in the neighborhood he chose. It wasn't a BAD house design or a BAD neighborhood..but I deferred to him...I settled.
I stayed in the religion I was raised in and that he and his family belonged to. I didn't believe most of what they preached . But I stayed. After all, it wasn't ALL bad. Again. I settled. I seemed to have gotten comfortable living in a rut. Living life safe. Settling.
Then he started making poor choices. Choices that severely impacted me. Choices that left me unsafe to be with him. The day he raised his hand to hit me for the first and ONLY time, I stopped settling.
I got a job. A GOOD job! I moved out and found a GREAT house (one I LOVED!). I started hiking. I started running and weight lifting. My brother moved in with me and for the first time we really got to know each other (he is ten years younger than I am!).
I also stopped settling with my religion. I left it. Cold turkey. Told the body of Elders one day that I was done. This was HUGE. This was life altering. It meant I lost most of my friends and my family. My mother hasn't spoken to me more than ten times in the past 15 years. I lost life long 'friends'. I was shunned. I was whispered about. I was left swinging in the wind for this choice. But I had finally STOPPED SETTLING!
What did I discover when I finally stopped settling? I found out that I DID like scuba diving! I found out that I liked being an 'almost' vegetarian! I found out who my TRUE friends were (and you are reading this now and you know who you are!). I found out that I was smart (graduated College with a 3.9 GPA!). I found out that I was GREAT at working with people and that I could make a great living. I found that I loved cats and hated dogs (sorry dog lovers!). I found MYSELF!!! I found out who I was. Who I was MEANT to be. I found my way to emotional health. I found my way to being a great mother..to being a great friend...to being a great ME.
And then LOVE found me. A love I didn't have to 'settle' for. I found a man who loved me for who I was. At the very beginning of 'us' I told him "This is who I am. These are the things I like to do. I won't give them up or change". His response? 'GREAT! Here are the things I like to do and this is who I am!". And he loved me. No strings. No ultimatums. No threats. No insults. No fear. No settling. This man who I didn't 'settle' for, loves me no matter what. He supports me in anything I want to try to do. He makes me laugh. He makes me sigh. He makes my day. But I have never in the 13 years we've been together, EVER had to settle.
So what brought this whole long blogathon on? Well...I've really been working out at the gym lately. I mean WORKING OUT. I have a personal trainer (she is a professional, competitive body builder and personal trainer!). I have changed the way I eat. I make better choices. I have stopped settling for a mediocre body. I am going after a leaner, meaner, sexier me. I used to eat whatever came my way. Now I make all the right choices. Over Easter I had NO candy. In years past, I would eat anything with the word "Chocolate" on it. Now, nope. Nothing tastes better than thin feels. But tonight, I had a piece..a very small piece, of the worlds BEST chocolate ganache fudge cake. It was the BEST of cakes. And one small slice of this cake...one very TINY slice, was more satisfying than a whole BASKET of Easter chocolate.
See what happens when you stop settling and only go for the best? :)
Hugs to all,
Jaye
I married young. I was 20. I married someone who is probably not a bad sort. But I didn't marry him because I loved him, or was 'in love' with him. I married him because it was what I was supposed to do. He was a 'good catch'. He was the same religion. Very active in that religion. He'd spent two years at a farm run by that religion, having donated two years of his life to this organization. He preached. He taught. He was handsome. His family was well placed and well thought of. He was perfect. And so I settled.
Throughout our ten year marriage I settled often. I put off college even though it was what I really wanted to be doing. I didn't hold down a job, because he wanted me to be a stay at home mother. Now don't get me wrong. I didn't 'settle' EVER when it came to my children. I loved being at home with them. But once our youngest was in school full time, I still stayed home. Because that is what 'he' wanted. So I settled. I took up golf even though I hated it. I REALLY wanted to go canoeing..or hiking...or pretty much ANYTHING but golfing. But I didn't. I settled. I became a scuba diver because he wanted a dive buddy. I agreed on the house plan he wanted in the neighborhood he chose. It wasn't a BAD house design or a BAD neighborhood..but I deferred to him...I settled.
I stayed in the religion I was raised in and that he and his family belonged to. I didn't believe most of what they preached . But I stayed. After all, it wasn't ALL bad. Again. I settled. I seemed to have gotten comfortable living in a rut. Living life safe. Settling.
Then he started making poor choices. Choices that severely impacted me. Choices that left me unsafe to be with him. The day he raised his hand to hit me for the first and ONLY time, I stopped settling.
I got a job. A GOOD job! I moved out and found a GREAT house (one I LOVED!). I started hiking. I started running and weight lifting. My brother moved in with me and for the first time we really got to know each other (he is ten years younger than I am!).
I also stopped settling with my religion. I left it. Cold turkey. Told the body of Elders one day that I was done. This was HUGE. This was life altering. It meant I lost most of my friends and my family. My mother hasn't spoken to me more than ten times in the past 15 years. I lost life long 'friends'. I was shunned. I was whispered about. I was left swinging in the wind for this choice. But I had finally STOPPED SETTLING!
What did I discover when I finally stopped settling? I found out that I DID like scuba diving! I found out that I liked being an 'almost' vegetarian! I found out who my TRUE friends were (and you are reading this now and you know who you are!). I found out that I was smart (graduated College with a 3.9 GPA!). I found out that I was GREAT at working with people and that I could make a great living. I found that I loved cats and hated dogs (sorry dog lovers!). I found MYSELF!!! I found out who I was. Who I was MEANT to be. I found my way to emotional health. I found my way to being a great mother..to being a great friend...to being a great ME.
And then LOVE found me. A love I didn't have to 'settle' for. I found a man who loved me for who I was. At the very beginning of 'us' I told him "This is who I am. These are the things I like to do. I won't give them up or change". His response? 'GREAT! Here are the things I like to do and this is who I am!". And he loved me. No strings. No ultimatums. No threats. No insults. No fear. No settling. This man who I didn't 'settle' for, loves me no matter what. He supports me in anything I want to try to do. He makes me laugh. He makes me sigh. He makes my day. But I have never in the 13 years we've been together, EVER had to settle.
So what brought this whole long blogathon on? Well...I've really been working out at the gym lately. I mean WORKING OUT. I have a personal trainer (she is a professional, competitive body builder and personal trainer!). I have changed the way I eat. I make better choices. I have stopped settling for a mediocre body. I am going after a leaner, meaner, sexier me. I used to eat whatever came my way. Now I make all the right choices. Over Easter I had NO candy. In years past, I would eat anything with the word "Chocolate" on it. Now, nope. Nothing tastes better than thin feels. But tonight, I had a piece..a very small piece, of the worlds BEST chocolate ganache fudge cake. It was the BEST of cakes. And one small slice of this cake...one very TINY slice, was more satisfying than a whole BASKET of Easter chocolate.
See what happens when you stop settling and only go for the best? :)
Hugs to all,
Jaye
Friday, April 03, 2009
I know we're in a recession, but c'mon!!
Ok so you all know how I just LOVE fast food (NOT!)...how I am totally disillusioned with food service in general and am not surprised with lousy service or product these days...so I really shouldn't be surprised.... but I am....sorta...
We are in the midst of spring break which for the me and the kids means a lot of running around going from one activity to another...which means I am occasionally breaking my rule of no fast food..sometimes it's just too crazy to NOT stop and grab a quick bite while going from one place to another. So the other day having come from town and Sams orthodonist, the next stop was the base over on the other side of town where the kids and I were getting our hair done (boys cut, Paige a trim..me a cut and colour!)...it was a rainy nasty day and I was in a hurry....so McDonalds it was. Bens favourite thing there is the southern style chicken sandwhich...mainly because it is so plain. I decided to join him in his culinary venture and ordered the same thing. Now about the ONLY thing on this sandwhich aside from a fried chicken patty (don't even get me started on THAT!) is pickles. PLURAL I had assumed. Nope..Bens had ONE. One small tiny round slice of a pickle. I thought that maybe because they were SO busy that he just got short changed. I checked my sandwhich. Same small, tiny, round slice of pickle. ONE pickle. Now I know we are in a recession, but does McDonalds seriously think that ONE little tiny (did I mention how SMALL this thing was?) pickle in the middle of a sandwhich constitutes anything we should be paying for? I mean, seriously..what's the point in even putting this thing on the sandwhich?
Yah..it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things...but gall dang it, when I pay for a 'southern style fried chicken sandwhich on a soft southern style bun with butter and pickles' I expect pickleS.....plural...not one sad little thing in the middle of a patty...
sigh....lesson learned. I spent $30 bucks for the four of us at McD's...and got ripped off. Next time, I'll take my $30 bucks and at least get PICKLES at subway! :)
Hugs to all,
Jaye
We are in the midst of spring break which for the me and the kids means a lot of running around going from one activity to another...which means I am occasionally breaking my rule of no fast food..sometimes it's just too crazy to NOT stop and grab a quick bite while going from one place to another. So the other day having come from town and Sams orthodonist, the next stop was the base over on the other side of town where the kids and I were getting our hair done (boys cut, Paige a trim..me a cut and colour!)...it was a rainy nasty day and I was in a hurry....so McDonalds it was. Bens favourite thing there is the southern style chicken sandwhich...mainly because it is so plain. I decided to join him in his culinary venture and ordered the same thing. Now about the ONLY thing on this sandwhich aside from a fried chicken patty (don't even get me started on THAT!) is pickles. PLURAL I had assumed. Nope..Bens had ONE. One small tiny round slice of a pickle. I thought that maybe because they were SO busy that he just got short changed. I checked my sandwhich. Same small, tiny, round slice of pickle. ONE pickle. Now I know we are in a recession, but does McDonalds seriously think that ONE little tiny (did I mention how SMALL this thing was?) pickle in the middle of a sandwhich constitutes anything we should be paying for? I mean, seriously..what's the point in even putting this thing on the sandwhich?
Yah..it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things...but gall dang it, when I pay for a 'southern style fried chicken sandwhich on a soft southern style bun with butter and pickles' I expect pickleS.....plural...not one sad little thing in the middle of a patty...
sigh....lesson learned. I spent $30 bucks for the four of us at McD's...and got ripped off. Next time, I'll take my $30 bucks and at least get PICKLES at subway! :)
Hugs to all,
Jaye
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