Sweet Tea

It's the last day of 2014 and I have to write something to close out the year.  I have been so busy enjoying life that I have neglected to write.  This year has been a year to heal the mind and body.  A year to let go of the past and to enjoy new beginnings.   We can not change the past, but we can learn from our mistakes and enjoy every new day we have.  My motto for 2014 was change your thoughts change your world.

As I reflect back over 2014, I want to talk about some of my favorite memories.  I saw a sign recently that said sweet tea served here.  It triggered a good memory from my childhood.  My grandmother being a southern belle made the best sweet tea ever.  I was raised on sweet tea and the secret to make that great sweet tea has been passed down through the generations.  This memory triggered other good memories of the south.  I have practiced replacing bad memories with those feel good memories.  Those memories are a great way to bring a smile to my face.

So if I had to pick a great memory from this year it was my trip to Charleston SC.  My heart belongs to Charleston.  I love the southern charm, the warm coastal breeze, palm trees and the art culture that belongs to historic Charleston.  I was meant to live in the south and I am not going to let go of the possibility that some day I may live in Charleston.  

For now I will embrace living in the north in my home with my big front porch and big pillars that adorn the house.  That front porch is what caught my eye when I was looking for a home.  It had that southern feel to it.  For now the porch will remind me of how I long to live in the south and more trips to Charleston are on my calendar.

This year will end with a peaceful mind, an abundance of love for my husband, family, friends and a spoiled dog named Laney.  

Next year will be a new adventure filled with living life to its fullest and moving forward to making all my dreams come true.  

I hear fireworks in the distance and  I toast the past goodbye and welcome a beautiful New Year !!  Look out 2015 here I come !!!

Elizabeth:)

Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas!

The month of December is racing away from us and another Christmas season will soon be history.  It has been a gloomy month as far as the weather is concerned.  The sun has made very few appearances, but the temperature hasn't been too bad the last couple of days.  I believe we made it into the fifties for daytime highs.  It would be nice if it continued, but the weatherman said to be prepared for a cold air mass next week.  What Can I say it is winter in the north.

I managed to fill up my social calendar for the month and I have had fun.  It is the season for parties and luncheons with friends and family.  I went last evening to see a place called Clifton Mills.  It was beautiful seeing all the lights and they had a little village with a train station that was suppose to be a replica of the town of Clifton Mills. There are 3.5 million lights at the site.  They started the display 27 years ago and I don't know what took me so long to go see them. 



                   


There is a restaurant in the house and a gift shop.  It was beautiful to see all the lights and I felt like a kid again.   They had a small building with a live Santa working on toys and a museum of vintage toys.  I think I saw some of my old toys there.  LOL! 

There is only one more shopping day left until Christmas and I am happy to say I am done.  The crowds have been awful at the stores and I only imagine they will be worse tomorrow with the last minute shoppers. 

Hope Santa is good to you where ever you are and all your dreams come true.

As for myself, I have the gift of good health and an abundance of love this year. 

Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night!

Life is beautiful !!

Elizabeth:)

When The Sun Shines It Really Shines

I woke up again this morning to sunshine and I was smiling.  We are suppose to have a nice weekend with more sunshine.  My husband and I rested our heads peacefully last night, because a ray of sunshine had cast its self upon our life.  He came home from work yesterday picked me up, twirled me around, and kissed me.  He was a happy man as he had some good news that was going to alleviate some stress in our life.  This year is going to come to an end with a big smile on our faces.  Possibly it was God's intervention or perhaps a bit of fate or just the way the cards fall.  Whatever it is we were both very happy. 

My hard work that I have put into eating healthy has paid off for both my husband and me.  The doctor was happy for us.  It has also been a year of changing the way we think and practicing gratitude.   I am a believer of change your thoughts change your world.   Change you habits and take care of yourself and you can feel good.  Practice being happy even when things sometimes don't go exactly as planned and world will smile back at you.  I feeling very blessed.   It took some work and effort to get to this peaceful place that I am today, and I have no regrets. 

Sometimes in life we feel unnoticed and we need someone to perhaps not say anything, but take our hand and lead us in the right direction.  Of course we make our own destiny and we are the one that has to say I am worth being heard.  So, I am off on a new adventure tonight filled with love and happiness, because I choose to be.


Life is beautiful !!

Elizabeth:)

A New Found Love of The Holiday Season

The sun finally came out today and it is very cold.  What can I say it is winter weather for the north.  December is passing quickly and so far it has been a fun month.  We are having fun with friends and enjoying all the Christmas festivities going on in the community.  I have really enjoyed this Christmas season since I am feeling very well these days.  A special thanks to those lady health care professionals who have been helping me get healthy.  I had forgotten what it was like to feel good.

I am blessed that I let my faith in God guide me to a happy and well life.  I remember a verse that I heard a lot as a child, "God helps those who help themselves."  It is not really a bible verse but, I believe it to mean that if we really want to change we will do what we can to help our self.  I have put forth great effort this year to take of myself and the payoff has been good.  I have also inspired some people that are very close to me to help themselves.  My holiday wish is to inspire more people to realize that their worth begins with taking responsibility for their own health and happiness.

Yesterday would have been my mother's birthday.  She would have been 81 years old.  I had fun yesterday for her.  I went Christmas shopping and celebrated quietly by myself as I remembered some traditions that she instilled in me.  Her OCPD of course ruled her life and we dared not alter any tradition that she had set forth and it made holidays difficult at times.  I now am able to see past the perfectionism of it all and find the beauty in what she did.  She loved Christmas shopping and beautifully wrapping the gifts.  The bows were all handmade and the wrapping paper cut and precisely placed on boxes.  They were her beautiful creations and I remember her smiling at the satisfaction it brought her.  I miss the beauty of those presents but, I am at peace now with myself.  I know that I am allowed to have my own creations with my own flare.  They are not perfect but, they are my creations and I will smile as I put them under my tree that is slightly leaning to the right.  LOL!  I finally have found that love she had for Christmas.  I hope she is smiling down from heaven.

Well it is time to bundle up and enjoy the sunshine.  Hope where ever you are you are enjoying the holiday season.  

Life is beautiful !!

  Elizabeth :)

Let The Christmas Season Begin

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day surrounded by family and lots of laughter.  The house smelled so good from the food and every thing  tasted good.  It was a day of filled with gratitude and love as we celebrated life.  We were reminded of how blessed we are to have another year together.

I spent Friday enjoying the peaceful house, as Laney and I took some time to rest and share each other's company.  She loved curling up in my lap and getting a lot of attention.  She is of course my faithful companion.  There was no Black Friday shopping for me.  I am not a fan of trying to mingle with the crowds.  There is not anything on my list that I abosutely have to have that would make me want to stand in line or fight the crowded stores.   I guess for some people it is a tradition to rise early for shopping and to think their getting a bargain.   I slept in and my bargain was a well rested body and mind.

I enjoyed watching my husband's excitement Saturday as he got to go to the Ohio State and Michigan game.  It was the most excited I have seen him in a long time.  It was a surprise for him, as a dear friend of ours hooked him up with another friend that had an extra ticket.  I love those kind of surprises.  My husband was in football heaven.  The look on his face was worth a million dollars.  Thank you to our dear friend for thinking of him.  And, yes those Bucks won which made it even more special.

Well, it is time to decorate the house for Christmas.  It is hard to believe another year has almost slipped away.  I have lots of  holiday parties on my calendar and I will celebrate with gratitude that my family is feeling happy and healthy.  So it is December the first, and if I can get Laney off my lap, I am going to decorate the tree while the Christmas music plays and the Orange and Palm trees sway.   I think they are swaying possibly somewhere south.  Oh well, a girl can dream.

Life is beautiful !  Happy Holidays !

Elizabeth:)