A Sweet Life Rocks

A Gift To My Family

I am writing straight from the heart today.  
I sure hope you don't mind. 

My usual style is artful, creative, and edited.  I love the process of combining thoughts and ideas, and adding fabulous photos.  Today I offer something different.  

Something quite simple.

Christmas thoughts.  Family ideas.  My love for both.

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This is the time of year that I am very drawn to family and home.  My heart aches to look deeply in the eyes of my children.  I want them to believe they are known to me.  

That they are important.
That they are loved.

This is a very special time of year for me with my husband also.  We celebrate our wedding anniversary and Christmas in the same month.    
Oh, how my heart overflows!

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So, knowing this is the way my heart is drawn, then my thoughts flow something like this...................

The busy, chaotic, and intense atmosphere of this holiday season is very unattractive to me.   Impressing others with the best gifts, or by having the most popular Christmas party is unimportant.  
Spending a ton of money, wasting a lot of time, or losing my joy is not an option.

Instead I choose home.  I choose family.

 I choose........
Homemade meals.
Hot chocolate for dessert.
Gingerbread houses.
Advent calenders.
Candles.
Music playing softly.
Extra blankets.
Taking pictures.
Laughing.
Listening.
Eggnog.
His favorite pie.
Low lights in the evening.
Mistletoe............. always mistletoe. 

 I choose to be present in our home.

During this very busy time of year I choose to give my family the best gift I could possibly give them............... the gift of myself.

I try to stay healthy and well rested, so that my energy is high (and emotions stay balanced, let's be honest).
I shop online, so that my time is saved (as well as my nerves).
I plan each purchase carefully.  We use coupons, and shop wisely.  We stick to the budget.
I work diligently on my business during the day.  I am so thankful for my clients, and the opportunity they give me to create special pieces for them.  Then, I close shop at a set time.  
Time management is key.

I am very very far from perfect.  I do not have it all together.  I fail at times, and most of my 'to do' list is still there at the end of the day........ and the next day.
Still, I know it is worth it.   

Loving and Living straight from the heart is worth it! 

A woman knows her husband.  A mama knows her children.  She knows when their eyes light up, and when she has touched a heart.  She knows when she has impressed them with her love........ a deep impressions on the soul.

That is exactly where I want to live........ at Christmas and always.

 

Please tell me.  What are some of your holiday disciplines?  How do you stay focussed on family?  Tell me some of your favorites, please :o).

 

Loving and Living Life................. Amanda

Do you have yours?

Several years ago I signed up for a Shutterfly account.

I am so glad I did.

The quality is fantastic.  The coupons are amazing.  
The memories are lasting.

This is just one of the Christmas cards I designed this year.

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

This is the most wonderful time of the year!

Do you have your Christmas or New Year cards yet?

 

Loving and Living Life................... Amanda

Goodbye Weekend

Weekends are for fun and family.  

We stay busy.  We stay close.  We love weekends.

Our family is forever.

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Sunday nights are a rhythmic process of wrapping up a few days of wonderful, as we prepare to enjoy a week of work, school, and busy schedules. 

Goodbye bonfire and talking for hours with friends.

So long hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Farewell to laying in the grass gazing at the stars.

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Goodbye long lazy days of family cuddles.

So long freshly baked Snickerdoodles.

Farewell Sunday dinner.

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I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Enjoy your family this week as you celebrate Thanksgiving.  

What a wonderful time of year this is.

 

Loving and Living Life............. Amanda

The Master List

If you purpose to be productive, as I do, and you are goal oriented, then it is likely that lists are a handy tool you use daily.

Lately I have found myself  making a new kind of list.  

As I learn life lessons, experience joy, focus on my goals, all while growing as a person......then, I find that some things just aren't as important as I had previously perceived them to be.

So, I make a new list.  

The style is the same, complete with bullet points and abbreviations.
The focus has changed.  

My life mission has deepened:

Love my Life.  Reduce Stress.  Make Art.  Do the things I Love.

Would you like to see my new list?

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Do Not Do: The Master List

Care too much about something that cannot be changed.

Neglect the talents that are within.

Stay down too long when I fall.

Take today's trauma in to tomorrow.

Let fear influence decisions.

Spend energy on things that break my heart.

Miss unique opportunities because I am too distracted with life........this busy life.

Cry over losing something that wasn't there to begin with.

Lose the passion that has carried me to where I am today. 

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I've learned a few things along the way, but only now am I brave enough to admit what it's going to take to keep on learning.

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Life has a way of knocking us down sometimes.  

Hope, Strength, and Courage have a way of picking us up,

dusting us off,

focusing our eyes, head and heart,

and sending us on our way,

in the right direction.

 

Please tell me, what would YOU add to this list?   I would love to know your thoughts.

 

Loving and Living Life................ Amanda 

Words - A Powerful Tool

The power of Life and Death are in the tongue.

Truth.

Words can help create a beautiful life.

Our words can build confidence in the ones we love.

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Words can change your mind.

They can Convince.  Teach.  Inform.  Heal.  

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May we introduce our new line of leather cuffs.

Inspired by our belief that words are a powerful tool.

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Survivor

Courage

Artist

Hope

What words inspire you?  Do you believe in the power of words?  What is your favorite way to express that?

 

Loving and Living Life............... Amanda

Grace

Every Moment is Grace.

Grace is the gift undeserved.  

A broad covering of forgiveness, repentance, kindness, and love.

Like a blanket.  Cozy.  Soaked in mercy.

No conditions.

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A continual flow of giving,

and receiving.

Grace.

Always admitting.......

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Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know, who holds the future.

Life is worth the living,

Just because He lives.

 

Loving and Living Life................ Amanda

A New Day - Happy Monday

It's a good practice in life to process our feelings.

It's a healthy behavior.

Spiritual disciplines, such as meditation and prayer,
are powerful tools.

Feel the process.

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Learn life lessons.

Diligently apply what you know.

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And then......

Look forward to a happy tomorrow.

Purpose to choose happiness.

Count your blessings and be thankful.

Do what makes you happy.

Do good to others.

Believe that yesterday is gone,

and today is all we have.

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Today is a beautiful gift.

Today is a new chance to live.

Today will never come again in life..........

so, make it wonderful!

 

Happy Monday!

 

Loving and Living Life............. Amanda

Bubbles

I'm ashamed to admit it.  Embarrassed to bring it up.  
Here it goes anyway.

I have spent much of my life living in a bubble.

The problem with a good bubble is......eventually it will burst.

When the Sunday school teacher, the one with bright red lipstick and tightly slicked hair, taught, "Forgive and Forget" I took it literally.
Principles are meant to be practiced.   Aren't they?

When I learned the command, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", I assumed the respect between the two points was mutual.

My faith taught that when you give love, you receive love.  

When you forgive others, forgiveness is also granted in return.  

What a cozy little bubble of fairy tales.

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"Love keeps no record of wrong."

"Love is not easily provoked."

"Love thinks no evil."

Love.  Love.  Love.

This is what they teach.  
That's the theme of every good sermon, right?

There was lots of 'love talk' in my bubble.

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Then the bubble burst.

Apologies offered freely, are rejected and spit on.  
Tenacious loyalty, a gift from the heart, feels the deep plunge of a knife........the knife she didn't even see coming.
Forgiveness granted, but the favor is not returned.

The naive church girl feels like a fool once again.  A fool for believing that good will be given in exchange for good.  
A fool for trusting that doing the right thing will always win.

She's a fool for even trying.  

That's what she thinks sometimes.

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So, she has decided....... 

Bubbles are for baths.

Bubbles are for blowing in the wind.

Bubbles are making froth on cappuccino.

That's about all bubbles are good for.

:o)

With a mammoth dose of reality, the kind of reality that overwhelms and demands change, she lives on.  Moves on, really.

Stronger than before.  Beaten, but not broken.  
Changed for the better.

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 Convinced that God is good, therefore good will always win.

She might not always see it,

but good always wins, because God always wins!
 

Her faith is strong..........unshakably and undeniably strong. 

 

Loving and Living Life................. Amanda

Bare Naked: That's What We Call It

No Secrets.

That's our promise here.  Here in this place where two have become one.  This union of man and woman.  

Bare Naked.

That's what we call it.  "It" being our commitment to lay it all out.  
To communicate with such depth that nothing is held back.

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Bare Naked.

That's what we offer one another.  Truth with no covering.  Vulnerability with no hold on self.  

Bare Naked.

To show the good, the bad, and the ugliness of our hearts.  To expose the wrong I have done; to tell him of the darkness, and still be loved.  To bare my secrets of past, then to be cherished, and protected as a treasure in the present............unfathomable, to say the least.

With this as my reward, I will gladly endure the awkward, sometimes painful,
Bare Nakedness of truth.
 
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No Secrets.

Just a promise.  A promise to let him know everything.  To offer an open channel to heart, soul, and mind.  

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Such foolishness to believe that there might be things in one's life that are better kept secret.  What a wild deception to suggest it permissible to withhold matters of the heart. 

Secrets are a breeding ground for many kinds of darkness.  The person with whom you are one, might not know the details of your secrets, but they don't doubt the existence of untold thoughts, feelings, actions.................your secrets.

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Here in this place, where marriage makes us one, we offer all we have.  Truth reigns powerfully.

Imperfect people. In covenant relationship.  
Holding nothing back.   
Trusting and believing.

 Love keeps no record of wrong.

Love sees the good.

Love conquers all.

Love is worth the fight.

 

The best way to be in love is to be Bare Naked.

 

Loving and Living Life.................... Amanda 

 

Trust the Truth

There is truth in the world that will never change.....

Hard work produces Results.

Choosing Love is always Best.

The sun will always Rise and Set each day.

Babies will always be Beautiful.

Intuition respected, is Powerful.

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There is truth in the world that is only learned by experience, 

Greatness will always require Risk.

Success demands Sacrifice.

Regret is Painful.

Forgiveness is a free Gift to yourself.

Silence will always be an Option.

Joy is a Choice.

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Then, there is truth that is unexplainable, 

A woman is always stronger than she appears.  

Yet, She will always crave a Hero.  

Women have "Mother" in their blood, and Passion in their hearts.

She's always capable of more.

A woman loves with her mind, soul, and body,

offering it freely when protected.

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Trust is vulnerable.  Risky.

I grasp it so tightly.

Truth is powerful.  Truth is freedom.

I want more than a mediocre life.
I choose to Trust the Truth.
 

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Living Authentically.  

Loving Passionately.  

Embracing Courage.

Empowered with new Strength.

 Becoming Braver than I thought possible. 

 

Loving and Living Life.............. Amanda