Did you know that when Wooderson said that, it was based on Matthew McConaughey’s father’s saying of it? I love that. And here I am, just L-I-V-I-N!

Today: more laundry, more cleaning, some photo education, cooking dinner, balance checkbook, purchase paint, contemplate the things we buy in to with our time, attention and energy…

Just livin life! How about you, what mundane tasks are you up to today? How are you L-I-V-I-N today?

Some days, you just need to sit with your dog, let him find solace in you. In turn, he will return that feeling to you.

By petting him, he feels your care and kindness. He appreciates the love you bestow upon him, how you soothe his tired bones.

The gift appears one sided, but even if he is tired, he still army crawled his way to you for comfort, for love, to share a moment together. With you. We need more of these moments, mutual happiness, genuine love.

I am cleaning today, doing laundry too. Later I will cook dinner with my love, and have a chat with my oldest. I got to spend some quality time with my youngest, earlier before she went to work. The sun is out, it is a good day!

Drop me a line, tell me about your pets/fur babies, I would love to know about them!

If you are like us, dinner time is an inconsistent, not all are present sort of thing. We can meal prep, and that usually consists of the same things, but what about those days that we are home and can eat together? We are trying to make this an even easier task for us, and we decided to try a new meal service to aid us in that quest!

We have tried other meal services before, and produce boxes, and frozen meat delivery…and clearly none of that stuck. When Bill approached me about trying out this new provider, I was skeptical, not down with it, and said no. He planted the seed that this may benefit us, and it is a different provider, so maybe it would be better? I caved in and we made an order.

Today we had Steak and Mushroom melt, with Barbecue Potato Wedges. Honestly, it was fairly easy to make, time over all needed to prep and cook was about 45-50 minutes. Now, you may be saying, that is a lot of time, I don’t disagree, but it goes quickly and it was delicious, not to mention, made at home. You could easily cook this and it would be good warmed up too. I also love the portion sizes, and to be completely honest, I hate coming up with dinner ideas and this works great for me!

If you would like to try Home Chef, I have a code for you, you will receive $35 credit if you are a first time customer! I don’t get paid to tell you about this, this is me sharing something with you that is making my life better. I am all about less stress, ease and motivation to eat at home and try something new!

https://www.homechef.com

WILLIAMR835

What I did for me today:

• Relieved dinner pressure
• Cooked at home
• Went to yoga

What I did for others:

• Cooked at home
• Shared a $35 off code

Drop me a line, let me know what you find that eases your dinner woes…also maybe let me know if you have a morning drink other than coffee, milk, or tea, I need a warm morning drink substitute for coffee!

Today was a cold one! We not only had cold, we had ice and snow, on the brink of springing forward to boot! Speaking of, are you a fan of springing forward, or would you rather make that an obsolete thing?

Honestly, springing messes with the animals too. Do you ever think about how our domestic pets adapt to our time change as well? I wonder if wild animals continue on their days as usual, after all, they have no idea what time it is, but more so when times occur(morning, midday, evening). Such questions, such observations. How do your pets react to time change?

While winter still has us all sleepy, cozed in, and warm, Spring is imminent, it’s in the air and the weather is on course to display Spring blooms soon, even now. My neighbor’s daffodils have bloomed and his forsythia is in full show. I love watching his yard through the year, but spring may be my favorite because it is a delight to see everything coming back to life.

Are you enjoying the sights of the impending season? Do you have a favorite part of Spring? What are you looking forward to doing most in this upcoming season? Are you looking forward to getting back outdoors, getting you hands and feet back in and on dirt?

The pups are enjoying the weather, they are getting invigorated with the crisp air, but love the sunshine warming them, oh so much! I am making a list of projects to do outside this year, and I have to remind myself, one bite at a time, enjoy the process.

How about you, are you dreaming of your outdoor space, and what it will be like this year? Are you planning new plantings, or spaces for your yard, or as the British call it, your garden? Maybe you are preparing to plant in your produce garden?

I haven’t forgotten…

Today, what I did for me was:

• I went to yoga in this blustery, winter weather
• I spoke “I am”, several times, progress

What I did for others:

• I made plans for a couple of complimentary shoots

I would love to know what you are doing or planning for Spring, drop me a line and let me know! Spread the inspiration!

Sometimes I catch shots of photos in my head. Today, I was exhausted and so I rested my body, during my nap, I dreamt of a couple in a field with golden sunlight. I know these people, their image was on canvas, and I had taken the photo. I was dreaming this right before I woke up, and all I could think was to sear it in my mind.

Upon waking up, I saw that my friend Roger has just gotten a new camera. Not my brand, but I am so beside myself with joy for him. The things he will capture, the good he will do with his camera, I am stoked for you Roger! And I know people will be excited for Roger’s newly acquired, new camera, too!

I have been working at being a photographer for years, and I always kept saying I wasn’t good enough, because I needed to learn more, and more, and more…but honestly, that was only partly true. The other part was waiting on the right timing in my life, and guess what y’all??? The time is now. I am ready, my family is ready, the time is right and so here I go, headfirst in to my life’s next adventure. I am a full time photographer.

Part of my 45 days was to figure things out, without putting pressure on myself, because I have been putting the full court press on myself, like bad, and most of that was conditioning. I have held myself to exacting measures and standards, that I was stuck, so stuck, and it rendered me unable to proceed forward, I was just going through the motions. Bill’s problems became my problems, his baggage became my baggage, and even though I had been fighting for so long, I stopped and just became accustomed to surviving. He has been working hard to overcome it all, and I have been working hard to overcome it all. We are fast tracking, and healing together-and separately, and that made me feel out of control at first, made me panic and freak out, and now, I am finally free to pursue what I want, to my heart’s content.

I think events play out as they should, for us to learn what we need to learn, so we will change with life. This is so we will push ourselves, and those around us to keep reaching higher, for our better, higher selves. What is the ceiling, how far can you go, how much can you accomplish and what is your best?

I found that out in the last chapter of my life, and now I want to find out in this chapter. What are you seeing when you close your eyes, is it a new chapter of your life, or is it a richer version of this chapter? Maybe you will see struggles, and that is okay, but just know, it’s only a chapter and not the whole book!

Drop me a line, let me know how your chapters are changing, where you see your development and plot twists and thickenings. I would love to know!

Also, I will be trying out some new ideas, if you think you’d like to be in front of my camera, I will be looking for subjects soon!

We are all one, a collective of differences, and similarities, but we all possess connective tissue…a binding substance. Maybe we have never been more, or less, connected than we are now, depends on who you ask, but I feel that people that want to be connected, will find a way. Are you making an effort to be connected to loved ones, friends, family, acquaintances, or are you feeling a bit restricted in your interactions?

What brings us together, what draws us apart? Is it our schedule, our other obligations, disagreements, or simply time and space that keeps us apart? Do you feel time spent in the company of those you are connected to enriches your life, and so you set aside time for those people? And how intentional are you with that time spent with those people you are connected to?

Sometimes just sitting in silence with people is all you need, because of that connection you can occupy space together, in comfort. That’s a pretty telling signal, how comfortably you can sit in silence together.

Other times we may be so loud with those we are with, that we stand the chance of being kicked out of establishments. But are you connecting, and enjoying those times to their fullest?

To get maudlin but honest on you, we never know how much time we have left. You never know the last time you will see someone, or if it will be the last time. Spend time connecting with those you cherish, enjoy, or you can be silent with, because it truly is about connecting with others in our lives. Drop me a line and tell me what you have done recently by way of connecting with others, I would love to know!

What I did for me today:

• I silently connected with friends at yoga
• I am visiting a dear friend

What I did for others:

• I am visiting a dear friend(this is mutual)

Tomorrow is Friday, I will see you sometime tomorrow, until then, think about ways of connecting with others, let us know what you are doing!

The best laid plans, well sometimes they go out the window! I was hoping to write posts in the morning, but today with my work schedule, that didn’t quite happen. Odds are you’ll get two posts within 12 hours, it is what it is.

“You know it’s a good evening when you did so many good things, you can’t pick just one as the best.”-Bill

Life is ironic, sometimes you post about sunsets on the horizon, and the next night you find yourself chasing them with your love. We had decided to not go the more direct route home, took a longer ride, and boy are we glad we did. One more road not taken afforded us the most glorious sunset, and we chased it for several miles, admiring the wonder of kismet,

Some things will be for you, specifically, don’t miss them, don’t overlook them. Accept them for the gift that they are.

Sometimes we just need to keep going, keep chasing the sun, living in the moment.

And when that sun gifts you all it can, when the day is done, don’t pick your favorite part. Instead, look forward to tomorrow, look forward to the next sunset, look toward that horizon and wonder just how far it will go, how far you will go to keep chasing the sun.

What I did for me today:

• I chased a sunset
• I made plans to go explore a small town

What I did for another:

• I didn’t visit the past, I let go
• I wrote a note to someone that matters to me

I’ll see you all tomorrow, who knows what the day will bring!

People often ask, “What’s on your horizon?”, and we often times get overwhelmed by all that we can say we have going on, or are looking forward to. Sometimes we just speak of the one thing that we are looking forward to, and say it with joy, a smile and maybe excitement. Do you have anything on your horizon?

When I think of the word horizon, sunset comes to mind first, I love sunsets! Next I think of a hill leading to a sunset, like we have some work to do or effort to give to get to that reward of a sunset. And then other times, I think of the horizon like a flat line, almost like a timeline of the things I need to get done. How do you envision the word horizon, what all do you associate with the word?

When you think of all you need to do, is it overwhelming, or do you see it as a challenge? Maybe it just is a day in the ordinary life? Do you have task lists or are you like a well oiled machine that knows your whole week off the top of your head?

Personally, I think I need to stick to my task lists for a while, as my days are all mostly different and I do best with a list and scheduling things at the moment. I do lack some consistency, and have to provide that structure myself with certain tasks daily. I think that I will start writing earlier in the day, as this is when the time feels best for me. Maybe I will tell you the things I want to do for me today, and and tomorrow I will tell you if I did something for another. Feels pretty solid, worst case I change it.

Today, what I would like to do for me is:

• Clean my house
• Get caught up on laundry
• Online training this afternoon
• Read this evening

Yes, those things really are for me, the first two. I like to be caught up and stay consistent, it helps with a weekly structure too. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months add up, and I would like to be productive, creative, leisure, social and perhaps a few other things without responsibility weighing those other things down.

Drop me a line and let me know how you see the horizon, how you go about your week…if you are a scheduler or if you have consistency with tasks all week! I honestly would love to know!

Not going to lie, today was just a day, an ordinary day, maybe a typical day? Nothing to report, nothing to say, just here living life. How about you, how was your day, what was it like? Was it typical or was it extraordinary?

Did you do anything for yourself today? Did you do anything for others? I didn’t do either, to my knowledge, but that is okay. I am finding the 45 days, as suggested to me, for me, is not really accurate. I should be subtracting things too, not just adding.

Change is a choice, otherwise you are choosing to remain the same.

I have, indeed, thought of ditching these 45 days. I had the inclination on days 5-6, Days 10-12, and days 21-23. Maybe the fact that the days in between of wanting to quit, becoming further apart says something, or maybe it says something to the commitment I have made to you? I am not writing this for me, although I tend toward self indulgence regularly, but no, I am writing this for you.

I started this off feeling what I always do, God wants me to share my journey with people, the good, bad, indifferent, highs, and lows, but all truth. I have struggled to share good things because I don’t want to brag. I have struggled with the bad things because in keeping perspective, things are not as bad as others have it-this can also be an indicator of toxic habits when you compare, as usual I digress. I have felt it may be boring to read on the indifferent days, but I include them. On the highs, again, feels like bragging or annoying positivity, the lows can be downers for many people struggling with their own journey…and the truth is always there, encompassing it all. It truly circles back to being guided to share with you-so you know you are not alone.

I can’t quit on you. I can’t quit on me. I couldn’t quit on my husband, and it takes a lot for me to quit on someone. Typically if I do, it is because the other person was there for a lesson, a season, or a reason that I needed to sort through or learn from. I trust my instincts and take the other person’s needs in to consideration as well. Sometimes you ebb and flow in and out of people’s lives and other times, it is meant to be a short term interaction. Good news, I am here for the long haul, and you get to decide where reading my words falls in for you.

This is not to say that quitting isn’t the right answer in some situations, because it is. We need to know when we are tapped out, or when a situation is beyond where we want to be, or what we want, or can, deal with. We often suffer needlessly because we think we have to stick through things, and sometimes we do, but often times, we don’t. People confuse challenging situations of growth and forward movement with a lack of boundaries, and vice versa. That also opens up the subjects of family, entitlement, expectations, and merit, probably a lot more than that, but the point is, quitting isn’t always quitting.

I hope that you do get something from my writings, as they really are for you. I think challenging myself to write about my 45 days, has already proven helpful to me, and I really and truly hope they do for you as well. Have a great Sunday friends, see you this week!