Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Latest DIY/Inspiration
My latest creation was inspired by my outstanding hair stylist's sweet jewelry. After spending a good amount of time staring at her necklace so I could remember the style, I went to Hobby Lobby and did some shopping. They have a pretty large selection of charms so I thought I would give it a try. I had two strands together but took it apart because I think I liked them better separately. I'm wondering if I should sell these...
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Picture A Day
Apparently I'm a slacker and I haven't posted any in about 2 weeks! I also skipped some days. Oh well:(
August 20, 2012
My front yard flower
August 18, 2012
Jason & Daisy talking
August 16, 2012
Daisy's go to cute face
August 15, 2012
Homemade Monkey Business
August 14, 2012
August 13, 2012
How Daisy cools off these days
August 12, 2012
Shrimp! Recipe from Cooking Light
August 8, 2012
My new favorite Chardonnay. Only in NM!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Excerpt from Man's Search for Meaning
I haven't posted a book review in a while, mostly because I was having a hard time getting through a single book. I think I was burned out after reading so many books in such a short time.
I'm now slowly reading "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl. It was a recommendation from Gretchen Rubin's book club and so far I really am enjoying it.
Viktor Frankl was a holocaust survivor and this is own personal account. Without further ado, here is an excerpt that really touched me. Viktor was in the middle of marching to a work site when he had these thoughts.
Pages 36-39
We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor's arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, the man marching next to me whispered suddenly: "If our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don't know what is happening to us."
That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - the honorable way - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of infinite glory."
In front of me a man stumbled and those following him fell on top of him. The guard rushed over and used his whip on them all. Thus my thoughts were interrupted for a few minutes. But soon my soul found its way back from the prisoner's existence to another world, and I resumed talk with my loved one: I asked her questions, and she answered; she questioned me in return, and I answered...
...My mind still clung to the image of m wife. A thought crossed my mind: I didn't even know if she were still alive. I knew only one thing - which I have learned well by now: Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in his spiritual being, his inner self. Whether or not he is actually present, whether or not he is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance.
I did not know whether my wife was alive, and I had no means of finding out...but at that moment it ceased to matter. There was no need for me to know; nothing could touch the strength of my love, my thoughts, and the image of my beloved. Had I known then that my wife was dead, I think that I would still have given myself, undisturbed by that knowledge, to the contemplation of her image, and that my mental conversation with her would have been just as vivid and just as satisfying. "Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death."
I'm now slowly reading "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl. It was a recommendation from Gretchen Rubin's book club and so far I really am enjoying it.
Viktor Frankl was a holocaust survivor and this is own personal account. Without further ado, here is an excerpt that really touched me. Viktor was in the middle of marching to a work site when he had these thoughts.
Pages 36-39
We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor's arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, the man marching next to me whispered suddenly: "If our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don't know what is happening to us."
That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - the honorable way - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of infinite glory."
In front of me a man stumbled and those following him fell on top of him. The guard rushed over and used his whip on them all. Thus my thoughts were interrupted for a few minutes. But soon my soul found its way back from the prisoner's existence to another world, and I resumed talk with my loved one: I asked her questions, and she answered; she questioned me in return, and I answered...
...My mind still clung to the image of m wife. A thought crossed my mind: I didn't even know if she were still alive. I knew only one thing - which I have learned well by now: Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in his spiritual being, his inner self. Whether or not he is actually present, whether or not he is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance.
I did not know whether my wife was alive, and I had no means of finding out...but at that moment it ceased to matter. There was no need for me to know; nothing could touch the strength of my love, my thoughts, and the image of my beloved. Had I known then that my wife was dead, I think that I would still have given myself, undisturbed by that knowledge, to the contemplation of her image, and that my mental conversation with her would have been just as vivid and just as satisfying. "Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death."
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Picture A Day
August 7, 2012
My new fave coral nail polish
August 6, 2012
Breakfast for dinner - courtesy of www.cookinglight.com
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
My Craftiness made LC's website!
I'm pretty excited - the photos of my bracelets that were inspired by Lauren Conrad's website received a shout out on her site... Click here for the link. This was a nice bright spot for the day, I needed it!
http://www.laurenconrad.com/post/member-spotlight-your-pretty-bracelets
http://www.laurenconrad.com/post/member-spotlight-your-pretty-bracelets
Monday, August 6, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Goals for the Week: Running & Cooking
Happy Sunday People!
While Jason is outside mowing the grass, I'm inside drinking my cup of coffee and planning the menu for the week. We have been a little lax with planning our menus so I thought I would pick something out for each day so I would have something to look forward to eating... and also refocus on my calories this week. In addition to the pre-planned menu, I've been thinking of my fitness/running goal for the week. Since I think I've talked my running buddy Kristina into running in the mornings outside with me, this should make it that much easier to meet my goals.
Menu for this week:
Many thanks to Skinny Taste and Cooking Light for my meal inspirations this week!!
Crustless Zucchini Pie - I think I'm going to do grilled chicken with this for some protein!
Spaghetti with mushrooms, garlic & oil - Also throwing in some chicken with this and either broccoli or green beans for my veggie
Turkey Meatloaf - Also going to do a side of veggies (either the green beans or broccoli), possibly some quinoa or cous cous as well...
Fried Egg BLT Sandwiches - Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?? I think we'll saute some asparagus with this one
Fitness Goals for this week:
Running: Two 3 mile runs and one 4 mile run on Saturday; I'm not going to focus too much on pace, but try to keep it on the fast side (depending on how hot it is of course...)
Gym: 2 gym runs this week that do not involve running... I must start toning!!!
No excuses! I have to get excited about the long work week and I think this is how I will do it:)
While Jason is outside mowing the grass, I'm inside drinking my cup of coffee and planning the menu for the week. We have been a little lax with planning our menus so I thought I would pick something out for each day so I would have something to look forward to eating... and also refocus on my calories this week. In addition to the pre-planned menu, I've been thinking of my fitness/running goal for the week. Since I think I've talked my running buddy Kristina into running in the mornings outside with me, this should make it that much easier to meet my goals.
Menu for this week:
Many thanks to Skinny Taste and Cooking Light for my meal inspirations this week!!
Crustless Zucchini Pie - I think I'm going to do grilled chicken with this for some protein!
Spaghetti with mushrooms, garlic & oil - Also throwing in some chicken with this and either broccoli or green beans for my veggie
Turkey Meatloaf - Also going to do a side of veggies (either the green beans or broccoli), possibly some quinoa or cous cous as well...
Fried Egg BLT Sandwiches - Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?? I think we'll saute some asparagus with this one
Fitness Goals for this week:
Running: Two 3 mile runs and one 4 mile run on Saturday; I'm not going to focus too much on pace, but try to keep it on the fast side (depending on how hot it is of course...)
Gym: 2 gym runs this week that do not involve running... I must start toning!!!
No excuses! I have to get excited about the long work week and I think this is how I will do it:)
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