29 Gifts ~ Days 17, 18, & 19 ~ The Gift of Service

Sometimes gifts are bittersweet and this is how I feel about this one, well actually they are three. My daughter, who has been staying with us for a month after a break-up moved into a new apartment over the weekend. I had imagined something different, but there we were and she had made a decision I wasn't happy with. In fact, I was angry, hurt, and disappointed. There were a few ways I could have handled it and I chose to take the hurt, the anger, and the disappointment and turn it into a gift.

While she was at work I went to Office Max, purchased boxes, and then came home and began the processing of packing up her things. In just a little over a month, she had moved half of her apartment into my kitchen and my guest bedroom and bath and she hadn't stayed long enough to really even settle in, but long enough for there to be a lot of stuff :-). As I filled each box, I labeled the side and the top with the room where it would go, the contents, and whether it was fragile. I drew simple little pictures of her valentine box, something I knew would touch her. I placed them all near the front door so they would not have to be carried very far. (Moving can be exhausting :-) and even though I wasn't happy with her decision, and I wasn't going to support what I felt was a mistake, I could at least do this.

For Day 17's gift I packed up the contents of her kitchen (10 boxes) and on Day 18 I packed her bedroom and craft area (another 10 boxes) There were items I wasn't sure what to do with, so I just assembled several more boxes and put them on the bed. We have some relationship work to do, yes we do :-), but this gift was done with love and that is a step in the right direction.

Friday evening was date night so Rick and I were out and when we returned home she had left a note thanking us for allowing her to stay and for packing the boxes, expressing disappointment at the outcome, and confidence in her decision...as well as noting her new address.

This will be her new address card design

On Saturday, I was having a really hard time when she and her ex came to pack up the moving van. I could talk with her, but because of the tension that had been between us, I could not offer to help. Fortunately, my husband stepped in and asked her what the plan was. He cleared the wedge between us and I soon found myself offering my Day 19 gift, helping her move the boxes from the house into the van and into her car. Her dad was going to help her on the other end. When it was all done, she hugged me, told me thank you again, and that we would work on it. We both cried...and told each other "I love you."

Brandi and I during one of our adventures :-)

 Today I am grateful for:

1) A mother's unconditional love
2) An independent and fearless daughter
3) My supportive hubs :-)

29 Gifts ~ Day 16 Transforming Disappointment

Here we are on day 20 already of the 29 Gifts challenge and I am a bit behind in my posting so I will be doing a little catch up in the next couple of days. Working through a family challenge has been at the heart of activities during the past few days and I will be doing some sharing on that in coming posts. For now though, let's go back a couple of years :-) and my Day 16 gift where I was able to transform a personal disappointment into a gift for many others.

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Two years ago I was approached by members of author and spiritual teacher Deborah King's team to join a select group of coaches in teaching her method. I am always open to new ideas so I agreed to a meeting. However, being new in the coaching business at the time, I was not familiar with King's work so I went out and purchased her book and read it that same day. Much of what she had to offer I had read over and over in many other books that had resonated with me and I believed they would with many other women as well.  However, Ms. King's inclination toward using celebrity lives as examples does not work for me. I prefer a quiet and more intimate approach in my teaching. However, I did not realize that until I had bought into the program and purchased twenty-four of her books.

Over the next two years, I came to know myself more as a facilitator of personal growth and healing and I came to know that there are many paths to that destination and that we must choose that which works best for us as unique individuals. I've been holding onto these books because I realize they will have much healing value for many people, I just wasn't sure how to go about releasing them into the right hands. The 29 Gifts challenge inspired me to look for the right place and I did not have to look far.

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts is where I received my coaching and hypnotherapy training and I will be forever grateful to the many wonderful teachers who gently guided me. KC Miller, founder of the Institute, author of Toe Reading: Are You Walking Your Destined Path? and amazing spiritual coach is just the right person. I emailed her and asked her if she would be interested in a donation of Deborah King's books, Truth Heals and she graciously accepted. This is one of those gifts that I am blessed to plant a seed and another will be blessed to watch it bloom. Knowing that is also a gift. Disappointment in investing in twenty four books that I was not able to use in my business is transformed into the amazing gift of being able to give back.

Today I am grateful for:

1) Recognizing that I can transform disappointment into something good
2) A delicious Berry Good Protein Smoothie for breakfast
3) Freshly tilled front flower beds that will grow beautiful spring blossoms

29 Gifts ~ Days 14 and 15 Humor and Prayer

Day 14 ~ Yesterday I went to Target to pick up a few things. It was a rough day as we are going through some family challenges at the moment and I was attempting to cope with the reality that change must happen even at the risk of consequences I haven't been willing to face. When I arrived at the check out and saw the helpful cashier, I just thought geez, don't go and spread your lack of joy so, I as I took each item out of my basket and placed it on the belt, I said "Something to drink, something to wash my hands with, something for the dogs", and so on...and we both giggled as we realized that there was something for everyone there. She was smiling when I walked away with my purchase...and I felt contented that my gift of humor had a part in making her job fun this day. I have a sneaky suspicion that she has fun anyway, but still, it was nice to be a part of it.

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Day 15 ~ This is really hard to call a gift simply because I would do it regardless of whether I was participating in a challenge or not. My good friend, Candace, is facing some challenges as a caregiver for her mother and now her 27 year old daughter. Her mom is in the hospital having just had surgery over the weekend locally, and her daughter has surgery, out of state today. Candace is an only child and was being torn between caring for her mother and caring for her daughter. I have held each of them up in prayer today, praying for quick and easy recoveries, for peace, comfort, calmness and courage for each of them. For help to be available as they need it and for them to each know the comfort of a kind and loving Creator. I have so often heard the phrase, "All I can do is pray," and I am always stunned at the little weight such a powerful action is given as I truly believe that the most powerful position on earth in On Your Knees in Prayer.

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Today I am grateful for:

1) Aunt Judy (for lifting my spirits)
2) Delicious leftovers for lunch (yes, I love leftovers :-)
3) My Mom (for stopping by and bringing the puppies new toys....It was so sweet and they love them)

May we all be blessed this evening :-) Janet

Getting Things Done ~ Conscious Awareness and Just Do It!

Do you have a bucket list? Do you have things on it that you intended to do in a certain time frame? Do life circumstances keep you occupied in such a way that it sometimes seems you may never accomplish the activities on your list?

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I was feeling that way recently. Blindsided by the number of items still left un-done on my 50@50 list I decided it was time to reevaluate my list and to analyze why more of it hadn't been accomplished. And my first thought was to let go. What I mean, is to reevaluate each item on the list and decide whether it was still important to me. Was, for example, completing a meaningful piece of art still something I wanted to do? After contemplating the value of each item, I decided that each item was still important and that I was not willing to take anything off of the list. Okay. So now what?

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The next thing I did, was to decide if my time frame is realistic...and this is where I made the first change. I decided that it is not important that I accomplish all of these items in one year. In fact, I really don't care if it takes me five years. What is important, is that I make steady progress toward completing every item.

Just after "training" :-)

About half way through the tour ~ Ashley made us do this! :-)

So, I decided to make a conscious effort to put some of the items on my calendar, or to otherwise make space for them in my life. For example, Rick and I have decided to get out of our post-grad rut. You can read about it here. Saturday, I made reservations to take the Desert Ridge Marriot Segway Tour! DONE! It was so much fun and was everything I had hoped it would be. Now I can confidently mark it off my list. Incorporating the things on my list into our week-end fun and annual vacations will ensure that activities like learning to kayak, taking the light rail, and swimming with the dolphins get done. Once a week I will be more aware of my menus and I can consciously try out a new fish recipe and I can do one meatless meal per week and try out a new vegetarian dish. I can pay attention to techniques that work well and to mistakes I make, and I can learn from them. Before I know it, I'm sure I'll be pretty good at both :-)

What is on your bucket list? What strategies will you use to accomplish the things that are important to you?

29 Gifts ~ Days 12 & 13 Entertaining Him

Day 12 ~ This gift also goes out to my husband. We were pretty stuck in a rut after graduation and his work is pretty intense, yet he is always there for me. When my God-daughter's husband was killed in Iraq, he supported my flying to Austin to help her. When my other niece was in crisis, he was there to say..."you need to go." The list just goes on and he never complains or asks for anything. And so, on Thursday evening, he made the comment that he would like to see a couple of shows that are coming to our local performing arts center in April. I decided it was the perfect time to surprise him. So I bought tickets to both events and surprised him.

Hotel California

Spencer's Theatre of Illusion

 Day 13 ~Gardening here in what we affectionately call the Salt River Valley is different than most places in the country. Low rain levels, clay soil, searing summer heat and alkaline soil bring a few challenges to even the most experienced gardener. Years ago I took a Master Gardener class with the University of Arizona's Maricopa Country Extention Center. I have loved that manual and it has been so useful in helping neighbors, family members, friends, friends of friends and even our own lawn guy with different aspects of gardening. What does this have to do with my gift. Recently a sweet client shared her love of gardening with me. She has inspiration of starting a personal gardening business where she helps people design and install home gardens. I know the manuals will be as useful to her as they have been to me, so I am passing them along to her. 

I just know she will enjoy this as much as I have and it will answer so many questions she has about gardening in our interesting conditions. 

Today I am grateful for:

1) Our fun Segway Tour today

2) Quiet time to finish reading 365 Thank Yous

3) My Bailey's and Coffee with Homemade Whipped Cream (It's the small things :-)

29 Gifts ~ Days 10 & 11 Acknowledging Mom

Day 10 ~ My parents are both retired, well dad is semi-retired so they they are pretty used to each other's company. Dad is out of town this month, and while Mom keeps herself pretty busy during the day, I'm sure she's finding the evenings a little unnerving, so I stopped by her house and dropped off the book: The Shack by William Paul Young. It's a nice read with a great message and I think she'll enjoy reading it.

 Day 11 ~ Mom is on my mind and I have been noticing how much of her time she spends taking care of my 96 year old grandmother's needs. Nana lives alone, but she hasn't driven in decades and has been having some health challenges of late. The thing that really makes this special, is that admittedly, care-giving is not in Mom's gifting. She claims not to have the patience :-). And yet, at the drop of a hat, mom leaps into action and does whatever needs to be done. Doctor's visits, grocery shopping, hair-dying, hair-cutting appointments, lunches or shopping excursions, ER visits, house cleaning, yard tending, Christmas decorating, hearing aid battery changing take up much of her week. The list goes on, because like all of us, Nana has needs, but unlike most of us, she needs some help getting things done.

When I posted on my other blog that Rick and I were reviving date night and were going to see Country Strong, Mom asked me how it was and said she would like to go. She and my Aunt Judy, who also works with mom taking care of Nana are going to see it together. So, today I dropped off $50.00 in Theatre Gift Cards and a $10 Starbuck's Gift Card so they can treat themselves. I don't think Mom knows it's there because I just quietly left them on the counter....:-) I hope she doesn't accidentally throw them away :-) She got tendencies :-)

Mom...Enjoy! :-) Love you!

Today, I am grateful for:

1) A beautiful warm and sunny day :-)
2) Home cooked dinner 4 nights in a row! It makes the next one really special :-)
3) Date night revived! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend! ~Blessings, Janet

50@50 ~ Number 8 ~ Everyday Extraordinary: Capturing God Moments

These two photos are numbers 9 and 10 of my 50@50 project in my quest for the best of the best in representing those God Moments that take my breath away. This first one is the view I see as I turn the corner off the main street that leads into our little subdivision. People visit here from the East and always comment on how brown it is here. Yes, it certainly can be seen that way, especially in light of the lush green that blankets most of the East. However, I have learned to really look, and I mean really look to see the marvelous architecture of our desert plants and trees. Every time I turn that corner, I am reminded how great God is and how gracious to create such amazing beauty for us to enjoy. Aren't those tree trunks amazing? And notice how the long pink flower spikes are leaning out to sun themselves.

My neighborhood

My heart always seems to skip a beat when we are up in the mountains and approach the elevation where the Aspens make their home. Aspen trees have long been my favorite sort of mysterious tree. I'm not sure why I find it so magical; perhaps it's the quaking leaves, or the fact that it is the largest living single organism in the country with it's roots spreading throughout Colorado nurturing new seedlings that will grow and thrive. I captured this shot on our vacation in the Rocky Mountains this summer. I had long appreciated the work of photographers who shot photos up through the trees and only lamented that I would never get the opportunity. Yet here it is, and I love it, as it transports me right back to that moment when I felt new as one of the seedlings being nurtured and protected by these two grand trees.

Capturing a dream

In keeping with our determination to stay out of the rut, the hubs and I are off on a Segway Tour of Desert Ridge out in North Scottsdale this weekend. I'm excited about the opportunity to capture some fun shots. They probably won't make it into the coffee table book, but I will share the fun here next week. Have a fun-filled weekend. ~ Blessings, Janet