a Simple Confession

***edited to add - I'm sorry! I should have mentioned I didn't take those birdy pictures! *smiles*
I have a confession to make, I hope you don't lose all respect for me when I admit this but I'm not a huge fan of exercise. I guess I'm just your basic lazy person. I know all about the health benefits, etc but still I have never managed to establish a regular exercise routine. I have good intentions but rarely follow thru. Once again I'm trying to change that. A dear friend named Tracy recently bought a new piece of exercise equipment and challenged me to matching her in exercise time or atleast matching half of her time. Being a closet competitive person this was just what I needed to get my ever enlarging bee-hind in gear. My dear sweet Mr Darcy cleared out some room in our catch-all enclosed carport for my treadmill and I started using it Monday.

I managed 30+ minutes for three days in a row now and I'm so proud of myself. Despite the bone chilling cold of the uninsulated, unheated carport and seeing my breath I hung in there. Another confession, it wasn't so bad! I could do this regularly but whatever mechanism that's in my brain that stops me from doing it will have to be disconnected first *smiles*


This beauty is what I saw when I happened to glance out the back door while walking

And I saw one of these too along with three others that I can't identify. All were a blessing to me, sort of a little reward for my efforts enduring the cold and overcoming my laziness in order to love myself. That's how I'm looking at it, this exercise business, it's a manifestation of loving myself enough to do what will make me stronger and healthier. A Simple Abundance moment

Choose Your Word

I was reminded by a post of Linda's about choosing a word for the year. I've done this before and I really like how it seems to focus my endeavors when I could so easily be distracted.



What am I hoping for this year? What do I feel I need to work on? Where do I want to be in my journey? What word sums it all up?

My word for 2009 that I'd like to share with you is SIMPLIFY

It so happens I've used this word before a few years ago but I feel the need to use it again. Simplify to make simple or simpler: as a: to reduce to basic essentials b: to
diminish in scope or complexity : streamline c: to make more intelligible

I'm known as the organized one in real life, I've made maps of my attic, my spices are alphabetical, all my clothes hang on white hangers in rainbow order, light to dark, with subcategories of short to long sleeves, but still it's not enough! I have to tame this consumer diva inside me that wants more, more, more possessions and things, all that end up cluttering my home and life and leaving me dissatisfied with my blessings I've received. Enough! Time for me to Simplify so I can focus on more important things like spiritual growth, family, friends, creating.

Won't you join me in choosing your own word for the year to help you keep your focus on your goals? Please share your words with me! I'd love to hear them!

SA - Welcome to you!

Have you found your copy of Simple Abundance yet? No worries, here's the beauty of this type of book, each day of the year has a little something written so you can pick up and join in any time! I learned that it's better to skip to the end of the month and read the review first as it sort of outlines the gist of what you're reading that month but you truly can jump in on any day. I'm going to give you a very brief sort of over view in my own words what this book is about.




Basically this is a road map to living a gratitude based life, exploring who you are as a creative being, embracing your caregiver role as wife and mother thru loving your home and creating a warm, inviting environment where you're not bogged down in clutter. It's a road map to learning what's really important in our daily lives and finding your authenticity in your daily round, setting aside time and space to reflect upon our spiritual journey as women. While the author doesn't specifically mention a particular faith you can easily incorporate your own personal faith and beliefs with this. So if you're looking for a scripture specific day to day journey this won't be it but I personally find it goes along nicely with my Bible study.





I'm going to share with you the six Simple Abundance principles so you can get started even if you don't have the book. Those six principles are Gratitude, Simplicity, Order, Harmony, Beauty and Joy. And I found the first week's worth of reading online here: January, Part 1





What I'm going to do is share periodically where I am in my journey towards Simple Abundance and if you happen to blog something related to your Simple Abundance journey I hope you'll title your entry using Simple Abundance or SA so we will know it's a SA post. It's my wish we take this journey as it comes, letting it unfold naturally and incorporating the bits that are meaningful to us and not worrying about the bits that are not.

Welcome to you!

More thoughts on Simple Abundance

Look what I found! A workbook to go along with the Simple Abundance book! It's on Amazon but I think Barnes & Nobles has it too. I remember last time I was doing Simple Abundance that I wished for a bit more guidance in doing the various exercises so I think this is going to be a wonderful resource to have. Do you have your Simple Abundance book yet? Whatcha waiting for? I'm so looking forward to doing this with everyone because I'm hopeful I'll make it thru the entire year this time knowing I have others with me, sharing and supporting as we embark on this wonderful journey together *smiles* Last time I did it very sporadically and didn't even make it to summer *sigh* We can live simply, abundantly, creatively, and most importantly with gratitude for the many blessings we have. Sounds divine doesn't it? I'm so excited!

Bits of Randomness...

See the peeling color on that one ornament? I thought for sure Indy-kitten would manage to knock that particular one off the tree but sadly it's still intact! I didn't go tree decorating crazy this year with two kitties in the house, one still very much an active and overly curious kitten.

Whatcha think of my tree skirt? I whipped this baby up one evening... easy peasy. Next year I might even line it before using again *smiles* Remember Nester says "IDHTBPTBB"

I'm on the home stretch now... Work is gearing up for our inventory. We have an early date so the agony won't go on and on well into January as in previous years then it's freedom for me! Well maybe not freedom but certainly a less stressful work life which I'm fully intending to take advantage of. Am I the only one behind on around the house projects? There's the sideboard to paint... Remember my $8 for the pair shadeless lamps? I gotta paint those. There's quite a few sewing projects laying around. Oh yeah, some reading...

I purchased several copies of this book off ebay quite awhile ago and shared them with particular friends who I thought would benefit from the message. I certainly embraced it for awhile but sadly slide away from it. Time to start afresh, a new year and all. Won't you join me on a journey towards a life filled with gratitude and joy found in Simple Abundance? We can share our progress. Just an idea. Think about it. Let me know.