Date Night

Well we just got back from our date. We have decided that Monday nights are our "date night" - a night to get out or stay in and enjoy each other for the entire night. No cell phones, etc. Just us.

We had a very pleasant evening out to dinner to Kelsey's and then down the river for a walk with Abby. I'm so glad we agreed she should come along. She was ticked pink to get a tour of Hendrix. And she seem to get along with everyone. Though Sarah and Flo may think of her different from now on.

It was such a gorgeous day - 30 degrees Celsius. And down by the water there was a great breeze! I can't believe its only April and we're getting weather like this! There were lots of people out enjoying it - walking, boating and some even swimming.

Abby had her first dip in the river today. It was a bit cold for her tastes but she had to try it - she is such a dare devil :)

We ended the date with a trip to Dairy Queen. It seemed everyone in Brockville had the same idea. Anyways a good "date night" for all three of us!

Finding Inspiration

Its been a long time since I scrapbooked.....and its really bothering me. I am on the most part a very creative person. It relaxes me to create something. I find it exciting to see something I create finished and fun to share with others. So why am I having such a hard time sitting down and creating something.

Reasons:
1. My work is draining me of my creative juices. When I get home I am tired and lack that energy to do anything other than sit and read or watch a movie.
2. My work space has changed. Since trying to sale the house I have rearranged my office. And now I lack the room to do anything. And feel like I have to keep it tidy.
3. Not knowing where to start. I have so many projects running through my brain its hard to pick a starting point. Even to come up with journaling is hard.
4. Fighting the need for perfection. I struggle with this in almost every part of my life right now.

So what do I do?

I have been finding so many things on the internet - blogs, articles, websites, and magazines and books - that make me want to scrapbook. Ali Edwards was just on Coco Daisy's website for an hour long chat. She has a great outlook on how to manage your life both every day stuff and the creative side. She is a mother of 2 and a wife of a very busy husband. Her job is creative. She is very easy going. She stresses that its important to keep things simple. When asked how she keeps it all together - family, marriage, work - she says its a daily thing keeping a positive attitude, not making things overly complicated and staying organized.

So as a new week approaches I am seeing that it's time to make a schedule that will work that will help me stay creative and stress-free (previous post).

My goals:
1. To create something this week - either using papers or digital - that is for me.
2. To come up with a schedule for daily tasks.
3. To continue to search out inspiration.

Here is to a new week!

Stress?

Over the past couple of days I have been dealing with a higher level of stress at work. Its been overwhelming - making me anxious, anger, frustrated, emotional, and many more unstable emotions. I hate that feeling of not being myself.

Through it all it was my faith that God is in control and that I have loving friends and an understanding husband to see me through those tough times.

I have been reading up on stress and how to deal with it properly. And I have found a few articles online that give advice:

1. Start your day off right. Eat a good breakfast, be organized and planned about getting out the door without stress and I believe including a quiet "devotional" time. For me this includes going to bed on time and making sure I have a consistent wake up time allowing for a non-rushed morning routine.

2. Understanding my work requirements. They suggest that if you are always guessing at whether or not you are doing your job correctly or if you are always being thrown new projects/tasks this will increase stress. If that's the case you should communicate with your supervisor. For me I think I would apply this to my work in that I need to know what tasks I need to accomplish and how to prioritize each.

3. Stay away from unneeded work stress. Such as gossip and hard to work with coworkers. I need to pay attention to how much I gossip and definitely need to learn how to avoid conflicts with fellow staff members. Since college I have learned that they best way possible to deal with hard to get along with people is to pray for them and the relationship between me and them.

4. Being and staying organized. I tend to think I am a very organized person - but I'm having difficulties with this both at work and at home. I need to come up with a method that works for both.

5. Be comfortable. Look at your work area - desk, chair, noise levels. Make sure that there is nothing that would irritate to make stress levels spike even more. I think when office times get stressful I need to turn to prayer and my iPod full of good calming music.

6. Forget multi-tasking. I use to think that multi-tasking was the best thing I ever did. I got so much more done and faster. But now as I see myself trying to do it at work its not working. Which goes back to planning out your day and staying organized. I need to review why I think I need to multi-task and how to focus on each task individually.

7. Exercise regularly. Studies show that exercising can lower your stress levels. And of course its just plain good for you. Can I work exercise into my work schedule and my home schedule - especially during peak times?

8. Keep perfectionism in check. Rather than setting my goals on being perfect or performing at the perfect standard I need to set accessible goals.

9. Use the ride home for work to relax and cool down after a hard day. Avoid stewing about the days stresses over and over. Pray about it and leave it there.

So that's what I have found so far - interesting tips on how to manage stress. Now the hard part - taking the advice and applying it daily.

2009 Reading List....so far

I started keeping a record of the books I read over the year last year. I was surprised that I had read over 30 in 2008, but only 2 of those were non-fiction. My goal was to read 4 non-fiction this year. For some reason I always had a hard time with non-fiction. I guess the majority of my reading was just to help me fall asleep before bed and relax me.

But this year I have really enjoyed a variety of books - both fiction and non. Now I just need to pick up my pace :)

Read in 2009 so far:
1) Wings of refuge by Lynn Austin (a great fiction author - love almost everything she has written)
2)Assassins by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins (#6 in the Left Behind Series)
3) Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin
4) On Every Side by Karen Kingsbury (she is a good "fluff" author - easy and quick to read)
5) The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank (really enjoying reading bio's)
6) Prisoners of Hope by Dayna Curry & Heather Mercer (amazing book that every should read - especially if you ever think about doing missions work overseas)
7) Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (hard to read story but something I felt I needed to know and understand better)
8) The friendships of Women by Dee Brestin



This book was just amazing. Best book that I have ever read for building women relations including mentoring. I would recommend this one to every women who is interested in strengthening her friendships or finding new ones. I have already starting using her suggestions - very encouraging. She uses examples from the bible like Ruth and Naomi,Mary and Elizabeth and David and Jonathan. Great examples of what it means to have true friendships.

She suggests:
1) Be alert to the friendships that God may put in our paths. This is a great reminder for me to always be open to those that I meet for the first time. That this could be that friend I have been asking God for.
2)Make sure you are more dependent on God then you are of any of your friends.
3)Use both, together, your woman's intuition and the Holy Spirit (by being immersed in the Scriptures and sensitive to His quiet voice) when deciding on things - when something seems "good to the Holy Spirit and to us" its good. Acts 15:28
4)Be a risk taker in terms of searching out new friends. Go outside of our comfort zones and being vulnerable. For me this includes starting conversations and making sure to ask good questions to someone I have just meant.
5)Show unfailing love - through all things make sure that I am showing a Christ like love. 1 Sam 20: 14
6)Sharing vulnerably - strip away pretenses with true friends. Be trustworthy with your confidences.
7)Remember Ruth's words to Naomi "Whatever you ask me to do, I'll do it"- be there for my friends whether its helping her move or being there for her through a trying time. And to also be careful of what I'm asking my friends to do for me and not expecting too much.
8)Make sure to share blessings or words of encouragement with friends. Luke 1:45
9)To be open to inter generational friendships - making sure to surround myself with older women as well as those that are in the same age range. I can greatly benefit from the knowledge these women can share with me.
10) Make note of parting scenes. God can use good byes for his glory. Endure the pain of those moments either at the airport or sitting with someone at their death bed to learn the value of expressing affection before such events happen.

I know for me this is a book I could probably pick up every year or so. Who couldn't benefit from strengthening friendships.