the christmas jar

Okay.  I'm trying to make it to 100.  On my December 31st post, I might have 40 pictures to add.  haha.

11.  We didn't put up a tree this year.  We DO, however, have our festive "Christmas Jar".  Sparkly white mini-lights along with mini glass ball ornaments in a vase make a beautiful Christmas tree alternative.  It definitely puts a smile on my face just like that glass of Oliver Red Wine.  ;)

Weekend JOYs

 7.  There are so many favorites in this photo.  When they all come together, it is PURE JOY!!!!!!

 8.  I have this fascination with barns.  I LOVE them!!!  From what I hear, living on a farm is really hard work, but when I see a barn it puts me at ease.  It makes me feel like I'm home ~ I don't understand it because I've never lived on a farm or know much about farming.  It just makes me feel like I can run free.....that brings me JOY. 

9.  There is no picture for this one, but something that also brings JOY is re-connecting with old friends.  Mike and I were out and about this evening and we ran into an old friend.  It was so great talking, reminiscing, and catching up.  I hope we can continue to rekindle our friendship in 2011.

10.  Another JOYous moment may seem ridiculous to you, but I think it's fun.  You know when you're putting away the dreaded laundry?  Make it fun!  I love it when I'm sitting on our bed, matching up socks, rolling/folding them up, and acting like I'm a basketball star!!  I aim the rolled up sock balls to the open sock drawer.  When I make a "basket", I enthusiastically say "SCORE!!!!!"  It definitely makes putting those socks away more fun! 

I hope you're finding your JOY this weekend!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoooo

Janet! 

Friday JOYS.

Did you check out Sarah Markley's challenge yet?  It's not too late!!!!!  The green ~100 joys~ box on the right side of this page will take you right to the challenge. 

 

 

3.  Today I wore my Brave Girl bracelet.  This has unexpectedly become one of my favorite pieces of jewelry.  I never thought I was a 'chunky jewelry' kind of girl..........until I wore this bracelet for the very first time!!!!!!  The beautiful soul behind this bracelet is my friend Maria over at Chickadee Bead Art.  She is so talented and ALL of her creations bring JOY to my heart and a smile to my face.

 4.  Before Brave Girl Camp, we were all asked to send in a photo of our feet.  Yes, a photo of our feet.....we were all curious too.....wondering what would be done with these photos.  This lovely little pendant (with the photo of our feet) was hanging from our individual Brave Girl tote bags.  The other side has our name on it.  Whenever I use my tote bag and see the pendant, I feel JOY.  Seriously.  She did it anyway.....faced that difficult situation, enjoyed that wonderful day, got through the tough day, loved the incredible experiences, survived the difficult ones, cherished happy moments and made it through the sad ones.  She did it anyway.

5.  Hey, have you ever heard of Brave Girls Club???  haha.  The community of women from BGC are uniquely amazing!!!!  If you haven't visited yet, check out ALL of the great stuff that's going on over there!  I promise it will bring happiness and lots of JOY to your life!  Oh, you should also check out the Soul Restoration 6-week online course that is going on over there too!!!!!  It's going to be INCREDIBLE.  

 6.  My day today wasn't exciting.  Normally I'm in a mood to conquer the world.  Today - not so much.  Just kind of blah.  Nothing was wrong, I was just having one of those days.  On my list of things to pick up at Target was a bag of M&M's.  I wasn't planning on picking up the big (resealable) bag, but when it was cheaper than 2 small bags........   So, this evening we opened up the bag.  When Mike handed it back to me, I sat it down on the (edge of) table and this is what happened.  Jaw-dropped, I looked at him and said, "look what you did!  (snickering) uhhhhh.......you didn't close the bag??!!!!"  His eyes were wide eyed and said, "I didn't drop it, you did." "I may have dropped it, but youuuuuuuu didn't seal it back!" We both just started laughing so hard!!!!!!!  As we were picking up the JOYous mess, I had to get my camera to capture this hilarious moment!!!!!  Believe it or not, this little incident made my day.....it was SO worth it!  (that's mike in the background picking up those little pieces of chocolate)  We picked them up off the floor and put them on the table.  Mike said, "what are you going to do with those?"  I just looked at him and smiled. 
......if any of you come over to our house.....don't worry.....we blew all the carpet fibers off with canned air......[laughing SO LOUD]

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Find JOY!

100 joys.

If you haven't heard about Sarah Markley, you really should check out her blog!!!!  She is SUPER TALENTED and honest and inspirational and beautiful and enlightening and pretty amazing!  I have been following her blog  for quite some time.  Recently, I have been limiting my time online so I can focus on some personal growth, so  my younger sister actually told me about this!!!  Check out the details for yourself by clicking on the box below.

Today, I have found joy in a couple of simple, simple things.

1. Yes, heat.  Last winter about this time we had NO heat.  This winter, we are finding COMPLETE JOY in relaxing in our home without wearing layers and layers and layers of clothes and blankets!!!!  It is such a true blessing and HUMONGOUS JOY to have heat in our home.

 2.  Listening to the sounds of music in our home.  My husband is an excellent musician and I find JOY in listening to him play his acoustic guitar - it's so soothing and relaxing.  Now that the holidays are here, he's playing Christmas music and that makes my heart especially happy.

That's all I have been able to photograph this evening.  I hope you will find inspiration in the 100Joys project, and will join in the fun!!!!  It will teach us to savor every moment this holiday season, to pay attention to the simple things, to be present and enjoy each day, and open our eyes to what is important.

Joy to you all!!!!!
Janet! :)

freedom is calling.

about month or so ago i was on my way home from work on a 1/2 day friday.
i enjoy my drives home because they're usually stress free, peaceful, and full of beauty.
the scenic route is a road worth taking.
try it sometime.

the scenic route is worth taking because it's relaxing.
it gives me time to think.
it also gives me time to listen to music.
music is pretty much my favorite part about the drive home.
it awakens so much in my soul.

on my way home on this particular day, i was listening to Isa & Nina.
the CD i mentioned yesterday is currently my favorite.
song #3, freedom reigns, was playing.
{the word freedom is in my spirit SO STRONG these days}

 part of the song powerfully says -
♫so let the shackles fall
and let the bondage go
let liberty prevail
BRING YOUR FREEDOM, GOD.
freedom reigns in this place
showers of mercy and grace
falling on every face
there is freedom.

...all you have to do is say yes......
LET victory prevail.
HE'S. YOUR. FREEDOM. ♪ ♪

while that song was playing,
i felt something i haven't felt in a REALLY long time.
it was such a gentle, calming, peaceful, sweet, intimate moment. 
i heard the following words,  "seek my face. seek my face. seek my face!!!"

all of that brings me to this point.
i'm speaking of personal experience.
in recent days and weeks and months and years,
i have spent so much time on things that do not matter.
so much time has been spent being useless.

it breaks my heart when i think about how much time i have wasted.
time that has been wasted on -
watching tv
surfing the internet
being glued to facebook
running "errands" that weren't even important
sleeping
being consumed by things on my to-do list
but, being too overwhelmed by things on my to-do list to do anything about it.

i spoke yesterday about being free.
today i'm going to let you know how i'm going to do that.
i'm going to get serious about spending time with God.
the creator of the universe and everything in it.
i'm going to get to know him again.

it means i'm going to have to take a break from the things i've wasted so much time on.
this is a HUMONGOUS challenge for me.

i feel like this is the RIGHT thing for me to do right now.
at this time.
i'm setting some personal rules and goals for myself.
it's going to be SO GREAT for so many different reasons!!!!

if you want to get in touch with me, email or text me.
if you don't have those 2 things, let me know.  :)

.....FREEDOM is calling......

(who knows.....i might be blogging more than before with this challenge....)

HUMONGOUS LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JANET!  :)

Free

my heart is overwhelmed with goodness and gratefulness and thankfulness.
words can't describe what i've been feeling inside.
i've had the opportunity to be in the company of some amazing, AMAZING people recently.
being in the presence of these amazing souls has been a humbling experience for me.

one particular experience was with a small group of friends.
one of those people i had just met that day.
we started talking about one thing, which led to another, which led to conversations of God.
it was very intimate and eye opening and personal.

during our time together, the "new person", had some specific words.
i'll just call them 'words of wisdom'.
the words we heard were words of freedom in SO MANY ways!!!
after the words were spoken, we listened to a song while we journaled.
after the song was over, we were given the opportunity to share what we journaled about.

i'm not one for easily sharing my heart in front of a group of people.
the only reason for this is because i usually start crying.
if it's something 'deep' and personal, i prefer to cry while i WRITE.
this particular day, i shared my heart....through a few tears.
i was stronger than i thought i was that day.

i read a few thoughts i had written down and then i read
the lyrics to this song we listened to (the first time i've ever heard this song).
it speaks to me in a million ways every time i hear it.
if there was a song that describes my heart,
THIS. IS. THE. SONG.

Free by Isa Couvertier

i'm so tired of living a lie
of picking up the pieces
the pieces of my life
of my life, of my life

im finding out
that i'm the one
who thinks i've got it
figured out
i'm finding out
that i'm running fast
and going nowhere
i'm going nowhere

and i played the fool
i played the mystery
at knowing who i am
at knowing who i am

i played the fool
i played the mystery
at knowing who i am
at knowing who i am

i want to be free

i'm finding out that i'm the one
who thinks i've got it
figured out
i'm finding out
that i'm running fast
and going nowhere
i'm going nowhere.

and i played the fool
i played the mystery
at knowing who i am
at knowing who i am
i played the fool
i played the mystery
at knowing who i am
at knowing who i am

i wanna be FREE
i wanna be ME
i wanna be ALL
ALL THAT I'M MEANT TO BE
i wanna be FREE
i wanna be ME
i wanna be ALL
ALL THAT I'M MEANT TO BE

i wanna RUN
i wanna FLY
to be the one that REACHES HIGH
i wanna RUN
i wanna FLY
to be the one that REACHES HIGH

i wanna be free...

help me be free
help me be me
help me be all that i'm meant to be.

*If you want to download it, you can find it at Amazon.
the song is from - Isa & Nina : Live at First Steps to Success (song #2)

i hope that you'll walk in freedom this week.
BE ALL that you're meant to be!!!!!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXOOoooooooo

my brave girl journey. part TWO.

i've tried and tried and tried and tried and tried.
the words aren't flowing.
part of my plan for this post was to go into more details about brave girls.
the words aren't coming.
i've come to the conclusion that you really can't put brave girl camp into words.
it's more of an experience.
we can share and share and share about it, but until you experience it, you can't understand it.
this is the ONLY thing i can come up with.
Brave Girl Camp:  The Experience.   :)

i DO want to share my favorite project from BGC.
okay, okay, so it's the ONLY project that i completed. {sue me.} 
it's my art journal.
it is so meaningful.
the best part about it is that i can write in it, create in it, doodle in it, paint in it, journal in it.
whatever i want to do in it, i can do.

i was asked this question - for you, what does it mean to be brave?
my response was, "for me, being brave means being free!!"
being free from all of the baggage that we have carried around with us our entire lives.
having the freedom to LIVE in the moment.
being free from insecurities that plague us as women.
having the freedom to EMBRACE our individual uniqueness and gorgeousness.
being free from junk that has happened in the past.
having the freedom to WALK in newness. 
being free from those naughty little voices that breathe lies to us.
having the freedom to HEAR truth! 
all of that baggage - get rid of it!!!!
say goodbye to it!!!
be free from it!! 
DON'T pick up that bag again.
  
BE BRAVE.
take it to the nasty, smelly dump and leave it there!!!!

YOU. CAN. DO. IT.

BEING BRAVE means BEING FREE.