Why I Started a Blog

Happy Monday!!!! Today is day 30 of the 30 day blog challenge. What??? Wow, these 30 days actually passed by pretty quick. Of course there’s nothing like having a pandemic to take your mind off of things. Actually I think it has been the other way around. Having this blog challenge helped me keep my mind off of scary thoughts and worries about things I can’t control.

The topic for the challenge today is “My Hopes For My Blog”. I thought it would be more interesting to tell you first why I started a blog.

For several years I had been thinking about starting a blog. This was back in the day when blogs were more popular than they are now. I liked the idea of sharing things and keeping an online diary of pictures and happenings.

I know that with Instagram stories, Vlogging, and YouTube, blogging seems to have taken a back seat. But I think that blogs still hold a very important part of people’s lives. I follow many blogs and I feel that I learn so much from them. I have made some wonderful friends and learned a lot of new things from these people. In many ways it has opened up a whole new world of discovery.

A little more than two years ago. I started my blog. I cringe at some of the very first posts but I guess that’s the way you learn things. It has been quite a learning experience and I have enjoyed it so much.

What are my hopes for my blog? I hope that it will continue to draw readers in, and that my readership will grow. I hope to meet more people from all over. I hope to learn more about blogging and sharing posts and photos etc. I hope my blog is something that you enjoy reading.

So there you have it the end of the 30 day blog challenge. If you missed any of the blog posts I hope you will go back and check them out. If you have read all or most of them I thank you for following along and I hope you continue to do so.

Please stay safe!!

Always remember,

Love your day your way!!!

Where Do You Want To Be In 5 Years?

Happy Sunday, I have been the laziest of lazies today. I think we all need a day like that sometimes. And at the time I am being my laziest I think, oh how delicious is this? And then a couple of hours go by with not getting anything done and tomorrow is Monday and I have to go back to work, blah, blah, blah. But you know, like I said sometimes lazy just feels too good to be anything else, ha ha.

I took this picture several years ago at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I love the Chihuly exhibits they are so beautiful. This was almost 5 years ago and it seems like yesterday!!!

So today my blog topic for day 15, of the 30 day blog challenge, is where I want to be in 5 years. Do you think long term like that after you get to a certain age? Do you know where you want to be in 5 years other than alive and healthy. Here is what I think for myself:

I hope to still be working at my job at the same capacity I am now. People, 5 years will fly by faster than a Romulan Warbird. Sorry my Trekkie came out in me. Now 10 years might be a different story but I will have to see about that after 5 years goes by. I am not saying I am not preparing for my future with a retirement plan and savings and such. I am just saying at what point will I want to dip into that. I have more than 12 years before I can draw full benefits from Social Security. If there still is Social Security at that time.

If something should happen to my job within 5 years or God forbid illness prevents me from working then I will regroup and look at it. So as far as a job goes in 5 years that is where I want to be. Now here are a few other things I hope to be doing in 5 years.

I would like to write a lot more than I do now. I would like to freelance and maybe even have a group of writers to work with me. I would like to publish a book or two or maybe more. I have a Children’s book in the works. I hope to have that published soon. I have a few ideas for other books. I would like to be in better shape, physically, be stronger. I would love to be able to make money creatively. I love to make lotion bars and bake and knit and do lots of things like that. I would like to take that to another level, whatever that may be. I would like to be able to volunteer more for a good cause. I visit my mother in law at the Assisted Living Center a few days a week and I see people who never have any visitors. They go weeks, months or forever without anyone coming to visit and talk to them and just spend some time with them. I would really like to make this something that I do on a regular basis. My husband and I want to travel to several countries that we haven’t visited. We also want to travel to parts of the United States that we haven’t been. I WANT TO HAVE FUN!!!! I love learning new things. I think the more you learn, at whatever age, your brain will have to stay active.

So that is a few things for me and gives you an idea about what I would like for myself. Now, how about you? Where would you like to be in 5 years? Anything different from what you are doing now? Nothing is too big or too small if that’s what you want.

Always remember,

Love your day your way!!!

5 Current Goals That I Have

I know that goals are important to have but I just hate them. I like to try and think of different words to use for goals, like challenge, opportunity, a new focal point, you get the idea. Every time I formulate a plan in my head, and it becomes a goal, for some reason it is doomed to failure. I think I probably put too much into it and when I haven’t achieved said goal in two or three days or seen the results I want to see then I give up.

Photos by dreamstime

While there are a lot of things I need to do in my life to help make my life better I don’t really want to think of them as goals. For instance I know:

I need to get more exercise. I am at an age where I am losing muscle mass by the second. I know how important it is to have more weight bearing exercise in my life.
I need to eat more vegetables I know that vegetables are great antioxidants and can ward off cancer and heart disease and bad things like that and are packed full of vitamins.
Better sleep is something I really need. I have terrible sleeping habits. I can tell such a huge difference when I don’t get good sleep.
Finish projects that I start. Stay focused.
Lose weight!! nuff said.

So with all of that said why can’t we set goals that are fun? I know what is good for me. I know that I need to get more exercise and lose weight etc etc. Most people do. We know what our bodies need. But having fun and living is just as important to our well being and our souls. One cannot exist without the other. So 5 things, remember I hate that G word, I need to do: (And these are just 5 of many)

Spend more time with family and friends
Get a manicure whenever I feel like it
Eat a salad and have a chocolate sundae for dessert
Start a million projects if it is something I want to do.
Enjoy Life to the fullest

Do you set a lot of goals? How does that work for you?

No matter what

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

What Are You Afraid Of?

What are you afraid of? I think that everyone fears certain things, like losing a loved one, health problems, war, loss of a job, the corona virus and yes I am afraid of all of those things as well.

But I think that something that I fear even more is not living. I don’t mean dying I mean not living while I am here on this earth.

What if you live your whole life without taking a chance and trying new things. I will have to admit I am the world’s worst about holding back and not doing things because I am not sure how they will turn out. I guess that is most people.

I love to have new experiences, travel, see new things and have adventures but I want the safety behind it too. And then there are some people who get their “living” from family and home and helping others and that is all they want and need. Can you have it all? How?

My daddy worked for more than 40 years in a local steel mill. Through his years he worked just about every job there. He never went on a vacation. Sure he took a week off here and there but he never went anywhere. We would go to the lake for a picnic and fishing or to the mountains but never overnight. His family meant everything to him and he felt like the best he could do for us was work and work hard. He worked hard every single day to provide for us. He had 7 kids and all he could think of I’m sure is providing for us. He never saw the ocean. He never flew in a plane. I think I remember in all my childhood he called in sick maybe once or twice from work. It was really something if he didn’t go to work. He retired when he was 65 and he loved it!!!! He worked in his garden and puttered around the house, and drove my mama crazy ha ha. But he loved being at home and he especially loved it whenever any of his kids or his grandkids came to hang out. He loved telling stories about his days at the foundry.

Sadly he passed away only a few years after retiring. I never felt like he had enough time to just enjoy life and all he could do without having to get up at 5:00 AM and go into that plant. Even if it was just working in his garden and his yard. The day before he died he told me that there was nothing in this world as important as his family. It doesn’t matter what you can buy or have, it all comes down to family. He was lying in his bed and I was sitting beside him. We both knew his time was near. He pointed into the kitchen where my mama was and he said ” we have been married for 52 years, Lisa always be good to people and love and take care of your family. There is nothing else that important”. He died the next day but I will never forget those words.

So with all that said I think I am afraid of not being the best person I can be, I am afraid of being lazy about certain things, I am afraid of not living every day to its fullest. I am afraid of not enjoying life while I can.

Oh!! One other thing I am deathly afraid of SPIDERS!!!!! I hate them!!!!!

What are you afraid of???

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!