A Beautiful Life...

Well I have a night to myself at home tonight (James is working at a 4th grade writing workshop at school) so thought I would take a little time to update the blog. Things have definitely been busy as always, but good, on our end. This weekend we had James' family in town and had a great time with them and they even introduced me to what it feels like to have real buttermilk and shortning in the house when they made us some good ole southern homemade biscuits and gravy Saturday morning (which we ate instead of going to weight watchers) and we also got some homemade oatmeal cookies that night. We also got a chance to take them out to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner which was a lot of fun. We definitely enjoyed having them here and are thankful for the help that James' Dad gave us around the house as well!

While we were getting ready for them to come we attempted to clean out the office and in one of the boxes that I went through I found an "old" card from my Mom. Now I have the word old in quotes because it was given to me last year just after my birthday but is dated May 24, 2008. Now you would have to know my mother to enjoy this fully but basically she bought me the card for my bday last year and forgot to give it to me so she decided to just give it to me when she found it and date it for 2008...lucky for her I found it! Anyways reading through it again made me remember how much I loved the card and what meaning it had for me so I thought I would share it on here for everyone to enjoy so here it is!

"How to make a beautiful life...

Reflections for a daughter on her birthday.

Love yourself.

MAKE PEACE with who you are

and where you are at this moment in time.

Listen to your hear.

If you can't hear what it's saying in this noisy world,

MAKE TIME for yourself.

Enjoy your own comany.

Let your mind wander among the stars.

Try.

Take chances

MAKE MISTAKES

Life can be messy and confusing at times,

but it's also full of surprises.

The next rock in your path might be a stepping-stone.

Be happy.

When you don't have what you want,

want what you have.

MAKE DO.

That's a well-kept secret of contentment.

There aren't any shortcuts to tomorrow

You have to MAKE YOUR OWN WAY.

To know where you're going is only part of it.

You need to know where you've been, too.

And if you ever get lost, don't worry.

The people who love you will find you.

COUNT ON IT.

Life isn't days and years.

It's what you do with time and with all the goodness and grace

that's inside you.

MAKE A BEAUTIFUL LIFE...

The kind of life you deserve."

I hope that my Mom realizes how lucky I truly feel that I am to have someone like her in my life and all of you that know her, know what a wonderful person she is and how much she meant each one of those words just for me (and all of her "other" daughters). After reading through this a few times I decided to post it on the wall in my bedroom so that I can read it often. I thought that it might just be able to help out a few friends in my life right now who are going through a rough time...just remember that those of us who love you are ALWAYS here for you!