Yoga for Youngsters

So, in an effort to revive my blog, I’m planning to focus more on library programming, services and advocacy…so without further ado, here’s my first post…Yoga for Youngsters!

In early 2013 I came across a very brief article in a professional journal I was reading about resources for a yoga program in the library, and I was ready! I love yoga anyway – I’ve attended classes, done videos at home, etc. and it’s something that’s always resonated with me. When I thought about sharing yoga with the little ones at the library, I was excited. It was just what I needed to mix things up a little bit. I planned and delivered the first Yoga for Youngsters in March of 2013, and now offer the program on a monthly basis. It is well attended, and participants (parents and children alike) love it!

Here’s a little run down on what we do:

Program Name: Yoga for Youngsters
Intended Audience: Children Ages Birth to Five Years and their Parents or Caregivers – We host this program as a drop-in program and hand out passes for each person (child and adult) that is coming into the room. We can comfortably fit about 30 people with the yoga mats/towels.
Length of Program: 30 Minutes

Introduction: I first ask participants to show by a raise of hands how many have ever done yoga before. I take a minute to explain that in our yoga class (I co-lead it with another librarian and yoga enthusiast, Miss Catherine) we like to have fun. I tell them that I’ve been to yoga classes that are very serious before, but that we don’t get too serious here. I encourage parents to use yoga at home – that it’s a great thing to use for relaxing, redirection, etc. I let folks know that they can practice on a yoga mat, a towel, or straight on the floor. I tell them to have fun with it.

Tips: I steal most of my tips from the book Little Yoga by Rebecca Whitford. There’s a great section at the end of the book that gives really great information – some tips I always make sure to mention: Make sure your kiddos are breathing, we all have a tendency to hold our breath when we’re concentrating, but we shouldn’t; and don’t let the little, little ones (under 2 years) put their weight on their head.

Namaste: At this point, I tell everyone that we’re ready to get started! I tell the kids to imagine that their hands are covered in glue, then clap them together and let them get stuck. Then we bring our hands in front of our chest and practice saying “Namaste.” I break it down by syllable first, then we say it all together.

Book: We usually start with a book – I’ve used a few that I like, they’re listed at the end. This is a good way to do a variety of poses and talk the kids and parents through the motions.

Songs: From here we move into the songs. We usually do 4-5 songs, always starting with Dance for the Sun and ending with Namaste Song. Both are from Dance for the Sun by Kira Willey. She’s great! She has a nice voice, and her songs have great melodies. She has another CD that we use as well called Kings & Queens of the Forest. Both of her CDs have two sets of tracks, the first is the track with music and song, and the second set has the track with music and song, but she voices instructions over it. They are a fantastic resource, because, while I love yoga, I am not a yoga instructor. We can all just follow along with her directions.

Namaste: After we finish the Namaste Song I tell everyone to stay put and take a couple more deep breaths. Then I tell them to very, very slowly open their eyes and take a few more deep breaths, then I tell them when they’re ready to very, very slowly sit up. Then I repeat the hands stuck like glue/Namaste exercise from the beginning. It’s so much fun to see everyone so calm and relaxed at the end!

 A couple of my favorite songs from Kira Willey: The Shimmy, Dancing Mountain, The Sound I Found, Tap My Drum. But really, they’re all great!

Books that work well:
Little Yoga by Rebecca Whitman
You are a Lion, and Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo
Walk Like a Bear, Stand Like a Tree, Run Like the Wind by Carol Bassett (we just pick some poses from this one and share them)

I love, love, love doing this program. If you have any interest in it all, I encourage you to give it a try! You don’t have to be an expert – just share with joy what you love to do!

Namaste.

Blog Post #9 (of 30)

A Photo of the Last Item I Purchased

Caveat...The last things I have purchased are groceries, Christmas gifts, etc. So, I had taken a picture of a dress I purchased (in like October) to use for this post, but am just now getting to posting, but am still using this old purchase! :)

Sorry for the poor picture quality - the dress is super cute though (in my opinion!). :)

Hope to post again soon...so y'all don't think I've fallen off the face of the earth! :)

Blog Post #8 (of 30)

A Recipe

Shrimp with Mango & Basil (AKA - Yum!)

This was an easy post for me, hence the speed with which it has been posted! :) Let me start with a little story before I move into the recipe...

Jimmy and I have recently made some pretty big changes in our lives. With cuts to my hours/salary at work and Jimmy owning his own business, rather than getting a big salary from a firm, we've experienced a decrease in our income. I know most everyone is in the same boat with the state of our economy today. Luckily, Jimmy and I have been blessed with the ability to short sell our house and get out from under a financial burden that we could no longer carry. In doing so, we made the decision to move in with Jimmy's parents. They have a garage that's been converted into it's own little space, which is where we currently reside. It's been great to get away from some of the financial stresses, and focus on our debt repayment plan to get on top of things.

So, why the story? Well, since we've moved in I haven't really been cooking much. And I love to cook. I realized a week or so ago that cooking is something that makes me happy. I love to start with a variety of ingredients and turn them into something delicious that my friends and family can enjoy. I love the nurturing aspect of the cooking and social aspect of coming together for a meal. So, when I realized I'd been neglecting this thing that I love, I had a talk with my friend Tiffany (she's my go-to girlfriend). We made plans to get together this past Friday and make a meal (preceded of course by ice cream and shoe shopping).

After deciding to make a meal, I decided I wanted to try something new. I sent a couple of recipes to Tiffany for input and we decided on this yummy Shrimp with Mango and Basil. We decided to serve it over jasmine rice and accompany it with a yummy summer mango spritzer (mango sorbet with Asti Spumante). It was a delicious summertime meal that I am adding to my repertoire. I hope you'll add it to yours as well!

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Shrimp with Mango & Basil

1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large ripe, firm mango peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (see tip)

1 bunch scallions, green tops only, thinly sliced

1/4 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

Directions

1. Toss the shrimp with salt, cayenne (to taste), and turmeric in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes

2. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place the shrimp in a single layer and cook until the underside turns salmon pink, about one minute. Flip them over and cook for one minute more.

3. Add mango, scallion greens and basil. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp is just cooked and starts to barely curl, 1 - 2 minutes.

Tip - How to Cut a Mango:

1. Slice the top and bottom off the mango revealing the long slender seed inside.

2. Set the fruit upright on work surface and peel with a sharp knife.

3. With the seed perpendicular to you, slice the fruit from both sides of the fruit, yielding two large pieces.

4. Turn the seed parallel to you and slice the two smaller pieces from each side.

5. Cut the fruit into the desired size/shape.

Recipe taken from fitnessmagazine.com. (Recipe and nutrition information can be found at: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/recipecomdetail.jsp?recipeId=25108685)

The directions above yield four servings. I doubled the recipe when I made it - three of us ate Friday night (Tiffany, Jimmy and I), with plenty of leftovers. We also eyeballed most ingredients as I couldn't find any measuring spoons! It turned out wonderfully though!

Enjoy!

Blog Post #7 (of 30)

A Song to Match My Mood and Why...

(Cheater Post)

Okay - so I'm selecting a song, but it doesn't really match my mood, just gets stuck in my head all the time lately! The reason I'm cheating on this post is because dang it, I can't seem to think of a song that matches my mood! :)

So, the frequently stuck in my head song is....

All These Things That I've Done by The Killers

See, I just got a Kia Soul a couple months ago. And, the refrain on the song goes "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier." And I personalized my plates to say "IGTSOUL" - hence the always stuck in my head song! :)

Here's a picture of my Soul...

Every time I walk out to my car, I sing to myself "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier!" And, now I'm just glad to have Post #7 done so I can stop thinking about what song could possibly match my mood! :)

Blog Post #6 (of 30)

A Photo of an Animal I'd Love to Keep as a Pet

I'd love to have a cutie-pie little monkey! I know they don't really make good pets, but if I could have any kind of animal and it would really be a good pet, I think I would pick a monkey. How can you say no to those precious eyes?

Blog Post #5 (of 30)

A Photo of Myself Two Years Ago

August 2009

Okay- this one was tougher than I thought! I don't have many pictures of myself. This one is one I took when I was playing around with a new toy - my remote control for my camera. :) Guess I need to get more photos with me in them! :)

Blog Post #4 (of 30)

20 Of My Favorite Things

1. Pedicures
2. Sleeping In
3. The Sound of Rain Falling
4. My Wednesday Night Bible Study
5. Sunday Afternoons
6. A Good Book
7. Trying a New Recipe that Turns Out Delicious
8. Family Get-Togethers
9. Road Trips
10. Barbecues
11. Weddings (Especially My Own)
12. Fall
13. Venti Iced Nonfact White Chocolate Mocha
14. Taking Pictures
15. Hair Day (i.e. - The Day I Get My Hair Done)
16. Ventano's
17. Finding the Perfect Book for a Patron
18. Dinner with Friends
19. A Good Workout
20. Spending Time with Jimmy - It Doesn't Matter What We're Doing, So Long As We're Doing It Together! :)

Blog Post #3 (of 30)

My Favorite Photograph of My Best Friend

Caveat - This is not actually my FAVORITE photo - I'm not sure I have one. But my best friend is definitely Jimmy.

He is everything to me - he is the one person who knows the good, the bad and the ugly about me and loves me in spite of it!

I can tell him anything and he listens. He always tries to solve my problems (which is not always a good thing!).

He is the one friend where I feel I ALWAYS get as much back as I give.

He is an amazing man, and I am thankful to call him my best friend, my husband, my greatest love.

Blog Post #2 (of 30)

A Picture of Myself and a Description of How My Day Was

I put this post off for awhile because I really wanted a current picture of myself for it. This picture is really current - as in I took it about an hour ago (more on that to come in my description of my day).

I am off from work this week, so my days have been pretty atypical this week. This morning I woke up relatively early, had a cup of coffee while watching the morning news, and I waited for my sweet little nephew, Calvin, to come spend the morning with me. Ashley dropped him off at about 7:30am. His big sister Layla was going for an MRI (prayers appreciated) for some eye pain she's been having. That meant Auntie Marcie got to play babysitter. He is a real sweetheart and was great. Corey and Abbey came over this morning to hang out with Calvin too. They brought maple bars and Cherry Cokes - which are two of my favorites! :) We had a fun little morning. Kelly came to pick Calvin up around noon.

Next I ate some lunch (Tomato Basil Bisque and French Bread) and watched Monday and Tuesday's episodes of my soap opera - All My Children (one of my guilty pleasures). Then I set up my little studio to take some pictures! I love photography and spent a little time doing some self portraits this afternoon. I think I ended up with a couple of good ones, but the joy is in the set up. AJ got me some new lights for Christmas so it was fun to play with those.

After picture-taking time, I loaded the photos onto the computer, paid a couple of bills and then edited the pics. Now I'm posting my blog! Tonight Jimmy and I will be heading over to Central Christian Church for First Wednesday. :)

I hope everyone else is having a great day too! :)

30 Days of Blogging - The Beginning

Good Afternoon! So I'm taking this idea from my sister, and committing to the 30 Days of Blogging! Let me forewarn you - while this is an effort to post more often, I will admit up front that my 30 Days will not be a consecutive 30 days! I can't possibly blog everyday - and I don't want to set myself up for disappointment, so I promise to complete all 30 Days in a somewhat timely manner! :)

So, without further ado, we'll begin with Day 1 - List 15 Things About Yourself

1. I have a wonderful husband who I've been with for almost 13 years -wow! We dated for three years, were engaged for two and have been married for seven and a half years. We have a wonderful marriage - I'll admit it isn't always easy, but it is always worth it. Jimmy is my rock - he keeps me balanced.

2. I have an almost-five-pound chihuahua named Hannah (though we call her Hannah Banana more than anything else). We butt heads terribly, but I love her nonetheless.

3. I love to cook.

4. Me and five wonderful others (Mae, Joan, Shannon, Bryan, & Michelle) broke a Guinness World Record for longest continuous reading aloud by a team. We read for 100 hours 33 minutes - it was great!

5. I danced with the Nevada Ballet Theater in The Nutcracker when I was seven. I was a gingersnap!

6. My family is the most important thing to me. I am lucky to have the most wonderful of families - both my blood family and my in-laws. They are all so supportive and I love to call them mine!

7. I am a Christian - I accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour and I know without His sacrifice I would not be who I am/where I am today.

8. I really enjoy photography. After I complete my 30 Days I might start a 365 Photo Project here. :)

9. I love to eat out - I love trying new places and new foods - as well as returning back to the favorite restaurants with their tried and true dishes.

10. I love word puzzles - crosswords, word searches, Text Twist, etc.

11. I can pick a lock.

12. I'm the middle child - I think your role in your family does affect who you are - I am forever the peace-maker. :)

13. I easily become hooked on awful reality shows - knowing this about myself I try not to let myself watch even one episode - that's all it takes!

14. I hate crowds - they stress me out. And, the more people there are in any given place, the greater the chance some of them are just going to be rude.

15. I wish on stars and birthday candles.

So there you have it - 15 Things About Me. Stay tuned for more to come! :)

(This list was adapted from a FaceBook note about myself.)

Question

I saw this post on Twitter about a month ago and I favorited it - I keep looking at it and thinking about it - here's what it says:

Here is a good question to ponder: What is in your life today that is not in line with what you want tomorrow? - Dr. Henry Cloud

If I'm honest, it's a hard question to answer. So, I keep thinking about it, pondering it, but haven't gotten up the nerve to actually answer it yet. It is a call for action - and change is hard.

Perception of Riches

“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches.” — Rilke

I came across this quote yesterday as I was contemplating that I have nothing to write about on my blog – obviously I need to “poet-up” and call forth the riches in my life. There is plenty of beauty in day to day life that we chose to overlook, ignore even. When I open my eyes and mind to it, I can find plenty of things that deserve commenting on. For today:

*Sleeping in until 6:25am – It was actually delicious

*The dull ache of yesterday’s great workout (Jillian Michaels kicks my butt!) – Nothing makes you more self-aware than those post-workout muscle aches

*Fresh pineapple for breakfast – It’s always been one of my favorites, the juice dribbling down my arm while I’m deciding if that bite was more sweet or more tart

*Sharing said pineapple with Yogi the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

*Storytime with the babies – it was my last one for a couple of weeks – I love the carefree excitement that consumes the little ones!

*Being able to go home on my lunch break – How wonderful is it to be able to take a few minutes at home to really relax in the middle of the day (and eat a home-cooked meal – leftovers count!)?

*Giant rain drops – Even if for only a few minutes – the rain is so cleansing and invigorating!

*Helping high school students with research – What makes a successful college student? These kids are on their way – filled with so much promise and so much still lies ahead for them!

I feel blessed to have so much richness in my life – sometimes I just have to remind myself to take a moment to reflect on and enjoy it!

One thing I can’t fail to mention is the richness that comes from my family and friends. I could be dirt poor, but having the love and support of my family and friends is all I need. They’re the best!

What riches do you call forth in your daily life?

Our Story

So, today’s blog post (I know it’s been a long time) includes some guest writing from none other than the other namesake of this blog – The Lawyer! We purchased a book at the church bookstore last week called That Crazy Little Thing Called Love: The Soundtrack of Marriage, Sex and Faith by Jud Wilhite (our pastor). We began reading it together that evening – our plan is to read it together, chapter by chapter. Along the way it asks us to do little things that strengthen our bond. The first chapter talked about how you look back on your memories is an indicator to the health of your relationship. Both Jimmy and I have very fond memories of the way we began dating and the experiences we’ve had together. The challenge in this chapter was to share “our story” with someone. Well, most everyone we know knows our story, but we love to share it so Jimmy came up with the idea to do a blog post. We wrote our stories separately, and I’m combining them here. Jimmy’s text is in italics.

Jimmy and I basically grew up together – attending the same elementary school, junior high school, and high school – but never really talking to one another. I knew he was, and he knew who I was, but we were a year apart in school and didn’t hang out with the same crowds. We actually “met” in college. I was in a sorority, Delta Zeta, and Jimmy was in a fraternity, Sigma Alpha Mu. Delta Zetas hosted an annual philanthropic event called “Turtle Tug.” In this event, the various fraternities on campus competed against one another to raise money for our philanthropy. The Turtle Tug of my freshman year I ended up coaching the “Sammies” (as the Sigma Alpha Mus were called) with my sorority sister, Alyson.

I met Marcie in College. We were young students in the greek fraternity/sorority system with no idea that we would end up together – one because I thought Marcie out of my league and two because Marcie said she “would never date a SAMmy.” But, here we are, together and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I remember Marcie from High School. It’s not like I never saw her before college. In fact, we joke all the time with people about how we knew each other from elementary and high school, but never spoke. I saw Marcie with all her young boyfriends. I also saw her because we had classes together. But, it wasn’t until college that our lives actually crossed paths and we took the same road together.

Turtle-tug! Marcie’s sorority was throwing their yearly event, and our fledgling Fraternity was finally invited to a formal event with the greek system. We were totally infatuated with the DeeZee’s, but had no idea how to keep it together to be anything other than we were – a motley crew of mess ups and knuckleheads who had the very best of intentions. Marcie and Alyson were the two coaches assigned to our fraternity to coach us to success in the various games and activities our fraternity had to compete in. So, my first impressions to Marcie included horrible etiquette (or lack thereof) in fraternity meetings, fights amongst brothers, a “big nuts” dance which I mustered up the courage to perform with balloon breasts and miniskirt on, and regular hanging out at the Student Union between classes.

When I first met these guys I admit I was wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into. They were disorganized, foul-mouthed, and somewhat crazy! What I didn’t see off the bat was how extremely loyal they were. As we coached these guys and got to know them, we started hanging out with them in more social situations, and as time passed I started to gravitate towards Jimmy – he was funny, a good storyteller, and an all around likeable guy. I was actually dating someone else at the time, but I liked Jimmy – he was a good guy.

We did pretty well at the games, and Marcie for some reason continued to talk with us and hang out at the Union with us. We started talking more regularly at that time too – but mostly to discuss Marcie’s relationship with her current boyfriend at school – the future pro golfer. Days and days we would spend talking on the phone – the pretense was how to break up with the b/f, but really was an excuse just to chat about nothing really. After weeks of that, Marcie bought little CALI, the Calico Cat who was the precipice of getting me to go visit. I went to Marcie’s house to see her new kitten. In fact, my two fondest recollections that day included: (1) putting on my brand new jeans to go over there just to have the cat scratch them pretty good, and (2) the “quick” trip to Arby’s for a bite that ended up taking all evening while we sat in the booth with mostly eaten sandwiches and piles of paper napkins.

Within a couple of months the guy I had been dating and I broke up. I started calling Jimmy under the guise of not knowing what to do about this ex-boyfriend that wouldn’t leave me alone. He didn’t really know what to tell me, but it got us to talking outside of events we attended together. Finally, in July of 1998, I bought a kitten and invited him over to my house to see her (by the way, he’s allergic to cats). This was the start of us hanging out more and more. We started shooting pool together (with his fraternity brothers) and flirting over the pool table. Then we’d go out to eat together and really just started spending a lot of time together. We didn’t really admit to each other, ourselves, or anyone that we might be dating. One day we went out to eat at Olive Garden and the waitress wrote “His” and “Hers” on our to-go boxes. This started a conversation about the idea of being together.

That was the beginning of our relationship, even though I didn’t admit it. The two of us hung out and went on dates with groups. It was SAMmys at first, where we went to play pool, and everyone thought we were together. All the frequent eye contact and unspoken flirting, silly smiles and silly jokes. We played pool alone after that, and quite often too. I highly recommend shooting pool as the perfect date thing to do because of all the flirting you get to do. We would constantly talk about “kissing” while shooting pool. CONSTANTLY.

Those games of pool quickly led to hanging out, and movies, and dinners. We quickly started spending as much time as possible together. Summer vacation was perfect for that. We finally admitted we were “together” when the waitress at Olive Garden told us so by writing “his” and “hers” on to-go boxes. And from there, we finished school together, moved away from home together, and completed every future accomplishment from that point on together.

Our first kiss was a little awkward – well, not the kiss, but the lead up to it. We were sitting on the couch at my parent’s house watching Legends of the Fall one evening. It was one of those situations where we both knew the kiss was coming, but we weren’t sure how it was going to be. I remember thinking that Jimmy and I had such a good thing going – a great friendship where it was easy to be around one another and share our thoughts – and I didn’t want to screw it up. What if we kissed and felt nothing – that would ruin everything. Luckily when he finally mustered up the courage to lean in and kiss me, there were sparks!

That’s the story of how we met – “big nuts” dances, fluffy kittens, beef n cheddars, and kissing, lots and lots of kissing.

Two years later we moved to San Diego – where Jimmy attended law school. We got engaged July of 2001, and married October of 2003. The rest, as they say, is history! I love you, Jimmy. Thanks for being the best husband a woman could ask for!

Favorite Things

So, I wanted to share of my (recent) favorite things with you - it's wordle.net. You input text (I copy and pasted) and it creates a word cloud for you! I love it! Here's an example of what I'm talking about - I copy and pasted the text from my Waiting... post and here's what I got:

You can check mine out here. And create your own! Please note - when you publish yours, it will remain available for anyone to see, so if you don't want it online, don't publish it! :) It's lots of fun to play around with - make sure you try to randomize the word cloud too - it gives all different layouts, texts and colors. It's great fun! Be creative and enjoy!

Timely Poem

So this afternoon I am looking through a book of poetry by Shel Silverstein, Falling Up, for an upcoming school visit. Here's the poem that struck a chord with me...

Writer Waiting

Oh this shiny new computer -
There just isn't nothin' cuter.
It knows everything the world ever knew.
And with this great computer
I don't need no writin' tutor,
'Cause there ain't a single thing that it can't do.
It can sort and it can spell,
It can punctuate as well.
It can find and file and underline and type.
It can edit and select,
It can copy and correct,
So I'll have a whole book written by tonight
(Just as soon as it can think of what to write).

From Falling Up by Shel Silverstein, 1996.

Have a happy Tuesday! :)

Waiting...

Today I long to write - as I've been longing for weeks now. I come to my blog with so much to say, but no words to express my thoughts and feelings - or with an empty head and nothing to be expressed. So I read the blogs I follow and wait for inspiration, wait for words, wait for the stories to tell themselves. But so far inspiration eludes me, the words are just out of my grasp, and the stories remain untold. So, for now, I will continue to wait...

The Journey Ahead

As we wrap up the year - 2009 - I look back with sadness, delight, love and yearning on the year we had. Rather than recap it (there were some tough moments, some eye-opening moments, and some really critical moments that have advanced my life's momentum) I'd like to look forward to next year - 2010 - and what it might hold.

May 2010 be a year of living in the moment. I'd like to spend the year seeking out the enjoyment of the here and now - not looking too far into the future, nor lingering too far in the past, but really experiencing life as I live it. (Maybe 2010 will be the year of my tattoo?)

Let a focus of 2010 be on relationships. I love my husband, my family and my friends, but I find that in the hustle and bustle of the day to day activities in life I let some relationships fall through the cracks. I want to be the friend and family member that others know they can call on for help. I want to be the wife that gives her husband the best part of her day, not what's left of her day. I want to be a pillar of support in the relationships in my life.

Allow for good health in 2010. I think I've been blessed and healthy throughout my life. This year I'd like to get back into better shape, eat well, exercise, you know the "resolution" drill. But I want to do it with a focus on feeling good.

Opportunities in 2010 for personal development and fulfillment. Spiritually, I'd like to continue on the journey I began this year. I feel excited to have started attending church again, I'm reading my bible, and participating in a small group through church. I'd also like to continue to develop my personal/professional leadership and networking through the Leadership Henderson program that I am currently participating in. Finally, I would also like to read a little more and write a little more.

I am a big believer in making the most of a situation and being masters (or mistresses) over one's own fate. That being said - 2010 looks like it's going to shape up to be a fabulous year! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

I just want to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone!

I so love this time of year and am looking forward to all of the final preparations and family togetherness over the next few days. I have the day off tomorrow, so I will be picking up a final gift or two, and some extra fun stuff for wrapping. I also hope to get all of my wrapping finished up tomorrow because the days are getting busy!

Our line up for the next couple of days is pretty busy - but definitely lots of fun! Tomorrow evening Jimmy and I will be having dinner with our friends John and Christina. They're in town for Christmas, so we're really looking forward to seeing them. Wednesday evening we are attending Christmas services at Central Christian Church. We're excited to be taking my mom, and possibly my dad, along with us. Since we've been going to church regularly lately it makes Christmastime even more special. Then Thursday is Christmas Eve! We have dinner at my older sister Corey's house with all our family, then we head over to Jimmy's mom & dad's house to eat and open presents with them. Christmas Day we mosey over to my parent's house for breakfast and gifts - my mom told me they strategically stuck all of our presents in the back of their tree this year since we're always the last ones to show up! I'm sure we'll be spending some time at Jimmy's parent's house on Christmas too.

As all the hustle and bustle builds over these few days leading up to Christmas, I can't help but think of some of my favorite Christmas traditions from growing up. I remember driving around at night, looking at Christmas lights (I actually just did this weekend before last with my parents again!), doing our countdown calendars (and always putting the old maid on Mom's birthday), sneaking peeks at the presents - under the tree and hiding away under my mom & dad's bed too, and that feeling that I was never going to fall asleep on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning couldn't get here fast enough!

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

Thankful Thoughts #6

On this, the last day of November, I have one more Thankful Thoughts post that I'd like to share. I am so thankful for my health and the health of my family members. I am thankful that I can stretch and walk, and even run if I want to. That I can lift and jump, push and pull, and climb and bend. I'm also thankful for the sturdy arms of my husband that wrap around me and for the strength of his heart that supports me. I'm thankful that all my family is in good health - my grandma, my parents, sisters and nieces, inlaws and cousins. May good health be with you all!

Thankful Thoughts #5

In my job I find fulfillment, excitement and enjoyment. I am so thankful for my job - not just because I'm able to pay my bills, but because I love what I do. I think it's so hard to figure out what you want to be when you grow up when you haven't really experienced anything. I kind of fell into my job by happenstance and am so thankful that I did!

Sure there are things about my job that I don't love, but the things I do love outweigh the things I don't. One of my favorite things about my job has been doing the baby storytimes. I love being one of the first people that babies share books with. It is so wonderful to watch them grow up and continue coming to storytimes. I definitely have some favorites and it's been fun to watch them grow up. Here are a couple of my favorite stories/memories:

Christopher started coming to my very first storytime session. He was pretty little and continued coming to my storytimes until he turned 18 months and graduated to the toddler storytimes. I was filling in for the toddler storytimes one day and his mom told me, "We were just talking about Miss Marcie on our way here. Christopher told me he thinks that Miss Marcie probably drives a motorcycle!" How cute is that!

One of my other favorites is Mikey. He was a little baby when he started coming to my storytimes and has since outgrown them too. But during one of our storytime sessions (he was probably just over a year old) he came walking into the library with his mom (by the way his mom and big brother Jon-Jon are great too!) and his mom says, "There's Miss Marcie - we've been talking about you all morning!" So I greet them, and Mikey comes walking around my desk saying "Marcie." Wow! This little guy was probably only saying a few words at that time and he loved coming to the library - singing songs and sharing stories - so much that Marcie was one of his first words!

It is so great to see the way parents start sharing books with their babies based on the modeling behaviors that they see in storytimes. Making books fun is so important!

Finally my favorite, favorite, favorite little storytime attendees have been my nieces. :) They are fantastic anyway, but I love sharing what I do with them!

I don't think that I could possibly be as happy at any other job right now in my life. I love good books, and I love sharing them with others. From babies to grandparents - it's definitely a perk of my job!