Day 28: Today I Smile Because....

09/28

Day 28 Today I smile because... It has been a good past few days. The biggest news is my son Michael got his learner's permit. Though that should make me feel old and scared, the pure excitement he got when I let him drive home from the DMV was priceless. Now I have to say I am not generally a good teacher for driving as my older 3 kids can attest to. I don't usually make a good passenger even when my hubby drives. I feel defenseless because I have to relinquish total control to the driver. Now I have to admit, Michael,aka Meat, did a pretty good job. He needs to work on not riding the shoulder (a big pet peeve of mine) and he needs to work on curves and corners, but he did fairly well much to my surprise. 

Now he is my 4th child to get his driving permit. DMV has implemented something brand new for the teen drivers in NC. They (meaning mom & dad) have to complete a driving log. They have to log a minimum of 60 hours with I think 20 of those being night time driving hours. I'm all for extended driving practice, but remembering to write in that log every single time will be a challenge. That's considering it doesn't get lost in the next year.  

Now I am in favor of every parent with a student driver being able to get a sign for their car that tells all other drivers that there is a student driver on board. We ended up with a few impatient drivers behind us. One guy passed us and the 18 wheeler in front of us that my son remained like 5 car lengths behind.  

I have one child left to get their permit, and I am in no hurry. I wish I could hit a rewind button and make my kids little again. Time goes by too fast. I blinked and they grew up. :(  

I hope you all had something to make you smile.

God Bless,

Kimmie <3

Look at that great BIG ole' smile on his face....
(notice he has his hands at 10 & 2)

Day25: Today I Smile Because.....

09/25/12

Day 25 today I smile because..... Quite frankly this month is almost over and I can put my disasterous 30 day challenge behind me. At the beginning of the month I had great intentions of doing this challenge. Getting sick for a few days threw me off course, in all honesty though doing a blog entry a day proved to be much harder than I had anticipated.

In all sincerity, I want to succeed at blogging, I want to grow my audience, I want to get better at this. I really question if I am cut out for this, if I have what it takes to get better at this and have a successful blog.I have been at this for less than a year, I have no clue what I am doing, and I am not very computer saavy. I know, not very positive.

I am not giving up though. I am going to keep at this until I either succeed, or I fall flat on my face. I just haven't figured out at what point do I tell myself it is time to throw in the towel.

I am going to finish out this month with the "Today I smile because" challenge. I haven't decided what I am doing for next month. Though I will not be doing a daily challenge, I need to really think about what it is I am doing with my blog. So for now I will finish what I started and at the beginning of the month I can start anew. Who knows I may give myself a whole new makeover. Until then I will keep smiling and hope you all have something to smile about too.

God Bless,

Kimmie <3

Day23: Today I smile because...

09/23/12

Day 23: Today I smile because.... We had a great time at the Feis this weekend. Bridget did get a first in her Slip Jig, which is one of the 1st places she needs to move toward her preliminary champion. She did a great job all around. I am reallly tired today, and my back hurts quite a bit, but worth it to see my daughter perform.

I hope you are all having a great weekend.  Sorry to keep this so short but I have about 350+ emails I have to sort through because I haven't really been on my computer in about 4 or 5 days. Between not feeling well and going out of town I have fallen behind. 

I shall return tomorrow.

What made you smile today???

God Bless,

Kimmie<3

Day 21: Today I Smile Because.....

09/21/12

Day 21: Today I smile because.... I am feeling better. I have missed the last 2 days of my 30 day (everyday) challenge because I wasn't feeling well. I am disappointed in myself for not getting on and jotting something. Blogging everyday is hard enough when you feel well, but trying to muster energy when you don't is tough. So I just didn't.

Today I am taking my daughter Bridget and 2 other girls from her dance school to Raleigh,NC for a Feis (fesh) tomorrow. Bridget has been working really hard, so fingers crossed it pays off and she does well. 

Though I would love to chat, I have a million things I need to do before leaving. So say a little prayer for Bridget, and I will be sure to let you all know how she does.

Hoping you all have something to smile about today.

God Bless,

Kimmie <3

Day17: Today I Smile Because

09/17/12

Day 17: Today I smile because...... I'm not really sure if I smiled or not. Today was just a typical day. It was as if I went through the day on auto pilot. I believe we all get to a point because we are mostly creatures of habit that we move through our days with such routine that when the day comes to an end and we reflect back, we wonder where the time went. I got up this morning and I blinked and it was time for the kids to get ready for bed. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have a day like today rather than a day that seemed to drag on endlessly.

Even though it was a very routine and typical day, I am doing something a bit different than I have been normally doing, I am trying an experiment in "positivity". I am going to live in the positve and not focus so much on the negative things that happen. I am even starting a journal of positivity. I am keeping it as an art journal, which so far has been fun to do. I keep positive affirmations in the form art. I got the idea from Jenniebellie.blogspot.co.uk. I follow Jenniebellie's art blog. She decided to do a vision board. I then saw a documentary on Netflix called "The Secret" dually named for the best selling book "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. I didn't want to do a vision board though. So in keeping spirit with my new journey into the world of Art & Art Journaling, I decided I'd keep a book and call it my book of positivity.

I took an old book I bought at the re-store and I have altered it to be an art journal. This process was really a lot of fun. It took me a few days to get the book prepared for journaling in. To alter a book for this type of journaling I first had to remove about 2/3 of the pages. This is so when you begin the actual art work, it leaves room for the book to expand without putting undo pressure on the books spine. One of the most important thing in choosing a book is to make sure the book is sewn into the spine and not glued. This is because your pages will pull away from the spine and thus ruin your journal. I then took the remaining pages and glued them together by 2's, using a glue designed for book making, preferably an acid-free, or PVA glue. This strengthens the paper and allows me to use a lot of different types of wet mediums without tearing up the pages. (I saved the ones I tore out for use in future art projects)

I am 3 journal entries in, I really looked at the cover and ironically the book title of my new positivity journal is called "Wonderful Things Happen" It was once a childrens book of stories and poems. I have made my entries one of positive things in the belief that if I think in a way that is only positive, then only positive things will happen. 

I have also dedcided that I am tired of dwelling in all the stress of what has been my life the last few years. I can't change what has happened, I can't change, control or undo the issues that have put me on disability, I can't change or control the prices of gas or groceries, I can't change or control the loss of my income, and so on, and so on. I have decided however I can change my attitude about the circumstances of how I choose to emotionally handle all these things. So I am choosing to think, act and feel positive. 

Now I am not so unrealistic to think I am going to be like Mary Poppins, strolling through parks singing songs of happiness, but now when something stressful happens I will try to handle it with a more positive attitude. I will take some pics to share with you all. 

So what made you smile today??

God Bless,
Kimmie <3

Day 16: Today I Smile Because...

09/16/12

Today I smile because...... I got to do absolutely nothing. I didn't have to run a child to sports, go to the store, or do laundry or cook dinner, I did absolutely nothing. I stayed in my pajamas all day. I even slept in. Wellactually I was up at around 6:30 - 7:00 am, but I went back to bed about an hour after I woke up and then I slept until like 1pm. It was awesome. It has been weeks since I got to do nothing. I find it is very refreshing.

Well I guess I had one thing to do today, my blog post. I am determined to follow through and make sure I do at least 1 blog post a day for 30 days. Hard to believe this month is already half over. Doesn't seem like I have been doing my 30 day day challenge for 2 weeks now. 

I did have one good laugh today as well. About 30 minutes ago I was walking into the bathroom, and I have to pass my room to get there. well my hubby was asleep so I decided to shut the door so I could keep the dogs out, as I shut the door the large art easel must have been leaning on the door because it came crashing to the floor. My hubby almost came out of his skin. It startled him to the point he jumped so high he almost came off the bed. Good thing he has a strong heart. I found it extremely comical, him not so much. So not only did I get something to smile about, I had a really good laugh to boot.

What made you smile today???

God Bless,

Kimmie<3

In Loving Memory of a loved one

Leonard P. Hogan
My husbands uncle passed away last night.This is a great loss to our family.... Uncle Leonard was the jokester /prankster of our family.  He always made you feel welcome and a part of the family. 

His presence on this earth will not go unnoticed. It is truly a great loss for the family and the community alike.

Our prayers and thoughts are with his wife Darlene and his 6 children at a time like this.  Uncle Leonard may you sing and fly with the Angels. We all love you, and we will all miss you greatly.

With a heavy heart,
God Bless,
Kimmie <3