Reflections…

This is how I spent ringing in the new year…..

Yes....the empty chair is mine!! Temps in the 70's and lots of relaxing
with some shopping, good seafood, and fireworks over the ocean!!

The warm beaches of Panama City in sunny Florida were a welcome treat as the year lingered for the last time. As one door closes new ones will open….and I look forward with anticipation..........

2011 came to a close like the slamming of a door.  It started out good….really escalated to being on the top of the world…. and then came crashing down all at once.  Life is good when we are constantly walking on the top of the mountain….however; God wants us to rely on Him in every moment.  Those moments when we are struggling deep in the valley of darkness, we are not alone.  I walked in this deep valley from August 30 until the end of the year.  I honestly do not know how people can pick themselves up and move on without the unselfish help and love of our Heavenly Father.  

He has now shut that door and I am glad to put it all behind me…not forgetting and not without learning, but moving ahead and excited about what He has in store for our family in 2012.  I have missed blogging and so appreciate those of you who “checked in” on me throughout this time.  I know without any doubt that things could have been worse and others experienced far greater tragedies than we did; so I must remember how truly blessed we are and to take this valley journey and see it as a bridge between the mountains.  While crossing this swinging dark path, I learned that there are not always answers to our questions…so we have to rely on FAITH and TRUST.  Sometimes that is easier said than done….but the sun will again rise over the hills and a new day is always there. That new door will open wide and welcome us in…..

I have busied myself with crafting and painting. Door hangers (speaking of doors)  seem to be all the craze at the moment …so I tried my hand at it, first making a couple for Holly….and then boom….everyone wanted some!! I’m not complaining, mind you, it’s good money for a hobby I love!  Here are a few I’ve done:

Aubie from Auburn University

This one is reversible!!

Not a door hanger...but still some of my work!
Gooble Gooble!!

These are all designed, cut, sanded, primed, painted,
sealed, and ready to hang.... all by me!!
Yes I use power tools....don't mess with me!! :)

So…. my reflections on the past are for making me stronger, they are for putting a few things into a new perspective, and for making me grow in the Lord and trust Him more each new day. When I look in the mirror this year and see that reflection I hope I will be smiling most of the time....and with God's help I will.

As many bloggers have done in the past by picking a "word for the year"…so shall I this year too.  My word for last year was "HOPE" and I carried it throughout each day until the year ended; but it did not end without "hope"; it was still always there….  This year my word will be

 ….too find "joy" again in everyday experiences and regain some "joy" that was lost somewhere toward the end.  So I’m looking forward to the new year with hope and joy.  I hope you too will have a joyous new year with lots to make you happy!

Bright balloons and Play dates

My word for 2011 is simple…HOPE

Yes that old familiar, simple word and the one thing we all do…Hope.

Hope is defined as a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Don’t you think hope should be an optimistic and much needed element of life? The feeling that, what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. Oh yeah I am so in favor of that... An attitude of spiritual grace...A longing and desire for all things good, certain, unquestionable, and sanguine.

When hope enters the soul it makes all things new.

 ~ James Freeman Clarke

hope is the rope we hang onto to keep from falling,
hope is a wish upon a star,
hope is a dream not yet found
hope is a promise offered
hope is a vision of something unseen
hope is the faith that mountains will move
hope is the lullaby that rocks our world
hope is a hunger in a place gone mad.

Hope is constructive and practical for our well being. It is the peace we fill ourselves with while we hope for peace here on earth. Hope is what we trust, like an anticipated dream with many expectations. Let us decorate our world with hope…

I hope you dance till you drop

I hope you laugh while crying

I hope you sing out in the rain

I hope you love…

I hope you live out loud

I hope you fly over the rainbow

I hope you give it all

I hope life gives to you silly,

fanciful wonder, cupcakes, and chewy taffy…

          an Oreo cookie dunked in cold milk,
warm sand to dig your toes in, bright balloons, play dates,
          and lots of naps.
I hope your life is as sweet as pink sugar and
          on occasion when it turns tart and tainted remember…

             there is always HOPE and no one can take that away from you.

For 2011… Hope is my word.

The Circle is Complete

2010…one more thing I need to let go of…

I think I will bottle it up in the jar with Christmas. Tonight a brand new circle will start spinning…I’m in hopes that it brings many good and necessary things to my life and yours. First and foremost I will put it all in the Lord’s hands…His will be done.

May I be pleasing unto Him.

Hope to see you next year...

The Happiest of New Years to you and yours,

Cora

Not Wanting to Let Go....

As they say… all good things must come to an end.

Sometimes I just want to take life and put it in a jar...hold onto it forever so I can pull it out and look at it again and again.  This wonderful holiday season came with laughter, tears, joy, happiness, bright shinys, warmth, ribbons and bows, family and friends, and lots of good food and fellowship. The reason for the season was felt, captured and cherished. Holidays come and go…family comes and goes…good food comes and goes…well… some of it stays on the hips after it passes by the lips!

None the less…everything has come to a screeching halt.

The house is quiet again…
But I hope happiness and love found you this Christmas and that it lingers on forever like the Christmas spirit in your heart which should never end but live within you always.

I know I have been missing-in-action through the past week or so and did not get to personally express my Christmas wishes for you…but just know; I did think of you often as I spent precious time with my family. I wanted to hold on to those moments so tight and not let them get away…well…reality set in and I came to my senses.
I let go…
Life is scattered in the living room ready to be cleaned up, put up, boxed up and readied for what the new year will bring. I know there will be challenges, big moves, happiness, sadness, new experiences, skinned knees and boo boos.

The circle has been made; 365/24’s have marched by like a parade, and we are all another year older and hopefully a wee bit wiser. I can look back on 2010 and honestly say it was better than 2009. I hold onto each memory I made, not wanting to let go but also wanting to welcome something new and fresh. I thanked God for each day that  was given to me as a gift, I accepted it when I woke each morning…I left it as a memory when I laid down to rest at the end.
I thanked God again.
Another circle will soon begin to form…the circle of life that sometimes will get out of shape and off course, but it will always make it around as time allows.
Some days I will not keep up…others I will see it through.

The circle of life…
Round and round we will go, like a carnival merry-go-round…we choose which ride we will take but sometimes we have to take the one that is left and make the best of it. To the end of this journey we have come, the music has stopped and we exit the ride, only to jump on for another round as it starts up again to begin anew…with hope, great expectations, dreams, sparkle, a song in our heart, and a purpose.

Keep it real and uncomplicated…be true to yourself with what ever life gives you, throws at you, is handed to you…Go With Faith and hang onto the Happy!

Wishing everyone the happiest New Year to come with many blessings.

Cora



Glimpses of My Past

I  LOVE

Sharing with you

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Conversing with you

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Getting together with you

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Creating with you

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Taking photos with you :)

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Discovering with you

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Cooking with you

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Giving to you

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Praying for you

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Being inspired by you

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Celebrating with you

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Swooning with you ;)

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Walking through your home with you

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Wishing with you

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Learning with you

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Listening to you

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And holding your hand

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May 2008 began my voyage into a world of photographers, then later bloggers, and I have made some awesome friends…all of whom I may never meet face to face or in person. But I have found that actually meeting them is insignificant. There are some wonderful, faithful, true blue, honest people in this new age way of encountering and making new friends. I hope to walk down the road with all of you in 2010.

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Thank you for letting me share my view of the world with you and

for giving back to me through your heartfelt comments.

Leaving 2009 and stepping into 2010

From my heart and home to yours,
a peaceful Goodnight to you all.

I look forward to 2010 with you!

In One Word...

In my last post I sat reflecting on the past year….2009.

I shared with you some of the things that I had learned along life’s journey.

As 2010 approaches with its unknown endeavors and events I wonder what it holds for me. So with a giant leap of faith I step into its mysterious domain hoping to gain some new experiences along the way. Each day should hold a new one for me….experiences of knowledge, learning, understanding (or not), all kinds of encounters, feelings and undertakings. I want to experience all that life has to offer me and see how I will handle it.  As they say “It's not only what happens that matters, its how you handle it.”

EXPERIENCING LIFE

     So I welcome 2010 as a challenge and opportunity to experience what ever is offered, flung at me, dropped at my feet, and presented by some mere chance of fate. I will try new recipes, new hair styles, new ideas, and new ways of thinking. I will endure and embrace, good or bad; the experience as it unfolds before me. I want to experience with my eyes through my photography, with my creativity, in my mind, with my family, my faith, within my own self and soul, in my comings and goings, with each moment as I stroll through my life in this next year.

Will I be a better person for it? Will I learn from it? Will I gain anything? Only time will tell as it passes day by day, month by month, until the year has once again ended. At that end I know that I will have lived another year, had another birthday, celebrated many occasions, cried, rejoiced, faced obstacles and took many tests…some of which I passed and some I failed. I will have experienced many things. Hopefully I will not look back with any regrets, but look at it through rose colored glasses and have a feeling of accomplishment through many meaningful experiences. Optimistically my 2010 experiences will help build my character.

“Experience” is my word for 2010.

I will encounter each, feel each, face each, muddle through each, savor each, and undergo each. To experience is to live!

Dani has offered this Word for 2010 Challenge to each of us.

Please join us with picking your word for this upcoming new year. 

My word replaces any and all New Year’s resolutions that

I have not made and will not make.

I will try to focus on this word as it presents

itself throughout this coming year.

“Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.”
~Henry Ford

I look forward to each day with you!
Happy 2010!