Savor your time.

I'm feeling sappy tonight.

It might be because it's the end of another school year, a day I have been looking forward to for a long time, but also bitter sweet.  The end of one chapter, the beginning of another.  A much needed time for reflection and rejuvination.

It might be because of all of this weather madness.  I've lived in Kansas all my life and don't remember ever having such a dramatic tornado week.  It definitely puts life in perspective.  My heart hurts for all of the families going through such a tragedy.

In my sappy thoughts, I have decided to make Wednesday's a blog day devoted to remembering to "Savor" something new each week.

This week: time.

I have always been the person who looks forward, not back.  It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's also not necessarily the best thing either.  I want to become one who not only looks forward, but also takes time to look back, and most importantly look around in the moment.

So, this week, I hope to savor TIME.

Time with family.
Time with friends.
Time at home.
Time at work.
Time alone.

Time.

Best,
-m

'Tis the Season...

For garage sales!

One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning is to get up early and head out in search of new found treasures.  This past Saturday's sales did not dissapoint.  Here's what I came home with:

Not quite the grill of our dreams, but for $10 this will do! 

I had planned to post more about our first grill out experience-- we made teryiaki chicken kabobs.  However, the INSANE storms that were heading towards us (and very near to the school I teach at) distracted my photo documentation of this event.  From what I've heard, there wasn't any tornado damage, but it was quite a sight to see!

New table cloth- $0.50, Napkins $0.50 and Antique dish $0.10

Doily $0.10.  Maybe not the perfect place for this, but I'm sure I will find something do with this!

Set of 4 cards $1.00.  I plan to frame them!

Large metal basket $1.00, Dishtowels and Napkin sets $0.50 each.

Random vintage dishes.

These are 2 pillow covers $1.00

Eyelet Shower Curtain $1.00

Vintage Disney books, $0.50 each. (LOVE the pictures inside, too)

Vintage earrings $3.00.  I think I might make these into magnets...

Chair $15.00.  I'm sure I'll find a place for this? :)

Next weekend I'm on the hunt for a new kitchen table and some patio furninture.

Hope your weekend was fabulous.  I'm heading to the pool!
-M

Lovely Advice.

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s – Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did in 2010.
7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
8. Sleep for 7 hours.
9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

1. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
3. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
6. Dream more while you are awake.
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
8. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more.
14. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

1. Call your family often.
2. Each day give something good to others.
3. Forgive everyone for everything.
4. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
5. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
6. What other people think of you is none of your business.
7. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

1. Do the right thing!
2. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
3. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
4.  No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
5. The best is yet to come.
6. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

via

I see a poster project in my future.  This list deserves a frame.

-m

Love you, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

To the best mom a girl could ever dream of, I love you!
-m

5 "sweet" things.

1. Maxi Skirt: I'm loving this trend.  I think I could spend everyday of my summer sporting this look.  Comfy, casual, cute. I think I need this one.

Forever 21 $22.80

2. Mangos: I get on food kicks.  That is, I eat the same thing over. and over. and over. Until I never want to eat it again.  I still can't eat Nutrigrain Berry Bars after two years straight of 2 a day in middle school.  I eat some mango slices every morning.  It's divine.

yum.

3. Loreal Face Primer: I tried this in a trial I received in a magazine not to long ago.  I never saw a need for a face primer, but this stuff is like butta.  So smooth and light, I can't stop touching my face after I put it on.  TMI? Ok, I'm done. It's good stuff ya'll.

4. Yard Sale Map: This site could become a staple for my summer.  I'm excited to start using this.

5. This Quote:

I want to put this everywhere- my classroom, my car, my kitchen.... so so true.

-m

Check!

My new shoes got broken in.

I completed a 5K over the weekend with a good friend (shout out to AB!) and it felt so good to accomplish our goal.  We have been working out conisitently since the beginning of the school year, and had always toyed with the idea of training for a 5K.  We started by doing Jillian's 30 Day Shred (also a killer workout!) and finally couldn't stand the same workout everyday, so we started running through the halls after school (to avoid the freezing temps outside).

We decided on the 5K last weekend about 5 weeks before it took place, and then actually started seriously working toward our goal about 3 weeks before the race.  I'm so surprised that we were able to make our goals in such short time: 1. Don't walk. 2. Don't be last.

Honestly, I felt relieved that we did, but mostly inspired to keep running.  I NEVER thought I would say that.  I used to hate running (i.e. up until about 2 weeks ago).  I'm definitely not to the point where I could say I enjoy the run, but I enjoy the fact that I'm improving and that I can run more than I could before.  The first week of intense training was killer.  But it felt so good to push my body further than I ever had in the past.

I know that I could not of accomplished this without the support of my running partner!  She's one tough cookie, and continues to motivate me! Plus, it's fun to socialize after school and get my mind off school for a bit before my trek home.

My BFF, thedomesticwannabe, has been on a health kick the past couple of months that has also inspired me!  She got me into the app "iMapMyRun", which totally helps me stay motivated.  I love being able to see the numbers of each run- time, distance, speed, etc.  I will be joining her for a Mother's Day 5K this weekend, and I'm so excited that we'll be able to do this together.  Now we can add running to our list of things to do together (let's keep this up girl!).  So now it's basically wine, crafts, dance.... and run.  Not quite in that order :)

We signed up for our next race, an 8K on Memorial Day.  I'm excited about the new challenge.
-m