December 28 Prompt: Achieve - What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. (Author: Tara Sophia Mohr)
I would like to start a family in 2011. I'm pretty sure there aren't 10 things I can do or new thoughts I can think to mimic that feeling today. Panic, elation, joy, excitement, lack of sleep, frustration, bliss, poop on my hands, tiny hugs. I'm sure I could conjure up some activities that would feign all of those things, but I'm also certain that there is nothing like having your own children. So whether we whip up our own or adopt, I want to add a kid to the mix in 2011, or shortly thereafter.
December 27 Prompt: Ordinary Joy - Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year? (Author: Brené Brown)
Nearly every Saturday when we are in town, Joe and I wake up around 7:30, sometimes he's up earlier, we make coffee, we eat english muffins or the occasional pancake and turkey bacon, we lounge around in our pajamas and watch The Soup and read funny things to each other from the internet. Then we clean up and run errands, do house stuff, read. But those couple of lazy hours are perfection.
I also thoroughly enjoyed babysitting my friends, Kristen and Sean's son, Aedan one night this fall. We brought sponge dinosaurs to life for two hours. It was pretty sweet.
December 26 Prompt: What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth and touched your soul? (Author: Elise Marie Collins)
See these two posts, I've made caramels like eight times since, they keep getting better. And we are planning the next ethnic themed feast, I think we are going with Mexican. Homemade tortillas, a tres leches cake and maybe tamales, I'm still researching. But really any meal spent noshing with people I like is pretty good in my opinion. And the extravagant meal we had at my brother's restaurant in Ft. Myers, The Veranda, was spectacular. And he cooked it.
December 25 Prompt: Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.
(Author: Tracey Clark)
I shot this with my iPhone Hipstamatic app on vacation in Florida in May. I was relaxed, tan, I hadn't blown my hair dry in a week, wearing no make up and as happy as possible. We are sitting on the beach in Naples, Joe was taking photos of some windsurfers and I was just entertaining myself. I love the soft focus, not over the top facial expression and freckles. I've realized in the last year that I tend to go for the ridiculous goofy smile or kooky eyes tilted upward look. This just looks like me, at my best and softly focused.
December 24 Prompt: Everything’s OK What was the best moment that could serve as proof that everything is going to be alright? And how will you incorporate that discovery into the year ahead? (Author: Kate Inglis)
I feel alright most of the time. I think I do my best to find these little moments even in the middle of chaos. It is one of my strengths. I used to not do this very well. Having struggled with depression all through high school and college and finally tackled it a few years ago, my coping skills are now fine tuned. On my desk at work sits a framed postcard, the Keep Calm and Carry On, that has become so popular. It is my mantra, only slightly altered: Keep Calm, Smile and Carry On. Something good happens almost everyday. Even if it's as small as that guy let me merge in front of him on the highway. I like to focus on those things. Mostly.
December 23 Prompt: New Name Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why? (Author: Becca Wilcott)
Lame one. I have a couple of names and I like them all. Katherine, Kassie, Kass, Kassie Lou, Sassy Kassie, Aunt Kassie, Baby. I don't want to have a different name, and it's Kassie not Kathy.
December 22 Prompt: Travel How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year? (Author: Tara Hunt)
We took some great trips in 2010. Lots of Omaha and Wisconsin family visits, but my favorite was our trip to Florida. So, take a flashback to May 2010, I'm going to. Go read here and pretend that the sun is so hot you need another rum drink to cool you off at the pool.
December 21 Prompt: Future Self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Author: Jenny Blake)
-Go ahead and spend the money on really good bras. You need them and I promise they are worth it.
-You might have a lot of ups and downs this year. I know what you are planning to do and sorry, but you will have zero control over the process. Nature and modern medical science be damned.
-Keep taking pictures and writing and spending time with family and friends, but get your butt off the couch and start moving. Believe me, it's much harder to lose weight as you get older. Do it now.
-Take the dog for a walk. He's stir crazy and energetic now. He won't be forever.
-You aren't self absorbed or particularly narcissistic. Stop thinking it's wrong to put your needs at the top of the list.
-Make sure you pay off that credit card debt and keep it paid off. It severely restricts your freedom and ability to pay for everything you both want to accomplish.
-Those few gray hairs are nothing. It's gets worse. Stop complaining.
-You love Joe even more now. He's as good a dad and husband as a person could dream up. And he's still messy. Deal.
-Those friends of yours aren't going anywhere. Pick up the phone more often, spontaneous plans are good.
-Risk more. Risk it. Keep your eyes and ears open for what's next.
-Mad Men Season 5 is just as good as the previous seasons. Hard to believe, true story.
December 20 Prompt: Beyond Avoidance. What should you have done this year but didn’t because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?) (Author: Jake Nickell)
I think things happen when we are ready to make them happen. If there was something I should have done this year but didn't, I just wasn't ready for it. Or it wasn't a real priority. Or maybe I'm just avoiding the question.
Excellent post, as always. It made me smile - all of it. And also the parts that were so damn similar to mine - there were several of them. Shocking, I know :-).
ReplyDelete"Something good happens almost every day, even if it's as small as that guy let me merge in front of him on the highway."
ReplyDeleteI love that. It's pretty much my life philosophy and strategy for coping too. And it's so, so true! People who never learn that truth struggle and worry and focus on the bad so much more than necessary, and I feel bad for them. I'm glad you learned it when you were still relatively young! :-) (And I think the fact that you made the *decision* to go out and learn it is far more impressive than someone like me who was basically born an optimist and has no tendencies towards depression. Uh...if that sounds like a backhanded compliment, like I'm calling you a sad-sack depressive or something, I'm sorry. I totally didn't mean it that way!)
Love, love, love the December 21st list.
ReplyDeleteThanks, ladies! Bethany, I think my personality has always leaned toward the optimistic, depression was more of a mask over that. And you are one of the most positive, yet non-cheesy, people I know.
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