Posts Tagged ‘love’

I love you because …

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Congrats to the winner of Thursday’s giveaway: Karen in St. John’s, Arizona! She said “I would love to do t-shirts for family and friends to support my sister in Paralympic competition!” What a great idea, Karen. Shoot an email to Ricky@tamboink.com and they’ll hook you up with $50 toward your custom t-shirt order.

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Remember the Kiki Creates giveaway I did back in March? I said, “Check out this print. It’s fill-in-the-blank style and you write on the glass with dry-erase marker and change it as often as you want. I’m so getting this for each of my kids.”

Well I so did. I got 3 prints, put them in these frames from Target, attached them to the wall (with our favorite velcro) — the wall we see as we come in from the garage. And there is a dry-erase marker resting on top of the top frame for our convenience. Our little messages can change within a matter of seconds. Any time we feel like it.

I love that this is now the first thing the kids see as they walk in the door each day. Just another fun way to help our kids feel loved and special. And I love that this little project helps us to focus on the specifics of what we love about them. Sometimes it’s silly and light-hearted. Other times it’s more thoughtful and sincere. That’s the fun in rotating the sentiments frequently.

You can find Kiki’s latest designs in her super cute etsy shop. Plus, she has a wonderfully patriotic (and free) downloadable print here.

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Posted in family & children, home, products, style & design | 27 Comments »

taking pictures = love

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

With her permission I’m sharing this letter from a fellow reader. What she says deeply resonates with me and I know it will with many of you as well.

………..

Dear Becky,

I finally got my scanner working again, and went to work on the sticky, gluey falling apart photo album my mom made of my first year so that I could put copies into my Project Life book before the photos degrade even more.

As I really looked at these pictures, something stood out to me. I noticed for the first time that the background of these pictures are all at my grandmothers’ houses, or at events with them. Every single picture of me as a baby was taken by one of my grandmothers, on their cameras. Then they must have sent duplicate prints to my mom.

My parents were too poor to even own a camera, and my mom still found a way to make this little photo album of her baby. Every picture was straight in its spot, with dates written next to the pictures, the occassion and how big I was at certain age milestones. She was capturing little moments of life before they got away from her.

How much was I loved that these three women would make the effort to document my babyhood like that? What a huge gift to me, that I am breathless about almost forty years later. Taking photos and preserving them really does communicate love.

Sincerely,

Heatherle in Portland, OR


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Posted in family & children, giving, scrapbooking | 27 Comments »

7 ways to increase charity.

Monday, February 7th, 2011

In light of the fact that we’re one week away from Valentines Day, love is on my mind.

But … not so much the Valentines kind of love. More of a charity kind of love.

You’ll notice what it says on my homepage: Cultivate a good life and record it. That’s going to mean different things to different people. For me it means, in part, that we try to love unconditionally and treat others with kindness. (It also means a hundred other things to me.) Are any of us perfectly loving and perfectly kind? Of course not. But that’s another part of cultivating a good life — to just do our best. Always.

Here are 7 suggestions of what we can strive to do to increase charity in our life. If even just one of these points might prompt you to do something this week, it was worth the quick stop here on my blog today.

1. Tell someone. You likely have someone on your mind that has had a positive affect on your life. Don’t keep that to yourself. Write an email or letter (the old-fashioned kind that actually goes through the mail system is even better!) and tell that person how they have been a blessing to you or your family. Be specific. You have no idea what that will do to brighten their life.

2. Kick gossip to the curb. We’re human. It happens. But we have complete control in stopping it. First of all, don’t be the one that gossips. It doesn’t look good on anyone. Being critical of others does not benefit anyone. Ever. If you’re in a situation when the gossiping begins, find a way to change the topic and focus on something more uplifting. What an admirable quality.

3. Recognize your blessings. Being proactive in actually talking about the tender mercies in your life or writing down the specific blessings you receive will naturally bring about more awareness of how rich your life is. Cultivate a good life … and record it. Your children will be blessed for reading your words at a later time. You will be blessed for reading your own words. Trust me on this one.

4. Cultivate the potential in others. Quick anecdote to illustrate: Several siblings in a family had a natural singing talent. Except for one of the brothers. As a young boy, they went through instructor after instructor but he just didn’t seem to have the gift. It didn’t seem like there was hope. His parents tried one last instructor and when this boy first sung for the instructor, he stopped the boy singing and said, “Where did you get this voice? That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard!” The boy’s confidence soared, he completely blossomed, and he became known for his singing talent with full vibrato at a young age. True story.

5. Study. If you are religious and consider scripture to be a valuable and truthful resource (I certainly do), carve time out of your day to read scriptures on the topic of love, charity, service, etc.

6. Don’t judge. This is especially applicable to those who you do not yet know very well. When we catch ourselves beginning to make assumptions about someone, chances are we do not truly understand what’s really going on. Mother Teresa spoke this profound truth: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

7. Stop. If you’re the type that seems to be in go-go-go mode all the time (whether you thrive on that lifestyle or you’re just forced into that kind of schedule right now) … how will you ever be able to truly show charity to those who mean the most to you if you’re always so busy? Stop once in a while. Get on the floor with your kids. Look your husband in the eyes as he talks about his day. Listen to your child’s ramblings about whatever they want to talk about. Be engaged. Nurturing any relationship means carving out time to just BE with that person.

I sooo don’t want any of this to sound preachy. I just have these things on my mind and a blog is for sharing, after all. These are just a few gentle reminders of simple things we can all do, that can in turn make life happier — for you, for me, for those around us, and especially for those we care about the most.

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Posted in giving | 57 Comments »

10 slices of a good day.

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Yesterday was June 17th. An “ordinary” summer day. No holiday or major event or giant task. Lots of little to-do’s. But woke up feeling like it was going to be a good day. So I decided that it would indeed be … a good day.

And it was. Because every day just is.

Today, I encourage you to pay closer attention to the little reasons why it’s a good day for you. And then – of course – record it. Whether in words or pictures. Whether in a journal or on a blog or telling a loved one over the phone. I believe that when we record our blessings, we’re just become that much more aware of them. And therefore … happier.

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There are a million reasons why yesterday was a good day in my little world. Here are ten.

1. Good old-fashioned hose-down. You go, Claire. Take ‘em down sister. Note #1: This was very impromptu; hence the fully-clothed boys. Note #2: I assure you I do comb my daughter’s hair.

2. Daily drawings continue. Today Porter drew a custom space boy for everyone. So grateful for such good friends in our community. Good families. Good kids. Good people.

3. I caught up on four loads of laundry. Very good indeed.

4. I got to do a little unexpected spray-painting to help a friend with a little project. For sure good! Spray-painting is always a good thing. Helping someone in a pinch is even better.

5. Crew stood up in the bath and very intentionally – with a smirk on his face – body-slammed into the water, creating a tidal wave effect that covered my bathroom floor. The little stink. But my sense of humor won over my frustration in that moment and I’m grateful. We all had a good laugh over that one. Unfortunately this encouraged Crew to want to repeat the act.

6. David had a long day at work so the kids and I packed up a few plates of O’Henrys and surprised a few friends with a “hello” and a hug and these. It’s always good to tell someone you’re thinking of them.

7. One of those recipients is a brand-new friend. Meet Brenda Reed. Adorable, right? She really is. So is her little family. She is local to me. I knew she frequents my blog and follows me on twitter. I knew she has been diligent with Project Life and I’ve seen many of her POTDs (posted on her blog). They’re terrific. I thought it would be a good day to stop by her house and meet her. With O’Henrys in hand. It was indeed a pleasure.

8. When I saw this picture of us I noticed far more wrinkles than I realized I had. Like … a lot more. Sometimes I still think I’m 25?? BUT … I’m okay with that. Because wrinkles are good. Don’t hate me for saying that. I think wrinkles represent evolution and growth and add character to our features.

9. This evening I was properly put in my place. Being humbled is always good, right? Porter wanted to spend his money on this dumb machine at WalMart. We’ve never done it here before, but I’m quite familiar with how these machines work. And so I firmly expressed it.

“Porter, let me tell you something. It’s your money, but I want you to know how strongly I feel that this machine steals people’s mon—-”

Literally right at that moment, the darn grabber thing grabbed a toy. The look on Porter’s face was pure elation. And I knew that moment was golden for him. Because kids need to know that sometimes Mom is wrong. Sometimes Mom needs to have more faith.

Oh, and he immediately gave the toy to Claire. Because he’s that kind of a big brother.

10. Claire told me she loved me more than the marshmallows in her Lucky Charms. If you knew what those marshmallows mean to my four-year-old you would understand why I wanted to melt into a puddle on the spot.

That moment alone made for an instantly good day.

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This is the stuff of life. This is the stuff we put in Project Life. This is why I care so much about Project Life.

(Fine print: Those of you who have been patiently waiting for Project Life to become available again … we’re getting close. Hopefully just a few more weeks. I’ll be sure to announce when those kits arrive at Amazon.)

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Posted in family & children, giving, photography | 27 Comments »

happy valentines weekend

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend. Happy Valentines Day!

Also wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. I have felt for a long time now, that I have the best blog readers. Some of you check in daily. Some of you just once in a while. Some of you chime in with a kind word, a question, a suggestion, or something to share. Some of you are local to me. Most of you are not. You’re in every state. And you’re all over the world. Russia, New Zealand, Australia, India, Thailand, Norway, almost every country in Europe, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Japan, even Ghana and Nepal. Too many countries to mention.

Some of you are stay-at-home-moms. Some of you are full-time professionals. Some of you travel the world and some of you have never left your hometown. Anyway, you get the point. We’re from all walks of life. But one thing you have in common is that you drop by here on my blog and that means a lot. I love to share and I’m glad you’re finding something useful here in my little corner on the world wide web.

Love,
Becky

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Posted in holidays & seasons | No Comments »