Reading and Reacquainting

Lately, I've been doing my best to get back into reading more. I used to read all the time, but in the last couple of years or so, I've not read much at all and I feel the lack of it in my life. I took the photo above on this past Sunday morning as I did a bit of reading while having a few grapes.

I've realized something in my quest to read more. I'm actually spending too much time scrolling through my phone, looking for nothing in particular. This takes up so much time...so no wonder I haven't got much reading done.

Therefore, I'm going to try to scroll less and read more. There's nothing wrong with dipping into my phone once in a while to see what's going on. I just simply need to balance my time a bit better and stop compulsively picking up my phone. Reacquainting myself with reading again is like rediscovering an old friend...who happens to be myself  :)

Here's to reclaiming my time.

A Work In Progress

Hello :)

Sorry that it's taken me almost two weeks to get back here. I appreciate everyone who visits me here. I've been doing a bit of repositioning over these last couple of weeks. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm working on switching over a bit from my obsessive job search to a more balanced way of being. It's easier said than done, but I'm stepping along the way slowly but surely.

It's been like waking up from a very detailed dream and you have to gather yourself a bit to remember how you were before. I've had my lists out...I love making lists :) I've been thinking and asking myself....

"What did I used to do?"

"How do I get back there, but with some balance?"

I still need to look for a job, but I need the other part of my life too. I refuse to go on spinning and chasing my tail and letting it make me crazy. The job will come and I'll keep looking for it, but I have to be ready when it does come. So this past two weeks I've been working on finding my footing again and thankfully finding my writing again. Yay! :)

One important part of writing is getting back to this blog that I love, but haven't been giving enough time to. This place...this Yellow House...is a part of that balance too. After all, my Yellow House...this Yellow House...is a state of mind...a place of light (at least that's where I'm aiming). So here I am and I hope that you'll keep visiting me. I have photos and thoughts and my book progress and just things that I want to share. The world is so chaotic sometimes, so I want to share some (I hope) good things. Please join me if you can :)

Have a wonderful day!

Balance

Just a little view from my world...

This was the blue sky that I looked out upon this morning. It was a beautiful sight. If you've visited me before, you know that I love all things blue.

Even though we've just had a bit of rain this afternoon, I still remember how the day began. I know that above the clouds there's a blue sky still up there somewhere, so I'm cool with that. We need both the sunshine and the rain. It's all about balance, in weather and in life :)

Happy Wednesday!

Balance

If you've visited my blog before, you know that I love the beauty of nature and sharing photos that I've taken when I'm out enjoying it. Usually I share photos like the one above on Fridays and I'll usually tell a bit about where I took the picture. Well today's post is kind of like that, but I'm gonna veer off a bit if you don't mind :-)

First of all, this photo above is from June 2013 and I took it when we were out taking a nature walk. Walking around in nature is one of my favorite things to do and snapping quick photos while I'm out is the second thing :-)

As I mentioned, I'm going to veer off a bit today. I'm posting this photo above because it reminds me of a beautiful, peaceful day and nature always balances me and clears my head. I thought that I'd post a bit of nature today especially since my mind is on balance today.

I've mentioned here recently that I've been under the weather and I'm not healing as quickly as I'd like. However, I know that these things take time. I'm doing better today than I have in a while so I'm grateful for that. As I've been concentrating on healing and getting myself back to a good place physically, I've also been thinking a lot about my balance between my mind, body, and spirit. As I've been thinking about all of this, I've realized that in slowing down to get physically well I'm also faced with the reminder that I need more balance in my life. I have a tendency to go, go, go all the time and I've realized that taking a breath is a good thing. I know these things intellectually, but while I've been forced to slow down in order to heal, I'm being reminded within my heart and whole self.

Since I've been sharing my nature photos on Fridays a lot recently, I've had another realization. All of these photos were taken two or more years ago. I'm astonished when I see the dates sometimes :-) So I think that it's high time that I added some recent photos to my collection. I'm no great photographer by any stretch. I'm just a person who loves taking pictures of the beauty of nature and I like to share what I see.

I know it's a cliche, but I need to stop and smell the roses more and take some pictures while I'm at it ;-) Lol. I hope you'll return to see what I find.

Have a great day!

It's All About the Journey

Just wanted to share a sunny picture. Hope you enjoy it!

I had a pretty great weekend :-) Brit Boy and I didn’t go anywhere special or doing anything out of the ordinary, but it was a good quiet weekend and I had a chance to reflect on something I just accomplished. So all weekend, I was basking in the glow :-)

For those of you who are new readers or those who may have forgotten since I didn’t bring it up much ;-) , I was taking a freelance and features writing course over the past several months, well it was actually a year and a half. I didn’t bring it up a lot because there wasn’t much to tell from day to day and also I’ll admit, it was a bit of a struggle sometimes :-) But here’s the absolutely beautiful thing that is bursting out of me right now as I write these words…it was difficult, but I did it! And I don’t say that to say “hey look at me”, I say that because I am just so darned proud of what it means for me as a person…something that I needed to prove to myself…that I can see a difficult task through until the end.

I don’t know if I would have been so candid with you all when I began my course eighteen months ago, but it is SO SO TRUE…the truth does indeed set you free! :-)

See, I know me and I don’t have a great track record with things like this. Oh yeah, I’ve gotten through life fine, but I’ve never really made it through the tape at the finish line in this way for a long, long time. So this milestone lets me know that I still have drive within…something that I thought that I’d left in my wake too long ago. But the beauty is that “she” is still in there…the authentic me that I forgot in the flurry of moving across the water and becoming a wife. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t regret my journey over here at all, but some days it has seemed like my determination dropped off somewhere over the Atlantic. Well, with the completion of my course, I feel that I went diving deep and found my drive again. Hallelujah! :-)

I turned in my final lesson on Friday and I immediately began to smile on the outside, the inside, and everywhere possible :-) I know that this may seem a modest milestone to the wide world, but in essence it is EVERYTHING, because today I join countless people all over this planet who are celebrating something amazing in their lives…whether it is large or small. We all wake up every day and are bombarded with terrible news and so I think that this makes it even more important to celebrate those joyous moments in our lives that make our hearts sing! :-)

I haven’t found out my final grade and of course I’m intrigued to find out the result. However, I mean this with the truest honest heart…I have already made the grade. I took the journey…so the destination is just the icing on the cake. I’m truly grateful in this moment and I just wanted to share my joy with you all.

Have a great day everybody!

A July Saturday

I haven’t posted in a few days. I’ve been working on my homework assignments for my course in feature and freelance writing. I’ve completed my latest assignment, so I just wanted to take a moment to check in and let you all know that I’m not abandoning my blog (smile) I’m just having to learn how to schedule it all together better. I think I’ve hit upon a plan so that I can post more.

As for what I’ve been up to, well I’m sort of chilling today and enjoying the nice weather. This is the first sunny day we’ve had in a while, so I’m lapping it up. (smile) Today is Brit Boy’s day to cook, so I really love that. (bigger smile)

Earlier we watched this movie called, “They Came From Beyond Space”. It was originally released in 1967. It was about alien goings-on in rural England, so when I saw that in the description, I figured I had to see it. (smile) It turned out to be a wonderfully quirky film and Brit Boy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s so good to have a husband that understands my love of quirky movies and things like this. But here’s the thing….he understands because he is very much like that too. We love a bit of the surreal. (smile)

Right now we’re watching this show called “Creature Comforts”. It’s a cute clay animation type show. There are these talking animals that make you laugh because they say things that humans would. I love stuff like this.

So I guess you can tell what our Saturday is about this week…kicking back. (smile) I love weekends like this when you can just do what you want, even if that’s doing nothing at all. Ain’t life grand!

As I mentioned earlier, I’m learning about balance in getting my homework done and getting my blogging done and then living the rest of my life. So today’s activities are the ones that I put into that living my life box. I think I’m gonna do okay. Have a great weekend! :-)