Day 1: I am BACK!

Hello Again,

It has been 5 years since my last entry.

Wow! Time flies and much of life has happened since.

I was cleaning up my old computer and found my old blog page " One Day At A Time" again.

With my soul sister, Kathleen, we decided to support each other and to discipline ourselves to get back to writing from the heart again with our 100 days writing challenge to accomplish this together. 

Day 1 is all about a new start for me and to commit to this challenge by "just do it" and take the first step to write. Nothing happens if we don't ACT on it. 

I often remind myself so not to be overwhelmed in any challenges is to take it ...one day at a time. 

I am so grateful I still own this perfect blog name for me since I've been dormant for so long. 

Google still remembers me! :) Thank you, Google.

There is a saying, you are never too old or too late to start a new dream or a new goal. 

Here I am at 55, I am beginning again... And that's OK too. Everyday is a fresh start in any areas of your life you want to improve, grow and change. It only takes YOU to begin with your first step. No one else can do it for you! 

I know the real personal rewards will be amazing as I write down my thoughts on any topics with no restrictions as life comes to me , thru me and as me to share.

It will not only to help me discover who I am each new day as I grow but I pray my words & sharing will help, comfort and inspire others to know they are not alone in this journey of life. We all are connected.

Like you, I am a different person from 5 years ago and even from yesterday. Everyday is a new day and we get to create and/or recreate the person we want to be and live the life we love. It's never too late unless we limit ourselves to believe that.  Remember, 50s is the new 30s so we have many more years of life ahead :)

I am so grateful each morning that God has given me another day to live and love my life. 

Yes, I am still growing, learning and continuously discovering many more dimensions of who I am as you are. Let's never stop growing... together!

What would you love to create in your life TODAY?

God bless you all,

Hai

Happy 2017, Everyone!

It's a New Year to start again... It's never too late to start ANYTHING again!  Start on any day is a good day.  I love the beginning of a new year, full of hopes, dreams and making lists...

First and foremost, I am so grateful for all my 2016 lessons, blessings and my ongoing challenges that I get to try again and/or try something totally new in 2017.

I am talking about New Year's Resolutions, of course! So what's yours?... start write them down.

My list is getting longer by the day and its only 10 days into 2017! So, knowing my ADHD personality, I have to limit to 5 things:

Five in 2017...
1. Embracing being 50 & Fabulous and being grounded.  JUST BE MYSELF. This is a full-time adventure all in itself to refine, to create and to make more JOY in my life in every aspect of my life.
2. Get back to the GYM after a year OFF! Yes, a year! You read it correctly.
3. Starting to BLOG again after 5 years of being absence. I am curious what will be my own thoughts to write about as I am living through my 50s.
4. Working on a successful financial avenue that actually take off this year and earn an income after 15 years of being a supportive, stay at home spouse.
5. Learn how to play the piano!

Lets take #1 today...
For me, embracing being 50 is HUGE! It's a big deal for me since I don't look or feel or ready to be 50 but I have no choice in this matter. Yet, I have experienced life long enough & I've earned the 50 years "badge" to be free, more brave, bold and need no permission to LIVE my life in my next 50 years as I define it. Life is moving too fast so I am taking advantage of being totally liberated to LIVE ON fully! BUT first... I am slowing  down to be kind to myself to simply feel grounded to stay put in one location. This happens to be NC for us. In the past, my husband & I  have been "on the go" so much between 3-4 states for his corporate career that I lost a sense of belonging... belong to a home, to a community, to a group of friends and even to having my own daily routine!
I am today slowing down to speed of my own life tempo!... to write this blog...

We all are at different stages in life so your list should reflect what makes YOU happy! ....with total FREEDOM and without the fear of judgements from your spouse, friends & family and especially not based on the hype or pressure of any social media images to just look good for others and not being true to yourself.

There is a saying:
CHOICE.
CHANCE.
CHANGE.
You MUST make a CHOICE to take a CHANCE or your life will never CHANGE.

You got nothing to lose but to put the three Cs into practice this year with NO self- inflicted stress or pressure on yourself so that you can enjoy the unknown journey in stored for you in 2017.

By the end of 2017, lets see where we land in life!

Namaste my friends,

Christine "Hai"

Hello Again!

Hello again, my friends,

Remember me?
It has been exactly 5 years since my last entry on my blog as of December 2011. Wow! Time flies.
So much life's memories, joy & struggles have been lived since....

I decided to start this discipline again today with no expectations or goals to meet but to just simply put my day's thoughts here. A very poignant year for me to return because it is a turning point in my life as I've reached that magic benchmark age of 50 since April. Yikes!

For some people, it's no big deal. It's just another birthday. It's just a number.
For me, it's has been a "wake up" call and a soul searching opportunity to re-evaluate what has worked and what has NOT worked in my life thus far in all areas of life.

Being ME...an easily bored, require more fun, sometimes crazy & definitely a free-spirited WOMAN!
Marriage ( Our age differences and our years together, approaching 14 years next April)
Family (Defining what's real, what's a loving family and where I belong and feel at "home")
Career ( ...or lack of it because I have been a stay home wife and taking an opportunity to create a creative outlet to have some form of success in this area)
Finance. (My husband's corporate career is ending so our lifestyle will be different and new challenges ahead to be more resourceful)
Health. ( Menopausal stage in life to accept & a new body to learn)
Self-Esteem. ( Happy in my own skin. Defining MYSELF from others (social media) expectations and/or judgements
Total FREEDOM to be YOURSELF!

I will share my thoughts candidly as I blog these areas as each day unfolds.
It's my personal time to be brutally honest to create the life I really what you live.
You will know when it is the right time for you. I hope by sharing that you will know, you are not alone in this journey of life. It's a gift. Lets give it the attention it deserves.

A common question I have been asking myself this past 6 months....
Does this person/relationship or situation brings positive, joy, peace, happiness or negative, drama or  pain in my life?

To change it...Are you willing to learn to walk away from pain & gravitate toward the joy?
Are you willing to learn new disciples?
Of course, some areas will be more challenging than others to change. Learning to walk away from people is the hardest for me but it's a must to reach your peace.

It starts and ends with YOU! It's UP TO YOU. It's YOUR LIFE. Only YOU have the power to change. You can't change people or circumstances around you but you can only change YOU.

We are human. We are still learning...
For me, I can only hope that my next 50 years will be even better when I am open to learn, to share, to express and to explore new disciplines & new perspectives.

This resonates with me today. I hope it does for you too.
One Day At a Time:
This is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone.
Do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come.
Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering. Unknown author.

May we focus on just TODAY... with a grateful heart & with more JOY!
Let's be thankful for whatever God gives us today and make it count.


Namaste,
Hai

Touched by 27 Lil' Angels this Christmas!

This picture is so poignant for me on this Holiday. 

Like you as a parent,  I am just as guilty of easily overindulge our children during this time of the year. 

It's so easy to do that and we can easily lose our "common sense" as we get bombarded with so many sales, advertisements & material things for ourselves. Unless we consciously STOP to reflect the importance of Christmas and "define the necessity" in our lives.  

We can't solve world poverty alone. But isn't there a balance of what we can do to make a difference from where we are? 
Of course, we can. 

I love Christmas traditions and this is my favorite holiday! Tradition is important to have gifts under our Christmas tree for my teenager daughter and for my whole family BUT I prayed for something  EXTRA SPECIAL this year.  

The "Gift of Giving" presented itself to us to add to our Christmas celebration this year.  We adopted 27 local children here in our community, who are living at the homeless shelter.

We became Santa's elves with a long list of children with no names and no faces to us.  

These Angels only have a letter B for boy, G for girl with a number next to it for their ages on our Christmas list.

We were touched by 27 little Angels this Christmas! They gave us an opportunity to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas! 

There are 13 Girls ages from ages 2- 14 and a three month old baby girl along with 13 Boys from ages, 2-11.  Their needs were only the necessities, like socks, underwear, hats & gloves & scarves to keep them warm this winter. 


Thank you Lord for our EXTRA blessing with your "Gift of Giving" this Christmas. 

We pray for each one of the 27 children at the homeless shelter on this Christmas Day. We are so grateful for our EXTRA special gift this year, Lord.

We are so very blessed beyond measures with countless blessings each & everyday. It's more than just what you have or don't have under the Christmas tree when other little ones have so little. As we celebrate and acknowlege the Birth of Christ, may God bless these 27 Angels during His Happy Birthday Party. 


It's a joyful party that EVERYONE is invited to...

 The true Christmas JOY is in the GIVING. And it is so true! 


Merry Christmas, Everyone!


With Love & 27 Angels,


Hai

Dealing With Our Hormones

I do visualize and create my life with no stress and peaceful living and I LIVE IT too! :)

I am truly LIVING my happy, simple life on a peaceful surrounding each day and MINDFULLY enjoy it everyday because... I believe it! I covet it! I value it! I cherish it! I protect it!

Okay, so my peaceful life is going perfectly as planned today.  Or is it?

Perhaps, the gently grey rain outside has gotten me to feel so sad today. :( Why? I don't know... 

Inside my cottage is filled with JOY of Christmas music, with our Christmas tree sparkled with delights and the warmth of the fireplace is flaming gently. I drink my green tea and looking out into this wet winter day. My surrounding is PEACE. A perfect setting, yet I feel very sad today.

Don't you hate the uncontrollable hormones attack at times?  I am directing this comment mostly toward the ladies in the 40's and up, going through with all the hormone changes, like myself. 

Others call it "midlife" crisis or menopause, or even depression. Whatever the label is unimportant to me. 

I, mindfully create peaceful boundaries for myself to have a sense of stability during this time of my life with all of my hormone changes. BUT I have NO CONTROL over my hormones as I am going through a medical term called "perimenopause phase of life". It's a fact of life.  I choose to do it naturally without any options and adviced with " prescribed medications" to dull or numb it. It is NOT an illness to cure but to experience the full course of a natural process of being a woman.

After better understanding that it is a natural process we, women must go through, then I am accepting it fully. It is not easy at times.  Each day is different as I maintain my sense of balance no matter what.

 I often think of it as just another human emotion we all must deal with. It's not a bad thing. It's part of life. I can't pretend to be happy and smiling all the time so I deal with it, head on, with my writing about it, today.

Life is a journey of going through the sad days with the joyful days to make it a full life with different seasons in our lives.

At the end of it all, we all must accept life and go with the energy flow as each day appears to us.

And so, I must remind myself and all of you to "BE" with each emotion with a grateful heart, one day at a time. I am grateful for all my emotions today, even the sadness.

With Love & Emotions,

Hai

Georgia's Pear Ambrosia Jam Day

Are you getting a repetitious, even a boring impression that I LOVE my home and what it holds for me by now? Good! lol ha-ha 
I love to share my rainy autumn day in Georgia, today.
Today is beautiful! 
To me, it's what NOT to love on a rainy autumn day here in Georgia?

Yes, I tend to focus and share so much about my life centered on my home, my husband and my simple heart here at our Yellow Cottage. That's just simply who I am and what I love most, to share most!  I am truly a simple home-girl in my comfies when I am in my barbie-size cottage kitchen and LOVIN' IT so much!

A rainy day like this today is so special for me to slumber in bed just a little longer this morning before I get to harvest my last ripe pears to filled a bushel full.

Nowhere to rush out on a day like this but to slow down and to sit down on my porch to peel each pear while my Teddy Bear always sits next to me for company. 





The rain has been steadily and gently watering my gardens nicely all day. Thank you, Mother Nature! I love rainy days because I know my gardens love it too!

From time to time, I glanced over my working hands, peeling the sticky pears over my lap as I take in my home, my stillness, my peace to just be with today's dark skies. Simple pleasure to look out over at my gardens and to see beyond our plain two acres of open pastures, feeling the cool wet rain on my face and hear the rain drops against our tin roof porch, I feel all of life in today's presence.  It's a perfect day!

I see our working white truck parked nearby a pile of woods as my next task for another day.  My thought wished my husband was there right then. He often works on our many chores around our cottage with his white truck. 


I miss him. I miss his presence here today to be with me in my stillness. I miss all the noises he makes when he works from one project to the next project, around our home. I miss his labor of love for us, today as I sat here. 


I miss hearing his country western music he often plays on the radio to keep him company while he works, sweats and always with his oversized cup of water, sitting nearby.

My true love is presence in my heart today as he is working hard in a corporate office for us so I can be at home.  If only he is here to complete that perfect picture on this rainy day for me. So, I set that happy thought aside with knowing that he will be home soon.  
I even love the heartaches of missing my husband today with the excitements to meet up at the airport on Friday and meet our friends for the evening in the city. My heart is so full of life, just "being" still.

Well, I got back to "doing" my tasks at hand to get these pears ready to be cooked. 



I brought them inside and chopped them up to cubed sizes; add my pineapple cubes and orange slices before I can simmer them slowly for the next 4-5 hours before I get to put them in jars.

So, on this rainy day, I am enjoying making my jams from our orchard.  I make it every year, whether it is figs, blueberries or pears each year. I enjoy sending them out to friends and family for the holidays to eat them from our yellow cottage farm. I am making my Pear Ambrosia Jam, today.

I am not an expert or even good at making preservatives or jams but I do attempt at it each year to honor them and then give them away to others to enjoy. These fruits have been given to us so abundantly so I feel bad if I don't at least attempt to use what God has given to us on our abundant little lot of land in Georgia. 

I get so much joy of home and the simple spiritual connection in the ritual when I make them. The smell of  cooking pears on my stove has permeated our little cottage on this rainy day while I write my blog about it.

I am CENTERED and at PEACE to be with myself. To be so content, safe and grounded at home in this simple way on this rainy autumn day in Georgia is a greatest blessing for me.  


I am truly living my happiness, my simple life that I have dreamed so often. 
I am standing in the midst of my dream.

My Teddy Bear is always near to keep me company

 With Love & Happiness,

Hai

What's your Simply Meaningful?

Yesterday, I watched a show on "Braveheart Women", on defining what's your "simply meaningful" and I knew it right away for me. 


It's different for everyone but it reminds us to take note in the simple pleasures of life.

Since I have been traveling so much in this past year and a half with my commute corporate husband, being home on a regular basis this pass 4 weeks has brought me EVEN MORE meanings & appreciation!

I truly appreciate having my simple daily routine to be home more than anywhere else on earth.
I appreciate going to my closet and not to my suitecase.
I appreciate making my coffee from the same coffee pot and reach for the same cup and creamer.
I appreciate waking up and walking outside in my pjs to say good morning to all my happy dogs with my hot coffee in hand.

I appreciate giving them their morning love and treats each day. And while they eat, I enjoy my coffee at our picnic table under this oak tree, like this morning.

I am grateful for what's in front of me, more & more! 

HOME is my "simply meaningful" to my soul! I am willing to give up everything else to keep my peace.

So, what's your simply meaningful?

With Love & Meaningful,


Hai