Sweet Spots of a HollyDay

November 21, 2017 So much to do, so little time! Some people look forward to the holidays as time for family and fun, but I find that the older I get I see a to do list getting longer and longer and the holiday breaks away from school and work allow me to take a breath for a moment to catch up. Today I have a day off, but my to do list is a mile long, not just for today but for the entire holiday week. 10 Assignments due when I get back to school 4 loads of laundry to start the week and then a few more at the end Food to make Bedroom to clean Closet to get back in order Kittens claws to trim Christmas shopping to do Preparations for finals And then there are the things that I'm forgetting but will hopefully remember in time. As I look at all of these things and think about how little time I have, I have to remind myself what this particular holiday week is about. We are approaching Thanksgiving and in that I have so much to be thankful for. Instead of looking at

Tuesday November 6, 2017 For my birthday a few days ago my best friend gave me a jar of what she labeled 'Smiles, Quotes and Inspiration' so I thought I would take what I pulled from there to write today. The rules of the jar are simple, take one per day if needed but if it is a good day and you don't need a pick me up then save it for another day. The past few days have been okay and I have only pulled two notes and below is what they had to say: "Since a smile is a decision, why not make the choice?" "Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it's the little voice at the end of he day that says 'I'll try again tomorrow." **EDIT:  Mary Anne Radmacher is the author of this quote!*** I don't know where they originated but I needed both of these statements. My goal for this month and the foreseeable future is to find the silver lining. No matter the situation I am trying to find the good and focus on that instead of dragging myself

October 31, 2017 Happy Halloween! My family never really got into the Halloween spirit but as I have gotten older it is one of my favorite holidays! As an adult it is the one holiday of the year that you can dress up all crazy and it is perceived as normal! Halloween is a time to express your creativity and be whoever you want to be. Typically my theme is Disney characters. Over the past few years I have been Astrid from How to Train your Dragon, Flower from Bambi, Joy from Inside Out and this year a Werewolf (Though I couldn't think of a Disney movie that specifically had a Werewolf in it, my original intention was just a wolf which could be from Beauty and the Beast). Seeing children so excited to dress up and get candy and seeing a neighborhood join together to go all out and come together is an amazing thing. Halloween is one of the times that gives the opportunity to really see the community come out and not barricade themselves behind doors and screens. So my challeng

October 24, 2017 "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..." famous words of Robert Frost, but the question is... are there really only two roads? In life are there ever just two roads? We make decisions everyday but rarely are there only two options. There are always the two options of action verses in action but what about what action to make. Making decisions is hard, especially when you are stuck in a rut of wrong decisions. There are times when it seems like all we make is wrong decision after wrong decision, but when and how can one get back on the good decision track? There are points in life when it seems that no matter what we do we always seem to mess up. We make some sort of mistake, make the wrong decision, hurt someone we care about and it seems like we can't make it right. Sometime all it takes to correct is simply asking for help. Ultimately we can't do everything alone and especially when looking from the inside out sometimes we will miss the obvious

October 19, 2017 Reading is hard. At least those are the words we constantly hear. Yes reading is hard but it doesn't have to be. I love to read, but only those books that interest me. There are people who legitimately struggle to read, even books on topics that are interesting to them, why... I think it goes back to how they were taught to read. Many times in school we HAVE to read. It is a requirement in every subject but sometime the words are hard and those who struggle don't get the help they need so then what... they give up. They shut down and quit. These students go on to become adults that also do not read. Our minds need text, even just a little every now and then, so to have people who can't or don't want to because it is difficult to read just saddens me. As a teacher I hope that I can make reading enjoyable for my students instead of just a drudge. I hope they can create the pictures of the story in their minds and let it transport them to places they

October 17, 2017 Inspiration In a biblical context the root word literally means 'God breathed.' Yet how does that apply in everyday life? Sometimes we are asked what inspires us and where our inspiration comes from and how many times do we have an answer for that? When we look at creative writing typically people say they are inspired to write. So how does inspiration, God, and creative writing go together... they are all connected by life. God breathed the life we have into our beings and from there we are able to go throughout our day and enjoy the world we have been blessed with. Inspiration for writing typically comes from our experiences, what goes on in our everyday life and what we see. Without the breath of life we wouldn't be here to write, therefore we would be squandering our opportunity to share with others the unique experiences of our life if we didn't write. So my charge to you... keep writing, as often as possible, about whatever you can find in