Moody Monday's: Time to say good-bye to 2014

tlpoague

Wow, where did the year go?

It seems like only yesterday I sat at my computer to post my first blog. Now, here I am posting the last one for the year. Time is flying by, and yet, I don't feel that much older.

This year has been a challenging one for me, both physically and mentally. All day I have contemplated what to write about. (If this was a short story, I would be done by now.) So, after much thought, and many re-writes, I will focus instead on twelve things that have impacted me this year. 

12. Kicking fear to the curb and taking the chance to start something new. I have sat with this blog being stagnant for a couple of years because I didn't know what I was doing. I'm not very tech savvy so this was a big step for me to learn something new. I am glad I did it. I have met many people that have become friends and learned quite a bit.

11. Learning how to develop myself as a writer. I have found that when I write online vs. my off-line creative writing, I tend to be pretty shallow with my writing online. (Unless it dealt with family drama.) I don't know why that is but it is something I have picked up on. In the future I will have to find a way to remedy that if I continue to write online.

10. March was a month of challenges. My faith in God, family, writing, and supportive husband helped me to keep my sanity in March with the birth of our grandson, death of my mother-in-law days later, and writing challenges. (The family was still recovering from the previous year with similar events when these happened.) I seen myself grow in many ways during this time. 

9. Selling our business and taking a vacation. (I had forgotten what it was like to sit back and relax.) I love the time I spent visiting with my son and family.

8. How faith, scripture, prayer, and a bucket of humor helps to deal with life's little box of craziness. (Of course...don't forget the family...or a loving supportive hubby.)

7. Learning to cope with someone that has cancer. I have found strength where I didn't think I had it when I found out my mother has cancer. That same strength has helped me to deal with my dad and husband's health issues. (I have seen the power of prayer working many times during this year.)
6. Planting a garden and going back to my roots. So many memories as a child involved harvesting our own food, whether it was fishing, hunting, or gardening. This year my hubby and I planted a garden and enjoyed canning it. We also enjoyed making snack sticks to munch on this winter.
5. Sometimes it is okay to take a break. With so much going on in my family, I had to step away from writing online for a bit. I felt guilty about it, but at the same time, I knew my writing would suffer if I felt I wasn't giving 100% to it. I also took this time to begin editing my novel I wrote six years ago.
4. Letting your light shine will help others to shine their's. This year I wanted to focus on my crafts as much as my writing. Along the way I was able to help others learn a craft or get back into the crafts they use to do. This has created a closer bond between us. I feel that I have learned a lot from them while helping them.
3. The friends and acquaintances I have made during this writing journey. I have wrote off and on online for five years now. I have come to know many writers during that time. This year showed me a group of writers that went the extra distance to show how much they care. From simple personal messages online, midnight chats, to taking a moment to send a card...I have developed a special bond with these people I have never met. Thank you! You will never be far from my mind and have a special place in my heart.
2. Life is crazy. Things happen. It is how we deal with it that develops our character. It has taken me a long time to see past the negativity of things that happen and look for the positive. As warped as my humor can be sometimes, it has helped me to get through some dark moments. (I am very grateful the Lord blessed me with bucketfuls of humor.) I also feel blessed beyond the worth of material possessions with the family I have. (I love spoiling my grandsons!)
1. Growing with Christ. I had my eyes opened this year to new literature I had come across. Things that I thought I knew had been erased. Things I never understood before now have a new meaning. I am excited to explore more of  these amazing avenues. For once in my life things make sense and my questions are getting answered. In this excitement, I see my writing developing into something more. Into the direction I knew I wanted to go but didn't know how to get there. If you have never heard of LA Marzulli, Rob Skiba, Steve Quayle, or Tom Horn, be sure to take the time to check them out. Amazing stuff there!
And that wraps up this year's last Moody Monday.
Due to family health issues, I will be taking a break again for awhile. I will never truly give up writing online (since it is so addictive) but it will be less consistent than my goals were this year. I have enjoyed this year of learning, growing, and developing deeper friendships. I will always appreciate the fans, readers, and writers that have been a part of this journey.
Take care, stay warm, and enjoy the new year!

Moody Monday's: Feeling Blessed

tlpoague

I woke up this morning feeling under the weather. This put a damper on my mood to write...a long with any topics I had thought to write about. All day, while trying to over-come the stomach bug, I tossed ideas about. Nothing sounded up to par.
So...I sit here, sipping a cup of coffee, and thinking about how blessed I have been this last year.
My writing hasn't gone in the direction I had planned when I made my New Year's resolution. Instead, my research for my stories have led me down a different path with different views. I think this will help to enrich some of my stories I have been working on. (This also began the process of un-learning a few things.)
I have been blessed with another grandson earlier this year. It is amazing to see how fast time flies as I watch this young man blossom. Between him and his brother, my days have been full keeping up. (Hence the reason why my online writing has slowed down.)

Photo by tlpoague
It seems like just yesterday my children were babies.

Photo by tlpoague
Now I have two grandchildren. They are such a blessing.

 The reality of how short life is hit hard again this year. I won't go into details about it because I wrote about some of those experiences in my earlier blogs. It also impressed upon me how God works in our lives and in answering prayer. I know some of these experiences deepened my faith in the Lord.

This year we sold our business due to health issues. It is so weird to say we are retired now because I feel like I am working harder now, than when we ran our business.
In its place, I have taken up crafting again to go with my writing. I have never seen myself as being that talented. Just the average Jane learning something new.

Photo by tlpoague
This is a hat that I made with matching earrings
and necklace.

Photo by tlpoague
Here is a toddler bed Mr. P. and I
made. I didn't realize how easy it was
to make a quilt with matching crib sheet.

Photo by tlpoague
This could be used as a child head band
or a choker. 

Photo by tlpoague
This is one of many blankets
with matching caps.

Photo by tlpoague
This is one of the scarves I made
for my mother whom is
battling cancer.

Photo by tlpoague
Since I couldn't stop with just one,
I made a second one to go with it.

Because I didn't think I had enough to do with all of that, I talked my hubby into trying our hand at canning again. Something we haven't done since we were kids. 

Photo by tlpoague
A batch of chili for those cold,
snowy days.

Photo by tlpoague
Our first try at jelly.
It should come with its own
warning label.
Very addictive!

Saving the best for last, to wrap up this rambling, I am blessed not just with my family...but the friends I have met online through the social networks and writing websites. You guys mean more to me than you will ever know. I wouldn't be here trying this online writing thing if it wasn't for all of you. Thank you for your support, prayers, and encouragement. 

To me, this Christmas is more than just the over-rated commercials, last minute gifts, and hoopla. It has been a moment to take a breath, relax, reflect on the times gone by, and enjoy this moment...here and now. People will forget about the gifts five minutes or five years from now. But, they won't forget about the people who touched their lives in so many ways. 

I would like to invite you to join me on TSU. It is a new social website where I am sharing my writings and others. It is by invite only, so I would like to extend this invite to you...https://www.tsu.co/TLPoague

Moody Monday's: The Lengths People Will Go To Earn A Buck

photo by tlpoague

It is one of those rare, quiet mornings where I feel the urge to get up and tackle my day before the sun rose. I grabbed my usual cup of coffee and headed to the computer.
Have you ever caught yourself in a moment where you truly admit you are addicted to something? I sure did, I popped open Facebook in the hopes of getting a message back from a fellow patron. I was disappointed to not see the icon stating I had a message, but it didn't keep me from the thrill anyway. Once I browse through the added garbage that often shows up on my feed, I was off to do some writing.
This was halted by the thought of checking my posts on Bubblews.
“It would only take a second” I thought to myself.
Thirty minutes later I found myself reading a post that had been stolen from a previous post I had just read.
It amazed me the boldness (and length) people will go to make money. It also was a stark reminder how easy it is to loose your earnings to someone like this.
How hard is it to be creative? Something tells me that if you have to steal content to be a writer...you shouldn't be in that field. Find something that you are good at and let your creativity shine.
This led me to thinking about this weekend and the excitement surrounding it. If you are a reader that surrounds the state of Kansas, you may have heard of the Hwy 36 Treasure Hunt. All along Hwy 36 from the Colorado border, across Kansas, to the Missouri border, will be a three day Kansas wide garage sale.
I have met many people that spend a better portion of the year creating projects just for this sale. Some of them refurbish old items to give them new life. Others quilt, knit, crochet, or sew items to show off their talents. My favorites are the food...and of course the hidden gems.
It is very much like a treasure hunt. Short of a flea market, I don't think I have seen so many garage sales in my life.
If you are out and about this weekend, and in the area, I would recommend checking it out. You never know what you will find. As for me...well...I've got a few projects to finish in the hopes of making a buck.

The necklace, headbands, and tin can are a few of the projects I have made.
photo by tlpoague

Nothing makes a day of shopping more enjoyable than cookies.
photo by tlpoague

Each of the projects here I made.
photo by tlpoague

Homemade goats soap. It is the best I have found so far.
photo by tlpoague

This lady had loads of time on her hands. She crochet each one of these.
photo by tlpoague

What a cute Christmas gift to give a child this year.
photo by tlpoague

Ordinary or Extraordinary?

Photo by tlpoague

Molly

She toys with the keys on the keyboard. Her mind like a blank canvas. The creation is there swirling about, but for some unknown reason won't birth itself. She taps out a sentence. It sounds awful...hopeless and depressing. Why won't the words flow like they are suppose to? Why does it seem so difficult tonight? How is it some people make writing look so easy? Presenting her with writer's block once again, these questions and more haunt her.  She hits delete, exits out of the window, and shoves herself away from the computer in defeat for now.

Colleen

She crochets five double crochet stitches in the row of her afghan. Stretching her project out, she counts how many rows  are needed to finish. Like a neon sign she sees a gap in her work six rows back. She realized that she had missed a stitch. The thought of leaving it tantalized her. Unfortunately, it was too obvious of a mistake to not correct. Slowly she began to unravel hours of work.

Eunnie 

She loved the feel of bread dough between her fingers as she kneaded the dough before her. She felt a calm wash over her with the squishing motion. There was something special, almost magical, about making bread from scratch. It would have been easier and quicker to do it in the bread machine her husband had bought her, but this was her preference. To give a part of herself to each creation. It was something that she felt was soon becoming a lost art when she reflected on others that were her age. She molded the bread into a ball. smoothed the sides and top with oil, and placed it in a bowl to rise.

Each of these women are ordinary women doing an every day task that they enjoyed. From the inside they see themselves as average, normal people. What makes them step from the boundaries of ordinary to extraordinary?
For myself, it was the ability to go beyond what was expected. I was told that I am not afraid to learn something new. (Ya...right, don't ask me to bungee jump off a cliff.) Each one of these women here are a part of myself. I learned at a young age homemaking skills that many at my age either forgot how to do, or don't know how to do it. I learned to hunt, fish, grow gardens, cook and bake from scratch, needlepoint, basic sewing, cross stitching, crocheting, and the list goes on. I love singing and writing. Many of my younger years were spent with my nose buried in a book if I wasn't helping my mother with something.
I am not writing this to brag. It had never really occurred to me how many talents I was blessed, from God, with until a friend pointed it out. I just assumed everyone could do the things I do.

Photo by tlpoague

Take camping for example. In today's world the first thing to come to mind when the word "camping" is mentioned is an RV. A mobile unit with all the latest gadgets of luxury. In my mind is a tent, sleeping bags, outhouse (if one was provided), and the knowledge of how to cook over an open fire. I guess the word used today is "survival skills". I was oblivious to the fact that some people can't cook on an open fire. It takes a lot of practice and a certain amount of talent to do it.
There are a lot of things that I can't do that I am glad God blessed others with the talent to do. I can't figure out computer lingo. I am lucky enough to know out how to attach a picture to this article. Things like how to place the html into a link to earn money on my adsense is complicated. I am horrible at math. I have a fear of heights and am impressed to watch people jump from planes or any other kind of height. (I nearly had a stroke to see my son in the derricks of an oil rig.)
My point to all this babble is to ask...has someone told you that they felt you were an extraordinary person?
Jesus took twelve ordinary men and turned them into extraordinary people that went beyond the call of duty. Yes, even Judas was an extraordinary person. He downfall was the mistake of letting the love of money overcome the love of his Savior.
If you feel ordinary, what do you think it would take to become an extraordinary person? Inquiring minds would like to know.

tlpoague 2014