This is the day that the Lord has made....

Let us rejoice in it and get busy!!

I took a day off work to catch up and refocus on my goals for this year. First, my husband and I did our Bible study together. Next, I completed our taxes and the FAFSA for my son's admission to college. Then, on to the tasks I love to put off: cleaning bathrooms, calling the plumber, etc. And, as soon as I complete this posting, I am off to do my weekend cooking, (which I love to do!) - chicken vegetable soup and homemade spaghetti sauce. Then, I will work on tasks for three nonprofits I help out. My goal? To get these miscellaneous tasks done so I can focus on my writing - in 3 hours, I want no excuses to stop me from moving ahead with my passions.

I love days when I force myself to stay focused and on task - when I check items off and then reach the time to do "the big stuff" - my time for dreams and goals. The Bible reading starts the day off on the right track - it reminds me Whom I serve and Whom I love most.

What gets you energized? How do you stay focused and productive?

Jump in here!

Blessings -

Lisa

Dreams ... and dreams

This blog - "Prairie Dreams" is dedicated to the hopes, dreams, plans, wishes, desires that we all have within us - and how we can take those little seeds, plant them, nurture them, and make them grow.

But what about actual dreams - the types we drift into, where stories in bits and pieces - through odd twists and turns - come to us with little effort on our part. Do they have any meaning? Is our mind or spirit "speaking" to us?

This was the topic of conversation at our breakfast table this morning. It all started when my husband and I realized we had had exactly the same dream - within two days of each other. In the dream, we are in a house which we own, but we have forgotten we owned it, and it has been abandoned for years - yet full of the debris of previous owners. Although we describe the homes in the dreams as very different homes, in both cases we own the homes, we have forgotten about them, they are in disrepair, and we are trying to decide what to do with them.

So, what to make of it? I did a quick search of the Internet to see what dream interpreters would make of such things - not knowing if I believe in such a "science" or not. Homes apparently represent the dreamer - so, it seems they would say that both my husband and I have parts of ourselves we have forgotten and that have been neglected and are coming back to mind. Hmmm....

Do you believe in dreams? Do you ever act on them?
Jump in here!
Lisa

Snow on the Prairie....

I know it's coming and yet, somehow, I am always surprised and unprepared... snow? SNOW! This time, three-to-four inches of it, with drifts twice that depth.

When the first snow hits, it always reminds me of Christmas in Connecticut - that scene, when Bing Crosby and the two blond leads sing" Snow, snow, snow, snow, snoooow". Of course, they are all indoors looking out the window when they burst out into song. Somehow, I don't think they would have that same gusto if they were outside, with wind gusts of 40 miles an hour and a wind chill of minus 5 degrees, as we were last night when we came home to "snow".

But, just as I was getting caught up in my middle aged grumpiness about shoveling and salt and brrrr.... my dog caught the spirit of new fallen snow - she jumped out of the car and tore through the drifts, zigging and zagging as she went - snow crystals flying in the air as she "led" me up the drifted walk. As I slugged along, snow up to my knees as times, I couldn't help but laugh. 

But, I didn't sing....

Lisa

Plan your work, and work that plan...

...and yes, exercise is part of my plan!


Am I batting a 100% with my resolutions?  No. But, I am moving forward on them, checking them off. For the first time in 27 years, my husband is participating in two of my goals with me: exercise and Bible study. And, it is nice to have a partner.


Speaking of having a partner, I have found that that is one of the secrets of achieving goals and of moving ahead with dreams. What are some other techniques that work for me? 

I find that it is important for me to write down my goals, breaking them into achievable small pieces, and then scheduling the completion of each of those pieces. I have them in my task list in my IPad but I also write them down and check them off. Lastly, I review my goals for the next day each evening so I know what I want to accomplish for the day the moment I wake up.


This mild prairie winter certainly helps! It bolsters my mood and makes spring feel that much closer.


What do you do to achieve your goals? Jump in here and share! I'd love more tips!
Lisa

Those Little Touches...

When I leave town, I always miss home. Yes, I miss the biggest parts of "home" - my husband, children, the house itself - but I also find that I miss the little things - the things that perhaps I don't appreciate as much as I should when I am surrounded by them.


What do these "little things" include? Here are just a few:


1. My fireplace(s) - we have a gas fireplace, a wood-burning fireplace, and one that simply isn't safe (one of my dreams is to purchase a gas insert for that one!). There is something about a fireplace, when lit, that warms the spirit with the room. Our gas fireplace can be seen from outside, and my husband always comments how he loves to pull into our driveway and see the fire blazing.


2. My kitchen - if you love to cook, your kitchen start to reflect your taste - in both decor and in food. I love puttering in my kitchen, making peppermint tea, trying new recipes, even making homemade dog biscuits. In many respects, the kitchen is my playground.


3. Sunsets - Okay, these don't come exclusively with my house, but I do live on top of a hill, and so the sunsets over the valley are fantastic. My husband and I love to spend those last moments of daylight, watching the sun creep below the horizon, and then the array of colors the clouds reflect until everything becomes shades of blue, gray, and black. It is our favorite time of day -"our time". When I am out of town, I miss those moments a great deal.


4. My gardens - during the spring, summer, and fall, I love to "play" in my garden, trying new herbs, flowers, and veggies each year. Last year, for the first time, I grew white pumpkins. I put in a bed of asparagus. I am already making plans for next year. And, that is the beauty of gardening - there is always next year!


What small things do you love about your home???


Blessings~
Lisa

Taking Advantage of Opportunities...

Okay, I admit it. I frequently don't take advantage of the opportunities that come my way. I pick up a newspaper or read a local news blog and discover that an event, speaker, writer - something - is coming near my hometown -- and I don't go. I can come up with a million reasons why I can't go - I am too busy, I have other plans, it is too cold, I haven't been home all week, etc. 


This year, one of my pledges to myself was to stop finding reasons to say "no" and instead find reasons to say "yes". One of the events to which I recently said "yes" was a dinner with P. Buckley Moss. I have always enjoyed her art that features many people, scenes, and aspects of prairie life. She is absolutely delightful! She visited with anyone who wanted to talk, signed the artwork those in attendance had brought, and related so well with the audience, you would think she was a "hometown girl"


Saying yes is often rewarding - don't let life pass you by!

Changing of the seasons means...

...breaking out the new feeders! The hummingbird and oriole feeders now sit in our spare bathtub, waiting to be cleaned and put away. We put out the winter feeders, filling the finch socks with Niger seed, the hanging bird trays with black sunflower seed, and suet feeders (as seen above) with fresh fat.

The prairie is still ripe with seed, so we aren't seeing many birds yet. But soon, as the cold winds continue to drive the seed to the ground, and the snow and ice fall, our feeders will be abuzz with activity.

On my Christmas list this year, I have placed a heated bird bath. One of my good friends told me that it is the best way to attract and keep winter birds at the feeders.

So, a bit of our prairie dream: watching the feeders as fall fades and winter makes her appearance.

What are you doing to mark the season's changing?

Lisa

Keeping track....

Yikes - I flipped the calendar over this week, and realized that the "Day of Reckoning" in terms of my 2011 plans/ goals/ dreams was almost at hand.

So, how have I done so far? I decided to take an inventory of some of my goals/ dreams (I won't catalog them all here, because as my kids would be happy to tell you "Her resolutions take pages!"), but here are a few:

1.  Lose 25 pounds - I have lost 9 lbs. My goal is to lose 3-4 more pounds before the end of the year to reach my halfway point.

2. Finish writing my book and send it off to an editor- this is one of my "dreams" - I define dreams as goals straight from the heart. I was successful in completing my book, and it is in the hands of three editors. This goal is right on track.

3. Move my two nonprofit organizations ahead - I have made small progress with one, very little with the other. This is a new goal for 2012.


4. Develop a new friendship - this goal was achieved in surprising ways. An old friend from the past and I reconnected and have been corresponding, now making plans to have dinner.  A surprising way to make a "new friend".


What are your dreams and goals? What success have you had in moving them forward? What are your plans for 2012?
 

Simple Dreams....

We all have dreams.. big dreams, long range dreams, seemingly unobtainable dreams. I have those dreams, too. But today I want to focus on a small dream - it was a longstanding dream, and yet a small little dream. The dream of owning a Maltese puppy.

I had been raised with yorkies - and I love them! They are feisty, small in stature - but large in personality. They will take on the world. We have always had a yorkie in the house, until my daughter got married this summer and took "her" baby to her new home. And with that, I lost two kiddos!

I found our next dog (actually she found me) when someone dumped my part Golden Retriever, part Irish Wolfhound - and part many other breeds - on the side of the road with her puppy. Someone was kind enough to take the two orphan dogs to the vet. The puppy was adopted immediately, but not mamma dog. Our vet knows I am a soft touch, so the office called to let me know that this dog was going to be put to sleep if no one wanted her. Needless to say, she has been part of our household ever since.

My husband was raised with Boston Terriers - and has passed on this tradition to our sons - so we have had a Boston in our home for over 10 years. Even with all of these canines, I never gave up my desire for a Maltese puppy - soft and silky, with jet black eyes, these gentle, quiet lap dogs worm their way into your heart. They are the babies that just want to be held. And with my kiddos one by one exiting my home, I was ready for my new "baby". I did not want to go to a breeder to get the perfect puppy. I have always liked the underdog. So, I searched the rescue dog sites and found a Maltese puppy that a breeder turned over because it needed surgery. After a sixteen hour drive (there and back) through the backwoods of Missouri - we had "Pepper" the new baby of our household.

Dreams - even small dreams - do come true!

Smile - You have Choices!!

Happiness is not about how much cash you have - it is about whether or not you have the ability to realize your dreams - in other words, having choices = happiness.

Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand analyzed questionnaires from 420,000 people in 63 countries and found that individuals who were able to make their own choices - to open a bookstore for example - claimed the highest levels of well-being.

"So while wealth can provide you with more choices, it's really having the ability to realize your dreams that leads to greater happiness," says study coauthor Ronald Fischer, Ph.D.(Source: AARP magazine).
 
I will remind myself of that this week as I choose to edit my book instead inside of going outside and enjoying this gorgeous weather and the autumn-laced trees.... I am happy.... this is my choice...:)

How are you progressing on your goals? Do you feel you have choices - or do you feel stuck?

Let's talk!
 

Saying "Yes" and remembering then to say "No"....

The road to achieving your goals can be full of potholes. One of the biggest potholes I find, unfortunately, we dig ourselves.... we say "yes" to a new project, a new obligation, a new commitment - and dig a hole. What we forget - and I am so guilty of this - is that each time we say "yes" to something new that requires our time, we don't say "no" to something that equally (or preferably) consumes more of our time. "Yes" digs the hole in our time - "no" helps fill the hole.

Yesterday, I said "yes" to another position on a community board. I am now searching my obligations to determine what I can let go of - if I don't, I know I will have even less time for my dreams, my prayer life, my family, my de-stress time - the parts of my life that matter most - that I need - in which I find fulfillment. Say "yes" too often - and you push your dreams even further into the future. Say "no" to things that don't matter - and you will enrich your life, find time for your dreams, and bless those you care about with that special, priceless gift: time!

Keeping Dreams Alive....

I think that one of the most challenging parts of making dreams a reality is keeping dreams alive. This is especially true during times when I am overwhelmed with work -or when I am in a down period and just find it plain hard to move my dreams forward.

During these times, I find my lists invaluable. If I can't make progress on my dreams, I can at least make progress organizing my space and my time to work on them. I can take my big dreams and break them down into bite-sized pieces and schedule them in. I can sit down over tea or a glass of wine with my husband and strategize on how to get back on track.

I admit - it isn't easy to keep trudging ahead -especially with dreams that years of planning. But, having achieved several of them - I can you that tell that they are worth the plodding.

As fall begins to settle over the prairie, and the fire grass is starting to blaze its brilliant orange and red hues, I am starting to shift gears and am thinking more of my indoor goals and dreams. As I am closing up my gardens for the year, picking the pumpkins and the last of this season's squash, I am dusting off writing projects and recipes, pulling out the knitting needles and planting indoor herbs.

The dreams that went dormant in summer are stirring with new life!

What are your dreams for the winter months?

Another "Dream" Realized...

I rarely leave work early - so rarely, it is hard to remember the last time I did it. But, I realize now that when opportunity knocks, if you don't answer that door, it just may not knock again.

 So, when my neighbor and good friend Betty called and asked if I would finally like to learn how to make jelly, I absolutely jumped at the chance.

I told all my co-workers, "I am leaving at 2:30 p.m. - I am going to make jelly!!!" Okay, I got a few strange looks, but when they heard the "I'm fulfilling a dream" tone in my statement, they were all there, helping me get out the door.

There is nothing like having a professional for a teacher - and Betty is just that. From artisan bread to canned beef, from an heirloom garden, to pottery - Betty can do it all. I follow her around like a groupie - amazed at what she can do.

Who knew that if you blanch peaches for 1 minute, the skin rolls off? That sugar should not touch the sides when you are adding it to the fruit? That a rolling boil is needed before you start to time the final phase? 

It is so nice to have a teacher right at hand - not doing your work, but talking you through it - and I learned that the fruit "foam" is one of the most amazing parts of the jelly!

Thanks, Betty - another dream fulfilled!

What is your dream? Here are a few of mine...

Now that my nest is emptying, I am disciplining myself. Yes, through the years of raising children, working, paying bills, I have had many dreams - started many projects and then set them aside. But, with my nest ready to dust out, I am focusing on these projects and disciplining myself to get them completed-- all the while indulging in those small endeavors (new recipes, travel, reading) that I love. I am developing and building on my faith life -- seeking to be fruitful.

What are your dreams? The winds are blowing.. before this world "knows us no more" let's jump in a seize the day! Here are a few of the projects I am working on:
  - two writing projects
  - straw bale gardening
  - exercising on a regular basis
   - cooking new recipes
   - meeting new friends

What are some of your goals/ dreams??