by Sarah | Jan 22, 2019 | All About Family, All About Me, All of Us, Florida Dreaming, Oola, Personal, Redefining Perfect, Story of Me
Last month I participated in this wonderful event run by an Ojibwe Medicine Woman called the 21 Day Ceremony Challenge.
The whole thing was amazing, powerful, so intense. I learned things about myself. I built up my altar with new items and offerings. It was a wonderful way to spent a few minutes every day focusing on myself.
One day, pretty early in the process, she sent us on a little guided meditation to find the spirit animal that would be guiding us on our journey.
Honestly, it took me several tries to get in the right frame of mind to truly get into it. I expected something like the fox or deer I’d recently seen.
Nope.
My spirit guide came plodding along on all fours. Green. Bumpy. Big teeth.
An alligator.
Honestly…I had to really take a few minutes to digest it. I’ve seen all sorts of spirit animals from spiders to horses to hawks and even mice.
But an alligator? What?
Then, I thought more about it – and it makes total sense.
For one, the obvious, we are planning to move to Florida. What’s crazy-prevalent in Florida? Alligators, of course.
Then there’s the fact that my middle one, Molly, has had the nickname of “Gator” since she was a baby. It’s a cute story about a onesie and an enamored daddy…but we’ll save that for another time.
Once I sat with the knowledge for a while, I took in the lessons he brought me.
His message to me was to work hard at being my authentic self, which I have always struggled with. The rest will fall into place if I continue accepting and becoming my true self. His presence with me tells me to continue my path of sticking to my guns and know that even though I’m gifted with emotional understanding, I don’t have to allow myself to be dragged into the chaos and mire of others drama.
So I’m happy to walk with the alligator, and let him be my guide…
And proudly say that I’d bet anything my spirit animal is weirder than yours. Which is just how I like it.
by Sarah | Jan 19, 2019 | 50 before 50, All About Me, All of Us, Bucket List, Oola, Personal, Redefining Perfect, Story of Me
Well, I haven’t taken a hard look at my 50X50 status since 2017…so I knew that it was time to remedy that. I need to change some things, add in some completed items and well, just tidy that thing all the way up. It’s been neglected far too long.
So join me, won’t you? Let’s see what awesomeness we have done, or I’m changing, or what is staying the same level of awesomeness.
Color Code:
Newly Done (past 2 years)
Previously Done
New
Updated
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50 X 50
Take a real vacation. (Not to Buffalo, not w/ the kids) (Done 4/23/12)Take my kids to Disney World. (Done, thanks to Make-A-Wish 10/28/14, and again 10/28/15, and again on our own dime 12/22/2017)See my name in print (get published, e-zine, paper-zine). (Done 6/24/12 – Sirens Call June 2012 Issue)Have a novel published. (Done 2/8/13 – Changing Tracks & 17 more times [so far] by 7/18/15)- Get my Dominion Falls books series in front of a producer.
- Complete every item on my Disney Bucket Lists (there are 3-easy, long-term, difficult).
- Take a photography class (or 2 or 3)
Perform on stage again (done 12/4/15 – Violet Grey in A Charlie Brown Christmas)- Learn to snorkel
- See Colorado
- See Yellowstone
- Go skydiving. [Yes, I feel slightly insane here]
Go to a blogger’s conference. (done 4/23/12)Sit at a book signing. (Done March 2018 at a conference in Nashville!)- Get on a regular exercise regime & stay on it for more than 3 months. (I did this in 2018, then fell off the wagon at peak of fitness. My goal is to achieve again in 2019 and stick with it)
Hand craft (knit, sew) 1 item for ME for a change. (DONE 4/1/12)- Watch the baby turtles hatching
Get some crazy color in my hair (purple, blue, pink highlites/streaks) Done 2/11/12- Read the Harry Potter series aloud to my girls. (2/3 of the way through by 8/4/17)
Sing Karaoke (Done April 2018 – much to my embarrassment.)- Get up close with the wolves & photograph them at Wolf Park. (odds of getting this done before I leave Indiana – now nil. Hoping there’s something similar in FL)
- Move to Florida.
- Pay off debt. (Making progress on this for the first time ever. Maybe it will get done!)
Get a car that is less than 2 years old (Done March 2018 – my 2017 Honda Accord Sport)Run a 5k. Done 9/22/12 Do something daring (paragliding, zipline, etc.) Done 7/14/12See the butterflies at the Indy Zoo (Done 3/19/13)- Learn sign language.
Go on a road trip with a girlfriend (Done Sept. 2018)- Go on a hot air balloon ride
See Cirque du Soleil (Done 6/27/2012)- Ride a horse – not a trail horse. A real ride on a horse.
Volunteer (Done 12/2017 at Give Kids the World & in 2018 – Became a Make A Wish Volunteer)- Stop drinking pop. (Again – sooo close in 2018. I would still have the occasional, but I was almost there and crashed. Attempting again now)
Visit Disneyland (Done 5/2/17)Get a tattoo (Done 7/16/11)- Go on a Cruise [preferably Alaskan, but I’m not picky]
Go on a wine tasting (Done 10/16/10)- Get a Henna tattoo
- Take my husband to swim with sharks
- Fly first class
- Read at least 50 of the PBS 100 Great American Reads. (In total I have read 26/50 at this point)
Have a real spa day (Done, thanks to Hubs, 7/2014)Visit a real haunted location (Done 7/16/16)- Sell a photo
- Visit Salem, MA
Visit both US based Disney Parks in one year. (Done in 2017 – Disneyland in May, Disney World in Sept & Dec)See a solar eclipse. (Done 8/21/2017)- Renew vows with a hand-fasting ceremony on the beach.
- Go through a sweat lodge ceremony.
- BONUS: Run a full Disney Marathon (I couldn’t find anything to remove, and this is a goal for me for sure)
It’s so much fun to update the list…and to learn that in the past 2 years I have crossed of EIGHT items! That’s craziness in the best of ways!!
As you can see, many of my updates have to do with our upcoming move to Florida, more geared to things I can/will do down there. I’ve also removed a few items that hadn’t seen progress in a few years, and updated some that needed to be changed (the books site I mentioned previous was different, and the PBS list seemed more attainable).
So what’s on your bucket list? Do you make an effort to knock out at least one a year?
I do…and sometimes I don’t even realize I’d done more until I look at my list!
Once you start, it’s hard to stop tackling those dreams!!
by Sarah | Jan 17, 2019 | All About Family, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, DisneyTips, Redefining Perfect, Universal
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
I’ve done it with crazy intensity, and in a casual jaunt.
I’ve done Disneyland (finally), and Disney World.
I’ve picked up a few tips along the way. And while there re blogs across the web, I wanted to hand out my own Disney advice I’ve learned along the way, and tips I’ll be learning as I begin to go more frequently.
My first tip is – Don’t Overschedule.
There is a LOT to do at Disney. So much, you could go every day of the year and not get it all done.
Once more for the people in the back…
You cannot get everything done at Disney in one trip.
Seriously.
My BEST trips have been when we didn’t have a ton of stuff planned. We had vague ideas of what we wanted to see, key points we wanted to hit…but there wasn’t “THE LIST” or reservations or anything like that.
Do your research, sure.
Make A reservation (maybe 2) of places you really want to eat. Don’t scatter your trip with reservations every day that you have to make it to by a certain time because there are so many variables like wait times and travel time and crowd levels and potty breaks. Though there’s flexibility in your arrival times…it’s still undue pressure you don’t need.
There are so many places at Disney that are counter service and don’t require a reservation and many of them are GOOD (and many also now offer mobile pickup, which we’ll cover another time because YAY). They’re scattered along your route in the park and easy to drop in, grab and get back on the route.
This is MOST key, I think, if this is your first ever trip – ESPECIALLY on your first ever trip with your kids.
Be flexible. Be open. On your research, take note of the restaurants in the areas you plan to be in so you don’t get a bad one (we did our first trip. We still joke about the awfulness…yes, it does happen).
OR…don’t plan.
AT.ALL.
Our first trip with the kids I had vague notes of things I really wanted us to hit, but otherwise it was a free-for-all. The good (and bad) parts of the trip are still ALL good memories. We joke about the bad food, we joke about the painful seats on Molly’s first roller coaster (in an area we had NO designs on going in originally). Nothing we did on that trip was planned. It was amazeballs (and not just because of the Genie pass).
Year 2 was still great…but much more stressful because we had PLANS. We spent 7 months researching and planning and making meal reservations (only 1 of which was worth it…and it wasn’t a character dining…and they were all $$$)…and I was so stressed about “having” to be here or there that I didn’t have as much…FUN.
I experienced the same thing when we went last year with actual passes. The first time we went, hubby and I were able to just take things casual. We spent a lot of time at our resort pool. When the power went out, we headed to the boardwalk for ice cream. Our days in the park were cool and casual, very little ‘planned’ along the way. Unfortunately, later that same year when I took the girls my son decided he had to schedule us fast passes for everything under the sun which led to a lot of flurry of activity that was stressful, especially in the high crowds of Christmas week.
I don’t make this tip lightly, I promise. I come from a long line of planners. My dad loves to plan out vacations to the minute. I was super excited for that second Disney year because Denver and I had planned so much…but the planning robs the spontaneity and fun out of Disney.
Definitely, do your research. Think hard about how long you’re going and the crowd predictions and think about your “must-do’s”. Make some general plans…what park(s) what day…what key things to hit. Make a reservation or two (I’ve got some suggestions in later posts)…sketch out days lightly, don’t set them in stone with Sharpie’s…
Because at Disney – the fun is in the spontaneous and unpredictable.
Let yourself get pulled off course – that is where the fun is.
by Sarah | Jan 13, 2019 | All About Me, All of Us, Blogging Life, Gratitude, Redefining Perfect
As part of my Oola journey, I’m making an effort to be more grateful. My daily planner has a place specifically labeled for Gratitude. I’d like to spread some of that love here, too.
I am grateful for –
Our plans to move to Florida, which helped me kick the smoking habit FINALLY (2 months smoke-free!)
My husband – who not only pushes me to do better…but to love myself more.
My son – who makes regular efforts to speak to his mother, even though he’s 1,000 miles away.
My finished afghan – it took me months to make, and it’s beautiful, and I hope I sell it soon.
My girls – wacky and dark and obnoxious and so many things…but most of all still so very sweet and loving.
Learning to set boundaries.
Freedom from toxicity.
Growing a pair.
Love.
Pets.
The moon.
by Sarah | Jan 12, 2019 | All of Us, Blogging Life, BlogRollin', Redefining Perfect
Once Upon A Time Blogs Littered the Interwebs.
There were lots of us in the OG days. I’ve always been a small fish in a pretty damn big pond. Hell, I still am. Many blogs are gone, some are bigger than ever, some are new. I’m still chugging along in fits and spurts…not as often as I’d liked to have in previous years, if for no other reason than to have a record.
But I digress.
Blogging is both old-school and totally new-fangled. To those of us still trucking along with original content, it’s important to stick together.
Still, I want to share some of my favorite finds over the month and hope to do one or two of these a month. Yup, I’m a small fish…but if I can send even one new viewer their way, then I’ve done my part to share the love. Be forewarned, they range from my sort of blog, to finance, to total geekery…and they’re ALL fabulous.
So, without further ado…
A Hysterectomy at 37 – Brittany, Herself certainly doesn’t need any help getting traffic…after all, she’s immensely popular, beautiful and witty (have I mentioned, I want to be her when I grown up?)…but I found this post particularly important. As having an “early” hysterectomy myself once…I totally get this.
Can’t Even Tell – Ali Martell, of Cheaper Than Therapy…another old school blogger with many friends and fans…but I felt her deeply on this one. It hit me in the feels.
Star Trek Coming to the Children’s Museum – Probably (not) a shocker, but I met Tony at a Star Wars event here in Indy. With our Geeking in common, I keep a close watch on him on Twitter and FB. He’s always got great local geeking tips…but most exciting of all is the arrival of Star Trek to TCMIndy!!
31 Days of Financial Decluttering – Cherie and I have been friends since the stone age of my blog…and hers. She’s as good a person inside as you’d think. Now we’re both authors, and one of us is debt free (hint: it’s not me!!). As I’m trying to accomplish that monumental task, I’m really enjoying these 31 days of Decluttering. They are taking a big task and putting it into 31 perfectly manageable little challenges so tat I’ve even been following along.
Once Choice – Liz is another local friend of mine that I’ve known for a while. I really enjoyed her New Years post this year and the simplicity of tackling one month at a time instead of the whole year.
Things that Were Very Much a Feed for 80s Girls – Yeah, I know…it’s one of THOSE big click-bait sort of blogs…but this post IS my childhood.
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That’s it for now. I’m keeping my eye out for more. If you think I missed YOURS, let me know in a comment here! I’d love to find some new feeds for my reader!
Last month I participated in this wonderful event run by an Ojibwe Medicine Woman called the 21 Day Ceremony Challenge.
