Challenge 14

Dear Reader,

It is confession time.  I love pop music- specifically top 40 and Britney Spears and Meghan Trainor and Katy Perry.  I probably shouldn't like it, but I do.  I wish I was more sophisticated and more of a snob.  But I am not.  As someone who struggles with what feels like intense sexual repression from the church and Christianity (that is a whole other bucket of worms that I do not wish to try to figure out here), I am so glad for this music.  It helps me loosen up without going absolutely crazy.  I get just enough movement and enough rhythm to get it out of my system to move on with my somewhat boring life.

Today's challenge was Dance Around the Living Room.  I had to do it quietly and quickly because it is Sunday.  Our house faces the church parking lot for goodness sake.  I don't need everyone looking in and wondering what craziness is going on in there.  Oops!  I already told you in this post- but who is even reading?  No one that I know, certainly.  I just youtubed a Britney Spears Mix and danced in the living room (with a little bit of shame but nevertheless)- I did it.  It is fun!  I usually try to pick a better time to do something like this- night time, everyone gone ect.- but I wasn't sure what I was going to check in with today so I went with the easiest one.  I only wish I had time to do a little Zumba and "Whip Whip Nae Nae". 

Looks like Challenge 18 is the most realistic "Take a Bath" but hopefully I can get the ball rolling on hosting a dinner party if I can get my courage up to do- never know.

What is your favorite music to dance to ?  Or do you not dance?  Let's all loosen up a little.  It keeps me sane. 

Yours Truly,
L.L.

 

Challenge 5 and 13 completed

Dear Reader,

I apologize for the lateness of this post.  We were out till nearly midnight on Saturday at a hockey game needless to say I did not wake up on time for my weekly check in.  Not only did I miss the weekly check in but I started to feel a cold coming on and sure enough this whole week has been me just trying to breath through stuffed up nostrils long enough to get seven hours of sleep.  But I digress, I did end up completing two challenges- though I completed them not in the way I wanted to.  Isn't that pretty much always the way?  At least it is for me.  So here is what happened last week:

#5 Bake a Cake

So my two younger children got in trouble for walking over to church without asking or telling us or anything- in the dark!  Thankfully I don't worry about those things so much- I am more of a free range parent, but my husband is most certainly NOT.  He called the house and had me pick those two little rascals up and they were punished with no TV for a week.  We had a refresher course on the rules and I had them bake a "I'm Sorry" cake for dad.  It ended up being a 3 layered carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting (so sad that I didn't get to bake my Harry Potter poke cake- oh well)

Ariana and the "Sorry" cake

 #13  Learn to cook a new dish

The same day we baked the cake Ariana and I learned how to make Egg Drop Soup- from our Raddish Subscription.  I had never made Egg Drop Soup before so I decided to count it learning to cook a new dish even though I was originally planning on doing something on my own.  But challenges can also be fun with the family if I have willing participants.  Some times I review the Raddish Subscription boxes on my other site Owlowiscious Girls  where I mostly write about the books and fun things I do with my girls.  This site is just for me- for the most part, but the two subjects sometimes overlap. 

Ariana and the Egg Drop Soup

There you have it.  I completed 2 challenges before I had to recover from illness so I think that I did pretty well considering how many things I probably should be doing instead.  I will not be getting any other Happiness Challenges done with the remainder of the week (almost 100 % sure about that).  I am just barely on track with my Reading Challenge and keeping up with my Bible Reading and Gratitude Journal entries.  Next week I will be # 14 Dancing around the living room- celebrating getting over this cold- so that is something to look forward to.

What have you been up to?  Please, share.

Regards,
L.L.

Challenge #8 Listen to the Radio

I do like listening to the radio so this challenge wasn't very hard.  I usually listen to adult contemporary when I am alone in the car because I need the music loud and something I can "dance" to.  But I do listen to Christian music if the DJs aren't talking and my kids are in the car.  We don't even have a CD player in the car so...yes, we do still listen to the radio.  But to make this challenge a little more interesting I thought maybe I would use radio locator and listen to the first one on the dial for an hour and report to my reaction.

So the first one that broadcasts on the Internet is called KMUZ.  It is a local public radio station.  Let's see what they are talking about today...please don't let it be Trump, please don't let it be Trump.....okay, thank God, it is not political.  We open up to...bagpipes.  Alright!

I am listening to something called The Forum and it is a talk with Bill Sullivan!  I love Bill Sulivan!  I met Bill Sulivan!.  He writes all the Oregon hiking books that I love and wish I could just wonder off and hike forever!.  He even said we are taking a vacation from politics- YES!  We are going to talk about D.B. Cooper.  Now I want to read his book The Case of D.B. Cooper's Parachute.

It appears this talk is about what makes a folk hero.  There are fun Oregon stories.  I love living in Oregon.  Mr. Sullivan talks about Bigfoot/Sasquatch and  Sacajawea's son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau who died in Oregon.  He tells a great story about Fern Hobbs and Governor Oswald West.  Now Fern Hobbs is my hero!  Go google the story.  I can't do it justice.  

Don't forget the exploding whale.  If you have never heard of the exploding whale here is the video.

This is a radio station I do enjoy.  I remember my husband telling me about William Sullivan speaking on this station before.  I bought his book The Ship in the Hill and had it signed for Neil.  I should read it if I can fit it in my reading challenge.  

I am not sure which challenge I will be able to complete next.  The most likely one that I will be able to do is learn to make a new dish or dance around the living room.  Here is the line up of the possibilities-

9.  Make a scrapbook: pretty sure I won't have time this week or money

10.  Stargaze: saving up money for a decent telescope 

11.  Facetime an old friend:  I don't have facetime, I am SO not hip- I have a vague understanding of what facetime is.  I don't even like talking on the phone so facetime will not be something I do.  I think for this one I might write a letter.  

12.  Put your favorite photo in a frame: MAYBE...that does sound likely if I have money and time

13.  Learn a new dish:  since we always have to eat this is one of the most likely

14.  Dance around the living room:  I love doing this so...that will be a high most likely and no money required!

Tell me which challenge you have completed or will complete this week.  Happiness to you!  Thank you for reading.  

 

Challenge Check In and Challenge #7 Watch a Funny Youtube video

So this week I didn't get to bake a cake.  I am also involved in a reading challenge and I am stuck in a book that is hard to get through plus funds have gotten a little low and the cake I want to make is a little spendy for me at the moment.  Here is the cake I want to make:

The way I see it I have 3 options.
1/4  Bake a cheaper cake.
2/5  Wait till pay day in February
3/6  Wait till the challenge comes full circle (will take a long time).

So with the roll of my virtual dice what will I do........Option 2  wait for pay day in February!

The next challenge is to have a sleep over, but that one will also require a bit of funds and planning.  I have a book I want to get for that challenge called A Year of Slumber Parties.  Keep up that challenge a little bit and see how many I can do.  Moving on then....

Challenge #7  Watch a funny youtube video.

Easy....I am not the hugest SNL fan but I love making fun of news because real news scares and completely depresses me.  It depresses me to the point where I can't live a normal life depressing.  I needed some laughs after President Donald Trump (that will never not be weird to say or type) was inaugurated on Friday.  So here are TWO funny videos for the challenge (there was orignally an SNL newsupdate but it got taken down) and because I don't know how else to deal with this strange turn of events.  I guess I am not a grown up.  I guess I can't just "suck it up".  I guess I might need a "safe space".  I guess I can't stop being sarcastic.  WARNING- some language

What are your favorite funny youtube videos?  This next weeks challenge shouldn't be too hard- listen to the radio.

Challenge #4 Start a Gratitude Journal

Dear Reader,

Have you started your gratitude journal?  I started one last year and I should stop putting so much pressure on myself about it.  It is suppose to be fun and remind me of all the things to be grateful for.  There aren't many entries from last year- not because I wasn't grateful but because I was trying too hard to use the Joy Dare prompts.  I am still using them this year but I don't have to worry because I have them all printed out all ready.  I just use a simple composition book but it might not last long because I have already had to tape it back together.

Here is an example of an entry:

Please excuse the bleeding black marker from the back.  It is a picture of a terrifying drawing I did while on vacation last summer when I was so bored I started drawing- and if you saw this drawing you would know perfectly well why I do not draw.  I have to bored out of my mind to draw and that is exactly what happened.  Just to give you a sense of how terrifying this drawing is I named it- Evil Queen Elsa.  The only way I am showing it to you is if you beg for it.  Since I am certain I have very few readers, if any- this picture will be safely hidden.

During this challenge I will take a picture every time I fill up two pages and post it on Sunday or whenever I feel like it or have time.  It is fun to look back on these entries, but I also wanted to keep them a bit more private.

Hope you have fun this week putting together your own gratitude journal.  Next week- let's bake a cake!

Yours Truly,

L.L.

New Year 2017

Dear Reader,

It is already 10 days into the new year and I have yet to share anything!  If you will forgive my Advent posts that kinda fizzled out and died, I hope you will still stick with me any way.  I had a feeling that would happen but it was so wonderful while it lasted.

Now it is time all those resolutions and stuff.  I don't like the word resolution.  I don't know why.  Just the sound of it makes me cringe a little.  But I do like the words goals and challenges and that is what I think of when we enter a new year.  I was tempted to do a past thing where I pick a theme for the year at random but that didn't work out so well last year.  Before Advent I decided to start a Happiness Challenge but a more realistic version.  I will not be doing a challenge every single day- with my life right now that is totally not possible.  I was debating with myself whether I should start over at day/number 1 for the new year or just continue from where I left off.  Since I only got to number 3 I will continue on.  I will check in with my progress at the VERY least- once a week on Sunday- provided I have access to a computer/Internet and my husband and children are occupied (they have seemed especially demanding over the holidays).  I wanted to check in this Sunday but alas it had snowed and church had been cancelled so my husband wasn't busy.  I have looked at a few of the challenges and some of them might require me to write more often but we will get there when we get there.  I will have to find a way.

Other new year goals:  Read the whole Bible chronologically, be a little more intentional about church, post cross stitch progress, complete the Popsugar Reading Challenge for 2017 (I will post reviews HERE), and participate in The Hogwarts Running Club.  It has all been a little overwhelming but I am up for it.  I think, pray, and hope this is practical and not too much.  I tend to try to do too much as anybody who has even tried to make sense of this blog could probably tell.  I tend to have these grand ideas that never happen or just barely happen.  It seems to be a part of who I am that will not let me go.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Next Sunday I will post my Number 4 Start a Gratitude Journal post.

Happy 2017- may you not torture me the way 2016 did.

Yours Truly,
L.L.

Advent Day 26

"Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; teach us to be patient and always to be kind." -Helen Steiner Rice

Another day with no frills of Christmas cheery photos.  This surely was a quietness of mind day because I puttered around cleaning and reflecting on the year to come soon.  I was a little nervous because I bought a new outfit, which is already awkward but the reason is for church in preparation for the song the girls and I are planning on singing.  We haven't practiced much but I still thought it was cute.  I could tell the lady who asked me to do this clearly thinks we aren't ready and that we are pretty much all show and no talent, but you know what?  As long as my heart is in it, God will bless it.  He teaches me patience and kindness as I try to keep it light with one daughter who doesn't like the song or singing, one daughter who wants to sing but is clearly shy and nervous and one daughter who clearly steals the show- it is Christmas,  it is messy and this is real- not perfection.  We'll get there.