11 minutes of the 1st of March

Yes, I am back at it - daily blogging!

My brain is toast (it's 11 minutes to midnight!). I wonder if I can even write more than a handful of sentences tonight.

But the point of this daily blogging exercise - at least for me - has been to mark a day, to capture the essence of it, whether with a long prose, a single image or only a single word. It's owning the 24 hours, and not feeling that they slipped by unacknowledged...

To describe today, as a single word: rewarding. :)

I have no image yet to share since P has the memory card. But I'll haiku the image I would have shared on this post :D

Way up in the sky
a yellow happiness flew
Look up Spring is near

How was your 1st of March? Got 11 (or less) minutes to share it?

Egg-cited!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! The 365~self-portraits for the month of March is accomplished, and simultaneously the NaBloPoMo Month (In A Word) challenge aced!!!

Beautifully Imperfect

One more day to go and I have officially completed my first NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) challenge !!! I listed myself on the blogroll under the General category; please, if you became a reader of  My Daily Mooosings... through following the link from the NaBloPoMo site, kindly inform me. ☺

The theme for the month was "In A Word", and I was delighted to have that as a theme for my first ever attempt at NaBloPoMo because as you know by now, if you have been following me for a while, I love words!

Tonight's word(s) (I would not be me if I did not bend the rules to suit my non-conformist nature!) is inspired by the title Beautifully Imperfect , a touching family advertisement from ThinkFamily directed by Yasmin Ahmad †.

I have to be honest and say, it remains a daily struggle to share images showing a slice of our life, but at the same time it remains a very rewarding experience, as soon as I have crossed the threshold of fear, self-doubts etc.

With this in mind, I consciously chose this particular blurry image, the first picture that P shot upon my request (actually another of those last minute plea for help and assistance, that I will not miss "showing up" for the project!)  with his left index finger showing at the upper left corner.

I needed to be visually reminded that the heart of this project is about acknowledging  and accepting one's imperfections and showing up anyway. 

One can change one's outlook and attitude towards life but it cannot be done in a heartbeat, as much as we want to, it will always remain a daily struggle to remain positive, optimistic, hopeful. But that is what life is all about, living one day at a time, striving to see the world in a positive light, and striving to be a positive light.

Most often than not, we need to remind ourselves about it again and again, and again.  Like myself, rereading my own words in the blog I posted quiet at the beginning of this project, 5 days into the month of January: What is the Most Important Thing in Life?

Love.

Light and love  to you all!

Vanilla Ice-Cream & Apple Pie

 

 

A simple way to end a looooooooong day. ☺

Flower(s), Fruit & Fun

In lieu of a full written account of our day: a photo-blog summarizing Monday! ☺

Delectable

please click on the collage for better view ☺

Do not let Sunday be taken from you If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan.
Albert Schweitzer

 Today ends P's one week holiday, which he took mainly to give me moral support for the Spring cleaning I wanted to do at home.

I am very grateful for the time, and even if we did not accomplish everything we set out to do, it felt great to have just spent time together, and talk about things that will make our lives a lot easier, and manageable,  that we could spend more time this Spring on things the family love doing together: biking, picnicking, excursion to different places here in the Netherlands, and a lot more!

It has not been altogether an easy week but we have learned that the tension we go through together as a family is only an opportunity to learn to get to know each other better, since we acknowledged that we are constantly changing.  Specially, being with and raising three ever growing, developing little girls  at home.

Also, the recent increasing conflicts between the eldest and middle daughter, motivated us more to work on the long-delayed project of sprucing up our balcony, to give them "a bit more space" to retreat to, when personal spaces seems to be shrinking inside the flat, due to stress they take home from school.

Sunday dinner tasted even more delicious, as I looked back at the week that passed; I felt that we did manage to clean-up not only under the fridge, and corners & spaces we usually do not get to attend lest it is Spring cleaning time, but also the interpersonal relationship muddles that gets swept under a rag because of the need to simple go on with daily routines.

Here is hoping that the week starts with a positive energy not only for me and my family, but for you and yours, too!

Crunchy

please click on image for better view ☺

Crunchy comfort food!  Don't you just love it when your partner knows when words are needed, or when the right time to give you a hug ? But most specially, don't you feel ever so blessed  when he knows exactly  when words and hugs will simply not comfort fast enough, in the way KFC will?

P and the littlest went to IKEA again today to get the rest of our wooden flooring for the balcony.  On their way home P called to ask how how many chicken legs and strips he should bring back.

Back home everyone picnicked on the couch and it seems the misunderstandings of the day were not that huge anymore.  Child-rearing is a blessing; the challenging moments could sometimes seem to be in abundance, though.

Thank goodness for a supportive partner, the calming powers of an afternoon nap, and yeah the comfort on chewing on chicken legs because chewing on a question you would rather ask a child psychology is rather pointless.

Is it really the 26th of March?!?  Is it really the day we have to give up one hour of weekend sleep?!?  As much as I look forward to May school break (what I think about when the hours are adjusted), I want that one hour of more sleep!

In the end, I have to focus on all the good things from the weekend, and not on one incident of disharmony from today.  Tomorrow is another day to do things better, and tomorrow will be an hour earlier! ☺

Paradise

please click on image to have a better view ☺

With today's 365 photo, I affirm what I have been feeling since we started living here in the Netherlands: I am grateful for, and love our new home!

postscript to this blog:

Littlest took the image on the upper left corner of the collage. ☺

Sunny & Spontaneous

please click on collage if you would like a better view ☺

Took a break from Spring cleaning and had brunch at the  Natuurmonument in 's-Graveland, with P & the littlest after the latter got her check-up (she is developing wonderfully!).

The sunny weather was fantabulous! Hoping it will stay much, MUCH longer. ☺


How is Spring treating you?

Sweet!

please click on image if you like a better view ☺

Life is sweet, specially when you have a daughter, who not only takes thoughtful artful photos  but also bake delish scones.  


Life is sweeter, when you have a partner that is not only supportive of you and all that you are, but shares the ultimate joy of life: raising very caring children (one of whom enjoys serving high-tea lovingly!)


Life is sweetest because I have my family, whom I cherish ! I love you all sooo much.

♡♡♡

Special thank you to first born for taking the 365~ self-portrait picture of today, for the yummylicios scones for the family's high-tea, and for simply being her!

Spring!

please click on image for bigger & better view  ☺

What a lovely Spring Tuesday, we all had!☺

Family

please click on image for better view :)

I cherish moments with my family. A lot.

Wishing everyone a good week!
☺

Happiness

please click on image for better view :) ♡

A quote to positively affirm my new year in life, also the conviction behind it will be my mantra as I approach my 40th birthday (!!!):

We learn in our guts, not just in our brain, that a life of joy is not in seeking happiness, but in experiencing and simply being the circumstances of our life as they are; not in fulfilling personal wants, but in fulfilling the needs of life…
Charlotte Joko Beck

Welcome to the 39th year of my life! :)

Tonight, I chose a quote to make me remember this day vividly:

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I thank my beloved P for making this day simple as I lovingly requested, but nonetheless he still made it special. Ik hou van je, liefste.

Truly looking forward to experiencing the first week of Spring with my beloved at home. This is the best birthday present I could have. :)

Saturday!

please click on image for better view :)

My last night at being 38!

Weekend!

Please click image for better view  :)

Have a wonderful weekend! Spring officially begins Sunday, wooohooo!

♡ Lucky ♡

please click image for a bigger, better view :)

 I've always considered my self to be blessed with a charmed life because of my wonderful family and cherished friends...

Today, we had to call Omi B last minute to help us bring the girls to school. The littlest is sick and since I always need to bring the littlest along on the bike when I do the school ride with the older girls (except when P is free from work or has a later start in the day) I had to stay at home too.

The littlest hardly slept through the previous night because she was crying from pain, the source of which we could not tell specifically because she cried in her sleep.  This morning she was running a temperature, had a clogged nose and when she woke up she complained of having pain in her throat.

P was relieved when he called Omi B and she was already up, and is available to help out.  She has been our support in times of many emergencies not only this year but many times in the past years since we moved to be together with P.

But I felt a bit down because it is still a source of stress for us to find a consistent way to bring the girls to school, that will not be too dependant on my being healthy or the littlest. The last weeks of battles  with my health(stomach flu, cold virus etc) affected the girls going to school. Admittedly, this has pulled my spirit down because it reminded me of the hard times I had while they were going to school in Germany and I was suffering from chronic depression.  Although in hindsight those hard times, were times I experienced a lot of  love, extra ordinary support and caring coming from family, friends and concerned people from the community.

Still, even with the knowledge and assurance from people concerned, that it does not hurt to ask for help, it still is hard to do so.

When the girls came home, eldest was carrying two packages.  I was too distracted with the littles that I did not get the mail, but eldest always checks the mail box anyway because of letters or packages that might come from Oma H.

Today was such a day, there was a package from Germany with pictures from their last month's Spring vacation.  AND a package from our friend in CA, USA!

The littlest wanted to open the package from USA right away, but I told her it will be more fun if we wait until Dada comes home to open it with us.  She happily agreed and had the teatime I usually served when Omi B comes to visit or brings home the girls from school.

Talking to Omi B always calms me because of her positive spirit.  Teatime with her almost replaces breakfast/teatimes dates I had with my girlfriends in Germany, whom I all sorely missed.  She gives me the same feeling of total acceptance for who I am, and reassurance that everything is going to be alright at the end of the day.

Littlest opened the package after dinner, when Dada finally came home from work, and as I put on the earrings that were inside for me, I could not help being teary-eyed.  My heart squeezed and I felt this warm gratefulness in my being.

I was reminded by this thoughtful gesture that if I keep holding on baby steps, of taking one day at a time, in time I will be able to personally celebrate this unique bond of friendship with people I shared my inner-most thoughts during the times of my struggles, and who have inspired me with their own inner-strength and their love for life. The gifts were not only symbol of friendship for me but symbols of hope being eternal; it reaches across and covers the entire globe

It was a great coincidence that the gifts arrived today at St. Patrick's Day, and 3 days to my birthday 39th birthday.  I guess you can say, I am a gal who loves coincidences and interprets what some would view as something random, as signs, and messages from the universe.  I say, the world needs a couple of numbers to fill the statistics under the category: hopeless dreamer. :)

Happy St Patrick's Day to all who celebrates it!

To a special friend, from CA, whose heart is huge, warm & generous, a loving message:  I am so lucky to be considered  your friend, thank you for the wonderful gifts, your friendship and your inspiration!

Quotes to positively affirm this day:

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.
Bernard Meltzer

Friends...they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.
Henry David Thoreau

My father always used to say that when you die, if you’ve got five real friends, then you’ve had a great life.
Lee Iacocca

Picnic!

please click image for better view : )

Short, simple and sweet summary of our day today: it was awesome! :)

Weather was great, quality time spent together with P in the morning, and finally a visit to 's Graveland Natuurmonumenten (English) with the girls for a spontaneous lunch picnic after school, which was lovely after a half day spent indoors to eat and play outdoors.

Truly can't wait for the Spring to come in all it's glory! Lots of picnic in nature for our family!

please click image for better view : )

To round up the day, quotes for positive affirmation:

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.
John Burroughs

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

 In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.
Alice Walker

What do you look forward to doing a lot in Spring?

Sleepy & Springy

This 365 is once again saved by the P!  Thanks so much for the support my beloved; you truly know how much this project means to me.

I was almost talking myself into giving up prematurely on the 365, telling myself, I have affirmed all there is to affirm in my "new life" here in the Netherlands and that I only have myself to answer to now, which is in itself the purpose of this project - to give myself back a sense of control, which I felt I lost.

Everyone who goes through major changes in life could, I think, identify with this feeling of somehow falling in a hole, like Alice in Wonderland.  One is ready and curious enough for the adventure but in the midst of it one feels disorientation.  In the end you find yourself back to where you were before all the adventure began but with a better understanding of yourself.

One factor for my deep regarding the 365 is that lately I've been experiencing early Spring lethargy, and I would love to shake it off fully before Spring officially begins in 5 days.

Biking daily does help a whole lot, and I am trying to watch what I eat, and when I eat.  I do envy the littlest with the seemingly abundant energy she has almost the entire day!  We started napping together again this week, thinking this will also help me further reach my goal of having more stamina through the day.  Let's see how the week goes!

How do you deal with Spring lethargy?  Or are you one of the lucky ones who does not get affected by the changing of the seasons?

Here once again, a few quoatations to end the day with positive affirmations:

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Buddha

"To the illuminated mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don’t bother you anymore. You become light hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous.
Deepak Chopra

Empowered

image taken on the way home from picking the girls to school

The 14th of March! Can you believe it that the last month of the first quarter of the year is half way through?  6 more days to my 39th birthday.  More on that in subsequent posts this week.

I feel mentally strong today, stronger than I have ever felt for a long time; the last weeks has once again tested my stability and I am grateful that I withstood the self-doubts, the self-defeating thoughts, and the self-sabotage that I usually go through when in this sadly familiar cycle.

Writing is healing, the 365 project in it's many forms for me has kept me focused in my priorities, goals and visions.

Tonight, as the day nears it's end, I would like to record for posterity - once again - that the individual has the power to conquer any adversity in life.  We simply have to believe that the impossible is possible.

Love life; strive for a liberated life.  Abandon the fears, it's a prison cell, the key for which, you yourself possess. 

paper  ~

I hope this thought helps you not only this week, but most specially at difficult times.

Sharing quotes for positive affirmation:

Being vulnerable doesn't have to be threatening. Just have the courage to be sincere, open and honest. This opens the door to deeper communication all around. It creates self-empowerment and the kind of connections with others we all want in life. Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful. Speaking truth helps you get clarity on your real heart directives.
Sara Paddison

 Re-examine all that you have been told. Dismiss that which insults your soul.
Walt Whitman

 I think education is power. I think that being able to communicate with people is power. One of my main goals on the planet is to encourage people to empower themselves.
Oprah Winfrey

Outdoors and Inside the Church

very grateful for the privilege and strength to be outdoors

On the bike again after taking a break for three days.

Middle daughter is also back to attending her Sunday communion class.

It was cooler than I expected outside, but not too cold that I could not bike around while I waited for the begin of the 10 o'clock morning mass.  Midway through the Sunday service I had to pick up middle daughter from her class, and she joined me until the end of the mass.

I love and admire the church's stained glass window

The ritual of a Sunday mass has always had a calming effect on me, even if I still struggled a bit to follow it in Dutch.  It was helpful though that they had a leaflet that I could read as the service went along.

There were prayers said for Japan, and those affected by the earthquake that devastated the country.

I wish you all  a peaceful Sunday.