Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

August 10, 2010

30 Days- Day 10

Filed under: 30 Days To... — gardener @ 1:35 pm

Day 10- What you wore today, in great detail.

I’m glad this was one that didn’t require a lot of brain function since I’m running short on that right now with all the thoughts running through the grey matter.

Today I wore black training type pants (thin cotton) with a bright yellow stripe running down each leg.   I also had a yellow waffle fabric hoodie on with 3/4 sleeves.   I went barefoot most of the day, plus went without make-up or any great hair style.     I guess you could call this my ‘a-la-natural’ look.

30 Days- Day 9

Filed under: 30 Days To...,Food for Thought — gardener @ 1:32 pm

Here I am- a day late and a dollar short with day 9. I had a funeral to attend yesterday, along with a few other things and I don’t think I ever turned the computer on yesterday. I could have probably written via the iPhone, but truth is, I just didn’t feel like it. Unfortunately, that leaves me playing catch up today with emails, blog entries, work, etc. But I will prevail!

Marcel is working so that should give me a little extra time to spend doing these things, so that tomorrow morning I can wake up to find new additions to my ever growing ‘to do’ list.

Day 9- My Belief’s- In Great Detail.

The fact that this is supposed to be in great detail means that it could go on forever and ever- simply because I believe MANY things and that list is always changing and evolving as I change- grow and learn.

There are a few belief’s that are part of the core of my being and that will not change regardless of how much time passes, or how much I change as a human being.

  1. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that he came to this earth in human form to be a living sacrifice for ALL of our sins.   I believe he was crucified on the cross so that all who profess their faith in him can be given everlasting eternal life. 
  2. I believe that ALL things happen for a reason and that nothing is really coincidence.   We are here to learn and the things that happen in our lives should be tools to help us learn and grow on this journey of life.
  3. I believe in goodness, compassion and love.
  4. I believe in paying it forward.
  5. I believe that lies and manipulation will always come back to haunt those who are doing the lying and manipulating.  We may not see it, but I know that it happens.
  6. I believe in honesty and truth.

Again, this list could go on and on, but I’ve hit the highlights.  

I’d love to hear your beliefs, if you’d like to share some.

August 8, 2010

30 Days- Day 8

Filed under: 30 Days To...,Food for Thought,Health/ Fitness — gardener @ 10:09 am

Today is day 8 of this challenge and since Ipeeked at what today’s would be, I actually had some time to think about it.  We are supposed to describe a moment, which can be anything.  I wanted it to be something profound, or at least something that was profound for me, and then it hit me and I knew exactly what I’d write.

Day 8-  Describe a moment, in great detail.

I remember in 2008 when I was in the midst of my weight loss journey, I went to Prague with my parents and Marcel.  We were walking all over the place and one of the stops we’d planned to make that day was Prague Castle.    I remember crossing over the Charles Bridge and seeing the castle looming at the top of the hill.  

As I walked across the bridge and realized that in order to see the castle, I’d actually have to climb the mountain, I started telling myself that there was no way I could climb a hill that big without stopping.  I didn’t think I could do it.   Then I paused and had a moment with myself and remember telling myself that the mentality I was showing at that moment was exactly what had held me back from doing so many things over the years, and also why I ended up so overweight for as long as I was.  

In that moment, I decided that those days were over.   I was determined to climb to the top even if it killed me.  

It didn’t.   In fact, I made it to the top and was barely winded and as I stood at the top, overlooking the clay tile roofs below me, I had tears in my eyes.    I had done it, and it hadn’t been anything like what I’d envisioned in my mind.    At that moment I found myself wondering how many times I’d defeated myself on things before I ever started, simply because I allowed myself to believe I couldn’t do something.

It was then that I knew-  I could do anything at all, as long as I believed in myself and was willing to do the work to accomplish my goals.

August 7, 2010

30 Days- Day 7

Filed under: 30 Days To... — gardener @ 4:38 am

Today’s quest for honesty is a little challenging for me.  Not to be honest- but to actually quantify something that is so much more than a label. 

BUT, I accepted this challenge, so I’m going to do my best.

Day 7- Describe your best friend in great detail.

As I mentioned above, this is difficult for me on many levels.  The main reason being because it says ‘friend’ and not friends, assuming that a person can only have one true best friend.   I find that to be inaccurate in my case.   I have several people that I would consider amongst my best friends.   Some of those people I see quite regularly, and some I don’t see often at all.    My mom is one of those people, but that is a given.   She’s been a constant in my life from the day I was born and always offered her love, support and opinion, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.  

There are others- and I’m sure they know who they are without being named.   I love all of my friends and cherish each and every one of them.  Some of us have a better connection than others, and some friendships are different than others, but each one bring something special and unique to the table that only they can.

I’d say that if I had to choose a single person that is my best friend- it would be Samantha.   We were best friends when we were teenagers and lost contact after having a stupid fight (which was my fault) right before her wedding.  We lost touch for almost 18 years and then in 2006 she sent me a message on MySpace.   I knew it had to be her when I saw the MySpace email that said I had a message from Samantha and before I ever opened it, I cried.

We started talking and truth is- we haven’t stopped.   She has twin girls who graduated in the top of their class and are now headed off in less than a week to college-  both received scholarships.   She has a great husband named Tommy, and a doggie named Dixie that I adore.   Samantha and I grew up with very similar backgrounds.  We went to the same church and we think a lot alike.  

In fact, even though our lives are very different, they are still parallel in many ways.   We love many of the same things and I know that I can tell her everything and even if she doesn’t get it, she’ll still be there for me.   I admire her as a mother, a professional and as the beautiful person that she is.   

When we got together in 2006 for the first time after so many years- I wondered if it would be odd or even awkward, but it was as though those 18 years had never passed and we never skipped a beat picking up where we left off.   She’s a tower of strength and has taught her girls to be self-confident and to always strive to be the best that they can be.    I see her in both Ainsley and Olivia and I love them both dearly.      I could say so much-  but mostly, I am happy that she took the initiative to message me that day.    I know for sure that as long as we both shall live that we’ll never lose contact like that again, and I’m very grateful.

30 Days – Day 6

Filed under: 30 Days To... — gardener @ 4:00 am

Today’s (actually yesterday’s, since I’m a day late with this one) 30 days of honesty was another one that was easy, peasy for me.  It was one where we are supposed to describe our day and  that’s something that most of us can do without much thought.    It’s actually late because I got busy and decided that it could wait until this morning, so for those of you who were sitting on pins and needles to hear about day 6, my apologies.

Day 6-  Describe your day in great detail.

I don’t think I’ll  bore you with a complete blow-by-blow of my day, but I’ll hit the highlights.    I was up at 4:45 to get Marcel off to work for his last morning shift, but since I’m not a morning person and I don’t think anyone should be up at that time of the day, I went back to bed.

I ended up getting out of bed around 8:30 and I had a bath while my steel-cut oats were cooking and the coffee was brewing.    Dried my hair, had breakfast and then went for a long walk with JJ before heading out the door to the train station.

There, I helped two tourists figure out how to get to their destination since the train they thought they needed wasn’t the one they needed.   From there, I hopped my own train for a whole 4 minutes to the next town so I could visit my dear friend Bobbi.  She invited me for lunch and a visit since we hadn’t seen each other in a while (because she’s been traveling).      Since that also meant I hadn’t seen her darling son in a while, it also meant I could spend some time with him.  Unfortunately, since he’s a little guy, he’d forgotten Auntie La-La and he started to cry (real tears) when I tried to hold him.    (He later warmed up to me again and remembered why he loves me so much- because I’m so goofy.)

Marcel picked me up from B0bbi’s and we made a quick dash to the store.  He napped and I took care of some things around the house- such as dinner.   We initially thought we’d go to the beach, but in the end, we decided that we’d like to go to Starbucks and that’s exactly what we did.   25 minutes later we arrived- drank our coffee’s and headed back home. 

We took JJ out for a long walk and some play time and ended the day with a movie, where I fell asleep on the couch before half of it was over.  

Like every day- it was a great one!

August 5, 2010

30 Days- Day 5

Filed under: 30 Days To... — gardener @ 11:47 am

Today is day 5 of my 30 day adventure into honesty.  Each day I’m supposed to share something that is on the list for that particular day in great detail.   Today is about one of my favorite subjects- LOVE.

Truth is-  love is everywhere we look and without it the world would be impossible to live in.   No matter who you are, where you live, what your background is- love is something we all need.   There are many different types of love, and quite honestly the best description you could ever find on what LOVE is all about can be found in none other than the Bible.

August 5-  Describe love in great detail.

1 Corinthians Chapter 13 is known as the ‘love’ chapter in the Bible and below is the NIV (New International Version) of what love is.   This sums it up in a nutshell.

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Simply put-  God is Love- and Love is EVERYTHING!

August 4, 2010

30 Days- Day 4

Filed under: 30 Days To... — gardener @ 10:44 am

Day 4- Describe what you ate today in great detail.

This is easy-peasy, especially since it doesn’t require much thinking, just a recollection of what I’ve eaten today. I’ll break it down into meals.

Breakfast- Steel-Cut oats with a sprinkle of cinnamon, a vanilla Splenda stick and a dash of fat-free coffee cream. Two cups of coffee and 1 1/2 liters of ice water.

Lunch- Two whole-grain crackers with hummus that has taco sauce mixed in with it for a little ‘spice’.

Dinner- Baked chicken breast seasoned with garlic- steamed broccoli with low-fat spicy cheese melted on top, steamed green beans, honey-dew melon.

Snack- 1 cup of fat-sugar free strawberry yogurt with a few raw almonds and some whole-grain muesli.

That’s it folks.

August 3, 2010

30 Days- Day 3

Filed under: 30 Days To... — gardener @ 9:29 am

Day 3- Your parents in great detail.
I have to say that this one is a piece of cake for me. I am sure that most people probably feel the same about their own parents, but I personally think that my brother and I have been blessed with the best parents in the world.

My mom and diddy married in 1965, not long after mom graduated from high school. Diddy is 7 years older than her, and two years after they married, I came along. Two years after that, my brother made his appearance. I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to describing my parents.

Mom was a stay at home mom for the entire time I was growing up. It was great knowing that when we came home from school that she’d be there. Diddy worked shifts, but in his free time he always spent it with us. He kept the yard clean, the house in pristine shape and he and mom had a delicious garden in the summer where we got lots of fruits and vegetables. Diddy was a great provider and they’ve always been there if we needed them.

Growing up, I will admit that they were stricter than most of my friends’ parents, and sometimes I did try to get away with things, but even when they punished me, it was with love (even if they were secretly wishing they could strangle me). They’ve always been there to cheer us on, to love and support us and even been there to show us a little tough love when we needed it.

My parents taught us many wonderful life lessons and values that we both still carry with us today. Our house wasn’t the Cleaver’s and we did have disagreements, and sometimes still do. My parents are less liberal thinking than I am, and I guess I tend to toss something different into the mix. But I like that we all respect each others opinons even on those times when we don’t agree.

I call my parents every single day because I know the importance of ‘being there’ without actually being there. Some people may find that to be a bit dramatic, but I honestly don’t care. I love them and don’t ever want to be filled with regrets of the things I wish I’d done.

Thanks mom and dad for being an example of love, truth, and friendship. You both are amazing, which is why ‘m sure you have so many ‘other’ children who have adopted you as their parents. Matt and I are blessed to have you as the real thing and I thank God for that.

August 2, 2010

30 Days- Day 2

Filed under: 30 Days To...,Life — gardener @ 9:54 am

Today has been one of those busy days where I’ve felt that I’m running behind schedule all day. The reason for that is probably because I slept late this morning, but it did make things better when I could start my work day earlier than usual, so I’m now finished and actually have time to answer the question for today.

Day 2- Describe your first love in great detail.

When I saw this question, I honestly had to pause and think about who I was going to write about. The reason being is because I couldn’t decide if I was going to write about the first guy who ever wrote me a love note (Victor Hill, who wrote it to me when I was in kindergarden), or several others who I have loved along the way when I was younger.

I ended up chosing the first person that was actually my first serious boyfriend and someone I spent a year and a half with when I was starting at age 14. He was the first person to ever give me a ‘promise ring’ (and no not the last) and someone who I actually ended up dating a second time (years later), after we ran in to each other at Wal-Mart of all places.

His name is Gino, and we met at a church lock-in at Dauphinway Baptist Church in Mobile, AL. Neither one of us were Baptist, but the lock-in was held by many different churches, and ours both happened to be there. I thought he would fall for my friend Lynda, because she was the prettier of the two of us, and it seemed that all the guys loved her. As it turns out, that wasn’t the case. He asked for my number and that began our year and a half relationship.

Gino and I went to different schools and we lived about a half hour apart so we didn’t see each other often. Neither one of us drove at that time and getting together meant one of our parents bringing us to the other’s home. That did happen though. Gino played football at the high school where he went, and needless to say, I was present at all the home games, and at some of the away. He was and still is fairly short, but he is a big guy and like most guy’s playing football back in the day, he spent lots of time in the gym.

Gino loves to have a good time and is always teasing someone. I don’t remember why we broke up the first time (or the second for that matter) but I do remember that he broke my heart back in the day- (the first time- the second, I don’t remember caring that much).

Oddly, almost 20 years have passed and we recently made contact again on Facebook. We’ve become friends and in spite of the different directions that our lives have taken, we have both found that some things never change- like the fact that he is still a jokester and loves having a great time.

He’s divorced and recently met someone who means a great deal to him. I’m very excited for him and hope that this relationship will be someone that he can spend the rest of his life happily with. I hope that we have the opportunity to see him and meet her when we’re home. It will be great to catch up face to face.

August 1, 2010

And So It Begins- 30 Days

Filed under: 30 Days To...,Life,Memories — gardener @ 8:56 am

My really good friend Carrie is doing this thing on Facebook where each day she shares something about herself for 30 days- It’s called 30 days of honesty. I thought that rather than put it on Facebook, that it would actually be good blog fodder, plus this way I can keep it and use it to reflect on at a later date.

Since today is the first day of August, I thought it would be great to start with today and work forward with something new each day. I’m expecting a lot of changes in the next couple of months, so this is a great time to begin.

So- without further babbling- here we go

Day 1- Introduce Yourself-

Well, since I’m not putting all my personal information out here for the world to see, I’ll give you my first name- or shall I say the name that most everyone calls me, and that’s Lori. No, that isn’t my real name, but actually something that comes from my middle name, which happens to be Lorreen. I can count on one hand the number of people who actually call me by my real name, and they aren’t close family or friends.

What can I say about myself ? Let’s see- I recently turned 43 years old and I’m on a quest to become the best person that I can be. I am a Christian, I’m sometimes silly, sometimes serious and very empathetic and emotional. I have a husband, named Marcel who is my second marriage. I’ve never had any children and for many years didn’t want any. Once I decided it would be great to have a child, it didn’t happen for us, and I’m at peace with that. I do believe that things happen as they are supposed to. Instead, we have two 4-legged members of our family. Mister Mistoffelees, a beautiful Ragdoll kitty who is 5 years old and JJ, a Cairn Terrier puppy, who turns one this month. They keep us on our toes, so maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have children after all.

I grew up on the coast of Southern Mississippi and it’s the place I will always call my first home. I believe I’m a good friend, although there is always room to be a better one. I have made MANY mistakes in my life- and I’ve learned from most of them. I’m extremely stubborn, although I try not to be. I like to talk and I’m eternally curious. I love to learn new things and I like to be mentally challenged. I also love creating and having fun.

I could continue, but you get the idea for now. If you have any questions- please feel free to ask.

« Newer PostsOlder Posts »

Powered by WordPress