What's in a Name?

I spent the last week putting the finishing touches on a major fundraising event for my daughter’s school. Several months of planning, decorating, creating, and organizing came down to this last Saturday night. This was the 3rd year of throwing such a large affair. An incredible amount of work goes into this evening, but to see the final outcome makes it all worth the effort.

The past year’s events hold memories of sold out tickets, amazing donations, and incredible amounts of money, all being given in support of this small school. This year we exceeded our expectations yet again, we had a nearly sell-out crowd and amazing donations as well, but it was something else that will be forever etched in my memory from this year’s Gala.

Every year the students prepare some sort of small craft project, which is then sold as part of the silent auction. This year my daughter’s class assembled and painted small bird houses. These cute wooden crafts were exactly what one would expect from a group of 4th graders; all bright and colorful, each one resembling the personality of the child who painted it.

It was half-way through the silent auction when my mother-in-law was out-bid on Ellie’s birdhouse. She checked with my husband and my father-in-law but no one possessed the mysterious bid number. My father-in-law took another spin around the silent auction room and placed another bid for Ellie’s birdhouse. A few minutes later he returned only to find out that the mysterious bidder once again out bid a family member! We had to get to the bottom of who this mystery man or woman was!

My father-in-law upped the bid once more and hung out a bit to get a visual of who this person was. He stepped closer to the women as she once again placed another bid for Ellie’s bird house. He reached over to place his next bid on the sheet only to be addressed by the women in a kidding manner, “Don’t you out bid me again!”

Finally he was going to get to the bottom of whom this person was and why she would want such a “unique” looking birdhouse made by his granddaughter. He explained that it was his granddaughter’s birdhouse, and then she responded, “I lost my daughter when she was young – her name was Ellie, too!” After that interaction she resisted anymore bidding and Grandpa was able to take the birdhouse home. But the stranger’s words stayed with him, not surprisingly we were all deeply moved by what she had said.

Grandpa and Grandma contacted me this morning to see if Ellie would mind making them another birdhouse. It didn’t take me long to figure out what they were planning to do. They informed me that they have the birdhouse from the auction packaged up along with a picture of our Ellie and a note. It will go in the mail first thing in the morning to the woman who holds tight to her daughter’s name and memory.

Jenny,
Sister of Soul

Soul-spiration of the Week:
“Life gives us brief moments with another...but sometimes in those brief moments we get memories that last a life time...” ~Author unknown

The Squash Adventure

I’m not ashamed to admit that I like food. In fact, there are very few foods I won’t eat. I’m not a fan of melons and just within the last few years tomatoes, which used to be a favorite, don’t taste quite the same to me. Then there are the foods I’ve despised since childhood: lima beans and squash.

Supposedly squash tastes like “candy”, or so my parents always said. Hmmm, really? I never got that. It wasn’t just the taste; the texture was a little grainy and, how can I say…fiberous? And just seeing that orangish-golden color made me gag just a bit. Yes, squash was hands-down my least favorite food.

But something happened this weekend. I ate squash! Yes, and not only did I eat it, but I liked it too! Who knew?

My husband and I escaped over Easter weekend for some much needed “together-time”. He’s recently adopted a healthier way of eating, which includes eliminating gluten from the menu. If you’ve never considered it before, let me just say that gluten comes from wheat and many other grains, and wheat and grains are a pretty common staple for the American diet. Of course the typical breads, pastries, pastas, and cakes, all contain gluten, not to mention many sauces, gravies, soups, and the like. Even though we know the most obvious hiding places for gluten, we’re still often surprised. The rule is that if we didn’t prepare the food ourselves, we ask.

So it was on Saturday afternoon, after a wine-tasting at Chateau St. Croix, when we decide to head to St. Croix Falls for a bite at Grecco’s. They have a very eclectic menu, all freshly prepared foods; surely we would find something wonderfully (and gluten-free) there!?

Perusing the menu, everything sounded amazing, and was served on bread or thickened with flour. We asked our waitress about gluten-free options and she checked with the chef. As it turned out the chicken meatball appetizer was prepared without flour or breadcrumbs and had been a favorite among the patrons this weekend. The only problem, it was served on a layer of creamed squash. Chuck’s eyes lit up and I knew I couldn’t poo-poo the only thing on the menu that fit with his way of eating, so we ordered.

I figured I could just scrape off the squash part, but when the plate arrived my hopes were dashed. Instead of a mound of squash, like I envisioned, the meatballs were in a puddle of golden soup. It was a beautiful presentation however, and the aroma was pleasing too, and so I decided to give it a try.

The chicken was tender and juicy, perfectly seasoned. And, the squash? Creamy…smooth…buttery…delicious!

Yes, I ate the squash and I liked it. While not a death-defying feat, I felt proud for having taken the risk. Had I stuck to my childhood belief, that squash was the most despising of vegetables, I never would have experienced that tasty adventure!

And that’s when it hit me…what other childhood beliefs am I still allowing to hold me back from experiencing life to the max? I think it’s time to challenge those long-standing beliefs and re-evaluate their truth for my life. Are they beliefs of a young, insecure child, or the beliefs of a confident, empowered, adventurous woman? I get excited just thinking of the new adventures that could be in store!

Umm, I don’t think I’m quite ready for the lima beans though.

Kim,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as you can change your beliefs.” ~Maxwell Maltz

Spring Cleaning Your Life Continues with the Junk Drawer

Bear with me here as I continue on the topic of spring cleaning for one more week…

My husband and I tried to jump on the “spring cleaning” bandwagon last week. We worked diligently on things for a day and that’s about how long it lasted. While picking up some random clutter I gathered things into the palm of my hand and headed for the “junk drawer”.

We all have them – a place to keep the things we don’t know where to keep. I pulled open the drawer; it opened about an inch and then stopped. It was jammed.

Don’t you hate when that happens? You stuff so much into a drawer that it doesn’t even open anymore. And this time it didn’t even open far enough to stuff my fingers inside, in hopes that I could loosen the jam. My husband came around the corner as I was cursing “the stupid drawer”, as if it was the drawer’s fault that we had jammed too much into it. And then I stopped, looked at my husband, and said, “This is the subject of my next blog!” He looked at me kinda crazy-like – but I’ve come to learn that when I get a crazy look from my husband, I’ve usually got a good idea!

Our lives sometimes become a “junk drawer”. We allow others to stuff us full with their schedules, their needs, and their plans. And just like a junk drawer, we rarely notice there’s a problem until things don’t work anymore. We feel unmotivated, unfulfilled, stressed, and just plain unhappy. You see, when a junk drawer gets too full, it doesn’t work anymore. And so it is with our life; we keep cramming and cramming until we reach a breaking point.

So what do we do when the junk drawer gets too full? We stop and take an assessment. What items are necessary and which are not? What belongs in a different area of the house? We need to do the same assessment with our own lives. What schedule hogs are really necessary? What could we probably say “no” to? Just as we need to prioritize what gets a space in a junk drawer, we need to also prioritize what gets a space in our lives.

Becky,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Set priorities for your goals. A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.” ~Unknown

What Does Your Purse Say About You?

They come in all shapes, colors, and sizes these days. Gone are the times of the one size fits all, in your favorite shade of brown or black. Most women own more than one and they switch them out like their shoes to accent their personality, outfit, or mood of the day.

A few days ago my girlfriend hurriedly burst into the office, plunked her purse on the table and declared, “Look at this…This purse represents my life!” It didn’t take much pondering to realize what it was she was talking about. Her purse…was a disaster. Although, I didn’t think of her life in that way, her purse on the other hand was stuffed to overflowing; receipts, papers, and notes spilling out over the top. Normally a narrow oblong form, it had now taken on more of an almond shape; narrow at the ends and wider in the middle. Stuffed so full it was way past the point of ever being zipped again. She was eating healthy that day however; the two oranges that she had balanced on the top of her purse had rolled off onto the table. We exchanged a quick laugh and she was off to her meeting.

My thoughts quickly moved to my own purse . . . my everyday purse is more on the larger size. That just means that I can cram more stuff into it before it spills over the top. If I took everything that I had in my purse at that moment and tried to stuff it into my girlfriend’s purse it would’ve looked much the same as hers; exploding and unorganized. But I never thought about whether it represents my life or not.

I suppose that perception could go for anything … the way we keep our desks, our cars, our bedrooms, our homes, our lives. I came home that day and weeded through the items in my purse. I was afraid what I might find. I’ve been known to win many a prize playing the ever-popular party game, “What’s The Most Unusual Thing In Your Purse”. I was able to trash 3 pens that didn’t work, an old grocery list from 3 weeks ago, an “I Voted” sticker from last year, a broken piece of jewelry, and numerous receipts, wrappers, and reminders that I no longer needed. I put everything else back in my purse in the most organized fashion I could and quickly planned to move on to my desk next.

Take some time during this first week of spring to clean out the parts of your life that really need it. The disorder that can pile up and make your life feel unorganized and overwhelming can be hiding in the most common places; the magazine rack, the front door catch-all basket, the garage, your email inbox, your computer desktop, and of course your purse. My challenge to you is to start with your purse and move out from there. Oh, and I’m curious to know, what’s the most unusual item you found in your purse? If I find it to indeed be odd, there’s a prize in it for you! We’ll be tracking responses under the comments here on our blog, as well as on our Facebook fan page (hey, drop by and become a fan!).

Jenny,
Sister of Soul

Soul-spiration of the Week:
"Being clear of clutter is one of the greatest aids I know to discovering and manifesting the life you want." ~Karen Kingston

Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

Pardon my rant but I get so messed up by daylight saving time. I know it’s just an hour twice a year but for some reason my body and mind have a hard time adapting. So this morning, as my husband and I were going around checking all the time-keeping devices in the house, and repeatedly asking, “What time is it again?” it hit me.

Does anyone really know what time it is?

Oh, we think that just because we wear a watch or have a clock in view we know the time. But the hour of the day doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things does it? It might give us a measure of security and assurance that we won’t be late for an appointment or forget about an important meal (heaven forbid we lose track of time and forget to eat supper!). But when it comes to time, isn’t “timing” more important?

I venture to bet that your days are probably a lot like mine; long to-do lists and the compulsive need to stay on time, remain on task, and get things done. How many time-management workshops have you attended or books have you read? Too many to count? I thought so.

Time is the great equalizer; gender, age, race, and creed make no difference. When it comes to time we all get 24 hours each day; no more, no less. So then, there is no managing of time, only managing of ourselves.

What if instead of relying on the clock on the wall, we relied on our intuition and our own internal sense of timing? I wonder how different my day would look if instead of focusing on my long task list I focused internally instead. Would I instinctively know my priorities? Would I hear the whisper of my inner voice telling me a friend needs to hear from me now? Would the anxiety I sometimes feel as a deadline looms, give way to a sense of peace and inner knowing that things will all come together in due time?

Just considering the alternative to the typical daily time-crunch makes me want to explore the concept further! Have you ever felt a desire to shift from a time-on-the-wall existence to one of “internal timing”? Or maybe you’ve already made that transition in your life? Please share your thoughts, tips, and experience. I for one would love to hear your story!

Soul Sister,
Kim

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.” ~Harvey MacKay

Stop and Take a Mental Picture

One of my favorite shows on television is The Office. The show pokes fun at the very things so many of us encounter with co-workers every day. For any of you who also like this show I’m sure you’d agree the wedding of Jim and Pam has to be one of the best episodes. Fans of the show have been rallying for Pam and Jim to become a couple from day one. Then six seasons later we all cheered (and maybe shed a happy tear or two) while they finally married!

At the beginning of the show Jim and Pam started taking “mental pictures” of the day to guarantee that these moments would forever be a part of their memories. They’d take these pictures by raising their hands as if holding an imaginary camera and then to capture a moment they’d push the shutter button. During the show I just thought it was a cute thing they were doing together but then I got to thinking, “By using your hands to actually take a ‘mental picture’ would that help the memory stick?” I think it might.

We’ve all been reminded time and time again to “stop and smell the roses” and still we forget. So maybe the trick is to get into the habit of taking mental snapshots of the things we’d like to remember. I believe the action of stopping and “taking a picture” of something might just offer the pause in our busy day to recognize the simple things that we take for granted. And maybe with each “push of the shutter” we can trigger our brain to think, “Hey, this is something important and I’d like to file it away!”

So, what do you say? Let’s each turn ourselves into “memory photographers”! Give it a try and report back! I’d love to hear how it works for you!

Becky,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything. ~Unknown

Me? Longing for More Winter?

I’ve always been one to hurry the end of winter along because I could not wait for spring to arrive. The cold, the snow . . . long about the first of March I’ve usually had enough of it and start wishing for the first signs of spring (and in the spirit of friendly competition, I’ve always wanted to be the one who will spot the first robin).

This year however, it’s a different story. A few weeks ago I checked something off of my “101 List of Things to Do Before I Die”. I’ve always wanted to introduce my children to cross country skiing. My first experience with the sport was some 15 years ago spending the weekend with a set of rentals. I fell in love with it! I can recall the exact moment - we we’re skiing on the evening of a full moon. It was amazing! It was calm, quiet and peaceful. I’ve only skied three or four times since then, but I always knew that it was something I would like to do as a family when the kids were old enough. There aren’t too many activities that will bring you outdoors during the winter months in the Midwest that don’t involve an engine, gasoline, and fast speed.

So a couple weeks ago we spent a Saturday combing the used sporting goods stores and clearance racks. We came home with everything we needed; four sets of skis, boots, and poles. Living in a rural area we are surrounded by countless opportunities of open and wooded trails right outside our back door. We haven’t missed a day of skiing yet. It’s obvious the kids love it; going sometimes two or three times a day blazing new trails for the family to try the following night.

So I’d really like to hold on to winter for just a couple more weeks. However, the forecast calls for temperatures in the 30’s and sunny days all week long. I may have just skied my last trip for the season. If that is the case though, what better way to end than with family under a full moon! It was spectacular!

Jenny,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
"The family is one of nature's masterpieces." ~George Santayana