Good bye to an old friend...

And that's that.

Go do it.

http://www.locksoflove.org/

Peaceful Service

First of all, thanks for all the kind comments on my last post.  It's so nice to know I'm not alone out there in the "Why am I blogging?" world.

I am continuing on my journey to Piece Together Peace.
Last month's intention was clear and simple...or so I thought.
Become a focused and peaceful driver.
Ok.
Honestly?  It was really hard to remember to take my 3 deep breaths.  Most of the time I would take them while backing up out of my driveway (so doesn't count!).  About halfway through the month I got the great idea of writing a little watercolor card with the word breathe on it, all pretty and soothing like.
That worked well...until my 2 year old ripped it off and ate it (actually she just wiped her face with it - thanks!).  At the end of the day I do not think I'll be able to do the 3 deep breaths every time I start up my car, but it has helped me become a more focused driver, and therefore a more peaceful driver simply by making it a priority.

Novembers' Peace intention came rather easily. 
November is a month for giving back. 

Giving back to this beautiful Earth.
Giving back to the community.
Instilling in my children what it means to do true service.

Sure, we donate to charities and give cans to food drives all year long, but this month we'll go above and beyond. 

We'll do the beach clean up, we'll do the food basket preparations, we'll do the bigger, more meaningful service.  We will go home with peace in our hearts and hopefully it will radiate outwards.

Through our actions we will piece together peace.

**Pictures taken at Los Cerritos Wetlands where we participated in a clean up/restoration day, organized by Kim from Save Our Beach.**

...about that 5th pumpkin...

Hi.
I'm here.
Wherever here is, right?

There I was happily blogging about my 5 little pumpkins and then BAM!  It hit me.
Why?
Why do I blog?
I mean I've thought about it before and wondered about it, but just kept on typing away anyways.
I enjoy sharing my thoughts.
I enjoy documenting my family life.
I enjoy organizing my pictures and reflecting on them in this space.
I enjoy my blog friends I've met.

So it's Hallowe'en night and I'm about to sit down and type up my "5th Little Pumpkin" blog and I realize there's like 10 other things I'd rather do, not the least of which is hang out with my Mom (loved your visit Mom!).  The night comes to a close (the Pumpkin Fairy was waiting for me to fall asleep) and the next day is here.
Guess what?
I don't feel like blogging that night either!
Don't get me wrong....the pumpkin curry I will eventually post is totally tasty and worthy of sharing, but I just didn't feel like it.

At that point I decided I would shut down the blog.  I decided I was "over it".

Over the next few days life did what it always does and sent some signs. 

• I ran into a few people who had read something or made some recipe they saw on my blog and had truly enjoyed it. 
• I got a few emails from some mamas who had gleaned some sort of insight from my ramblings.

These few encounters reminded me why I started blogging in the first place.  To share.  To give back.
I myself have been inspired by so many wonderful blogs out there.  What if we all stopped blogging...how tragic would that be?!?

I get it...it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  I can post when I have the time and the inspiration.  Although at this point it's mostly a time management thing.  I've got about 20 posts in my head and in my camera...just no time to glue them together into a post.  I'm sure all you bloggers out there know what I mean.  Plus the ridiculously long handmade presents list I wrote last week is haunting me.  Great Grandma Jo might not get that handmade scarf this year...hee-hee.  That's why we have Etsy people!

How do you do it?  How do you find the time to blog when so many other things call you away?

So I am still here and I am at peace with blogging when I have the time. 
Speaking of peace...I hope to post this week about my Peaceful Intention for November..

~Peace Out~
:)