Perfect Evening

A fire, a comfy chair, a glass of hot chocolate. Good music, my daughter snoring and silence from my son's room. I got to write. In my own house. With my family home. Uninterrupted for almost 2 hours. It was a perfect night.

I did close my eyes to try to get a clearer view to describe one of my charecters and fell asleep though. Off to bed now.

Amanda

Do you ever feel like life is happening to you rather than something you're living? I think the endless hours lost to TV contribute to that feeling, but I also know that completly giving up TV is pretty unrealistic for me. Regardless, I vow right now to start living. More attention and intention, less reaction.

I've been away for a while now

Sorry. I'm sure you've grown tired of checking to see if I have posted anything new and have just stopped looking. My life has not been the shiniest, happiest place for the last few months and I've been in hiding. My first thought was to try to post something every day that made me happy, but that seemed trite and I got too busy. Then, when I really wanted to pour my heart out and say what was going on, I got scared that some of you readers may know me and see me in real life and *gasp* try to actually help me. So I kept my mouth shut (or fingers still, if you will) and just stopped blogging.

But I'm back. I want to be able to share the beauty and encouragement I receive, and I want to share this journey of healing. Because we have to heal, everything has to get better eventually, it can't stay like this forever.

Series Ideas

I'm trying to keep my blogs updated, but somedays I have a hard time thinking of content. Here are a few of my current, day of the week themed ideas:

Friday Fitness- tip or idea
Sunday Son-day (this play on words is almost too lame, but it would be a theme verse for the upcoming week)

My daily goals

Or to-dos...or whatever. This is the stuff that if I get it done I will feel like I've accomplished something today:

1) Make a working list of the Pilates Principles
2) Go for a walk (guess I should have worn different shoes...I can go with the kids when I get home).
3) Look at 2 more master's programs.
4) Fix my prodcut links on the Pilates and Pregnancy Product Reviews. (If you read them and have other suggestions, let me know!)
5) Set up google analytics

Thank Yous

I'm over thanking people for doing their jobs. Now, I know this is going to come off as snarky and synical, but hear me out:

I guess I should clarify- I am all about please and thank you. I say them both way too much to the point that my boss has taken to coaching me not to say please so much because it makes people think they have an option when really they don't. I kind of disagree with that premise, I think adding a please can go a long way in softening an "order" but whatever, it's not worth arguing over. What I'm over is giving special recognition to people for doing the basic tenants of the job you have hired and paid them for. I think that recognition should be reserved for special circumstanses- when they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Some feel that giving special recogognition for the small things will acutally motivate people to do more, but in my experience it has the opposite effect. It seems that many people, when they receive special recognition, think they have already done something special and that they should continue to work at that level. They seem to forget that what they did is their job, so they wait for special instructions to do the same thing again.

This is all very abstract, so let me give you an example: if you are a content writer for a website, it is your job to write the content. It is the website's job to make sure their relationsship with major search engines is such that people can search for and find your writing. You don't get a pat on the back each day that you post an article, the website techs shouldn't get a pat on the back when they correct a problem that was causing your articles to be in impossible to search. But because they got one, the next time there is a problem, rather than buckling down and quickly fixing it, they remember that the last time there was a problem they got special recognitio for finding a solution, so therefore working on it must be outside the scope of their day-to-day work and it is placed on the back burner.

Another example is if part of your job is to scan documents into a database. Your supervisor has discussed this with you, but you don't like this particular aspect of your job, so you put it off and put it off, until the person who needs to retrieve the documents from the database asks your supervisor about it. So, you spend some time that day scanning the documents that have been waiting for weeks to be scanned. You shouldn't receive special recognition for the getting them all done in one day or hour or whatever it was, you should be reprimanded for not doing your job in a timely manner and having to be asked mutliple times like a child.

Nobody ever thanks me for cleaning out my inbox every day, or administering my programs to the best of my ability, and I don't expect them to. It's my job. I get recognized for doing that job on the 15th and 30th of each month when I get my paycheck.

I'm just saying...our efforts to be polite and encouraging are biting us in the ass.

The Noticer Review

The Noticer is okay. It's not bad, it's not amazingly good. At times it feels like a series of short stories around the the theme of "Jones" rather than a cohesive book about a certain period in Andy's life. The end of the first chapter launches into a resume of Andy's accomplishments in such a way that the book feels like it's becoming a self-help guide. Later, a large portion of that first chapter is repeated, and not even in theme, but word for word, which gets to be a bit much.

The book seems like it was made to be used as a discussion guide for a Bible study which makes the story feel forced, like there were certain themes that the author knew he wanted to include. If you're using it as a discussion guide, you will be pleased. If you're trying to just read it on your own, you may not feel compelled to finish it.

Thankful list

Today, I'm thankful for:

A job that pays well
A husband that, when he tries, is the kindess, most thoughtful person I've ever met
My kids
The opportunities I've found and been given to write

Amanda Moon

Strong Life Review: Ah ha!

The concepts laid out in this book fly in the face of conventional wisdom, but as Buckingham develops them with numerous examples from both research and real life, you have that “Ah ha!” moment. As a mother of 2, with a full time job to pay the bills and a part time job that I love, I have had a constant struggle to find balance between doing what I love, spending time with my family, and being fully present at work. No matter what I do it doesn’t seem to work (and I have an incredibly supportive husband.) Then I read Buckinham’s explanation of balance and why it is an unfulfilling goal. Ah-ha! In order to balance, the scale must be perfectly still. There can be no movement from balance- once you achieve it you’re stuck.

This is just one of the numerous “Ah ha!” moments I had while reading this book. I dog-eared pages, I marked the parts I wanted my husband to read. The advice is real, actionable and practical. In fact, the final portion of the book is a sort of “FAQs of a Strong Life”- you’ve gained all of this amazing insight into yourself, your work, your family- here’s how to implement it.

Highly recommended. It’s written in a conversational style that I could have breezed right through, but it resonated in a way that made me constantly put it down and think about what I had just read and how it applied.

I'm thankful

This has been a really hard month. I've had problems with my husband, problems with my health, problems at work and problems with family. But today, I just want to be thankful. The song "It is well" keeps going through my mind. It is well with my soul. While life around me in a lot of ways seems to be falling apart, it is making me stronger. This is what I'm thankful for today:

1) My amazing children
2) My cute puppy, whose fleas we can't seem to get rid of, but who is still happy to see me every day.
3) My friends- I don't feel like I have a lot of close friends, but the ones I have are amazing- whether it's letting me cry on the phone or coming over in the middle of the night to take care of my kids while I'm at the hospital- I am so thankful.

4) My family
5) My in-laws
6) I'm not sick anymore
7) My creativity and the opportunity to express it thru this blog and my other sites.
8) My iPhone that let's me type this even tho I'm not at my computer
9) My bed- it is one of the most comfortable places in the universe
10) Podcasts- free and inspiring. What more can I say.

Have a good weekend- look for things to be thankful for and it can really change your attitude no matter the situation. It won't fix the problems or make them go away, but thankfulness can remind you how strong you are and how you can get thru it.

Adios!

Creative Blog Inspirations

I'm so inspired by the Rockstar Diaries, Hip Tranquil Chick, Naturally Nina, and Pennyweight Online blogs. I want this blog to inspire others like theirs inspire me. But I'm not super Internet savvy, and I'm not indie rock chick. I want to be indie rock chick, but the fashion doesn't suit me. I'm better in some nice work trousers and cute, work appropriate tops and jackets. Not ever ever ever an actual suit, but the pieces. Skinny jeans don't work on me because I'm not, and I've never had much luck at vintage shops- apparently the women of old didn't have my body. Actually, I think it's more the proprietors of the vintage shops that don't have my body, because my grandma had some rockin' clothes back in the day that I had no problem pilfering. But anyway- I want to be inspiring. I want to post my photography and have other people grab it and go. I want to have my blog linked to by other people- not because I'm so super cool, but because it is somehow inspiring to them. I want to be inspiring to my daughter as she gets older. She seems to have a bit of an art streak in her- I want to encourage that as much as possible, without pushing her in a bad way.

My book will be published by December 3, 2011. Wow- that's coming up quick. I need to get writing!

Goals for the Day

Today this feels more like a to-do list than a goals list, but what can you do:

1) Do more research on online masters programs

2) Either walk or ride bike for 45 minutes

3) Figure out how to keep Austin awake all afternoon- it worked all weekend, why can't he sleep during the week when we work????

Pilates 101: The Cadillac

Check out my latest examiner.com post. It's the first in a new Pilates Equipment series- I'll be posting a new item each day this week.

Goals for the Day

1) Plan Meals for Week

2) Not puke

3) Go through closet and clean it out.

Blog Addiction

I have a confession. I have an addiction to blogs. Not so much to blogging, but to the idea of blogs. I think I want to make another blog about my efforts to deal with my stress and to become more content. I am going to sleep on it for the night. Thinking about trying to find a guided Bible study about contentment, but wondering now if striving for contentment is the wrong thing- I should instead be striving for thankfulness. Because if I'm truly thankful for what I have, then I will be happy. And it's not bad to be working towards being the best, but it's being dissatisfied with where I'm at that causes the problem.

Monday Goals

I'm having a hard time thinking of goals for today that go beyond a list of to-dos, and at the same time I'm thinking that I should start setting weekly and monthly goals in addition to my daily ones. I've really got a problem with biting off more than I can chew.

1) Pull out all creativity books so that I can at least see what I have

2) Indulge in sweet potato fries for lunch. (Homemade. Yum.)

3) Clean bedroom.

Book Review: The Knockout Entrepreneur by George Foreman w/ Ken Abraham

Rating: 2/5

The Knockout Entrepreneur is told through a series of analogies from George Foreman’s business and boxing experience. You can skip all of the stories, though, and read just the “Knockout Ideas to Stimulate Your Success” at the end of each chapter to get the gist of the book.

While the analogies are often entertaining, they aren’t often incredibly relevant or inspiring. There is little organization or flow to the order of the stories, and many seem like they have been included in the wrong chapter. Some of the analogies- such as his statement that your accountant is akin to a technician in the boxing ring (the man who scouts the competition for you and helps you strategically fight) are downright wrong. Yes, an accountant can help you make strategic decisions, but I’ve yet to meet one who is a scout.

George does to an excellent job encouraging integrity and honesty in all business an personal situations. However, it appears that George has built his business entirely on the success of endorsement deals and he has never been involved in the inception of development of a product or idea. This begs the question: What makes him an expert I should listen to? There are better business books on the market which follow the same ethical standards.

Book Preview: http://thomasnelson.insidethecover.com/widget/?isbn=9780785222088

Goals for the Day

Take Lily to playground down the road

Set up indoor trainer and ride bike for 30 min after Lily's in bed

Take a nap

Evening Check In

On my way to bed, but reflecting on my day and thought I'd post an update to my goals:

Clean House: Didn't happen.
Make meal plan for next week: Sort of- have decided to try Super Suppers for next week's meals, actually, in order to use my coupon I essentially have to buy enough for 1/2 a month.
Hug Chris- Did it!

Best part of my day: my nap!

Goals for the Day

So, yesterday the goals didn't go so well. In fact, I didn't accomplish any of them. However, I do have an idea for the PilatesforMommies post and plan to do it as soon as I'm done with my Morning Pages. And I had an amazing Pilates lesson. I tried to go for a walk, but Chris had the double stroller. So...goals for today:

Clean House
Make meal plan for next week
Hug Chris