Five Words

I decided to play along in a meme that I found over at Tabor's blog, One Day At A Time.  For this meme, you write about five words that apply to your life.  The words were chosen by Tabor and if you'd like to try your hand at five words please comment below and I will send you five different words for you to find inspiration from. 

Here are the five words she sent me: 

1.  Play-  I think everyone should take time out to play.  I know when I allow myself to play, I notice that my worries dissipate.  I evolve into someone else.  I become carefree and youthful and I feel the stress melt away.  The lines around my mouth, formed by frowns seem to disappear, if only briefly.  Play leads to laughter and laughter leads to healing.  Emotional healing.  Lord knows, we could all use a little tune-up in that department.

I love to play with my camera.  Snap, snap, snap.  It's my favorite form of play these days, and I really enjoy it.  Even my dog is getting used to seeing my camera and she whines now when I start clicking away as if to say, "yes, yes, yes.  I'm here, mama.  take my picture."  She smiles big and wags her tail when I get trigger happy.

Oh, I love to play with words too.  It may not sound fun to a lot of people but I like the sound of words and how sometimes they just flow to form a poetic picture.  The following words were inspired by a friend's feline shaped wine bottle, which I am holding for her at my house.  I wrote this little diddy earlier this morning.  Click on the photo to enlarge and see full detail.

Cari's kitty is very well taken care of.

She is embraced by the warmth of the leaves

and surrounded by hearts full of love.

She awaits for a cup to runneth over

with the sweetness of her fruity juice.

Lips to glass.  Wine to tongue.

A taste to be savored, not with bottle,

but with senses.

Smell it.  Taste it. 

Siwsh, swish

then swallow.

A toast to you, my friend.

Consume the wine

I call kitty divine.

2.  Impact-  There are so many things and people who have had an impact on my life.  I could write about all of them but that would make this post way too long and boring and I would lose my audience.  SNOOZE.

My grandparents have had the strongest impact on me.  I learned through their examples what it means to be kind and generous.  Throughout their whole lives they showered me with love and acceptance, not to mention  all the other people they touched.  They taught me the important things in life; a good value system, a good work ethic, hospitality; and basic kindness.  I have never met anyone who have hearts as big as theirs.  I am so grateful to have been born into their family.  I miss them every single day, and sometimes I still talk to them when I'm feeling lonely or depressed or when I am just missing them.  Do they talk back?  No, not literally, but I hold their images close to my heart and I can see their faces and If I listen really hard, I can almost hear a whisper from the other side.

3.  Ambient-  I had some difficulty with this word, but I finally know what it means for me.  The ambient sound of the television keeps good company with me on a daily basis, even as I write this, and always, while I hop from blog to blog.  The ambient noise is my constant companion.  It drowns out my own thoughts and keeps the negative stirrings at bay.

4.  Pretend -  Sometimes I pretend to be happy when I'm sad.  That's about all I have to say on this word, except that I don't pretend to be someone or something I am not.

5.  Gorgeous-  Gorgeous is one of my favorite words to say.  when I use this word to compliment someone, it usually means that my senses have been excited visually or I've heard something that has touched me deeply.  I love the way the word sounds when It rolls off my tongue.  Gorgeous means beautiful, breathtaking, stunning, heartwarming.  I am surrounded by gorgeous people, gorgeous landscape and every day I am inspired by all the gorgeous photos and gorgwous words I come across in blog land.  It's amazing how many gorgeous blogs there are.  By that, I mean awe inspiring, creative, touching, etc.

Wow, I wrote more than I anticipated.  I hope you all had the patience to get through it.  If you'd like five words of your own, please say so in the comment section and I'll send you a fresh set of five words for you to work with.  Now, go visit Tabor.  You just might find a blog you want to follow because you like her style.

Friday My Town Shoot Out~ Silhouettes

This week's theme of silhouettes was chosen by Carrie.  You can visit the town shoot out main page to see a list of members.  I believe the town shoot out team is accepting new members so please visit the blog if you are interested in joining our wonderful group.


Now, on with the assignment.  I was somewhat intimidated by the topic, but I managed to get a few shots in this evening.  I am posting two photos which I took standing in my backyard looking over several neighbors yards to get the photo of the silhouettes.  I think they turned out nice.  I hope you will like them too.

The next photo, I actually brought a chair outside to stand on

so I could get a better view without the retaining wall being in the way.

(CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

My heart is full

Click on photo to enlarge

ABC Wednesday ~ L is for letters

It's ABC Wednesday and this week we are on the letter L.  Every week we choose a word that represents the letter of the week and then we either write about it and/or showcase it with a photo.  If you want to learn more and to see more L words please click on over to the ABC Wednesday main page.

(click on photo to enlarge)

L is for letters,

a trunk full of personal letters spanning over 30 years.

This trunk contains love letters,

friendship letters,

birthday letters,

thank you letters,

thinking of you letters

and any other kind of letter you can think of.

These letters are my most cherished possessions.

I've always loved writing personal letters,

but I love receiving them even more.

I think it's really sad that too many people these days

would rather send an e-mail or a text message

instead of taking the time to write a letter in their own hand.

These letters represent growth spurts in my life.

They are my history and part of how I became who I am today.

These letters chronicle who my friends were

what kinds of things they were doing.

It really is such an honour to re-read these letters.

Sometimes, when I'm feeling a little insecure

I dive into my trunk and pull out a letter at random.

I am always surprised by the words I read.

If only I could see myself how others have seen me.

With a little luck and a little maturity

maybe I can.

I would like to share a letter with you from my first love.

He passed away a little over a year ago from cancer.

I sure am glad I saved all of his letters

because now it seems to mean so much more.

Please click on the photo to read the letter. 

It really is very special to me

even though this was written to me after we broke up.

I hope I have inspired you to write a personal letter

to someone you care about.

It really does mean a lot more than an email.

Now, go check out the rest of the gang at ABC Wednesday.

I'm What?

I hope you're feeling bubbly too.

At the very least,

may your day be filled with lots of smiles.

I've already smiled lots today.

Hubby woke up in a really good mood

and did his best to put me on the same page.

At four O'clock in the morning though,

it took me a little longer to crack my first smile.

My husband is funny though

and my "feeling like I had a hang-over" mood finally broke.

I made our morning smoothies and he was out the door by 4:40.

Early mornings and late nights are my favorite times of day.

I get to enjoy my alone time

and soak up all the fun and creativity that the blogosphere offers.

In addition to hubby making me smile this morning,

some of my favortie bloggers made me smile too.

Tes over at Craftista

posted a couple of really cute photos with a clever caption.

I think you'll smile too if you like simple pleasures.

I always smile when I visit Pauline at the Paddock.

There is a sweetness about her that I find endearing.

Beth, at Be Yourself... Everyone Else is Taken

made me smile with her witty comments on her photos.

I hope you find a moment to click on the links to the blogs I mentioned.

I have many favorites however,

these are the three that made me smile early this morning.

Gigi, Heather, Jen, Hilary, Sandy, Rebecca, Rob & Trish....

you guys are in my top ten.

So,  now I'm off to harvest some crops in Farmville. 

You know what that means if you have a facebook account.

Yes, I finally became a farmer and I like it way too much.

I take it very seriously.

Have a nice day everyone

and I hope I didn't leave any of my top favorites out of the list.

Like I said,

I have a LOT of favorites

and I will feel awful if I forgot to mention you.

Mosaic Monday~ Escape Into The Pages

I have over 300 books on my book shelves.

Books are my passion

and so the number 300 doesn't seem like a lot to me.

Every few months

I do my best to weed out some of my books.

I take them to a used book store

and if I can't get rid of them there then I donate them.

If it weren't for my husband complaining

I would never get rid of any of my books.

Mostly, I read and own non-fiction.

I love learning and so I would say the bulk of my book collection

is in the personal finance and leadership and success category.

I also have a large collection in

astrology, the paranormal, books on writing & true crime.

My dream house which I envision in my mind

has a built in library from floor to ceiling

with sliding ladders to reach the top.

(Please click to enlarge)

A Venetian Affair is my all time favorite love story. 

The author re-created this true love story

based on the letters he discovered written by the couple.

The man in the story is the author's ancestor.

The astrology books...

Love Cards, Encycolpedia of Dreams, & Encyclopedia of Birthdays

are three books I constantly read.

They sit on my side table next to my chair in the living room.

Of course,

I have a whole shelf dedicated to astrology books alone.

The other book showcased in my mosaic

is a book I started a few months back

but

never finished reading

because lately

I find I get carried away reading blogs.

I spend hours a day

hopping from one blog to another

and then re-visiting blogs that have updated more than once

in a day.

But I love my books.

I like owning them.

I like to touch them,

smell them,

 mark up the pages with yellow highlights

and sometimes I scribble notes in the margins.

Of course,

I only mark up the pages in non-fiction books.

They are my learning tools

and I find myself referencing them often.

What do you like to read, and why?

Here's a recommendation:

Little Red House where Mary hosts Mosaic Monday.

You won't be disappointed.

Friday My Town Shoot Oout~ Photo Study of A Building

I have showcased this building once before.

Normally, I don't find modern buildings attractive.

There is something about the modern building that lacks intrigue for me.

But I am fascinated by this building under construction.

The architectural design is incredible and different.

I love how it has all these curves in its design.

It's been under construction for over a year now

and I wish I had taken pictures of it in it's earlier stages.

It's been quite interesting to see it evolve.

Pleas click on each photo to see the detail

and to see how enormous this building is.

This is the new building for a brain institute as you can see in the sign by enlarging the photo.

This week's assignment was courtesy of Team Blogger at My Town Shoot Out.

Why don't you mosy on over to the main blog to see a list of fellow participants.