My love of elephants has never faded. I had a book called Emily Elephant; and it was my favorite book. I still have it; and I read it to my daughter.
But strangely enough my love of elephants never extended outwards. I didn’t have elephant stuffed animals or elephant on my clothes. But I did truly love them.
When we would go to the zoo I loved to watch the elephants.
Whenever there was a cute picture of baby elephants and mama elephants on Facebook I would take a screenshot. I had several elephant pictures.
I wonder if that’s why I was never a huge fan of the Elephant’s Child audio book. We would listen to books as kids at bedtime. And we either listened to Peter and the wolf, which was terrifying, or Elephant’s Child. The elephant was so annoying and there was a crocodile. I really dislike crocodiles. But I wonder if that’s why…?
When I was a teenager, I drew out my family as animals. I can’t remember what everyone was. My younger brother was a snake. One of my sisters was an owl. My mom was a happy fluffy mama bear. But I know I was a baby elephant. I could even draw that elephant right now, as if it was yesterday.
Something like this. I am holding a sleeping 3 week old at the moment.
But elephants are so happy. Baby elephants follow their mamas. Mama elephants protect their babies. I love them still. So much so that both of my daughter’s baby showers were both pink elephants themed. My eldest daughter likes elephants; so I’ll have to see if I passed on the love for elephants to my newest daughter.
So easiest daily prompt for me, favorite animal….Elephants!!
Photo from Facebook 2018Screenshot from Facebook 2017
Not thinking recently. Like back in my childhood. I have trouble remembering the driving part of trips. I remember the destination, but not the driving bit. I’m sure my mom remembers. Haha!
But I can’t remember where we were going. I think to a beach. But we would always get to a part of the drive and have to hand crank our windows up as fast as possible or the smelly duck farm smell would waft into the car and never go away.
There was another time that we were I think going to a different beach and we had to drive by a tall tower. Now I know it was a Catholic Church bell tower, but back then I asked my big sister what that was…thinking she would give me a normal answer. Instead she tells me that it’s a place where they burn dead people. That as you drive you have to roll up your windows quickly or the car would be filled with dead bodies particles. So of course more than half of my life I believed her and would roll up my windows quickly to avoid the dead particles. Haha!
There was another memorable one. By a different beach. One of my first times driving my friends to the beach, I went around my very first roundabout. And yes, I went around it a few times. Four times to be exact! Haha!
Funny how the different things I remember was when we were going to the beach. We went several different places. But I guess we went to beaches the most. Makes sense. You pay to park and then the day is free.
I’m going to try and remember the drive not just the destination.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Not really magical, like Harry Potter. I would love to live in a place that all my family would love to live. But it’s not realistic.
My husband and I are very much country type people. Lots of open space. Tractors, chickens, cows, dirt, less people, and good strong Christians. We are that typical country song.
I know some of my family are country too. But I know some of them are more city people. Less busy, hustle and bustle city; and more like suburbs. Like they like having people around and all the amenities.
Because let me tell you. When you live about 45min from a city with all your shopping stores; you learn to live without something until you are planning to go back. Or like me; you learn to make everything from scratch. You want tacos…you don’t have tortillas…you make them. You are craving a delicious burger and French fries…you make it yourself. It’s a lot of work to change to be this type of person, but so worth it.
But back to my family. I know my mom would come and my brothers (maybe). I haven’t had talks with them in a long time; so I don’t actually know who my brothers are anymore. Which is sad to say, but that’s what happens when you live far away and you keep getting pregnant.
But then my sisters would be left where they are. And that doesn’t seem fair. I would be happy to have my family near me once again!! But my sisters wouldn’t have their family near them.
That’s why I want to live somewhere magical. Somewhere where we all could get what we want. I know of a place, but it’s just a dream. Because moving away to a new state is hard. Especially if you have always lived in the same place. You would leave your good friends, your surroundings, and sometimes family.
That’s what my husband and I did, over seven years ago. Wow. It’s been seven years!!
So the only way to answer this prompt is: I want to live in a magical place where everyone wants to live. But I can’t just ask them to move closer. Because that would just me asking for selfish reasons. That I miss my family so much that I wish they would all just move closer for me. Also the thought that my kids would know their cousins; that would be an added perk.
Have a wonderful Friday. Let it be filled with your dreams of what ifs. Mine: what if my family were closer?? I would be the happiest person in the whole world. 🥰
My daughter’s newest painting. She is painting paintings for all of her family for Christmas presents. So proud of her.
I paint at the same time on paper, and she paints on a canvas board. We go step by step. She is doing fantastic!! I am so happy to have a painting buddy. Almost 3 done, only 8 more to go. And we are running out of time. Not just cause Christmas is coming, but I’m getting bigger and bigger pregnant. So my days are slowly getting more filled with more naps.
Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).
Haha! I was going to say house or car. But since that’s not an option, then…a dress.
It was around the time I was coaching high school swimming. Turned out they needed more chaperones for prom night. I jumped at the opportunity!
I was homeschooled; so I had to be asked by someone who went to a public school to experience prom. I was. My friend’s brother at the time. The getting ready was the best part of prom. But then once there, I was left at a table where I ended up playing Jin rummy all night long with another guy that was left at the table. It was still fun, but I afterwards felt that I never got to experience prom.
So when I heard they needed help at prom, In a heartbeat, jumped at the opportunity. I was told to dress up so that I would blend into the students. So I got to experience everything again!!
I went out to buy a new dress. New prom, new dress. Made sense in my brain. The theme of the prom was Great Gatsby. So of course, sparkly or beaded.
Safe to say I wasn’t paying attention to the price of the dress. I tried it on, and it fit like a glove!
Yeah….it was $300.00! I was shocked. So I had to call my mom first.
“Mom. I found the perfect dress. But it’s $300. Is that too much?”
“That’s a bit much, but if you believe you will wear it more than once the quality of the dress will be worth the amount. It’s your decision. I’m excited to see whatever you decide when you get home.”
‘Neither yes, or no. Had to be my decision. Learning lesson’ “Okay thanks mom.”
I course told myself I would wear it more than once! So they rang me up and my card was denied. ‘What!!’ I knew I had more than enough money to buy the dress. I was currently working two jobs and I was still at home. So I again had to call my mom. Turned out I had a limit on my card of $50 as a precaution. So you can see that I rarely used my card. So as soon as I figured everything out the dress was mine.
Prom was just as exciting. I got to walk around the museum. Look at all the exhibits. I saw some of my swimmers dancing. They were surprised I was in dress. Normally I wore pants or shorts to coach. Some of my swimmers didn’t know who I was until someone called out “Coach!”
But all around it was a fun night. And it made up for my previous prom.
And I did. I wore it once more. So two wears for $300 is more like two dresses for $150, right? That sounds better.
And I took care of the dress. Proper cleaning and storing. But either I’ll wear it again. Or my daughters will have a dress ready and waiting for them when they need one. But my true goal is to shrink back down and fit into it again. My husband will have to take me somewhere if that happens.
$300. That was my big splurge on one personal item. After that I stayed in my safe price range for dresses. $50-$100 a dress. $100 had to be something I was going to wear several times. But usually I stuck to the $50 range. Where I felt more comfortable. Or I would shop in the clearance section. Saving money gives me an energy.
Which is probably why I’m still that way, but also not. I make do. If I want something, I really dwell on if we really need it or not. For weeks. And usually I decide I don’t NEED it. But sometimes I get the urge to shop. And the urge won’t go away. But luckily we have a great thrift store in town. $1 for each item. So I go in there and spend $10-$20. And I get some things for me, for my kids, for the kitchen, for school, for storage. Usually I only spend $10. That’s enough.
That is enough to suffice my urge to spend money. My husband is okay with me spending $10 once every couple months. However, I really can’t wait until we have an allowance again!! Because I also get an energy from saving actual money. If I have a jar and actual hard cash in my hand it goes into the jar. I once saved up $500 and that was $40 twice a month. Needless to say I get competitive with myself. “One more day! One more day!”
Usually I don’t even spend the money on me. I spend it on my husband, my kiddos, my mom. It makes me happy to buy things for others. But this time around I’m going to try and think about spending some on me. Like set aside at the end of saving about $200. That I have to spend on myself. Because when we go on trips or to different places I occasionally find something I want to buy and I’ve spent my allowances already. So I’m going to try; and believe me it’s going to be difficult. Or maybe I won’t, and I’ll save up until Christmas and buy everyone presents. I like the sound of that plan!
So yeah. I’ve changed. I was once someone who would go to Ross, on a Saturday, and spend $300-$500 dollars on a whole new wardrobe. To now, someone who gets a drive from saving money or spends $10 every two months when I need to buy something.
Have a great day!!
The dress…kind of.
I realized it’s been over 10 years since I wore the dress. So I don’t have the original picture on my phone. But I had edited a photo of the dress and this is the best I could do. It was a steely blue. Completely beaded. Floor length. A classic. But heavy!! So even in 10-15 more years it will still be in style.
Your life without a computer: what does it look like?
I’ve always wanted to be at this point. Not have a smart phone, a computer for media, etc. but it’s too realistic in todays world. Because as much I would love to live simply; there are reasons I need a way to stay connected.
Like my family. We all live apart. FaceTime has been a game changer. My kids know their grandma, uncles, aunts, and cousins. We only see each other in person maybe once or twice a year. But my mom can still watch her grand babies grow up in real time. This one is hard to change. But I suppose I could go back to writing letters with pictures included.
Another is recipes. I use the internet most to find new recipes. Even though I’m constantly trying new things; we get to a point that feels like I’m just in a cycle of recipes. So I find a few more to add into my cycle. I’m constantly doing this. But this one I could switch over to getting cookbooks.
This blog. When I get a moment to write down something; it means I’m still using my creativity side of my brain. Just because I’m so busy, I don’t want to loose that side of me. This one, I could just switch to a journal. This blog is a digital journal.
Media. I really want to get to the point where our entertainment watching is just DVDs or Blu-ray’s. Because then I know what my kids are watching. And with all the things happening in the entertainment industry I’ve stopped watching new things. I have favorites and I just watch them over and over. I’ve never been someone to watch something new. I have to be in the mood. This one is easy to solve if you have unlimited money. Since everything is going digital, dvds and Blu-ray’s are getting to be more expensive. So I have to just slowly add movies to our collection.
Photos. This one is difficult. I don’t want my pictures digital, especially with AI becoming more and more meddling in our lives. I don’t want pictures of my kids to be used elsewhere… so I want to switch. But the convenience of capturing a moment on your phone in an instant is so…I can’t think of the word. But it’s hard to stop. Also I can receive photos of my nephews and nieces. I get to watch them grow up so conveniently. so again this one probably tied into the letter writing. Also scrap booking. Just think that takes time, that I barely have time for.
So I’m at war with this topic. I would love to ditch my digital world. But I don’t know if I will ever get to. Time will tell.
“Dare to go through the tunnel into a different way of life?“
Yes. There are two skills I would love to learn. One is unrealistic for me currently. But the other is possible.
The first one is be able to build anything I can think of. Carpentry skills. I have so many ideas that I would love to be able to just make them. But currently I’m pregnant. And I have so many other jobs to do when taking care of a family and household. That when I do magically have free time I don’t want to do anything productive. And that magical free time is going to dwindle away as the next baby comes.
But I’m so happy I’m married to a man who has over fifteen years of carpentry experience that he can bring my ideas to life. (If he had the time) but he can at least make them a reality.
The second skill is small, but I wish I knew how to spin the pizza dough in my hands like professionals do. I still use a rolling pin. But I would love to learn that skill. But I don’t want to waste the dough by trying. So unless some true master of pizza came to our house I’ll just stick with my way of making pizza.
The master would at least be impressed that now I make my pizza sauce from scratch. So I might impress them with my skills of making things from scratch.
This skill would be useful because my family seems wants to eat pizza at least once a week.
And I will say, even though I can’t build things. My husband says I’m a great helper when he is building. I’m good at helping. Helping is easier when I have no idea what’s going on. I just hold things when they need to be held, or give things when things are needed. So I am helping to build my ideas. The construction plan is him, but I’m helping with the inspiration and execution.
In case anyone is looking for a great pizza sauce recipe.
I don’t really know the answer to this question except like the simple answer of: my quiet time at bedtime.
But today I spent the early morning doing a puzzle with my daughter; and it was relaxing. I haven’t felt that way in a long time. It’s probably because we are on a vacation. So there’s no dishes, laundry, or cleaning.
So maybe vacations relax me; which is the purpose of a vacation. To relax.
So yeah, I don’t really have an answer…
Maybe playing solitaire. I’ve been playing solitaire at night to fall asleep. Because watching a movie or show keeps me awake.
‘You can. It won’t hurt you. Just try it for a moment.’
“No! It will hurt me. I’m not going to do it again.”
‘You know you want to. If you don’t do it now you are just going to dream it.’
“No. I’m stronger. I can stay honest.”
‘Staying honest is not easy. Just take the easy route. Come and try again. You know you want to.’
“Stay strong. Stay strong.”
‘You are strong. That’s why you should try again. You are strong enough to have self control. I’m sure you will stop after this time.’
“I should stop now. Don’t falter. It’s trying to trick you.”
‘I’m not trying to trick you. I’m trying to encourage you to enjoy some happiness; instead of hiding from it. Come.’
“Maybe I could try for a short moment. Maybe I would be able to stop on my own terms. Maybe…”
‘Yes. Yes. You know yourself. You know what is good for you. You know what you need. This can help you.’
“It might help me. I’ve been having a feeling that something was missing from my life. Maybe this is it. The thing that helps me relax.”
‘You deserve to relax after everything you have gone through these last few days. You owe it to yourself to unwind and enjoy your quiet time. Come.’
“Yeah. Nothing is wrong about enjoying something. That it helps me relax after a long hard day. I deserve this after all my sacrifice throughout the day.”
‘So true. Come.’
“But wait…should I be doing this? I have been good for several days. And I always feel nauseous and disgusted after doing it again. Maybe…”
‘Don’t listen to anyone but me. I’m on your side. The other voice is trying to take away all the joy in your life. Just listen to me and find the finer things in life.’
“Right. Think about me, and what I want. Okay!”
‘Good. Good.’
…Moments later…
“I feel sick to my stomach. Please forgive me God! Why did I do that? Why would I listen to that voice.”
‘Because everyone always listens to me. I’m the voice everyone try’s to ignore and stay away from. But they always crumble and listen eventually. I revel in your defeat! Victory is on my side!’
“What have I done? What have I done? Forgive me. Please heal my heart and clean my soul. Make me stronger. Make me able to withstand the voice of darkness. But also, make me better at listening to the voice of lightness. Please help me.”
‘You don’t actually mean that. Why would you not want me. I’m…’
“No! I’m done listening to you. Shut up and leave!”
‘But…’
“LEAVE!!”
Silence…
“Can you forgive me? Can you let me know you hear me?”
‘You did fail at listening to my voice. I’m not the voice to be a kill joy. I’m the voice to keep you on your path. The only path. But you continue to falter and listen to the voice of darkness. You block out my calls.’
“I’m so sorry. Please! Forgive me. I need you to be louder. Be louder than the other voice.”
‘I am loud. But you deafen me by ignoring my calls. You would rather fail than fight. You need to fight with me, and not against me.’
“I’m going to! I will! I promise!”
‘Your promises never seem to last long. It’s been about a week since our last conversation. Will you fight with me for all the years to come. To never sub-come to hear the other voice. Block it out from your ears?’
“I want to!! I’ve been trying to. It’s just so hard. But I’m going to. Today. I will fight alongside of you. Let us be one. Show me the path.”
‘Okay. Let’s go.’
…
Everyone struggles with something. And not everyone will have these types of conversations inside their bodies, but it can happen. It’s a battle between you, a demon, and the Holy Spirt. You can be strong for years, weeks, or days. And then falter. No one is perfect.
But you can fight it. God will help you. You just have to fight the fight with Him.
I was never a popular person with following trends. I was always a step behind. Which I was fine with; I was blessed to have what I had.
Like when the iPod came out I still rocked my Walkman. Then the shuffle came out and I got an iPod. I had that iPod for several years.
Around the same time, I had one of those awesome flip phones. It could flip two ways; I thought I was some cool stuff. (Turns out my husband had one too. Haha!)
I remember life before the internet. I was just so young that I was just outside playing. It’s not like it was an obvious milestone. It was just my childhood. But I remember when the iPhone was new. But I have no idea when I got my first one.
My family took turns using the upgrade with our cellular plan. I know I used an upgrade for the awesome flip phone!!
I can say life was simpler. I miss it; but I use my phone for everything now. My blog, new recipes, digital art, movies, FaceTime, etc. I could use a laptop for all those things but the FaceTime is so lucrative living so far away from family.
If could switch to an iPhone that could only call, text, take photos, and FaceTime, I would. But I don’t think those exists anymore. And if I’m allowed all the options I’m going to use them because they are convenient. So it’s a never ending spiral of being dependent on my phone.
But life before the iPhone is no longer attainable…which is saddening.
I could list the “easy answers”, but I want to go more in depth. (The quotations is because I like to do the things, but I’m not claiming to be the best.)
I could list art, writing, swimming, dancing, etc. However I want to list other things I’m good at. That are unique to me.
Like I’m good at being a fair referee. No matter if I’m playing or not I want it to be kept fair. This was a skill I needed in coaching. No matter what, I kept it fair. Especially in ultimate frisbee. So much cheating would have gone on if I didn’t keep them honest.
I am also good at befriending the ones left behind. I would say I prefer it. Usually there is that friend that doesn’t fit into the group; and the group alienates them. Unless for severe reasons, I usually gravitate to those types of people. Being different is not a bad thing; it’s just different. My favorite saying is, “Normal is a setting on a washing machine.” I don’t know where it came from but that’s pretty much my motto.
I’m good at not procrastinating. This helped a lot when I was in high school and community college. I was the student to get the homework done weeks before it was due. (I was a definite teacher pet…) but I would turn in the assignments early so that the teacher could give me feedback so that my assignments would receive A+!! Yes, I was that student.
I think I’m also good at admitting when I’m wrong. This one has taken many years; but I believe I’ve gotten somewhat better at. But believe me, there are times where I want to be petty and not say a word, but I’ve come to realization that it’s hurting me not the other person. For me to be happy, I need to admit mistakes, forgive, and move onward.
Thinking outside the box is actually quite difficult. Because you may start off thinking you’re one thing, but putting it into words is impossible.
emily2jane 