Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Care for a Glass of Wine?

Something I really enjoy, especially after a hectic day, is a nice glass of red wine. I find you can't gulp it or guzzle it, you must sip it and enjoy it slowly. This forces you to take time to relax and reflect. An important activity in this fast and busy world.

Funny, when I was a student, when weekends were defined by parties and alcohol consumption, I tried just about every kind of liquor in search of something that I could get past my taste buds. I stayed clear of wine though. I thought the taste was offensive and couldn't believe that there were folks that thought it was well paired with meals.


Having many years in between to acquire a taste, I am now, very much a fan of wine, especially, full-bodied, dry red ones. Fetzer Merlot is one of my favourites. Winemaker Dennis Martin sums it up well: "This wine goes great with just about any meal, making it a good choice to have on hand for every day". I try to have it on hand but I'm afraid it never lasts long once it's in the house.

The Fetzer Vineyards site is also a great one to visit if you are a wine lover. Not only can you read about the wines they offer, you can find recipes and menus that go particularly well with each.

Friday, October 16, 2009

A New Beginning


It is 2:30 in the a.m. and I'm wide awake. I was writing in my journal before bed and I had an inspiring thought that has me excited. I don't even know where or how to begin.

I've been trying for some time now, to live a life full of goodness - positive thinking, abundance, gratitude, happiness, small pleasures, simple indulgences etc. My natural tendancy, however, is to lean towards the negative - judgements, criticism, grouchiness, anger, feeling burdened, scarcity. I make a conscious effort continuously to look for the silver lining in every dark cloud and to make positive choices over negative ones. Usually, I'm successful and I think many would classify me as a positive person but if they knew how hard it was some days they would probably reconsider.

Today, I'm starting a new leaf and it means a shift to the purpose of this blog which I already mentioned in an earlier post. I will still share my card creations as they are something I consider to be good and stimulating but I am going to put more focus on blogging about GOOD. Whether it be a small pleasure, simple indulgence, grandiose luxury or random act of kindness, I want to pick something regularly to talk about that is good. If it makes me feel good or makes someone else feel good I want to talk about it.


My hope in this endeavor is to make it easier to fill my life with joy and happiness and share this with others if they so find their way to this blog. It gives me a purpose to keep my mind open for goodness where ever it might be found. It is so important, in my opinion, to spread goodness and positive energy in any way I can. In a world where grief, terror, pain and suffering is in our face consistently, may I help to shed light to the things that are often overlooked but might help to make the world (at least mine) a better place. Stay tuned ...

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Feeling Motivated

That's right! I'm feeling motivated today. Not that I don't usually feel this way but for some reason, I feel like I can conquer the world today. It started yesterday. I began exercising again (haven't since before I was pregnant with Noah) which gave me a boost of energy so I completed all my morning chores last night. This, of course, meant that I had a jump start on today and that always feel good to be ahead. So, I've started to declutter the hall closest. I'm sure everyone has one of these - you know - the one that you shut quickly before everything falls out and then you brace yourself the next time you go to open it. Noah is down for his nap and I have some time to blog and hopefully get some thank you's done.



Here are some baby cards that I finished on another motivated day. These were made for a sketch challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. These challenges are great to give you just what you need for inspiration or motivation.