The End | BEDN

Today in the Blog Every Day in November community it is the EOM. Which means, end of this meme for this year. So, today we are given the opportunity to write free for all. Post anything we like.

I've been writing blogs now for several years. I've written on a variety of topics. I enjoy themed style blogging with memes because it prompts me to focus on something specific. This is my first for doing an entire month long daily posting. I've been doing weekly themed posts. There's one in particular that I put aside while doing the BEDN postings. That one would be Five Minute Friday. It's a very awesome community. The host blogger has been posting a prompt word each week for everyone to simply write unplugged. Just write for five minutes on a chosen topic without editing. There's some very profound posts that come from FMF posts. There are others I've done over time. Some that have just stopped all of a sudden by the host for whatever reason. There was one that I rather enjoyed... called Then Sings My Soul Saturday.

I have been trying to improve my writing so that I can finish some books I've started and pretty much are in a state of writer's block. I am overwhelmed.

My husband, +Paul M Edwards, has told me that he sees an improvement in my writing this past few months.

Aside from writing I love photography. In some of my BEDN posts I mention this hobby. In the photography world there's constantly something and someone coming up with great things. This morning I just found a post on +Google+ that talks about a new way to teach and learn in the Art world. It is called Arcanum. It's the brain child of +Trey Ratcliff. He's not only a photographer, he's an artist. That's what his plan for Arcanum is. A way of teaching people any kind of art. I signed up this morning after reading through the information and watching a couple of videos about it.

I've loved photography since I was a small child. I remember asking my mother if I could use and have an old camera she didn't use anymore. I just feel like I come alive when I photograph life around me. Today, all my photography is done using my Android Samsung III mobile phone. I have installed numerous camera apps that do different functions. The latest app I installed is for long exposure imagery. That's one style I've never tried. I'm intrigued by it.

When I began using Google Plus I was introduced to a whole new world. One of the first things I connected with is photography where I found HDR [high dynamic range] photos. It led right to Trey Ratcliff. I'm so impressed by his work and all those who have learned from him. I'm inspired by all the awesome photo art that comes across my computer monitor.

For me, it is about finding God's beauty in everything and capturing it and immortalizing it in photos.

Christmas Presents | BEDN

I am a minimalist. My love language is quality time. I'd rather spend quality time as a gift. I'm not into material things. Material things don't make me happy.

Here's 12 things happy people do differently:

When I have #'s 1, 4 & 11 in place, the rest just falls in place.

The gift of time!

BEDN | The Great Outdoors

Today I will put two links here for previous posts that show how I experience the outdoors. Here they are:

• Working outdoors 
• A couple of hobbies

Here's some other images:

Can you guess what the location on any of these are? My husband, +Paul M Edwards, and I also like to go for walks with out wonder dog, +Hatsu Misa Takara.
There's lots of things to do. What are some ways you experience the great outdoors?

YES MOMENTS | BEDN

In the BEDN community today it's about our yes moments in life. I'll share a variety of quotes with you. Mostly images with powerful sayings or quotes on them that I came across perusing the web.

"Owning up to how we spend our hours gives us more control of our time, and ultimately, of our lives." by Laura Vanderkam

Everyone has preferences. Society does its best to impose on people.

 

  

I never walk alone, God is always with me.

HOME SWEET HOME | BEDN

We moved across country in May this year. We did our best to pear down our belongings. The reason is because we we moved in with my father-in-law. He has lived in this same house for like 25+ years. Essentially, we would be combining two households.

We were given the 2nd story as our space. It has two bedrooms and a bathroom. The common areas we share with my father-in-law are the living room, kitchen and garage. I rarely use the living room. That's my father-in-law's space, in my opinion. Once in a great while we'll all sit together there while we watch something on the boob tube. I feel very awkward in the kitchen. He's not a fan of cleaning. When we first moved in I cleaned the cabinet fronts and the counter tops. This place is a very dry and dusty. He's lived alone for the majority of the time he's lived here. I'm still trying to figure out how to fit our stuff in places. This isn't a small house. There's 3 closets upstairs. There's huge cabinet space in the bathroom.

After my ankle heals and I am able to move freely I'm going to paint the upstairs. It'll also need a good cleaning before painting.

This will be our 1st Christmas here.

I'm thankful to God for a roof over my head.

I won't be posting pictures of our space. I'm not a materialist type. Things don't have any emotional connections for me. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I feel overwhelmed at the way things are right now. I'm more of a minimalist. I tend to just have what I need to get along. The rest... it's not necessary to me. I do like a nice, clean and colorfully decorated place. My idea of a minimalist bedroom on the left.


My idea of a minimalist dream kitchen on the right.

My idea of a minimalist dream bathroom is below.

My husband told his father that we were in it for the long haul. I think I'll just keep dreaming for a while.

Til Christmas | BEDN

Til Christmas

#BEDN

Now that Christmas is only one month away, we in the Blog Every Day in November community are instructed by a prompt, the title above. Here's some questions I will answer:

• Favorite Christmas traditions?
  - Family getting together over a meal.
  - Enjoying Christmas music.
  - Driving around and seeing all the beautiful lights.
  - Experiencing intimate family moments.
  
  
• Favorite Christmas songs?
  - Silent Night
  - Oh Holy Night
  - Joy To The World
  - Jingle Bells
  
  
• The best part of Christmas is?
  - Spending quiet time with God reflecting over all His blessings in my life over the past year.
  
  
• What are you planning this year?
  - At this point, I don't have anything specific planned except...
  
  • Experience the holiday lights via a boat in a couple of weeks with my husband [+Paul M Edwards], father-in-law [+Rick Edwards] and his girlfriend.

What about you? What are your answers to the above questions?

Motivation | BEDN

Today's prompt is, you guessed it, motivation.

I couldn't find an image I was happy with, so there is no image in this post related to motivation.

I've been told by several people that I'm a motivated person. Here are a couple of examples:

In 2010 I had to have reconstruction surgery on my left knee. My right knee is already bum which is a long story. Maybe sometime I'll share that story. I like to be physically active. I did not want to end up with two bum knees. After the surgery I began an accelerated physical therapy program on my own. For the 1st ten days after surgery I began flexing my knee to keep it from becoming locked up and stiff. When the Dr gave the all clear that I could do regular exercise/walking I was out walking with +Paul M Edwards and +Hatsu Misa Takara in the park and on the waterfront. On my 20th day after surgery, at the 2nd follow up with the Dr, I did a deep knee squat for the Dr. I thought I was going to have to pick her up off the floor. I continued with that same regimen to strengthen the knee. It got all better and things were working out great.

On September 27th, this year, I broke my left ankle. I had no idea it was broken for four weeks. I just knew it continued to be in pain and swollen. I got it xrayed to find out it was broken. Now, I have an immobilizer boot on it so I can still walk with it. This whole thing is driving me crazy. As soon as the bone is fused together I'll begin an aggressive physical rehab program on my own to strengthen the leg back up.

My motivation? To be physically active to live and enjoy life. My second motivation is my husband, family and friends. Sitting around not being able to do anything as I watch the world go by is very disconcerting and depressing.

So, to stay motivated for life right now I do these blog posts to share with others.

Never, ever give up! Things that happen in life are temporary. As the saying goes, "This too shall soon pass." Something else will come along.

What's your motivation?

DATE NIGHT | BEDN

For the subject on today's Blog Every Day in November: Date Night, I thought I'd just give a quick run down of the perspectives.

The outcome of date night all depends on one's idea of what a date is. There is as many ideas as there are people. Also, because of this there can be bad dates as well as good dates.

The important thing about dating, whether married or unmarried, is to communicate. If you each have your own ideas and they are totally opposite to each other it could turn out to be a disaster date.

It's important to find middle ground if you're totally opposite. Once that is established you will have a great date.

For me and my husband, +Paul M Edwards, we talk through date ideas. Sometimes we just want something casual, like fast food and a comedy movie, for example. Now and then we go all out and do something fancy. One year a co-worker of his informed everyone at the job that she was a member of an all female jazz band. We both love jazz music. The band was scheduled to perform very near our wedding anniversary. We got all exited. We went out and bought me a long fancy sparkly gown and all the undergarments to go with it. He bought a matching shirt and dress pants. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a photo of the two of us. We scheduled to attend the jazz performance for our anniversary. It was great fun and it was standing room only. It turned out there was no room to even dance... even though some crazy drunks got up there and tried to dance... that was almost entertainment in and of itself! We got a chance to get all dressed up last Christmas in the same outfits and attend Paul's Christmas work event. Above is a shot he took of me before we left. I also grabbed a shot of the Seattle Ferris Wheel as we came out of the Seattle Aquarium. Before you ask, No, I did not ride the ferris wheel. I have very serious issues with height. It's a long story, but I have inner ear imbalance issues. An easy way to describe it would be, vertigo. High up places cause me to become very dizzy and off balance.

We've went to motocross events in Seattle as dates. We went to Leavenworth, WA a few times to experience Christmas and the lights.

Right now we're trying to set something up for our anniversary in February. It'll be 15 yrs. Sometimes we just stay home and have a date night at home. You can be creative. There's even tips online to help with date night. I learned a bunch of great ideas. One idea that I loved was to create a virtual trip to some fun destination. I used google maps street view to come up with pictures slide-shows. And, as part of the date, whatever your destination is, find out the local food and make a dinner out of it. Decorate your living room with travel stuff for your destination. This takes some planning though. It's well worth it.

Whatever you do for date night, enjoy!

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE | BEDN

This will be fun. Today the Blog Every Day in November community has been instructed to write about travel. Our travel experience, wish-list travels and/or our thoughts on travel.

I love to travel. I've traveled by plane, train and automobile. Not like the movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles [click the link to watch the youtube trailer], all in one trip. Although, that might be an interesting trip to endeavor.

I love road trips the best. I've driven across the U.S. on a few occasions. Once with my family. Once with my family and a couple of friends who joined us. Once all by my lonesome.

My husband, +Paul M Edwards, and I did a road trip in 2008 where we joined my father-in-law, +Rick Edwards and some of his friends riding our motorcycles through Death Valley Nat'l Park. See some photos here: Death Valley Album. This is in Paul's photo gallery. All I can do is link to it. I selected slide show for the link. So, when you open the link it'll go right into slide show mode. It was a fun trip. But, like any trip it had its stressful moments.

One trip I remember as a young girl is with my parents and some of their friends to Lake Tahoe. It was in the middle of the Winter. There were skiers everywhere. The highlight of the trip for me was when we got to go out on the slopes and ride a toboggan down the mountainside. I remember screaming in excited joy. Ever since that time I've loved careening down big hills. When I was 12 we moved from Central California to Southern Indiana. I spent my teen Winter years snow sledding and hanging out around a big bonfire to stay warm and engaging with other sledders.

Now, every time I think of snow sledding it reminds me of Nat'l Lampoons Christmas Vacation when this happened:

I love that movie. Everything about it is hilariously funny and entertaining.

I remember one year Paul and I were traveling from Seattle to Southern Indiana to visit my family. We departed Seattle as it rained. We had a connecting flight in Houston. We heard an announcement that the flight would be delayed because of a huge storm and down pour of rain. Finally, they allowed us to board the plane. We ended up sitting there a little longer watching out the window of the plane as it poured rain. We never travel in the Wintertime because of ice and snow storms, etc.

In the early 2000s after Paul and I were married we traveled to Vancouver, B.C. Canada for business trips. We love it there.

One type of trip I've never been on is a cruise. So, on my travel wish list I'd love to go on a cruise. I don't care where to. Also, I'd love to travel to Australia and some other countries. It's one thing to look at pictures and read stories and watch video of other people's travels. It's another to actually experience it yourself. I love to experience life. I love to live life.

What about you? Do you have any travel stories to share?

WORLD TELEVISION DAY | BEDN

Well, for today, I'm writing about television. I could get all technical on you and blather on. But, I want this post to be fun. So, there will be pictures and stuff that's fun. My experience with TV has stretched over time. Yes, I'm nearly 1/2 a century old. I've seen a lot of changes in television in as much time.


< The early TV. All early TVs were black and white.

This model is from the 1940s. At first it only would receive one station. In 1950, a model was made that received five stations. I'll talk a bit about that again later.

When TVs arrived in homes it was a huge family event. It was family time. They all gathered around to watch TV together. I'll talk more about that again later.

As time marched on the advent of color TV arrived. I remember when I was about 5 or 6 when we got our first color TV. It was a huge floor model. 25 inches if I recall. Like this:

I remember my mother covering it in all her baubles and trinkets.

It was huge to us, then. We kept the small b/w model. This is the part where it gets interesting. Remember the stations originally? There were five. Now, in the late 60s early 70s came along cable TV for us. Cable tv was actually established in 1946. Just before color TV. Also, came more stations. It's funny because statistics show that people only watch about five stations. More later on this.

Remember before when I mentioned how families gathered around to view a TV show?

We all have different tastes in what we liked to watch. Also, this is where the TV babysitter era started. When our parents wanted us to be unseen and unheard we'd get put in the back room with the b/w TV to be entertained. Other times when our parents watched stuff we children didn't like we'd set up the li'l b/w TV in their bedroom. They had the big bed we could sit or lay on while watching TV. I was around 8 years old when this took place.

For a couple of decades TVs didn't change in the way they operated. But, the styles did. The makers were trying to make them more compact to take up less space.

There was this neat invention that was introduced about the time I was in my mid-thirties where some makers used something called smart-sound. That was where the sound was controlled internally to not allow the audio to go up higher when the commercials came on. I liked that option.

In the 90s flat screen TVs were invented:

Also, at that time the information highway, as some call the Internet, was also integrated into TVs. The internet is a whole nother post. It's ancient. Before TVs. LOL

Because of the information highway there were more TV watching options because more options came along with things like satellite TV.

In the 90s, along with those bigger TVs came my first satellite TV experience. We got a satellite dish installed in our backyard.

We had over 300 channels to choose from. Who uses 300 channels every day to watch TV? Back to my comment earlier about how many stations we watch... still the average person only watches five stations.

Still today, people choose these options because there's this mentality of wanting more...of everything. I call it: "keeping up with the joneses!". Anyway, that's for another post another time.

In the mid 2000s we quit watching conventional TV. Via the Internet and inventions thereof, we bought something called a "Google TV box" via Logitech.

At the same time, we bought a 42' big screen TV, which doubles for +Paul Edwards' computer monitor. Basically, the GTbox is a mini computer connected to the Internet. We are subscribed to a few online media sources where we have the option to watch what we want, when we want without commercials! Others available are Roku, Apple TV, now, instead of the original Google TV is what is called: Chromecast. Chromecast is really new and still needs some improvements.

I'm a fan of forensics and police dramas. Also, I love true life inspired stories. I love comedies. One of my and +Paul Edwards' favorites is "Frasier". I'm sure those of you in America are familiar with that classic. We love to watch science related shows too... for example: "Mythbusters". It's science and comedy. It's a win win!

So, that's my TV experience.

How and what do you remember about TV?

Fashion Trucks | BEDN

Fashion trucks: The next big thing?

The link above leads to an article in the Houston Chronicle that showcases four fashion truck owners. They vary in the type of merchandise offered. You can buy vintage clothing from one. Another is exclusively shoes. The merchandise changes each week. There's only one of something that you won't see again.

These trucks come in a variety of styles. As you see in the image provided here, Urban Izzy, is a bus. Another is a pop-up camper. Which the owner says is a huge job to set up and tear down each time. Something she didn't think about in the beginning. Another truck is a big box truck. While another is a double decker bus. They have been modified to resemble a retail shop inside with shelves. racks and so on.

See what one fashion truck owner and its customer say from Boston, MA in this video:

What do you think? Would you purchase a pair of shoes from a fashion truck? In the video one person suggested more variety in merchandise. Do we need more fashion trucks?

I think it's an awesome business concept. There's been food trucks around for ages. Why not fashion trucks? Any business can be mobile. I've even read about a mobile massage truck.

Busy people love it when businesses come to them. It's a step up from the door to door salespeople. In the old days, doctors used to make house calls. I believe some still do. Also, there were the old peddlers who pulled their horse-drawn wagons full of merchandise who would make stops in villages and if passing a farm to offer their wares to people. See, back in those days going to the store was an all day trip because downtown was miles away and they had to walk, ride a horse or use a horse-drawn wagon.

History repeats itself, in a more modern fashion.

Have you had a fashion truck experience? If so, please share in the comments!

Happy Wednesday!

World Toilet Day-Top News | BEDN

In September 2012, John Kluge co-founded the nonprofit Toilet Hackers to bring "dignified sanitation" to all.

When Kluge visited destitute areas of the world and saw how bad the sanitation was he jumped into action to come up with a solution to the problem. Below is a link that explains his story and some of the projects he and others participating with the projects are doing.

Celebrate World Toilet Day | PBS News

Watch this video:

World Toilet Day website. See more videos and ways to participate and help support bringing proper sanitation around the world.

This post is part of my Blog Every Day in November participation. If you'd like to jump in and start posting check out Elizabeth's blog.

Anti-bullying week | BEDN

We've all experienced bullying in some way, shape or form whether we've been a victim or witnessed it.

By definition a bully is described as a tyrant that torments. This can come from any place in our lives.

I was bullied as a child and as a young adult. The bullying I experienced came in the form of mental abuse. It came from those near me and from those in the public.

People can be cruel.

The main reason people bully is because they figure out a person's vulnerabilities. They take advantage of those vulnerabilities. By doing this it in some way makes the abuser feel superior.

In the animal kingdom there's the Alpha and the Omega. Number one and every one else is submissive. Humans are the same way. Those who are bullies gain a false sense of authority and take advantage of it. The people who are vulnerable don't fight back because they don't feel they have a choice. That's just not the case. We have choices. I like this quote: "If you don't make a choice someone will make it for you." In essence, you give them permission to lord over you. Stand your ground and tell them "No." Don't allow them to make choices for you.

Here's some tips to avoid being bullied:

1. Be assertive.
   a. Stand firm
   b. Be confident
   c. Be decisive
   d. Be bold
2. Learn to have more self-esteem
   a. Have dignity for yourself
   b. Have self-respect
   c. Have confidence
   d. Have faith in yourself
3. Be a part of a tribe
   a. Surround yourself with positive people
   b. Surround yourself with people who encourage you
   c. Surround yourself with people who will support you
   d. Surround yourself with enthusiastic people

There's a zillion ways and people who are ready to step up to the task of mentoring you.

If you need a mentor... seek one out. Contact me for a free 30 minute consultation of life coaching.

BEDN | Hobbies

Today's prompt instructs us to talk about our hobbies and what hobbies we're looking at to do later.

My current hobbies include:

• Photography
  You can see some of my work in my workspace post. Alternatively, you can also see even more by viewing my Google Photo Gallery. I have all sorts of stuff there. It ranges from landscape to still shots to maybe some portraits. I've not done so much with portraits. I'd like to. At one time in the past I did a little. I enjoy weddings and group events.
  
• Motorycycling
  Here I am with my motorcycle on September 27th, 2013. It's the last time to this point that I've been back on my bike, Spartacus. I broke my ankle on that same date in the evening. Before I realized it was broken though, I rode passenger on my husband's, +Paul Edwards, bike. But after finding out, I stopped riding to let it heal.

• Web Surfing and BloggingI love reading and researching on the web. I love watching youtube videos. I love sharing great finds from the web. Also, I love blogging. To date, I have 538 posts on this blog alone. I have some other blogs I also post on. Different things from my business blog to photo-blogging, to a health blog as well as my marriage blog. Sadly, however, those other blogs are sorely neglected because I have more fun writing here. This blog is my day to day catch all blog.
• Writing/Amateur AuthorI love writing short stories. That's mainly how the blogging got started. Last year I came across a website that encourages new writers as well as experienced/expert writers to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That website is: NaNoWriMo. I'm a slacker when it comes to this. It just feels more like work or a job. Like, I have to get this done. It's under a tight time constraint. I don't work well under that kind of pressure. I like to take things at my own pace. I decided to give it a go this year, I didn't do anything with it last year. I struggle to keep up with the people on this website. I don't even have 500 words 16 days into it. If it's your thing, check it out. Maybe it's just what you need to get your writing off on the right foot.

Now, hobbies I'd like to pursue.

• More advance photography
• Jewelry Making [I did this a little a while ago.]
• Something to do with animals. [I love animals.]
• Outdoor sports/activities [I was involved with this 20 yrs ago.]
  
  • Shooting sports
    
    • Guns
    • Archery
  • Camping - But not in tents. Cabins would be more my style, or motor home hooked up at a camp ground.
  • Hiking
• Bicycling [I enjoyed this growing up and while raising my daughter.]

What about you?