#weekendcoffeeshare – A Place of Acceptance

March 18, 2017March 18, 2017 ~ ~M ~ 45 Comments

How is everyone today on this brisk March morning? I filled up on Irish coffee last night in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, so the coffee this morning seems a bit boring and bland in comparison. Hold on… there we go. A bit of whipped cream should do the trick! Ahh…. Perfection! And in my favorite mug too! So good…

Alright now, are you ready for the scoop on this week? Well, if we were having coffee, I’d tell you that after all the soul-searching I’ve been doing in recent days, I think I’ve finally come to a place of acceptance.

Can I get a Hallelujah and a Praise the Lord!?! Thank you… 😉

Anyway, I’ve started to resolve many of the things I’ve been struggling with. I feel stronger this week, happier than I’ve been in a long time. There’s finally a sense of peace that has come over me, and I feel determined to be content where I’m at and enjoy the life I have.

Don’t get me wrong, though, coming to terms with everything hasn’t been easy. I’ve done a lot of praying over the last few months, and questioned God about so many things. I wanted him to reveal to me why he had allowed some of the recent things in my life to happen, and he has been answering me in ways which I never expected.

One thing I’ve realized is that I’ve been focusing way too much on how others make me feel, and not enough on finding my own happiness within myself. So to combat this problem, I’ve been giving myself more time alone to do the things which make me happy.

One thing I’ve done which is still working for me has been to stick with a writing schedule. I’ve been able to push myself farther than I ever thought possible. Last week I decided to check out Grammarly online, to see if it would be helpful. At the end of the week, I received a report stating that I had edited 15,000 words for the week. I really had no idea how much I had actually been writing and I was completely surprised by the word count.

I think the reason I’m able to get so much done, is that I’ve stopped making excuses, and I’m writing for myself; not anyone else. I’ve gone back to the basic principle which I began with two years ago. I am writing whatever I want to, regardless of what others will think. And yes, that does feel a little bit selfish, but I’m tired of having to worry about stepping on somebody’s toes or perhaps offending someone who may have issues with the content of my writing.

This blog started out as a way for me to spill my heart out on a page and resolve things I was struggling with. I want my blog to always be that way for me and I’ve been holding back at times. I was worrying too much about what others would think and I seriously wondered if I would be misunderstood.

After much deliberation, I have begun posting some of my older poems from a blog that never seemed to go anywhere. I have quite a few poems left to carry over, and although they don’t relate to my current situation in life, they were things I struggled through, and I know others will be able to relate to them. So I feel they are worth posting, and it also gives me a bit of a reprieve on days when I don’t want to write something new.

I don’t think I mentioned it last week, but I finally submitted one of my poems for publication in a magazine. One which is just about to release its very first issue. The release date is scheduled for April 20^th and I’m excited to find out if my poem will be chosen. There’s just something about finally seeing my work published on good old-fashioned paper, which really excites me. I can only hope it will actually happen this time!

I also realized that I’ve made it to the halfway mark in editing my Revelations of the Past series. If you’re interested in reading it, here’s the link to the series. I release new chapters twice a week; usually on Wednesdays and Sundays. If you like historical fiction, then please check it out! My subscribers are dwindling, so please come and read. I would really appreciate your support.

Well, enough about me and my week. What about you and your week. Anything new and exciting to share? If so, please leave me a comment and tell me what you’ve been up to. I love my blogging family and I’m so grateful I found the weekend coffee share. It’s been a great way to make new friends and I’m really enjoying our time together. Have a wonderful week! ~M

Many thanks to Nerd In The Brain for hosting the #WeekendCoffeeShare, a collective of chats over digital coffee among bloggers. To find out more, and to see this weeks posts, go here.

Photo credit: pixabay.com and giphy.com

#weekendcoffeeshare – An introspective week

March 11, 2017March 11, 2017 ~ ~M ~ 29 Comments

Welcome to this episode of the weekend coffee share. I hope all of you have had a pleasant week. Please grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage and sit right down. This week was fairly uneventful, and yet I still feel compelled to ramble on about the blandness of its nature. So get comfortable and I’ll try to be quick.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I have been very introspective this week. I think that’s why I feel like I haven’t much to talk about because I’ve mostly been in seclusion; avoiding people like the plague. I’ve come to a point in my life where I feel I’m sort of stuck in the muck. It’s like I’ve been sandwiched between two very tall mountains, stranded in the ugliest looking valley you’ve ever seen, near a never ending river of molasses, and there’s nowhere to go, except up the mountains, or through the syrupy substance.

All of a sudden I’m getting hungry, are you too? All of this talk about molasses and syrup is making me crave gingerbread cookies and pancakes. Yum! Which brings me to a completely different subject. (See how easily I escaped that last one! Phew!)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m about to start a new diet regime called, The Whole30. I don’t know if any of you have heard about it, but it’s a 30-day diet program, which allows you to discover which foods are helpful and which foods are harmful to your body. My poor husband recently discovered that he is allergic to about every food known to man, and so we are in desperate need of figuring out exactly what he can eat and what he can’t. Preliminary results from his doctor show that he will never be able to eat the majority of boxed or canned foods ever again. He is allergic to quite a few different preservatives and also nickel, which is found in thousands of different things (not just food).

I will now be able to add to my resume not just wife and mother of four girls, but master chef as well. The challenge will be to eat as organically as we can, which is still quite a challenge even today. It will require that we cut out all sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, and anything that could be considered a “treat.” We will only be able to eat meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and natural fats. And I really love bread, so this is going to be terribly hard. But I am having enough health issues of my own, so I’m hoping this diet will help me as well.

We live in a climate where it’s very hard to get fresh fruits and vegetables all year long, especially since the growing season is so short here. And with the cost of organic foods these days, I am not really sure how this will affect us financially. Yet we have no other choice, if we don’t do this, my hubby will continue to suffer on a daily basis and so we’ve got to get to the bottom of what is ailing him. Our girls seem more than happy to go along with this crazy experiment. I wonder what they will be saying after a few days of eating this way. It’ll be an adventure for sure.

If any of you are struggling with similar issues, I would be happy to have you tag along and partner with me and my family as we do this 30-day challenge. I won’t try to explain everything to you right now, but for more information, you can find all you need to know here. Since this sort of challenge requires such a strict and well-laid plan, I won’t be starting this diet until around April 1^st. I have a 421-page book to read through first, and then the meal planning begins!

Well now, I think I’ve rambled on enough for today. I’m feeling exhausted just thinking about what we are going to be facing next month. At least I’m at home most of the time. My oldest daughter was able to do this challenge successfully and she only has a toaster oven and a hot plate where she lives. So I figure if she can do it without a proper kitchen, than I can too!

Have a lovely week everyone and feel free to DM me on Twitter (@HerWritingHaven) if you want to take part in this challenge. It’s all about supporting each other through endeavors like these. I think I would feel even more encouraged, knowing that somebody else wanted to participate as well.

See you next Saturday! ~M

Many thanks to Nerd In The Brain for hosting the #WeekendCoffeeShare, a collective of chats over digital coffee among bloggers. To find out more, and to see this weeks posts, go here.

Photo credit: pixabay.com and giphy.com

#weekendcoffeeshare – Staying focused

March 4, 2017March 4, 2017 ~ ~M ~ 22 Comments

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that this week has gone much better than last. I’ve realized that I need to stay focused on my goals and really work on getting things done. I always seem to do better when I take a structured approach to anything. I started off the week by making myself a detailed schedule of what I wanted to accomplish, and so far I have completed each task. I am an organizer by nature, and when things aren’t in perfect order, I sort of begin to stress out a little bit. So by simple planning, I feel l have made some good progress.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I turned 45 this week. I had a wonderful birthday this year. I woke up to a plate full of toast made by my 8yr old daughter, and a lovely poem written by my very sweet husband. I spent the entire day with my family, shopping and having fun. I was treated like a princess, and left the mall with a great big box of dark chocolate sea salt caramels! We even went to see a movie, “A Dog’s Purpose.” I am not much of a movie watcher, but I have to admit, I really did enjoy this one. It was a tearjerker for sure, and by the end of it, my husband and I were both bawling our eyes out.

Later that night we went out for Chinese food, and 3 days later, we are still surviving on leftovers from that dinner. The portion sizes were enough to feed a football team, and the table was barely large enough to hold all the food they brought out to us. We ordered the meal for three, even though there were four of us there. Good thing we didn’t order the meal for four! I came home that night feeling like I might possibly die from overeating, and the very idea of Chinese food right now, sort of makes me feel ill.

If we were having coffee, I’d also tell you that I have been feeling quite melancholy lately, and even though this week couldn’t have gone better, I am still feeling overwhelmed at times. I’m learning to accept what I can’t change though, and trying not to let things get me down that I have no control over. Life isn’t always what we hope for or expect. We just have to learn to be as happy as we can, where we’re at, and learn to appreciate the little things that God sends our way. I hope all of you have had a wonderful week.

Love and blessings, ~M xo

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#weekendcoffeeshare – Loss of a friend

February 25, 2017February 24, 2017 ~ ~M ~ 50 Comments

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you how very sad I’ve been feeling over the past couple of weeks. It’s been a very tough month for me, and I’m living with so many unanswered questions.

Near the beginning of the month, I lost my closest friend. I haven’t dealt with it very well, but I’m trying my best to let go. For whatever reason, my friend decided to move on without telling me they were leaving.

I think the hardest part for me, is not knowing why; and I know I never will. The reason I know I never will, is because I dreamt of them leaving. It was a fairly recent dream, one I dreamt a few weeks before they disappeared. I didn’t understand the meaning then, but of course I do now. I cannot even fathom why they left, especially without saying goodbye; other than maybe they just had no other choice.

I admit at first, I was angry and hurt, and I vowed to myself that I would never trust another person again. And yes my guard is still up, but I did allow myself to visit with a woman who lives nearby, and it did help to speak with her. I poured my heart out to her and she listened. She eventually told me it was probably for the better; and even though I hesitate to agree with her, in the back of my mind, I know she’s probably right.

So as hard as it is to live with this sense of loss and pain in my heart, I know I will eventually be okay. Every day that passes, is another day to find other things to be happy about; and to try and find contentment, even in the monotony of everyday life.

I have never been a quitter, and so I will not give up trying to find a positive light, even in this. The Lord knows my path better than me, and so I have to ultimately give all of this to him, and let him show me where I should go from here.

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