cabin birthday weekend

What a weekend. Visiting the land of wooden fences, winding roads, golden leaves, and crackling fires.

Enter cabin weekend. Mosey in and stay a while...

We celebrated these birthday buds...

Surrounded by this serene beauty...

We also celebrated togetherness…and making memories.

And then there was the cabin...

Carrying its own presence…it spoke in warm welcoming tones…

not giving up on my photo challenge: Day 26 Depth of Field

Fabulous views…reminding us that we must own one of these someday ;-)

These two were all smiles this weekend =)

Dear Mark,
I'm sorry I didn't get you a Hallmark card this year. Or a knock-off Hallmark card at that. How can I possibly find one that eloquently describes the man I love. The man who loves me without question, even when I may drive him half-way to crazy. The man who our kids depend on for not only their silly gene, but their 4th grade math homework. How do I tell you about the way I love to see the excitement in your eyes, even if I may look annoyed, when you talk about K-State football (and UGA now). The way I've been a front row witness to your growing confidence, seeing you light up when you solve a difficult calculus problem. How can I describe the way you make me feel proud and happy and over the moon excited every single day that I get to be with you. Where's that card? What can I say… there's nothing that I can write here or there that will be able to capture the love that I have for you. The love that grows in every moment that I spend with you. Happy Birthday baby. I Love You.

Goodnight y'all!

As the week comes to a close, we start looking forward to soaking up the long hours of our days off. Days to play. Days to slow down. Days without any formal agenda. When the ebb and flow is entirely dependent upon how long we wear our pajamas and how many forts we can build. The school bags are hanging quietly on hooks. The bedtimes are bending. All is how it should be.


At the Hain household this weekend...

Feeding our pets, keeping them happy. 

This weekend Athens had a Green Expo. We learned about making our home more efficient, and helpful resources in the community.

We stopped by a park on the way home, and soaked up the warm sunshine.

Lots of laughs, grins and smiles. But more importantly, time together.

We have so much to be thankful for, and I am so grateful to have times like these where we can drop the madness of everyday life. When we can gather ourselves around quality, not quantity.

Yeah, I'd say we're doing all right.

Weekly phone dump:


"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
-Leonardo da Vinci

keepin it positive

This is such a hard subject. I've always aspired to be a positive person. You know the "half full" glass drinker. We all tend to think we're fairly positive people. And we are, when things are going good, when all is how it should be. But who are we when things don't go our way? When trivial things come up in our everyday lives. We gain 5 pounds, don't meet budgets, kids throw tantrums, and the list goes on. Who do we become. Well, unless you are a perfect saint (and don't fool yourself), we all become negative in some form or another. The complaints start like a well-fed waterfall.

"I can't do anything right."

"Why do I bother."

"I'll eat what I want."

Trust me. I'm the biggest offender. I get so worked up that emotions run high. I over analyze every little detail. Things could not get any worse. Why must I endure such hardships? Am I on karma's hit list?

Have you ever noticed how the flow of negativity always gets more and more built up? I remember sitting in a psychology class...or was it anatomy...when I learned that negative thoughts and emotions will continue to build and build. That it becomes easier and easier to stay in that frame of mind. It's programmed in us. A gang that continues to initiate new members. New negative thoughts that get us into a frenzy.

Not only do negative thoughts make us become more cynical, condescending, not fun people to be around. But it also causes our body to get all out of sorts. Main point of the story: we do not do negative well.

Just like my work in progress speech, I'll continue to pursue positivity in my life.  It's going to take work, in some situations more than others. But I guess that's one of the great challenges we all have.

I have this new book called "Gratitude" and it is full of glorious blank pages. I don't know why, but I get more excited about blank books than ones filled with other people's thoughts and ideas. I guess it's because I'm a writer at heart. I love the opportunity to write your own story, dig deep into your own consciousness. We're all writers. We're all full of great thoughts and ideas. I'm challenging myself to write something I am grateful for, thankful for, or generally recognize as a wonderful positive thing every day in this book. Maybe more things if I can come up with them. All it takes is giving ourselves moments, however frequent we may allow, to look around and keep it positive.

And when we start feeling ourselves get into that negative frenzy, stop and think about it. What can we be thankful for at that exact moment? Stop the downward cycle with one positive thing. And trust me, it'll go up from there. If you have trouble, and for some reason can't think of one positive thing. Think this: you are alive. You are breathing, you are here. You have the opportunity that others may no longer have. To change it up, and walk a different path.

Things I am thankful for right now:

Saturday lazy day...family pajama and cartoon time.

Rain, and getting to go outside when it was finished.

Happy, energetic littles that we get to claim as our kids.

And so very much more as I sit here and write. I am thankful for the opportunity.

Yeah, I'm going to ride this wave.

"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you,
till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer,
never give up then,
for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
-Harriet Beecher Stowe