OLW March 2012

So, I am still about 2 months behind on my One Little Word projects. I just finished up the project for February. The assignment was to get out and take pictures of images that represent our OLW for 2012. As a reminder my word is Refine. I did not make it out to take pictures so I decided to pull my images from magazines I had around my house. It was so much fun. I was able to find photos for many of the areas I hope to "refine" this year. - my home (clean and redecorate), cooking, my little honey business and a few other things.

I also challenged myself with a couple of extra projects to complete during the month of March - 1-lights out by 10:00 to "refine" my energy level

2- total house detox to "refine" my house

3-1 week without TV to refine my time management.

The results of the extra challenges are mixed - lights out by 10:00 was awesome, I felt so much better in the mornings and was able to make it to work almost on time. House detox not so good - I will be continuing this in April. No tv for a week was a total flop - oh well letting this one go for awhile maybe I will try this one again during the summer.

Stuff does not make us prepared -

Oh my gosh - I love this post I read on the zen habits blog - www.zenhabits.net
I feel like it so applies to me right now - I feel so overwhelemed with my possessions some times and the effort it takes to maintain them. I need to print this out and read it everyday! - Love it!

Empty-Handed, Full-Hearted

Post written by Leo Babauta.

We often load ourselves up when we travel, because we want to be prepared for various situations. This burden of being prepared leaves us with our arms full, unable to receive whatever is there when we arrive.

It leaves us tired from carrying, so that we are not happy when we meet someone new on our travels.

What if we traveled with empty hands, ready to embrace new experiences, receive new foods, touch new people?

We might feel less prepared when we leave, but the preparedness is an illusion. Stuff doesn't make us prepared. Having empty hands but a heart that is full of love leaves us prepared for anything.

This doesn't just apply to taking a trip, but to living each day. Each day is a journey, and we load ourselves up with material possessions, with tasks and projects, with things to read and write, with meetings and calls and texts. Our hands are full, not ready for anything new.

Drop everything, be open to everything.

Enter each day empty-handed, and full-hearted.

Sent from my iPad

Remember to buy these...........

I saw these fantastic greeting cards at Barnes and Noble tonight while picking up a copy of the Hunger Games to replace the copy someone loaned me. Someone in my house decided it would be fun to chew up the cover - ruby foo is awesome!
Anyway - this card line features shelter dogs. The back of the card has the dogs name, how they ended up in a shelter and their special personality traits - I thought they were brilliant! I need to remember to by buy these the next time I need a card.

On The Road

I spent 4 hours in Sacramento today. It was a super fast trip. The weather was yucky so it was nice to get home.

The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On and Refine Challenge #1

I really love this story. And in the spirit of "carry on" I am hoping to challenge myself to do a little something extra each month for my One Little Word for 2012. My word is Refine and I am posting my little challenges here for a bit of additional motivation.
Here are 3 challenges for this month-
lights out by 10 pm on work nights = Refine my energy level
1 full week without TV = Refine my time management
Full house declutter and detox including my garage = Refine my house and my mind