My Twenty Wishes

I wrote earlier that I was inspired by the book Twenty Wishes and so on Friday I sat down at my desk with various scrap booking supplies to make my very own motivational page. I am far from creative when it comes to making a page, but I'm the only one who has to look at it everyday. When I finished, I stuck my page up onto my magnet board so I won't forget what I am aiming for. I made a list of wishes that have always been on my mind. I only have fourteen, but as I get a new idea I will write it down. Some of the wishes might take me a life time to accomplish some I may make come true in one weekend. I heard once that a goal not written will probably never happen. As each birthday passes, I start to panic and think "oh my gosh, what have I done with my life?'' The days pass so quickly, yet I rarely do what my heart desires. Just like the women in Twenty Wishes, I hope my own list will get me on the right track to following my own dreams. I don't want to look back one day when I am a hundred year old woman and panic and realize I never accomplished the things that I truly wanted to do. For anyone who is reading this I challenge you to sit down soon and make your own list of Twenty Wishes. You can write down any dream that you have ever had no matter how impossible or silly it might seem. Then do your best to live life to the fullest and work on making those wishes come true!

"Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Red Leather Diary

The story of how The Red Leather Diary came to be is amazing to me. A few years ago in New York, a young journalist happened to come across a dumpster full of old steamer trunks containing many antique items such as flapper gowns, dishes and the most priceless discovery-a diary that a 14 year old girl from the 1930's had written in every single day for 5 years. Apparently an old apartment manager was cleaning out the basement storage room. After a lot of research, the journalist was able to track down the author of this diary and the 93 year old woman is still living today so now her private diary is a book for hundreds to read. I love history so it would be my dream to be the one to discover this treasure. I'll admit the book was a little unusual; Florence the author was a bit eccentric and I found myself skipping through a lot of parts. The story did get me thinking and I realized just how important keeping an updated journal is. What if someone finds my journal 75 years later down the road? What would they learn about me? I won't be on this earth forever but by leaving a detailed journal I'll be able to leave a little part of me. I also realized a lot of the times I write I am sad or angry and I don't want someone else reading it and thinking what a depressed person I was. I am going to try recording other details about what's going on in the world. I hope that one day my children and even grandchildren will be able to read and enjoy my journals and learn about who I really am.

Summer reading.

"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket." ~Chinese Proverb
I have been busy planting my vegetable garden and flower beds. As I work, I have plenty of time to think. I was thinking about summer, and one of the things I love about summer, is lots of time to read. Reading on a trip, reading by the pool, reading in the shade of the back yard on my garden swing, reading in the house when it's too hot to go outside. Lazy, crazy, days of summer reading, I love it! Here is my Summer Reading List:
1. A Girl of The Limberlost.
2. Three Cups of Tea.
3. Carrot Cake Mystery.
4. Before Green Gables. (I am very excited about this one!)
6. Some of my Newberry Books!
7. The Peacegiver.
Oh, so many books and so little time!
What's on your summer reading list?

Twenty Wishes

Within just a few days I finished Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber. I couldn't put it down. It's what I call a "feel good book." This book is part of the Blossom Street stories and I have really enjoyed all of them. In this particular story, a group of women who aren't happy and going through a lot of struggles get together one night and decide that they need to each make a list of 20 wishes and accomplish things they never have done in life but have always wanted to do. As each women starts to complete their lists, they become much more happier with life and learn that they can do anything. One little girl in the story stated, "you have to let your head know what your heart wants." This story really inspired me and infact I am going to start my own list of twenty wishes!

Marriage

Since I recently celebrated by wedding anniversary, I would like to share one of my favorite marriage books: Eternal Marriage and the parable of the silverware, by F. Burton Howard. I like reading relationship books, but this short and sweet story is special to me. In this book, Elder Burton shares the story about his wife who saved money in their years of marriage for a nice set of silverware. His wife took tender care polishing the silver and hiding it when not in use. The silver was only used for rare special occasions. Elder Burton thought his wife was a little eccentric but later understood that if you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. The message shared in this book is that marriage needs to be treated for the priceless gift that it is. It becomes more special and priceless as time goes by and when it becomes tarnished we can polish it lovingly. I try to remember this story when my marriage is having some difficult times and it is always so uplifting to me!