The Sunrise Story

Slice of Life Challenge Please join the challenge over at  Two Writing Teachers ! I wonder why I'm a morning person?!?! My favorite time of day is when I open my eyes and realize I get to start again. Mornings are hopeful. Mornings are quiet. Mornings whisper and encourage me. Being outside in the morning air is like nothing else! It wakes me and brings me such joy.  It doesn't matter the weather...well, except rainy mornings...I love those too, but I'd love to spend those inside watching the rain.  The pink sky brightens as it welcomes the sun. The dew on the grass shimmers in the light. I know that so much of this may be cliche, but I can't help it...My favorite part of a morning walk is coming home. Grabbing a steaming cup of coffee, sitting down with my notebook and writing...planning out the day ahead.  I wonder, What does being a morning person say about me? I think it means that I value hope...and quiet time to reflect....beauty and soli...

Thank you to Holly for inviting us to reflect on our own spiritual journey! Please stop by and join us at her  blog . Holly invited us to think about following God today. It's an interesting question. Let me back up a bit before I address this...today I'm reflecting on the path not taken. Boy, I wish Robert Frost was here because I want to talk to him about that poem, The Road Not Taken ! What inspired it?!?! What was his "road not taken"? Did he regret it? How did he look back on it? Today I feel like I have lived those words, especially the final stanza:  Today is a day where I can see how differently my life could have been...fifteen years ago today I was supposed to get married. If I had, would I be celebrating my fifteenth wedding anniversary? Would I be a mom? So many what ifs?!?! Without getting into the details of the what happened and the whys of it all...I can say this with confidence: It was the right decision. The man I almost married and...

Slice of Life Challenge Please join the challenge over at  Two Writing Teachers ! I've been thinking a lot about the word permission. Asking permission. Getting permission. Needing permission. I struggle with this as an adult...today I'm remembering myself as a student. In school, I was a teacher pleaser, a rule follower...and that fit nicely, especially since I attended Catholic school. The nuns loved that about me. Thus began my love of school at an early age! I followed instructions, got permission and did exactly what was asked of me...and nothing more. That is not the picture of a successful student in today's classroom...well, I guess the success is partial. Following instructions is certainly a valuable skill, but I argue that listening to instructions, questioning them, and finding your own way to accomplish the task is better. As a student, I'd never dare that! Question the teacher?!?! NO WAY! I wish someone had encouraged me to question, to ris...

Ending each week with celebrations and gratitude makes the moments in the week so much more precious. I'm so grateful to be part of this community! Thank you to Ruth Ayres and all of the bloggers! Please join us  here . Today will be a quick post as I'm not feeling well. Working on getting rest and feeling better. But I had to blog because today I celebrate my loyal companion, Bella. She barely leaves my side. She keeps coming over and checking on me. It's sweet. I celebrate my Bella today. Off to get some more rest! 

Thank you to Holly for inviting us to reflect on our own spiritual journey! Please stop by and join us at her  blog . It's summer. I've been out of school for a month but it just didn't feel like summer. In my haste to set goals and make this a productive summer, I lost sight of what summer is supposed to be. Summer is a time to slow down...a time to appreciate...a time to reflect and rejuvenate.  I was jamming more and more stuff into summer and onto my To Do List. I can't even believe I had  a To Do List in the first place, that's so unlike me. I've had so many obligations to fulfill (most of my own creation) I worked and worked and then I crashed. Sad and lonely are my "go to" emotions when I'm overwhelmed. I took a day to feel those feelings. My grammy always said, "You get a day...one day to feel sad or bad or lonely...but ONLY one day. The next day you need to get up and start again." So, I took my day and let mysel...

Slice of Life Challenge Please join the challenge over at  Two Writing Teachers ! "I don't know what to write." Those seem to be the only words floating in my head right now. No matter how hard I try, all I can think is, "I don't know what to write."  It strikes me as an important struggle that I need to remember. Posting my slice on the Two Writing Teachers is a blogging highlight of my week, so I rarely miss it. Tuesday is my deadline. Sometimes I write the post before Tuesday morning, but often I wake up and write it right away.  Today...nothing.  I feel angry and frustrated, helpless and stupid. I want to force something and nothing is coming. ARRGGHH! Why am I staying here in this place and writing about it? Because of my students. I can't tell you how many times I hear these same words from my students. And it makes me wonder...do I give them enough time & space to create? Do I really listen to what they're saying? Do I tr...

Ending each week with celebrations and gratitude makes the moments in the week so much more precious. I'm so grateful to be part of this community! Thank you to Ruth Ayres and all of the bloggers! Please join us  here . Oh I'm filled with so many celebrations this week! I got to spend the last few days with my mom and my five and a half year old nephew Jack. We squeezed so much fun into a few days. They arrived from the train station on Wednesday. I'd say meeting Bella was the highlight of that day. Jack and Bella are like magnets, when they are in the same space, they are attached. Oh, to see Bella love him so much makes me happy. They played and cuddled and Jack gave her treats. She was pretty spoiled this week too. Here's my favorite picture of the two of them... The next day we found the Lego Store and Jack was certainly in his happy place. We stopped for lunch and took a selfie... Our last day together was spent outside. Playgrounds. Pool. Sw...

The irony that the focus this week is "mindfulness" as I'm writing this with my five year old nephew sitting next to me, my dog at my feet, and my mom on the couch. There's nothing better for my soul than family visiting.  This is the first visit that Jack is making to see me. Spending time with a five year old means there's little time for mindfulness, but it brings my spirit so much...I get to see the world, my world, through the eyes of a child. The wonder and awe he expresses at a ride on a merry-go-round reminds me to see the world this way.  His new friendship with my dog reminds me to love everyone fully and wholly! Every morning, I share gratitude emails with my family and friends. I asked Jack what he's grateful for and here it is, in his own words... I love when mommy plays with me. I love being with Bella (my dog). I can't wait for Kindergarten. I'm happy when people read me books.  I'm happy when Jillian...

If I'm not around or posting much for the next few days, this is why... My mom is bringing my nephew for his first visit to Virginia! We will be busy doing lots of fun things! Bella has no idea what's coming...

Kate Messner hosts Tuesday Quick Write here.  Today's Tuesday Quick Write assignment is to write about an emotional childhood event as fiction...hmmm, I always seem to get stuck on unimportant details and rule following during these quick writes, but I'm going to try and resist that today. I'll write about starting a new school. I did it in the fourth grade, but I'm going to change lots of details since the prompt says to stay close to the emotion, not necessarily the details. Thanks to  Nora Raliegh Baskin  for providing this prompt.  My eyes fly open and my breath gets caught in my throat. It's the first day of school. It's the first day at a new school. UGH! Why did we have to move? Stupid moving. My old school was just fine. I knew everyone and they knew me and now I don't know anyone. If I skooch way down to the bottom of my bed and lie perfectly still maybe mom won't..."Ellie! Ellie, are you awake?" mom yells from down the hall...

Slice of Life Challenge Please join the challenge over at  Two Writing Teachers ! The second half of 2014 has begun, so it seems like a good time to revisit my word of the year...a good time to reflect and see the impact of RISK. This is my eleventh post about my OLW. I reread so I could see where it all started and what I hoped to accomplish with my word. Here's my New Year's Eve post that announces my word. When I read that post, I remember the reason I picked this particular word. Fear had been guiding my life and that needed to change, immediately. The question I'm left with is: Has it?  Yes. Fear still exists, but I don't follow fear. I don't search it out or ask permission of it. That feels great! I've realized that taking risks doesn't mean there isn't fear...it means you do it anyway, despite the fear. I feel like I've done that. Taking an art class. Teaching in a pilot program. Leading a retreat at a friend...

Stop by and join us for Kate Messner's Monday Mini-Lesson . The air hangs heavy from being trapped in the showroom all night. Slowly, the cool air pushes it away as the coffee drips into the glass pot waiting. Waiting. Car doors opening and slamming, CNN providing a soundtrack to the room. The red shirt approaches...the waiting customer holds her breath...CNN fades into the background as she hears the news about her car. I had to take my car in for service today, so I decided to try the mini-lesson here. I'm sitting in the waiting room. Hoping that came across in the paragraph above. 

Join us on Mondays at Jo Knowles blog for Monday Morning Warm-Ups !  This morning Jo challenged us to "Find the beauty in our writing." I find so much beauty in beginnings...maybe that's why I love mornings so much. It's the beginning of a new day. I love beginnings. I'm good at beginnings and that's why I love that Jo asked us to focus on finding the beauty now...I'm filled with hope and anticipation for this writing camp. I feel invincible. "I can do anything" feelings are leaking out everywhere...but I'm old enough and wise enough to know that these feelings are fleeting. Doubts and fear will soon replace them and that's why I'm going to focus on the beauty today. I'll return here to find encouragement for my gloom and motivation to go on when I want to quit.  Beauty means discovering joy and peace and grace. I've been searching for my story for a long time and I feel like I found a beginning to a story that ne...

I'm grateful for writing. Next week begins Teachers Write. Yikes! I'm excited, scared, overwhelmed, and really wanting to bury my head in the sand...but I won't. Cynthia Lord wrote an amazing facebook status that turned into a  blog post  about writing. She said, "All you have to do is sign up and you can do the program all five days a week or as life permits. But let me say something about 'as life permits',  just so you're prepared.   Life *doesn't* permit."  Please read this post. It's wise and inspirational and will be posted in my office and in my notebook.  Now to specifically address today's question:  It's a valid question. Why? The easiest answer is I have to write. Last night I reading Annie Dillard's book The Writing Life and this quote found me..."It's easy, after all, not to be a writer. Most people aren't writers, and very little harm comes to them." (Julian Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot...

Ending each week with celebrations and gratitude makes the moments in the week so much more precious. I'm so grateful to be part of this community! Thank you to Ruth Ayres and all of the bloggers! Please join us here . Living "singly" (is that even a word?!?!) means approaching many things on my own. I have honed my single chick skills (a phrase coined by my friend, Christine). Walking into a party alone, eating dinner on my own, pool time, going to the movies on my own...done them all...but there are some things that feel too sacred, too family to do alone and holidays are one. Usually, I plan to spend the day in a way that will make me happy, until I'm reminded that family is all around, in all different ways. As the holiday approached, I didn't have much planned...a quiet day with my doggie Bella. July 4th is on of my favorite holidays, but today the day didn't hold many plans for me...until my friend, Kathy, called on Tuesday and invited me...