Natasha's Pages

Another of my carpe diem challenges was to write a note and give it to a random stranger. So I took little blank note cards and wrote “Have a great weekend! God loves you and you are important!” on them. I left them at tables for servers, gave them to patrons sitting around or eating alone, and I even left one at the hostess station when I left. It feels good to spread some good news to someone who might otherwise be hearing the negative voices of the world around us. Maybe they already knew the message on the card, maybe no one had ever told them. All I know is that I would feel great knowing someone took the time to share it with me so I shared it with them. I’m planning on expanding this a bit more. I will let you know how it goes!!

This is my birthday month and my family and I decided to go out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. Even though my birthday is on the seventh, the sixth turned out to be more convenient for everyone and it also happens to be A LOT of other people’s birthday. For the carpe diem challenge I decided I’d like to give my waitress a gift for my birthday. So I put together a nice gift and packaged it all cute and slid a little note inside. The envelope read “To Someone Special” and the card read “Have a great week! God loves you and you are important!” Problem. We had a waiter and I had a girlie gift. No problem. Remember how I mentioned above that apparently the sixth is a busy day for birthdays?   We heard the birthday song and saw many a candle blown out while we were at our table. So on the way out, I asked the gal behind me, “Is it your birthday?” When I got a yes, she got a present!! It warmed my heart to see the pleasant surprise in her face and the faces of her

Our Little "Art in Nature" Project It's a flower!! Callie sniffin' around Callie Today Callie and I headed toward the Lake to make some art out of nature and while we were there we also noted the beautiful art of nature. Our personal art project was to make a flower out of a pine cone, some rocks, a stick, some leaves, and a few needly leafy things. Pictured top left is the result of our undertaking. It was fun looking around for and picking just the right leaves and such and I think it turned out quite nicely.  Another result of our adventure was Callie got absolutely filthy by rolling around near the lake’s edge and, of course, had to have a bath as soon as we got home. Also included in today’s post are some of the other sights from our walk by the lake. It really is a beautiful time of year and the ducks, dogs, and joggers were out in abundance. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed seizing the day and playing out in nature

Callie having fun in the sand!! I am so excited about this month’s challenge! This month I have enlisted the help of the Carpe Diem blog which lists great ideas to shake up each day. Some of those challenges I have geared up to “seize” throughout the weeks ahead and I’m excited as to how they will turn out! I’ll be posting them on facebook and here so we will be meeting here more often than usual this month to share experiences. Be a sport and try them with me too then let me know in the comments section or on facebook how they turned out for you!! See you tomorrow with my first report!! Carpe Diem!!!

View from the Lounge Chair as I celebrate my Freedom by the Pool!! Last month was great! I was able to learn a lot of cool quotes from our Founding Fathers! Each day a new quotation was posted on my facebook. Here they are for you in today’s roundup! One day is worth two tomorrows; what I am to be, I am now becoming.-Benjamin Franklin A people…who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.-George Washington Determine Never to be idle…It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.-Thomas Jefferson Independence Forever.-John Adams There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise about itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.-Alexander Hamilton Conscience is the most sacred of all property.-James Madison   A little matter will move a party, but it must be something great that moves a nation.-Thomas Paine   By removing the Bible from schools