What is the 2011 Review Extravaganza?





 It is your chance to write up some posts and recap what happened during the year. You can put your favorite pictures, tell your favorite stories, link back to your favorite posts, however you want. 

Starting next Friday- you can come here or to any of the other bloggers hosting this extravaganza (who I will list here soon) and link up your post. You only need to link up at one location as it will show up on each of the lists.

Friday the 9th, you will link up with your recap about January, February and March.
Friday the 16th-link up with recap of April, May and June.
Friday the 23rd-link up with recap of July, August and September.
Friday the 30th-link up with recap of October, November and December.

See how nicely that works out? By the time it is December's recap, December will be practically over. You DO NOT have to write your post on Friday, you can write it any day that week, that is just the day to link up. And you will have a few extra days to link up- until Wednesday. When you link up, make sure you put a link to your post and not just your blog in general. ((To do this, just click on the title of your post and then you can copy all that www gibberish that is in your browser bar)).

And now the Extravaganza part! Every time you link up with a recap AND include the cute little button, you will get entered into the drawing. Link up on the 9th and get an entry, the 16th and get another entry, etc., with a total of 4 possible entries. When all is said and done, I will let random.org do the dirty work and pick a winner and what will you win? Each of the hosts- all 8 of us will personally pick a present for the winner- so imagine getting 8 pacakges filled with something just for you!!

You can also receive some bonus entries- if you follow through GFC all of the hosts of the blog you can receive a bonus 5th entry. Once you are following all of the fabulous hosts come back to THIS post on my blog and leave a comment telling me that you're following everyone.

So who are the hosts?

In no particular order:

Emmy Mom


California Girl


Em of Emilisq


Grumpy Grateful Mom




Impulsive Addict




Janette of Johanson Journey




MiMi Living in France




Runner Mom

All great ladies you should definitely read! So to break it down really simply

• Link up each Friday with your recap-- you will have between Friday to the following Tuesday to link up for it to count for points
  
• Receive 1 point for every week you link up -button must be in your post (4 possible)
  
• Receive 1 bonus point for following all of the hosts blog (1 pt) -leave a comment stating you are following on THIS post
  
• If you are the winner receive 8 gifts picked just for you!

Any questions feel free to ask as we want this to be a great experience for everyone! So get your recaps ready and join in next Friday for the fun!






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*Thank you Emmy for writing this post for all of us, and being the mastermind behind it all!!

"The Best Way Out...

is always through"...Robert Frost.

You know when everything is a fight?

From the time the kids pop their eyes open, they fight; they punch, they bicker, they nag, they crawl under each other's skin until one of them claws their way out.

When a sick little boy refuses to take his prescribed medicine so he doesn't end up in the hospital with a full-blown case of pneumonia; and I'm all out of ideas to cheer him on, scare him into, bribe him with anything, so I make him sit at the table until he takes it, which results in lots of tears, lots of yelling, and two hours later it's bedtime and he hasn't eaten, or showered, or done his three days worth of homework from missed school days.

When I pick a fight with my husband because he didn't get the right kind of cereal from the grocery store; and all I wanted was a "Stupid box of Lucky Charms!!", and he asks why didn't I put it on the list? And I feel like screaming "Because you're supposed to read my mind!!".

When I'm tired all the way down to my bones, and my "out" is always a good run, except I don't have the energy to even lace up my running shoes.

When I battle with myself; the guilt of the day gives way to tears and I finally succumb to a fitful slumber; waking up to a new today; a fresh start; my running shoes have already been laced up and sweated up and my yesterday is worked through, and my guilty conscience has started to ease up with every step.

Some days are hard.

Some days are a fight.

Some days you just need to get through, to get to a better tomorrow.





1.) What did you go through in order to get out? “The best way out is always through”  (Inspired by  Shatterboxx and some dude named Robert Frost)

The Faces of Me

I see bits and pieces of myself in each of my children on a daily basis. Some good, some not.

Thoughtful; half-smiling with a slightly furrowed brow. His kindness shows through; his feelings he wears on his sleeve; no hiding; pure honesty; the joy, the sadness, the tears brought by anger. This is often times me; worrying about what is yet to be; thinking of tomorrows and the day after that; the unknowns no one controls.

Happy, smiling, eyes lit up with joy; her insides are sometimes in turmoil; her smile a cover; much the same as I was as a six year old. Seeking comfort in home; I hope I am her soft place to land after her hard days of hiding her true self; not yet finding her confidence within; not yet comfortable in her own skin. How is it that this is the trait I passed on to her?

When the world closes in; when the chaos becomes too much; when all I can do is throw up my hands and throw in the towel...I feel like my five year old, frustrations bubbling over; shrieking out, yelling "NO!"; wanting time to slow down and thoughts to stop swirling; wishing I had my blanket, my thumb, and a soft spot to crash.

How fearless she is; living life in the pure joy of the moment. Her flyaway curls; her pure reckless abandon running straight at you with giant bear hugs; wild, carefree, becoming ever-so independent; eyes always light up when they come to rest upon you. This is how I wish to be; living life to the fullest; so happy in the small things; so easy with her smiles, her laughs.

These tiny, little people, who won't be little for long, inspire me to be better every day. They inspire me to love more; love harder; love stronger; love with reckless abandon and pure joy; love the moment; live in the moment; and leave the worry behind.

   
Some say a photograph steals the soul. This week, show us yours: take us into the moment that photograph was taken. Show us who you were then and what the photograph means.

My Favorite Photos

There is beauty in everything...sometimes you just need to look for it.

Looking at things through the lens of a camera has taught me that.

I used to simply snap a picture and call it fine.

Now, with the help of an online photography class, and a truly amazing photographer, I have learned to search for beauty in the simple things...such as a weeping willow.

And an autumn landscape...

Or even a hay field in the middle of nowhere...

I have learned that beauty can't always be seen with the naked eye.

Sometimes, the beauty is in the moment.

Captured forever in a memory...

Held forever in my heart.

Never would I have thought there was beauty in this...

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

      

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

1. Waiting-the kids were waiting so patiently for those two ducks to come over to them.

2. Foliage-My favorite weeping willow

3. Candid

4. Knife, Fork, or Spoon

5. Rule of Thirds

I have come to love Scavenger Hunt Sundays. There truly is beauty in everything...sometimes you just have to "hunt" for it.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So much to be thankful for...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

For other news around the blogosphere:

    

What is the 2011 Review Extravaganza? It is your chance to write up some posts and recap what happened throughout the year. You can put your favorite pictures, tell your favorite stories, link back to your favorite posts, really however you want to do it. And just in case you had some slow months, we will be reviewing three months at a time.


This will begin Friday, December 9th.
Friday the 9th, you will link up your recap about January, February, and March.
Friday the 16th-link up your recap of April, May, and June.
Friday the 23rd-link up your recap of July, August, and September.
Friday the 30th-link up your recap of October, November, and December.

I have to tell you the best part-- there are prizes involved-- 8 prizes in fact! 


A personal prize will be picked by each of our hosts for the winner.


And how do you win? Every week that you link up with your review you get a point- and the more points you have, the more times your name is thrown into the hat.

If you want to see an example, you can visit Emmy's blog, and see the review she did here. Emmy is the mastermind behind this, and I hope you join us! 

My Quiet Place

How different things can be in only a week.

The trail covered with leaves only seven short days ago, now covered with freshly fallen snow; snow that sparkled from the sun on a bitterly cold, 14 degree day.

The browns of the trees, gently covered in white against a backdrop of the purest blue sky only seen in storybooks; and I was running straight down the middle of it.

My favorite running trail, completely deserted except for me, the only sounds to be heard were the crunch of my shoes on the glittering snow, and the inhales and exhales of my warm, deep breaths.

There's something so pure and cleansing and new about the change of the seasons; a change I'm trying to embrace instead of challenge.

There is something so freeing in taking the path less traveled; a path with hills and valleys; a path that winds for miles and miles; seeing that only a handful of others had run this path before me gave me incentive to keep going; to see where their footprints ended and only mine were left to be seen.

How could I not see the beauty of the first snow in my favorite running trail? This trail that I've only run in three of the four seasons; always taking the treadmill route in winter instead of this trail, my trail; the trail I know with every dip, bend, and twist; the trail that serves as my therapy, my peace, my solace in a world filled with chaos, and noise, and turbulence.

This is my peace.




Where is your quiet place? What does it look like? What happens there?