I don't think of all the misery ...

... but of all the beauty that still remains.
~Anne Frank~

Until you make peace with who you are ...

... you'll never be content with what you have.

~Doris Mortman~

Life is full of beauty.

Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.

~Ashley Smith~

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure.

There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.

~Jawaharlal Nehru~

Walking with a friend in the dark ...

... is better than walking alone in the light.
~Helen Keller~

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My best friend and I used to go for long walks in the dark when were teens, not only to get some privacy when we shared our secrets but also because the dark was a friend too, a friend that would never tell on us.

An Award!!! =)

I'm as happy as a kid in a candy store! Thank you so much Lizzie!

1. Thank whoever gave this to you
2. Copy award
3. Post it in your blog
4. Tell us 7 things that your readers don’t know
5. Link 7 new bloggers
6. Notify winners of the award with a comment on their blog
7. Most of all - Keep being awesome!

Seven things about me:

1. I'm born and raised in the taiga and I'm still deeply rooted there even though I moved away some 20 years ago when I met my husband.

2. I had my first art exhibition when I was 15 years old and my largest art project is a 4 x 2.5 meters mural. ... then I got married and had children and art is something I do when I have time over... and that's not often.

3. I'm very interested in genealogy and local history and I spend a lot of time digging for information. I've traced my roots about 500 years back in time by now and I'm trilled over every little detail that I learn about my ancestors and the lives they lived.

4. I'm so scared of snakes that I automatically make a run for it when I see one on TV or in a magazine.

5. I was just as passionate about my love for nature when I was a kid and I was 6-7 years old when I joined protests against nuclear power plants and deforestation. I also managed to convince my father to pay for my membership in Greenpeace at that time.

6. I always have enough food at home to feed a small army. The "hunter-gatherer" in me can't stop dragging things home to make sure that we won't starve even though I logically know that I do have enough at home. Luckily our sons often have "small armies" of teenagers visiting and the food helps me feed them all. (There seems to be no bottom in some teenage boys.)

7. I can't speak English. I read, write and understand it but every time I try to say a word it sounds as if I have a bag of nuts in my mouth and the words doesn't come out as anything English at all.

I pass this award to

Deepak Acharya
R. Ramesh
Tantra Flower
Onkar Keida
Desi
"My Microcosm"
Wendy
Maurizio
Aviral
magiceye
Silly Girl
Aparna
Daanish

What can I say... maths is difficult. ;o)

Eat a Cranberry Day

Having a sweet tooth and diabetes is a really bad combination at times. What saves me are dried berries since a few dried berries is just as satisfying as a big bag of candy to me. Cranberries and blueberries are among my favourites and they are also supposed to do good things for your health.

I really want to push for eating berries as well as fruits instead of candy simply because I see the processed sugar people eat in large quantities as one of the major health threats today. Not only do we get it in obvious sources but the ones that produce our food hides it in products where you wouldn't think of finding it, if we let them. Smoked ham with extra sugar anyone? Or how about potato salad or that fibre rich müsli that is supposed to be so good for you? They even make candy and sodas extra sweet in some countries because people are so used to the sweet taste that they need more of it these days.

Oh, and if you do buy dried berries and fruits, make sure they haven't added extra sugar there too. I've had a really hard time finding dried berries and fruits without added sugar (and/or oils) until I found a local organic dealer.

Game and Puzzle Week

We're a geeky family and we love Dungeons and Dragons type games. Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Anvil of Dawn, Lands of Lore, Might and Magic ... oh sweet memories. We played Warcraft too but I've never learned to like the World of Warcraft and the online gaming thing, it's too time consuming and it's too stressful for me.

I do play games online but no the kind where you interact with others, the Room Escape games keeps me occupied now and then and the Quest I-poon... annoyingly addictive. I don't tell my kids about it though, they are smarter and faster than me when it comes to solving them and I don't want them to know how slow I really am.

Or oldest son has started to make his own DnD games now and I'm really flattered that he turns to me for suggestions and ideas. I doubt that he really needs help but it's nice to be asked anyways. He also says that he'll steal the fantasy novels I write and hide one day and use them to create world for his games, and make a lot of money on it. ... that's a bit disturbing since I thought no one in my family knew about those novels... but it's not surpricing since I hide them in my computer and he knows all about computers and he uses mine all the time.

I think it's time for me to play one of his games to see what it's like instead of just getting glimpses of it now and then. If I like what I see I'll let him pick one of my fantasy novls to use, if he promise to not tell the rest of the family that it's mine.

Life is a process of becoming ...

... a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.
~Anais Nin~

Beautiful Day

Every day is a beautiful day but some days you need to squint your eyes and use a bit of your imagination to see it. Most of all you have to want to see the beauty or you will be bound to miss it.

This is a day to take the time and look around and appreciate the day and the beauty in it.

Homemade Bread Day

Making bread isn't among the best things I do, I'm better at making cookies, but I keep trying. I guess this as a good a day as any to make a new try...

Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day

One word; Chilli!

Well it's the first thing that comes to mind, I love chilli but my family don't eat it.

To make something that my family will eat too I'd probably have better luck if I make one of the recipes that Deepak has shared with me. Indian food do fit requirements of "Bold and Pungent" when compared to what we usually eat.

Basic beauty lies in the way a woman walks ...

... it is health and an attitude to life.
~Nancy Astor~

Truth hurts...

... still the pain of hearing the truth is so much easier to bare than the pain you feel when you discover that you have been lied to.
~Kadri Luik~

Let your heart guide you.

It whispers, so listen carefully.
~Land Before Time~

Never mind searching for who you are.

Search for the person you aspire to be.
~Robert Brault~

All but Death, can be Adjusted ~

Dynasties repaired ~
Systems ~ settled in their Sockets ~
Citadels ~ dissolved ~

Wastes of Lives ~ resown with Colors
By Succeeding Springs ~
Death ~ unto itself ~ Exception ~
Is exempt from Change ~~
~Emily Dickinson~

How wonderful it is ...

... that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
~Anne Frank~

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically.

We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.
~Anais Nin~

Look For Circles Day

People will find those things that they have on their minds and see them all around. If you've paid attention to the subject line here you will remember circles and see them all around you.

This can be fun and it can be a curse, I'm really not interested in peoples shoes but a friend of mine told me that she study peoples shoes when ever she's waiting in line at the store. Every time I stand there thinking that it is taking a lot of time I remember her and the shoes and before I know it I'm studying peoples shoes. Now I'm hoping to give back by having her see circles the rest of the day. <-circle!

There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving ...

... and that's your own self.
~Aldous Huxley~

November

As always there are many illnesses that has their awareness month Alzheimer's, AIDS, Epilepsy and different types of cancer are on the list. Something that stands out is Pet Cancer Awareness. Our pets also get ill and it's tough when they have been your best friends for years. My beloved cat got cancer and died many years ago and I still feel sad when I think about it.

It's also Family Stories month and Novel Writing Month and once again I'm thinking that I have to write down all those old stories that my family and relatives have told me before I forget them.

Have enough sense to know, ahead of time...

... when your skills will not extend to wallpapering.
~Marilyn vos Savant~

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... and if you don't have the sense you'll learn through trial and error like I did. Now days I either paint the walls or pay someone else to do the wallpapering.

A friend is ...

... someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.
~Jim Morrison~

A hero is ...

... someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.
~Bob Dylan~

What sunshine is to flowers ...

... smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.
~Joseph Addison~

Too rough

A little girl asked her mother, "Can I go outside and play with the boys?" Her mother replied, "No, you can't play with the boys, they're too rough."

The little girl thought about it for a few moments and asked, "If I can find a smooth one, can I play with him?"

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I just had to post this story since it reminds me of growing up as the only girl in the neighbourhood. When ever I wanted to play house Indians or space cowboys destroyed it, my sand cookies were turning into grenades and putting flowers in your hair was an invitation to get your braids pulled. If I had only thought of looking for a "smooth one" to play with.

Tell a Story Day

The Tell A Story Day in the US was in April but the Tell A Story Day in the UK is today, being open minded about such things I see no reason for not enjoying them both.

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The dawn was closing in, embracing the world we were in, soon the night would turn to day again. We were sitting by the lake, talking while the fog rolled over the water and the loom cried in the reed. The passion of your hearts were lifting our dreams, turning them into flames that kept us warm. That is what it is like when you know every path, every rock and tree. That is what it is like when you are where you are supposed to be.

We were doing fine down by the coast, life was good but still it was lacking, life was treating us well but we still felt unhappy. Deep inside of us, we regretted that we left, even though we never had much of a choice. We kept thinking of moving back, but somehow we ended up staying one more year. That is what it is like when your life sings a different song. That is what it is like when you cannot be where you belong.

Once every season we escape from the cage with no lock of chain and with singing hearts, we travel north again. For a brief moment, not enough time, we go back to the place where our lives began. The remaining amber coals of the fire fades, reminding us that we are old now days, old and faded, weathered and seasoned. Rooted in the foreign soil by the coast, free, but not where we are supposed to be.

~:Kadri Luik 2009:~

What most people need to learn in life ...

... is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.

If we limit our dreams to the things that we think that we can achieve ...

... then we are really robbing ourselves from finding our true potentials.
~Kadri Luik~

It is a curious thought ...

... but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.
~Agatha Christie~

I find hope in the darkest of days...

... and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
~Dalai Lama~

Happiness is not something ready made.

It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama~

Be kind whenever possible.

It is always possible.
~Dalai Lama~

Better do a good deed near at home ...

... than go far away to burn incense.
~Amelia Earhart~

Evaluate Your Life Day

A day to stop and reflect and meditate over how your life works and where it is heading.

Being a navel gazer by nature I really like this kind of thing. Reflecting, analysing and playing around with possibilities in my mind to find the best way to make the changes that will move things in the right direction. This way of doing things has brought many good changes to our lives since I've found ways to save money as well as bring the family together that way. What can be done to help me get what I wish for, what am I willing to do and what way is the best way to do it. It's amazing how the little things can make such a huge difference in the end.