13/52 {moving forward}

Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward.

-Victor Kiam

Water is constantly moving.

 The movement of water is ever changing.

From raging waterfalls 

to silent tears.

From gentle flowing streams

to fierce rain falls.

The moral here is regardless of the water form

it continues to move.

Life is sometimes a silent tear

while other times

life is a strong tsunami.

The importance is with movement comes change.  

What form of water will your life be today?

Linking up to Anita

p.s. While on spring break I do not have access to my typical photo editing programs

12:53 {spring? no. party? yes.}

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
-Robin Williams

While the calendar may say "spring" arrived a few days ago, the snow on the ground and the colder air will tell you, Spring got lost on it's way.

You know spring got lost when dogs party like this...

Hey! Get back here, I want to growl "happy spring" at you from behind this fence!

It's so much fun to nip each other's necks.  PARTY ON!

 You know when Spring got lost when humans party like this... (well actually I think it's called cabin fever)

Hey Auntie we can wear those glasses...

Emmett: Here doggies wants some humans snacks for the PARTY?

What?  No spring this year?

Go see what Spring Parties are in Arizona with Anita.  Click here

11/52 {try it}

Just because it hasn't been done before doesn't mean you shouldn't try it.-Howard Schultz

As an adult it's difficult for us to think of things that are new or different from what we know.  For children, everything is new and nothing has been done in their minds; this is one of the many reasons why I love working with children.  Here my niece had tried some kind of food to eat...

Linking up to Anita

10:52 {never too old}

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. -C.S. Lewis

While this is a picture from this summer, I choose this picture to share because my dad epitomizes this quote.

For those of you who may not know my father, he is Walter Lampi, known to his family as Pete.

When my dad was in his 20s or perhaps early 30s he taught himself to understand, speak, and read Finnish.  What was the motivation?  Other than the fact that, while he himself was born in the U.S., his father was from Perho Finland... he was being sent on a mission trip to Finland.  

I remember the evenings when he'd had his nose tucked behind a Paivamies or Finnish for Foreigners.  I remember the Finnish tapes he'd listen to and practice his pronunciation of Finnish words. To my knowledge he got along in Finland quite fine.

When my dad was in his later 30s perhaps, he took piano lessons.  I'm not entirely sure where the motivation came from but there was a specific piece he wanted to learn how to play.  I don't quite remember how long he took lessons; however he learned the song.  I'm not sure if he's touched a piano since.

About 11 years ago, my dad was sent on a mission trip to Equador.  He didn't speak any Spanish.  He was sent back to Equador late 2012 (I think) he didn't know much Spanish; however he promised the indigenous people there that when he returned he would speak more Spanish.  So for about a year each night, my dad, (as I've heard from my mom) spent hours teaching himself how to understand, speak, and read Spanish.  He went back to Equador December 2013; he was able to hold small conversations.

At the age of 62, my dad graduated (yet again) with a Master's in Divinity.  He also had a number of other degrees.

All in all, I've been given a great example of setting new goals and dreaming new dreams.  

My dreams are fluid they change from time to time, my goals are also fluid, they change constantly. 

Head on down to Arizona to see what goals/dreams ANITA has.

9:52 {stronger than you think}

"Promise me you'll always remember. You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

Christopher Robin to Pooh

As I eluded to in my post last week, I moved this weekend.  In addition to trying to prep for a move, I also was swamped at work trying to write reports for evaluations I had completed.  In further explanation of my move the majority of my items moved to one spot three hours away and my dog and I moved to my sister and brother-in-laws house.  Short version of a long story, my apartment building was raising the rent to a level which would be equivalent to a mortgage on a house.  So, I thought why still live there?  Then I thought why have I lived there all this time paying such higher rates if I could have gotten a mortgage for a home?

Regardless, I still have a few items to move and cleaning to do before the March 9th.

Also this weekend, I had one 10-12 page paper on espionage due on Friday, and another paper due which was due yesterday but I just submitted before this post on a violent non-state actor group, I choose the Weather Underground.

Why share all this information?  Well, I have felt stressed to the max trying to juggle work, school, moving, extra obligations, etc... My clients will never know I'm stressed they don't need to know.  At some point during the week, I asked myself, "Self, can I just not do anything"?  Will it all get done if I just ignore it?  You may ask what does any of this have to do with our quote for this week?  Well, it is often that when we are stressed we forget about the little things.  The things that make life what it is.  While feeling unsure of how I'll manage having children around everyday after living alone, and hope I'm not too crazy "aunt-ish" while living here for the few months that have been planned; I had a fun little moment with my nephew Emmett as depicted below:

please excuse the grain, this is shot with my iPhone.

What was happening here is that I went into my "new" bedroom and Emmett as you can see was helping me do my homework.  My sister of course was telling him that he needed to leave "auntie" alone when I was working on my homework; but I insisted he could stay.  While some may have felt extra stressed having a little tyke play trampoline on their back and bottom when trying to concentrate.... It is moments like this that I remember to take a step back and as Christopher Robin said to Pooh...

"Promise me you'll always remember. You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

In the long run, stress waxes and wanes, and I know I am strong enough to handle it, even if somedays I wish I didn't have to "handle" anything.  And I'm going to add to Christopher Robin's quote, remember the small things that make you feel happy- they help you remember to believe in yourself.

Linking up to Anita