10 Ways To Tempt Fate Other Than Covid-19 + #MyPostMonday Linky

Do you know how many ways there are to put yourself in harm's way? I was floored by just a few of these U.S. statistics!

Being Murdered: 1 in 11,000

Being Robbed:  1 in 400

Being Burglarized: 1 in 50

Women dying in childbirth:  1 in 12,500

Death from earthquake or volcano: 1 in 11 million

Death From Leaking Gas: 1 in 12 million

Injury in an elevator:  1 in 6 million

Death from ingesting detergent: 1 in 23 million

Infection from flesh-eating bacteria:  1 in 170,000

Being hit by a meteor: 1 in 150 trillion

 Of course, these are just a few ways that someone can really mess with their mortality in a big way. The statistics make death by any one way fairly rare. But combine all the ways to off yourself, and the chance of dying is probably close to 1 in 100 at any given time. Yet up until recently, people were OK with taking chances. It seems so interesting that for the past 2 months, people have severely curtailed their risk-taking activities. Yet, it hasn't prevented deaths from happening from things other than Covid-19. People are still getting killed doing crazy things. Car accidents still happen, drownings still happen, plane crashes, and murders still happen!

I guess what that tells me is that no matter how careful you are, no matter how much the government tells you to stop risky behavior, the fact is some people are going to die. What else does that say to me? I need to live life the best way I know how, in the safest way I know how, but above and beyond that, I can't prevent my own demise. I will die when I die.

My goal, then, is to make sure that I'm not afraid of death, that I'm prepared to die and that I've made peace with those I need to make peace with. Do I want to go quietly or do I want to go out with people actually missing me? I think the latter. How do I do that? I'll take a cue from this quote: "How carefully most men (and women) creep into nameless graves, while now and again one or two forget themselves into immortality." --Phillips Brooks

If we (note: we=I) could just forget for 2 seconds about how we look or how we feel or how we are perceived by others in favor of just going out and making someone else's day a little bit brighter, I think that our problems would seem a little less significant all of a sudden!

So maybe along with the prioritizing, financial goal setting, social posturing, dream boards and self-affirmations, we set aside some time to wonder how best we can serve another! Then when we do die, whatever way that may be, we'll have really lived to the fullest!

Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of my picks of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome)

Scenic Saturday With Images Along The Way

It has been so gorgeous here in Utah. Spring is gorgeous here, but if you blink, you'll miss it. That's why I'm going to get a few images to show here and there. I do a fair amount of hiking and biking during the warmer weather. That's one thing that hasn't changed for me during this social distancing time. I've really tried to stop what I'm doing and take some photos if I see something I like! So please, enjoy!

3 Resources That Everyone Has + #MyPostMonday Linky

As I was browsing around the internet last week, I happened upon an idea that resonated with me. Something that held promise to help me with a problem I have. 

The problem is this: I find that when the warm weather comes, I start getting really motivated. After the long, dark winter, I have a bijillion things on my To-Do List, all vying for the top spot. And I WANT to do all of them. I make a valiant attempt to accomplish everything. But alas, my day doesn't leave me room for it all. It has always been a rather discouraging prospect. I feel like a hamster in the perpetually turning hamster wheel. And then, I hit bottom. The feeling of failure is so intense. 

But I'm the type of person that doesn't like complicated plans and life changes in order to achieve a goal. My life is complicated enough without adding more. But the following idea made me stop and think.

The idea is that everyone has 3 resources at the beginning of each day. No matter who we are, we are given an allotment of time, a certain amount of energy, and an opportunity to focus that time and energy. Everyone has a different amount of each resource. Someone may have much more time than energy, another may have more focus and less time. Someone else has focus to spare, but less time and energy. But no matter which way those three resources are divided, there is a way to get exactly what you want, if you want it badly enough. 

One of the nice things about staying home was that I was able to focus on what my priorities outside of work are. When I'm working, a good portion of my daily time, energy and focus are dedicated to my job. When I get home, I have a limited amount of those resources left. It's up to me how I utilize the remainder of them. 

An exercise to do is to figure out how much time I have left after work. Next, I need to realistically assess how much energy I have left for the rest of the day. This is where it gets interesting. Some days I have more energy and some days I have less, depending upon what happened at work, how much sleep I got the night before, etc. But the real key is deciding where my focus should be. I really need to prioritize my priorities so that I can match them to my time and energy. It may mean that I'll have to cut out a couple of things each day in order to have energy for the things that are deserving of my top focus. When I have a  clear-cut and realistic vision of my time, energy and focus, then I can really move forward! I think that Mr. Noel DeJesus really has a great idea here, and I'd like to learn more about it!  

 Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of my picks of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome)

How Quarantine Brought An Unexpected Bonus + #MyPostMonday Linky

It's now been about 6 weeks, more or less, since we've adapted a new lifestyle, in our state known as "Stay Safe, Stay Home". It's a lifestyle that many of us don't mind, if we only had the paycheck to go along with it! I've relished the extra amount of pure, uninterrupted time given to me. At first I thought I'd be so incredibly productive, but what I found is that it took some adapting to this new windfall of around 6 hours per day! At first I didn't know what to do with myself!

After some time, I did indeed adapt and something kind of amazing and unexpected came out of it. My husband and I started playing music together! Now, we've both been musical since childhood. But it had kind of been on the back-burner for both of us. I played violin in a university orchestra in college, plus piano, and he had played the guitar, sang and composed since he was a teenager, mentored by his maternal grandparents who used to compose and perform in the Coalinga Horned Toad Derby Days and Daffodil Days both in California.  But our instruments were badly in need of repair and we hadn't played them in years. Life had gotten in the way! Several months before things went to quarantine, we both got new instruments! I got a new violin and he got a new PRS guitar! 

The Measure Of Your Creation [Book Review]

"When we want to fill the measure of our creation more than we want the things of this world, the Heavens will open." I believe this statement to be true! I've seen it work in my own life and in the lives of many men and women that I admire. They go about doing what seems like they were born to do. They don't have ulterior motives. They simply do it for the joy of it.  They are happy to do things for free. They are happy to mentor others. Because when they help others, they are moved along the upward path to success as well. Call it karma, the law of the Universe, or in my case, the laws of an eternal God, it really does work!

This is just one of the truths shared by a remarkable woman with a rather common name!

Priorities + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

Wow, the winter went by slowly! And now we're into Spring, one of my 3 favorite seasons! But just to be fair, I love winter for it's renewing effect and time spent in gloriously soft blankets, immersed in a plethora of pillows, and drowning in books of various genres. 

And now I've emerged, ready to dial into the tasks at hand!

Gardening is at the forefront for sure! I've got some seeds in little containers, sprouting or trying to sprout, early spring annuals and perennials blooming in various places around the yard, and we have big plans for the smallish space we use for a garden. We will be putting in a drip system! I'm so excited at the prospect! No more dragging the hose halfway around the house every day to spray the garden! 

Biking is going to start once more, as well as some hiking! We did one really great snowshoe hike this past winter, but unfortunately, I spent most of the winter recovering from a nasty knee sprain that occurred at my work. For awhile there, I thought I might be permanently hampered in my ability to hike and bike. But happily, each day I feel better and better! 

I've become somewhat of an essential oil connoisseur, having collected around 60 pure, undiluted oils from around the world! I would love to share my excitement, experience and knowledge of said oils. And no, I'm not a DoTerra distributor. I get mine wholesale from another extremely reputable company. I have the option to become a distributor for that company, but I haven't quite decided how I want to pursue that, if at all.

I will be caring more extensively for my 91 year old father. He still is very diligent about getting 30 minutes of walking daily and even some weight training, which I believe is keeping him as healthy as he is, but he is getting more and more dependent upon me to make sure he gets meals, his laundry done, and other things. 

Evee, my sweet border collie has become a companion animal for my dad. She spends half the time with him and half the time with me. We go on walks every day and she was a welcome pile of fluff on my lap this winter. We liked to watch t.v. and nap when I got home from work. 

Summer is the time when we see many of our extended family from out of state. We usually have guests starting from mid-April out to August. So all my time can't be spent on my wonderful hobbies!

As Long As We Can + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

When the notion of labeling people by their social tendencies of either loving to be around people or avoiding them like the plague became a hot topic, I started to analyze some of my own tendencies. Was I an introvert or an extrovert? It's not that I don't like people, but when I'm dealing with my seasonal depression, I don't naturally tend to like being around people. It's exhausting. Ask my husband, if I'm really overwhelmed, all I want is to be alone and try and recover in my own way. On the other hand, when I'm not depressed (usually in the warm weather, post daylight savings time) I love to get out and be with people. As a result I captioned the phrase "reclusive extrovert" to describe myself.

My husband is the total opposite of me. He always craves social interaction and will strike up conversations with complete strangers just for the sake of socializing and finding common ground. Once I got a sunburn on top of a peak we had hiked together because he wanted to converse with another couple who had summited at the same time. The sun was blazing, I had left my sunscreen below to lighten my load when making summit, and there we were for 45 minutes blissfully, in his mind, talking to like-minded individuals, when all I wanted to do was get the heck off the peak and get some sunscreen!

I do realize how important it is to be people-oriented. It is so essential to love people and to find real connections and learn from their experiences and, in turn, share yours. There are many more similarities than differences among people. You just need to find them. And that takes discussion and time. I think one of the reasons why travel is so invigorating for lots of people are the possible connections one can make with people who may have different life experiences and customs. Maybe they don't even speak the same language! But given the chance, what amazing things can you learn from someone like that?

One of the best ways I've seen to meet awesome new people is to volunteer! I did that recently when I volunteered for a project serving children in need. We got together and were given assignments. I sat at a table where we were making quilts. I didn't know anyone at the table, but by the end of the project, I had made 2 new and fascinating friends and we had so much in common! It was one of the most fun days ever!

I highly recommend going out of your comfort zone once in awhile and meeting new people. It's an awesome, life-enriching experience!

Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of my picks of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome)

A Smile She Can Live With #BracesJourney Part II

As promised, I'm checking in periodically to let you know how I'm doing on my braces journey that began in early August of this year. 

What I like - I love that can feel my teeth changing and getting straighter. Not only are my lower teeth gradually changing, but my top two front teeth are straightening out. They were slightly overlapping. Eventually my top teeth will shift more outward because they were actually leaning in significantly! Below are some screenshots of me while talking before getting treatment. You can see that the lower teeth are quite crooked!

I chose to wear Invisalign clear retainer trays because they are removable, and that is important for me. I don't wear them to social functions where eating is involved, I don't wear them to photo shoots. I do wear them to bed, when I'm exercising or when I'm lounging in my p.j.'s. It's surprising how much I don't wear them, though. Although I always wear them at night, I sometimes go for hours on end during the day not wearing them. A couple of times I have forgotten to wear them to work and so I can't wear them for at least 5 - 6  hours. But they seem to be moving my teeth anyway. My last check-up was 2 weeks ago and Dr. Cook seemed satisfied with my progress. And I'm still on my 10-day tray switch-out schedule.

What I Notice - I notice that there are plenty of DIY clear aligner companies, where all you need to do is go to an initial appointment and get a scan and then the company will send it in and get a series of trays to get the teeth realigned according to a computer simulation. There are no appointments with an orthodontist or even a dentist to make sure the teeth are aligning properly. I don't think I'd like that at all. There are too many variables as to how teeth, mouth, and even jaws will actually react according to a very impersonal computer simulation.I love to be able to check in with Dr. Cook and have him analyze how my teeth are doing. He is always able to make adjustments and do it well. He is Invisalign certified!

What I Need Help With - I need help with not losing or mixing up current trays with my previous trays. These retainers or "trays" are very clear, to the point that when you put them on, people often don't even realize you are wearing them. So when you take them off and leave them, sometimes you can forget where you put them and spend lots of time trying to find them. 

Once I made the stupid mistake of putting my old trays near my new trays. I left for awhile and when I came back, I couldn't figure out which ones were which. I literally had to guess by which trays looked the most used. That was kind of hard because they are clear and they are only worn 10 days. I finally decided on an upper and lower set because one looked slightly more cloudy in appearance. I still don't know if I guessed correctly. 

Tips I've Learned - I've learned that wearing lipstick can be tricky with the trays. It tends to get all over the tray and look pretty tacky. I've quit wearing lipstick when I have them on.

I've also learned that cleaning the trays is really important. They tend to get food stuck on them and they tend to get rather whiffy if you don't take care of them. I can run a toothbrush over them when I'm in a hurry. But my favorite way to clean them is with White Teeth Global Alightener foam teeth whitener/tray cleaner. It is a foam with hydrogen peroxide that is sprayed into the tray and left for an hour or so. If you want to whiten your teeth while you clean your tray, just wear it. If not, leave the tray with the foam on it. It's really easy and gets rid of food build-up and any odor.  It has a pleasant minty smell. 

I'm looking forward to the changes I will see as I get further and further into my braces journey! I'll soon be on Tray 13 of 30. It's turning out to be one of the better decisions I've made recently! 

And if you live in the Salt Lake City Area, or know someone who needs braces from there, you can nominate them for free braces! Check out Dr. Cook's Facebook Page to check it out!

In the meantime, don't forget to keep smiling no matter what! It changes lives and attitudes, including your own!

It Is In The Focus + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

One of the wisest men to ever live on the planet said that the joy we feel isn't because of circumstances in our lives, but rather, where our focus lies. 

I find that when I step outside of myself, out of my own little box of pity parties, self-justifications, rationalizations and explanations as to why I should be feeling horrible, and instead focus on someone else and how they might be feeling, I find that I can feel joy and gratitude more readily.

Why is that? I feel that as a Christian woman, I have been taught to rely on Jesus Christ and his gift of the Atonement. It is a real and working entity that has such power, if I let it. He has given us teachings and examples in His life that are so powerful. If I truly follow those examples and teachings, I can access the power that He was teaching those who had eyes to see and ears to hear. 

Love Is A Choice + #MyPostMonday This Week's Best Original Content

 

Recently, I've had a dear member of my extended family tell me that he wants no contact with me. It really hurts. He has made choices that are contrary to what we have always understood are MY values and which I had hoped and thought would also be his. But now his choices have led him down a road that is really hard to turn back on. It has become a very narrow path, one with very few odds of return. Needless to say, I'm very worried about him. Apparently he feels judged and belittled because my values won't change to accommodate his philosophies and ideology. But my judging him and wanting to alienate him could not be further from the truth. I think we could still have a great relationship regardless of his choices. 

At first I tried reaching out and trying to let him know that I was there and wanted to talk and communicate. But that didn't go well. He only attacked me and told me I had betrayed him. I felt like I couldn't say anything right. It was all interpreted as condescending and judgmental. It wasn't meant to be at all. On the contrary, I tried to be so supportive, the best that I knew how. But to no avail. So I've chosen to step back and let him contact me when he feels like he wants to. Note: I also live across the country from this individual so personal contact is difficult at best.