Oasis Out

I normally never write these words when we are getting ready to leave our little oasis from vacation, but this was not the most restful time I've had. I am ashamed to admit that most of the week was spent drinking and then recovering most of the time and I didn't hardly get to be at the house or relax by the pool. I chose to spend my days in the worst type of way. It does feel like this week really did go by faster than any other vacation. I hate that. Thankfully, we do still have today. Towards the middle of the day will be when we have to start closing up the house which is never fun, but for now I will try to just enjoy the last remaining time we have down here. I think the other hard part is we don't know when we will be back down here. Normally I know it will be just another 2-3 months before we are back down, but this time I am unsure. The pandemic has really made for a harder time too to enjoy things. Being mindful of what kind of restaurants we go to or don't go to for lack of mask wearing or social distancing can get old. Oh well...I really do want to try and make the most of our time today so instead of typing my woes of leaving on here, I am going to go enjoy the day. Chao!

Oasis Time

I am in my oasis and could not be happier! It was terrible traffic driving down yesterday as it took us about 15 1/2 hours to get here. That was worse traffic than what my mom and I experienced when we drove down the day after Christmas. My husband did point out that it is spring break week for a lot of families so there is that too. I am super bummed though because I forgot to bring my journal, so this just means more blog posts for me to write. I woke up this morning for first day of vacation at 530am. Its like my body is ready to wake up to the day to relax haha. But I love coming out to the patio (although we have this really annoying neighbor who apparently has been up way longer than me and is talking business to someone very loudly) so that is disrupting a bit of my morning), but it is nice to come out here and it be already almost 70 degrees and just listen to nature. My husband will most likely be asleep for a couple more hours and then we will head to one of our favorite spots for brunch. Today is also Easter which I do not want to forget or miss the significance of this day. Jesus is alive and well and His Holy Spirit now lives in me. I made the decision to follow Christ and accept Him into my heart and life at a young age and it is a decision I will never take forgranted, or at least I hope I don't. God has blessed me so very much. The fact that I am sitting at our home in FL right now as a "vacation place" with my husband of 8 years and knowing I have so much more to be thankful for...it's amazing. So today we say, God thank you for sending your Son to die for our sins. Thank you that you raised him to life 3 days later and that we take today to remember that and may we never forget that sacrifice. Now to enjoy this day!

Gifts and Talents

The latest book I am reading continues to challenge me and really think about different aspects of my life. The book is called "You are the Girl for the Job" by Jess Connolly. My step-daughter is letting me borrow it and it has been surprisingly great. This latest chapter focused on what your love language is and also what sort of gifts God has given you. Its funny, I just recently took the love language test again by Gary Chapman as preparation for a work retreat I have coming up. It shouldn't have been a shock to me but my top two were gifts and quality time. I guess I always have a hard time wanting to admit that gifts is my top love language because it always comes across as such a selfish sounding. "I don't feel loved today, but oh come home with a brownie or a purse for me and my spirits are lifted". Ugh. But...this is truth for me. After delving into the thought process about my love languages, it got me thinking about what I feel are my strengths and talents from God. I do believe I can be a fairly good communicator. Perhaps not in the sense of public speaking, but more in smaller groups of women. I also really love structure and creating systems and "rules". Making lists is almost a daily thing for me for work and for at home. I find it so satisfying to right out a list of things to do and then mark them off as they are completed. Then in writing in this blog, even though I know no one else reads it, makes me feel like writing is a great outlet for me too. I don't believe I am naturally gifted when it comes to the written word as I am sure I create all kinds of grammatical mistakes that would drive any english teacher crazy. But, I do love typing out feelings, emotions, and just overall thoughts to paper (or in this case computer). I am excited to explore other ways that I feel God has gifted me and the author of this book also encourages you to look at your weaknesses too when trying to find your strengths. This may help aid in seeing in what ways do I feel "lesser than" and then what the counter to that may be something I am stronger in. I don't know, but I am just loving feeling challenged and learning more about myself everyday. That's all...just a simple reflection after this specific chapter in my book. The husband and I are off to "the oasis" this weekend for a week of vacation so I am sure more thoughts will come during that time. Until then, chao!