SoulShineThrough: January 2018

Monday, 29 January 2018

Life Is Grand In January

While out my window the view tends to be mist and fog and grey ~ inside tends to look like this....

Cheery cozy PJ's :) all the live long day ~

Friends and cousins for dinner is pretty fun!

Popcorn every day with butter and salt and nutritional yeast.

An Accordion and a work jacket...what could possibly be cuter than this moment!?

He was telling me this is his 'granddaughter'.

We are cozy and dry at nights with kittens to warm our feet. What really is there to complain about?

I have an eleven year old son now. His birthday was just last week. He is getting so tall and so kind. He loves this earth ~ nature makes him feel safe and calm. This year he asked to go to the aquarium for his birthday. Thank you to my friend for hosting his lunch and cake and for the decorations and everything else. It meant so much! Every part of his day was amazing.

Friends and siblings are precious treasures

Touching Sting Rays!

Pictures Out The Window

How to ease this restlessness? The endless grey all encompassing...

I decided to go for a drive and to take pictures out my window. I took a few pictures from outside my vehicle but other than that they are all pictures taken on my drive. I had to get out but I didn't want to get soaked and cold in the rain.

Oh January ~ you are relentless and yet you march onwards towards Spring and hope and beauty and we all wait in anticipation.

This is the house, sorry, CASTLE, going up in the meadow behind my home. It is now the primary view out my kitchen window. My brother had remarked that my back yard was like a Disney movie one day because there were so many squirrels and birds....well now I even have a castle!!! I don't know if you have castles going up in your back yard but it is a far cry from the Buttercups and horses that used to take up that section of earth :(

Any blurry pictures are a result of the fact that I am in my vehicle and quickly snapping pictures!

The rain drops were all encompassing and dripping off his full beard. He looked like I felt ~ bedraggled and grey to the bone.

This is one of my favorite barns in all the world. One day, one fine day, I hope to own a barn similar to this!

Can you see what is peeking through the clouds? Magnificent mountains!

Oh the beauty that fills up one's soul so full.

So many birds you can't see them well but they were all in a huff about something!

Here they are Rachelle ~ Took these for you xo

I found myself at my grandmother's bench. She has been gone since 2012 now. Last year I lost the tiniest baby there ever could be and I buried her by this bench. So I also went to visit with her.

The view is serene and breathtaking. There are little caps of acorns all around the bench and the last time I had been here there were lady bugs and dragonflies making themselves at home.

This is where I buried my baby along with some flowers from friends. When I saw this I couldn't help but cry. There is so much grief and sadness in this world and yet always, always the opportunity to choose life.

That was my rainy day drive. If you have a chance to go out and drive in some quiet I highly recommend it. Look for the beauty shining amongst the rain drops. xo

Thursday, 25 January 2018

January Greys!

It has been a while since I have written. The New Year is almost done it's first full month, and here in my town the sky is absolutely grey and rain is falling in a steady cascade with no intention of stopping any time soon. The snow has melted and I can see random objects strewn around my back yard. A shovel, discarded garden glove, and really nothing is enticing me to go outside right now. How has your mental health status been? January around here doesn't really bring about glorious and brilliant mental health. The grey of the weather and the constant rain start to get to a body. If you live somewhere sunny and warm there is just no way you can relate and I am happy for you! Here there have been special lamps invented to try to help people ward of their depression brought on by the lack of sunshine!!!!

I started to feel crazy today. So I put on the Rio 2 soundtrack ~ and I started cleaning out my cupboards. I am not really sure of the logic behind it but I wanted to throw things away and feel like I was getting rid of clutter. The thoughts in my head were muddled and cluttered and the grey presses down like a vice sometimes! I think I thought if I got rid of clutter in the physical then mentally I would feel clearer as well? It sort of worked :) I cleaned a couple cupboards and got rid of a few more toys and that got me through a couple more hours. Now it is time to start dinner prep and the day is coming to a close.

I hope you are getting through your hours ~ I hope your mental health state is prime and that all is going great for you!

Some little things I do to help me feel mentally stronger are:

Shower every day
Go outside and exercise
Read good books
Journal
Keep the house relatively clean
Talk to a kind adult (because I am home all day every day with children)
Listen to upbeat fun music while tackling chores I have no desire to do
Get out of my house and go to a greenhouse with lots of flowers, go to a bakery and get a treat, go to a library and get some new books out ~ just getting out somewhere beautiful, bright and peaceful is good!

Here are some pictures to remind me that Spring/Summer always arrives and with it lots of fun memories to be made!

Fun in our tiny tiny kiddy pool