There’s a reason that my tagline, “Life’s Busy. Make moments that matter.” is my tagline. I learned a long time ago that I never stop being busy so that meant I needed to change how I made moments or they were never going to happen. Especially the small moments.

I used to think that once I was past the busy moment, then I would have a moment to notice and enjoy the things I had put off to the side while I was busy. But eventually my brain noticed that I kept being busy and kept missing out. So, I trained myself to pause every now and then to be present in my day or when something came up that needed to be savored.

It’s been a long time now that I have been in training for noticing my moments and most days it happens automatically, but I do still need to rally the voices in my head periodically to keep on track.

Preparing a home and a family for a future move definitely falls into the “busy” category and it would be easy to let my moments pass so I can “git ‘r done”. But then, life will certainly be busy on the other end of the move.

A book that I recently picked up and have started reading goes right along with my desire to notice moments. It’s called, “The Joy of Doing Nothing”, by Rachel Jonat.

I’ve noticed that it’s impossible for me to keep up the busy pace of daily life if I do not pepper in moments to recharge, or in her words, do nothing. Taking some alone time in the morning before every one wakes up to sit quietly with my coffee is one of my fave ways to recharge. When the weather gets warmer, it is even more fun to sit outside and listen as nature wakes up around me and soak in the energy of the world. I also like to take time at night as the world is tucking itself in for the evening, again, especially when I can get outside. I’ve been a weenie and do not go out as often this year while it is cold, but I have been known to bundle up and sit outside with my coffee too. About every three weeks I fantasize about having a whole day to myself to recharge. I get to a point where I want to move at my own pace and not have to say a word for a whole day. Definitely a fantasy.

My kids were the ones to notice that the Robins had returned to our front yard tree. I had seen them, but didn’t really notice them.

But, in my defense, it’s still winter-cold here so what are the Robins doing here already? I’m still in winter mode and do not even comprehend that spring could be peeking at us.

They love to eat the berries on this tree, which is the whole reason I wanted this tree.

I have noticed that my beloved sky and cloud pics have dropped off. And it’s because there are many more houses sprouting up around us now that enter my picture and cut off my skyline, so the pics are not all that amazing.

Plus, I do not like to post pics of people or their homes or their belongings when they do not know about it. That feels like a big “no-no” to me.

I did notice that there is a big difference in the statement, “My son and I were painting.”

I actually love to paint rooms in my home so this was relaxing to me, aside from fearing that my paint would be interfered with in some capacity and cause a mess. That paint color is called “Cottage Lane”. My first home was black and white, way before the current trend hit, but I ended up with a blush-colored carpet because I had to buy from the clearance section and white was not an option. Blush was as close as I could get to white. That’s where I first started to realize that white was not as cozy as I liked but blush created a warmth that I need in my home, and is still a neutral to work with my desire to change out my decor often.

This paint color is very neutral but has a sunny peachy tone to it. On a sunny day, the happy feeling it surrounds us with is wonderful. But the amazing trick is that on a gray day, the walls still are happy and cozy and warm. Perfect.

I have noticed that the color I have been enjoying the most recently is yellow.

My yellow dish towel is my fave.

The little yellow lights in my kitchen for ambiance are yellow. Love them. (Those potatoes are waiting for my oil-less fryer. Can you say “homemade fries”?)

The glow from behind the bunnies in the forest is yellow.

The sunbeams in my house are more vibrant and yellow.

I am loving yellow right now.

I noticed this nut in a heart shape on our front lawn while I was standing outside freezing as I supervised a kiddo on the road. I actually passed it by, then decided to go back and get it. Yes, I could leave it for a squirrel but I’m a bit of a squirrel looking for a nut these days so I feel qualified to have this nut.

I noticed that the nagging question I have had in my head as I have worked all along on my cookbook was finally answered at a time in my life when I can handle it. I am using a site called Blurb to create my book because they offer an amazing template that allows me to basically design each page as I want to. Heaven. But it is expensive to print a copy of the book and I always wondered how “stuck” I would be to have to keep my book with Blurb once it was created, mostly because of the price. But, it was the only option I had available to me and I decided to just dive in and deal with issues as they arose. That time for issues is now and I am in a much better place to handle pondering my next moves than I would have been when I started this book.

Currently, I am working on a journal for you and it involved me taking my self-publishing adventure to the next level. My coloring book for Big People was like being on the Easy hiking trail. This project moved me to the Intermediate hiking trail because I am creating the book on Blurb but looking to self-publish it on another site. As I worked through some technical questions with their customer service, I learned of the limitations of Blurb if you want to print and sell many copies of your work. It’s expensive, at least for the projects that I am working on using their tools, unless you can justify printing a crazy volume.

I am able to switch gears and try recreating my journal book on my own computer and will see how that fares. But this trail will not handle my cookbook. THAT is on the Skull & Crossbones trail.

I became excited at this new turn of events because I have been toying with the idea of getting the creative software needed to create books for my very own self. For a long time, the learning curve was just too much for me to handle, but now, in light of these new developments, I am pushed for new solutions and this seemed like a good time. But, alas, I have not kept up with the speed in which technology changes – as always – and am learning that I cannot just purchase this software anymore, but need to pay for a monthly subscription to have this Adobe software. This practical and cheap country gal cannot wrap her head around needing to pay a monthly fee for the software just yet. At the moment, I am busy. I will not be spending much time on the computer working on my cookbook for a few more months so paying for the service at this moment is wasteful.

But…on the other end of this move starts the journey to my online shoppe and the need for marketing materials and time for developing my cookbook and other book projects. So I am tabling this need for adjusting to technology and will most likely be ready for it in a few months.

Although I noticed that I will never be happy about paying a monthly fee to use a software program.

What will you notice when you do nothing?