Holiday Celebrations

How do you celebrate holidays?

We love the holidays, all of them! From Thanksgiving through to New Years there are some “traditions” for how we celebrate. Every season we make time to view these three movies; The Holiday, The Family Stone and A White Christmas.

We love visiting New York City during the holiday season where we take in The Radio City Christmas Show, Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and some shopping that always includes Macy’s. And some dining too. It’s a trip where we take the train into the city and walk and walk and walk. We using exceed 20,000 steps on that one day in NYC!

Another great holiday trip is the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. The hotel is decorated so beautifully and there are white lights on most exterior trees with horse drawn carriages.

At home we decorate and dine on traditional turkey dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas is usually surf and turf.

Now that the kids are grown and gone we do celebrate more with our friends and neighbors. Our home is decorated and we play Christmas tunes while baking homemade cookies, cakes and pies.

Whether traveling or staying home we love the holidays and do raise a glass or two in celebration.

Happy Holidays all !

Forgot the eggs …

Write about your most epic baking or cooking fail.

In an early morning attempt to bake a birthday cake for a co-worker before work, I forgot the eggs! As a pretty accomplished baker I couldn’t understand why the cake I had just baked was as flat as a pancake.

After some deduction and detective work I soon realized I forgot to include the three eggs the recipe called for, I was just moving fast and in the desire to get much accomplished, really accomplished very little.

Baking unlike cooking is more science based and those eggs were necessary for success.

Oh well a quick trip to the grocery store to purchase a birthday cake ended up being plan “B” and the takeaway for me; enjoy baking cakes more when you actually have the time to bake them.

Wave Watcher

by Bernadette A. Sahm

“When I sit here by the sea and listen to the sounds of waves, I feel free from all obligations and people of this world.” Henry David Thoreau

Wave watcher

Am I

Soft foam

Gentle wave

Unique forms

High tide

Wave watcher

Am I

Fierce crisp and cold

So many sounds and shapes

Not alone

Gather here

Celebrate there

Low tide

Ebb and flow

Wave watcher

Am I

Never gets old

Does not disappoint

Always amazing

Sunny hot

Dark and cold

Wave watcher

Am I

Winter Spring Summer and Fall

Flows and goes

In and out

Today, tomorrow and forever

Wave watcher

Am I

Follow Bernadette on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer and Instagram @bernadettesahm

#ocean #life #love #peace #sea #beach

Enough

by Bernadette A. Sahm

For some time now I have been contemplating the phrase “less is more” and “down-sizing” and neither felt right. They seem negative to me like its “less” and less than what I am thinking about and trying to convey. We aren’t living with “less” we are living with enough! Doesn’t that sound better “enough is more” enough is enough!

Not that long ago we owned two homes and three vehicles for just two people. It was enough and it was more than what most people accumulate. Then one day as we approached retirement, we questioned what do we need? What do we want? We decided to “edit” and make decisions on what was best suited in our new lifestyle. It seemed like the common phrases of “down-sizing” and “less is more” were the common definitions for most people. Yet it didn’t sit well with me because I felt so happy and so content. It is living with enough … we really don’t need so much to live well and to be happy. Honestly it feels more liberating, deliberate and natural. It easy and less stressful.

How do you define “enough” … think about the amount of energy and responsibility it takes to manage more than enough and how much more enjoyable we can be when we come to view our lifestyle choices as “enough”

Peace and blessings on this rainy Sunday afternoon!

Bernadette

On Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer and Instagram @bernadettesahm

#Enough #Grateful #Appreciation #Joy #Peace #Grace #Livingwell #Blessed

The Slower Life Gets

By Bernadette A. Sahm

The slower life gets, the more it feels like living. I heard the birds chirping this morning. I smell the fresh ground coffee beans dripping fresh brewed coffee. The curtains are gently swaying with cool crisp breezes trickling through the open windows. The sky so lovely bright blue with soft white cottony clouds.

The slower life gets, the more it feels like living. Quiet is the fun new excitement. Stillness is the new action word. Peace is the mantra for these days. Loving is the overall theme and daily goal.

I’ve slowed down and I have never felt more alive. The slower life gets, the more it feels like living!

Bernadette on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer

Instagram @bernadettesahm

#peace #love #life #living #retirement

Aging Backwards

by Bernadette A. Sahm

My husband tells me that I am “aging backwards” I’ll take it! And he would know as we have been together for 34 years now, together since we were just 32 years old. Although this is not the first time I’ve heard this, it is the first time I actually believe it.

I believe that I had aged pre-maturely in my early twenties as I was widowed at age 23 and left alone with a two-year-old toddler to raise. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders as I tried to navigate single motherhood and earning enough to support us. This was definitely not what I had signed up for at such a young age.

“I was so much older then, I am younger than that now” by Bob Dylan

Then came years of a different level of stresses in a new marriage and taking on the mother role for newborn infant twins, as I tried to work my way up my chosen career paths.

Yet today as a retired senior I feel and look better than ever before! There are no “secrets” to living a good healthy lifestyle as so much of it is just common sense.

If I had to make a list of what I believe has contributed to my happiness and wellness, this list would be much of it.

1) Live in love and let go of all that no longer serves you well

2) Eat the good food/eat fresh

3) Exercise and get those 10,000 steps a day

4) Take your vitamins, I am big on taking magnesium and a low dose of aspirin daily, it works for me!

5) Get outside in the fresh air

6) Keep gratitude top of mind as there is always something to be grateful for

7) Live under your financial means so that you are not financially struggling

8) Laugh often it feels so good and is so good for you

9) Get a dog or two!

10) And for me probably the most important of all is marry well, choose wisely and make sure you live in peace and love with your forever friend/partner/lover/spouse

Bonus buy the cute outfit, get your hair and nails done and take the trip … Life is for the living, live it!

This is my list … make one that works for you too. I feel great and I believe you can too!

Peace, love and blessings,

Bernadette

P.S. Thanks Brian for the inspiration!

Bernadette on Facebook http://www.Facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer

Instagram @bernadettesahm

#love #life #liveyourlife #behappy #aging #agingbackwards #gratitude

September Shadows

by Bernadette A. Sahm

We can feel it in the morning, and we see it in the early evening

The August sky strongly suggests September shadows

The sky is changing, and the temperatures are dropping

Leaves are subtly changing from deep greens and gaining autumnal shades of color

Windows are open as a gentle breeze sways the light sheer curtains

Cake is baking in the oven, September is calling on this late August afternoon

The Crepe Myrtles are slowly shedding their bright red flower tips

Grass so green in the morning dew and later the night sky suggests cool crisp sweater weather

Sunlight casts shadows and so do the sunsets cast their own shadow

September is calling we see her shadows with the excitement of fall colors

Apple and pumpkin season soon to be, bringing back jean jackets, sweaters and scarves

September is calling we feel it in the shadows

The grapes getting ready for picking and wine makers prepare for that Nouveau kind of feeling

It will be September soon and we feel the subtle changes, they are coming our way

September is coming and bringing with it the glory of all the September Shadows!

Bernadette on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer

Instagram @bernadettesahm

#September #seasons #changes #fall #autumn #life

My Soul Lives Here

by Bernadette A. Sahm

The quiet of me

Lives in this happy place

The quiet of me

Reflects and ponders

The quiet of me

Smiles so broad

The quiet of me

Sits and plays

The quiet of me

Understands there is a beginning, a middle and an ending

My soul lives here

My soul loves here

My soul sings here

My soul prays here

Ocean water

Bay water

Pool water

Bath water

Soothes my soul

The quiet of me

Soulfully lives by the sea

Bernadette on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer

Instagram @bernadettesahm

#ocean #sea #soul #life #love #simplepleasures

I Want History

by Bernadette A. Sahm

I want to have history with you, he said.

I want to take care of you, he said.

I want to love you, he said.

I will give you everything I have, he said.

Let’s do this, he said.

Will you marry me? he said.

I am here for you, he said.

We will outlast them, he said.

You have my whole heart, he said.

You are the only one for me, he said.

You are not alone, he said.

You are the love of my life, he said.

You did all of this and so much more, I love you so much! She spoke.

Follow me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook,com/bernadetteamoyer

Instagram @bernadettesahm

(Happy 33 years together and 28 years married! I think we have “history” …)

Dear Younger Self

By Bernadette A. Sahm

You have and will learn so many things; some will mold and form you. Others will go unnoticed and yet others will change the very fabric of your heart and soul. Life is a journey and not a destination.

Here we go …

It was a lesson and not a life sentence.
Don’t sweat the small stuff and much of it is small.
No one and I mean no one is worth years and years of tears.
You are only a victim if you choose to be one.
The longest relationship is with yourself. love and care for YOU!
Don’t buy junk, buy quality over quantity.
Real estate is always a good investment.
Not every day is going to go your way and that is okay.
Buy the dress, get the hair done and get a manicure, outside appearances will help you look and feel better inside.
Bubble baths are therapy.
Always trust your gut.
Just because someone said it doesn’t make it true.
Bad boys might be fun for a while, but they are not meant for the long term.
It’s not over until we take our last breath.
No one is coming to rescue you, you must save yourself.
Some of the most messed up people are in the “helping professions” beware.
Buy local and support the artists.
What is meant for you will find you.
Relax.
God is always with you, you are not alone.
What you learned from your first family is not love, and its ok because they taught you who and what you don’t want to be.
Go with the ones that love and support you.
You have always had everything you need, deep within you.
Nature is the best medicine.
Exercise your body and your mind daily.
You are good! You are worthy and you are lovable!
Live fully and love deeply.
YOU got this!

Bernadette on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer

#life #lifelessons #alongtheway #living #learning #loving