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Originally uploaded by NJHeart2Heart

I had a FABULOUS time at Scrappers Dream Vacation on September 24-27. The hotel was great primarily on the day we arrived because we had a gorgeous afternoon to play on the beach, eat a fun lunch at Stewarts and hang by the pool, all which was within short walking distance of the hotel.
Scrapping was great. I got 39 pages completed- not too bad based on my history, and shopped a little but didn’t overdo it. Here you see my scraprack, which I hauled with me to the weekend. That was an EXCELLENT decision, and I intend to do so from here on in whenever I scrap away from home!

Among other things, I enjoy country line dancing and scrapbooking.  Yesterday after work, I did a bit of each:

I danced with my sister-in-law, Leah from around 8:30 to 10:00, then drove home, said Hi to my husband Ted briefly and dutifully made my way to the attic- where I proceeded to do everything EXCEPT pre-plan pages for the Friday/Saturday crop I’m attending this weekend!

Well…. my big planning table still had some stuff on it from my room re-organizing, so I had to find places for that stuff, and wound up getting distracted by memorabilia.  I had two containers full of the stuff, and wound up sorting through a smallish pile and separating one trip I took in 2007 into a bag w/ label.  I also created dividers for my “past years” planner binder, so that I could flip to the year I want right away.  That took a while since I had to punch holes in index card dividers, and the holes didn’t match quite right so I had to punch each hole at least twice.  And then there was the bowl of popcorn I had to eat before starting anything, and the “human prey” TV show which took some of my attention away from my goal…. So…. I got some stuff done that needed doing, wasted some time, and didn’t get any of my pre-planning done! UGH! 

 I’ll try again tonight after small group.  I should get out of there by 9pm or so. I’ll get home quick and get up to the attic with just some iced tea and determination!

This week is a bit better regarding weather here in New Jersey. Cool but not
freezing and no snow! I admired a bunch of beautiful Crocuses as they came up the other day and dragged my husband over to ooh and ahh over them as well (he’s not too hard to drag as he loves nature as much as I do).

I survived the time change for daylight savings. I was exhausted all day yesterday, but with a good night’s sleep am feeling a bit more human today.

Now I must prepare for a Friday night/ Saturday all day scrapbook get-together.
If I prepare well, I will be able to complete several layouts for my Maine Scrapbook project. 

2007 Acadia Park, View from Beehive

I will have an hour a night or so today, Wednesday and Thursday to get up to my craft attic and prepare. I need to focus on the goal of planning layouts, which ideally includes writing the journaling ahead of time.

I have a vacation day Friday to look forward to but I hope to be packed and ready for my scrapbook event before then, so I can enjoy the day off- preferably part of it spent outside.

I find that lately my mindset regarding my writing is very much on sharing our lives with others who may not know us. In other words, even in a vacation scrapbook for Maine, I want to be able to convey to others personal perspective. What was it about the Bold Coast that drew us (my husband and I) to hike it?  What about my husband’s efforts to collect his own mussells for dinner helps define him personally?  These are the questions I will be trying to remember as I write the story of our
travels in beautiful “Downeast” Maine.  Answering those questions brings
everything back into focus on life Stories that may become a memorial of our lives some day.

2008 Mushroom on Campobello Island, Canada

I read this short article the other day about the differences between life
histories and memoirs and thought I’d pass it along.

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834516d4069e2011168ce13a3970c

Have a great and story filled day!
NJHeart2Heart Dawn

Here is a picture amongst my collection from my now official sister-in-laws bachelorette overnight three weeks ago.

 My current challenge is my life story writing.  I have been working with a writing group since November which has been helpful to my editing work.   I’m finding that the biggest criticism I’m getting from the group regarding my stories is that I am not including enough detail and/or dialogue. This group is a general group, so not everyone is doing autobiography (actually I’m the only on as of now).  I seem to have a mental/emotional block about my childhood experiences (born to an alcoholic father) and other than the big picture ideas I really can’t recall details/dialogue.  I have reached out on my own Yahoo Group ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Life_Story_Projects/ ) to see if anyone has experienced similar issues, but not much was offered there.

I did some reading online about repressed memories but most content seems to address memories of childhood physical/sexual abuse, but not “just plain old” emotional abuse (which is where I categorize my experiences). 

I am currently looking into a journaling workshop which happens to be coming to my area quite soon and I’m optimistic about that as one way to help open up the doorway to my memories.

Well the new year has arrived.  Somehow switching from 2008 to 2009 was much easier than 2007 to 2008, although it doesn’t make it any easier to see how time flies!
The tradition I started last year was to go against the flow of the “new year resolutions”  and instead take January to reflect on where I’ve been and think about where I want to go.  I liked that and will continue with it this year.  I have reviewed and slightly modified my general “Life Plan” (see here) and will finish commiting my official goals to paper by February 2nd, at which time I will “start the timer”. 

I have already thought a lot about my personal difficulty with completing such challenges and have been playing with the idea of “9 in 2009″.  My plan is to come up with 9 mini-goals (goals that are relatively easy to reach, also known as subgoals or tasks) which I will then simply multiply to attain my larger GOALS.  For example, one of the larger GOALS I want to accomplish is to complete my Maine 2008 scrapbook and a general 2008 scrapbook.  That amount of work looks a bit overwhelming but then I thought about what mini-goals it’s made up of.  For me, to “complete 4 {double page} scrapbook layouts” is doable, so I state that as my mini-goal and simply add a multiplication factor to come up with my larger goal (ie. “x 39 = 156 layouts”).

I like this. It’s useful to break down my goals into more manageable pieces because I can then place those tasks into my calendar each week.  And hey, the “9 in 2009″ is, well, just kinda cute and catchy!

I feel guilty for leaving that “sad Christmas” entry up there for so long!  In actuality we were fortunate that Dad and Grandma did not come down with the virus as badly as Mom.  We did visit Christmas weekend, and although there were some interesting moments, both health-wise and emotionally, it went well for the most part.

I got a phone call from my mom last night. Turns out she was very sick with a stomach virus last week, and now my dad and grandma both have it.  It’s a messy sickness, and seems highly contagious.  Mom had to take care of herself while she was sick, and is now taking care of both of them while working and trying not to get re-infected herself… 

So, it looks like I will not be able to see my family at ALL this week.  We’ll make up for it with a weekend visit next week or soon after, but it’s just not the same….

I’ve been writing Holiday Letters to my family and friends since 1997.  It’s a tradition that I am proud of now that I’ve sent out over ten years worth of writing. I find it exciting to re-read those letters and ponder how my life and my writing has changed through the years. My nickname is Heart2Heart because I enjoy sharing my heart with my family and friends. My holiday letter helps me catch up with those who I don’t talk with often, but I also try to write in a way that expresses some of the deeper sentiments of my journey in this life. 

Hopefully reader, whoever you are, you will receive it with appreciation and respect.  I pray and hope that sharing my life experience might in some way encourage you as you continue your life’s journey.

Enjoy,
Dawn

holiday-letter-2008

P.S. For the record, the reason I call it a my Holiday letter is because I don’t always get it out the same time as my Christmas cards. I am proud to say Merry Christmas.  It is a cherished holiday and a spiritual touchpoint in my year.  I also save all my letters to my computer, and consistency in file naming is important to keep them organized.  If I called the ones that I sent out for Christmas, “Christmas letters” their title would mess up the order of computer files that I call “Holiday Letters”. How’s that for a really geeky tangent?

I read two posts today about books so I thought I’d combine some of the questions and my thoughts about each.

The first blog entry asked the question “why buy?”.  The author compared the act of borrowing books from the library with buying books at a bookstore.  Here is my answer:

I love books.  I am a collector.  One of my favorite hobbies is collecting books.  I probably don’t read through 100% of them, and some of those books eventually leave my home to find a new family.  One of my favorite parts of our house (with all it’s many faults and financial uslessness) is that it has built-in book shelves in the attic, all around the stairwell.  It literally makes up two walls above the stairway.  They are all MINE.  They are all FULL.  I love them ALL.  I have a variety of books ranging in subject area from cats, dog training and horse care, to life coaching, psychology and self-help tomes, to Bible studies, college Bible class texts, hiking, gardening, and of course a healthy serving of novels.  It is common to see my nighttable on my side of the bed covered with 10 books and a handful of magazines (which range from scrapbooking, to genealogy to birds and blooms) and I do not go ANYwhere without a book or magazine at least in whatever car I’m in.  I definintely have more non-fiction than fiction books, and for that reason I have always bought my books.  I love hanging out in the big bookstores and little bookshops when I can.  We are in a suburban area, so it is only when we are out of state that we find the quaint little hole-in-the-wall bookshops.   These days I love the online hunt too: find a subject, read an article or four on the internet, then go to my favorite book search site and find a book I can purchase to get MORE information.  Most times I then follow up with an exciting trip to the bookstore to see if it’s on the shelves, and once in a while I anxiously enter my credit card number and wait impatiently for the lovely package to arrive in the mail.  I am able to receive packages at work, so I get them at my desk- oh it makes for some fun days of anticipation while in my little cubicle…

The second entry was from an author who was aiming to read more and more widely. He lists his “recent reads/to be reads/ and favorite reads” on his blog (I gotta find out how he did that!), and solicited comments suggesting some good book selections.  I of course had to answer the call to “list”.  First I updated my existing “favorite book list” in my journaling software and then copy and pasted it to the comments section on his blog.  So, here, now, I present you with some of the most influential and/or downright favorite books of mine over the years:

Inner Voice of Love – Henri Nouwen
How People Grow – Dr. Henry Cloud, J. Townsend
The Journey of Desire – John Eldredge
First Things First – Stephen R. Covey
Celebration of Discipline – Richard J. Foster
Finding Contentment – Neil Clark Warren
Write it Down, Make it Happen – Henriette Anne Klauser
Memories to Memoirs – Denis Ledoux
How to Write The Story of Your Life – Frank P. Thomas
You Don’t Have To Be Famous: How to Write Your Life Story – Steve Zousmer
Coach Anyone About Anything: How to Help People Succeed in Business and Life – Germaine Porche
This Year I Will…How To Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True – M.J. Ryan

If you want to know more about any of my books, feel free to comment to my blog, or email me.

NJHeart2Heart