that time of year

...

This week's Aloha Friday question is...

Do you give up anything for Lent? If so, what are you giving up this year?

Some years I do and some years, I don't. This year, I am not giving up anything, but I will try to find special and new ways to draw closer to God in the next 40 days that lead up to Easter. My denomination doesn't practice Lent, but I do see the value in giving up something important as a sacrifice to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made for us all.

the final words

...

I'm going to take a question from one of my Random Dozen post yesterday...

If you could write your own epitaph for your tombstone, what would it say?

My answer was:

She lived, laughed, and loved.

To be honest, I have never given this much thought. I like this epitaph but I thought of it pretty quickly and I might come up with something better before something actually needs to be inscribed in stone =)

Aloha Friday can be found over at An Island Life.

it's friday

...

I don't know why I'm asking this question, but it just popped into my head and I'm going with it...

If you could take any class right now,
what would it be?

There are several I can think of, but if I can only pick one, it would be a photography class of some kind. Maybe one that teaches me more about how to use my camera, or one that takes me out and helps me become a better photographer of wildlife and nature. I love taking pictures. I look at professional photographer's work and wish I could be that good.

Aloha Friday is hosted each week by Kailani over at An Island Life.

pass the tissues

...

I saw the movie Precious this last week. Not a movie I would recommend to everyone due to the nature of the content, but I found it to be very powerful and moving. I'm sure there will be a couple of academy awards given out for this one.

I found myself tearing up a lot throughout the movie and cried at the very end. My heart breaks when I see or hear about a young person being abused in some way. It breaks to the point where I cannot stop the tears. That was the case while watching this movie.

Another situation where I can't control the tears is at the end of Extreme Makeover (Home Edition). It's when they all yell, "move that bus!" and the music swells, and the recipients of the new home are overcome with joy, that gets me every time.

So, my Aloha Friday question this week is...

What makes you cry every time?

Maybe it's a particular movie (for me, it's The Notebook) or show, or maybe a certain situation or experience. Share your crying moments.

it's in the mail... not

...

Recently, I've had this discussion about Christmas cards with a few people. Several of us feel like sending out the annual cards/letters is a dying tradition.

It seems like I receive less each and every year. I wonder if it's because of the fact that most people communicate through the computer nowadays. Writing letters and cards and sending them snail mail is a lost art. The younger generation doesn't even know how to address an envelope, let alone have the desire to write out a letter.

But sending out Christmas cards isn't just for the younger generations. I know a lot of people who aren't on the computer much and yet, their Christmas cards come only every few years, or not at all. Is it the busyness of the season? Is it the stress of having to do them? Is it the cost?

For me, it's definitely the lack of time I feel like I have each year. I used to do them each year but lately it's been every few years. This year the family took a great picture on the beach in California and I was going to write a letter letting friends and family know what we've been up to this past year, but here it is... a week before Christmas and all I have is good intentions. In other words... no cards or letters. And as much as I wanted to get them out, I don't get too upset because I know I keep in touch with a lot of people through Facebook and email.

So I have two questions for this Aloha Friday...

Did you send out Christmas cards this year? and
Do you think sending out cards is a dying tradition?

Aloha Friday is hosted each week by Kailani of An Island Life.

are you ready?

...

It's Friday! Where did this week go to? Last weekend I felt ahead of the whole Christmas decorating, shopping, and shipping game. Now? Not so much, and time is running out. Not only am I not where I should be at this point, but more has been added to my list. I now have family coming to spend a week with us. Yikes! On top of all that, I've come down with a cold. I feel like doing absolutely nothing except climbing into bed.

So, let me ask you...

Do you feel ready for Christmas? Are you ahead of the game? Or behind?

Aloha Friday is hosted each week by Kailani over at An Island Life.

single minded

...

This week's Aloha Friday question is...

What do you most enjoy or miss about being single?

This past week, Don was up in Winnipeg on business and I was home alone for the week. Don't get me wrong; I love Don, love being married, love having a partner in life, and love having his company each and every day, but I enjoyed spending the week being single. I enjoyed it knowing it was for a short time and that it would end quickly and life would be back to normal within days.

I think what I enjoyed most is just knowing I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It doesn't make sense because I can pretty well do that already. Maybe it was just because I haven't been single in an awful long time for this amount of time. There was a freedom that I hadn't felt or thought about for over 30 years.

BUT... as much as I liked the freedom, I felt a little lonely and missed the human contact that I'm used to living with. I felt like something was missing all week, and there was something missing... my other half.

I'm glad to have him come home today.

pass the potatoes

...
This week's Aloha Friday question is...

What's your favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table?

It's a hard question because there's so much good food at Thanksgiving. For me, it's a black cherry jello salad that is traditional in my family. For some reason, the only time I make it is at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe that's what makes it so special.

30 days of WORDS TO LIVE BY

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33 NIV

what's your favorite?

...
In the spirit of my theme this month, as I participate in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), my Aloha Friday question is...

What is your favorite verse(s) from the Bible?

On November 1st, I started sharing the Bible verses that mean the most to me with what I stated as my favorite. Well, I actually have two "favorites." Here is the other one.

30 days of WORDS TO LIVE BY

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Matthew 22:37-39 NIV

keep your hands inside at all times

...
This week's Aloha Friday question is...

What is your favorite ride at Disneyland or DisneyWorld?

This one is a hard one. There are so many fun rides and attractions. But if I have to pick one, it would be the Indiana Jones ride. It's a fun recreation of the movie and has a little bit of the roller coaster feel.

I didn't ask about California Adventure which is the sister park to Disneyland. I love the California Soarin' ride over there. You feel like you're flying over the fields, mountains, cities, and ocean of California. It's so realistic. You really feel like you're hang gliding as you feel the wind in your hair and you can smell the ocean and orange groves.

There is a reason why I'm asking. Can you guess?

You can find Aloha Friday each week over at An Island Life.

great-great....

...
My Aloha Friday question this week is...

Would you rather meet your great-great grandparents or your great-great grandchildren?

This was actually a question posed at the small group I belong to and it sparked some great conversation. It really makes you ponder.

Of course, I'd love to do both. I love history and I figure my great-great grandparents lived somewhere in the latter part of the 1800s and early 1900s. I love that time period and would love to hear what life was like for them during those times.

But if I had to pick between the two, it would have to be meeting my great-great grandchildren. I'd like to see if the way I lived and raised my children had any effect on them. In other words, if Don and I left a legacy for our family. I'd also like to see what kind of technological changes there are in the world.

can i quote you?

...

My Aloha Friday question this week is...

What is your favorite quote?

If you've ever left a comment here on Sunshine on my Shoulders, you may have noticed that I include a quotation of the day in that section. I love quotes. They make me smile. They make me reflect. They make me nod in agreement. They make me think.

I come across so many that I really like, that I started writing them down and keeping a journal of my favorites. The problem is, I now have such a large collection of "favorites," it's hard to pick out just one favorite. But for the purpose of this post, I will quote two of my top favorites.

"Live well ~ Laugh often ~ Love much"
~Bessie Anderson Stanley
(these are my words to live by)

and

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these are roots, the other, wings."
~Hodding Carter

Try not to answer this question with a piece of scripture because that is going to be my question for next week; what is your favorite Bible verse(s)?

happy friday

...

I usually play Aloha Friday each Friday because I really enjoy reading the answers I get to not only my questions, but those posed by others playing along. I also like answering the many thought provoking questions out there. If this sounds interesting and fun to you, head on over to An Island Life where Kailani hosts Aloha Friday. And thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

My question this week is...

Would you prefer money for a housekeeper, cook, gardener, or personal secretary?

It would be between the first two for me, but in the end, I'd pick a cook. I've never been a good cook and I don't really enjoy doing it. Oh, how I wish I did. I've lived my whole adult life with the challenge of not only coming up with what to cook for dinners, but then achieving the goal of cooking something that tastes good enough that my family would want to eat it again.

I think it would be such a treat to have a personal cook. I wouldn't have to worry about meal planning, shopping (because I'd have my cook do the planning and grocery shopping), and preparation and cooking of the meals. And I bet I'd eat healthier than I do now. I know I'd eat healthier.

soap operas

...

In yesterday's post I wrote my thoughts on the current state of soap operas as well as saying farewell to the longest running soap (72 years), Guiding Light.

This week's Aloha Friday question is...

Do you watch any soap opera(s)? If so, which one(s)?

My first two soaps were Guiding Light and then, As the World Turns. Through the years, I have stuck with As the World Turns and on average, watch it twice a week, just to keep up with the characters and story lines. I also watch Young and the Restless with about the same frequency.

Aloha Friday is hosted each week by Kailani of An Island Life.

volunteer

...

I'm sure everyone knows that today is the 8th anniversary of that tragic day known as 9-11 (2001). I encourage you to take a moment to reflect and honor those who lost their lives that fateful day.

One of the ways citizens have chosen to honor that day and it's victims is to find a way to volunteer in some way. I think the hope is that a great number of people will volunteer on September 11th, but I think if you choose to volunteer, any day is a good day to volunteer.

My Aloha Friday question today is...

Do you volunteer anywhere? If so, where?, or what do you do?

I presently volunteer at my church. In fact, my youth ministry position was all volunteer. Since retiring from youth ministry, Don and I have taken on smaller volunteer opportunities such as teaching a Bible study or taking on a specific responsibility for our upcoming harvest festival.

When the kids were younger, I spent a lot of time volunteering in their schools; working in the school store or in the library, or in such ways as bringing in cupcakes for a party or helping sort first day packets.

One of the reasons I ask this question is because I'm looking for a place outside my church where I might enjoy volunteering this next year. Maybe you good people will give me some good ideas and inspire me to volunteer in a way I haven't thought of before. So inspire away.

Thank you Kailani for hosting Aloha Friday each week.

diana, the shopkeeper

...

Happy Aloha Friday to you all.

My question for you is...

If you owned a store, what would you sell?

For me, it would be scrapbooking supplies. I love everything scrapbooking. I can spend hours in such a store. Needless to say, I have way too much "stuff" and don't spend enough time actually using the "stuff" along with my photos to put together books. But that doesn't stop me from checking out the scrapbooking aisles whenever I frequent a store with such aisles. And I do have good intentions of putting the rest of my photos (boxes full of them) in books.

My second choices would be books. I also would love to have my own coffee shop, but I didn't consider that a store.

what's your favorite...

...

Happy Friday all. Here's my Aloha Friday question for this week...

What's your favorite movie that was made before you were born?

As much as I love movies, I don't really get into the older ones like some people do. I remember when I was a kid, I used to love watching the old Shirley Temple and Doris Day movies, but I wouldn't consider them favorites. I've seen such classics as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, The Birds, Vertigo, African Queen, The King and I, and Gone With the Wind, but again, none are my favorites (although the last two come close).

If I have to name just one favorite, it would have to be The Wizard of Oz. I'd call it a favorite because whenever it comes on TV, I can't pass it up. I still enjoy watching it even though I've seen it innumerable amount of times. It brings back childhood memories of watching it with the family, eating popcorn, and being frightened of those flying monkeys.

Thanks Kailani for giving us such a fun place to hang out each Friday.

laughter is the best medicine

I've had a busy week helping Danielle get ready for her trip (read previous post) so I haven't posted since Sunday. But I figured I could come up with a question for Aloha Friday to get me back into the routine of posting.


My Aloha Friday question is:

What is something that can always make you feel better?

My answer to this question is laughter. I believe that laughter is so good for the soul. If I am down about something, I usually try to find something I can watch - either a TV show or a movie, where I can sit back and laugh. Not only does it take my mind off of whatever it is that is bothering me, but it serves as a soothing balm and lifts my spirits. You know what they say... laughter is the best medicine. At least it is for me.

pack up the car

...

It's Friday! It's Aloha Friday!

This week's question:

If you were to take a road trip, where would you go?

I ask because we might be taking a road trip next week. As of this writing, our original vacation plans have not worked out and we're considering going to plan, um... C, which is a road trip. But we're not sure where to go. Some of the places we're considering are Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, or Mesa Verde - all beautiful National Parks.

Our kids grew up loving road trips due to how many trips we made between here and California to visit family. They say they still enjoy road trips but I think it would be different now. They are older, thus bigger and neither one of our vehicles is very large, thus it wouldn't be as comfortable. So, plan C may be scrapped. We'll be figuring it all out today. Stay tuned.

Kailani, of An Island Life, hosts Aloha Friday each week.

bbq and firecrackers

...

This week's Aloha Friday question is...

What are your plans for Independence Day?

I wish I had some big plans to report about but I don't. We've been invited to some friend's home for a BBQ dinner and then to watch local fireworks from their backyard. So we might do that. We thought about trying to get tickets to the Rockies game and watch their fireworks show after the game. We're pretty sure the game is sold out and if we wanted tickets, we'd have to go down to the stadium and try to buy tickets from someone on the street. Or we're thinking about taking sandwiches early to a local park and hanging out until the biggest fireworks display in Colorado starts.

We just can't decide but will some time today. All of the above options concern the evening hours, which means we have all the hours of the day free. Should we try to find something to do while the sun still shines? We could go to the pool. Or maybe go for a hike. Just don't know yet.

And we may have a spoiler for the day and/or evening. Our weather pattern shows that we can expect thunder storms. We've been in this pattern for a while now and we've had some pretty severe storms. I can't imagine firework shows being canceled because of weather, but it could happen. We may have lightning lighting up the night sky instead of the beautiful fireworks that I love so much.

Whatever we do, we will be celebrating our country's independence. And whatever you are doing, I hope your day is full of fun and celebration.