Break

I'm taking a break.  I'll be back.  I'm still guest posting at Allume. There's nothing wrong.  I'll still be tweeting and facebooking like crazy.  I'll also be running the Better Writer facebook group.  Please (!!!) contact me.  I'm taking a break from blogging, not from my friends (like you!)

Can't wait to see you again on July 1!

One Word

photo credit

Be the best.

Be your best.

At first glance these statements don't seem all that different.  Take a moment, however and really look at them.  Be the best vs. be your best.

I've always wanted to excel; to be the best.  Whether it was getting the best grades, running the fastest, or lasting the longest, I wanted to be it.  That's just the way it was, but as I found out, you can never be the best at everything and most times there will be someone better than you.  Life is too short to master everything.

I grew up hiking with my dad.  Ever since I was little, I wanted to hike the 46 high peaks in NY state to become a member of the somewhat elite, 46-er club.  I'm kind of an all-or-nothing gal, so if I was going to hike it meant that I wanted to be the best hiker ever and hike not only the forty-six high peaks, but also Rainier, Washington and someday Everest.

Hold.the.phone.  What?

What began as friendly family time hikes turned into my own personal need to climb Everest?  Where did that come from?  Like I said, I'm competitive.  Doing well isn't enough, I have to perform the best.

There is a difference between being "the best" and "your best".  I'm not called to be the best in everything I do; I'm called to perform at MY best.  In hiking, my personal best might be to finish just one more hike--not necessarily to climb Everest.  Actually, I can tell you right now I am not called to climb Everest.  No really.  Won't happen.  In my mothering I am called to be the best mother I can be, but MY best mothering isn't supposed to look like your best mothering.  Doing my best might consist of taking all the kids out for McDonald's once a week so I can maintain my sanity while your best mothering might be never allowing your children to eat McDonald's.

The point I'm making is that we don't need to feel guilty when our best doesn't look the same as someone else's best because frankly, the gauge by which we measure our success is held by God, not us.

What is one area in which YOUR best looks 

different than THE best?

recap in pics

The past few weeks have been crazy busy!!  In the same way that things are ending for you, many of our Bible studies, MOPS groups, and other extracurricular activities are winding down.  Part of me is happy while the other part is super sad because I won't be seeing my friends as often.  Here's a recap of our busy week.....

our mommy & son date to the Avengers.

Epic.

Zahara and her troll, Pretty,

formerly known as Ugly.

these rocks are the best thing since solid food!

my muscle man

Ana sporting her normal 

attitude of 

'no way will I do what you want me to do' 

(looking at the camera)

the science museum where I met

Becky Daye of Daye by Daye

Becky and I 

Better Writer friends.

She wrote about how we came

to be friends here 

and did a better job than I could.

So if you're wondering, go here.

There's a baby starfish to the direct right of my

finger.  So tiny!!! There were hundreds in this tank!

I'm not sure what happened to my Pringles,

but this is what they looked like when I opened

the can.  Wowza!

Like I said, this week was a doozy for a 

few different weekends.  You can read a little

bit more about it here if you want.

I'm off adventuring this weekend,

but I'll be back on Monday. 

Until then....

adieu.