Life is Good ~ 365 Days a Year!

Today marks a milestone for us!  One year ago we started a project we weren't sure we could finish but we were determined to try!  We called it "Life is Good" and our original intent was to focus on someone who did something good every day!   The idea came from the acts of a couple of strangers who went out of their way to do something kind, with no apparent reason for doing so.  Within a short time, the project kind of morphed into all kinds of things that were good in our lives...people, places, things, events, etc.  Today we are quite pleased to be able to say, "WE DID IT!"   Some of our posts may have seemed a bit far-fetched and some of them may have seemed a bit repetitive (such as how many we did of our kids and grandkids), but we did it nonetheless!

Many studies have been done and much has been published by people who know a lot more than we do about the beneficial effects that come from gratitude, the power of positive thinking and numerous other terms for the same thing.  Deborah Norville wrote a wonderful book that I read several years ago called Thank You Power, Making the Science of Gratitude Work For You.   In his book, The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale says, “The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.”   A former Phoenix news anchor, Daryn Kagan, created an amazing website (www.darynkagan.com), which says it is "your one-stop shop for uplifting and positive stories."  What we did on a small scale, she has been doing daily on a worldwide scale for years.  There is even a business we love and follow on Facebook called Life is Good!  Their tag line is "spreading the power of optimism" and everything they do is about just that.  They even just had a Life is Good Festival on September 21 and 22.  So you see...we didn't create the concept; we just jumped on the bandwagon!  Let's face it, there are a LOT of good people out there doing good things and good "stuff" happens every day to each of us.  The choice is ours as to what we do with it.

All we did was test these theories out in our own small world.  Really, the effects and results have been amazing.  It has kept us focused on at least one positive thing every day and has really magnified how many good things happen every day in each one of our lives.  We find this to be true even when some things are not going so great.  Just focusing on something good can change our whole outlook for that day.  We're not going to lie...some days have been harder than others, but the opposite of that is there have been times when we've had far more material to work with than we had days!  We also believe that our strong faith in God and His provision for us, along with belief in the power of prayer and in real-life miracles, has been directly related to pointing out so much wonderful subject matter for our daily observations.

In the end, it's been a great year for us in more ways than one.  This project has really helped us to realize that and we sincerely hope to keep the good vibes going, even if we just think to ourselves of one good thing that happened at the end of each day.  We challenge all our friends to do the same thing.

We don't know what our next project will be, but we do know there will be one.  We're thinking, though, that it might be a weekly project instead of daily.  Maybe that will give us time to post some of our awesome photography on other days.  Maybe we'll actually start blogging again.  We have far more ideas banging around in our heads than we have time for!  If you've got a great idea, we sure hope you'll share it with us.

And, before we close this blog (our first in a year!) we want to thank those of you who followed us, commented, liked, shared or even just smiled at some of our posts.  We couldn't have done it without your support urging us on to do the next one.

Since it's been a whole year since we started this project, we thought we'd share a few of our oldies, but goodies...otherwise known as some of our favorite posts and photos.  Don't forget to keep taking photos and having them taken.  They bring back some pretty awesome memories, sometimes just when you need them most. So, here we go...in no particular order:

 

 

Love and blessings...

Life is Good...

You know the slogan, you’ve probably seen the brand of clothing and accessories, but it’s a great thing when you can say with conviction that “Life IS Good”.

This blog post isn’t related to our “business” perse, but in a way it is because were it not for my love of photography and my camera around my neck, I wouldn’t have tangible proof that life is good in so many ways!

Yesterday my “life is good” story went something like this...

I am awakened at 5:30 a.m., groggy after only 3 hours sleep (thanks to an afternoon Dutch Brothers freeze) to a FULL and BRIGHT moon shining through my bedroom door.  Despite my inclination to ignore it, it’s brilliance calls my name and I jump to my feet to get my camera.  Indeed, I have a hard time ignoring a photo opportunity.

It wasn't really THIS orange but it went behind that cloud you see at the bottom
before I had a chance to get my settings right!  Moon photography...tricky!

I head out to the Special Olympics East Valley Golf tournament at Tempe Rolling Hills and spend a few hours with some of the happiest golfers in the world.  Every picture I take reminds me that indeed “life is good” in the faces of all the people in our lives who make it that way.  In a world where all news seems like bad news, I don’t have to look far to see that we are surrounded by “goodness” and for that I am so thankful!

Tempe Rolling Hills (scalped for overseeding).  What a pretty view!

Without Mark Special Olympics for Ryan would be near impossible.  He helps to get him to practices, he coaches baseball, he raises money for MASD with his annual M & M Duck and Run Golf Tournament every April, and he is
 his golf partner for Unified Golf.  When he's not doing that, he is one of his biggest cheerleaders!

Greg Leicht of Vistal Golf Club has brought Mesa, and Arizona's Special Olympics golf competition to the level it is today.  Programs around the nation strive to create a program of his caliber! Together with his wife Carol, and the whole team at Vistal they are always striving to take it to the next level....
THEY are incredible!

Mark trying to get out of the sand trap that Ryan was unable
to get Mark out of (haha!) Just another role he plays
(Mark that is) in Special Olympics...getting his team in the sand traps!

their foursome

Ryan struck up a conversation
with a pretty volunteer...he's no fool!

Viri was one of many volunteers from the LDS young women's group.
Every Special Olympics event is an opportunity to thank the
countless volunteers for their time, efforts, and help!

Mark and Ryan medal silver for the day!

He's got a smile on his face....hard to say
what put it there today, but that silver
medal around his neck may have had
something to do with it...or the
pretty girl he spent an hour
conversing with :-)  

With Pete...Just one of "the cousins".
How awesome is it that these busy young men not only
volunteer to golf all season with Special Olympians in need
of a Unified Golf Partner, but they spend the spring season
volunteering as coaches for the Special Olympics
baseball teams? Not only do we love these
amazing guys but we are so grateful for their
unconditional support!  I must not fail to mention
the awesome parents who raised these boys...my sister Karen
and her husband Bryan.  They too, are huge supporters
in this journey!

Not only do I have 3 nephews
who coach and partner, but I have this awesome
son-in-law who does the same. I adore him
for many reasons,  and this is one of them!  Geoff
makes our life a little easier each and every day!
Here he is with his golf partner Ian.  These guys
 are great role models for the athletes!

And this adorable grandson of mine leaves me
speechless  most of the time! 

Geoff and Ian medaled silver.  I was so amazed by the reflection
in the window and how it looked like IT was the background
that  I think I focused on the glass instead of these
handsome guys!

Last night we attended the 19th Annual ADS/MASD Ability Ball, a fundraiser for the wonderful organization that provides the opportunity for Ryan to participate in Special Olympics.  From the old days of it being held in the rec center of an RV park to the Tempe Mission Palms last night, a story unfolds of the dedication of a group of people who had a vision that “no one should sit on the sidelines”. The attendees around me are family, friends, friends of family, friends of friends, participants, staff, volunteers, and colleagues who all support that vision...out of the “goodness” in their hearts. 

Tempe Mission Palms is a beautiful hotel and convention center in the heart of Sun Devil country!

The best part of the night for him was the dancing!

"did you get a picture of me twirling her mom?"  I didn't
have the heart to tell him my iPhone camera in dim light
just couldn't cut it...it wouldn't have mattered to him
anyway...as long as I saw his moves!

And so my friends, I am here to bear witness that some days are better than others, but indeed...”Life IS Good”.  I sincerely hope you don’t have to look far to be reminded that your life is good too!

          Tina

"Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt"~ Special Olympians Oath

P.S.  I'm thinking it would be a great project (sort of like the 365 projects so common now) if I photographed one person each day who makes my life good.  The biggest challenge would be picking just one, because if I look around I may well find myself surrounded by them.  What do you say?  Sounds fun!  Who wants to join me?

Is it Really Possible?

Is it really possible that five women who fought like cats and dogs growing up, who tattled on each other, who tricked and kicked each other, who shared bedrooms, bathrooms, cars, friends, hot rollers and cars with each other could spend 3 days together and not only get along but have the time of their lives?  I'm here to tell you, YES it's not only possible, but the norm for me and my sisters!  After spending a weekend with all of them (yes all 4 counting me = 5) plus my daughter and Karen's daughter-in-law...it's the honest to goodness truth!  Several decades later there's nothing more fun for me (and I think I speak for all of us) than spending time with each other.  Maureen and Tiffany fit right in with the more "mature"women (yea right!) and we hope to have them along on many more trips in the future.  You have never seen so much laughing going on...with each other, at each other and for each other.  Our mom is HUGELY missed when we are together.  The last sister's weekend she had with us was also spent in Pinetop.

The Last Sister's Weekend with our Mom....oh how we miss her!

During our adult lives, she was the central point of communication to whom we could all turn to get caught up to date on what was going on with each other.  Since her passing nearly two years ago we have all had to work harder to stay in the loop with each other.

BIKES ONLY????

Cindy has always wanted to stop at the junkyard in Rye. We decided as we were approaching it that there was no time like the present, so off we went to explore the junk!  First of many laughs....

Karen and Tiffany in this little ? (what was it that
Cindy called this...a Tick Tick?)

Tiffany trying out some new wheels!

We left on a good laugh after the
"Junkyard
Dog" chased us away for
touching the inventory!

"And this chair fits just right"
said "Little Kim" as she settled into
Hailey's sherpa chair!

Painting our wine and margarita
glasses rendered us as serious
as we got all weekend...

Our creations!

We whiled the weekend hours away on the deck with coffee, painting wine glasses, photographing critters, cocktails, a fire in the fire pit, celebrating Cindy's birthday, and games on the deck.  And we ventured out for photo shoots, antique shopping , an evening in the "Orchard" at Charlie Clark's Steakhouse, dinner at our favorite Mexican food spot, and more photos in "The Thing".  And if we weren't laughing we were talking...non-stop!  Our journeys through life have taken us on different paths but we come together with the commonality of our childhood memories, the moral compass our mother instilled in us, and a book of memories that we are thankful is continuing to grow with each passing year of life.

 

Celebrating Cindy's birthday Saturday!

"Where the Wild Things Are"

             

    

And... "Where the Wild Things Are"

Our pictures prove that in our case you're never too old to act silly in the company of your best friends!

So yes....it's really possible, and true!  I love and cherish these women with all my heart!

By the way...I love and cherish the photos we take with each other too!

                         Hug the ones you love!  ~Tina 

On the front of the shirts Karen had made for us :-)