snooooooow!!

Currently,

I am snowed in.

This is the view from my computer room at the moment.
You can't tell from the photo,
but it is snowing really hard right now.

At the moment,
my neighbors are
attempting to "sled" down that hill,
but as you can see in the picture above,
it's not a hill.
So...
they're not doing so well.
Plus side?
They are definitely making me laugh
with their over-enthusiastic
"Wooohoo!" and squeals while their
sledding comes to a slow stop after about 7 feet of
slow drifting.

Pretty entertaining!

I love the snow.
I love how quiet it makes the world.

I wish I felt a little more comfortable driving in the snow,
because there are definitely things I'd like to be doing,
but honestly,
I'm glad that the snow has forcibly caused me to not move.

I'm the kind of person who normally just
goes, goes, goes,
no matter the obstacle or hindrance that obstructs me.

And sometimes, that is valuable and necessary.
But other times,
and probably most of the time,
I don't need to "run on all cylinders,"
take care of "all of the things,"
or be 100% all the time.

My friend told me a few weeks ago that
"you can be strong without having to test your strength."
That really resonated with me.
I definitely am always testing my strength,
mentally, physically and emotionally.
Sometimes it's conscious,
like when I want to be the girl
who can carry the heaviest thing like it
"ain't no thang."
And sometimes it's unconscious,
like putting myself through something
even if it hurts or doesn't feel right.

I love being strong, and who wouldn't love to be strong?
But,
do I have to be strong all of the time?
No.
And, do I have to deliver all of the time?
No.
And, is it really a sign of weakness
to say I can't handle something?
No,
and actually,
that is a sign of strength.

Having the snow cause me to remain indoors
has helped me to reflect on all that.
And, guess what?
I'm human!
Surprising to me to find out I have limitations!
And, turns out, that's OK!
Better than OK, actually..

It's kind of hilarious to me to have
gone through so much recently, and to have all
these revelations and discoveries about myself,
some of which have been really difficult to reconcile,
and to know that it's absolutely worth it to still have a smile on my face.
Gotta be grateful for that :)

Now,
having just revealed a little of
what I am mentally/emotionally working on while snowed in,
here are some things that have been
also been occupying my time
or making me laugh :)

Aim those goals high! ;)
source

I love challenging myself,
(as I have talked about above... hey! small steps!)
so, I've been
teaching myself to do a handstand.
It's been really fun
and so far,
I am still definitely NOT able to do a handstand.
haha! I'll keep trying :)

That is a tree house hidden in those trees.
SOOOO COOOL!
source

Book sculpture!
Isn't this amazing?? Truly unreal.
source

Being that I can't drive anywhere
(or maybe I should say I COULD drive, but don't believe
I would make it more than my mailbox without
running into said mailbox..),
I haven't been able to go grocery shopping.
I have plenty of things to eat and will survive,
no worries there,
but I have been perusing cooking websites
and would very much like to make these:

Cheesecake stuffed in Strawberries... Umm yeah.
source

Salted Caramel Pecan Bars.. yummmmm!
source

And this!
This is just whipped cream, spread on a cookie sheet,
put into the freezer and then cut into heart shapes to place into hot cocoa.
Brilliant and oh-so-cute!!
source

I may have just inadvertently revealed that I have a
wicked sweet tooth.
Oh well. :)

Stay warm out there!

Love,
liz xo