LIVING...A Day in McKinney, TX.

It's been a long two weeks with the ice and snow here in the Dallas area.  Thank goodness for the super bowl, they were required to have contracted sand trucks and snow plows, just in case.  Well, we used them and we were feeling the need to escape after being encouraged to stay home while the storms passed.

Cory and I had been to McKinney before, but we wanted to take the kids with us.  The downtown area is located in an historic part of town.  I absolutely love this.  The buildings all sit in a square with a large building in the center.  The stores are all unique and have the most inviting spirit when you walk in.  I love the old wooden floors, the aged walls and how each business has tried to keep the integrity of the fixtures.

We spent about 4 hours here among lots of people trying to do the same thing...enjoy the great weather and partake of this quaint little town.  The restaurants were amazing! They also offered a magic shop, a candy store and a book store.  I liked this because they had something for everyone, this including kids.  I would say that most of the stores were centered around women's clothing and home decor.  I would say that most of them catered to a higher end clientele but it was still so much fun to window shop, if that was your desire for the day.

Several of the shops, took my breath away.  The design layout and the styles were beyond beautiful.  I enjoyed just looking and taking in all of the beauty of their displays.

This picture was taken inside an art gallery.  This woman takes wine bottle labels and then ages the  label with "wine" spots.  She got the idea from a bottle that her friend retrieved from her wine cellar.  The prints are amazing.  She does custom request too.    The artist name is: Laura Moore and she can be seen at lauramooreart.com.  I encourage you to take a look on her website.

AH, the candy store.  Mom & Pop CORN co.  They had lots of candy to choose from.  They had an assortment of the "old"candy that can only be found, it seems, at these fun candy shops. 

This chair was at our table.  We ate at this little Bistro, it was so good.

I love the tones of this picture and the detail in the chair.

This young guy did a lot with the slight of hand...the kids ate it up.

They have a magic shop!  It was so cool.  They did lots of demonstrations.  The first picture is of Cory and Drake watching and the second, shows their surprise at the "magic"...they were really great magicians.  The store was like walking back in time...

Rye participated in a magic trick.  It was awesome to watch this man work his "magic".

This was one side of the magic store..they had so much to choose from.

Isabella had eaten a package of Pop Rocks and her hands were covered with them.  Thank goodness we had bottled water.  I love the way this picture looks.  I like the urban feel to it.

I don't have many pictures of the big kids, posed  So when I saw this  garage door and the lighting, I asked him to pose.  You can tell he was not happy about it, but oh well...I pulled the trump card.."PLEASE!"....LOL

Best friends, I love this picture of Drake and Rye

Inside the coffee shop. They had the best gluten free peanut butter cookies.  This shows my family relaxing and enjoying the moment.  One of my favorites of the day.

Isabella adores her Dad...this picture is very sweet to me.

Isabella has gone from NOT wanting any pictures taken of her, to EVERY chance we get, we take pictures of her.  She is so dang cute.

I love this lighting.  This was at the coffee shop..how could you guess?..LOL  She is an artist at heart.

Very deep into her drawing.  LOVE IT.

Yep, they were bored.

We went into a shop and the ladies loved Isabella.  Isabella loved these rats and so they gave her one.  She carried it around town like this.  I had to laugh.  

I really feel a connection to anything old.  This light was beautiful in its details.

My lunch.  Every dish we ordered was served like a piece of artwork.  The food was very good!

Downtown McKinney map.

I absolutely would eat every meal outside, weather permitting.  I don't know what it is about eating outside but I love it. I can first remember this feeling from when I went to Paris...maybe that is why I enjoy it so much...good memories.

These red shoes, make lots of appearances in my photos.  They are a  part of who Isabella is.  She loves sparkles, dancing and all things whimsical.

This shop is amazing.  It looked like a simple shop from the outside and you walk in and your senses go crazy!  So many bright colors, rugs, lamps, clothes...these head dresses started at about 400.00 each and the rugs averaged $6000.00  The kids had a lot of fun in this store.

I can't wait to get these developed.  I love my girls and watching them together brings  joy to my heart.

This is a must see if you make it to this neck of the woods.  Enjoy the pictures below.  I spent the whole day capturing my family through the lens.  It was a treat for me to focus on the small details of my life.  When I returned home and went through each picture, I felt the essence of the day expressed.  My life has exploded with ideas and knowledge and my photographic skills are benefiting too, from this new sense of awareness.

Learning....Dear Self

Why don't you listen?

Why are you seeking ME somewhere else?

I am...therefore, you ARE.

When I take the time to stop and listen to what my self is saying to me I find that it knows me much better than I realize.  When I write on the blog, I write from this self that is so wanting to be heard.  I don't prepare what I am going to write in advance, I just listen.

When I stop and listen, I realize that what I think about has truth in what I already know.   I know that this is not easy for some and misunderstood by a few.  We can attach all kinds of labels to this..prayer, meditation, time out....how ever we decide to take the few minutes each day necessary to listen, we should.

This morning when I woke up I tried to remember what I had dreamed about, listen to what I felt and try to wrap my self around this new energy.  I felt peace and a calm spirit, as I do most mornings.  I did not immediately understand what I wanted to say in this entry, other than it started with Dear Self....

I know that I sometimes get too busy with my own ideas, and yet I always have a small inner voice guiding me, arguing with me and instructing me.  I am learning to listen to this "new self" more and more each day.  I find that I am more at ease, more accepting and understanding of who I am.  My self is a direct link to a higher power, whether you believe in God, Gods or divine energy, that acts like a phone line.  Why would I not want to trust me, when I know where the thoughts are coming from to begin with.

I believe that we need to stop or we will be unable to be taught.  We must listen or we will not learn. My own journey has been one of finding my new ears to listen to the awakened me.  I believe that we are given this guide to help us seek out good, make a difference and be the best that you can be.

Of course, I am not so simple to believe that everyone is and will have the best of thoughts and ideas. I do believe in attracting them though and having a say over what we introduce into our minds and thoughts.  I think this has a strong impact on our ability to follow, listen and act.

I don't succumb to the notion of a good and evil existence.  I think that we are all brought into this life as good and through good you can make great things happen.  It takes practice to change and to be positive.  I am always learning to listen.  I am enjoying this process of learning and listening.  With my own experience of tragedies, death, ill will, disappointment, longing...I find that these were lessons I needed to learn to become better.  I choose to accept all things in my life and learn from them.  I choose to change those things I don't like.  I choose to to be human, for I am here on earth having a human experience.

So, this morning when my self felt the need to remind me to stop and listen. I did.  I have a long ways to go and I am slowly learning.  I believe that we are teachable if we are willing to be taught, even if that teacher happens to be the still small voice within yourself...remember it has knowledge of your potential and it will help you in this life as it has in your ENTIRE existence.

Traveling....Selling it ALL

My Mom was our cashier.  Having great help was a must!  One person doing the cashier is a great idea.  Drake was the bagger and he also helped make piles on our lawn.  If people had their hands full, our kids would take it and add it to the pile.  The visitors loved the personal attention.  Many of them came everyday!  LOL

Where do you begin and how do you do it?  I get asked these questions a lot by people who are thinking of hitting the road full time or just want to downsize their life.  A year ago, in January, we started thinking about selling our stuff, simplifying our lives and doing something crazy.  It wasn't crazy to us because we had always dreamed of living full time in a motor home.  We just thought that we would do this when we retired.

Why now? It's a long story, but basically we had gone through some changes with work, faith and hitting 40...LOL  Some have called it a mid life crisis....we call it being adventurous and reinventing our lives.  It is never too young or you never too old to start fresh, start new, start today.

We made lots of list.  I am a list person and I like to see things in print.  I have always made list and this huge event in my life would create the mother of all list: what to sell, when to sell, where to sell, what kind of RV, what time of year to leave, how to sell everything, who would want our stuff...it was never ending.  I had help though.  

Not only do I like to make list, I like to research.  I began looking for families that had done or were doing the same thing we were thinking of doing.  The decision still had not been MADE..just a thought, but we all know that once we think it, the process has already been put into motion. I found several websites on line that documented their experiences.  These were a ton of help!  Based on what I read and looking at what we had I knew it would be a huge undertaking.  So in advance, I was aware of the work that this would involve.

We had been married for 22 years, in our current home for 5 years and our home was 4000 square feet. We had toys...trailers, jet ski's, ATV's...all would have to go.  We had to sell everything for several reasons.  We needed the money to fund our adventure, we wanted to teach our kids that you can live and be happy without stuff and we needed a fresh start. 

We borrowed a ton of tables from friends and family.  I had profession signs made to post along the street.  I posted in the papers.  Advertising was the key to our success!

After talking, discussing, praying and a lot more talking...we asked the kids what they thought.  We would never make a decision like this without asking our kids first.  The jury is still out on what they think, but during this planning process they were supportive and very helpful in the process.  We asked the kids to not discuss with anyone our decision for a while.  We needed to figure a few things out before it became public knowledge that the Watson's had lost their minds.   We have had many reactions to our decision.  Most people are envious, some of jealous, some could never do it themselves, and others can't wait until their adventure starts.  We knew without a shadow of a doubt that what we were doing was right for our family.  Hearing of peoples shock and alarm did not shake us one bit.  We actually laughed, at ourselves of course for having this crazy dream and making it a reality.

Our trusty truck!  This is what is pulling our home now.  It's been good to us.

My first task was sorting!  This was huge...I went through every single thing in our house...EVERYTHING!  I immediately started sorting...things to sell, things to keep, things to donate, things to throw away.  In this process we took 15 truck loads to the dump....10 loads to thrift stores....and sold the rest.  I ended up keeping about 25 tubs of stuff.  We still have some furniture that I wanted to save that had meaning to me.

SO, all in all we still have a small amount of mementos...scrapbooks, quilts, heirloom items, letters, etc....

I knew that I needed help.  I spent about 3 months going through my entire house, I labeled everything as I went.  I started shuffling rooms around. I had one room that would hold everything that would go with us, a room (the garage) where everything would go to be sold and tons of black garbage bags for trash and thrift store (kept on the front porch).  I am talking 3 months of everyday, some days 8 hours sorting.  It was SOOOO much work.  The sorting is something that you really have to do yourself. You know what you want and don't want.  Having someone asking you constantly "this" or "this" takes time and it slows the process down.  Put your big girl panties on and just get to work...LOL

It was a wonderful opportunity to relive my life...the sorting allowed me to read letters from my hubby when we were first married and he was in Iraq, I had a chance to revisit family heirlooms and the memories I had associated with them, it was fulfilling to see my life and what we had accomplished in 20+ years. With that said, I am so glad to have most of it stored safely away in a few tubs.

We were dealing with weather in Utah.  I started sorting in March and we projected that the snow and weather would get better in June. We had to leave by September.  Our window of selling and leaving was very small. I planned on flying my Mom down for 2 weeks to help with the estate sale.  This was a huge help to me.  The estate sale was insane.  We advertised well and the people came. It took 4-5 people to help with the 3 day event.

I organized everything.  If I had 5 of the same like toy, they went in a bag and had one price, I put 10 pairs of socks in a bag with one price.  I grouped a ton of stuff and people loved that.  I had very few individually priced items.  They are just too small and people don't want to dig through "stuff"..they want it to be easily accessible and priced.

I started a folder for all of the titles and manuals to the vehicles, ATV's, washer and dryer and other items.  This made it much easier if someone called about something or had questions.  Organization is your friend during this process...if you are not organized yourself, then ask for help.

Pricing...it was priced to sell.  Did I sell things that I payed way too much money for...YOU BET I DID.  But, I did not care.  I saw the bigger picture, I knew the experience we would have...I just knew it was right.  I got to the point of being so tired towards the end, that I just gave away stuff.  When you make the choice to sell, you detach yourself from the emotional pull of the items.  I did not care anymore, or at least, like I did a few months before.

I don't know when we will pull it all out again. Our goal was to be on the road for one year.  I do know that we have learned to live smaller, simpler and I am grateful for this.  I don't want big ever again.  I want memories and opportunities more than I want stuff.

We left on July 24th for the adventure of a life time.  We have passed 6 months and still know that what we did was right for our family.  If you are thinking of doing this too, please feel free to ask me any questions that you have.  I could not possible talk about all the things that go into making this happen in one blog entry.

Is it WORK?  You bet your socks it is, but it IS so WORTH it!

LOVING...Be the One

Be the ONE person that you want to see in everybody else.  If you want to receive love, then give love.  If you want to experience laughter, then share a smile.  When you want to be heard, listen to a friend.  When you want to receive kindness, then find those in need.   Life is a fountain of opportunities to be the ONE.

When I look around and see the cycle of this life and how we are each put on this earth with specific abilities, talents and insights, I wonder why we take it for granted that tomorrow will be the day, or next month I will call, or my goal starts on Monday.  Why wait to share, to give, to change.

I know that for me and my short time here, I have had some amazing people come into my life and "be the one" at a time when all I wanted to do was cry, to give up or to just be ....gone.  I don't think we ever know why certain things happen, but I do believe that if we listen to our inner self we will find that it is more in tune with what we need to be doing than what we want to be doing.

Believing that you are of worth and that you can make a difference is sometimes like a play.  You must act the part before the part becomes you; before you feel the role and make it your own.  This sounds a bit like lying, especially to me, who likes to be as honest as I can, but I believe in the very act of being happy will make you happy.  The act of giving will make you charitable.  The act of believing can make you the ONE.

My family, especially my hubby and kids, have seen me at my worst and they have seen me at my best.  Together we have created a bond that is eternal, accepting, loving and beautiful.  In many instances they have been the ONE for me and I hope that I have been the ONE for them at times in their lives when they needed me to be.

Giving of ourselves, sharing our talents and expressing inspiration to others, are only a few ways of being the ONE for our families, our neighbors and our friends.  If we look inside and decide to be our best at all times then we cannot and will not look back on this life and feel the need for a "do-over".   If you are lucky in this life, people will give you a second chance, but there is no guarantee of this.  So, be the one today and in turn you can give back and be the one for somebody else too.  We all need friends, we all need acceptance, we all need silence in order to be heard.

I can remember many times when out of the blue I got a call, or a visit "just because".  Those are times I treasure because it confirms to me that I was being heard, even though my fears and tears were expressed in silence.  Listen to those small whisperings through out the day, then act on those feelings.  I think you will be surprised of the internal life line that you have with others.  In this small act, you can be the ONE.

Being the best you, is not about giving and receiving, it's about being. It's about being the best that you know how to be; with no expectation of a return.  The joy comes in finding the peace in each of us when we listen and act.

In a small phrase, a title of a movie and a simple truth...PAY IT FORWARD.  Give of yourself, see yourself in others and become the ONE.

Pictures of Isabella

Isabella has always had long, brown eye lashes...I thought this picture show cased them perfectly.

This month was all about the ears.  When she was holding them I though it was perfect.

Closer version of the above picture.  I aged the picture.  I love it.

Perfect!

All images are not to be copied, reproduced or used for any reason.  The images are the sole ownership of Sherron's Photography.

Watching her brother on the computer.

Love this picture, using different angles to capture different looks can give you some amazing shots.

I love the blur in this picture.  

Playing on our couch.

I love the emotion that this picture shows.  I love Drake's arm in the picture.

Isabella's hands are still so small.  Anytime I can capture them I will.

Life...Inspiration Comes in Many Forms

Have you been inspired?  Inspiration is a feeling that I desire.  I think with a feeling of inspiration you can make things happen.  You can bring forth change.  It will increase your desire to listen to the small inklings in your life.

Sometimes I am inspired by a photo, a sunset, a person, a song, my kids, my faith, my family, my parents, my friends.  I am looking for inspiration, therefore I am able to find it all around me.  It doesn't matter where I live, who I know, how I live...inspiration is a gift that is freely given by this life.  Are you looking for it?

Will you accept it if it comes?  I can remember very clearly sitting in my back yard and listening.  To what, I don't know.....life.  The kids were playing...I heard laughter.  The wind was blowing...I heard the trees playing.  The sky was moving...I heard the joy in my world.  At this moment of inspiration I new that this is what I wanted.

I wanted my life to be simpler.  I did not want to run from activity to activity.  I wanted to be home with my kids.  I wanted to learn new things.  I yearned for things to slow down.  I new that this was not going to be an easy task to accomplish given what I was involved in with our community, church and work.

I did make a choice and I feel to this day that the inspiration for this choice came because I was listening and looking for something and when I acted upon the inspiration it changed my life.  Change is not always the motivation for inspiration though.  For me this one experience allowed me to open my eyes to a bigger picture of what life is about.

 Did I have it wrong from the very beginning?  Absolutely not.  I have learned that we have experiences in this life that teach us, create us and drive us.  When one door closes another opens.  I don't look at the events or choices in my life as wrong...I only see them as right, for me.  We take these moments and create within our lives a path.  Along this path we meet people, enjoy places and become inspired to be whole.

I know that without the inspiration of that one day that I would still be living my days trying to find peace.  I would still be trying to live up to someone else's expectation of what is true.  I would not be me, therefore I would not be allowed to reach my full potential of this life.

Staying true to yourselves is hard.  Living by fear is worse.  Look for what inspires you to be the best "YOU" possible and make things happen.  Learn to be the catalyst of inspiration to others by living a true life, a good life, a life full of openness and joy.  Those that seek inspiration will find it, and when you do, give it many rounds of thanks, hugs, love and kindness.

I only write what I know and feel.  I am not a scholar or professional.  I do know me, and what I feel comes from a deeper place that cannot be learned, I just know.  I am inspired by this inner knowledge and it's abilities to unfold as I sit down to write.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts.  I believe!

Life...A Defining Moment

I wrote an entry yesterday that included the word: defining.  I can't really stop thinking about the word.  It's a word that resinates within me a feeling of rejuvenation, a need to make my existence whole and complete.

Many walk this life with a less than noble existence.  Striving for a moment to change, an event to uplift or even a person to be their guide.  Searching for the one thing that will take them to the next level of this life, yearning for superiority in hopes of maybe discovering love, finding happiness or seeing joy.  Is this how it becomes our defining moment...with a search, a yearning feeling...a discovery?

Defining moments in our life are accepted and embraced.  If we open ourselves up to the opportunity  of love, of being spiritual, or quieting our minds, of giving thanks...we won't miss our "moment".

I remember a day, 2 summers ago, that I returned from a week long event.  I had experiences that ranged from laughter to sadness.  I remember returning and feeling that if this is what I am suppose to believe our universe is about, then it is not right for me.  I listened, I heard and I acted.  Since then I look back and have recognized that this was a defining moment for me.

It opened my heart up to new understandings; it enlightened my spirit and soul.  Since then I have learned to generate an energy from within me that yearns for the happiness that I know that this existence can offer.  I feel in such a way about life, that at times there are not words to express it without sounding child like.

These words include: joy, love, acceptance, gratitude, charity, kindness.....blessed beyond words.

I say childlike because this is where people start.  As I travel, I see children from all walks of life.  We go to lots of parks and play centers.  I see their laughter, their eagerness to enjoy life, the simple ways they can take the hand of another child and just be. In that moment, in that 20 minutes that they have to be friends....that is their world.  They stay present, they engage their behavior with those around them.

Childlikeness is a gift.  An opportunity for us to have defining moments, to love and to be complete.  This world is harsh if that is what we are seeking.  This life can be challenging if that is what we think it is.  Love can elude us if we believe it to be hiding.  Acceptance is life changing.  A child is very accepting.

We, You, ME can create wonderful actions to happen in this world if you are willing to define yourself, tune your spirit and stay present long enough to enjoy what you do have and not seek, wish or hope your life away.

Enjoy every moment, enjoy your families, be grateful.............love to all my friends and family. Without you I would have missed out on some very important defining moments in my life.