Category Archives: 2012 Theme: Self-Love

Field Trip Pictures, Part 2

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love, General, Photos by

Here are the rest of the pictures from my trip to the San Diego Mission!

Remember that ladder in the Casa De Los Padres?  It led to the upper level in the picture below.

In the same building, you have some Franciscan robes on display, because they were the ones who originally ran the mission.  Now, it’s run by the Diocese of San Diego.

Here’s another picture of the garden.

I thought the brick cross in the background was pretty cool.  In the garden, there are a couple of statues.  Here’s the one of St. Joseph.

I liked the statue of Father Serra, the guy who founded the mission.

I thought this was pretty cool.  You can see a little bit of the garden, but I didn’t want to walk through it just to get a closer picture of the statue.  I suppose that’s what the zoom buttons are for, but either way, I like the garden too.

Here’s the St. Didacus statue.  I liked the white statue with the blue tiled background.  Plus, another name for Didacus is Diego…he’s the saint San Diego is named after, in case anyone is wondering.

Here’s a little…thing that was next to the Kumeyaay hut.  I’m not sure what it is, but now that I think of it, there may have been a little sign explaining what it was.

I thought this fountain was really pretty.

This cross is dedicated to Father Luis Jayme, who is the 1st Christian matyr in California.  He died in an attack on the mission in 1775.  I think we’re on the 5th church.

And while I didn’t get a picture of the inside of the church, I did get a picture of the church bells.  They rang at noon, so at least I got to hear the church bells.  And here’s an interesting tidbit of information: the church (which is still an active church) was named a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1976.

Granted, you can’t see them too well, but I was trying to take the picture while the wedding in the church was going on.  I didn’t want to be that weird person with the camera standing in front of the open door to the church.  Hence, the weird angle.  Plus, it seemed like the best angle at the time.

I’ll leave you with one more picture, at least for now.  There are still a few more pictures, which may decide to post at some point.  I’m just not sure yet.  Anyway, the last picture for today is a picture of a sign.  I think the sign is pretty self-explanatory.

Field Trip

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love, General, Photos by

I went on a little field trip yesterday.  And it was fun!

After reading Night Walker, I definitely felt like going to the San Diego Mission.  Which I didn’t do…until yesterday!

It was pretty cool, especially since I had never been there before.  I totally thought I did, until I got there, and realized I had not been there.  I even took pictures!

First, we have the Casa De Los Padres.  So, there’s a replica of the mission back in the good ‘ole days.

Just ignore the fact that part of is cut out of the picture.  This was the best angle I could get.

This is what one of the rooms may have looked like.

Above is the only picture of the church I took.  There was going to be a wedding, so I just took a quick look around.  Besides, taking pictures in a church felt a little weird, like I shouldn’t be doing it.  So I didn’t.

I didn’t get to go in the sanctuary, because it was closed off, so I moved on to the garden.  The flowers were pretty and it felt very peaceful.  Plus, there were several statues.

This is the St Francis Of Assissi Fountain.  There’s also one of St. Joseph and Father Serra.  And one in the Pieta Garden.

I took a couple of pictures in the Father Jayme museum but there was a glare because of the glass case they were in.  It was pretty cool, because they had a lot of Kumeyaay artifacts, like baskets and vases.

From there, I went to the St Didacus Statue and the Pieta Sculpture.  You can see the Pieta Sculpture below.

After that, I saw a Kumeyaay hut.  The Kumeyaay are pretty important in both San Diego and California history.  Sadly, everything I’ve learned about them in elementary school is long-forgotten.  The Kumeyaay Hut can be seen below.

After that, I saw the Archaeological Site, which was pretty cool.  The thing that stuck out the most was the fact that they haven’t found any burial grounds at the Mission.  Apparently, there were pretty strict rules about where people could be buried, and they have yet to find any there.  You can see it below.

I definitely have more pictures, which I think I’ll share sometime this week.  It was really cool to see a part of San Diego I’ve never seen before, and considering it’s the 1st of the California missions, it’s a pretty historical place.  It was definitely worth the trip!

I’m Terrible At This

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love by

So, my theme for the year?  Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve pretty much stopped complimenting myself.  It’s horrible, I know, but I really need to start doing that again.  I’ve, for the most part, stopped doing nice things for myself too.  Unless you count getting on a regular sleeping schedule over the last 2 or 3 weeks…which is the first time this has happened in the last 2 or 3 years.

Brainstorming stuff has yet to happen, but maybe this week, I’ll get on that?  We’ll see…but for my sake, I really need to get it done.  I’m still cooking but I’m not baking as much.  Which is a little sad, because I love baking.  It’s weird not baking, so I really need to get back to that.  I’m not journaling right now, so I need to start doing that again…

Basically, I’m not doing a lot of stuff that I said I would do.  It’s dropped to the bottom of my priority list, and that needs to change…the point is to take care of myself, and I’m not doing that to the best of my ability.  Like, why is this something that is becoming less important?  Why is this becoming so difficult for me to keep up with?

So…I’ll have a list by Monday, and I’ll get myself back on track.  For me, because this is important.

Technology!

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love, General by

I’ve been thinking about technology lately.  I normally don’t think about it, but I’ve been looking at iPods lately.  I definitely need a new one, because half of the music I have on iTunes isn’t on my iPod.

But I started thinking about how much I use my iPod.  It started to snowball- iPods turned into the internet, and that led to t.v., which led to e-readers and cell phones.

Something that crossed my mind over the weekend was an e-reader.  I was in Barnes and Noble, and for the first time, I really considered getting an e-reader.  I figured I’d get one eventually, but it was low on my priority list.  Like bottom of the list low.  And for the longest time, I figured I wouldn’t use it very much, so there was no point in getting one.  But then again, that’s what I said about my iPod, and it’s something I use a lot.  For me, it would be a big purchase, so I’ll have to think about it carefully.  Maybe I should make a pro/con list or something.

I’ve never really thought about unplugging more.  But now, I’m kind of wondering if I need to.  Perhaps I should take note of how much I use technology, like over the span of a week or something, just to see.  It could be an interesting experiment.  I may have to try it sometime soon and share my findings.  If there are any, that is.

I really liked this article called The Joy Of Quiet.  It’s an interesting article, and quiet can be good.

So…

I think I’m done rambling.  At least for now.  But the rambling will continue on another day.  Possibly tomorrow.  But I don’t really know for sure.

How’s It Going?

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love by

I’ve been doing a terrible job of keeping everyone updated on how my theme for the year is going.

I’ve been doing okay with it, and complimenting myself is getting a little easier.  I’ve managed to do a different one everyday, and writing them down helps with that.  As for the doing one nice thing everyday, it’s something I’m still struggling with.  And I tend to do the same things over…writing them down really helps with that.  Brainstorming things will help, and maybe I can pull them out of a hat or something so it will be more random.

Let’s see…I exercise…like once a week.  So that’s not going well at all, but on the plus side, I’m cooking and eating yummy food!  I’m drinking a lot of water, And I’m still journaling.  I’m thinking about stuff, but I’m trying not to focus on it too much, which is working a little more than I expected.

I can’t really think of anything else that’s going on with it, especially since I haven’t really been focusing on it like I should be.  But I am doing enough- I’m trying not to feel guilty about because I am working on it.  At least I’m not feeling as guilty about it as I normally would be.  I’ll be back tomorrow, so enjoy your Saturday!

My Contract

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love by

This is something I plan on sticking with for the year.

Remember when I said I was going to write out a contract with myself?  I did it! I thought I would keep it simple…I have a tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be.  Keeping things as simple as I can is something I want to work on.  My contract is a good reminder of what I want to do and things I need to remember.

I Will:

  • compliment myself at least once a day
  • ask for help when I need it
  • do the things I enjoy and not feel guilty about it
  • make mistakes
  • do one nice thing for myself everyday
  • compliment myself everytime I think something negative about myself

I Will Not:

  • base my decisions on what I think will make other people happy
  • let the thoughts of others control my life
  • forget that it is okay to have my own opinions
  • let fear take over my life
  • unncessarily complicate things
  • overthink things
  • let myself forget that there are people who care about me

How To Make It Happen:

  • write down all of my compliments and nice things
  • journal for at least 5 minutes 3 times a week (and include both the good and the bad)
  • cook good, healthy food but also enjoy a cookie every now and then
  • spend 10 minutes a day walking or on the elliptical 3 days a week, working my way up to 30 minutes

I know it’s not much, but right now, this is where my focus is.  Sharing those compliments and nice things I’m doing is a good idea!  Especially since I’m writing them down.  And making a nicer version of it is also in the works.  I’ll post a picture of it when it’s finished.

I’ve been working on it all week, putting things on the list, only to take them off later.  There are other things I’ll be working on too, but this is something that I really want to have a record of.

I really am feeling excited about all this.  I feel like everything is starting to click.  I’m ready for this!

Dreaming Of Stores

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love by

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my dreams, so I think it’s time to share some.

I’ve had a few dreams over the last few weeks where I’ve been shopping in grocery stores.  Once in a while it’s Wal-Mart, but mostly grocery stores.

I don’t need a dream dictionary to tell me that it could mean that I’m looking for something I don’t have.  Apparently a large and/or well-stocked market means there are possibilities and choices…which I have and really need to narrow down…

Dreams are interesting things, and they can tell us a lot.  I guess my subconscious is trying to tell me that I need to make sure that I’m okay and am a happy and fulfilled person.  It won’t be easy, of course, but these things usually aren’t…right?

In the spirit of self-love, I suppose I should do some sort of contract or something.  I don’t want to go into this blind, and while I have some thoughts on what self-love means, I feel like I need to have a plan…some things that I NEED to work on and achieve this year.  I will work on that over the next week.

It really is amazing what a dream can set in motion.  Although it’s something I really should have been working on in the first place.

I can’t think of anything else, so enjoy your weekend!

The Year Of Self-Love

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love by

I settled on a word, and it is self-love.  I had some trouble coming up with a list of words, and then I remembered that I had bookmarked this link.  Granted, it’s a few years old, but it had a long list of words that I borrowed from.

It was hard to narrow it down to one, but the nice thing about self-love is that it does encompass a lot of the other words I liked.

The whole idea of self-love has really clicked over the last week or so, and it will definitely be a priority this year.  It’s sad that it wasn’t, and isn’t, but right now, the need to work on the self-love is very strong.  I really liked this one post from The Lettered Cottage that talks about the blogger’s word of the year.

So what does self-love mean to me?

For one thing, taking care of myself physically and emotionally.  Eating well and exercising.  Not being so hard on myself.

Accepting that I don’t need to be perfect, that it’s okay to have faults.  Accepting that it’s okay to mess up every once in a while, and that mistakes don’t mean I’m a failure at life.  That it’s okay to take care of myself.  Letting go of fear and indecision.

Okay, so, this post makes me want to cry.  It’s very hard for me to even think about this, and writing it down…makes it very real.  I think a resolution word will be a good thing, because I can make it as specific or as broad as I want.  Specific enough so that I’m not winging it, but broad enough to give me some wiggle-room.

I will be sharing my progress at least once every 1-2 weeks, so we’re going to be getting a lot more personal over the next year!