Ok here it is...the Stern Hut is officially online to honor of a dear friend of mine that had to up and move to the other side of the USA. She is so good at keeping me up on what is happening in their lives through her blog and I am really bad about keeping in touch with her as everyone else I have lost touch with this year....thank you Tracie---I miss you and love ya!
I named our blog the "Stern Hut" since we live and breath football (you know 1, 32, Hut...quarterback thing) and there are days I would like to go live in a hut on the beach--wouldn't life be much simplier? Optimist and BSU are in practice and getting ready to kick off very soon so between the three games a week and I will talk to everyone again around the holidays (just joking) but just in case you can check to see what we are up to.
The second part "Our Garden" reflects my view of life...the plants and weeds grow but you work hard to keep the the weeds out and the beauty to remain. However no matter how hard you work the weeds will always be there you just have to accept, learn and deal with them; not focus on them but remember to treasure the beauty and blessings. Through gardening I have learned life is not a race, winning is not everything but to appreciate the journey, have patience and fun, continue to learn, grow, be flexible and take time to enjoy the beauty...just like a garden.
Tracie also reminded me of this with this posting....
LIFE
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wis h I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.Because we cram so much into our lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her en thusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day , I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.Now ...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi?"When you worry and hurry through your day, it i s like an unopened gift...Thrown away. ... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over."Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"
