Sacred Space

Pintegrity Pledge.....

Sharing this from The Scrappy Housewifes blog because I feel it is important for the message to get out there!

Pinterest is a wonderful resource for everyone. Who hasn't found themselves lost for hours oooing and ahhing over all the great ideas and inspiration. But as bloggers, we are finding that more often than not, when our content is "pinned" it may not link back directly to our blog or tutorial, something we have spent countless hours creating, writing, editing and crafting to entertain and educate our readers.

Someone might have done a Google search and grabbed the image. Another well-intended soul might have included the image in their blog because it was cool and something they wanted to share without realizing that if someone pins the image from their site, they themselves will get the credit.

Most of the time, it's not intentional. Sometimes however, it is.

There are ways you can protect your content. Make sure you take a few moments to edit your photos and include your blog name on them. If you follow the link above you'll find all the reason you need to do this for yourself and your content.

There is also a way to protect your fellow bloggers. Promise that you will practice Pintegrity. Make a conscious effort to do the following each and every time you pin:

1. Rather than just clicking "repin", click on the picture and take the extra step to ensure that the link at the top right is the original source link. (If you click the picture once and then once again, it should take you directly to the link outside of Pinterest.)

2. If it is not the original content for the picture - don't pin it!

3. If the site shows the picture and has a link to the original content, click it and pin it from there. The blogger will thank you for protecting her rights.

4. If you plan to feature favorites from Pinterest (as I do each week) make sure you're sharing pictures linked to their original source. It only takes a moment and a few extra clicks.

5. Remind your readers that when you share from Pinterest and they want to pin, they should also pin from the original source and not your blog.

Kristi @ Addicted to Decorating had this idea - "When I feature a picture of someone else's project, I am going to take five seconds and use the button creator on Pinterest to make a "Pin It" button with the URL of the original blog post. That way when people click to "pin" the picture, the source goes to the original blogger, and not to my blog."

The bottom line is this - we can't change the way Pinterest works, but wecan educate ourselves and our readers about this issue.

Will you take the pledge? Will you promise to pin with integrity?

To join us in our pledge, leave a comment with your blog name and snag a button to spread the word. We can protect ourselves and each other.

Old Friends & Broken Hearts ♥

August 22nd was the last time I posted anything on this blog and the only excuse I have is that there is just to much on my plate plain and simple!

I think of my blog here daily because it truly is my release, my journal of sorts for me....

I was fortunate this year to reconnect with Stephanie, my very, very, very *BEST* friend that I have ever had. Stephanie and I had not talked or seen one another for what seemed like an eternity and then one day she contacted me...

What brings me to this post today is that after receiving a message from Stephanie on Facebook last night stating that she was going to quit FB because of how mean the women were being to one another and to her....I did my normally spiel and of course was able to turn Steph's thinking around and to not give these insenstive women her power! Women are mean today and think only of themselves. No one is a lone as I too have experienced this pain. When my marraige ended 3 1/2 years ago what I thought were my friends turned their back on me at the time I needed them the most.... the combination of the end of a realationship that I thought was going to last my lifetime and my only friends turning their back on me was more then I thought I could bear at the time...

I now know that *ALL* of that pain was a gift and certainly part of my journey!

That brings me to this post that I found this morning here...

I know that there are no accidents and the moment I started reading this, I knew I too had to share the message....

31 Reasons To Be Grateful For Your Pain

by Asatar Bair on June 15, 2010

When we’re in pain, we tend to feel sorry for ourselves, and focus on the pain in a self-pitying way, which of course, makes it far worse. If we can shift to feeling grateful for the pain, we open ourselves to the lessons that the experience has for us. So here are 31 reasons to feel gratitude for pain.

1. Pain is a great teacher. Life is so intoxicating, that we often miss the lesson life is giving us. But pain gets our attention like nothing else can.
2. Pain makes life interesting. Life would be much duller without pain.
3. Pain lets you know you’re alive. There is only a brief period in the life of the soul where we get to experience pain. Before we come to earth, there is no pain, nor is there pain after we die. Pain is the privilege of living on the earth, the price of admission for the manifestation of your being in all its glory.
4. Pain reminds you of the fragility of life.
5. By bringing your mortality to your attention, pain reminds you that life is a great opportunity. How are you seizing that opportunity today?
6. Pain means you are going through rapid growth. We often forget this, because the larger design of our life is unclear to us.
7. Pain matures you. People who have experienced a lot of pain seem older. Will that experience translate into wisdom?
8. Pain gives you sympathy for others.
9. Pain is an experience that all living beings share, and it can connect you to the experience of the whole of life.
10. Pain softens your heart.
11. Pain is an opportunity to be brave. Among some of the Native peoples of the Americas, it was seen as a loss of face for a warrior to be captured in combat. To show a captured warrior kindness, his captors would torture him to death slowly, leaving the marks of torture on his body for his tribe to find. This restored his honor, giving him a place in the lore of his tribe, and was called ‘showing brave’. This is an extreme example, but it may help you to deal with your own pain to think of it as an opportunity to handle it with nobility.
12. Pain clears the way for inspiration, like a draft of cold crisp air clears your lungs.
13. Pain deepens the experience of joy. Just as light and shadow are both necessary to perceive form, joy and pain give meaning to each other, enriching the experience of life.
14. Pain teaches you to be grateful for the little things. I injured my floating rib  once doing martial arts, and it hurt a lot during the day, when I was laying down at night, and at lots of other times. It really makes me grateful for the times when my body feels strong and whole.
15. Pain that you experience over time teaches you patience.
16. Pain helps you to surrender. There are many times when we must endure a pain we cannot control. What a beautiful opportunity to surrender to the will of the One Being.
17. Pain teaches you acceptance. Sometimes the pain will go away when we have fully accepted it.
18. Pain can teach you that you are in control of your experience. If you anticipate and fear the pain, you make it worse. If you tell yourself the pain is beneath you, it gets better. If you tell yourself the pain is merely strong sensation, it becomes so.
19. Pain breaks open even the hardest heart.
20. Pain lets you know where your wounds are. All of us have sensitive hearts, whether we are aware of it or not. We may try to cover it up or protect ourselves, but our hearts feel pain and receive wounds. These wounds bring us pain, and its an opportunity to create healing.
21. Feeling pain is much better than feeling nothing.
22. Pain teaches you the value of sacrifice. Giving up something that is dear to you because of something else that is more important is one of the greatest of human qualities, and the key to accomplishment, friendship, and love. Sacrifice and pain are bound together; without pain, sacrifice would have no meaning.
23. Pain is a loyal friend, one who will be there even if everyone else went away. Life has so few constants. It’s comforting to know that pain will be there.
24. Pain causes change, and there is no change without pain.
25. Love brings pain, and the greater the love, the greater will be the pain.
26. The pain of love creates the opportunity to be healed by love.
27. Pain brings the opportunity to triumph over self-pity.
28. Pleasure lulls you to sleep, but pain wakes you up. In the continual awakening of life, pain is the alarm clock.
29. Pain allows you to confront fear. With every painful experience, you have the opportunity to work with your fear; you can endure this, what’s so bad about whatever it is you fear?
30. Enduring pain builds mastery. 
31. Pain connects you to some of the greatest human beings who have ever lived. Jesus could not have become Christ without the pain of the crucifixion. I have great admiration for Joan of Arc, Mansur al Hallaj, Noor Inayat Khan, and for the countless others who suffered pain, torment and death for their beliefs. If every pain I experience brings me closer to these beings, it’s worth it.

It is a kind of poetic irony that I wrote this article, and then lost it to a computer crash, which caused me some pain; this reminded me that I’m a student of what I write here.

The theme of the list above is about what pain could be, about the opportunities that pain brings with it. How do you actually take advantage of that opportunity? What has been helpful for me is to cultivate an attitude of embracing my pain, and to use my breath to experience the pain fully, as exactly what it is, not trying to pretend the pain isn’t there. Finally, and most importantly, it’s helped me to make my breath rhythmic, deep, and focused on my heart.

What pain are you grateful for today? I am thankful that RSW broke my ♥ into a million pieces has it taught me more lessons then I could ever imagined have learning......

And what pain do you struggle with?

Wordle . . .

                                           

 During my random blog hopping today, I stumbled upon "Thrifty Tickle" as I am totally addicted to anything related to the word thrifty I of course had to investigate further. Then I saw the post regarding creating your own beautiful word cloud. And I knew instantly, this is what I have been looking for.

Sometime ago, it was going around where everyone was posting what the definition of their name was. Being the UNIQUE  individual that I am, of course my name is quite UNIQUE as well, my dear friend Ginni feeling for me created a definition for the name Denita since there was not one. This is how it reads...

Wild, crazy, carefree and fun on the outside but caring, sensitive and cautious on the inside. Loves animals almost more than she loves people. The wild side will find her tattooed and on a motorcycle with her face in the breeze. The animal lover will find her weeping over a hurt animal.

Yep, this pretty much sums me up in a nut shell ... don't you agree? 

So, after finding Thrifty Tickle and their posting about the site "Wordle" my idea was born. Now I just need to decide on which is my favorite and then have it printed on canvas for my scrap room!!! Thanks Ginni and thanks TT ; }

Here is some examples I created .....

                             

                              

                             

                             

Have fun and be sure to share your creations with me......
 
  
 

 

Catching up . . .

Yes I know, I have NOT blogged in forever!

As soon as we returned from the Kenilworth lodge from putting on our first "Cause for the PAWS" crop I started packing to move. Yes the number one most dreaded thing on earth is moving. While our brand new beautiful 3/2 home in North Port was beautiful, spacious and just perfect for us, all good things must come to an end. The owners had let the home go into foreclosure like so many others here in America today. We moved last weekend back to Venice just 2 1/2 blocks from the computer store so extremely convenient in so many ways! We are almost settled in to our darling older but very quaint new home.

We took time out yesterday to go up to Tampa to present the check to "Lost Angels Animal Rescue"! We met the founders and a couple of volunteers at the Petco on Dale Mabry & Fletcher before their adopt-a-thon started (they are there every Saturday morning for a couple of hours with numerous dogs that are ready for you to meet and hopefully take home with you!! We had a local print shop here in Venice make a 2ft x 4ft mock check for us to present to them as I had not disclosed what we had raised to them or anyone else.

Yes, your eyes are seeing this correctly! With only 38 attendees we were able to raise $4528.40 after expenses to donate to our first chosen rescue group.

Here is the video taken with my iPhone by Marty (thank you Marty) you will need to stop my music player here on the blog and be sure to turn your volume all the way up as it very hard to hear....

If you would like to follow the blog for future crops here is the link!

Stephanie's New Life . . .

Funny how things come to us in our lives. One of my favorite things to do to unwind is blog hop and I have done very little for quite sometime now. Tonight however, I ended up on Sophia's blog which I have not been on for at least 6 months. Not sure why really because she is always so inspiring to me! I wanted to share this with all of you . . . 

If Stephanie doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will. You can find out more of her story here.

Marathon . . .

It has been a marathon the last couple of weeks.

Last weekend I hosted my first fundraiser scrapbooking event in Sebring at the Kenilworth Lodge and it was spectacular if I do say so myself! I'm still in shock that it turned out as great as it did. I guess I am one of those guilty of not having confidence in self : {

I knew going into the planning stages that I had to do things different to make my crop stand out from the rest. I started with the meals as they are always a huge issue at these types of events. As expensive as it was, I decided to hire a professional chef and let me tell you . . . that was the way to go!

I decided to use the smaller ball room for meals and that way we could actually sit together and be served. All meals were served on time which also allowed us to stay on schedule. All of our meals were *TOP* notch and included beverage and a dessert. It truly was first class all the way.

The remarks on the evaluation sheet were outstanding, therefore I have hired our chef for our next two events at the lodge in 2011!!

 

The 2nd thing I did different was have a professional DJ to take care of all the announcements, music, movies and live auction. I happen to be fortunate to live with him therefore he came at a price I could handle!!

Instead of a silent auction, I opted to have a live auction and what a ball was had by all! I know the numbers raised but do not want to post them here until I present the check to "Lost Angels Animal Rescue" as we want it to be a surprise. We are very, very pleased with what we have raised!!! I posted a couple of pictures of just a few of the items that were auctioned off. And of course Marty holding up her auction paddle.

Then there was karaoke. Again. I wanted to do something different so instead of games we did karaoke. The ladies had more fun then should be legal I'll tell ya! We had a 1st, 2nd and third prize with the ladies voting.

The raffle table . . .
I lost count on how many raffle items we had as they just kept coming. I think it fell between 30 and 35.

I could go on forever as there are 100's of pictures. But I will end this post for now as my next big hurdle is getting moved.......

Memorial Day is a time to remember former & present service members. . .

Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the American military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, at least, it marks the beginning of summer.

Formerly known as Decoration Day the 30th day of May, 1868, was designated for the purpose of decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.

The foundation of our Nation was laid by Men & Women of the Armed Forces of The United States.

The loss of life in service to Country & Corps must not be forgotten, additionally, many of us have friends and loved service members today facing life and death situation in Iraq & Afghanistan.

Let us ensure that we keep them in our thoughts & prayers as we reflect on their commitment, devotion and the many sacrifices to ensure we continue to live in the Greatest Nation on the earth!

Some day I hope to ride in this incredible tribute called Rolling Thunder in Washington!!!

Happy Me A to Z . . .

I love the WRITE.CLICK.SCRAPBOOK blog. Seriously, they have one the best teams of contributors on there and they always have great ideas. Awhile back it was Aly Dosdall’s turn to host the blog (they have a different host every week) and she presented this project (Happy Me A to Z mini album) that encourages scrapbookers to scrap about themselves, the things that are important to them, and that make them happy.

You see, too often we scrappers get caught up in commemorating other people (kids, significant others, family members) or specific events (birthdays, vacations, Christmas), but most scrappers rarely make themselves the topic of their scrapbook pages. I know I fall into that group. My top two scrap subjects - in order - are always my pets, or daily life (like Project 365)

So I decided that once my fundraiser crop is over next weekend, I want to take part in this project and create my own A to Z Happy Book. In order to remind myself which items to use for each of my letters, I am going to list them here: 

A – Angels

B – Buddhism

C – Computers

D – Dogs

E – Etsy

F – Friends

G – Google Reader

H – Hugs

I – Independence (being financially able to support myself and not have to rely on anyone else)

J – Journals

K – Kuerig (the best damn single cup coffee maker ever)

L – Letish (my daughter)

M – Mozilla Firefox (fastest internet browser out)

N – Namaste (love the meaning of this Sanskrit)

O – Overstock.com

P – Pets

Q – Quiet time

R – Riding my Harley

S – Scrap-booking (of course)

T – Technology (I'm fascinated by it)

U – Umbrella Cockatoo

V – Visani Comedy Dinner Theater (in Port Charlotte)

W – Wii Game

X –

Y –

Z – 

So there’s my list, incomplete but at least it's a start. I don’t know how long it will take me to put the album together, but I will share it here when I’m done.

American Idol, fundraisers and my newest rescue . . .

As many of you already know I am working furiously on my fund-raiser for animal rescue that I am hosting in June. As much work as this has been, I know that the rewards will way surpass the work! If I have learned anything in this lifetime it is the pleasure I receive by paying it forward and giving back to the community. For me it is helping the animals, being their voice......

When the heart is full, what's left????

Speaking of rescue, we have a new addition at our house! Her name is "Tasha" and she is a 6 year old Umbrella Cockatoo. Like most humans, they grew tired of her after only having her 8 months. This was her 2nd home, we are her 3rd. It is an unfortunate thing how we humans can take such an incredible loving being for granted. They bond for life with us. We humans take them from their natural habitat, cage them for hours and hours and then wonder why they get mean, pluck all their feathers out and self mutilate!!! We got lucky with "Tasha" as she took to both of us immediately. I love watching her with my standard poodle "Daphne" because it is very apparent that "Tasha" has picked up on "Daphne's" gentle spirit and nature as last night they were nose to beak with "Tasha" touching ""Daphne's" nose with her tongue. It was amazing!!!! She is thin from being on a seed diet but we are already making leaps and bounds with switching her over to a organic pellet diet! Here is her new play climbing gym we picked up for her at the bird show this past weekend. Quite the investment in her already . . . 2 new cages, play gym, numerous toys, oh my we shall spoil this girl as it should be!!! (working on outside aviary now) 

 
I was shocked at how quickly she took to her new play gym! It is perfect as it sits right between JD & I's recliners.....right where she wants to be ; }

American Idol.....

I have to admit although I have been watching AI, I am glad that Simon has created his new show because I am over AI! In my opinion, it has wore out it's welcome....enough already.

My favorite this year has been Crystal Bowersox's with Lee DeWyze coming in 2nd. I knew all along that it would be the two of them in the end.

Check out Lee's performance form last night (be sure to pause my music player)

**LOVE** the emotion not only Lee showed us but Simon as well!! That is what a fantastic singer does........they move us ; }

YES Obama, We Noticed!!!

Received this in my email and found it quite interesting at best....

Sherry Hackett, wife of the late Buddy Hackett, is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat.

I would think that many other Democrats share her position...

This was written by Sherry Hackett, Buddy Hackett's widow. "WE NOTICED"

President Obama:
Today I read of your administrations' plan to re-define September 11 as a National Service Day. Sir, it's time we had a talk.

During your campaign, Americans watched as you  made mockery of our tradition of standing and crossing your heart when the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken. You, out of four people on the stage, were the only one not honoring our tradition.

YES, "We noticed."
During one of your many speeches, Americans heard you say that  you intended to visit all 57 states. We all know that Islam, not America has 57 states.

YES, "We noticed."
When President Bush leaned over at Ground Zero and gently  placed a flower on the memorial, while you nonchalantly  tossed your flower onto the pile without leaning  over.

YES, "We noticed."
Every time you apologized to other countries for America 's position on an issue we have wondered why you don't share our  pride in this great country.. When you have heard foreign leaders  berate our country and our beliefs, you have not defended us. In  fact, you insulted the British Crown beyond belief.

YES, "We noticed."
When your pastor of 20 years, "God-damned America " and said  that 9/11 was " America 's chickens coming home to roost"  and you denied having heard recriminations of that nature, we  wondered how that could be. You later disassociated yourself  from that church and Pastor Wright because it was politically expedient to do so.

YES, "We noticed."
When you announced that you would transform America ,  we wondered why. With all her faults, America is the  greatest country on earth.

 
Sir, KEEP THIS IN MIND, "if not for  America and the people who built her, you wouldn't be sitting in  the White House now." Prior to your election to the highest office in this Country, you were a senator from Illinois and  from what we can glean from the records available, not a very remarkable one.

YES, "We noticed."
All through your campaign and even now, you have surrounded 
yourself with individuals who are basically unqualified for  the
positions for which you appointed them. Worse than that, the  majority of them are people who, like you, bear no special allegiance, respect, or affection for this country and her traditions.

YES, "We noticed."
You are 14 months into your term and every morning millions  of Americans wake up to a new horror heaped on us by you. You seek  to saddle working Americans with a health care/insurance  reform package that, along with cap and trade, will bankrupt this nation.

YES, "We noticed."
We seek, by protesting, to let our representatives know that we are not in favor of these crippling expenditures and we are  labeled "un-American","racist", "mob". We wonder how we are supposed  to let you know how frustrated we are. You have attempted to make our protests seem isolated and insignificant. Until your appointment, Americans had the right to speak out.

YES, "We noticed."
On September 11, 2001 there were no Republicans or Democrats, only Americans. And we all grieved together and  helped each other in whatever way we could. The attack on 9/11 was carried out because we are Americans.

And YES, "We noticed."
There were many of us who prayed that as a black president you could help unite this nation. In six months you have done  more to destroy this nation than the attack on 9/11. You have failed us.

YES, "We noticed."
September 11 is a day of remembrance for all  Americans. You
propose to make 9/11 a "National Service Day".  While we know that you don't share our reverence for 9/11, we  pray that history will report your proposal as what it is, a disgrace.

YES, "We noticed."
You have made a mockery of  our Constitution and the office that you hold. You have  embarrassed and slighted us in foreign visits  and policy.  

YES, "We noticed."
We have noticed all these things. We will deal with you. When Americans come together again, it will be to remove you from office.

 

And allow me to add another:

Yes, “I noticed”.

Unlike President Bush, who ALWAYS looked the Marine in the eye as he saluted with respect when disembarking from his aircraft –You on the other hand look straight ahead, making no eye contact with the United States Marine. Your disdain for our military is both evident and insulting to all who served and are serving our once great nation. The same nation you are hell bent on destroying.

Semper Fi,

Neal

Take notice.  

If you agree with this,  please pass it on.  If not, perhaps it's time you rethink your position.