2 large, ripe pears, peels and cores removed
1/2 c. raspberries
1/2 c. cold water
2 or 3 ice cubes
Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
Tags: berries, Cooking, Pear, business, Banana, raspberry super food, ripe pears, smoothie recipe, fruits and vegetables, Ice cube
A great hobby that we can enjoy in the comfort of our own homes is crafting. It’s the kind of hobby that we can do when there’s no one else around, or while the rest of the family is doing their own thing. But sometimes it’s nice to network and collaborate with fellow crafters.
Craft guilds are designed with this in mind. They help crafters meet others who enjoy being creative. Crafters can exchange techniques, project ideas, and experiences. And, perhaps most fun of all, they can get together and craft.
You might be surprised to see how many craft guilds there are in your area. Here are some tips for finding a good one:
Decide what kind of guild you want to be a part of.
Do you want to be part of a group of general crafters, or would you prefer being around those who do one particular kind of crafting? If it genuinely doesn’t matter to you, look for both types of guilds. But if it does, stick with those that meet your criteria.
Look in the classified section of your local paper.
There you will find event announcements, and craft guilds often list their meeting times and places here. Make note of any that interest you, and call for more information if you need to.
Try looking online.
Many local crafting guilds have Yahoo or Meetup groups online. This makes it easier for them to communicate with one another and share ideas between meetings, and it makes it easy for you to find them.
Learn all there is to know about membership before joining.
Some are free, but others charge membership fees. Formal guilds often require that members submit a piece of work for approval. Less formal groups might alternate meetings among members’ homes, or ask members to take turns providing refreshments. Knowing many of these things before making a commitment is important.
Starting Your Own Guild
Can’t find a guild that suits you? Start your own. It’s as simple as getting together some fellow crafters, finding a meeting place, and setting a meeting time. You can put an ad in the paper to find members, and libraries and community centers will often allow you to use their facilities for free or at low cost. You can make things as formal or informal as you like.
Joining a craft guild can enrich your life in a number of ways. They provide fellowship with like-minded crafters, and they give us the opportunity to learn more about our crafts. If this sounds good to you, pick up the paper and start looking for a nearby guild.
They say that time is something that you can never find once it is lost! We’ve all felt frustrated over time wasted or time that has slipped by too quickly.
“Time Management” is a very deceptive term. Have you ever felt frustrated about running around in circles getting lots done but feeling like you haven’t accomplished anything worthwhile? It’s the dilemma between what is “urgent” and what is “important”. Often the demands put on our energy and time which are urgent are not really important; and unfortunately, the things that are really important are usually not urgent. We often get the feeling that when we’re caught up on things and have time, we will finally be able to get to the things that are really important to us. Well, I have discovered that “someday” doesn’t exist and it will always remain a figment of your imagination unless you book it!
Now, this might all get you thinking that you have to “prioritize” the things that take up your time and the things you really want to be doing. This is all really good, but it goes a whole lot deeper than this!
You need to take a good, hard look at your attitudes about time and at your core values and goals. This might be a good journaling opportunity! Stop the vicious cycle and decide if all the stuff you’re trying to get done is really in harmony with your deep down values and goals. Think way back to when you dreamed about the future. Now that you are probably living in that “future” is it all that you had hoped it would be? Is there something missing? Have you allowed “urgent” matters to rob you of what means the most to you? Are those urgent things really important or can you possibly minimize or eliminate some of them so that you can steer your life in the direction of your deepest values and goals?
Think about what you had hoped your future was going to be like. Maybe you had pictured plenty of quality time with the kids, a strong and loving family, a certain ministry you had wanted to pursue, a special project, painting beautiful pictures, writing a great novel, spending more time with nature, or whatever it is for you. Allow yourself to dream! What are the things that are taking up your time and stopping you from having and doing all of those things?
Now, not “someday” is the time to put most important things first. I ask again, “Do those things you’re busy doing all really need to be done?” You see, real time management isn’t about becoming more efficient by having more sophisticated schedules or getting better at multitasking. It isn’t about prioritizing and cramming more accomplishments into a day.
Find out first if you are doing the things you really need to be doing in order to live out your core values and deep down goals and accomplish those things which are most important to you. Then focus on doing those most important things well!
Tags: quality time, important thing, deepest values, if you, is there, time management, time management dilema, can you, at a, human interest
