Value in Getting Away

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Note: This post is part of a group writing project for HighCallingBlogs.com for this month sponsored by Laity Lodge and which we’re hosting here at SuccessCREEations, Inc. The topic is Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! While the main drawing has already happened you can still participate in the writing project until the end of the month and get a discount on selected retreats for you and your readers.

Connectivity Culture

We live in a culture that is continuously connected. I’m as connected as anyone because of what I do here at SuccessCREEations, Inc.

Between blogging, a bunch of email addresses, four instant messaging accounts, Skype, 300+ feeds in my feed reader, and all the various social media sites I’m active on it can be a never ending stream of information.

And it’s getting worse, or better, depending on your viewpoint. With services like Twitter that can follow you around on your cell phone it is easier than ever to keep yourself wired in.

Out of the Vacation Habit

I grew up in a family where most all vacation time was spent going to visit family, usually over holidays. Most of you would probably agree that visiting family often isn’t really a vacation at all. Sometimes it can be even more stressful than every day life!

Gorgeous is from a family that had more healthy vacation habits. But unfortunately in our marriage we’d fallen into my way of doing things what with parental failing health issues and all.

In the ten years of our marriage we can only remember one real vacation where we weren’t visiting family or attending a conference or some such. Read more

Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!

Have you ever felt the need to get away from it all?

Have you ever had to chose whether to take some time away or keep pressing on?

Which way did you decide to go?

What happened as a result?

HighCallingBlogs Group Writing Project

This month we’re hosting the HighCallingBlogs Group Writing project here at SuccessCREEations, Inc.

We’re going to take the next few weeks to share some of we learned learned from a time when we decided to get away for a while, or from a time when we decided not to get away (but maybe we thought we should have).

Win Your Own Retreat

Laity Lodge is sponsoring the Group Writing Project this month. That means they are doing 3 things for those who decide to enter a blog post.

• 50% OFF FOR YOU - selected retreats for any participant in this group writing project. (You don’t have to be a member of HighCallingBlogs.com, but we hope you’ll consider it.)
• 25% OFF FOR YOUR READERS – Anyone who reads your blog can register for 25% off. When they call to register, they need to ask for “the HighCallingBlogs.com discount.”
• A FREE RETREAT - On Friday, May 9, at noon Central Time, we’re going to put the names of this Group Writing Project’s participants in a hat and draw one out. The winner gets a free retreat for a married couple or an individual. Marcus will announce the winners that afternoon

How to Enter

To enter for your chance to win, or to just participate in the writing project you need to do three things:

1. Write up a blog post on the importance of retreat
2. Link to the sponsor, Laity Lodge
3. And also link to this post so I know to include your post in the list of submissions that will be accumulating right here.

We’ll also post a link to your post over at HighCallingBlogs.com!

Update: Mark pulled a winner for the free retreat! Check out the video to see who one. But just because the winner has been chosen doesn’t mean that the project is over because we can all still be winners. Remember you can still get 50% off of selected retreats just for submitting your blog post to this group writing project and your readers can still get 25% off. So if you’re like me and haven’t submitted a post yet, there’s still time to be included. Keep writing!

Read more

I Caught a Cold at a Redneck Wedding

Gorgeous and I attended a redneck wedding this weekend.

Now before you get all scandalized about my using the term “redneck” you should know that’s how the bride and groom described it. In fact the bride actually came up to us at the reception and asked, “So, have you ever been to a redneck wedding before?”

In point of fact, we hadn’t.

The ceremony was held in an outdoor chapel. The bride word flip-flops. The reception was held at the home of the parents of the bride. There were two tents pitched in the front yard not too far from the bonfire. One of them had a sign that said, “Honeymoon Suite”.

The food at the reception included the requisite dinner mints, mixed nuts, and pulled pork bar-b-que. And to top it off the bride and groom arrived at the reception on a tractor.

Culture Everywhere You Go

Gorgeous observed that when some people complain that there that there is no culture in whatever city they’re in, as some are prone to do about Savannah, what they really mean is the established “fine arts” may be a little lacking.

In actuality there is culture everywhere you go.

Sure it may not be as refined as some are looking to find. Even so, there is still culture, a way people do things, just about anywhere there are people.

Our friends are wonderful people and we saw a culture that we’d only heard about, usually in mocking connotations before. It was a little foreign to us. But they are wonderful folks and we were honored to be invited to their wedding.

Big Temperature Drop

Unfortunately the temperature dropped about 25 degrees during the 4 hours we were at the wedding & reception. When things kicked off it was about 82 degrees and that’s the weather we were dressed for. By the time we got home that evening it was 57 degrees and windy.

I brought a little sinus crud back from Colorado but had nearly kicked it before I got my self thoroughly chilled at the reception.

The key word there is “nearly” because it all came back with a vengeance and by yesterday had developed into a full blown cold. It is bad enough that I cleared my calendar for two days and spent most of yesterday on the couch.

I am just starting to do a little better now with all the cold remedies I have on board.

Oh, and here’s a photo of the happy couple arriving at the reception.

40 Days of Bed Head - Day 40

This is the final entry in my 40 Days of Bed Head project. We set out to explore the wonderful world of bed head and found it to be, well, um… mostly silly.

Before we get to the final entry, here are a few highlights of some of my own favorite photos from the series.

• Vertical Peaks Bed Head
• Reverend Jim Bed Head
• Varmint Bed Head
• Swamped Bed Head
• Up-do Bed Head
• Wizard Bed Head
• Donald Trump Bed Head
• Surfing Bead Head

Coming up I’ll put all these bed head photos into a gallery so y’all can look through them all in one place. In the meantime here’s the last entry for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy!

Bed Head Day 39

40 Days of Bed Head - Day 39

We’re in the middle of my 40 Days of Bed Head project.

We’re getting close to the end of this silliness but I still got the vertical action here.

Bed Head Day 38 | Bed Head Day 40

40 Days of Bed Head - Day 38

We’re in the middle of my 40 Days of Bed Head project.

The anti-gravity is set on low today. I think that’s a sign I should have stayed in bed longer.

Bed Head Day 37 | Bed Head Day 39

40 Days of Bed Head - Day 37

We’re in the middle of my 40 Days of Bed Head project.

We took a break for a few days while I was on vacation because I had spotty internet connections. But now I’m back home, refreshed and ready to finish out this silliness.

Of course it is always a bit challenging to get back in the saddle after being out for a bit. I’m had a bit of a challenging time getting back up and running.

But we’ll get there.

Bed Head Day 36 | Bed Head Day 38

On Vacation

Internet connections have been a little on the spotty side during our trip this weekend so I’m temporarily suspending the Bed Head project until I return home in the middle of the week.

But never fear, Gorgeous and I are spending our time in places like this:

Glenwood Springs is just the sort of place we needed to find to clear our heads and unwind. The hot spring pools are totally relaxing.

And anyplace that needs a warning sign like this one is my kinda place!

40 Days of Bed Head - Day 36

We’re in the middle of my 40 Days of Bed Head project.

Gotta do some last minute packing this morning before we catch our flight out. Hope I don’t forget anything!

Feel free to add your captions in the comments section.

Bed Head Day 35 | Bed Head Day 37

40 Days of Bed Head - Day 35

We’re in the middle of my 40 Days of Bed Head project.

I think I might be allergic to mornings. Sometimes they’re just plain scary.

Feel free to add your captions in the comments section.

Bed Head Day 34 | Bed Head Day 36

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