Your First Time Here?

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Diane

Welcome to My Pleasant Places! Not sure where to get started? You might want to visit the About page to learn the premise of the blog and a little about the author. After that, you might enjoy the Start Here page to check out some of the most popular posts and get a feel for what is written about and valued at MPP. Finally, if you’re looking for help and encouragement in changing some aspect of your life, you’ll definitely want to read the posts on the 30-Day Challenge page.

If you like what you see, subscribe to receive new posts in your email inbox and click the Facebook “like” button to read the MPP daily tips for personal development on Facebook (see sidebar to the right).

Again, welcome to My Pleasant Places. I’m glad you’re here! :)

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A Tribute to My Mom

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Diane
tribute to mom

My mom, Jeri

This week was my son, Randall’s birthday, and I wrote him: “I have loved you since Day 1.” Every mother can say that, and I suppose that’s part of what makes motherhood and mothers so special. They have always ‘been there’ for us. And they have loved us since Day 1 of our lives.

Still, there is much more to be said about moms than the fact that they love us, and today I want to write about three specific things that my mom, Jeri, has passed on to me. Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Becoming Whole

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Diane

wholeness “Wholeness” is a hot topic these days. In fact, it is somewhat a premise for My Pleasant Places (read my About page). But what does “being whole” mean?

We humans are body, soul and spirit (the Bible makes reference to this in 1 Thessalonians 5:23). I have heard it explained like this: we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. When these three parts are in balance, in sync, we are healthy; we are whole. Conversely, when one of those areas gets neglected OR overemphasized, we pay for it in all three areas. Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality, Wholeness | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Share the Joy!

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Diane

 

Sharing the Joy!

Sharing the Joy!

This week, my son-in-law, Clay, was featured in a Travel Channel show called Bizarre Foods. Because he is the founder of the Arkansas Black Bear Association, the show’s producers contacted him to ask if he could harvest a black bear and cook up some of the meat for the show. That was last year.

Clay had learned that his portion of the program was a mere six minutes long—which was surprising, since the film crew had spent the greater part of an entire day filming him. Still, six minutes on national television is six minutes on national television, so along with a bunch of other friends, Steve and I joined Clay and Misty for a ‘watch party.’ Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Relationships | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Getting Started Journaling

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Diane

Getting Started Journaling In my last post of 2012, I wrote:

I got inspired by this post, How to Write a Fun and Unique Family Letter, and started thinking back over my year. I was able to recall some major highlights, but I realized that I need a way of recording the less-major events. I’m working on a plan for doing this in the upcoming year.

So far this year, I’ve experimented with a couple of ways of recording. Continue reading →

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Fun Friday: Capture the Moment

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Diane

document your journey “The greatest joys of life are happy memories. Your job is to create as many of them as possible.” — Brian Tracy

A couple of years ago, Steve and I joined two other couples and embarked on a dream of my lifetime—an Alaskan cruise! One of my main desires on this cruise was to see whales. Ever since I first heard tales of some friends’ Alaskan cruise and their siting of whales from the deck of their ship, I have dreamed of having that same experience. I had no preconceived notions of what such an experience would be like. I had no previous exposure to whales. I could only recall a few pictures of them blowing water from their heads (technically, it’s called a “blowhole”). I suppose I would have been happy had that been the sum of my experience. Continue reading →

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Fun Friday: All In Fun

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Diane

I am always scanning my sphere for funny stories and videos to share here on the blog. Someone posted this on Facebook last night, and I just had to pass it on. As a reminder, if you cannot see this video, just go directly to my blog at this link.

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How I Study the Bible III

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Diane

How I study the Bible This is the “fun part” of the three-part series on how I study the Bible. The previous two posts were preliminary. In this post, I actually share some of my methodology.

Bible Study Notebook

Next to the Bible itself, I think your notebook is the most important tool in Bible study because this is where you personalize the Word and make applications. Continue reading →

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