Day 334 ~ Reflecting On My A-Z Challenge

Blogging A to Z Challenge April 2012, one week later...
I miss it!  There I said it.  I didn't realize it would have this affect on me, but I miss it.


These are my thoughts for my 2012 A to Z Challenge Reflections Post   


I liked having to come up with something to say/write based on a letter of the alphabet.  


I give you one further... early on in the Challenge I learned that I had to write my post before reading someone else's.  


I read someone else's first once-- silly me I didn't realize because I was participating in a blog hop and didn't realize what I was reading until I was almost finished.   Then I wondered whether or not I would have come up with that same word.


[I do have to admit... I did not get in as much reading as I would have liked to... but- 75% is better than nothing.]  


As I visited other blogs that were participating in the Challenge I was taken aback with all the different themes.  Yes.. these people had a theme-within-a-theme!


When I first read these post of themes within the theme [A to Z] I honestly thought "What are they crazy?  ...  What are these people doing?  Isn't having to come up with a word challenging enough?"

I am here to tell you ... I get it now!  wink, wink.  Seriously... there were blogs whose theme were based on threatened animals, another wrote a terrific piece and broke it down into twenty-six segments, and yet another on on ferries (to mention a few).


Best part of the A to Z Challenge was all the great blogs I read and the people behind them!  I met some great people and some FABULOUS writers!  


I do have to say there were plenty of times that I felt very intimidated by what I was reading... they were submitted by PUBLISHED AUTHORS!!  


There is a reason these writers are published!  What talent.  Then there was little ol' me amongst these GIANTS!  Regardless... this has been a fabulous experience!

I truly enjoyed this challenge.  Quite honestly, I happened to come across this challenge by accident.  The best part was that it had not started yet! - it was a day before the challenge was to start.  


I had fun with it and stayed true to myself.  This is not to say that I did not have some days that I came up with a "word" late in the hour... but I got them all in!!  


In full disclosure I must say that I was already posting everyday.- this was half the challenge to many.  The only change I made other than incorporating the challenge into my blog, was to post earlier in the day.  


This is how crazy I am... I am already looking forward to next year's challenge, hoping that I too can come up with a cool theme within a theme scenario.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." 

Gandhi

Blessings,

31 days to go...  

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Taking Back My Life ~ Making It My Own.  U.S Copyright laws apply.  © 2012

Day 327 ~ "Z" Zealous Finale

The last letter of the alphabet is "Z" and here I've reached the final day of my Blogging A to Z Challenge April 2012.  

I did it!! ... and this is my zealous finale to my challenge!!  (gee, I hope I'm using "zealous" in the right context. lol)



I must be forthright.  Honestly, this was a great challenge. I loved it! However to call it a challenge is not quite what I would call it, only because I enjoyed it too much.  

A challenge is to arouse or stimulate especially by presenting with difficulties.  Okay, so I may have had to scratch my head on a few letters, I'll give you that.  

This challenge did add a few more words to my vocabulary...   But difficult, no.  (Big Smile)

I don't know what got into me, but all of a sudden I thought it would be interesting to see what I can find out about the letter "Z".

• "Z" is the 26th letter of our alphabet (also known as the Roman Alphabet)
• "Z" is referred to as Zed in England
• In mathematics, The letter "Z" designates the set of integer numbers, which contains positive and negative elements. Z = {... , -n ,.... ,-4 ,-3 ,-2 ,-1 ,0 ,1 ,2 ,3 ,4 ,... ,n, .......}
• ZZZ (or z-z-z-z) is sound of snoring, traced back to at least 1918.  (Sometimes "a tiny saw cutting through a log" [1948] would be used, and both the snore and saw would make the same z-z-z-z sound.) 
• "Z" not a native letter in Old English; in Anglo-French words it represents the "ts" sound (cf. Anglo-Fr. fiz, from L. filius, modern Fitz); from late 13c. it began to be used for the voiced "s" sound and had fully taken that role by 1400. 
• "Z" was referred ti as zed c.1400, from M.Fr. zede, from L.L.  zeta, from Gk. zeta, from Heb. zayin, letter name, lit. "weapon;" so called in allusion to the shape of this letter in ancient Hebrew. U.S. pronunciation zee is first attested 1670s. Other dialectal names for the letter are izzard, ezod, uzzard, and zod.

SO, do you know what I am going to do now?  wink, wink  I'm going to look for a new challenge.  {Big Smile}

 Zeal is a volcano, the peak of which the grass of indecisiveness does not grow. ~Kahlil Gibran

Zeal without knowledge is fire without light.   ~Thomas Fuller

Sources:
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/letter_z.htm ; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=z 

Blessings,

38 days to go...  

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Taking Back My Life ~ Making It My Own.  U.S Copyright laws apply.  © 2012

Day 325 ~ "Y"...

"Y"es.  Yes, "Yes" is my chosen word.  (Big Smile.)

Few minutes into, 'what word am I to use for "Y"?'... and believe me I don't know why I even thought of this, but... if I wrote about no for my letter "N", then why not write about (and the choir sings loud) "Yes"?

I would be lying to you, if I told you that I did not get excited when I hear the word Yes (at least when it is in my favor. wink, wink.)  Seriously... be honest now... I know you get a little silly when you hear it too.  ;)

I think the "feeling" you feel today is probably not so different than the one you felt when you were a child, and were told you could have that extra scoop of ice cream or that special toy.

We may feel that we do not hear Yes as often as we'd like... in all actuality, if we listen real closely... we do hear it more than we think.  wink, wink.

One thing is for sure, when I answer my little Calley "Yes", believe it or not, I become the "best mommy" in the whole wide world.  Yes, that's me!  :)   bet you didn't know that the bestest mommy in the whole wide world was a blogger... well now you do!  

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.  

~2 Corinthians 1:20

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

~Mahatma Gandhi

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Blogging A to Z Challenge April 2012... Guess what... "Z" on Monday!!

Blessings...

40 days to go...  {I can't believe it!}

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Taking Back My Life ~ Making It My Own.  U.S Copyright laws apply.  © 2012

Day 324 ~ "X" Marks the Spot!

How many times have you heard the saying "X marks the spot" ?  Or have you even heard it?  (for my younger readers, lol)


Funny... I took the time out to see if I could find its true origin.  I figured it would be a piece of cake... boy was I surprised!


I came across some many sites with their own opinions.

Some definitions expressed that it was because you have to mark an "X" a box on an application or form that one is filling out; yet another shared that "earliest days of newspaper photography where the scene of the crime would be shown with an X to mark where the deed was done".

All of this imaybe true, however none of them are the actual origin.  I think that the closest I came to its origin, was that this idiom is found in the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1883.  

This idiom was once again revived in 1942 with the movie X Marks the Spot starring  Damian O'Flynn, Helen Parrish and Dick Purcell.  (who?)

Although I feel that the actual verbiage may have come from this book, the usage of the "X" being used is way, WAY older than this.  Especially since it used in our first writings. 

I know that centuries ago when illiteracy was more common than literacy itself, people would sign contracts and papers with a big "X".  With a witness of course.  This practice is still used now-a-days.  Hard to believe huh?  Yes... there still is illiteracy in the world.

This saying or idiom, as its called, has been around as long as I can remember... and I have established in this post that it's been around even longer than that.

I have often repented speaking, but never of holding my tongue.
~Xenocrates

You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong no matter who does it or who says it.
~ Malcom X

Blogging A to Z Challenge April 2012... What will "Y" bring us tomorrow?

Blessings...

41 days to go...  really?

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Taking Back My Life ~ Making It My Own.  U.S Copyright laws apply.  © 2012

Day 323 ~ "W" ... "W"ait for it...

I couldn't resist!  LOL!  It just seemed to flow.  (my title that is...)

Miraflores ~ Lima, Peru

"W"ait for it...  "W"ater.  Yes, water.

The first thing that came to mind and happened to simultaneously put a smile on my face, that started with a "W" was water.

Mar del Plata, Argentina

I was exposed to water as a little girl, and I mean as old as I could sit up, my mother took me took the beach.  

Whether it was the beautiful beaches of sunny Southern California; Lima, Peru; Mollendo- Arequipa, Peru; vacationing in Mar del Plata, Argentina; or being surrounded by the Puget Sound, the many lakes and majestic scenery of Washington state ... I have always been blessed to have lived near a body of water.  

Seattle, Washington

I may no longer live blocks from Venice Beach, but that doesn't stop me from feeling that I do.  (...and I didn't bring up the many swimming pools I splashed in.) 

After all, what is it that they say...  

... when life gives you lemons, add some Water, a little sugar along with some love... and Wham-O!  ... make some delicious lemonade! 

(okay so I added a little extra.)

By the way... (angels sing out)   M-i-l-e-s-t-o-n-e ! ! !  My blog here... she reached 25,000 views today!!  Words can not express... no seriously... I can't think of anything to say, other than I am humbled.  Thank you for reading, and best of all thank you for commenting. 

Blogging A to Z Challenge April 2012... What will "X" bring us tomorrow?

Blessings...

42 days to go...  

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Taking Back My Life ~ Making It My Own.  U.S Copyright laws apply.  © 2012

Day 322 ~ "V" is for Vacation!

"V" is for Vacation... a family Vacation in a Villa.  Vasting in the sun while splashing in the Mediterranean as the vineyards ripen...  

Wow almost sounds like the beginning of some romantic novel.  Big smile.  Seriously...

One of my goals, my dream... is to go on a month long vacation with anyone in our family that will join us, my husband, children and a few good friends.  

Whether we go to the beaches of Hawaii, a cruise in the Caribbean, tour Europe and its beautiful castles or just romp around in our own backyard (the good ol' US of A), it does not matter... As long as I am with my loved ones.

I know I will have made it when I am able to fulfill my "Dream Family Vacation"! 

"If God had really intended men to fly, he'd make it easier to get to the airport."

~George Winters

"Just as soon as I get back from this vacation, I'm gonna need a vacation "

~Unknown 

Blogging A to Z Challenge April 2012... What will "W" bring us tomorrow?

Blessings...

43 days to go...  

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Taking Back My Life ~ Making It My Own.  U.S Copyright laws apply.  © 2012