Written Words Never Die

The ship sets sail
From the pier she waves
What does she dwell on
Her sadness, he is gone
Or anticipation…
Of their reunion
Am I to dictate, how she should feel
….what her eyes reveal

 

Written by a wonderful friend, Eric Alagan ~ Written Words Never Die

Thank you Eric! This is such a beautiful piece.

You reminded me of a comment a friend once told me, “Christine, I say this with absolute and unshakable belief – you will meet your loved ones again, all of us will.”   Such peaceful advice!   Thank you  🙂 🙂

 

The Sole Beneath Your Path

They sit in the corner

Dusty and barren

Your path now exhausted

Fitting only our prayers to heaven

They traveled the earth

Bringing fragments home

Soles now worn off

Chilling my bones

Fading splatters of blood

Releasing your soul

Vanish to the new life

Clinging to memories of ole

When I glare at them

My heart swells afire

The fearless path my dearest took

I can only admire

Copyright @ Christine-Smith Johnson

Inspired by Landon

The Genuine Blogger Award From LostUpAbove

I have made a new friend who thinks I am genuine. Awww…  I am extremely touched.

I never knew when I first joined WordPress, I would fall in love with so many wonderful people. I had no idea if I would even meet another writer I could relate to. I was only here to write.

Well, that has majorly changed. I have learned so much from many inspiring authors, poets, and photographers. I have found the awesomest (it’s a word in my book!) friends here. I have learned it is okay to share the pain, the love, and the funny stuff.

I still cannot figure out where some get their inspiration from though. They make me feel as if I am suffering from a mind block when I read their poems. Some of them are able to express things I know I feel, but could never find the words for. Some think of things I have never even thought of. They amaze me!

As far as my articles, I have only begun. There is so much I want to write, and I will when I am able. Some are mentally hard to write about, as I am still fighting the government, on a closed case at that. It takes a lot out of me and I have to free my mind of it afterwards for a while, to avoid the heaviness of depression. All in due time…

Stephanie is very talented at choosing our great poets and their inspiring poems. They can make you feel as if you are in another era of time. You will enjoy reading her posts. She is truly a loving soul.

Thank you Steph for such a beautiful award! You are certainly Not Lost Down Under!! xoxo 

The beauty of this award is, there are no rules! 

I would like to pass this award on to Rana Armoush, a very genuine heart indeed. 

While you are here, I want to finish something I started before I received the many awards this week. 🙂

I had so much fun entering Aisha’s Picture Worth Your Words Contest, and I have run across other contests I would like to share with those who are interested. I think some of you will create brilliant pieces of work!

http://clownponders.wordpress.com/  Holds a weekly contest, so when you are in the mood, it is always available.

http://mymusicmysimsmystoriesmypoetry.wordpress.com/ Has a poll on her site, for those interested.

http://ermiliablog.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/__picture-it-write-15/ One picture to choose from.

http://intertwinedthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/01/tell-tale-contest.html Finish her story.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week!

Did I Cheat In Receiving These Awards?

I went to a fellow blogger’s site today to inform her of a contest that is held weekly and found out she won two new awards. I figured I would congratulate Parry on her many accomplishments, and what did I find?!

Before she even had a chance to message me of my nomination for not one award, but two…I saw my name on her list! You have no idea how excited I was. So many things were going through my mind. How could I win awards and two at the same time?

I was just telling my daughter this morning. on the way to school, I want the Candle Lighter Award. I have always thought it was the prettiest one. Don’t get me wrong, I love them all. The shock of it all, is that I am still thanking others from the last two awards, before the beauty has even worn off, if it ever will. Hasn’t yet! Then, I mysteriously find two more, and one is my favorite. Yay! Thank you Parry!

Did I cheat by finding her list, before she could tell me?      Hehe…  I’m still smiling!

 

 

Parry at Slice Of Life is an extremely talented writer that juggles her writing with exams.

Hats off to you Parry!   (Thank you for nominating me. I was in complete shock.)

There are no rules for these awards other than enjoying them.

I would like to nominate   Mrs. S 

Todd Grady  (Soul Influences)

Eitheory  (We have a doctor in the house!) 🙂

 

 

I am honored to also receive the Lovely Blogger Award from Parry at Slice Of Life 

Yes, I am still in shock!

There are also no rules for this award.

I would like to pass it on to Aslan Kanshaw aka Dark Zone.

He can express things that take most of us our entire lifetime to find the right words for.

Truly AMAZING Master Poet! (So are Steph, Eric, and FiveReflections  to name a few.)

 

 

AHHA!!  I DID IT AGAIN!!  I just went to Parry’s site and found another award from her!!!! …Before I got her message. LOL

I’m on to you Parry.   Hehe

Before I could publish this post, I got another one!  My daughter is telling me to calm down. Shush your mouth!! 🙂

Thank you Parry!  You are so kind and truly an amazing person. I am honored.

Rules of Acceptance:

1. Thank the blogger who presented you with the award.
2. Post a photo of the award.
3. Share ten things about yourself readers don’t know.
4. Choose six people to present this award to.
5. Let the six bloggers know they have been awarded.

 

 

Ten Things About Me

1. I am taking my daughter for her driving test today. Please pray for me!

2. I can be extremely clumsy sometimes. My children and I can all fall up the stairs. Just last week, we were trying to break up a cat-dog fight. I fell up the stairs, lost my shoe, and hurt my leg, when all of a sudden, my daughter comes to my rescue and lands on top of my back. My head was pushed into the door, my leg was on a brick, and the cat used my daughter’s back as a take-off pad. We were both just stuck there and could not get up. I think I was also on top of the dog. It was crazy!

3. I have two cousins, on my daddy’s side, who must be my twins. We are just alike, act alike, look alike, and think alike. We can sense each other’s trouble, a state away.

4. I went from being a dental assistant to working in the car industry. Complete career switch. I was the manager over 7 locations throughout two states. I had many titles, auditing, training, collections, repossession, hiring/firing, customer service, sales, financing, insurance, service department, and many other areas of the corporate role. I used to hit the alarm clock in the morning and say, “Who’d you get?”, thinking a repo was being called in. I have had car keys thrown at me, I have been called all kind of names, and then there were some who thought I hung the moon.  Now, I’m tired! 🙂 Please do not ever mention another car lot to me, as long as I live. Just Kidding! Sort of. I did work my butt off though. It got like Wall Street most days.

5. I hate the corporate life. Some of it was exciting, the traveling, the pay, the company car, the credit card, the technology, the friends at each location, getting away from the day in and day out drama. The part I hated was the micro-managing, the gossip, the jealousy, the threat of company shut down, the long hours, the meetings, the back stabbing, small company jets (with windows that whistle and landing gear that breaks!), never being home, missing out on family and friends, and numerous other things.

6. I have a very, very small tolerance of people who nit pick every time you talk to them. Life is too short.

7. I want a funny mirror, for my home. Anytime, someone is in a bad mood, that’s it! Go to the mirror!    I love them!! Cheap entertainment.

8. I found a hawk when I was little, that had a broken wing. We took him home and nursed him back to health, until he could fly away.

9. I had a pet squirrel named Quincy. He would jump from my shoulder to my husband’s when we passed in the hall. He was spoiled rotten. My husband and his mom raised one for 12 years or more, that visited the dentist to have his teeth cleaned. ???

10. An embarrassing moment that my nine-year old cousin, Canaan, will obviously always remember. He still, years later, reminds his mom of it, (she is the cousin I mentioned who is like my twin). I once took my truck through a car wash and I saw my daughter’s flip-flop fly out the back. At that time, she was serious about her flip-flops! You couldn’t borrow them, much less look at them. A five dollar pair of flip-flops! I got out, not thinking the car wash would be slippery. All I was thinking was oh crap, I have to get that, or I am going to hear about it for days. I stepped in with only two things in mind: get the flip-flop and dear God, please don’t let the car wash start up! First step, okay, second step, I SKIED HALF-WAY THROUGH THE CAR WASH! ON ONE FOOT, THE OTHER ONE WAS IN THE AIR! Yeah, soap and wax really do get slimy. When I finally fell, I slid under the bar your tire rides on, cut my foot, cuz I had on durn flip-flops, cut my hand, but I got that flip-flop! I could barely get up. When I finally got up, I wobbled out, my shoe and hers in hand, covered in soap and wax, and bleeding. I was laughing so hard, I was crying and could barely see to drive. The stupid things we do for our children…

 

Now, for the nominees who I choose to receive the Kreative Blogger Award:

1. A Piece Of My Mind
2. Lesley Carter
3. Diamond Thread
4. Thy Polar Life
5. Poetic Journey 251
6. Channel Comfort

There are so many more who deserve this award! Congratulations to you all. I hope you have a wonderful week!

 

 

Liebster Blog Award

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

I am so excited to have received another award. I never in a million years thought I would have gotten the first one, much less a second or third. Thank you so much Aisha for thinking of me and brightening my day.  I love it!!! WordPress bloggers are awesome! Well, some of you aren’t WordPress….you’re awesome to!! 🙂

If you haven’t visited Aisha’s Scrapyard yet, she is a great poet and story-teller that puts you in the moment.  She also holds awesome contests. I am waiting on the next one already. 🙂

The rules for this award are:

1. Thank the fellow blogger who nominated you.
2. List five blogs that has affected your writing in a positive manner, by virtue of comments, posts, inspirations etc.
3. Leave comments on those blogs letting them know of the nominations
4. Post the award in your blog.
5. Bask in the love of fellow bloggers and spread joy and inculcate good karma.

Wow, there are so many who have impacted me in many different ways. Five is definitely not enough. Some have stolen my heart the minute I met them, and that is very unusual for me.

I think writer’s all share one huge soul or brain wave or something up there :), and it is easier for us to connect. If I had to choose Facebook or WordPress…well you see where I spend my time. I have enjoyed meeting every one of you and now cannot imagine life without your funny ways, your challenging posts, and your past you openly share.

Some of you have made me laugh out loud when I forgot I had someone asleep beside me. Some of you have made me cry and walk around with a lump in my throat for hours. Some of you had me questioning things I have never thought about before and I enjoyed every minute of them all. Thank you everyone I know on here, for all your wisdom and your love.

Ready? Hold on to your hearts, they stole mine!

1. ThyPolarLife

2. RanaArmoush

3. PoeticJourney251

4. FromTheBungalow

5. DearDarl

Congratulations! You all deserve it.

My Second Versatile Blogger Award

I am so excited to be nominated by Parry,  at http://parryelwahey.wordpress.com/  for the Versatile Blogger Award today. I am excited because it allows me to nominate other fellow bloggers who deserve the recognition. I was saddened last time to only recommend 15 fellow bloggers.  There are just too many talented writers to handpick only 15.

Thank you Parry for nominating me, I truly appreciate it. You are a very talented poet and I always enjoy reading your poems at Slice Of Life. Keep them coming!

The Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

1. Add a picture of the award in your post.
2. Thank the award giver.
3. Share 7 random facts about you.
4. Choose 15 other bloggers to pass the award to and let them know that they’ve been nominated.

Choosing 7 random facts about myself is the hardest part.

1. Everyone in my family has nicknames that we go by. My close friends and family call me Christy, although I have been called everything from Christina to Tina. They all make me smile, some people just seem to choose the name they think fits me the best. I pretty much answer to anything now.
2. I am desperate to find a deserted island and just disappear for about a month or two or whenever I decide to return.  Hehe…   I am very serious… it has been calling my name.
3. I wish there were ten of me, not being conceited because although I love me, sometimes I don’t like me very much, but so I could help more people, the homeless, abused, widowed, elderly, soldiers, and orphaned. They are everywhere and this is what breaks my heart the most.
4. I have 3 brothers and 0 sisters. Two of them are soldiers who help protect our country. I am so proud of them!
5. My grandmother NEVER once raised her voice at me my entire life, and she used to babysit me every day after school and some weekends. There were many times I would have deserved it if she had! (Especially when I scrubbed the walls with my tricycle handlebars, after she asked me not to. Yes, she even let me ride indoors!) I think this is where the loving side of me comes from. She would always have sandwiches and sweet tea waiting for the trash truck each week. She was the sweetest person I have ever met and was always my best friend, who had plenty of paint brushes and spackle. She loved me!  🙂
6. On the other hand, my other grandmother gave me my first spanking when I was little. She asked me to move out from in front of the TV and I put my hand on my hip and calmly asked her, “What if I don’t?!” After she spanked me, she took me to my other grandmother’s house. I was crying and apologizing, but she wouldn’t change her mind. She told her, “Heeere’s your granddaughter, I will see her next week!” and left me standing on the porch crying. For the rest of my life, I never back-talked her again. She ruled the roost!
7. I have too many dogs, most of them abandoned or rescued. I have a beautiful white and brown American Bulldog named Dixie, who thinks she is little and she mamas all the other dogs and cats, a big Black Lab named Tobie Keith (his sister Vegas just passed away), who gets in his drinking water and sits like a cowboy in the old silver tubs, a miniature Jack Russel named John Deere, who thinks he is bigger than the other two dogs and sleeps in the same small pet bed with the cat, and three puppies who are quickly finding a way to my heart before we can find them good homes. I have two cats, Coontail and Garfield, who now hate the dogs! Usually when I’m not online, I’m running around chasing them or breaking up the wrestling ring. It’s like a circus around here. Very frustrating sometimes but who can resist them when they cuddle up next to you?

Now for the fun part! Although I can think of a lot more than 15 fellow bloggers to nominate, I can only choose 15. There are so many of you who I think deserve the award.

1. http://earthinbw.wordpress.com/
2. http://intertwinedthoughts.blogspot.com/
3. http://channelcomfort.wordpress.com/
4. http://a7madkhalifa.wordpress.com/
5. http://zacharyshahan.com/
6. http://yourfamilygeek.com/
7. http://diamondthread.blogspot.com/2012/01/have-i-lost-him.html (a great twist to the picture worth your words contest entry)
8. http://thelightwayblog.com/
9. http://clownponders.wordpress.com/
10. http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/
11. http://singlemaltmonkey.com/category/poetry-writing/
12. http://poetryonaroll.wordpress.com/
13. http://ermiliablog.wordpress.com/
14. http://thebettermanprojects.wordpress.com/
15. http://mymusicmysimsmystoriesmypoetry.wordpress.com/

And again, Steph, Aslan, and Eric, I wanted to nominate you three, as you are my favorites, but I also wanted to nominate some that haven’t received an award yet.  Congratulations everyone, I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you Parry!

When An Angel Cries

To see another entry of the Picture Worth Your Words contest please visit When An Angel Cries by Rana Armoush. It is a beautiful short story that gives a twist at the end. I love her creativity and thought it was worth sharing with you. Amazingly bone chilling!

It’s Not Your Time

Picture Worth Your Words Contest   Picture Prompt # 1

Baby, It’s Not Your Time

by Christine Smith-Johnson

Baby, I am here

Can’t you feel me this time

I am here with you

Always with you

You have to believe

You have to know

I feel your heart beating

Every second of every day

I hear your mind racing

When you think of me

I dry your tears when they spill

I have anger to

I feel your weakness

Let me comfort you

Can’t you feel me push you back

Do not do this

You are strong

You’re not ready to come home

Baby, I am here

Do you know I am here

Tell me you know I am here

You have to hold on

I know you long to be with me

I am not really gone

Baby, it’s not your time

I know you love me

You know I love you

You are my very soul

Stop this madness

Stop looking up

Look at me

Can’t you see me with your heart

Feel me with your heart

You have to feel me

I know you died with me

Everything changed

You are not alone

I am here, baby

I am always here

I know you hurt

I feel your pain

I have mine to

But these are not my tears

It’s only rain

Do you hear when I whisper to you

My heart was ripped out to

I see you cry

I hear your sighs

I would give anything to come back for you

I am lost without you

I miss you to

I will come back for you

When it’s your time

I am still your love

You are still my life

I will NEVER stop thinking of you

I will NEVER stop helping you

Please wait a while longer

I am waiting for you

I will always wait for you

Stop rushing this

Please take your time

Baby, It’s Not Your Time!

It was mine…

Did You Miss The Surprise?

I know movies are irrelevant to my usual posts, but who doesn’t love a great ending? I love the days when we discover something awesome and I want to share it with you.

I have never really sat and watched the end credits of a movie, unless I was too sleepy to jump right up. My son and I watched Fast Five at the theater last year and we decided to stay in our seats when the movie ended to watch the end credits, since they were showing a sort of animated race in the background of the credits. If you have ever watched any of the Fast and Furious movies, then you know Dominic and O’Conner have been in a ongoing argument over who truly wins their races. I love how they bicker back and forth about letting the other one win or the car tearing up. (I promise I will not tell you the end of the movie, as much as I want to!)

Everyone else, minus a hand full of people, got up and left the theater.  We were in no rush to leave, obviously loving the movie and wishing it hadn’t ended. All of a sudden, the credits ended and the movie continued! I wish I could tell you the real ending, but if you walked out of the theater early or cut your DVD player off, I will stay silent on this. It is a huge shocker! It was probably one of the best endings they could ever come up with.

For those of you who have not watched most of the Fast and Furious series before Fast Five, unfortunately, you probably will not understand the ending. My son and I talked about this for weeks afterwards, and now wonder how many other endings we have missed! I want to watch the earlier series to see if there were other endings or if they only did it in Fast Five. We loved it and knew instantly there would be another movie. I just searched online and found out the next one should be released in 2013, Furious Six. Two years away, too long.

I will say Tokyo Drift was my least favorite, but I love Fast and Furious! Fast Five was the best one. I am already excited about the next one, like a child waiting on Christmas.  🙂

Did you watch past the end credits or did you miss the surprise? I haven’t heard anyone else mention this. I am really curious how many others saw the real ending.

The Versatile Blogger Award

 

What a great way to start the new year. Thank you Steph at  http://lostupabove.wordpress.com/  for the nomination of The Versatile Blogger Award and Congratulations on your many awards. You definitely deserved every one of them.

For this award you have to do a couple of things as follows:

1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.
4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

Wow, seven things about myself:

1. I enjoy art and photography. It is my passion, although I do not presently have the time to really do either. I am in the process of writing a book and hope to have it published soon.
2. I love to hike and I love to shoot. Anywhere in nature is where I want to be. Give me the choice of nature or shopping, my boots come on.
3. When I am out and about driving, my children laugh at me because I comment on beautiful trees. (Now they do to. Haha!)
4. I ask my children odd questions. Things that can never be answered.
5. I drive in my pajamas… a lot. I pray I don’t break down in my pajamas… a lot.
6. I used to be strong, in shape. I did sit-ups with the top half of my body hanging off the bed.  Keyword- Used to. (I grew up with three brothers and there was a lot of wrestling in the house. Many nights I went to bed exercising and thinking, just wait…I’ll get you, tomorrow.)
7. I wish I could tell every US Soldier how proud I am of them and thank them for protecting us.

I hope I am not breaking a rule, but I decided to throw in one extra. I think the best piano player that can truly rock a piano is Elton John. I have only watched one other person come close (not counting Symphony players) and that is Rob Thomas, playing solo, originally from Matchbox 20. Before you say Matchbox 20?, watch his video Bright Lights. He is awesome on the piano.

Now, for the 15 blogs I feel deserve the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. http://tracyzhangphoto.wordpress.com/
2. http://mayudreambig.wordpress.com/
3. http://nostalgiainthemaking.com/
4. http://asheloves.wordpress.com/
5. http://darcwit.wordpress.com/
6. http://readingmichael.com/2011/12/22/iraq-what-i-remember/
7. http://my2ndheartbeat.wordpress.com/
8. http://analyfe.com/
9. http://themilesbacktoyou.com/
10. http://oradalelanuja.wordpress.com/category/life-2/
11. http://mywordswhisper.wordpress.com/
12. http://our-story-begins.com/
13. http://tombasson.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/the-first-thing-you-should-do-in-2012/
14. http://1000awesomethings.com/
15. http://becomingcliche.wordpress.com/

There are so many others I would like to nominate and I have enjoyed getting to know everyone. Congratulations and I hope you accept the award.

Thank you Stephanie for thinking of me. I would have liked nominating you, Aslan, and Eric, but I figured you all needed a short break. 🙂   Happy New Year!