Doris Day -- Sentimental Journey

When I was growing up one of my favorite actresses was Doris Day.  I loved her movies, her TV show and her clean cut, down to earth, American Girl ways!  She was the epitome of who I wanted to be and she  stunningly beautiful to boot!!  


My first taste of Doris Day was seeing her in the movie "Calamity Jane",a rough a tumble country cow-gal, who finally finds her inner and outer beauty when she falls in love with the man of her dreams.  A cowgirl version of ugly duckling that turns into the swan.  I watched that movie over and over again...I could relate to the movie premise when I was a gawky pre-teen.


Then my father introduced me to her real roots...singing in Les Brown's Band with Doris Day as his lead singer. "Sentimental Journey" was her biggest hit with this Big Band Hit maker.


Doris Day has not always led the life that is portrayed in her many movies. Her real story was revealed in her autobiography "Doris Day: Her Own Story" (book is out of print but you can find it used)...This is a woman who has been rich, lost it all and come back from nothing. Doris Day is a survivor! 

Many folks only connect Doris Day to her leading men...Rock Hudson, James Garner, Brain Keith, Gordan McRae , Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewertand my favorite Cary Grant.  Here is a list of her movies and some of my favorites:

• Calamity Jane
• On Moonlight Bay
• By the Light Of the Silver Moon
• Please Don't Eat the Daisies  
• Move Over Darling 
• The Thrill of it All
• The Glass Bottom Boat
• That Touch of Mink
• With Six You Get Eggroll
• Pillow Talk
• Young at Heart
• The Pajama Game
• Send Me No Flowers
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• Many more....

But my favorite of all was her TV show...The Doris Day Show!  It was on for five seasons and you will learn from her autobiography that it was her hit TV series that brought her back from the brink of financial collapse after her husband, Marty Melcher, lost all of her fortune from her success in her early career.  Her show, along with a few movies and TV specials brought her back from financial ruin. It was cute little show with a "That Girl" California style flair.

If you would like to learn more about Doris Day...past and present...look no further then here at her website with everything Doris Day - Legendary Actress! 

Thank you Doris...for all the love and memories!!


Who was your favorite actress or actor and Why?!!

Treasures from My Father

My sister Gail brought a treasure trove of pictures, slides letters, diplomas and writings that were my mother's...but mostly my father's writing and musings.

Edward S Onody

Edward S Onody was a character...one that you rarely see any more in this world.  He was a Renaissance man of sorts. He was definitely a product of his Hungarian Immigrant parents; a generation who toiled and learned how to live with little and being blessed with much.  Until I started reading my father's younger musings, when he was young and in love, starting a family, being sent off to war and dealing with family and life issues...I didn't realize until now that it was my father who was the romantic one of my parents.  It was my father who openly struggled and grappled with life’s growing pains, but all the while leaning on an ever present faith in God.

Here is the one of many Treasures my father left behind.  I found this list written on a bank deposit slip, front and back...he never wasted anything and always used bank deposit lists for his lists and notes.  This one, I believe, tells you a lot about a man that at the time that he wrote it, which was at my mother's and his final home at Loughberry Park in Saratoga...that he was a man who was looking over his life and jotting down his thoughts. To me, this list is what is missing in the men today...it is the foundation of what makes a Noble Man.

All Of Creation - Mercyme

Prepare your hearts...open your mind and arms and welcome your salvation!!

Prepare for the celebration of Easter Sunday....HE IS RISEN!!

I Can Only Imagine ~ MercyMe w/ London Symphony Orchestra

An Easter Gift of Music

Letter to our Congress

Dear Congress:

Last year I mismanaged my funds, procrastinated and allowed others to distract me with stupid issues without merit, along with reading the new healthcare plan AND this year I cannot decide on a budget, financial plan and strategy or donate all my money to NPR or Planned Parenthood.

Until I have come to a unified decision that fits ALL of my needs and interests, I will have to shut down my checkbook and will no longer be able to pay my taxes. I'm sure you'll can relate and understand.

Thank you very much for setting an example we can all follow.

If you need to contact me I will be at home on furlough, golfing or meeting with Al Sharpton in NYC.

Sincerely, 

Amy L Harden

Navy Veteran and Military Wife

Ultimate Blog Challenge - Day 8

Vision Boards - The Basics (Part 2)

This is a direct how to guide on creating a successful and powerful vision board that will help you to center yourself and channel your positive energy into the board, making the effect much stronger on your life involving you goal or dream for yourself in life. To find out what a vision board is and how to create one, 

My Vision Board for 2005. Created right before I turned 50 years old.  

You begin by being honest with yourself about what your ultimate goal or dream is. We all have dreams that may seem impossible, but they can actually be accomplished with some, determination, powerful positivity and a good solid vision board. After you have made your decision to create your own powerful vision board, start by keeping an eye out for pictures, colors and images that grab your eye. Some you will see and they will grab you with a definite "yes", whereas others you may feel attracted to with a "buzzing" feeling in the pit of your stomach. Not every image that you collect will end up on your board, but until you get them all together to make the vision board you will not know for sure.

Vision Boards

April 2011 Vision Board

I have been working on this Vision Board for several days and I finally completed it tonight, after procrastinating and then putting one together without gluing it...which the dogs came in and knocked the pictures all over the place.  I had to start over.

I have always created Vision Boards but back when I started they were called collage and IF you put a clear paste like medium over it...they were called decoupage.  In any case I loved doing it and after every collage I always felt a sense of emptying, a creative intensity...a release of of ideas, thoughts and emotions on to the page.  They started out with more pictures then words and not that I have been writing more...I seem to create or collage with words instead.  I LOVE collage/Vision Boards...as they tell a story or show where my head was at that time in my life

If you have ever taken a Vision Board class...tell you to break up the field in to four spaces with a center that place your most prominent picture, thoughts, words, phrases. Simply, each section can represent certain parts of your life, like: Love, Family, Work, Play or Health, Happiness and Wealth.  

The Vision Board you see above have several sections that align with what I learning and using a The Ultimate Game of Life Challenge.

In the next few days, I will be looking further in to the power of Vision Boards and how everyone needs to do at least one in their life.  If you would like to learn more about Vision Boards, the BEST resources are John Assaraf's - The Complete Vision Board Kit and Joyce Schwartz - The Vision Board.

Learn how to direct your story, affirm your life and work...focus on where you want to go!

Life Legacy Stories: Taking the Time to Listen

A dear Facebook friend, Becky Shaw Mantooth, recently wrote an inspiring article at her blog Becky's Daily Thoughts about her "dream job"...how she would like to travel the country... even the world and just listen to all the many life stories that people , religions, cultures and countries.  She actually got me to thinking about an encounter I had a few years ago.

These stories of those who are NOT famous, rich and brilliant can be just as amazing...aren't they?  Your blog post brought to mind the most wonderful encounter I had with an older woman in a Walgreen's Drug Store a few years ago.  She was there shopping with a few of her Assisted Living Friends and trying to get around the store with a basket and a walker.  I saw her struggling to get things down off of shelves and carry the basket...so I asked her if I could help her shop.  In the most distinct Brooklyn accent she told me: "Hon, you must be an angel sent straight from God...Yes!"...and for the next hour this delightful curmudgeon kept me enraptured with stories of her family, children and her youth in NYC before, during WWII and after.

Music Monday: Win Francesca Battistelli - This Is the Stuff

This is the Stuff that can make or break a Monday...maybe even a week. I love this little song or ditty by Francesca Battistelli!

On Monday's when life can get away from you or out of hand...with losing the keys, getting stopped by the cops because you are going too fast...running late again...This is the Stuff!

How about the forgotten gas bill that didn't get paid?  Suddenly you remember or figure out you have forgotten, as you are standing in the shower with a full head of suds in your hair and the water has suddenly turned quite cold....This is the Stuff!


God has a sense of humor...He loves to take every day annoyances or small mistakes and teach lessons of gratitude or even bless us. 


...What is the Stuff that gets in the way of your day...BUT...in the end God uses to show you how fortunate you are...in the end, He uses to blesses you every day?  


Please share your This is the Stuff God Blesses stories here with me. I will randomly select one story as a winner.  The winner will receive a download of the Hundred More Years MP3 and will be reposted as a guest blogger on Music Monday, along with another favorite selection from this album.

The next time your day seems to take a turn for the worse...play this little ditty and you will soon see that This is the Stuff that God uses to show us how blessed we truly are.

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Sunday's are for Gratitude

Thank you!!!! To all the people in my life who have guided , taught and loved me along my faith journey...those who are here and those who have passed on. There are some that I wish I had had the chance to tell them, while others I believe knew anyways. I dedicate this song on the First Sunday of April to you (Rose, Helen, Linda, Joan, Deb, Wayne, Paul, Dave, Dad, Nana and many more) and for all of those who daily sacrifice...give of themselves....You are God's angel's here on earth.

Start your week by thanking someone who has gone out of their way to help you, give you a step up... Pay it forward for someone else....tell them Thank you and if you can't tell them...DO what they did for you for someone else!!

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