This is the life.
This is my happily ever after right now, in this moment.
This is the best staycation I never dreamed of.
I love this life.
Thank you, Sunshine, for inviting us over tonight. We had a blast making pizzas and “shmores” and playing corn hole!! xo
nAMaste
I stopped to see the beach and to listen to the waves for 5 minutes before heading home, because I was really “busy” today.
We were going to sit in the hot tub and drink our coffee, but we didn’t. We went for a walk with the kids instead.
We were going to go for a drive to test out my friend’s new car, but we didn’t. We sat on the patio and watched the hawks circling overhead instead.
We were going to make lunch, but rather we put out fruit and meat and cheese and told everyone to help themselves.
We joyfully watched the kids play all day, appreciating them still being kids. We relaxed in the sunshine and talked the day away and there was nothing else I would have rather done. We were very busy, being.
We flowed and danced and loved being together side by side, enjoying our kids and our friendship and living our happily ever after in the sunshine. This is it. This is my version of the best life. Thank you my friend, for sharing your weekend and family and home and thoughts with me. xo
How did you live it up today? What does your happily ever after look like? Be well, BeLOVErs.
Charlie and I were excited all day for this. We were anticipating finishing our day and packing up our duffle bags for an overnight stay with our BFFs. We stopped at 7-11 to buy snacks and popping cap guns.
I’m only sharing this picture that Charlie took on our ride down south because I want to hold on to the other memories in my mind.
I loved that from the moment we stepped out of the car, Charlie was already running away with his BFF. We did see them now and then and got to share in some of their joy. Like when they decided to be polar bears and dared each other to jump into the freezing, cold pool. Boys will be boys and we laughed and enjoyed their antics.
Listening to friends and watching them interact is the best gift. They adore each other and got into a state of flow in 2 seconds, just like their mamas. We picked up where we left off, happy to be together again.
Pure joy, just being together.
These are the days…life is good.
Have a good weekend, BeLoveRs.
Have you ever thought about courting in terms of friendships and platonic relationships?
Courting means to pay special attention to (someone) in an attempt to win their support or favor. Typically courting is used when trying to pick a mate to marry. But what about when you think of the friendships and relationships you wish to create? Is there an element of courting involved? I think so.
Friendships take time and investments of self. It takes two interested parties who choose to engage equally or near equally with each other to build a connection. I love connections and so this topic is very interesting to me and I’m surprised I never really thought of dating my friends or family or husband this way. Hmmm… learn something new everyday.
I realized that I am not typically the one to initiate the courting process with friends. I usually wait to be invited or asked out and typically am not the initiator. How about in your friendships? Are you the planner and organizer? I always love when someone else does the planning and inviting, but now I think I should be the one who holds court more often. It feels good to reach out to others and to be the first one to say, “hi, how are you? what are you doing? wanna meet for coffee?”
I tend to let busyness fill my time and when busyness becomes still, I relish in the stillness and don’t feel the need to reach out and court someone. That sounds funny, but it’s true.
Today, I decided to reach out and connect first and loved it. I loved when I had a few moments, that I decided to text a couple of my BFFs to see how they were shining today. 😉 It’s the giving part that creates happiness, that I forget. I have to be better at this courtship thing, because I think it works, and I’m definitely interested in my friends’ lives and strengthening our bonds.
I have a courtship that I maintain with my mama and sisters almost everyday. I’m never too busy to listen and to share and to connect with them. They are part of my inner circle and it takes time to invest in them and to strengthen our bonds.. It’s so worth it.
Does this make any sense to you?
Here’s to making the time to court our friends and spreading love and joy.
nAMaste, BeLoveRs
xoxo
Are you living it up? Are you doing exactly what you want to be doing? If not this moment, then when?
I believe in living in the moment and maximizing doing what I love, every day in addition to the work required to keep things flowing, of course.
I’ve realized that my favorite things to do are spending time with family and friends doing whatever and usually that means eating and traveling and exercising and experiencing new things and helping others. So I guess those are my favorite things… What are your favorite ways of spending the day?
Today my friends were gathering in the city so I drove up to be with them and to enjoy their presence. I adore them and was so happy to have a few hours together.
While I was gone, my boys got started painting a room which made me very happy. I came home to help with the finishing touches for day 1 and the first coat before we had dinner together.
I love this moment, this life, right now. And you. And you?
wishing you love and peace.
nAMaste
You make me happy everyday.
You make the skies blue and I love you!
Thank you for hiking with me today.
The end.
(Oh I wish I could sing, but his will have to do. I love this life and these friends. Life is good!!)
More of my loves came to see me today from far away and I am the happiest girl! And I’m tired because we stayed up into the morning laughing and sharing stories.
Life is good with Besties in your life!
TGIF!! Have a great weekend!
Happiness is “simple.” We just have to follow this little flow chart. I don’t think we should always expect to be happy though. Sometimes we need to wait until we’re ready to change again. I think being aware that we are unhappy is healthy too. We just have to decide how long we want to stay where we are.
If this was my own creation, I’d add another arrow leading from “Change Something” back up to the continuos happiness cycle, asking the question again after you change something to determine if that leads to happiness or not. Just because you change something does not necessarily lead to happiness again. I think we have to always be asking the questions and making decisions, every day. We’re never done.
The only thing that is constant is change.
Today I was happy having a mother daughter date with my teenager. I love that she wants to be with me and that I want to be with her. I love her company and watching her grow up, although today I wanted to slow down time. We both went to get haircuts together. Her hair is curlier than mine and we both had ours blown out and smoothed, the way only a hairdresser can make it shiny and sleek. Seeing her look so beautiful and grown up made me proud and awe struck again. She looked older and I think I looked a little younger, somehow. It’s weird to see me in her and her in me.
Celia made me think of parenthood this week with her FB post that said: “When you become a parent, you stop being the picture and become the frame.” Looking at Juliana today, I saw the picture developing and love my role as the loving boundary and frame.
I am happy.
I didn’t take any pictures today and instead just enjoyed the moments without feeling like I had to capture what was.
Instead, I just enjoyed the conversation, the scenery and just being.
I went for a hike with my BFF and although it was only 6+ miles, we probably could have gone 50 miles and not even noticed or felt tired. We were so happy to just be together out doing what we love and chatting and sharing and catching up that we hardly even noticed where we were.
I love these moments when time just passes by and you don’t even realize it because you are so content doing what you’re doing.
I was going to cook dinner tonight and then another friend dropped by, took off her shoes and decided to stay for awhile. I love when friends do this. I broke out the goat cheese from Harley Farms, some fresh red grapes and sliced the bread i picked up at the produce market today, and opened a bottle of my favorite Hess chardonnay to share with her. We sat together for over an hour and just caught up and enjoyed each other’s company, while our kids played outside.
I love this life. I love the simplicity of it all and just flowing with whatever comes my way.
Life is a miracle and I am loving it.
How was your Saturday?
“Let all that you do be done in Love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:14
I’ve been married for 17+ years. I fell in love with my husband literally at first sight and felt like I had seen a rock star. I could hardly acknowledge him when he first said hello to me as he took my breath away. I’ve always had a crush on him, yet being married has not always been easy.
The hardest years of our marriage came when I quit work to be a stay at home mom and we moved to the suburbs. I felt lost and alone with a toddler and a baby on the way and trying to transition to our new lifestyle, while he was busy working at a start up and trying to provide for our family on his own. We were both going through our own life changes and we struggled for a long time, even though we always loved each other.
I am thankful that we chose to stay faithful to our vows and to work through our differences and grievances. Love wins when both partners do the work and both stay committed to the contract you both signed, remembering and recalling in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. Having a marriage license made our relationship sticky when we felt we were slipping. Luckily we were able to keep flowing and growing, as I know this is a challenge.
I think the secret to a healthy marriage is to stay focused on the mission and each other and to take care of one another, even when you don’t want to and you don’t know which way is up. It also helps when you admire each other. We shared a belief in each other and our family and this was more important than our individual needs. We also choose to never go to bed angry and to agree to disagree, because we are more important than any one thing. My favorite mindful meditation I always say to myself when I get frustrated with him or anyone I love is “I love you more than anything you can say or do.” These words are powerful and have helped me through the years to stay focused on the greater good.
I didn’t mean to start writing about all this, as I was just going to share a picture of our date today on our hike. I felt like I had to explain that we’ve been working hard all these years and now that the kids are getting older and less needy, we are finding more time to spend together again. I was so happy that he chose to go hiking with me today and that I got to be out in nature with my best friend, sharing something that I love to do every week, and now with him. I love that he loves me and wants to hang out and share my joy.
What are some things that make your marriage or relationship happy?
Life is good and I am thankful.
Wishing you a loving and happy, healthy relationship. Namaste.
here i am 