Happy Easter

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Easter represents new life and new beginnings. It represents hope and light and resurrection. It is the celebration of good over evil, peace over suffering, light over darkness, and life after death.

When I think of Jesus as a man who was so selfless and chose to sacrifice His life for the good of all humanity, I have to pause and think who of us would choose this path, if any.

And then I think of parents who sacrifice their freedom and money and life, for the good and benefit of their children and I see Jesus in parenting.

I see Jesus when people choose to share of themselves without the hope of any gain, but rather for the good of society and I’m learning that by giving and sacrificing and being grateful for our gifts, that this is a path to creating and sustaining happiness.

Good Friday represents the torture and pain and suffering that we might all experience and then Sunday comes and we are free. We get to start again and we can be refreshed and let go of of our fears and begin to love again. Aren’t we lucky we get to start over again and again?

This is what Easter means to me. It means it’s ok for life to be imperfect and that we can handle sufferings. We can recover and start again with hope, peace and light, whatever religion or non religion we choose, again and again.

Namaste and Happy Easter!

19Apr2014

Miss You MamMam

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MamMam died today and I have felt a deep sadness all day. It’s a sadness that lingered and permeated by body as I moved through our busy day, when all I wanted to do was to be still and feel her presence. It’s so strange to me how when someone you love dies, the world keeps on moving and not everyone else knows this event happened. I feel like the earth opened up a hole and she fell through and then the hole closed up again and everyone kept moving on, not even noticing the hole and that she left us. But those who loved her, still feel her and the hole in our hearts is huge, and you can’t see that either.

MamMam is my children’s great grandmother, Jeff’s grandmother, and my PEO Sister. She was just shy of her 90th birthday. She loved to read my blog and would read it every day on her ipad. I have loved writing, knowing that I was providing her with a little bit of entertainment and a glimpse into our life away from her and PopPop. My writing and her reading made me feel connected to her. And now she’s not there anymore and that makes me really sad.

PopPop – I know how much you loved her and how well you cared for her and how you both dedicated your life to each other and your family. You both have been and are my heroes and I strive to be like you and her in my marriage and with my family. Just last month you both shared your 71st wedding anniversary and I treasured our long conversation with you both sharing your love and tips for success, so humbly and graciously. I’m so sorry that you’re constant companion has moved on to her eternal life with Jesus and I pray for you to find peace in the days that are ahead.

Miss you MamMam. Love our family. xo

Julie and MamMam

18Apr2014

Home

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We traveled home today after spending a few days with my family for spring break.

The best part of being with my family was just that: being. I enjoyed watching and listening to all the cousins play together.

I loved having coffee with my mama in the morning. I admired how my dad was busy making fresh bread and crepes with chocolate chips and powdered sugar for the kids for breakfast.

I loved seeing my sisters and friends and just chatting together. I liked driving down the familiar highways and roads and seeing my old church and high school too.

It wasn’t anything fancy or about doing any one particular thing together, but rather just sharing meals and conversation and love. We just enjoyed being at home together, and I am thankful that we just got to enjoy one another.

I am also thankful for making it home safely again and for having kids who are actually (mostly) enjoyable to share 6 hours in the car. Juliana sat in the front passenger seat with me and we talked for hours and she made the time go by quickly. She used Yelp to help us find a place for lunch and navigated for me. The boys sat in the back and watched movies and played with their electronic devices. Charlie slept for the first two hours of the journey. He was exhausted from all the late nights, hours of running around with his cousins, and getting up early every morning.

We were all happy to see Jeff again, as he stayed behind this trip to work. We all piled on top of each other on our new outdoor couch and just enjoyed being outside and sharing stories about our days apart.

Life is good.

Happy Birthday to L and G and please send prayers and blessings for sweet MamMam. xo

18Apr2014

Girl Friends

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Girlfriends, I love you! I am so thankful to have so many wonderful friends to share this journey together.

We all cross paths for a reason and coming back to my hometown and seeing friends from kindergarten all the way through college, along with my sisters and cousin and mother and nieces and daughter just filled my soul.

I looked at each and every one of you and felt thankful that you were here today and was thanas
We enjoyed time just being together, as women do, sharing stories and smiles and memories. We enjoyed the music, the glowing warm fire, and the ambiance.

Thank you for coming out today and tonight! You all are adored. xo

16Apr2014

The Nest

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I feel like I’ve come back to the nest.

Juliana made this origami crane diorama of my family, which I love. Made me thankful for this nest my parents created and tended for us.

My parents still live in the same house I grew up in 40+ years ago. It is comforting to come back here to the same place, in the same town, and to drive around the city to see what has changed and what has stayed the same and to see my family and friends.

Here we are driving to The Infamous Oaks Mall.

The Oaks Mall is a big deal in this small, sleepy town. I just liked wandering around with the girls and trying on clothes and grabbing some lunch together.

I love that my mom and dad are so welcoming and loving and that they like to entertain. My cousin Laurie and her family came over for dinner, and my friend Jeni and her family joined all of us too.

Even my brother was here so all my siblings were together and all the grand kids too which made me smile and laugh.

I love my crazy family and that we all took the time to be together for a few hours. We are a crazy, fun loving bunch, quirks and all, perfectly imperfect.

Life is good! Thanks for having us all for dinner tonight Mama and Pops.

What does your family do when they get together? Are you crazy, loving and silly like us too? I hope so!! 🙂

15Apr2014

I Am Her, and She Is Me

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Yesterday I wrote about my mama and how we’re both growing up, which is a nicer way than saying we’re aging. When I wrote about her, it made me cry, just feeling and realizing that we are aging and changing which is totally normal. I was just totally aware of it at that moment and it made me really miss her.

Today I drove with the kids 6 hours to come see her, and my dad and the rest of the family of course. We all just wanted to be together and since we have a few free days for spring break, we get to play with our cousins, Aunts, friends and grand parents. I am happy that we don’t have any real plans but to just be together for a few days.

Life is good and I’m excited to feel the days unfold.

Cousins make for the best of friends.

14Apr2014

My Beautiful Mama

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I was sitting in the car waiting for Charlie’s drum lesson to begin, when I caught a glance of my Mama.

I was sitting in the passenger seat, just relaxing for a few minutes, since we arrived quite early and I was staring off when I saw her. I saw her as I envision how she looks in my mind, when I was a little girl, and she was busy taking care of me and my siblings. It’s like time stood still and I had taken her place, as she “graduated.”

My Mama is now an Oma and I am the middle aged Mama taking her kids to their lessons. I still see her as she was in her 40s but she tells me that she doesn’t like close up pictures because she’s older now. I don’t see the wrinkles or age and still think she’s beautiful. I still see her as my Mama, and me as her little girl. But I see the wrinkles on my face in the mirror, so time must be passing. I feel like I’m still 24, but the mirror tells me otherwise and I understand what she means now.

I went to take a picture of her (me) in the mirror, but didn’t have my lipstick on, as she would. So I quickly snuck some on to recapture the image before taking a snapshot in time, with my little one photo bombing us in the background.

I love you my beautiful Mama!! Can’t wait to see you again.

xoxo

13Apr2014

California Staycation – Day 2

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Today was an almost perfect day for me, despite waking up with a headache.

Jeff made me coffee and we sat and read the paper together. I love the simple routines.

I had a USTA tennis match this afternoon, so I couldn’t join the family on their afternoon outing to the San Francisco Giants game. They left by 10 am, which gave me several hours alone at home before my match. Having quiet time without any responsibilities was awesome! It did feel funny to be home alone when I felt like I should be with my family. But this didn’t make me worry too long.

I sat and read my book for an hour and then did some work around the house before heading out. It was so peaceful to not be in a rush and to have very few interruptions. This was a luxury to me because I knew everyone was happy and taken care of so I could relax and be happy too.

The kids and Jeff had a fabulous time and I won my singles match, which made me very happy.

I absolutely love playing tennis. I love the mental part of the game, being outside in the sunshine and working hard, applying what I learn and trying to not over think every move.

When we all came back together, we shared stories and BBQed together.

Today was wonderful! Life is good.

How was your day? What did you do?

This the cove near the ballpark in San Francisco. Isn’t it gorgeous?

12Apr2014

California Staycation

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California is one of my favorite places and I love living here. Today we decided to be tourists of San Francisco. The kids had never been to Alcatraz and we had never been to Angel Island before. We got up early like it was a school day and packed a picnic lunch. We left the house by 7:45 am in time to drive up to the city and find parking before arriving for our 9:30 am departure.

It was very cold and even with our multiple layers we were still freezing. When it wasn’t windy, we felt fine and when the sun eventually peeked out, we were quite comfortable.

Here are some pictures from our Staycation.

Being in Alcatraz and listening to the stories while walking through the prison cells and hallways made me thankful for my freedom. It made me wonder why and how some people become so hardened and can hate life so much that they don’t want to follow the rules and will accept the loss of their freedom in exchange for their choice of rejecting societal norms.

Some people may not have the ability to weigh the pros and cons of their choices and be able to look past the current moment to see that they might end up in a worse place if they choose to act in a certain way. The human mind fascinates me.

Seeing the small cells where men lived and hearing how the space became part of them was so surreal.

The solitary confinement units where the worst of the worst inmates were placed in the dark for 24 hours at a time would make most people go insane. Hearing the audio tour as you walk through the exhibits really makes you feel and experience what it might have been like before 1963 when the last inmate was released from Alcatraz.

It’s actually a beautiful place to visit and to take in another view of the city from the water.

From Alcatraz, we took another ferry over to Angel Island. The sun was out by now and it was a beautiful journey. We ate our picnic lunch from the boat deck and enjoyed watching all the sailboats sail by. Once we arrived at Angel Island, we took a tram ride around the island that lasted one hour.

It turned out to be a perfect day of sunshine. We all loved the island and hope to come back and rent bikes one day and tour around again and explore this gorgeous place. We took a ferry back to San Francisco and finished our day with a walk to the Ferry Building. From there we started to head back to our car and discovered the stairway to Coit Tower. Even though we were tired, we still rallied and hiked the 400+ steps to the top because I was curious and wanted to try something new. More beauty was experienced and I was thankful that we all made it despite a few grumblings. I kept telling my kids that we didn’t have any wimps in our family and I guess they believed me!

My phone battery had died by the time we got to the steps so I was unable to take anymore pictures. Jeff took this one of me playing in this flower tree that made me smile.

There was a beautiful secret garden we discovered, quaint little homes and a cute black cat. The Filbert steps are definitely worth taking if you ever have the chance .

We are definitely tired now after more than walking 19,000+ steps, but in a good way.

I love San Francisco and life is good!

11Apr2014

Beautiful Night

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I hope you had a great evening, relaxing and celebrating the end of another week. Don’t the weeks go by so quickly?

Tonight I enjoyed watching Charlie play baseball. I was thankful that his siblings came out to watch and that his teacher came out to support him too. Jeff was able to get home from work earlier enough to catch the second half too. It was freezing outside once the sun started to go down.

Something must be in the air because my whole family seemed to have headaches and sinus pressure all day. I think it’s because of the weather changes. I had plans to meet friends in Palo Alto, but almost backed out because I didn’t feel well all day. Luckily the Tylenol helped and I got a second wind and mustered up the energy to change, freshen up, and to head out the door. I was so happy that I did, because the drive across town was beautiful. The sky show with all the beautiful colors was so entertaining. Here are a couple pictures. I hope you enjoyed the sun setting too.

I finally arrived at our destination a few minutes early and waited alone in the secret garden, left to admire the flowers, twinkling lights, fire pit, and happy people joining other friends. There were two young families with little kids and the parents had to keep getting up to bounce them, walk them, and to entertain them. I wanted to offer to hold the baby for the mama while I was waiting, but thought she probably would have thought I was weird!! My friends soon arrived and we were the last ones to leave. I think you could say we enjoyed each other’s company, the ambiance, the food and wine, and best of all the friendship and conversation that didn’t want to end.