Central Coast – Avila Beach

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We felt like we had the beach to ourselves today. The sun was shining and there wasn’t any wind. We were lucky to have nothing to do. I love this sleepy little town.

We dipped our toes in the ocean and walked along the sandy shore. We loved the feeling of the million little rocks under our feet and seeing how the high tide created a mini-pool higher up on the beach.

Some of us built rock art and others played three flies up. We walked in the little shops and admired creative sand sculptures.

I’m so glad my parents came to spend some time with us, doing “nothing” together and being perfectly content.

Life is good.

17Feb2015

What is Your Love Story?

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We all have a love story.

What does yours look like? What does it feel like? Is it happy or sad? Fulfilling or tragic? Somewhere in the middle? Simple or complex? Beginning or ending? In transition? Filled with drama or peaceful?

I (mostly) write about love and happiness and joy because these are the things I want to feel and experience, despite the pain and chaos and conflict that also exists. My love story has those elements too… I just don’t like to focus my thoughts there for very long. I prefer (when I’m strong enough and able) to acknowledge them and find a solution or recognize that which is yucky and then move on to spending more time living and loving and laughing and singing. I do that too and embarrass my kids, but that’s ok because it usually makes them laugh. And that makes me happy, which is the path I choose to follow every day. It’s my life practice. Is there a Degree in happiness? Or can you teach love and happiness like you teach yoga? Hmm… That’s an interesting thought.

Today my love story involved my family and my parents. My parents are my best teachers of unconditional love and I am so thankful for their priceless gift. I am happy just being in the same room as them, watching them interact with my family and listening to them talk and laugh, holding hands, leaning my head on their shoulders and rubbing my foot on theirs as we just sit and chat and hang out together.

My family shared a new experience together riding ATVs in the Pismo / Oceano Dunes. At first I was a bit fearful and excited and nervous. Once we started cruising along the beach, I was content and a wee bit excited. I loved that we were cruising on the beach! As we entered the dunes, two ATVs got stuck and we struggled to learn how to get up the hill in loose sand and how to restart the engine. We supported one another, stopping to help each other out and waiting for one another as we road through the open sand dunes. We were so lucky as we had the dunes all to ourselves, which made our first time out feel a little safer. We learned something new together and this shared connection made me very happy, especially knowing that everyone had a good time and didn’t get hurt.

Life is good, and I hope you’re living your happily ever after. xo

16Feb2015

Fifty Shades of Grey

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Got your attention! But this is clean fun and family friendly. Geez!

Come see the (grey) Elephant Seals at San Simeon on the central coast of California for free!

Tonight I’ll share some pictures as my internet connection is weak and I’ve lost a copy of my first draft.

The elephant seals are quite entertaining and stinky! You’ll see mamas and their babies and papas trying to make more babies, being very dominating and competing with the other males in sight.

And for the tender hearted, here are a couple other cuties we saw on our walk.

Life is good.

15Feb2015

Big Sur

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I love California and feel refreshed and relaxed being outdoors and soaking in the sunshine and natural beauty, especially when we are near the ocean.

Today we explored the coast and the majesty of Big Sur. We stopped at Nepenthe to see what everyone was talking about and it didn’t disappoint.

I just thought I’d share some moments from the day.

We enjoyed watching the fog roll in and watching the sun set. It’s the simple things, really that make life great.

Life is good. Be well, BeLoveRs.

14Feb2015

You Are Loved

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No matter what you know, the best thing
to know is that you are loved.

If you think that no one loves you, then look in the mirror and love yourself. Then you’ll be right. You will be loved and that’s in your control.

Anything more than this is a bonus.

Today I love that everyone in my family chose to love everyone else by sharing a valentine with each other. Our table was full. This was the highlight of my day. When you give, you receive.

The best part of receiving Valentines is knowing that someone else took the time to think of us, in their own way. I loved seeing our cards to each other and we all felt good taking a few moments to share our loving thoughts with each other. By far, this was my favorite gift – observing the thoughtfulness in each of my family members.

Life is good. Now before you think my day was perfect, it was far from that. There were a few hiccups and delays, but I am thankful for my one beautiful family and day.

13Feb2015

Love Yourself

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What do you love about yourself?

If you love yourself a little more, you’ll create more happiness in this world.

The more you love you the more love you’ll have to give away.

And we’ll all live happily, lovingly ever after.

12Feb2015

My Playground

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It was a beautiful day at Rancho San Antonio, hiking with Susanne and missing Michele. I automatically drive towards M’s house but she moved away, and I had to backtrack to the parking lot.

Rancho San Antonio is in the middle of Silicon Valley and provides a respite from the chaos and speed of life that is. It is my happy place, besides the beach. I was happy to see the water flowing in the creeks today.

This pig was lying in the sun just enjoying his day and he made me smile. Oh, to be so happy just being.

Later this afternoon, I took Charlie to a local park as we had an hour to fill while we waited for Juliana. We both felt out of place because he’s older now and so am I. We weren’t quite sure what to do with ourselves as there were lots of little ones running around. We had fun on the swings and climbing and hanging on the bars. Soon we saw friends we know and love and felt at home again.

Today was a fun and busy day yet there were moments of stillness and playfulness that made me happy.

How was your day? What made you smile?

I hope you feel fulfilled and content.

namaste

11Feb2015

Heartbroken

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Today I Am sad.

Grief comes in waves and you never know when a wave is going to come crashing.

Today is Chase’s 18th birthday and he’s celebrating it in heaven, while the rest of us remember and grieve in our own ways.

I can’t imagine what the pain feels like for his mama and dad and brother and sister, if what we are feeling is like this.

The only thing I know is that we have to keep paddling to not drown.

And so we moved through our day, doing what we “had” to do, yet feeling such an extreme loss and feeling confused, not really understanding why.

I know that he was loved and that his family is loved beyond words, beyond gifts, beyond what is. Everyone wanted to share in the pain and to love them through it, providing tangible and intangible help.

Maybe that’s all we’re supposed to do. Just love, and wait and be kind and lift each other up while we wait for this feeling, this wave of grief, to subside.

Wishing us all peace and love. xo

Love you.

10Feb2015

Challenged

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Photo Credit: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/15-quotes-for-challenging-times.html

This is one of those yin and yang moments.

Sometimes a challenge is a good thing.

Other times it’s painful.

Sometimes a challenge is exciting.

Other times it’s scary.

Some challenges we fail.

Other times we conquer.

Some challenges make us feel happy.

Other ones make us incredibly sad.

Some times we know what steps we need to take.

Other times we are lost.

Either way, I think it depends on the power of our mind to succeed and it takes time – whether good or bad.

Success might look like mastery and it might look like acceptance.

I think both types of challenges require hope and strength and focus and work and discipline.

I think both types of challenges require us to keep breathing and moving forward, unless your challenge was to be still.

I wish you well with whatever challenges you are facing.

Be well, BeLoveRs.

Goodnight.

9Feb2015

Good Night. Be Well. You’re Welcome.

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These are some of my favorite simple sayings.

When you say “good night” to someone, do you mean it? What does it mean to you? “Good night” is a way of closing a conversation and wishing the other person a nice end to their day. It represents closure and peace and rest when I think of it literally. When I texted a good night message to L and she texted me back, saying “good night. hope you sleep well.” I felt like we exchanged hugs and good byes and we were done for the day.

“Be well” is another expression that I like, and may have mentioned this one before. Instead of saying “Have a nice day,” which is another way of saying “so long, farewell… as you leave me, I hope that you will be well and happy.” Simplified, we could just say “Be well.” I love this.

I love the simple gesture of recognizing someone’s gratitude by saying the more formal and simple, “You’re welcome.” By saying “You’re Welcome” to their “Thank you”, you close the gap between the two of you. I love this. It provides a closed connection that feels balanced. This is much better than the “Uh-huh” or “Sure. No problem.” I have to remember this little gift.

All of these expressions provide points of connection between two people. By communicating with these words, we are able to acknowledge one another in a way that says, “I see you.” and “I appreciate you.” and “I like you.”

Namaste, BeLoveRs. Good night. Be well. And thank you for sharing this wonderful life journey together. xo

p.s. Do you know what the opposite of a salutation is called? Neither did I. It is called a valediction. A valediction is the action of saying farewell. Ha! We or I learned something new today. We just practiced new valedictions. Goodbye. 🙂