Monthly Archives: May 2015

Jackpot! 90% Off Sale 

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OMG – We felt like we hit the JACKPOT today. ML and I somehow signed up to help with a promotion dance this year and are the leads for the theme and decorations. Neither of us have ever even chaperoned a dance, we don’t have much time, and we don’t want to spend hours building props and creating backdrops. The anxiety started creeping in yesterday!

Today we were planning out our ideas and remembered that our local party store was going out of business and maybe we could get a deal. ML realized today was their final day so we headed over there to discover that everything was 90% off.  We felt like we were those ladies on extreme couponing, trying to get everything for nothing and with huge baskets filled to the top.  And we thought we were just going in for cut-outs!!  

It took forever to count all our items and to add them all up and to bag them. We were giddy with all our loot and on an adrenaline high! We felt badly for the people waiting patiently behind us and thanked them for waiting, saying it was for a good cause.

We were able to buy so many decorations for very little money and this made us very happy, silly and excited! I think the kids are going to love it! 

extreme decorators!

  

The Loot

 
Can’t wait to see how it all comes together!!

xo Adriana

MRI and Savasana

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Have you ever had an MRI before?  Some might find this procedure to be stressful. I found it to be quite relaxing.  It’s kind of like corpse pose, or savasana in yoga, just a lot louder and for a longer duration of staying completely still.  I pretended that my MRI was practice for my yoga practice – to stay still and not move at all for 20 minutes.  This was very challenging for me, but I did it and liked it!

I had to go in for my shoulder as I do not have full range of motion and it keeps causing me pain. I’m hoping that with the MRI, the doctor can determine what is causing my pain and if and what we can do to heal it. I’ve had to regretfully give up tennis and haven’t paddled in quite some time because of the pain these activities create for my rotator cuff, which makes me sad.  I have compensated though and found more time to volunteer, cook, do yoga, hike and to exercise in other ways.  I do not like having my movement limited at all, so this is definitely a challenge for me.

The technician that was helping me was very warm and friendly. He did a good job at making sure I was warm and comfortable and to assure me that I could get out of the donut shaped body tube with a press of the emergency button at any time. He talked to me once I was hidden away, making sure that I was okay, and then the loud noises began.  There are different frequencies of noises, so once I got used to the repetitive sounds, they would change.  I just focused on my breathing and relaxing and feeling thankful for the 20 minutes to be alone, laying down with nothing else to do.  Sometimes it’s cool to relax, even if it is for an MRI.

I had a pleasant medical experience tonight and hope the results are conclusive.

nAMaste

Happy Mama 2015

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 How was your Mother’s Day? 
Juliana decorated the kitchen for me when I got up and there were flowers and cards and gifts on the table to enjoy.  Jeff brought me coffee in bed and Charie came in to snuggle.

I was happy and frustrated and sad today but mostly happy. I say that to keep things real because I share mostly the happy parts of my life but want to be clear that there is work and struggle behind the happiness. 

I have a lot of expectations and hopes and dreams and sometimes those are hard to manage and live by.   And I wouldn’t change a thing!

I was really sad that I wasn’t in Southern California with my family and my mama who were all gathering for a family early dinner. 

I was sad for Laurie who’s celebrating her first Mother’s Day without Chase.  This day has got to suck for her.

I was sad and frustrated that my kids didn’t really want to go for a hike with me, and that we had to make them go anyway. In my imagination, we all want to do the same thing and live happily after. I have raised independent and confident teens who have other ideas than mine and sometimes this creates conflict. It’s healthy and normal and presents a struggle that I’m not quite good with just yet. I’m still learning. 

Luckily Jeff is good at negotiating or maybe cracking the whip. Thank goodness for him and getting everyone on board because once we all got out and to the hills, we were smiling again.

I loved walking with everyone and enjoying the views and sharing stories. It reminded me of our time exploring in Europe together and us walking everywhere.  This made me happy and we got almost 10,000 steps in.  

I was happy that we all had breakfast together and sat on the couch to watch a family movie together with popcorn.

I love that we all love Japanese food and that they made a reservation for dinner out tonight.

I loved that we stopped at Philz for a coffee and mochas before heading home and relaxed on the couch together. Christian took a selfie of us, that he never does and shared it on FB.  This made me smile because even though we get frustrated with each other, we still love each other and are best friends. We say we are sorry and quickly forgive and forget which is awesome. I love this kid.

Charlie wanted to play cards before bed and beat me almost every hand. I love playing games and loved that he wanted to play with me.  It was on my wish list today and he listened. 

It was a full day of togetherness and I am content and grateful. I got to text and talk with friends and family and enjoy everyone’s FB Mother’s Day love stories. I hope your day was good and that you felt loved.

Life is good. 

nAMaste

Mother’s Day Eve

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I am thankful for these three who made me their mama!

I am thankful for my mama too who taught me unconditional love.  

I am thankful for all the mamas and women who have shared and share their love and wisdom and friendship with me.  

Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow!

I hope everyone takes a moment to share some love and memories with the important women in our lives – mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers, cousins and friends.

mamaste. 

Having Fun Just Because We Can

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I had to take Juliana to an appointment today and as we were leaving I noticed this fun sculpture and asked J if she wanted to play on it. 

Her initial reaction was, “right now?” and of course I said, “yes, it’s not like we’re coming back here tomorrow and the moment is now. It’s right in front of us and looks like fun.  Are you in?”

She didn’t hesitate for long and humored me for a little minute.  

   
       

I love this kid in so many ways and love that she’ll still play with me. I loved the sculpture and the trees and the lighting too. 

On to another subject, we had our first successful pasta night and I loved it. I loved having all the kids together and all the parents too.  I loved that everyone brought something to share, especially fresh tulips.  Thank you friends for sharing the night with me and for the wine and goodies.  I love this!!

 
Hope you have a great, relaxing weekend!  NamASTE. 

Preparing for Pasta Night

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Jeff and I love to cook and to entertain together. It’s one hobby that we both share and we especially like trying new things. 

When my mama was here while I was out of town, Jeff wanted to learn how to make her spaghetti sauce.  She made her sauce for our family and Jeff took detailed notes. Her sauce is like liquid gold and I’ve never done a great job replicating it because I swear as soon as I turn to wash a dish, she turns and sprinkles a little bit of this and that and works her magic. 

Christian has been wanting to have his group of friends over for awhile and Juliana was sharing how she likes how my cousin Shellee hosts a pasta night every week for her kids and their friends.  I’ve been loving that idea too and then just read an article about a family that cooks an informal pasta meal and invites over those who want to participate in a super casual way. The key is no stress and no worry about a clutter free, clean house – everyone just shows up and brings something to share if they want and then we enjoy good old fashioned family time with our friends.

So you know where this is going… I asked Jeff if he wanted to cook my mom’s sauce together and host a pasta night and he agreed!  The plans were set and I got excited to try something new and sent out invites via text right away.

I shopped today for the sausages and meat to make meatballs.  After we all came home from our various appointments and had our family dinner, we cleared out the kitchen and had a date at home, cooking together side by side. Did I tell you how much I love this? 

I loved that Jeff wanted to cook my mom’s recipe and I loved seeing his handwritten notes. I loved that we spent time together on a “school” night, chopping and rolling and measuring and mixing and stirring. I loved that Juliana got a kick out of us living it up in the kitchen too.

 
Christian came out of his room to say how good the sauce smelled and that the smell reached his room. 

   
   I wish you could smell my house right now.  It smells so good, just like my mama’s house. 

Do you have a weekly family meal that you share?  When I was growing up we had pasta on Wednesdays and Sundays. I loved this tradition. 

Life is good.

xo Adriana

Light and Laundry

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My family room has become my laundry room. I was hoping to have all the laundry done before the end of the day, but of course that didn’t happen.  I was just caught up two days ago, and already the piles are high! How does that happen so quickly?

I don’t really like seeing piles of laundry sitting in my living room, but today I saw it in a new light. Literally.  

I was having fun in the kitchen making all kinds of messes and interesting dishes, and the beautiful light shining unexpectedly in the room caught my eye.

  

The sun was setting after 7:30 pm and this light should not have been piercing through this room that way.  I was curious. 

It actually was reflecting off a neighbor’s mirrored windows and reflecting into our room.  I loved how it caught my eye and I was able to snap a quick picture with my iPhone 6.  (I just felt like I had to add that camera type in the details as Apple is advertising their photos in magazines and billboards everywhere touting the excellent photos their phones can take and I agree!) 

Sometimes we find something interesting and beautiful in the not so interesting simplicity of repetitive laundry.
What did you find interesting or beautiful today?

xo Adriana

Teacher Appreciation Week

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This week is teacher appreciation week at our school and I’m sure for others across the nation.

I was up early preparing a main dish to share at the luncheon, while Charlie was up early writing a hand written thank you card. He proudly brought the first round of gifts to class today.

BJ lead the teacher appreciation luncheon and decorated the staff room with a beautiful island oasis theme. I love seeing how all the families bring food to feed the teachers at this type of event. There is a mutual reciprocity of gratitude between the parents and the teachers and back again. I think the volunteers have just as much fun as the teachers.

I ran into Charlie’s teacher there today. She had a big smile on her face and thanked us for the lunch and also told me how much she enjoyed having Charlie in her class. She said she really enjoyed his gift and the letter that he wrote and noticed that he’s been trying really hard to do his personal best. I loved hearing this feedback from her and was thankful for these few moments together in the lunch room.

This was my last teacher appreciation luncheon at our elementary school as Charlie is promoting in June to middle school. It’s hard for me to believe that all three of my kids will have completed elementary school at the same place, despite the year abroad. Charlie has been going around the house singing the shooting star song that they sing at graduation that I’ve heard once or twice before and I know the end is near.

Today was a good day and it put me in a happy mood to be sharing time with my friends and volunteers and past teachers, grateful for the years together in our little community.

Thank you to all who choose to teach and to all the volunteers making our lives great. I hope you feel appreciated and loved!

nAMaste

Crazy Days and Going with the Flow

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Today was crazy busy in a good kind of way and I am exhausted and thankful. 

Juliana had shared a BuzzFeed with me about clean eating recipes for two weeks. One recipe luckily caught my eye and was the idea that became dinner tonight.

I got to the gym and did a lot of shopping. In between shopping trips, I threw chicken breasts and salsa verde into the crockpot and showered before heading out again with my wet curly hair.

I zipped through the last store and dropped off the groceries before heading out again for a meeting. 

And the rest of the day took over from there. I forgot an appointment and had to rush around and try to still squeeze it in.  Christian decided when I picked him up that he needed to do some extra swimming and could I please bring him to the pool. It wasn’t on my plan either, but I went with it and squeezed the pool visit in too.  This was a highlight of my day. I loved just  watching him swim and sitting in the sunshine by myself. 

   
 

I told him we had to hurry though because I had to bring Charlie and his friend to their appointment.

We made it out of the pool and home on time to pick up the boys and get them to where they needed to be. Juliana decided she wanted to drive with me to drop them off. After we dropped the boys off, she didn’t want to go home just yet because she knew I would be distracted by all of the things still left on my to do list and she wanted time alone together.

Okay, when your teenage daughter decides she wants to spend time with you,  you don’t say no. Of course, I had a huge list of things I wanted to do in the next hour, like folding laundry and finishing dinner and tidying up a little bit and returning phone calls and emails. But I let it all go and enjoyed the moment with her. This was the best choice, even if I did have a quiet moment of anxiety before getting to yes. She makes me smile and I love being with her and am thankful she wanted to be together. 

So dinner was a little later tonight and the side dishes weren’t prepared, but we had plenty of leftovers to go with the yummy, light chicken that cooked itself in the crockpot. I love that magical pot.

The kitchen got cleaned and most of the clutter picked up, just a little later than usual. The laundry? It’s still sitting there and can wait until tomorrow. 

Happy kids, happy (tired) mom.  

Life is crazy and good! 

nAMaste and good night. xo

I Love Your Life

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I do.

I love hearing your stories and about what you’re doing, what you’re learning and celebrating and how you’re traveling and exercising and working and volunteering and cooking and also about your passions. 

I like hearing about your kids and your family and your pets and I even like hearing about your struggles and concerns and heartache.  I love seeing you reach your goals. I love seeing you shine. I love seeing you rise up especially when you’ve been knocked down because I can see your strength and you inspire me.  

I do.

We are alive and celebrating life together and I love it, the good, the bad and the ugly. We’re human and we’re perfectly imperfect. We’re vulnerable and we are connected. One love.

I love when you comment on my blog or send me a private message, acknowledging and seeing me and sharing your feelings and experience and creating a connection. 

I love looking at the stats on my blog and seeing that friends from around the world are reading and maybe reflecting and thinking about living it up and laughing out loud and loving those around them.

Today someone I admire greeted me with a hug and said to me, “I love your life!” And she made me stop and smile and think how lucky we all are.  Thank you GR for that shared moment. 

I love your life and I love mine too

nAMaste BeLoveRs

  
This is homemade watermelon juice that I brought to Charlie’s game and reminded me of SQ and Cabo. Miss you friend.  xo