Monthly Archives: July 2015

Preparing for a Celebration

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 After the sun went down and we finished dinner, we got our tent out to set up in our backyard desert. California is experiencing a major drought and brown is the new green. 

Our youngest planned his own birthday celebration and has been busy for over a week already, planning and shopping and preparing decorations. He waited all day to set up the camping tent, as it was too hot this afternoon to be working in the sun.  He is a little bit excited!

He has declared this week as his birthday week and is already expecting special privileges. He says his birth week celebration begins today and ends on Sunday.  I love his enthusiasm and energy and excitement for life, even though he drives me a little crazy. I love hearing his plans and ideas, especially hearing him thinking about his friend’s dietary needs and what we should plan for dinner and dessert. I am happy that he is happy and excited.

I think this week is going to be busy and exciting for all of us! 

Happy birth week my little man. I love you!

This Moment

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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 

Cooking Together

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Jeff went to an off site, team building cooking event yesterday with his coworkers.  They picked a Vietnamese menu and learned to cook shaken beef, an eggplant dish, garlic noodles, spring rolls,  and a chocolate mousse.

He had a really great time and decided he would cook for me tonight. I loved this idea.

We love cooking together and just hanging out. I loved that this was his idea and he did all the shopping and measuring and planned the meal. This is the most tedious part for me.  So while he was at the store, I cleaned the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher so we had a clean work space to begin. I loved being his sous chef and helper as he lead the way.

We all sat down and enjoyed the delicious meal. Thank you Jeff for cooking with me!  That was fun and something new. xoimage image image

Life is good.

Busy Not Busy

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That’s the way I’d describe this 6th week of summer.

Not having a plan has created space to create plans.

So from not being busy, I am busy.

Yin and yang.

Today I didn’t have a plan and yet I went paint shopping, ordered new furniture, volunteered, drove kids here and there, and emptied the garage of all donation drop offs to name a few tasks.  I keep thinking I’ll sit and read or work on my photos but that time never comes. I am busy being not busy.  Argh.

Can you relate?  TGIF and have a great weekend!

6 Weeks

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We are already into our 6th week of summer vacation and I’m already getting anxious thinking about it being over. 

I really love summer vacation and it takes me awhile to unwind and let go.

Today I am still feeling jet lagged and so I did a little less and relaxed and it felt so good.

I tried to not have a plan and let the day unfold without a schedule and boy did that feel great and turned our remarkably fulfilling. Here’s what an unstructured day looked like.

I slept in and played with the kittens. J stopped by for a cup of tea and drove with me to drop CJ off at his practice.

We came back and played SpikeBall with the other kids in the front yard and got such a kick out of it.

I cooked lunch and did some paper work and then took the kids and friends to the pool to cool off and play.  The kids were so happy playing and he moms chatting that no one wanted to leave and we stayed an extra hour.

The only plans we had was dinner with our friends and that was spectacular!

  
What a perfectly, unplanned and unscheduled, fulfilling day just living in the moment.

I love summer! 

nAMaste

Home Again 

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I love California and am happy to be home again.

I love the cool air coming through the open windows. 

I love the light and sunshine that radiates.

I loved sleeping in my own bed again and waking up to coffee already made when the timer went off.

I loved taking things slowly today, catching up with loads and loads of laundry and talking with friends and family.

I enjoyed easily knowing where to go to get groceries and bubble teas to make everyone happy.

I loved seeing the kids hanging out with their friends and being outside and bringing them snacks.

  
I love traveling and I love coming home and appreciate this wonderfully, perfectly,  imperfect life.

Life is good.

What I Love About Traveling

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We are finally wrapping up our 10 day east coast traveling journey and I have time on the 6 hour flight home to reflect on what I love about traveling. 

Here are a few of my favorite things:

– seeing the world

– comparing and contrasting where we live with the places we visit

– visiting with family and friends we don’t get to see all the time and enjoying them in their homes

– learning together and making connections about our history and cultures and customs of the places we visit

– getting out of my comfort zone which makes me appreciate my comfort zone and the comfort of everyday life

– seeing how my family has learned to adapt quickly and can sleep anywhere

– enjoying local foods like Philly cheesesteaks, Maryland crab cakes, and New York bagels and pizza

– sharing experiences with my family

– watching my kids enjoy their experience and working together as a team to make decisions

– watching my son become our knowledgable leader 

– spending several days together engaged with one another as a team

– seeing my kids help one another to make each other comfortable

– making memories and sharing stories.

We all have a story to share and we learn from other’s stories and making connections. What do you love about traveling?

I am thankful for this last experience and for my family for sharing the journey together. Thank you to C and D and your families for hosting us for a couple of the days. Love y’all.

Life is good. 

 

Loving the East Coast

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We enjoyed Mystic, Connecticut today and wished we had more time to spend there. The weather was gorgeous and the water was calling my name. I especially loved seeing the paddle boarders in the calm water.

We also drove out to Rhode Island to see an east coast beach and to stick my toes in the water. The east coast is very different from the west coast and was wall to wall people still at 4 pm!

   
    
The rest of the time was spent with family and seeing M’s play. There is nothing better to me than time spent with good friends and family. I loved watching the cousins run around and play together and build friendships, and sitting around and sharing time with C&S.

Life is good.  Hope you’re enjoying your weekend and doing something great!