I love going to yoga and am always so thankful after my practice.
My body needs to stretch and move and exercise and relax.
My mind needs the calmness and centeredness that yoga delivers.
I love my yoga teacher and seeing my friends in class, by my side. I feel connected.
I love the feeling of completion and accomplishment at the end and I always look forward to going back again.
Yoga is my thing. What is your thing? What grounds you? What do you love to do?
nAMaste
I tend to share the ups on the teeter-totter of life.
I thought I’d share a teetering moment as I try to find my balance again.
I am transitioning from a stay at home mom to a part time working mom and I don’t have it quite figured out yet.
I am trying to let go of some of the expectations from my previous path as I journey on down this new road and it’s a bit bumpy, as I want to do it all.
I think there is always chaos in the transition and once I master the steps, it’ll seem easy again. But right now I feel the stress and it’s ok, it just is and I have two pimples on my face as proof.
I’ve decided my priorities are:
1. My family. I want to cook and to pick kids up from school and drive them where they need to go. I want to be present when they are home and be able to listen and share stories together while we can.
2. Exercise. I have to exercise for my sanity. It’s a requirement that’s not negotiable and I keep forgetting this. Today I remembered and it felt so good, especially on a Monday.
3. My work. I’m excited about my new job and creating something new and being part of a great team. I like using my brain and like that I’m actually making money again, after 15 years of volunteering.
4. My clean house. I need order and chaos under control in my outer environment to maintain my inner sanity. This is teetering today but I’ll get it back in order before I go to bed.
5. My girlfriends. I need them. They are my emotional support and I love sharing our stories together.
6. My volunteer commitments. I still love giving back to my community and this one is a little bit harder now. Today I let go of one of my commitments and it did not feel good. I can’t continue in the role I had and work too, at least not right now. I’m ok with the decision now, but in the moment I struggled.
7. My writing. I’m still enjoying this outlet and love that so many of you find a connection with me and share your ideas and comments. I may try writing at different times of the day and maybe skipping a day or two, to let go of the pressure and expectation to produce new content daily. We’ll see. I’m not ready to change this process just yet, but I don’t want to teeter too long.
I like balance, amidst the yin and the yang.
How about you? Are you feeling centered or are you teetering too? Are there things you need to change and burdens you need to let go to find your core again? Change is good. Embrace it and enjoy the ride.
xoxo thanks for reading xoxo
It was raining this afternoon and it seemed like so many people decided to get out to the mall. The lines to find a parking spot were long and it was challenging to secure a spot. It gave me a feeling of what’s to come.
Are you ready?
I’d like to get my family to boycot presents and to have a shared experience instead. Do you think it’s possible to change tradition? Hmmm…
Merry Christmas Spirit to You, BeLoveRs!!
xo
Jeff and I decided to walk to our downtown farmer’s market this morning.
Surprisingly, all three kids decided to join us. Walking together reminded me of the times we walked together through Amsterdam and I was thankful they were all with me. It felt weird walking a mile and a half through residential streets when most people are not out walking. We don’t live in a walking kind of town, but it felt good to be an outlier.
I loved walking and people watching and tasting fresh fruits and cheeses. We liked seeing all the vendors, fruits and veggies displays, and listening to the music performers.
I loved the lighting on the veggies.
Each of us chose something for brunch and we found a table where we could sit together and share a family potluck meal, even sharing utensils. It felt like we were camping. The crazy thing was that both Jeff and I felt the same way and we both said the exact same expression simultaneously. This was so eerily weird and cool at the same time.
While walking back home, we stopped in to see our friends and shared a cup of coffee. I love that this was even a possibility.
These are the best days, simple and sweet.
Life is good, outdoors.
It’s been a very busy and stressful week and it’s Friday night. I am happy to just be home, with everyone home too by 7:30 pm and no where to go and no one to pick up and nothing left to do. We can take comfort in this simple fact. This is just like what Melissa says to us at the end of our yoga practice and I love the feeling of being done and resting.
Our week is complete and now we get to take comfort and rest and enjoy the week-end. Best night ever.
I wish the same to you.
nAMaste
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
Something is seriously wrong with me.
I went back to work and I’m now trying to merge my stay at home mom lifestyle and expectations with my new part-time, working mom time commitments. Wednesdays are my “day off” and feel like my Sunday, like my day to catch up and to exercise and see friends and make appointments and to run errands and to supposedly cook like a wild woman!
Yesterday, I had to leave the house early and was gone and in and out all day and night. I had no time to cook and this bothered me. I like to have food readily available for my family when they come home. They’re all busy too, and providing food feels like I’m providing comfort and energy so that everyone survives. So dramatic, I know. But seriously. They can cook on their own and make their own food, but I still want to do it and feel like I’m doing my job. I want to take care of them this way and show them my love this way. I love that they enjoy my cooking and I feel connected to them through food. So when I literally couldn’t fit in the cooking time any time during the day yesterday, I felt like a failure. Not really, but really I’m feeling dramatic today, so let’s just go with an F- in the food department.
So today I made up for it because I had time. I also had pounds of chicken and beef and veggies that I had planned to use yesterday, so I got busy. I had leftovers to repurpose and new recipes to try and a dish that Juliana asked me to make, plus 2 dishes I wanted to recreate from the Indonesian restaurant we visited this past weekend. I had big dreams to fill today and I made 6 different things, plus washed all the dishes and put them away. All in a day and now I feel happy with my full fridge.
In case you’re curious about what I made, I made a spicy Indonesian beef rendang, Indonesian sayur lodeh, gluten free/light/baked coconut chicken, some sort of mediterranean chicken and cauliflower in a tomato and onion sauce, chicken marsala, and Julie’s spaghetti pizza bake recipe. Oh, and Thai jasmine rice to soak up all the sauces.
So no one should go hungry for the rest of the week. Phew. I feel so much better now with food in the nest, ready to feed my flock.
How do you nest?
nAMaste BeLoveRs
In honor of Carmen’s quilting patterns and love of color and good food, here’s my perfectly imperfect tribute of something beautiful on an old table. Yin and yang
I left Carmen’s house tonight, inspired, as always. Carmen makes me smile and I love just being near her. She exudes light, through her eyes and her smile and her confidence. Her house is filled with bright colors and as you look around, you can’t help but feel happy, looking at the bright orange walls in her kitchen, the rainbow carpet in her family room and at the whimsical and colorful hand made, intricately designed quilt that covers one wall.
She always has a little bit of wisdom to share, that I hold onto and want to remember. For example, tonight somehow we were talking about problems and worry, about what exactly I don’t remember, but she shared something that her brother taught her about how we shouldn’t spend our time worrying, for if there is a solution there is nothing to worry about and if there isn’t a solution there isn’t anything you can do anyway, so why worry? I’m sure I messed it up, but the message was to stop worrying and the way she shared her story just made me smile.
She showed me her quilting room and I was in awe. It was my favorite room in the house for several reasons. It was organized and neat and was a creative haven for her to practice her art. She had all the right tools and bins and surfaces needed. It wasn’t huge, but it was perfectly balanced and I could imagine what it would be like to be her, inside her little room during the day with the sunshine streaming in, listening to her music and quilting away in her happy place, making quilts to give away, which makes her even happier. I loved this space and love that she is so passionate and has created a place to work her magic.
I also love that she loves to travel and how she adores her family, especially her grandkids, and lives life up beautifully, every day.
It’s always great to have mentors, and Carmen is one of mine.
Who is one of your mentors and why? What do you admire about the person that inspires you?
Thank you Carmen – for the visit, for the treats to share with my family, and for being such a lovely soul. xo
nAMAste
Keep shining, brightly. We need your energy. xo
nAmaste
We celebrated Halloween all month, culminating in a big party last night and lots of candy and clutter. We’ve had decorations all over our house and in our yard the entire month too. This morning we deconstructed Halloween and stored everything back in the attic. I love that everything is back in balance again, at least until the next holiday.
After cleaning up all day, we had a couple things to do this afternoon and we found ourselves with an hour to spare while waiting for Juliana and decided to stop at the park, which was a great idea!!!
When was the last time you strolled through a park? I forget how great they are, now that the kids are older. I loved seeing all the families and dogs, kids and squirrels, and just breathing in the fresh air and getting some simple exercise.
Charlie loves to go geocaching and knew there were two caches to find in this park. We followed along to discover the treasures with him. It was really fun searching and uncovering the secret loot and watching Charlie sign the logs, showing that he was there. 
As we walked through the park, we saw a family having portraits taken as the sun was setting. The lighting was gorgeous and it was the best time of days for photos. I teased Jeff and asked him to come pretend with me that we were taking holiday photos. The more selfies we took, the more I laughed and cracked myself up. I actually liked a couple of them and wished I had all 3 kids with us to snap a family selfie. Next time!!
As we were getting ready to leave, I loved listening to and watching these little ones riding their scooters up and down this little hill. I was scared for them, speeding down so quickly without helmets on and so close to each other, but they were so happy! I just watched and prayed that they would be safe, marveling in their lack of fear and pure, repetitive joy.
Today was a perfect day to go outside and play. How did you rest and play on your Sunday?
Hope you have a good week. xo
here i am 