Category Archives: motherhood

Day 18: Summer

Posted in family, happily ever after, joy, Mindfulness, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, work life balance, working mom by

Believe it or not, I am learning to relax in my old age!! 

This is the first summer where we haven’t made “real” plans ahead of time that I can remember. I am practicing going with the flow on a daily basis without a definite plan, which is quite uncomfortable for me, and I’m actually starting to enjoy it.  I feel liberated, unrushed and content just being (home).

I’m getting the hang of working from home and my flexible schedule and its actually manageable and doable! Today I worked for two hours before heading out to yoga with my BFF.  I then did kid logistics and enjoyed a relaxing lunch with my girl before working for two more hours before running out with my daughter to get our eyebrows waxed together!  Bonding at it’s finest!! When we came home, I finished up the last part of my work shift before dinner. I flowed through today and it actually felt good. 

How do you balance work and life like kids and chores and exercise? It’s all doable, just sometimes a little challenging! I’m liking the practice, though!

Hope you’re having a good week!

Pray for Istanbul and our global community that is under attack. We are Istanbul. One Love, you and me.

nAMaste

Day 17: Summer

Posted in family, Gratitude, happily ever after, intention, Love, Mindfulness, motherhood, one love, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living, spark joy, work life balance, working mom by


All these lemons came from the same tree, and this picture made me think of my kids.

You see I’m thankful that I have one large, one medium and one small one.  As the two big ones are growing up and becoming more independent and less needy of me, I still have the small one to grow for a little while longer and this makes me very happy.  Having the little one makes me remember that the big one was once small too and makes me even more aware that the little one is going to get bigger too one day, which makes me be even more present with all three of them. This is an amazing, little, magical gift of three.

Today the little one and I went to the craft store together to get stuff to make stuff. We like to make things together and I love that he is creative. He picked out a wood burning tool and some wood pieces to create some art, even though we were really going in the store to find neon, erasable white board markers that would show up on his metal black board. Luckily we found some of those too on the clearance rack. 

And that’s my happily ever after story for the day.  How was your day?  Did you make lemonade from lemons today?  

Oh, and P.S., This was my way of making lemonade out of lemons today…I was actually momentarily sad about the feeling of letting go and really knowing that my kids are growing up. There’s usually a back story to every happily ever after, isn’t there? Just sayin’

nAMaste BeLoveRs

Day 15: Summer

Posted in connection, family, food, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living by

My big kids come home from Mexico tomorrow. I have been anxious all day waiting to hear news about how they’re doing and was happy to see a post that they were finally state side. I started nesting again, like I did when I was pregnant with them.  That’s all I wanted to do today and I think that’s weird, but it’s my truth. 

So we folded all the laundry, fixed Juliana’s headboard and decluttered some more. 

I was thankful when Charlie suggested we get out of the house and came up with a plan. He wanted to get frozen yogurt, Japanese snacks and sushi from the Japanese market and take it home to watch a movie together. This combination made me laugh and I loved that I have a kid who loves froyo and sushi. It made for a perfectly relaxing evening and settled my anxiety.

Life is good. What simple thing did you enjoy today? 

nAMaste

Day 9: Summer

Posted in belovers, connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Love, love and light, motherhood, one love, parenting, positive living, simple living by

Caravan 2016 – Mexico


Our high schoolers left first thing this morning with their caravan, heading to Mexico for the next week, on a mission trip to serve others and to work side by side with their peers and advisors. I am scared, excited, happy, proud, anxious, grateful, in awe, and mostly thankful. 


I am thankful that our church believes in our youth and provides opportunities for them to practice our values in a loving environment. I am thankful for the plethora of advisors and volunteers who are dedicated to loving and supporting our youth and who give up their time graciously to be an active part of their lives. This trip takes a lot of work and preparation and dedication on so many levels. It truly is amazing to feel the synergy and I am proud of my kids for choosing to participate and am thankful to be part of this community.

Please send your good thoughts and prayers to keep them safe.

Our future is bright, BeLoveRs.

Happy Father’s Day. 

xoxo

Day 5: Summer

Posted in cats, connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Love, memories, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living, space, work life balance, working mom by


This was my afternoon stress relief. Charlie invited me and actually insisted that I come sit with him to watch some funny game show that he knew would make me laugh. Kids are so smart. He was right.  He wanted my attention and I reluctantly wanted his. As soon as I flopped into the couch as close to him as possible, Kanan came to claim his spot.  His purring was comforting too. 

Thank you Charlie for making me slow down! I love you and appreciate you. 

I hope you’re having a good week!

xo

Day 3: Summer

Posted in family, motherhood, work life balance, working mom by

The birds were chirping early in the morning and I was anxious to wake up and to start the day with them and coffee, of course.

This is my first summer as a working mom and I am new at this.  I am volunteering this week at our church’s vacation bible school in the morning, so I’m juggling my work hours before and after my volunteer hours. I worked from 6-7:30 am and from 1:00 to 6:30 pm. I was able to take the kids with me to volunteer and come home to have lunch together. I am thankful for a flexible work schedule. Luckily the family helped with shopping, chores and making dinner. It’s kinda nice to have big kids and I couldn’t do it without them, yet I have to admit it was a little bit chaotic and crazy at the same time. 

How do working moms, especially work from home moms, do it and keep up with it all, with everyone home at the same time? I am still learning! Please do share your best tips and strategies. 

I hope you had a good Monday!

nAMaste

Happily Ever After Today

Posted in connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, joy, Love, memories, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, spark joy by

How did you live your happily ever after today? After all, we are not promised tomorrow. So how did you make the most of your today?

This is how I think. I think that today is my best life ever and how am I going to live it up? What will spark joy?

Today I got to go for a walk with my BFF in the middle of the day, since we had to miss yoga. We made time for each other to escape our responsibilities and to go outside for a short while and to enjoy the sunshine, today.

I took my kids out to celebrate Charlie’s Student of the Month award to get bubble tea before dinner, as he requested. We took time to celebrate his gifts and he even got to sit in the front seat, a place usually reserved for the eldest. I loved just sitting with him and Juliana, sharing stories about our happily ever after day.

What else? I called my sister, I texted with my family, and made dinner and we gathered around the table. We didn’t have to go anywhere tonight and it was a gift to stay home and relax.

Today was good. I liked going with the flow and enjoying my family and friends, living the dream, one day at a time.

 What’s your dream? Are you creating it? Go ahead… get started! You’ll thank yourself later for choosing to start right now.

You’ve Got Mail!

Posted in best friends, connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, joy, Love, motherhood, one love, positive living, simple living, Uncategorized, working mom by

The door bell rang while we were just hanging out with friends. We weren’t expecting anyone else just then. Charlie said there was an Amazon truck parked outside. I hadn’t ordered anything recently so I was curious as to why they were knocking on my door.

It was my lucky day!  The package was for me and it was a gift from my sister! You have no idea but I LOVE surprises for no reason and today was one of those surprise kinda days.

Thank you my sister for loving me and surprising me with a thoughtful book! I can’t wait to read it and I’ve only got 10 pages left in the current book I’m reading !! 


Thanks a million!! I’m already happy and haven’t even opened it up yet!

Have you surprised someone lately??

Chaperoning in Chinatown

Posted in connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, joy, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, spark joy, work life balance, working mom by


I got to chaperone a field trip to Chinatown in San Francisco today and am thankful.


I’m thankful that Charlie wanted me to go with him. I’m thankful that he was excited to go on this trip with his classmates and I loved hearing his anticipation about possibly getting a straw hat all week. 

I enjoyed the car ride with the other chaperones and was thankful I wasn’t riding the bus with all the kids.


I loved letting my little group lead and negotiate which direction we should head and which shops and sites we should visit, while I watched over all of them and kept them safe and together.

The weather was gorgeous in the city today and I loved the break in my routine. 


I am thankful for my flexible work schedule that allowed me to chaperone without feeling guilty.

And I’m thankful that Charlie found joy with his new straw hat. It’s the little things worthy of celebrating!

Today was good. 

How was your day? What made you feel thankful, wise one?


Namaste.

Pattern and Design

Posted in connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, joy, motherhood, simple living, spark joy, working mom by


I received my first Stitch Fix order in the mail today, 3 days ahead of schedule. 

I loved seeing the box arrive and was excited to open it to see what was inside. I waited until my husband and daughter and son were ready to watch me unwrap my Mother’s Day gift.

The labeling and the tape and the way things were laid inside the box were all well thought out. I loved the colors and the sticker and the tissue before I even enjoyed what was inside the wrappings. Everything was aesthetically pleasing even before knowing what was actually inside.

I loved the anticipation and was hoping I would love every piece and I did!  What a pleasant surprise.

I love that someone else went shopping for me and knew how to pick what would look good on my body. They did a better job than I ever could because I don’t have the patience or the interest to spend time looking for and hunting and gathering new pieces for my wardrobe. This was actually a very rewarding experience and my husband even asked if there was service like this for men as he hates shopping even more than I do.

After I was done trying on all my gifts, I told my husband that I knew what I wanted for my birthday now. He was thrilled that he was off the hook for thinking and shopping and wrapping and found the perfect gift! It’s a win-win!


Life is good!