Category Archives: one love

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 16: Summer

Posted in connection, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, one love, positive living, rooted, simple living by

Tonight they made it home safely along with 69 of their church friends from their service trip to Mexico.

They worked really hard in the hot sun, building houses for 4 days. It was demanding work and they received an IKEA like manual instructing them how to put the homes together. They didn’t get to use power tools and instead cut wood with a hand saw, mixed concrete by hand and learned how to pound nails straight into the planks.

They slept in crowded tents, used stinky outhouses for toilets and helped bathe each other using buckets of cold water that they kept having to refill.  This wasn’t a glamorous trip and it cost a lot of money to participate. And did I mention they had no cell phones with them for a week? They survived. 

And guess what? They didn’t complain. They are tired and sore and happy to be home and thankful for the experience.

I am thankful that our church provides these volunteer opportunities for our youth, so that they can learn to be of service to others, to sacrifice their time and comforts to be giving and loving and in return, they benefit too in so many ways. Juliana walked into our house and said we have a big house! Their perspectives on life are hopefully changed by seeing how other people live and by working hard, side by side with their peers for a few days, sharing a God moment.

I am thankful for the advisors who cared for our kids and treated them like their own and for the deeper relationships that were strengthened through this shared experience.

Life is good!! Love is love is love is!! One Love. Love this life.

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 8: Summer

Posted in family, Friends, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, Love, one love, positive living, space, work life balance, working mom by

I wasn’t planning to count the days of summer when I started with day 1, but I’m kinda liking it and keeping track of the days passing by.

This is my first summer as a working mom and it has been a bit of an adjustment this first week, as I worked from home and volunteered, had a birthday to celebrate and was helping my kids prepare for their volunteer service trip, along with some other personal stuff.  I was thankful for the weekend to arrive today and to sleep in, however I was still awake at 5:15 am. That seems to be my new normal, along with the birds.

Today I enjoyed celebrating a friend’s surprise birthday party and relaxing with girlfriends in the sunshine. I also was thankful for my birthday flowers that are all over my house and fill the space with a wonderful fragrance and beauty.


I love that I have such great friends and family with whom to share this beautiful life. 

Please send good thoughts and prayers for the kids and youth leaders who leave tomorrow to build houses in Mexico for those less fortunate and keep them safe.

Life is good!

nAMaste

Day 4: Summer 

Posted in belovers, exercise, happily ever after, intention, Love, Mindfulness, one love, positive living, spark joy by


We played dodge ball today. I wish I could share the photo of all the children, youth and adults playing together and the smiles on their faces. I am refraining from sharing to protect their privacy, but it was amazing. My favorite part was playing with the kids in wheel chairs, and watching them play and laugh with the group. 

In the wake of what happened in Orlando this week, and thinking about what we can do, I have the answer.

We can choose to love one another and to play nicely together, no matter what. It’s one small way to make a difference. Listen. Share. Play. Love. Be fair. Take turns. Follow the rules. Include everyone. Be gentle. Run and laugh. Keep moving. Be kind. Repeat. (Just like playing dodgeball.)

nAMaste BeLoveRs. Spread the love.

Day 2: Summer

Posted in connection, family, Happiness, joy, Love, love and light, one love, positive living, simple living, spark joy, Uncategorized by


We spent all day at the soccer field today, after leaving our house at 6:45 am this morning. I loved it and am exhausted!

Charlie’s team won the championships and was so happy! I was excited for him to be on a winning team this year with an excellent coach and great team. It was really fun to be on the sidelines and supporting him with Jeff and the other families.

Life is good. 

P.S. I am sad today about the mass shootings in Orlando. Those families are our families. Their pain is our pain. We are One. We can make a difference in this world by spreading love and acceptance and forgiveness. Be loving. Love you. Love others. Love us. One Love. No Hate.

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??

Awards 

Posted in connection, Gratitude, Mindfulness, motherhood, one love, positive living by


I have mixed feelings about awards ceremonies. As much as I love sharing the joys of life, awards ceremonies feel funny to me. They are not my favorite.

I am not the mom who put the bumper sticker on my car, proclaiming that my child is great.

Maybe it’s because this type of celebration is personal and doesn’t define my child to me. I don’t like the pressure, even though I have the expectation for them to be their personal best. And I don’t like singling them out. I prefer the connection with their peers and teachers and family and teams, as being a part of the whole.

I think I like the ordinariness of life and them just being, doing what they are doing and I don’t need an award as a receipt or acknowledgment of their success. And I don’t want others to feel less.

Awards measure what is tangible whereas I value more what is intangible: their character, and kindness, their ability to love others, their patience and determination to not give up and to work hard. Maybe the awards reflect some of these intangible values as well.

I do appreciate the awards and recognitions however they don’t bring as much joy as I would expect and that’s confusing to me. It feels like another one of those yin and yang moments. I am thankful for their hard work and that there is a way to recognize them, having us pause and to be present and to focus our awareness on all that is good in this moment called Awards Night.

Congratulations to all the awards recipients today! I guess I do kinda like awards after all, and you deserve the credit and acknowledgment for your good work.

Namaste.