Category Archives: work life balance

Day 36: Summer

Posted in connection, family, Friends, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, memories, Mindfulness, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, space, work life balance by

Who would have thought I would enjoy being “home” this summer?

By being home and not being “busy,” I’ve created space for magic to happen and I am loving it.

I’m enjoying my kids and my friends and my home and my work and my husband. I’m enjoying the flexibility and the lack of stress and rushed feeling. I’m enjoying the opportunity to say yes and to create experiences on the fly without being too busy.  

Today I finished our puzzle with Juliana and felt a sense of mindless accomplishment!


I love that the kids have come and sat by me and we have worked together on our puzzle throughout this past week, sharing conversation while we created patterns and filled the gaps. Thank you Nate and Becky for our gift!

I also love that Julie texted me first thing this morning to see what I was doing and to see if I wanted to head over to Santana Row for an hour just because. I wanted to sit in my jammies and drink coffee, but I can never say no to Julie and am always thankful for her spunk and drive and shared curiousity. She keeps me moving and exploring and I adore her!


I made her stop for a selfie because I loved the surroundings and pretending we were on holiday because we are! Thanks, Jewels!! 

Later in the day, Juliana and I went out to celebrate her getting her driver’s permit yesterday by getting bubble teas and shopping together. I can’t believe we have another permitted driver in our house. 

And for dinner tonight we took the advice of one of Juliana’s snapchat friends, and made Mac and Cheese and added BBQ chicken with melted cheese. We had a late, fun, family dinner at home and it was perfect.

I am going to bed early tonight as I was up really late last night and haven’t been able to shake the tired feeling all day today. 

Nevertheless, today was good. 

How was your Saturday?

Day 34: Summer

Posted in best friends, connection, Cooking, family, food, Friends, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, joy, Love, memories, motherhood, positive living, rooted, simple living, work life balance by

This is the life. 

This is my happily ever after right now, in this moment. 

This is the best staycation I never dreamed of.

I love this life. 



Thank you, Sunshine, for inviting us over tonight. We had a blast making pizzas and “shmores” and playing corn hole!! xo

nAMaste

Day 27: Summer

Posted in family, food, Friends, Gratitude, happily ever after, intention, joy, motherhood, moving, parenting, simple living, spark joy, work life balance, working mom by

I write daily to share the little joys of living this one life we’re each given, sharing highlights from my little world, hopefully resulting in a smile, inspiration, and connection for you and me. This is my way to make the world a better place, at least in this cyberspace.

I am sad to hear about the protest in Dallas and the police officers who were killed. I am sad for the black families who lost a loved one and have lost hope of equal treatment. What can I do to make a difference? What can you do to make a difference?

I say hello when I see people and make eye contact, especially with people who don’t look like me. I want to connect to our One Love spirit, even though we might look different to each ther. I want to say, “I see you. I love you.” But that might be weird. I’m not sure what to do, except to be loving, kind, inclusive and friendly.

Today I enjoyed cooking with Jeff and preparing a spaghetti dinner for our friends. The house smelled so good and brought back memories! We enjoyed our friends and were thankful they could join us and for the delicious dessert they brought to share. 

Life is good. Be kind. Stay loving. Share.

Day 26: Summer

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

Okay, this could be the best summer now that I’m getting the hang of relaxing and being at home-not-at-home-and-working.

We have time to be, time to relax, time to work and play and low stress. There is space, sacred space  at home and I’m finally embracing it. Hallelujah!!

So do you want to know what I’ve really loved this week?  I knew you’d ask…I am loving pet sitting for friends with Juliana. I have loved checking on the chickens everyday and filling their water and gathering their eggs with my kids. There was a simple joy in waiting for the eggs each day and awe in how this process even works. I loved watching them peck at the water tube too and hearing the clucking sounds they made.


I loved seeing the cats and their different personalities and appearance and how three different families have three different ways of feeding and raising their fur babies. I used to not be a pet lover and now I’ve changed and that’s pretty cool. I guess old dogs can learn new tricks.

How’s your summer going? What do you love about it?

nAMaste

Day 25: Summer

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

Today I decided to go up to San Francisco for the day. 2 of the 3 kids decided they wanted to join, and the last one came anyway, wishing he had more of a say in the decision. 


Only 25 days into summer and I’ve finally got the hang of this work/life/mothering teens/summer staycation thing (at least in this moment.) It helps that I work with a really cool team and don’t mind waking up super early to get my work done first thing in the morning before the kids get up.  

While being in SF, I liked being in a global city in our own backyard where people gather from all over the world. I loved seeing people walking around with their suitcases trailing behind them, which reminded me of our expat life and monthly travels. I loved seeing the tall Dutch women, exchanging dollar bills and the other traveling tourists and interesting characters. My only objective was to walk around and explore and people watch and the city didn’t disappoint. One of us wanted to seek out a bubble tea shop, while another wanted to see the Japanese tea gardens and a magic shop near Golden Gate park, and another of us wanted to see where the Bison Paddock was.  Having these destination points helped to guide our journey.

April gave me another idea of exploring the painted tile steps, which is something we hadn’t seen before and as we were driving through the West Portal, we realized they were close by and on the way to Golden Gate Park. Some of us wanted to stop, while others wanted to stick with the original plan. We practiced the art of negotiation and being kind to each other as we discussed our strong opinions in a small, confined space. I like to wander and flow with what we discover, as we discover it and not wait for another day. Luckily they all finally agreed to make me happy, which actually made them happy too. 



We also got to visit the desired bubble tea location, saw the Bison roaming, and walked outside the Japanese tea garden, but when we got to the magic shop, it was unfortunately closed this week for the 4th holiday week. Overall, it was a great and cold day to be in the city.

Life is beautiful!

Day 21: Summer

Posted in exercise, family, intention, motherhood, positive living, rooted, simple living, spark joy, work life balance, working mom by

Today was beautiful. Seriously. In so many ways.

I brought the kids and their friends out paddle boarding and kayaking and packed a picnic lunch.  Of course, this is after I already worked 4 hours bright and early this morning so I could enjoy the day “off.”  I struck a balance this week and it felt really good.

I loved that the kids wanted to go with me and had a good time. I loved that I got to paddle too! And the sunshine and weather was just right. 

Life is good!  Happy 4th weekend everyone. Be well.

xoxoxox 


Day 20: Summer

Posted in family, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Mindfulness, motherhood, positive living, rooted, simple living, work life balance by

This staycation keeps getting better!  Who says you need to travel far to enjoy summer vacation?  I still want to go away, but not just yet. 


These two sawed pieces of scrap wood and practiced writing with their new wood burning tool, while I worked from home. I had to come see their work and play a little too. This was fun!!  Charlie painted a sign for his room and Juliana did the lettering for him.

Charlie was craving Vietnamese pho for dinner and Christian wanted Korean BBQ. I told my international kids we could cook together instead of going out and save some money. I had them chopping and dicing and we prepared a bit of both, and stopped at the Korean market to buy a few side dishes to go with our homemade meal, that we enjoyed out on our patio. 


The cool thing about this staycation thing is that the days and nights are long!! We are not in a rush and the crazy thing is that when you’re not rushing, time slows down and we seem to have more time to do all the things we wish to do. It’s really ironic what you can learn when you slow down.

What did you enjoy today? How is your summer going and are you enjoying your moment?

Life is good.

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