I absolutely get a kick out of these every time. I love being silly and watching my family and friends be crazy, wild and free too. It’s good for my soul.
Thank you R&D for hosting a fun and festive Christmas party this past weekend. We definitely lived it up!
I hope you get a laugh out of our silliness too and make time to play with your beloveds.
xo namaste
I don’t often feel amazed anymore by the newness of life, as I’ve been there, done that.
However, tonight I felt amazed while I straightened Juliana’s curly hair and helped to put on her makeup for her first formal high school dance. She looked gorgeous and grown up and I was amazed.
I was thankful that she was going with a great group of friends and that her friend’s mom graciously agreed to host a formal dinner for 11 girls and invited me to assist.
It was a beautiful evening and I loved seeing all the little girls dressed like gorgeous young women, looking very grown up, ready to dance and live it up. It’s their time to shine and they did. I was so happy to observe and to be part of their celebration, as a witness to time passing right in front of my eyes.
Life is good, even if my baby girl is really growing up after all.
nAMaste
I still love the Christmas and Holiday card sharing tradition, even though we have social media and instant updates. Do you?
Do you send cards? Do you enjoy receiving cards? I do. I do.
I absolutely love this tradition and love it even more now that Juliana has been helping me. We have a Google Doc that we update every year keeping our addresses current and I love how organized the process has become. She likes to hand write the addresses and stuffs the cards inside the envelopes for me. She keeps them in alphabetical order and has them ready for me to see and touch, stamp and seal.
As I touch each card, I spend a moment thinking of the person or family that the card is going to and reflect on our relationship and connection and say a prayer for them. It’s a little sacred moment that I truly enjoy.
Thank you for your cards, thoughts and well wishes – whether digitally or physically. I love the anticipation of waiting for the cards to arrive each day and seeing and opening your cards. The kids know how much I love this and even though they want to open them, they wait for me to do it and watch. We hang them up on our kitchen wall so that we can all enjoy the lovely faces and friendships and recall stories of how we know one another. I love seeing how families grow up and change so magically from year to year.
Wishing you love and light and a Merry Christmas in only 5 more days.
nAMaste
Today I enjoyed family time at the ice skating rink, celebrating the holidays with friends and family. Thanks to K&B for hosting all of us.
Today was good.
I was also thankful that my family helped me wrap all the presents today and we were done within 2 hours. This was a huge change from years gone by and they took the stress away. This made me very happy!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
nAMaste
My friends from Holland happened to be in the Bay Area this week. I knew they were in town through our kids, as they were sending each other snap chat stories, Instagram updates and iMessage texts. I love social media and how it makes our world a little more connected and smaller after all.
I was busy working when I received a Facebook Messenger notification from their mama, telling me she was at the Winchester Mysyery House, 15 minutes away. I knew I had to see her somehow.
They decided to pop in to our house for a quick hug and cup of coffee before continuing on with their vacation.
I was so happy to see them here in my space and to hear what they liked about an American house, just like the movies! They liked the squirrel running across the backyard fence and noticed the basketball hoop in the driveway. They liked seeing the garbage truck drive by and our little row houses in the neighborhood.
I just loved having them sit on my couch, near the Christmas tree and sharing stories and laughter once again. It felt just like it did back in Holland and was a gezellig little visit, just much too short.
I hope we get to see them again before they head back home. The kids were so sad to not be home for their quick visit.
Thank you Jessurun’s for taking the time to stop by! We miss your family and you made my day. Hope you enjoy the rest of your journey around the West Coast.
nAMaste
Light always overcomes darkness.
nAMaste
I had three friends come to my door unexpectedly yesterday and today and I was so happy to see them.
They didn’t stay for long, but just popped in to say hello, as they were passing by.
Their presence was such a BIG gift to me and I was pleasantly surprised and thankful to see their faces.
My life has been in transition as I am working more and socializing and volunteering less. I miss the simple joys of friendship and conversation, even as I’m thankful for the path I’m currently on. Seeing them at my door was so nice.
Pat brought me a Christmas gift, which was an artistic, sunshine happiness journal and a beautiful ornament, just because she said it had my name all over it. Thank you for my thoughtful gift and for thinking of me, Miss Pat, and thank you for your friendship.
I will enjoy making my book of 101 rays of sunshine.
What made you happy today?
nAMaste
Maybe if you stop moving and doing what you’re doing, you’ll feel deflated like this sad looking Santa Clause.
I didn’t like seeing Santa face down on the grass, defeated and unplugged and I don’t want to feel like him either, during this busy finals and holiday season.
So I’m going to keep breathing and exercising and cooking and moving forward and doing what I’m doing, without complaining. Full speed, ahead!
When the season is done, then I’ll stop and deflate, but not now.
And you? Are you keeping your spirits up? Breathe in, breathe out. We’ve got this.
nAMaste
Yep. They were imperfect from the very beginning and I didn’t really even want to make them anyway. Can you tell? They were miscolored, slightly browned, kinda dry and not too sweet. Want one?
Charlie wanted to make cookies this weekend. We found a recipe and refrigerated the dough for 4++hours, but we didn’t add the peppermint extract, thinking they would be better as sugar cookies.
The first thing that went wrong was that we didn’t have red dye. Neon pinkish purple is a good, secondary option, right?
Next, Charlie didn’t want to follow instructions for rolling them out and used his own methods, that frustrated me as we had thin ones and thick ones on the same tray.
Eventually we got tired with the baking process and started making flat, circle shapes with the left over dough, that were easier and quicker to make.
Charlie eventually walked away and I was left to finish the task and to wash the dishes. I got the short end of the stick, I think.
He kept coming back to taste samples again and again and seemed to enjoy the final product, claiming he had homework to do. Maybe they’re perfectly imperfect after all. Jeff enjoyed them when he came home from work, but maybe he was just being nice.
Thank you to all who bake during the holiday season and share your treats. I have such respect for you!
nAMaste
This was weird. Today my son and my husband happened to be driving next to Juliana and I, as Christian wanted more driving practice (Juliana snapped this picture.) Having him right next to me, yet in another car was strange.
I’m excited for him to be practicing and knowing that he’ll soon be able to drive on his own and can get himself where he needs to be and maybe even help drive his siblings and run errands for me. I’m also a bit melancholy, thinking that he’s growing up and taking flight and once he can drive early next year, he’ll be on his own much more and will need me even less. I’m letting go, letting out the heart strings a little more, like we all do and feeling the growing pains. Yin and yang, and today I caught another glimpse in the rain, of joy and fear.
I wish you well Christian and know you will be your best and am excited for you and your growing independence. Keep up the good work.
nAMaste
here i am 