Love(h)er

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This is love.

I love this girl with all my heart. She is my soul sister and BFF.

It’s so nice to go through life with her as my passenger.  I love the way she thinks and talks and laughs. I love being near her and feeling her presence and I’m so proud of her.

Today we didn’t have a plan and it was a perfect day. We got up early and had our coffee together. We ate a little breakfast and then decided to visit my happy place for a hike without the kids. Exercising together is the perfect way to start a day.

When we were done, we shopped together for lunch and dinner. We took the kids to the pool and enjoyed watching them enjoy one another.

Later, the little one danced and the next youngest played the drums, while we worked the kitchen.

It was a perfectly unplanned day and I loved it! I love her and am so glad she’s still here with me.

Life is good!! Who are your favorite peeps to be free with?

Goodnight BeLoveRs.

The Best Kind of Day

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My sister and my niece came to visit us this weekend and this was my (welcome) sign. It was a play on words that included them with me to create the we and the plural of Here I Am. I loved this very thought from before they even arrived. I sat on my porch last night, waiting and anticipating their arrival with excitement.  

I love being in their presence and when we are together, it doesn’t matter what we do. I feel comfortable and content and truly myself and I have no agenda except to soak in all their love and share it back with them, doing everything and nothing. Seriously. 

These are the best kind of days. We just flowed in and out, together and with the kids, and alone and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.  We were up early and shared coffee and breakfast. We took the kids where they needed to go. We rested and read and fed the kids and shopped. We watched Charlie’s soccer game and made friends. We cooked dinner together and cleaned up together. We laughed and teased each other and shared stories of our lives, the ones we don’t find the time to share over brief, interrupted phone calls and texts. 

There’s no substitute for face to face time. I got to hug her and really see her and share in the joys of our kids playing together and loving one another and growing up together.
I am thankful that she chose to come visit (me) us and took the time  to make love grow. 

Here We Are. 

Waiting

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Whatever you’re waiting for, I hope it comes your way in time and makes you happy. 

Cheers to my friend in Holland who has been waiting for her daughter to be cancer free and she finally received this awesome news.

To my family and everyone else dealing with grief and waiting and wading in it, I’m hoping peace finds you.

Tonight I sat on my porch and patiently waited for my sister and niece to arrive. I have been excited all day just knowing that they were coming. I am happy they chose to come our way and are spending the weekend with us.

I remember 9-11. I choose to live in the moment and create peace, joy, love and connection everyday. Never forget.

Life is good, especially with family in it. xoxo

Keeping Up

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I’m up late. Most nights I stay up late and probably should go to bed earlier, yet I don’t. And somehow I still let things fall through the cracks. Tonight I caught up yet I still am not quite keeping up and it’s late. It just is.

I don’t always respond to all requests and questions via social media. Does email count as social media?  I think so. Sometimes I just forget or don’t have all the information to give the best response and as I’m gathering information, the next 43 emails pile on top and I forget to go back. Squirrel!

Most times I have good intentions to reply favorably or regretfully and yet sometimes I just don’t at all. And then I remember when I’m driving somewhere and I’m practicing not looking at my phone AT ALL and then by the time I get to where I’m going, I forget again. Please tell me you have a better system and you’ve figured out this little dilemma and will share your secret with the world.

I do keep lists and use google task list on my calendar to write tasks down for later when I’m sitting at my actual computer. I also write things down on scraps of paper and then put the tasks into my computer or in my Notes on my phone. And then I have to remember to take the time to look at my task list or my notes before forgetting again.

Can you relate?

I’m still practicing keeping up with my life and getting to bed early. Is that an oxymoron? Maybe that’s just the yin and yang thing again dancing in my head.

Good night. It’s almost Friday!! YAY!!

Pancakes and BBQ and Mashed Potatoes

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Food, glorious food. I love food. I love cooking and I love cooking for my family and friends and providing for them and caring for them by feeding them. This is so simple and so basic and makes me so very simply, happy. I love when they are happy with the food I prepare for them and feel such a connection.

This school year I decided to make breakfast for my family every day. I have a new menu for each day of the week and the kids are starting to look forward to what’s coming. Today was pancake day and there was a sense of anticipation that I loved.

I had fun being creative, making their pancakes with designs.

   I loved seeing them smile and enjoy this simple touch. I just put the pancake batter into a squeeze bottle and cut the top so the hole was a little bigger to help the batter pass through without major clumping. 

   I need to play and create more often. This was definitely a highlight of my day.

I also loved when Charlie came home from school and thanked me again for making him his favorite pancakes. I loved that he appreciated me and the effort I put into making our mornings meaningful.

I make Juliana a hot lunch every day, as she eats a gluten free diet. Sometimes it is challenging to think about what to make and fill her thermos. Today I put in leftover truffled fried potatoes with brisket and bbq sauce. She texted me during her lunch break to tell me how much she loved her lunch.  I know it’s silly, but these little moments of gratitude make my day. I love that she appreciates the thought and time I put into making her lunch and I loved making it. The circle is complete.

And finally, I made Christian dinner to go and he was thankful he didn’t have to eat the bag of trail mix and granola bar he had prepared to eat between his events. He was happily surprised with the hot meal I prepared before picking him up from his practice. 

 I loved seeing him enjoy the food I prepared and hearing him ask me to wait a minute before driving away so that he could savor a few bites before going again. It’s the little moments.

This is what our life looks like. We’re busy and running all around, yet we still enjoy good and healthy food and I get to still take care of my babies, even if we’re not all sitting around the table at the same time.

I love that food connects and binds us and that they enjoy this little touch.

Life is good.

What are some of your food favorites? What are some of your food routines?

Girls Water Polo

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My daughter is playing water polo for the first time this year and I love it for so many reasons.

I love that she is trying a new and very challenging sport, and she doesn’t have any experience and is willing to go out every day and give it her best.

I love that it’s difficult and that she has to work hard too and she’s not giving up.  I like for her to be challenged. I like that she wants to go to practice, even on the weekends.

I like that she’s the one of the youngest and newest players on the team and that she gets to learn from her peers and actually got to play today.  I like that she has mentors and that she enjoys hanging out with her teammates.

I like that her coach is not like her and that he presents challenges to her way of thinking and operating. He’s good for her.

There is so much to learn by participating in team sports and I am thankful that she didn’t give up and that she tried and made the team and that she’s enjoying the experience.

It was a gorgeous and hot day in the San Jose hills today and I loved watching her shine and struggle, even in the 99 degree sunshine.

Life is good. I am proud of you, Juliana!! Keep up the good, hard and fun work.

Table Topics

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The kids were playing table topics tonight as they gathered around the family room with friends after dinner.

One of the cards read, “If you could erase one thing from your life, what would it be?”

Some of the kids had lists of ideas. 

I thought about this after I heard of the topic and think that all of our experiences shape us and guide us and make us who we are. 

We need the good and the bad, the light and the dark, the happy and the sad. We learn from our mistakes and failures and gain empathy and compassion and knowledge. Some lessons come easier than others. I am thankful for the collection to date and am enjoying creating new ones every day.

Have a good, short week and embrace all that you are. You are enough. 

xoxox

Life is Good

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Here are two glimpses from my day.

My first goal was to exercise and take a shower.  I know, it’s boring and it’s the simple things that make me happy.

  
Session complete and extremely happy.

Juliana and I had a mother daughter date this afternoon and I loved just being with her. She is so much fun!

 
We ran around town and visited a friend. Life is good.

We finished the night at MLs house for a BBQ with her family. I loved having us all together and enjoying each other’s company. Life is good and I enjoyed a day that was just slightly structured.

How was your day? I hope you have the day off tomorrow and rest and play with those you love.

Namaste.

Be Courageous

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The Pope sent a message of courage that I love. I believe in One Love, that we are all connected in our humanity however we choose to believe or not believe as long as we are practicing living with love as our intention.  If we look closely, we are more alike than we are different. The world is especially feeling this with the Syrian refugee crisis and feeling a connection to the family whose little boy drowned on the beach in Turkey.

“Pope Francis and the People” aired on ABC News’ “20/20” on Friday, Sept. 4, at 10 p.m. ET. The event is posted in its entirety on ABCNews.com. http://abcnews.go.com/beta/US/pope-francis-tells-americans-courageous-abc-news-virtual/story?id=33490392

Here are some of the highlights:

“We are all created for friendship in society. All of us bear responsibility for everyone else,” the pope said. “And each one has to make a choice in his or her heart. And we have to help that choice to be made in the heart. ….” Pope Francis

We are social beings and we need our friends and neighbors to walk with us on this life journey.

“What I hope for from youth is for you all not to walk alone in life,” he said. “Life is very difficult. It’s difficult to walk alone. You get lost. You get confused. You can find the wrong path or you can be walking around in circles, in a maze, or worst, you can stop because you get tired of walking in life. Always walk hand-in-hand with someone who loves you, someone who gives you tenderness.” – Pope Francis

BeLoveD.

BeLoveRs change the world, with every thought, every word, and with every action.

One Love.

xo