Painting with Friends

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Before I hurry off to sleep, I wanted to share the highlights from the painting nite party I attended with my friends.

Jessica is my BFF from my hometown and we were celebrating her birthday tonight. The best gifts are shared experiences and creating memories together. Thanks for choosing a great way to celebrate wonderful you, Jess and including us!

If you’ve never done this before, there are organizations that bring friends together and provide all the supplies and a coach to help you be a master painter for the evening. Tonight we met up in Mountain View at a restaurant and painted a nature scene. There was music playing, food and drinks and a very funny instructor who helped us all leave our fears behind. It was fun to start with a blank canvas and to build on the different layers. I also enjoyed watching the other artists’ interpretations of the same idea and how different all of our pieces turned out. Everyone was so creative.

Life is Good!! Happy birthday, Jessica!! And many more. xoxo

20Jun2014

Summer Nights

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Gotta love summer nights.

Warm air. Family. Great friends. Swimming. Tennis. BBQ potluck.

Life is good (and I’m tired…so just short and sweet tonight!)

6Mar2014

JoySpace

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Everyone is so busy. We don’t have time because we are busy. Really?

I don’t buy that. We create our own busyness and put up our own boundaries and definitions. Pa-lease! We are not really THAT busy. Yes, we are busy. But… there is always a but.

We create our own frameworks and our own ways of thinking. No one is really that busy that we don’t have time for joy. Think about it. Maybe the President is busy, but he still finds time to get to Hawaii, or to play with his dogs and kids. We’re not that busy. We’re just pretending to be and feeling really important.

What if we change our minds?

I was thinking about this today. I was thinking about how we think and what we tell ourselves when we are alone.

What does your self talk sound like? Are you positively talking to yourself? Are you happy when you’re thinking? Are you thinking about finding and discovering joy in the little moments and minutes in between your busyness? Do you give yourself permission?

I do. I believe in the pursuit of happiness and being happy just because we can. Every day, even when we’re busy or sick or tired. I think like that. Yes, I’m weird, but I’m pretty happy too because I choose to and want to be happy despite the chaos and craziness and imperfections of life. I want to fill in the cracks with joyspace. Yep, that’s what I’m calling it. I don’t know if it’s a word, but now it is. It’s mine and yours and we need to fill our joyspace in between our busy moments. It’s easy. You just have to be aware and to think about wanting to create and find joy when you have a little minute and then you surprisingly will. Trust me. It works. And it’s contagious. 🙂

I’ll share a few of my little moments of joyspace today while I was “so” busy.

I was shopping at Ranch 99 for stuff to make an Indonesian dinner tonight and this store is so fascinating. Look at the strange crackers I found…

These crab crackers were in the snack aisle…eeewe! But they made me ponder and think how different we all are – from foods, to the way we spend our time, to the way we think and worship and play and all that good stuff. I couldn’t believe this was considered something yummy, but we all have different tastes and I found joy in appreciating this crab concept.

I also noticed the music that was playing while I was shopping. It wasn’t what you would typically hear in MUSAK – it was Chinese music and it was fitting and noticeably different and made me smile while I was shopping and weaving in and out of traffic… it’s very crowded in there!

When I came home with my groceries, I noticed all the different flowers blooming in my yard and felt the presence of spring!

It’s quickly approaching and made me smile.

Don’t forget to spring your clocks forward on Sunday!

First rose bud has bloomed.

I can’t wait for longer hours of sunshine to fill more joyspace. I loved noticing the changes in the garden.

I chose today to cook a fun and messy dinner and to not worry or rush into doing the dishes.

Indonesian/ Chinese dinner just because…

The dishes are still sitting on the table, but I’ll get to them before I go to bed. Instead I filled the time helping Charlie with his math homework and laughing with Jeff at the dinner table with the kids. We made time for each other, even though we’re “so” busy. Everyone has time for 15 minutes together, even if we don’t think so.

So those are just some of the ways I found and created joys in between the busyness and chaos of life. It’s all how we look at it and choose to make time for joy.

How did you make time for joy today? What did your joyspace look like? I’m curious.

Wishing you peace and joy amidst your busyness! Namaste.

5Dec2013

Sinterklaas Visit

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Charlie has been waiting for Sinterklaas to come to our house in California since last month. He has put his shoes out and left notes in them, and sang a few songs, anticipating and wishing that he’d come by. Every morning he has been checking his shoes, and nothing has been there. I kept telling him that I didn’t think he was going to be able to make it to America from Europe, but he never gave up hoping. He has also been pretty mischievous and I’ve been coaching him to behave and be a better listener, telling him that there is no way Sinterklaas nor Santa Claus will be stopping by our house this year, if he doesn’t start behaving better. I think the challenge worked. He has been working extra hard the last week or so to follow directions and to say, “Yes Mom!!”

He reminded me again this morning that Sinterklaas was coming tonight on December 5th. All evening he kept singing really loudly and looking out the window and listening for him, a bit nervously. I still told him not to expect anything, but did tell him that I was proud of him for improving his behavior. The smart kid said to me, “Mama, if he doesn’t come, can you just get me a gift instead?” So cute, but I said no.

He was getting ready for bed and was in the bathroom, and decided to pray to the bobble head Santa sitting on the counter, praying that by the time he got out of the bathroom that Sinterklaas would knock at the door. Jeff heard the loud knock at the back door and called to Charlie to ask him if heard the knocking sound. Charlie was shocked! His prayer came true. He came out of the bathroom, a bit scared and looking around, not quite sure where to look. I looked out the front door, but nothing was there. Jeff said it sounded like the sound came from the back patio door and that the patio light was on! Charlie was scared to death and couldn’t believe his eyes.

Outside the door was a sack filled with surprises. Jeff and Charlie opened the door and discovered all the generous gifts that Sinterklaas left for our family. The excitement and look on his face was priceless.

Hearing him thank Sinterklaas was so cute. He said that he could smell the pepernoten out on the patio!

Jeff and Charlie went outside to look for him on his white horse with the Zwarte Pieten, but they couldn’t find them. They must move really fast.

Photo Credit: Jen Jacobsen, Amsterdam

Oh, the magic and mystery of life, I love it!

14Jul2013

Might As Well Jump!

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Sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words…so they say.

So today Ill leave you with a few summer fun pictures and less words. I hope you enjoy them and your summer days.

Pool snacks

Warming at dusk.

24Apr2013

Day 273: Living it Up at the Rijksmuseum and in the Sunshine

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I have a motto – Live It Up! We only get one life and we have limited time, so we better live up every minute and choose to do what creates happiness for ourselves, our friends, our family and our community. Right now. Every damn day!

Some of my daily sayings include:

Let it go.

Do you want to create a connection or conflict?

It’s all good.

Yes.

Life is good.

What made you happy today?

No worries.

So what?

I love you.

Can I have a do-over?

God bless you.

I’m sorry.

I made a mistake. Can I try again?

Do the right thing. Choose the harder right.

In 20 years, this won’t matter.

But I digress… One of the best things I’ve learned so far is to live in the moment and to enjoy what you have and where you are. Right now. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Be in the moment and live it up. And I do. And I do my work and take care of my responsibilities and I have fun, every day in some way. If the mama’s happy, everyone is happy. Am I right??

Today I rode my bike for the first time from Amstelveen into Amsterdam with my friends, and i was so proud of myself. I’ve been a little intimidated and finally faced my stupid fears and went, like all the other Dutch people! We met up with Cami at the Rijksmuseum and hired a tour guide for five euros each to give us the highlights of the museum. I highly recommend this option for your first visit. We also all had museum cards, which get you into the museum for free and avoids the queues. The museum just reopened after ten years of renovations. There were lots of problems and bureaucracy that postponed the reopening, but finally last week it reopened again and it is marvelous. The architecture is amazing, and was almost as entertaining as the art.

The arrangement of the collections are now organized by combining paintings, sculpture, crafts, and historical objects chronologically. Together, they tell the story of Dutch art and history Ina more contextual iced and meaningful way.

This was the first piece that was highlighted. It is from the Middle Ages and depicts the Virgin Mary expressing sorrow. The majority of the art produced in Europe during the Middle Ages was of a religious nature.

This painting is from the 19th century and was created by George Hendrik Breitner. Its interest comes from the use of photography to structure the painting. The veiled woman in the front is significantly larger than the other figures and was originally a maid, but was transformed into a well to do lady as requested by the art dealer. In this time,maids and the wealthy folks were not seen on the street at the same time of day. So this was cutting edge!

Van Gogh’s self portrait and a few of his pieces were displayed. Most of his art is in his own museum, and is temporarily at the Hermitage while the VG museum is being renovated.

We climbed up several flights of stairs to see a 20th century airplane that was designed by the Dutch.

We were all fascinated by how they got the airplane onto and into the building on the highest floor. They took it apart and rebuilt it over several months to get it to fit indoors.

The best part of sightseeing with a tour guide, is that they highlight details that you might otherwise overlook. I’ve seen Vermeer’s The Milkmaid before, but this time I noticed the broken window and the light coming through the cracks, and the Delft tiles on the floor. I loved the woman’s hands and the stillness and simplicity of her pouring milk.

This scene by Jan Steen is awesome and provided my lesson for the day. This painting is called the Merry Family. I love that everyone is being silly and jovial and playing together. The paper hanging from the mantel tells the moral of the story: “as the old sing, so shall the young twitter.” The young will copy and mimic their elders. What will become of our youth if we set the wrong example?

The masterpiece of the Rijksmuseum is Rembrandt’s Nightwatch painting. The room where it is hung is where it was originally showcased. The entire room is dedicated to Rembrandt, the master of capturing light and darkness. You could sit in this room and stare for hours and see something different every time.

Speaking of light, the sun was shining so warmly today and brightly that we had to go outside for lunch and soak up the sun. I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from this glorious day. Namaste and I hope you get a chance to see the newly reopened Rijksmuseum.

And after the beauty of the Rijksmuseum, nature finished the day with her beautiful, final curtain.

Life is good.

19Nov2012

Day 117: Zwarte Piet Came to Our House!!

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Zwarte Piet came to our house last night. I have no idea how he got in, but magically he did! I bet he used the golden key that the mayor gave Sinterklaas. He must have known that Charlie had written a letter and left out treats for Sinterklaas’ horse.