Observing

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Today is my husband’s birthday and I loved celebrating him all day and night.

I decorated the kitchen the night before and had his cards and presents ready for him when he woke up.

I made our traditional cinnamon coffee cake and while we were waiting for it to come out of the oven, I made a bacon and egg scramble with sour dough toast, sausage and fruit. The kids came to the table and we sang, “happy birthday” all before school and work.

We met for lunch in downtown Palo Alto and went to experience Sushirito for the first time together and it was really delicious! It was so nice to have time together in the middle of the day, just the two of us.

Finally, we went to play bocce ball with his friends from work as they were having their company holiday party tonight. I loved watching him really enjoy himself, playing a fierce game of bocce ball and enjoying his wonderful life. One of his coworkers made him cheesecake and they all sang happy birthday. This was such a thoughtful gift.

My favorite part of observing his birthday tonight was watching him get out on the dance floor, dancing with his friends to live music. He never dances and seeing him free and in the moment and living it up was just awesome to watch. His beautiful soul was shining and I loved being a part of his special day.

Happy birthday, Jeff!! I adore you.

5Sep2015

High Tech Hide and Seek

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Charlie turned into a robot and chased us around Jeff’s new office. You can see that he’s controlling the robot from another room, but he could have been across the world. This is how we played today.

How are you celebrating Labor Day weekend?

31Aug2015

Perks

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I have a great, life partner who I am so thankful for. Today he worked from home as his new office is being transformed. I was working on my computer too, and I loved that he was nearby. When we first met, we used to work together for several years. I loved the time we spent sharing stories, coffee breaks, lunch hours, happy hours with colleagues, commuting together and working out together. These shared times were many of the perks of my working years.

So today, when we worked from home together, and he asked me if I wanted a coffee in the middle of the afternoon, he made me smile and made me think back to the days when we first dated. The coffee was great. The memories, even better.

Thanks for the coffee, babe! You made my day. I love you.

What are some of the perks of your daily life?

8Jul2015

Duty, Honor, Country

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Today we celebrated the life of a distinguished and honorable man at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jeff’s Great Uncle received a Full Military Honors Funeral and we were lucky to be present to witness such a magnificent and formal celebration with friends and family.

I will share a couple pictures that hopefully display the grace and significance of this day, while respecting the privacy of the family. I am proud of Jeff’s family and their dedicated service to our country and was honored to be here today.

Peace be with you.

3Jun2015

Old Turkeys

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Old Lovebirds

Yeah – I just shared that moment of us looking like turkeys. We can laugh at ourselves. It’s okay. You can laugh too!

These turkeys were sitting on a fence as we approached today.

The other two smart turkeys were enjoying sitting outside on our couch, after dinner, while the kids cleaned up the kitchen. That’s what I’m talking about!

Life is good, especially for a turkey!

22Jan2015

On Being Married

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“Let all that you do be done in Love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:14

I’ve been married for 17+ years. I fell in love with my husband literally at first sight and felt like I had seen a rock star. I could hardly acknowledge him when he first said hello to me as he took my breath away. I’ve always had a crush on him, yet being married has not always been easy.

The hardest years of our marriage came when I quit work to be a stay at home mom and we moved to the suburbs. I felt lost and alone with a toddler and a baby on the way and trying to transition to our new lifestyle, while he was busy working at a start up and trying to provide for our family on his own. We were both going through our own life changes and we struggled for a long time, even though we always loved each other.

I am thankful that we chose to stay faithful to our vows and to work through our differences and grievances. Love wins when both partners do the work and both stay committed to the contract you both signed, remembering and recalling in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. Having a marriage license made our relationship sticky when we felt we were slipping. Luckily we were able to keep flowing and growing, as I know this is a challenge.

I think the secret to a healthy marriage is to stay focused on the mission and each other and to take care of one another, even when you don’t want to and you don’t know which way is up. It also helps when you admire each other. We shared a belief in each other and our family and this was more important than our individual needs. We also choose to never go to bed angry and to agree to disagree, because we are more important than any one thing. My favorite mindful meditation I always say to myself when I get frustrated with him or anyone I love is “I love you more than anything you can say or do.” These words are powerful and have helped me through the years to stay focused on the greater good.

I didn’t mean to start writing about all this, as I was just going to share a picture of our date today on our hike. I felt like I had to explain that we’ve been working hard all these years and now that the kids are getting older and less needy, we are finding more time to spend together again. I was so happy that he chose to go hiking with me today and that I got to be out in nature with my best friend, sharing something that I love to do every week, and now with him. I love that he loves me and wants to hang out and share my joy.

What are some things that make your marriage or relationship happy?

Life is good and I am thankful.

Wishing you a loving and happy, healthy relationship. Namaste.

11Dec2014

Puppy Love

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I’ve saved this thought for awhile and today I thought I’d share a new word with you that represents a sort of puppy love.

It’s kind of embarrassing and I wasn’t sure I’d ever share it, but it makes me laugh every time I think of the term.

The word is Wuppy.

A wuppy is like a wife and puppy combined to make a wuppy.

I Am a wuppy. There. I said it. A wuppy. What a funny word.

I Am a wife and kind of like a puppy combined.

I’ll explain. Think of a puppy. They’re so cute and loving and just so happy to see you and want to play and like to go for walks and need lots of attention. They want to kiss you and wrap their body around your legs and wag their tail to show you how happy they are. They look up to their owner like they are the best thing on the planet and are so loyal. And sometimes they bark and make mistakes and messes too. Let’s just keep it real.

This is what I feel like inside. I have all this energy and excitement and I wait for my husband to come home every day. Not exactly 100% like that, but you know what I mean. I am always busy, but I love to see his face and jump up and down and get excited like a puppy when he arrives back home again. Seriously. Not even kidding.

I probably drive him crazy. Well, I did for several years, until he realized that I just love him unconditionally and am so happy to see him every time, like it’s the first time we ever met and this is my normal. This is weird. I know. But I do. I am a lucky dog!

I am so thankful that he goes to work every day and provides for our family and allows me to live out my dream, that I just feel utterly happy, grateful and thankful. Without him, I couldn’t be who I am. He commutes in Silicon Valley traffic and works long hours every day. I don’t.

I get to be home with our kids. I get to make dinners and coach the kids and get them where they need to go, in sickness and in health. He enables me to be the best I can be and for that I am ever so thankful, every day, although I probably don’t tell him this enough. I get to build community and volunteer and exercise and keep our home running efficiently during the hours he’s gone at work, working for the good of our family. Just like him. For this, I am thankful and fulfilled. I am living my dream, thanks to my life partner.

And tonight I just want to acknowledge him as it’s his birthday. I am thankful that he was born and that he chose me to be his wife and to share kids and our life together, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad.

Every day.

I am thankful.

It doesn’t get much better than this.

I love you Jeff. Happy Birthday. And many, many more.

Woof.

20Sep2014

Slow Food

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In the spirit of slowing down (which is very challenging for me), my family has out voted me and we decided to stay home and relax again.

My husband has taken up a new hobby that is requiring us to stay home, so this is good I think. He loves to BBQ meats and to smoke them too. This week he took up an even slower process of cooking meats, called Sous-Vide which is French for “under vacuum.” Basically you season and vacuum seal your meat of choice and then stick them in a large pot filled with hot water. Then you manage the temperature of the water and cook the meat for longer than normal cooking hours at an accurately regulated temperature that maintains the moisture levels of the meat. This is done by using a sous vide immersion circulator that maintains the flow and temperature of the water.

Jeff had fun researching this new method and coming up with a marinade for the pork shoulder we purchased. Juliana and I helped him by vacuum sealing the bags and before we went to bed last night, we started cooking our dinner for tonight. It took 20 hours for the meat to perfectly cook.

Jeff took the cooked pieces and placed them on the smoker for just minutes to transfer the smoked flavoring as the finishing touches to the meat.

When it was done, no forks were necessary to shred the pork because it was that moist and tender.

I had fun watching him enjoy this new project and seeing his joy as he tasted his creation. I loved that he was so happy. We all enjoyed the benefits from his new hobby and the delicious dinner he prepared for us.

Life is good.

5Jun2013

Day 315: So Happy When the Sun Shines

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I am a California Girl – it’s the place I’m happiest, but I have to tell you, today made me pretty happy to be in Holland. Amsterdam is such a great city. It reminds me a bit of San Francisco, with all the charming neighborhoods with quaint restaurants, locals and tourists mixing, interesting architecture, and just a cool vibe.

My day started with sunshine, and a bike ride into the city. I met up with Jen for my second pedicure since we moved here 315 days ago. It was very relaxing and we had fun chatting about what it was like moving here and how many suitcases we brought with us on the plane. I think she beat me!! Just a tip – be sure to know how many suitcases you’re allowed, what the weight limit is and if they weigh your personal items. Otherwise, you might end up paying fees equal to the price of another international fare, right Jen?

After our pedicures, I figured out how to cycle into the centrum to meet Jeff for lunch. We found a delicious Spanish restaurant with a table outside in the Jordan area. I loved it because the food was different and new to us, the service was quick, and the streets weren’t crowded. We tried Spanish tortillas made with potatoes and topped with goat cheese and mushrooms. So yummy and filling.

My orange bike parked in the shade by Jeff’s office on the Keizersgracht

A view of the Westerkerk near the Ann Frank house

Cool architecture in the Jordan

Lunch with my honey

Beautiful canal – Keizersgracht from Leidseplein

Don’t you want to be one of those people sitting on the terrace by the canal? I love the bikes and boat and the guy sitting on the wall. Our friends live right here!! How lucky are they?

Ending the day out on my patio watching Charlie play outside and seeing Juliana bake. Life is good.

Ending the day out on my patio watching Charlie play outside and Juliana enjoying herself baking double chocolate chip cookies. Life is good. Cheers!

7Mar2013

Day 225: Water + Yoga + SUP + Friends = Joy

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I look like a frog, but I’m a happy frog. This is what savasna looks like when you’re trying not to touch the freezing cold water.

Can you imagine doing yoga on the water? It’s the coolest feeling.

Imagine your gaze looking softly in front of you and a beautiful white swan is dancing on the water. Imagine looking up at the sky instead of a ceiling.
Imagine breathing in fresh air while focusing on one thing, your breathe.
And when you’re focused on your breathe, you’re not really worried about falling in.
And while you’re stretching and practicing, you get to enjoy the sounds of the water lapping at your board.

Mixing water play with yoga practice is awesome. I hope if this sounds interesting to you, that you will try it one day. You won’t be able to stop smiling.

After we were done doing yoga, we took that relaxed feeling out for a paddle together. I was in the moment, loving life, thankful to Morene for loving SUP and sharing her passion across Amsterdam. I was thankful to Deborah for teaching SUP yoga, and to Jeff for supporting my passion and letting me buy a new Boga board for Holland touring. I can’t wait to put my own in the water!