Tag Archives: love this life

nAMaste at the End of the Day

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It’s been killing me to not write tonight. I gave myself permission not to, which is all I needed. I felt free!! And my spark came back.

I was feeling sad today about giving up my creative outlet. I made a really nice dinner and thought my cooking was my creative outlet and I enjoyed being in the moment chopping green beans and slicing flank steak across the grain for the stir fry I was preparing. I felt joy in taking the time to cook for my family and hoped they would appreciate my gift, which they all did.

But the real gift came when sitting with Juliana, eating dinner just the two of us before our evening events.

I told her about my blog post last night and she was shocked and told me that she thought I was making a bad choice. She reminded me about how much I love writing and how it’s been the consistent thing I do every day and how it’s been the common thread since before we moved to Amsterdam. She reminded me that it’s my “nAMaste at the end of the day” and it’s my mindfulness practice and time to reflect. That girl makes me think and my mind is open to her opinion, even when hers is different than mine.  Although, she just brought out the truth I was hiding. She was right. 

As we sat and chatted together, Zuma came and parked herself on my lap. This is the cat that doesn’t want to be held and does her own thing and doesn’t want to be bothered. Yet last night and today, she came and sat on me and made me sit still. I wanted to move and do work, yet I stayed and listened to her too. When I tried to take her picture, she hid in my lap and made me smile.  

 Sometimes you need to slow down and just be. So I did.

And tonight when I thought I wasn’t going to write, I saw Cassie’s story circles post on Facebook. She does the same thing that I do every night, except she reflects on her day through art and she does it every night after the house quiets down. It’s her ritual, just like mine. She shows up and takes time for herself, being creative and doing what she loves, even when she’s tired.

So Juliana and Cassie, thank you for inspiring me to keep writing. I’m not ready to stop tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not. Just knowing that I have the freedom to not write on any given night is a gift. Isn’t it weird how we make up our own rules and change them? I’ll leave you with that thought…

nAMaste at the end of the day.

xo

Walking Date

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Jeff and I decided to walk to our downtown farmer’s market this morning.  

  
Surprisingly, all three kids decided to join us. Walking together reminded me of the times we walked together through Amsterdam and I was thankful they were all with me. It felt weird walking a mile and a half through residential streets when most people are not out walking. We don’t live in a walking kind of town, but it felt good to be an outlier.

I loved walking and people watching and tasting fresh fruits and cheeses.  We liked seeing all the vendors, fruits and veggies displays, and listening to the music performers. 

   
 
I loved the lighting on the veggies.

Each of us chose something for brunch and we found a table where we could sit together and share a family potluck meal, even sharing utensils.  It felt like we were camping. The crazy thing was that both Jeff and I felt the same way and we both said the exact same expression simultaneously. This was so eerily weird and cool at the same time.

While walking back home, we stopped in to see our friends and shared a cup of coffee.  I love that this was even a possibility.

   
 These are the best days, simple and sweet.

 
Life is good, outdoors.

Nesting

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Something is seriously wrong with me.

I went back to work and I’m now trying to merge my stay at home mom lifestyle and expectations with my new part-time, working mom time commitments. Wednesdays are my “day off” and feel like my Sunday, like my day to catch up and to exercise and see friends and make appointments and to run errands and to supposedly cook like a wild woman!

Yesterday, I had to leave the house early and was gone and in and out all day and night. I had no time to cook and this bothered me. I like to have food readily available for my family when they come home. They’re all busy too, and providing food feels like I’m providing comfort and energy so that everyone survives. So dramatic, I know. But seriously. They can cook on their own and make their own food, but I still want to do it and feel like I’m doing my job. I want to take care of them this way and show them my love this way. I love that they enjoy my cooking and I feel connected to them through food. So when I literally couldn’t fit in the cooking time any time during the day yesterday, I felt like a failure. Not really, but really I’m feeling dramatic today, so let’s just go with an F- in the food department.

So today I made up for it because I had time.  I also had pounds of chicken and beef and veggies that I had planned to use yesterday, so I got busy. I had leftovers to repurpose and new recipes to try and a dish that Juliana asked me to make, plus 2 dishes I wanted to recreate from the Indonesian restaurant we visited this past weekend. I had big dreams to fill today and I made 6 different things, plus washed all the dishes and put them away. All in a day and now I feel happy with my full fridge.

In case you’re curious about what I made, I made a spicy Indonesian beef rendang, Indonesian sayur lodeh, gluten free/light/baked coconut chicken, some sort of mediterranean chicken and cauliflower in a tomato and onion sauce, chicken marsala, and Julie’s spaghetti pizza bake recipe. Oh, and Thai jasmine rice to soak up all the sauces.

So no one should go hungry for the rest of the week. Phew. I feel so much better now with food in the nest, ready to feed my flock.

How do you nest?

nAMaste BeLoveRs

Are You Interesting?

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You were very interesting when you were born. We all were. We all had people interested in our coming to life and celebrated us. We were very interesting, probably for a very long time. But over the years, some of us become boring. Why is that? Are you boring or are you interesting and what makes you interesting? Hmm… I’m always interested in learning about other people and their interesting interests, even when I don’t share them. I find passionate people very interesting.

What are you passionate about? Are you afraid to share your interests? I think fear gets in the way for some people and they hide away instead of connecting and celebrating and living out loud.

Seth Godin just posed this question here -> Seth’s blog and he made me think of the most interesting person I know, who fascinates me.

This would be my husband. He is one of the most interesting people in the world to me and I love hearing his stories and being a part of his life.

Like right now, he’s making a slab of bacon on the smoker, which has been smoking for 6 hours. The smell of the apple wood chips burning in the smoker is drifting into my kitchen while I write. I’m smelling the sweet smells and hearing the hum of the smoker’s convection fan. He promised his friends at work that one day he’d bring them some home made bacon, but he didn’t tell them when he would bring it in. I bet they are going to be surprised this week.

  
I bought a pork belly at Costco last week, and it has been sitting in our refrigerator, rubbed in spices and curing, as he turned the slab from side to side every day, awaiting today’s smoking.  After it smokes, he will slice it and share it and fry it in a pan.  I can’t wait. I know his friends are anxiously waiting too for the day to arrive with bacon in hand. Who doesn’t love bacon?

  
And this is only one interesting fact about the man I married. He chooses to show up and to share his gifts and talents EVERY day. He is funny and kind, hard working and loving and I love how much others love him too. He sincerely cares about people and is always making this world a better place. I’m so happy he was born and that he chose to share his life with us. He is VERY interesting.

I could go on and on, but I’ll save that for another day.

What makes you interesting? Go out and SHINE!

Who is interesting to you? Share. Connect. Think about it. This is a fun one!

I hope you have a FaBuLoUs and iNteResTing week.

nAMaste BeLoveRs

xoxoxox

Swirling

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Swirling. 

Isn’t that a fun word?  

It has a great ring to it and is fun to say out loud.

I love to swirl through crowds and to swirl my hair. I love swirling around my kitchen and through my house.  I love it when Jeff comes up and quickly surprises me and swirls me around. Some days there is so much stuff in my head that it gets all swirled together and I feel like my head is spinning.  But in a good sort of way.  

Tonight I was at Juliana’s evening water polo game and captured this fun, swirling image after their exciting win:

  
What’s swirling around in your head this week?  I hope you enjoy the spin and wherever it takes you.

nAMaste

Love this Life – Living it Up – Doing What I Love

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What do you love?

I love to be busy, yet not this busy. I had a productive and satisfying day and I am exhausted. You’ll see why and I’ll probably exhaust you just by reading this crazy list.  Maybe just skim it – it’s kinda long!  Below are some of my different made up titles. I don’t use them every day, just today happened to be on fire.

Alarm Clock Sounder – Roused the kids up bright and early. They have their own alarm clocks, but for some reason they don’t always react to them. And the train has been waking me up every morning at 5:17 am!! What’s up with that?

Breakfast and Lunch Maker – We don’t have time together in the evenings as frequently due to our crazy schedules, so this Fall I’ve started making hot breakfasts for us. It’s my moment to bring us all together and I don’t mind the extra work or dishes because it’s so worth it. Today we had hash browns, scrambled eggs, apple slices and bacon.  I have a weekly rotational schedule and the kids were already reminding me that they’re excited for pancakes tomorrow morning.

Taxi Driver – 2 kids dropped off at high school, 1 husband dropped off at the train, and 1 child dropped off at the middle school, all before 8 am.

House Cleaner – Stopped back at the house to load the dish washer, scrub the pans and to start a load of laundry before heading out to exercise. It feels good to me when the house is in order.

Yogini – Picked up ML on my way to yoga and enjoyed a blissful hour of stretching and toning in a not-so-great-room-with-an-awesome-instructor!

Worker Bee – I got a new part time job!! I had my first “official” business meeting at a coffee shop today and it dawned on me, that I haven’t had a “real” or let’s say “paid” job in over 15 years!! Change is good.

Friend – We celebrated my friend’s birthday over lunch today. It’s great to have a flexible schedule and to have an excuse to stop what you’re doing to spend time with friends over good food.  I also loved seeing my friends throughout the day and sharing moments in person, via text, and on the phone.

Shopper – On the way home from lunch, I stopped by the store to buy perishables for dinner tonight. Google Express is doing all the rest of my shopping and giving me so much time back!! I was in and out in 20 minutes, only having to buy the perishables and everything else was delivered to my door step. Have I mentioned how much I am loving GE? You have to try it if it’s in your area.

  
Chef – While I came home to squeeze in a bit more work, I also started dinner. We had stuffed baked potatoes tonight with proteins, veggies, and other savory toppings.

Life Coach – I spent a lot of time today coaching my kids on some important life lessons that weren’t easy to teach and take some time to practice. Being a parent takes lots of patience and open communication and repetition and more patience and practice and more practice. We’re always learning and failing and trying again, perfectly, imperfectly.

Taxi Driver – Round 3 – Did a 3rd loop around the city chauffering my loved ones back and forth to our nest.

  
House Cleaner – Round 2 – Came back home to clean up the cooking dishes and to sort and fold laundry before heading out again. It’s amazing what one can get done in 30 minutes.

Volunteer – After having very little sleep last night, and by the time 6;00 pm came around, I was exhausted. It took everything in me to rally and go to my event tonight.  Once I got to the parking lot and ran into a friend, I remembered why I love to volunteer. I love my community and sense of belonging that volunteer opportunities bring to my life. I loved seeing my friends and having that time dedicated to working together for a common purpose.

House Cleaner – Round 3 – The evening house patrol involved the usual chores and involved all of us and gave us a few minutes to chat and connect. Even the evenings are busy for us.

BeLoveR – I loved kissing my little one good night, brushing my daughter’s hair and complimenting my oldest on his successes today. I loved taking this fun picture of my husband with our new fur baby that won’t leave his side while he works at night.

  
Today was good. I am done. How was your day?  I hope you lived it up, laughed out loud and loved yourself and your one, beautiful and maybe messy life.  N-Ahhhhhhhhh-ma-ste!

I Said, He Said

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I said you needed 3 people to play Twister. 

He said you only needed 2.  

I said 2 wasn’t possible nor would it be any fun. 

He said 2 was plenty and we could play yoga, since I didn’t get to my class today.

I was then curious.

He was right.

Thank God I listened to him. He made my day.     
   He also got me outside to shoot some baskets instead of cleaning. Man, is he smart. 

I thanked him for making me play today when I thought otherwise. 

He said I was welcome.

I love him. 

He loves me.

Life is so simple.

The Sabbath 

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How did you rest today?

Did you slow down and enjoy a special moment with someone or something you love?

The message for today was not to hurry. I had to think about this one for awhile and wondered what that would look like and feel like to slow down. I always feel like I am in a hurry and juggling several things at once. I want to go, go, go, and don’t want to stop until bed time.

What happens when you don’t hurry?

I decided to practice today, since it was the sabbath, a day of rest.

As we were leaving church today, a gentleman decided he wanted to talk with us. We did not know him, yet his eyes sparkled and he wanted to share his story with us. Since we weren’t in a hurry, we listened. And we listened until everyone around us left. We walked outside and we listened some more. He had a lot to share and was very interesting and friendly. Plus, we weren’t in a hurry and we felt the presence of the moment and just being together in conversation, sharing stories and feeling good.

Juliana and I went shopping after lunch and we took our time. We weren’t in a rush and we were able to find what we were seeking.  I wanted to hurry home and be done, but instead we slowed down. I smiled at people and shared stories. One girl gave me an extra 10% off my order, maybe because I was not in a hurry and was present for a real moment in the check out line with her, asking her personal questions. I was actually enjoying the slower process and talking to people. I saw the workers differently and appreciated their service and hearing their stories too. 

I feel like if we slow down and see people and connect, maybe we can make this world a little less hectic and discover what we have in common and smile and share a laugh.  

Hmm…that’s what happened to me today and I loved it.  How about you? What happens when you slow down?

The Magic of Tidying Up

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I just finished reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo.  If you haven’t read it yet, I definitely recommend it and following the advice, not that I’ve done all of what she says but it definitely has changed my life.

She provides strategies for creating space and decluttering so that we can get the most out of life. Her advice is simple and her words keep resonating in my head. Her basic premise is to consider all that you have and ask yourself whether each item brings you joy. If it doesn’t, she tells you to get rid of it so that you can create space for what does.  I absolutely love this and keep thinking about everything I see now and wonder if it brings me joy. If it doesn’t, I’m letting it go and clearing it out. It feels so good to get rid of stuff, I can’t even tell you.

My mom was here last week and I was telling her about the book and how I want to get rid of everything but that it takes time to clear things out. I pointed to a cabinet in my kitchen and she started asking questions and the next thing you know, we’re clearing out the cupboards and now they are empty. The space is ready to be repurposed and I can’t wait. Right now I love just knowing that the shelves are empty and that there is order.  I can’t wait to do more.

I called my sister to tell her of my a-ha moment and she told me she was reading the same book and was already clearing out her closets! She sent me pictures of the pounds and bags of stuff she was ready to recycle and sent me pictures of her newly organized closet. She was so happy. I couldn’t believe we were both reading the same book at the same time and sharing similar experiences.

My favorite part of the book is the end. The book is about learning how to declutter and find a space for everything and putting things back every day so that you have more time to do what you love and to spend less time wasting life on tidying and looking for things you can’t find.  She helps you to learn how to make decisions and to chose what is meaningful and these processes relate to all other parts of our lives.

She says, “pour your time and passion into what brings you the most joy, your mission in life. I am convinced that putting your house in order will hep you find the mission that speaks to your heart. Life truly begins after you have put your house in order.”

I think by deciding what you want and don’t want and by being actively present and aware as you make these decisions, these small daily decisions will actually help you to decide what else you really want in your life and to take action right now.

I already noticed in a change in my thinking. This morning I woke up and decided I wanted to go to the Farmer’s Market. Usually I’ll sit around and read the paper and make excuses why I shouldn’t move or go out. Today was different and I made a decision to go and invited Jeff to join me. He said yes, and we went on a spontaneous date together that made my day. I loved walking around, seeing friends, gathering food for dinner tonight, and eating breakfast together outside.

  

When we came home, I decided I wanted to cook Thai food and learn how to poach chicken. I spent several hours in the kitchen cooking and preparing dishes, just for fun. I didn’t procrastinate, as I usually do, and I enjoyed cleaning out the kitchen and just being home, playing and cooking. I loved seeing the kids come in to pick at my food and to enjoy my work and that an impromptu dinner was ready when they were hungry. I loved bringing out my beautiful dishes that I love, and actually using them just for me.  I think this is what Marie Kondo was talking about.

I created space. I made decisions. I enjoyed what I love and today was good.

I wish the same for you. Clear out the clutter. Create space. Do what you love.  nAMaste. xo