Live Love Laugh

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

My birthday is coming up and I received this birthday gift today from one of my BFFs along with a pair of silver dangling earrings and salted caramel chocolates. She knows me well and more than the material gifts, I loved the gift of time with her. She makes me smile and is a good listener and story teller and I just admire her so much. I wish I had half her ability to remember details!!

Thank you M for coming to spend the day with me.

How did you live today?

Who did you love today?

When did you laugh today?

I lived it up by hiking and having friends over and playing with the kittens. I made Vietnamese Banh Mi Chicken sandwiches and spring rolls for dinner as requested by my husband and snuggled in with my family to watch the Warriors win tonight.

I loved my friends and my family today and I loved my mama on our phone chat this morning.

I laughed when Charlie snuck up from behind and startled me.

Today was good. Hope you had a good day too, living it up, loving and laughing out loud!

Namaste

31May2015

I Am Wonder Woman

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I can drive 12 hours in a single weekend.

I can and I did and I am happy and I am tired.

It was a great and chaotic and fast time spent on the road and with family and friends to celebrate Laurie’s 50th birthday. I loved seeing how many women loved her and I loved helping her open her presents until the wee hours this morning.

I avoided a major accident as a guy swerved off the road in front of me and three people passed me to only come back and cut me off and slam on their brakes and slow me down. People are strange.

I enjoyed the little ones and the big ones and got very little sleep but enjoyed being with my babies.

I laughed and cried and enjoyed the connections and time spent together.

I am happy to have gone and am happy to be home.

nAMaste

4May2015

Crazy Days and Going with the Flow

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Today was crazy busy in a good kind of way and I am exhausted and thankful.

Juliana had shared a BuzzFeed with me about clean eating recipes for two weeks. One recipe luckily caught my eye and was the idea that became dinner tonight.

I got to the gym and did a lot of shopping. In between shopping trips, I threw chicken breasts and salsa verde into the crockpot and showered before heading out again with my wet curly hair.

I zipped through the last store and dropped off the groceries before heading out again for a meeting.

And the rest of the day took over from there. I forgot an appointment and had to rush around and try to still squeeze it in. Christian decided when I picked him up that he needed to do some extra swimming and could I please bring him to the pool. It wasn’t on my plan either, but I went with it and squeezed the pool visit in too. This was a highlight of my day. I loved just watching him swim and sitting in the sunshine by myself.

I told him we had to hurry though because I had to bring Charlie and his friend to their appointment.

We made it out of the pool and home on time to pick up the boys and get them to where they needed to be. Juliana decided she wanted to drive with me to drop them off. After we dropped the boys off, she didn’t want to go home just yet because she knew I would be distracted by all of the things still left on my to do list and she wanted time alone together.

Okay, when your teenage daughter decides she wants to spend time with you, you don’t say no. Of course, I had a huge list of things I wanted to do in the next hour, like folding laundry and finishing dinner and tidying up a little bit and returning phone calls and emails. But I let it all go and enjoyed the moment with her. This was the best choice, even if I did have a quiet moment of anxiety before getting to yes. She makes me smile and I love being with her and am thankful she wanted to be together.

So dinner was a little later tonight and the side dishes weren’t prepared, but we had plenty of leftovers to go with the yummy, light chicken that cooked itself in the crockpot. I love that magical pot.

The kitchen got cleaned and most of the clutter picked up, just a little later than usual. The laundry? It’s still sitting there and can wait until tomorrow.

Happy kids, happy (tired) mom.

Life is crazy and good!

nAMaste and good night. xo

25Apr2015

Morning and Night – Cabo

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nAMaste

20Apr2015

Rituals and Love

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I picked up Juliana from school today, curious how she did with her jet lag and how she was feeling. She did surprisingly well, although was a bit quieter and moved a little more slowly. She was definitely tired but made it to all her classes and appointments, after being up for 30+ hours straight. I asked her if she wanted to take a nap, but she said she thought if she napped, she wouldn’t want to get up again. I asked her if she wanted to go get a bubble tea, and her eyes sparkled and she woke up again.

We waited for Charlie and then drove across town for their favorite treat. I love that she loves these and that I could spoil her. I’m trying to watch my calories so she ordered a large boba tea so I could have a sip or two. This was just right for me, as I got to share a drink with her and not have too much.

My mama drove up from Southern California to be with us this week and she arrived this afternoon, right before I picked up the kids. I was so happy that she got here safely, and that we got to spend the day together. I wanted her right by my side, doing everything together. We went to pick up the kids together, read magazines together, cooked dinner together, drove the kids to and from together, went to Target, ate dinner together and watched the end of the Warriors game together too. We laughed and joked and loved on each other and the kids and Jeff when he came home too. She is the most efficient, hardest worker I’ve ever known and I just admire her and all the love she has to give. I’m so thankful she’s here with us for a few days and that we can just BE, her and ME and the rest of the gang too, of course, doing whatever we do.

Love this life. Love my family. Love my mama.

nAMaste

17Apr2015

Day 5 – Santa Cruz

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My happy place! I love the beach and just being there makes me happy.

My favorite part today was people watching with my BFF and enjoying the kids just playing. It was sunny and windy so I was a bit cold and wore a sweatshirt the entire day.

Today I saw the beach as a place to build and create and connect. There are free, unlimited building materials everywhere and mixing sand and water is magical. I’ve never thought of it this before this way but today, watching the kids from 0-60 build and play and run and laugh made me smile. There was unlimited entertainment.

Our kids loved bringing big shovels and digging deep holes, making a man cave and a place to sit and hide.

An older gentleman spent hours building a sand bridge. He was like the pied piper, with people coming around to see what he was doing.

Teens were jumping in the waves and then resting and digging for sand crabs, all together in a row.

Our kids were making soccer fields and soccer hole goals and boundary lines and then playing a game together. They used their boogie boards for the back of the soccer goals and played and ran and shot and laughed and then went in the water to cool off.

They boogie boarded and enjoyed the cold water. They were brave and stayed together, laughing and jumping and riding the waves over and over again.

There were women flying kites and naked babies and little toddlers coming over to see what our kids were doing. There was kindness and teamwork and big boys sharing with little boys. There were little ones rolling over and over in the sand because they could.

There were seagulls stealing chip bags and protecting their territory, defending their loot from the other birds. This was so funny to watch.

We watched boats come in and out of the harbor and waves crashing on the rocks. We watched a police boat jet off and jet skiers following them as well and another boat that pulled a broken down boat back into the harbor.

There were volleyball players and football throwers and little ones running back and forth.

The beach is a beautiful place, filled with life and joy and movement.

This is my happy place! Where is yours?

Tired Out!!

nAMaste

15Apr2015

Day 3 of Break

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hello BeLoveRs

I just love that word – how simple would the world be if we were happy just BEing? We could just BE Love in all its forms. We could BE Lovers of life, of ourselves and of others and of whatever we love. There’s the simple secret all wrapped into this pretty little made up word. I don’t think it’s a real word, is it? But now it is to me and you.

Today I was happy just sitting outside doing nothing. I ate a late lunch out on the sunny back patio, all by myself. I talked to my sister about her nursing applications and was so happy that she was happy and on her way. I am proud of her.

Soon Charlie came outside to be with me. We moved to the couch and just sat together for probably an hour with nothing to do and just enjoyed being. We laughed and sang made up songs and texted Juliana, exchanging pictures between what we were doing in the USA and what she was doing in Japan.

He worked on putting baseball stickers all over his new toothbrush and he told me I’m the best mama and that he loves me. What more do I need?

I’ve learned that when you slow down and create space, really good things can happen.

Finally on Day 3, I am happy that we are home for spring break. I enjoyed shopping with Charlie this morning and bringing Christian to his appointments and meeting Jeff for dinner in Mountain View and family FaceTiming with Juliana.

These are the days that make up the simple life. These are the days that represent just being and going with the flow and create peace. These are our days. Here I am.

nAMaste. Enjoy your days.

10Apr2015

Found

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Luckily my feelings of being anxious and lost went away today. That didn’t take long. I think it’s important to feel what we feel and to acknowledge the bad feelings too so that we can realize and process them and let them go as fast as possible because who wants to be anxious and lost? That is never my intention but sometimes life just is and that’s okay too.

I found my happiness at midnight and throughout the day, when I received a message from Juliana that she had landed safely. I could finally sleep but I kept waking up wondering if she had texted again and how she was doing.

I found happiness by volunteering with my PEO group and admiring the sunshine and natural beauty of the Redwood trees in Portola Valley. I enjoyed spending time with women and sharing lunch together.

Isn’t this the most beautiful and peaceful place? I want to come back here again.

I felt alive again and cleaned my house and got things organized for the weekend. It really makes me happy when clutter is gone and my space is neat. Seriously, it’s the simple things that make me happy.

Juliana FaceTimed with me when she woke up and SnapChatted throughout the afternoon. I was so giddy to see her face and to hear her voice!!

My sisters both called today and we had time to catch up and I got to talk with my mom too. Since they don’t live close by, I was thankful for our cell phones and time to connect because I love them and need them!

Jeff came home from work and the boys both had events, so we went out to dinner together, which was a great way to the end the day and crazy week with my best friend.

Found my happiness again.

Life is good. Thank you for sharing this life journey together. Have a wonderful weekend, filled with time for you, time to relax, time to exercise, and time to just be.

nAMaste BeLoveRs!

xoxo

5Apr2015

Untraditional Traditions

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My family is weird. Our tradition is to not have a tradition. We carry some traditions, but we are not wedded to any.

We do what we love and we are happy. Our family does not live close to us, so we don’t feel a sense of obligation to be together. We come together when we want and that’s a pretty cool thing.

Today is Easter and we celebrated at home! Yay, for being home.

Charlie loves the holidays and we were up by 6:30 am to see if the Easter bunny came.

We still partook in the Easter tradition of waking up early to see if the baskets were filled and the eggs hidden throughout the house and yard. The Easter bunny did not disappoint!

However, the big kids were wishing to have slept in.

We made bagels with lox and toppings for breakfast and then we headed out to church at 9am.

It was an early start to the day, but felt good to be out and about early this morning. I loved hearing the message of how Jesus rose from the dead, and how his mother Mary suffered by his grave and weeped. She represents all women, especially those who have lost a child. And she provides hope and love for us all that one day, all will be well.

After church, our family decided to be weird and I loved it. Jeff and the boys went to an Earthquakes soccer game with friends and I prepared an untraditional Easter feast, to be prepared whenever everyone came home again.

We made yakitori, rice, seaweed salad, broccoli and mini wontons. Doesn’t that just sound delicious? None of us were in the mood for another ham.

Juliana and I had the time of our lives. We saw on Instagram that Yoga Girl, Rachel Brathen, was hosting a top secret yoga class and only 40 people would be able to attend. We thought we had no chance, but we emailed the secret contact and were chosen to be the guests!!

We were so happy and hurried up at home so that we could make the late afternoon drive to the East Bay. I had met the instructor @OGYogini at the end of class yesterday in San Francisco, and when she saw me today, she gave me a big hug and told me she was glad I was there. I love our little world. I loved seeing Rachel again and sharing yoga with Juliana. We enjoyed the car ride together, just the two of us alone and then the yoga experience.

I loved that the guys got to go out and play and Juliana and I got to be out together too, and then we all came back together again to have a late dinner all together again.

It was a perfectly imperfect and weird Easter. We went with the flow and did what we enjoyed and everyone was happy.

Life is good.

Life is beautiful.

Life is what we make it.

Take time to dream and to make time for what you love and take good care of wonderful you!

nAMaste BeLoveRs. You are loved!!

xoxo

4Apr2015

The Happiness Tour – Yoga Girl in SF

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It was a beautiful day to celebrate a birthday and be with girlfriends this weekend.

I love San Francisco.

I love time away with my girlfriends and I love yoga.

We spent the morning enjoying a delightful breakfast and then walked to the ferry building, stopping along the way to shop with the street vendors on Market Street. We had a blast and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We were in the city to take a yoga class with Rachel Brathen at the Regency Ballroom on Van Ness.

Her class was amazing and full of love and light and good yoga!!

We were so happy to be there, celebrating S’s birthday, enjoying new poses and learning from Yoga Girl!