In the midst of vacation planning, I’ve found myself going from one web site to another in hopes of finding the best deals. I love traveling, and one of my favorite things is actually being able to do the planning online and finding my own savings. Not only with travel, but also with gift buying and everything else under the sun.
What about you- What are your favorite web sites to visit and why?
As the evening draws on the last day of my ‘celebration month’- I find myself very much in awe of the beauty in my life. These sunflowers- a gift I gave myself, because I love them so much and how they remind me of the importance of keeping my head facing the light- and to keep my own inner light shining bright.
I look around, and I see little reminders of how much I am loved- from a box of Happy Birthday tea, roses from my sweet neighbors, cards and little gifts from friends, and much love.
I was having a very serious conversation with a friend yesterday about various situations we have gone through in life- and she mentioned a particularly difficult time I went through- and said how sorry she was that I had to encounter that.
I explained that it was a gift. It was painful, but there is no rule that I know of that says all gifts are to be wrapped up in a gorgeous box with a perfectly tied bow. Instead, some gifts come to us in challenges, pain, obstacles, so that when we work through them and exit the other side, we can embrace the entire situation for what it was- a gift in whatever way it was meant to be. Those are the most precious gifts of all- the one we have learned on the other side of heartache/heartbreak. So for those who allowed that lesson to come into play in my life- I thank you.
The past several years have been brilliant and blessed in so many ways, but littered with challenges and pain along the way. Last year was exceptionally difficult for me, but yet when I think back now- I realize it was a period of growing for everyone involved, again- another gift (although it didn’t seem so at the time).
This year- more than half way through- has been riddled with one blessing and beautiful moment after another. I know that as I enter my 49th year- that great things are on the threshold and I can not wait to see them unfold.
One thing is for sure- I will welcome them with gratitude and enthusiasm. The slate is clean- the potential endless.
For those of you who share in this journey with me- I am grateful.
You know the saying- time flies when you’re having fun. That fits me to a ‘T’ for this celebration month. Last week we spent some time away together. A little break away from everything a few hours from here. We spent some time with friends, and had an amazing time. It was extremely relaxing, and that’s something we both loved.
One of my favorite parts of the get-away was spending some time at a nearby park area. We parked the car near a fly fishing farm and then wandered through the open fields, and towards the huge lake. From there, we walked around it- stopping along the way to take photos and admire the nature around us.
We even found a cherry tree loaded with cherries and picked a few to enjoy. That was my first time to have an actual cherry straight from the tree, outside of the mountain cherries that mom and diddy have.
This week- more blissful moments. A friend of coming over for dinner on Wednesday- and on Saturday a group of friends and myself will head to his town and do a pizza workshop with him as our teacher. We’ll cook it in a wood fired oven outside, and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
When I think about all of life’s little blessings- all I can do is smile.
I am absolutely adoring this birthday month- The beauty keeps unfolding more and more and more- Marcel, gave me these gorgeous roses for my birthday and we had an amazing dinner out at one of our favorite local restaurants.
The girl day I had with friends couldn’t have been better- and I even surprised myself by making a splurge purchase of an adorable Michael Kors summer tote- and a matching leather wallet. Granted, I did not need either of them- because I have plenty of handbags, but the yellow was calling my name- and even Marcel suggested that I make a bee-line back to the Michael Kors shop and buy the bag- so I did.
Coming up- time away with him for a few days along with some fun with friends. My garden is growing at a beautiful pace and I can’t stop smiling- I am blessed.. beyond measure. For everyone who is a part of that – I thank you!
Tonight is “home alone” night for me. Marcel is working tonight, and my neighbor is having a few friends over so he can test out his shred x and invited me over to have a listen. I haven’t decided yet if I will pop in, because right now I’m feeling somewhat tired.
I also know that it doesn’t really matter if I ‘show up’ or not- because I’ll hear them playing from here. Either way- I know it will sound great- he always does, plus I know they are working on some new tunes.
Decisions, decisions- Pj night or hanging out with neighbors. What’s a girl to do?
I woke up this morning to find an email from Starbucks that said- Happy Birthday- your free birthday reward has been loaded to your card. YAY! Since I’m not in the country at the moment, and won’t be before my free treat expires- I decided to pass on the birthday love and share it with someone else. I suggested to mom that she download the app- log into my account, and voila- a free birthday treat for mom. She only goes to Starbucks with me- and now she can have her beloved Caramel Frappuccino and think of me while doing so. Thanks Starbucks!
Surprise number two- I get an email from Hallmark saying- you have three rewards. Don’t let them expire. I had no clue that I had any rewards- and knew that the program was about to be discontinued- so off I go to the website- and low-and-behold I have three rewards. So- I cashed them in for- a 5.00 Starbucks gift card, A one year subscription to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine and a one year subscription to Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine. Both of which I’ll share with mom.
Little things- but they bring a huge smile to my face.
What made you smile today?
Marcel has been asking me for a while what I wanted for my birthday. He loves to give gifts- but he isn’t big on surprises, so he generally wants help. If left to his own vices, he’ll always choose great jewelry. Granted, who doesn’t love jewelry- but at the same time- one can only wear so much.
I really don’t ‘need’ anything- so I was content with going out for dinner and celebrating at a space we both enjoy- (which is yet to be determined). We’d been planning a night away for a while- and it was time for me to choose the hotel, plus make reservations- and I started thinking how nice it would be if we went for TWO nights, as opposed to one- Then we would have that feeling that it was more like a mini-vacation.
So as I planned to make the reservations for the hotel of my choosing- I decided why not? So, I booked two nights- Great hotel a few hours away, plus in the neighborhood of some dear friends. So not only will we have the pleasure of being out of town for a few days, but we’ll also have the bonus of spending time with people we love.
Marcel was working, so I called to let him know of our plans- and to please consider it my birthday gift. It’s what I want- quality time with him, and also our friends. He was just as excited about it as I am.
We don’t have a huge agenda for our time away- visit a park I’ve been wanting to go to- and walk around the lake there- Plus do a little shopping with friends before we head home, but it’s yet something else to look forward to in the birthday month. Great things are happening!
Every day is a gift- and worth celebrating.
It’s warm today- not hot, but warm. Much warmer weather is coming- and I spent the entire morning making meals that would last us the rest of the week so that I don’t have to spend any time cooking in the heat later this week.
I also baked a cake- which I’ll stick in the freezer and pull out Friday evening for a Saturday afternoon visit from friends- to celebrate (a little early) my birthday. Plus it’s Independence Day- another reason to celebrate!
Once I finished – I also did the bed linens on both beds, plus vacuumed and mopped the floors- again so that I don’t have to think about it later in the week (except the vacuuming part, which will definitely need it).
By the time I got everything done- I was ready for some chill time- but I knew I’d promised myself to get on the elliptical daily- and for a nano-second I considered skipping it. Instead, I got up immediately before I had time to talk myself out of it- or got distracted with something else. and I did the work out. Granted, it was a hard work-out (which shows how out of shape I am at the moment) but the main thing is I kept my promise to myself.
Integrity and keeping my word is so important to me, and over the years- I’ve broken promises to myself- which should be held to the same set of standards that I have for the promises I make to others. It’s one of those life lessons I’m grateful for- and I’m grateful for understanding the importance of keeping my word to me.
Today- after several years of working through the death of a loved one dear to me- and the death of a friendship that also meant a great deal to me- (two separate incidents) I can finally say that I have finally got my groove back- For those few years- I felt like I was in a continual ebb and flow of working through the emotions, and healing from the pain. I know that in order to move forward in life we must walk ‘through’ things- rather than attempting to walk around them- otherwise they will manifest and show up in more ways than one, and often at the most inopportune times- although I’m not really sure that there is ever an opportune time for pain.
The great thing about pain- is that its a gift- even though we don’t always see it as one, and often it sometimes even comes dressed up looking like a curse- but with an open mind and heart- I can assure you- there is a gift waiting to be unwrapped.
Losing Carol suddenly was a huge shock to me and even though I clearly was emotional and devastated- I hid behind work for a while because the pain was almost more than I could handle. It subsided for a while, but eventually it manifested itself in little ways- and later showed up in anxiety- which is something I don’t generally have, and a clear sign to me to ‘do the work’ to work through the pain.
It was layer after layer- and it took a long time to be able to do that- and in the meantime- a couple of years later- I ended a ten year friendship with someone I loved dearly- because the friendship had made a huge shift- lies were being told- and our friendship was no longer being honored- nor was I as an individual- I don’t like to ‘quit’ on anything, but for the sake of own well-being I walked away- the aftermath was even more painful, because I saw things that happened in her hurt and anger that betrayed everything that I always believed our friendship stood for.
It led me down a rabbit hole- I generally don’t like those- since they are dark and you never really know what to find there, but I spent a LONG time not only trying to understand the whole dynamic of what happened and what my part in it could have been (which I later realized had nothing at all to do with me) and also the journey to evaluating every single relationship in my life, and I do mean every.
That rabbit hole was necessary, and it was a gift of seeing who was true- and who was not- and where different intentions lay- A few relationships that I’d held on to out of not wanting to ruffle any feathers or hurt feelings- I let go of. It wasn’t personal towards them, but I did not want to waste the gift I was given…
The thing with working through your own pain- being open to the process and knowing that in spite of the pain that there are lessons to be learned and it’s a gift- is that when you feel as though you have reached the point where you’ve fully let go- and have healed from it all- then you also realize that as you let go of anything toxic in your life- it’s often met with a fierceness of anger, and frustration… because for some reason- people ‘need’ to feel validated. What they don’t seem to understand is that we do things that work for us- and to know me- is to know that I don’t do things with anything but honorable intentions. It doesn’t mean that I don’t sometimes have thoughts of doing dishonorable things- but in the end my integrity matters far more than any simple little act of vengeance, plus I figure it isn’t my place to do that.. Life has a way of working those things out on their own.
In many ways it’s probably like a birthing process- there is this time where I was working on going through and working through it all- understanding and accepting the ebb and flow- riding the waves and accepting them as they were.. rolling along with the current- and knowing that it was a gift I was giving myself-
As with many big life things that rock us to the core- it also means that other things are sacrificed in the process- and in the midst of this process my regular exercise routine- plus my mostly healthy eating plan- all went through the window- tossed out. I would ‘try’ to get back on track but I was not successful- again- and again- and again- and again- and yet I could not understand why- why couldn’t I flip the trigger- and the reality was- I was working on moving through and healing- learning and growing- and my focus was committed to that- and I couldn’t put focus on something else- this needed my full attention- and it got it.
Now- I am ready- I feel wiser, and stronger, and I have healed- does it mean that life won’t give me other painful moments in my lifetime? Of course not- but I feel that I’ve learned and that should make it a little easier-
So this year I’m giving myself a gift- and the gift to me is to get back on a regular exercise routine- to continue to surround myself with the most amazing, inspiring and beautiful people, plus to continue to eat real food- and eat mostly healthy food- with the occasional treat thrown in. It is all about finding balance- and that’s something I’ll need to do considering my business, but I’m ready-
For the first time since 2010, I can say I’m ready-
It’s hard to believe that it has been a little longer than a month since I last posted- Life has been rolling along at a great speed- (which seems to go faster the older I get) and so much has happened. My parents have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and even though they thought they could avoid it- a beautiful surprise party was planned for them, and they were actually surprised.. so SUCCESS!!
In a few short days- I will be entering my birthday month- and also the birthday month of my long-time best friend Samantha. I’ll be 48 this year- and she’s a couple of years younger than me- but a few days ago- the idea was tossed out there for us to possibly spend my 50th in London together. The seed has been planted- it’s still a few years away and a LOT of living between now and then, but I love the idea of spending it with one of my favorite people in the entire world. No matter how the big 5-0 is played out- I know it will be awesome!
In the meantime- back to the 4-8. I’m grateful for some very fun plans with some pretty amazing people- all separate events at various days and times- but one thing is sure- it will include most of my favorite people-
Summer is here- and today is absolutely gorgeous- We are loving and embracing each day as it comes- plus smiling at the idea of travels ahead, learning experiences and change.
Life is indeed good- Embrace every moment.
Powered by WordPress