The fact that endless energy comes from the Earth it self leaves me in awe of such power, In awe of such life force!
I LOVE energy!
I love the powerful strength it gives, the opportunity to create or complete projects and make the world a better place!
Most importantly I love that awareness and understanding in having good energy to live life fully!
It starts out every morning I am in awe! Always in awe over how each new day I get to have NEW energy! It's impressive to notice that the stack of dirty dishes is nothing to get clean in the warm morning light when the night before I saw this task as daunting simply from my lack of energy....it's so fascinating this thing we call energy!
Understanding energy, how we need it and how the earth is FULL of it in so many natural ways, I am left in awe over the mystery and the magic of it all! Perhaps it is why mornings are my most favorite time of the day......I can simply FEEL all that energy waking up and embracing the unknown events for the day ahead!
It's truly a wonder to behold our connection to such an amazing power, to that thriving energy that seems to be pulling us all out into the future, connecting our lives and sharing in such wonders!.....leaving me to love it all the more!
It was my first love over ALL things, FOOD. My mother specialized in perfection, sewing, painting, and most importantly cooking!
She wanted to be the perfect homemaker right from the start, so I can relate...I can see where I got my own desires to be good at creating a homey feeling in the places I have lived. My mother cooked so nicely that I had a hard time as a kid not judging other mothers in comparison. Food in general was my favorite thing to study and taste, growing up I ate everything and more! It was a survival instinct to eat but also it was a comforting feeling to find refuge in foods.....My mother was a better baker over all and never let the cookie jar go empty or the apple crisp run out. Looking back most everything had sugar and Crisco, everything had salty commercialized seasonings with chemicals I will never be able to pronounce....My mother was good at all her jobs and I loved food as a good result!
Being a fat teenager I had to make a decision on either not eating food anymore or accepting myself as I was. Naturally my love for food never died and I called my self "Curvy" to create laughter and joy in an otherwise hard situation. My beloved friend Tiffany told me when I was 16 years old that even though I was over weight I was luckily enough to have my mother's hour glass body type which in turns hides most my fat. I agreed with her instantly and happily filled up my plate for dinner!
It will always be a big part of my life, planning a menu, thinking about food and matching certain foods to certain holidays and traditions......Having made my decision to not allow my worries over my appearance dominate my passion for good taste and all the wonders in the world called food then I was FREE, simply free to eat and try anything! What an adventurous life coexisting with good food!
I love my ability to understand even deeper then before on nutrition and understand how important food plays into our daily lives! I am no longer fat, no longer cooking with Crisco and no longer having to battle over what to do when I grab my cast iron skillet for I am in "the zone" of my passion and my love for FOOD!
Today's lovely morning had us all outside, it's such a huge backyard that often I have to wander awhile before finding out where Oscar treed a squirrel! It's a beautiful place full of trees and bushes and gardens. I love living here because of the huge land surrounding the house, this perfect backyard! (....and I think Jazzy likes to all this room to jump on Tinker just to see her freak out!)
This is Lewis and Jazzmin in the morning warmth
My cats and dogs have come to love living here too.....hard to believe that we get to live in such a lovely place!
Yesterday mid afternoon I was taking a nap and Oscar snuggled right up into my arms in a puppy like sweet way, he usually naps in his own space but on this afternoon I was peacefully loving his soft curling ears against my cheek and his beautiful brown eyes that relaxed into a nice long nap time! Oh I love this dog more then I could ever really explain or do it justice!
When it comes to playtime Sidda my oldest and smallest dog loves chasing the cats either Tinker or Jazzy especially but also in chasing and running along side Oscar. He will always protect her and she knows it! They are cutest pups rolling along the leaves and dirt then racing inside and out again in their happy morning frenzy! Minnie our latest pack member never gets all that excited about games or chasing she usually doesn't even like being outside much, She does however love her big bed every morning waking up to roll and snort and be silly! She could care less if another dog or cat lays up beside her and she is most attentive when treats comes out.
She has a desire to belong in our family, while not actually wearing herself out at the same time. Her endless happiness and laid backs ways makes me love her adorable silliness all the more!
The fact that all 3 dogs get
along with all 3 cats so nicely,
makes me the most proud of
creating such a family as this!
I always keep everyone happy and safe in our backyard, for life is a beautiful magical place where time stands still and most importantly where I love every single moment of my life!
I LOVE my pets, My sweet sweet souls!
When I was a kid my father always had the TV on and many times when I would start to hear the theme song of a nature show I would race out of my bedroom to watch it with him!
Such great memories I have at the sound of this particular show, getting to learn something new about the land around me while sitting on the floor listening to my Dad talk about the things he knew in the animal world too.
We watched many episodes of "Marty Stouffer's Wild America". Then after I grew up I made many references to Marty Stouffer over the years, even impressing my husband with all my basic understanding on the animals around us, then when he found this show again on our TV, he was thrilled to surprise me and I danced around so much! I get to watch every single show now at any time I want, so on many nights now just before bed this half hour show calms me down and relaxes my mind with the connections to the real world I enjoy thinking about!
These stories of animals, of the birds and bugs in our nation's great wide open land makes me sad sometimes because this show was first made in the 80's explaining all the fears and concerns of civilization killing off more and more of our natural habitat has actually happened. This almost 40 years later moment leaves me a bit sad, for it proves the fact that there are such deep losses in the human quest to stay modern.
While watching the butterfly episode, I was in awe of how many butterflies there were back then.....my husband was surprised when Marty explained how spraying and pesticides are killing off more and more butterflies, even calculating the lost our famous monarch butterfly in his episode that now, right now an alarming report was shared on the lowest count of these butterflies ever before in history, how sad and how very humbling to look from 1984 to 2014 as a proof to the lost of nature!
I have vowed to never spray again if ever I was in doubt before now I know I must speak up and give hope that we could repopulate our bugs and butterflies better. I love nature shows! I especially love "Wild America" because I live here and I feel responsiable! I am going to use my life, my hands and my time to give back to this land, seeking to create a healthy balance of amazing beauty! There is a rich hope in me of how everything cycles back and around, so maybe nature will keep cycling on back to it's real paradise? I like that idea and know within my own strength I will help out in every way I can! This show will keep me sharp and aware, help me stay educated and wise, with so much to do come spring, with so much to learn all year long I am both thrilled and grateful to see each living thing outside my home like that on a nature show!
So until next time ENJOY our Wild America!
When I was growing up we played for hours at the park, we pretended to be characters in a fairy tale story or just simple playing "House" made a picnic table our so called home and how we survived. Parks are beautiful places were buildings and sidewalks can not consume. I love parks full of nature or resting up next to a river.
When I was dating my husband I made picnics to the park all the time in which he would uncomfortably attend saying "Parks are full of homeless and gang members...why are we here?" I would laugh and shake my head because I saw a magical place to sit out in the sun light and watch bugs move over my quilted blanket.
Parks became very important to me in the summer of 2006 when I was out walking lost in thought over the surprise stress that surrounded me. I walked for miles and hours along the city parks that ran into each other through the greenbelt next the beautiful healing Boise River.
When I got a new puppy a few months later I knew all the best places in the parks to walk and train him, even knowing the common corner of homeless people. Sitting next to them for small talk as they all lit up over a puppy to pet made me realize that parks are more then nature's sanctuary, it's a nice place for homeless too maybe my husband was always right?
I love parks for the escape of the real world, to leave the noisy crowded places of people. It is all apart of balancing yourself to sit and think about things then go back into society and share what you have learned simply by walking the park!
The summer Saturday afternoon was warm and lovely, I read my book under the big green full tree as the whole city park was alive with families having picnics and playing games. I could hear the ducks talking to each other as a dog ran by catching a Frisbee in the air then all of sudden my husband burst out "BUGS! goddamnit there are so many BUGS on me!" I glanced up over my book to say "What bugs? I don't see any bugs?" He shot up from sharing the same picnic blanket now frustrated and ready to leave "Well come over here and you'll see ants, spiders and wasps!" I giggled going back to reading my book thinking "I love parks." to myself as my husband left exclaiming "I hate parks! There is a reason they invented air conditioning and screen doors!" I caught the sight of a yellow jacket dive bomb him in motion and I giggled again by the untouched spot I had enjoyed.
It's funny to look back at the very first day I had a cake doughnut, seems so random to remember when it was just a doughnut......yet it is where my love first burst through my taste buds!
My father sat across from me and my mother in the yellow tinted booth in Buds. The small town cafe of St. Maries Idaho, where we lived at that time, the place smelled of yummy homemade food as the grill flipped out hamburgers and fries. I had been holding my mother's hand to reach the bench seat as I climbed up to sit the waitress came to our table in a ruffly apron and a big smile. My father ordered his black coffee at the rolling of my mother's eyes while pointing to me saying "I think this little one would like to have a doughnut, bring out 2 of them actually." My Mother looked down at me in concern asking "Is she old enough? That could be to much sugar all at once?" My mother's dark curly hair rested on her shoulders as my father pushed up his eye glasses with a confident smile explaining back to my young mother "She will be fine, a little sugar never hurt anyone." I remember standing in that booth leaning against the table in order to see out better all around me at such active place!
This was one of my favorite memories with my parents in the old worn down building with the humming of conversations all around us. We never ate out like that so this is why I can remember it so well...then there was our waitress who took a plate to the screen door cupboard that hung in the corner of the relaxed cafe, I could watch her clearly put 2 doughnuts together then bring the interesting things to our table, when Mom broke me off a piece I was in awe! I was in such amazement by this fried sweet cake that I never forgot this first taste, this magical moment!
After that sweet surprise I always knew what was in that corner cupboard with the flip swing door all screened over to keep the bugs off the hot huge pile of hot homemade doughnuts. I watched every person who opened it from then on in craving wonder like old trucker guys with their brown mugs full of coffee grabbing a doughnut waving it towards the counter saying "Hey add another one of these to my bill." Then they ate it in hand as they walked around visiting, I knew right away how getting my Grandpa to take me there meant another doughnut for he was always sitting in there among his friends telling jokes and stories.
My father once picked me up so I could get a good look inside that doughnut cupboard for I never seen so many all at once.
It became my main question for years growing up whenever we went into Buds Cafe
"Can I get a doughnut?!?"
Today's sun light is so refreshing yet the chilly winds send all my pets to the door in hopes to come in out of it's cold bite.
I love the sunshine more then I love the stars, It's funny how at night I wonder about those diamonds in the sky yet when the sun comes out I know exactly what to do, SOAK IT UP!
I ask those big questions at night like "How far actually are all those planets and balls of gas that shine?" or "Why I am here on this earth when it's so beyond my control or beyond my own strength?" Then daylight comes and I feel instantly safe, warm and at peace with all those other questions simply by the shinning sun. This is why I love the sunshine more then the moon, why I feel energized more during the day. Things make sense and have a purpose during the clear light of sunny day and I have the BEST nap times under the heat, I like to sit directly in the brightness that gives me such answers for everything I worry or wonder about.....
Today's sun light is no different then any other day I just want to share how much I love it!
Lately I have been struggling with my sweet tooth this time every evening, especially ever since Valentine's day when we had a wonderful favorite of ours, Mochi Ice Cream, now it's all I want and crave!
I love ice cream and discovering these little dessert balls of green tea ice cream in a chewy gel like coating where they melt into your mouth makes me keep thinking about them! Just so refreshing and easy to eat!
It's always fun to have a favorite dessert, but one bite of these and I could eat the whole box in a few minuets! I do love ice cream, and making it at home is a healthier choice just not as easy and fast to get to as a mochi though....I have awaken my taste buds to the sweet taste of creamy chewy chilled delights! ...and I can't stop the love now:-D
When my mother called me last week to come learn how her swimming therapy was going I was beyond THRILLED. My mother after 2 years from her stroke is finally getting in the water, in the pool to swim again! My heart was so grateful to be apart of the early morning swimming time at the Y in Caldwell, Idaho. Mom had such a smirk while balancing and moving through out the water. Her Physical Therapy teacher showed me how to get her in and out of the pool and how to encourage more in depth exercises, I was proud and so pleased to be apart of it all! My mother use to swim back in the day all the time as I grew up and now happily she moves in the water once again. When I think of my own love for swimming, that moment when the water floats over my shoulders washing away the weight of the world. I know this is a great month for my mother to move on in feeling the freedom that water brings! Seems like such a long road looking back on how far my mother has come, but nothing is more wonderful and more joyous then seeing her move so smoothly through out the comfort of the familiar pool! For I love her so...and I love swimming along side her once again!
When I think of the most important holiday I instantly think of Valentines day, yet this is not the normal view of many others. It's not the kind of holiday that closes the city down, that has everyone being home in the mornings with their families like Thanksgiving or Christmas mornings. Sad really to not make Valentines day a national break from all the world's activities to celebrate and focus on the pure beauty of LOVE.
Love for your partner, love your kids, love for your whole family and friends. Seems like to me it should be such a HUGE celebration for the things we love in our lives!
This year was very quiet and peaceful compare to last year. And I liked staying home all day in my Pj's, cuddling with my dogs and knitting a hat for my hubby....For me these moments are all I need,
Love has such a depth in healing and comforting us that even the simplest acts of kindness goes towards the holiday's true focus, I don't want more then I already have.
I love my husband in all his quirkiness, in all his long debates and usual joking habits. He likes to watch the morning news with me close by so as I drink my coffee and eat my breakfast he can comment back with all the information of the world around us, I am his audience and I learn so much from these big discussions we can get into for disagreeing or looking at the situation very differently. Yesterday was one of those kind of moments where simply being together is celebration of all our life time stories, I liked not racing through the day like normal with distractions such as phone calls, class times or appointments.
I love the day of hearts, the day of love so much that as each year flies by I want carry the celebration of putting the world on hold for a little while longer, I want carry the love all year long if I can.
When Tony
moved over to sit by me yesterday morning saying "I feel like I never
see you anymore, we should try to do more things together that don't
have anything to do with being on our laptops." I just chuckled saying back at him "Well, I am not home as much now with my job, It's even more important to me on my days off to use the free time wisely." Tone sighed and said "By this time next year I will almost be out of school." I smiled thoughtfully as he excitedly thought about how getting his life back would be so nice. Then Tone excitedly explained how through his law school he
got a discount or a trail run to a gym with a hot tub and big swimming
pool. He wondered if I would like to go with him to check it out.....
As much I am NOT a gym person, swimming is something I have always loved. For on this dark cold, rainy holiday we knew getting into a hot tub would be so nice and I liked the sauna heat too.
Having
Love for your own body, to celebrate a time of rest and just BE still
in the day is one of my favorite moment and reasons to celebrate! It's
even more important as an adult to not forget how to go out and just
PLAY. Swimming yesterday while over looking the great downtown Boise
helped me remember why I love Valentines day so much, spending time with
my husband without law school or driving schedules discussed was even
more rare. I know we are half way through this stressful time in our
lives, so in another decade I hope to look back with relief that at
least we never missed a valentines day celebration, the only constant
holiday that brought us out of our own lives to share again in each
other.
Carry the Love all year long!
This is Jon Katz, I met him in 2009 at his book singing in Portland Oregon. I collect all of his books, and follow his blog regularly. He reminds me of my own self many times and I can relate so often to what he shares. I admire him for being brave enough to speak up and to gratefully teach the rest of us all he has learned and loved about living his life. This is a great Tedtalk, maybe my most favorite of all actually! And I usually watch one or two of these Tedtalks every morning! Because I love them, I love learning about EVERYTHING I can!
ENJOY!
The long debate over New York's working horses, those romantic quiet carriage rides through central park and historic buildings have been heating up lately as a battle begins to end their career. Where will the horses go to live or to work if band from the city?
I have long since knew I would never like living in New York city, but if I could go visit then I would enjoy it ALL the more in a horse ride verses a taxi.
No one will ever be able to change my mind about how much I love the natural world first and foremost. I can try and keep up in the modern changes, in the new technology, As long as it will not take away the freedom of life in general. I will never allow it to take away my spark for a romantic life, for living in love!!!
......and I love Horses! They are so amazing and powerful! I was afraid of them as a child, for I had been thrown off their backs a few times. Yet I was taught to never stand directly behind their back legs not without touching the horse from the side carefully allowing the horse to know where I was at all times. I was almost bit on the leg by a stallion so I learned quickly to move fast and watch those ears. I liked watching how their shoes were put on in order to protect the horse's hooves against the asphalt. If it was just dirt then the horse would be in the natural world doing just fine. I can't stop the world from moving on so quickly to block the real dirt, the real earth. I can however respectfully see our modern changes don't always serve a greater good for the rest of the world's creatures.....
I am sadden by the craziness in New York over claiming the carriage horses are abused. I am left to ask so many more questions, for I love horses so much that I would never want them to be harmed or cruelly treated but causing them to be unemployed seems ridiculous in this situation.
If I were worried over the care of these city working horses I would ask the owners to have a check list of steps to take in giving good care,like not working over time or in crazy scary weather. It doesn't seem like a bad request to have some kind of check list, to help everyone be educated on how they are treated and how horses like this work that they do, they want a job and they need to walk everyday.
I love horses and I even have vivid dreams of them in my life while I sleep at night, these horses came to me in my sleep the day after my best friend died. I feel set free just looking at a horse be in my dreams while I sleep or in person as I am awake.
IF I could give up my car for such a cute little carriage and a peaceful horse, I would!
We need to hang on, to be aware of how far away nature can seem at times, or how misunderstood all animals can be.
I love horses because they are powerful souls almost flying as they run, as they live!
