Thanksgiving

...was hosted by Brandon and Molly this year.

All Thanksgivings are special, but this one

was one of the best.

On the road trip there, I reflected on past Thanksgivings.

There were times Brandon would go to his Dad's and I 

would be invited to celebrate with my girlfriend and her family.

(The same family that played matchmaker & hooked

hubby up with my phone number, back in the day.)

Then there's the Thanksgiving that Brandon and I were pet sitting 

for his Dad and girlfriend when they went out of town.

 We had an invite to join those same friends,

but an ice storm moved in.

We had two choices.

Risk driving an hour to celebrate with our friends,

(and perhaps stay the night)

or risk a 10 min. drive to Walmart to purchase all that we needed

to have our own celebration at home.

We chose the latter.

A quick trip to the store, a thawed turkey with all the fixings for our meal,

and each of us selecting a movie to buy that we could watch together.

Mine...Eat, Pray, Love.

His...Zombieland.

A meal in the oven.

A fire in the woodstove.

Zombies & Zen and a kitten with the zoomies

who kept racing up the Christmas tree...

still ranks as one of my best Thanksgivings to date.

This one tucks right in beside it.

 Our families gathered and met, and stayed overnight.

Great conversations paired with copious amounts of laughter.

Pets to cuddle, football games, and an amazing meal.

Later, fun rounds of Shanghai Rummy, 

nibbling on homemade rolls & pie.

It's a Wonderful Life playing in the background.

Up early, and reconnecting at the kitchen table.

Getting to know little (quirky) things about each other,

sipping coffee, tea, and  Dr. Pepper.

 Brandon baking cinnamon rolls.

Then, a little Birthday celebration for Molly,

before we all headed back home.

It was perfect.

I'm swooning on a gratitude high.

be well...

xoxo

💝

"I am grateful for what I am and have.

My thanksgiving is perpetual."

~Henry David Thoreau~

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.

You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it,

and sometimes even travel around the world for it.

You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations

of your own blessings.

And once you have achieved a state of happiness,

you must never become lax about maintaining it.

You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming

upward into that happiness forever, to stay 

afloat on top of it."

~Eat, Pray, Love~

"I've never been good with farewells so...

that'll do pig."

~Zombieland~

 

Joy

A gorgeous autumn evening for a country wedding,

and hubby's perfectly timed capture of the moment

we saved ourselves from toppling over backward on a giant tree swing.

'If you let each day offer moments of awe,

it's easier to wake up with anticipatory excitement.

See everything as a gift and open your eyes to 

the wonder all around.'

Journal notes:

'...those who seek the Lord 

shall not lack any good thing.'

Psalm 34:10

Show up for life and participate to the best

of your ability.

Be love...

be well...

xoxo

💝

"The entire point of life is to

be so wildly passionate that people

can't decide if you're crazy

or a genius."

 

Rewilding

Waking up to a new module, is like waking up

on Christmas morning as a kid.

I'm on my 18th Christmas morning.

It started with a high energy, funny

totally loveable, wild guy.

He excited me so much, I had to call my kiddo,

and text two of my friends.

I had to let out my giddy....

this guy triggered me in all the right ways!

He opened up the wild in me.

His talk was on the four elements, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire.

And...the thing that seemed to uncork me, was his passion

for "Rewilding".

Getting back to basics.

Eating nutrient dense foods, breathing good air,

getting our energy from the sun, and keeping

our bodies hydrated with quality spring water.

And getting back to that wild side in all of us.

He had so much vitality and a passion for life.

I was swooning.

Seriously.

I thought I knew the path I wanted to take after this course,

but after listening to him, & following my heart....(as suggested)

things have a way of shifting on me.

I'm cool with that.

You learn who you are, and what matters to you.

It's really quite fascinating to me.

It keeps things simple.

When you don't know...your open to what comes.

Like anything in life....the path ahead is never really clear,

we don't know what's ahead. 

If we do our best, and walk our own unique path,

then we'll leave behind us a trail of for others

to start out on until they forge their own path.

So, I suppose I'm ready to start

forging my new path into the unknown.

I want to do something that is true to my soul.

I'm brave enough to do the hard work.

And I trust that I will be guided on my own unique path

one step at a time.

I can't wait to see where this journey takes me.

xoxo

💗

"If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step,

you know it's not your path.

Your own path you make, with every step you take.

That's why it's your path."

 

Unraveling Judgment

I heard about Matt in a book by Martha Beck.

I've been  listening to him daily for over a month.

He is a Spiritual leader and Empathic healer,

and

I LOVE HIM!

"The minute you stop moving towards what you don't have,

is the moment that what you meant to have starts seeking you."

xoxo

💗

Laughter Yoga

I had an awareness that I was being watched during

a yoga pose "to boost mood",

(I giggled at the thought...)

then...I turned to see the cat giving me this look.

Spontaneous laughter ensued.

Effective.

"The most beautiful things in life are not things.

They're people and places and memories and pictures.

They're feelings and moments and smiles and laughter."

xoxo

💖

 

Hygge and Cats

Good morning! 

Wow ! It's been a while ! 

That whole saying, " life speeds up the older we get" thing. 

Those are some serious words!

So as to try to slow time down a bit...I have been

focusing more on homey-hygge-bits.

Less noise and distraction, more calm and cozy.

Which takes me to my cat, Polly.

She is my little hygge side-kick.

And my new addiction.... the warm cozy scenes on You-tube.

I usually start my morning devotion and journaling in the dark,

and one morning rather than turn on the lamp... 

I decided to search for a peaceful scene on the TV for light...

which eventually led me to this peaceful (live-ish) scene (among others).

 Turns out it is just the right touch that was missing...

that I didn't know was missing. I am hooked.

I share them with my Mom...because, she's all about cozy-feels too...

and they remind me of her.

Now...back to cats. We have 3 now.

2 are still in the kitten stage...

and are not allowed to take over the house. Yet.

They are closely supervised as they

are still in training.

 Which leads me to a giggly thought.

The other day, my husbands great Nephew was here at the house.

My hubby asked if he would like to see the kittens

(he had seen them before we rescued them).

He said sure!

Well, I had them in the house at the time, and so 

we all gathered around the kits, who were being

quite mannerly, and purry.

  Nephew was commenting on how much better they looked,

when suddenly one of them (Gabby...our little girlie-girl)

made a quick B line to the litter box.

With that, I start to narrate...as I do at times....

" Oh excuse me, I gotta poop, that roast I ate is going right through me."

Hubby looks at me laughing, and says to his nephew...

"Oh...she's narrating for the cat"

Then the nephew turns to me laughing with,

"Well, I was wondering...,

 I was just going to thank you for the play-by-play."

Then we all got tickled.

Lovin' the little things....

Today's quote:

"Hygge is an atmosphere,

a feeling,

a calm energy.

It's relishing in life's simple

pleasures."

Sending warm cozies your way!

xoxo

💖

 

Need to Laugh

Today I am...

so dang grateful for the goodness of laughter.

" A good laugh heals a lot of hurts."

xoxo

💖

Laughs

Jeff Allen...

I give myself permission to have more than one favorite comedian.

He is another on my list.

"Laughter is a bodily exercise,

precious to health."

xoxo

💖

Laughter

Sometimes I just need to sit back and have a good laugh!

Michael Jr. is by far my favorite for that sort of thing...💗

" I love people who make me laugh. 

I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh.

It cures a multitude of ills.

It's probably the most important thing in a person."

~Audrey Hepburn~

xoxo

💖

Laugh

Gratitiudes:

Finally getting a chance to cycle before another snow moves in.

Getting tickled over something,

and no matter how hard we tried... we couldn't stop laughing.

Getting caught up in the cold front, peddling against the wind...

then finally making back to the van.

Ordering Pumpkin lattes at the local coffee shop for our drive home.

Getting tickled all over again, when hubby sees my Facebook

post, and asks me "what made  you guys laugh so hard."

And getting a little chuckle out of him too. :)

" You can't deny laughter; when it comes, 

it plops down in your favorite chair

and stays as long as it wants. "

XOXO

Away

They were nice enough to let us check in early,

then we ran over the kind man in housekeeping, with the luggage cart.

The suitcase flung itself into the hallway.

 Hubby went to his meetings. I went shopping.

A little bit of chaos, a few giggles, a room with a view and  friends we treasure.

Just what we needed.

XOXO

Celebrate

This weekend we celebrated her Daddy.

Celebrations are something this family does well,

and there are several to look forward to this year.

XOXO

Ride

Yesterday was a true gift.

To cycle with my girlfriends...

and enjoy all the sights along the way.

Pedaling away without a care in the world.

This moment ?

It will not be forgotten ! :)

Good Lord we had fun !!!

There is little that can beat

 laughing with your friends,

and the beautiful simplicity of a bike ride.

good things...

being there for each other

taking our time

talking about everything

exploring

all the birds nesting

watching an eagle protect it's nest

sidewalk chalk

laughing so hard we can't get up

trying cream of cauliflower soup at our favorite lunch place and loving it.

toasting with our chai

having fun and being silly

new friends that feel like old friends

loving each other the way we are

XOXO

Silly

" Children see magic because they look for it. "

It was an ordinary trip to the farm .

And it wasn't.

We had our little cutie pie with us.

We chat, take selfies and act goofy.

You know...just doing our thing.

She has a little personality all her own.

She's smart, and funny, and I am 

pretty sure she can see the magic.

 I don't know how she does it...

but when she comes along....

 I can see the magic too.

good things....

finding out that you've been photobombed...by a teddy bear :)

a spring rain shower and rumbling thunder

someone to imagine with

seeing things through the eyes of a three year old

" Papa...you can't get in the truck with out your wegs ! (legs)."

[as he stands outside on the sideboard reaching in through the window]

cows acting all giddy when we feed them alfalfa hay....bounching, jumpimg...

hay blowing through open windows

a nice quiet day to re-group

getting a phone call to sign up for another photography class 

purging magazines, papers and books and taking them to recycle

little girl giggles

keeping it simple

XOXO

Last Night

I was there when my girlfriend took a HUGE first step to fulfilling her dream.*proud

on our way to breakfast this morning

 I returned home to these three. We stayed up late watching SNL, and taking selfies to find out what breed of dog (www.what-dog.net) we were . 

Laughed so hard my *cheeks hurt. 

It felt good just to be together having fun.

XOXO

Goat Makes Weirdest Noises

I love it when he sends things to make me laugh.  This almost makes me snort.  Thank you Brandon ! You rock ! XOXO