The Hippie

           Lately I have been hearing a lot of people saying things like “oh they are hippies” or “I am a hippy”. I will be the first to admit that I have said these statements out of context also. But more recently I feel I have been hearing it a lot more. It seems to be bothering me. Like no those twenty something’s on the side of the road begging for money are not hippies, nor is the woman who doesn’t shave, nor are you a hippie just because you grow your own garden or only buy local organic food. Being a hippie is deeper. It’s a much more simple but meaningful statement than all of these things.

           If we look at the beginnings of the hippie movement we see men and women who were unhappy and in disagreement with their government. They had parents who lived through a horrible war. From living through this war they learned that in order to get by in life you were to wholeheartedly trust in your government. This generation believed that the government had their best interest in mind and that you could rely on the government for protection and loving support. They tried to raise their kids with these same values. Now I did not live through any of these years, but most of my family have and some well educated people that I am friends with have weighed in on the subject. In gathering information I have come to a few conclusions. First is that perhaps the government changed. Perhaps they started to care more about other thing than caring for their citizens. Perhaps they really were doing what they believed was best for our country. Either way we ended up in another war. Only this time there were people who were not OK with the decisions they were making on the behalf of the citizens.

          Looking at the tactics they were using in my humble opinion there was a lot of misuse of power and “fear mongering” as there is within any war time. Or any power structure really. The older generation still felt the trust in the government. They saw a lot of the same patterns they had gone through and fallowed suite. But what no one counted on was they people who saw what was happening for what it was and said “NO, we are not OK with your choices, especially if you are making them on behalf of me and the entire country.” And thus the “Hippie” was born.

           From the view point of someone who does believe in our government and our country, at least what it could be and the intention of our for fathers, and the valued opinions of the people I have consulted being a hippie is about rebelling against the moments of what they considered tyranny and  complete abuse of power. They believed that the people who had power were using it to gain for themselves not the people they represented. So what did they do, they protested, they wore clothes that were the opposite of that people who fallowed the government wore, they lived in communes,  grew their own food, raised children in and lived their lives in over all ways that almost went against the people who fallowed the government or  how they government said they should be living. They stood up for what they believed in and did everything they could to show where they stood and why they stood for it. They did they best they could to promote love and kindness and stop what they felt to be hatred.

         I can relate to this feeling. This is the reason why I have been known for calling myself a hippie. I believe in love, forgiveness, kindness, and gentleness towards mankind and other spirits in general. I believe that we do not need to be ruled with fear, hatred and war. We need to learn to understand and have compassion for one another. There needs to come a time for support of our fellow man and get back to putting the organic flowers we grown in our gardens back in to the barrels of unnecessary guns. Now do not get me wrong I love, support, appreciate our armed forces. I am so thankful for the protection of o our freedom to stand up and say I disagree with what  you are using these fine young men and women for and I disagree with what you’re gaining from this misuse. I am thankful for all my freedoms and the daily life I live… as a hippie.  I will continue to do my best to spread peace and love. To try to use my actions to show and teach my fellow man that we can be human beings before anything else.

Points of Perception

Reality:  the quality or state of being real; a real event, entity, or state of affairs; the totality of real things and events.

              Everything around us and about who we are influences how we perceive reality. Our perception often changes. I suppose because we are always changing, and growing. Sometimes we “see” something or someone or a situation a cretin way. As people we tend to think that our perception is the right perception. We often forget that everyone around us thinks the same thing, or we don’t even think about that they have their own separate, possibly completely different, perception. We use our differences in perception to keep us separate from each other. We often get mad or hurt by others when we don’t like how they perceive something or some situation. We take it very personal if they do not agree with us or we make them wrong if they see it differently than we do. Sometimes we get stuck in that anger or righteousness instead of really seeing things from the other person’s point of perception. Nor do we try to care or understand why they may feel the way they do.
             I feel that when we feel the maddest or most hurt by someone else’s perception of reality is when we really need to dig deep and see why it offends us so much. What about this perception is reminding us of something else we have been through or someone else’s difference of perception that has offended us. Perhaps it is because we haven’t let go of old ways of being or of thinking. We could use these moments of our life that are really difficult or that hurt us as a way to look at ourselves from a point of perception outside of ourselves. Perhaps we don’t like it because we don’t want to be perceived that way or we don’t like to think that we may have been doing or looking at a situation from a narrow-minded way, from a selfish point of perception. We could use these feeling of hurt or anger as a clue a hint that we are not operating from a conscious vibration. That we are holding ourselves back usually out of fear. We can use them as clues to help find a better way of being in the world. Use it as a tool to finding a better way of interacting with the world and people in it.
               Growing in this particular manner is very difficult for me and I think most humans. Most of you know that my main goal in life is to be a being of light, to spread all encompassing peace and unconditional love through the world. I am making a commitment to myself today that I am going to start being open to reality from every different point of perception, not just mine. I am going to be open to using other people’s point of perception as a tool to better myself and make my point of perception well rounded and less emotional.  
 

Namaste

Catching up with the Tibbetts

Helllooooo!  Man it’s been a while not that I don’t adore all of you and want to share every little bit of everything that happens in my life, but life has been in high gear for the last month or so and it seem that I am nonstop on the go. This is good and bad. Good in the sense that I am constantly moving and shaking so all the yummy food and celebratory libations haven’t ALL gone straight to my ass. (Just most of them) Bad in the sense that I am constantly on the go and it’s been hardtop find some me time or even hubby time. Man we haven’t been on a date, just the two of us, in about a month.  Life really has been fun and had a lot of changes this last month! 
              To start we made it to one year! I hear this is quite the feat but we feel like it went by so fast with little hiccups in the big picture sense. We really have gotten a lot closer and stronger. We have had some challenges that not only have hurt a little but have helped to build our bond and solidify that we made the right choice with the right person. When it comes down to it that is what marriage is about. Never giving up on the love you felt the day you committed your life to that person. We had a fabulous trip. We went and stayed in Venice with our family friend Sonia. From there we made the trek over to Disneyland, but first we picked up Kelly from the Long beach airport, if you can even call it an airport. Sorry LBA. We spent two magical days and nights in Anaheim at Disneyland. We rode some ride (pirates is my favorite, F splash mountain) When it was time to leave the most magical place on earth we hit the open road for a 4 hour car ride to one of the sleaziest places on earth…VEGAS BABY! OH MY was that fun, we ate great food and drank way too much. I even danced on the bar at Coyote Ugly! We stayed at the New York New York. By this time we were ready for our own bed and some routine. So we hopped back in the car drove 8 hours through the Nevada dessert AKA Deliverance and through the back side of Reno through Tahoe to home sweet home.  

 

Then it was back on the pony gearing up for the fabulous events to lie ahead. Next was my “little” brother’s graduation from high school. *tear I can’t believe He is 18 and graduated. It was so cool to be there and watch him get his diploma and then that weekend Adam and I went to his house for a little BBQ and presents to celebrate the accomplishments of the last 4 years! I am so proud and excited to see where is takes his life now! 

 

He is so smart, kind hearted, tenacious, and focused. I know He can do anything He puts his mind to. A week after Spencer graduated My Seester turned 30!! What a fabulous 30 she is. Dad, Mom, Alan, Steph, Jodi, Jason, Adam, and I all went to dinner at The Kitchen. It is a wonderful high class place that serves amazingly delicious food with exquisite wine and what a show they put on. It is a little pricey but so worth saving your pennies! Then we all headed back to her house where parents went to be and Kids hit the town. We walked to Ink, The Blue Que, and Pine Cove. I wore the complete wrong shoes and ended up with blisters but I was a wee bit intoxicated so I didn’t care at the time. ;-)

 All of this excitement was preparing us for the big moment it all was leading up to…Audrie Brown became Audrie Kerr. It was so much fun, but wait I am getting ahead of myself. Of course there was lots of prep and planning that went on but then the Saturday before the big day was time to relax and celebrate the shedding of the past and the start of a new future. Sara (the maid of honor) Audrie, Molly and I all drove up to South Lake Tahoe for a night on the strip. It was so fun we got all dolled up had dinner at the Hard Rock Café. As full as we were we headed over to the Cabo Wabo bar where they were serving pitchers of Waboritas to any bridal party of 5 or more so we hooked up with another bridal party we saw in line who only had 3 ladies and we got 2 pitchers, how I am not sure. Guess we were so dang cute we looked like we had more girls than we did. OH well no one was complaining. So we hung out and talked with them for a while and danced. They had a band playing that was really good and we knew almost all the song! By then it was 12:30 our dogs were barking and we had some major drunk munchies! So we walked back to our hotel (again in heels, my poor feet hate me) where we snuggled in to eat chips and bean dip and watch Best in Show. Great movie. Great night and company.

Then it was prep prep  prep! Friday the village spent all day at the hall decorating and transforming it from a little farm hall to a beautiful country ball room. It was elegantly simple and classy. The girls spent the night at Audrie’s house and Chris and some of the boys spent the night at his brother’s house. In the morning Audrie and I cleaned wonders pasture, loaded up the car and drove to the hotel they were staying at that night to get ready! I did hair and make up for us while we sipped champagne. We loaded up again to get to Sara’s parents house for pictures and putting on the dress. She looked absolutely stunning. I think Chris was blown away by her beauty, grace and that dress!!! The wedding was pretty nontraditional, as Chris walked her down the aisle, they did what’s called a first look before the ceremony and went and did some of the reception, then took more pictures later on about half way through. Mostly because it was ridiculously hot, I think it actually got to 109!! From there it was a dance party till the end. The bride and groom took off into the night, leaving for the Mendocino coast the next day! Meanwhile the village was back for round 2…clean up! Great weekend, great wedding, gorgeous bride! 

 

Now it’s just been back to the grind stone workin workin workin. Been offered a little extra position at the restaurant as sommelier! So been wine tasting and crunching numbers to find our next local winery! 

Day 30

Today I am thankful for life...

"Leave all your love and your longing behind. You cant carry it with you if you want to survive." - Florence and the Machine

       I have thought long and hard about this particular entry. For many reasons. I know being open and possibly using this as an out let is the original intention, but neither it seems have been very easy for me lately. I feel that the lesson I am supposed to be learning right now, or at least one of them, has become very obvious. Let it go, let it be, let it ride. My dad's advice about most things that upset me, one of my most favorite songs, and a motto of a good friend I once knew that I am feeling inspire me more than ever. These things do not come very natural to me at all. I drive my self crazy at time with over analyzing every moment of life and what their outcomes might be. Instead of truly basking in the glory of every moment good or bad. They all are teaching me something.And i may not get as many as I think.

     "The fact that life depends on death is hard for us to accept." Unknown 

     Most of you know that my gramie Trish is sick, very sick in fact, with cancer. I really am pretty close with all my gramies. There has always been a special thing about my grandmas that I could never put my finger on, but always leaves me in awe. Perhaps its the knowledgeable perspective, the great cooking skills, or the grace of an era and the sweet loving moments. Grandpas are awesome, but for a little girl grandmas are really special. All of my gramies have been very good to me. My gramie Tris has always seemed to just love me, and encourage who I am. She is like my other gramies in the way that they don't seem to be "old". They are all very sane, strong, opinionated, insightful, capable women. Gramie Trish only gave up her real estate clients a month ago! I am feeling that not only do I need to reconnect more with my gramies, but I have become more appreciative of what all of them have brought to my life and also who all of them are as women. I am so thankful and do not think its a coincidence that you all are my gramies and that I am the way I am after knowing all of you. Thank you for being who you all are and being there for me. Helping raise me in to the the sweet, loving, intelligent woman I am. It led me to happiness and the love of a man who can not only handle me but loves me completely. I have moments of complete sadness and engulfing grief not only for me but for my Mom (Deb) and my entire family. Then I think about how my gram must feel and I can't even imagine, or Mr. B, Her hubby. I understand I guess that these things happen to everyone but it's so surreal now.

       Life is full circle, as hard as that is for us to see sometimes. Life in my opinion is all about looking for the lessons. I am here to learn. The more I learn and grow the closer I feel to existing and to my relationships with people. I am having my mind and soul opened up so much in this moment in life that I am over whelmed with emotions and semi understanding, or at least semi rationalizing why I feel like I do.


"Keep your head above your heart and your eyes wide open. So this world can't find a way to leave you cold. And no your not the only ship out on the ocean. Save your strength for things that you can change, forgive the ones that you can't, you gotta let it go. Like a sweet sunset in Georgia let it go. Like the fear that grab a hold ya let it go." - Zac Brown Band

Day 28

Today I am thankful for something old.

     We are back to our house now. It was nice to have a break from our house, but its so nice to be back in our space. Back in our bed and our kitchen and with our family. I am  getting all unpacked and settled in. Adam has been out of town, but as soon as he gets home it will really feel like our space again. I just love the way our house feels, its so open and inviting. Its a space where I am free to be myself and and this place has really helped me find myself. This place is grounding and settles my soul. It is where Adam and I met for the first time and where he proposed to me. its the place I want to foster my kids growth, and teach them about family. It has a lot of history ( it's over 100 years old) and a lot has happened to this family in this house, and they always come out with a tighter bond in the end. It is great property and has so much character. So much life, love and humor.  I love this "old" place.

Day 27

Today I am thankful for pride.


               Pride is a total double edge sward for me. At times I am very prideful and stubborn. I know that everyone has those moments and I have learned to make them fewer and farther between. Pride in this manor can be pretty unhealthy and destructive. I feel good that I have learned this lesson at a young age. I feel as though I still have a lot to learn when it comes to pride. Sometimes I judge myself to much, take things to personally, and tell myself things that are mean. This is the most wicked and for me hardest to overcome. Fact is this is my prideful ego who is telling me these things.  Not the healing loving energy that is Me, the pure love and light of my being, my "soul" if you will. My soul loves its vehicle in this world and is pride filled not prideful.  I am so proud of so many aspects of my life.The ego is fighting back because the more light that fills me , the less room there is for the ego. So I consciously and acknowledging that I am proud of my husband and the life we are creating. I am proud of the love that I am able to spread with the world. I am proud of the amazing supportive family that I have. I am proud of the kind, fun friends that surround me, ect. But I feel that I need to learn to truly be proud of who I am. Oh man even typing it now makes me a little anxious and a million reasons why I shouldn't be proud come to mind. Lately I have really been holding on to the past and who I thought I was then. I haven't always been someone I have been proud of. I suppose that this has been a good inspiration for me to continue growing and change. I look at a lot of people in my life and think " That is the type of person I want to be". Tonight it was pointed out to me that I wouldn't have these people around me or have a great life that I was proud of if I wasn't that type of person. That I am attracted to that  energy and it is attracted to me because we are one and the same. Some thing to be be proud of! I am beautiful, strong, honest, funny, a loving wife, an adoring daughter and sister, a supportive friend and a cousin/niece/granddaughter who will always be there for her family. I woman who is deserving of all life offers, and who wants to share healing light with the wold. I am learning to be proud of those thing and remember that I am attractive to good things to come! 

Peace and Love to all, namaste.

Day 26

Today I am thankful for knowledge.


                  Knowledge comes in so many forms. In my personal opinion life is about gaining knowledge and learning from your experiences to raise the level of your own consciousness and hopefully in turn help raise the universal human consciousness. Without learning we can not grow. We must pay attention to learn. For me this is where it gets tricky, I have a great thirst for knowledge in a lot of ways, but I am very easily distracted. I have learned many techniques to consciously focus my mind on the present moment in order to get, well anything done at all. I take pride in learning new things, even little things. I get a great joy out of learning a new word in Spanish, something new about someone I know or a new recipe. I am a person who likes to know the truth, so I am a factual kinda girl, so naturally I am drawn to history and science. This is the Capricorn in me. I am also make a lot of my choices based on the facts mixed with how I feel about the facts. This is the Aquarius in me. Learning is something I hope I never stop doing and warmly invite you to start paying attention to all the "insignificant" things you learn everyday.

Day 25

Today I am thankful for healing.

           Healing is a universal need for all living things at one point or another. Sometimes we get it, and sometimes sadly we do not. I have been pretty ill for almost a week and I really hate depending on the Dr. or meds in general. I am trying to be very natural in my life. I tried a few homeopathic remedies but they just were not kickin my over abundance of mucus in the butt like I needed them to. So because I am prone to such sicknesses that are dangerous for adults to have I decided to go to the quack. Just kidding, I see Dr. Daniel Sewell who I must say has a great bedside manner and isn't one to just hand you pills. Although this time he did. I am on day two of the Zpack and I am already feeling better. I have 3 more days and I am expecting to be fully recovered by then.

           As much as the pills are helping, there is one homeopathic remedy that is really helping me and I am truly blessed to have. My husband. He has taken such great care of me, and continues to do so. He held my hair and cleaned me up when I vomited for an hour and half and has even worked  couple of my shifts this week. I am not sure how I would have survived without him.

           I have always been very drawn to heeling people. I really love healing people with energy and touch. For a long time I didn't think that I was doing that, or I thought I had to achieve something else or grow in a certain way in order to do this. Recently I have discovered that I am a healing person just by having that intention. I do want to grown in technique and within myself to be able to actually lay my hands on people and heal them. I have a little ways to go, but I am excited about fine tuning my abilities.

Day 24

Today I am thankful for being a wife.



           





                    Not only am I thankful for being a wife, I am thankful to be Adam's wife. I didn't realize that things would actually be different. I mean nothing major as we lived together before hand so we knew each other quite well. Small things are different, mostly my mind set I guess. To think that I am somebody's wife is a bit strange, but very cool. I really think about so much more than just me and what I need or want. I have a great partner to help me make life's hard choices. A hysterical man to share my laughter and good times with. A creative, kind man who not only shares my dreams but enhances them and reaches for them with me. A sweet sexy man who loves me so thoroughly both emotionally and physically. A selfless thoughtful husband who makes it so easy for me to be the best wife I can because he is so good to me all I want to to be that good if not better to him. I am so lucky to have this amazing person to create and live out this exciting life with. I have never felt so secure, or loved or beautiful in my life, it only gonna get better with time. I am thankful that I am over the part of my life that is sifting through the jerks and drama for the prince charming and fairytale. Now on to the next chapter!

Day 23

Today I am thankful or trying something new.

            I have been doing a lot of this lately. The newest thing I have done ( literally like 20 minutes ago, well actually more than that by the time I post this) is start walking the dogs. Ha more like walking myself! I have heard that is takes a month ish to make something a habit. We are house sitting for almost 2 months, meaning we walk the dogs (ourselves) everyday. This is great! The best part is we still have "Bucky" to walk when we get home! Sure it will be more difficult physically, the road behind our house has a pretty good hill. Also harder road wise as we have no side walks but that's what the next couple of months are for...training! 

             I also have tried a couple of new recipes that were good but need perfecting so I am not ready to share. But I am willing to share a new adventure The hubs and I had with Ethan, Mel and one of their friends who doubles as the O.T.P. marketing guy (I believe) Russ. We went to Mt. Vernon Winery to taste some really good wine. We tried 7or 8 of their 16 varieties. My favorite as usual is the Old Vine Zinfandel. We are looking for some great placer county wines and I think we are going to make a "thing" of this. There are 16+ wineries on the placer county wine trail! I KNOW RIGHT!  I was shocked. Apparently we have great soil for it, I had NO idea!! I digress, so we are thinking that we are gonna try for every Friday we hit up a winery on the trail! I am so excited. Especially because this Friday is my birthday! Whoot Whoot! We are not sure where we are going this week yet but stay tuned for reviews! Or if you have any favorite Placer county winery please share!

Peace and love to all. Namaste.

Day 22

Day 21 Today I am thankful for fresh starts


        I am really not a resolution kinda gal. I believe that you should always be contentious of what your goals are, how you are going to achieve them and where you are at in that process. Making your life experience better is not some thing I want to focus on only once a year. I do however appreciate that the new year does bring with it a scene of starting fresh, and a refocusing of energy. I am not going to focus on the bad habits I want to stop doing or the food I am not going to allow myself to eat because these things are really not realistic for me. ( kudos to those of you have the will power and focus to change theses things.) Instead for me it is better to focus on the attractive energy field of setting positive goals. This is much easier way for me to stick with it. So 2012 holds in store for me: 

Loving myself

Spreading love and light throughout my world
 

Yoga to help my body be stronger, leaner, and more comfortable in general
 

More veggies and foods that give me energy when I indulge in them
 

Mediation everyday! I am feeling a strong pull to perfect the skill of stillness
 

Growing my business and education as to sever my clients better and make more money

Slowing down, living in the moment, and making time for the moments of fun and joy with people I love

I hope that this year brings everyone blessings and happiness. Let us remember that the energy that we put out to the universe is what we get back, so put out some positivity. Peace and Love to all.

Namaste

Day 21

Day 20: Today I am thankful for Food/Cooking.

              I love food! I love all kinds of food and trying new food. Which is a big growth from about 10 years ago. All I would eat was mac-n-cheese and PB&J. Now I love veggies, and fish! Although my Dad always tells the story of how he used to put me in my high chair ( which clipped to the side of the table) and feed me broccoli and holindays sauce until I was covered! Still my favorite way to eat broccoli. One of my first memories is having my favorite childhood dinner with Tommer, pork chops with mac-n-cheese and creamed corn. I used to only eat Kraft mac-n-cheese now I have switched to Annie's cheddar buns.
            Now not only do I love food I am completely fascinated by cooking. I could being the kitchen an cook all day just for fun. I have recently discovered  so many food recipes and food blogs! I never knew cooking could be so creative. I have tried some, but the possibilities are endless. One of the things that got me into cooking was baking. Baking makes my heart sing! Baked goods are one of the first things I remember "cooking" on my own. I love to bake all kinds of things  savory or sweet and share them with everyone! I have recently made empanadas, mini pot pies and chocolate chip cookies lately. I am a total experimental chef. for instance today I am trying to make my own teriyaki sauce. (recipe at bottom) I did a bit of research in to what the ingredients needed were and I using things in my cupboards that can be substituted so I don't have to spend to much money. So its really going to be an experiment. I am always open to new recipes and exchanging ideas so please share with me your favorite things to cook. 

Teriyaki sauce:
Soy sauce
ground ginger
Garlic
Dark Karo syrup
Apple Cyder vinegar
Lemon Juice
brown sugar
pure cane sugar

combine in small sauce pan to boil, reduce heat and let simmer until thick. Remove from pan and serve.

Day 20

Day 19: Today I am thankful for honesty and openness 

                  It is human nature to be insecure. It makes it very easy to hide yourself or try to make yourself in to something else. Being open to honestly share  your self with others is one of the hardest, but most fulfilling experiences of a persons life. It has helped me to build or rebuild relationships with family, friends and the most amazing man. Honesty fosters trust communication and is the foundation to life. In order to grow you must be honest with yourself. It all seems to come back to honesty.

day 19

Day 18: Today I am thankful for being a woman.

Yesterday my mother in law Mary got married. I was one of the bridesmaids. The three older boys walked her down the aisle and Daniel was the officiant. If there is one thing weddings do its bring out the little girl in every woman. On that day I felt more beautiful and more love than I ever had  before in my life. I hope that Mary had the same great experience.

We spent most of the day Friday in the hall decorating! We folded napkins, set up tables, hung lights, and turned the hall into a glittering winter wonderland. It was beautiful and and a lot of fun. Then Mary, Bev and I went to get our nails done and shop or under the dress... Ooo la la! Back to the hall for practice and dinner. When Mary saw the hall she was awe struck, it was better than she imagined. The next day we all woke up early and Mary's day started with getting her and Bev's hair done. She had half up cascading curls with little sparkles in it. Next we went out to her house to start the make up process, last minute hair touch ups and the big moment of putting the dress on. Which was amazing and fit her perfectly. Then show time!  There wasn't a dry eye there. She and Tom even could hardly make it threw their vows. Such a sweet ceremony, finishing with a great party!


Being a bride is one of the most feminine moments of a woman's life, but there is more to being a woman than primping and decorating. There is passion, strength, softness, courage, and fierce protectiveness. A loving heart and a creative mind. There is a complete beauty in a woman no words could describe. I mean we frickin grow and carry a human in our bodies or almost a year, come on. I know I am not alone here.

I would say I have grown way more accepting and loving of my feminine qualities and just the fact that I am a woman who is beautiful in all aspects. I must admit being with Adam and learning to believe and trust that he loves me and thinks I am the greats thing since sliced bread has really helped me to see it. And for me one of the things that makes me feel the most feminine is when my man cant keep his hands to himself or I catch him checkin me out. I love being a woman and I can't wait to establish exactly what that means to me.

Day 17

Day 16: Today I am thankful for Celebrations.

               As humans we celebrate a lot of life's events. Birthdays, anniversaries, accomplishments, deaths even have a celebration of the persons life occasionally. I love celebrations, any excuse to throw a party. I love to entertain and cook. I love the decorating, the prepping and the primping. Usually celebrating is a great excuse to get dressed up. Sometimes even a reason to make a whole day about someone you love. If your my Sister then its a reason to make a whole month about celebrating someone. Gotta love the birthday month! Either way it's all very exciting. One of the biggest and  unfortunately one of the most commercialized things we celebrate is the holidays. I love the holiday season for lots of reasons Halloween with its candy and costume parties, Thanksgiving for the amazing food and football, and Christmas for its trees and giving spirit. Most of all I love that holidays is also one of the biggest "excuses" for families of all shapes, sizes, colors, beliefs to come together with love in their hearts. For our families the holidays are about getting together, eating delicious food, and sharing some love over a nice glass of wine or your favorite beer. To me this is as good as it gets. We have our traditions and we are starting some new ones. But most of all we always remember it's not about the gifts or the decorations or how much money was spent on the food, in any celebration it's about coming together and enjoying other human beings! Warm wishes and hugs with kisses for everyone this season and many more to come!

Day 16

Day 16: Today I am thankful for smiling


               Smiling physically feels like it changes how I feel. Its one of my favorite things (looks wise) about myself; and is my best accessory. A smile can change a persons day, mood or just cheer them up a little. A smile is how we greet each other, and is the sign that we are friendly and open to new people. When I got my braces off I remember people telling me "you parents paid a lot for that beautiful smile, make sure you use it as often as you can."  Adam says he has loved my smile from the first moment he saw it. His is what I look forward to most at the end of any day, and the first thing I see every morning. My favorite things about smiles is they transcend gender, social status, and nations. Share a smile with a stranger!

Day 15

Day 14: Today I am thankful for my Job.


              Today I got to work a double. I am very tired but so happy to just have the hours. Many people are out of work right now, we know that all to well. I have worked a few jobs in my time and this is by far the most fun.  I have never worked at a place where I love so many of the people that I worked with. We started working at OTP to earn some extra cash and it has become a great job and what is getting Adam and I through right now. It is really kinda fun to work with Adam. I wasn't sure what would happen, I mean we are great together, but working is a whole other story! Honestly I love it. Its so easy and we get to spend time together. Pretty cool. OTP is a different kind of place to work, its like one big family. We are fitting in very well and it feels great. Tuesday is our Christmas party and I am so excited. I am bringing mini chicken pot pies ( kinda nervous) and I expect that other people will bring some deliciousness as well! (they better, hahaha) Melanne is making dessert...YAY!  We are very thankful for the money, but more than that we are thankful for the good times and love! Here's to many years together my friends, and experiencing la vita molto bene!

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Day 14

Day 14: Today I am thankful for  conversation.


              Anyone who knows me knows that I am a chatter box. Always have been. I am not sure why but I guess I just have a lot to say. Makes since why I am married to a listener. ( heee heee married! For 6 months already!!) I very much enjoy banter. Adam and I banter very well. As quite as he can be, he can razz with the best of em. Some times he pops off, drops my jaw and gives me the sweetest little "whaaaat" grin that all I can do is laughingly say back "youuuuu" We just communicate very well, with and with out words. We needn't say much when working together. We love to sit and talk and pretty much analyze every aspect of life together, at length. When out with out friends we are able to be at opposite sides of the room, and it seems that at the exact same moment we look up and smile at each other.
       One of my favorite things is to just sit and " chew the fat" with another human being. to connect and be able to share your self, even about the smallest things. Or things that I think I am crazy for thinking or feeling, then finding out that they feel the same way. My favorite is a group of people that can sit and chop it up. You can learn a lot about someone just by talking to them. Most of the time even the people that you think you may not like, you find things you have in common. Just by spending a little time with them and being open. Something that I am finding more and more easy, sometimes...

Day 13

Day 13: Today I am thankful for mornings.

              Mornings haven't always been my favorite time of day. I was always a "night owl" as a kid. I don't often get to wake up before the sun right now. Working nights has put the kibosh on that for most mornings. The feeling of the morning air is so crisp and refreshing. There is something so mind clearing about popping out of bed, grabbing a cup of coffee and spending the first hour of your summer morning watering, tending and enjoying the garden. Watching the sun as it begins to illuminate the yard is amazing.

    Most of the time I am a happy, peppy person in the morning. This has not always been the case, in fact only recently has this transformation come about. I can think of a few things in my life over the last few years that have changed my morning routine in the most wonderful way! My adorable and cuddly morning boys. I love waking up and seeing my love next to me, most of the time already awake. Then I look to the floor on my side of the bed, and my little baby dog is there, sometimes already awake sometimes I have to coax him out of his hole. Then we all lay in bed for a few minutes and cuddle. Its by far my most favorite time of day! Maybe I am growing up or just realizing the majesty of the world waking up.

Day 12

Day 12: Today I am thankful for kisses.

       I wish that kisses could be saved in a jar and the magical warm feeling they give my heart could be released and enjoyed all over again. There are all kinds of kisses, there are loving kisses, friendly kisses, hello and good by kisses. There are passionate kisses and baby kisses, eskimo and butterfly kisses, even comforting parenty kisses. My personal favorite is right on the top of my head from my man when he just cant seem to contain how much he loves me. A kiss can even seal a letter or be the first gift a man and wife give each other. Kisses are beautiful and one of the many things in life that is still fairly intimate and a meaningful exchange between two humans. Kisses are usually not given out to just anyone. Our families are pretty affectionate when we get together we always hug and kiss and tell each other how much we love the other. Guess when you loose as many members as we all have you try to keep the ones you have close.

     Life gets complicated and stressful. For me, life gets very overwhelming at times. I don't manage stress the best but all I need is for Adam to wrap me up in a hug, kiss my forehead and tell me its all going to be OK.  He loves to make me laugh with play kisses on my neck because he knows I am sooooo ticklish, we love to fish kiss and be silly with our kisses and someday I can not wait to have a mini Adam who gives me the sweetest fish kisses!