LOST, in paradise!

I'm about to watch the second to last episode of Lost tonight and I'm feeling terribly nostalgic for Hawaii. The memories of my favorite place on the planet and my favorite tv show of all time will forever be entangled. Knowing the show was filmed on Oahu gave me incentive to explore places I might not have found on my own, like the beautiful beach above where the Losties have their beach camp.

I used to like going there when I knew they weren't filming, thinking it was my own little private piece of heaven. Sometimes I even shared it with family!

We got so lucky one Sunday afternoon. There were turtles all over, laying in the sun, and playing in the waves.

 

I'm sure I have lots more pictures buried somewhere on my external hard drive. I'll have to post more when I dig them up. For now, it's off to get comfy in my favorite chair, TV on, snacks ready!

Listening for something deeper within.

As I sit sipping coffee under the shade of our little curtained pavillion in the backyard, I've been trying to decide just what to do today. My to do list has gone off the deep end, right off the pages of my planner with more to do than I want to think about. Just for today, I want to listen to what my body says. I want to shut out the noise and chatter of what I should be doing, and just flow with what would truly give my body the rest it needs after the stress of the past few weeks.

So what are some good ideas? I'm going to ponder these from Jennifer Louden's blog. As always she is inspirational, and has just the right thoughts at the time I need them most. http://www.comfortqueen.com/choose-your-life-mondays-kinds-of-renewal/comment-page-1#comment-4914

Oh, and I owe a few gratitudes since I was so busy with family over the weekend, and was so wiped out yesterday when they left that all I could do is sleep. I think the current tally owed is four, I'll add an extra for today and call it even!

~Sweet puppydogs playing in the grass, chasing butterflies and dozing in the sunshine.
~Fresh hot hazelnut coffee in one of my favorite mugs with the quote "Worrying does not empty tomorrow of it's troubles. It empties today of it's Strength."
~For the technology that lets me communicate with John over such long distances. Thank you for Instant Messages!
~For the cool spring breeze that I know will be gone in a few hours. I think we're supposed to hit 90 again today????
~Knowing to trust myelf, for the lessons learned over many years proving that my heart (and gut) don't steer me wrong.

Until tomorrow...
Have a delightful day whevere you are!

Better late than never!

Quick and easy thing to be grateful for today. Family! Which would be why I almost forgot to post my gratitude today. My Mom, Sis, Brother in Law, and two Nieces came up today for a weekend visit. It's been chaos and shenanigans, but tons of fun as always!

Also, John finally made it to where he's supposed to be in Iraq. Now maybe he can get settled, get internet set up, and we can fall into those odd, but normal deployment routines.

I may get a beatin' for posting this picture, but I can't resist. I love my April Fool and miss him terribly!

John's little mishap...

This morning I've very grateful that John's mishap at the range yesterday wasn't anything serious. Somehow, a stray shell casing flew at him and smacked him on the cheekbone just next to his eye. Yeeeouch! He probably has a second degree burn about an inch and a half long, but more than likely not bad enough to leave a scar. I'm just thankful that he's fine now other than a bit of pain.

Skye and I have a Prayer for Safety candle burning for him now from http://zenamoon.com/  and we're sending lots of protective energy his way. I'm the one who is supposed to attract weird accidents like tree branches stabbing me in the leg on hikes, falling UP the stairs and generally being the household clutz, not him! I'm really beginning to think they should give Army wives pay for extra stress and worry while their spouses are gone, just like the guys get hazard pay. I think we deserve it!

Going backwards to move forward...

Yesterday I realized that to go forward during the next few months of John being in Iraq, I have to go backwards to re-learn how I was able to live through his last deployment.

The first thing I found was gratitude. No matter how hard each day was, I forced myself to look for something that I was grateful for.

Profound, spiritual or just the mundane, it didn't matter. As long as I brought my consciousness towards the blessings I have all around me. The tiniest tweak of my mind is all it takes to turn the days where I don't even want to get out of bed, into a day I'm thrilled to be alive, or at least willing to actually get out of bed!

So here we go again, my Daily Attitude of Gratitude!

Today, I'm grateful for a wonderful walk Skye and I took last night out into the woods behind our neighborhood. I've taken to calling it the Faery Woods, because everytime I go back there I find something magical. Last night was no exception! We left the house just before sunset, and walked down an old abandoned road just to see how far it went ( a LONG way!). As we ambled along, we saw a deer, heard all the birds twittering their goodnights, inhaled the sweet scent of spring buds and blossoms and even found clusters of wild daffodils to pick. As we journeyed back towards home, the moon slowly rose up into the sky like a huge golden ball. I felt like we were experiencing something Divine and definitely touched by Spirit.

A song for my beautiful girl Skye on her nineteenth birthday.

Rising from a shell
Running to spring
It is her time, it is her time
Watch her run with ribbons undone

She's a rose in a lily's cloak
She can hide her charms
It is her right, there will be time
To chase the sun with ribbons undone


She runs like a fire does
Just picking up daises
Comes in for a landing
A pure flash of lightning


Past alice blue blossoms
You follow her laughter
And then she'll surprise you
Arms filled with lavender


Yes my little pony is growing up fast
She corrects me and says
"You mean a thoroughbred"


A look in her eyes says the battle's beginning
From school she comes home and cries
I don't want to grow up Mom at least not tonight


You're a girl
Rising from a shell
Running through spring
With summer's hand in reach now
It is your time
It is your time
So just run with ribbons undone
It is your time yes my angel
It is your time
So just run with ribbons undone

~Ribbons Undone ~Tori Amos~

Sparklie Saturday, the Evening Edition

Last night was really relaxing and we had a wonderful time without doing much of anything special! I was once again completely inspired by watching Julie and Julia. I want shiny copper pots hanging on my wall. I want to cook delicious food dripping with butter! I want to spend hours making food that brings sighs of satisfaction and groans of pleasure when it's eaten.

I think that was accomplished with our dinner, Eggs Benedict, which literally did drip with hollandaise sauce. When our plates we clean, we each got spoons and slurped up the rest of the holladaise right out of the pot! Bad, bad girls!

We barely gave our dinner time to settle before we made cupcakes. Skye was the Queen of Sparklie Saturday all cozy, licking the batter out of the bowl. Talk about decadant multi-tasking fun! Eating batter, on the computer, magazine open, and watching the movie.

Her cupcake got the pink sprinkles, I couldn't take so much more sugar on top of the frosting. Does that mean I'm getting old if I don't want a sugar overload? We ended up with WAY too many cupcakes, so we're going to take them to share at the flower shop. I think everyone there will need the sugar boost this week with Valentines Day approaching.

I have to say that our first Sparklie Saturday was a complete success! As soon as we recover from Valentines Day at the flower shop we'll have to schedule another. We may need a whole weekend at that point.

I hope everyone has been inspired to have a little more fun, look for the sparkle in your day, relax and let life flow like a lazy river! One last bit of fun from yesterday, suggestions from Susan Branch that embody the spirit of what Sparklie Saturdays can be.

Sparklie Saturday...afternoon lollygagging!

For the most part there's been alot of lazing around going on today, which in my opinion so always good for the soul. A little lollygagging never hurt anyone! The only thing that's bad about today is that John got stuck on staff duty so has to work all day and night.

I've been working more on this ole blog here. I'm still trying to get used to this format after having TypePad for so long. So far so good, but I still haven't figured out how to make a photo album for the page. For now I'll just stuff all my visual goodies into a post.

Susan Branch artwork

Skye is on her way upstairs for a shower, to make it extra sparklie, she's going to use her new Snow Fairy goodies from LUSH. If she leaves me enough hot water (which I doubt LOL) I'm going to get a hot bath soon. I still have a Comforter bath bomb in my stash to use. I think I'll be having a cup of my new favorite tea while I'm soaking! I bought it the other day on a whim, because the box was pretty of course, and it turns out that it is amazing!

In the meantime while I await my hot water I'm heading up to snuggle under the covers with my journal and two new books to read.

I also got a new 'Days'  book by Susan Branch to start my gratitude journal in. I've been doing gratitude journals for years in various forms, but the 'Days' book is my favorite place to keep the things I'm grateful for each day. Since I'm starting a bit late this year, I'm going to fill up all the January days with as many things I can think of that I'm thankful for. I've been meaning to do a 100 thing to be thankful for list anyhow, now I have a place to put it.

On the menu for dinner tonight, we decided to make something special that Skye and I both love but don't take the time to make very often. It may normally be for breakfast but tonight, we're having Eggs Benedict for dinner! We're going to watch Julie and Julia while I cook, then have pink sprinkle covered vanilla-bean cupcakes for dessert. Maybe I can take pictures before Skye starts eating them up.

I have declared it to be Sparklie Saturday in our house! I think I'm longing for some way to combat the gloomy weather outside with some fun and frivolity as we wait for the the lush green of springtime to return.
There will be pedicures, hot bubble baths, lazy naps, snuggly jammies, posibble wearing of tutu's and decadent cocktails. Maybe even pink cupcakes! It's about doing something a little more fancy than the ordinary, being a little more care free, even if that's just deciding to sleep in till noon (as Skye did!) or spending hours tucked into a cozy corner reading a new book.

So for now, I'm off to go start having some fun!