April 10 – bubble bath

I finally took the time out of a busy day to give myself the gift of exercise.  Yes, I do consider it a gift.  It’s something good for me, and I always feel good afterward.  Needless to say, this gift made me especially tired at the end of the day.  I told my man that all I wanted was to relax in a hot bubble bath after I put our daughter to bed.

Once I emerged from the room of our sleeping princess, a lavender scented bubble bath awaited me, as well as a glass of full bodied red wine, and a warm glowing candle.  Romantic, lovely, and sleep inducing.

February 23 – old friends

I would love to have more quiet time to make phone calls to reconnect with old friends.  That time doesn’t come often enough, and when it does, I usually call a family member.  Otherwise, it’s a quick text or an email.

I reconnected with a good friend via email and have laughed several times today.  Laughter is uplifting.  Light.  A necessity, in my book, if I am going to have a good life.

With the emails flowing back and forth, I felt connected to my friend today.  There are 2400+ miles between us.  I didn’t feel one of them.  Beautiful indeed.

February 22 – listening

We have our nighttime habits.  At times, things go very smoothly and we are in bed without any fussing, crying or complaints.  Such was the case tonight.

As we lay in bed, post story reading, our daughter began to talk about school and her friends:  the work she is not interested in doing, the things she loves to do, and the things that she wants a lesson on so that she can do them.  I listened to her every word, mind not straying.

I now know that taking care of plants and being able to water a garden, plant seeds, and use garden tools are important to her.  I know who she is in love with, at the age of 5.  I know she plays “space ship” outside with her best friend.  She expresses her love freely.  Within 10 minutes the sound of rhythmic breathing take over.

I take this as a lesson for the future.  Be willing to lay quietly.  Listen.  I will know her better this way.  I might also better understand her needs and desires.

February 15 – relationships

Last month brought about significant changes.  I’m struggling, stressed out, and not sleeping well.  This makes living with me more…challenging.

When you have an incredibly special person to share the ups and downs of life with, it makes it better.  It’s not easy for me to talk openly about my internal struggles.  Once I do, it feels as if I’m a little less stressed.  A little less burdened.  All because I shared my internal dialogue with someone I love and trust.  That’s the beauty of relationship.

Family

A celebration of life, love, memories, and eternal bonds.

January 21 – drawing

Sheri and Uncle Rock. A suitcase.

 

 

 

January 18 – compliments

Ava has a love of language and a gift for speaking.  She articulates her words well, forms complete sentences, and is able to relay her thoughts or feelings to others clearly.  The fact that strangers compliment me on this only brings more joy.  And I am grateful that they want to share their observance with me.

If we could all take a little extra time to simply listen, we might find a bit more beauty to be had each day.

January 17 – words

There is one point in any given day that we will have a small conflict inside the house.  At times, voices get excited and angry words are said.  It’s in the heat of the moment.  When those angry words come from our daughter, I don’t take them to heart, though I do need to address them.  Some days I’m fairly good at this.  Some days I’m overly tired and irritated and I handle the entire argument badly.

Today was a good day.  In the end that adorable little girl said she was sorry and added “can’t you please forgive me?”  A good follow up to a question as important as that deserves only one answer.  “Of course I forgive you.”  A warm embrace, a kiss, and two big smiles.

Don’t you wish all arguments ended this way?

January 16 – wonderment

I took Ava to her first theatre class.  As we got out of the car, she stood there and looked up at the big theatre building.  The look on her face was priceless and beautiful.  Her big brown eyes with a look of wonderment.  Her face full of excitement and eagerness to get to class.  The big hope of one day being in a play.

Children are so much fun to watch.  If we can open ourselves up to all the possibilities that they see in the world, I think it would serve us well.

January 13 – time

It’s always a treat to find time to sit and talk about important matters without being interrupted.  We had that time last night and my outlook on the future is so much brighter.  What a mood lifter!

While going through some major changes, Joe thought it would be a good idea to write down the top 10 things we would like to see happen in 2012.  Stream of consciousness.  These excercises are difficult for me in the first few minutes because I’m a person who wants to answer *right*.  Once I see Joe begin to write, I leave the room for just a minute, grab a red pen, and then go full out.  I think we both ended up having more than 10 things.

The beautiful thing about it?  We still have similar goals in life.  We still desire to simplify, enjoy life more, strengthen our spiritual connection, and our family bond.  In our 5th year of marriage, I’d say that’s a very good thing to have, and to hold onto.