great times

What a wonderful week this has been. I feel things finally slowing down and it is great for us to all be on board with that. Friday night Jason and I went to see The Gourds at the Melting Point. It's been about a year since we saw them last and they have to be one of my favorite bands to see live - it helps that the food at the Melting Point is yummy and they sell Smoking Loon wine. In all seriousness, they are a great band and we had a wonderful time.

We had a great weekend filled with fun with friends and chill out time, dancing, pizza, reading, drawing, and some shopping at Trader Joes! When are they going to bring one to Athens?

home

Well, I quit posting everyday... not because I had nothing to say, just because every time I logged into the computer, I felt like I had to check my e-mail and then there would be something I wished I didn't have to think about, so I decided to just stay away from it all for the rest of my trip. I have tons of pictures if anyone wants to see them, but if you click here http://picasaweb.google.com/quiltingearth you can link over to some of my favorite pics. I love technology for making it so easy to keep in touch with folks.

I'm glad to be home, I'm also very thankful for the time away. I got a lot of clarity that I was really needing and time alone which is also something I was needing. I was wanting to examine my life and see if I could figure out how to better live it to its fullest and get what we all need to be receiving from it. I feel very lucky to have had that. I feel like I have swung in the opposite direction where I was. I feel completely slowed down, and I'm already a little overwhelmed by the phone calls and stuff to do, but it is all part of living. I realize we all need to take more time out and just live rather than feeling like there is something we NEED to do. You know what we need to do? We need to get in our cars and drive to the beach and taste the salty air, we need to go to the mountains and breathe the cool air, we need to feel the heat from the desert. We need to put a blanket in our yards and just lie there and feel the sun kissing our skin while we simply enjoy a good book or listen to some tunes. We need to take more time out for ourselves and stop running ourselves so ragged. We are missing out on life because we keep ourselves so busy. I don't want to be that person anymore. I want to appreciate every day for what it is and the awesomeness of my family.

When I got off the plane, I started crying because I knew it was just a matter of time before I saw Jason and our lips touched after a week. I was filled with so much excitement. I really love that man. Time away from him has also made me better appreciate what an incredible person and inspiration he is to me. I had so many things to share with him that I think I talked the whole way home and he got maybe 3 or 4 words in. We went and picked the kids up at the Y and again, I was just wanting him to park so I could run in and sweep them into my arms. Of course, I had to wait until they got called, but they ran to me and my heart was filled with such love that I started crying again. I am so blessed with a wonderful life partner and children.

I want to thank everyone who helped out while I was gone with the kids and Jason. I really appreciate how my friends and family stepped in. I did need the break.

So, I'm home now, jet lagged, but refreshed and ready to celebrate life!

Joshua Tree

So, today we went to Joshua Tree. I've always wanted to visit there ever since I first saw a picture of one. They remind me of the lorax trees. So prehistoric looking yet so cartoonish. I read today that the whole ecosystem is dependent on one type of moth. The Yucca moth and they are the only pollinator of the joshua trees, so the more damage we do through pollution and such, the less likely these beautiful trees are going to make it.

It is so quiet in the desert. I realize how much I crave that quiet. I don't spend nearly enough time in nature and just experiencing it and taking it in. Everything in the desert is slow, and every resource is appreciated. I'm so impressed by the cactus and how they have developed their prickles to protect themselves from just being knocked over and you have to wonder why they developed the prickles in the first place. What part of their environment caused them to have to protect themselves in such a way. I will be reading into this in the coming days I hope.

Then, there are the rock formations which over time water has eroded. Before this landscape was desert, there was water here. I took a picture of the sultan sea from the top of Joshua Tree, you can barely see it through the haze. I didn't post it because you would not really be able to tell what I was taking, but it is pretty sad to think about the haze and we were lucky, today was a pretty clear day - most days you can't see it so well - at least according to the exhibit there.

You know, I think I am drawn to nature because it refills my cup. I know we live on an amazing planet and I get so bogged down in life that I forget to stop and refill my cup. I NEED to be and taste the air of the ancientness of our earth. I get hungry for it. Joshua Tree is majestic like Yosemite was to me. Millions of years have formed the landscape and to take a step into it and breathe the air and experience its awesomeness just lifts my spirits and makes me rejoice to be alive. I feel like I too have taken a step back into an ancient place where life is not so busy and the breeze is filled with secrets for me to learn and celebrate. When I am in that place, I feel in touch with my deepest essence.

I must say, I love it here. Were it not for my family and friends, my spirit would drag me out here and I would drag Jason and the kids. People here seem to be aware of our dire need to make changes. Most everyone here is working towards being more green. There aren't health food sections in the stores, the stores are filled with health food. It's inspiring. I'm going to work even harder to be more green at home and I'm going to work harder to get myself out of the endless cycle of activities and get out and smell the roses more often. I'm going to take more walks in the woods with my wonderful husband and children - whom I miss very much! I'm going to work harder at keeping my cup full. Georgia is a beautiful state and I need to see more of it.

It's been a long day, I'm worn out and a little sunburned. I'm off to bed.

Thursday

This is the view from the ground looking up into the oak tree where I seem to want to spend my time. There is supposedly an owl that lives in this tree. I'm hoping to catch a glimpse of it before the week is over. Yesterday, when I was sitting outside, there were these 2 squirrels I watched most of the afternoon chasing one another and having a good time, then all the birds went silent and one of them fell from pretty high up in the tree all the way to the ground and landed on its side. The other was just as still as could be. Its tail wasn't even flinching. It seemed like odd behaivor for squirrels, but they might be mating. Then today, I was walking around outside and there were bird feathers raining on my head. Of course, my first thought was cats, so I looked around to see where Shane and Elise's cats are and they were both on the ground near me. I mentioned it to Elise and she said there was an owl that hangs around up there, but they have never seen it. I'm setting my sights on that owl and hopefully I will see it. I did hear it today when I was out there reading.

The weather is just incredible. I feel kissed by the sun. I sat outside again today while Sofia slept and just enjoyed the goodness of the sun. I can't believe it is spring. This is my favorite time of the year, when everything awakens and we all feel alive and want to be outside and can appreciate the newness of nature before the heat sets in and we are complaining about how hot it is. I love the closeness I feel to everything waking up. I feel like I too am waking. I love to hear the birds sing and watch them do their dances and thinking about the flowers blooming and the joy a simple flower can bring to my day. Plants we work so hard to grow are already beautiful here and morning glories fringe on being woody perrinials. The plant flora here is just amazing. I also love how all winter we have been thinking about things and evaluating our lives (sometimes we do it without realizing we are doing it) and then Spring comes and we feel refreshed and ready to start a new year. I think the beginning of the year should be the first day of Spring. I know that is the way the ancients once did it, thus the zodiac beginning in Aries...

So here is precious Sofia. Pictures just don't do her justice.

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Tomorrow, we are off to Joshua Tree. I can't wait!

reading under the oak...

Today was a relaxing day. We didn't do much except play with Sophia and we went to Whole Foods - which suprisingly I enjoyed (alot). So many choices that we don't have. We sat outside for a while under this fantastic Oak they have in their back yard - which is just magnificent... until Sophia got sleepy. They went in and took a nap, while I sat in the shade of a large California Oak tree and got sprinkled with pollen and hung out with their cat Roscoe. Funny how the yellow pollen isn't making me just cringe. I read solid for 2 hours loving the warmth, barefoot, and uniterupted peace offered by the shade of that oak tree today. I had the opportunity to contemplate things, something I enjoy doing as I was studying the homeopathy... I have a wonderful life, with two children who not only keep me on my toes, but continually make me thirsty to learn everything I can and what I want to learn. It is amazing how information sticks with you when you are learning what you want to be learning. I love being intersted in things and how they work and the mysteries of life. I like thinking and observing my own behaivors and finding solutions to things I think I could be better at. A thirst for knowledge keeps life intriguing and exciting. There is always something more we can learn. Something we may not know we are even interested in, but how will we ever know if we don't just try things out and explore that endless thirst? I hope that is how India and Kalib feel. I also thought about my husband and how he inspires me and supports me and is always there encouraging me to try to satiate my thirst and help me push my own limits and in the name of love. (It seriously helps that he can always make me smile when I most need to. ) What a lucky wife I am. So, I am relaxed, I'm loving having the space to look inside and dig deeper, but I am also loving what I am finding there.

The pic is Shane with Sophia - who is the cutest baby - she is just WONDERFUL!!!! And talk about some fat little legs!

Sunny California

Got in at 1:00 California time. The weather is beautiful and Sophia is too cute for words. She has got some super fat legs! I'm excited to say that as of right now, we don't have any plans for the day other than just taking it easy. I love it and I miss everyone already!

Trail Keepers

Our first official day out to the Greenway with the FRIENDS to do our trail pick up. Who knew picking up trash could be so much fun. We found lots of broken glass, lots of empty beer cans and a few surprises like a tennis ball with roots (sorry about the behind shot). We pushed half a mouse off the trail (we figured a hawk got it) and I found a small bird that was enjoyed by something and all that was left were its feathers (we pushed it over off the edge too). The kids really all got into it and did a great job and stayed focused. You know, I think it is important to be involved in things like this. I found myself wanting to pick up trash every where else we went after this. It worries me the amount of trash on our streets and sidewalks. We don't take as much pride in things and WE as a species seem to leave our imprint everywhere we go - even when we don't mean to. My hope is that we will be inspired and make more of an effort to be the change and inspire others to be the change we want. I want MY imprint to be minimal. I want the things we consume to be able to be reused or recycled or composted. I want to have very little garbage in my life and more than anything I want my species to take pride in what we do and be conscience of our impact and take a look as we walk and really see the impact we are having on this planet. Trash is everywhere you go. We can't escape it or CAN WE?? We can make our consumption mindful, we can pick up trash when we see it, we can recycle, we CAN make a difference with very little cost to our lives and with minimal effort. It takes more effort to constantly consume and deal with the reprecussions of that, than by simply being mindful of what we are taking in and what it's impact is going to be. Be inspired by our kids, be their role models. They are our future. Do we want to leave them with a nasty planet to deal with - assuming she doesn't kick us off first - or do we want to give them the tools to be better stewards of this amazing place we call home? All right, enough soap box... I'm proud of my kids for wanting to be part of this and being excited to get up and get going and really working hard to make a difference at such a young age. Maybe they can be your inspiration and your role models... In the words of Jack Johnson - 3... is a magic #...REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!!!!

Homeopathy

I'm very excited to say I have started an online class on homeopathy. Pursuing more herbal knowledge is something I have always pretty passionate about - especially with the kids, but as many of you know and can relate to, we haven't been able to always afford the things we want to do. Now things are looking up and this class was too good to be true and very affordable for me to do! I won't have any grand certification to help others and get paid for it, but my knowledge will be growing and I'll be better equipped to deal with our own health on many levels. Who knows what it will open up for us and for me in time. I am very thankful that we are in a place for me to do this and to learn whatever I can.