My favorite thing to do is hug. We have to remember how important this is to do.

Your assignment: Give ten hugs today. It will rock your world.

surprise and unexpected thoughts of purple.

what is perfection? Can you really put the word in a box?

A package from a man who is working in Puerto Rico. My day has been filled with laughter and good conversation.

P.S. the box contained a purple handmade bag from a surfer shop. I think I will put my hand carved mermaid comb in it along with Love.

(so I'm thinking, instead of carrying extra baggage, sneak some Love in it and it isn't baggage at all.)

the real deal.

“ When you start to know someone, all their physical characteristics start to disappear. You begin to dwell in their energy, recognize the scent of their skin. You see only the essence of the person, not the shell. That’s why you can’t fall in love with beauty. You can lust after it, be infatuated by it, want to own it. You can love it with your eyes and your body but not your heart. And that’s why, when you really connect with a person’s inner self, any physical imperfections disappear, become irrelevant.

Lisa Unger, Beautiful Lies

hop on in.

My List of Words for the Week:

patience.

devotion.

focus.

calmness.

faith.

breathe.

laugh.

patience.

patience.

PATIENCE.

Focus.

Back into yoga.

"Breathe through the back of your heart, that is where your Happiness is."-Cara, fellow yogini.

I won't ever give up on you.

So, I woke up this morning on the floor with a pillow, blanket and books all around me. (and a finished bottle of wine.) In a daze I looked around and I immediately started smiling. All the things I should and am thankful for just flowed into my brain. It reminded me of the Sweet Valley High series I read as a teenager. When I was about 15 I read the best advice I could ever get. Elizabeth Wakefield (my favorite character in the series) said,"Every time I get in the shower, I say 10 things I am thankful for, every morning." Ever since then I have followed this. And I have forgotten I do it still. Everyday. It has become a habit.

Try it.

our future treehouse.

Erik promised me today that he will build us a treehouse. I'm a lucky girl.

cheers,

to new jobs and new beginnings.

I met sadness and relief today. Crazy combo. I can never not be thankful. I feel silly for my selfishness when I don't need to take, I need to give, always.

blue.

I quit television 3 years ago. (to stand up for reading books, playing outside, living, etc.)

BUT-

I have a laptop.

I've been sucked into the Netflix Abyss and watching any documentary I can. I realized this morning that,

a) documentaries are not bad. Reality television is.

b) I've been feeling pretty blue lately.

I know that jumping into 'watching a screen' is a red flag when that isn't really me. What is interesting is although I have been very sad this week over reasons that overwhelm and confuse me, Netflix taught me something. Crazy, I know. This week in a film I heard something I really needed. "If I were to choose between happiness and sorrow, I would chose sorrow. Because when you are happy you know not of what you are missing. But when you are full of sorrow you know everything." Katherine of Aragon.

I know this aching heart will pass. Like everything in this world. And the best way to keep a smile on my face is to know that I have so much to be thankful for. I'm silly to think the world is crashing- when its basically opening up to me.

this day,

I will stand up for myself and my beliefs.

I will turn the other cheek.

I will not dwell on this negative situation and continue to move forward.

I will act like I hope my daughter would act in this situation.

I will be excited about this new venture, and not afraid.

"Obstacles are simple opportunities to become more creative."

oh boy.

Oh boy, is this girl excited today. Beautiful breeze, coffee, research papers complete, made a new friend, about to meet a friend for more coffee and books, then off to lunch with one of the funniest people I know, then a netflix evening with my little girl.

amazing family. check. amazing friends. check. amazing love of my life. check.

Now, if someone were to give me a minature baby panda or a baby beluga for my bathtub I may just pass out.

But until then I am going to enjoy every minute of this new day.

“ There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.

Diana Cortes

I want to tell this past weekend, thank you. Thank you for filling me up with love, laughter, delicious food, beer, (lots and lots of beer), hugs, more hugs, and a sneak peak into my future.

The last four days proved to me in the most natural of ways that my life is going to be everything that I have hoped for. A life that in certain down moments, I felt was truly not possible. This natural ball of energy hung out this weekend and bounced off individuals, moments, words, hearts. It was like this ball would bounce at a situation and say,

"Hey you...are you paying attention? Do you see this? How amazing is this? This is your life."

or,

"Hey you, do you see that man? He just did something for you in complete thoughtfulness. He loves you with his whole heart. He makes you feel safe. Accept it, this is what you deserve."

"This is your Life."

I am in awe of what I am receiving in my life. I am so thankful for what the Universe has given me and I hope that I am doing my part to continue the cycle of,

complete awesomeness.

Swallowing. (yeah, I just said that.)

Swallowing pride. In order to get positive results. My lesson.

I am learning that TRUST equals not having to remind others of what you stand for.

Less arguments.

More understanding.

A big laugh when the situation is over.

O joy.

Rinse and repeat.

My love-White Hinterland

I need to remind myself,

I am not the center of the Universe. The center of the Universe is within me.

I need to treat others as I would like to be treated. (original, huh?)

To smile more and more.

To always find the positive, regardless how daunting it may seem.

To not push away those that mean the world to me in fear I may lose them.

To not always have to carry others, and trust that sometimes (someone) can carry me.

Trust.

Accepting when ya got something good. And boy, I really, really got something good.

Here's to honesty within ourselves, lets keep going on with this experience.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of snuggling in bed and conversating with one of my favorite people on Earth. For a few hours I belly laughed and cried, learned and loved. I exist in a Loving Life.

buggy love.

excuse me, (for my two month hiatus)

the past two months I've been in a state of delirium. Composed mostly of growing, procrastinating, dreaming, denial, excitement, sadness, with a dash of laughter all in between. I've found that although I was me these past two months, I wasn't exactly present.

Its hard to explain.

I've found that when I incur stress in my Life, to others I seem to handle it well, but in all

truth- not really, really.

When I stress I hold value to things that give me immediate gratification. Which is a catch for me because of the following examples:

my awesome way of dealing with planning my upcoming semester.

(meaning I haven't yet, I am known to wait til the last minute. Literally. The. Last. Minute.)

My crazy beautiful relationship with the Man that I will spend the rest of my Life with. The catch? We have about five states in between us for now.

I try to stay balanced but this Summer was different for me. I almost relished in the recklessness of it. I put off things that were important and obsessed over situations that were extremely silly. But I also danced in the rain, fell out of a canoe and saw about a million stars.

(But that is for another story time.)

So I ask to be excused. I woke up today in a state of excitement and also with a ball of stress that was bouncing around in my tummy. I am basically excusing myself for not doing all of the things I should have accomplished this Summer of Haze. But then I think, this is me. This is just who I am. I am back in the present.

And to be a Gift to others, you must be Present.

gummi bear rug. (actual size)

“ Some people meet the way the sky meets the earth, inevitably, and there is no stopping or holding back their love. It exists in a finished world, beyond the reach of common sense.

Louise Erdrich, Tales of Burning Love

“I’m not Sentimental—I’m as Romantic as you are. The idea, you know, is that the Sentimental person thinks things will last—the Romantic person has a desperate confidence that they won’t."- F. Scott Fitzgerald

I don't want my Life to ever be complete but I've never been this happy and fulfilled in my entire Life.

Makes me entirely too excited about whats coming up next.

bliss.

“ She wasn’t ready to settle down, she told her friends. That was one way of putting it. Another would have been that she had not found anyone to settle down with. There had been several men in her life, but they hadn’t been convincing. They’d been somewhat like her table - quickly acquired, brightened up a little, but temporary. The time for that kind of thing was running out, however. She was tired of renting.

Margaret Atwood, Moral Disorder

lets count the ways.

Love before Breakfast.

More Trees please.

The bigger the bubble, the Badder the burst.

“ And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”

Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

cozy rain song.

love reflections.

distance.

To my zilla. For rilla.

“ It’s funny. Your muscles have a certain memory about them. That’s why we can tie our shoes or play piano without looking. But then you spend a long enough time with someone and your bodies memorize each other, you know? The warmth of your back, the pace of your heartbeat, your tickly eyelashes, and the way your fingers would curl in sequence when I used to play with your palm. Another person is like moving to a new country where you don’t know the language, it’s a scary thing.

To Claire; From Sonny

love being with my other half, mate, and lovah. My heart is smiling.

sunshine a day keeps the dr. away...

sun-medicine: a must.

You can call me Flower...

“ You have to make her happy, the happiest she can be. Every morning, make her a hazelnut coffee with one packet of raw sugar, then save the packet to make a koala and hook it onto her mug. And if you don’t know how to make a koala, you buy an origami book and you stay up til 3 in the morning learning and getting stupid papercuts everywhere. Because that’s what makes her smile.

Stuart Grundy (aka Buster) / Arrested Development

truly. madly. deeply.

“ She waited for the train to pass. Then she said, “I sometimes think that people’s hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what’s at the bottom. All you can do is imagine by what comes floating to the surface every once in a while.

Haruki Murakami (Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman)

my sweet Sunday.

Word of the week: Beluga

Say it, beluuuuga. Makes you feel good.

before I die...

damn right.

rain on me.

Having a thoughtful Sunday with Prince by my side.

"If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.

When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me."

Led Zeppelin, Thank You

Happy Love Day.

My Erik carved me a Celtic Love Spoon. Swoon. (read the history of the Love Spoon...so beautiful.) The Knot design means: "No beginning, No ending, the continuity of Everlasting Love and binding together or intertwining of two Soul or Spirits."

Simplify.

So after spending hours clearing out my closet, I now have 7 bags of clothing to donate.

Look out for hippie dressed homeless people near you.

Monday Funday.

I am content with today. I woke up to a boyfriend call instead of my alarm clock. (So much better.) Had 2 beers before class (breakfast) and heard ABBA Dancing Queen randomly. (my favorite song.)

I feel a little high off life right now. A blend of complete calm and a little giddy. It makes for a good combination.

As of right now I am feeling completely optimistic with my Life. I say this because every corner of my Life is filled with Love. I feel it everywhere.

(And I am also excited because my boyfriend is pretty stinkin' hot.)

“Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise."
Margaret Atwood, Cat’s Eye

Happy Birthday beautiful. You are a Constant song in my Day.

‎"Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other." ~ Dalai Lama

"Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle

Everything I do is stitched with its color."

W.S. Merwin

“ Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.

Nicole Krauss (The History of Love)

“ The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.

Victor Hugo, Les Misérables