Happy Birthday Mason!

I am shocked and amazed at how time grabs you and takes you on a ride, and when you wake up.... you struggle to remember what has happened. Sometimes the past can be a bit blurry and dreamlike. 

I haven't posted a blog in MONTH's, I don't know if it is because of my father passing away, or if I am just cranky, but I have shut EVERYONE out of my life! I have struggled to regain Heart, Spirit, Love, Compassion, friendship, etc. I could feel it in there, but to release it has been maybe too painful? So today I am forcing my "Heart" out of it's box! It is TIME to release it and let the Love flow.

And what better reason than a Birthday!! 

I am so amazed daily to look at my son and see what he is becoming! Every Single Day he grabs me by the heart strings and tugs at them. If it is making up silly different kinds of kisses to say goodnight (giant troll kisses, fireman kisses, I bet you wanna know what they are, don't ya), tucking me into bed when I have a migraine and go to bed before him, or asking still, at 8 for a good night lullaby. The same one that we've been singing since he was a baby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LIcNm0uiEs and now he personally knows one of his angel friends guarding over him.
What a blessing!

The other day he told Derick and I about a new kid that has came into his class. He told us how the boy was being mean and saying rude comments to him about his family as they were standing in line. Then the boy decided to punch Mason in the shoulder. Mason told him "that didn't hurt"; so the boy punched him again; Mason stated "That didn't hurt, stop it!" Well I guess this happened several times, until a teacher noticed and came to check on them. They each told her their stories and the new boy was sent to the principals office, while Mason was sent to class. The amazing thing about this story is a year ago our boy would NOT have just told the kid to "stop it!", he would've tackled the kid to the ground and pummeled him and been sent to the principal's office as well. 

We told Mason how proud we were of him and his ability to keep level headed and speak up for himself. He handled that tough situation Perfectly!
Now to work on keeping that level head with his sister!

Here is one more fun and delightful story about Mason that will also make you smile and let you know what Fun this kid brings into our lives:

The other day while I was switching the laundry, Mason was in the living room getting his soccer gear on and started hollering at me. 

Here is what happened:

Mason: Mom, Mom, Mom, MOM!!! Watch this!
Me: Yes Mason.
Mason: (Making clicking noises with his tongue with each step of tying his shoe.)
Me: Wow, dude where did you learn to do that?? (Spoken excitedly and with great exaggeration.)
Mason: Oh, just some lady.
Me: Yeah! What lady?? (Thinking he was going to say "oh my teacher")
Mason: Some lady named JANECE! 

See what I mean about the kid pulling at your heart strings, and he does it without even knowing. 

His heart is in such a place that he doesn't realize that he is Loving, he IS just what God gave him.

How many times do we shut out our God given Love? We are trained from an early age to
Edge God Out (EGO),
what a wonderful example to me of Love and Heart and Kindness.
Happy Birthday Mason! I am blessed to have you in my Home, in my Heart,
and on this Earth in this Fabulous Family!!
I Love you to the Moon and Back!

So Close Yet So Far Away...

What a Summer (Sheep Creek) Part 3

One of my favorite things about hiking is walking into the "unknown" with mother nature as my guardian. When I was a kid I loved being enclosed in small secret spaces looking out, it made me feel sheltered and protected, and has manifested into my Love of Nature today. After the fateful Alaska Basin fail, we kept on hiking, building muscle and stamina. The above picture is from our hike up Sheep Creek which is a 3000 foot elevation gain in I think 5 miles. Oh mama, it was grueling!!

Another hike of our dreams that my dad has told us about for years has been to go to Waterfall Canyon, which from the above picture you can see was only a mile away, but after climbing 3000 feet, the trail drops into Waterfall Canyon that entire mile. I was not sure I'd be able to make it back up and out if we got all the way down in. The below picture is the view west down into Waterfall Canyon. There were some deer about 400 yards away just grazing having a beautiful day.

The picture below shows the view to the east towards the Snake River and Swan Valley. This is where we came from, straight up the mountain, you can see a sliver of the river if you look close.

All in all a Fabulously demanding day hiking, but yet again a trail fail. We didn't hit our goal of Waterfall Canyon. Yet....

Is it all Mumbo Jumbo?

It is amazing to me how the Universe works. I have been getting down on myself lately, questioning why I post so much "positive", "new age", "enlightening", mumbo jumbo on Facebook. While at the same time questioning whether people are thinking I've gone off the deep end and gone Wacko Jacko! To set everyone straight, I have been studying Quantum Physics, Spirituality, and ANYTHING related. To me this shit is AMAZING, my only regretful notion about all this inspiration is the fact that I hardly ever get to talk to anyone about this fun and exciting way of looking at life. In fact I could help people with what I know, I am sure of it!

The transformations that have occurred in my life since I started my "Journey into Inspiration" are immeasurable! My husband and I get along so much better, we still get mad at each other, but we don't put each other down like we used to. Like this morning, I was putting my homemade (chemical free) deodorant on my feet to soften and exfoliate them, (the same exact stuff he uses on his hands to soften them up after a long day of work). Well he walked in and gave me a look like "what in the world are you doing putting that on your feet!?!?" in turn I immediately got defensive and said "What?!?!" and gave him the same horrifying look. A small bantering back and forth ensued and he left me to my foot softening scrub. Immediately, I was amazed at myself and regretting how quickly I had jumped back into that die hard habit of bad self defeating/world defeating behavior. (Which I am proud to say is a fraction of what it used to be!) And how I knew that if I would have just stated to him what I was doing, and that what his look said to me hurt, we could have saved ourselves some stress. Well, I finished getting myself ready, while wallowing in my shame, wondering what the heck I was thinking! A few minutes later he came in to brush his teeth and said "Sorry Hon". Without hesitation, I told him "I'm sorry too" and gave him a kiss. That my friends is growth. Moving from a mistake to a miracle. And yes it is a miracle in this world today, because how many people can have an instance like that last for 5-10 minutes vs days. (2-4 days was our old way of living.)

Another transformation has been with our children, there used to be daily, no wait, hourly screaming matches when Alexa got home from school. Now we get a day or two in there without them. Mason too has changed, like last night he stated to his father that "Meditation works Dad, it helps your heart and everything." So they worked out for a bit then meditated together. Not to mention the good habit my kids have gotten into about doing chores. To go from telling our neighbor "We never have chores", (Which provoked them getting chores!) to doing them on a semi-regular basis. Don't get me wrong we still have our fair share of dysfunctions, Alexa doesn't want to hang with the family, while Mason is getting in fights at school. But from what I have learned from my listening to audio books and studying the dimensions of our Universe, I am moving toward a better life and I am so much happier. And isn't that what we are here for? Moving toward what feels good and makes us happy.

So my whole reasoning for writing this post today is the fact that I have been "feeling bad" about posting what I post all the time on Facebook. Well, I have a friend who has her own blog (which inevitably makes me cry every single time I read it!) and she mentioned one of my Facebook shares on her post today. Which of course made me cry again, and made me realize maybe, just maybe my efforts aren't so futile. If I can help one person have a single moment in their life that is better than it would have been without my effort, maybe I have done some good in the world today.

Thank you Rach, for today's Inspiration! I Love It!!

What are Limitations?

 What are Limitations?

This morning Alexa came to me and said "Mom! I am wearing pink and black boots, black pants, a black polo, pink and black suspenders, and a pink and black jacket! With a pink hair feather!"

I told her "Alexa you look Amazing!! Can I take a pic??"

Well this got me thinking.... She goes to a school where they have a strict dress code, (solid color polos and basic plain colored pants) and within this code, she is still able to be her own beautiful individual!! 

So here is my "Life Lesson" on this experience today. She is limited to what she can wear, but within that limitation she was able to extract her own personality out. How many times in life do we "perceive" something as a limitation? But if we were to accept this supposed limitation, and detach ourselves from it, then we are able to bring forth a new perspective and 

accept "what is" and actually be so much happier than before the limitation was in our consciousness!!

Thank you Alexa for today's insight! 

I Love you so much!

Swansational Shift in Perception

Swansational Shift in Perseption!

Derick and I took our annual snowshoe trip along the Snake River last Sunday and as usual we were amazed at the wildlife we encountered. Let me just give you a small run down on what we have seen the past few years on this hike. Hmmmmm, first of all upwards of 75 deer (muleys) in one group and several groups several times, white tale deer, turkeys, vultures (8-10 we thought they were going to eat our dog they were so big), moose, rabbit, and every single time we go we see the same two bald eagles in the same tree, and this time we saw over 200 swans along with many geese and ducks. We have been going here for about 4-5 years and we are yet to be disappointed with the wildlife.

As we were hiking along last weekend (hiking is my favorite reflection time, and I get my greatest insights while hiking) I was struggling through the snow, my feet slipping at every step, my muscles sore and tired, and I remembered a technique I have used in the past. If I can deliberately place each foot with each step my breathing improves, the steps aren't so difficult to take, and I inevitably go faster. This is another one of those great metaphors for life. If you can take each step in life with intention, that is KNOW what you want, life tends to fall right in line with you and carry you along.

Here is an example, say you are driving around town, running errands and you are in a parking lot waiting in line for traffic to get onto the main road. In front of you are two cars and there is also a car waiting to get in line to your left. Do you let that person in? Remember it's taking forever for the people in front of you to be able to go. Well this exact instance happened to me, and I intended to be a kind driver and let the person in. Amazingly after waiting 5 minutes for car #1 to get out, then letting the guy to my left in, my wait was over. Everyone was able to get out onto the road within 15 seconds. Now, did my intention make that happen, or was it just by chance? You can make that choice for yourself.

What I do know is that when I am putting out good things, good things happen. When I am discouraged bad things happen. Like while hiking if I focus on the slipping of my feet and the aching of my muscles, I get more and more tired. If I focus on each step and intend it to be solid and firm, my whole experience shifts to one of satisfaction and joy.

I Love this life and what I am learning, I Love growing older and becoming the person I am meant to be. I am understanding who I am more and more, and getting more comfortable in my own skin. I am learning to follow my instincts and intuitions while at the same time turning all those experiences into great lessons for life.  This is when I am truly happy! Thanks for hangin, have a WonderFilled Day!