sweet and salty

sweet moments earlier this month...

welcome, baby B!!! so beautifully and perfectly small, and always putting his hands up near his neck, chin and face. got to witness the first fingernail cutting...not sure if that is a milestone moment but i was there! ;)

lunch with L and friends and came home with the most delicious, handmade tortillas...been here long ago and nice to go back...hole in the wall and so packed...think i ate 4 tortillas by the end of that day and they are at least 12" in diameter, making you remember that lard makes everything taste better!

great networking meeting and evening discussion with 4 very accomplished women on using social media to brand yourself and your business...wow, i feel behind the times not to mention not even having an internet package on my cell phone; i'm practically a cavegirl. also received what i would call pro bono resume overhauling help and have newfound confidence when applying for jobs...wish i would have worked with a professional a loooooooooooong time ago and then after every career shift...makes such a huge difference and i recommend it to everyone.

breakfast with pops again and a weekend day with my mom...went to a bead store with her and they had every kind of bead i could have ever imagined, including a strand you could buy that was snake vertebrae...would like to see what someone would make with that!

bike riding outdoors isn't that bad when it's hot as long as you have water and music and you are going fast enough to feel the wind in your face!

finally got to attend an incredibly awesome 90 min yoga class by A...she did such a great job and i was so proud of her...finished outdoors under the stars and could feel the effects the day of and definitely the day after. A, thank you so much...you rock!

helped L move in to her new place and it was so perfect...welcome home, L+M+G+E.
headed to K's house afterward and sat with our legs in the pool watching her two girls and niece...watergun shooting, watersliding, look-at-me's and i-didn't-mean-to's after shooting water at dry people and faces. ;) took home some apricots and plums from her and her family's trees and they were so much better than store-bought fruit...can't wait to have a garden and fruit trees.

cheers to K+C on their wedding and honeymoon! can't wait to hear more

and a new salty experience...

rode my bike to meet A+B at what i think could be a new favorite hangout for chips/salsa and beers...they met me there on their bikes and it was a cooler, breezier day so it was a nice ride... ended up staying past sunset and watched the mountain change colors, then had a nice ride home in a blue/purple sky. will be hard not to sit on the patio again, but i definitely want to sit in the huge, white clamshell booth sometime! great idea, A! so much fun!

off to CA today and so excited!!!!!!!!!!! updates from there next!

warm up, cool down

had a wonderful day in payson last week...drove up early and went on a hike with my aunt, cousin, second cousin and mom. the little guy was in a backpack carrier and we hiked in on a fairly level trail to a large rocky outcropping with a view of the tops of the pine trees and mountain rims. i collected some rocks and a large manzanita stick...i had forgotten how beautiful the manzanita bushes are. our little one was a little fussy on the way back to the car and i 'wore' him back...so to distract him, i decided we would say goodbye to all of the things we could see. we said goodbye and waved to the left and to the right, up and down, to the trees, flowers, grass, rocks, birds, bugs, lizards (which he calls 'zizzards'), etc...turned out to be fun and he would repeat what i would say...so cute...but man, he was heavy by the time we got to the car!!

after the hike we were pretty hot and we got in our cars and drove several more miles to a creek to cool off (think it's this one but my cousin called it wagon wheel)...never been here before and it was a little gem in the middle of nowhere but not far from the main highway...crystal clear water with unobstructed views straight to the bottom...all of the rocks nearby had been worn smooth from the passing water and some were perfectly situated in and out of the water, making perfect ledges to sit on and dangle your feet over...we watched some kids jumping off of a higher rock formation and my little cousin was enthralled watching the big boys.


got some relaxing time up on some rocks where the water was cascading down into the larger pool and when i hopped from rock to rock following the water upstream, i found hundreds of tadpoles! my mom and i tried to catch some but they were super-fast and slippery and i didn't want to hurt them...just wanted a closer peek of course. ;)

after we chilled by the creek, we drove back to town, had margaritas and mexican food and then headed home...we had a lot of laughs and i was so happy my cousin took us to this secret place...a definite must on another trip!

of the heart

if only things could be like this sometimes..."parachute"

"i want to take you with me - to life with no more yesterdays - we can start again, awake and so excited - change the way we always push, we always pull - i'll open up and be your parachute - and i'll never let you down - so open up and be my human angel - and we'll only hit the ground, running"

satellite art

stuart black - the satellite image artist

read about the artist and the pieces' creation here

ridiculously cool and so unique (in my opinion!)...discovered him at a local business with M & L

here's my favorite "malaspina glacier"...read about it here

vision without boundaries

went to a business networking luncheon for the second time and the guest speaker was joan gustafson...so great to hear her explain some of her incredible experiences and practices, especially when considering she was way ahead of her time doing those things in the 70's.
she used a lot of quotes anecdotally including "imagination is more important than knowledge" (albert einstein).

her main points were:

• you change your life by changing your attitude
• create a vision for your life based on where you are in life today...and not just based on your career, but based on anything in your life
• be intentional versus just daydreaming
• tell yourself who you want to be
• see things that are not there

and here are 5 steps she provided for the visualization process...she said that she started by visualizing 2x/day and that every vision that she has had has become a reality:

1. determine what you want to create in your life
2. eliminate distractions
3. relax your body and your mind
4. create a mental movie
5. reinforce your vision through consistent mental rehearsal
   

i hope this helps one of you as it has me by re-opening your dreaming heart and your desire for endless possibilities!!

this dog kills me

the family dog's life
always finding the comfiest place in the house, forever loving clean sheets and laundry or freshly made beds, ready to play or give you a lick of love, looking very furry and kind of dirty but funny at the same time, nap-eat-nap-play-nap-get loved on-eat-nap

and now it's june????

happy hour on friday with L and coworkers...lots of laughs and really nice people...can't imagine doing the work they do and they all have such interesting backgrounds...good to meet new people...patio beers and real conversation

hiked for about an hour on saturday with friends and had friends and sister-in-law over for breakfast afterwards...made an egg dish and these sticky buns (minus the whiskey) and thought they were pretty rich and flavorful...you can find frozen dough at walmart or other stores...next time will have to try making the dough as well

read a bunch of articles my mom gave me...things to aspire to and to think about:

• six signs you're in a healthy relationship -- loyalty, respect, unconditionally there, trustworthy, a genuine sounding board, dependability
• six personality traits worth adopting -- selflessness, tolerance, genuineness, sensitivity, integrity, humility
• steve jobs commencement address in 2005 -- "...you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. you have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. this approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
  
• "you've got to find what you love." "your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. if you haven't found it yet, keep looking. don't settle. as with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. and, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. so keep looking until you find it. don't settle."
• "your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. and most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. they somehow already know what you truly want to become. everything else is secondary."
• "stay hungry. stay foolish." (from the whole earth catalog and used in jobs' speech)
• miguel de cervantes saavedra -- "honesty is the best policy."
• jonathan swift -- "may you live all the days of your life."

happy june to you!