Cells we are at the moment

Peace, love, happiness, gardens, bike rides, summer breezes through my windows at night, sleeping under comforters out in the yard, birds and insects making music in the morning, playgrounds, sprinklers, festivals, fairs, grilled corn, bare feet whenever you want, summer storms, chalk drawings, popsicles tasting so refreshing, longer days with warm sun, family vacations, making memories, enjoying fall after the end of a long, hot, wonderful summer. ^_^

It's been a while

I've been very busy: With my girls and with enjoying this nice weather. Also just trying to figure out what I love and what to do with my life.
PEACE, LOVE and SUMMER

Chai

Mmm chai tea lattes and exercising by stretching and doing yoga are my new favorite things. Well.. I have always loved homemade chai lattes, so that hasn't changed. I'm so happy the weather is nice now. I love having my windows open. I feel happier, more creative, more energtic and motivated. It's amazing.

Alexandra

I love her.

Darkness

I love taking pictures in the dark. Also things have been going pretty well lately. I haven't slept past noon since I made my vow not too. And the weather has improved slightly; spring is close hopefully. Warm weather always improves my mood.

It's my birthday

And it's already better than like my past three birthdays. 22...I kinda like it, I like even numbers. Well, I'm just hanging with my family, going out to dinner and maybe sewing my little girls some more skirts. I made two last night and now they match, its so cute.

Ladybug Birthday Party

My girls, holding hands and looking at eachother! ^_^

New Tea

Pictures from a walk a took with my sister down to Lake Michigan on a 60 degree day in February. It was refreshing.

I went to the mall today, with no real intentions of buying anything, but went into Teavana and got some tea. It's Japanese Wild Cherry Green Tea. I actually followed the directions and brewed it perfectly in my teapot (that was a gift from my husband last year); and it tastes delicious. It's so fun making tea in my teapot and drinking it from the matching tea cups. So I'm enjoying that and a breakfast burrito and deciding what to do with my time tonight. I'm finally not feeling sick anymore and its really nice having more awake time and not having to try to recuperate all the time. I've been thinking so much about traveling lately. Maybe this summer taking the kids west of this state a little bit, exploring some caves or even going as far as the mountains. I would love to go back to South Dakota some time. It was fun exploring the black hills and swimming in a hot spring pool. I would love to drive all the way to California and then enjoy a few days on the beach. Of course I would stop at anything interesting along the way including thrift stores. Because it's always more fun thrift shopping in states that aren't your own. Lately, instead of just dreaming about doing things, I have actually been doing them!

Sick

I've been sick for about 2 days now and it hasn't been fun. But I did get out and get some fresh air the other day when it was 50 degrees in February. It was nice seeing lots of people out enjoying activities by the lakefront.

Journaling

I just got the great idea to start a journal for my 2 1/2 year old. Each night or every few days I will ask her about her favorite or least favorite part of the day. How she felt. What she did and maybe have her draw something to commemorate the day. I think it will help her express feelings better as well as remember and put meaning to things she did. It also will be fun for her to look back on later. I would start it tonight but she's already asleep.

Free to go anywhere

Day 2

I successfully got up before noon today. And my daughter is actually having lunch at lunch time. So I am making progress. I also got the TV convertor box set up today for when TV changes from analog to digital. Now we have a quite a lot more channels. I don't really like watching TV but since they are free it's fine. And Lexi likes watching a little TV every day. Which I think is fine, since she has actually learned a lot more than I ever expected from TV and movies. New words, concepts, animals and other random things. I also plan to get caught up on the laundry today. We'll see how that goes.

UPDATE
I got a lot of stuff done today. I even dusted. And my husband got his fish tank clean too, it sits in the living room, so its nice when it looks really clean. And I've had a really happy day. I even changed my front window clings to Valentine's Day, haha.

Bus Stop -A Poem by Me

At 5:17Am
Thin and willowy
She perches on the frosted bench.
Her long maple syrup colored hair whips out from a knitted beret
tickling the shelter glass behind her.
Dark, almost black eyes
alert as none should be at this hour
watch as the sun bleeds out into the sky.

Her hands delve deeper into her overcoat.
Legs bouncing up and down to generate warmth
Her black high heels click
like little chisels on the icy sidewalk.
Her back straight; and arms tensed, unmoving
she lets the wind harass her
until her cheeks blend with the color of her lips.
Lips that are crystallized by frozen breath
And involuntary tears slide out of her eyes and straight to her hairline
as the freezing wind rushes past
making this whole city miserable.
But with the heater blowing full force
and those bright pink lips sighing thanks in my direction
as she flashes her bus pass and settles into a warm plastic seat
even with the wind trying to board my bus at every stop
the cold cannot penetrate me

Beef Soup

Start with a beef shank, beef chunks for stew,water and one can of beef broth. Boil in a large pot for 2 hours or until the beef falls off the bone. Take out the bone and any fatty pieces of meat that you don't want to eat. Now you can add some minced garlic (about 3 cloves) and some finely diced onion. Then add fresh cut carrots and a small can of tomato sauce or tomato chunks and let simmer for 20 minutes until tender. Next add any frozen or fresh vegetables you want; like corn, green beans, peas or celery. The second time I made this instead of noodles I just added black beans right to the soup; I liked it better like that. Then simmer until all the vegetables are tender and enjoy!

You are not what you own

A good reminder of my desire to rid myself of all material things that are unnecessary in my life.
Yet...
"Some things are not meant to be displayed or thrown away, they are meant to be kept in a box in the attic or basement for those moments when you want to look at them with sentimental feelings"

-Photo by Sylvar

Ruins Photos

I just wanted to link an awesome photography website I found. It's all written in Japanese but the photos are of ruined buildings and places and I love it. I've looked at most of the site but there are a lot of pictures.

Ruins

Finally starting a blog.

I was inspired by my sister starting a blog about 101 things she wants to accomplish and I decided to start one documenting my progress at enjoying my life. Over the past 3 years I have felt slightly tied down by my kids and all the life changes that have come along with them. I just want to find more things that make me happy and do a few more things for myself. I hate winter a lot and that has been my main reason for sleeping in late, wasting time and not getting anything done. But I'm sick of that, so each day I'm going to try to wake up before noon and do at least one thing I can be happy with. Maybe a scrapbook page, or research something I find interesting, or sort my pictures, color or do an art project with my 2 year old, learn and cook a new recipe. (Unfortunately that takes money for food... which I don't have). My goals for this blog are to post things I find interesting, keep track of my goals and progress, put up pictures that I like from my life, maybe write about my kids a little bit, reminisce and hopefully motivate myself to do more things off of my computer too.

Peace