Windows Keep Opening

You've heard the saying, "Where one door closes, another one opens." I like to think of the variation about the WINDOW opening because of the ability to look through the window in the first place where we might actually see what is out there. Apparently Alexander Grahm Bell coined the phrase and online I was able to find the full quote:

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. – Alexander Graham Bell

And then upon researching it online I learn some attribute the phrase to Helen Keller - am amazing woman. Apparently she was friends with Bell, so perhaps it was a quote that came out of conversation between two great minds.

Anyway, I've been thinking about how my path changes and so many times the opportunities that present themselves are not the ones I've been chasing. Recently though a door closed and I was remorseful and bitter and couldn't shift my thinking for over a week. It seems though that the universe saw something better for me to open up my eyes to and handsomely rewarded me and my efforts over the past two years.

Photo credit JLMphoto on flickr

Sharing the exact situation of what door closed and which window opened is less important than the lesson of having faith that it will and to be aware of it when it happens.

2013 Bucket List

Creating a Bucket List seems appropriate being it's my birthday! I'll likely keep adding to this as time goes on since trying to think of everythinig I've ever wanted to do and putting it down would be a huge task. Plus this is meant to be just for this year.

It is nice to have a place to check into once in awhile where I have gathered my thoughts on things I want to do. I heard on the news the other day that people who keep a food diary will lose twice as much weight as those who do not while trying to get fit or lose weight. I suppose the same idea can be applied here; if the ideas just float around in my head they have less chance of ever having me get to them.

1. Go to a Zumba class.
2. Go to Vegas - see my sister and do some crazy late night gambling.
3. Do this vinegar foot soak
4. Make my own green smoothies 3 times a week. Since I signed up for The 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge, it should be totally doable.
5. Have a yard sale - garage sale - something like that - but if I don't at least I've got the handy Relay App to fallback on.
6. Get a massage EVERY SINGLE MONTH. In 2012 I got a facial every single month and will keep up with that. So nice to have time scheduled to take care of ME.

7. Try 10 new restaurants. This will be part of my strategy for keeping up with the bi-weekly date nights. If we map out which places we want to try we will be more likely to get around to all 10.
8. Go to a Tony Robbins event. Pretty easy since I was already invited to goin March with a group via my awesome chiropractor at Good Vibrations!
9. Take a surfing lesson. Totally inspired by Travel Mamas, Colleen Lanin and her very first surf lesson.

Which item on your Bucket List is the most important one to you?

I know the loving my body part is weird

This year I created a short list of New Year's Resolutions. I have to admit that even though the phrase aligns exactly with what the goal is it felt weird to see it written as "Loving my body" instead of what we typically do in our society "lose weight" "go to the gym" "start a diet" or all the myriad of other ways we try to shape our physical image.

My friend Rachel Rainbolt, author of Sage Parenting, and I were discussing health and wellness and she sent me an article which I've since lost, but it talked about thinking of your body as being powerful. That's a good way to go after what you want instead of having the dread of going to the gym.

My chiropracter Dr. Joe Merlo at Good Vibrations Chiropractic has been teaching me about awareness and made a really clear message about taking care of our health because we only get one body in this lifetime.

And Anthony Robbins had a great video message that I couldn't even articulate the message if I had to, but you know everything that comes from him gets you to think of things in a new way and it wasn't about motivation but it did just that for me. A post from his Facebook page this past Monday rounds it out pretty well "By changing your focus, you instantly change the quality of your life. Remember: We get what we focus on. What you focus determines how you'll feel!"

I've been focusing on the things I want, instead of the things I don't want and the shift has been making an impact. For example, I tried to eliminate caffeine in 2012 on 3 seperate occassions. This year my focus is to drink more water, and thus by shifting my focus to increasing my intake of water that is the picture that comes up in my mind instead of building a strong visual and repeating message around caffeine. Besides, it wasn't really caffeine that was the problem. It was the abundance of calories in those sugary drinks I grab at Starbucks that just happen to be caffeinated. All those extra calories are adding up! I am not burning them off with a nursling any longer and I don't have kids to carry any more and haven't replaced those calorie expenditures with any other activity. It is all becoming more clear to me why it didn't work in 2012. So, I shifted my goal setting to the bigger picture, loving my body. That will outline the different things I can do to actually LOVE my body. Just as when I tell my kids, "It is because I love you and am doing a good job taking care of you that I give you so many fruits and veggies."

What's going to keep you on the path for acheiving your 2013 New Year's Resolutions?

Visualize what you want and tools show up

One of the other goals I set for 2013 had to do with date nights or date days with each person of the family. A majority of the time I'm doing stuff for them in the caretaking manner and I want to have more of that just bein with each other good feeling that I always imagined would come automatically with the mommy role. The truth it is, nothing is automatic. You have to work for it. I've been working on it. I have glimpses of those moments and then someone will be fighting and the bubble bursts. We started off 2012 the right way when I took Amberly to a paint your own pottery place and Cory took the boys to Monster Trucks... but the experience wasn't what I dreamed. I'm not sure exactly what was amiss. But I've been visualizing more and more about what our family outings look like, how disagreements can get handled, what words to use in certain scenarios. Well, when you give a lot of time and energy or focus to something, your tools show up.

When we were at the dentist office this morning I read about 2/3 of a great article about how to talk to your kids so that they will listen. What I got out of it is that it is more about ME listening to the way I talk to them and adapting. I wish I could have finished the article, but alas Amberly's appointment went so smoothly and she was ready to check out. The article talked about a book and a workshop. But, in reality I don't know how many more books I can buy and not read. So, this article was great because it gave great snipits of scenarios and where a parent had acted one way before and with their new tools how when applied the desired outcome actually manifested itself. Tomorrow I get to take the boys to the dentist so I'm gonna look for that magazine and perhaps accidently walk out with it in hand.

Life is getting easier with 3 kids

There have been many days I have sat and wondered when things would start to get easier with balancing raising 3 kids and having a business and being a wife and running a household... Today I feel like it is actually getting easier. It could be that we are on week 2 of the Christmas break, it could be that the kids have all kinds of new toys to busy themselves with, it could be that I've been spending a lot less time on the computer, or that my mad skillz as mom-in-chief are finally paying off. Who knows? Mainly I am grateful to have this thought pass through my mind and wanted to capture it here. Honor that moment of bliss where the house is clean, the kids are playing and I can just enjoy listening to the sound of happy for a little bit. Since my birthday is Friday, I think that the stars are just aligning perfectly to give me a little slice of heaven.

And as I sit here editing, Owen just fell off the arm of the couch into the Christmas tree....

BlogHer12 in the Big Apple -

When it was announced last year that this year's BlogHer Conference would be held in New York City I have to admit I was at first dismayed. I didn't think I could pull off a trip that had a huge travel expense price tag. Well, I was wrong.

AND I'm so glad I was wrong!

I had conversations with people that really left me eager to connect MORE, to get more committed to my blog, to learn more about the other conferences out there and of course prepare for BlogHer13 next year. Here's my list of what to do before a BlogHer Conference (some of which I may or may not have followed) just in case you need it.

I waited until just a month out to schedule my plane ticket... this worked out in my benefit though... it meant I had to take off on Tuesday for a conference that didn't really get going until Thursday night. That meant I had some built in sightseeing time! Something I would not have gotten to do if I had just stuck to the conference schedule. I booked a first class ticket, cuz that was all that was left... fortunately I had the miles for it! So, the biggest part of the conference expense was using my airline miles that I'd saved for many years. I guess when you get committed to something nothing says it better than redeeming 64,000 miles!

When you wait until the last minute, it can be a little challenging to find roommates, but I did! AND they were great! I know not everyone has that experience so I want to give them a shout out and say I'm really glad that the stars aligned for us to meet one another and experience NYC together! Life with four boys and The adventures of Faith are both bloggers and then Colleen wants to start a blog. I hope she does!

Some of the fun stuff we did together as roommates touring the Big Apple:

1. Went to Macy's on 34th street - I was laughing when I asked the cab driver where Macy's was and he told me 34th street - DUH! Miracle on 34th street! I never had both such horrible customer service and wonderful customer service in the exact same shopping trip. I think that might just be a parrallel for NYC though. You can read about my shoe shopping here.

2. Stumbled upon Times Square - really - we weren't planning to even go there but we were looking for a place to eat and got awe struck by all the lights (basically advertisements) just like everyone else. I managed to get my picture with Elmo and saw Naked Cowboy.

3. Rode around Central Park in a horse drawn carriage and got all the good historic landmarks pointed out - but don't quiz me cuz I won't remember any of them! That is the best way to see Central Park, I've done the walking through it thing and trying to figure out where we were and what was worth seeing was too much trouble.

4. Checked out Rockefeller Center - there was a farmers market there which I LOVED and even bought some fresh lavendar. I got to see Rockefeller Center a second time on Sunday and get a better idea of its importance via the awesome tour guide that Stumble Upon provided.

5. Ate at one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants over at The London Hotel and can honestly say it is possible to turn a cobb salad into a fine dining experience. The chocolate martini though, hmmmm, that was really amazing! I scoffed at the $19 price tag, but I guess the high drink prices are just another New York thing.

6. Ate at Carmines - I guess this is not a unique to NYC experience but it sure was gooooooood! Sadly, it put Buca di Beppo to shame. I will now look for this place in any major city we visit from now on. I met three pretty cool Latina sisters sitting at the bar next to us - all with grown children and somehow I felt connected to their sisterhood.

Now, I want to tell you about the very unique experience of riding the bus, yes, the bus, not the subway, in NYC. Somehow with a delayed flight coming to the conference I met a New Yorker and we agreed to share a cab from the airport. The line for taxis was LONG. There were NO TAXIS anywere in sight. We decided to then take the bus. The M 60 to be precise. It was a reminder to me that there are people working hard to make ends meet, that people have more in common than they do differences, that kindness travels even in the darkest of nights in Harlem, that we get a chance to connect with human beings in all kinds of ways and a smile goes a long way. I sat next to a gentleman who didn't entirely want to make room for me when I had my bulky luggage to slide under the seat. My New Yorker acquintance who is maybe in her 50's was ever so sweet in flashing him a smile and saying "surely you can make room for her." Charm. It works. That gentleman and I ended up talking about Obama and the political nonsense on CNN where people who are clearly intelligent do not check their remarks before speaking. He helped another woman figure out which stop she needed to get off at to make her bus connection. This woman, Joyce, had also come from the airport and later she took in a bit of a conversation about being young and reading people. We'd just witnessed a young woman, probably college aged, get on the bus in complete disarray and travel all of 3 or 4 blocks, then get off. Apparently she'd been kicked out of her place, that's what 3 of us concluded, while one was fascinated by her attire. Turns out that Joyce 78 years young - I'm not even kidding you. She grows most of her own food, that's what she credits for her youthful appearance and energy. I'm glad I met her. She said she's from San Diego! Small world. I met some other characters on that bus too. Conversations that happen past midnight are foggy, especially after a travel day... but I recall thinking that there was some reason I had this experience of riding the bus, late at night, through NYC on my way to a hoyty toyty conference where Katie Couric would be talking about her new show. If Katie Couric had been in my seat on that bus she would have pulled about half a dozen different topics to run with - all topics that are what we all care about, but are probably most important to those people riding the bus, after midnight, on a week night, trying to make ends meet.

I had a typical New York cab ride back to the airport - except we were supposed to have car service and we waited and waited and finally decided a cab was the way to go. I know I could never drive in NYC, not even attempt it. You have to be able to manuever like a tango dancer, only it doesn't look that graceful.

There's only so much you can do and see in a few days time, especially when a majority of that time is supposed to be spent at a conference, so I'm making a little list of NYC Bucket List so I can be inspired to come back to the Big Apple with hubby and the kids one day.

2013 New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions:

1. Keeping a tidy house - whether that be all hands on deck pitching in or having a cleaning crew come to the house on a regular basis.... and we WILL get that garage cleaned out! In 2012 I wanted to have a monthly cleaning service, but it never happened. I saw a daily deal where I could buy as many as I wanted for a cleaning service, I think that's the way to go!
2. Loving my body - I only get one in this lifetime - so that means picking water to drink, loading up on fruits and veggies, getting my body in motion - Zumba is still on my bucket list!
3. Date nights/days with each member of the family once a month - including ME BY MYSELF - this one will be the true test - and have the greatest reward.
4. Hire help for Sign4Baby - Yep. This. Is. Happening. Interested? Send me a message. 10 classes a week starts next week and I have tons of other business goals to accomplish so the first order of business is to become a boss. This should also help with goals 1, 2 and 3!