Awareness
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Garden :: The Beauty of the Sunflower
The sunflower has special meaning in my life and my relationship with my husband. When I give flowers to my husband for Father’s Day or for his birthday, I always give sunflowers. Back when we were dating, we were walking along a beach path in Laguna Beach, and I saw a gorgeous sunflower growing in front of a restaurant. He saw that I was admiring it and literally jumped over the fence, plucked it, and handed it to me. I remember thinking to myself “this is a guy who will do just about anything for me.” Fast forward 15 years later and we are still together! I do love how…
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Parenting :: What Matters Most
My little girl is a full-blown fire-cracker. She seems to two speeds: asleep and awake. Some days parenting seems more like running a marathon (and definitely not in some super-cute puma shoes). At the end of the day, I usually feel like a haggard she-beast with boogers smeared in my hair and mystery stains marching across my shirt. As the long days and nights meld together, though, I still find victory in the battle and joy in the journey because my daughter is a blessing. What Matters Most: 1. Just as I remind her over and over how important, beautiful, and loved she is, she does the same…
- Awareness, Beauty, Culture, Fitness, Food, Giveaways, Parenting, Plan, Slideshow, Spotlight, Wellness
In the Spotlight with Best-Selling Author Dr. Daniel G. Amen
While visiting my in-laws at their house, I picked up a book they had on the kitchen table called Use Your Brain to Change Your Age by Daniel G. Amen. I was thoroughly intrigued and was so engrossed with the book they told me to take it home and give them cliff notes later as they hadn’t had a chance to read it yet. The book was quite fascinating and got me thinking about the importance not only of our physical health, but also of our mental health and the important connection between the two. In the book, Dr. Amen writes about how a healthy brain is key…
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Travel :: The Family-Friendly City of Boston
Everyone says Boston is a beautiful city, but you don’t truly understand what everyone means until you visit Boston for yourself. Boston is one of the cleanest, well-maintained cities I have ever seen in North America. The people here are proud, yet unpretentious. The history is inspiring. The sites are breathtaking. And the food, well, it’s just plain yummy. We spent two jam-packed days in Boston two summers ago with the kids who were 5, 8, and 11 at the time. Don’t feel shy about bringing your kids here. Not once did my husband or I feel nervous walking the streets with the kids. We even used “The T,”…
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Play :: Creating a Summer Bucket List for the Kids
The idea to create a bucket list for the family this summer came to me while looking through Pinterest. The pictures that people post are such eye-candy – it is hard to get off the site! I came across a bucket list that a woman had made with her kids. I loved the idea so we are planning on creating our own bucket list this next week once my daughter is out of school. Granted, I have a journal that I write down ideas from time to time things I want to do in my lifetime, but this bucket version is a shorter one that you create with the kids so they…
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Reflections :: To be alive with what is alive
Here is a thought worth contemplating. It comes from a man named James Hollis in his book The Archetypal Imagination. Hollis reminds us that the Greek word psyche, which is the root of words like psychology, means soul. Today the word psyche is associated with our mental life, as in our thoughts and emotions–what’s going on in our head. Meaning psyche as soul could be showing itself in whats running across our mind. Soul is a funny thing to talk about. It’s not something that can be counted or added up. It has much more to do with quality. So let’s call it quality of life. Starting with the idea of…
