gratitude adjustment

Posted in gratitude adjustment by ElaineMarie

sunday is the day e’rybody’s gettin’ spiritual, right? gratitude is an important part of my spiritual path within this world. here’s my weekly list:

5 Things I’m thankful for this week:

1. i’m grateful to have a mom who will drop everything to just come listen to me and tickle my back.

2. i’m grateful for my husband who knows how to change a flat tire.

3. i’m grateful for the relent of summer, cooler temps moving in and the autumnal equinox just around the corner. fall is my favorite season.

4. i’m grateful for a flexible schedule.

5. i’m grateful for new opportunities and the chance to sit and dream of things that may come to pass.

19Apr2013

your one wild & precious life

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

photo 32F7B554-00EC-453A-B8AF-EDC6B0B5AC4E-42660-0000298E3A4A2E32_zps0fc866d8.jpg

there are so many times that i’m going through everyday motions and i think to myself “this is bullshit.” why are there so many time sucks in life? why do we force ourselves to spend so much time doing things we don’t want to do, that we abhor to do? this happens while i’m doing chores or find myself spending too much time on facebook during a gorgeous day. or paying bills. or when i’m chucking useless possessions into the donate pile.

i’ve been thinking critically about my life goals lately and a funny thing has happened; i’ve realized just how fucking awesomely lucky i am. if you would have asked me a year ago i would have thrown myself a pity party but today i realize i have trusted in my path and have a life that is exactly what i want.

i can never go and sit behind a desk again. i can never take a full-time job to just make sure i’m getting the life markers checked off. because i don’t care about those things. i don’t care if i ever own a house. i don’t care if we ever own more than one vehicle. i don’t care about our material gain in this world. i really don’t. i care about making the most of this one wild & precious life.

i have a lot of freedom in my life right now, more than i’ve given myself credit for in the past. i’m free to spend everyday with my wild girl and that means more to me than anything money could buy. i have a promising career in a field that i passionately love. i’ve come to terms that it will come with a salary sacrifice but fortunately i’m ok with that. any fool can get a job and make money. it takes a courageous soul to confidently pursue her dream. my needs are met. my desires are mine to pursue. my cup runneth over.

i’m so lucky to have my girl as a reminder to move through my world in pursuit of what i want from my life. children don’t innately operate according to what they “should” do in life. they do what they want. THEY DO WHAT THEY WANT! why can’t we give that gift to ourselves in the way our children already do?

so i hope you’ll continue to check in with me because imma just be here doin’ my do. i’ll be doing what i want. and i want to do more of this:

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^^^ holding my daughter the way i used to when she was a baby while she dozes ever so briefly. letting her paint, chalk, draw and generally art up her body in any way that amuses her at the moment. encouraging her to climb. taking the sunny days to spend outdoors. and plaiting flowers into my girl’s hair. ^^^

it really is that great, when i let it be. and i can let it be.

12Apr2013

weekly happy

Posted in Kiddie Hangouts, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

full of gratitude for all these moments, and many others, this week:

^^^ 1. snuggling with a little dude i saw born a little over a month ago {photo by darla marie} 2. two little girls listening to storytime 3. a return to the north market 4. take home waffles and 5. take home hydrangea 6 & 7. growing little things in our house. ^^^

and a very special moment that i think i’ve decided deserves it’s own post…so i’ll just leave you with this:

please ignore my cackle. thanks.

25Jan2013

senses

Posted in let me let me update ya, Run Da House, yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

playing along again with Mary Catherine’s photo exercise. my senses were very pleased this week. i have doubles of a couple categories:

^^^touch^^^

1} that weird way plastic gloves feel really good and really gross at the same time. and the correlating feeling of accomplishment when the dishes are done and the stink sink has been scrubbed. 2} the feeling of laying down in bed for the night and just staring up at the ceiling. ahhhh.

^^^taste^^^

1} thursday was darla’s turn to bring snack at school. we made something especially scrumptious since it was her birthday treat. my trick is: if you like your cookies to be a little moist and soft in the center always bake them in a muffin pan. they turn out thick and moist. ughhh, just typed the word moist twice. a third time! dislike! dislike! 2} my daughter has a more refined taste palette than i. this is her portobello, spinach and goat cheese omelette – on a plate that i made in 1988 as the plate specifically states. i have to admit, the leftovers she didn’t finish were delicious.

^^^sight^^^

the sight of darla reading poetry books on a sunny afternoon. so she told me they were spell books but whatever. in a way, she’s right. bewitch her with your words, mr. whitman.

^^^sound^^^

1} hubster’s music collection. if you’re a regular reader you know we’ve been having lots of dance parties lately thanks to a mirror ball addition to our living room. it’s hard for me to determine if i like the daytime, sunlit parties or the nighttime, disco shine parties better. eff it. they’re both my favorite. 2} our new organ. darla has been happily playing away daily on the newest furniture addition to our already crowded house. i have to admit that i wasn’t too happy when this showed up – since i wasn’t consulted – but i had to let it go and accept that everything can’t be my way. darla loves it and that’s all that matters. besides, i wouldn’t want to deny the world it’s next papa garth because of my silly ideas of room flow.

^^^smell^^^

the smell of the cookies baking was a savior. see, i’ve been making a lot of meals with various beans and legumes lately and this house has been in need of some aromatherapy, if you catch my drift. pun! flatulence pun!

that’s all i got. thanks for checking in to see how my senses did this week. and now for a special announcement: i’m sending you lots of positive energy for a fulfilling and restful weekend. be excellent. all of you.

19Jan2013

senses

Posted in i dig music, let me let me update ya, Run Da House, yum yum eat good, zero waste home by ElaineMarie

i am playing along with the weekly senses photo feature from Mary Catherine’s blog this week.

i am a dreamer. i think big and dream bigger. the problem with this is that i find myself not being satisfied in whatever moment i’m in. i’m living in the future or the past too much. i feel that focusing on this photo exercise put some perspective in my day: if i’m experiencing something nice pertaining to all 5 of my senses in one day then i’m doing alright. i have it pretty good no matter what my ambitions are telling me. I was able to find all these little gratitudes in a span of about 60 minutes:

^^^smell^^^

i’ve been making more of an effort to thoroughly use our fruits and veggies before tossing in the compost. the smell of grapefruit after scrubbing the sink with the leftover peel and the smell of fresh veggie stock helped me connect to our blessings in the nourishment department. (yeah, the pot boiled over. so much for the morning stove wipedown.)

^^^taste^^^

darla and i have a little ritual of scooping out the cream from the top of our freshly opened milk jugs. we get them every other week so it’s a treat to each have a spoonful once in a while. the taste of this week’s spoonful helped me connect to this small part of our life that i hope darla will remember when she is older. just she and her mama sharing fresh cream and feeling it’s a treat every single time.

^^^touch^^^

a touch of warmth is back in the sunshine. so that means it is real sunshine now. the kind that you can feel warm your skin. you can see my pasty white skin drinking in the vitamin d. the feeling of warmth connected me to the promise of springtime and brighter days to come.

^^^sight^^^

the fiendish look of accomplishment my girl makes when she’s sneaked a treat. it’s impossible for me to be irked by her cookiesnatching ways. the sight of this smile makes me grateful time and again.

^^^sounds^^^

this one was a given. mike won tickets to Father John Misty & The Walkmen this week. it has been quite a drought since my last concert so i was feeling very thankful to get back to some live music. also, i am grateful to have a husband that has calling in to radio stations to win tickets down to a science. i missed most of father john misty due to a birthworkers meeting but made it just in time for 2 of my favorite songs so it was ok. have a listen to my fave above.

that’s all friends. hope you continue to have a grand weekend!!!! xoxoxoxo