North Idaho

March 2nd, 2019

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Today in North Idaho it was sunny with scattered clouds with a high of 22 and a low of 3. It was windy and not a great day to be outdoors so I stayed inside for the most part.

Sorry for the long departure. I’ve been busy being busy. I recently had my ninety day probationary period meeting so I am clear to move forward in my new job. Also, I have been working between clinics and attending as many dinner/teach events as possible. I also joined a bunko group and a local women’s group that goes out to dinner once a month. Both are strictly social as far as I can tell and are great fun!

Last night I stayed at my daughter’s house and took the first ever nap with those beautiful little feet I have shared with you. He is now eight months old and is truly the sweetest little guy I know!! There is just something so honest and “homemade” about that kind of connection with your grandchild. I am blessed beyond measure. I just see his mind working and it takes me out of all my own thoughts and calms me in the very best way!  He started crawling a few weeks back and is now walking with the help of one of those stand up baby walker things that looks like a cross between a toy and an old people’s walker!  Haha

I have been studying for an exam that I have coming up in a few weeks and I’m nervous and excited to make that happen as I’ll receive a raise when I pass. I am also considering going back to school and researching how to make that happen while keeping a full time job. Exciting plans indeed!!

Life has been good and my priorities are in check. I have a few hurtles ahead of me but all hurtles I have placed in front of myself in an effort to grow and learn more about my own limits and boundaries.

I hope that you are focusing on the good things in life. That you are letting go of the things that don’t serve you or keep you from a forward moving direction. It is NEVER to late to start again!!! It is Never to late to be the person you want to be!!

January 19th, 2019

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The Barn
The Barn

Today in North Idaho it is overcast with a high of 40°.  The attached photo is of an old barn that has been remodeled on the interior and is rented out for various uses.  I have been attended a wedding at this venue myself and that memory is most beloved.

I have taken many photos of this barn over the years.  However, this photo draws me in because at first glance it is cold, shaded and lacks detail. The air is chilly and still on this quiet morning while the world yawns and stretches getting ready for the day.  The snow appears crusted and the trees are sleeping that deep winter sleep.  Still my heart knows the grass beneath that snowy crust will be green and lush with children running here and there having gladly lost their shoes and socks.  The tress will be full and provide much needed shade from the summer heat.  The sun will shine high and warmly light all of the shadows and highlight the rustic architecture that brings so many people here to celebrate one of the most remembered moments in their lives.  Music, laughter and love live in this barn lying dormant until its doors are opened again.  I adore everything about these truths and how that speaks to my own heart.

The New Year has brought great change in my life.  My divorce papers signed makes a long and exhausting chapter shut.  And I find myself examining how I got here but not in this moment so much as how I have survived pain and abandonment in my life.  And this is what comes to me sharp, strong and with no little amount of fortitude:

Stand Up
Spread Your Feet
Stick Your Stance
Stand Your Ground
Shut The Door to Pain
Move Forward with Joy
Make Your Own Path
Be Better, More Determined, Stronger

When I look back I cherry pick how I got up instead of how I fell.  I try not to focus on who pushed me down, how I held myself down or failure.  I draw strength from overcoming that pain and that has become such a known characteristic of who I am as a person that I can move past negativity in its many forms.  Is it ever easy?  Am I moving forward at break neck speed?  Not at all.  But there is something about knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel that I can count on even when I’m in the middle of chaos and needing to reinvent myself.  There is joy there too!  I have such a great capacity for joy.  That great capacity coupled with the skill to evolve from the ashes is like magic!

So today I ask you to take a moment and recognize your own skills.  Know your own brand of magic and draw strength from it.  Brighten the winters in your life with the knowledge of your warmest light.

December 2nd, 2018

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Today in North Idaho it is overcast with a high of 35°.  The Christmas season is upon us and I am currsently drinking coffee in bed surfing the internet for gifts.

This time of year always find me busy.  Between work and community committments the month of December goes by in a blink.  Last night I volunteered at an annual auction which raises funds for an establishment that provides safety and protection for at-risk youth in our area.  It is always well attended and the generosity of this small community has never been better represented.

I am posting a few updated photos of my inspiration for this blog.  He just gets sweeter and only after raising my own child have a felt this instense love for another human being.  He is smart, happy and easygoing.  I love this little guy and look forward to all the mildstones to come.

As for me, I have been busy working and making strides to better myself as an employee and human being.  Work has always given me purpose and starting this new chapter in a new career has renewed my energy.  I passed my certified medical assistant exam a few months back and took a position in cancer services.  Sometimes all arrows point to one direction and your walking down this path that you purposly started however did not realize how perfect that path would be until you found yourself standing on it.  In short, this career allows me to love people and create a caring happy moment, however short, in the lives of people who are struggling just to take the next step.  To say I feel blessed, to say I feel placed in this position by forecs outside myself would be an understatment.  I believe this is where I was meant to be and I am embracing it with great joy.

I’d like to recognize that the holidays can be difficult for some people.  There are various reasons for this but in short being sensative to others at this time is important to me.  I love to love people and part of that means being aware that loving someone means giving them space to manage their own personal deamons.

So find your happy place.  Find your happpy fragrance.  Change your feelings about the holidays and start a new tradition of love and happiness.  Take the first barefoot vulnerable step to personally taking control over these memories or feelings and leave the past in the past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 14th, 2018

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IMG_1348

Today in North Idaho it is overcast with a high of 44°.  Bare feet fount the floors abrasive and were immediatly comforted by a warm pair of wool socks!

Yesterday I managed to remove the leaves in the front yard.  I love the large maple trees in the front yard; however, the leaves they produce are numerous!  I finally purchased a blower and now blow them into piles which makes the task of collecting them go a great deal faster!!

In preparation for winter I have collected all the hoses, lawn furniture, gardening equipment and outdoor pots and put them in the shed.  I also brought out the snowblower and shovel and placed them on the front deck.  I still need a bag of snow melt and then I”ll be finished preparing for cold weather. This is only my second year back in this home (The Nest) and I feel no small amount of pride in getting my place winter ready without help.  In general, the overall beauty of this home is that it is well within my power to care for and in fact make it more beautiful and homie.

Tomorrow I go back to work after two months off.  I am genuinly excited and looking forward to weekly continuity.  For the better part of my career life I have worked 8 to 5 with weekends off and I feel “normal” in that schedule.  This is the beginning of a new career for me after having gone back to school.  I have approximatly fifteen years before I can retire and I hope to do that in a career that I truly love and where I feel that I can be the best version of myself.   I believe I have found my place in cancer services and I feel truly blessed and grateful to wake up for work each day.

We have all had jobs where we have found ourselves feeling incomplete or unhappy in.  Some pay well and some do not but in the end it does not matter because you realize there is something else you are meant to be doing.  Some act on those feelings and some do not.  There is no way to say what is the right choice for each individual.  For me, the jounry has had its ups and downs.  I have doubted myself along the way however I kept moving forward.  I have made mistakes and conqured mountains and somehow found myself on the othere side of the original dream of obtraining a career that fills me.  I feel like every cliche I’ve ever read about following your dreams.  I feel like a warrior having returned victorious from battle.  I feel capable and whole and I’m read for whatever comes next.

Today I say to you that when you really want something in life you must do it your way and in the way you feel is necessary and correct.  Also, that your live may very well turn out in a way you did not foresee or plan for however they may turn out even better.  In the middle of your journey a road may present itself that you never had imagined and suddenly you know to the depths of your being that that road was the real reason you even started your journey.  You just didn’t know.  You had no way of knowing until you put your foot outside of your comfort zone.  Its okay to be afraid because change can be scary.  Its okay to be excited because it is also exciting.

Don’t be afraid to be afraid.  Make the best plan you can and follow your dreams.  You have one life and you should love it as much as humanly possible!!

November 7th, 2018

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Brax Hiking

Braxton Hiking with his mom

Today in North Idaho it is overcast with a high of 39°.  Snow is showing this Friday in the forecast and I still have leaves on the ground and potted plants to bring in.  I hope everyone got out to vote yesterday!!!

I’ve had a few months off of work and will be starting back next week.  I have managed to travel, hike, garden and paint the majority of the inside of my Little Nest.  I have taken you along during my recent travels and I hope you enjoyed the photos.  I planted many azaleas this summer as well as a large honeysuckle, a lilac bush and installed a couple of lavender bushes at the beginning of my walkway to the front of the house.  They smell heavenly and are purple in color and I am excited for them to flourish and greet my family and guests.

I also was able to see more of my grandson, Braxton, shown in the photo above.  He is such a happy little fellow with perfect feet and a curious mind.  I see everything good in the world through him.  His parents are blessed with his birth as they believed they could not have children.  I am unsure if that makes this child all the more brilliant in our eyes or if it is just his general joyful disposition.  He is the reason for this blog and the treasure that puts my life in perspective.

I went for an early morning walk along the lake with my friend and her dog, Samson.  A morning walk always gives the day such a settled feeling.  Most of the leaves have fallen in preparation for winter and the lake is clear and calm.  I’ll continue with my painting project today which now finds me in the spare bedroom.  I have a cup of hot tea, a fire to keep the house warm, Howard’s End on the television for company and my favorite socks made of bamboo which are like heaven.

Counting my blessings in North Idaho and the change in seasons that is upon me. The holidays are coming and I enjoy all the festivities in this small mountain area and the family events that are to come.

Today I remind my small band of readers to focus on the hours in front of them.  Inject the things you love and adore regularly into your day and arrange to come in contact with them to lift your spirits. Put a smile in your way and trip over it often.