My First Meme...

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I was over reading BohemianMom's blog, and she had this cute meme on there...and since I've never done one before, I thought I'd give it a shot...


1. What I was doing five years ago:
~Pretty much what I am doing now. Caring for little ones, and creating whenever I could.

2. Five things on my to-do list:
~ finally finish organizing this house!
~ start my seeds
~ finish the painting I started two weeks ago
~ take my yoga instructor course, so I can get teaching....
~ take back my overdue books to the library

3. Five favourite smells:
~ I have a very poor sense of smell, but the ones I can pick up are...
~ mint
~ lavender
~ Nag Champa
~ ylang-ylang

4. Five junk-food items I enjoy:
~ dark chocolate(it's kind of good for you...)
~ red wine...(also kind of good for you...)
~ coffee(I drink organic, but still way too much!)
~ thick cut sea salt potato chips
~ Canadian Moose icecream

5. Five favourite articles of clothing:
~my belly dancing scarf
~ my cozy cashmere aran cardigan(because I knit it myself)
~ my yoga pants
~ my husband's ripped sweatshirt(the perfect loungewear)
~ my new pashmina


6. Five things I would do if I was a billionaire:
~ donate like a wildwoman!
~ Make sure my kids,and close relatives were financially secure, but not spoiled...:)
~ Buy an old house, with a big old barn, on Salt Spring Island, and make it completely eco-friendly...live off the grid...with gorgeous gardens...and tons of trees....and an art studio, and workshop for Jon.
~ Have an organic farm....yoga studio/antiques store/flowershop...all in one...
~ Own a horse....and lots of big,cuddly dogs and cats...oh, and maybe a goat or two...

7. Five of my bad habits:
~ procrastinating
~ overanalyzing things
~ swearing
~ talking to myself(I'm not sure if that qualifies...)
~ starting a new task before finishing the other

8. Five jobs I've had:
~ daycare worker
~ receptionist
~ special needs assistant(working with autistic children)
~ waitress
~ artist

9. Five all time favourite movies:
~ Pride and Prejudice
~ Love Actually
~ About a Boy
~ Fried Green Tomatoes
~ Sleepless In Seattle

10. Five favourite bands/musicians:
~ Joni Mitchell
~ Liona Boyd
~ Deb Talan
~ Coldplay
~ Blue Rodeo

I'd love to read yours....so feel free if you're so inclined...:)

Hope you are having a beautiful day!!

A Pretty Little Treasure...and Purchased Bit of Spring

Gorgeous Garden Necklace by Jen(click to enlarge)

I had my breathe taken away this morning as I unwrapped a little red box...This is beyond beauty...To say that I LOVE it would be a big understatement. Jen, you've done it again!

I have been doing a little reflective hibernating under the snow...My mind has been so foggy and jumbled the past few days.
But...today I've come out to greet the sunshine....and bought myself a bit of early spring...The colours just made me smile...I hope they do the same for you...

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This is one of my favorite parts of my house...my little breakfast corner... I got the table at an auction. There was an elderly couple in town that was moving to the old folks home. I paid 1.00. It's probably from the 30's or 40's...Anyway, I couldn't believe that no one else would want it. I love to imagine all the breakfasts that they must have had at it over they years...The quilt on the table is an antique crib quilt that I bought on our first trip to the Oregon coast. Jon thought I was nuts to buy it because it was so tattered...but that is what I love about it...


Do you have a favorite space in your home? Special treasures...maybe with untold tales? I'd love to hear about them...

And wherever you are...I hope you are having a wonderful day....

~I Am~

In this vivid of a cool spring morn...
Quivering jewels scattered across the green...
In this soft quiet...change...
I am nestled in the delicate comfort...
of my own chrysalis.

Here within I am not...
A wife...
A mother...
A lover...
A sister...
A friend...
Or daughter...

I am not too much of one thing...
And not enough of some other...

I am wanting for nothing...
I am waiting for nothing...
I am shapeless...weightless...fearless...ageless...


I am emerging lacy breath...by lacy breath...
Coming forth...unfolding my new-formed limbs
I am only love and light...
I am the truth of being.

~Home Again...~

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.” Henry David Thoreau

Well...we made it back late last night, after a marathon fifteen hour drive! I came home feeling pretty weary from the road, a bad case of what I'll call 'car-seat bum'...but with the most wonderful sensation of enchantment hovering about me.

It was a totally fun weekend cruising...listening to the satellite radio...talk...loving and laughing...all the while watching the landscape transform along the way. I realized two hours into the trip that I'd forgot my camera bag...duh!!(This after I made countless 'note-to-self' reminders all morning before we left!) So, of course, we saw more wildlife than we have ever seen on any road trip before...brave mountain goats in the Rockies...herds and herds of deer in our Alberta foothills...elk...bison....and one lone, majestic moose.

Portland was lovely! Rainy...magically misty...cloudy...oh, and the sun did peep out a couple of times on Saturday afternoon just to say 'Hello!' to us.(We felt very privileged.) It was GREEN...lush lawns...ivy tumbling...moss thriving. It was BLOOMING...tulips...the sunshiney faces of daffodils were everywhere...roses...and some kind of trees that were covered in outragously pretty pink flowers. Magnolias? I don't know what they were except gorgeous!

We got blissfully lost looking for the Stars antique mall, and found ourselves on Oak Street(?)...with it's stunning, I mean STUNNING jewel-toned Victorians. Seeing how obviously these painted ladies are loved and cared for was delightful. I found myself wanting so much to know the colourful souls within.(And that was just a little tease...you can get a seriously sore neck twisting to see all the architectural lovlies!)

We did find the antiques mall. It was wonderful...we just wandered. I got some heavy duty creative inspiration...but in the end all I bought was a light green depression glass jug.

The weekend went by way too fast...and yet too slow. Coming home to my children,I did realize that truly, it wasn't so much what I looked at...it was what I saw with a little change of scenery...the timelessness of love...of family...our history...of our big beautiful planet...and all that it holds. I am renewed.

~Portland Bound~

Well...tomorrow Jon and I are leaving for our weekend in Portland. This will be only the second time that we have left our kids in almost sixteen years I am sorry to say. The first time was last year. Honestly, this is something that we should have done more...especially when the kids were younger. I find it hard, as admittedly I am a little neurotic with planning...worrying..ugh! It is hard for me to go without a little apprehension...even though I know my kids are in the loving hands of their auntie, and have a whole fun weekend planned. I know once we get going I'll be alright, I'm just awful with goodbyes. We are driving...which will give us hours and hours to talk...and laugh...and dream. I'm looking forward to checking out this beautiful city a little bit more...uncovering treasures in the antiques shops.(Thanks for the leads Jen!)...And the real truth is, that in spite of my tendencies to worry...there is that part of me that is looking forward to casting my everyday routine aside for a few days to go on a little adventure...

I hope you have a wonderful...rejuvenating weekend!

xoxo