It’s All Good is a local coffee shop in my area, and has to be the cutest place in town. I’m a regular customer, whether it’s meeting a friend for coffee, working on my latest blog post or project while my daughter studies, or brainstorming over the next workshop. It kind of feels like home.

Lately though, it feels like life is passing me by……actually zooming past. Seems like before I know it, the week has flown, and I am looking at another Monday. It’s hard to believe half of 2017 is practically just a memory; I need to slow my roll. Slowing down means I need to live in the present moment and not dwell in the past or rush into tomorrow. It doesn’t always come easy for me. I have to remind myself to be intentional about my day, thoughts and actions. How often are we on auto-pilot and can’t remember how we got there?

On a recent trip to the grocery store, I came across an item that appears once a year in the mid-west, even if only for a short window of opportunity……drum roll please…….the Rainier cherry! When I stumbled across the yellow and bright blush-red little gems, I stopped in my tracks, my eyes lit up, and I could hardly wait to get through the checkout line, run home, and gobble some down. Last year I missed the entire season; it was over before I realized…..total bummer. Another golden opportunity missed.

This past weekend I was honored to co-host another workshop titled, Vision Your Best Life. We were blessed to have spent an afternoon with women ready to vision the possibilities of their own life, by creating vision boards. Vision boards are simply a tool used to help clarify and concentrate on specific life goals, by using any type of board to display images and quotes on what you would like to attract into your life.

A few weeks ago, I was honored to co-host a workshop we titled Uncovering Your Buried Treasure. As women and mothers we often give to everyone else first, and don’t think about our own needs. In my case, I was blessed to stay home when my children were born, and gladly gave up my career and my identity to raise my children, and take care of my family. I became known simply as Andrew and Hannah’s mom.

So, I put my big girl panties on, committed to the assignment, took a deep breath, and sent individual messages to some of my friends and family. What happened next took me by surprise…..every single person but one replied within an hour. No one asked for any further explanation, they just replied with what I asked.

It’s that time again when I pick my word for the new year. It was getting close to the end of 2016 and I hadn’t gotten any feelings or signs about my word. So, I started listing some off in my head, and came across one I thought fit…..grace. I need to show myself more grace, but the problem was the word wasn’t speaking to me, and I was just trying to pick one out of desperation. Not sure why I thought it was mandatory to have this word before the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve….I’m a nut.

I thought I was doing a pretty good job of being still and listening to what my heart and soul needed, but I was picking and choosing what I acted on. It’s not that I was being outwardly defiant, I was just trying to control the situation on my own terms, and NOT wait for divine timing.

When looking at the first snow, do you see the possibilities around you? Are you taking that leap of faith and jumping into the unknown of something new? Do you feel your heart leap at the thought of the newness, or are you holding back?

As a young farm girl, I loved animals. I grew up on a dairy farm, and for the record…the size of a dairy cow is significant, especially for a young girl. I can honestly say I had no fear of their size or strength, until the one day I will never forget.

I believe everyone was put on this earth with special gifts and talents that no one else can duplicate; making each of us, one-of-a-kind. Some may recognize this at an early age, while other’s lag far behind. For me….yep, you guessed it….. I was a lagger. Looking back, I believe mostly because I doubted I had anything to share, more special than the next person. What I didn’t realize until much later, we all possess something wonderful and great. Like me, I think many search for the answer to the burning question….”What was I put here to do?”

I’ve always thought of myself as a positive person, but once I heard the words within this video, I realized I was guilty of casting negative words upon myself. Then and there I decided to change those negative thoughts into positive ones by committing to meditation for forty days and forty nights on the Power of I Am.

In the midst of chaos, I kept hearing my authentic, heart-centered voice tell me to trust and believe that things would work out. Don’t stress or worry…..yeah, those two words aren’t even close to my top ten to avoid……HA!

So, what does a single girl do on Valentine’s Day? She hangs with her girlfriends and makes the most of the occasion. Over the weekend I was invited to a “Gal”entine’s’ Day celebration with four of my girlie-gals. We could have whined and complained about not being in a relationship, but instead we celebrated life. It was a fun weekend, and as always, laughter and happiness filled the air.

When it comes to Valentines’s Day, I adore everything about it, including the thought of writing love letters to special people in my life. But how often do we think about writing a love letter to ourselves? If you’re anything like me, probably next to never. This year I decided it was time.

Last week I was chasing sleep all week long. I’d get up every morning vowing to be in bed early that night, but sleep kept eluding me for one reason or another. You know it’s bad when your first waking thought is “I can’t wait until tonight to get back in bed”.

When I read the funny but poignant sign, it was a reminder of how I want my days to play out…..stress-free. Or, realistically, as close to stress free as possible. So, how does a so called perfectionist learn to have less stress in her life?

A few years ago, a friend had asked me what was my one word for the year…….huh? I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but I liked the sound of it….”tell me more.” She talked about choosing a word that resonated, and felt right in my heart regarding the upcoming year. One word that would inspire me, one word I would go back to time and time again throughout the year, if not on a daily basis. One word to give the year meaning, one word only meant for me.