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.

Happy 2017! This is the first New Year’s Eve I have spent outside the USA. Three friends and I went on an adventure to Cancun, Mexico. The weather was warm, the water was blue, and the drinks were frosty and tropical, at an all-inclusive resort that catered to our every need. 

With the Christmas holiday behind us, I have to say this year’s family get togethers were filled with laughter and fun. Each year to celebrate being together we participate in some sort of goofy hoopla. For this year’s Christmas Eve party, a white elephant gift exchange was decided upon.

The end of last week my daughter returned home from her three month internship in Brazil. She was a beautiful sight for sore eyes; it had been a long time since I had held her tight. While she was away she made plans to redo her bedroom upon her return. I was good with that, and figured she would settle in for a few days before the project got underway……HA!

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?

After day two of no communication from an earlier text I had sent, I thought it was odd. When day three arrived without a response, I started to become concerned. I reached out to one of her friends; they had also not heard a word in a few days. That’s when I started to really worry; especially after her friend thought I should call the consulate……”What?”

As the holiday season begins, it reminds us to stop and give thanks for our blessings. Even though I have a daily gratitude practice, I don’t always take time to let others know how special they are to me.

Earlier this week was a full moon; not just any moon, but a super moon. It was in the news, social media, and people everywhere were talking about it for several days before. This moon was closer to earth than it’s been in almost seventy years.  An event I didn’t want to miss.

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.

Before surgery, one of my sweet girlfriends reminded me it was just as important to let people help me, as it was to help others. It’s a circle of love and friendship that needs to be equally fed. So, that’s what I’ve been doing…..letting go, and allowing to be loved and cared for by others.

During my first couple of days of recovery, I had to plan out most of my moves. My son and I thought doubling my steps each day would be a workable goal. Day one I was moving so slow that my Fitbit didn’t even register my steps and doubling that on day two was a cinch…..HA! Getting from the bed to the chair took effort, and I didn’t realize how much I normally do on auto-pilot, without a thought.

I would say that from the outside exterior, my son is definitely a man’s man, but I know on the inside, his heart is tender. He is the one I would want to have on my team for survival or competition. He can MacGyver just about anything if it doesn’t have to do with a computer or electronics. He has little use for those, but if he did, he’d figure it out. He’s a nature loving, risk taking, adventure seeking, hard working, young man that once was a mama’s boy, but has since turned into a self-made man.

My children have taught me so much over the years about being brave. Even though both children show bravery on a regular basis, my post this week will focus on my daughter’s latest adventure, and how her courage amazes me everyday.

“It takes a village”…..how often have you heard that phrase before? I had the pleasure of being involved in a community project last week that surprised me in the best way possible. Between two and three hundred people volunteered to build a community park. Being an elected official in my city, I was invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the event.

As we both hopped out of the vehicle and unloaded the luggage, we wanted to take a quick selfie together to capture the moment. Two months earlier we did the same thing when she left for her Canadian adventure. However, this time she went all the way to the curb instead of standing behind the vehicle. I questioned her, but followed the extra feet toward the curb; we smiled and clicked.