Sand Castles

My first and last trip to the beach 2008 was with a four year old. After not having gone to the beach with a little one for years and years, I forgot how much more fun it is to see things through their eyes. Within a half hour or so of arriving, Maddie had commissioned Tana to help her build a sand castle. It started with the basics: wet sand compacted into buckets to make the towers, arranging them just so to keep enemies out, and digging a big pit behind the castle property line. About 10 minutes later, Tarl joins in. Maddie tells him his job is to collect rocks to help create the pathway to entrance of her fortress. I'm still lounged on the daisy sheet reading my Women's Health magazine. Another 10 minutes later I flipped over to get some sun on my front, and I saw four adult figures working and one child figure overseeing and giving orders of what belongs where and why it belongs there. Now I couldn't resist. I walked down to the shoreline and marveled at Maddie's castle. She informed me that she needed feathers for the tops of her towers. As I walked through the sand searching for the perfect feathers I couldn't help but feel the magic of this little girl's imagination. That is why I love kids so much, they see the things that as adults, we forget to see.

Best part: knocking it down!

ENGAGED!!

Last Friday, my coworker and I planned to go on a hike first thing Saturday morning. I told Tarl my plans and he offered to wake up early and make me breakfast. "How sweet of him!" I thought...Not totally uncommon, he does sweet things like that all the time, but a little weird. Waking up early is so not Tarl, and waking up early on Saturday? Very rare. His alarm went off at 6:30am, he kissed my forehead, rolled out of bed and I fell back asleep. My alarm went off at 7, I hit snooze once, and in comes Tarl with a breakfast tray.

I noticed the white jewelry box right away, my stomach dropped a little bit..then I immediately dismissed the notion. I didn't want to get my hopes up and be disappointed if my imagination ran away with me. Probably a chocolate or something, I told myself. I honestly got nervous thinking "what if", what if this is really it...I opened the box and see a huge, cherry red ring pop sitting inside! I was able to exhale and relax a little bit, and Tarl says to me, "I love you and I want you to marry me." I put the ring on my hand held it out with my chin in the air and said, "I accept!" He said,"Good" and pulled out a small burgundy jewelry box. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh there is a real ring in there!! Now I'm a deer in the head lights. I should cry or scream, but all I can do is stare at the ring in its little wooden home. "Try it on, " Tarl told me.. Duh put the ring on, act excited, do something to let him know how happy you are... I slid the ring on and it fit perfectly!! Now I'm really shocked. My hands are pretty small and I never expected a ring to fit on the first try. "It fits!!" I told him(still looking like a deer) "Yeah, size 4, remember I asked you what size ring you wore while we were in Zion?" No, I don't remember that..how could I not remember that? Turns out Tarl has had this in the works since May, he asked for my dad's blessing in August when we were back there for my cousin's wedding and he's been in the process of having the ring made since then.

He had inherited four rubies from his maternal great-grandmother's ring.
His maternal grandfather had left a collection of Australian opals to Tarl's dad. The opals were originally his dad's brother's, who found a rare rock while posted in Australia and traded for a jar of opals. (That is a story of its own...) Tarl was also born in Australia. Knowing what he had to work with, he went online and found some ring styles he liked and let his sister Tana know what he was thinking for the ring. From there Tana, Jay(Tarl's dad) and Uncle Boyer (who is a jeweler) sat around and picked the opal that would best complement the rubies.Uncle Boyer set the ring, Tarl's dad mailed it with a decoy, we picked up the package Friday, and Tarl proposed Saturday, September 27. It's taken about a week for everything to sink in....the shock has worn off and now it's time to get in touch with my inner bridezilla.

Night Hike!

I suggested going on a full moon hike to a couple of the girls from work. The three of us stuck to the plan and when we got off work, we met at my house to drive to the trailhead. For the first 50 yards into the hike, they weren't quite convinced this was the best idea. There were a lot of trees and shadow cover and it took a bit for our eyes to adjust the darkness. Once the moon rose a little more and the trail opened up, we were able to truly appreciate this beautiful night. All of the rocks and plants were illuminated with a blue tint that only the moon can cast. We climbed up to the top of Castle Rock and took in what the Valley looks like at 12:30 am, enjoyed a glass of Pinot Noir and a few bites of flourless chocolate cake, and shared some girly giggles. Sherri thought it would be cool to watch the sunrise from where we were...two days later we again met at my house, this time at 5 am. We marveled at the deep blue sky and watched as the sun turned it orange and red until it was officially a new day.

Patience and Faith

When my parents sold our Moreno Valley house, I was living in Phoenix. I took a trip back home to take anything I wanted; otherwise it was all going to end up in Iowa. Pretty much the only thing I drove back with was a car full of Sago Palm trees. We had a bunch in pots because we had a big one in our pool area that kept having babies. They did great in the desert climate, but a year later I decided to move the mountains. I couldn't just leave them...they were sentimental Sagos! I didn't want to just give them away, they are worth a lot of money. I knew they wouldn't survive the fall and winter months, but my Aunt Sue, who lives in Illinois, brings hers inside for those seasons. So once again the Sagos went on a road trip, only this time it was in the back of a Uhaul. I did end up giving some of the bigger ones away to good friends and neighbors; I had way too many to keep inside. Fall rolls around and it started to get chilly at night. Sagos are hearty up to 20 degrees...I kept putting it off...Pretty soon we got our first snow...Yes, I brought them in after that! They seemed alright until about a week later when they turned yellow and brown. Not a good sign. I cut all the plumage off and kept watering them. I knew they were probably still alive. Well, I was really hoping they were. I took care of them all winter and early spring until it was warm enough to put them back out on the porch. I watered and waited. And watered and waited. (My plan was to wait until fall came again before I gave up.) Finally in the beginning of July one of them began to shoot new plumes!(Sago lingo) I was so relieved! Now its mid August and four out of the seven made it. I am so thankful I didn't give up on them. (I'm still watering the other three, just in case!)

Lemonade from Lemons

I showed up for Yoga a couple of weeks ago to find the instructor and class waiting outside the health clinic where we practice. We were locked out. We waited and chatted a bit and it became more apparent that we weren't getting in. One of my fellow yoginis suggested that we go to Meadow Park...all of us were up for it....we waited a few more minutes for the stragglers and then caravanned over to the park. We had planned on finding a shady spot in the grass, but once we parked, our teacher spotted the empty dock. Her face lit up and asked everyone if it looked like a good spot: we all enthusiastically agreed. It's a small dock, mostly used for fishing or for watching the happenings on the lake. It fit the six of us and our mats just perfectly! It was about 6:45 pm so the sun was on its way down and the breeze off of the lake kept the heat moving. Every now and then, the breeze would stop long enough to let me feel the warmth of the sun.Cathleen apologized for not having music; but we had the sound of the water lapping the shore, calls of birds and ducks, the occasional splash of a breaching fish, the soft sound of the breeze..what better way to practice yoga?
And truly, there is no better way than being outside where all of the energy flows so freely. All of my poses felt so much more uninhibited, I was able to let go and tolerate the pain a little more. I was in awe of the experience I has just had..totally unexpected and spontaneous. It's these moments that you know that you are on the right path, in the right place at the right time.

A Day Late..

We had a nest of robins above the light fixture at work. Over the weeks , I would watch Mamma Robin bringing her babies food, and I'd hear them chirping and begging for more. It seemed like over night that I looked up and the four little guys(or gals) were so big that I could see them from down below. They had grown so much that it looked like they could all barely fit in the tiny nest. The next day I brought my camera to a get a shot of them, four balls of feathers stuffed in their temporary dwelling.
I completely forgot to take the picture until about two hours into my shift. I already had a few tables and I didn't feel like busting out my camera, standing on a chair and getting the shot. So I told myself, "I'll get it tomorrow." I arrived early for work the next day armed with my Olympus and a chair...I climbed up to look in the nest...and it was empty!! I was too late. They had already jumped nest and moved on to the next stage of their little bird lives. I was pretty bummed out that because I had waited, I had missed my opportunity. So many times I have put something off and the moment passes me by because I fail to act on my impulse.
Simi, my 75 year old, partial English speaking coworker told me by half sign language and half Spanglish that they had hopped out and were probably hiding somewhere in the surrounding bushes and tress. A few minutes later he came up to me and said, "Mira, mira, la primavera." He had found one of the babies perched in one of our rose bushes, sitting very still. I ran inside, grabbed my camera and got the shot. Every opportunity missed has the possibility of presenting itself again, perhaps not exactly in the same way, you just have to keep your eyes open.

Road Trip!

What started as a road trip from California to Iowa to Idaho to California had to be condensed due to gas prices. I estimated it would've cost $1500 in gas alone to make this triangle, so Tarl and I decided to go to Idaho this time and fly to Iowa in the fall. I grew up taking road trips to Iowa to see my extended family every other summer, so I absolutely love driving down an empty highway with nothing but amazing scenery all around. My favorite thing to obseve is the changes in the geology as you go along. Here are a few snapshots of the trip!!

Montana and I stretching our legs somewhere in Idaho.

Tarl playing in Dad's Harley.

Tarl and his old roommate Rion with Baldy (Sun Valley)in the background.

Shooting with the Uncles....

.....wine tasting right after!

Zion..the only hike we could muster: it was 105!

Twenty-nine

29 and feeling the most fabulous I ever have...From about 17 to 24 I felt so horrible and depressed on my birthdays. I think I just felt that everything was slipping away so quickly and I wasn't accomplishing enough. Looking back I think it's because I wasn't doing what I really wanted to be doing. I was going through the motions of what I thought I should be doing, or more of what society wanted of "us": Go to college get your career going. What I really wanted to do was get out of Moreno Valley and experience life..whatever that may have entailed. When my 25th rolled around, I woke up and suddenly felt alive, like this was my time. I went skydiving on that day and that act truly symbolized how my life was about to change. I had been teaching fourth grade for one year, I had been in a serious relationship for four, and had lived in the same town for 21. Something inside me was about to shift drastically. That summer I ended my long term relationship. I had never been through any type of break up before, so the pain was almost unbearable and there were times where I didn't think I was going to be okay. I worked through one more school year, about to start my third when God literally gave me a sign to start living the life I wanted. I wasn't exactly sure what that was anymore but one thing I knew for sure: the life I wanted did not exist in Moreno Valley. I knew I wanted to go somewhere far enough away and somewhere where I'd meet people like me. I chose Mammoth Lakes in hopes to become a ski bum perhaps. I really wasn't sure, but three weeks later my Jeep was packed with my belongings and I left my home. That first leap was what I needed in order to break away from a financially secure career I was iffy about as well as the securities of the familiar. Now a few years and two states later I am in a place where I am free to be the me that I want to be.

The Tea Cup is Already Chipped

I bought myself a new tea mug as a reward for not having caffeine for the 40 days of lent (no I'm not a practicing Catholic, but some rituals just stick!). After making the trip to Starbucks to pick up the mug I had been eyeballing, I did the dishes and low and behold there was a chip in the bottom of the mug. I was really bummed! My first reaction was to return it, but I really didn't feel like going through the process. I've got a pretty good habit of turning a disappointing situation into some kind of life lesson and I remembered this quote I read somewhere from some guy..."The teacup is already chipped." It just so happened to fit literally into my situation, but I was pretty enlightened when I had first read the quote. It's pretty much an entire theory: everything is temporary. Simple, but powerful. The new smell from our cars will eventually diminish, our favorite black shirt will fade, or you may fall out of touch with an important person in your life. It reminds me of when I bought my Jeep. I had had it for about a week and half when I backed it into a cement pole. (I cried on the way home.) Or when I got my new snowboard this winter. It was so beautiful and the bottom was so smooth, I didn't even want to take it out on the icy, rocky hills of Bear Mountain. But I did, and it rides even more beautifully than it looks. Unfortunately the bottom is no longer smooth, but that's why we have wax! I'm glad I now have a constant reminder of this quote, it helps to have one in our materialistic world.

**How's this for ironic: I wrote this blog while I was at work(it was slow) and when I went to grab my sweater on the way out, it was gone! This happened to be my one and only favorite zip up hoodie and it was nowhere to be found. How weird is that?

March Miracle

Tarl and I have spent the last week and a half removing the 10 inch ice covering from our front walkway and the 5 foot snow mound in our front yard. We live on the south side of the street, so the sun helps to melt it a little, but not much. Everywhere are signs of spring: the buds are showing on the trees, daffodils are starting to poke out the ground, and the bluebirds are back in town. I've been envisioning myself in flipflops enjoying the afternoon reading in the sun on my front porch. I've started to think of what flowers I want to plant this year and how great my lawn is going to look....then the forcast said snow! So I was thinking, oh if it does snow it won't be much, maybe a couple of inches, it probably won't even stick. It started coming down about 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, and snowed on and off until about 9 o'clock Sunday morning. I woke up this morning to about 9 inches of snow cover!! I was so bummed!! I'm so over shoveling and I just got my front yard back and it's covered again! I kept the curtains closed, cranked the heater up, and apologized to Montana for not taking him on his usual morning walk. So I'm sitting on my futon studying for my finance quiz, when I heard some girls screaming and laughing. I rolled my eyes and grumpily peeked out my front window. (The house across the street is a vacation rental, as are most of the houses on my street, and there is a family staying with about 4 pre-teen girls.) They were out having the time of their lives with this little gift from mother nature. So it made me think: just yesterday they were having snowball fights with the dirty, icy snow banks and today they get to experience a fresh snow cover. If you've never seen a fresh snow cover, it is truly one of the most wonderous sights. All of the snow is so light and clean, just resting on the tops of the trees, fences, and roof tops. In a matter of a few hours the whole world looks entirely different and utterly beautiful. I was thankful to these girls for changing my perspective, got in the shower, and took the dog out. What an amazing day! Now the sun is shining and all of the new snow is gliterring and sparkling like millions of little diamonds. Now I'm giggling at how annoyed I was earlier and thank God for allowing me to experience this beauty everyday. I got this shot of the lake on our walk. This is why I live here!!