Vitamin D3 Absorbsion

I was watching this video from Dr. Mercola and I took his advice and noticed a REAL difference in my skin.

In this video he talks about HOW your skin absorbs vitamin D3 from the sun and how sunlight filtered through window glass actually prevents you from absorbing vitamin D.

He recommends you shower less because your skin needs 24 to 48 hours to absorb the D after sun exposure. I started only washing my whole body every other day. My skin hasn't erupted in acne since I stopped washing it so much!

Jealousy and Joy

As a child I was taught that one of the ten commandments was:
Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

I always wondered, "How can I know what I want if I don't see it somewhere else first and decide I want it?"

Today, I had a lesson in this concept of old.

This morning I found out that my friend K and her husband sold their house. It's a house they bought cheap, remodeled BIG TIME and have had up for sale for a while now. We also have a house like that. Our first home we bought dirt cheap, remodeled BIG TIME and refinanced. Then we used the $$ for the down payment on our current home in order to lock in a ridiculously low interest rate.

Our old house has been for sale for over a year now. I'm relaxed in the idea that, when the right person comes along, the house will sell. I'm in no hurry, but I'd like to pull it off the bill roster.

It suddenly occurred to me today, seemingly out of nowhere, that a few years ago, hearing that their house had sold when mine hadn't would've down right pissed me off. I'd have been angry and most likely acted out in some kind of passive aggressive way.

But that's not the case now. It didn't even occur to me to have those thoughts. I was immediately THRILLED for them and became their cheering section from my laptop as I was reading the email. I am excited for them. I wish them so much more happiness than I can express! I'm so grateful to be at this point in my life.

Being happy for the accomplishments of others and wishing them the same blessings you seek for yourself is the key to having anything you want. You see what you want.... but you know that just because THEY have it doesn't mean you can't have it too!!

I still have knee jerk reaction sometimes, but they're sure a lot less than they used to be. It's funny how ALL of your thinking changes when you take on an abundant mindset. Abundance is everywhere and available to everyone! Someone else vibrating in harmony with and attracting their own abundance does not now and will never, EVER mean there's now not enough for you! There's a never ending supply of abundance. Never ending!!! God has no limits. God/The Universe is boundless abundance. No one can ever get your share but you baby!!

I have to stop myself in mid reaction and remind myself of what I know to be true. I'm happy that I can recognize my "sins" (missing of the point) as they happen now instead of going back in my mind and realizing too late. But it's never really too late. If you can identify it, even if it's late, you make it more likely to be caught sooner next time!

Do you get knee jerk jealousy? What do you do to kick the Jealousy Monster?

Telling a Better Story vs Accepting What Is

The other day, Ash and I were talking about the difference between;

1. Accepting where you currently ARE in life in order to turn in the direction of your desired intent.

And

2. Constantly telling the story the way you WANT it to be in order to turn things around by maintaining your good vibes.

There's a big difference between those two approaches and if you're thinking that one is the way to go while the other is just a bad idea, you're right. But are you sure you know which way will get you where you want to be?

Many of the current day gurus like Abraham-Hicks and Dr. Wayne Dyer tell us to ignore what IS and focus on telling the story of what we WANT in our lives. I believe many people CAN'T do this because they feel like they're lying and many people fail with this approach because they ARE lying.

You can't lie to yourself. You already know the truth as you see it. You can't SEE your truth and deny it's there and lie to yourself. You can lie to EVERYONE else if you want to, but your subconscious is way too quick for that.

"But if I admit what's wrong with my life, I'll get more of it and that's not what I want."

The Universe is like an all knowing GPS device. There you are in your car driving down a highway going in the wrong direction. You want directions from your GPS system to get turned around and on a different highway. First, disable the tracking in your car so the GPS doesn't know where you are currently located. Then tell it what highway you want to be on, and affirm that you're already ON that highway with everything you say.

That would SO not get you anywhere good.

You need to say "I AM HERE!" and then say "I WANT TO BE THERE!"

It's not admitting what IS that holds you back from where you want to be. The thing that holds you back is your strong FEELINGS about what IS.

The balance is accepting what currently IS with as much surrender as you can muster. After all, why resist the current moment? The current moment already IS. Resistance implies you can change it by denial.

Surrendering to the current situation doesn't mean admitting defeat either. It simply means that you say, "Okay... This is what's happening now." Then you put your focus on your desired outcome and say, "Where do I go from here?"

You'll be guided. All you have to do it stay awake! Asking the Universe things like "Where do I go from here?" can unleash a mild trickle or a flood. It really depends on how relaxed and happy you stay and your level of faith. You must have faith. Know that you're deserving of what you want and that the Universe is sending you signs always.

Remember, no athlete ever got stronger by denying that they had a weakened area. No addict ever recovered by denying the existence of their addiction.

It's truly imperative to know where you currently stand in order to move in the direction you want to move it.

Coming New Moon ~ Knowing What You Want

Namaste'!

The weather men are calling for SUNNY skies and 57 tomorrow, 75 Friday, 78 Saturday, 78 Sunday, and 73 Monday!!!

After all the cold rain we've been getting, I think this weekend will be the weekend that everything explodes into bright green growth. I absolutely ADORE this time of year. It's so clean and fresh and new and perfect. I'm going to be starting my landscaping this weekend. I can't wait to sit outside in the sunshine with dirt on my hands.

I know many of you write new moon checks and the new moon is coming up this Saturday.

Planting in the waxing moon has been shown to be very beneficial to plants, so I'm also looking extra forward to the new moon Saturday.

I've decided to develop a habit of working with a vision board at the new moon. The last 2 times I've poured some focus and creativity into a vision board, I got amazing results. I think I'll carve out some time, maybe Saturday and Sunday morning while I have my coffee, to think about and focus on what I'd like to manifest in the month to come. For me personally, focusing on intentions and goals in the morning works great. My brain isn't all cluttered up with daily activities. It's freshly rested and relaxed and wide open.

That's what it's all about, right? Knowing what you want and being able to actually identify it. We often find it much easier to identify what we don't want. Of course you know what you don't want to happen. It's the first thing we're taught and conditioned to think about.

We even gave it a name. Murphy's Law. If something can go wrong, it will.

Then we're taught to further over think it by planning AROUND what could possibly go wrong, and call it being prepared.

Do yourself a favor. The next time you catch yourself identifying what you don't want to happen, use your brain as the tool it was intended to be and allow the thought about what you don't want, to trigger you to identify it's counter... A.K.A. What you DO want to happen.

Just practicing this will help you reprogram your automatic thoughts. You know the thoughts I'm talking about too.
Eg. *This isn't going to work* *What if I can't do it?* *If that happens, I don't know what I'm going to do*

Even thoughts as normal and everyday as "Ugh, I hate doing laundry!"

This is one that I still slip on. I have to change that thought into what I WANT... cuz what I want sure ain't doing laundry! LOL I started to change this one by changing it to "I love crisp, clean, unwrinkled clothes!". That helped me to be SEEKING something instead of avoiding something. I will even go so far as to say "Today I am blessing my closet with an abundance of delightfully clean clothes!" I "Bless" my home as a whole and in it's parts and pieces often. This angle of thought is something I picked up from http://www.flylady.com/ (been hearing a lot about her lately too, oddly enough ;) By placing your focus happily on your task at hand, you are transferring positive, loving energy onto it. And in doing so, you're "Blessing" everything. It kinda shifts your perception a little and that little can be enough to start you on a roll.

There's always a way to express what you DO want. Your initial "Oh NO!" reaction is just your brain letting you know what you don't want. It's supposed to let you know. It's only doing it's job. You're the awareness behind the thought. You're the one running this show! If you take the brain's warning shots and then turn your focus to what you DO want and forget about what "might" happen, you'll begin to notice much more desirable outcomes. The Universe (A.K.A. God) can only give you what you ask for.

Take advantage of the new moon coming and set the tone for your month to come by thinking about and identifying what you want to see for yourself and in your life. Write a new moon check or work on a vision board or write a list or create new affirmations or whatever YOUR process is. And if you don't follow a practice... then this is the PERFECT time to start! Don't procrastinate! Take control of what shows up in your life by creating a monthly practice of identifying what you want and asking for it. We're in the growing light of spring and entering the growing light of the new moon... the energies around you are very conductive for creativity and growth.

Coming in Saturday's Waxing Edition E-zine:

• Featured Article: Finding Your Vision


• What's in My Recipe Box?: Grrreat for You Grrranola! Yum!


• Blog Spotlight


• Conscious Living Tip!


• Quotable Quotes


• And More!!

A Poem

My Attitude of Gratitude...
By El Baugher

Thank you for the sunshine bright
And night time dark and deep.

Thank you for the ones I love
And all the one's I meet.

Thank you for the leaves in fall
And flowers in the spring.

Thank you for the JOY inside
my heart that makes me sing!

Thank you for each trial I've faced
And all my lessons learned.

Thank you for the chance to love
And have that love returned.

Thank you for the thankfulness
That drives my life to bliss.

I can't imagine any life more wonderful than this.

Easter - Gross Thought - Quick Story Oh My!

~ An Easter Celebration ~

Here in our house, we celebrate Easter.
We don't celebrate the Christian holiday (because we're not Christian) but we DO celebrate "Spring" with Easter eggs and some candy and some new spring outdoor toys.

This year, because my youngest boys are 9 and 6 (turning 7 next Saturday!) I figured this would probably be the final run of the Easter Bunny, so I wanted to try something fun and different. This year, when they find their Easter Baskets, they'll find only a few toys inside. The Easter Bunny will also be leaving an egg shaped, decorated pinata with all the candy in it. We're having an Easter Egg Hunt with some close friends and when that's finished, the kids will get to bash the CRAP out of the Easter Egg Pinata. YAY!

~ A Gross Thought ~

So, I made this pinata myself.

There I was, last night, over blown balloon in my hand, flour/water goop in a bowl, strips of newspaper everywhere.... and it hit me. As I lifted a goop covered strip of wet dripping newspaper out of the bowl and began to smooth it onto the balloon I realized.... PEOPLE EAT THIS CRAP!!!

That thought REALLY grossed me out.

I mean.... I realize this is common knowledge (at least it is in MY world...) and I've seen and heard it all before, but standing there with that sticky, slimy, gritty, white, pasty GOOP on my hands knowing that when I'm finished, its going to harden up to a point that it'll test the strength of the manliest of men, REALLY grossed me out. It's quite literally... concrete...... so eat it....

~ The Quick Story ~

I never thought much of white flour not too long ago. Back in September 2006, I'd been exercising faithfully for 3.5 months by walking/hiking 1 to 3 miles daily and had STILL not lost any weight. I was easily 205 - 210 pounds but it seemed stuck.

In September, I made a decision to join "Curves", a circuit training gym for women. I went 5 days a week, every morning, faithfully for a month. At the end of that month.... and I was REALLY working out.... I was down 2.5 pounds. I was like...... "Are you freaking joking!?!?"

I wasn't ready to give up yet. I felt better. I could tell that my body felt different. I could tell that my body felt HEALTHIER... One morning, I was taking a walk and it struck me. The food! I was watching my calories and everything, but what about the KINDS of food I was eating.

That day I did some research. The next day I went shopping. From then on, there were only whole grains in our house. We eat lots of whole grain brown rice, whole wheat noodles, whole wheat bread etc...

The next month, when I weighed in at Curves, I was down 10 pounds! I leveled off at 6-7 pounds a month after that and in about 6 months time total (Even counting that pesky first month!) I'd lost the 35 pounds I'd set out to lose. It all rolled pretty fast after I stopped clogging my entire interior with chunks of concrete. I also gave up almost ALL granulated sugars which made me feel FANTASTIC... but that's a whole different blog post! LOL

Whole Grain Flour

White Flour

One of the greatest favors you can do for yourself is to stop eating white flour and start eating closer to the way nature intended. I know it definitely made a HUGE difference in my life.

My 30th Birthday!

Happy birthday to me :) Today, I am 30. April 5th, 1979~

I stopped identifying with my age when I turned 22. My whole life, I was always striving for the next number. The next turning point. The next bit of growth. I remember when I was 5 years old in kindergarten and I watched the 10/11 year old 5th graders walk through the school. They nearly looked like adults to me! I wanted to be THAT age!

When I was in 5th grade and ruling the school, I was SO excited to get up to 6th grade to be in the middle school. THOSE kids were SO cool.

Once in 6th grade, I was 12. TWELVE! Oh MY GOD, soooo nearly a teenager, I could just TASTE it. I would even, at times, refer to myself as a teenager to be immediately corrected by my mother. I was on the cusp of something HUGE! I just KNEW it! I mean, just LOOK at those high school kids! They're like, practically my mother's age (They actually WERE. When I was 12, My mother was only 26~) and they're just SO grown up.

All I could SEE was 16. That was the NUMBER! Once I was there... I'd be able to DRIVE! Mom says she doesn't know what I think I'm going to be driving but I don't care. *sigh* sixteeeeen.

Ugh. 16 is so... yuck. I'm mature enough to do whatever I want to. If I was just 18, this wouldn't suck so much. I could come and go and do whatever I wanted to whenever I wanted to. I can't wait until I'm there.

Eighteen is total bullshit! Now I'm old enough to work full time and live where I want and go into the army, but they won't let me DRINK! This is stupid! I guess it ain't illegal if ya don't get caught! (Ugh, yes that was me... I shoulda been kicked! LOL But everything then made me who I am now so I'm not going to complain!)

YEAH!!!! 21!!!! PARTY!!!! Once in a while.... on the weekends.... Have that husband and child at home now. Don't really WANT to go out much. Making a life.

Twenty Two~ I had like, a mini breakdown. I was under big time stress with the dissolving of my mother's marriage to her second husband. We spent the entire day of my birthday moving all her things out of their house and into her new second floor apartment. I was SO depressed ALLLLL day. All I could think was.... "Yep, finally got to 21... now what? Now 22. Where to from here? THIRTY! Now I understand *over the hill*. There WAS a hill! It was 21. It was up, up, up, up, BAM.... all down.

I was SO identified with that NUMBER. My husband has always said he's 19. He was 27 when we met. He said that he hit 19 years old and stopped aging internally. The rest is just biology. I thought that was funny and couldn't really believe that he truly didn't care how old he was. How could he NOT care?

Now I get it.

I am SO excited to be turning 30. I am so excited about where I am in my life and what I'm doing and what my life has been about up until now and the family I've raised and where I've come from and what I've learned. I really have an honest to goodness enthusiastic embrace on thirty. I never finished high school. I never went to college. I never even managed to get a G.E.D (General Equivalency Diploma) in place of my diploma. I found my husband when I was 19 and was a mother and had wanted more than anything to be a stay at home mom and homemaker.

Kevin was born when I was 20 and Kyle when I was 23. They're 2 years and 4 months apart.

Kevin is now 9. He has beautiful handwriting and loves to write stories. He loves anything artistic but especially drawing and he's VERY good at it. He gets straight A's every quarter and was awarded a perfect attendance award at school last year. So far this year (with 2 months left to go) he's only missed 1 day. He had a stomach bug. I'm so proud of him. We spent so much time with him when he was young. He was with ME or SCOTT. That was it. We talked to him so much that when he turned 2, he could speak clearly and hold his end of an animated conversation with an adult. People were blown away by Kevin. Even people that didn't like kids liked Kevin.

Kyle will be 7 in thirteen days on April 18th. He was a much quieter type. Shy and sweet. Didn't really talk much until he was about 3. He knew HOW and could speak clearly.... he was just content to sit quietly and play with his cars on the floor. He's STILL that way. But at 2, he was adding. He's my number kid. Right now, he's in first grade and he can complete Kevin's 3rd grade math homework and in less time by HALF to Kevin pure discontent.

I'm always telling Kevin that he has his OWN amazing traits. Whatever you're good at, you're good at. That doesn't mean you give up on everything else, but play to your strengths! That's why you HAVE strengths! They'll lead you. Talent isn't accidental. And stop measuring yourself against where anyone else is! You are the only you there is and no one else could possibly ever be exactly where you are at any given time, so stop making it sound like you should be somewhere you're not.

My husband, Scott... The most wonderfully cheerful and respectful and laid back man I've ever had the great pleasure of meeting. I was always a superficial, gossipy type person. Always worried about what everyone else thought. He was this laid back, happy guy who just kinda went with the flow. If someone didn't like him, he didn't care. If someone had a problem with something he was doing in his life, he didn't care. The irony is, until I met him, I'd always been kind of searching for God, and it was through meeting him that I found what I was looking for. He was very anti-religion when we met and nearly denied the existence of any kind of God or higher power.

So... now Scott is in agreement with me on how God exists and what God actually is. We simply agree to not use the "G" word because he doesn't like it. If the only thing he can't get past is the word, I can accept and work with that! I'm more in love with him every day (for 11 years this August!!). I couldn't be more happily married. It just couldn't be possible. The two of us have made this wonderful home together and we're raising these interesting, smart, happy, conscious little boys.

I live a healthy life where whole grains and fruits and veggies abound. I have to most awesome dog in the world, which is a big deal as I don't like dogs. Charlie is the K-9 love of my life. We get lots of exercise together daily. I have 2 beautiful cats that I adore. We are all just one big happy family here.

Right now (I'll be blogging about it soon!) we're starting a remodel in our home. I'll be getting my "Master's Suite" finally and I'm SO super excited. I've been working on it for the past 2 days.

I really love where I am in my life. Every morning I wake up excited at what the day might bring. At the rate things are moving, my 30's might be even better than my 20's! I'm 30! Wow! I think the most important lesson I learned in my 20's is... No matter what, keep moving forward. If you dwell on the past, you'll only get stuck there. Forgive, forget, move on.

I hope you're loving your life! I know I sure am!

The Link Between Cleanliness & Godliness

~ A wonderfully wise contributor to an LOA forum I'm a member of said in one of her posts ~

"LOA exercises are not rocket science. Be a little imaginative & most
of all consistent.
But the bottom line is this: You can do all the
prosperity exercises & affirmations, but if you are roaming around
in sweat pants, unkempt hair, cluttered home .. you are negating the
prosperous vibes. Every moment of your life should represent abundance ..
tidy home, nice decor (whatever you can afford & surround yourself with),
neat appearance etc. etc."

I love the part about sweat pants and an unkempt home!

I don't think a lot of people realize what their immediate surroundings and personal appearance contribute to their mental/emotional well being and vibration. I've always been a touch to the lazy side myself. I call my home, "lived in" because that best describes it. Not UN clean, but even though I'm a homemaker who doesn't work outside of my home, I can't bring myself to clean the way society dictates that I'm SUPPOSED to.

Don't get me wrong. If someone called me and said, "I'll be there in 15 minutes!", I could totally whip the living areas (living room, dining room & kitchen *all connected at my house*) into company presentable shape, but there is dust bunnies in the corners and MAN do my ceiling fans need cleaned. Anyway.... yes, I am going to make a point lol... I used to be worse.

Back in the beginning of my Law of Attraction and Spiritual discoveries, I was searching online for tips on organization because I was feeling very overwhelmed in my messy state of living.

I found Fly Lady.

Fly Lady helped me to find some semblance of order in my surroundings. Over the years, I've worked on being more organized and clutter free and clean..... but also on accepting myself as I am and only moving toward change when I was doing it simply in the pursuit of joy. In other words.... I worked on training my habits into a more organized way of being.... but only because I knew I would find relaxation and joy in the organized cleanliness.

I'd always cleaned because it's messy AGAIN and no one else is picking it up and *martyr* complain* whine* resist*. Now I clean because I want to bless my home. I want to cast a spell of organized peace and spiritual free flow on my home. I want to create, in my home, a space for all the wonderfully positive energies of the Universe to channel into my life and permeate the physical space that I hold sacred and personal.

It sure changes the way you feel about cleaning when you shift your perception on it. I know I've mentioned this before, but I also LOVE to "clean to the tune of gratitude". This is when, say, as I vacuum the carpet.... I embrace thankfulness for the abundance of shoes that we own that brought all the dirt in and the wonderful little feet that occupied some of those shoes!.... and my most awesome dog, Charlie... who is the best dog I've ever met in my life... he tracks a lot of that dirt in and I couldn't be happier that he does... He brings such light into my life.. he can track in all the dirt he wants to!... and the MAN.. the gratitude I feel in my heart for the man who tracks grease onto my carpet when he comes back home to me at night is enough to reduce me to tears if I focus fully upon it.

I WANT to clean my house! It's like walking around and taking stock of all the amazing abundance that I have in my life. When I've finished cleaning and I sit down and look around... I feel more bliss than I can express.

I'm just not a perfectionist. There are things on my table and dishes on the counter and there's a towel on the bathroom floor and shoes strewn about the front door and I REALLY need to vacuum. These things used to cause me stress. They were just more crap I had to do. A source of stress because I felt like I wasn't good enough because I couldn't seem to manage to stay on top of these things.

Now, I'm thankful that we can afford the pile of shoes and I give them away to anyone who needs them when my kids grow out of them (they grow so darn fast at times, I've given away nearly new shoes!). If there's a pile of clothes that needs folded, I don't worry about it... but I focus on how blessed we are to have them all and that I even own a washer and dryer to get them all clean and how I was able to give away my old dryer when we moved here because it was gas and we needed an electric, so we were able to buy a brand new electric one and blessed someone elses home with a nearly new gas dryer that they needed.

SO ANYWAY..... (I know I'm long winded... it's endearing... love me for it! lol)...

And the sweat pants... While being vain may not be the best... it does help one much to look at themselves in the mirror with acceptance and affection and appreciation. This is easier to do if you maintain an appearance that is pleasing to you. You know when you look good. You also know that when you feel like you LOOK good... it boosts your self confidence. You are the MASTER of your Universe. And whether you create strong, confident, joy filled WIZARD or meek, weak willed, self deprecating couch potato can very easily stem from your appearance and how the way you see yourself makes you feel. Fly Lady also covers this a bit.

I'm not saying I got ALL of this from Fly Lady.... but it was a jumping off point for me.

Her site is mainly about how not everyone was born organized and how the rest of us who struggle with our organizational skills can keep up and feel good about it. She has a yahoo group but it's not a discussion group. It's an email reminder mailing that comes throughout the day to help you in your quest for peace and lack of clutter.

If anyone has trouble with keeping their home de-cluttered or organizational skills I very highly recommend this site. http://flylady.com/ If you look around your house and don't like what you see... you are not alone... everybody's houses don't look as clean as the ones on tv either LOL.

But the way you feel about your surroundings could easily block your conscious LOA success. I don't subscribe to fly lady anymore... I simply don't need to anymore... but she really did help me... and I KNOW that my home was a spot that was blocking my progress because as soon as I got a handle on it...and got a handle on how I FELT about it by shifting my perception on it a bit... It all started flowing a LOT easier for me.

Now I'm manifesting rather quickly. I've been pretty happy with myself and my manifestations in the last few days partly because I'm manifesting very cool things but mostly because they're on a larger scale than my norm and they're manifesting at a speed that's really got me struck speechless..lol (I know... ME.. speechless... what are the chances!?!) BUT.. that's a whole different post...

Day Spa Monday

This came up in a Law of Attraction group I am part of and I wanted to write about it a little.



I believe the #1 best thing you can do for yourself and the people around you is to love yourself. A lot of people hate themselves. A lot of people think that they're pretty ok. I want you to feel like no one on the planet is more important than YOU!



"But isn't that a little self centered?" I can hear you ask. And yeah, it pretty much is.



Now, I'm not saying... go out and do rotten things to other people because there's no one on the planet more important than you. I think that if you've found this blog and you're reading this post, then you likely already know that's not what I mean. But there's an ancient wisdom that says; You cannot give away that which you do not have and you can't have that which you do not give away.



So, I have created "Day Spa Monday". This is something I do for myself because I can. Because I should. Because I deserve it. Because I love ME. It also helps me to cultivate stillness and peace in myself. It fills me with a loving, peaceful, happy energy that I am able to give away to others, because the energy I gain during Day Spa Monday is lovingly transferred to my family and pets. How could me feeling happy and peaceful and relaxed and spiritually uplifted in any possible way be a BAD thing for anyone?



Day Spa Monday starts like any other day. Get the kids up and fed and off to school. Get the man up and fed and off to work. Charlie Dog and I go for a 2 mile walk and when we get back, I whip out the juicer and make some fresh carrot/celery/apple/ spinach juice! YUM! Then instead of starting chores or running off somewhere, I go run a hot bath. I wash my face and put on a mint mud facial and soak.



I meditate while I soak. I'm usually in there for a good 45 minutes before the water cools enough to take my attention. I wash up and get out. Then I go to my room and slather some thick, conditioning lotion all over myself.



After that, I used to go find the couch with some lunch and watch a movie, but I've recently decided that juice fasting is going to be part of Day Spa Monday for me. So right now, as I type this, I'm having some more fresh juice and I'm about to go watch a film about learning Reiki.



So that's Day Spa Monday..... My self love and attention. I deserve it and everyone benefits.



What do YOU do for self love and attention? How do you get back to yourself and shake off the excess energies of the world that you don't need?

Good Morning!

You Are Not What You Do!

I sat down and watched one of my FAVORITE movies this morning and it inspired me to write. What is this wonderfully inspiring movie you ask? Why, Pretty Woman of course :)

How did this movie inspire me? It occurred to me toward the very end that, as the viewer, one can't help but love "Vivian", the character played by Julia Roberts. Typically, most people would pre-judge this woman in real life and strive to NOT like her. I mean, seriously... she's a HOOKER! What kind of disgusting person goes out into the world and has sex for money?! Now, be honest... isn't that exactly what you would probably think if you were faced with her?

Yet, as we watch the movie, we're drawn in. We hear about where she came from and how she got to be where she is. We get to know her and find her humor amusing and her personality delightful. We LIKE her and sincerely hope that "Edward", Richard Geere's character (Hubba Hubba), falls in love with her just like we see her falling in love with him.

Why is it so much easier to suspend judgement and just observe when we're watching a movie, as opposed to when it's real life? Is it because in a movie, we know the characters aren't real? They're just people acting out a script and playing characters because THAT'S the role they're there to play.

In truth, isn't that what we're all actually here, on this planet, at this time and space, to do? To play out the characters we've come here to play? Every religion agrees that there is more. This isn't all there is. To the contrary, this is minuscule in comparison to where we REALLY come from and where we return to when this "movie" of our life is finished.

You are NOT what you do!

How could you be? Are you perfect? Have you never done anything you regret? Heck, most people that do "unsavory" thing only do them because they don't realize they have a choice, or they just can't see a way out. The things we do are there to teach us. Even if all they seem to teach us is that we don't want to do them. Inside every "wrong doer" is a perfect, divine spark of God simply trying to find it's way back.

When you encounter someone whom you don't agree with or whom you find distasteful, suspend your judgements and just watch the movie. You never know... maybe YOU will be the spark that lights the path for them to find their way back.

Namaste :)

Good Video Day

I guess it's just an awesome video kind of day for me. This one is a 20/20 report on back pain and curing it. Very cool.

Validation

Someone in a forum I'm a member of posted this youtube video. By far one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. I hope you all enjoy :)

Much Ado About Nothing

Ok, so here's the deal....

Something needs to give. Something about the life I'm living needs to change. I've felt inspired to make a couple of changes in the past 2 months, and they're changes I'd have never seen myself making before it struck me to make them, but I don't think I'm quite there yet.

I think I watch too much TV.

When Hubby is home in the evening, I willingly forfeit the remote. He's only home and able to relax in front of the TV from about 5:30pm till about 10:30pm, and more than half of that time is spent playing with our boys, eating supper, chatting with his gorgeous wife, showering, etc... I, on the other hand, am home all day AND we have a DVR, so I watch my shows when I'm alone during the day. This is convenient for me because, brace yourselves.... I HATE daytime TV. I don't do game shows, talk shows, morning shows, news shows OR soap operas. I don't watch ANY of it. So, I settle in with "House" or "Dog Whisperer" or "Medium" etc... during the day.

Ok, so maybe I don't watch too much TV. Maybe I just need to fill the off time with more quality. Yeah, I think that feels better when I say it.

So... on to the quality.

I've been feeling pulled into reading a lot lately. I just finished reading Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" for the second time. Not sure why I picked it up. I just walked over to the book shelf and it jumped out at me and asked to be picked up. Now I'm working my way through Dr. Wayne Dyer's "Inspiration" AND "The Power of Intention", both of which are fantastic reads so far.

I'm not sure what the purpose of this post is. I just felt compelled to write. Maybe one of you that's reading this is my key to finding inspiration.

Something's missing. I need more. I feel like I'm being called somewhere, but the caller forgot to leave directions. Seek and Ye shall find... right? Well, this is me... seeking. In the past, when I've gotten this restless, unfulfilled feeling, it was a prelude to a major shift in my consciousness and perception. I guess I'll just meditate and read and listen for that voice.

Namaste :)

Time for a Laugh or Two!

Got this from my friend T and felt the need to share! Thanx T!

I Am So In Love & Grateful

Hello Friends!

Yesterday was one official week that our new dog Charlie, that I rescued from the APL, has been here with us. I am so (as the title suggests!) in love with this dog.

As a rule, I hate dogs. I've never met a dog that I liked for more than 10 minutes. I'm an animal lover in general, so I'm very kind and gentle with ALL animals, but dogs just rub me the wrong way. You can't stand in front of one without having your private areas totally explored.... most dogs you can't pet without being licked to death (I can't STAND being licked by a dog!).... they jump all over you, no matter what's on their feet.... they bark at EVERYTHING and always start when you want them to be quiet most... they get excited and pee.... you can't pet a MALE dog too much without finding out just how much he likes it.... I'm just not a dog person and I never have been. I love cats. I have 2.

If I don't like dogs... why on EARTH did I go looking for one?!?!

The truth is, lately, I've found myself feeling unbearably lonely. The kids go off to school.... Hubby goes off to work.... and here I am.. alone. There are multiple reasons that I'm not going to go into for me being unable to get a job. I've wanted to find a job for a couple years now, but the main reason I don't is because my family demands so much from me, that I WILLINGLY give, that I can't see me splitting my time like that. But still, I'm lonely.

I don't have any friends that are home during the day that I can spend time with and the loneliness I've been feeling has been getting heavier and heavier on my heart. I decided, out of desperation really, that I wanted a dog. A specific dog. A beagle. An adult beagle that doesn't lick or invade my personal privacy every time I'm within reach. One that doesn't lick excessively or chew things or bark. One that will get along with my 2 cats, and one that my 2 cats can tolerate. My cats are very "Queen of the House!" type cats. As a rule, they don't like other animals. We've fostered other dogs and we've had other cats and both of my girls are very hissy and unfriendly towards them.

Then (as I wrote about previously) about 1 week after I decided I wanted this specific dog... on 1/11, on the full moon.... the signs seemed pretty big to me... and I went to the A.P.L and there, in cage #11 was a 4 year old beagle named Copper (the name of one of our previous dogs). The only thing that I wanted that he didn't fulfill is that I'd wanted a female, simply because girls don't do that THING that boy dogs do when ya scratch their bellies, wink wink. But this dog was neutered and they told me he shouldn't do that thing.

So here we are, one full week later. Well, one week not counting the 4 days he spent on the run (See the "Everything Happens For a Reason" post). One full week from the day we got him back. I can't believe how PERFECT he is. If you'd told me a month ago that I would get a dog and love him so completely, I wouldn't have believed it.

We walk 1 mile, 2 times a day together. He hangs out on the couch with me and watches TV. He only barks when he has to go out. He's gentle and loving, yet playful and funny. He loves riding in the van and I take him everywhere with me. The kids love him, my Husband loves him, and believe it or not (I still don't quite believe it and I definitely don't understand it) my cats take no issue with him. He sniffs them and plays with them a little. They'll hiss if he starts to get rough and they feel threatened, but honest to GOD.... they don't even seem to care that he's here. I'd have never believed it if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes.

It's things like this that happen to me that continue to reinforce my belief in the law of attraction... or really, intention/manifestation. I didn't focus on anything... I didn't obsess or visualize or go to any great lengths to find this unbearably perfect dog. I just decided that I wanted a dog and what I wanted him to be and HOW I wanted him to be. I prayed and asked for him, intended to have him and then I told my Hubby, in these exact words... "I've decided to allow a dog to come into my life so I can love him." One week later, he was here. And one week after that, I couldn't love him more.

So, that's my latest success story. I see minor things happen so constantly I don't even notice them anymore at times, but this was HUGE for me. I'm still in awe.

Happy manifesting :)

Everything Happens For a Reason

I was telling my Grandma about my week this morning and was AMAZED at the easy flow everything took on and thought I'd share :)

Sunday, I went to my local APL (Animal Protective League/Humane Society) and adopted a dog. I've been wanting a small beagle and decided to "allow" one to come into my life. I woke up Sunday morning and realized the date was 1-11 and it was a full moon and I felt drawn to the APL so I went. There... in cage #11 was the cutest 4 yr old male beagle named Copper (This was the name of a dog we USED to have). He was exactly what I wanted. Older, so no puppy issues like peeing and chewing... fixed.. not jumpy or licky.. calm, pleasant and affectionate. I took these facts ALL as signs and adopted him and brought him home.

After he was here about an hour, I took him outside to do his business and he slipped his leash and ran due west at break neck speed. I ended up trudging through knee deep snow in sigle digit temps for over an hour looking for him. Then I drove around my "Country" neighborhood for an hour looking for him. He was nowhere to be found. I was SOOOO bummed, but I said a prayer for him to be healthy and happy and safe and went home.

Monday, my 6 year old son was sick. He went to school but came home that night with a low fever and looking mighty pale. My boy has a history of hallucinating when he's sick. This is somewhat common among young children and the doctor assures me it will pass with age. But, in the meantime, it can be quite un-nerving for me to console a frightened, hallucinating child.
He was fevered and ill and home from school Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday. Wednesday night he spiked a fever of 103 degrees and I gave him a dose of ibuprophen to bring it down. One hour later, it had not only NOT gone down, but had climbed to 104.3. In a bit of a panic, at 10:30pm, we got in the van and went to the emergency room.

They chased the ibuprophen with some Tylenol and his temp came down quickly and he perked up. They ran some tests and did a chest x-ray and concluded that he just has a flu virus and it will pass in a few days. We got back home at 2am.

I put him in bed and layed awake for hours visualizing a cool healing blue energy surrounding him. He woke up Thursday morning bright eyed and bushy tailed. No sign of fever at all. He still has a little cough, but for the most part, he's made an amazingly fast recovery.

He wanted to go to school Thursday, but I told him he needed to stay home and rest and get a little more healthy before going back. He accepted this, but asked if we could go see about getting another dog. I've called the APL everyday since Copper left and no one has brought him back. I alerted all my neighbors so if he was spotted, someone would grab him and know where he belongs, but it'd been 4 days and I'd given up hope. So... we went back to the APL to see about getting a different dog.

We found a very nice dog and decided to adopt. He wasn't a beagle like I'd wanted, but he was very sweet and calm and my son liked him. The woman there had me fill out the adoption paper, then told me that due to what had just happened with Copper, they weren't going to ALLOW me to bring this dog home. She said she'd hold him for 24 hours and I should go home and make sure this is what I really wanted. They treated me as though I was a bad person because of what had happened and as though it were my fault.

I felt humiliated and angry. All I wanted was to rescue and love a dog and they were gunna point fingers at me because the dog I got ran away?! They were the one's that named him when he came in so he didn't even respond to his name when I called to him! What was I supposed to have done!? So I left.

I came home mad. I stewed for a while and bitched about it. Then I let it go. I decided.... well, they don't know me... and I'm not going to let their stupid judgement of me keep me from having a dog. We went about our normal evening business of dinner and homework and tv. My Hubby got called out to tow a car and left. He came home about 2 hours later.. walked through the door and said, "Look who I found!" and set Copper on the floor!

As he was pulling in the driveway, the son of one of our neightbors pulled up in a car and said, "Are you the guy missing a beagle?" He had him there in his car and gave him back.

I was recounting these events to my Gram and I really started thinking about it all. It would've been REALLY difficult for me to take care of a new dog while tending my sick child all week.
New dogs need extra attention and walks etc.. and I just wouldn't have been able to do it. THEN I realized.... if the APL hadn't made me wait 24 hours, I'd have ended up with 2 dogs here last night. THEN I'd have had to take one of them back to the APL today which would've just broke my heart.

I think it's even made a difference for Copper, who's name has been changed to Charlie, because he was out and cold and hungry for FOUR whole days. Now he's here and we're loving on him and feeding him and he's warm again. He seems to already be attached to us now when before, he didn't seem to care much. And finally, I'm right up against lake Erie in NE Ohio. We're having a MAJOR cold spell as of last night. It got all the way down to - 10 last night with windchills down to -40. He couldn't have come home out of the cold at a better time.

It all worked out in the most perfect way even though I couldn't see the perfection of it from the beginning. I managed to have faith through it all that everything was exactly as it should be and would work out fine and I'm happy to report that it did.

I know some people around here have a hard time believing that "bad" things happen and end up being a good thing in the end... and although this might not be a HUGE life altering thing, it was important to me and my family... and now, I'm finding myself not only grateful that my son is better and my dog is home... but grateful that everything happened exacly as it did. It was perfectly orchistrated to turn out in a way that was best for everyone involved.

Deepak Chopra: The Happiness Prescription

See at Amazon!
I ordered this movie (seminar, talk..) from Netflix like, a week or so ago. I've been meaning to watch it, but life just gets away with me sometimes. I've had a sick boy home from school all week this week and that brings life to a screeching halt. Yesterday, while he was napping peacefully (FINALLY!), I remembered I had that DVD to watch, so I hunkered down on the couch and let 'er rip.

What a wonderful DVD! It's a 2 disc set, and I only have disc 1, so I'm sending away for the other half today, but I'm so glad I finally sat down to watch it.

It can be frustrating for me at times, to find LOA and Spirituality related things to watch and read that aren't the same old stuff I've already watched and read. Although, I would have to admit, some of the biggest and most profound shifts in consciousness I've experienced came from hearing things I've heard a billion times already. Sometimes I'm aware of things on an intellectual basis but then I hear it again one day and it just resonates deeper for me. I've had some pretty spectacular "Ah-Ha!" moments from things that are painfully obvious. It just hits me different. But, it's like that old saying.... When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When you are primed and ready for the shift, it'll happen.

I really enjoyed this DVD. I love listening to Deepak talk. I enjoy the audio books that he narrarates too. In this DVD, he's giving a seminar type talk to a smallish audience. Then at the end, there's a question and answer portion. Some of it was the same ol' info, but some of it was very deep. I had a couple "Ah-Ha!" moments while I was watching. He talks about what happiness really means and how to acheive it. It was truly fantastic.

It seemed to conclude at the end, so I'm very curious what's on the second disc. I'll post and let you all know when it gets here. I won't put off watching the second disc as long as I did this one! LOL I'm REALLY looking forward to watching it.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

A friend of mine told me today that she's thinking of leaving her husband. She also told me that she's in love with someone else. The someone else isn't an "affair". They've openly been friends for about 6 months now and their feelings developed in response to both of them being immensely unhappy in their marriages and sympathizing with eachother. He's actively mistreated by his wife and she's been taken for granted by her husband and ignored for YEARS. Not quietly either. She's been telling him how unhappy she is for going on 6 years now, so when she confessed having feelings for another man, her husband wasn't surprised.

We had lunch together today and she dropped the bomb and told me everything. When she'd finished summing up this little bit of drama, she sighed and said, "I just don't know what to do. I'm so confused."

Happiness is a fickle creature. Or is it? Sometimes, we do what we think we should, even when that's not what we truely want. How often do you do things you don't want to, simply because you know someone will be mad at you or disappointed in you if you don't. For most people. it's all the time. Too many people stay in unhappy relationships because they're worried about what everyone will think if they leave.

I was married at 18. It was a collosal mistake of gargantuan perportions. Of course, in retrospect, had I not been there and done that, I'd have not been where I was when I met the love of my life. The life I happily live now hinged right off of the life I had and didn't want. It took one to make the other. It's this reasoning that makes me happy to have been everywhere I've been in my past. No regrets. Every road I took lead me here.

Anyway, when I left my husband, I lost my best friend of 10 years. He ran to her and gave her a sob story and because I'd always put on a happy face, she didn't even realize how unhappy our marriage was. My mother was also mad at me. "Marriage is forever!" she said. To this day I find it mildly disturbing that my own mother wanted me to remain miserable. The point is, no one was living my life. No one felt what I felt and thought what I thought. How could ANYONE presume they understood MY marriage? And that's what I told my friend today.

I've never liked her husband. It's really no secret either. He and I have always agreed to disagree and just stayed away from eachother. My feelings, however, are irrelevant. I told her that she deserves to be happy, no matter what that means. Everyone will think what they'll think... but do you really care so much that you're willing to be unhappy forever for THEM? I told her that she should stay and make it work if that's what she wants. She should leave if that's what she wants. What does he want? Who cares. What's her mother want? Who cares. You only get one shot at this life... and it's happening NOW. Don't cheat. Don't create trust issues because that will complicate everything, but be happy. Besides, just because you separate now doesn't mean you won't be together again. You don't know where this life is leading you, but if you stay stuck in an unhappy rut, how can you ever find out how happy you could be?

I believe in marriage. Not in the religious sense, because I don't believe in religion, but in the commitment. I love being married to my husband. We are committed to eachother. We support eachother and love eachother. If we were any closer, we'd be one person. Just the other day he came walking into the dining room in a stained work shirt. I couldn't tell if it was stained or dirty and I thought to myself, "I wonder if that's a dirty shirt? I wonder if it smells?" LOL. I no sooned completed that thought and he lifted the bottom up to his nose and sniffed it, then smiled coyly at me and said, "It's just stained."

That's the kind of connection we have. How good would that connection be if only one of us was comitted? Not very! It takes two to be comitted to a connection to make the connection complete. If one person is unhappy and the connection is incomplete, then what's the point?

I'm rambling, I know. :) My point is, be happy. It's your life and your feelings and your happiness. You choose. If you sit and look around at your life and don't like what you see, only you can change it. And if you're not moving in a direction that makes you feel good, then you need to rethink your travels. Sometimes drastic measures need to be taken and sometimes simple alterations make a world of difference. But it's up to you.