tales from a far-land

After much self-reflection and a thorough evaluation of my prior year's intentions, I found myself drawn to the concept of "flowering" as a person in 2018.  I have an amazing life.  I am surrounded by supportive family and friends.  I am lucky to have married a man who chooses to be with me every day of our life.  It may not always be easy, but we both continue to strive to make our relationship better and better every year.  We have remarkable children who fill my life with questions, frustrations, happiness and life lessons.  We have an incredible home and sanctuary. I am blessed to have a successful career where I can be a resource and expert to my colleagues and clients.  Honestly, I am truly grateful. However, life is full of teaching moments and this year I want to continue to grow and flower as a person.  I want to continue to blossom but in a more mindful way.  I want to be kinder and more flexible while also staying true to who I a...

For the past five years, I have created a vision board every January as a way to focus on my intentions for the upcoming year.   A vision board is a visualization tool in which you build a collage of words and pictures that represent certain goals and dreams you are trying to achieve. In creating my vision board for 2018, I found myself very drawn to examining and reflecting on my vision boards of the past.  I loved exploring what goals and intentions I had set for myself and how these aspirations transpired by the end of my goal year.  Some of my past vision boards were more focused on photos and less on words.  Others were more word and phrase focused.  Many of my boards shared many similar goals and yet each were uniquely different.  They even varied by color.  Some expressed much more vibrant colors while others were more muted or pale.   Here is my analysis of the past five years of vision boarding.  I hope you find it as intri...

On the first Saturday of January, I hosted a bridal shower for Melinda.  We have been friends since high school and we consider her a part of our family.  Cannot believe we have known each other over twenty years!  Anyway, she is getting married in February, and our entire family will be involved in her wedding.  Knowing her love of cooking, I centered the bridal shower theme around the kitchen.   Melinda's guests included family, friends and coworkers.  We enjoyed some fun kitchen themed games, tons of good food, mimosas and showering Melinda with gifts and love.  It was a wonderful party!  Cannot wait to celebrate with her more at the wedding!   Melinda with some of her bridesmaids (me, Merritt and Debra) Guests enjoying the party Game time! Gift time! All of the guests Melinda and I Melinda and Merritt

Our last day in Puerto Penasco was bittersweet.  We all wished that we could just have one more day, but we also knew that we would most likely say that every departure day.  The last morning was spent packing, cleaning up the house, enjoying final walks and family pictures on the beach.  This will definitely be a New Years trip we will not forget any time soon.  Adios for now... Sunrise view from the patio Morning beach views Family photo Christy and Brandon The Raetz Family Maelyn and Keaton Selfie with Aiden and Christy The Entire Gang! One last car debacle ~ losing our boxes on the Mexican highway

New Years Day was a quiet one for our normally rambunctious group.  Sadly, when the clock struck midnight, it delivered a major stomach bug to La Casa del Milagro.  Five out of the six adults and one out of the four kids developed this nasty virus. The kids (as Keaton didn't develop the virus until after dinner) spent the day playing on the beach.  They must have known that a majority of the household was on bed rest as they played all day outside.  No fighting.  No crying.  They entertained themselves all day.  It was pretty amazing. Paige and I mostly read, sunbathed and chatted until she finally succumbed to the stomach bug late in the afternoon.  Then, there was one adult standing.  That evening, I spent the night on the couch for two main reasons:  1) to avoid Josh and our contaminated room and 2) to be close enough to the kids in case they fell ill and needed some assistance in the middle of the night.  Luckily, I was not ...