get ready for an August break

My lovely friend Susannah is doing her August break again.

I had such a good time participating last year, and even though I didn't really need to take a break from my blog per say, I was already on break (insert smiley face), I enjoyed very much participating in the photo prompts. Not only is it a great chance to take a break from all the words and focus on the photos, but I love the creativity that flows as I think over each photo prompt. I'm definitely looking forward to doing it again this year.

Susannah is not only providing photo prompts again, but she'll be adding a bit of inspiration for you this year via daily emails. You can sign up for those and get more info from her August Break page. Make sure to check out all the ways she is helping us share our photos online.

I would so love for you to play along this year. It's a lot of fun and a great reason to take out your camera and play.

xo

feels like some kind of ride but it's turning out just to be life going absolutely perfectly ~storypeople

a delicate balance

On our drive to Mexico, yes i know -- crazy, I had amble time between intermittent conversation, listening to podcasts/talks, and reading to get some good thinking done. I had 16 hours people and when you consider round trip was 32 hours I had a lot of time on my hands. (actually putting it in those terms I should have got way more done. :/)

One of the things that filled up my head space was navigating through being the mother of a teenage daughter. I knew this day would come, I had feared it in a way, not really knowing what to expect. I have been pleasantly surprised, thus far, with the ease of this transition. I have loved the ability to have serious conversations with her, you know the kind where they can actually participate with their own thoughts and ideas? Ya that. We are communicating and I have been forever grateful of what has come up, the depth to which we have been able to talk. I trust her, she trusts me, and although we don't always sees eye to eye and I know sometimes I drive her crazy when I remind her of her commitments (e.g. violin or school -- trust me I've had the eye roll plenty of times), there has always been an open dialog where we can talk honestly. (Yes I know this is likely to change as she grows and needs different things from me, but for now I am grateful for where we are at.)



She knows I will always been there, at least I hope she knows, but there is always room for improvement. I need to be a better listener. You know when you talk to a man (most men) and all they want to do is fix the problem when all you want them to do is listen? I think too often my first reaction is to answer like a man or maybe I should be fair to men and say answer like a mother and I give my opinion too decidedly. As the words are spewing from my mouth it occurs to me that she never really asked for my advise per say, she's just bouncing off ideas. She just needs to talk and needs me to listen.

Sometimes I worry. I don't want her to make mistakes or fumble. I want her to be able to learn from my experience, you know give her a leg up, save her from pain, but this is her life and her experience and the only way for her to grow is to go through it in her own way and on her own path. I need to trust that she's got it under control. And I do. I need to not be so quick to jump in and allow her come to her own conclusions. Unless of course she needs me and then I'm all in.

I'm all in.

It's quite a delicate balance, I have decided, this mothering gig, to do right by your child and be for them what they need, when they need, and how they need. I'm trying not to get to overwhelmed as I type that. It's a learning experience for me too, isn't it? Even when I think I've got this one figured out I've got two more girls months/years from getting all teenagery (let's be honest, if they haven't already) and I know my experience with them will be vastly different then the one I'm having now. My girls are all so different and they'll need different things from me. In fact, I will be maneuvering through these unclear waters for quite some time. Who am I kidding, I will always be learning how to be their mother as the years progress and my girls life circumstances change.

Life is great that way, isn't it? Always giving us opportunities from growth. :)

12of12 | July

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01. I will never understand how I can have a delightful morning to sleep in and I'm up at 5:30am? I was bummed, but I definitely made good use of my time.
02. The puppy sat at my feet on the way to the bagel store. She is always out of her mind excited to get in the car. Her face in this picture - I can't stop laughing. She is such a funny dog.
03. So many choices and yet they always get the same thing. The usual: Adam - whole wheat toasted with peanut butter. Tess & Megan - cinnamon sugar toasted with butter.
04. Adam and Tess with an early morning face off about his morning coke.
05. All of us missing Bella, who's at a friends cabin, at our traditional Saturday morning bagel breakfast, aka bagel day.
06. Adam drove us in Daisy, his new man toy. I've never laughed so hard as the Puppy took my spot and wouldn't budge. By the end of the ride home I was on the floor.
07. Violin practice. I wish I could say I enjoy this time together, but it always ends up with the two of us battling it out for who knows best. Perhaps we could both do better at listening.
08. We ran several errands today, most of which were in preparation for Megan's birthday. In case you're wondering, no she hasn't stopped talking about it.
09. An afternoon of swimming. Good times!
10. Adam spent his day working on the pool. As you can see it is not going well. I think if I can recall as he climbed up the latter he yelled, "why must everything be broken?"
11. Adam got in the pool with the girls & tossed them around.
12. We ended the night with Rusted Sun Pizza. Can't complain about that!

When I have moments like I did last month where I struggled I think, i don' know, maybe this project has run it's course and then I have a month like today and my spark of documenting is lit. I really do love this challenge. I love that it helps you look at your life in a whole new way. Today was easy, there was lots going on, but I do love having more of challenge to see pieces you can often overlook.

I hope you had a great summer day. Looking forward to seeing what pieces of your day you captured on our Facebook group. If you're not a member follow the link and join us.

Today, for some reason, I see how short our lives actually are & how often I forget to look in your eyes & stop time entirely & say, You have made this life for me. -storypeople

I had a dream the other night about death. You know the kind you wake up with a start, your heart beating at a rapid pace, and tears fall with gratitude -- it was only a dream? It's certainly not the first time I've dreamt of someone I care about dying and certain not the last, but it stuck with me, as those dreams tend to do, and I spent my day processing found my self thinking about it.  I've even had the reverse happen where I dream of someone who is dead, but in my dream they're very much a live and it's so real I forgot reality and wake up ying because it was true, but that a story for a different day.

But this time after some time to process my dream and shake it off it got me thinking about life and how fragile it is and how we never know how much time we have left to experience. I wondered what I could do daily to make life more meaningful and if I knew today was my last day to live what would I do differently than I did yesterday? How much would it change the way I used my time? How would I spend time with my girls? How would I end the day with Adam? How would I speak with friends? How would my priorities SHIFT?

What would you do differently, or how would you live your life if you knew it was your last?

Well first let's put it this into perspective -- obviously if I knew today was my last I wouldn't be on the computer blogging and my girls wouldn't be in school and Adam would be off work and we would spend the day together and who knows what hilarity would ensure. (makes me smile just thinking about it -- the "day" not the "last" part). No I mean looking at life as a whole, a true day to day. if you knew it was your last day but you didn't know it at th time, meaning you would go about life as normal, you would change anything but you make the day count more, make your time more meaningful.

Don't get me wrong there is a lot I need to work on, but I feel like I'm pretty good about the details. Taking everyday photography has really helped me to find gratitude in daily life and appreciate the little things I may not have noticed before, but 

There are too many days were busyness takes over and often a day will go by and i can't find the details. Because you mind is focused on whatever the end result instead if letting the end result move you through the day.

Taking photos helps with the details I think, but it's more than that. I'm talking about stuff you can't photography. The mood in your home in the morning before school particularly when it gets crazy, the goodbye you share or are am I took quick to shut the door looking for peace, the do I spend my day focused on me or reaching out to family and friends, am I taking time to nourish my body's and soul, am I taking moments to express gratitude, do I longer at night or am I too quick to jump in bed,  I help ease the tension of after school with positivity, do I smile, I I suppress a crazy thought, do I make sure to touch Adam,

I think when we become conscious of our days we life becomes more meaningful and we slow down and stop to smell the roses so to speak , or at least that is true for me. Indtead of walking up begrudging the day because piles of laundry are waiting or your going back to the same desk and the same faces as the day before and shift our thinking to this day being the best so far I believe it truely can be.

It reminds me of quote I heard once, could have been in a movie I can't now remember, "tomorrow is my best day"

right now + reminder

I'm appreciating very much the relationship I have with my boy.

I'm listening to the puppies (Lola and her friend Junebug) play out back.

I'm organizing photos.

I'm loving this summer.

I'm looking for a good movie to see. Any suggestions? Is been forever since I've seen a good movie.

I'm craving Indian food.

I'm feeling like there's change on the horizon. Not sure what it is, but I'm confident it has something to do with the SHIFTING I've been calling in this year.

I'm drinking a ton of water to try to curb my sugar addiction (yep I'm addicted). Some days it works, some days it doesn't. Today it's working!

I'm planning time to spend in my studio. Yes!

I'm writing thank you notes.

I'm trusting God.

I'm looking forward to spending the day with my camera. Consider this a reminder -- tomorrow is the 12th!!

I'm navigating through some of my personal roadblocks. I'm beginning to really look at my fears in the face and make an ACTION (being the operative word) plan to overcome them. 

I'm waiting for Adam to get home. We have a date tonight.

I'm happy.

puerto penasco.

Puerto Penasco, Mexico. It's where we spent a week of our summer vacation. It was everything and nothing I thought it would be. What can I say -- we loved it.

Highlights:



The sunsets.

Walks along the beach -- at night, in the morning -- couldn't get enough.



The food! By far one of the best parts of being there was eating the local cuisine. And the fresh tortillas -- yes please!



Getting to practice my Spanish. Soy no bueno!





Getting the much needed downtime. It's was nice to unplug and set my todo list aside. We all needed this break.







Cornrows. Girls loved having their salty hair out of their face for the week. I did too!



Megan got stung by a jelly fish. She said it hurt like crazy, but Adam used his urine, as per the locals advice, to alleviate the pain and she was fine after that. She may need therapy in the future!



Tess caught a fish. Not her first fish, but I believe the first one she caught in the ocean.





Mangoes on the beach with spicy red peppers made especially for you -- to die for. Seriously! I'm going to be recreating these for sure.



To say it was crazy hot would be an understatement -- it was sweltering. I don't think the thermostat said it was ever above the 90 degrees, but with the 90% humidity it must have been well into the 100s. We were sticky & sandy the entire week. Good times!





Hitting the beach every morning when the tide was out looking for crabs, starfish, clams and the kids even spotted an octopus.



Hour and hours and hours on the beach playing and reading a book. I read The Rosie Project and laughed the whole way through.





I received a most delightful massage.





I thoroughly enjoyed just how different the landscape, the streets, the buildings were from home. There was something so captivating about the rawness of Mexico.





At first I thought it would be strange, you know, to be celebrating the fourth of July in a different country, but being there made me appreciate home and so grateful to be an American. I love the USA.