“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” - W. Clement Stone

(I noticed I take LOTS of feet pictures...oops...Where are the feet?)

Thankful for 

good friends

truth in love

honesty and humility

walks in the leaves

a camera at the ready

 

“The best things in life are never rationed. Friendship, loyalty, love, do not require coupons.” - George T. Hewitt

“Learn to limit yourself; 

to content yourself with some definite work; 

dare to be what you are 

and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not;

and to believe in your own individuality.”

Henri-Frederic Amiel

Loving fall leaves, days filled with sunshine and rain, crisp days, apple cider, pots of chili, and the call of the indoors as the days grow shorter...

Love that I was able to go on an autumn walk with my little cousin Dawson and that he pointed out perfect leaves, skittering creatures and summed up our walk with, "Isn't this magnificent?"

Yes sweet boy this is definitely magnificent.

Happy Earth Day!

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." ~Chief Seattle, 1855

I love Earth Day. Renewal. Reminder. Education. It's all good.

As my family well knows I get excited about recycling and garbage reduction. Our recycle bins are well used. My compost bin is well stocked. Our garbage pick up is down to about once every three weeks. By the way, Mabel restoration isn't the greenest activity in the world...

I love to figure out a more natural (and usually less expensive) way to make things. Recently I have begun to make my own laundry detergent, dishwashing machine detergent and flavored creamer (still perfecting this, but it is pretty darn good!). It's been fun.

I am not a gardener. I've tried, but it isn't really "my thing" so what I can do is shop local and support my local economy including businesses, farms, etc. One of my favorite places is The Green Barn. Love it there.

Finally, today (and tomorrow) if you live locally you should go to Sole Obsession and pick up some Simple shoes (if you don't live locally give Kelly a call - she ships! yay!).  These are mine. I love them. A lot.

So. To recap:
*Recycle.
*Reuse.
*Reduce waste.
*Make stuff.
*Buy local.
*Earth Day everyday.
*and a link to past Earth Day posts that aren't quite so random and disjointed! :)

Happy Day friends!

"Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values.... God made life simple. It is man who complicates it." ~Charles A. Lindbergh

Barefoot Day wrap-up

“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there.” —Zig Ziglar

As I mentioned earlier I participated with Miss Kelly from Sole Obsession in One Day Without Shoes (I am almost positive that we were the only people plus a nice pedicurist at Mane Styles who were doing this!). What an experience it was.

So what did I learn? How did it go?

*Shoe are good. I like shoes. A lot.
*Wet pavement is very cold and slimy and just plain icky!
*Floors in public places are questionable.

(with Kelly at Starbucks where they totally didn't even notice, or didn't care - one or the other, that we were shoeless)

*My feet got very cold. Even in my house.
*I love my slippers.
*Wrapping ones feet in a blanket is NOT the same thing as wearing socks or slippers!

(going into the grocery store. these feet were cold. it was wet. YUCK!)

*Having the put my feet outside was the hugest first step. One I dreaded.
*Driving a clutch requires shoes. REQUIRES!
*I do NOT have tough feet!
*Walking a mile(ish) barefoot is painful (pavement is hard - how is that for an observation?) and one has to be very careful to watch for broken glass, dog poop (ick people clean it up! I did not step in this but dang I would have been MAD), rocks...

One of the best things I did today was go on my walk. I was going to put on shoes because, well, duh I was going on a WALK, but my family said something about "talking the talk and walking the walk" so I headed out sans shoes. First of all, it made me slow down, way down, and I got to actually SEE a more than if I'd walked by fast. Second, people actually stopped and asked me why I didn't have shoes on. I got to talk to 5 different people (3 different stops) about what I was doing and why. It was good. I'm glad all of those people at first looked at me like I was crazy (I might be) and that they chose to ask me why the heck I'd leave my shoes at home. It's what I was after.

(finally some sun for my feet. It was still cold though!)

*Shoes are essential. We need them. Everyone needs them. So if you have old shoes donate them. You won't be sorry.

And a big thanks to Kelly for bringing this to my attention. While the long walk was a bit painful and I spent the day with cold toes I am glad I did (and I'd do it again!).

Now it's time to get ready for the day and I shall be wearing shoes and LOVING it!

Happy shoes people!

birthday fun, cool cousins, and Easter shoes...OH MY!

“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.” —Audrey Hepburn

“You will discover that you have two hands. One is for helping yourself and the other is for helping others.” -Audrey Hepburn

April is off to a roaring start.

Birthday fun. I would expand on the fun but it is probably better that I don't. Haha.

Easter with family. The ten-year gap cousins. Love these boys. (By the way Nick totally kicked at the egg hunt!)

New shoes for some sisters. I call them our Easter shoes, but really they're not. My flip flops were from Troy for my birthday and De just buys shoes whenever she possibly can.

So, April is off to a good start. It is Spring break and I'm taking a few days to slow down before picking back up again.

In other (birthday) news: I follow a blog, hula seventy, have you heard of it? Do you read? I love it. Every year she makes a list of things to do before her next birthday. Last year I contemplated this, however never made a list. Right around the end of February I decided that I was going to do it. So, early March I started my list. It took me a few weeks. But now I have a list of 36 things to do before I turn 37. I haven't decided yet if I'll publish the whole list or not. I might. I might not. We'll see. I will, most likely, share as I complete or work on items. Some things are silly, some abstract, some concrete, however all are meaningful, to me.

So, hears to another year. I'm ready. So far 36 has been pretty nice to me.

“Live today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just today. 
Inhabit your moments. Don't rent them out to tomorrow.” —Jerry Spinelli

One of my favorite ways to unwind and have fun is to spend a day with my cousin Lorinda. We finish each other's sentences, we know when the other needs to eat or have more coffee, if we're shopping we know exactly what the other will love. There is no better thing than a best friend/cousin (frousin!).

Our new shoes. Lovely, lovely. Last week I went to Sole Obsession and went a little nuts. I got the cute little black Merrells and I picked up the green and gold J-41s (now Jambu) because she has been wanting them for a long time. (I also picked up a couple pair of flip-flops...necessary you know).

No day would be complete without a trip to Starbucks. We had too much fun with the self-portraits...there are a few that we have promised never to show another living soul (of course).

And finally. The important stuff. Cake. Lemon-blueberry chiffon. It was heavenly...We ate that piece in less than 8 minutes (how we know this is not important, what is important is that we do know how fast we ate it...).

So very thankful for this girl, my cousin, my best friend.

I love spending time with Lorinda. Celebrating our family, our friendship. She loves me for who I am - my faults, my fears, my idiosyncrasies - and she knows them all...

Life is good.