Gratitude

Posted on | April 7, 2015 | 1 Comment

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” 
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life


Gratitude.  I've recently taken note of how much happier I feel when I practice gratitude on a weekly if not daily basis, whether it be in silly conversations with Hazel, meaningful ones with B, or just writing down a list of my gratitudes at the end of the week.  Often they are little victories such as "I got a shower today!" and occasionally they're bigger ones that involve epic hikes to beautiful vistas, but as long as I'm taking the time to appreciate and focus on a little positivity in my life I feel so much more whole and content as a mother, wife, and human being.

So here's just a smidgen of my gratitudes this week. 

  • Visits from B's parents.  His mother and step-dad are truly such kind hearted people, I'm always left feeling a bit inspired by them when they leave.


  • Juniper approaching one, and learning so many new skills as of late.  She's starting to stand unassisted and walk while only holding one of our hands.  She's so ridiculously proud of herself and giggles the entire time, looking around to make sure everyone is watching. 


  • Naps on momma.  They're getting harder to come by these days.





  • Hazel.  Oh, Hazel.  Grateful for her doesn't begin to explain it.  She's so patient when her little sis needs my attention, and so gentle/always on the watch for her sisters safety.  She's also so creative and independent as of late, I could just quietly watch her create and imagine for hours.



  •  My job.  Seeing women in such raw, natural form everyday is truly a gift.  I love helping to empower women to have the birth they desire.



  • Some recent dietary changes focusing on whole foods, which has left us feeling energetic and healthy. Although there was a little binging this easter weekend... ;)
  • Speaking of Easter -- watching H's amazement at the 'bunny tracks' around our house when she awoke and then watching her run around the entire 5 acres of our property collecting eggs was just perfect.  Holidays are exponentially more exciting with kids.







  • My mothers impending visit.  Despite some differences we've discovered in my adult life, my mother is still just a rad, lovely person.  I'm just excited to have her out in Oregon especially to celebrate J's birthday in just a couple of weeks.
  • Spring!  Blooming flowers, rain clouds then sun, and even the lonely garden is starting to awaken.  I'm eager to get out and work in the dirt.




What have you felt grateful for this week?

Naturally dyed eggs + an egg hunt!

Posted on | March 31, 2013 | 5 Comments

Happy Easter!  We spent this amazing weekend outside on a continual basis - the weather was in the 70's (in March!).  I finally got around to learning how to dye eggs naturally and I used beets, spirulina, chamomile, and red cabbage.  It was such a fun, easy experiment and Hazel loved the outcome (as did her mama).  


Interested in how I did it?  I followed the reciple (sort of!) from this website by Dr. Momma.  I used what we happened to have in the kitchen.  If you're looking for a rich green I would not recommend spirulina - it turned my eggs a verrrry light green hue, as you can see above.  Red cabbage was my favorite, turning the eggs the gorgeous blue and teal color (I used different shades of eggs, due to our different chicken breeds).  I also let a majority of these soak overnight, except the light pink which simply sat in the beet dye for about 5 minutes this morning.  The best part was we ate some of the ingredients and tea while making these! 




Hazel also woke up amazed at the disturbance in our carpet below!  She got down carpet level numerous times throughout the day, inspecting in depth what it was.  My mother and grandmother used to do this every easter, and the memory makes me so happy just thinking about it. 


I hope your easter was a blessed as ours!

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Gratitude Sunday