Love On Rose Street

Happy Birthday Baby Logan! ...and the candy dilemma

My sister Ashley had her baby today!

Logan George was born at 11:16am today, on November 1st weighing 7lbs. 4oz. and is such a sweet, handsome little angel!

I have been with them all day and don't have much to say about it yet...I am overwhelmed right now with happiness, excitement and it's too early for me to write about such a beautiful thing as my little sister having a beautiful baby boy, my nephew, Stella's cousin! 

I am going back to be with them in the morning!  I love him so much!

Yesterday being Halloween (and my Aunt Lisa's Birthday, "Happy Birthday Aunt Lisa!") I ran into one of my first kind of "road blocks" in parenting.  I didn't know how I was going to handle Halloween.   I know that I don't want my daughter to collect a huge bag of candy on Halloween every year and be on a sugar binge for a week following.  

After having a little time to think about it, I still don't know EXACTLY how it will go, but I hope it goes something like this...Stella carves a pumpkin, eats apples, goes on a hayride, sings songs round a bonfire, and dresses up in a handmade costume of her choosing, designing and planning (and Mommy's sewing), we celebrate the season, the Earth's harvest, and all the mysteries surrounding Halloween, but...I somehow keep her away from the candy aspect (which seems to have somehow become the main focus in this country!). And when she's old enough I explain to her why she wouldn't want to scarf down loads and loads of that junk and that Holidays are a joy of life, but that the junk foods involved are not the main point.  That's my resolve for now...

That all being said...I didn't have a costume prepared for Stella yesterday because I wasn't going to dress her up.  I figured she would just be miserable in a costume, and I was stalled by my feelings on the candy issue, which wouldn't really even be an issue until next year, right now she just wants booby, (and that's all she's had besides a few nibbles of avocado).  It was kind of depressing.  Then, I decided that I wasn't going to let the idea of some miserable candy ruin Halloween for me and Stella!  And, at the last minute I got caught up in the spirit of the day (because I really do LOVE the costume part of Halloween!) and just a couple of hours before the festivities got to borrow this cute black cat costume from my friend! 

I would have preferred to make Stella's costume if I was going to dress her up at all.  But, it's okay, this will remain a good lesson...I will always remember how the Fat, Hyper, Scary, Sugar Grinch almost stole Halloween for Stella, until Mommy stole it back at the last minute! 

So, we dressed her up in this very cute, probably Made In China, but still very lovely costume and you can see Stella here receiving her first piece of the "special candy to leave outside on Halloween Night for the Gnomes" (That's a good one huh?) from Grandma...that Mommy threw away as soon as we got in the car!  After we got that out of the way, we had such a great Halloween.  Stella really seemed to catch on to the excitement...and she really enjoyed inspecting and chewing on her costume.

Trick or Treat!...I'll take the trick!

Step One: Get Your Mind Right!

For the first week of this endevour I would like to lay down a foundation that is essential to the success of any health improvement goals.  We need to do some work on our minds first.  Any successful life improvements are a result, first, and foremost of a transformative inner journey.  You cannot just resolve to eat nothing but salad, for the rest of your life, on a quest for happiness through health. Without doing the mind work first, you would not be able to stick with that plan for long anyways.  The kind of radiant health that brings the joy we are all searching for begins with our minds.

There is a better way to live.  We can experience the joy of reaching everyday for our unlimited potential instead of just surviving.  We do have unlimited potential. Everything we need to know, to achieve true happiness, are not things we need to find out, but things we simply need to remember.  Most of us have long forgotten the natural and free state of childhood where joy was automatic.  The fear and limits that many of us experience daily are only learned states of being, not our birthrights. 

If we are to embark on a healthy diet and exercise lifestyle it is to improve our state of health and well-being, and we would only want to improve our state of health and well-being if we thought it would improve our happiness and increase our joy.  But, foods and exercise alone will not do that.  Health is not something that you can physically impose on yourself...you must attract it.  For the changes to last and become a life transformation they must come from the inside and will be then manifested on the outside.  We must first break out of our mental prisons before we start down the path to well-being.

The first step to doing any of this transformative work is to take RESPONSIBILITY.  This is where the majority of the people get lost and that's why most of us are not functioning at a level anywhere near our highest potential (which is actually unlimited).  Most people are too afraid to take 100% responsibility.  But, let me just say this, that when you do finally grasp that the RESPONSIBILITY for everything that happens to you is 100% yours it is a very empowering feeling, causes that means that you actually have CONTROL.  I want control of my life...how about you?

Happy Birthday Friend!

Today I would like to say "Happy Birthday!" to my closest friend Laura!  She has been there for me in so many ways I can actually credit her for helping to finally find the happiness I have today.  She has helped me grow so much throughout the years I would not be the same person I am now if not for knowing and having a close friendship with her.  She has been my rock through my years of figuring out who, what, where, when, why and how I wanted to be.

I think Laura was actually relieved when I finally found my prince charming, got married, and bought a house on Rose St.  At the same time, I think she might kind of miss my crazy days when she kind of lived vicariously through me long after she had married and bought a house on Helen St.  I am not her crazy friend anymore always moving around from town to town or state to state, trying to find my place in the world, having boyfriend drama, and crisis after crisis. She would spend hours with me on the phone sorting out, advising me, and though I hardly ever took her advice (cause I have to find out the hard way) she was almost always right.  Now when I call her the biggest drama is the baby on my end pushing all the buttons on the phone and pulling the cord out (yes, I still talk on a cord phone).

   

This is my friend who knows pretty much every deep down nitty gritty not so pretty detail about me and loves me still more.  I miss her all the time, I wish she was next to me now that we both have families.  I miss her humor, I miss our fun, and I miss her face so much.

Even though I am an extremely independent thinker, I still find myself looking for Laura's little stamp of approval on most things, I don't think she even knows that.  She always validates me when I am down, and I can move on with my life feeling much better because my friend has my back!  I am stronger because I have her in my corner, on my side, and in my heart.  Thank you friend!  For being you.  And for being an amazing friend to me.

Thank you for being thoughtful, patient, and wise even in my lost and selfish times.  I can't wait for the day you will meet and hold my beautiful daughter cause I know you will love her and appreciate her in your very own special way.

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, my friend! I love you.