Stick-y FUN!

Spring has arrived in the northeast - early, just as the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil predicted!  Okay!!  So, he finally called it correctly and we are thankful for the thaw and return of green!  The crocuses are blooming and I noticed tiny buds forming on the trees.  Oh, yay!!!  Big, happy smiles here! 

Taking a walk around our yard, there was an ever-plentiful amount of sticks and branches to be cleaned up.  Time to get creative!  Kurt and I asked the girls to help pick up and clean up the yard (there's much to be done and picking up sticks is the least of it).  We asked if they'd like to have a campfire and ... s'mores?!  Any takers?!  We had lots of help with a sticky-sweet reward awaiting their efforts -- ha! win-win!  :)  And, well, we always enjoy our family time outdoors, around the fire pit that my husband made for us last summer.  The conversation was woven with topics ranging from staying safe around the fire, the return of spring, the time it takes to properly toast a marshmallow, and research that Alanna has been doing on Mr. Walt Disney in school. The perfect recipe for an early-evening weekend treat in March.  ;)    

Happy Weekend and Return of Spring to you, friends!!!  :) 

All content unless otherwise cited (c) My 3 Girls Photography 2010 - 2016 

forty seven, baby

Today marks my forty-seventh rotation around our glorious sun, floating through space and time.  These first 47 turns have given me so incredibly much to reflect on, to be grateful for, and amazing love and wonder.  I have a good life and I'm excited to see, experience all that is yet to come!!  

My young girls and hubby treated me to a gluten-free vanilla cake with chocolate icing and praline sprinkles, which they successfully baked and decorated yesterday.  It doesn't get much tastier than that.  The only way it could have been any better is if my oldest had been part of our celebrations.  We miss our California girl!!  

Okay, I'm ready for the next forty-seven!  Life, you are beautiful.

Onward!!  

https://youtu.be/OI_GNu8jaSA

All content unless otherwise cited (c) My 3 Girls Photography 2010 - 2016 

small moments

It's a frosty Saturday in March, mid-morning.  The light bends, casting shadows on the countertops and the floors.  I am alone, for a brief time, to attend to household duties.  

I turn on some music to help motivate and move me along.  I hear the melodies as I begin the weekly chores.  The music fills the house.  I head to the kitchen, clean out the coffee cup and make herbal tea.  Still robed and unwashed. 

There are piles.  The ever lasting piles of papers: paperwork, drawings, news, letters, more drawings, artwork, homework...  Sorting the paper, I decide what is most important and what is not.  Then making new piles from the heaps.  The music now takes me back in time.  A familiar tune by The Beatles, soothes the senses from childhood. 

Sorting through the scattered toys.  Making new piles to return to their home bases.  Cleaning out more scraps of paper and picking up the tiny pieces of cuttings to be "filed."  Bundled arms of items, I head to the bedrooms. 

Toys, heaps of dirty laundry strewn throughout.  I begin again.  Sorting and making new piles.  Back down the stairs.  This time, I sip my tea and head down more stairs to start the wash and take up the clean.  I turn the dials and add the soap, the smell is dank, a bit musty and my bare feet are cold against the concrete.  I stuff the front loader full to the brim and press start.  

The music still streams in the background of my thoughts.  I can hear another familiar song that has a rockabilly taste and I sing along.  And I repeat my moves.  I head back up the stairs to begin the cycle ... again. 

All content unless otherwise cited (c) My 3 Girls Photography 2010 - 2016 

Random List About Life

--~ 25 Random Things ... About Me ~--

1. I am a sentimental fool -- I love sentiment, things that touch my heart; those memories and friends/family that I treasure.

2. My husband and I celebrated (quietly) our 22 year anniversary as a couple in January, and our 19th wedding anniversary is next Tuesday.

3. I willfully, joyously love springtime - it's my favorite season of the year.  Flowers, flowers, and more flowers, how I love thee!!

4. I listen to a wide variety of music:  from bluegrass, R&B soul, rock-n-roll, the blues, to classical and jazz -- I *Big Heart* Music!

5. I support public radio stations -- by donating and listening.

6. I once met Joni Mitchell in the New Orleans airport. 

7. My birthday is the 7th of March -- I've always considered 7 to be my lucky number.

8. My husband, Kurt and I were married on the 8th of March -- I've always considered him my good luck charm. 

9. My Kurt asked me to marry him three or four (I forget now) separate times.  He was relentless, thankfully.

10. I married my first husband on the 10th of February. 

11. I escaped from my first marriage a little over a year after our 1st anniversary. 

12. My first marriage was not all in vain (however troubling it was) since we did manage to make one of the greatest kids ever in the history of humankind.  Love you, Chelsea.  You are an amazing woman. 

13. I once worked as a librarian's assistant. 

14. From a very young age, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. 

15. I have never chemically dyed my hair -- I did henna condition my hair once.

16. I was a non-traditional college student, graduating with the top of my class at the ripe, eager age of 37.  Man, I love school and would love to pursue further degrees. 

17. My most favorite recent book I read was Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.  (I consider it a companion and trusted friend - thank you, Liz.)

18. The best concert I ever attended was The Who (1989) during their 25th anniversary tour in Philadelphia just 10 rows from the stage (front and center).  It was downright magical!!  

19. My idol, my hero, my champion is my paternal grandmother, Anna Louise.  I love her with my entire being, and then some. 

20. My grandparents wanted to adopt my sister and I when we lived with them during our tender, early years.

 21. I come from a long line of artists, creative souls.

22. I have had a camera in my hand since the age of 8. (thanks, Mom)

23. I worked in the travel industry for fourteen years (first for Amtrak and then as a corporate travel agent). 

24. I have been practicing sobriety for almost 2 years - April 20 is my official anniversary.  The last drop of alcohol I had was a glass of wine that my father and uncle produced together. 

25. The little girl in the photo above is me.  This was just after my first day of kindergarten, in 1974, while living with my grands in Paoli, Pa., where my Mommom (now 93) still resides.

And one to grow on...

26. One of my many dreams is to publish a children's book.  

Okay ... now your turn!  I'd love for you to share a random list of 5 to 10 things about you.  This was soul nourishing for me - good practice for reflecting on one's own life.  :)   

Cheers and well wishes to you and yours, friends!

P.s. an addendum to note:  I am taking an online course in Brave Blogging with Andrea Scher of Superhero Life and this was the first prompt.  My friends, consider yourselves warned - there's more to come. ;) 

All content unless otherwise cited (c) My 3 Girls Photography 2010 - 2016