::home::

So many giggles on the drive home as we sang with Johnny Cash and talked about what might come next.

Tomorrow, she heads back to "middle earth" and the true re-entry begins.

Self-care prescription for the week: Rest, nourishing food, walks along Puget Sound with my family, and remembering to connect with my kindreds when I feel lonely or a bit lost.

And what about you? How are you practicing self-care this week?

this week

this week has been full of birthdays (ellie's and mine; jon's was last week) and a visit from my mom and more organizing (to continue to create a house that looks like i feel on the inside) and planning (in august the garage is becoming my studio!) and a few adventures and a first trip to the dentist and a few other things.

i am working on the first post for the Inner Excavate-along that starts Monday (i hope you will join us!) and i might have spent part of this evening decorating my journal cover with a lot of gorgeous washi tape (because...well...why not?). and now, i'm finally editing some of the photos taken this week.

i took a lot of photos during ellie's birthday last sunday. we spread out opening presents throughout the day (and a few spread out throughout the week) to avoid too much overwhelm. it was a good plan for her. right before we had cake, she opened her tea set.

on a whim, i decided to get this one that i had been eyeing for a long time. and she loves it and has played with it everyday since. it has also helped her to sit at the table more, which is awesome for all of us (especially since the table is actually staying "cleanish" right now so meals are being eaten by all of us there).

this photo of her getting ready to reach for the sugar bowl as she's just realized it has a lid simply delights me.

you might also notice that she really loves bows. and she wants to wear a lot of them at once. when she gets up in the morning, the first thing she usually wants is her sparkle shoes followed by her bow(s). though now she is loving to switch between the sparkles and her new lizard converse, which look especially fantastic with her party dress, which must go on her body right away whenever she spots it even if that means over pajamas. 

gosh i adore this kid and the way she moves through and sees the world.

and i guess i just feel really moved to say this in case these are words you need to hear today (i needed to remind myself of them a few minutes ago): it's okay to ask for what you need this weekend. maybe you need to sleep in. or rest. or have a long talk with a friend. or eat a cupcake. or get your hair cut. or take a photo walk. you can even ask you to give you what you need.

blessings and light,

liz

the view from here

writing notes to myself filled with the words i most need to here and hiding them in my journal so i will find them again just when i need them.

working hard on several project launches and giving myself permission to just experience it all as it unfolds.

celebrating the joy that is true collaboration.

dancing with ellie to donna summer on repeat.

sitting on the backporch and watching the rain rain rain come down down down.

anticipating next month's your story retreat and the goodness that awaits.

cleaning up after millie and ellie. a lot.

catching up on the last few weeks of project life (and still loving it).

delighting in the "helping" ellie has been doing lately as she takes one piece of laundry at a time from the laundry room to our bed or her chair in her bedroom.

feeling deep gratitude for our kind babysitter.

noticing the little ways jon is helping in the evenings.

trusting a little more with each breath.

for three minutes

For three minutes today, I stood at the kitchen table wearing my favorite apron, drinking a fizzy cherry coke, and gathering supplies for a new project that I can't wait to begin.

For three minutes, the windows were open and the sun was coming through them and ideas were buzzing about.

For three minutes, I was touching at the edge of getting into a flow while she napped.

Then, suddenly it became clear that she hadn't really fallen asleep and had no plans to.

So everything shifted.

Outside we went for sunshine and ball bouncing and snacking and that fizzy coke spilling all over my favorite apron and a quick change and more snacks and lots of seeing how fast she could run into one of mama's big hugs on repeat.

And really it was all just as it was supposed to be.

An invitation: Give yourself the gift of letting it be just as it's supposed to be today.

here

here: a father and daughter giggle and chatter and dance to music he grew up on while i gather up the pieces of all that will be and choose to trust what i know.

yesterday: waiting between gates 12 and 14, she dances and giggles and bops her head while i sing more than 30 rounds of "old mcdonald" and think about how three generations really can travel across the country together very well as long as there is plenty of apple juice and singing.

the day before: alone in my eagle's nest home away from home, adele sings while i move across the floor with my arms raised and my voice loud and my feet turning in circles until the music until the movement until i rewrite the story i have been playing for much too long and find myself regrounded and renewed.