4 Rules

DRINK, STEAL, SWEAR & LIE

I met this guy while I was in Albuquerque and he has

a motto he lives by everyday. He said listen carefully and

live by these 4 rules: Drink, Steal, Swear, & Lie.

I was shaking my head 'no', but he then told me to listen

while he explained his four rules. So here they are:

1.. "Drink" from the "everlasting cup" every day.

2.. "Steal" a moment to help someone that

is in worse shape than you are.

3.. "Swear" that you will be a better

person today than yesterday.

4.. And last, but not least, when you "lie" down at night

thank God you live in America and have freedom.

I am not as good as I should be, I am not as good

as I could be. but THANK GOD

I am better than I used to be !

a friend of mine sent this tome so thought it was worth sharing,

letting go

I have been reflecting a great deal lately,
As a parent you have many "firsts & Letting go's". after all that is what being a parent is all about.

when you have the baby you are going through the firsts, your first born, first time the child smiled ( even if it was just gas!) ate solid foods, slept through the night, crawled, walked, transitioned to being a big kid and got potty trained!
then you have the other kind of firsts
first dance, first crush, first heartache etc. then those firsts develop into even more, first time they drive alone, go on a date, graduate and go out in the world. As I have been reflecting this I also thought about "letting go" and firsts really go hand in hand, I began to think of it as an art form. because when your child starts to crawl they do it without your help, when they sleep through the night they are alone, when they take those first steps it is without holding on to you. and all the while you are there encouraging them to do so. that is a parents job. in four days I will be experiencing some new firsts and letting go at the same time.

My son is getting ready to go off to UC Santa Cruz and begin his journey in life. I hope it is the greatest experience for him. we have been gathering all the stuff he will need and it is piling up.
when I look at it I get a bit teary eyed and the realization that my son is leaving the only home he has ever known ( leaving in the sense that he will always have his room but he is flying on his own!) hits me. am I crazy! this is what we have all worked towards him especially, he is excited about it. he has worked so hard and well I want to see him happy, we both seem to going through a bit of separation anxiety ( only his maybe cause his girlfriend is staying here!) I am sure though it is cause this will be a whole new world for him. ( mine of course is cause things
are a changing.) I know we will email, text, talk, of course visit. but now (to me it will be on a different kind of level and I have to admit though my son and I are close I am going to miss him
something I will get used to this year.

I will more than likely be posting my thoughts after I have gone through the experience of it.

the last few weeks it has been about some family and friends seeing him and saying "good bye"
I can't tell you how many times we have both been a bit teary eyed. Good tears though.

up, up, and away

Would you like to ride in a beautiful
balloon? I didn't cause I have an issue with heights but the Saturday of Labor day weekend my hubby and I got up early and went
to the Color of the skies hot air balloon festival,
( one of my nieces did a post about it last year) and I decided that I was going to go and test my new camera out.
This hot air balloon festival benefits Children's Hospital of Central California it is one of many fundraising events that they have in the past few years I have done the Change Bandit program where they have put on a country concert for participants.
The reason this hospital does this is so that they are able to provide high quality comprehensive health care services to children regardless of their ability to pay. a few years ago my daughter had knee surgery there and the staff was so wonderful. I will always support this hospital in some way.

this was the balloon that kicked it all off. what an amazing thing they let you get right up to the balloon we were quite impressed by watching all the work that goes into getting these beautiful flying machines in the air

there were a total of 13 balloons I believe perhaps a few more I took
quite a bit of photos to many to post!





this was one of my favorites
I hope you enjoyed the ride
I know my camera and I did.

Design of Love

"Families are God's design of Love on earth, Each person uniquely created,
pieced and stitched together with different qualities and gifts most of all

with Love."
Lessons taught by our parents(both deceased for many years)but I feel their love and guidance with me everyday along with the spirit of my two older brothers my parents raised and taught us six girls and three boys the importance of family.



My five sisters who are all unique in many different ways, me being the youngest I have learned valuable lessons in life and have been blessed to have a unique and different relationship with each of them, I am close to some than others but love is always there. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family filled with six nieces, three nephews, four great nieces plus one on the way, eight great nephews to many photos to choose and to post on this blog.

Then there is my little family,
my husband , my son, my daughter
filled with love, uniquely created pieced and stitched together with different qualities and gifts but most of all LOVE

The quote at the beginning of this post is something I am truly embracing more in my heart and soul, I am big on my entire family, there is nothing I would not do for them nor would they do for me, whenever one is experiencing discomfort or pain of
any kind we are always there for each other if only to pray, talk, listen, comfort. that is what we do, that is the importance of family, that is the design of love