Love this! Thanks for sharing it, Gretchen Rubin - Author of the Happiness Project.

"After all, a vacation is not a matter of place or time. We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay at home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for a while. But no amount of travel will give us rest and recreation if we carry our work and worries with us."

- Laura Ingalls Wilder, essay September 1919

Keep a "Light Heart" about Your Work

For several months, I've been following Emily Freeman through her brave and inspiring blog - Chatting at the Sky. It''s also a very pretty online space to visit. Emily is an author and recovering good girl. In fact, her first book, "Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life" is how I first came across her work. Immediately it stuck and since then, I've been reading her daily posts.

For example, today is focused on taking your work too seriously. I do that. We all do, especially when we are all trying to be the best at what we do, and deliver great results over and over again. I am my worst critic. There are times more often than not, that I don't give myself enough credit and I certainly don't give myself a break. There's just too much to do.

But the point of the post is not about being overwhelmed, it's really about being OK with where you are right now with your talent, knowledge, abilities.

Emily writes, "You can't control the outcomes of your work. But if you read too many reviews (or ask for too many opinions) you might start to try.This is bad for everyone involved. Meaningful work flows out of an artist working from acceptance, not a technician working for acceptance.

You can only do the best with what you’ve been given and what you know at the time. Accept your truest identity from the hand of God. And then be honest, remain open, and keep a light heart along the way."

She goes on to ask, "What are some ways you keep a light heart about your work?"

To answer that question:

1 -  Acknowledge truth and the joy of creative expression. (It fuels me but doesn't consume or define me.)

2 - Try not to let the numbers or nitty gritty drive everything. (It's a part of it, but it doesn't overrule my passion or what's inspiring me.) 

3. Know that it's going to be okay regardless. 

4. As a former colleague* would say when things got tough, "It's not rocket science or brain surgery." (It really isn't so accept the imperfections and move on.)
*My former colleague was married to a Rocket Scientist. 

5. Stay fun. Period. 

6. Be grateful that you are you. 

7. It only takes one person to understand what you have to say to make it all worthwhile. Sometimes that one person is you. 

8. Don't compare. It creates heaviness and defeat. 

9. Pull it together and remember what's most important. 

10. Love your work. 

Happy Birthday Z Girls!

And just like that...They turned FIVE.

March: The Month of the Yard Transformation

My Mr. Wonderful and baby girl working on repairing the corner sprinkler
head that has either been ran over or was busted by age. Either way,
we worked together to make sure the yard was well taken care of. 

Every so often in life (pretty much every week for us lately) you are presented with a challenge and it's up to you (and your family and maybe one or two good friends) to rise to the occasion and work hard to make it all happen.

CHALLENGE: Install a new yard within a limited amount of time and make sure all of the sprinklers (the majority of them were broken) are working properly. Oh, and figure out how to even turn on the sprinkler system without watering a sidewalk or a brick wall. 

Since Mr. Wonderul is all about research, first thing was to gather information and pull together a plan of attack based on some bids from different landscaping companies. Did I mention this would all happen with a very limited budget?

So three bids later, we've identified a company that fits what we're looking for and is about double what we want to pay. Nothing unusual for most of us but it's at this point (again, because there's limited time and money) that you begin thinking, have I done enough to make the right decision? Thankfully a lack of money and time will also spring motivation. In this case, we were ready to get this completed and set so we could go back to our regular house projects which up until this point, was very low on the list but I digress...

Without all of the back and forth on price and how much would it be to use these plants here instead of there and let's not do that anymore since we'll try to use existing plants throughout the yard but relocate them so they make more sense in certain spaces.

These are the conversations I never dreamed I'd be having but I am. More to come on the yard transformation...My only little series about our small green space in the world.

Happy yard fixing to anyone who may be doing the same thing out there!

Happy 2013!

ALL you really need to have a HAPPY New Year Celebration.

Yes, that's right. Happy, HAPPY 2013! Good riddance 2012. In Lorelie fashion, I began my New Year surrounded by people I love and with sparklers and using the wedding flutes that the Zabinski's gave Mr. Wonderful and I.

The BeFrie and Mr. BeFrie were in town along with Mr. Wonderful's sister so at the stroke of midnight, we shouted it from the rooftops and wished each other a year of wonderful and a fresh start since 2012 pretty much kicked my butt in so many ways that I couldn't even muster enough words to write about it.

Outback Bowl with Mr. Wonderful, Tori
and our little football fan

Thankfully, I enter into this year with arms wide open and love surrounding me. Even though I didn't care for the last 365 days I still found myself looking back at some of what the family and I were able to accomplish despite the obstacles that surfaced along the way.

Lessons learned...
Hold hands. Celebrate more. Whine less. Be better than that, because you are. Live simply. Be present. Keep your shoulders down. Relax. What comes around goes around. If you're not sure, work harder. Consolidate when you can. Call your mom and brother more. Make popcorn. Listen to music. Play a contact sport. Thursday is the best day of the week. Cheer on great talent and great moments. Be kind. Don't worry. Walk more. Remember right now because it's gone way too fast. No matter what, just love. 

sunday adventures :: Eat Your Miso Soup - It's Yummy!

I love that at a few years old, the baby girl enjoys a hot bowl of Miso Soup as much as I do. The tofu, the seaweed...all of it.

While waiting for soup, she decided to start writing random words out of her little white Bible that has her name on it. She got it when she was dedicated before her first birthday. She's growing up so fast and I love watching her every step of the way.

After a little soup and writing, we made the journey to visit Baby Dyls. And of course, someone was just a little happy to see his big brother, J!

 Me and precious baby Dyls. So sweet and so proud of his momma!

And the adventure continued at Jan's Keg and Cigar Bar where baby girl learned how to feed the fish.

Baby Girl and I Go to the Swamp

Lemonade at the Swamp to help keep us hydrated on what seemed
like the hottest day of the year. Let's Go Gators!

Nothing like THE SWAMP!

Go MIAMI Dolphins! Our day at the Dolphins vs. Raiders game

Hanging on Ft. Lauderdale Beach at the same hotel
that the Oakland Raiders stayed in as they prepped
for their game against the Miami Dolphins.

 It is exactly what you think. The baby girl is wearing an old Dolphins jersey and we are at a game. Dream come true!

The day was extremely hot...At one point the little one turned to me and said, "I thought these pants weren't going to be hot. That's what you said mommy. No long pants!" Soon after, we took off the long pants and proceeded to replace them with shorts which is what she wanted to wear earlier that day.

The two of them worked together to get a pom pom from one of the former cheerleaders who was there to join in on a big reunion.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Marlins game in Miami - Thanks Gaby and team!

Our view for the evening. Marlins win!

Falling in Love with Family Dinner

The other day my fabulous cousin and I were trying to figure out what she could give her sister-in-law for her birthday. (That's one of the reasons my cousin is so fabulous because she is ever so thoughtful and committed to finding the perfect gift for those she loves.) She was perusing the shelves of the bookstore in the cookbook section (reason #2 she's fab) and found Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach.

Fabulous cousin and I in OBX at the local grocery store
we pretty much lived in during our OBX vacation. 

So I must confess...I own a lot of cookbooks. (I'm obsessed with books in general so it's no surprise.) What's interesting about cookbooks is that in no way do I like/love or remotely enjoy cooking food, especially if there's a complicated recipe with more than five ingredients. I just like the idea of it all, looking through books with amazing pictures and  ultimately, eating the food that maybe someone else in my family (Mr. Wonderful) will make me. There are quite a few pages that have been bent back or one of those tiny post it notes are stuck on just in case someone (hint, hint) gets ambitious.

But one night...Something changed.

I decided to take a recipe out of the DALS playbook and make it happen. My recipe of choice - Jenny's Oven "Fried" Chicken. I carefully wrote my grocery list and shopped carefully for the ingredients. The biggest challenge was finding the cornflake crumbs so I did what I do and improvised accordingly with regular cornflakes. How hard could it be to make cornflake crumbs? Smush some flakes and voila! Crumbs. Right?

The recipe required eight items and I really only had to buy three of them. (Marry me, Jenny. Seriously.) The mixing the ingredients wasn't too bad and the cornflake crumbs were probably not as crummy as they were supposed to be but as a result, some delicious, flavorful and good lookin' and (fingers crossed) finger lickin' chicken was coming out of my oven...because of me and my new BFF Jenny.

Two thumbs up from the family and a possible rivalry to Mrs. Publix fried chicken. Always good to find a healthier option to something that I know my family loves to eat every once in awhile. Overall, I thank my lucky stars and you should too that DALS is out there to save any family dinner from becoming bland or boring.