News Trend Birthday Roses|Actual

These are my birthday roses.

Now normally, I prefer the simple roses that grow in my garden. Just five or six petals, easy and carefree, they glow in the sunshine and flutter like light-hearted butterflies.

But my birthday roses show me something far more complex. The rows of ruffled petals circle round and round, doubling back on themselves, repeating patterns but never quite the same. Some lie in deep shadow, others fan out into the light. Each petal is different and contributes to the beauty of the overall blossom in its own way. And at the center, a new petal waits, still tightly curled but ready to stretch and grow, adding one more layer of fullness and beauty to the flower.

My birthday roses inspire me to love all the birthdays of my past, and prepare me for an exciting new year to come.

News Trend Wellness Of The Soul|Actual

Eliminating the things you love is not wellness.

Wellness feeds your soul and makes you feel good. -Iman

Here we are, ten days into the new year, and from what I can see, the resolution game is still strong.

Wellness seems to be a hot topic for 2018 resolutions. I'm seeing granola bars and tangerines in my students' family cookie plates and candy dishes, and folks wearing fitbits walking briskly around the neighborhood whom I have never seen before.

And that's good. Diet and exercise matter. I am all for fresh fruit.

But I wonder if there is more to wellness than pulse rates and BMI counts.

To be honest, I'm done beating myself up over the state of my body. I do the best that I can to eat right and exercise, and I am learning to forgive myself for my inevitable imperfections.

I am more concerned with the wellness of my mind and my soul.

Quite by accident, I listened to a podcast yesterday that suggested the following exercise:

Define three things about yourself that have always been true. For a point of reference, look back to who you were in kindergarten, and connect the dots between that person and who you are today.

Here's what I came up with:

1. Visual storyteller

2. Compassionate listener

tiga. Organized doer

The idea is to let those qualities lead you into making decisions about your life. Let them become your own personal North Star, a true and unchanging picture of who you are, and a guide to where you should go. Move in the direction of those parts of yourself; set priorities so that you can not only exercise but grow in these characteristics.

It's been less than 24 hours since I formulated my list but I've already noticed that my head feels clear and more certain. I see which parts of my life connect with this newly defined concept of who I am, and which parts do not. I'm energized to try new things in 2018, confident that I will be able to tell what's good for me, and what's not so good.

To me, this new picture of myself feels like the emotional equivalent of at bite from a fresh, snappy apple. It's only a first step, but my soul feels well indeed

News Trend Look Who's Three!|Actual

Three years have passed since my bouncy baby, Gracie, wiggled her way into this world. Seems strange to realize that she has still lived most of her life without me, but we are changing that with every passing day.

You may recall that Gracie was born in Florida to a litter of eight - four girls and four boys. At a tender age, she and one of her sisters flew across the country to Oregon, where they settled into life with four other dogs and their mistress on a horse farm outside Portland. In many ways, life there was idyllic - and I know that because I've see the photos - but Gracie longed for more human companionship. So after about a year, she was sent off to live as the one-and-only dog of a man in the Seattle suburbs. Sadly, last summer he was diagnosed with cancer, and through a series of serendipitous connections, Gracie found her way to us.

To me.

My fourth-born sent me this photo when I was away in South Korea for two weeks this fall. For all her blind devotion to me, Gracie thrived while I was gone and I'm proud of her resiliency.

I didn't think I was ready for a new pup. My heart was still wrapped up in the lovely life I shared with my good dog, Ranger; still fragile from fighting the long shadows of death as they had slowly crept up and overtaken him.

Still, I knew right away Gracie was meant to be mine. You should have seen her the first time she came into our house. Wanting to see how she would respond, I allowed her to nose through the front door, pulled off her leash, and turned her loose to explore. She sailed though every room in the house, upstairs and down, exploring every corner, her tail on maximum wag. Happy and excited, she bubbled with enthusiasm and joy.

I do love me a high-energy dog.

My favorite (so far) photo of my dog on the run at Kalaloch Beach.

A few fun facts about dates:

Gracie came to us on July 9, 2017. Exactly eight days after Ranger's birthday on July 1.

And her birthday today, on January 12, is exactly eight days before the day that Ranger died, January 20, 2017.

You may call that coincidence, but I see those numbers as a lovely trail of bread crumbs laid out by God to remind me that life leads to death leads to life.

Taken on our walk today, just after we passed the girls.

Every day with my girl, Gracie, is an adventure in high spirits and infinite spunk. Here is a birthday story that shows exactly what I mean.

We were out on our walk this afternoon as the last light of day was fading from the sky. A damp drizzle fell quietly upon us as we strolled along the deserted sidewalks. Unfazed by the gloom, Gracie bounded up the drive from the high school practice fields, through the perimeter fence, and sprinted up the slope to see if there was any action on the soccer field today.

It's been months since she was rewarded with the sight of humans kicking a ball around but she is an eternally optimistic girl.

I noticed two high school girls walking along the lane toward us, both wearing bulky backpacks and carrying clarinet cases.

I watched them watch my dog putting on her little show, and even in the almost-dark, I saw smiles on their faces.

In a flash, Gracie realized the field was empty yet again, and giving up on that pursuit, came barreling back toward me. As she circled around, she finally noticed the two girls coming toward us, and in her usual instinctive way, she froze in her tracks to observe the girls. Wagging her whole body from her shoulders to the tip of her tail, Gracie beamed at them, radiating happiness and delight

The girls noticed the effect. One of them called, "I love your dog!"

As we walked past each other, I added, "And I can see she loves you, too."

In the darkness, I once again saw their faces light up with smiles.

This is why I celebrate every day with Gracie, and I look forward to seeing what happens in her fourth year of life!

News Trend Life Changing|Actual

Can $18 change your life? Yes. The answer is yes.

Unscrew the lid and breathe in.

Peppermint

Grapeseed oil.

The fragrance is fresh and light and natural.

Smells like clean.

Pour some out into your hand.

Pleasingly silky and smooth.

Rich and just the right amount of thick.

Spread it in your hair.

Feel your scalp tingle

Gently rub it through your hair.

You can almost hear your hair saying, "Ahhhh. Thank you."

Rinse it out and towel dry.

Feel the comb slide through tangle free hair

Look in the mirror and notice an immediate difference.

Know that your life has changed.

* * * * *

Look, I like a good beauty product as much as the next girl. But I'm quite lazy about seeking them out.

You know, it's easy enough to select the first thing that jumps out at me in the Target aisles or more likely, buy whatever my daughters are using. But every now and then, I realize that there has got to be a better alternative to my current shampoo and actually do some research to sort out my current hair dilemma:

Dry, listless locks.

A decided lack of previously springy curls

An itchy, burning rash on any part of my skin that my current shampoo and conditioner touch.

It took me many months to get here but it finally dawned on me that I needed something different.

This realization led me on a happy Google search that has blown my mind.

My hair doesn't need shampoo at all.

What it needs, apparently, is DevaCurl No Poo-Zero Lather Cleansing Conditioner.

And now that my hair is smooth and soft and happy again, it is no stretch at all to say that my life has truly changed.

News Trend Clean Sleep|Actual

Clean sleep.

To me, that means

sleep that is refreshing and satisfying.

Sleep that fits the natural rhythms of my body

sleep that keeps me in tune with the rest of the world

sleep that feels good.

Now I've been a delayed sleep phase sleeper since I was a toddler, so I'm always struggling to maintain healthy sleep habits. But in the past few weeks, that goal has been even more elusive than usual. So I'm experimenting with some changes.

1. Clutter-free nightstand

No artsy stacks of books,

no vases of flowers,

no glasses of water perched on cute coasters.

By sweeping this surface clean of clutter - even pretty clutter - my mind feels equally clean and clear as I prepare to sleep.

Dua. Electronics-free sleep zone

On the best of nights, my phone used to sleep on my nightstand; worse and more often under my pillow. And while the scientific jury is still out on exactly how our devices impact our sleep, Iknow for a fact that my phone exerts a constant if subtle pressure on me to check in what's happening in the world.  I don't need that distraction, so my phone and his charger have been moved on the other side of the room.

3. Old school alarm clock

Yes, my phone has indeed served me very well as a handy alarm clock, but that is a technology rabbit hole into which I will no longer fall. A simple clock with a straightforward alarm suits my purposes perfectly well and my phone can mind his own business.

4. Diffuser at the ready

Eucalyptus-infused air rushes me off to dreamland and soothes my breathing - I've long known that. So rather than house this amazing machine across the room, I've brought him right alongside my bed.

Lima amazon

diffuser

* * * * *

Will any of these changes make the critical difference of getting me some clean sleep?  I can't say for sure. But the simple act of making these changes gives me a calm confidence that anything is possible, and that is a wonderful first step.

clock | amazon

diffuser | amazon

eucalyptus oil | amazon

pillowcase | amazon

News Trend Gracie's Good News|Actual

Great news!

Gracie has lost all her extra weight!

At her six-month check-up with her vet, she weighed in at 81 pounds, down from 99 pounds when we adopted her last July, and was thereby pronounced fit and fabulous.

We promptly celebrated with a post-appointment walk in the rain which allowed a perfect photo op for capturing the svelte new body underneath her shaggy coat.

She's still working on her 'smizing.'

Now Gracie is still a big dog. No slender slip of a thing, as many female Irish are, my girl is steady and strong, broad in the beam, and surprisingly tall.

And all these weeks of dieting have taught me one thing; Gracie loves to eat. It will be a life-long challenge to keep her away from the sweets and savories that she so craves.

But now that we have overcome this first and fairly forbidding fitness obstacle, we can handle whatever comes next.

And for Gracie and me, that is very good news.

News Trend Madame Spring|Actual

Chill winds tore through my sweater and whipped raindrops against my face as I dashed down the sidewalk toward the entrance of the grocery store. Wheeling around the last corner, I looked up just in time to see a glorious display of primrose.

How cruel, I lamented, to set those poor plants outside on a day like this.

And how cruel, my thoughts echoed, to tempt us poor mortals with the idea that spring is just around the corner. We still have many dark and dreary weeks of winter to go.

In spite of my dismay, I dug deep into my rain-splattered purse to pull out my phone and snap a few shots of this discordant beauty before the flowers all froze to death.

The photo shoot only took a few seconds,but as I was finishing, a woman stopped next to me.

She saw what I was doing, paused just a heartbeat, and laughed.

"Oh, they're so lovely!"

"And only a dollar forty-seven each? I want some!"

We smiled at one another as she sailed on into the store.

I could tell you about her face, just beginning to show the deepening beauty of the decades, glowing and generous and gentle.

I could try to describe the lilting melody of her voice, delighted by her find and touched with the trace of an Eastern European accent.

But all you need to know is that in this brief encounter, I felt hope and courage rise up in me as if the warming winds of the new season had already begun to breathe against the land.

And I wondered if I hadn't met Madame Spring herself, just outside the entrance to my grocery store.