Anniversary Road Trip

For our wedding anniversary trip,
we were blessed to travel with special friends.

Turlock...stops along the way

Our goal was to introduce our friends the get-along style of
road trips and to my hometown.  Swoosh.

It's Italia in Half Moon Bay

Mr. Lee spying from the men's restroom.

Mr. Todd's turn to peak on us..

We don't wear watches and we don't worry about
schedules.

Sharing time with my oldest and dearest friends.
My extended family includes friends close as siblings.
My brother and I grew up with these girls.
They are family.  My children are growing up
with these special friends, too.

Visiting Half Moon Bay, California is magical.
It is full of tourists now but growing up there was, Mayberry, small
town perfection.  Really, we were poor but we all felt
a sense of abundance. We played freely, walked every where:
to the store, post office, Thrifty's for ice cream, school, beach
and rode the bus to the nearest BIG city alone as kids.
What freedom.

A place so significant in developing my sense of self. 
Feminist ways.
Having a strong mother didn't hurt either.
A place so special it brings emotional gratitude to my heart.

Both my parents and my sister are buried there.

This year has been particularly difficult.
I've spent plenty of time in the therapist office
and even more time on my knees.

President Obama said it in his
convention speech. "There was no
other place to go."  

 Just the ticket for a new perspective.
Alameda Point.

Look closely.  There's San Francisco in the distance.

Something for everyone.

Wish I'd brought these lovlies home.  Bubble bubble. 

Beach

Mustaches all around for road trip home. 

Being Queen

This past weekend the get-along-gang visited my hometown.
Joe started a trend of calling our little group the Queen and
her court.  So glad when my very funny sibling gets it
right.

There is so much show and tell in me but Mr. Lee is
telling me it is time to get in the shower.. Everyone
else is ready.

A whole adventure is planned for today.

Inspiration for today's path:


For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

                                                                        Jeremiah 29:11

Thinking Happy Thoughts

Leadership is based on inspiration,
not domination; on cooperation,
not intimidation. 
                     William Arthur Ward

Just registered for my last...very last class of
of graduate school.

Singing...these are the people in the neighborhood.
In the neighborhood. 

Roadtrip Embroidery Ideas

A little inspiration kick starts creating.

Happy Anniversary

Oh, to be blessed with a happy marriage.
To have peace and comfort.
To raise laughing children.

My love is true.
MORE.

In Love with a Hardworking Man

Seek and ye will find.
Sometimes you don't have to seek.
Sometimes it is about seeing what is in front of you.
Being in the right place at the right time.

Do go to the places that matter to you.
Participate in the activities you love.
Find your passion and your mate may be there, too.

AS has slowed me down significantly.
Still I would not marry a lazy man.

Before we arrived in America, my father was
a dairyman...a farmer.
 We had a little milk can much like the
one below.  Times were hard, but mother
used to say,  we always had milk.
This meant we didn't go to bed with
empty bellies.
This meant we had drinking milk and
could make cheese.   Sugar was a luxury.
If we had water, the ingredients for bread,
coffee, milk for drinking, cheese for eating,
eggs and a bit of vegetables we were good.

Father was a hard worker.  I don't recall him
grumbling about going to work.  It was what
you did even if you hated it.  He always lent
a hand to the neighbors.

Don't pick a man who walks around with
his hands in his pockets. 
His underwear showing.

Longevity in Life and Love

Years ago while trying to sustain an unsustainable marriage,
I started reading mind body connection books.  Once I felt
stable and left the marriage I abandoned the books I was reading.


Today, I started reading When the Body Says No
exploring the stress-disease connection by Gabor Mate, M.D.

A best selling author in Canada but not here.

Many of us live, if not alone, then in emotionally inadequate relationships 
that do not recognize, or honour our deepest needs.  Isolation and stress
affect many who may believe their lives are quite satisfactory. 

                                                                       - Gabor Mate, M.D.


Life is not easy.  Pick a praying man.

Ask your suitor.  Do you pray?
If his answer is,
"I am not religious but I appreciate (or love) that you are."

RUN the way. You need a partner in all you do.
Gone should be the days when only the wife or mother
attends the places of worship.

In truth I am not religious  in the conventional bible thumper way.
In the way people use religion to support their anger and hate.
In the way religion is used to segregate.  The way some priests
used their position of authority to abuse children  or support slavery.


I do have a personal relationship with Christ.
Maybe that is why it is so easy for me
to vocalize things of the spirit. 
I enjoy sincerely enjoy symbols of organized religion.
A Bible is a constant.

Do I wish I attended church more often, yes.
Do I enjoy fellowship, yes.
Do I have friends from all faiths, yes.
Good people can be found as believers and nonbelievers.  
In selecting a partner, I still insist a shared faith is easier.
The more things in common the better for the longevity of  marriage.


Be equally yoked.  The scripture below
was not about marriage but it is useful here.
Great visual of the two oxen yoked together.


2 Corinthians 6:14

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:

for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? 

and what communion hath light with darkness?

If attending church, praying in crisis, or
raising children in a a faith.
Eating vegetarian, voting for the Dems or GOP matters.
Pick a like minded mate.

Vintage tablecloths as art

Mr. Lee from the beginning told me he was a praying man.
He had jealous bones.

He was secure in his manhood and heterosexuality.
He was not homophobia.  In my opinion, men that are are scary.
He had been raised by a strong mother who worked outside of the home.
He would support my perpetual student tendencies.
Most importantly, he understood children come first.

Green olives...yum.

 



The bonus was he enjoyed reading, magazines,
thrifting, art, music, old movies,
and the hunt for vintage 
Oh yes, Joe would want me to tell you, Mr. Lee could
move a big couch. 
And agreed we would care for my mother if the opportunity
arose.  

You know homemakers took care in setting their dinner tables.