set me on fire

the light traces the river 's path illuminating an unknown course. 

the plane suddenly shifts from plateau to descent making me sink in a slow motion heartbreak. 

the sun shimmers as though it had never existed on a still drying earth. the blue sky like a sapphire and I stare because although it has been before, it may never again. 

whhhhoa!!!

things that are good:

Panama in one week!

Arizona and New Mexico this week!

clean house, clean laundry!

looking into getting a dog! 

So I changed the site so I could cut back the people that view this to only close friends and family. I LOVE you guys. I would appreciate you not sharing this link with the world via "blogs i follow" or anything like that. shhhhhh. secrets. 

-s

p.s. the idea for "tree ring" labyrinth is supposed to show the self reflective nature of this site...all roads lead to the core...

wiser Michelle manifesto- thx sis.

enjoy the little things 

keep it all in perspective 

BE HONEST with yourself and others 

Be vulnerable 

Learn to say no 

give hugs often 

say I love you, just because Gratitude is the key 

see the positive and let go of the negative (tricky...) 

EXERCISE 

be good to yourself 

READ

Play

Make someone feel like the most important person in the world

Make your kids laugh

SMILE 

Open your mind 

Take on your fears 

Make time for Adventure 

RELAX 

Travel 

Remember your significant other is more than a roommate...  

BE Romantic and spontaneous 

Love with all your heart 

Teach compassion and empathy 

Be Thankful for all the love 

More than anything just enjoy the journey and become better no matter what challenges are thrown your way!

chill. have fun.

Lots of realizations this week. Too personal to blast on the information super highway, but the last few months of healing were merely prep for the major soul searching epiphanies that are happening now. I am going to be SO good. Maybe not for awhile, but it's all going to get better from here. A couple of details of my week- anyone who knows me will understand the revolution that is happening... i went to 2 shows this week. Because I WANTED to...Enjoyed both. Danced all night at one. On a school night. Very small amount of drinking, just mainly good times with friends. 

Things that made me feel good yesterday:

1. Stumbled upon a dodgeball game in the park by my house at 10pm last night with J. It was a scheduled game, with hundreds of Jr. High and High School kids. Amazing. 

2. I received a letter in the mail that looked like a wedding invite. I opened it, annoyed. It turned out to be a very thoughtful and uplifting note from my sis in law. It turned my night around. thanks M. 

3. I realized that for almost a year my dry erase board in my office at work has only had one message on it. I don't know who wrote it, or when, but it makes me smile everyday. (you will probably have to click in it to read- i shot the photo in the wrong format and this dumb layout cuts a third of landscape photos out)

it's all about the moment i am in. and the people that i surround myself with. and it's about letting more of them in. 

time to begin

red shoes. unicorns.

My horoscope for this week:
Scorpio: the three tasks i think you should work on in the coming week are among the hardest any human being can attempt. Luckily you now have an unusually strong aptitude for them and are likely to receive unexpected assistance if you are brave enough to plunge ahead. Here they are: (1) Interrupt and overthrow negative trains of thought right in the middle of their flow through your brain. (2) Negotiate partial solutions to complex problems. In other words, do the half right thing when it is impossible to do the totally right thing. (3)Understand that in order to graduate from a certain batch of weird karma that has persisted, you must accept the situation as it it, acknowledge your role in precipitating and prolonging it, and feel gratitude for all it has taught you.

damn. good advice.

and now: red shoes and unicorns! red shoes, i promise to never throw you away until you fall off my feet.

mambo sun

I may be stating the obvious here. But I am never happier than when I am in sunshine. It warms my skin, and somehow fills up my heart to the top. The smell of sun stays in my hair long into the night. No wonder Seattle and I don't get along most of the year. But spring, wonderful, happy, beautiful spring showed up this weekend and I hope it is here to stay. Even on a Monday with a groggy, slightly hungover head, walking out into the sunlight made me smile and not stop smiling, through conference call after touchbase after conference call. I worked through lunch so I could leave a few minutes early and go lay in the park. i was not the only one with that idea.

Then I took a stroll through the alley near my house, I've photographed this alley before, but it was interesting the different things I was able to see in a different season, with a different viewpoint. I just went through my blog archives and realized I will be celebrating a year of random documentation on 4/23. I made it another year in seattle. Don't let that sun fool you, S. It will leave you with the summer!

oh and the girl with the bicycle- if it makes it less creepy, I actually know her.