ick.

Remember this post from march?
Well I'm back to waking up with that face. Hopefully it passes faster than last time. 

And to all of you...
drink lots of water and vitamin C.
I don't want to see you with pictures like this!

Stay well!

so sweet.

These are engagement pictures. Don't you think they are adorable? I do.

spotted via Unruly Things

Good night nurse....

... it's been a long time!

I know.

It's been a weird

packed

unusually lonely

but all the same

very busy few weeks.

I miss you blog people.




Going camping with Olivia and my aunt, uncle and cousin this weekend.




Can't wait!!



Will be back to update this sucker Monday. Hope you all have a fabulous Weekend.


**pictures of Cascadia State Park where we are camping. Found at Flickr... pics link to source.

peace.

I took a couple pictures while I took a walk this morning.

(side note)
at 10am it was already 75 outside... as I type this at noon its 80 and It's
going to be over 100 today. We don't get that kind of heat often in
Portland!!

It was beautiful. And I didn't listen to music like i normally do. I just walked and looked and listened to the neighborhood and the thoughts in my head.



I've been learning a lot over the past year.

It feels good to...

"let go" and just "be."



My brother visited a couple nights ago and we sat talking on the back deck. We talked about what we are learning now... what we are embracing and maybe what we are having a hard time embracing.


Here is one of the things I have learned
(and still learning.)
The thing I am so happy to embrace.



Slowing Down




"...we carry our home with us wherever we go. Even as we move into the depths of emotional waters, we can remain self-contained and free from attachments....
There is no need to do anything but rest in the fullness of who you are right now. If desires and hopes and dreams are fading away, so much the better. Their disappearance is making space for a new quality of stillness and acceptance of what is, and you are able to welcome this development in a way you have never been able to before. Savor this quality of slowing down, of coming to rest and recognizing you are already home."

i want a road trip...

...and i don't care where to.
But i want to take off in this.


My parents had a red VW bus like this.
SO sad
I didn't appreciate it the way I would now!


And all that reminded me of when i found this...

via frolic.

Ewan Mcgregor's restored VW Van with plaid curtains.
Great! right?


Anyone have any road trips planned this month?

Relaxed.

Today was such a peaceful day.

Oh...

and as you can see


SUNNY!


ahhhh.....

special moments.

There are special moments in time.


Moments that remind you that you have everything you need.


Moments that make the shadowed times feel brighter.





Lulu and I went to the park Monday.

And she was one of those moments.





She is almost

Always

those moments.





I love you my sweet daughter. More than anything in the whole world.

momma.

olivia and i are beside ourselves!!

my mom...

...arrives T O D A Y and i haven't seen her for 9 months!



WHAT?!




yep 9. whole. months.

Don't even get me started about how long it's been since i've seen my dad, sis & bro in law.


BUT!!!....


taking baby steps
cause today is mom day! YAY!!!!!

or "yaya" day if you're Lu.


ps. hope all you lovely lady's had a special mom's day. Mine was lovely.

*pic above is my mom and dad. Aren't they so cute... and still in love too. *smile*

*sigh*

if I could have just 20 minutes alone in this room I think everything would heal itself.



ok



maybe i'd need the whole weekend....

but still...

it's fabulous right.

(see the sail boats outside the window?)

this week's stuff.

Parking stuff.
I did not realize that meeter maids had super powers. Seriously i was in and out in 5 minutes and got back to my car with no sign of life but a $40 parking ticket. (yes... $40.)
Are they invisible or just Really Really fast?



Life stuff.
Missing my family more than i have the capability to express in words.
(I was not gifted with story telling like my mom and sister. So I take pictures.)



Job stuff.
Freelance work and job hunting. Keeping busy on my portfolio so I can keep up with the ABUNDANCE of other Portland graphic design job hunters.



Nourishment stuff.
Grocery shopping. LOVE TO COOK.
HATE, Hate, HHHAAATTTEE grocery shopping.



Money stuff.
Paying bills that I wish I had the guts to flush down the toilet.


Which lead me to remember the days I had lots of that
cash stuff
and spent it like I was flushing it down the toilet.
So glad I have learned that lesson (among others)... and SO looking forward to my 30's...
I'm a much wiser Rachel now!



Kid stuff.
Picked sick Lu up from school early yesterday.
Night consisted of up-chucking kiddo,
then laundry (of coarse),
cuddling with kiddo,
and list making in hopes of catching up on things today.




Which reminds me...
clean toilet.



Knitting stuff.
It's slow going but happy to have progress on my current project.




Store stuff.
Updating my store with some hats very soon. One of my favorite things about living in Oregon... I get to stretch out my hat and scarf wearing till June and then swap them to evening camping attire till fall hits. It's the little things.




Dream stuff.
Trying to remember to keep my dreams big. To not let myself get discouraged.


"go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
live the life you have imagined."
- henry david thoreau

This is my favorite quote that I keep on my resume, refrigerator, computer desk....

...better add it to my bathroom.

dance. It's not a choice. GO DANCE.

Sometimes i have to remember to dance.

lesson:

The best time to dance is when you don't want to. When, for a few moments (or days) things get blurry and and you can't see yourself the way those that love you do.

when you think,

"there is no way on God's green freaking earth that i have any good reason to shake this ass.
All i want to do is dig a giant hole and climb in and fall asleep for a few days."

BUT

life has to go on and you can't leave dirty dishes in the sink any longer.
So if this is going to happen...
the cleaning...
the life going on....

it's GOING to happen with music.

so

you put on the music.
you start to hum along.
you start to bounce.
you are now distracted enough from whatever it is that SUCKED earlier.

and now your dancing.
the real kind.
the kind that makes you smile and laugh.
the kind that helps you remember that life is good.
My kid is fabulous.
And everything is going to be

OK.

kitchen dancing.

back in focus.

the end.

poor bubbles.

i felt like bubbles tank looks today.

but then the sun came out...

and i cleaned the tank...

...so, now i'm feeling not so murky.

and no gold fish harmed due to dirty poo water.

holy mother of giant giraffe toes!

What the hell happened to me last night?

I'll tell you.

I took a shower.

went to bed with wet hair. (yep, i have curly hair y'all)

and slept like C R A P.



So now this is what I look like.

F
O
R
E
V
E
R
?

God I hope not!

smile search.

So i'm having a bit of a gloomy day. Not a ton of smiles rolling off the old face today, as you can see.



But when I came across mistybliss's picture of her daughter on flickr it cracked my grumpy mug. Thought I'd share... in case you needed a slap in the face smile too.

Originally uploaded by mistybliss

Happy Tuesday.


Happy spring break, if that's your thing this week.... it is for my Lu.


Happy knitting if you're in to that. I've been working on an oldie but a goodie the past few days.


Happy snapping if that tickles your pickle.


Happy crafting if that's what floats your boat.


ta ta

ugh.

I thought I was doing better. I mean yesterday was 10X better than Tuesday. But I was wrong. Today my nose, head, eyes, and even my jaw HATE me! See the wrinkles in my forehead... I'm in pain! And for the record Tylenol... you suck. Your "Sinus Pain" version does nothing to ease my agony.

****whine*****

OK. enough of that.

Here is the red scarf I was talking about yesterday. It's also cascade 220. I think it's going to add a nice cheery pop to my wardrobe. So even if I am not cheery and I feel like ripping my head off... no one will know because I will have on a red beautiful cheerful scarf that says... hey, look... life is great and I love my nose and head and eyes and.... who am I kidding? You'll still know. Because I'll be the crazy lady in the grocery isle with the fabulous red scarf on flipping herself off.