Sock Monkeys and the Oregon Coast!

Ok I love older toys...they have such character and imagination but two of my FAVORITES are Sock Monkeys and Potato Heads! I love love love Potato Heads and actually have a vast collection (U of O Duck, Elvis, R2D2, Rangers Baseball, TrailBlazers basketball...plus a fireman, ghost, princess, chef and many many others!) and I love the Sock Monkey..he or she always has beautiful red lips and a smile...I have yet to collect any but they just make me happy!

SOOOO one of my FAVORITE places ever is in Yachats Oregon...best little city on the Oregon Beach...go to http://www.thevillagebean.com and drool! They have the best coffee, homemade cookies, lemonade ohh and the staff...lovely, bubbly and so welcoming! Our family either lives in Yachats full time, part time plus a beach house and the star attraction is walking up the street to the Village Bean most mornings and a afternoon snack..and OHHH the unique display (and for sale) items captivate me..ok I always leave with SOMETHING! And this last visit I left with a Sock Monkey Coffee Cozy! These are soo adorable!! So Since I leave for San Fran next Friday this will be a one week Give Away !

Leave a blog comment with your name and email for 1 entry...share this blog on your Facebook for a 2nd entry (leave comment and just say SHARED!)

And for a 3rd entry share it on your blog or twitter! (again leave a SHARED comment!)

And stop by The Village Bean this summer and love love love their Facebook page too! (Be ready to DROOL!)

MONDAY...Oh wait...TUESDAY!!

I lost a day..but it was a wonderful day spent having breakfast with my Dad and Gayle and driving thru Seattle on my way home...Sometimes without the music on and just looking around at all that surrounded me. The drive home always seems to go so fast and getting there always takes so long. Maybe it is the excitement to see everyone and enjoy the island....

But I am HOME and just in time to announce the winner of the Lee Farms blog....TRISH! You

just must stop at the Farm and see all the goodies and smell all the delightful planters (Oh and they have 2 HUGE dogs be sure to say HI!)

I have 10 days until I am on a plane headed to San Fransisco and am so excited to be spending time in a city I loved to visit as a little girl. I love seafood, chinese food, San Fransisco Park..The GIANTS (oh did I mention I am going to a GAME!) and finally FINALLY I am going to Alcatraz..it really has been a dream of mine..wonder if Sean Connery is hanging around with Nicolas Cage..I Love The Rock or Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz...hmm

I will spend my birthday and the 4th of July where I was born as a Bay Area baby!
New give away this week before I go that is SOOO fun and adorable!

Lee Farms GiveAway

Ok so my last give away is a week past due..been a little busy!!

The winner is...Heidi ! Of Tried and True Cooking with Heidi (some delish recipes..check out her blog!)

nd this weeks give away is from a new place I discovered after passing it many many times..Lee Farms in Tualatin OR...what a wonderful wonderful place with fresh baked goods, hanging baskets and fun rides for the kids and ohhh they have goats!
www.leefarmsoregon.com
Homemade cider donuts, apple butter, honey, fresh fruit and veggies!! So I picked out some small gifts to share...2 magnets Live Love Laugh and Dream (2 of my favorite sayings) and 4 honey flavored sticks (cinnamon, coconut, green apple and a suprise flavor!)
Leave a comment with your email and earn a extra entry by sharing this link on your blog or Facebook

Celebrating...LISA ROSE

I spent last weekend putting together a graduation party for my neice who graduated from the University of Oregon! I am so proud of her and her preserverance to complete college. Lisa has a special soul..she is gentle and kind with a heart of pure gold. She wants peace and kindness, gentleness and goodness for all and she has a love for animals and children that is amazing.
When the kids were young you would often find Lisa and Cory reading Harry Potter adventures or Lisa watching over the younger kids and helping them with toys. If one of the kids were sad or hurt she was at their side comforting them. The small ones would go to her to listen to a story or watch her draw a picture. She is patient, quiet and kind..
Life hasn't always been fair or easy but she has taken many things with stride and continued on with spirit and determination. I am proud of her not only for completing college but for becoming such a beautiful and amazing young woman that is smart, talented, loving and has a beautiful soul....
Lisa thank you for always being you and I am so proud of you and love you...thank you for being my neice

Its been a wet wet Spring!

I love the rain..i really really do...but I also know that Summer will come SOMETIME...but this year I have my doubts on how much Summer we Oregonians will have! We set records all year so far for the most days of rain, the most inches of snow late in the season, the most rain in 30 days..in a 24 hr hour period...the list goes on and on! But as I walked up my sidewalk last night I stopped...my roses are in bloom and so colorful..

I realized I was being impatient and for this I must take a deep breath...hold faith and realize all that liquid sunshine is purposeful...my flowers are blooming, the trees and grass are SO green this year and I am in no big hurry for skyrocketing electrical bills sans the AC once it is needed..so the Sun will come eventually...and just remember the cool wet Spring in August when I am frustrated with 95+ degrees and the electric bill has arrived...Just breath and slow down...dont rush and look for the positive in what we have...

Wilsonville Arts Festival

What a beautiful day in this some what of a WET State I live in...FINALLY above 80 degress and I took full advantage!

www.wilsonvillearts.org

I walked and walked the booths and tried to find something to share...so here is is...A black cord necklace with tourquoise and clear glass beads on a green wrap metal cord. I loved it! It was handmade by Four Cedars Studio in Eatonville, WA

So next week on Thursday I will pick on lucky viewer! So make sure to leave a comment with your email address!!

Good Luck

Drive...just Drive

The one thing I LOVE about Oregon is I can go from the ocean (coast) to the mountians to the desert in one day...OK a long drive but it can be done!

While on my recent trip I found myself so facinated by the different terrain and the change in weather and the trees and landscaping....I felt I could drive..just drive for hours..ok I did!

This was a drive to remember and find the lost pieces but to also take in all that surrounds me and the beauty of my journey.

I experienced memories and feeling of the sorrow and mourning of losing Bill, the pain and anguish of a divorce and DV relationship...yet the birth of my children, the gift of beautiful friendships and relationships, my strength and belief in God and the true future that lays ahead of me so full of new beginnings was overwhelming...yet I never want to forget where I have been or what I have gone thru. I found it was time to release the pain and feelings of being trapped in sorrow and fear....I needed to start living! The one true jem that Bill left me was my strength and my goodness..he believed in me..and I was beginning to believe in me.

Pain and fear have a great hold on us...yet they limit us and stunt us in growth...I miss Bill every day with all my heart and soul but I cherish all he gave to me and stood by me. We made me promise to never stop living, laughing or being me..somehow that has been set aside as I have grieved and filled with sorrow. We had many talked on my trek across Oregon and I listened to that talk of how he admired me and was amazed at all I had given him and how he had never been "in love" until he met me...Steph...it is time to LOVE you..time to take all you know and all you are and live...this is a journey..

Ohhh look for a Giveaway on Monday! I am attending the Festival of Art this weekend and will find a goodie to share!

In this Little House

This was the house that a community helped build a home...We moved to this little house on a very cold October 20th, 1989 with a wee baby of 5 months. I fell in love with its homemade craftsman style. You could sit on the hardwood floors or stare at the glass door knobs and know it was crafted with local wood and love. The house was built by a mill worker and he was very talented! I loved the space and wood..I hated the no insulation and having to go to the basement to feed the monster wood burner (a coal converted furnace)..but would I ever understand the impact that this house had for 10 yrs and even now 22 yrs later as I returned.

This house reminded me of my time in Harney County. The community and my friends provided wonderful support and structure..they were my base and the reason I fell in love with this area. Yet my marriage was like the unfunctioning furnance and cold without insulation. As warm and cozy as my house looked from the street it was cold inside. One wall has magnificient old glass bricks...you could see the warm sunlite shine thru but you couldnt see the messy house, unfolded laundry, me in my PJs at 2pm or the tears that ran down my face.

I had a wonderful weekend meeting with friends and smiling, laughing, hugging and talking..so much to share! I missed them all so dearly..they warmed my heart and made me smile. They reminded me of the fun and good times, the times where I loved life and loved being a part of this community. I wanted to put 36 hours into one day and stretch out my 3 day weekend into longer. I wanted to hear their voices and laughter over and over...I want them to know how much I dearly miss them and how much I love them for all they have given to me and how I never stopped missing or thinking of them...and how I will never go 12 plus years again without knowing how their week went, what their kids are doing..or how they are doing...Life is too Short and people do grow a part because we get too busy or forget to check in or move away..but isnt there people you just miss so dearly and wonder how they are...After this weekend it reminds me to slow down and take the time because my friends are worth it..people are worth it

I woke up this morning..opened my window and missed the smell of juniper and listening to the wind..and I miss the sound of laughter..until next time I said..just until next time

10 Thoughts on Whole Living

10 Thoughts on Whole Living:

1) Rather than trying to fix your body, focus on how you want it to feel

2) The mark of true confidence is the ability to look someone in the eye!

3) Let the Seasons Guide your diet..the Earth grows what you need when you need it

4) Respect your feet. They have mastered the art of staying grounded while moving forward

5) Take charge of your own reflection. Stop letting the mirror win

6) Enlightenment doesn't always make a grand entrance. It slowly transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary

7) Change happens somehwere between the acceptance of now and the anticipation of whats to come

8) Dont obsess over weight loss, wellness is about making your life bigger, not smaller

9) Suprise yourself, push past your physical limits

10) Nothing connects you to who you are quite like the people who knew you when!

By Terri Trespicio

As I read and re-read this all morning out of my Whole Living magazine I realized these are some of the most powerful and true statements I can apply to my journey! Oh and #4 definately supports a pedicure this weekend!

Going Home

Most people consider going home the city in which they were born or raised..I consider going home to the place I started my family and grew roots..I remember the first day I went into the local grocery store..lost and looking like I was a traveler stopping for supplies on my desert hike. The checker smiles and asks where I am headed to..I replied "Here..we just moved here last night"..HERE she said loudly..."WHY do you have family here?"
You see I had just moved to a very small population yet HUGE land mass of a county 131 miles from any other city..Harney County, OR ..more precise.. Burns, Oregon (look it up on a map..you will see!) I said "No my husband transferred with NAPA and we have a small baby"..still looking puzzled she said "OH"
Yet
In this small community I began to grow roots...I raised my child, had a second baby, found a church, a group of friends..and began to realize family isn't always by blood or marriage yet by relationships. My first experience of living in such a community came within 6 mo. of living there, my baby became very ill and Lifeflight was on standby..I remember feeling so alone with family over 5 hours away..I called the minister of the small church we had been attending, that Saturday night, to ask him to put Cory and I on the prayer list..I need as much as we could get! He did more than that..John and Ruth showed up after services the next day and every day after for a week, the congregation brought meals, Grandma Linda and Desi came and held him so I could go home and shower, Elmer and his wife brought a beautiful blanket and prayed with me..the list goes on...and I felt safe..I felt home.
I was apart of the community and volunteered, was a part of the MOMS club, went to football games, all church happenings, supported the schools and worked in the community. We built a family of beautiful friends that were there for good or bad. We had a church that would envelope you in their love and God spirit and I fell in love with each of them. My kids played in the street, down the road, at neighbors and had wonderful Pseudo-Grandparents who my own birth family cherished as they knew their importance in our lives. I had friends that were more like sister that I couldn't breathe without on certain days. We attended weddings, funerals, parties, baby showers, Popsicles in the sun, tears over coffee and dinners when one of us were sick or needed a break.
One Spring I left quickly..into the late afternoon.. with the sun setting I drove out of town..a divorce pending, secrets of a marriage I couldn't share, fearful days and night being left so I could feel safe...and the sickness in my heart of stomach of leaving my home...my family..my community.
How often I would think of moving back..of feeling safe..of my children running in the streets safely laughing with their friends..of growing older with my friends...I had created new friends and was a part of a new community...but somehow over time I have realized I still will always have a part of my heart in Harney County..

And I am going back to visit in 2 weeks..not just a drive thru but a 3 day visit..and I feel like I am going home