Midwest Beauty

 As I mentioned in my Embrace Winter post, I have spent a great many years of my life wishing I lived somewhere else. From the first time I traveled to Hawaii I thought for sure that was the place for me.Then I just KNEW I had to live in Northern California! That was the place for me!

I even tried out a few places in my mind...Costa Rica...Asheville, NC,... Tennessee... the all sounded so great. Anywhere had to be better than the MIDWEST!

When I started shifting my perspective and changing the way I looked at things I suddenly started seeing beauty all around me. Even in my own boring backyard. 

The colors of the sky are of course my absolute favorite . Blue, purple, orange, yellow and pink...oh, it's so divine!

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Waking up early enough to see the full moon shining above as the sun rises is like a precious gift. 

Even the stark and desolate mood of a white landscape has begun to appeal to me. 

It is truly Midwest Beauty. 

I'd love to hear how shifting your perspective has changed things for you. 

Embrace Wnter

I posted this picture on Instagram yesterday and it got me thinking about my Embrace Winter campaign and how it got started. I decided to go back into 2013 and find my original post that I wrote when I was in Inner Alignment Mandalas. This was written for our Winter Harmony series. I hope you enjoy it!

For most of my life I have not been a fan of winter! Even as a kid I was the one who walked a half a block to go sledding and decided it was too cold and I would be better off just going home.

Living in the Midwest where the winters can be brutal, I always felt like a fish out of water and the majority of this unrest happened in the winter months. Of course I never had a problem with it until the holidays ended and true, boring winter set in.

I tried to come up with ways to escape the darkness and the cold by going on vacation to Florida, Hawaii, and California and while that worked for the time I was there, I would inevitably come back and feel even more miserable then when I left!

I would whine and complain about my plight in life. Poor me! How could I stand to be living in this dark, cold, windy, God forsaken place when there were parts of the world that were so warm and beautiful?! I'm surprised my husband didn't want to muzzle me and lock me up until spring.

And then I decided ENOUGH! I had enough of the pity party I was throwing for myself every year. I had enough of the whining and complaining and the constant uneasiness that took over my world for a good portion of the year.

I launched my "Embrace Winter" campaign. It was a small campaign since I was the only person in it but it was the beginning of my attitude shift.

I started using the affirmation, "I embrace winter" every chance I got. I had pictures printed with that phrase on them and posted them up around my house.

I started looking out my window at the beautiful sunsets that could only be seen in the winter months. Because the sun was so low on the horizon the colors were even more vibrant.

I noticed that the same low riding rays of sunshine could reach into my house and warm it up, making it feel warm and cozy.

I gave up trying to eat salads that made me feel icky when it was cold and embraced the Ayurvedic tradition of eating with the seasons. I ate more cooked, warm, heavy foods and I felt so grounded and warmed from the inside.

I drank more tea and took more baths.

I purchased a full length parka, hat, gloves and super warm boots and I bundled up every time I ventured out.

I stopped ruining the autumn months with my negative attitude. While Mother Nature was putting on a beautiful show, I wasn't present enough to notice. I was always going into the future and dreading winter before it even got here.

I started being grateful for everything!

The dreary gray days,

the thousands of geese that swarmed my yard with their noise that was loud enough to wake us up,

the snow on the branches,

 the fog as it froze on the trees,

the laughter of my children as they played in the snow.

I realized that as is everything in life, my disdain for winter was not about what was happening around me, but how I was reacting to it on the INSIDE.

As I shifted my focus I could begin to see things with new eyes.

I noticed the beauty in the stark landscapes.

I saw the patterns the wind left in the snow.

I felt the silence of a blistery winter day.

By changing my thoughts on the INSIDE I opened up a whole new world.

I am happier...

I am more content...

I am grateful...

I have a deeper relationship with myself...

I have lost my yearning to escape where I am...

And it all started with a shift in my thinking.

Embracing My Feminine Side

I'm not much of a girly girl. I never wear dresses, I don't wear much makeup and never wear perfume. I'm not surrounded by floral prints, anything pink, or frilly lace.


As I created my Body Map I began to notice that a lot of the images I was choosing were feminine. Women in glamorous dresses and flowing dresses, tons of flowers, jewelry, crowns, and swirls. The shape of my piece is even curvaceous and flowing giving it a feminine feel.

I realized that I am a bit off balance with my masculine and feminine energy.

One of my spirit actions was to buy myself some flowers for the house. You would think that would be easy but it was far from it. It seemed like such a frivolous purchase, almost a waste of money. Who needs flowers?

Apparently I do, well my soul does. So I went out and got myself some pretty flowers. I didn't even buy the cheap bouquet. I bought the ones that made me the happiest. I put them in a vase on my kitchen table and every time I walk by I smile at them and I breathe in their fragrance and I embrace my feminine side.

What kinds of things do you do to embrace your femininity? Help a tomboy out.

Simple Childhood Pleasures

I've been feeling a bit of spring fever. I want to get out and enjoy nature again. I can remember being a kid when spring came and feeling trapped in school, just wanting to be outside. Even back then I could completely relate to the term spring fever. I got it every year and I still do.

Heading out onto my walk this week I was unable to find much in the way of spring beauty. Most of the trees are still bare and there are few blooming things to be found.

It's funny though, the two things I ended up taking pictures of have a direct link back to my childhood. They brought back such great memories.


I have always had a love affair with willow trees. It's just something about the fluidity of the branches and the way they hang down, swaying in the wind. It always seems like they are doing their own dance.

Standing beneath one and looking up makes me feel like I'm in a waterfall of leaves. I remember going underneath the trees with the really long branches and feeling like I was in a special fort. Who didn't love forts when they were a kid?

I wasn't expecting to have a strong memory of the dried up milkweed pod I found but I guess you just never know what will trigger those darn memories.

I can remember playing in these empty fields behind my parent's restaurants and finding milkweed pods. They were the most interesting shape and they seemed so plump and soft. There was something special about opening up the pod to reveal the fibers and milky center that made my heart skip a beat.

Isn't it great that when you were a kid, it didn't really take much to excite you. In childhood, simple pleasures were all the pleasures we needed.

I have to say that allowing myself some time to be excited about these simple things brought a bit of joy to my adult life.

What were some of your simple, childhood pleasures? I invite you to take a moment out of your busy, adult life to immerse yourself in them once again. Remember what it's like to be a kid again.

Be sure to tell me how it goes.

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Freezing Fog is SO COOL!!! I love, love, love it! What a way to wake up! If you have to live in a winter climate, this is the way to do it. It is so beautiful!

A fuzzy blanket of snow covering everything!

Even spider webs!

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The aftermath of Christmas. Orbeez all over the floor! I'm going to have to have a talk with that darn Santa!!!

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Playing with the kids' Christmas presents. Thumbprint Santa and Reindeer.

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Merry Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful day!

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Merry Christmas for us! A day early! Santa was busy loading up the tree.

The boys are ready to open all their presents!

Here I am sporting my new scarf and opening my Cookie Monster Christmas Ornament my hubby got me to celebrate my big win in the cookie exchange contest. Hee hee.

Papa G (grandpa) got the boys a special gift and Auntie Lynn and Uncle Mark take credit for the awesome mohawk hats!

Here we are with Mimi (grandma) in front of the tree. It was a great day!