French la Vie

Family Name

When I was married I decided to keep my family's name. I could never understand why anyone had to give up their name unless they wanted to, and I certainly did not. I have four brothers and they all kept their name, the guys never have to think about that. Yann was completely okay with me keeping my name, in fact, he too felt like I did, "why would you give up your name?"

Chelsea and Sacha took Yann's last name. As it was a family name already hyphenated I did not want to add a third name.  

 

 

"Amaro"

Ocean Eyes

ocean eyes

Billie Eilish

 

I've been watching you
For some time
Can't stop staring
At those oceans eyes
Burning cities
And napalm skies
Fifteen flares inside those ocean eyes
Your ocean eyes

No fair
You really know how to make me cry
When you gimme those ocean eyes
I'm scared
I've never fallen from quite this high
Falling into your ocean eyes
Those ocean eyes

I've been walking through
A world gone blind
Can't stop thinking of your diamond mind
Careful creature
Made friends with time
He left her lonely with a diamond mind
And those ocean eyes

 

 

On my way home. Thank you for your many many emails and messages of hope, love wishes, energy-giving and prayers my family and I have felt them and appreciate the outpouring of kindness.

 

Also, some of you asked if I could elaborate on any of the "sixty-two blog post" of course I can let me know which one(s) and I will fill in the mystery.

 

 

Imagine All Good Things

 

 

“Everything you can imagine is real.”
― Pablo Picasso

Sixty-Two

 

 

Sixty-two things I have done in my life in no order because my storytelling mind doesn't work that way:

1 lived on a farm

2 went crabbing

3 Danced two twenty-four hours dance marathons

4 -5 Worked in an ice cream parlor and got fired for being "a dirty Portugee" said the boss to me.

6 became a mother of two

7 -8 married a French Man and moved to France, first Paris and then Provence.

9 grew up in a large loving family

10 lived in a monastery

11 became a vegetarian when I was 18

12 sang out of tune

13 cheated a lot in cards

14 dealt with ovarian cancer

15 hiked the Grand Canyon

16 caught butterflies

17 fasted for nine days

18 had a butch haircut

19 as a child and teenager too, in the still of the night, when everyone was asleep I would open my Christmas gifts before Christmas and then rewrapped them.

20 bloomed late

21 had mice cleopatra and mark anthony, they had babies

22 accidentally got drunk as a kid from spiked punch

23 walked part of the Great Wall in China with a severely sprained ankle

24 became a grandmother 

25 made cinnamon buns for fifty or more people without a recipe.

26 missed a plane to Greece while eating Pizza with my cousin

27 posted a blog every day for fifteen years

28 rode a motorcycle with my husband for three weeks with just two sets of clothes.

29-30 had a C-section and then a natural birth

31 did the Chinese splits

32 witness four births not counting my own

33 dance without a routine with a marching band on a football field 

34 stayed up sixty-some hours

35 made dinner for dinner guests dropped it and called for Pizza

36 taught catechism when I was fourteen

37 shattered my wrist while wallpapering

38 was a matchmaker three times

39 read Les Miserables throughout Paris 

40 learned French

41 laughed until it hurt

42 fell asleep at the wheel and didn't crash

43 crashed on a motorcycle 

44 entered a pie-eating contest what a mess

45 loved

46 became a French Citizen 

47 entered a long hair contest

48 skinny-dipped

49 Snuck into a movie with my dad and Chelsea 

50 lived in a haunted house

51 took ballroom dancing, don't remember much

52 sat in a full lotus yoga posture for hours on end

53 has always been my favorite number oh that is not something I have done, so I can say I have been sidetracked.

54 held the ancestry family book while in the azores that dated from the 1500s with the names and birthdates of our family

55 while driving on the freeway hit a herd of boars

56 sunbathed on a roof while at the monastery

57 was in a choir in school though I cannot sing

58 planted a garden, had tomatoes until December

59 jumped off the high dive with three massive inner tubes

60 climbed to the top of saint peter's and celebrated mass in saint peter's basement

61 met Mother Teresa

62 looked deeply into the eyes of those I have loved.

 

Tell me about yourself...

 

Love Always

Here Within Me

You have been mine and you will never leave.

Even if the ground shifts as it feels like it has,

Even if you go faraway like dad you will be here within me.

 

A Tiny Splash

 

We can be delicate and strong,

We can be sad and share joy,

We can have today and live it by moment by moment and yet yearn for tomorrow and the next day too.

We can have nothing to say and yet want to scream and remain silent.

We can feel the sun on our faces and feel the rainstorm running down on our cheeks.

We can be hungry and not want to eat, and eat and still feel hungry.

We can waste so much time on so many unimportant things and yet guard what is important with our lives especially when it comes to the edge.

We can be many things, hold many things, love many things and want more and wonder how and why it goes so fast. The thing is we have more than most and still think it is not enough.

We can question God, our faith, life and shake our heads and call it unfair and beautiful and realize we are just one beautiful drop in the bucket, and glad to have made a tiny splash.

 

Image found here

Gabriel

 

 It has been eleven days that Gabriel has not been feeling well. Today his fever broke. We have held him around the clock xxxx Hopefully, tomorrow he will be closer to his happier self. 

Faith

 

Holding on to everything I believe is true, beautiful and holy.

 

Comments on my Blog

Regarding the comments on my blog, for some time now many of you have said that you cannot leave comments as the comment section does not open, or /nor can you see the comments, and I don’t know what to do I have talk to my platform server. They have said maybe to try a different browser and or use a different subscription to receive my blog. Please try it on your phone or your laptop and computer let me know if any of these things changed the results of seeing or writing comments that’s what they have asked me to tell you. 
Hopefully, this can be resolved. I appreciate every comment and email. 
Thank you

Miracles

Miracles happen every day, change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you.     

Jon Bon Jovi

 

 

Out of difficulties grow miracles.

Jean De La Bruyere

 

 

Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.

Augustine of Hippo

 

 

 

Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the

whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.     

C.S. Lewis

 

 

 

Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.     

Wayne Dyer

 

 

 

 

Impossible situations can become possible miracles.

Robert H. Schuller

 

 

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.

Albert Einstein

 

 

Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one's bath like a lump of sugar.

Pablo Picasso

 

 

Life's Unfairness

 

^{There is so much to say, there is so little to say.}

^{Gabriel is still not feeling well. It has been over a week that he has been out of sorts, feverish, not his extroverted overly curious little dumpling self (he lost a pound)... Chelsea and Marin are taking him to the doctor's again tomorrow. I am saying this to let you know that Gabriel though sicky it is a bad cold.}

  ^...

^{There is another very recent news in my family that I cannot mention in full that is devastating. Please understand accept that I will share it as soon as it is mine to share. I am going home on February sixth to be with my family and add support. In the meantime, I might only post quotes and photos until I can share more openly. I am sorry to write this in a way that is non-disclosing, and disturbing. For the most part, I am transparent on my blog though recently have found myself at odds since I cannot share what is going on and feel the need to say something. This is saying something... bear with me.}

 

^{Please please pray for my family for a miracle.} 

 

^{Thank you for being the best support community one could ever want or need.}

 

Never Give Up

 

 

 "Never never never ever give up hope."
 Miracles can come from where you least expect them. 

The Light that is You

Boy Lo

 

 

Boy Lo has not been feeling well these last few days. He has had a mild fever. The doctor said it is a bad cold. It is not in his lungs nor throat. Martin the flu last week, and now Gabriel. I am in Paris helping them out. He sleeps in our arms and whimpers. Gabriel lost a pound. I think I gained ten. 

Poor little Boy Lo. 

I want to be a Smilingual

Dare to Be

Live and let it be.  Dive deep.   Turn the key.  Sing.  Laugh.  Cry.  Speak up.  Buy flowers.

Take the chance.

Play the game. 

Make mistakes.

Eat the extra slice of bread, and have wine.

Go around barefoot and sleep outside.

Enjoy the little things, like the art of tieing your shoelaces and brushing your teeth.

Invite friends over, cheat at cards, hid a treasure, unbutton one more button on your shirt. Wear red lipstick.

Let your hair go ...natural

and take a photo when you just get out of bed and post it.

 

 

 

Being a Flâneur in Rennes

 

 

 

 

 

 

A view from my mother in law's home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking about Rennes under a big unusual blue sky brought to mind the French word Flâneur which is best described, (via The Local)

« A flâneur is someone going for a stroll, taking in the sights and sounds of the streets and possibly having some elevated thoughts as they do it. It has a sense of sophistication, possibly even intellectualism, as it originated in the 19th century when only the monied classes had the leisure time to take aimless strolls."

 

"If you are walking round to the corner shop to buy toilet cleaner, you are not a flâneur."

 

"If however, you are taking an aimless stroll along the banks of the Seine, contemplating the historic architecture and the transience of all human experience then you've nailed it. » 

 

 

I was happily fortunate to be a flâneur at times while visiting my mother in law with my husband xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother and Son

 

Yann's mother, my Belle Mere or known as Bonne Maman (her grandmother's name) turned 90 last September. Imagine that she took a train from Rennes to the French Alps where she spent time alone, hiking, reading and breathing in the fresh air, then went to Vichy by train to spend time with her sister in law, then took another train to the French Riviera to be with her nephew and his family, then flew to Corisca to visit... and after two months of being young, free, and a bit wild flew to Marseille and then took a train home. Imagine that... and her famous little suitcase that can pack an unlimited amount of clothing for any activity, event, weather change or pop up surprise. 

Yann and I spent a few days in Rennes (Brittany region in France, about twelve hours away by car and six hours away by train... hence, the train won by six hours. Oh yes, that is where I saw the adorable mushroom dessert in yesterday's post. When we changed trains in Paris from Gare de Lyon to Gare de Montparnasse that is where I saw the mushroom dessert.)

 

Temptation at the Train Station

 

Red topped mushrooms.

Desserts disguised as mushrooms. Mushrooms lined in a row, straight from a fairytale. White chocolate coats filled with vanilla mousse and red fruits. I saw these darlings at the train station. Hidden wonders! I never would have guessed that the train station in Paris' main temptation was dessert.

Beating my Drum French La Vie

Come see Provence, those villages that are worth a thousand photos, where cobblestones make you wish you had worn walking shoes, and shutters of blues that you want to take and stuff in your suitcase but you know you cannot. Where walking through one village after another you are transported into some magical place that inspires your breathing into song.

 

 

French Breakfast. The real deal. Where eating baguettes and croissants with butter and jam never added weight to anyone. You see the French la Vie meals are the cherry on the cake because that is where friendships bloom amongst the guests and the conversation takes us to another glass of wine or simply time to smile at the carefreeness of it all.

 

 

 

Those backroads, stone houses, olive orchards, lavender rows, where nature winks at you as you follow the brocante sign to another village. 

 

 

Pops of color

Pop.

Eye Candy.

Splash.

Smile.

Lick it up.

Happy Provence.

 

 

 

Brocante

Big and small.

Metal and paper, and Pottery and textiles, Paintings and watering cans, and literally everything under the sun and someone who knows how to negotiate for it and how to get it home for you, and even if you do not buy a single thing you still enjoyed every minute of being in a living museum.

 

 

Where those who come to the French la Vie come again and remain friends.

Even if they buy everything I love.

 

The dates are set for this coming year for the French la Vie even though this is January I am starting to plan the path ahead. The first French la Vie is in April which is literally tomorrow the way time goes by.  Antiquing in the way of brocante is high on the list it is the engine of the entire week, but it is not the only thing that we do while in Provence. Going to the brocante is a wonderful way to dip into the culture and history of France. The objects have a story, and those stories led to other stories simply because most of the objects are practical home items but not just practical like a piece of tupperware, the objects are handmade, and the stories start there. We will visit artisans' homes, studios and friends of mine who have created poetic homes and lifestyles to inspire. And of course, we will visit places that make Provence what it is... Charming.

Here is a listing of available dates for the French la Vie 2020

Please join me on:

 

April 7th - 14th over Easter 2020 ... Two places remain

 

April 28th - May 5th, 2020... FULL

 

May 12th - 19th ... One place remains.

 

September 8th to the 15th... FULL

 

September 29th to October 6th... Three places remain

 

For more information please send me an email or click here.

 

coreyamaro@aol.com

Chinese Noodle Soup

 

Chinese noodle soup

home made

made up by me

for my cold.

Take a pot of water and as it heats add the following

Some diced fresh green beans,

Sliced Chinese cabbage

Red chicory

Ginger and garlic

green onions 

parsley,

Chinese noodles (hence the name of my soup)

and here is where it goes in search of flavor and as I am not home where spices fill my cupboards I had to experiment... I added coconut milk, nutmeg, balsamic, mustard, and soy sauce. Honestly I did (!) and it tasted fantastically yummy!

Back to bed tomorrow I trust I will feel renewed.

 

 

 

In Paris to See Gabriel

 

In Paris for a few days to spend time with Gabriel, Chelsea and Martin. Though from the moment I stepped off the train I have been in bed achey, stuffed up nose and exhausted. I have slept nearly off and on around the clock. I guess I have a cold I do not have a fever, nor a sore throat. Hopefully, this will pass before I have to go home. 

Seven Months of Loving you

Seven months old. 
in Gabriel’s bedroom is a baby ballerina bar and mirror he loves it.

 

 

I spent a few hours sitting in a young man’s workshop in the souk in Marrakesh while he talked about where he finds his carpets and watched him make cushions and poufs. Most of the pieces were old (not antiques but definitely handmade) it was sad on one hand to watch them being cut, but on the other hand, creating new purpose. The souk is filled with artisans practicing old trades works such as leather, textiles, basket weaving, woodwork... I enjoyed every minute being in the Medina in Marrakesh talking with the people there.

The Dos and Don'ts that are printed in the Hotel Brochure in Marrakesh

 

 

 

Tea and Cakes Marrakesh Style

 

 

Little cakes with mint tea, such a variety of cakes it was hard to decide. Lemon, date, raisin, almonds, peanuts, pistachio, honey, argan oil, more honey, cinnamon and combinations of the above.

The one above was shredded toasted phyllo dough with honey and cinnamon which robed an almond paste nugget.

 

 

 

 

Moist lemon and almond baked in an egg white and powder sugar coating.

 

 

 

Which one? These were some of the many we had to choose from.

 

 

 

We did not have this one, but it looked promising. But how many cakes can one person eat in a day? I am not a sweets eater but still, it was hard to decide which one to have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one was like an amaretto. I had a tiny bite.

 

 

Oh my.

 

 

 

 

 

Just guess. Because I do not know I was in a food coma.

The Alleys in Marrakesh

 

Endless passages have we wandered about in the Marrakesh Medina aimlessly with a gentle pace gathering moments into our memory banks. Inspired by the kindness of people who's prayers echo over the sunkissed Riad walls where faith is evident as well as hardworking souls and traditions that carry them onward: A little girl walking with a tray of bread balancing on her head to be baked in the community oven, donkey driven carts, carrying supplies this way and that, racing scooters that weave smoothly as argan oil between anything everything along the narrow passages, spices stacked high while Amlou (a thick brown paste with a texture similar to peanut butter) is being made by roasting almonds mixed with honey and argan oil... plus the endless weavers, colorful rugs and sandals and snake charmers and cats.

There is something about Marrakesh that renders inspiration that stirs my senses that makes me want to sip mint tea until sunset and contemplate the stillness of peace.  

 

A Sweet Taste of Marrakesh

 

After an incredible lunch at Nomad

where the menu is a perfect blend of traditional recipes served with a modern hand richly flavorful. The menu changes as the products are sourced locally, served fresh and are made on spot. I savored each bite. After the meal, we had mint tea as we looked through the dessert menu. I am not a sweet eater and ice cream is lost on me though the dessert menu was intriguing and miles away from disappointing. 

The ice cream read like an exotic novel, Hibiscus flower infused with vanilla and wild mint, Amlou almond, argan oil, and honey, Olive oil and orange zest, Sweet pumpkin and saffron, Smooth spiced chocolate the spices we were told were Moroccan, Sorbet of Berber Tea – Sage, geranium, marjoram, wild mint, and lemon, and Rose, raspberry and black pepper. What was not to like? I wanted to say, "You have slathered my imagination! Literally drooling. I want to dive into a big bowl of a bite of each. Leave me no need for a spoon." Thankfully, I was polite and did not say that.

And if that wasn't enough we had the Saffron scented Moroccan Date cake

with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce. Moist, hot, like a pudding no wonder it is the most popular dessert they serve. My waist could grow five pounds from one bite and I wouldn't care.

 

 

 

 

Colorful interior beautifully executed to the point where I dream of buying a Riad and asking the designers of Nomad and El Finn to decorate and cook for me for the rest of my life. If only I were rich and the world was free of poverty and in peace and I there was no guilt for having completely greedy dreams! God, I would have a knock-your-socks-off-home massive enough that my mother wouldn't call me a hoarder because it would be large enough that it would appear minimal. Oh and let's not forget the cooks to the point that my body would be one giant lovely lump of sugar on a bed of pillows.

Okay, food coma drama driven la la dream. I do not want to be a lump of sugar... but the bed of pillows I would keep.

 

 

Almond flour Cardamom Ginger Orange cake

with caramelized orange zest and vanilla ice cream.

Oh my, it reminded me of the dessert I had in Greece but instead of using dried crushed phyllo dough in Marrakesh they use Almond flour. Instead of orange juice they cook and used the entire orange.

Delicious.

I think my Bucket List that only had listed: To become a Grandmother, might have to add months stays in some of my favorite places with my family. 

Dreams they say are good. Imagination is equally as beneficial.

 

Back in Marrakesh

 

 

Well yes, I am back in Marrakesh with friends Ching and Gary. The weather is beautiful and warm with the perfumed air enticing me further and further into the souks, and the spices teasing me to take Moroccan cooking lessons.

 

 

 

We were supposedly looking for a rug for their apartment in Cassis but it is so easy to get sidetracked in the Medina and lost. But by some miracle, I haven't been lost and I haven't used a map, nor GPS, visuals have been my guide. That doesn't mean if someone asked me how to go somewhere in the Medina or draw a map that I could. No, it simply means that I know how to get back to the El Fenn Riad where we are staying. A true miracle.

 

 

But the big question is How many of these slippers do my friend buy?

 

 

 

If you have any questions about traveling to Marrakesh let me know and I will try to answer them in regards to my personal experience. Of course, I know very little but if you are thinking of traveling to Marrakesh I would encourage you to do so.

 

 

El Fenn Riad where we are staying

 

 

Beauty and Terror

 

Out of sorts

to be expected

one moment at a time and sometimes a nanosecond at a time.

life is constantly changing 

that big sun comes up and we barely notice it.

the moon waxing and waning

while I go about breathing in the seasons

but then one day life makes a sudden shift and everything that seemed unnoticeable in noticed and in that dark change the one that wrecks into one's well being ...

 

“Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final”

Rilke

beauty and terror

both hand in hand, 

Beauty because life the one I held so dear became crystal clear and I knew love and joy and peace and what to be thankful for, everything!

and terror because I could lose it.

A sudden shift

less than a blink of an eye

I knew, but knowing an experiencing it are never the same.

 

 

Love Feast Day

“This much I know is true, that God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you”. (Rascal Flatts)

Thirty-two years ago today!! Our hair was a different color though our hearts remain the same.
Happy Anniversary French Husband xxx

 

Baby's First Bite

 

Baby's first bite.

Discovering taste, and texture.

 

 

 

 

First bite.

Chelsea and Martin steamed the vegetable until it was very soft so that it would be easy to swallow without much chewing. They are following a movement that lets babies feed themselves (self-fed) by letting him discover texture/taste by grabbing and manipulating his own food rather than have it pureed and spoon-fed.

Sounds good, fun and messy to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the plastic covering on the floor, a spoon, a bowl, and a bib and a carrot.

At his check-up at the doctor's today, he weighed 10 kilos. Gabriel is nearly 7 months old. No teeth yet.

Breastmilk has served him well and will continue to serve him well.

 

 

 

 Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods

Kindness

The Way to a Man's Heart

French Husband loves to eat. I was taught that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. It stands to reason that we'd make a good team. Except he eats so fast. His plate is cleared-off before I've taken my first bite. Honestly, he shatters the French image of proper dining etiquette. He borderlines abnormal in this department. I've often wondered why he doesn't enter a food eating contest.

To slow down his rapid hand-to-mouth feeding, I ask him simple non-threatening questions. (Non-threatening because he could blow food chunks.) Questions such as, "What are you eating?"

Last night was no exception. I made curry lentils in a coconut sauce. I asked French Husband if he could define the flavors he was inhaling? Barely coming up for air he answered, "Brown and good!"

"Really," I continued, "I haven't seen brown and good in the market place. Seriously, Honey what is the flavor of brown and good?"

He guessed cinnamon.

French Husband knew if he wanted seconds he had to appease the cook. He said the dinner tasted like bananas mixed with little grainy things and chopped white stuff. Adding there were hints of chocolate, eggs, and tomatoes. He almost described a cake until he said tomatoes.

I gave him enough clues that the fish in the pond could've given me the answer.

I said, "It is white." French Husband chipped in with, "White Chocolate!" Not acknowledging that response I continued, "It grows on a tree." he said, "Mais oui, bananas!"

You're probably thinking he is being funny, that he's pretending to be food illiterate. Trust me he is not kidding. He claimed to our baker friend that mustard would be a sweet flavor to add to brownies.

Looking at him I shook my head, "Remember your children are listening."

One last clue. "It starts with the letter "C" and it is hard."

French Husband didn't miss a beat. He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. I smirked, "Don't even say it, or you will be eating rocks tomorrow for dinner."

French Husband does love my cooking. Actually that doesn't sound like a compliment anymore.

I'll let you know what he thinks of rock souffle.

Repost from 2007

tHE sHORTEST In tHE fAMILY

 

Whenever my family takes a selfie I am in front since I am the shortest so I can be seen. Though I might as well be standing anywhere since standing in the front doesn't make that big of a difference.

 

 

The funny thing is they think it is funny.

So to be in the photo I have to jump up.

Which makes the selfie looking like this.

But at least you lucky viewers are able to see my white hair taking center stage.

Taking a Motorcycle Ride

 

 

Sacha, Yann and the Italian Girlfriend.

 

 

 

A welcomed ride on a glorious day.

 

Homesickness

               

 

 

When you live in a foreign country rather than the one you know as home, there are certain things you expect will be different, unusual, far from the norm of what you are accustom to. Those big things like language, culture, food... those big things that are necessary to understand and help one to feel like they fit in. One doesn't expect to be thrown off by the little things such as how to open a door, toilet paper, signatures, handshakes, ice cubes, you know the little things that you don't expect to be different but are and catch you off guard the first time you encounter them.

 

 

               

 

When you live in a foreign country you will learn the language, learn about the culture, cook their food, sing their songs and eventually laugh at their jokes. But when you first live in a foreign country you will miss the smallest things from back home the most. For me the things I missed the most were so silly I can hardly bring myself to tell you let's just say you will miss the smallest things because it is easier to cope with than feeling homesick because you aren't there for a parent's birthday, or a niece's birth, or your best friend's wedding nor any of the unending list of important dates that will come every month for the rest of your life abroad. 

 

               

 

When you live in a foreign country your mother tongue sounds like music. When you hear someone speaking your language your very words will race out, "Hello, where are you from?" Perfect strangers seem like your new best friends. You have much in common without even knowing the person's name.

You wonder why you don't meet more people when you are back home... everyone there speaks your tongue?

 

            

 

Then after years of living in a foreign country, you realize you have two places called home. You look around and the foreign place doesn't feel so foreign. The doors that were closed to you before have opened over time, and the homesickness feels so common you think of it as a bruise that won't go away and you have learned how to protect it.

 

 

            

 

When you live in a foreign country the keys to your new life will seem strange. The keys to any door at first feel awkward to use. Then one day you realize that the passage is just part of the journey and every nook, cranny, door, and key has brought you to a another place within yourself.

....

Thank you for your emails, comments, notes of support, encouragement, and prayers for Brian's family. I am very grateful for your caring and love.

 

Lean on Love

 

This mysterious thing called life.

So unbelievably beautiful, complex and deeply intertwined.

Today my cousin died.

A beautiful, talented, do-anything-for-anyone, tender-hearted young man.

His death is shocking. I am so sorry for his children, his parents, our family.

I do not understand life at times but this I know:

Love deeply, reap the unending gift that it is to love and be loved,

and when sadness comes

because it will

lean on those who love you.

Lean in and let others hold you.

Godspeed dear Brian.

 

Everything Begins Somewhere

New Year's Day

New Year's Day is not just another day. Though sometimes I wish it were. New Year's Day has a way of getting under my skin pushing up memories of the past years to the surface. New Year's Day feels like someone opens my front door, takes the rug off the floor and shakes it out the window of my being. Buried feelings, promises not kept, ideas that never made it to reality, words said, words not said, paths not taken...

As the emotional dust billows overhead I found myself contemplating what needs to be cleaned up and how to let go of things that don't need to be around anymore. And yes... of course, I swept a few things back under the rug.

 

The other evening I went for a meditative walk around our village, down the hill, under the moon, along the little road with the cold misty night air scented with pine and rosemary, my senses feeling the rush of goodness that nature brings. I listened to the sound of my feet on the path, to the night birds singing, and as I approached the center of the village I heard the church bells ring. Peaceful joy.

 

 

 

The dust cloud settled. The feelings of "New Year" paved evenly underfoot and the moon came out from behind the cloud. I unlocked the front door walked into our house and felt home.

I promise to not to swear. 
I promise to put Christ before my actions and words.
I promise to not procrastinate.
I promise to travel more.
I promise to embrace all the imperfections in me and claim them my own.
I promise to say give affirmations and say I love you more.
I promise not to worry if I do not keep any of these promises after today.

My word for this year is "discipline" which I need considering I already swore three times.

 

 

 

What do you hope the New Year will bring?

The Path Ahead

2019

A very full year is coming to an end.

A year when I became a Grandmother.

Of meeting Gabriel and adoring him instantly.

A year that I lead 12 French la Vie groups and enjoying every single person I met.

A year of creating a home for my friend's Gary and Ching. Plus having the pleasure to work with Rene the genius.

A year of being grateful that my family is well and happy.

As well this year we said goodbye to a dear friend, Patrice. Life is mysterious.

A year that I was able to enjoy shelter, food, warmth, water, peace... again.

A year when I decided to let my hair go white (since August), hoping I do not back out and dye it again

A year that I became a French citizen.

A year that I spent following my passion and calling it a job.

A year that I continued writing a blog.

What did 2019 bring you?

 

Cassis

Within Us

An Apple Romance

 

                         

 

Take an apple caress it on your sleeve, until the golden delicious sunshine beams.

Core the center (by piercing around the stem) creating a golden bead.

Interweave the autumn jewels: Walnuts, dates, cinnamon, raisins...

Bathe in maple syrup

Overflow the heart.

Gently bake the golden gem until the colors fuse.

Before serving, add a dollop of creme fraiche and a touch of mint.

 

Christmas Family Photo

Christmas morning after breakfast, before opening the gifts we said we had to take a family photo knowing that the day would go by as Marrakesh did in a blink of an eye knowing better to take a photo when we thought about it otherwise we might not have a photo of us all together. In Marrakesh, we managed to take one family photo the night before we left outside a restaurant. We hesitated taken a photo because we had bedheads, thrown on clothes and well didn't think we looked our best. Then laughed and took a photo.

We look forward to Christmas next year with Gabriel walking, talking and a Christmas tree without a single glass ornament.

I hope your Christmas was full of love and joy.

 

 

 

Christmas Day

(Photo via Google Images)

 

 

...and there we are

being born into love

challenged to live life lovingly

to give of ourselves honestly for the sake of love

The Christ Child is within us in the name of

Peace, Hope, Faith, Love, Joy...

May our longing be to be an example of this goodness.

to hold emptiness and fullness.

...

Joyous Christmas to you and your family.

xxx

 

The Christ Child Arrived Poor

 

The Christ Child arrived poor and yet brought abundant gifts of joy, hope, faith, peace and the unexpected gift that those gifts are within us simply because we are loved. The gift of ourselves comes when we let go of fear and are lead by unfailing love which takes discipline, grace, and courage. 

 

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis' message last year:

"Let’s not get caught up in a frenzy of shopping, presents, and meals, all while ignoring the poor and forgetting who the celebration of Christmas is really all about, Pope Francis advised.

“If Christmas ends up as just a beautiful traditional holiday,” where everything revolves around “us and not Him, it will be a lost opportunity,” the Pope continued, “Please, let us not make Christmas worldly. Let us not put aside the one being celebrated."

“Trees, ornaments, and lights are everywhere, and the advertising machine invites people to exchange more new gifts to surprise,” he said.

"The day of Jesus’ birth was a day “full of surprises” in which everybody’s life took totally unexpected turns, and customs and plans were turned upside down, he said: Mary, a virgin, was going to have a child; Joseph, her groom, faced scandal with her pregnancy, but listened to God and took her as his wife; and the divine Word came as an infant incapable of speech."

"The people who welcomed the savior of the world were not the local authorities, leaders or ambassadors. Instead, they were “simple shepherds, who, surprised by an angel while they were working at night, rushed there without delay. Who would have expected that?” the pope asked, adding that God does the unexpected and “overturns our logic and our expectations.”

"Christmas, therefore, “is welcoming on earth surprises from heaven, it is a time to let oneself be “shaken by his surprising ways” because Jesus offers not the “reassuring coziness from a fireplace, but the divine shiver which shakes history.”

"Christmas “turns the tables” because the victors had humility over arrogance, simplicity over abundance, silence over noise, prayer over “me time” and God over one’s ego, he said.

"We should choose God’s silent voice over the “uproar of consumerism,” he said, inviting people to take time out to sit in silence before a Nativity and let themselves feel awe and be surprised by God.

"Pope Francis said. “It will not be Christmas if we seek the blinding lights of the world if we fill ourselves with presents, lunches, and dinners unless we address the poverty around us and bring our gift to share.” Pope Francis.

                                                                                    .............

 

 

The Christmas Spirit by Santa's Helpers