Winning :: On this first day of Spring

Can you believe we've already made it through another Winter?  I'm amazed at how painless it was.  I think it has everything to do with our Indian Summer last year.  September and October were so nice that they fended off many soggy memories of the rain that we know too well here in the PNW.  #win

But this is not to say we've had a shortage of wet weather.  In fact, today, there was rain, hail and sleet, topped off with a little bit of sunshine.  There was a rainbow somewhere, for sure.  Did you see it?

With Spring sprouting around the property and the frogs croaking their harmonies into the night, there are a handful of exciting events happening.  First off, I don't want to make you envious or anything, but I just found out that I won a second giveaway in about a week's time.  Whaaaaat?  Winning!  I can't wait to show you what's coming to me in the mail from this blogger and this blogger!  Love me some month-of-March luck!

Another score this month are the two FREE tickets to see Cheryl Strayed speak at a local event where she'll be speaking on her bestseller, "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail."  I just pre-ordered the paperback and can't wait to read it before Husband and I see her speak at the beginning of April.  If you don't already, I recommend you follow her on Facebook.  Good-hearted, entertaining stuff. 

We just booked our tickets to Cabo for Spring Break!  We haven't been on a family vacay like this EVER.  The last time Husband and I went on a vacation was our honeymoon--to NYC.  And there was no sunshine, heat, or blue water about it.  This is a big deal.  BIG deal. 

On another note, tonight, while scouring my brain and Pinterest for a dessert idea for book club tomorrow, I came across these.  Holy!  I've been baking sugar cookies for decades, and I have a feeling that this recipe could bring a whole new level of goodness into the kitchen.  Just looking at these cookies makes me want to eat two...or three, and completely forget that I'm cleansing for Cabo.  If it looks that good, I call it a win.

Lastly, the cherry blossoms have bloomed and they made me smile this afternoon.  Definitely a win.

Any recent wins? 

 

Whilst Waiting for Spring...

It snowed yesterday.  It hailed hard and then it snowed, covering the green grass in what is hopefully, winter's last forget-me-not.  My heart sank a little.  I told Husband last night that it seems that the more grownup I become, the more the rain seems to press into my soul; I ask myself, isn't the internal melancholy that shadows my spirit, enough?  I shun the possibility that I might one day need to leave the rain and the lengthy season that defines the northwest.  I attempt to accept it even more when my spirit wants to divert, because I don't believe it is the rain, but the melancholy that has a real hold on my spirit.  Rain or not, the melancholy follows, even on the brightest of days.  Once tiny seedlings of unsure longings, have since become some of my strongest roots.  Without any other fathomable alternative, I accept--the rain, these roots curled in melancholy and the seeking of solitude, and the sun whenever she so graciously shines.

Here are this week's Little Things...

Watching Brooklynn trying to ride Asher around on the back of his bike.

Hearing Husband tell Brooklynn as she attempts to climb her first tree,

You can't learn everything on the first try...and it struck me--isn't this true for all of us!

Standing in the yard after some intense weeding, looking up at the tall evergreens while feeling the first sixty-degree spring wind flow around me,

and feeling--everything is alright.  

How strong I feel while doing yoga.

Working from home--may it remain this way forever!

Phone calls from my besties in NYC so they could include me in some

childhood reminiscing.  I sat and talked with them for at least forty-five minutes, and it felt like we were on some city patio drinking iced tea and sharing appetizers on a warm spring afternoon.

Seeing the blossoms on the tip-top branches of the tree outside of the nook

and anticipating the tree's full bloom.

Finding inspiration in taking pictures.

Waking up to my kids at my bedside, with Brooklynn pulling back the drapes to peer outside, all the while, with Asher on her lap.

 

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