the many faces of Gracie.

I found these images of Gracie enjoying the last of a bowl of vanilla yogurt and fresh strawberries (one of my fave healthy treats) and just had to post her antics.

Gracie is so much fun. She loves to laugh, pretend, hug, play, run, ride her bike, bake cookies, get out more than one game at a time, cuddle, be read to, cuddle up with the softest blanket she gave me, sing any Faith Hill or Carrie Underwood song at the top of her lungs complete with deep emotion and performance, say the sweetest things, draw pictures of her and I together, and work it for the camera.

Gracie is silly, she totally can take and give a joke (even though she's only four), she loves to pray and she totally gets that Jesus loves her and everyone else in the world,  and she can be pretty patient.
She loves to have fun and and has what seems like endless energy.  She feels close to people and misses them deeply when they are away. 

I love her...deeply.

She's wonderful.

love. LIFE.

blessed.

I am exteremely blessed to have these ladies in my life.  They are some of my dearest friends...we laugh, talk about fun things, scary things, business decisions, life decisions, intimate and personal details about our lives.  I must say I've not really been a person who has a lot of girlfriends.  I'd usually have just one or I'd have a bunch of guys I hang out with.

I always hoped for a bunch of girls to get together with...and I got my wish. 

It's wonderful the way I get to talk to these girls, email them, and hang out with them.  They tell it like it is and we sincerely love to be together (even though we know some crazy stuff about each other).

...AND we get to do the awesome Love Affair workshop together.  Never did I dream that Love Affair would be as amazing as it is or that I would end up with friends of a lifetime.  It's all a gift that I don't deserve.  I'm in awe that I get this awesome present.  So often, I wonder if I need to pinch myself because of the amazing way my life is going...my sweet family, wonderful friends, an opportunity to be creative, and to give what I've been given.

It's crazy good...and I know it.

Every time we do Love Affair we meet ladies that I feel so connected to and this Love Affair was the same way.  My life has greater depth and beauty because of the women that come to these Love Affair workshops.  They come to us desperate for help, full of talent, and just wanting to be able to somehow do what they love and have the time to love the people in their lives. 

Getting to see the metamorphosis these women go through is astounding.   It takes no time at all to see them emerge from a cocoon of fear, spread their wings, and fly away as the beautiful butterfiles that they were all along...but just couldn't find because of the burdens they were carrying.

So...here's to all of you Beautiful Butterflies that I've met in the last year:

You take my breath away when I go to your sites, see your gorgeous work, and hear about the way you're reclaiming your life and loving again.  You  move me, inspire me, and make me so proud.  As I sit here writing this I see your faces and I'm seriously overcome with emotion thinking about you, your lives, your family, your business, your images.  You are changing your lives...and you've changed mine.  Thank you.

real. LOVE.

how did this happen?

I gained weight over the holiday.  I thought that I had been pretty careful about how much I was eating.  I also walked everyday.  I ate and exercised but I obviously ate too much and didn't exercise enough!  I've got to get back to the basics tomorrow morning!

How about you?  It's not too late!  We can lose weight through the holidays...I just know it!

real. LIFE.

new family.

Freda and Matt have had a long road together and it started long before they had the chance to say "I do."  After a very difficult and complicated year of establishing a home together, medical issues, and all of the other crazy things that happen when you bring love into the equation they finally had their moment to look into one another's eyes, see deeply, and say 'yes' to more of the same.  More of the complications and at the same time more of the joy, the exhilaration, the crazy times and the quiet times...together.

Freda and Matt had a beautiful day.  I was so excited to be with them and experience the blending of their love and their families.  Seeing Freda look into Matt's eyes trying to convey how intensely she felt about him and then in the next moment seeing  her dance like the joy would come out her fingertips was a gift to see.

Here's to more joy, more dancing, and more intense, crazy, and quiet times!

true. LOVE.

the four of us.

I went to see Twilight with my niece, Ariana, my sister, and my mom.  Ariana and I have read the entire series. Seeing the movie made me love the story and the characters even more than when I read the books.  The movie was so well cast (except for Jacob...).

Ariana, very sweetly, waited until we were all together to go see the movie even though all of her friends saw is last weekend...and had told her how much they loved the movie...she was dying to see it!!!

I love this story!

So did you see it? Did you love it?  Have you read the books?  What do you think of Edward?

real. LOVE.