Wear pink shoes!

“I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift.”
~ Shauna Niequist

A is for ......

This is the first in the series of 'The ABC of Things I Love...' and since I am learning to love EVERYTHING in my life each post could become quite an extensive list of wonderfully loveable things. But I'm going to start with 10 things that are easy to love, that I can love without having to try too hard, and that by simply being in my life, bring me delight.  Here goes...
A is for the Alphabet - such a wonderful sequence of letters, and such a superb system for creating lists like these!
A is for Anika...the most delightful 7 year old I know and a simply adorable daughter.
A is for Avocadoes. Delicious and nutritious!
A is for Auckland. My adopted home city. So much diversity. So much to explore. Right on our doorstep.
A is for asana. The physical practice of yoga which has transformed my life.
A is for Art galleries..like libraries, these are national treasures.  It's time I visited the newly revamped Auckland one.
A is for April. The month I was born, and the middle of my favourite season, Autumn!
A is for Agapanthus.. I think some people think of these as a weed, but they're one of my favourite flowers, especially growing wild at the side of the road.
A is for Authors. Those incredibly talented people who have the gift of story telling and the dedication to put it onto paper.
A is for the Atlantic Ocean. Cold but invigorating!

LOVE your life!

It's been a long time since I posted here but I feel inspired to return to the world of blogging!  A week or two ago I was going through a bit of a patch of the blahs, a little bit down in the dumps, uninspired, discontent.  When I'm feeling this way the people I turn to are my Mom and my sister. They are the dear ones who know and love me the best and they never fail to pull me out of the doldrums, make me wake up and smell the sweetness of the roses in the garden my life!

My wise and loving mother wrote these words to me in an email and they have become my mantra:

“The clue is LOVE in capitals in every aspect of your life.

First to LOVE yourself and every part of you and all your beauty and talents, revel in them, your love of your family and of yoga and of cooking and of walking and and and….

Then LOVE every person that crosses your path and be glad of each and every encounter.

Life is very good.”

They were just the words I needed to read. To make me wake up and remember that Love and Happiness are daily choices that we make - not something that we randomly stumble upon but something we consciously choose.  And that the words we speak and the thoughts we think really do have a direct impact on the lives we live.  Happiness is LOVING what is right in front of you, right here, right now!

p.s. stay tuned for the next 26 posts - the ABC of Things I Love xo

2012... a year to Savour

At the beginning of 2011 I chose JOY as my word of the year.  And looking back I can honestly say there were a lot of very joyful moments, in amongst the many others.  What I learned most about joy is that it is always present and all that it is required to experience it is to Wake Up and Pay Attention.  Generally joy is in the ordinary moments which so often slip by when we are busy worrying about what happened yesterday, or wishing things were different today.  Joy is waking up to reality and seeing the beauty of what is.

A few weeks ago, I started to think about 2012 and what my word for the year might be. I thought about AWAKE..because the more awake I am, the more aware I become and the more joy I feel.  I thought about NOW...to remind myself that life is now, and I want to love every moment of it.  And then I settled on SAVOUR.   Because that is how I want to live in 2012 - savouring every moment and morsel that life offers me.  In order to SAVOUR, one must be awake and present.  Savouring cannot happen in the past or in the future.  We need all five senses to savour life.  Savouring is a full body experience!

I'll start by savouring everything I eat. Waiting until I'm hungry - and deciding what would most satisfy my hunger.  Then taking the time to prepare fresh, seasonal food - enjoying the colours, the textures, the smells.  Taking the time to sit down, give thanks and then savouring every mouthful of deliciousness.  Allowing my body and soul to be nourished and revitalised through the practice of mindul eating.  Turning every meal into a celebration!

As I learn to slow down and savour each meal, I'll practice slowing down and savouring each moment - allowing myself to really taste life and to be nourished by it.

I wish you all a wonderful 2012 - may it be a transformative year!

Heidi 20 weeks

I thought you might like to see a recent picture of our puppy...every time I open my blog page and see that funny little picture of Heidi in the previous post, I think 'I need to post a new one'!  And here she is at 20 weeks - isn't she beautiful!?

our new addition

One more sleep until we go and fetch the next addition to our family (or should I say our 'pack')!  Tomorrow Heidi, our 8-week-old German Shepherd puppy will bounce into our lives and no doubt turn it upside down!  The sparse amount of spare time I once had is going to be consumed by puppy training, puppy feeding, puppy playing, and eventually puppy walking (at least an hour a day is what German Shepherds need).  Any occasional half hour that I might have used for a random blog post is soon going to vanish!  So before I disappear, here's a picture of our adorable Heidi, taken at 5 weeks.

I hope to pop back every now and then with a new photo and an update on her progress. 

Soul Sisters may be about to become a doggy blog!

daily photo #29

Ok so I'm very far behind on my daily photo posts but I am going to go back and catch up soon!  Sarah is back in Cape Town now - we had a wonderful 4 weeks with her, and we miss her very much!  Here is a picture taken at the airport just before she boarded her plane back to South Africa, via Singapore.