When we came to this beach house, we started off on a weird foot. There were dirty diapers behind the door, but hey, no problem, we can roll with something being overlooked. The glass stovetop is cracked with a piece missing, okay, we’ll not use that burner. The shower head got moved and the front door unlocked itself, but still overlooking these weird things. Then as Bill was talking about weird things when we were coming up the steps, he tripped and almost fell. We used the washer and dryer and not only did we all start breaking out in coughs, but Brooke and I got some hives. Still, no biggie…

We have had so many forced conversations this week, ones we have not wanted to have-but haven’t been avoiding…so weird. We have been finding joy with each other, but also admitting a lot of self issues. Still, that seemed positive. We even thought about rebooking this place for next year…

And then, this:

The table broke off the leg, OFF THE LEG. It cracked through a solid part, a part I have never seen a table break at before. There is a storm going on here, literally, and shit has just been unbelievably weird. We are laughing about it, but also jetting straight home tomorrow…after sleeping with one eye open tonight. I believe in random weird things not being an odd occurrence, but I also recognize when random weird things are telling you something. Get the hell out. This house sold last year, well under market value, but the rent this week was NOT cheap.

Beautiful sunsets are awesome, the location is great, but holy cow, are we ready to come home!!! Have you ever experienced anything like this with where you have stayed? If so, drop me a line, let me know so we can laugh or scare ourselves together!🤣

Today was a great day, life in pictures! Enjoy your evening my friends, stay thirsty!

Twelve years ago I came to the Outer Banks for the first time. I went into a gallery and purchased to pottery mugs. I still have those mugs, loved them so much that we bought pottery gifts from the makers, and I bought Bill one of his favorite mugs from them too. I was disappointed to learn that the makers were in Oregon, as I wanted to support local artisans, but clearly I loved the product enough to keep purchasing from them.

Ten years ago I was in the Outer Banks, and I found out about a local pottery studio. We have always stayed on the northern banks, and sadly I found out about the potter after we had already been down south on our trip. So, I followed the studio on Instagram, always loving their products, but never purchasing, vowing to purchase in person one day. Today, that dream came true!

We are not far from Kinnakeet Clay, the pottery studio, and today as we traveled south, we stopped to purchase some of their beautiful pottery. The gallery is beautiful, full of beachy hued earthenwares, as well as some more bold pieces, modern pieces and a lot of artful portraits, paintings, jewelry and more. We all got something to commemorate our time at one of our favorite places, to help keep the memory fresh every time we consume a beverage in our mugs, wear our jewelry, or look at our art.

Some of the best things are what we wait for, off the beaten path, and somewhere we go to find peace.

https://kinnakeetclay.com

*I need to make a correction from yesterday. It has been requested of me to correct that “the cheater is actually not the cheater, but the lucky one is”.*

Now that we have cleared that up, *we* are practicing some new skills this week, mostly communication with each other, but Avery also challenged herself to drinking coffee with her foot…you know, just because.

Ehhh, execution isn’t always the success, that the trying is. What new skill are you learning or working on, drop me a line, let me know!

Ah. What is it like playing cards with these two? Well, it is like someone is cheating, and the other is super lucky. I lose pretty much all the time, but I enjoy playing with them, so I will endure bad cards, lol, “bad cards”. Brooke will be playing with us tomorrow, so my misery will be shared with another. For all of you thinking they are smarter than me, it just isn’t true, they are card sharks, and even though Avery and I have the same strategy, she never seems to draw high value cards, and I constantly draw them. 🤷‍♀️

What did you do this Memorial Day? Did you hang out with people? Did you honor those that have served to provide your freedoms? What did you do? We saw a couple of folks participating in the Murph Challenge, if you don’t know what that is, please look it up. We should all be honored for the sacrifices that others make for us! Drop me a line, let me know what’s on your mind today!

It is hard to believe that I am nearing the end of this 70 days, it truly has gone quicker than I expected. Time has a way of slipping by, with or without consent, and even marking the days has proven to not slow things down. What does amaze me though, is all of the things I have gotten done, all of the changes that have occurred in my life and my loved ones’ lives, and the things that have been revealed to me this timeframe. I honestly enjoy picking segments of time to delve into things that need some alchemy intervention, it is oddly reassuring and right to me.

Being without regular yoga, I have lost my breath, and now more than ever, I realize how vital breath/breath work/breathing, is to life. I am ready to commit my summer to better health, a commitment to myself for progression in longevity. I feel like Spring was a focus on mental health, and now that things have altered in that area of my life, I am ready to keep going and focusing on bettering my health and wellness, physically. I know that my efforts will have to start small, to see overall effects, and I am more than fine with that, I am great with it.

Every day is an opportunity to practice wellness, and I am so ready to stop being in pain, which had been managed with movement until last summer. It truly took me until fall and winter to start feeling the negative impact of a slowed exercise routine with poor breathing and then illness recovery being slower too, but with regular yoga, I was able to keep all pain at bay still…until quite recently and then it seemed like my body said if you don’t move, we’re just going to cause you to stop altogether. Alrighty then. I experienced a new pain this week, and that was my sign of confirmation that I definitely DON’T want that. So, now you know one of the things I will be talking about this summer!

I watched the sunset with my family this evening, what a blessing! Do you have plans this summer? Do you have intentions for yourself this summer? Drop me a line, let me know!

This is my evening view today, what you can’t see is the sound where the sun is setting. I will share that sometime this week.

Here is Avery, enjoying the top deck. I can’t wait to tell you about my week, and about a collaborative project coming soon!

https://images.app.goo.gl/FcwXgpgkh7xNW7nR9

We just watched Top Gun Maverick, at an IMAX theater, with reclining seats. If you loved the original Top Gun, you won’t be disappointed with Maverick. That is all. Go see it, buy those tickets!!!

Where do your thoughts and opinions come from? Do they just spring forth, or are they cultivated over time? Do you stick with the same thoughts and opinions, never editing those for better views? How do you change your thoughts and opinions? Or does something happen for those to change within you?

We all come in to this world via two people(occasionally a third-surrogate), and from those two people, we are given genetic dna coding, which gives us hair, eye, skin color, our sex, our body composition, etc. Perhaps some elements of our personality are from this dna too, but more than likely, our personality comes from the thoughts and opinions that our parents bestowed upon us intentionally, or unintentionally. For example, my dad doesn’t care for super messy foods, but my mom doesn’t mind them. If I hadn’t eaten tacos with my mom, would I even like them?? Maybe you think this is a ridiculous example, but it is valid. I tend to think more like my dad, but recognize when mom’s thought or opinion is better. The difference of those things in my parents, gives me room to form my own opinion.

Now, say I get the flu at some point, and I had just eaten tacos, only to be really sick after, this may sway me away from tacos for a while, or turn me off of them forever. This is my own experience that changed my previous thoughts and opinions. I would like to say this is why dad does not like tacos, but I think it is because the efficiency is lost with loose components. He likes to eat, and having half his food in crumbs on his plate, is probably not ideal. Just my opinion on his taco stance…

Anyhow, the point is, we are largely guided by family as an indicator of what we should think and have opinions on, about. Experience can affect how we stay the same or change those thoughts and opinions. My next question is this: Do we deal in facts? The fact is, you do lose a lot when you eat a taco, either on your shirt, on the table, or in a wrapper, maybe in your car too. That is a fact, and odds are we taco consumers all can probably agree that it is a messy, if not delicious undertaking. If someone told you they invented a mess-less taco, you’d know they are probably lying, or using some method by which eating that taco is not the same. Is it really a taco at that point? Not really.

Let’s say we go out in the world, determined to do everything different from what we know from our upbringing. Odds are, we will either find why we shied away from this or that, but we will also find merit in what we judged before…if we are open minded enough. So maybe tacos will be on the menu, or they won’t, but maybe you discover margaritas in the process? I bet no one saw that coming, lol. We can discover something new that we like, by being open. Now, the flip side of that, we may discover something new we like, sure, but maybe we drink too many margis. Do we do it again and again, or do we realize that one margarita is good, but 3 is too many, so 2 is the sweet spot? Are we believers in moderation? Do we recognize when something isn’t good for us/our body? Do we indulge indulge indulge, only to feel bad after…to do it again later?

Maybe we don’t know how to do these things, maybe we think we should keep indulging ourselves? Maybe…

Maybe our brains think yes, do that thing we like again! We love tacos, eat them semi-regularly! We had a bad experience with margaritas, stay away from those! I know, let’s try eating sloppy joes and beer!! No, don’t do that, we don’t like that, even though we once did! The whole point I am saying is, like this, or don’t like this. Try this, keep trying it, or don’t like it anymore. If dad likes it, I may try it. If mom likes it, I may try it. But at the end of the day, I always choose my own way, because they have their own reasons for liking or not liking something, and so do I.

Find the facts. Figure out WHY you like something or you don’t. Figure out WHY you do or don’t do whatever you do. Figure out who you are, what experiences make you, and maybe what experiences make those that brought you to life, who they are too. Perspective is everything, deal in facts, and stop judging everyone for their thoughts and opinions, or goofy ass blog posts.

*Dad is not opposed to tacos, they just aren’t his favorites, along with ice cream or donuts. Drop me a line, let me know if you see what I am getting at today, let’s talk about it!

Today, I am sending many prayers to those lost and left mourning the shootings in Uvalde. I am also redoubling my efforts towards this world. We are living in a crazy world, with things beyond our control, and we have gotten so far from goodness that most people are clueless, still asleep, and/or utterly lost.

I will not let this make me angry, instead I will look for ways in which to channel my energy in to something positive. I will make efforts, to not thwart evil, but to shine my light even brighter in hopes that we can claw our way out of this current place of blindness, in to the light and open. I will make efforts to see who else is paying attention, and join energy with them so that we may have more collective positive force for change.

This isn’t a gun problem. This isn’t a left or right problem. This is a very large problem of the heart, the mind and the soul. Wake up. WAKE UP!