A Blast from the Past Returns!!!

The place I celebrated my thirteenth birthday, and created tons of fabulous memories through my childhood, is coming back!!!

If a menu containing items called The Zoo or Pig Trough are familiar to you then you probably have guessed that I'm talking about the one and only, coolest ice cream parlour in the country.....Farrell's!Yes, after a long absence from our lives new owners are vowing to re-create the magic and start this fabulous restaurant chain back up! I don't know how long it will be before it resurfaces in Washington State, but seeing as Mr. Farrell (yes, the man who started it all back in Portland, OR years ago) lives here, I'd guess the odds are pretty good it won't be too long of a wait! YEA!!!!!!

Bring it on....I'm more than ready!

To keep up on the latest info go to: http://www.farrellsusa.com/ They are so cool they even have a Facebook page! It is a fun trip down memory lane looking at the old photos people are submitting!

enjoy the times when the hardest choice you have to make is which flavor candy cane stick you want to buy on your way out of Farrell's!

-d.

What I've been doing while away...

I thought with the end of summer, I would find myself more freed up for staying in touch. Boy, was I wrong! Life just keeps moving full steam ahead and time in the home office has been hard to get. So what has kept me so busy?

I have traveled to Florida and Colorado on business. Florida was so busy we barely had time to realize where we were, but we did manage to get a little pool time and a quick trip to Downtown Disney for dinner at Bongo's - the restaurant owned by Gloria Estefen - and I LOVED it! We ate outside on the deck as the sun set; both the food and the atmosphere were awesome!

For the Colorado trip, Roger was able to join us so I had much more fun (and a little more time off as well). Rog lived in CO for years so we visited where he grew up, went to school, etc. While we were there we also looked for Rog's biological son (now 19) that he had never been able to know. We found him, they talked, and now they are continuing getting to know each other. After nineteen long years Rog has been able to fill a huge void in his life. Could there be a better trip than that?!

And the newest thing on our plate....

Gracie. We adopted an 8-week old Dobie last week! She is bundle of energy and cuteness!

So between the Retreat House work, the book project, the Weimeraner pups, my day job and the traveling it requires, my family, and household duties, I now have a baby in the house again. Am I INSANE?!!!! No....but I am a bit tired.

enjoy the quiet moments of peace at the end of a frenzied day!

-d.

Are you happy?

Today I happened to turn the tv on just after Oprah started. It may have been a re-run but since I hardly ever watch, it was new to me. The theme of the day was Finding Happiness.
Is being happy such a mystery that we need a show to tell us how to achieve it? That is a sad testament to our world.

Why are so many people unhappy? One theory today was that too many people put there happiness on an agenda. "I'll be happy when I get/achieve _____!" Then when they get there they move the goal up to the next achievement or acquisition. People, life is too short!!! Quit waiting!! The time to be happy is NOW!
Years ago, when I announced I was separating from my husband after 20+ years, I received a lot of concern and questioning. Was I crazy?!! What would I do? How would I make it alone? Why now?
I wasn't crazy. I didn't have a full time job. I wasn't sure how I would make it, but yes, I was sure it had to be now. I was also sure it would work out fine. Better than fine! I sought out to be happier in my life. For that I can make no apologies. Was my ex-husband a horrible person? No. We had just grown in opposite directions and forcing ourselves to stay in a mutual direction was hurting us all. We both deserved to be happier. So I followed my own path. Did it work? Am I happy today? Yes, EXTREMELY happy.
I re-discovered a person who has a lot to offer others. A creative person who is willing to work hard to provide for her family. A person who believes in herself enough to take a leap of faith. A person who believes it is okay to be happy.
I also found a person whose path is so aligned with my own, it is almost unbelievable. A person I can visualize growing old with. A husband I can call my best friend. And through it all, I have shown my children that if something is holding you back, you can identify it and change it. That you can achieve anything you set out to achieve, including finding and maintaining happiness. That is okay to be happy in life.

So ask yourself...What things bring you joy? What makes you truly happy?
Look deep inside...the path to it already lies within you. Sometimes you just need to re-adjust your course to connect to it. To unlock it. Sometimes, it even takes a leap of faith.
It isn't really that big of mystery after all.

enjoy and search out the things that make you happy!
-dw

Craving the Caribbean...

I want to go baaaaack.....

I am fighting some kind of allergy induced crud and all I want to do is hear some Caribbean music while the sunshine warms my face and I scrunch the white sand between my toes! I know, I know, don't we all?!

It was such a wonderful trip and I have been working to get my hundreds of photos organized and ready to print. I sent off the first 120 to be developed today...I have tons more to go before I can start scrapbooking them. I love the ease of digital and the cost savings of only printing the ones you like.

One of the things I found fascinating on the island of St Lucia was that most all of the vehicles had sayings/expressions on them. The way some use bumper stickers in the US, they have vinyl print-outs of their life philosophies posted on their cars! I loved the one on our taxi...
Much nicer than "Fear This" across the front windshield, don't ya think?!

I wanna go back, back to the islands....

enjoy the weekend!
-dw

The Secret

Do you know The Secret? I kept hearing Oprah mention it, but missed the episode where they filled us all in. Little by little I was able to piece it together and today I stumbled across this website that explains it all. Discover the secret....
http://www.universallawstoday.com/secret.html
Quotes from "The Secret"
1. Whatever is going on in your mind is what you are attracting
2. We are like magnets - like attract like. You become AND attract what you think
3. Every thought has a frequency. Thoughts send out a magnetic energy
4. People think about what they don't want and attract more of the same
5. You attract your dominant thoughts
6. Those who speak most of illness have illness, those who speak most of prosperity have it..etc..
7. It's not "wishful" thinking.
8. It's OK that thoughts don't manifest into reality immediately (if we saw a picture of an elephant and it instantly appeared, that would be too soon)
9. EVERYTHING in your life you have attracted .. accept that fact .. it's true.
10. Happy feelings will attract more happy circumstances
11. What you focus on with your thought and feeling is what you attract into your experience
12. "You create your own universe as you go along" Winston Churchill
13. Start by using this sentence for all of your wants: "I'm so happy and grateful now that.... "
14. The universe likes SPEED. Don't delay, don't second-guess, don't doubt..
15. When the opportunity or impulse is there .. ACT
16. You will attract everything you require - money, people, connections.. PAY ATTENTION to what's being set in front of you
17. Most people offer the majority of their thought in response to what they are observing (bills in the mail, being late, having bad luck...etc..)
18. "All that we are is a result of what we have thought" - Buddha
19. What can you do right now to turn your life around?? Gratitude
20. What we think about and THANK about is what we bring about
21. Play the picture in your mind - focus on the end result
22. VISUALIZE!!! Rehearse your future
23. Feel the joy .. feel the happiness)
24. An affirmative thought is 100 times more powerful than a negative one
25. Create a Vision Board .. pictures of what you want to attract .. every day look at it and get into the feeling state of already having acquired these wants
26. "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." Albert Einstein
27. Decide what you want .. believe you can have it, believe you deserve it, believe it's possible for you
28. Close your eyes and visualize having what you already want - and the feeling of having it already.
29. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve" W. Clement Stone
30. Set a goal so big that if you achieved it, it would blow your mind.
31. When you have an inspired thought, you must trust it and act on it.
32. Life is meant to be abundant in ALL areas...
33. Go for the sense of inner joy and peace then all outside things appear
34. We are the creators of our universe
35. Relationships: Treat yourself the way you want to be treated by others .. love yourself and you will be loved
36. No one else can think or feel for you .. its YOU .. ONLY YOU.
37. Remove stress from the body and the body regenerates itself. You can heal yourself
38. Learn to become still .. and take your attention away from what you don't want, and place your attention on what you wish to experience
39. When the voice and vision on the inside become more profound and clear than the opinions on the outside, then you have mastered your life
40. The truth is there is more than enough love, creative ideas, power, joy, happiness to go around.
41. All of this abundance begins to shine through a mind that is aware of it's own infinite nature. There's enough for everyone. See it. Believe it. it will show up for you.
42. Write your script. When you see things you don't want, don't think about them, write about them, talk about them, push against them, or join groups that focus on the don't wants... remove your attention from don't wants.. and place them on do wants
43. Don't define yourself by your body .. it's the infinite being that's connected to everything in the universe.
44. Are your thoughts worthy of you? If not - NOW is the time to change them. You can begin right were you are right now.
45. Nothing matters but this moment and what you are focusing your attention on

Truly awesome!
enjoy the secret...
-dw

A Super Sunday...

As we hosted our annual Superbowl party, we enjoyed time with good friends and family, rooted for the Colts, laughed at the commercials, honed our trivia knowledge, and ate way too much...all the ingredients for a wonderful day!
After we celebrated the win, said our goodbyes, cleaned up the kitchen, and headed for the total relaxation of the couch, I realized again how incredibly lucky I am. Lucky to have close friends and family to celebrate with, lucky to have healthy children, to have the home of my dreams...with my own spacous studio, but mostly to have a husband that I am lucky enough to call my best friend. Someone who enjoys and wants the same things, and works together as a team to achieve them. To find love is amazing enough, but to find a soul mate is such an incredible blessing I cannot fully put it into words. As I venture off in a new direction, ready to conquer the literary world, he stands beside me, encouraging me, believing in me, motivating me. Inspiring me to be the best I can be. For him, I find reasons to be thankful everyday.
And as I sat snuggled into his chest on the couch, a fire in the fireplace, candlelight flickering around the room, I took a moment to reflect on what super Sunday it had been. And what a super life this truly is.

Enjoy the moments life gives us...
-dw

Good to be home....

Nothing feels better than the wheels of my plane touching down on the Sea-Tac runway. Ahhh...home at last.
Don't get me wrong, I love to travel. I always welcome opportunities to head off to sun-filled locations, taking in new adventures, and working/hanging out with so many great people. I have been lucky enough to travel to many states for my job. I've toured the Coca-Cola factory and CNN building in Atlanta, I've walked the beaches in CA, eaten as much steak as I could get a hold of in Dallas, walked till I've had blisters in Vegas, basked in the Arizona sunshine, enjoyed real, deep dish pizza in Chicago, and discovered incredible restaurants in more states than I can begin to name! For a girl who has never moved away from her home state, my job has allowed me to explore other parts of the country. And while I love different things about each city I visit, Seattle is home.
The best part of hearing the flight attendant say, "Welcome to Seattle," however, is not just being back in my home state. It is knowing that my family is now only a short distance away. That I soon will get to hear all about their adventures while I was away. I will hold them close, and just simply take them in. Nothing compares to the feeling of gratitude I feel when I return home to them. They are what makes my state, my city, my house... feel like home. They are what I miss most, and can't wait to return to. They make coming home the best feeling in the world!
I enjoy the journey, but I cherish the return.
-dw