A Reflection On Our Words.

Life in the month of August is a "get back to" month. For my friends AnneMarie and Roban it is "get back to" teaching school. For Julie it is "get back to" a routine after a summer of traveling the country. For Peggy and me, it is "get back to" blogging and helping in the fundraising for our favorite charities. As a result of our "get back to" days, our reflections are short, sweet but a powerful WORD about how 5 friends from across the world are together still reflecting on our Words.

AnneMarie thinks: Discipline is setting your eyes on the prize, recognizing what you need to do to get there and removing all obstacles that will prevent you from finishing the race.

Peggy thinks: Striving for BALANCE between complexity and simplicity, constantly evaluating and re-evaluating the trade-offs I have to make to get there.

Roban thinks: I have found that JOY is all around me.... It just takes opening my eyes and heart to really see it and feel it!

Julie thinks: Excellence: A process and a discipline, not a destination.

In August, I recognized the ABUNDANCE of seeing old friends, listening to great music, feeling the cool mountain air, and having a real time phone conversation with a good mate!

This photo was taken this weekend at a winery in Oklahoma. The Plymouth Valley Cellars Winery hosted a fundraiser for Hearts for Hearing where I work and enjoy a passion for working with children with hearing loss. The winery is nearing the last day of harvest, we were lucky to see these sweet babes on the vine. Oh, and the wine is excellent I might add, I know from experience!

Rhythm of the Rain

I've always loved rainstorms. I love the thunder and the lightning. I love the sound of the rain. In Oklahoma we get our share of rain in the late spring. August has been unusual, we have had much rain.


When I was a little girl I always wanted to run out in the rain and play in it. Of course, with lightning around mommies do not let little girls play in the rain. Since then I have let rain curtail many a plan to do something fun outside. Getting wet was not an activity that I was willing to experience. In fact, I have been a maniac about keeping my umbrella with me so that I would be prepared.


I recently have begun to faithfully get up early and walk. My husband walks with me most mornings at five AM. He is a runner and unless there is lightning or extremely cold weather, he has not let the rain stop him from getting in that run. Over the last several weeks we have had a threat of rain early in the morning. The lightning would be only miles away with no drops of rain falling. We managed to get in our walk without a drop falling on our heads.


I learned a new lesson on vacation in Red River. I actually learned many lessons that you will read about over the next weeks. But on this vacation we committed to getting up early and walking. In the mountains, the storm clouds do not necessarily roll in to warn you of the rain. It may look relatively clear and suddenly begin raining. This happened one morning. During our walk, it suddenly began raining. It was a light rain and we settled in and continued our walk. We smiled and enjoyed the rain. Unlike the wicked witch of the west I did not melt!


Songwriters have really made their mark with lyrics about the rain. Rain for some denotes pain, sadness, bad times, heartache. Rain gets a bad name! I think we can learn to enjoy the rainy days of our lives if we relax, breathe through it and know that the rain will not last forever. It will pass and we will have experienced something profound. Lessons can be learned from the rain.


I have embedded a youtube video with 10 minutes of rain. Listen as you will and maybe meditate on your rain experience and think about how rain can lead to your own lessons learned.

Also for your enjoyment I have included many songs with a rain theme on my playlist.






Abundance is....Hearing laughter in the rain!

Come From The Heart

This is a most talented songwriter/singer Richard Leigh. You might know him most for writing the song "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" made famous by Crystal Gayle. See his website for other songs that have been sung by countless artists.

He was one of the artists at the recent Red River music festival. The lyrics of his songs are so heart felt. He is really an amazing artist. I was touched by his lyrics and his performance.

My favorite song of his is "Come From The Heart". Kathy Mattea recorded this song in the 80's.

When I was a young girl, my daddy told me,

a lesson he learned, it was a long time ago.

If you want someone to hold on to,

your gonna have to learn to let go.

You have to sing, like you don't need the money,

Love, like you'll never get hurt,

You gotta dance, like nobody's watching,

It's got to come from the heart if you want it to work.

Now here is the one thing, I keep forgetting,

When everything is falling apart,

In life there's enough, no I need to remember,

There's such a thing as trying to hard.

You have to sing, like you don't need the money,

Love, like you'll never get hurt,

You gotta dance, like nobody's watching,

It's got to come from the heart if you want it to work.

These are beautiful words and if you want to hear the song here is the link to Kathy's Youtube

performance. There is no embedding allowed on this song.

What a risk it takes to really love, to grow relationships, to step outside of ourselves and create an abundant life. How many times in my life have I let fear hold me back from something really beautiful. As I have sought to have abundance in my life, I have really tried to let go of my fears. The September issue of Oprah magazine has some great articles about empowerment and letting go of fear. The front cover says "You're Stronger Than You Know, How to tap into your true power and really make it work for you. What a challenge this is. Putting my picture on this blog was for me "dancing like nobody's watching." In my relationships I am loving like I won't get hurt. I am expecting not to get hurt and I am getting outside of myself and initiating communication that is the most authentic I can be.

What is your fear and what is holding you back?

Abundance is...letting go and reaping all of the benefits!

Oh! My EasyShare isn't just an automatic!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I have been so envious of all my blog friends with the great cameras that take the most amazing photos. I have been using a Kodak EasyShare Z730 and basically turning it on auto and shooting. Last week during our road trip I began messing with the camera and discovered a few new to me settings. I was happy with the way this little camera performed.

So, today for Photo Story Friday, I have a few photos to submit. No chuckling allowed! :)

This is Jed Zimmerman and Mike Addington, singer/songwriter musicians who performed last week at the Red River Music Festival. In this photo they are performing in "The Lodge" during an early morning breakfast concert. This is a very small bar with only a few tables. The full sun was shining in the window and my cool "backlight" setting completely blocked out the rays.

This is most obviously the "self-portrait" setting. I took this while riding in a moving car. You might notice how my life of abundance has had its effect, this would be one of the few personal photos I have shared.

Abundance is...47 and still learning something new every day!

Open Doors

I just returned from an amazing vacation in the New Mexico mountains. There is no substitute for true respite. It is as necessary as breathing. I do forget from one mini vacation to the next just how much it is needed. I love traveling to new places. I have fond memories of trips abroad where I learned of other cultures and experienced history before my very eyes. Travel always opens my mind to new ideas.

Road trips, however, are a very different kind of travel. There is absolutely no anxiety of security checks, flight delays and lost luggage. It is the most freeing I ever feel to have the car fueled and loaded and simply drive away from the place I call home. The further I get away from home the more I begin to relax and wonder what experiences will come my way.

Such was the case last week when we took off to Santa Fe and Red River. A perfect location to unwind, breathe in the fresh air and notice again the world that God provides. For me it is as if the doors open and nature is there for me on the other side, calling me through the threshold and telling me that newness awaits.

I am reminded again that I have an abundant life and that I have enough. That blessings abound in my life and I have only to walk through that open door to discover what more life has to offer. When I returned home, the doors of my home welcomed me back, the doors of my office seemed wider to allow more blessings in, and the door of my heart remains open as I seek to keep the mountains and the gifts gained there ever present.

Hot Chili Days and Cool Mountain Nights

Very soon I will be heading west to "the mountains of New Mexico" to Red River for the "Hot Chili Days, Cool Mountain Nights" music festival. It is always a surreal experience to go from the

city, work and highways to this small town with a big fabulous view surrounding us where ever we look. It is strange how it works. When I get there, I become introspective, I breathe deeper, smiler bigger, gaze longer. I always say to myself..I am going to take a piece of this home with me. I then take the 9 hr drive home and almost by the time I get to the outskirts of my home I have left pieces of it along the way and "forget" those feelings when I get home. It is a shame because if I could hold on to that in my mind, heart and soul then the mountain air and the beauty of creation would be with me each day. This next week I will have another opportunity to take it all in again and with abundant effort I will hopefully bring more of it home to live with me.

This was the scene last year at the festival. It was our

first year to attend this particular festival. Mike had

his name drawn for a prize...two nights lodging in Red River!

Guess how we are using our certificate?

A true mountain top experience. We ride the ski lift

to the top of the mountain and the concert is on the deck of

the snack hut. You cannot create a background like this

in any mega concert venue. This artist is Richard Leigh.

Every time we go to Red River I get a picture like this.

I never get tired of it. We have so many like this in

our photo collection. There is comfort in knowing

that that mountain will always be there when I need it.

Chillin' and enjoying the music!

Abundance is..Hot Chili Days and Cool Mountain Nights!!

Reflecting On Our Words

It is July and 2009 is continuing to be an amazing year. I am still in wonder at the blessings life brings. Our group again shares their word of the year which began in January and continues to eeke it's way into our daily lives. Even when we are swamped, pooped, and overwhelmed, somehow our word continues to beacon a call. Join me in celebrating the end of a 7th wonderful month in the lives of my good friends!

Avtcoach...still practicing Abundance Mentality!!!

Julie Joyfully practices Excellence!
Excellence...
Completed Road Trips
Blue Skies
Ballet
Extended Family
Coming Home

AnnaMarie Actively Pursues Discipline!

As I move toward a more disciplined way of life, these are some of the things I have been trying to incorporate more of. It is not an issue of right or wrong, but of more or less. I want to get more organized, do more cooking, cleaning and exercise and get a decent amount of sleep. I think it is a never ending journey, but one that is worth the trip.

Roban Relates to Faith and Joy!

What brings me JOY? my daughter Hannah, good movies, great books, knowing that Craig is a caring father, Scout, twinkling Christmas lights, summer days before it gets too hot, blogging, taking pictures of Hannah, Akiane’s amazing art, Maggie, when a student ‘gets it’ and becomes a writer, morning light as it dances through the door, the smell of Biolage shampoo, doing things with Hannah, finding a hand-crafted necklace that has a meaning that resonates with you, being able to walk and run through the neighborhood, making new friends, eating good food, reading magazines (or looking at the pictures!), unexpected snow days, blue skies with windswept clouds, Autumn, scrapblogging, colorful flowers, driving my car, pampering ourselves, pedicures and summer sandals, my family, Starbucks frappucinos…. and so many other things I don’t have pictures of, like warm baths and cozy beds, a roaring fire on cold days, night sounds and falling stars…. The more I think about it, the more things I find that bring me joy!

My loving pal Peggy is creating her own spiritual journey for Balance and wishes you well!

Abundance is finding your way on your own journey!

Namaste,

Avtcoach