Be Having a Trophy Husband

July 20, 2014 Be Enough 1 Comment

As I sell Green Tea Hawaii in ECity, Sexy Neck is at home with our wee boys.

This is the first time in five years (since CC was born!) that I have done any type of paid work and the first time I have ever sold any product in my life. I am completely out of my comfort zone, humbled, confused at people’s purchasing choices and having a great time. I have met incredible people.

A Tibetan monk who is giving insight into the health of the Green Tea Hawaii owner.

A wonderful woman selling deep sea lotions and body scrubs.

A mom selling tights for her daughter’s new company.

Kind.

Authentic.

People.

Try to sell their wares.

Thirty year veterans of the fair.

Newbies like me!

Sexy Neck, my trophy husband, has been holding down the home front.

Here is the text I got about their day today:
Tried to get haircuts,
costco,
ate cones,
built a pulley system for the fort, worked a wee bit on the side yard, cleaned blown done branches,
swam,
couple movies,
dinner,
magic show, books,
power outage…

I wonder if all these wonderful activities caused the power to go out?

Doesn’t that sound like a fun day?

Side note: Praying for safety for everyone fighting the forest fires to the west of our city.

Boys, Family, health & fitness, Parenting, Uncategorized

Be Sharing Green Tea Hawaii Love

July 17, 2014 Be Enough 7 Comments

My story with Green Tea Hawaii started even before I knew that Green Tea Hawaii existed. In the summer of 2013, my mom was in profound pain. She had a distended stomach. We thought it was a bladder infection. It was cancer. She journeyed through six months with cancer, living in tremendous pain. We shared many moments shaving her head, watching the boys, cutting her toenails, living each moment. Very unexpectantly the cancer continued to multiply and mom became an angel in heaven on Boxing Day 2013.

Back in mid-October, Mom went to see a Physician at an Integrative Cancer Clinic that supports each patient’s emotional, physical and spiritual health. At this appointment, they doctor covered many topics from eating, exercise, supplements, meditation and encouraged mom on her overall cancer journey. One moment that made her laugh, was when he suggested that she drink ten cups of green tea per day. It has shown that drinking green tea slows down and even stops cancer cell’s from multiplying. My mom was barely eating nor drinking at this point, so the thought of drinking ten cups of green tea made us giggle. If I only knew…

Fast forward now to March, where our family had been given a great gift from a University friend and teammate, their house for ten days in Hawaii. We were also given free access to this amazing product that they own called Green Tea Hawaii. They had samples all over their kitchen counter and we helped ourselves. Green Tea Hawaii changed our lives.

Everyone I know that has tried Green Tea Hawaii talks about the benefit of the extra energy. I now ride my bike at 6:00am, just because I want to and can. (And I ain’t no morning person!) I enjoy doing Jillian Michaels DVD’s in the afternoon and evenings because I have the energy to. Plus I still have lots left in me to be a present and loving mom to my three boys under seven. Before Green Tea Hawaii, I was struggling.

I love the L-theanine in the Green Tea Hawaii as it gives me a great sense of peace. The combination of the Noni and green tea is absolutely delicious. This is a sweet tea, but contains less than one gram of stevia and sugar. (One teaspoon of sugar is about four to five grams for those visual people.)

Hot or cold.

Shaken not stirred.

Mixed with about a cup of pure water

I have finally found my drink!

The health benefits of the Green Tea Hawaii take me back to the appointment with my mom. Each sleeve of the Green Tea Hawaii equal around 45 cups of Green Tea. Yup, you read that correctly. My mom could have drank just one sleeve and had more than the benefits of the 10 cups of tea that were recommended.

The other benefit of Green Tea Hawaii is weight loss. This is an added bonus for me as I already love the health benefits of this product. If you take one sleeve fifteen minutes before breakfast and again before lunch, it revs up your metabolism. I am not entirely sure how this works, but as of today, I have lost fifteen pounds. But nothing compares to the taste, cancer fighting and energy that Green Tea Hawaii brings me.

My dad now uses Green Tea Hawaii to help with his arthritis from his hockey playing days. My husband doesn’t drink pop or energy drinks anymore and he has more energy than before. In one weekend, he planted twenty-two cedars and fifteen HUNDRED square feet of new grass. He had a Green Tea Hawaii in the afternoon and early evening which gave him what he needed to work hard. Lastly, I have to tell you that after I discovered Green Tea Hawaii, I went to my Naturopathic Physician. Anything that I eat or drink on a daily basis, I like to check out with her. She looked at the ingredients and loved the product for me. She only cautioned the caffeine in Green Tea can disrupt your sleep cycle, so don’t have it after five o’clock in the evening. One sleeve of Green Tea Hawaii is the same amount of caffeine in one cup of Java. She loved the calming affect of the L-theanine as well as the health benefits of the high quality Green Tea from Japan and the Noni from the Polynesian Island. I am very excited and full of gratitude that I can share this product with anyone that would like to try it. Can you tell?
Off to ECity to learn more about Green Tea Hawaii.

Full of gratitude.

Full of energy.

Full of cancer fighting Green Tea.

Feeling the Hawaiian Noni love.

Sweet and cool on a hot day.

Warm and comforting on a cold day.

Healthy.

Green Tea Hawaii.

Love!

Sidenote: You can leave me a comment, text or call me if you are interested in trying a sample. I have had many people ask since this post.

Boys, Family, Parenting

Be Five

July 17, 2014 Be Enough 3 Comments

The days are sometimes long but the years are very short.

Five years ago, CC was born. This athletic, witty, smart, wondrous boy came into our family in the water on a Thursday just before lunch.

Today, full of gratitude for life, we celebrate five years with CC. He gets to choose what we eat: waffles, then Japanese food for lunch and frittata for dinner. Plus a birthday cake with vanilla icing. Decorated with a few surprises on top!

The planning started many weeks before. Here is our oldest and Sexy Neck creating a bed for CC’s teddy bear from scrap wood:

Sexy Neck created another masterpiece:

It was a water-filled birthday!

Boys, Family, painting, Watercolour

Be Living Beyond Expectations (Painting)

July 14, 2014 Be Enough Leave a comment

Who knew what these last twelve months would bring?

Surprise after surprise, both wonderful and heartbreaking.

My self-assessment twelve months ago would have used the descriptors: mom, wife, daughter, previous jock, teacher-on-leave, Vtown girl…

I no longer live in Vtown, nor think of myself as a teacher, neither do I have a living mother anymore… The fact that I am painting makes me lie of the floor.

I was introduced to watercolour painting by Herta at this retreat. Sexy Neck bought me a set of paints for my birthday in a month later.

My heart is full of gratitude for having the luxury to play with colour on beautiful watercolour paper. My boys love it and always join me. We paint quietly together often talking about cool new colour creation or telling each other what we can see.

Creative.

Peace.

Soul care.

Colourful.

Uplifting.

Unexplainable.

A pure gift from God.

Beyond anything I ‘thought’ I could do.

Have you lived beyond your expectations today?
Two year old OC:

Almost Five year old CC

Seven year old JC’s paintings including a hairless one of me.

My paintings from my soul, feelings and things I see in God’s creation.

Expectations.

Chains or freedom.

Choosing freedom.

Living in the beyond.

Painting.

Playing.

Expressing.

Me!

Boys, Family, Parenting

Be Having a Week of Cousins

July 12, 2014 Be Enough 2 Comments

We have had lots of love pop into our hood this week! Thanks family for reaching into our world. Two sets of cousins I haven’t met their children before and another family we haven’t seen together in about a year.

I love it when everything comes together.

Full of gratitude for the Cousin love this week:

Sam, Terry & Dani (almost 3) from outside Cowtown

Uncle R, Auntie R, M and L from VCity

Uncle D and Auntie J with Emi (3 1/2) and Nic (18 mos.) also from VCity

Boys, Parenting

Be Having a Fun Summer Day!

July 11, 2014 Be Enough 3 Comments

Our wee one fell asleep during book time tonight. It was only 6:45pm. Sleep well dear soul!

cancer, Family, writing

Be Saying ‘Thank You’ to my Mom’s CFUW friends

July 10, 2014 Be Enough Leave a comment

I have talked before about my salty people. As my mom and dad journeyed through cancer, I got to see first hand the saltiness of their friends.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to help my dad host a group of my mom’s favourite people at their house overlooking the lake.

All of these women belong to the CFUW. (Canadian Federation of University Women)

Mom moved full time to Vtown when JC, our oldest, was three months old in July of 2007. Over the years as mom and I talked about all the amazing people she was meeting hiking, biking, quilting, volunteering or even her next door neighbour, mom always expressed “oh she’s in CFUW too!” They are everywhere.

“Where are Nana’s friends?”

I have taken up riding my bike very early in the morning. For those who know me well, you are probably lying on the floor laughing or passed out, as you know I not a morning person nor much of a long distance bike rider. I feel close to my mom in the quiet mornings as the pedals crank and hear the birds. I also love seeing who is out and about as well as exploring this new city. Earlier this week, I chose a random street along the lake and you will never guess what I saw. A sign stating:

The CFUW are everywhere, even taking care of a street along the lake.

During my mom’s cancer journey, her CFUW friends were everywhere. They provided food delivered to hospice for our family, picked up boxes of books to be donated, just because I asked. They provided close conversation and space for mom to be herself. They brought pictures to uplift and stories to comfort. This group of women did everything they could for my family and especially my dear mom.

At the Vancouver Peace Summit in 2009, the Dalai Lama foretold that Western women will save the world. After watching my mom’s CFUW friends, I believe him.

With gratitude,

For all the gifts,

Giving freely and lovingly,

Over the course of this last year!

To a group of women,

Who gave these gifts,

Of themselves, through themselves,

Independently and collectively,

Thank you from the bottom of my family’s hearts and stomachs!

Goals, Parenting, writing

Be at the Beginning (my 501st post!)

July 10, 2014 Be Enough Leave a comment

Folks… How did I write 500 posts? Here is my 150th post! I wrote it almost a year ago. So, if I do the math correctly, in the last 365 days (which equals one year), I have written just shy of one post per day. Sexy Neck, am I right? Is this possible?

As I sit and write this five hundred and first post, where am I?

I am at the beginning.

The start.

Fresh.

New.

Beginning.

Each day I fully embrace. I feel more alive with deep emotion than I have ever felt.

Life is not about living in Disneyland, but enjoying those Disneyland moment. The exciting rides, the yummy sweet food, the cleanliness and friendly people.

Life is not about running from sadness, grief and hard times, but sitting in it. Living through it. Feeling deeply. The tears, the anguish, the copious amounts of laundry and people who will never make sense.

Life is about a beautiful woven quilt like my mom used to make. The light and dark fabrics making a beautiful pattern.

Life is about forgiving and starting fresh each day. The sun and the moon providing guideposts to help us do this.

Life is about surrounding myself with healthy people who may not understand me but honour me for who I am. People make a difference in my life, both positively and detrimentally. I am a relationship person. They are important to me.

Life is about being positive and focusing on my strengths. I could ‘work on’ all my negative attributes for the rest of my life and not move one mile, but I can continue to concentrate on my gifts and talents and hit the stars. Don’t we all find it easy to do what we love? Imagine if we chose to live this way each day?

Life is about beginnings. Learning to paddle board at sixty-seven years old. Going on a Tour de France Training Camp in Mallorca at age seventy. Being the very best Nana, mom, wife, aunt, sister and friend each day.

Thank you mom for teaching me about beginnings… And for being my guide through the ultimate of beginnings here on earth as a human being, death.

And now I ponder my own beginnings: starting a business, going back to school, new stages with my boys, fitness, health, volunteering, new activities, new friends and new starts with old ones.

Anticipation.

Excitement.

Pondering.