100th post

This is my 100th post!

I saved the sharing of a momentous occasion JUST for this posting.

Actually,

I lied.

I simply have not been blog-loving in the last few months, and

it is by pure coincidence that I am sharing a momentous occasion for this,

my 100th post.

A little ditty about this being my 100th post:

I began this blog in 2007 as a way to share pictures and stories with my family and friends.

At that time, I was living in Hawai'i and this blog,

originally titled

"Living la Vida Hawai'i"

was my format with which to distribute pictures and stories with whomever wanted to listen.

This was my first post:

http://hermann8er.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-job.html

Of course, 

I no longer live in Hawai'i...

insert sad face,

BUT (there's always a but),

I have kept my blog

BECAUSE

it has transformed into my way to recount the stories of my life

in a permanent and multi-media format. 

I used to scrapbook...kinda...

you know, 

tirelessly cut and glue realia from my life into another book, 

only to pull it out from time to time and reminisce.

To heck with it! 

I live in the digital age!

So here I am.

and here I stay.

Bloggin' away.

Okay...onward to my momentous occasion.

I turned THIRTY!

and it feels GREAT!

I feel like I now possess the "street cred" to be a successful professional...

problem is:

I'm not a professional anything right now...hahaha!

But, I AM thirty,

and I DO believe that to be an unspoken requirement to be taken seriously in interviews 

for the profession which I desire.

Here, then, are the photos of my MOMENTOUS OCCASION!

 The beautiful bowl given to me by my husband.  

Care of Heather Knight ceramics: http://elementclaystudio.blogspot.com/

 Super moon!

 Breakfast at The Mission.  I am ADDICTED to this place...

http://www.themissionsd.com/

 Official Californians

 Mom and me

 Hubs and me...we're now the same age!

 My Bra, me, and Hubs

 California's version of Pipeline...well...

 At Islands restaurant for birthday dinner!

 The annual clown cone

The results of the annual clown cone...

Here's to thirty more!

aloha.

Short reflection

Reflecting today on the spirit of ALOHA

I miss it...terribly...

Of course, aloha is always with me,

and I can shine aloha outwardly,

but what I miss

is feeling ALOHA 

from others.

Coffee shops, street corners, beaches,

Here in CA, I have encountered more scowls than smiles...

more awkward stares than kind eyes...

more shoulder bumps from people rushing than mentions of aloha...

...and although Hawai'i is not the exact opposite,

there existed an air of ALOHA

within the majority.

I'm working on resilience.

Resilience when the lady in the coffee shop has a "tizzy" when my computer cord stretches across the floor.

Resilience when the man with the dog rushes in front of me in the grocery line, only to leave his dog in his place while he goes back to the aisle to get something he forgot.

Resilience when I pass another on a trail and my smile is not met.

Resilience.

and ALOHA.

Breathe in...

Breathe out...

ALOHA

I'm Still Here...

I'm still here...just without easily accessible Internet...I'll be back when I can figure out how to connect. Unplugged for now.

Live in the now!

“The real zen of surfing, for me, is being in the moment, completely. As the wave presents itself, you do what is possible or what is asked of you to do. You find that line, you find the timing, & it’s just strange how if you do an off lip at the right section, it sets you up for the next section perfectly. There’s some kind of connection between people and the environment that seems so natural and when it’s done the right way & you see someone link things together on a wave in all the right ways,  it’s like that thing already existed and that’s exactly what was supposed to happen. My ultimate goal is to tune into that at all times, my ultimate in life is to feel like I am really in tune.” -Kelly Slater

Yesterday, I decided to start and end my day at the beach.

The decision was simple, really.

Rather than trying to "beat the traffic" right after work,

I made inner peace my priority.

I brought my camera with me,

as taking pictures at the beach is one of my favorite things to do alone.

In my head the entire day was the quote from Kelly Slater (above) that I had read the day before.

The key to surfing is being "in the moment."

Okay...

in the moment...

for my day, that meant:

If I'd rather go to the beach than sit at home,

I would need to forgo the fear of what the traffic "might be like" later.

Check.

If I passed someone while walking on the beach

and wanted to say "aloha"

I would say it without wondering if they would then think of me as strange.

Check.

If having a 2nd cup of coffee would enhance my enjoyment of the moment,

I should get it without taking more time to consider whether that coffee will keep me up through the night.

Check.

I could go on,

just to say,

I LOVE LIVING IN THE MOMENT!

I have always been a planner.

I plan meals

I plan schedules

I plan lessons

I plan the most efficient route for running errands

I plan my clothes for the next day

I plan.

I plan because I appreciate efficiency.

I don't like wasting time.

or money.

But what has become reality to me in the last, say, 48 hours, is that:

In following prepared plans ALL THE TIME, I miss A LOT of what life has to offer 

IN THE MOMENT!!!!

Take this picture from yesterday, for example:

What a moment!

I was there! 

In THAT moment!

I had to focus very hard to catch this moment,

but I was willing to sit in the moment

because I love photography...at the beach...by myself.

Here are a few other shots from yesterday :

(If you click on them, you can enlarge them)

Good morning Cardiff!

 

...and I'm back for the evening...

 Good night Cardiff

Live in the moment.

Be in the now!

aloha.

Impatience

When I was a Girl Scout, we learned a song that went a little something like this:

"Have patience, have patience,

Don't be in such a hurry,

When you get impatient,

You always start to worry..."

Now, I have always been told that I am a very

PATIENT

person.

However, I am finding myself quite 

IMPATIENT 

lately.

Particularly with this guy:

 We planted this gardenia bush back in July and it is finally blooming.

Mid-winter

Yikes.

The things is,

I LOVE GARDENIAS

and this particular gardenia has looked like it does above since the beginning of Decemeber.

That is NO JOKE.

Open, little gardenia!

I want to see your beautiful petals!

I want to smell your creamy scent!

Open NOW!

Or should I practice the patience at which I am apparently "good"?

 'Till then, here's our view from dinner yesterday:

aloha

I resolve to walk lightly

This year

I resolve

to walk lightly

aloha.

...and...(breathe in)....OOHHHMMMM....

I've been in a blogging rut.

Not because I don't have anything to say (that rarely happens),

but because I haven't had the clarity to focus on one thing lately.

I've been "all over the place." 

Today is the last day of Winter Break.

Nick had to go into work, so I got up early.

Lit some candles.

Sat up nice and tall, 

and said,

"Oooohhhhmmm."

-5 minutes later-

I realized that my thoughts were like the candle flame in front of me.

They are mostly focused around one wick.

Sometimes they are calm and shoot in the same direction as the wick,

 but sometimes they dance around that wick; bouncing, jumping, twirling toward the breeze.

 Realizing this, I relaxed.

I relaxed into acceptance.

My ever-moving thoughts are fine!

I simply need to remind myself to slow down and capture those thoughts before I lose them or compound them with others.

I need to focus on one thing before moving to the next.

Most times when I meditate, my thoughts are reminiscent of scene in Eat, Pray, Love where Liz is meditating for the first time in the Ashram in India.  Shortly after she starts, her thoughts have wandered into decorating her meditation room at home.  Her thoughts are all dancing around the meditation wick, but they are keeping her from actually meditating.

Calm the breath...

Calm the body...

Calm the mind...

WHY is it so difficult to calm the mind?  

Some days, I blame it on distraction, and aren't we Americans masters of distraction?

Other days, my brain is "on overload."  I'm keeping too many ideas trapped inside.

Our thoughts are a lot like our digestive system.

What we keep trapped inside only festers and enhances discomfort until we 

let...it...go

...oooohhhhhhmmmm...

aloha. 

Mele Kalikimaka

Here we are...

Christmas Eve...

I jumped on blogger this morning to write a Merry Christmas entry...

...but I find myself reminiscing holidays in the islands.

Reminiscing, or missing?

Missing resides in the heart of reminiscing, I believe.

However, sadness does not need to live there, too.

So on this Christmas Eve, I am striving to turn my back on sadness; to focus only on the joy that island living brought to my life.  Perhaps I'll list the elements of Hawai'i that can still live with me.

But first, here's holidays in the islands:

Winter swells on the N. Shore...not to surf, but to watch!

We used to decorate our apartment with snowflake lights and imagine it was cold outside.  Sometimes it was Hawaii's version of cold: 79 degrees...burrrr!

Christmas break always gave us time to take our favorite hikes...to places like the one pictured above!  

Christmas was a great time to start whale watching.  Although not yet the height of whale season, we would typically have a few sightings.

 My friend Kate always had the best holiday parties in her north shore backyard.

Here's how we would celebrate!

Reminiscing...missing...releasing what is no longer my reality...grasping my new life...that's my goal on this Christmas.

Mele Kalikimaka

aloha.