See....dreams really can come true

I've been tweeting lately about my dream home. It started out in a joking manner but I realized quickly that I'm actually not joking. I can't tell you exactly where this home is, but I can summarize the climate in two words: low humidity. Of course this is kind of a pipe dream because humidity isn't shy, it can pretty much show up anywhere. This want is stemming from surviving Dallas Augusts for several years now. I've learned to live with it, but it's not that enjoyable unless you're swimming. Or kayaking. Or on a boat to far off vacation destinations.......

I began with, my dream home will have a huge, screened-in, wrap-around porch. Honestly if the weather were right, I could have the whole house screened in. Who needs walls? In Hawaii, I loved how the hotels and some restaurants, even the airports, we're all open air. Not a lot of closed in walls. The openness of all of it, the laid back atmosphere, totally hooked me.

Then I started thinking about nature, and the animals. I want elephants and giraffes to roam the grounds. I'm serious! I could learn how to take care of them, or make sure the atmosphere provides what they need as far as food, and enjoyment too. They would be great friends!



And of course I want monkeys. I love them, and yes I know this is easy to say when I don't have to work at a zoo and take care of them. But I would teach every animal I have how to use their own facilities. All birds would be welcome. I love hearing them chirp, especially doves coo'ing.

I would have many rooms in this dream home, not because I need much, but because I want to have plenty of room for my family and friends to be comfortable. Who doesn't want to visit a home like this? I know if I build it, they will come.

I want to have a library full of my favorite books. And a way to watch my favorite movies, but aside from sports I can't think of a reason to need cable. I do have a few favorite t.v. shows, so this would have to taken under consideration. I would fill the house with little things I've collected on the way to a few places I've been lucky to be able to see so far. Paris......Hawaii.....Charleston.....Cocoa Beach.....LA (California)....S.Padre Island, even west Texas! There obviously would have to be some Missouri mixed in there, that's my hometown state. (it's also the Show-Me-State)

Growing a lot of my own food would be high on my list, so a garden would be really cool. And fruit trees. A few grapevines for wine, and could I even try to grow my own coffee beans? Hmmm.

I would be very busy with all of this. My thoughts then lead to, so where do I make myself useful and give back? Maybe I could have a stable of horses where low income children could visit for free and learn to ride. I would have to have help with that. I've ridden a horse maybe three times my entire life. But I could learn.

I could go on and on.....I've yet to decide what else I would want in this dream home. But I'm glad I'm writing this now. Someday, when I'm living in that home, I can look back at this post and say, "See....dreams really can come true"

What is one thing on your wish list? It can be extravagant. Dream BIG!

See you soon,
Tiffany

PS Breakfast would never be boring in a house like this. And most likely, it would be eaten outside. Every morning.

I don't get bored anymore...

I just made an executive decision to apologize no more for lazy Sundays. It's day seven of the week. The end? The calendar says it's the beginning, at least it's formatted that way. But with a Monday through Friday job, I've always thought of Monday as the beginning of the week. So Sunday, in my mind, is to be used for rest, a "rejuvenating" of yourself to begin the work week on a good note.

I've been told I can't sit still, I always have to be doing something. I'm pretty sure I've mastered the art of relaxation lately, so this statement no longer applies to me. It's hard for some people to s l o w down and just chill out for a little while, especially those that are on the go constantly. I think boredom was one key factor that was being mentioned often when I talked to friends about this. I don't get bored anymore, I'm not sure when this happened but it did. Even if the t.v. is off and I don't have a book in my hand, or the phone in my ear, I still feel content. My stubborn, younger version of me is shaking her head, and her fist, at me, "get up and do something, I'm bored!" Ah well. She grew up, matured, and became....content.

It's okay if we watch a movie, or read, or take a nap even! Instead of going and going and going like the duracell bunny. A few people have told me they feel guilty when they take a nap, like they're missing out on life. Not true! What we're doing, is letting our  body rest so we can enjoy life when we wake up. It's so necessary, that rest.

I hope you're relaxing today. That BBQ, swimming, get-together-with-friends, (or family) vacationing, magical summertime is drawing nigh......I love knowing this. Actually when one lives in Dallas, the potential for all of these things comes in March at times. This crazy weather can't make up its mind!


See you soon friend,
Tiffany

PS Breakfast on the patio today. Humidity you will not win. But if you ever start getting to me, I'll just go here in my mind:

Oh Charleston....I don't know how to quit you

Have you ever been to the South? 

You know, where southern hospitality and charm are around every corner, and the most tantalizing seafood awaits your tastebuds, and where tides roll in on Folly Beach like an old friend coming home to visit?

I came, I saw, I experienced.....and I think I fell in love. One of the social media status updates I posted while I was there was: "Day 1: watched a proposal on the beach (he got down on one knee) Day 2: watched a wedding on the beach....love is in the air in Charleston =)"

I don't see how love could not be in the air, in Charleston. The history, the charm, the architecture, the "sweet south" I dubbed it while I was lucky enough to experience so many great things in my short visit with friends.

Our first meal was at Hymans Seafood, downtown Charleston. I've never in my life experienced Lobster Bisque so religiously. At first I thought they brought clam chowder instead, because I expected a pink hue from the lobster. I was quickly assured that true lobster bisque is white. I'm telling you, it was to DIE.FOR.

After we all had such a good time driving through downtown and having this ridiculously fabulous meal, we talked at the table for a while about what the next four days would bring. A friends nephew was graduating from Citadel, you could feel the excitement coming from him as he told me that he was ready to be out in the world and put to use what he had learned. I could also feel the pride coming from his parents, but the real clincher was actually being on the Citadel grounds, watching these soldiers use such precision in their formation during the military parade. I didn't know what to expect. As the silence fell over the crowd as they walked out onto that field, I got goosebumps, watching them flawlessly go through their steps they probably practiced a thousand times to get them so perfect.

I told my friends that I didn't want to go to Fort Sumter, I would use the time to say hello to the ocean.  But, as Mother Nature would have it, the rain coming down changed my mind. I have to say that I'm glad, because I would have missed this:


"In December of 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union....." the voice crackles over the intercom as we sail across the Charleston Harbor on a boat headed towards Fort Sumter. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War, I learned as I listened to the history being told while I was gazing at the harbor from across the water. My thoughts went to my Grandpa and Dad immediately, the wars they fought in, and fortunately made it back home from.
I climbed all the way to the top of the Fort that overcast day.

Everyone that knows me well knows that I have a strong love for Starbucks. I may be their biggest fan. Driving through Charleston and gazing up at those glorious two and three-story homes with porches on the first and second floor balconies took my breath away.

But I literally squealed when we came across what I have dubbed, the cutest Starbucks I've ever seen.

Although it's hard to pick just one favorite moment, any time I've visited the ocean, I will more than likely tell you that my favorite moments were the ones where I'm walking the beach, waiting for the sun to rise. Talk about Zen, it doesn't get any better than that. Folly Beach did not disappoint, it was beautiful.

There were several things on my list that I wanted to be sure to experience before I left. One was to eat boiled peanuts. I had NO idea what they would taste like, but I now understand the comments I've always heard about them being delicious. Another was to eat the shrimp grits with cheese, bacon and gravy. I know.....it sounds, well odd. Let me be your witness, they're unbelievable. There is no way I could eat like that every morning, but for a vacation breakfast in the south? I managed. The Folly Beach Pier was talked about for weeks before I got there. I heard it was amazing. See for yourself:

So Charleston. Now that I've met you, I really don't know how to quit you. I will visit again one day. But I can say this with certainty, I could live in the South.

See you soon friend,

Tiffany

I'll remind you to keep in touch

Do you write letters anymore, in this day of digital, computerized, 'I-can-just-text-you', advanced technological 'we-can-send-emails-through-the-interwebs'?
Real letters. You know the kind, you sit down in a comfortable place, with a piece of paper and pen in your hand, maybe a cup of coffee nearby?

In taking short polls here and there over the last week, I'm finding that most people forego the old fashioned letter writing.

"It's so much easier and quicker to text"
"I just shoot them a quick email"
"Nah, I'll call before I'll write a letter"
"I message through Facebook"
"I @reply them in twitter, it's FAST" <-----this one made me laugh, it's true, it IS fast. There's that whole 140 character limitation, but that forces one to summarize quickly.

When I was younger I used to write my Grandma and Grandpa letters. I still have the letters they mailed me over the years. I'm so glad I kept them, now that they are no longer here with me. Very fond memories I find, when I pull them out and read them again.

I don't know though, there is something about opening my mailbox and finding a hand-written letter inside. My first thought is, how cool that they took the time to write this. I don't throw letters away, I can't bring myself to do it. I will throw cards away, I must confess. But not a hand-written note. It's personal, and giving, and I like it.
You may be the next one on my list,

I'll ask you how you are doing, what's been happening in your world, and share a little of what has been happening in mine in conclusion.

Oh and I'll remind you to keep in touch.

See you soon friend,
Tiffany

PS A breakfast smoothie can provide world peace. I'm sure of it.

In helping others, I find I'm helping myself

In teaching others, guiding them gently, I'm teaching and guiding myself.

I think this is why I have an urge to help, in reaction to someone sharing their problems with me. Or just sharing their story in general. Their life book, what is written so far....I love to listen. Hear about where they've been, who has been with them in their journey so far. Where they may be going from here, and who they're taking with them.

I don't have a degree, given to me on paper from a University. (gah! I dislike typing this!) But I know I can get one if I deem it important enough. I do have, in the very least, honorable mention, in life. I don't sweat the small stuff. I DO take pleasure in the small stuff though.

These days in Dallas, it's a thunderstorm haven. I love thunderstorms. I would SO be a tornado chaser if I could do it safely. When the lightning starts snaking across the sky, and the thunder rolls, you'll find me out on my patio, watching the fantastic display of nature. I do my best thinking on this patio. Sometimes my best talking, if a friend happens to call.

I happened to catch something being said on t.v. last night at just the right moment to share with a friend who is going through a rough time. As I always do, I wrote down what I heard immediately. If I don't do this, it's as good as gone in a few minutes. (Maybe I need ginkoba?)

"How to Calculate Your Net Worth: Add up everything money can't buy, and everything that death can't take away. That, is your net worth" -Ed Young

I believe I've found my new mantra!

I know that we can write down our assets, calculate the total worth, in columns on a piece of paper. That net worth is not quite the same. For me, it's not important.

What money can't buy are things such as these:

Helping others. Making people laugh. And realize what promise lies ahead for them if they seem to have lost their way, or their purpose. Playing with kids, and like a kid, where we both end up winning, if only for the time spent. Telling someone, "I thought of you today" and seeing their smile light up a room, or hearing that smile in their voice over the phone.

Being the kind of person, that when I leave this earth, I know I will be missed. And remembered. Not for what I paid for, or bought, or owned. But for my relationships, and guidance.

I like to leave wherever I am a better place after I was there. (I think this is why I continue to wipe that condiment counter down at Starbucks. I can't help it! I'm helping my favorite baristas!)

So yeah.....In helping others, I find I'm helping myself.

See you soon friend,
Tiffany

PS Protein breakfasts all week this week, what's your favorite breakfast that's packed with protein?

Saturday is the Creme Filling

Saturday Top Ten

Listing it out today people......

1: Summer days appearing in April, whispering, "I'm coming soon, and here's what I look like..."

2: No overbooking, no set plans, the "I can do whatever I want" day that I have at my fingertips.

3: Receiving a simple text message, "you're amazing"

4: Mazzy Star "Into Dust" playing as I type this entry.



5:  Laying under a tree with swaying branches, at the pool, then hearing St. Ann's Catholic Church ring their bells......

6: Blog posts like this, where my beautiful cousin Serenity explains to you that she's beat cancer again:

http://www.serenitybohon.com/2011/04/odds-schmods-my-brother-said-when-i-told-him.html

7: A neighbor asking if I want to join a family BBQ. Um hello. Yes. =)

8: Hope.

9: Laugh out loud tweets. I love my twitter fam.

10: The fact that Saturday is the creme filling.

Have an awesome weekend friend,
Tiffany

PS I'm feeling "brunchy" for breakfast, all weekend. Patio brunch? definitely.

What do you do for a life reboot?

"At the Car Wash......whoa whoa whoa WHOA"

I'm not really singing this song. =)

I had an awesome weekend, and was completely surprised to find that one of the most relaxing things in the world to do, is......be pulled through a car wash. I'm not kidding!

I don't usually go to car washes that do everything for you. I don't mind doing it myself at all, it feels good to get rid of all of that yellow dust (go AWAY pollen).

Sunday, I had brunch with a friend who hooked me up to a FREE car wash, the kind where you put the left front wheel in between the iron rods and it literally pulls you through the wash, very s l o w l y.

So I had some time to think, while all of that dust was being washed away. I thought it would be cool to have a life wash. You could just sit back, put your life in neutral, you can even let go of the wheel, and for three or four solid minutes, everything you don't need/want, gets washed away. Then when you put your life back in "drive", you slowly pull forward out into the sunshine, with a clean windshield, feeling very refreshed.

I have lots of places I go to find this refreshed feeling.

For instance:

This is right in the middle of my neighborhood, very cool.

I do yoga to find that refreshed feeling, go for walks, spend time with friends on a sun-lit patio where live music is playing. I love to sit on my own patio too, for quiet down-time. Sometimes I read, sometimes I just sit quietly. If there is ever a time where I can't fit any of this in, I get that "overloaded" feeling so I try very hard to always make time for it.

What do you do for a life reboot?

I'll see you soon!
Tiffany

PS Breakfast on the patio is a w e s o m e.