The Vagabond Studio

Meet Shai.

Shai is one of my BFF’s and the mastermind behind The Vagabond Studio.

I get a lot of my creative inspiration from her. 

And parenting inspiration. 

And productive motivation. 

This woman is ahhh-mazing! 

Honestly, I think she has some sort of device that freezes time. Nobody can get as much done over the course of a day as this girl! 

She’s a full-time student, wife, mom, blogger, and Etsy shop owner. 

Last year, Shai was named number 7 in Top 25 Eco-Friendly Moms on Circle of Moms.

Voting is currently being held for 2013’s Top 25 Eco-Friendly Moms. 

PLEASE click here to vote for her! 

Her latest feature was in Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine, Winter /Spring 2013 issue. 

How could these beautiful bouquets and boutonnières NOT be a big hit?!

She also makes beautiful hair clips!

You can read more about Superwo....Shai....at her blog, The Vagabond Studio. 

Or if you would like to see more of her handmade goodies, visit her Etsy shop!

Our Little Matchmaker

This is Big A. 

She’s my oldest daughter. 

She’s smart. 

She’s beautiful. 

She’s creative. 

She’s funny. 

She never ceases to amaze me. 

She’s the reason her father and I met. 

David and I have been together since Big A was 2 1/2 years old. 

I remember the day he walked into my daycare classroom. He was looking for a class for his daughter, who happened to be in the age group that I taught. 

(I think I might have done a fist pump in my head when I found out.  Just in case you haven’t noticed, my hubby’s pretty hot). 

We found out a few weeks after Big A started in my class that we also went to the same church. I was new in town, so I hadn’t met a lot of people yet. We have three different worship times at our church on Sunday mornings, so I had never seen him there.

A few months later, I called D one night to check on Big A because she hadn’t been to school the last couple of days. 

That was all it took. 

We talked for eight or nine hours that night. Both of us had to work the next day, but we didn’t care. We were in our own little world. 

We started dating after that. 

We dated for about 9 months before he proposed to me on Christmas night, 2008. 

We were engaged for more than a year before we got married. 

I consider our wedding day to be one of the most important days of my life. Not only did I become the wife to my soul mate, I also became a mom to the little girl who changed my life forever. I tell her quite often not to forget that I fell in love with her before I fell in love with her daddy. 

I love our family. We wouldn’t exist without our Big A. 

She’s a comedian. 

She’s an artist.

She’s a scholar.

She’s an author.

She’s a singer. 

She’s an actress. 

She’s a basketball player.

She’s a loving sister. 

She’s my daughter. 

I wouldn’t trade her for the world. 

Wordless Wednesday

We’re all THAT mom.

I can’t take Little A grocery shopping.

I can’t.

People look at me and laugh when I say that, but it’s the truth.

She’s a major screamer. I don’t mean that she’ll let out a couple of squeals every now and then when she wants something. She’s a full-on, ear-ringing, head-splitting screamer. I think she’s somehow a cross between a banshee and a siren. I would be absolutely fine with that and power on through my shopping trip if that was the only thing.

I think she’s part houdini, too.

This kid can climb.

People say, “Just buckle her into the shopping cart.”

NO.

It doesn’t work.

She can climb out of shopping carts, even when she’s buckled in.

So picture me walking through the grocery store wrestling a screaming toddler while trying to find the things on my list. It’s stressful. It’s hard. It makes ME want to start screaming right along with her.

I get so many of those looks. You know...the ones that say, “Shut your kid up!” and “Why can’t you control your child?!” and “You are failing at life!”
Okay...maybe that last one is a little far out there, but all moms feel that way at least once.
It’s not the looks that bother me. I could care less what other people think of me or my parenting style. Grocery shopping is just stressful for me. Middle A was very easygoing, and still is. Dealing with Little A is like a whole new ballgame.

My solution?
I ask someone to watch the girls while I go grocery shopping. That turns my hour-and-a-half shopping trip into about a 30-45 minute trip. It’s much easier to get everything on my list, and I don’t have to rush. Not to mention my stress level is waaay lower than when I take the kiddos.

So on Wednesday while I was grocery shopping (all by myself!), there was another mom there with a little boy who was absolutely done shopping. You could tell he was exhausted and just wanted to go home. They were in front of me in the checkout line. The mom kept giving me these, “I’m so embarrassed! He’s not usually like this.” looks. I knew exactly how she felt. None of us want to be that mom--the one who can’t control her kids. Honestly though, kids will be kids. They all have their moments. Sometimes we can calm them down, and sometimes we can’t. That’s just life.

So next time you’re at the store and one of your kids decides to show their less-than-flattering side, just remember....we’ve all been there. We’ve all dealt with it. You’re not the only one. We understand.

For those few that have the guts to actually put into words what the look has already affectively communicated, just give them a big smile and tell them to have a nice day. Not only will it throw them for a loop, it will also show them that you don’t give a pile of dirty diapers about their opinion.

So here’s a big THANK YOU to Angela, my brother-in-law’s girlfriend. You help keep me from being that mom at the grocery store. Even better, you help me keep my sanity.

Book Spotlight: Impossible Compassion

      

Impossible Compassion

by Edward Mannix

Genre: Self-Help

• Print Length: 194 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1480188743
• ______________________________
• Synopsis:
•     How do we end suffering in our own life and on the planet? How do we bring about seemingly impossible outcomes such as miraculously healing our self from a fatal disease, saving the environment or ending violence and war?
  
  
      In his second book, Edward Mannix takes on our assumptions about what is possible and impossible for us as individuals and as a species, and he provides us with a new paradigm and new tools that enable us to achieve that which was previously unachievable.
  
  
      The new paradigm he presents includes two key concepts the author calls metaphysical causation and interlocking karma. 
  
  
      Metaphysical causation at first sounds a lot like the Law of Attraction but ends up being quite a bit different. According to the author it is not our thoughts that create our reality, but rather it is our karma or karmic imprints that are projected onto the movie screen of our life by the powerful projector of our soul. By moving the discussion away from the potency of our thoughts to something more difficult to observe - our karmic imprints - the book reveals to us important hidden aspects of the creative mechanism of life, and offers us the opportunity to intervene in this causal process in a new and powerful way. For those readers who have tried the Law of Attraction and found it sometimes effective and other times ineffective, it is likely that the information presented in this text will illuminate why those techniques often fall down. 
  
  
      Impossible Compassion provides a missing link of sorts, helping us identify and change our karmic imprints through the use of simple tools and processes that fall under the heading of what the author calls directed compassion. By utilizing our own compassion to alter the karmic imprints on the film of our soul - which the book teaches us how to do in specific detail - we can literally re-write the script of our life, leading to rapid and potentially miraculous changes in our external world.
  
  
      And, while according to metaphysical causation we each sit at the center of and in some way create our own universe, we are also all connected to one another and part of each others' created universes. In his discussion of what he calls interlocking karma, the author illuminates this critical paradox that is so often misunderstood or entirely missed by students and teachers of modern spirituality. In so doing, he gives us further insight into the process of reality unfolding, and it is with an understanding of interlocking karma that we can see how giving our self compassion can influence the physical health of a loved one or help bring about major changes in our collective reality, e.g., ending violence and war. 
  ________________________________
  
  
  About the Author
  
  

Edward Mannix has been on a conscious path of personal and spiritual development for over twenty years. He has practiced Vipassana meditation in a monastery in Burma, travelled to Nepal to receive teachings and empowerments from Tibetan Rinpoches, and worked with hidden masters from a number of traditions and geographies, spanning Asia, Europe and the United States. Throughout his journey, Edward has consistently focused on a form of practical spirituality – integrating his spiritual pursuits into ordinary life, not leaving worldly endeavors behind, but instead using them as a vehicle to go deeper into awakening. While on his conscious path and prior to becoming an author, he worked in the private sector as a management consultant and social entrepreneur. He holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University where he studied Sustainability and Social Enterprise, an M.A. from The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in Psychology and Economics from Indiana University. Drawing upon unique insight and an unusually diverse set of life experiences, Edward brings fresh perspective to ancient wisdom, and is emerging as an important new voice in the arenas of philosophy, spiritual development and personal transformation. 

  You can visit Edward Mannix’s website or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I share a recipe now and then. I’m always looking for new recipes for my family. So now I’m starting a new feature called Tasty Tuesday. I’m going to try to feature a new recipe each week from a friend, a family member, or YOU! I love to hear from my readers, so I’m asking that if you have any favorite recipes, share them! They can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, or dessert! Just click on the ‘Contact Me’ tab above to send me a quick email letting me know you’d like to contribute. I’ll email you with details on how to be featured on Tasty Tuesday!

I’m going to start off the very first Tasty Tuesday with a huge favorite in our house: 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs of potatoes, cut into small cubes.

1 1/2 tsp of garlic

  1/2 tsp of pepper

4 1/2 cups of chicken broth

   1/2 cup of whipping cream or half & half

1   cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup of crumbled bacon  (I buy a pkg of real bacon bits)

Directions:

-Combine potatoes, garlic, and pepper in your crock pot. Pour broth all over mixture. 

-Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

-Mash potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in whipping cream, cheddar cheese, and bacon. 

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Everyone in our house LOVES this recipe. The kids have seconds and thirds, even Little A! 

I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine! 

Don’t forget to contact me if you would like to submit a recipe to be featured on Tasty Tuesday!