“We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails.” – Anonymous

Last week I went in for a check up at Stanford. It was my 4 year check up & for weeks leading up to it, almost every day, I would find myself placing my hand over my beating heart in my cancer free chest, whispering throughout the day, “THANK YOU FOR HEALING ME”, as I would stop & remember that time marker I was approaching.

Here’s the thing. Life IS fleeting.

And yet, even someone like me, who is only 4 years (which is very short in the grand scheme of things) into my recovery from a very life-threatening experience, has gradually forgotten on a daily basis to be THANKFUL for my health-filled life. To remember the HEALING that has me here today, with 2 beautiful daughters & NO CANCER in my body. To look at myself in the mirror & notice my scars from the experience that have just somehow become a natural part of me. To really notice how long my hair is & that I have eyelashes! All of those things remind me of the BIG picture that I. AM. HEALED. I am a SURVIVOR. Cancer sucks & I kicked its butt. Boo-yaw.  Celebrating that reality, choosing to think back on that season of life & all of the suffering & crazy beauty that it was filled with, is really important. I NEED TO REMEMBER. I need to not let that season just disappear into the haziness of my memory. I want to put my hand over my beating heart every single day & reiterate my gratefulness for its ability to pump blood through my veins because I was healed. Because I was healed on this side of heaven, I want to make my life worth it. I want to make my life worthy of that GIFT. Thank you Jesus for healing me!!

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

I forget so often as the days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn into years, how amazing the gift of life is. And not just life in general, but all of those tiny moments each day, all the moments where my heart is beating. I feel like I say it all the time to myself, to Noah, to whoever, but I really do want to live a life FULL to the brim & overflowing with goodness. That can be found in all forms. I look back at that season of cancer & it was full of both suffering & goodness. It was SO RICH. I want to consciously choose being alive every single day. I want my whole life to be rich! I think part of that has to do with simply choosing to be intentionally aware of what my every day life is full of. Let all of my senses experience each moment. To put my hand on my chest & breathe. To chase my toddler around the house & attack her with kisses. To snuggle my wee one up in the dead of night & feel her sweet breath on my cheek. To hug Noah tighter, dance a little longer in the kitchen. To acknowledge the truth that life will always be made up of both “highs” & lows. But together all of those moments create something really beautiful, really messy, really colorful, really good.

Life is fleeting whether you have cancer or not.

I want to be present every day. I want to get absolutely ALL that I can out of every day that I get to be on this earth, surrounded by the people I love. And right here, right now, I am choosing to be GRATEFUL for my life. For my healed body. For my soul that is free. For the people I love, a roof over my head, food on the table. For the beauty in nature that sings around me, for the breath in my lungs, for the arms that hold me. I am grateful for TODAY.

Suck it cancer.

Cheers,

Katie.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It is hard to begin writing a post about the man behind that quote, the impact he has had, & continues to have on the world we live in today. The way that he choose to stand up, speak out, teach, preach, & fight peacefully for the equality of mankind was, & still is, inspiring & monumental. I hope that I can fight the way he did. Be a voice for injustice & peacefully fight for RIGHT.

It is sickening to me that we are still fighting over the issue of racism. It SHOULDN’T BE AN ISSUE. You would have thought we’d have figured this out well before the days of MLK & his fight for equality. But alas. We are human, we are marked by selfishness, pride & hate. We are sinners that have to fight our flesh every single day. THANK GOODNESS for JESUS. I would be such a mess if it weren’t for redemption & forgiveness. But mostly, for His undying, never ending, never failing, LOVE. And with that love, I have the freedom from the chains of selfishness, pride & hate because the spirit of the LIVING GOD resides in me. Therefore, with His help, I can choose LOVE, I can fight against my own human weakness & choose LIFE. I can fight for the voiceless, I will fight for the voiceless, because if I don’t, who will? I will choose live my life for a better cause. I will fight for LOVE. Love is the only thing that will heal the wounds of racism that are continually ripped open over & over again in our nation. With Jesus, those wounds will scar, with the reminder of our failings as human beings. But scars can be daily reminders of healing & the GOOD things that we have & that our future holds.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th, 1963. It is said that the powerful speech was largely impromptu as he spoke out of the depths of his heart about his dream.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed – we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

That speech, if you haven’t watched it recently, is well worth it. Our family watches it every year & it never fails to move us. If you’d like, watch it below:

A few of my personal favorite lines from this particular speech are listed below:

-“We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

-“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

-“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”

-“I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

-“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Don’t we all want to be judged by the content of our character? Rather than by the cars we drive, the jobs we have, the clothes we wear, the friends we have, how many followers we have, the color of our skin, the degrees we hold or how many “likes” we get? Wouldn’t it be so much sweeter if instead, we were judged by the way we live our lives & the BEAUTY that we bring the world around us?! I think so.

Dr. King said it so well. The way he chose to live his life, backed up his words. I want to be a woman of my word. I want my words to be a direct reflection of the way that I live my life of LOVE. I want my life to speak louder than my worlds. Every. Single. Day. If my 2 daughters are the ones who I have as my audience on a daily basis, I want to live my BEST for them. I want to represent REAL love, REAL joy, REAL zest. I want their memories of me to be FULL of life, laughter, silliness, dancing, truth, tenderness, care & dedication to make their lives the best lives possible. I want them to see me fight for goodness, for the beauty of life & for the betterment of mankind. I want to fight for justice & mercy.

Thank you MLK for the trailblazing that you did. Thank you for the direct impact on my family because of the way you fought for freedom & equality. I pray every single day that the bondage of racism that has held so many in our nation in captivity for decades would be washed away by that mighty stream. I am tired of it. I am tired of the lack of justice & mercy. I am tired of feeling hurt for the heart of the Father. I want the issue of racism to be an issue no longer. Help us, God. I will be a voice. I will live my life by example & choose love.

Think about a way that you can choose love, a way that you can live your life by example. With each of us choosing love, loving BIGGER & BETTER, we will be able to change the world around us & leave a different legacy for our own children. That is a dream worth fighting for!

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Cheers,

Katie.

I celebrated turning 28 last Monday & it is always crazy looking back over the last year & all that it has held, all the good, bad, ugly, wonderful, scary, momentous, & beautiful days that created a year of life, my life. I am so grateful.  It has been quite a ride! This last year of being 27 was such a GIFT. I was able to work with some of my absolute favorite special needs students & get them to graduation, I was able to bring our perfect, healthy, adorable MIRACLE of a baby, little miss Cora into this world, I was able to learn how to slackline up at our family cabin in between reading some amazing books including The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas & The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I was blessed with another report of being CANCER FREE, I am 3 1/2 years clear at this point! Noah & I have gotten some good time together, a weekend away in Santa Cruz, & us as a family have spent a lot of time roadtripping to Oregon & to Southern California & back quite a bit. The girls are roadtrip ROCKSTARS. We have been able to spend time at Disneyland which always results in lots of flights on Dumbo & the “horseys” (carousel), this last summer was full of Pinecrest & cabin time, & this fall has been full of walks together as a family & me stepping into my current role as a stay at home mama. The holiday season is now reaching its end & I have absolutely loved it this year! Being 27 was RAD. Turning 28, according to my dad, sounds “respectable”. I think it sounds even more rad than 27 did! Noah & I frequently comment on how FULL our life has been in the 6 1/2 years we have been married & I am SO happy with that fact! I can only hope that year 28 for me is just as FULL of goodness & life.

With all that said, I thought it would be fun to make a list of 28 things that are good to participate/invest/get involved in/go do. Enjoy!

1. The great outdoors.
   • Get out there! Go find some local trails & hit ’em up!
     • For you in our local area, check out: http://www.hikespeak.com/sierras/tuolumne
2.  Local businesses.
   • Supporting local is great for the economy, community connections, & just plain nice.
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.yelp.com/biz/runway-xchange-sonora
       • http://www.yelp.com/biz/schnoogs-cafe-and-espresso-sonora-2
       • http://snacattack.com
3. Reading.
   • One of my absolute favorite things to do. It is proven to be a huge benefit for any person, so take the time! It’s worth it.
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.yelp.com/biz/mountain-bookshop-sonora
4. Community theater.
   • The arts are thriving, even in small towns!
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.sierrarep.org/
5. Rec sports.
   • Getting to join up on a team (like back in the day) can be rewarding physically as well as build friendships & make connections outside of common circles.
     • Locals:
       • http://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/index.aspx?NID=781
       • http://sonorafitness.com/
6. Find a creative outlet.
   • “Most people believe creativity has something to do with the arts. Nonsense. Creativity is everything & should be intertwined in everything we do.” Says my husband.
   • Express yourself through words, find a new creative way to cook the same old recipe, find a creative way to walk from your car to your job, organize your closet. Be creative!
7. Take a class.
   • One of our friends decided to learn the harmonica & is taking classes online, she loves it! I never knew there was so much involved in harmonica playing.
   • Take a cooking class, photography class, underwater basket-weaving class, whatever! Besides learning new things, you could find out you have a real talent for something.
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.gocolumbia.edu/
       • https://www.facebook.com/Sonoraschoolofsewing
8. Volunteer.
   • This is hugely beneficial for everyone involved! Ask just about anyone who has ever volunteered & see how it has impacted them.
   • Church food closets, community thanksgiving meals, classroom helpers, homeless shelters, Operation Christmas Child, blood drives, libraries, the list is endless.
     • Locals:
       • http://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/index.aspx?NID=547
       • http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
       • http://www.redcross.org/support/volunteer
9. Learn a new game.
   • Pick up a card trick that you can show your kids & wow their friends.
   • Buy a new trivia game to play with your family on “game nights” once a week.
10. Pay it forward.
    • Next time you drive through to get your cup of coffee, anonymously leave money to cover the cost of the coffee for the person behind you in the drive-thru. It will probably be a highlight of their day!
    • Show kindness, bless someone, just because. Without getting any credit.
11. Go visit a museum.
    • Find out what your local museums are & check them out! They can be informative & fun.
    • After you’ve checked out your local history, go on day trips, pack a picnic & visit other museums. Presidential museums, art museums, town history museums, etc.
      • Locals, check out:
        • http://www.sonoraca.com/visitsonora/museums.htm
        • https://tuolumnemuseum.wordpress.com/
12. Play.
    • Go build a snowman!
    • Pull out your old Star Wars collection or Lincoln Logs & play.
    • Just be a kid, no agenda. Enjoy doing something fun, just because.
13. Drive to a new state.
    • Figure out what states you haven’t seen, make a list & go!
    • Start with the ones closest to you & work your way out.
14. Disconnect.
    • Turn off your cell phone, your TV, your walkman (just kidding), all handheld devices, computers. Take a whole day to just BE.
    • Go out & hike, or stay in & read a book (a physical book with pages that you can turn & fold) & maybe just have a candle-lit dinner.
    • Go all out & turn off your electricity & use candles, don’t use your microwave & go to bed when the sun goes down.
    • We DO NOT disconnect enough. It is healthy to take breaks from the fast-paced, always connected lifestyle we lead in this world today. Treat it like a detox, maybe do a mini disconnect once a week or so. We do this & it is always worth it.
15. Mentor someone.
    • Start taking a look around the circle of people in your life & find someone younger than you who you could start mentoring, not as a “professional on all things life has to offer”, but rather just using your life as an example for someone to glean some wisdom from. The good & bad.
    • Speak life into someone as you spend time with them. ENCOURAGE them & pull the best out of them. We all need advocates & people to believe in us.
      • Locals:
        • http://teenworksmentoring.com/
16. Research both sides of a political issue.
    • Get informed on both sides of an issue. Be able to see where both sides are coming from & then hold an intelligent conversation with someone about it.
    • Taking the time to form your own opinion after thoroughly becoming informed is much more grounded than basing it off of what everyone else is saying on Facebook.
17. Learn a new skill.
    • Have you ever wanted to learn how to crochet? Or how to build a bench? Or how to cook ratatouille? What about photography? Go learn how!
    • Learning new skills can be intimidating, hard to do at first, but in the end can become really fun hobbies.
18. Take someone out for coffee.
    • Take someone out for a cup of coffee or tea, just to enjoy it & see how their life is going.
    • Do it with no agenda other than spending some undivided attention with someone you care about.  Put your cell phone away & don’t watch the clock. Just BE together. Let that time together be your priority.
19. Write a letter.
    • Go grab some paper from your kiddo’s backpack, or buy some fun stationery. Think of someone that would enjoy a handwritten letter from you, grab a pen & write!
    • Sending handwritten letters is not common anymore, which makes it more significant, I think. It takes longer to write a letter then send an email, which makes you think more about what you’re saying. One of my best friends & I have send letters back & forth randomly over the last several years & it NEVER gets old. I bet if you wrote your grandma or grandpa a letter it would be such a gift. So go do it! It only costs a postage stamp to make someone’s day.
20. Collaborate with someone to accomplish a common goal.
    • When you collaborate with someone, they come up with ideas you may not have had & vica versa. You are able to get further in the process then you would by yourself.
    • It promotes teamwork, resourcefulness, brainstorming, creativity & it allows for compromise to name a few.
    • For example, team up with your spouse or friend to landscape your property. If you want to start your own business or new venture, sit with a group of people to brainstorm on how to do it & do it well. Plan a trip with someone else where you both have to come up with an itinerary that satisfies both of you.
21. Plant a garden.
    • Winter or summer, gardens can be had at all times. Even if you have an herb garden inside your home on a windowsill, it is still good to care for plants & watch them grow.
    • Learning how to correctly care for plants can teach a person a lot about patience, awareness & shows you the fruits of your labors.
      • Locals, check out:
        • ucanr.edu/sites/Tuolumne_County_Master_Gardeners/
22. Practice joy.
    • Intentionally smile at someone & be aware of their reaction.
    • Wave at your neighbors as you drive through your neighborhood.
    • Make eye contact with people in the grocery store & as you walk past them on the street.
    • Be aware of the atmosphere around you & how your presence affects it.
23. Be responsible.
    • Choose to take responsibility rather than expecting someone else to do it for you.
    • For example, pick up the trash you see in a park. When you go see a movie, put your trash in the container instead of leaving it on the ground. Put your bottles & cans in recycling bins.
    • Overall, don’t expect others to do what you are capable of doing yourself. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Ghandi
24. Dance.
    • Let loose! Let your body move. You can do this at home without anyone watching, or you can do it with others.
    • Dancing is a great way to laugh, have fun, release energy, create memories, express yourself.
    • If dancing is something you’ve never done or are uncomfortable doing, just give it a try! It’s something you may end up enjoying.
      • Locals:
        • http://www.tuolumnecountyarts.org/programs/education/arts-reach-catalog/dance-programs/
25. Create something out of recycled material.
    • Grab your milk cartons, egg crates, cereal boxes & pasta jars & make something usable or just plain fun.
    • Go on Pinterest if you need to find some inspiration.
    • It can be really beautiful seeing “trash” turn into something usable/fun. Doing it with your little people can be good in teaching them about being resourceful & creative.
26. Break social norms.
    • Back in college we took a class where we were asked to “break social norms” & so we went & stood in an elevator…backwards. It was so interesting watching people’s reactions to facing us instead of seeing our backs as we all stared at the door.
    • Every culture has social norms & every culture is different. In that, we get so accustomed to the way “we” live that we don’t even think about why we do certain things.
    • Go do something out of the norm for your culture! Go stand in an elevator backwards, think of something! It will be great. It’s freeing. Step outside of your comfort zone.
27. Be teachable.
    • Let yourself be open to receive from others. Don’t just keep your mouth shut if someone is telling you something you don’t agree with, try to listen to what they are saying. Evaluate it. Mull over it. If it still doesn’t agree with you, that is ok. But don’t shut everything everyone else says down immediately, give it a chance.
    • Become childlike in your curiosity & desire to learn. Shake the staleness off & go find someone who does something AMAZING & have them teach you how to do it too.
    • Glean wisdom. Sit under people who inspire you in different avenues of life.  Find out their “secrets” to success & then work on applying them to your own life.
    • Practice humility.

28.  Find beauty in everyday life.

• Observe people (without being creepy) & find the nuances that make them, them.
• Look at the way buildings are designed, find the beauty in the strength & magnitude of their structure.
• Reminisce on what made you fall in love with your significant other.  Think back to the process, what made your stomach flip when you saw them walking into the room, when you first remember the feeling of wanting to be with them forever. The beauty of each step of the process.
• Go on a walk right out your front door. Whether you live in a city, near the beach, in the backcountry or in a neighborhood, just go out & notice the little things. See how nature finds its way into our lives, even if it has to struggle to get there. Listen to the sounds around you. Smell the breeze. (Hopefully that is a good idea.)
• Just take it all in a reflect on the gift of living & how waking up every day is beautiful.

With that, I wish you a HAPPY New Year, a heart of reflection that sees the goodness in your own life this last year & hope for new successes & challenges that bring us higher & make us stronger as we move swiftly through this gift of life. May you be FULL of JOY overflowing. I know I am. My soul knows it full well & I REJOICE! Thanks friends.

Cheers,

Katie.

In our part of this westernized modern world it seems that family is chosen less & less. Consider just a hundred years ago how families would homestead together, how acres would be set aside & houses would be built so that the grand kids could run over to their grandpa & grandma’s house for afternoon tea & roam wild with cousins outdoors using their imaginations to play in fantastic worlds before dinner time. Not only do I think that for kiddos it was probably incredible to grow up with such a network of family literally next door or at least nearby, but also for the parents & all the other relatives. Having family near in proximity has seemed to be a priority (most of the time) throughout the course of history, but has progressively become less & less of one it seems.

Noah & I recently saw a house go up for sale that we love & jumped online to find out more about it. It turned out the house was not only amazing, but it also sat on 11 acres that were already zoned for 3 additional homes. Can you say homesteading dream?!! But with all that came a MUCH bigger price tag then we could ever afford, which is fine. We currently live in a small home that meets our needs perfectly, we are content in the coziness that it gives. One day we will outgrow it sadly, but at that time we can look into a bigger home on some land. Still, the idea, the daydream of living on 11 acres & building homes for our kids future families to stay close & have grand kiddos running across the land for tea time with us is a beautiful picture. Maybe one day.

With that said, we are SO blessed to live less then a mile away from my parents, my sister & her family live a mere 17ish minutes away (around the mountain) & my brother & sister-in-law live in LA, but travel up at least once a month to visit where we have giant family breakfasts complete with pancakes & rows of little girls. My parents have 5 grand girls, for now. FAMILY IS AMAZING. There is no where else in the whole world I would rather be then right here, near my family. It would be even more incredible if Noah’s parents lived here too. Our daughters are getting to grow up KNOWING their grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins, living everyday life with them. It is a dream come true. I never expected to end up settling in the county where I grew up, but here I am & I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Family is such a gift! There have been studies done that show living with family increases the levels of happiness & longevity within family units. I would wholeheartedly agree with that!

I hope you have family (near or far) that you are close with. People that you can lean on when you need to, people that can encourage you & bake you cookies. People that you can do the same thing for. We are designed for community, for fellowship with people & family is the perfect place to start for that. Begin in your home, with your spouse & little ones. Spread the love from there. If you don’t have family close by, make your friends family. It is so SO worth it. Maybe one day some of us can get back to our homesteading roots & physically live close by our loved ones & share daily tea times. But if that isn’t feasible, we can still Facetime, Skype, whatever! Lets make family a priority. If you have to start with “Friday Night Dinners” like on Gilmore Girls, go for it. But start somewhere! Investing in people IS THE BEST. It is hard, but it is the most rewarding.

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“Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” -Lilo & Stitch

Cheers,

Katie.

Tis the season of THANKS & CELEBRATION.

I love reading through social media posts during the months of November & December for a few reasons, but primarily because it seems everyone decides to share with the world why they are thankful & what they are thankful for in their lives. I wish we saw more of that throughout the other months of the year, but alas.

The last few weeks I have had a song stuck in my head that I literally wake up with & fall asleep with running through my mind & heart. It is my current song. Do you have seasons with songs? It seems like every time I transition into a “new” season there is a song that goes right along with it. Music is the heartbeat that keeps us bumping along. It’s good to have anthems that remind us of the season we are in & we can look back at it & know exactly why “that song” was our anthem. I am so grateful for music, it would be a dull world without it. Below is the song that is my current anthem. Enjoy!

Good Good Father- Housefires II

The lines that say:

“You’re a good good Father, it’s who you are, it’s who you are…”

&

“And I’m loved by You, it’s who I am, it’s who I am…”

AH! So good! Over & over again. It washes over me & it is the most simple, beautiful, spirit refreshing TRUTH. And I so often need to be reminded of that.

In these months of THANKS & GIVING, CHRIST & CELEBRATING, I hope that you can find a song, (take this one if you want!) or a poem, or any simple reminder of the GOODNESS in your own life. It is so refreshing to just BE at least once a day to reflect on the beautiful things in our lives. So go take 5 for yourself & reflect on your own life & let the goodness wash over you!

“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” Psalm 106:1 (NIV)

Cheers,

Katie.