Put your dancing shoes on!

Literally.


(Found at Marvelous Kiddo)

I only have eyes for you

D took this picture of me yesterday. I think my look says it all.

Los Angeles

Tonight, while rumaging around looking for some old tax information, I came across the disc containing the pictures of my trip to L.A. in 2005.

I'm thinking about travelling a lot lately and the places I've already been. It's definitely time to start planning our next adventure. Until then, take a look at these pics. They're from L.A., Santa Monica and Laguna Beach. I was surprised to find that I actually liked L.A. a lot when I went there. I especially liked the neighbourhood Los Feliz where my friend A. was living at the time. She was the reason I went to L.A. in the first place. Had she not been living there, I probably would never have seen L.A. But who can say?

Paris

Oh Paris, how I miss you.

All About Nie

A couple of weeks ago I discovered nieniedialogues.com.

But first, let's start at the beginning.

I was re-reading some of my favourite posts, from one of my favourite blogs, A Cup of Jo. (You might even say that Joanna and her blog inspired me to start my own). Joanna got married this past summer and while she was on her honeymoon, she invited some of her favourite bloggers, writers and friends to post their secrets to a happy marriage marriage while she was away. Quite clever, wouldn't you say? It's a really sweet idea and some of these posts bring tears to my eyes. So, while I was re-reading these posts recently this photograph caught my eye:


This picture is Nie Nie and her lovely family dancing together in their living room. This photo tugged deep at my heartstrings because it's an image I have seen over and over again in my head. For a long time now, I've carried the image of my own dancing family in my head. I can see my husband, my beautiful children, our living room, everything. I even know what album we're dancing to. This picture of Nie Nie struck me because it is exactly what I want.

Naturally, after seeing the picture and reading Nie Nie's secrets to her happy marriage, I wanted to know more about her. I clicked on the link to her blog and discovered a whole world that I did not expect to find. Most of the blogs that I read or have found are written by people who are living their lives and sharing the details of their days or the things they buy or the music they're listening to, etc. And Nie Nie is sharing too, but the difference is that Nie Nie is going through something that most people only fear but never have to face. Not only is she going through it, she's sharing it with thousands of people, daily.

My original intention was to post the picture I found of the Nielson's dancing together and share how amazing it felt to see a photogragh so closely resembling my heart's desire. But after learning all about Nie, how could I not talk about Stephanie herself?

This post has taken a long time to put together because everytime I started working on it again, I would look at the nieniedialogues and get lost for hours in the archives. Needless to say, I am now a regular follower of all things Nie.

Like most of us, the thing I love most about Stephanie Nielson is the joy, positivity and fun that can be seen on her blog everyday. She treats being a mother and a wife with reverance, honour and dignity. Before her plane crash, she was inspiring thousands of people by just being herself. Now, "AC" (after-crash as she calls it), Stephanie's life has become inspirational because of what she has endured and continues to endure day after day. But as always, Nie Nie writes with a sense of grace and humour that I find truly humbling.

I could keep talking about Nie Nie, but I think you should just go to her blog and see for yourself.

Days at work

Lately, when the days at work seem long and challenging, I try to keep this in mind:



(Image found on oldsweetsong.com)