Beauty in Bloom

My 1st Easter with my granddaughter, we hauled out Easter decor and she was inquisitive sitting in the Easter patch.

Her little shirt says "Beauty in Bloom" and she most certainly is a beauty.

Sofia stands out and people are drawn to her everywhere, she is the spotlight among the rest. Adults and children wanting to be liked with an affirmation of a smile from this most beautiful baby, yet she doesn't give it to them. 

Sofia doesn't need attention from others, she is well loved. She is smiles, laughter and affection to those she chooses.

Her presence commands attention without seeking attention.

Femininity is strength wrapped in a velvet glove

It doesn't insist on its own way, 

but most of the time gets it.

I am that way and she is mine. 

Facetime Photos

One of my favorite things is when my phone rings and I see my baby and my baby's baby ...

We Facetime everyday and that makes it every day I get to see her. That smile that crosses her sweet little face when she sees me is everything. 

I see this view a lot as she likes to eat the phone. I like to think she's trying to kiss her grandmomma as it becomes a wet and dark little cave. It's because she likes to love so much! 

Then it happens ... as I am talking to her, making faces, and entertaining my little granddaughter a flash comes across the screen that a Facetime photo screen shot has been taken. Sofia likes to capture moments, too. Laughter from my Mariah promising Sofia did it and lots of me saying those need deleted! :D

My sweet girls. xoxo 

Her 1st Cell Phone

My sweet Sofia loves her special shows and I love her. Fixed on her show, I capture her in all her sweetness glory and chub. 

She has four teeth now and I do brace myself for the sharp little chomp when she gets overly excited and wants to kiss so big she bites. 

We were sitting on the floor watching her shows and I was holding her when she became so lovey and kept looking back at me giving me kisses. She is my heart and my happiness and she has no idea what her affections mean to me unprompted in that moment when she wants to kiss me. 

Sofia loves to Facetime and when I see a Facetime call come through it is so special seeing her sweet little face break into a smile when she sees me and tries to eat the phone. Cell phones are so germy so when I was looking for a new toy for her I just knew her own cell phone would be perfect. She loves it!

I need to get moving, I need to get to my granddaughter. 

Oh, Saturday mornings how I love thee. 

#Twinning

My Mariah and my granddaughter, Sofia are twinning!

Mariah is a wee bit older in her photo than Sofia in hers, but their similarities catch me off guard all the time.

Sofia makes expressions Mariah used to make as a baby that I had completely forgotten. People say, I'd love to have a day or a few hours with my child as a baby again, I get that with Sofia. She is so much like her momma.

During our Facetime lunch date with my girls, Mariah shared that Sofia angry yelled at her for the 1st time. And ... it begins.

In fairness to my granddaughter, she cannot talk to convey what she needed which clearly lead to her frustrations. Perhaps she was hungry, her diaper was wet, and her 2nd top tooth that popped through was aching. Perhaps she was cold on top of all the above. I'd angry yell.

I can imagine the shock on Mariah's face when realization hit of what just happened. I'm most certain her eyebrows shot straight up in the shock of the challenge. My expression, her expression, and weeks into her little life, Sofia's expression.

[Grand]momma will be the voice of reason and the one who talks both my fiery girls off their ledge and speaks reason into their rationale. The head-butting begins at 7 months old.

WORDS OF WISDOM: My sweet Sofia, your mommy is beginning her journey of raising her mini-me in all things. What mommy will exhaust herself putting up with, daddy won't. Don't angry yell at daddy. Daddy is way calmer and teaches you patient hands. As mommy is learning to raise her little self and will battle herself in her own mind facing future head-strong battles with you, daddy will be zero tolerance. They both have strengths in their parenting ways, learn quickly what works for one does not work with the other. When the battle seems fierce, come to Grandmomma's house for a time out, rejuvenate, let's do something meaningful and I will sprinkle in words of wisdom in a way your little heart can receive.

Ultherapy

Today I tried Ultherapy as a more than happy volunteer during an all-day training session.

I am so impressed with this non-invasive procedure that lifts and tightens skin around the neck, chin, lower face and brows. The skin that thins and loosens with age. I see immediate results when the real results will begin to show in 3 to 6 months.

Here is a short clip of the procedure ...

It didn't hurt at all. In fact, it kind of felt like your foot does when it is completely asleep and you still must walk and that numb tingling sensation that you feel with every step until sensation flows again, like that.

My neck and lower face was lifted and it only feels a bit tender and will be slightly swollen for a couple weeks. Not noticeable to others, but I can tell. A $2500 procedure, free. 

Christie Brinkley is the spokesperson for Ultherapy. A classic beauty at age 63. 

  

Fresh and natural still, she is setting the bar high for 60's. 

Faith, a healthy lifestyle, and smart procedures ...

Bye Bye Arbonne, Hello ZO!

I've been an Arbonne girl for the last several years. A consultant for discount purposes, but Arbonne kept changing their formulas and upping their prices.

My annual membership due this month with many notices of renewal, I've made the decision to break away and find something new. I am not renewing and letting go of all things discount. Plus, I have a lot of product to get me through my journey of finding new skin care.

Not a fun task for a creature of habit person.

I made up my mind two days ago, I'm done, and I am firm and happy with my decision.

Then ..

Then's are a game changer. Then, I met another one of my rep's for our medical grade skin care line.

Medical grade skin care products are strong enough to reach and correct problems in the deep lays of the skin that over the counter products cannot.

I simply must know our product line to extend it to patients. I'm the one they bond with, meet with, and get to the heart of personal experience questions with.

Free products on their way, training scheduled, I am one excited girl to have the best products be mine and be a spokesperson for our practice.

Bye bye Arbonne ... hello ZO!

Reps are fun. I appreciate their enthusiasm and conversation and I am super excited to try this new skin care line. Being 47 is an absolute perfect age for my position as I am not too young or too old for our patients. A medium age they can relate to.

Today is my first fountain of youth procedure. Reps are coming in for training and I am happy to volunteer as well as being a spokesperson for many procedures.

Life changes in so many unexpected ways. I am grateful for the journey of being unstuck and brave enough to embark on new paths.

Life is an adventure for those willing.

Momma to the Rescue

Swollen and hurting from four wisdom teeth being removed + her monthly cycle + her dad's birthday = this momma needed to get to my little girl.

I arrived with a bag filled with a variety of ice creams and soups and a happy birthday balloon for my daughter to release and send up a birthday wish. Little did I know how much my sweet granddaughter would love his balloon. Fortunately, this grandmomma is more than happy to bring balloons.

Singles, bunches, all shapes and sizes, I like the wow effect.

At a healthy 25 lbs. at 7 months old, she is an armful of love ...

... laughter, happy screams, funny expressions, and kisses, kisses, and chomp!

Happy to come to the rescue, perhaps the beginning of a new birthday balloon tradition, my job was done and I returned home to favorite sushi he picked up, sunshine, and and someone very happy to see me. 

Spending weekends with him is a glimpse into life with him. I thoroughly enjoy watching him cook and I am not allowed to do a thing. He's comfortable and great in his kitchen, preparing meals from scratch (I find it relaxing watching), always a yummy dessert and special touches as he has prepared ahead of time and thinks of little details. I like that he prepares my plate in presentation and won't allow me to help clean up. He treats me like an absolute princess. One he cannot get enough of.

It's more than that. His actions surpass his words, yet he is like a fountain overflowing to express his intentions, thoughts and adoration. I wanted to find someone who shares my passions and interests and I found someone who wants to take them to the next level.

We are going to begin sushi classes and making our own ice wine.

I used to lead relationships, always waiting for others to step up and catch up. Now, I feel as if my presence is far more than enough and he takes care of the rest. I like that he is the man leading the relationship. I trust him and I am letting him to lead. It is his God-given role and as a woman, I want to see what he is made of.

Behind every good man is a woman who knows his worth, because he knows hers.

Perhaps, it should have always been this easy.

Ice Wine, Baby!

Ahhhh, quite possibly my most favorite festival of the year is the Ice Wine Festival.

Sampling ice wines from one winery/vineyard to the next is a perfect opportunity to taste a host of ice wines back to back to find a new favorite. 

Those little samples add up quickly and I am both grateful and thankful for the newbie to this fun festivity and my charming designated driver. Enjoying ice wine is a prerequisite.

The highlights of the festival was a fabulous new find after a crashing low. The crashing low being each winery offered an appetizer or dessert to complement their ice wine. At St. Joseph's their dessert description on the board as we entered offered a delectable description that I was thrilled to sample. In fact, it was this very winery that I found my inspiration for Mariah's bridal shower dessert. My hopes up, all excited, I see a flat star-shaped cookie on a plate. That description in reality was a flat shortbread cookie with slight gooey flavor. Someone dropped the ball. Hard.

To whom do I voice my annoyance?

Then, my eyes spot a table full of maple products. I love maple! I was curious of this Maple Sugar product and as I was asking about this product I was offered a taste. MIND BLOWN. Amazing! What flavor! This Maple Sugar is what I can use to sprinkle on top of baked sweet potatoes and certain meats.

I spot these maple sugar leaves and as I am all about redeeming the let-down of a bland shortbread cookie, the taste of the maple sugar was pure maple sugar crack joy! Nothing at that very moment could have possibly tasted more extraordinary than that. I was in heaven!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner, my favorite ice wine of the day was the Blush Ice Wine, circa 2018.

Well done South River Winery. Cheers!

Back to My Roots

Fresh out of high school, the first 19 years of my professional career was working in hospitals. I branched off into other career paths purely for change sake and I am grateful for that journey. Here I am, back to my roots being back in the medical field.

I've been back for a few months and I LOVE it! I feel like me again. Back in my groove and I have a fantastic schedule that complements my life. 

I. Am. So. Excited! I met with two of my reps today both saying the magical words free samples so I know our products first hand as well as volunteering for procedures. This is in addition to some pretty amazing perks. 

Back in the day when I was in my early 30's when laser hair removal came out, the doctors and residents needed "practice" volunteers to learn how to use the equipment. I was working in O.R. at the time and all us girls readily volunteered. 

SO much has changed in the last decade. 

Next month is staff appreciation month with one of our reps and as she said the sweet magical words today, "You are the face of this practice ..." Me, specifically. I do need to know and have experience with our popular products. I feel like a kid in a candy store. 

Never did I imagine this position and yet, here I am. 

The Real Deal

I used to be a brown sugar instant oatmeal packet kind of girl. I loved the taste, the quickness of instant magic in a microwave and a splash of milk. Voila, breakfast is ready!

Choosing healthy options as I get older, I've turned to steel cut oats as the healthiest of the oat family options and add a delectable variety of seeds, nuts and fruits. Tastes so much better and I feel so much better. Internally, I know it allows me to run as a fine-tuned machine.

Perusing through the oatmeal selection at the store, I saw Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond instant oatmeal. Dazzled and impressed by the new flavor I purchased a box (almost bought a couple for convenience sake) and came home and made it.

The instant in all its glorious flavor combinations was nasty. The instant that I once enjoyed had a terrible texture, full of sugar additives and instant pales in comparison to the real thing. 

Once you've had the real deal, instant has zero appeal. 

My health thanks me. 

AncestryDNA

People often ask, where are you from because of my dark hair, eyes and olive skin. I say American, because I was born and raised in America and when pressed I say Welsh because what I know for certain was my grandfather came over from Wales. 

With four grandparents I assumed it would make me 25% Welsh. 

For Christmas, my brother bought family members an AncestryDNA kit and the results are in ...

63% Great Britain: England, Scotland, Wales

16% Europe: Germany and France

8% Scandinavia: Sweden and Norway

5% Middle East: Israel ...

I was stunned. 

My brother has traced our family tree all the way back to the late 1500's. I was surprised to read documentation on a great-great-great-great-grandfather, Peter, back in the early 1800's came from Pennsylvania and moved to Manchester, a township in southern Summit County in Ohio. My ancestors moved from there, but that is where we moved to and I grew up. I believe my brother is looking into seeing if we can find where his land was.

My 5th & 6th Great Grandmothers were Indians: Sarah Rising Sun and Techacha Morning Star (I'm liking the name connection to my own, Dawn). Her husband my 6th Great was BlueJacket. Another great-great-great... was an Indian hunter. The others in many directions, a successful lineage who lead impressive lives. On a not so impressive find, documentation proved my paternal grandfather was married five times, married to two women at once, both named Dorothy. He died when I was four. Daniel Boone is also in our lineage. 

A great, great, great ... who's father was not identified which altered one path of the family tree as he took his mother's last name (my last name), making my last name, should have been different. It would have been something different, but the path stopped there. 

My ancestors migrated here around the 1700's. 

What about before then? Beyond the 1500's where my brother left off?

Side note: I'm grateful my ancestors were from many countries. Way back when "royals" would inbreed to keep their bloodline pure. Yea, guess what happens when inbreeding happens, you get some seriously messed up deformities. I will gladly take ancestors from many countries! 

Let's go way ...

                         way ...

                                     way back.

When God destroyed the earth in Noah's day, Noah's family and his son's Shem, Ham and Jepheth were the last family on earth God told them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." The Ark touched land on the mountains of Ararat, located in present-day Turkey.

Population began.

"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech." 

- Genesis 11:1

Until, the Tower of Babel was built.

"Come, let us go down and confuse their language 

so they will not understand each other. 

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth ..." 

- Genesis 11: 7-8

Ancestry doesn't go this far back, but the bible does. 

One language and a common speech. The division began. 

Back even farther ...

Where was Noah from?

Where was the Garden of Eden? It was in the Middle East, situated somewhere near where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are today. That's where it ALL began.

Now, if my brother could trace that far back!

The dots connect.

Seeing the branches of our family tree is rich in history. I look forward to diving in and researching the documentation that is available to see where my lineage flows.

Another odd thought, I already have two branches below my own name. My girls and now a granddaughter. 

What a great gift, thank you, Jason! 

Beautiful

Pretty are the flowers, beautiful is the man who is so completely captivated that his every action and intention is overflowing in pure all in. 

There is a difference and I feel the difference. 

I'm drawn to his patience, perseverance, and nurturing. I question his warmth, desire and stability not in a questionable kind of way; rather, in a my life will be so different kind of way. I feel like I am ready to free fall, bask and enjoy something so new and different that it will unravel all I know.

There are so many reasons ... his voice that absolutely soothes me ... how he makes me feel like the most beautiful woman there ever was ... 

Randomness

Mmmmm ... this delightful creation is ground walnuts (because whole walnuts taste bitter, ground is a better taste and texture), raisins and chia seeds. Sometimes I add sunflower seeds. This mix that is waiting for steel cut oats to be added + milk. 

What a delicious breakfast on mornings I forgo a protein shake. A random morsel of information.

LOOK who is sitting up! 

A week passes and another change. Last week she could sit up for only seconds. A week later, she can sit up for long periods of time and if she rolled back against her pillow, she could sit up by herself from it.

With two razor sharp teeth, I brace for a sharp little chomp when she wants to kiss or gets a little tired and crazy and bites. She is teething again, more are coming. Her little smile with teeth is the sweetest!

I got another wet and sweet Sofia kiss last night, they melt my heart.

Time passes so quickly. A fraction of a second in the Olympics determines a winner from the rest. Changes can be seen in a baby in just a week. Those who think there's time ... is missing months, weeks, days, hours and precious moments. 

They all matter. 

I've learned to prune what isn't necessary in my life so I could bear more fruit in what matters most. 

Time is your journey. 

Spend it wisely.