Living it "up" high!

Tae and I took it easy today. We headed up the the Centre Village of Copper Mountain Resort, took in the Kid's Rodeo and then headed up the chairlift where we took these pictures. It was a lot cooler on top of the mountain, but the view was amazing.

It was amazing being up there the day after being released from the Hospital (it did feel like a resort, but since they removed a kidney stone, I have proof it was not).

We did head up for the John Fogerty Concert (It is sooo cool living in a Resort!) but it got rained out. Tae took his guitar and we had to have a very "serious" discussion about why we had to head home. At 2 and a half, he just did not get why John Fogerty would not perform in the cold rain. I'm sure at age 62, Mr. Fogerty could have given a few more reasons.

Having a Job is RISKY

I might not have said this a few years ago, but after just hearing the position I had before I retired (last month) was eliminated, it is about all I can say.

As an executive, I saw the numbers, knew the position of the project, the budget, and can honestly say there was no GOOD reason to eliminate the position (my successor was laid off) along with 4 other executive level jobs.

There was however a good reason for the company's parent organization who made some bad decisions with other projects and needed to hide the loss of profit to the shareholders. Although my company was well run, it did not matter, as that just meant there was room to cut 4 people and about a million dollars a year in operating budget.

HAVING A JOB IS RISKY. I can say this, as in this case, and in the previous position I held with another company, it does not matter what you say or do, your job is expendable.

I'm grateful that I don't have to worry about such things now. I can't imagine ever giving up control of my time, money and life again like I did as a corporate executive.

Bliss

So the last week I've been busy getting ready for some very good friends to spend the weekend with us. They too have a 2 year old and run a very successful flower business. Anyways, I LOVE hosting and making people feel welcome and loved AND I love feeding people as well. It brings so much joy to my heart. The fact that they're also into organic food, raw food and Nourishing Traditions gave me an excuse to try a lot of recipes to share. I spent the earlier part of the week prepping so that when they arrived, I wouldn't have to spend time away from them cooking, but rather I could be present with them. Anyhow, the weekend was GLORIOUS. We had wonderful home cooked meals. We were able to start our days with an organic green drink made from spinach, parsley, apples and zucchini. We had banana bread French toast from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. We went on a bike ride to Frisco and biked around Lake Dillon to end up picnicking in a beautiful park around the river. We had yummy wraps and raw peanut butter cookies. We spent time in the jacuzzi after the long bike ride. We watched inspirational movies. We were able to go on the bumper boats here and we had a blast bumping and grinding and spraying each other. The kids LOVED it. The kids also got to ride ponies. I also shared the book the "4 hour work week" by Timothy Ferris with my friend and she loved it so much she asked to borrow it and I'm glad because that's the same system we're using to live our lifestyle. The best part of the weekend was that we were able to share and bond and realize in our sharing that we are all on the same path. The one thing that I lacked growing up was meaningful relationships and it was something that I always craved. As an adult, I can create my dream life and this weekend was absolutely satisfying and fulfilling in that regard. I am in an absolute state of gratitude and bliss for the abundance that surrounds us.

Relaxed

We've been in the mountains for about three weeks and I'm finally beginning to forget the city. "I could live like this forever" I told Keith. Today was absolutely beautiful. Perfect breezy weather. Not too hot. Just perfect. And as I'm allowing myself to become more comfortable in this space, I'm noticing that I'm not as stressed as I am in the city. And, I'm also noticing that I appreciate my husband SO much more. I really like being together as a family full time and highly suggest it for everyone. Isn't that the way it was meant to be? Why would anyone get married only to never see the other person? Being together all the time feels very peaceful to me and I could NEVER go back. I could never go back to having Keith be gone 70 hours a week, only to have years go by to grow apart and at the end of my life realize...was him climbing the corporate ladder really worth not having our son know him?

Together ALL THE TIME.

I keep getting asked from my friends how its been being around Keith 24/7 now that he's retired... as if there might be some adjustment period from him being gone 60 plus hours a week to 0 hours a week. Surprisingly it feels like its been this way all the time. It feels absolutely natural, normal and I LOVE it. To be able to hang out together every day and eat lunches together every day. Thats a fun part for me being the hostess that I am and loving to feed people...I have really enjoyed being able to have great lunches together instead of the main meal being dinner. Now, I can make great sit down meals for lunch instead of the usual leftovers or sandwiches for lunch. And, I love the flexibility! Last weekend it snowed in the mountains and we weren't able to go for our normal bike ride. No worries! We went yesterday (a weekday) in the middle of the day and it was great!

"almost"

At the Childrens Museum they have a basketball net that Tae has been aiming on since he could stand and throw a ball. He's now 2 and a half and his throws have gotten to the point where the ball touches the rim. So as he was throwing the ball, and as it was hitting the rim, I kept saying "almost"..."good job! you're almost there!"..."almost"..."almost" And then it occurred to me that I was constantly reiterating the "almost" Well, you get what you affirm so I immediately stopped and I started to say. "Its in!" "You're doing it!" "It's going in!" "You're a basketball player!" "Its in!" over and over again instead of the previous "almost" over and over again. So I'm happy to say that within the immediate change the ball went 5 inches ABOVE the rim...higher than he has ever been able to throw it thus far. Now, the ball actually never made it in the net as he still has to figure out the aim at that height, but he was able to thrust the ball higher then he ever has. This has been another reminder to me in how IMPORTANT words are. The reason Tae kept hitting the rim is because I was constantly affirming the rim. Regardless of the circumstances we see, I choose to use my speech to affirm and validate that which I want to see.

Snow in August!

As if the mountains couldn't get any more beautiful. Summit County is stunning in the summer. The weather is perfect, there are wildflowers everywhere and gushing rivers abound. The sky is the most perfect blue and the suns rays are the most pleasured sensation on your skin.

Well, we woke up this morning with light snow falling and now the mountains are snow capped! The clouds descended on the mountains and there's a bit of a chill in the air, however,the clouds are so billowy and close to us, its still stunning. Normally I serve up an organic smoothie with a bit of flax oil, nutritional yeast and lecithin. Today, it gives me an opportunity to serve up some warm soup, sit next to our fireplace and take an evening dip in our jacuzzi amongst the stars. Looking forward to the day!

All Hail Sleep

Our son had a massive nap yesterday, then was not that active after he woke up. Well, he just woke up at 2:30am and kept on ticking till 4am. We're exhausted now!

Its a good thing we only work a few hours a day.

We got to nap with him today and catch up on sleep ourselves. When we woke up, we saw their had been an infamous Rocky Mountain hail storm. Turns out that we would not have done much even if we had been awake anyhow.

China Olympic Games - Australia

How can Australia, a country with the 30% less people than Canada, have 16 medal now, and Canada have zero? What makes Australia like this?

This post is not so much a slam against Canada this is more kudos for Australia. The Australian government puts a lot of funding into sport-training and state of the art facilities - the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra where many Australian Olympic athletes train has the world's most technologically advanced swimming pool.

I think a lot of it has to do with the mental training. The visualization that the Australians are taught. I also suspect the land of "The Secret" has them "asking" a bit as well.

Exhaustion CAN be good

Keith is lying on the couch right now hardly able to move...he is EXHAUSTED. When he was in corporate America, he used to come home brain dead every night hardly able to carry on a conversation, and if he did converse, he never remembered our conversation. Well, I happy to say that the reason he's exhausted today is because we biked over two mountains today for 4 hours!

We biked from Copper, through Frisco to Breckenridge and back. Unbelievable, I was able to bike from Breckenridge to Copper without stopping. For someone who hasn't biked in over 4 years...I was pretty impressed with myself! I have never been able to do that uphill ride back without stopping when we would just come up for day trips. The only thing I can attribute it to is my improved health both physically and mentally.

Anyway, the ride was beautiful of course, weaving in through mountain and rivers, wildflowers and the like. Summit County is stunning! We're planning a bike ride at least once a week!

Living Free

The freedom that we have experienced the first week here has been like nothing I have ever experienced. What I mean by freedom is by the absolute ability to be able to do anything you want on any given day. No longer constrained by the "work week", weekends, vacations, and the like. I wake up and I get to do whatever I want, plan my day however I want.

It's the most liberating feeling and what it has been awakening in me is the clarity to see life as truly a gift. A gift to experience, relish and LIVE. When you're not constantly limited by a "schedule" you can move through life getting a glimpse of something greater...deeper because your're not burdened by the "shoulds" of life. There are no more "shoulds" or "coulds" or "wishes". There just is the plain and simple fact of experiencing.

I love my life as an entrepreneur and wonder why more people don't take a leap of faith to pursue their dreams.

"This is the Life" he said

For a former stressed out executive, Keith is having the time of his life! An avid swimmer and cyclist, Keith got to swim 2 miles high at the Copper Mountain Resort Athletic Center (we have unlimited use to this amazing facility in the country's highest ski/golf resort). Then, today, he went cycling during "nap time" to up the bicycle trail to Vail pass and finished it off with some time in the gym and jacuzzi!

All evening he's been chilling out on the patio sipping his favorite wine and just came in and said "This is the Life"! I guess after a year and a half working 60-70 hour weeks, having a day of exercise at a high altitude is a great day. Wait till he isn't exhausted!!

Speaking The Opposite of What You've Known

I have always found it hard to speak positively about something that is so "obviously" going wrong. For example, I found out that one of my "good" tenants got a new boyfriend that was selling drugs. Long story short, police busted him from the house and found cocaine. In a nutshell, this is not normally a "good" time for me to be going through an eviction and my old self (based on past experiences) think...."Oh Gosh! This is going to be a stressful situation, cost unnecessarily and be a pain in my butt". Now my intellectual self knows that I can change my attitude by changing my thoughts. But isn't it more easier said than done? To even verbalize anything positive (with emotion) thing about the situation used to be so physically difficult if nearly impossible. How could I after all say things (and feel ENTHUSIASM) for the eviction that was to take place. How could I say things like..."Wow...this is PERFECT timing. I know that a great tenant will come my way and keep the place better than the current tenant. It's going to be a GREAT experience, one that I have not experienced before and I am EXPECTING positive things to happen." And to truly BELIEVE in your gut that you believe. Well...I am happy to say that this WAS the struggle of my life. I'm GRATEFUL to believe that I am not the person of the past and I don't live in the past. I am FREE to experience the PRESENT.

Gratitude Walks

It's our third day here in the mountains (Copper Mountain) and we're just about finished getting settled. Today we started a new evening ritual that I termed "Gratitude Walks". At the end of each day we stroll our son in his new bike trailer/stroller around the resort amongst the rivers, trees and flowers and we say our affirmations and things that we're grateful for. Its not as easy as it sounds. You would think that saying something would be quite physically easy since no real energy is being exerted. The truth is, affirming the positive takes a lot more effort when your used to living from a place of fear and anxiety. Our walks are about and hour and I was mentioning to Keith that speaking positively for an hour takes more energy than speaking negatively. Isn't it SO easy to be pissed off, negative, complain or gossip? NO MORE FOR US! We watched Larry King and JZ Knight and Candace Pert were on. WOW. Once again, everything they spoke of is exactly in line with all the learning and growth that has been happening for us.