Eat Play Love

When you look at a map being played over and over again on the news and realize, your house is in the middle of a preliminary evacuation zone, that's surreal. Tomorrow shall give some insight as to how the Flagstaff Fire is going to go, grow or containment. My thoughts are focused on containment, as I watch micro fires cresting a ridge just miles from my house.

Quickly I look around and stuff becomes stuff, my energy is focused on my family's safety.

Yesterday I spent the morning in the hot sun, digging in the dirt, planting seeds, and putting the final finishing touches on my garden. I was literally covered in a thin layer of dirt from my left cheek bone, to the underside of my forearms, dirt was caked under my fingernails, on my knees, and down to the skin in between my toes. After getting out of the shower I slipped on an army green linen dress I picked up years ago in Venice, Italy. The dress flows and is airy, perfect for a hot afternoon after a morning of garden laboring. 
I sat down on my favorite chair in the living room, iphone in hand, opening Instagram simultaneously. The linen dress I was wearing is very long and I've gotten into the habit over the years of pulling it up before I sit down so it doesn't tug and pull at the delicate linen fibers. The camera was open and snapped a shot of my legs freshly propped up on the coffee table. Normally I delete those unintended photos, but today I liked the way the light…

We were casually strolling the aisle of our local warehouse store today, even though we had all we could do to navigate around the other sample obsessed shoppers, when my girls caught glimpse of the organic applesauce on the go pouches. Comparing to retail prices for the same pouches, it is a deal at around .50 cents a pouch, but today I put my foot down. I feel like those pouches are such a waste, as far as I know they can't be recycled. Yet more plastic straight to the landfill.

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely enjoy the convenience of them for on the go, but I have found my girls eat them mainly at home. I find little yellow caps poking into my bottom when I sit down on the couch. Little flattened pouches find their way into the most precarious spots and by that I do not mean the trash can!

Today, I opted to purchase a 4 pack of jarred organic applesauce instead. Price per ounce doesn't even compare it's so much cheaper, plus there's only 4 jars to recycle,…

A week ago we received a simple email that provided a rush of emotions and some mixed feelings, coupled with excitement. Sj had been offered a spot next year in a school that I tried to get her into for two years with no success . It's not just any school, it's one where I started out my teaching career, and one I've remained connected to for 17 years. This school will afford my girls the opportunity to spend the next 5 years together, that prospect alone is incredibly thrilling to me!

While our decision wasn't just simply made, we had many thorough conversations about what ultimately was best for Sj. She's embracing moving on from her school, not with out lack of hesitation, but feels excited by the new opportunity and change. She's made incredible strides in her emotional maturity in the last year and I really feel like she's ready to take on a change of school.

Since making our decision, with both girls moving to the same school next year, I've had s…