The beginning of our love story!

This is us back in 1988!!

I celebrate every little anniversary. Today is a very special day. It is the 29th anniversary of the day that the guy I was dating asked me to be his girlfriend. 29 years later, he’s still my boyfriend and I’m still his girlfriend although we now have other titles too…we are now husband and wife and mommy and daddy. What an amazing life we have created since December 9, 1988 at 12:56pm right before 6th period class!!

We were just meant to be. I took a chance and wrote him a note in my 5th period class. I had a mutual friend deliver it to him. Then he took a chance and called me, although he said it took him all night to do it. He was so nervous! Once we had that first conversation, we have been together ever since!!

I love this time of year for us. We think back to our first days and linger in the memories and all the special first moments. How he and his best friend talked about how to ask me to be his girlfriend, would I say yes? "Of course she’ll say yes, you’re holding hands all day at school. Why would she say no?"


We think about the first time we spoke, the first time he saw me, the first time he picked me up in his famous 1987 Firebird he won at Disneyland (which we still have by the way), we listened to the Eagles Hotel California on that first car ride, the first time we held hands, our first kiss, the first time he let me drive his car. It reignites that high school passion once again. I love re-living it all, our beginning. It still amazes me that a 16 year old girl with a crush on the 17 year old high school senior created this amazing life!


We have grown up together.  We've made mistakes, some bigger than others, but we've also done amazing, wonderful things and have learned great lessons and made ourselves and our marriage even stronger.  We have built a life so full of love with our two beautiful daughters, our family and our family of friends.  They all fill our life with such fun, happiness and so many memories we have made and are continuing to make.  I look forward with excitement of what the future holds for us. We have many dreams and goals and so much to look forward to.  Whatever comes our way we'll do it together and that's all that matters.

Happy 29th Dating Anniversary my love! I would do it all 
over again and again.

I am in love with this pic of me and my daughter Petra!!! I'm one lucky mama to have a daughter like her and share a special closeness.

Time for a little change dontcha think?

This is a post copied directly from Chalene Johnson.  I just love her and want to grow up to be just like her some day.  LOL!  She speaks from the heart and straight into your soul with such wisdom.  It's tough love sometimes but she does it with love and she's just real.  That's what I love about her.

Anyway...I wanted to share this with you too because it's something we ALL can learn from.  This is not just about her private clients she coaches.  This is about all of us.  Imagine if we all have this in our minds every day, with every encounter.  We'd fill the world with such love, compassion and positivity wouldn't we?  You won't get this off your mind once you read it.  You'll be thinking about this during all your interactions.  You can't unlearn this now that you know it!  You're welcome.  :)

Here is the post from Chalene:

A huge component to changing your life is to change your words, change your thoughts...soon after your thoughts, actions and beliefs will follow.

I posted this to my private Smart Success Academy members. It's tough love. They signed up and were accepted so it's my job to deliver the best to them and to protect them and to guide us in the direction of unwaveringly positive thinking!!!

I thought I would share the rules that we make them stick to in my private FB group...

Please read this important mindset message:

To be a productive member of this group I ask that you STOP before you hit post and ask yourself the following:

1. Before I occupy the time of others with my question, is the answer right in front of me or could I go through the lesson/module again with more focus and determination and an open mind and perhaps find the clarity I was looking for?

2. Does this post focus primarily on my "problem" or have I found a possible and suggested solution? I am my solution. I am my solution and I am improving my ability to see the right way. If I know the solution I need to have confidence in my decision.

3. Is there a more positive and uplifting way to pose this question?

4. Am I honestly seeking an opinion or advice or am I really longing for someone to listen, care and hear me? If the later is true I need to search for council--- but not in this group. Smart people seek the help of a profession.

5. Panic, worry, stress, negativity, depression, defeat, and exhaustion are not allowed here. You are entitled to feel those things but you are not permitted to introduce those very contagious emotions here. Period. This is not a support group. Your focus becomes your reality.

 6. Ask yourself if you could rewrite each post with emphasis on your blessings. Focus on your favor, the abundance in your life. Don't waste energy by focusing on that which you don't want more of.

7. Your partner, mother, brother, wife or adult child might be a horrible person. We can read between the lines. No need for dirty details. Please focus on the positive. Don't allow the poison in your heart continue to stop you. Release it ... but not here. I will not permit negative commentary about others, including your jerky-ex. To say negative things about an unsupportive spouse is very telling about your approach. If what you're doing isn't working - first, change your approach, then do that 10 more times------ before deciding what you're willing to accept.

8. If you spend your whole day here on FB--- in this group, jumping to aid of each and every person who posts, while I appreciate your kind heart, I also what you're avoiding? When will you'll have time to GO OUT AND DO IT if you live in this group? Check back a couple times a week. That's it. Be careful not to collect too many wounded birds. Before you can be someone else's hero you need to be the hero in your own life. 

You have big dreams and much in store for your life if you chose to focus on the positive! Who has time for bitterness toward those who actually came into your life to teach you a lesson. Thank God for that lesson and move on. Instead of complaining that no one supports you, how about you take note that God is in your corner! Focus on the miracle your life is about to become. See the blessing in your life and keep your eyes on the prize. 

Change your thoughts - change your words - change your focus and NO ONE CAN STOP YOU!

Yep! I'm a Lady 12 and proud of it!!

I was born and raised in Seattle and been a Seahawks fan my whole life.  

My very first favorite Seahawk was #80 Steve Largent.  LOVED him!  

Now I love my Russell Wilson. :)

Who am I and why am I writing this blog?

Boy am I nervous.  I have never done anything like this before.  I read a zillion blogs and finally decided to branch out and do one myself.  So this is the chatter in my mind that has tried stopping me from doing this:

• Who's going to read this and why would they care what I have to say?
• What authority or expertise do I have that gives this blog oomph?
• Who do I think I am?

Well, I don't have the answer to any of these questions.  I'm writing to write, I'm writing for me and if any one ever looks at this blog, besides my husband and my BFF's that are required to do so, I will LOVE that!

I'm not an expert, officially....however I'm the expert of my life and I want to share my journey with you.

Okay, so you want to know who I am and what I'm about right?  My name is Christina.  I'm on my last few months of my 30's, about to embark on the big 4-0.  I'm actually a bit excited about this.  I have a feeling it's going to be my best decade. 

I'm a wife.  I've been married to my fabulous hubby for almost 17 years now. We are high school sweethearts and have been together since I was 16 years old, so that makes it 23 years total!  I have some good experience in the relationship department. We have an amazing marriage and, if he allows me to, I will share more info about him in later posts. We've made a love-filled life.  It hasn't been without our personal tests and problems, but we have weathered the storms and created what we have today from the hard lessons we learned.

I'm a mother of 2 beautiful girls ages 8 and 6.  They fill our life with more than I could ever imagine.  Being a mom isn't always easy but it's definitely worth it!  I could fill this blog with just the daily antics of my girls and how I attempt to deal with it all.

I work full-time as an Executive Assistant.  I'm obviously really big on long-term commitments because I've worked at this job for 22 years!  I'm blessed beyond belief to work with 2 colleagues who share a similar spiritual path as me and we help one another and learn from each other.  In fact, we have decided to try out a meditation class together this month.  The first time for all 3 of us.  I also must credit one of them for the name of this blog.  We had a conversation about all our lists and moving beyond them and it just came to me.

So what will I be blogging about?  My life, my daily happenings, my random thoughts, ideas, ramblings.  Things that pop into my head.  I also love to cook and bake and among all my life enrichment/spiritual blogs I peruse, I also read a ton of food blogs.  I experiment, copy and make my own recipes.  You'll be seeing pictures and recipes too.

I'm a spiritual student, totally addicted to everything self-help. There are so many blogs and books that have inspired me and taught me lessons.  I'm a huge believer in the Law of Attraction and A Course in Miracles. A fan of Louise Hay, Marianne Williamson, Gabrielle Bernstein, Cora Poage, Wayne Dyer, Doreen Virtue, Oprah Winfrey and many others.

I have the best friends I could ever ask for!!  So much love and support come from them that I feel so supported and blessed to be in their lives.  I know I will be writing so much more about all of them if they are comfortable with that.  We have a ton of fun together and the best thing is that we all live in the same neighborhood and our husbands are just as close as we are.  It's amazing!!

I'm just your normal, mom next door trying to live my best life every day. Some days it's fabulous and somedays it's hard.  Some days my girls throw fits, I've won many "worst mother of the year" awards, but in the end the kisses and loves I get each morning and each night are all that matters.  We're all together, happy, healthy and that's my best blessing in the world.

I'm opening up, putting myself out there for the world to see.  I may surprise friends and family with some of my thoughts and ramblings, but I need to be me and share my light. Those that love me always will.  No matter what, I'm always a student.  Always learning, growing, making changes and trying new ideas and concepts.  I'll share all of this with you.

Thank you for reading my very first, and very long (sorry) blog posting!! I'm excited to share and interact with you!