a New Day - Day 2 of sobriety

Good Morning all
I am in my 2nd day of sobriety today. I am fresh, I am ready to do things right.
I am ready to forgive myself. I know I need help from others, I can't do it by myself.


AA Meditation for the Day

It is a glorious way - the upward way. There are wonderful discoveries in the realm of the spirit. There are tender intimacies in the quiet times of communion with God. There is an amazing, almost incomprehensible understanding of the other person. On the upward way, you can have all the strength you need from that Higher Power. You cannot make too many demands on Him for strength. He gives you all the power you need, as long as you are moving along the upward way.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may see the beautiful horizons ahead on the upward way. I pray that I may keep going forward to the more abundant life.


I am an alcoholic and an addict. I love to gamble only too much. I need to face the fact that I might be a good girl when I try but I have an addictive personality, so monitoring my lifestyle choices is a must. Peace

what is sexy

looking at wedding dresses

Bear and I are being treated to a mini vacation this weekend - Saugatuck, MI.
We will stay in an adorable bed and breakfast…I'm really looking forward
to it!

This girl is just chilling

keep an active mind AND body. Beauty is
feeling comfortable in one's own skin.

starting an anti inflammatory lifestyle

20 instructions for life by the Dalai Lama

1.Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s:

-  Respect for self,

-  Respect for others and

-  Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and

think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

20. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

What would Joan Holloway do?

Mad Men season 5 premiere tonight, after a hefty year and a half wait…
Two hour 'retro cocktail party' with my man, sipping on a chilled blood orange pellegrino.
It sounds way fancier than it is in reality. But we like to have fun.
I actually created a voluptuous Sim yesterday - Rita Holloway, a fun loving red head.
Sporting red nails, I am ready for action.

Other than my obsession with retro behaviors, I feel slightly out of balance.
I let stress get to me, I feel my intestines clenching, I can't seem to relax.
I will have to start doing yoga, or something soon. And meditate. And maybe finally do that silent retreat in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
This is the time when I notice I'm not as flexible as I used to be, and I'd like to be back at that level. It won't happen magically on its own.
I have to start treating my body like a temple, not like a bunker.
I feel worn out, but now that it's been acknowledged, i can finally move in the right direction, up.
Cheers.

Really want a word tattoo on the back of my left arm. Subtle, sexy.

need a break

Spring is here, it seems

On a balmy Monday evening,

I finish my work for the day

The Art of Joyful Living*1

People look for happiness outside of themselves, not knowing how to find it from within. They attempt to find happiness in their lives by changing their environment such as seeking new relationships, making career changes, trying new hobbies, moving to another city, or reading self-help books, among other things. But because human mind changes and conditions change, happiness is fleeting.

True happiness exists when people shed the limits of being trapped in their past and always live in the present. Find unconditional happiness from within and live as the eternal never-changing mind of the true world.

The purpose of life is to attain a state of freedom from all misery and pain. That state is not given to you by God (as you understand him) - it's a human creation and attainment.

You should develop some understanding of life. You usually think about others and analyze what others are doing, just like a drunken person. You criticize others and waste your time and energy analyzing each other's faults, but you don't observe within yourself. 

You are intoxicated and hypnotized by the suggestions of others. The day you learn to see yourself independently, you'll be free from that hypnosis and then you will follow the path of Self-Realization. This path toward Self-Realization starts with work: do your duties. If I do not do my duty well, then my conscience will create an inner conflict and I will torment myself.

First, understand your duties and how to perform them skillfully. Decide every morning that no matter what happens, you will not let anything emotionally disturb you and that you will deal with the things that come. If you resolve to do this, you'll find that a great change takes place in your life. 

Love really means giving - giving without any condition, constantly giving selflessly. Whenever you are truly selfless in life, then you'll enjoy life.Your love should go beyond  the boundaries of culture, religion, and country, and should include the entire universe.

When you begin to work with your emotions it should be systematic. For example, there is some situation outside of yourself, and when you react to it, that makes you emotional. You become emotional because you have not yet correctly arranged or understood your relationships with the external world. When you are strong, nothing external will disturb you. When something disturbs you, you should know that is because you are weak, no matter what the cause is.

Your inner world is larger and more powerful than the world you see around you: there is something great inside of you. Someone is witnessing your actions, speech and mind, and that observer is actually you, the finest part of your Self. The day that you go to that level, you will no longer condemn yourself. Go there and find that Self within. Don't continue to remain lost outside yourself and ignorant of your true and inherent nature.

id like to look like that on Monday mornings

watchin Godfather

The week's going by quick, work feels satisfying while at the same time challenging me.
I feel more in touch with everything.
poof!  poof!

comfy and cozy is what feels good

fluffy hair

love this!

primal news

Bear and I are just regular animals, we know how to make each other happy. 

I don't believe we're conventional, but I don't think we try to be different. 

I like to observe him from afar, my powerful man. 

Forever doesn't seem realistic, but forever is what I want for our relationship to last. And to never lose our freshness. When I try to put it into words, it doesn't do its justice. So instead let me just say: I'm excited for both of us to create our own little world. A positive one.

:::this is what kind of mood I'm in lately:

these days I choose to bundle up. I don't want to compromise my sense of style though

apteka

home is wherever I'm with you  

love my new apothecary job!

i enjoy being busy, especially during winter

…you may come in

what's on the horizon? whatever will be, will be

the keyword is **cozy**

Looking perfectly cozy on a chilly winter morning

a fluffy yet fashionable buffer

I love the feeling of coming home, not many feelings can top that

having a warm body to cuddle up with is oh so sweet 

Chilling

^^pepsi challenge

Bear just challenged me to try his dial soap in order to see if it'll clear up my face,
unlike the products I just ran out of, natural, organic, raw. I'm gonna give it a week. It seems like nature's performing an everlasting purging process ha ha…this has to be talked about.
 I just want a fresh face, it is so crucial for women, i think. To have a dewy, rosy, porcelain skin. Just like in Quo Vadis:

The author describes her beauty as a "remarkable". Her face was rosy, yet transparent, eyes blue as the azure of the sea, the mouth fresh. She was a comelygirl. Her hair glistened in the sunshine. It was a slim silhouette, and it emphasized the slope of her shoulders. Be compared even to Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. Ligia is a girl very young, yet extremely good.

 

A XXI Century Ligia

RIP Whitney Houston

 Beauty

a collage of various moods, situations

devil's in the details 

 pork chops seared with onions, garlic, apples, freshly ground pepper 

I'm going to be working in the same neighborhood that I live in,
and I'm very enthused about this! It's not Julius Meinl btw

I mean…what am I gonna say? latest deliciousness - plum oolong tea.  

"It's my j'awb.."

It seems so simple really. let's get back to basics

Where are we going for this upcoming vacay?

A Modern Lolita

being a young woman 

being a young woman

Being a young woman/ however one will interpret it

Love the feeling of floating in water 

Enjoying a balmy Summer evening

retreating for the day

HAPPY EXCITING FRIDAY NIGHT!