Castles in the Sand

The retreat this weekend was awesome. I am still assimilating all God spoke. The theme was “Transformed in the Journey”. I’ll be sharing some highlights as I have time get what’s in my heart through my fingers to the keyboard. This morning, my heart sings “The Best is Yet to Come!”

When I arrived Friday, my first order of business was to put my toes in the sand. Honestly, that’s as relaxing as a massage to me. I ran to my car to get my camera when I saw this on the beach. This is what Spring looks like in Florida: sun, salty air, rhythmic waves. And sandcastles.

Love, Laughter and Peppermint Mocha

One of my favorite ways to spend a day is shopping with my daughters. Now I have 3 daughters! We have so much fun. They are always glad to dispense fashion advice and prevent me from buying things that shouldn't be in my closet. One of our shopping stops today was Destin Commons. The Christmas decorations there are awesome.

I had read on someone's blog that the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Twist is awesome. Oh, yes indeed it is.

We do my mom's shopping for her, so we go and buy her gifts as well as those we give each other and and then pretend like we don't know what we're getting. The funny reality is that in the busy month that passes before we open the packages under the tree, we really do forget half of what we chose. Granted, it cuts down on the surprise factor, but it also eliminates disappointment as well as the hassle of returns and exchanges.

The bargains abounded and I am so happy to be home in the recliner. 'Tis the season! Merriness to you.

Seize the Day!

I have noticed that a lot of people don’t want to make any New Year’s Resolutions for fear of setting themselves up for failure. So this morning, I started to write an entry about intentional living; a serious topic addressing resolve and passion and goals and such. I find it totally amusing that my work-laden day was quickly set aside when Cupcake (youngest daughter) suggested we should go shopping in Destin today. “Brilliant idea”, I responded. I took an hour to complete the most pressing details on my desk and off we went for a grand afternoon. Destin is an hour’s drive from our house and boasts a great outlet mall for starters (Banana Republic had some irresistible sales). I needed flatware at the Oneida store but bought clothes at Banana instead… all in the spirit of the day of fun. The Destin Commons is a new shopping area that has her favorites, Abercrombie and Hollister. My favorites are there as well – Ann Taylor Loft and White House Black Market. All of this great shopping is right along the gulf coast with gorgeous white beaches and sparkling green water to be enjoyed along the drive.

Added to that, a last minute call to my cousin revealed that her sister from Tennessee was at the beach house with her daughter today, so we had a laughter-filled hour with them. News, updates, stories (we are all storytellers!) while looking out over the gulf and sitting in front of the fireplace. What a great day. My mother is an identical twin, and these cousins are daughters of my mom’s twin. We have always considered ourselves half sisters because of the similarities in our mothers. We had the benefit of spending every childhood summer together at our grandmother’s beach house at Ft. Walton Beach, which forged life-long bonds of friendship.

So nothing about today seemed intentional or planned, but the day was filled with family, love laughter and fun. I can get my work done tomorrow. Which actually fits quite perfectly with my goals. Carpe Diem!