my close community

Keys for Success

We currently live in a community of duplexes which are built very close together. Our balcony is attached to our neighbor’s balcony; we can literally hop the divider and be on their side. We can see our backyard neighbor’s kitchen from our bedroom. The neighbor across the street has a clear view into our house […]

Homer Simpson 300 game

Celebrate Every Day

This is my 300th blog post (or at least I think it is). Woohoo!  I never set out to write this many, but it is great to celebrate the accomplishment nonetheless. I may not have had the journalists and a single pathetic balloon to celebrate like Home Simpson had for his perfect 300 bowling game, […]

Jackie Kennedy

Shaping Our Lives

What if you were told growing up, “You never have to worry about keeping up with the Joneses, because we are the Joneses”? or, “Style is not a function of how rich you are, or even who you are. Style is a habit of mind that puts quality over quantity, noble struggle before mere achievement, […]

yoga as a daily practice

The Necessity of Routine

After transitioning from Type A to Type Me, I found that practicing a regular routine helped me from sliding back into my Type-A ways. Originally, the practice was reading inspirational works daily, meditating, focusing on active gratitude, and walking. I diligently engaged in these things daily to lay a strong foundation and center myself. Two […]

lead from the heart

Feel into the New Year

By now you have probably read many articles on making the most of the new year. The process outlined is usually very methodical. Something like: Review your accomplishments and challenges from the previous year. What can you learn? What do you need to improve? Now erase the previous year and start this year with a […]

self confidence for resolutions

Make It Happen

Tis the season to make resolutions . . . and to feel heartbroken when a week – or day – later we already broke them. Why is this? Sometimes we set too high and unreachable goals, and should have broken them down into more achievable mini goals that will lead us to our big goal. […]

view from our home

When It Is Right

Earlier this year, we started a search for our new home. We had a pretty big laundry list of desirables. After some time searching, we found one that fit our bill. Right number of bedrooms. Extra storage. Close to the bus stop since we only had one car. Financially sound development. The only negative was […]