Ordinary Miracles 01

I’m not a consistent blogger, though hope to change that somewhat and chronicle what I call Ordinary Miracles. Ordinary means commonplace, standard and “normal”. How often do amazing things happen in our life that we overlook as something really special? When we allow ourselves to really notice the moments in our daily lives, are in the present and Say Yes to Love (wink), we find that miracles are quite commonplace and happening all the time. And why shouldn’t they be? Why shouldn’t our lives be “that normal”?
I can’t think of a reason why not…

Today was a tough day for me. I was overwhelmed with financial issues, house issues and I’ll tell you, when thrown into the world of financial juggling, I can feel like I’m circling the drain.

Backstory: Self-employed ups and downs, feast or famine, you get the picture. Homeowner of a fixer upper house and way too large yard. It is overwhelming to take care of everything that needs attention.

Plot: Front yard (larger than my house) became very overrun with weeds. I mean so much so that when I’m out there weeding, you don’t even see me because those nasty things are that tall… How did it get that bad? Drought, then no drought and lots of rain, enormously busy with projects inside, and rarely using the front entrance so “out of sight, out of mind”. Some folks (not the nice ones) left me a note complaining about it, so after some of the interior stuff calmed down, it was time to call for help on the front. 

This was an ordinary miracle too actually. A few garden people were supposed to come by and give me a quote for clean up but only one actually showed up, and they were the perfect team. A man, wife and sister who were a delight to work with. The four of us spent a couple of days working it and made a huge difference, yay! There’s more to go but progress is definitely happening. I’ve worked with other yard folks before and none have ever been as enjoyable as these lovely people. Thank you Divine Love!

Today’s Ordinary Miracle: Yard debris pickup is on Thursdays. My two cans were filled to overflowing, with many more piles to go. After they got emptied, a neighbor helped fill them again with more weed piles, which was wonderful, yet there was waaay more to go.

After such a challenging day, I came home to find a voice mail from my neighbor across the street telling me they had forgotten to put out one of their debris cans and called the City asking if it could possibly be picked up during another neighborhood run and they said yes, SO, when they arrived my neighbor also asked them if they would kindly empty my newly filled cans too, and they did!!! They came into my yard, and wheeled them down to the street and emptied them. SO NICE! Now my cans are ready for more weed piles and we might just be able to eliminate what was the largest pile! Superb!

Now, this might not seem like much to you, but it is to me. It’s one less worry, one less heavy load, and such beautiful human kindness shining through.
1. from my neighbor,
2. from the yard debris pickup folks.
This was definitely the bright spot of my day and I am very thankful for it and thankful to be reminded to keep my mind in that place of hope and possibility.

Let’s not stray into the dark and murky waters of defeat and hopelessness. Think on all that is lovely, good, and uplifting because that is Love at work. Love is always at work on our behalf. Find Love, trust Love, and know that no matter what, our future is bright. 

If you’ve read this far, thanks much for letting me share my thoughts with you. I send you wishes for a very beautiful day.

xo

 

Please Vote — Spirit Cards Nominated for 2013 Art of the Heart Awards

 

 

I’m excited to say the Spirit Cards are nominated for the 2013 Art of the Heart Product Awards at Coaching Toys!

For those who don’t know, these tiny decks have been working their magic since 2003. Their quiet simplicity packs a powerful message to all who choose to embrace them. They are truly a transformational guide to facing our fears, accepting our vulnerabilities, and opening to our greatness.

You can see them here if you need a refresher (or are new to them): http://www.joettetizzone.com/spiritcards_main.html
and here: http://www.joettetizzone.com/meet_iam.html
and here: http://www.joettetizzone.com/meet_iwill.html

Purdy please, follow the link below to vote for the little cuties. And, please tell your friends & family, too!

Voting link:
https://app.icontact.com/icp/sub/survey/start?sid=6538&cid=400734

A thousand thanks. xoxo

Super Quick and Easy Gluten-Free Flatbread

What does gluten-free flatbread have to do with Saying Yes to Love?

Simple. I’m gluten and wheat sensitive and use Food for Life’s GF Brown Rice Flour Tortillas all the time . Since living in the burbs, the only real shopping choice I have without having to drive miles and miles is Raley’s in the Natural Foods section. They’ve been OUT of these tortillas for a very long time, and I was LONGING for a fix. I could either continue to wait for their return and pine away, OR honor the happy-yummy energy I feel when eating the tortillas and Say Yes to LOVE by making something myself…

Since I didn’t want something fussy, and wanted it to be quick, I remembered a recipe I found on Food.com a long time ago. I made it once and it was ok – then forgot about it. I pulled it out again and made some modifications and YUM, it fit the bill!!!

Here’s the recipe, with my mods. Makes 2 flatbreads:

• 1/2 Cup Bob’s Red Mill All purpose GF flour (a scant 1/2 cup actually – you can play with this)

• 7 Tablespoons filtered water

• 1 Tablespoon organic coconut oil (Trader Joe’s brand)

• 1 Tablespoon Ultra EVO (extra virgin olive oil by O Olive Oil)

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Mix everything together and let it sit for 10 minutes. It’s very important to let it sit, so be patient! It will thicken up a bit.

Warm  a heavy skillet on medium, then add a tiny bit of oil (I used olive oil). Swirl it around to be sure the bottom of the pan is evenly coated.

When a tiny drop of water sizzles like crazy, it’s ready for the batter.

Pour half the batter into the pan, it’ll spread and the edges will get pretty – kind of ruffly, like this:

Watch for lots of little bubbles to appear on the top, and for the bottom to become golden brown. Flip and in a minute or two, it should be done.

Repeat, and then eat!

I ate most of the first one while waiting for the second — it was so yummy. I smothered it with avocado, added a little soy cheese, and enjoyed with fresh-from-the-farmer’s-market arugula and cherry tomatoes, tossed with Basil olive oil & Orange Blossom vinegar (both from O Olive Oil).

These are definitely best warm. They seem sturdy enough to go into a pop-up toaster (I have a toaster oven so haven’t tried a pop-up). I haven’t experimented with other flours as I had Bob’s on hand.

The original recipe is here: http://www.food.com/recipe/quick-and-easy-gluten-free-flat-bread-wraps-217103.

Enjoy!

My Holiday Wish to You All

Don’t Make Too Much Lemonade

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. A popular and very noble saying, and one I’ve lived my life by.

I’ve been through some really difficult passages in my life, and you know what? I’m a gourmet lemonade maker. I’m a resilient, happy, upbeat, gourmet lemonade maker. And that has served me well most of my life.

The problem with all this lemonade lately, is I’ve come to realize it might be keeping me in situations longer than what’s good for me, and worse, masking my true feelings.

Making lemonade, looking on the bright side, walking on the sunny side of the street, being positive, are all really wonderful ideals — truly. Yet in the last few years, I feel perhaps I’ve been making too much lemonade and losing sight of my hopes and dreams. I’ve been so caught up with all the lemons and trying to make them into something better or “putting up with” things, yet my life just isn’t where I’d like it to be. It’s not the life I want to live.

I truly appreciate the goodness in what I have right now, yet don’t want to forget the passion I feel when I’m in the right place for my soul — for the divine person I am. With all that’s gone on in the last three years, I wonder if I’ve somehow swapped realities with someone else. They’re trapped in an alternate reality that would be LOVE for me yet it’s TERRIBLE for them!!! LOL

We all need different things and what works for one doesn’t work for everyone. It’s not always easy figuring it out either. One thing I do know, I love living in urban areas, where I can walk to get my business & personal needs met, have good public transportation available and feel the energy of people bustling about. I enjoy getting into random conversations w/others I meet standing in line or sitting outside the tea shop. And, it’s not just that I like it, I need it. My personality thrives on it. I feel anesthetized living in the suburbs. I feel heavy every time I have to get in my car to get something I need. I also love living in my house & having my peaceful hangout, so these needs and loves have to come together in some beautiful organic and holistic way. Knowing this can happen, and can happen for me, is the key.

The tradeoff for having my house was the burbs. It was an adventure I took that included lots of lemons. Real (which are delicious btw), and metaphorical. Maybe all the metaphorical lemons are showing up to tell me I need to make a change, and that it’s ok to do so. I mean, how much lemonade can one person drink after all???

In real life, instead of making lemonade I use lemons to flavor the foods I love or for cleaning things. And metaphorically, why not do the same thing? Use the lemons to reconnect and move forward with my dreams, see the lemons as flavorings to enhance my life, lessons learned to clean up the dross and keep moving toward Love instead of trying to make “lemonade”. Some things just won’t ever taste sweet when they aren’t in alignment with who one really is. And thankfully so, else we’d all be off track all the time, overdosing on all the lemonade we’re making and wondering why things are so hard.

So today I’m choosing to want my dreams and believe in them again. Today I’m choosing to Say Yes to Love (hello) and do something every day that will bring me closer to them until they are my reality. When I’m presented w/another metaphorical lemon, I want to give myself permission to say “Ugh, tired of lemonade — it’s ok to move on”. I want to give myself permission to grieve the parts that feel sad yet keep moving forward.

I want to live in a dwelling that makes me smile (like mine does now & even more so), an area that delights me, in a city that is successful (not potentially could be), and of course, surrounded by folks that love me.

I don’t have to figure out how it all can happen. My part is to do what I can to nurture my dreams everyday, even just a little because it will keep me open to the magic of possibilities. It will help me see “the space around the obstacles” as my astrologer likes to say.  That open space is often where the answers lie and where we find our way.

How about you? Have you been making too much lemonade lately?

xo

joette

Happy Day of Thanks

In my own life, I look at this day as a national holiday for reflecting upon the things that matter most and being grateful for all we have. I make a list and post it on my dining room wall, and sometimes friends will add to it. Even when times seem tough, there’s a lot of thankfulness to be seen on the list!

Sending my wish for you to have a thankful day, filled with love.

Happy Thanksgiving.

xo
joette

fear and compassion

Due to a situation I recently found myself in, I realized that when someone is living in a place of fear, it’s not always easy to recognize compassion. Because of their need to protect and defend, kindness can feel threatening, so they respond to it with anger.

This is challenging. Compassion and kindness makes us vulnerable because we’ve put down our weapons and armor. We become open, which can be frightening to one who sees everything as a personal attack.

Realizing this has given me more understanding about different people and situations in my life, and causes me to have more loving-kindness toward them. I have to let them be, show unconditional love and trust they will find their path to healing. By being love, and showing compassion and kindness, we impart the energy that can aide their healing process.

We’re all living in different worlds. None are more superior or inferior than the other. We all have different degrees of sight. Yet we’re all a part of each other, like one big body. We have to do everything we can to heal each part of that body, just as if our own physical body were ill. One way is by acknowledging our part in the process. Realizing the energy coming from us is either a healing force or something else, and taking responsibility for that. When we do, we let more love in, dispelling our fear. 

Love is always the answer. Compassion and kindness birth contentment and peace. It may take a while for everyone to recognize it, to trust that unconditional acceptance and love is possible, yet we must try!

What if we don’t always succeed? Forgive ourselves, love ourselves, let it go and try again. We’re all learning and as we do and continue to walk toward Love, the worlds we create will be joyous beyond our own imagining.

xo