Glass half full always

I love...

Traveling 

Long roads with mountains 

Windy days

Children 

Laughter 

Cooler weather

having wanderlust

berries and cold water

Overnights with sisters

Window shopping 

Bright cities

Nature

Woods

Being nostalgic 

Hugs

Long walks

Smiles

Enjoying delicious food

Drinking hot chocolate 

Flowers

Bookstores

Reading books

Vintage Photos

Before and After

The eighteen months of intensive smile making were close to done. One more month before the retainers go from all day back to regular worn at night. After the oil and A/C was changed, we went to Sun Valley where we spent hours running through skate parks in the summer sun.

In love with every minute of life...

They said it was the hottest day of summer, I felt cooler at the rink. First teaching this afternoon and later on for Marko's game. He hoisted his orange jersey over his narrow shoulders next to the ice. Two cameras were in his face. His friend walked up behind us and he pleaded for me to hurry up and take the picture. “One more,” I replied. Then they were off. Summer league one more game, just like that.

Scootering

Evening came with a patter of scooter wheels that fell around us like a heartbeat. The laughter rang down the hill enveloping the street with a soft echo. It was my favorite kind of night and I thought about making popcorn and reading a few pages of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, but stayed put watching America's Got Talent curled up on the couch.

Gotta Catch Them All

They said it was the most downloaded app of summer, I believed them. We moved slow likes slugs trailing a group of Pokemon chasers from the park to ice cream and back, it was so different to see so many at the park compared to last year when there were only a few people at most. Still, we dined outside under a partially shaded canopy and talked about not much at all. Diving into water, as cold as cold be, was surely in our thoughts.

Heart

After the hockey playing and crowd cheering went down, I put myself to bed then sat in the living room for a late dinner. Tortilla chips and salad for me, pork burrito for Max. He played like I've never seen him play for HS, He's in Love (Presley was there). A new old hangout date. I remembered skating to Linda Ronstadt's version of When You Wish Upon a Star in Sun Valley and falling in love at 17.

Just Love

It wasn’t until after dinner when the sky lit up like a summer peach that the heat finally broke. I lay down on the back porch with the cool breeze against my back watching the curtains billow in a slight breeze and the light press through. Then I walked to get ice cream with my boys and came home to find two police cars blocking off the road with lights on and telling the kids inside to keep their hands up. I'm not sure who they were or what they'd don't but apparently the undercover police had tracked them from Midvale.

Do what you can with what you have where you are

I read chapter after chapter of Winter Street before and after Seven Peaks. Hilderbrand’s haunting black and white images of the Nantucket landscape had been in my mind for weeks. I imagined her driving a jeep down back roads of an island as she drove from Boston down to Hyannis and The Ferry. The cesarean section of twins with a prolapsed cord process was a painstaking one that required an O. R. packed with drugs so potent not to mention explosive we kept the oxygen on and babies out of life flight.

Squad

Over the past year, I worked on two projects that left me wondering what’s next. You’ve likely caught a glimpse of the first, a 365 day photo project documenting my daily stories, posted here. For the second project, Labor and Delivery, I created a goal about the social and emotional impact on childbearing communities. I wove a network of positive examples (known as Peer tutoring which were historically used for teaching) and I shot a film over the course of a year to document life and living. One side of the coaching was open so I could learn from it. The other side displayed the CSS.

Max has exhibited his rebellion in two ways. The first was in Dating Presley where he received his first ear piercing from his friend Jenna to show the left ear with accompanying ice, stud, redness, and swelling of the making of the finished effect. The second was at the Drive In movie tonight, Secret Life Of Pets and Tarzan where he held another layer of contempt within the teenage environment of not texting me back. Thanks to all who helped support the Mahalo three year anniversary (including Jack, MHS student body officer, Maxi boy, Marko, Easton, Justin, the Jr. Mahalo and Sam) and to those of you who followed along on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.

Beyond showing my work progression, I found the daily practice of telling a story in words and images to transform my life the most. Being part of the L and D in IHC along with a number of skating clinics helped me see a larger vision for new work that includes travel and large group training. I’ll write more about our Colorado trip soon.

Until then, wishing you safe travels. Happy Mahalo Day.

Swingin' Summer

Three photos from a recent trip to Monet's backyard where we visited with family and a few of her friends, dropped off hamburgers on the grill at dinnertime, and ate chips and salsa and drank watermelon smoothies in time before they watched fireworks.

Today is the perfect day to be happy

Hello! Happy summer, friend!

I’m jumping into all this color and light with a new stack of books and bag of tricks.

I have plans for you, for a new challenge of course on photographing happy plus another beginner course on skating and I can’t wait!

In the meantime, join him over on Instagram for today’s prompt on scootering. I think Markus is going to like it.

See you soon…

(shot in Lagoon, Bumper cars with Max + Markus)

One Friend Can Change Your Whole Life

Two days of sleeping in, gone. I woke up with the roofing crew ringing the door bell and cleaned the whole house. I walked out of the house dazed from working in the afternoon and found the sun still warm enough to go swimming. My boys drove into the rink and disappeared with their friends. So it went.

Admire More

Most People Don't Admire Enough 

Empty again. I checked the mailbox after work; the roof warranty still hadn’t arrived. I paced back and forth with my water bottle on the porch. I could see the edges of a boy in his workout clothes, then a clear glimpse of Marko running through obstacles. Passing the puck on the edge of the plastic off to one side. Cesarean section was for the feeble. A bit late for dinner, but we supped all the same, with the spicy end of today’s chipotle chicken.

Tell Me About It

Monday: almost finished a delivery in the middle of shift change then home for the usual garbage/dishes routine, pizza, Pokemon app for Max, ice cream party, hockey game, weed chopping, laundry and homework for Morgen.

Brand New Day

Hockey, hockey. Lots of hockey on a dizzying hot July day. Hockey in the morning with off ice testing, check out, game, and cuts. Then a beautiful drive through the Rocky Mountains, green pines, lakes, tunnels, ski runs, and rest stops. His shirt was soaked with steam and sweat, yes even when he could've showered and didn't meant disappointment and more. It wouldn’t be summer without a road trip or hockey or sweet sleep. We filled the water bottles with cold water and drove with the windows down, listening to Brand New Day, skipped the float trip, and he wished for a much better outcome so he could’ve played Tier 1 next season.

Your Only Limit Is You

We drove to Monument for a lunch date at our regular stop at the Chinese restaurant. There isn’t much to see on the outskirts. Car wash, grocery store, drive through donut shop. You know there’s a secret pulse or some undercurrent of the city hidden to outsiders.

Ceraunophilia: (n) loving lightning and thunder and finding them intensely beautiful

In a snap, clouds huddled overhead. We ditched the diner under the umbrella and walked to the last minutes of hot tub at the hotel. Rampage’ large-scale double sheet and goalies and pixelated color jersey's were in the rink. Junior players were big enough to walk into. We watched as the downpour and lightning lit up the sky.

I'll take a smoothie with my sunshine

Thursday: water, mango smoothie, road trip, wyoming road construction all the way, warned for speeding and an accident blocking the highway (in a day for Max's hockey tryouts), rest stop snacks, and alfresco-style dinner, the “do not stop” mantra for the day, asleep in colorado.

Win and A Tie

Sweat soaked day. After the games, I went out to work for labor, delivery, babies, lactation, and postpartum. At four in the morning, I finally pulled pineapple from the fridge. When the morning arrived, I ate some toast and raspberries before Markus packed his backpack and sleeping bag and then moved it down to scout camp of valleys and goblins.

Party like it's 1776

With the hot sun overhead, they ran a record 5k Markus' stride digging a trail in the parade route. I sat in the grass ten minutes after retreating to the shaded area. Parades and barbecues at Auntie Monet's. They slurped and twisted the noodles in the salad. We hopped in the car afterward for a trip to Grandpa's while I went to work.

Freedom Run

I walked the lawn where our upcoming race would happen. We drew the outline for the finish line and imagined the white spray paint. Neither one of us could believe we were so close to the finish then we would be off to Monument sooner than anticipated.

Stars and Stripes

Twice a year I shuffle outside and set the flag in its place near the front porch. I happened to peer out the window when I'd put the flag out in the morning and noticed the stars and stripes snap in the wind.

It's Kind of Fun

3 a.m. I woke in a hot sweat. “Teenagers, girlfriends and night shifts.” I groaned said something about even the moon being asleep but he persisted so we stumbled to the kitchen. I made him peanut butter toast with milk. We sat on the kitchen floor and looked up tryout schedules and hotels. When he was finished, he shut the garage and up to bed finally.

Good Energy

Saturday: Before work, watermelon, and pizza, I put myself down for a nap. I held my book and hummed Amazing Grace until I fell asleep. I sat in the lazy river, hat on my head and just as I floated, asked my boys which ride they're already familiar with and likely frequent often, their dad stopped by with the lawnmower he'd borrowed for his lawn. I thanked them for the fun day and headed for the hospital. Before long, the contracting pregnant women and I assessed if they were really in labor. Back home, radio on, I listened to American Songs and thought about traveling in this country of ours.

Hot & Cool

A day out in the park. Yummy food. Cotton candy curtain of light. Boys loop da looping on the roller coasters. Max and Presley cooling it down.