"We are all wanderers on this earth...our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams." ~ Gypsy proverb

Friday, November 11, 2011

Pockets and Moments

I will not say this was the best week I have ever had, Mother Nature kicked my butt in the hormone department this week, and I found myself crying spontaneously in the car or when my husband just looked at me questioningly. My 9 year old son now knows that "something" happens to women once a month and for now I think that'll do :). I have learned to respect this time as a way to reconnect with my most primitive and intuitive self, to release negativity, and to allow my body to just rest. I don't resent this time as an annoyance anymore, I look at it as an opportunity to reestablish rhythm. The months where I am most stressed or imbalanced, it shows up that week, and it's a message to myself that I need to just be still. The months where it's smooth sailing, well then, those days are just fine too.

 Happy to be back with Monica and Joy Pockets this week...make a wish, it's 11.11.11 :).

Cooking with love:
Kale and white bean soup
Panko chicken with cilantro and asian chili sauce
Lentil soup with tomato and chicken sausage
(thanks so much for all of your encouragement!)

Discovering Kinfolk magazine for small gatherings, something
I look forward to regularly :)...

Watching Pirate Radio snuggled with hubs
(thanks LB for the great movie rec.)

desert Nova handmade mugs (where this one is from). I feel
a giveaway coming on (stay tuned)

fiddling with macro photography


And This Moment with Amanda...


wishing you a beautiful November weekend friends

xoxo

26 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos!
    I hope you have a great and restful weekend :)

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  2. I love that first shot and your banner is fantastic! here's our moment: http://madewithloveuk.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/this-moment-8/

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  3. It is a joy to be born a woman, but sometimes it's just plain Hard!
    Enjoy the weekend MJ and love the menu list...it makes me hungry ;)!
    xx

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  4. LOL @ this moment.

    "The months where I am most stressed or imbalanced, it shows up that week, and it's a message to myself that I need to just be still"
    oh yes. excellent that you have that awareness.

    macro photography? lens or just concept?

    "Lentil soup with tomato and chicken sausage"
    wow! and yum.

    those mugs are so purty. but my mug fetish budget runs to $4 a mug max, lol

    omg, they've got a dragonfly!

    looking through kinfolk now. looks really inspiring - the whole simplicity and community ethos.

    enjoy your weekend.

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  5. Great shots! That moon-rise is amazing!

    Here's my moment: http://skymindedandevergrowing.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-moment.html

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  6. I love your moon and clouds photo. It's simply beautiful.

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  7. Thank you for your perspective on the whole process. Rather, uplifting and comforting really. Thanks too for the link to the magazine. Looks interesting but all the contributors are so young!!!

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  8. Hey Mon,
    No, no special lens (I wish), just macro mode :)...

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  9. I'm loving the result of your adventures in macro photography, and your moment to savor as well. It looks there was some fun in your house this week! All of the meals you've prepared sound amazing. I'm so glad you're enjoying a bit of freedom in the kitchen, my friend.

    Interesting, I'm reading a book about harnessing the energies of the, well, menstrual cycle right now. It's a bit "out there" for me, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to focus on my own emotional state and how it relates to that one very intense week in each month. I love how aware you are of your emotional changes.

    I want to know the same as Mon - macro lens, or just the concept? I need to pick your brain sometime about sites that inspire you, but also provide practical ideas for photography. I have been so excited about my camera, and yet I'm not using it to its potential. So much to learn!

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  10. Love the menu list and the mug! Love your moment :D

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  11. oh enjoy some peace this weekend! and thank you for the links and great pictures!

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  12. :) I remember the "Breathe" mug - I am finding as I am now in my 40's that I am having a much more difficult time getting along with mother nature- lol - seriously, though I've never had such a hard time before - so far, the best way I've found to handle it is to be more aware and nurturing to myself because there are some cute little people running around who need me to nurture them :) - glad to hear you did some snuggling and relaxing - enjoy your weekend!!

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  13. i'm so glad to hear your loving your cooking (and i'm sure it's loving you too). everything sounds delicious. :)
    being gentle with yourself sounds best dear, to honor your beautiful self is always good.
    lol moment. kids. :)

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  14. Sounds like a tasty menu in the works! Love your pics and I empathize deeply about the whole once a month crazy time. ;)

    xo
    cortnie

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  15. gorgeous moon shot. we sat outside under the full moon last night, jotting down what we no longer needed in our lives before slipping them into the fire.

    I'll never forget the moment my husband, who has no sisters, looked at me when I was crying in the grocery store and said, "they weren't exaggerating in sex ed, were they?"

    here's to hormones.
    and to 11.11.11! times to put forth some intentions!

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  16. Great photos! So sorry to hear that you had a rough week, I've had times like that too. Not fun at all! I feel bad for my husband as he is the blue in a house of pink! ;)

    Our moment this week is a celebration of a couple of unseasobably warm November days in New England and the fun that comes with days like that!
    http://ouronesweetfamily.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-moment_11.html

    Have a good weekend!

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  17. Your menu sounds delicious! Good choices. :)

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  18. Lovely pics!
    I hear you about needing still and quiet during certain weeks in the month. Since having children (and getting older;)), I have a really rough 8-10 days a month. I've come to realize that I need not over-schedule myself or our family during that time. I also take some extra herbs and a calming homeopathic formula. I'm bat ass crazy if I have too much going on when my body needs solace.

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  19. Loved Pirate Radio, and Kinfolk looks AMAZING!!! Will have to spend some time browsing there. :)

    All that wonderful food!!! So exciting. And the moon shot - love it!

    Ah, yes, the time of the month. I hadn't been paying attention to the moon cycle, so when my mood shifted I wasn't focused on it, and snapped pretty badly at Rob. Normally, when I'm aware of the cycle, things like that don't happen. Needless to say, I was apologizing once I realized.

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  20. I almost posted a photo very similar to your first one for my 'This Moment'! We women certainly don't function in straight lines do we. I know it can be trying at times, but I am grateful our bodies cycle. It's kind of like experiencing Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter all in one month! It's just a shame modern day living doesn't seem to honour all that our amazing bodies do. Jacinta x

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  21. the first moment ( picture ) is just devine...

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  22. what a refreshing way to look at that time... love it! I will keep that in mind when mine returns. I feel "fortunate" that mine is absent while nursing a baby :)

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  23. I love your photographs. I'm sorry you're in hormonal purgatory right now. :-( I have ugly PMS issues. Down the road ... watch out. :-D It's gotten to the point where my 13-year-old son has looked at me and said, "Mom? I assume you're starting your period?" Oy!

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  24. my kids both know (8 & 9, girl and boy, respectively) almost everything there is to know about menstruation. mostly because we had unfixed dogs for the last several years, but also because i tell them as much as possible so they're not freaked out when they go pubescent on us. :)

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  25. I get it. I get it. I get it. Had it sooooo bad before kids. Everyone told me it would go away after. Not. In fact, some of my worst cycles were after both of them had been born. Amazed my husband didn't divorce me. I picked fights out of nowhere in between all the crying jags. He hid.
    For me, a very high quality food-based multi vit seems to help a lot these days. Boy, I am so glad when it's over though. My kids are 3 and 5 and you better believe they know what "mama's on her period" means.

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  26. Love love love the moment!!!! So fun! So kid!

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“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
~ George Bernard Shaw