Costa Rica part 2 Dominical

Just posted Costa Rica part 2 Dominical @ www.savemysunshine.com
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Our Amazing Costa Rica Adventure

New post on Save My Sunshine

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

xoxo
Kim

Our Girl is a Graduate!

http://savemysunshine.com/?p=621

Drumming, Drumming and more drumming

Drumming, Drumming and more drumming

www.savemysunshine.com


Enjoy!

He's Home

http://savemysunshine.com/

Well... he was home! Our son was home on leave and it was so wonderful to spend time with him! See my post on Savemysunshine.com

Peace & Love,
Kim

Miami Heat

... that was the theme of our daughter's Senior Prom held at the Rosen Plaza Hotel Saturday night, April 17th. She went with her boyfriend. She has gone to almost all her high school dances with him, there are only 2 dances that I can recall that she went with someone else. There have been 3 dances a year since her freshman year. This is her last one... sniffle, sniffle. They had a wonderful time! She will look back someday and remember these days fondly. Our daughter chose not to go with the baby blue and white theme (Miami Heat), she dares to be different! When we found this dress, we knew it was the one. She looked gorgeous (as usual!). She is a beautiful girl, what I love most is that she has such personality, a giving heart, loves life and shines her light everywhere she goes. Here are a few pictures. You can only imagine how many I actually have! Hope you enjoy.

It's APRIL~

Hello,
We made it through Spring Break, yeah! Since about 2000, we have been taking family vacations during Spring Break. It is a good time of the year to go somewhere as a family. This year, was different. Our son of course is deployed and no longer lives at home and our daughter wanted to go to the beach with her friends because it was her last year in high school, her "last high school spring break!" So Road King and I worked while our daughter played in New Smyrna Beach. I have to admit, it was a bit stressful okay it was a lot stressful, a little "test" for all of us for when she goes away to college in the fall. Her and 6 of her friends in two hotel rooms at the beach... was I really expecting to get any rest this week? All worked out well, they were typical teenagers, they didn't sleep, they got into arguments and on each other's nerves, but no one got hurt or in trouble, so life is good!



There are about 33 days of school left! Lots to do, graduation announcements, parties, cheer banquets, and so on!

We are also very excited as we spoke to our son and he will be home on leave April 22nd. He is back in the US and just left Hawaii, were he was able to take a couple days leave before heading back to San Diego and then on to Yuma, AZ. We can't wait to see him. It has been 7 months since we have seen him, he turned 21 during that time too!

When our son was a senior in high school he got to choose where he wanted to go for our family vacation, he chose NYC. It was an awesome trip. This year, for our daughter's graduation trip, she chose California. This summer we are planning a trip back to the West Coast, can't wait! We have done San Francisco and LA before, so we will hit up some new spots this time.

Love & Peace,

Kim

Where have I been?

That is a very good question... where have I been? I've been out and about, I'm not standing still, that's for sure! A couple of weekends ago, Rich and I took a ride on the Harley, we went to Blue Springs to say Hello to the Manatees. What a beautiful afternoon. We stopped at the 7-Eleven for drinks and snacks to take with us for an impromptu picnic. Love days like this.

On Wednesday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day at our local Irish Pub, Scruffy Murphy's. We live in walking distance to the pub, so it is very convenient. They had a tent outside with an Irish band and dancers. When we had our fill of Irish beer, we walked next door to Paxia for some Mexican food, it was an international evening. Our good friends joined us along with our daughter, fun fun night.


Last Saturday, I had the best day with Hippie Chick (our daughter). We started the day with breakfast at our local College Park Diner with the guys, Road King, his father, brother and nephew. We were two giggling girls, I think the guys were still asleep. Then Hippie Chick and I went to the Tattoo place to get my nose pierced! Yep, I did it! I love it! It hurt, hurt, hurt and I did bleed a lot, sorry to be so graphic, but I did! It is still a little sore, but I do love it. Next we went to Cache and found the perfect prom dress for Hippie Chick, absolutely gorgeous on her. Then off we went to my mother-in-laws house for a Pampered Chef Party. Lots of laughs spending the day together.


Sunday it was a rainy day, Road King and I had planned to go to the Art Festival, but the weather didn't hold out. So we ended up going to lunch and then shopping for Road King. Can't remember the last time we went specifically to shop for Mr. Road King. He bought new sexy jeans, plus a pair he picked out. (Ha Ha j/k... love you honey) Bought a few shirts and a hot pair of boots. I ended up getting a hot pair of boots too, can't wait to wear them. Road King talked me into it, I swear.

During the week, I'm working... I have really been missing my photography and writting. I am so behind on my photo a day project it has become a photo a week project and slipping into a photo a month quickly. I still have hope I will catch up. This last Monday, I did go to djembe drumming lessons, that was a blast and I can't wait to get my own drum, should be ready next Monday or so. Yeah! I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures of my new drum.
I'll go for now, still lots more going on, I will catch you all up soon.
I've missed you guys!

Love & Peace,
Kim

Playing For Change | Peace Through Music

Playing For Change | Peace Through Music

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Music can evoke so much emotion, it can bring back memories, it can make us feel happy, joyful, playful, energized and even sad at times. It can connect us… bring people together. Music is powerful. I found this movement called “Playing for Change.” Watching the videos and listening to the music makes me smile, such amazing energy! I love it when our world becomes smaller. Spread the word…

Playing For Change | Peace Through Music

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Set a Goal, Train, Focus and Achieve

There is more inside you than you dare think. - David Brower
Those who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible - Orison Swett Marden
Saturday morning our daughter participated in the largest 15K in the country, The Gate River Run. Friday night we headed north to Jacksonville, Fl to stay the night so we could be up nice and early for the race. On the way, we stopped at Carrabba's Italian Grill for a wonderful relaxing dinner. We made it to Jacksonville about midnight and had a few good hours of sleep before getting up at 5:00 AM to head to the race. The race started and finished around the Jacksonville Jaguar Football Stadium. It was a beautiful morning, it started off a little chilly but warmed up nicely, gorgeous day! The enthusiasm of the runners was admirable and watching every ones pre-run rituals was an experience. The race draws over 20K participants and 100K spectators.

This was our daughter's first 15K and she was super excited! She has been training for this for awhile and could not wait to start running. My cousin, his son and fiancee and a two of his friends also participated in the race.
Road King and I took pics and cheered the runners on!

Our amazing daughter completed the race in 1:37:13 seconds, this was her official chip time. She ran 10:28 minute miles! WOW! She is my hero! When we saw her at the finish line, she had a smile from ear to ear. She loved every minute of it. In fact, she said "This was the best experience of my life." ... and so began discussions on running a half marathon next!
Her father and I could not be more proud of her. She set a goal, she trained, she was focused and she did it! Congratulations!! You are AWESOME! We love you.

"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort."
--Jesse Owens



Love & Peace,
Kim

8 Things...I love about Drum Circles

8 Things was started by Magpie Girl as a way to balance her passion and creative days with those that are not. It is a way to keep quotes, ideas, thoughts and quandaries collected for further exploration.

Here are my 8 Things I love about Drum Circles:

1. The people, so open and friendly, everyone is welcome

2. The positive energy and the feeling of joy

3. The music, the instruments, feeling the rhythm

4. The relaxed, fun atmosphere and being with friends

5. Djembes and Tibetan Crystal Bowls

6. You don't have to be a professional musician to participate

7. Learning to play new percussion instruments

8. Fire twirler and belly dancer

If you have never been to one, I highly recommend it. Good for the soul. When I leave the drum circle I feel so joyful and energized.



Love & Peace,

Kim

When you give yourself away

Today I got an email from an inspiring friend that totally made my night. He shared with me the lyrics to Gary Allan's song "When you give yourself away." He said the lyrics made him think about how many different ways we "give" pieces of ourselves to others. I loved that he said in his note that I was "one of the few people that would get it, sharing your energy and spirit with the world." This just made me smile from ear to ear. Not because he paid me an amazing complement, who wouldn't want to hear that they are sharing their energy and spirit with the world, I mean that is an amazing thing to hear! What really got me... is that HE GETS ME! & and I love him for that! He knows me, sometimes I feel that there are people in my life that don't really get me. He knew that I would get the lyrics to this song and he knew that I would love his SMILING exercise that he did today, giving a little piece of himself to others. My beautiful friend consciously made a decision today to see how many people he could make smile by simply smiling first, not a single word was spoken. He lost count at 30! 30+ random people he walked by, made eye contact with and smiled and got a smile right back! As my friend so perfectly put in his email... "What a beautiful day!"

Get out there and SMILE, make some one's day and your day beautiful!

Thank you my friend for being such an inspiration. xoxo

Filled with Gratitude

Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. -Kahlil Gibran

As I began reflecting on the activities of last week, especially the weekend, I think about the fun things we did, but mostly I think about all the wonderful people in our lives. Some new, some renewed and some we've known forever. I am so thankful for the warmth, the smiles, the laughter, the kindness, the generiosity, and the love that our amazing friends show us each and everyday. The positive energy has been in abundance
and I'm filled with gratitude.
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Others stay awhile, make footprints on our hearts
and we are never, ever the same.I recently saw this quote on a friend's blog, I love it!
Thank you ALL for surrounding us with your love.
P.S. this is a sampling of wonderful people that have blessed us in so many ways, there are many more not pictured.
I might have to do a part II.
I am filled with gratitude for the abundance in our lives.
















Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.-Tennessee Williams

Love & Peace,
Kim