Inspiration

People draw their inspiration from many places - nature, religion, their teachers, etc. When I was younger, I felt like I was surrounded by inspirational people, and often felt inspired but never really acted on it. I think it was simply my age - I didn't really understand that being inspired isn't really an action until you enlist your motivation to go along with it. In swimming my coaches would implore me to work harder and push myself to new levels. But I couldn't see why I should - I mean I still won the race, even if I did skip the morning practices. I didn't see the need for trying harder if what I had naturally was just fine.

It wasn't until a few years after I first started doing yoga that I realized there was more to yoga than just being able to do the poses. Yeah - I am athletic. I can do what the teacher does. It was a teacher in the Bay Area who I practiced with for a relatively short time who made me realize that there is a huge difference between just doing yoga and doing yoga with intention. All of the sudden, I was inspired to learn more about yoga, but the biggest difference in me this time was I was motivated to do so.

My motivation is currently at an all time high. I have never felt this before - I am so energized and enthusiastic! I am attacking that proverbial to-do list with gusto! There are a couple of things that have inspired this upswing in my motivation, but my main sources of motivation are the handsome man and beautiful girl pictured above. I am so happy being a mom, and so thankful that I found Rob and we've started a family together. I don't want to just be a good mom - I want to be the best mom I can be. I want to get better - and I want to work at it with intention! I want to take care of our family and help us to thrive. I've also recently started my last quarter of a three year journey to becoming a yoga teacher. With the culmination of this goal around the corner I am ready to try something new.

My new venture has been on my list for a while now. I'm going to learn how to sew! (Ha! Weren't expecting that, huh?) I asked for and received a sewing machine 2 years ago and have yet to learn how to use it. I've had a certain project in mind for so long and originally planned to have it made by the time my first baby was born. Well.... it's never too late, right? I've found this cool online class that should help to walk me through learning how to use my machine and then teach me various projects. I'm excited to channel my inner seamstress and learn some basics so that I can sew Maggie's Halloween costumes, and change my decor at the drop of a ... pin. :) It's not climbing Mt. Shasta or anything - but I am excited and with my inspirations by my side, I'm ready to try! Thank you to Rob for always being ready to support me - with every new idea I come up with! And thank you to Maggie who will serve as my continuous inspiration!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

What a wonderful weekend we had!

It started out with dinner on Friday with my Mom, Judy and Sue. Maggie was such a trooper - staying out much later than usual! She played with the placemat and the menus and was happy as a clam! Although the food and service left something to be desired, we had a nice time visiting with the ladies.

Saturday we had friends over for a bbq to celebrate Rob turning 31. It was a sunny day (Finally! It has been one of the coldest/greyest summers since I've been in SD!) so we cleaned the house a bit and then took Maggie and PJ for a walk in the canyon. Maggie didn't love the bumpy ride - but once we got back onto 'solid' ground, she was happy. PJ loved getting to smell the plethora of smells that is the canyon, so he was definitely happy! We shopped and cooked, and made a special summer cocktail - a strawberry basil mohito. We had a great night just hanging out with friends, eating, and playing. Maggie had a blast watching Rhea chase PJ around all night! ;) PJ did so good with her - he's growing up! And Rhea loved taking photos... here's one she took of her new best friend:

On Sunday Maggie and I lazed around while Rob had some fun with electronics. He bought himself a new speaker for the TV, and it sounds great. (It only took two trips to Fry's! ;o) But he looked at the bright side and said "At least now I know a lot more about this than I did before!" We were just happy to be hanging out together as a family and doing things at our own pace. A nice change for us, and we think we'll try to make weekends like this more often!

Well, here we go!

A few months ago, amid one of the crazy busy weeks that I chronicle my life by, I had a thought: "I'm never going to NOT be busy - Ever Again."

Whoa. It stopped me in my tracks - I think I was moving one load of laundry down the stairs and ticking off the next three moves I would make on my to-do list. It was this huge moment where I finally realized that no matter how much I may chagrin when talking with a friend and realizing my next 'free' weekend is in two months, or how loudly I may grumble about our credit card bills when we're booking yet another flight - this is my life and I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I semi-recenlty became a Mom to our beautiful daughter, Maggie. It has been an amazing time of growth for us, and we have learned so many things in the short time we've had her! She has made me feel so much more relevant - I am here now for this totally and completely selfless reason - I am here for her. I feel alive and excited and so darned grown up!

I'm not the only one who is growing - our little Maggie is already 8 months old! She changes in so many ways every single week. And so, the blog! My sister was the first to suggest this to me - before Maggie was even born. I balked. I thought, who would want to read it? I now know who would want to read it: ME!

Part of the multi-facited revelation that this is my busy, crazy, and wonderful life was that I am not talented in memory keeping. I take the pictures - I even send them electronically to family on a pretty regular basis. But the beautiful photo album that my sister started for me sits on the shelf and collects dust. The photos that I printed to put in the album get lost in boxes here and there, and I just don't seem to get any better at this. I want to have the memories that we're making perserved so that we can sit together and remember 'those days'. I want Maggie and any future kernels of the Korn family to be able to hear the stories we're writing now and have them as memories forever.

So here we go - stories to be told, photos to be shared, growing to be done. Let's see where this new adventure takes us!