Saturday, November 30, 2013

Things I Wish



"I wish the time hadn’t gone so fast, though. And sometimes I wish I’d enjoyed it more on the way, and worried about it less.” 

― Neil Gaiman

Aria, age around 3yrs.  always the little helper

Athena 2 years and already on her way to being a master pizza maker.


...and now the girls are all grown up.



  The lesson is  just "Be Happy, Don't Worry"


Friday, November 29, 2013

Who You Choose To Be Around

Pretty sunshine, light and Love

"Choose to be in close proximity to people who are empowering, who appeal to your sense of connection to intention, who see the greatness in you, and who live a life that gives evidence that Spirit has found celebration through them." - Dr. Wayne Dyer

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Where You Live

home is wherever i'm with you... embroidered wall art

"You live inside your parents lives, until one day, they live inside of yours." - Donia Bijan

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Let's Just Hug It Out!



"Sometimes I wrestle with my inner demons. 

Other times, we just hug."

-Peter Wilson

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Connected In Every Way

zen in nature - ripples You create positive ripples into this world every time you offer a kind word, loving action empowering insight or smile because whoever receives it passes it on to someone ,who then passes it on ,who then passes it on ,who then passes it on ,who then passes it on ,who then passes it on. - Karen Salmansohn


“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” 
― David MitchellCloud Atlas

Friday, November 22, 2013

Echo LOVE



"Kind words can be short and easy to speak,

 but their echoes are truly endless." ~ Mother Theresa ~





Life is an echo.  
What you send out, comes back.
What you sow, you reap. 
What you give, you get.
 What you see in others, exists in you.
Remember,
Life is an echo
It  always gets back to you. 
So give goodness." 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Shattering Griefs






"One joy shatters a hundred griefs.”
-Chinese Proverb

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Your Own Best Friend





"Julia Child would have been 101 last week. I celebrate her birthday every year. This year I cooked some smoky eggplant soup, and ate it in Central Park."
"Were you alone?"
"Of course. I love to be alone. I'm fabulous." - From Humans of New York

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A Perfect Autumn Day

I have fluorescent lighting in my kitchen--I wonder if I scatter a few fake leaves in there, it'll look like this...


"It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life." 
~P.D. James

Monday, November 18, 2013

A Way of Life


single flower



“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. this is my symphony.” 
― William Ellery Channing

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Saturday, November 16, 2013

A Lovely Grand Finale




“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when 

everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been 

saving up all year for the grand finale.” 

― Lauren DeStefanoWither

Friday, November 15, 2013

Let's Pretend on a Flashback Friday

Mike c. 1950's Cleveland Ohio


3-Star General

“That night I looked up at those same stars, but I didn't want any of those things. I didn't want Egypt, or France, or far-flung destinations. I just wanted to go back to my life from my childhood, just to visit it, and touch it, and to convince myself that yes, it had been real.” 
― Jenny LawsonLet's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir


Thursday, November 14, 2013

An Invitation to Dance

Lovely rainy forest

"The world is alive, blinking and clicking, winking at us shyly, 
inviting us to get up and dance to the music that's been playing since the
beginning of time..." - Shauna Niequist

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Vast and Brilliant



"Don't be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions  drown out your own inner voice.  And most important,  have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." -Steve Jobs

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Monday, November 11, 2013

Opportunity is Knocking

autumn-cosy23

Our opportunity is to Soar our Spirit.
To see Light and Joy in everything.
To spread our wings and fly boldly.
To give thanks for rainbows and butterflies -
our symbols of renewal and rebirth.

To offer daily Thanksgiving - for ourselves, our family,
our friends, our community, for the whole world.

Our opportunity is to love ourselves exactly as we are -
with all our joys and sufferings.
To be grateful for everything.
To forgive ourselves for our doubts of our own worthiness -
for we have no need to be anything other than what we are.

Our opportunity is to visualize a kinder world.
To sing glad songs of tomorrow -
imagining a world of love -
of the whole world filled with love.
To offer our hand... often.
To breathe deeply and honor ourselves.
To pause and contemplate... just because
.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Sunday, November 10, 2013

James A. Stevens Obituary

James A. Stevens



Obituary
  • "Jim and I were artists at Showcase House years ago and he..."
    - Anna Crist

James A. Stevens
November 19, 1922- March13, 2013
In loving memory of husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, James A. Stevens, who passed away from natural causes at 90 after a wonderful life filled with love, adventure, dance, and kindnesses to others.

Born in Alhambra, CA., he attended Alhambra High School, serving as student body president and sports editor of the Moor newspaper. He attended Pasadena City College, and the University of Utah, then served as an officer aboard 
merchant ships during World War II, which gave him the opportunity to see the world and live in such diverse places as India, China, Java, Bali, Egypt, Iraq and Europe. He met the love of his life, Monza Higgs, while he was in Officer's School, and they married in 1949. They settled in Pasadena, CA, and had two children (two daughters, Tami and Erin). Upon Jim's passing, he and Monza had been happily married for 63 years. Together, Jim and Monza owned a successful retail store (from 1950-1970) called "The Wonderful Balinese Shop," located at the corner of Colorado and Orange Grove Blvd, where a giant paper moon hung in the window. Indicative of his generous happy spirit, the shop had a brass plaque on the door that read: Children May Touch! The Owners assume responsibility for any items broken by children in the shop. There were summer movies shown outdoors at the shop, under the stars, and an upstairs art gallery presenting works by many important California artists over the years. There were also lectures by prominent scientists and performances by acclaimed musicians, puppeteers, and magicians. After the shop closed, Jim went into the manufacturing of gift items, and the wholesale distribution of gifts around the globe. Since 1983,with his wife and two daughters, he has helped in running The Pasadena Ballroom Dance Assoc., at 73 N. Hill Ave, (located behind the church). Always an antique collector and yard sale aficionado, he was also a talented writer who wrote and published two books, along with countless numbers of poems and creative manuscripts.

Jim is survived by two of his five siblings: Larry (Weep) Stevens, and Mary Lou Retrosi, his wife Monza, his two daughters and their husbands Scott Price and Jim Key, along with three local grandchildren: Jimmy, Alex and Kaitlynn Key, as well as great grandchildren. He passed away at home with his adoring family surrounding him. He was an athletic man, and a man with tremendous moral strength, unfailing integrity, remarkable kindness, and the deepest capacity for love. We will miss him greatly.

In lieu of flowers, Jim Stevens would appreciate all of us holding his lifelong motto in our hearts: Be Kind.
-  http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pasadenastarnews/obituary.aspx?n=james-a-stevens&pid=163742324#sthash.iecsW3Lo.dpuf

Published in Pasadena Star-News on Mar. 20, 2013

I am resposting this obituary as it is such a lovely tribute to a very special man whose kind ways touched those who knew him well as well as others who knew him only as the kind owner of the wonderful, magical shop at the corner of Colorado and Orange Blvd.  I wrote about my experiences at the Balinese Shop in my blogpost herehttp://followbarbsbliss.blogspot.com/2009/10/balinese-shop.html


Saturday, November 9, 2013

It's Your Present

A Heart for You, 2012


"When you feel dejected or out of sorts, ask yourself: Do I wish to use the present moment–the precious currency of my life–in this manner? This will help you become conscious of the importance of being here now–not just in your body, but in your thinking as well. I urge you to think of the present as just that: a wondrous present from your Source."- Dr. Wayne Dyer

Friday, November 8, 2013

Just Relax


“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~Dalai Lama

"Life should be touched not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times,
and at others move forward with it." -Ray Bradbury

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Our Children



IMO: Our children's childhood is ours for such a very fleeting moment, embrace it with your whole heart. It's a precious, precious gift.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Practice Makes Perfect


"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a daily basis." Margaret Bonanno



 
Happily ever after

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Monday, November 4, 2013

So Many Places To See




“You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!” 

― Dr. SeussOh, the Places You'll Go!


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Something Small

Do small things with great love - Aimee Weaver Designs

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." -Helen Keller

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Autumn Thoughts



"Noon descends around me now:
Is the noon of autumn's glow,
When a soft and purple mist
Like a vaporous amethyst,
Or an air-dissolved star
Mingling light and fragrance, far
From the curved horizon's bound
To the point of Heaven's profound,
Fills the overflowing sky;
And the plains that silent lie
Underneath, the leaves unsodden
Where the infant Frost has trodden
With his morning-winged feet,
Whose bright pride is gleaming yet;
And the red and golden vines
Piercing with their trellised lines
The rough dark-skinned wilderness;"
- P. Shelley

Friday, November 1, 2013

Happy Birthday Mat




“Surfing is climbing from a warm bed in pre-dawn’s coolness a sleepy drive, coffee and doughnuts at a roadside diner and the clatter of surfboards as they’re unstacked from the car rack. Surfing is the joy of watching a sun rise slowly into the sky. It’s crisp, clean waves, crests blown high by an offshore wind. It’s gray mist, dampness and cold sand under bare feet, the lonely cry of a gull sweeping across silent, brooding seas.” –Fred Wardy




Mat checking out the waves early morning in Australia

 Happy Birthday Mat!  May the year ahead be filled with good health, a happy heart and a bounty of great waves to surf on at beautiful beaches around the world. 




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