true story

"Mommy, is that the park or an ice cream truck?"

gutsy girl

Sunday afternoon we got to experience Venice Beach.  It was totally alive, beautiful and interesting. 

 Lots of street shows.  Most were pretty corny but a few were great. 

Our favorite was the drum circle.  Just a huge group of drummers, actually it was any drum style as well as cow bells and giant maraca things,  banging it out as loud and passionately as possible. 

We snaked our way into the circle and  it was intense.  Pictures don't do justice to the way it FELT.  

Oh, and if you ever need any "medical" marijuana they can totally fix you up.  Just sayin.

Let me start this next story with a little history.  Ever since I was somewhere around 16ish I have wanted to get my nose pierced.  But, I am a humongous chicken when it comes to pain.  Never mind that I have had 4 babies, 3 completely natural and 9 lbs plus.  (Yes, that is my badge of courage and I will lay that card on the table any time I get ready.)  Never mind any of that, because the mere IDEA of a needle coming close to me makes me queasy.  Flash forward to the 34 year old version of Rachel who knows it is way past time to do the things I have always wanted to do.  Oh, what IS a girl to do in such a quandary.  Rely on the determination of friends and husbands, that's what.  I am a chicken remember?

So, I am there, on Venice Beach in a tattoo parlor telling myself "just don't look, just don't look".  That tattoo stuff was way to much for me.  So, the guy takes me to the back and I start wondering if this was a foolish little girl's good idea and a mature woman's bad idea.  

My friend Tal kept telling me that when she did hers years ago it was nothing.  Hurt for like 2 seconds and it was over.  The thing is, I kept thinking of when I got my ears pierced at 10 years old.  I remember it vividly.  Enough said.  

The piercing guy was great.  He kept reminding me to breath in, and breath out.  I needed that, and I was very grateful.

Okay, this next picture took me a while to look at.  Yes, that is a GIANT needle.  WHA??  I thought he was going to use a gun!  This is NOT 1962!  

So, after this picture, he put the little stud in and Rachel proceeded to turn the exact shade of the wall behind her.  Yes, everyone was rushing to get her cool rags, smelling salts, cold drinks.  

Yes, I am cool.

I recovered, and Tal, through her laughter, confessed that actually, when she had hers done she almost passed out.  sheeeesh!

His reaction was basically "It's about time!"  He likes it when I am brave.  And he loves it when I step out of my comfort zone.  I think he knows that is where the fun in life is waiting for me.

So, we left the beach and headed to Hollywood.  It was Oscar night after all!  Why not go to Hollywood!  

I have never been to D.C. or anywhere at the same time as the President, but I cannot imaging the security being any more intense that it was on Oscar night around the Chinese Theater.  Cars with passes were getting violated by swarms of security checking ever nook and cranny.  This is as close as we could get.

It was still fun and really interesting to see people gather around store windows to watch TVs they couldn't hear to just watch the ceremony.  

We were packing tons of fun into every minute but tomorrow we get started on Route 66.  An amazing experience.  I can't wait to share!

Saturday in L.A.

We did eventually, in the wee hours of the night/morning make it back to our beautiful hotel.  Our friends were married here and they were so gracious to want to share this with us.  It was amazing and VERY California.  It was beautiful in March during a very cold snap.  I can only imagine this place in the spring and summer!

We met back up with our friends and I got to spend some time with Tal, Guy's wife.  She is a successful phychologist and I confess that, before meeting her, I feared being "analyzed".  

That made me nervous.  Why, you ask?  I don't want to talk about why.

Aaaaaanyway, that was SO not the case and we became instant friends and I learned so much from her. She must have sensed that I needed to really make the most of this time away from the daily grind and Saturday afternoon we went for foot massages.  Have you ever seen these places?  It says reflexology foot massage but it was literally head to toe!  We have nothing like that around here and it was so simple but amazing.  You MUST go if you get the chance.

I learned something about myself that day.  I tend to try to take small snippets of time in the day to be "my time".  I cheat my family and myself by doing that.  After doing something really nurturing for myself I realized that if I just give my family 100% of myself when I am with them and then take the time out to do something really special for myself once in a while, we would both be better off for it.

Stay tuned...on Sunday I do something I have wanted to do since I was about 16 but, in true Rachel fashion, almost chickened out.  You'll never guess!

home again

We are settled back into regular life.  It was a really amazing trip in so many ways.  I think Shannon and I  were both changed by it in our own ways and I believe our relationship changed as well.  It wasn't just a trip.  It is hard to explain I guess.  We missed our kids but enjoyed every second of our time together.  I was afraid I would let missing the little ones keep me from living in the moment but it just never happened.

I have to admit we had about 2 days of a vacation hangover.  We missed having uninterrupted conversations and no one demanding anything.  It was a little like being on a honeymoon then coming home to 4 kids.  Yeah, I dare your average newlywed to try that one!

But...here we sit...back in the groove.  I do love my simply little life.  Hahaha.  I just reread that last sentence.  Did I say simple?  hahahahahahhah  simple?  It isn't simple, but it is good!

On to the good stuff!  It was really like two different trips so I will start with Cali.
We barely made our flight out of Houston!  We had to RUN and were the last ones to board.  Great way to start your morning after zero sleep!  We arrived in LA and spent a few days with Shannon's business partners.  They are originally from Israel and were wonderful in giving us a glimpse into the culture.  Oh my goodness....THE FOOD!  It was amazing!

And they do all these wonderful salads.  Not like our salads.  Even the green salad is finely chopped.  There were a couple that were recognizable like egg salad and avocado salad but most were so totally different in flavor.  I thought there was vinegar in them but found out it was mostly lemon juice and olive oil.  Lots of fresh herbs as well.  

Our friends ordered lunch for us and Shannon and I totally thought the huge selection of salads and bread were our meal (they ordered in Hebrew) but then they brought yummy lamb kabobs and beef kabobs as well!  I was too busy eating to take any pics.

That evening, we enjoyed a Jewish Shabbat with a beautiful family.  It was a wonderful night and inspiring as well.  I think that the Christian Lord's supper was intended to be more like a Shabbat than the "church ceremony" I was raised with.  It was a family meal around the table that was a celebration and a remembrance.  It really has me thinking of how I would like to incorporate a similar event into our lives.  Have you ever experienced a Shabbat?

I was ready to crash in exhaustion (remember we still haven't slept and a 2 hour time difference from Texas).  But, oh no, Shannon and our host, Guy, had other plans!  They REALLY love to talk!  So, eventually I crashed in one of the kids rooms for a nap!

I will show you the amazing, beautiful, gorgeous hotel where we stayed next.  It's gooooood!

a few belated pics

I meant to do a lovely post about the amazing snow we received here in east Texas mid February.  Truly a once in a lifetime event if you live out your life in these parts.  My little birds were in heaven.  We lost power for the day and after playing in the snow and getting wet, we had to huddle around the fireplace to get warm and dry.  It was so much fun to see their excitement and wonder!

It started sticking around 9:30 Thursday night and I knew it could all be melted by morning so we bundled up and went out to play!

But, to our delight...this is what we woke up to:

It was beautiful and special...and well, mamma was COLD!  But tons of FUN!

Lots and LOTS of snow angels :)

We are in the countdown to leaving for L.A.  Still so excited!  Grandma is here and I better get to packing!!  

goin' back to cali

Normal is crazy right now as Shannon and I get ready for this

And hopefully this:

And then, for the road trip home, this little icing on the cake:

I am sosososososo excited because the Route 66 trip is something Shannon has wanted to do since I have known him.  Back in the day, I dreamed of being the ONE who got to travel the country with him.  Makes me smile just to think about it!

We leave at a completely insane hour Friday morning for the flight.  I will be updating this baby with all the fun and excitement.  Kids will be having some grandma fun while we are having a little grownup fun! 

 ooooooh, i just can't wait.  Gotta go get back to work!