Elfin Forrest adventure...

This Saturday I chose to hike Elfin Forrest in Escondido. It wasn't too difficult, but I had a good time. The small creek that cut through was absolutely amazing...check out the pics!!

 

                      Beginning...                                         Standing inside the mountain...

                                    Just 'hangin' out...

       

                                     Lake Hodges

                                     Beautiful view...

                                     The creek...

                                At the end of the hike, we had to cross the creek...this

                                was probably the most exciting part!! Felt like home!!

"Self-acceptance comes from meeting life's challenges vigorously. Don't numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory."

-J. Donald Walters

keep calm...

love yourself...

“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.”

~Unknown

Day 9-Something you wrote

Late again...I know, I know!! 

Today's topic is "something you wrote"

Day 8-smoke

Once again, I'm late posting my pic :( 
Well, today's topic is "smoke". I had no idea what to do with this, so I kind of cheated a little. My pic is actually taken from a picture that I found. Hey, like I said before, its my blog and I can do what I want ;)

desire...

"Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Potato Chip rock...another adventure

As you already know, I like to go on little adventures on Saturday mornings. This weekend, I was joined by a couple of friends and our destination was Potato Chip Rock located on Mt. Woodson trail in Poway. The trail is about 7.3 miles round trip, half of it being straight up hill of course. We began fairly early and the weather was absolutely perfect. Here are a few photos...

Me on top of "Potato Chip Rock"

Hayley showing us how its done

Myself, Kathy, and Hayley

Sitting on our 'thrones'

Warrior 

Rock climbing

"Tebowing"

Our "getting started" photo

Day 7-Dinner Time

Sundays are usually my busy days, so I wasn't able to post my day 7 photo.
The topic was "dinner time". Every Sunday I cook a large meal for myself and Zach. This week, we went with seafood!! We mixed it up a little...salmon, tilapia, clams, mussels, shrimp, and calamari...yum!!

Day 6-The View From Here

Today's photo topic is "the view from here"...here's a picture of Hayley and I showing you our view from today's hike!!

Day 5-From above...

Today's photo topic is "from above"...this is a picture of me reading in the lobby of the office...

Day 4- 4 o'clock

Today is day 4 of my 31 day photo challenge. The topic of today is "4 o'clock". The photo I took is of the front doors of my office. Yep, you guessed it, I was ready to go!! Today was def a long day!!

a little motivation...

"Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you'll see the way to fly."

- Richard Bach

Day 3-Feet

As weird as it may sound, feet photos are one of my favorites. 
Today is day 3 of my photo challenge and the topic is, you guessed it, feet!!
I asked a couple of my lovely friends to join in on a feet circle in the office...tada...here it is! Thanks Lexi and Hayley!! 

Another thank you to Danielle LaPorte...

The burning question series by Danielle LaPorte

  This is Fun!!

ANSWER THE BURNING QUESTION: What in your life do you want to be of the highest quality?

• my relationship with myself, as well as with family, friends, and even those that I do not know
• my education
• my health
• my fitness
• my happiness

                                                    Thanks to Danielle LaPorte for The Burning Question Series


                                                             
                                                                 

                              

Day 2-Morning

Today's photo topic is 'Morning', and what a morning I have had. I know that I am supposed to post 1 photo a day, but this is my blog and I can do what I want ;). I created a collage for today's photo challenge that kind of explains the morning that I have had. As you can see, there was a little bit of traffic this morning (the picture doesn't really do it any justice). I was also running a "little" late and my gas light was on. Thankfully, when I finally got to work, I was able to enjoy my not so tasty cup of coffee and begin my work day. Well, kind of. I had to post my photo first, duh!!

Day 1-Where I stood

Today is day 1 of my 31 day photo challenge. I have to admit, I almost forgot about it...oops!!
This photo was taken in the gym parking lot. I was lucky enough to capture the sun setting in the background...absolutely beautiful!!

Another Saturday morning adventure...

 

This morning, I was joined by a wonderful friend on my adventure. We had an absolutely amazing time. We woke up fairly early this morning, and after a couple of hours of detours due to road construction, we made our way to Torrey Pines Gliderport. I've never even heard of this place until this morning. (Thanks Kathy) The views were absolutely beautiful!! Of course we turned it into a photoshoot!! Such good times!!

 

 

 

truth...

"You can accept or reject the way you are treated by other people, but until you heal the wounds of your past, you will continue to bleed. You can bandage the bleeding with food, with alcohol, with drugs, with work, with cigarettes, with sex, but eventually, it will all ooze through and stain your life. You must find the strength to open the wounds, stick your hands inside, pull out the core of the pain that is holding you in your past, the memories, and make peace with them." - Iyanla Vanzant

another interest...

"We should understand that our problems do not exist outside of our self, but are part of our mind that experiences unpleasant feelings" -Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Join me in my "31 day photo challenge"...

Hi there...the month of September is almost over and I thought it would be a good idea to create my own photo challenge for October. I didn't focus on one specific topic and of course I added a little Halloween photos to go along with the season. I will be sharing my photos on here starting October 1....ENJOY!!

Compassion and the Individual | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Compassion and the Individual | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

It's okay to not be okay...

“Love yourself—accept yourself—forgive yourself—and be good to yourself, because without you the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things.” ~Leo F. Buscaglia

Love, hate, fear, sadness, anger, failure...we've all experienced it, and if you're anything like me, showing these emotions is a no go...well until recently that is. 
Hiding the way I felt always seemed easier. I was always afraid of telling someone that there was something wrong. Why? Maybe I was afraid of their reaction. Afraid of judgement. "I'm okay" or "I'll figure it out" was always my response. I thought that was me being "independent". Boy was I wrong!! That was me running from the reality of my problems because facing them caused emotion, caused tears. Tears and emotions were a sign of weakness. Ummm...no they're not. Emotions are a sign of healing. Hello...we're human! 
I honestly cannot remember when I started hiding my feelings. Maybe when I lost my father? Maybe sooner? Maybe even later? All I know is I wanted no one around me to know that I was hurting.
As mentioned before, I have been going through a few changes in my life. A breakup, dealing with my past, as well as finding and loving myself again. The later being the most difficult. Being alone caused me to think, to feel, and the feelings were not what I wanted. All I could do was crawl in a ball and cry. This went on for weeks. I would fall asleep crying and wake up doing the same. This is when I realized that I was finally dealing with what has and was going on in my life. I was finally allowing myself to heal. I was no longer burying my emotions, instead letting them all out. I was not okay at the time and I realized that it was actually OKAY. 
So, take this from me, if you're bothered by something, don't try to hide it. Let your feelings show. Bottling up emotions does nothing but hurt the one who is most important...YOU and you are all you have in this crazy world. Be good to yourself and accept the fact that sometimes it really is okay to not be okay...

Surrounded by beauty...

It has always been difficult for me to "stop and smell the roses". I've always been the go go go type of girl. I've always kept myself busy and never really took the time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds me. After all, I was a Marine, and focusing on anything other than the "mission" was a waste of time. 
I have lived in one of the most beautiful places in the United States for the past 6 years and haven't really taken the time to take in all of its beauty. 
Through my "self discovery" adventure, I have realized so many new things about ME and being outdoors, taking it all in is one of them. 
Last Saturday I took a trip down to the trails of Torrey Pines. I've never seen such beauty. What was supposed to be a short nature hike, turned into one of the most amazing mornings of my life. I can honestly say that I have never felt so free. After enjoying a slow hike and taking many pictures, I decided to turn it into a run and still managed to keep a smile on my face. Wow...what a feeling!! Here is one of the pictures I took that lovely morning...

How could you not fall in love with the beauty that surrounds us daily?
I have made a promise to myself to take these types of adventures once a week, whether I am alone or sharing the experience with a friend. 

"This force, which is the best thing in you, your highest self, will never respond to any ordinary half-hearted call, or any milk-and-water endeavor, It can only be reached by your supremest call, your supremest effort. It will respond only to the call that is backed up by the whole of you, not part of you; you must be all there in what you are trying to do. You must bring every particle of your energy, unanswerable resolution, your best efforts, your persistent industry to your task or the best will not come out of you. You must back up your ambition by your whole nature, by unbounded enthusiasm and a determination to win which knows no failure... Only a masterly call, a masterly will, a supreme effort, intense and persistent application, can unlock the door to your inner treasure and release your highest powers."

- Orison Swett Marden

Good Reads...

I've never really been big on reading. I guess I always thought I should be doing something more productive. With everything that has been going on with me over this last month, I decided to try something different, and one thing just so happened to be curling up in my sweats with a good book (or three) and relaxing, and to my surprise, I absolutely love it!! Here are a couple of books that I have read over these past couple of weeks...