The sun shining on my face...

Often this quote passes through my mind, it's from an old movie called Mask. Does anyone else remember that movie? Not "The Mask" with Jim Carey, but "Mask" with Eric Stoltz, Cher and Sam Elliot.
I am not sure why these words have stuck out so strongly in my mind for all these years ~
"These things are good: ice cream and cake, a ride on a Harley, seeing monkeys in the trees, the rain on my tongue, and the sun shining on my face. These things are a drag: dust in my hair, holes in my shoes, no money in my pocket, and the sun shining on my face". (Rocky Dennis)

Are you there blog readers...It's me, Tiffany~

It has been a while since I have been here. I hope there are still some of you that check in now and then.
I miss you! I miss my little corner of blog land.
It is Fall already and it came up fast. I am ready for the (slightly) cooler weather but I am always sad to see another summer come and go.
I took a few minutes to take my camera in my hands and head out to my yard and take some photos of the beautiful, vibrant colors. It is a lovely time of year and I need to remember to step outside and take a look of the beauty that surrounds me.
I hope that you are enjoying the seasons. Comment if you are here and let me know how you're doing.

4 years...

As I write this I am fairly certain that it is impossible for 4 years to have passed since the death of my beautiful mom.
4 years without her...It still does not seem real.
My family and I will get together today to spend time with each other and reminisce about my mom and the life she lived. We honor her memory as much as we can with celebrations of her life whenever we get together, and by thinking of her and loving her as much today as we did every day of her life on this earth.

Dear mom,
I miss you with my whole heart.
I have so much that I want to share with you.
What I wouldn't do to hear your voice, your laugh, just one more time.
I am finding my way again in this crazy world as much as I can.
I miss you, I miss you.
I love you my sweet and beautiful mom.
Your daughter,
Tiffany

As another Mother's Day passes by...

My mom is still such a large part of my life. I find her in my beautiful sister and her family, I find her in my wonderful friends, I find her in my new love. Her memory and influence lives inside of my heart so strongly that I still often forget that she really is not physically here any more. This Mother's Day was spent with the people I love, spanning a few days filled with amazing thoughts, comments, flowers and tremendous support.
(A special message to my amazing friend Jody who lost her mom about a month ago, Jody I want you to know that she is watching over you, she is so proud of the beautiful person that you are and always have been, I love you sweet friend.)
Last week I took two finals for school and I was so worried and nervous about how I did on the tests and in the classes. I awoke this morning to find an email from one professor letting me know I did well on the test (97) and had the most points overall of anyone in the class~ I cannot tell you how happy that made me. But even more so was how happy others in my life are for me. My family and friends are so supportive and proud and that means the world. My best friend sent me a reminder of how proud my mom would be of me too, oh how I wish I could share this with her. But I suppose in many ways I do.
My gifts in this life are the amazing people I am surrounded by and so very blessed to know. And all of it started and continues because of my beautiful mom and the amazing woman she was.

For Andy...

This Saturday I proudly watched you cross the finish line of your first half marathon~ I want you to know how proud I am of you!! Your strength and dedication is such an inspiration to me.
It just goes to show that we are all capable of things we have yet dreamed of doing...
I cannot wait to see what you will take on next! Congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment sweet friend!

Brain Cancer Walk 2013

It is that time of year again.
Time to join together to help raise awareness in the fight to end brain cancer.
The walk is on Monday May 27th, Memorial day~
If you go to sign up make sure to "register for an event" instead of making a donation so that you actually get set up to run/walk it. And sign up for the team Rena's dragonflies :)
If you are not able to walk with us and would like to donate just click "make a donation" next to our team name.
Brain Cancer Walk registration

We walk for our beautiful mom, Rena...
We love you mom!!

...cherish this life...

About three years ago I started this blog as a place to keep myself accountable to continue living after the death of my beautiful mom. That time in my life was devastating to say the least and thanks to the support of my wonderful family and friends I was reminded of why we live even when times feel so very hard. This blog helped me share some of the things I was doing in order to remain alive in every sense of the word. From the little things like learning to cook, taking a sewing class, running my first 5k, to the bigger things, spending more time with the people I love, setting some bigger goals like running the half marathon, to traveling more and experiencing the world. I want to apologize for the past few months and my posts that show more of an inner struggle. My intention with this blog is to be able to be myself and share things from my heart so I felt ok about sharing some of the dark stuff too.
Though I know in the beginning it was maybe more a place that people came to see good, happy, positive posts on life. The past few months I know it has not been a place of inspiration. Part of who I want to be and the journey that I long for is to be a person that inspires. Life is short and we all have so many struggles that we deal with in our lives. I vow to share more positivity and less inner struggle so that this becomes a place that you can come to for little reminders of how amazing this beautiful life really is. Thank you for sticking through with me if there are any of you that still come around here. Thank you for your support over the past three years, it means so very much to me.

Source: sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net via Tiffany on Pinterest