May 2008 Archives

Just a quick report on our anniversary dinner at Flagstaff House: Food was amazing. Service was top notch. But the best thing about Flagstaff House cannot be described. So we took pictures!

These are all taken from our table which was outside on the lower patio. Just below us, wildflowers were blooming down the slope. It was perfect weather for dining al fresco, and though it was overcast most of the evening, it was glorious.  I wish we had gotten a shot or 2 of the gang of hawks which were enjoying the thermals when we first got there. At one point, there were close to a dozen hawks making lazy circles in the sky! Really breathtaking.

View overlooking the city of Boulder:

That was the day I also "married" Rick's four beautiful daughters--giving them each a rose quartz heart and promising to always be their friend and to have their best interests at heart. They were a bonus I never expected when dreaming of the marriage I hoped for someday. I love them so much and am so blessed they are a part of my life.

While the last nine years have not been without challenges, the promising omens were accurate. Our marriage has been a great blessing. I could not ask for a partner more thoroughly invested in me and our marriage than Rick. All the years--19 of them between my divorce from my first husband until my wedding to Rick--of holding out and waiting for the right man--paid off in spades.

I awoke this morning to a dozen red roses, a perfect anniversary card, and a heartfelt letter from Rick. Perhaps even more special is something that happens on a regular basis: Rick bringing up my clean laundry from the basement (which he washed and dried) and saying "no need to hurry to put it away--I'll spread it out for you so it doesn't wrinkle." Now that, my friends, is love and devotion. For that and so many other ordinary gifts I could not possibly list them all, I appreciate my sweet husband so much, but more than that, I appreciate him for always being so present with me--for being my very best friend--and my never having to wonder if he loves me--loves us!

Tonight, we're going to dinner at Flagstaff House in Boulder. It's on a cliff overlooking the foothills--not in the same area as our wedding, but I'm excited to be there and feel that magical mountain energy. No--not the same location, but the two hearts celebrating will be the same, and that's the real magic!

P.S. Last night, Stepdaughter #1 (to my right in the photo above) had her senior recital as part of her graduation requirement as a vocal performance major at the University of Denver. It was glorious to watch her in her element, every bit a woman now, with an angelic voice and so much to offer the world! I'm sure Rick will be posting video of her recital at some point, but till then, you can see last week's performance of Into the Woods with Aubrie (yes, she has a name!) as Cinderella on Rick's blog.

Wednesday morning at 5:30, I woke up and was shivering. Not just ordinary shivers, but big convulsive ones, bordering on violent. I could not will them to stop, and even having Rick holding me (as best he could!) did not seem to make any difference, although it was comforting to have him there. Neither the sweater I put on nor the down comforter on the bed seemed to make a difference, and I just kept shivering. It was really scary.

After a bit, it occurred to me to send Rick to the other room to bring some Valor (an essential oil blend I thought might possibly help), but as he was on his way down the hall, I spotted my bottle of Release, another oil blend that I use for releasing emotional stuff--it always works like a charm for that--and since it felt like I was in the clutches of something that needed to release me, it seemed worth a try.

I was shaking so hard it was a bit of a challenge to unscrew the cap and put a drop in my hand, but happily, the lack of control I had over the shivering was not mirrored as a lack of control over my other functions. I rubbed my hands together, cupped them over my nose, inhaled deeply, and instantly, my shivering stopped. Instantly! After what seemed like forever of not being able to be still (but was probably a total of 15 minutes), my body relaxed the second I breathed in the aroma of Release. Thank goodness.

It's amazing how sore one can get from just 15 minutes of muscle tension! My stomach muscles were so sore, they were almost cramping. Fortunately, I had a prescription muscle relaxer in the medicine cabinet, and that helped me chill out and, eventually, go back to sleep. I took another one later in the day and that pretty much wiped me out till this morning (though I somehow managed to cook dinner for Stepdaughter #3 and her boyfriend and Rick and me last night). 

I did some research on what causes such shivering, and found several things that could be related. I think that I may have been dehydrated, and that, combined with being a bit chilled, and, perhaps, somewhat magnesium deficient--well, those factors may have been at the root of the problem. I don't want to look too deeply into this and find some horrible disease it might be a symptom of! Seems everytime I do that, I get worried and find out later it was not the scary thing at all and I spent time in fear and at a lower vibration for nothing!

So I've been paying close attention to my hydration and magnesium intake, plus the weather has warmed up again so there's no chill in the air, and all has been well. Fingers are crossed! I am so very, very grateful for Release!

In July of 1989, I purchased a new Toyota Camry. Oh, how I loved that car--it had all the features I had wanted, including  power windows (not as ubiquitous as they are now) and a moonroof, which I absolutely adored! I was still driving it in 1998 when Rick came to North Carolina to fetch me and my belongings and bring me to Denver. It rode on a trailer hitched to the back of the Ryder truck we drove across country. When Rick's old van became a liability in 2001, we bought a Honda Odyssey because, at the time, there were 4 little girls and their friends that needed to be driven around, so another van made sense. That became the vehicle I primarily drove since I did not need to drive every day (and, if I'm to be completely honest, the new van was more comfortable and suited my vanity better than the aging Camry!), while Rick used the more economical Camry for commuting to work on a daily basis.

Over the years of Rick's stewardship of the Camry, while it continued to be a reliable friend, its old age became more and more apparent, with almost everything having to be replaced item by item--except the transmission. But recently, the Camry's transmission started declining rapidly, and we were told it would cost about five times more than the car was worth to replace it. Yesterday (Friday) on Rick's way home from work, the dear 19-year-old workhorse said, "No more!"--and so did Rick.

After pondering all the options, we decided that what made the most sense was to buy a new Honda Civic for Rick to drive to work as they get great gas mileage and are ranked highest in their class for safety, reliability and all the stuff that matters. After doing some online research, today, we invoked Easy World and headed out to the largest Honda dealership in the area to buy one, even though I knew the moon was void of course and that it was close to Mercury retrograde--normally bad omens for major transactions. It was obvious, however, that the divinely appointed time was now, so we agreed from the start that this would be entirely Spirit guided and that we would push nothing, force nothing, and if everything didn't feel absolutely right, we would not buy a car.

It must have, indeed, been time, because when we got there, we had a really wonderful, low-key salesman who never pushed us even one iota--he just showed us what we asked to see, and even when we talked about possibly upgrading to an Accord, I don't think his pulse rate elevated a fraction of a point. (We decided that the Accord didn't have a good enough miles-per-gallon rating, not to mention, it was more than we really wanted to spend.) With no effort at all, we found a silver Civic LX that we both really liked and that seemed like "the one," test drove it, loved it, and bought it. The whole thing was so easy, and felt so right, we did not hesitate. I stayed while the transaction was initiated and then I left Rick there to finish since he could drive his new car home and I needed to get on home to get things done in the garden. So it was very Easy World for me--I was home after about 90 minutes!

As it turned out, Stepdaughter #4 needed a ride to a friend's house tonight, and I got to drive the approx. 30-mile round-trip. It is every bit as nice to drive as the 2008 Camry rental car I drove on my trip to North Carolina last month and just as nice as my 1989 Camry was when it was new. It is very tight and peppy and just a joy to drive. Love the aesthetics, too.

We took the quartz crystal out of the Camry that had been in there since 1989 as protection, and put it in the Civic. We are considering the Civic just the reincarnation of the Camry. If the Civic serves as well as the Camry, we will be very fortunate, indeed. Here's a picture from the Honda website of our--I mean Rick's--new ride:
 

I received a letter yesterday that I was so gratified to receive, I thought I'd share it with you! When you read the first couple of lines, you may wonder why I was happy about it, but read on and you'll understand. In fact, reading beyond the first lines is what the letter is about...

~~~~~~~~

Hi Julia,

I wanted to write you because I just finished your book "Recreating Eden" and wanted to share my thoughts.

I will admit at first it was hard to get into the book.  I felt like there was some resistance in me because much of your explanation on why we (ego-self) is separated from Source I already knew.  I found myself wanting to skip the first part of the book and dig right into the end. However, I stopped myself and realized that I don't know it all and as had happened other times in my life you might be able to offer a different perspective which might bring "ah ha" moments.  I am so glad I did!!!

You see I have studied the Law of Attraction for many years now.  Have read many books, seen many videos and put to practice some of the things I learned from them in my life...and yet I felt like I wasn't completely grasping these teachings. 

In your book I personally found the one thing that was missing for me.  You see for me, none of my other things I learned and had "tried" have brought many results because I was missing the KEY INGREDIENT!  Surrendering to my Spirit. 

Wow, you are so right! It is so EASY and yet so PROFOUND! Even as I was merely reading about it, I felt a shift in my energy.  I was relating different with my husband and children and just felt more Joyful.  Like a Child!

So I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experiences and revelations with us readers of your book.  It has profoundly affected me.

I will see you in Eden!!!

LaRessha
~~~~~~~~~~~

Cool, huh?!

One of the things that has come up many times with Recreating Eden is that it appears to be so simple and people are so sure they already know what's in there, sometimes they don't read it fully from cover to cover. They are the ones that don't "get" it.

LaRessha just nailed that issue and demonstrated the reason why I wrote the following at the beginning of Chapter 2:  

"While you read this chapter, it will be helpful to keep an open mind (one of your most valuable evolutionary qualities) and suspend any preconceived ideas you may have. You can always reclaim them later if you want to! The following explanation may be vastly different than any you have considered before, or it may be somewhat familiar to you, but the concepts brought forth in this chapter are pivotal. Even if the information seems at first to be "old hat" to you, I believe you will find it expressed just enough differently to cause you to shift or expand your perception and see things in a new and helpful way.

By internalizing the information herein, you will gain the combination to open the Garden Gate!"

I do just love it when I hear from people who have allowed Recreating Eden's magic to work on them! By the way, I asked LaRessha for permission to use her letter and her reply was an enthusiastic "yes!" She said to feel free to use her message in any way I could to to promote the book because everyone needs the teachings in Recreating Eden!

Thanks, Ressh!
 

Yesterday seemed to be a particularly charmed day. It was a mundane day, but a mundane day in Easy World! For starters, there were about twice as many visitors to juliarogershamrick.com as usual--and for no overt reason that I could identify. I could see this shaping up in the morning when the count was where it might normally be in the evening on a regular day. Oh--wait a minute--it may have actually begun when I got up and made a freeing decision. Instead of continuing to stress about how I was going to fit in a swim plus eating so as to digest my food in time plus the many other things I wanted to get done before my 2:30 hair appointment as planned, I decided to skip the swim and just have an easy morning--but that's not the magic--the magic was that I decided not to feel guilty about it and stuck to my decision! Talk about freeing up some energy!

I got quite a bit of writing done before I left, got to my hair appointment and there was a parking space in exactly the right place for me (in past entries, I've described what a challenge parking there can be), and had a particularly good time with Jermayn, my hairdresser. While we usually enjoy our time together, for some reason, this time was just extra satisfying. She cut my hair very short, but the happy part about that is that eventually, she got the shape right, and at last, some things about how I want her to cut my hair finally clicked after 6 years of me trying to explain it with little success! I left feeling quite gratified.

After the hair appointment, I met Rick at home a bit after 5 pm, and we went to Costco--something we'd been trying to arrange for months--and that's not an exaggeration. Between coordinating our schedules, being sure there was enough cash in our checking account, making sure my knees were up for a long trek on the concrete, etc., it really did take a long time to work out. But yesterday, it all came together at last and with the greatest of ease! Miraculously, the store was not crowded, and that very reptilian vibe that is usually present was not, so it was actually pleasant. People were relaxed and friendly, and even the guy whose cart I couldn't manage to avoid hitting did not glare at me but apologized profusely for being in the way! We found a toaster oven, which we have needed for months (ours no longer had a working "toast" function) and had not found one that was just right, we got all the items on the list (plus some, of course!) and Rick found some chicken salad he thought would be good for dinner and then asked if I'd like some flowers (the man was batting a thousand yesterday!) . Between the time we left for Costco and the time we got back, unpacked everything, repackaged some of the things, and stowed them away, and I had our chicken salad and raw veggie dinner ready (see photo) was under an hour and a half--record time for a Costco trip!

And the trend continued into the evening as I was able to write some more since there was no kitchen mess to clean up which has sometimes been known to create a detour from my writing. I do live in Easy World where everything is easy! Won't you join me?

Last night, while out to dinner at an upscale, expensive restaurant, I told Rick I may be leaving him for another man.

His calm reply was that I really should have waited till he had picked up the check before announcing that.

Of course, I'm not really leaving my dear husband, but I have become somewhat obsessed with Cesar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer." Rick is well aware of this as he is as impressed and fascinated with him as I am, though not, I suspect, drawn in quite the same way to his powerful male energy! Cesar is a man who is so attuned with the dog psyche, he's practically half canine himself. And those who know me well know that I am completely enamoured of dogs. What's not to love about such a guy? I'm sure I'm only one of at least a million women who are attracted to him.

Truthfully, I couldn't actually see myself with Cesar, who is, for starters, happily married (as I am), much younger, and very unlikely to be interested in me. But more than that, he is such a dominant force, I would likely have to give up my status as the Queen of Everything to submit to his powerful pack-leader personna! There is something, however, within the female animal body of me that is responsive to that male, dominant energy, despite all my higher thought and insistence on gender equality.

Fortunately, I have the exact man I need already. Rick is really the perfect blend of male-female energy: no one would ever mistake him for a female, yet he is very balanced and his strong maleness is tempered by a healthy feminine aspect that allows us to relate emotionally in ways that many men simply woudn't able to. And, he is strong and very masculine while still repecting me as the royalty I am sure I am. No--I'm not going to give that up!

As for Cesar, he is very well-balanced as well, but being from Mexico, his machismo is quite developed, and his focus on being "pack leader" to his dozens of dogs does nothing to detract from that. My friend Catherine, who turned me onto The Dog Whisperer, says his beautiful Mexican-American wife, Ilusion, had to straighten him out about that early in their relationship!

All discussion about my feminine attraction to him aside, I am learning so much from watching Cesar's show on the National Geographic Channel. He is all about energy, and working with energy, and, as he says, he "rehabilitates dogs and trains people." The primary way he trains people is to make them aware of the energy they're embodying and projecting. He has the ability to model this so effectively that I have been able to deepen my understanding of directing energy from just watching him on TV, and already see without making a concerted effort, that our dogs are responding to a subtle shift in the energy that we are putting out around them and the few techniques of Cesar's that we've applied.

I love that he is not only helping human beings understand the dog's gestalt, which is not the same as a human's contrary to most dog-owners beliefs, he is bringing the concept of working at an energetic level to the mainstream in a matter-of-fact, non-apologetic way. Apparently, he is a controversial character in the dog-training world, but I believe the issues with him are all based in a mis-match of paradigms. I think the Cesar Millan nay-sayers are ones who don't see things in terms of energy but are caught up in the old paradigm of seeing things mechanically only.

Whatever the case, I am really pretty accurate at reading people's essential selves, and I see only the highest of intentions at work with Cesar. I am so grateful he's out there doing what he's doing, helping people to be more effective pack leaders so that dogs and humans can learn to coexist at a higher level. And happy I can watch him on TV everyday--with Rick! Here is a picture of our pack, taken last weekend: