Friday, November 28, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Aloha Nui Adventures
UA MAU KE EA O KA AINA IKA PONO O HAWAII
The Life of The Land Hawaii is Preserved by Righteousness
Ha - Wai - i
I live dwell and have my being
Within the supreme wellbeing of
The life force of creation that is within me,
The all that I behold is Paradise.
The Hawaiians believe that their ife force dwells within the one Supreme Force of the Universe and rides upon the breath which brings our heartbeat. That breath is called Ha. The third dimensional medium for nurturing and conducting that life force is the water that nurtures life, wai, epitomized as supreme causation, known as "I". Hawaii (quoted from the book The Secrets & Mysteries of Hawaii by William Pila Chiles)
My journey back to the islands was one of spiritual joy & aloha, filled with much emotion I knew that my visit was of great signifigance to my life and for my future.
As soon as I laid my eyes on Honolulu I instantly felt I was home and the cry for the land, its people and love is so what my soul needed. As the automatic doors opened I was greeted by the sweet scent of Frangipani's aka Puu Maria flowers and the tingle in my body indicated to me that I was in the right place at the right time. I inhaled my first breath, smiled and gave thanks.
I just couldn't believe that it has taken me 10 years to get back to Hawaii, oh how I've let time go by, however I know that now was the time for me to really discover the Hawaii thats been calling me for many many years. To my best of fortune I had the opportunity to stay with friends of mine who had just relocated from Australia, my French Canadian friends, Steve & Martine whom we've known each other for the past 10 years and have kept in touch as we are lifetime friends.
Steve picked me up from the airport and it was so great to see his smiling moustache and dressed in his favourite attire, shorts and t-shirt, no more suits for him, I had organized one night stay with them before I fly out to experience the Big Island the next day, breaking up the trip was an excellent idea and catching up with Martine, Steve & the kids was definately a delight. I love these people, I haven't seen Martine this happy, she truly is happy and I know, she, like me has made major changes and sacrifices in her life and I see the happiness all over her body even extending out to her aura and it makes me happy. Both Samuel & Jasmine were very excited with their gifts that I given them, Samuel an Indiana Jones Lego set & Jasmine with the new "Tinkerbell" movie, I told them I have a great resource for getting great gifts and his name is Sydney. The rest of the evening was blessed with catching up, eating and drinking wine, I wouldn't have it any other way, my highlight for the evening was that I got to go to bed with the sound of the ocean, wonderful memories of me in my homeland overwhelmed me and I fell asleep with greatfulness in my heart.
Morning couldn't come around quick enough, breakfast, laughs, showers and then a little stroll to Kailua Beach for my first dip in the ocean. This day couldn't get any more perfect, sun kissing my skin, the turquoise blues in the ocean, the sand and the waves I was in heaven and heaven knew I was present.
The highlight was when I was diving into the ocean waves and just floating and being me when I looked out about 20 yards and noticed this big black thing floating there and wandering what it was then to my shock a turtle's neck popped up and looked straight at me, I screamed with startlement and just couldn't believe my luck in receiving such a gracious acknowledgement from Tangaroa "God of the Ocean" I happened to be singing a Hawaiian Song to the Land and the Oceans. I thought my scream had scared the turtle away but to my delight three minutes later it popped its head up again and this time waved its flipper at me. My heart just dropped and was so so excited in my blessing, this was a great sign for many many things ahead.
Aloha Nui Adventures to be continued............. .
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Happy Hallow's Eve
Mummy-anna Jones, Jack Sparrow & Dr Death
A Spooky Night remembered by all
Halloween Night 2008
:)
Past & Future
Affirmation:
I honour the past for its lessons and joys.
I relish the future for its possibilities.
Together they enrich the present moment.
It couldn't get any truer than that affirmation. As a new month begins a month of reflection for myself and more self discovery I'm faced with some basic ideas that I'm gonna put into practice like:
Smart Planning: The key to making plans is not to be attached to the outcome. If you're set on a certain result and it doesn't happen, you're likely to assume that not just the plan but the planner failed - and be doubly disappointed. So whenever you make plans, tell yourself: "This is the best I can do in the present circumstances, with the information at hand. Let the universe take care of the results."
That sounds like me and so shall it be.
Ta ho
r
:)
Monday, October 27, 2008
October Fest
Wow, its approximately been one month since I've blogged, yet it only feels like yesterday when I had blogged. The days seem to be entwined and obiviously a day becomes a week a month and so on and so on.
Well October has surely bought change not only with the weather but with life itself, I've been given the opportunity to go downunder to visit my family for christmas, my youngest sister Raima, my parents and my brother whom I've been estranged from for the past 5 years had all put in $1000 each for Sydney and I to come down for christmas and to be surrounded by that unconditional love that I've known so well in my life and feel so distant from here in this great big land they call "The Turtle" aka USA. My families budget was only $3000 Aussie bucks and because of the short notice its been crazy in finding 2 tickets that even fit within the budget so I opted for plan B, wait a little longer and go back for my brothers wedding coming up in April 2009, a cause for celebration and April is gorgeous in both Australia and New Zealand during that time so I can wait because I know by then I'll be needing some thawing out from the winter we are about to receive in these next few months. My positvie for this is that it showed me that no matter what, my family always will pull through for each other and their heartfelt effort of having that option there available for me meant so much more than I could ever explain, that unconditional love that we know will always reign over everything and thats who I am and I will never change that about me. I have much to think about when it comes to my marriage, I have to ask myself the hard questions, I have to go deep within and find out what's really important and best for my well being, my childs and even my husbands, all I know is that our son needs both of his parents in his life, however whether we stay together as a couple is the question at hand, we're already co-parenting now, we're like room mates with our separte spaces, common rooms such as the living room, kitchen and dining room, yet we live our separate lives having one thing in common and that's the well being of our child. I'm in the process of becoming an independent woman I have to be because I am a free spirit that can't be bottled and molded into someone I'm not. I have to ask myself "do I stay with him, even though he doesn't want anymore children and knowing for a fact that he knew I wanted at least 2 or 3 children" I have much to think about and the closing of October has shown me many things about myself, my husband and our future.
In order to keep my spirit fed I've gone back to the native walk, being indigenous myself I've gone back to the ways of the Native Americans, this lands first nation and I feel I've come home, I need so much to be surrounded by the tribe, by their ways by their love of the land, the sky, and their love for mankind, I feel at home. I was blessed with my first sweatlodge yesterday and it felt like home being amongst my new brother & sisters, we prayed not only for ourselves but for the healing of this world we live in and I felt like I was cleansed from the inside out, being in the sweatlogde was like standing on volcanic land such as my home Aotearoa, New Zealand, or our ancient land Hawaii, I came home and reconnected with God once more. I have much to think about and am grateful for my native brothers & sisters for walking the indigenous ways, the truth with love and compassion.
Taho
r
:)
Well October has surely bought change not only with the weather but with life itself, I've been given the opportunity to go downunder to visit my family for christmas, my youngest sister Raima, my parents and my brother whom I've been estranged from for the past 5 years had all put in $1000 each for Sydney and I to come down for christmas and to be surrounded by that unconditional love that I've known so well in my life and feel so distant from here in this great big land they call "The Turtle" aka USA. My families budget was only $3000 Aussie bucks and because of the short notice its been crazy in finding 2 tickets that even fit within the budget so I opted for plan B, wait a little longer and go back for my brothers wedding coming up in April 2009, a cause for celebration and April is gorgeous in both Australia and New Zealand during that time so I can wait because I know by then I'll be needing some thawing out from the winter we are about to receive in these next few months. My positvie for this is that it showed me that no matter what, my family always will pull through for each other and their heartfelt effort of having that option there available for me meant so much more than I could ever explain, that unconditional love that we know will always reign over everything and thats who I am and I will never change that about me. I have much to think about when it comes to my marriage, I have to ask myself the hard questions, I have to go deep within and find out what's really important and best for my well being, my childs and even my husbands, all I know is that our son needs both of his parents in his life, however whether we stay together as a couple is the question at hand, we're already co-parenting now, we're like room mates with our separte spaces, common rooms such as the living room, kitchen and dining room, yet we live our separate lives having one thing in common and that's the well being of our child. I'm in the process of becoming an independent woman I have to be because I am a free spirit that can't be bottled and molded into someone I'm not. I have to ask myself "do I stay with him, even though he doesn't want anymore children and knowing for a fact that he knew I wanted at least 2 or 3 children" I have much to think about and the closing of October has shown me many things about myself, my husband and our future.
In order to keep my spirit fed I've gone back to the native walk, being indigenous myself I've gone back to the ways of the Native Americans, this lands first nation and I feel I've come home, I need so much to be surrounded by the tribe, by their ways by their love of the land, the sky, and their love for mankind, I feel at home. I was blessed with my first sweatlodge yesterday and it felt like home being amongst my new brother & sisters, we prayed not only for ourselves but for the healing of this world we live in and I felt like I was cleansed from the inside out, being in the sweatlogde was like standing on volcanic land such as my home Aotearoa, New Zealand, or our ancient land Hawaii, I came home and reconnected with God once more. I have much to think about and am grateful for my native brothers & sisters for walking the indigenous ways, the truth with love and compassion.
Taho
r
:)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Where's the Month Gone
As September comes to a close I get to thinking where in the world has September gone, just like the hurricane we experienced a few weekends ago it just came and went. Ever been in a situation where you are on the up and up and all of a sudden your whole world as you know it turns upside down, well that's what happened with me and my world when Hurricane Ohio decided to sweep through my house, a spiritual cleansing if you like, it really shook the cobwebs and put what really is important about myself into prospective making things crystal clear so to speak. I've relocated myself to the room I call the "Healing Room" I've come to the point in my life that enough is enough and that I need to have space from the energies that bring me down and are not healing for me, my son and for my husband. With my own space I'm able to relax and be at present with my own being and not be confused on who's emotions am I really experiencing, his or mine. I've been married for 8 years now and each minute and each day of every week, month and year I do my best to bring forth to the relationship the best me I could ever offer however have come to the conclusion that its not good enough for him and somehow I feel nothing ever will be. Not only is there a cultural difference to American Men and to what I've grown up with but the unrealistic expectations women & men have for themselves here is very sad for me, that June Cleaver thing needs to go, there's so much life to be lived and women are wasting time cleaning house for what, people don't have time to visit and be in one's company, the husband works 12-14 hours a day and expect a meal on the table, clean house clean underwear, well balanced child and sex and he gives me a grunt and a forced smile for coversation, while in the meantime I'm suppose to be content with that, well I must say I beg to differ, my definition of being a Full Time Mummy is totally not the same as my husbands. Despite the challenges that my parents have had throughout their 40 year marriage not once has my dad had the same expectations of what my husband has for me, the respect that my people have for a mother and wife is so far superior than here and that lack of respect disturbs me for my son and for my future mokopuna (grandchildren) that's why I will stand and make a difference and it starts from me and I will teach my son how a woman should be treated and respected and when it is time for me to leave this world and cross over I'll know that my son will have the foundation of truth, unconditional love & respect embedded in his heart & soul and that our legacy will live on for ever and ever amen. My Foremothers were wise and very strong and their wisdom, knowledge and spirit runs through my veins and I to will stand. My blessing today for those reading this is, remember who you are and don't ever lose that, you are special what ever package you are in and no one can take that from you, listen to your intuition its your best alli.
Love & Light
Racheal
:)
Love & Light
Racheal
:)
Monday, September 1, 2008
Happy September
I welcome September with a big smile, its my birthday month of course and thats where it all happens. Did you know that where I come from I'm considered a spring baby, yep I always know when its s
pring downunder because I can smell the flowers blooming, frangipani's, honeysuckle, and Jasmine 3 of my favourite fragrances and the weather starts to warm up. I was just talking with my mum lastnight and I can hear the excitement in her voice when she mentioned that the weather is warming up, its always a great sign that summer is just around the corner.
pring downunder because I can smell the flowers blooming, frangipani's, honeysuckle, and Jasmine 3 of my favourite fragrances and the weather starts to warm up. I was just talking with my mum lastnight and I can hear the excitement in her voice when she mentioned that the weather is warming up, its always a great sign that summer is just around the corner.This month is going to big for me, I have booked to go see a speaker by the name of Barbara Y Martin, on the 13th she has a cool book out "Change Your Aura, Change Your Life" a step by step guide to unfolding your spiritual power, I recommend everyone and anyone to pick up a copy you'll be pleasantly surprised and if your ready for spiritual enlightenment this is the book for you. The coolest thing about this seminar is that I'll be joined by a few of my Ohioan Tribe, Miss Melody, Medicine Man Marvin and his lovely lady Jess, its gonna be vibrating big time so if you feel the earth move that day thats us downtown.
Then my husband has booked us tickets to go see "The Lion King" on stage on the 16th, I just can't wait I've been wanting to go see that for years and now we are going, I am so blessed, Sydney and his G-Mom are coming with us as well. The Sand Sea & Spirit retreat is going on at the end of the month and I'm still waiting on a sign to whether its in the books for me this year, we'll see.
Well to begin September I'm gonna post photo's of my sun garden, they amazingly have grown way over my expectations, they are so majestic I just can't believe it, mother nature is surely beautiful. Enjoy
until next time
until next time
love & light
r
:)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
And the dreams that you dreamed of really do come true
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of once in a lulluby
Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true ooh oooh
Someday I'll wish upon a star
Wakeup where the clouds are far behind me ee ee eeeh
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me ooh
Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly
And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I? iii iii iii
Version sang by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole
This song has been my new mantra, my dad was singing all the time throughout his visit here in Columbus, it was so awesome to have music throughout my home everyday and every night, I'll miss the sweet sounds however it will always resonate in my heart in my soul and now in my son's heart & soul, Kia Ora dad, ka aroha au kia koe.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Studio 7.5
A big part of my life here in Canal Winchester is spent in my studio called Studio 7.5. What alot people don't know about me is that I am blessed with a beautiful art space shared with 7 talented amazingly beautiful women. Studio 7.5 is a co-operative art studio locted at 7.1/2 North High Street in Canal Winchester, Ohio. The Studio opened its doors in March of 2005 with four members and has grown to its present membership of 7 artist. It is located in the center of town in one of Canal Winchester's historical buildings which is over 100 years old. Since the Studio is a working space, each member maintains her own space. I remember the first day I visited downtown Canal Winchester back in 2001, I was standing outside the Harvest Moon Cafe on Waterloo Street looked up at the big window above the cafe and said to myself, 
"I wonder what its like up there, imagine if it were an art studio I'd love to have that space", unbeknowst to me that my goal that was set many years before in Australia to have an art studio above a coffee shop were about to come true. Sandy is one of the 4 founding members and we are both apart of the Canal Winchester Art Guild (CWAG) and had mentioned to me if I were interested in joining and having an art space that I needed to act quickly, of course at first no, there's no way I have enough arty stuff to even fill up the space, oh I was in denial. After a trip back from Australia, I knew that the members had moved in and so I decided to go visit the studio and once again I fell in love with the space and Sandy asked again whether I'd be interested and I told her that I had t
o pray on it and if I get the message to go ahead I'd let her know, well what have you that night I just couldn't sleep and the very next morning I went ahead and a few days later was signing the lease to my little 12x12 art space. I haven't looked back and am very
blessed to be apart of such an amazing experience, these women have become my extended family, support and creative energy and I so appreciate them very very much, just the other day when I came into my space I noticed a beautiful big canvas with a portrait painting of my son Sydney on it, Margaret gave me it as a gift, I am so blessed, that's how they do around here. I'm gonna bless her with an amazing art piece of mine as well, its a beautiful energy exchange, enjoy the portrait I know I will. Well everyone enjoy your labour weekend, if your in downtown canal come visit us at the studio we'll be open Saturday only between 12-4pm we'd love to see ya. You can view our artist website at www.artstudio7-5.com.
love & light
r
:)
"I wonder what its like up there, imagine if it were an art studio I'd love to have that space", unbeknowst to me that my goal that was set many years before in Australia to have an art studio above a coffee shop were about to come true. Sandy is one of the 4 founding members and we are both apart of the Canal Winchester Art Guild (CWAG) and had mentioned to me if I were interested in joining and having an art space that I needed to act quickly, of course at first no, there's no way I have enough arty stuff to even fill up the space, oh I was in denial. After a trip back from Australia, I knew that the members had moved in and so I decided to go visit the studio and once again I fell in love with the space and Sandy asked again whether I'd be interested and I told her that I had t
o pray on it and if I get the message to go ahead I'd let her know, well what have you that night I just couldn't sleep and the very next morning I went ahead and a few days later was signing the lease to my little 12x12 art space. I haven't looked back and am very
blessed to be apart of such an amazing experience, these women have become my extended family, support and creative energy and I so appreciate them very very much, just the other day when I came into my space I noticed a beautiful big canvas with a portrait painting of my son Sydney on it, Margaret gave me it as a gift, I am so blessed, that's how they do around here. I'm gonna bless her with an amazing art piece of mine as well, its a beautiful energy exchange, enjoy the portrait I know I will. Well everyone enjoy your labour weekend, if your in downtown canal come visit us at the studio we'll be open Saturday only between 12-4pm we'd love to see ya. You can view our artist website at www.artstudio7-5.com.love & light
r
:)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
You Grow Girl
So when my mum & dad came to visit she and I got a chance to dash off and I took her for a looksy around Easton Town Center and we met up with my three angels Angie, Michelle & Baby Sunny for lunch at Chipotle, she loved the taste of Chipotle and we had the best time with the girls, laughing and bonding and cracking up about the littlest things, anyways as we walked around she noticed all the beautiful plants that were landscaped around and of course being my mum she couldn't help herself and picked starts off of all the plants for me as you'll see in the attached photo's, well they have been in water for the past 2 weeks and now have rooted and you'll see in the following photo that I have finally planted them into their pots and hopefully over winter I'll be able to keep them alive and well so they'll be able to see another summer. I think my mum will be proud of what I've done, I so am loving my green thumb its has been so healing for me mentally to be in my garden, I thought my garden needed me however it turned out that I so needed my garden.Speaking of the garden, we picked Sydney's first cucumber, red capsicum (bell pepper), an
d sweet tomatoes for dinner this evening, I so enjoyed cooking up some Pad Thai with our home grown vege's, this is what life is all about and now we're getting ready to watch Barrack Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic Party, a historical moment for America, 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech we will be witnessing the first African American Man stand before us to take on this important role as nominee for President may God bless him and his fami
ly.
d sweet tomatoes for dinner this evening, I so enjoyed cooking up some Pad Thai with our home grown vege's, this is what life is all about and now we're getting ready to watch Barrack Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic Party, a historical moment for America, 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech we will be witnessing the first African American Man stand before us to take on this important role as nominee for President may God bless him and his fami
ly.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Summer Fun
It's official summer is over, Sydney starts back at school today, he's entering 3rd grade at Liberty and is extremely excited in going back to school, his enthusiasm to learn just excites me and the fact that his 3rd grade teacher sent him a Welcome to 3rd grade postcard was even more special, I can feel another awesome school year ahead for him, for us all and I'm looking forward to what new and wonderful ideas he'll be coming home with.As summer comes to a close I sit here contemplating about our summer break and what great and wonderful things we've been up to. The last time I made a blog was at the beginning of August and its now the 27th, so where do I start, there's so much to report that I'm gonna have to put it into bullet point form and elaborate on each point as different blogs as the month goes on, there's one thing I can report is that 2008 has been the most enjoyable summer I have experienced here in Columbus ever and I've been here for 9 years now, my anniversary date will be Sept 16, I remember this because I came over to visit my fiance at the time for my birthday which is Sept 16 back in 1999 and never left. I had one s
uitcase of summer clothes, big wide brown eyes and a smile to match and no idea that I'd be relocating to the states literally reinventing myself, my being and my life. Fast forward now to summer 2008 and here I am a local of Canal Winchester, surrounded by wonderful people and now have a wardrobe of not to shabby clothes, I've come a long way from that little maori girl in Sydney, Australia, yep I'm now that little maori girl in Canal Winchester with a little maori boy son Sydney & me hubby Dazza (thats aussie for Darryl) and enjoy reading our summertime stories.
uitcase of summer clothes, big wide brown eyes and a smile to match and no idea that I'd be relocating to the states literally reinventing myself, my being and my life. Fast forward now to summer 2008 and here I am a local of Canal Winchester, surrounded by wonderful people and now have a wardrobe of not to shabby clothes, I've come a long way from that little maori girl in Sydney, Australia, yep I'm now that little maori girl in Canal Winchester with a little maori boy son Sydney & me hubby Dazza (thats aussie for Darryl) and enjoy reading our summertime stories.* Scout Camp
* Sydney's Herbie Birthday
* Rocket Making
* Ward Family Reunion
* Parents visit from Downunder
* Experienced our first Native American Ceremony - Blessing of
the land
* Listened to some great speakers, Randy Sanders - Tree Farm Owner
Ken Harsh - Crystal Rock Guru
* Sunflower Garden, Vege Patch
* Met new friends, creative energies
* Inspired creatively
* Master Weaving Class with my Mum
* Reiki Attunments
* Baby Homebirths
There's so much to share and talk about stay tuned and I'll update ya'll for sure.
Peace
Love & Light
r
:)
Friday, August 1, 2008
New Month, New Moon, New Beginnings
Ever had that feeling when you're so happy you could scream, well thats my thoughts for this morning, early this morning. Its a new month, a new moon which signifies new beginnings and a solar & luna eclipse are to happen this month, go figure as I'm already feeling the emotional vibes throughout my body, no wonder I want to scream. Where has this past week gone, time seems to be flying by yet I'm so present with each day each minute that I don't notice that the day comes to an end, bizzar. Well this week I've been encouraging my son Sydney to dream journal, that is when he remembers his dreams to write them down and we'll discuss and giggle and I find it so fascinating on what ventures he gets up to while he's sleeping. I myself am a big dream journaler, have been for many years now and so I have this dream journal which I read to Sydney a few of my dreams to give him an idea and now he writes in the same journal, its pretty cool. It's amazing what you'll find out about yourself just by dream journal, anyways I'll talk more about that later I'm sure.
I've been really busy with my bum up and head down organizing for my husbands family reunion coming up August 7th and I'm excited because my parents will be visiting all the way from New Zealand and my 8 year old nephew Duante from Australia and we have great plans set up for them and all our American family here in the buckeye state. With the help of my two fav girls Angie & Michelle, we made homemade buckeye's and Michelle will be making some awesome gluten & dairy free brownies, Angie is my floral setting decorator and I really am appreciative of their help I so depend on their support and creative energy thank you darlings ever so much.
As each day draws closer to my parents arrival I get really emotional, I haven't seen them for 2 years and oh how I miss their company and I know I'm gonna cry big time when I see them come through the gates here at the airport, it will be my dad's first time in the United States and first time to come visit me here so its gonna be very overwhelming to see him, I just miss my dad you know and I can't wait to give him a big hug, he's one of those kinda men of "Steel & Velvet" qualities we all love in a man, he's a man but is very emotional as well and my poor husband has big shoes to fill as of course our fathers are our first man we women have ever loved right. Don't think I've forgotten my mum, we are very close even though we live thousands of miles away I can sense her as if she was right with me, we are that close, and sure enough when I pick up the phone she is thinking of me, so its like we are talking constantly spirit to spirit anyways and I just can't wait to see her as well and give her a big hug and squeeze her, and then there's my cute adorable nephew Duante who is 7 days older than Sydney and those two have an amazing connection and Duante is so grown way beyond his years, I just love him and can't wait to spoil him when he gets here. So a few days of rest for the family so as they can get over their jet lag, it takes approximately 24hours to get from downunder to columbus ohio, and with the time difference they'll just need to relax, eat and relax some more. However I plan on showing them real American things, like take them to eat at Sonics where the servers rollerskate up to the car and take your order, now that's American, visit the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe, now thats American, if time allows us a pow wow would be cool and so on and so on. Just driving on the opposite side of the road is gonna be different for them and I can't wait to see Duante's expression when he realizes this is happening, Sydney remembered that when he travelled downunder and found that fascinating that I could drive on both sides, its alot of effort on my behalf but when I remember what country I'm in it comes naturally to me, thank goodness.
Well stay tuned for updates on our family reunion and our visit from family from downunder.
love & light
r
:)
Photo: Sydney & Duante with their moustaches
they wanted to be men so I drew them on
I've been really busy with my bum up and head down organizing for my husbands family reunion coming up August 7th and I'm excited because my parents will be visiting all the way from New Zealand and my 8 year old nephew Duante from Australia and we have great plans set up for them and all our American family here in the buckeye state. With the help of my two fav girls Angie & Michelle, we made homemade buckeye's and Michelle will be making some awesome gluten & dairy free brownies, Angie is my floral setting decorator and I really am appreciative of their help I so depend on their support and creative energy thank you darlings ever so much.
As each day draws closer to my parents arrival I get really emotional, I haven't seen them for 2 years and oh how I miss their company and I know I'm gonna cry big time when I see them come through the gates here at the airport, it will be my dad's first time in the United States and first time to come visit me here so its gonna be very overwhelming to see him, I just miss my dad you know and I can't wait to give him a big hug, he's one of those kinda men of "Steel & Velvet" qualities we all love in a man, he's a man but is very emotional as well and my poor husband has big shoes to fill as of course our fathers are our first man we women have ever loved right. Don't think I've forgotten my mum, we are very close even though we live thousands of miles away I can sense her as if she was right with me, we are that close, and sure enough when I pick up the phone she is thinking of me, so its like we are talking constantly spirit to spirit anyways and I just can't wait to see her as well and give her a big hug and squeeze her, and then there's my cute adorable nephew Duante who is 7 days older than Sydney and those two have an amazing connection and Duante is so grown way beyond his years, I just love him and can't wait to spoil him when he gets here. So a few days of rest for the family so as they can get over their jet lag, it takes approximately 24hours to get from downunder to columbus ohio, and with the time difference they'll just need to relax, eat and relax some more. However I plan on showing them real American things, like take them to eat at Sonics where the servers rollerskate up to the car and take your order, now that's American, visit the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe, now thats American, if time allows us a pow wow would be cool and so on and so on. Just driving on the opposite side of the road is gonna be different for them and I can't wait to see Duante's expression when he realizes this is happening, Sydney remembered that when he travelled downunder and found that fascinating that I could drive on both sides, its alot of effort on my behalf but when I remember what country I'm in it comes naturally to me, thank goodness.
Well stay tuned for updates on our family reunion and our visit from family from downunder.
love & light
r
:)
Photo: Sydney & Duante with their moustaches
they wanted to be men so I drew them on
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Birth of An Angel Through My Healing Eyes
It’s late August early Sept 2007 the phone rings and it was my good friend Michelle and she just informed me that her & Jeff are pregnant again. I was filled with so much joy & happiness, you see unfortunately 2 months earlier Michelle miscarried and it was the most saddest time for her and Jeff and my heart broke for them both, but being the amazing people that they are they got through it, picked themselves up dusted themselves off and moved forward and in a very short time fell pregnant with their now new born baby girl “Sunny Josephine” aka: Little Miss Sunshine to her Aunty Racheal.
Being Michelle’s partner in crime throughout her whole pregnancy was like reliving my whole pregnant experience all over again, I was blessed because my pregnancy was the most amazing enlightening time in my entire life and I was able to witness this same experience happening with Michelle. To my greatest honour Michelle asked me if I would like to be her doula and you know I humbly accepted and from then on I made a commitment to my friend and never looked back.
You see in my culture a doula is known as the Wahine Tautoko – Woman Supporter/Helper and is held in high esteem amongst the tribe and I took this role very seriously and with much honour and aroha (love) and I knew this was going to be my big chance in giving back to all the “Wahine Tautoko’s” in my life. Thank you Mum for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with me so I was able to give Michelle the tautoko she and every woman deserves.
9 months later it’s 3:45ish on a Friday afternoon and I’m finishing up with my friend Torrie when I notice that I have a voice message from Michelle’s husband Jeff informing me that Michelle has gone into labour and that now is the time to come on over. I’m excited within but I calmly call Jeff and we speak on the phone briefly and I let him know I’m on my way, hang up and get a few things situated at home, like closing down my house and getting the animals and fish sorted for a few days because we were anticipating a long labour, then the phone rings again 15 minutes later and it was Jeff saying that Michelle said not to come over yet as it could be a while and as soon as she’s 8cm they would call, it’s now 4pm. That gave me enough time to not only get my house sorted but I was able to shower my day off and prepare myself for a “New Beginning” my instincts told me that she’s gonna be fast so be ready Racheal, and then I flashback to when I was in labour with Sydney, I did 8cm at home by myself and 2 hours later Sydney was born and I had that same feeling for Michelle.
To keep myself calm and relaxed I watched my favourite cartoon “Avatar” whilst doing some painting and filling out a “Welcome to this World” baby card to present to the new parents when baby arrived.
It’s 6:30pm and the phone rings and its Jeff and he say’s “it’s show time, now is the time to come”. So I blessed my home and car and I’m on my way, it’s a 20-25 minute drive. On the way I call my husband Darryl & Sydney to let them know I was on my way to Michelle’s and Sydney screamed with excitement and promised to have them in his prayers I then proceed to call all of my healing warriors, my Mum in New Zealand, Best Friend Vita in New York, Melody, Terry, Angie and Torrie to keep us all in their healing circle, we will need their prayers tonight.
It’s now 7:06pm and I arrive at the “Root Down Home” welcomed by this beautiful Water Goddess Michelle supported by her warrior husband Jeff, both in the birthing tub, I’m greeted with loving hugs by Kathy her midwife and Amy her midwife assistant, a beautiful smile exchanged from Michelle’s lips and from then on it was magic. I slipped my birthing stool under my bottom and started to activate the reiki energy – universal life force and called on all the ascending healers of the light to be with us.
Michelle is the mother of all mothers, each time she had a contraction she’d breath and moan a sound which reminded me of the “Om” and I could hear Jeff doing it with her and my instincts was to Om with them both, it was like a temple full of Tibetan monks chanting their prayers, the vibration of the sound filled the house it was amazing.
The atmosphere was of much love and care and to see the love and caring ways of Kathy and Amy just blew my mind, I wish this love and care on all women, these two women have the best jobs in the world and they do it so well.
It’s getting close and Amy checks and she sees the head and comments on how her head is really wrinkly, unbeknown to us that baby had turned and that she was looking at her butt. Our midwives however were calm and instinctively Michelle knew as well and when Kathy told Michelle to push she did with all her might and Sunny arrived with her bottom first (I had no idea myself that she was breach I did think to myself however that I didn’t think her head was suppose to look like that not realizing I was looking at her bottom) and then came her head as perfect as she could be in the fetal position.
Kathy was fast, as soon as she came out she was up onto Michelle’s chest, she took her first breath and cried a little squeak until she heard her daddy’s voice, she stopped crying and laid there wide eyed soaking up her new environment, calm and content breathing on her own wonderfully, I could see the shock in Michelle’s face, she was wondering why we weren’t attempting to resusertate her because usually breach babies arrive with many complications, however Sunny was an act of God’s Grace and came out as if she were born head first. At this time Jeff checked and said “It’s a girl” and we all cheered and welcomed little Sunny Josephine Chapin born June 20th 2008 @ 9.43pm.
Michelle was now ready to birth her placenta so we waited, in the meanwhile her daughter laid content curious and alert on her chest, her skin was flawless, every finger and toe accounted for and the shape of her head was perfect. Michelle looked at her daughter, hugged her and wept with joy and instant unconditional love flowed between them and the love affair began.
Mother and Daughter were still in the birthing tub and Michelle asked if it was ok for the baby to still be in the water, Kathy reassured her that it was ok because the heat of the water and of Michelle’s skin to skin body temp it was keeping her baby’s body warm, I felt aroha because it was so healing to see that the baby wasn’t rushed away from her mother, she was happy where she was and so was Michelle.
Michelle feels a contraction and pushes the after birth out and a gush of blood follows, then Jeff gets the honour of separating Sunny from her food source and cuts the cord and has taken the role on as her father, protector and caretaker of her in this lifetime – TA HO - Amen
Amy quickly scoops up the placenta and checks it out to make sure its healthy and I get to see my first afterbirth and it was the most healthiest, all the veins in the right place, thick and beaming life force placenta, I have ever seen, I never got to see my own placenta which saddened me and for me to see Michelle’s was just pure joy. Amy will take the afterbirth home to dry and then place into capsules for Michelle to include with her vitamin intake to replenish all the nutrients back into her system and this helps with the baby blues and has many other benefits.
It is now time for Michelle to transfer from the water to the bed and this was done with much care and love and Kathy went into Super Midwife Mode with Amy not to far behind her, as for me well I was the Ngare ngare (person to help with what ever is needed) and Jeff held the baby. Kathy’s goal now was to make sure that Michelle was doing well, so the next few hours were very important. Michelle had lost a lot of blood and her blood pressure had dropped dramatically and Kathy was concerned and suggested that we call in the paramedics just to be on the safe side.
It was then that I was given baby Sunny Josephine to hold, I just couldn’t believe it, she was perfect and such wonderful memories came back to me, I spoke to her every second reassuring her that her mummy is going to be ok and that the two of them will be reunited very soon. While Kathy, Amy and Jeff were doing their Midwifery magic I introduced Sunny to her “Root Down Home” she listened attentively with wide open eyes peaceful and I’d swear she smiled. It was then I see a fire truck with flashing lights pull up at the front, a heavy “knock knock” at the door and in comes the paramedics, I’d swear about 10 men walked into the birthing room with their masculine, authority feel about them. Sunny, Amy and I were quietly sitting in the dark in the lounge room but we could hear everything that was going on. I didn’t understand why they needed to bring so many people into such a small birthing room, she had a baby, there wasn’t a bloody riot going on and 2 paramedics would have done the job in my opinion. I couldn’t imagine how Michelle felt but I felt invaded and like my body was stepped on when they arrived, listening to their non caring comments and questions made me feel non human almost, I looked at Amy and she was fuming, I calmed her down and said they’re only doing their jobs even though we felt they weren’t trained with compassion and love, it just encouraged me that we women will not stand for this type of treatment anymore and demand our power back.
All I could do in this situation was keep calm for the baby and immerse reiki energy – transform the negative energies into love & light.
They gave her oxygen and that helped, the paramedic strongly suggested that they take her to the hospital because of a low blood pressure and would give Michelle a few minutes to think about it. Jeff stepped outside to speak to the head paramedic and asked what would they do for her at the hospital and the paramedic said all they would do is run tests and keep her hydrated which that’s what we could do for her at the house, (I believe that they would prod her poke at her for no apparent reason ask her stupid questions and stress her out more so under bright lights if she did go).
In the meantime Michelle had heard one of the paramedics talking to Jeff about if it were his wife he’d blah blah blah and that was enough for Michelle to make her so mad that her blood pressure shot up where we actually needed it to be and then Jeff and Michelle decided that it was in the best interest that she not go to the hospital as Kathy, Amy & Jeff could give her the best care she needed right there at home, I could tell that the meds were disappointed, read her a waiver claim and got her to sign the form, but in reality is wasn’t about them it was about Michelle and what was best for her and truthfully Michelle knows her body better than any ER Doctor would ever profess to know and so the paramedics cleared the house with their high testosterone masculine selves and were on their way.
I was so proud of Jeff & Kathy because even though the paramedics spoke to them both with condescending voices they were very polite, calm ad appreciative towards them and showed nothing but respect, I saw their true authentic selves and learned a lot from them both about humility and compassion.
It’s going on midnight and everyone was doing their thing, Kathy & Jeff keeping Michelle balanced and hydrated, Amy cleaning the tub and preparing special herbs in the pot for Michelle’s & Sunny’s herbal bath tomorrow, me & Sunny just hanging out giving reiki energy. Then finally the house settled down and we all fell into a slumber, I wasn’t sleepy but I knew that the following day was just important as well and needed to shut down and get rejuvenated.
Rise N Shine its 8am in the morning and house is rustling a little, breakfast, baby feeding, smiles and joy, wonderment, Kathy was called off to another birthing experience but was due back in a couple of hours, at this stage Michelle was able to make her first attempt with the help of her husband to walk to the bathroom, this was a great sign. Whilst Michelle did her girly thing I quickly stripped the bed and cleaned up a little so that when she returned it would be nice and comfortable for her.
Then we had unexpected visitors come in, it was Dave, Kara, Zora & Charlie the dog, they weren’t expected home until tomorrow and Michelle was half naked in the bathroom, I had Sunny and Jeff asked them to wait a bit so that Michelle could at least get sorted and herself together, I don’t think they heard him because they came barging into the birthing room and I was there on the rocking chair with baby, I told Sunny that her Aunty Kara & Uncle Dave and Cousin Zora had come to visit, Michelle waddled back from the bathroom and was surprised to see them there, poor Michelle was only wrapped in a bath towel, guests were an unexpected happening and I felt embarrassed for her that they had to see her almost half naked, but like the trooper Michelle is she welcomed them all with open arms. When Kara looked at Sunny her eyes welled up with tears and Michelle asked if she wanted to hold her and I handed her over like the protective Fairy God Mother that I am, what people don’t realize is that babies are very sensitive to their surroundings and are like sponges and can sense people’s true intentions, they are the purest things next to god. Anyhow this was my cue to leave them all bond whilst I leave for the store to pick up a few needed items.
On my return the house was back to its calm self and Sunny’s first visitors had left, then Amy pops in with her lovely self, checks on Michelle and draws a bath for her and places the boiled herbal remedy into the bath, the most magical thing about this bath is not only the healing herbs but Amy brings over freshly cut roses of reds, oranges and pinks from her own rose garden to be placed in the bath with Mother and child. This was the icing on the cake for me because I remember when my mum came over for me she bathed me and washed my hair and cleaned me up with love and even though I had given birth I had become the child again, it was my mothers love and touch that healed me from the inside out, so I knew what Michelle was feeling and to bathe with her daughter was very emotional and lovely to witness.
Jeff & Michelle’s parents were due to visit at 4:30 and 5pm so I fluffed around to make sure the house was to Michelle’s standards for visitors, 4pm came around and the new grandparents arrive, it was great to see them, I hugged them both and congratulated them on the birth of their first granddaughter and ushered them up to see their girls. After taking a photo of Sherrie and Sunny I knew it was time for me to leave, my time here with the Chapin’s was up and my boys were due back in the city from their beach holiday in 45 minutes and I just wanted to squeeze my son and tell him how much I loved him.
I couldn’t even look at Michelle it was to emotional. I hugged and kissed everybody, Michelle knew how I felt and I knew how she felt it was all unspoken aroha and when I walked to my car I just started to ball, I finally allowed the emotion to hit me and I cried and cried and have been crying ever since, tears of joy, tears of love, tears of excitement, appreciation and hope. I shed 8 years of pent up tears and I haven’t cried this much since the birth of my own son Sydney, Sunny’s birth really opened a lot of things for me and it has been already a spiritual enlightenment.
Thank You My Darlings
Namaste
Arohanui
Racheal
Aka: Sunny’s “Fairy God Mother”
Picture of Jeff, Michelle & Sunny
Being Michelle’s partner in crime throughout her whole pregnancy was like reliving my whole pregnant experience all over again, I was blessed because my pregnancy was the most amazing enlightening time in my entire life and I was able to witness this same experience happening with Michelle. To my greatest honour Michelle asked me if I would like to be her doula and you know I humbly accepted and from then on I made a commitment to my friend and never looked back.
You see in my culture a doula is known as the Wahine Tautoko – Woman Supporter/Helper and is held in high esteem amongst the tribe and I took this role very seriously and with much honour and aroha (love) and I knew this was going to be my big chance in giving back to all the “Wahine Tautoko’s” in my life. Thank you Mum for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with me so I was able to give Michelle the tautoko she and every woman deserves.
9 months later it’s 3:45ish on a Friday afternoon and I’m finishing up with my friend Torrie when I notice that I have a voice message from Michelle’s husband Jeff informing me that Michelle has gone into labour and that now is the time to come on over. I’m excited within but I calmly call Jeff and we speak on the phone briefly and I let him know I’m on my way, hang up and get a few things situated at home, like closing down my house and getting the animals and fish sorted for a few days because we were anticipating a long labour, then the phone rings again 15 minutes later and it was Jeff saying that Michelle said not to come over yet as it could be a while and as soon as she’s 8cm they would call, it’s now 4pm. That gave me enough time to not only get my house sorted but I was able to shower my day off and prepare myself for a “New Beginning” my instincts told me that she’s gonna be fast so be ready Racheal, and then I flashback to when I was in labour with Sydney, I did 8cm at home by myself and 2 hours later Sydney was born and I had that same feeling for Michelle.
To keep myself calm and relaxed I watched my favourite cartoon “Avatar” whilst doing some painting and filling out a “Welcome to this World” baby card to present to the new parents when baby arrived.
It’s 6:30pm and the phone rings and its Jeff and he say’s “it’s show time, now is the time to come”. So I blessed my home and car and I’m on my way, it’s a 20-25 minute drive. On the way I call my husband Darryl & Sydney to let them know I was on my way to Michelle’s and Sydney screamed with excitement and promised to have them in his prayers I then proceed to call all of my healing warriors, my Mum in New Zealand, Best Friend Vita in New York, Melody, Terry, Angie and Torrie to keep us all in their healing circle, we will need their prayers tonight.
It’s now 7:06pm and I arrive at the “Root Down Home” welcomed by this beautiful Water Goddess Michelle supported by her warrior husband Jeff, both in the birthing tub, I’m greeted with loving hugs by Kathy her midwife and Amy her midwife assistant, a beautiful smile exchanged from Michelle’s lips and from then on it was magic. I slipped my birthing stool under my bottom and started to activate the reiki energy – universal life force and called on all the ascending healers of the light to be with us.
Michelle is the mother of all mothers, each time she had a contraction she’d breath and moan a sound which reminded me of the “Om” and I could hear Jeff doing it with her and my instincts was to Om with them both, it was like a temple full of Tibetan monks chanting their prayers, the vibration of the sound filled the house it was amazing.
The atmosphere was of much love and care and to see the love and caring ways of Kathy and Amy just blew my mind, I wish this love and care on all women, these two women have the best jobs in the world and they do it so well.
It’s getting close and Amy checks and she sees the head and comments on how her head is really wrinkly, unbeknown to us that baby had turned and that she was looking at her butt. Our midwives however were calm and instinctively Michelle knew as well and when Kathy told Michelle to push she did with all her might and Sunny arrived with her bottom first (I had no idea myself that she was breach I did think to myself however that I didn’t think her head was suppose to look like that not realizing I was looking at her bottom) and then came her head as perfect as she could be in the fetal position.
Kathy was fast, as soon as she came out she was up onto Michelle’s chest, she took her first breath and cried a little squeak until she heard her daddy’s voice, she stopped crying and laid there wide eyed soaking up her new environment, calm and content breathing on her own wonderfully, I could see the shock in Michelle’s face, she was wondering why we weren’t attempting to resusertate her because usually breach babies arrive with many complications, however Sunny was an act of God’s Grace and came out as if she were born head first. At this time Jeff checked and said “It’s a girl” and we all cheered and welcomed little Sunny Josephine Chapin born June 20th 2008 @ 9.43pm.
Michelle was now ready to birth her placenta so we waited, in the meanwhile her daughter laid content curious and alert on her chest, her skin was flawless, every finger and toe accounted for and the shape of her head was perfect. Michelle looked at her daughter, hugged her and wept with joy and instant unconditional love flowed between them and the love affair began.
Mother and Daughter were still in the birthing tub and Michelle asked if it was ok for the baby to still be in the water, Kathy reassured her that it was ok because the heat of the water and of Michelle’s skin to skin body temp it was keeping her baby’s body warm, I felt aroha because it was so healing to see that the baby wasn’t rushed away from her mother, she was happy where she was and so was Michelle.
Michelle feels a contraction and pushes the after birth out and a gush of blood follows, then Jeff gets the honour of separating Sunny from her food source and cuts the cord and has taken the role on as her father, protector and caretaker of her in this lifetime – TA HO - Amen
Amy quickly scoops up the placenta and checks it out to make sure its healthy and I get to see my first afterbirth and it was the most healthiest, all the veins in the right place, thick and beaming life force placenta, I have ever seen, I never got to see my own placenta which saddened me and for me to see Michelle’s was just pure joy. Amy will take the afterbirth home to dry and then place into capsules for Michelle to include with her vitamin intake to replenish all the nutrients back into her system and this helps with the baby blues and has many other benefits.
It is now time for Michelle to transfer from the water to the bed and this was done with much care and love and Kathy went into Super Midwife Mode with Amy not to far behind her, as for me well I was the Ngare ngare (person to help with what ever is needed) and Jeff held the baby. Kathy’s goal now was to make sure that Michelle was doing well, so the next few hours were very important. Michelle had lost a lot of blood and her blood pressure had dropped dramatically and Kathy was concerned and suggested that we call in the paramedics just to be on the safe side.
It was then that I was given baby Sunny Josephine to hold, I just couldn’t believe it, she was perfect and such wonderful memories came back to me, I spoke to her every second reassuring her that her mummy is going to be ok and that the two of them will be reunited very soon. While Kathy, Amy and Jeff were doing their Midwifery magic I introduced Sunny to her “Root Down Home” she listened attentively with wide open eyes peaceful and I’d swear she smiled. It was then I see a fire truck with flashing lights pull up at the front, a heavy “knock knock” at the door and in comes the paramedics, I’d swear about 10 men walked into the birthing room with their masculine, authority feel about them. Sunny, Amy and I were quietly sitting in the dark in the lounge room but we could hear everything that was going on. I didn’t understand why they needed to bring so many people into such a small birthing room, she had a baby, there wasn’t a bloody riot going on and 2 paramedics would have done the job in my opinion. I couldn’t imagine how Michelle felt but I felt invaded and like my body was stepped on when they arrived, listening to their non caring comments and questions made me feel non human almost, I looked at Amy and she was fuming, I calmed her down and said they’re only doing their jobs even though we felt they weren’t trained with compassion and love, it just encouraged me that we women will not stand for this type of treatment anymore and demand our power back.
All I could do in this situation was keep calm for the baby and immerse reiki energy – transform the negative energies into love & light.
They gave her oxygen and that helped, the paramedic strongly suggested that they take her to the hospital because of a low blood pressure and would give Michelle a few minutes to think about it. Jeff stepped outside to speak to the head paramedic and asked what would they do for her at the hospital and the paramedic said all they would do is run tests and keep her hydrated which that’s what we could do for her at the house, (I believe that they would prod her poke at her for no apparent reason ask her stupid questions and stress her out more so under bright lights if she did go).
In the meantime Michelle had heard one of the paramedics talking to Jeff about if it were his wife he’d blah blah blah and that was enough for Michelle to make her so mad that her blood pressure shot up where we actually needed it to be and then Jeff and Michelle decided that it was in the best interest that she not go to the hospital as Kathy, Amy & Jeff could give her the best care she needed right there at home, I could tell that the meds were disappointed, read her a waiver claim and got her to sign the form, but in reality is wasn’t about them it was about Michelle and what was best for her and truthfully Michelle knows her body better than any ER Doctor would ever profess to know and so the paramedics cleared the house with their high testosterone masculine selves and were on their way.
I was so proud of Jeff & Kathy because even though the paramedics spoke to them both with condescending voices they were very polite, calm ad appreciative towards them and showed nothing but respect, I saw their true authentic selves and learned a lot from them both about humility and compassion.
It’s going on midnight and everyone was doing their thing, Kathy & Jeff keeping Michelle balanced and hydrated, Amy cleaning the tub and preparing special herbs in the pot for Michelle’s & Sunny’s herbal bath tomorrow, me & Sunny just hanging out giving reiki energy. Then finally the house settled down and we all fell into a slumber, I wasn’t sleepy but I knew that the following day was just important as well and needed to shut down and get rejuvenated.
Rise N Shine its 8am in the morning and house is rustling a little, breakfast, baby feeding, smiles and joy, wonderment, Kathy was called off to another birthing experience but was due back in a couple of hours, at this stage Michelle was able to make her first attempt with the help of her husband to walk to the bathroom, this was a great sign. Whilst Michelle did her girly thing I quickly stripped the bed and cleaned up a little so that when she returned it would be nice and comfortable for her.
Then we had unexpected visitors come in, it was Dave, Kara, Zora & Charlie the dog, they weren’t expected home until tomorrow and Michelle was half naked in the bathroom, I had Sunny and Jeff asked them to wait a bit so that Michelle could at least get sorted and herself together, I don’t think they heard him because they came barging into the birthing room and I was there on the rocking chair with baby, I told Sunny that her Aunty Kara & Uncle Dave and Cousin Zora had come to visit, Michelle waddled back from the bathroom and was surprised to see them there, poor Michelle was only wrapped in a bath towel, guests were an unexpected happening and I felt embarrassed for her that they had to see her almost half naked, but like the trooper Michelle is she welcomed them all with open arms. When Kara looked at Sunny her eyes welled up with tears and Michelle asked if she wanted to hold her and I handed her over like the protective Fairy God Mother that I am, what people don’t realize is that babies are very sensitive to their surroundings and are like sponges and can sense people’s true intentions, they are the purest things next to god. Anyhow this was my cue to leave them all bond whilst I leave for the store to pick up a few needed items.
On my return the house was back to its calm self and Sunny’s first visitors had left, then Amy pops in with her lovely self, checks on Michelle and draws a bath for her and places the boiled herbal remedy into the bath, the most magical thing about this bath is not only the healing herbs but Amy brings over freshly cut roses of reds, oranges and pinks from her own rose garden to be placed in the bath with Mother and child. This was the icing on the cake for me because I remember when my mum came over for me she bathed me and washed my hair and cleaned me up with love and even though I had given birth I had become the child again, it was my mothers love and touch that healed me from the inside out, so I knew what Michelle was feeling and to bathe with her daughter was very emotional and lovely to witness.
Jeff & Michelle’s parents were due to visit at 4:30 and 5pm so I fluffed around to make sure the house was to Michelle’s standards for visitors, 4pm came around and the new grandparents arrive, it was great to see them, I hugged them both and congratulated them on the birth of their first granddaughter and ushered them up to see their girls. After taking a photo of Sherrie and Sunny I knew it was time for me to leave, my time here with the Chapin’s was up and my boys were due back in the city from their beach holiday in 45 minutes and I just wanted to squeeze my son and tell him how much I loved him.
I couldn’t even look at Michelle it was to emotional. I hugged and kissed everybody, Michelle knew how I felt and I knew how she felt it was all unspoken aroha and when I walked to my car I just started to ball, I finally allowed the emotion to hit me and I cried and cried and have been crying ever since, tears of joy, tears of love, tears of excitement, appreciation and hope. I shed 8 years of pent up tears and I haven’t cried this much since the birth of my own son Sydney, Sunny’s birth really opened a lot of things for me and it has been already a spiritual enlightenment.
Thank You My Darlings
Namaste
Arohanui
Racheal
Aka: Sunny’s “Fairy God Mother”
Picture of Jeff, Michelle & Sunny
Friday, July 18, 2008
Indigo Boyz
I wake up with the sense of appreciation of my life and my family this morning, I think it was the photo's at the Ohio Historical Centre that sparked it all, some disturbing photo's of reality were on display and the boyz (Sydney, Matt & Josh) and I stumbled into the room and couldn't believe what we were looking at, my first reaction was to quickly take these young minds out of the room as I thought it would warp their mind but my intuition told me, they'll be ok, sensitive to it but ok, the photographic display were of pictures of tragedies that have occured in history of time even in modern times that photographers had taken in the spur of the moment, such as the twin towers, hurricane Katrina, famine and starvation in Africa, war, columbine and much much more too graphic to describe, we slowly just gazed on the giant prints with such emotion I had to hold my tears back, I could see the pain and hurt on the boyz faces and amazement that such stuff like this happened in the world, they'd just look at me with that "but how can this be" Matt felt overwhelmed and helpless for humanity but I told him that in order to see change we make the change and that is why we are here to bring the light and balance back to the world (I know that sounds a bit Avatar-ish, but its true). The photo's were reality of war and what hate can do, however we can stand and make a difference and it all starts from us. We stumbled out of the room with our emotions beat up however we took it for what it was the past, a reality check dusted ourselves off and left the pain back in the room and continued to discover what the Historical Centre had to offer us so lucky for us the quilting and cars were our next display and oh how quickly the energy changed for us all. I learn from the boyz on how to let go very quickly. The overall visit at the centre was amazing, we discovered all great things and got to touch giant geodes and flint, be amazed at the gemstones on display and be in awe at the feet of the giant mastadon elephant with its mighty self. To end our journey I asked our guests Matt & Josh if they were up to trying something new, step out of the box a little for lunch and they were up for the challenge. When ever I'm downtown I always want to introduce my friends to bubble tea so I took them to one of my favourite tea salons called "Zen Cha", the boyz seemed to embrace the city lifestyle, their parents are originally from Queens New York and I see the love in Matt's eye for hussel & bussel, tall buildings and eclectic stimulai. We were shown to our table which had a zen garden in the middle, they were totally amazed and thought they were in the most fanciest place ever, I just loved their wondermant and appreciation of something new and exciting, I told them this is flashy I guess however there is no reason why you guy's can't eat at flashy joints like this so please enjoy. After getting recommendations from the server and our order in we just sat there enjoying each other's company, they asked me what a zen garden is and all the great things that young minds could think of, our drinks had arrived and I loved to see the amazement in their faces when they tried the bubble tea, its like a party in your mouth, I explained to them that in Asian countries such as China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea etc that young kids like themselves drink fancy tea like these all the time, they couldn't believe it. As our food arrived Sydney asked the server if they could give them chopsticks, it was their first time trying them and they were all naturals, picking up chicken & vege's and dumplings, yummy the dumplings were good. I was so impressed with them that I had to get myself into gear and tell my fingers don't let me down, luckily I got through it and it came back to me as well. It was a great way to end our afternoon, our tummy's full, we tried something new and it was time to go home and you guessed it relax and be happy.
So this morning as I'm thinking about all the great things we did the day before I finally came up with an awesome idea on what to do with the hand picked shells Sydney bought back from Mrytle beach for me, a "Zen Garden", my son know's me so well, even though I didn't get to go to the beach with him he manages to bring the beach back to me, I just love my Indigo Boy.
Ta Ho
racheal
:)
So this morning as I'm thinking about all the great things we did the day before I finally came up with an awesome idea on what to do with the hand picked shells Sydney bought back from Mrytle beach for me, a "Zen Garden", my son know's me so well, even though I didn't get to go to the beach with him he manages to bring the beach back to me, I just love my Indigo Boy.
Ta Ho
racheal
:)
Sunday, July 13, 2008
What's New
Another week has gone by, the month of July is just flying by before me, I've been so busy with stuff that I can't keep up with myself but its all good. I finally have straightened my guest room for my parents and I'm really happy about the layout I feel they are going to be very comfortable and at home and I'm so eager to see them and give them a great big hug, they are also going to bring my 8 year old nephew with them Duante and he's just a cutie and is 7 days older than Sydney so they have this special bond going on. Duante will be flying from Australia to New Zealand where he'll spend a few days with my parents and then they all will be flying to the states August 5th and I just want everything to run smoothely for them and I know we'll have a blast while there here. The special thing is my parents will get to meet all of my husbands family as they especially are coming over for my hubby's family reunion and we are the host city this year so you could imagine how busy I've been, I'm pretty organized because I've been planning it for the past 2 years but I just don't like to left unprepared so I'm working overtime to cover any loose ends. I did manage to have some leisure time myself, my favourite thing we did this week was when Sydney and I went to visit Lilyfest in Hocking Hills Friday morning, its been around for 20 to 30 years and it was the most awesome art festival I'd been to in a while, I even found some plants I've been looking for "chicks n hens" and bought a giant daisy flower garden sculpture to put in my back yard, we even got to play some viking kids games and met the most interesting Native American Wendall who makes teepees, I just love sitting in the teepee, when I grow up and have more land I want to make my own teepee and tell stories of old underneath the stars and in front of the fire, doesn't that just sound so cool. We found Carol and artist associate of mine from Studio 7.5 and went back to her beautiful log home and ate our packed lunch and played with her two little yorkies Ike & Izzy, they were so delightful, we then came back home for the rest of the arvo and I fell asleep on the hammock, what's new right! The day couldn't be more perfect than that. Sunday I was blessed with a yoga session with my girl Torrie, wow that really awakened my body up big time and we chatted together over a glass of fresh juice caught up on girly stuff and set off on our day, its now 6:40pm and I'm feeling the yoga workout across my chest, its all good though I so enjoyed the workout, it seems participating with a friend just makes things flow much easier and helps with my motivation to get it done. I think I'm gonna take 40 winks on the hammock, its a hard life I know but someone has to do it and so I must.
Love & Light
r
:)
Love & Light
r
:)
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Pizza, Pinata & Presents
Well Sydney's 8th Birthday Party went off with a bang, we had such a great time and he received the most awesome presents and we had a special visit from Michelle, Jeff & Sunny, it just made the day even more awesome, being surrounded by the people you love just makes life so much sweeter. Our Herbie the love bug cake came out impressive and I even made the
cake from scratch from a family recipe on my hubby's side, twisted the recipe a bit and used rice flour instead and I must say it was dence but moist at the same time thank goodness, otherwise I would of had to make some cookies to compensate for the cake but what have ya all was good. I ended up making my t-shirt into a tank and wore my lava lava (sarong for those that don't speak polynesian). One of my favourite moments of the day is when the kids got to hit the pinata, what a lot of fun that was, weather was on our side and to top the day off we all went over to the Groveport Aquatic center and 
swam the rest of the day away, here I'm thinking well thats it for me "the mummy" has done her job and low and behold all the boyz were plotting to spend the night at our house, (funny that I had a feeling that may happen, so the night before I said to Sydney that we weren't going to have any sleep overs because we had an early morning doctors appointment with Dr Q Medicine Woman) and you know I 
couldn't say no, so we had 4 extra critters for the night, Matt 12yo, Josh his bro 10 they were Sydney's first friends when he was in my belly, Silas Sydney's best friend & Mikeal Sydney's cousin, they had a blast and truthfully I totally enjoyed their company, their parents should be proud of them, they are raising wonderful conscious earth loving kids and that just brings me hope and joy for 
my son's generation and for future generations to come. So now its Saturday July 5th and I'm still cleaning up my home from Sydney's Party back on July 2nd, oh well it was all worth it, hearing laughter and giggles in my house just makes my home smile from within. Hope all are enjoying their independence weekend, racheal signing off for now.A te wa
r
:)
Tigertree
Check this out guy's, as I was shopping down at the Short North the other day looking for something unique for my son's 8th birthday I came across this awesome store called Tiger Tree, owned by a lovely young couple from Cali Josh & Nikki my senses were pleasantly aroused by the assortment of recycled and hand crafted gifts, I could of dropped hundreds of dollars that day but I had to focus and prioritize my needs and then I came across the most stylish water bottles you could imagine, made by this Japanese Artist named Shinzi Katoh, those Japanese just know how to style the simple things in life such as a water bottle, as you can see from the piki I bought Sydney the blue one with squirrel's, birds & mushrooms and I thought the ladybird and leaf design suited me to the tee. I would totally suggest all those art farty enthusiasts out there to go check out his store, he's got a great concept going on and is so so talented, check out their blog on www.shoptigertree.blogspot.com for other items they may.
cheers
r
:)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Woman Of Worth
Wahine purotu
Wahine ataahua
Wahine tino toa
Wahine rangatira
aue taukuri ee
rite koe ki te manu
whakanui i te atua
te reo tuatahi
ki te marae, oooo
Translation:
Handsome Woman
Beautiful Woman
Strong Woman
Woman of Leadership
She is like the bird
Speaking to our father
The first to be at the gathering place
I'd like to end the month of June paying tribute to the wonderful woman in my life that have made living here in Ohio such a blessing and so doable for me. They are the "Woman of Worth" and I love you all dearly, thank you and I dedicate this blog to each and everyone of you beautiful ladies.
Let me start off with my bestest friend in the whole world Vita. Vita's my best friend from Australia, we lived together and we've been best friends now for 13 years and she relocated to New York City 1 year before I came to Ohio but when we first met each other it was like love at first sight and we just became instant friends from the time we said hello back in 1995, (how we met is we attended a mutural friends cocktail party, he was my $#9i buddy and I wasn't going to go but I thought why not see who else this guy is bleeping and I turned up on my own, apparently he was bleeping Vita's girlfriend that had came to the party with her and had no idea I was seeing him to, I really don't know how she'd be that naive to think she was exclusive because he just oozed player, but I was in the player mode myself, anyway I sat down next to Vita and she smelt my perfume and said are you wearing Samsara, and from then on we've been bestest friends ever). Now her living in New York is such a blessing for me, we call everyday if not every other day just to reconnect and be with each other and just give confidence that we are doing the right things in our lives with the choices that we make and I so appreciate her so much, she is so a reflection of who I am that sometimes people mistake us for sisters which you know I'm tickle pink about because I think she's gorgeous so if she's gorgeous I must be gorgeous as well hee hee hee, you be the judge that's her portrait up in the right hand corner "vita's way", it goes without saying.
Then there's my good friend Angie, oh how I love this girl. She's been through so much with me and I've been through so much with her here in Ohio. She is one of my really good friends that I've become to know and love, we worked at Anthropologie together and she actually bought me out of myself when I was going through a stage in my life where I was asking myself "why in the world am I here, feeling like I have no connections no friends, I just felt incomplete and missing like minded people", I almost gave up on mankind and then I found Angie. She is one of the most poised amazing woman I've ever seen, she is always immaculate from head to toe even when she's in a robe, its always the prettiest of robes, she makes an effort in looking good all the time and has the best taste and style which motivated me to start wearing my prettiest dress every day and not to save it for that special occasion so to think but think that everyday is special and wear that dress to go grocery shopping or doing your errands because tommorrow isn't promised to us so why not now, I've learned so much from by just watching how she puts an outfit together and understanding the design concepts of clothing and home design as well, and she's so clever she uses the most amazing words that I've never heard and I love asking her to give me the meanings and how do you use it in a sentence so I can fully understand the meaning, she's like a walking talking dictionary/encyclopedia, "you know they say to surround yourself with clever, knowledgable creative people" and Angie is definately one of those people. She is going through a real trying time in her life now but I know that moments like these are going to strengthen her faith her spirit and direct her on the pathway of love in which she and her family so deserves.
Then there's my girl Michelle. Michelle, Michelle, Michelle when you meet Michelle for the first time its like the sun kissing your skin it feels so good, she lightens up a room when she enters through the door she's such a giving loving person and her compassion for others is addictive and I feel so blessed to have met her and even though she is in her early twenties she is way wiser beyond her years and I am learning so much from her and have gotten really close to her and feel close now as well to her new born baby appropriately named Sunny Josephine. Michelle brings the best out of people and helps others to get online with their true authentic purpose in life, she subtley demands respect and so deserves it and now Sunny has decided to join her life there's no stopping this dynamic duo of pure sunshine, happiness & laughter I love them both deeper than the deepest deep, deep from my spirit.
Namaste, I honor the place in you in which the universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is Love, Light, Truth and Peace. When we are in that place We are ONE!
Love & Light
r
:)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
It's A Girl
Dear Friends & Family,
I just wanted to inform you all that my good friend Michelle gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Sunny Josephine Friday @ 9:43pm at her home in Westerville Ohio accompanied by proud daddy Jeff, the fabulous Midwife Cathy & Midwife Assistant Amy and me her Doula, Birth Assistant Racheal. Mummy & Baby are doing just great, Sunny is 6 pound 20" and as beautiful as one can be I'm so proud of Michelle, I arrived 7pm that night and Sunny was born 2 hours later, howz that for record, it was the most spiritual and loving experience I had ever witnessed and am very blessed to be part of her first born.
I look forward to spending more time with Sunny and watching her grow, thanks to all our spiritual healers I had called in for your prayers and healing thoughts they were well received and very much appreciated.
Keep posted to my blog for sightings of the birth and baby Sunny, please be patient as I won't post any until Michelle posts it first on her blog this is her glory she's earned the right to show off her daughter before anyone else.
God bless Michelle & her Daughter
I love you both dearly
Thank You,
Love & Light
Racheal
"The luckiest Girl in the World":)xxx
I just wanted to inform you all that my good friend Michelle gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Sunny Josephine Friday @ 9:43pm at her home in Westerville Ohio accompanied by proud daddy Jeff, the fabulous Midwife Cathy & Midwife Assistant Amy and me her Doula, Birth Assistant Racheal. Mummy & Baby are doing just great, Sunny is 6 pound 20" and as beautiful as one can be I'm so proud of Michelle, I arrived 7pm that night and Sunny was born 2 hours later, howz that for record, it was the most spiritual and loving experience I had ever witnessed and am very blessed to be part of her first born.
I look forward to spending more time with Sunny and watching her grow, thanks to all our spiritual healers I had called in for your prayers and healing thoughts they were well received and very much appreciated.
Keep posted to my blog for sightings of the birth and baby Sunny, please be patient as I won't post any until Michelle posts it first on her blog this is her glory she's earned the right to show off her daughter before anyone else.
God bless Michelle & her Daughter
I love you both dearly
Thank You,
Love & Light
Racheal
"The luckiest Girl in the World":)xxx
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Life is Just A Choice
woke up this morning,
smiled at the rising sun
three little birds
sat by my doorstep
singing a sweet song
a melody pure and true
this is a message for you, ooo ooo
singing don't worry about a thing
cause every little thing
is gonna be alright
sing don't worry about a thing
cause every little thing
is gonna be alright
Honestly I woke up this morning belting this song out of my lungs I just had to release it from my head, I sang it so loud opened my blinds and then laughed at myself and said, "Racheal your such a nugget" and laughed some more. Do you ever feel that sometimes you crack yourself up so much and only you get it, well I have those moments alot.
This week has been amazing for me. It all started about a week ago when my hubby came home from work and said to me he has some bad news, I looked at him and said "What" with that hurry up stop fart arsing around look on my face, "well" he says, "I totally got the dates to our planned vacation to Mrytle Beach screwed up and instead of leaving on the 23rd of June like we said the condo was booked for the 16th and theres no way he could change it" I was surprisingly calm and said "well you and Sydney are going to have a great old time without me aren't you"? The thing was I had made a committment to my friend Michelle 9 months ago that I was going to be there for the birth of her first baby and I'm a woman of my word and no way was I going to change that, Michelle is now 41 weeks and baby could arrive anyday now and my time was her time and I wasn't willing to sacrifice myself once again and then I miss out on what I need to do which benefits not only me but my family as well in ways no-one realizes. The old Darryl would have been pissed and not supportive on my decission however both Darryl & I have had major positive changes in our relationship especially in the past 2 years and the new Darryl just gave me that look of I totally understand and left it at that. Now don't get me wrong I've been looking forward to going to the beach for 2 years now, I grew up on the ocean and having sand, fish n chips waves and watching my son experiencing such delight is what I live for but I knew deep down inside that I'd never forgive myself if I missed out on such a special time like this in Michelle's life, I mean really think about it, experience the birth of my friends first child, going to Myrtle Beach, I can always go to Mrytle beach but I'll never get the opportunity to ever witness Michelle's first birth, it really was a no brainer. She may even not go this week but I made a committment and I'm keeping it because thats how much she means to me. Besides my hubby has never been any where with his son for any long length of time especially 7 days and there was no better time than now to finally have time with his son and his mother, because she was coming with us as well. I felt aroha for my son because he has never been away from me for more than 7 days in his entire life of 7 years but now was the time for the apron strings to be loosened a little and for him to break away and continue to becoming the great man he already is, so I had a week to talk to him and encourage him that he'll be having a wonderful time and even though mummy wasn't there physiclly he just had to close his eyes and place his hand on his heart and he'll see me in his third eye smiling right back at him. I was so proud of him, he totally understood my committment and said he'd pray every night for Michelle and still if "Phin" decides not to come then thats ok to. Sydney totally thinks Michelle is going to have a boy and when I mentioned to Sydney that if they do have a boy they will name him Phinigan and Sydney thought that that was a great name and now refers to Michelles baby as Phin.
So I've been home alone for the past 3 days so far and now you can see why I can wake up singing loud and not disturb anyone else because both my boyz are at the beach. It's been absolutely great not having to think for 3 and just think for me, eat when I want, sleep when I want and just be, its like being at a retreat, I haven't done this since Sydney was born and it been a long time coming and I'm so grateful because I so needed this rejuvenation of my spirit because they will benefit from it as well and this summer promises to be huge because for the first time we'll be having family from both our families here at one time for my hubby's family reunion, my parents get to meet his family for the first time so our home is going to be full of relatives, kids and noises that I haven't heard for a very long long time and I can't wait.
Well its 9:45am and I need to get on with my day, its so beautiful today and I'm looking forward to having lunch with my girls.
:)
r
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Herbie The Love Bug
Amongst my many creative projects on my to do list, my son's 8th birthday is coming up in July and every year I like to have a theme and this year he wanted to do a Herbie The Love Bug Pizza Party, he's one of the hugest fans of Herbie 
ever,
and Herbie is famous for the number 53 and so we figured 5 + 3 = 8, this would be appropriate for Sydney's 8th birthday, anyhow we've practiced making a Herbie Cake together which turned out awesome, and I just finished up with a doll in the image of Sydney and designed a Herbie T-Shirt with Sydney's Artwork on it and I'm syked about setting it all up on the day, quirky I know but I love dressing up and going all out for his birthday he so enjoys himself and secretly I get to relive my childhood all over again, so keeping the earth in mind our candy gift bags for his guest's are just brown paper lunch bags with his artwork on it and this year I want to put healthy fun snack choices in their sacks rather than an overload on sugary lollies (candy) so if anyone out there have any suggestions let me know. Red, White & Blue is the theme colour and lucky for me July 4th is approaching and so there are heaps of red white and blue stuff and so little flags are great, pencils etc etc. To date I've made Sydney's tshirt and his daddy and I'm gonna make me one however the square tshirt is just not my style so I'm gonna recreate my herbie tshirt to "The Mummy" thats my code name for my boyz so stay tuned with what I come up with it should be interesting.
ever,
and Herbie is famous for the number 53 and so we figured 5 + 3 = 8, this would be appropriate for Sydney's 8th birthday, anyhow we've practiced making a Herbie Cake together which turned out awesome, and I just finished up with a doll in the image of Sydney and designed a Herbie T-Shirt with Sydney's Artwork on it and I'm syked about setting it all up on the day, quirky I know but I love dressing up and going all out for his birthday he so enjoys himself and secretly I get to relive my childhood all over again, so keeping the earth in mind our candy gift bags for his guest's are just brown paper lunch bags with his artwork on it and this year I want to put healthy fun snack choices in their sacks rather than an overload on sugary lollies (candy) so if anyone out there have any suggestions let me know. Red, White & Blue is the theme colour and lucky for me July 4th is approaching and so there are heaps of red white and blue stuff and so little flags are great, pencils etc etc. To date I've made Sydney's tshirt and his daddy and I'm gonna make me one however the square tshirt is just not my style so I'm gonna recreate my herbie tshirt to "The Mummy" thats my code name for my boyz so stay tuned with what I come up with it should be interesting.
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