With this last warm spell I've been pessimistic about it lasting. It's only the end of March and we had very little snow this winter. I keep expecting a big snow storm, but hoping it won't really come. May spring be here to stay! 
My daughter has swapped along with me for the last few years. She loves swap mail! She knows the drill, you wait until Mommy gets home from work and has the camera in hand to open the package. She even reminded me that I usually snap a picture of her with the package.
After posing with the package, then it's time to dig in to see what's inside the package. She was excited to find an owl bag stuffed with tissue paper and more goodies! 
Look at all of the things Julz (and Barb) sent. As I mentioned before my daughter has lots of swap experience but she was so cute about this package. She started to tear up and made me stop taking pictures until she cleared her eyes. She loved the pillowcase for her travel pillow(Barb made her an awesome Florida pillowcase and travel pillow when we met them in Florida a year and a half ago. She still uses that travel pillow all the time!) They also included owl paper, owl cards, an owl craft. an owl pouch, an owl purse and our favorite . . . . 
This owl picture, painted by the talented Julz! Don't you love it? We do!!! Seriously, I LOVE this picture! It's already on display. Thank you Julz and Barb for enough owl love to make us cry! Awesome package! Thank you!!!!
I've probably mentioned this before but I am married to the most amazing man. He is so good to me and I love him beyond belief! Not only are we husband and wife, we're friends. We like spending time together. We both work a lot which can be stressful and finding time to relax is a challenge for both of us. This year for my 40th birthday my husband took me to Jamaica. We stayed at the beautiful Couples Resort - Tower Isle in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was paradise! 
The view from our room was beautiful! The sand, sun and sound of the waves were wonderfully relaxing. It was just the break we both needed. While there were many activities and excursions we could have done, we opted to remain unscheduled and just do whatever we chose to do in the moment. 
That was mostly sitting on the beach, napping, eating and drinking grown up drinks. It was a great vacation!! Nature Girl stayed with her grandparents and had a blast so there was no guilt over leaving her. As a matter of fact, half the time she was too busy to even talk to us, so I knew she was having fun and was well taken care of.
This was Nature Girl's. She made it for her younger cousin who is totally in love with sharks. I love how the letter S has a bite out of it. Funny how one word can show so much.
This one was created by Nature Girl's nine and a half year old cousin. She made this one for me. I thought it was very sweet! It says I love to smell the flowers. It is a simple joy in life to stop and smell the flowers. We really should take time to do it more often.
I found this Persian proverb for my thought on paper. It reminds me that beauty and kindness should be enjoyed and shared with others. That's how it spreads and makes the world a better place. Along those same lines, I've always thought that if you want to make the world a better place you should start by making your little corner of the world better.
We hosted the Give a Hoot Owl Swap. By now all of our owl swap packages are flying around the world, just waiting to land at their intended destination. I was lucky enough to receive this owl package from Ngaire. It arrived the day before we left on vacation so I'm a bit slow posting a picture. Now that I'm home it's time to share my owl goodies. Ngaire sent an owl emery board, a wooden owl and an owl softie all tucked into an adorable owl gift bag. The owl softie is made from a sweater, so you know I was going to be in love with it! Thank you Ngaire for my owls, I love them!!! 
