30A

If you're booking a trip to the beach anytime soon and considering the Florida area, I strongly recommend any of the South Walton Beaches or the 30A area! The Beaches of South Walton are sewed together by several small beach communities including Seascape, Miramar Beach, Sandestin, Dune Allen Beach, Santa Rosa Beach, Blue Mountain Beach, Grayton Beach, WaterColor, Seaside, Seagrove Beach, WaterSound, Seacrest, Rosemary Beach and Inlet Beach. While I can't speak for all, I can definitely share my experience about Grayton Beach, WaterColor, Seaside, Seagrove Beach and Rosemary Beach.

This 30A area, as the locals call it, lacks the usual Destin crew of teeniboopers leaving the hormones for the more touristy people to deal with. South Walton beach is for old people (sorry guys), love birds or people who just don't want to be bothered. If you're looking for the "happenin" place, South Walton is not it unless "happenin" to you is the small town feel along the beach...

Grayton Beach was our first stop and what better place than The Red Bar. The Red Bar is famous in these parts for great drinks, great music and great food. I included a few pics down below so you could get a feel for the place. Grayton Beach is definitely the hippiest of them all. If you're not into the hipster scene and you've got green in your pocket, you may as well head down the road to Seaside, WaterColor or Rosemary Beach.

This next photo is a view from our condo in Seagrove Beach. Did I say the beach is literally right outside our door!?! I never want to leave!!

While Seagrove lacks the culture of Grayton Beach, its just a walk away from WaterColor and Seaside with plenty to do not to mention the beautiful beach. If condo prices are a factor, Seagrove Beach may be your best bet!! 

Welcome to Seaside! The little town that started it all...fostering these "planned" coastal communities along the Beaches of South Walton. Mom is about to have lemonade at one of the very many airstream shops along the street. This small community has loads of places to snack, chill, shop and eat. A "must visit" place to go if you're headed to the South Walton area!







This is me picking blackberries on the side of the road...not knowing just how far the walk is from Seagrove Beach to Grayton Beach, I made my mother walk with me only to find out a drive may have been best. I did feed her blackberries though...a nice afternoon snack with you're parched. The lake I'm standing in front of is a rare "dune lake". They are native to the area and have lots of opportunity for recreation, including Yoloing (haven't figured this one out yet).






After our very long walk on our second day, we hit The Red Bar again...this has definitely become our fav place for a drink!!

Rosemary Beach is our next stop for a fabulous dinner filled with splendid Italian entrees, fine wine and scrumptious desert. This beach is definitely for those with the $green$ if you know what I mean. Everything is fine here...from the food to the Bermuda Grass!

The 30A area has plenty of Art Galleries if Art is your thing....comb the seaside communities for eclectic finds like  the finds below.

I hope you've enjoyed following us to the beach...stayed tuned for Festival weekend!!

What Have We Done?

Humans.....today this word leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

After 30 years of coming to this beautiful beach, this is the first year I've encountered dead birds along the shore. We saw several of them this morning and my heart just sank. :(

I'm wondering if this is a due to the BP oil spill or if its our other contributions to tearing apart our earth....

It may be ironic but my beach read this trio is The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff, in which a good deal of Taoist wisdom is revealed through the character and actions of A.A. Milne's Piglet.

In the first section, Hoff refers to the Age of Perfect Virtue, in which he says, "men lived among the animals and birds as members of one large family. There were no distinctions between "superior" and "inferior" to separate one man or species from another. All retained their natural Virtue and lived in the state of pure simplicity...living in harmony with themselves, each other, and the world, their actions left no trace, and so we have no physical record of their existence."

Reading Benjamin Hoff and seeing these wonderful creatures lying lifeless on the beach, only brings the same question rolling over and over in my mind, "what have we done?"

The Present

Sitting on this incredible beach in Seagrove,FL where time seems to stop...Coffee in one hand, pen in the other. After years of the beach, I am somehow still blown away by the powder white sand, clear blue "bathtub" water and the majesty of the waves...
This trip is my "late" 30th birthday gift from mom-just she and I. The morning is crisp, the beach clear and the walks long and gratifying. As I do every morning, I'm taking in a passage from Daily Om. With so many thoughts on my mind-contemplation of the past and worry of the future-it could be so easy to miss this very moment when all has come together to create such an experience of peace, bliss, comfort, intrigue, love and complete awesomeness.
So, this morning I've decided to make it my mission to keep my mind from wondering and instead be with every moment, as each moment is a new experience in my life of which I do not want to miss (on this trip at least :-)).
Kelli

The Front Porch

What a beautiful morning it is today!! This has to be my best day in Port Barre yet....we are living with Troy's mom while we finish restoring our RV. Troy's mom's name is Dell and she rocks!! Today I have the house all to myself as Dell is at the beach and Troy is seeing about our Truck. Yes, the huge F250 we traded in our Jeep for so we could pull the RV (you've got to see me drive this thing)!

Anyway, back to the morning...I baked! Yes, mom, I baked blackberry biscuits. Okay, they look like cookies, but they have chocolate chips in them so it makes the burnt taste go away. Yum Yum, give me some!!!

I'm in my panties on the screen porch and the house is a complete mess. Shit is scattered everywhere and on this very morning I decided that I love it (the shit scattered everywhere I mean). Funny, I did not realize I liked leaving my underwear on the floor until I couldn't do it anymore...you know, living with Ms. Dell and all.

But today is a good day not only because I left my drawers on the floor and now sitting on the screen porch half naked just because I can. No, today is a good day because I am reminded that changing my life means changing me. I realize that living life by design doesn't always mean having a plan or sticking to one for that matter. Today is about saying, fuck my plan and "to do" list for the day. I am going to sit my happy ass on this swing, eat my blackberry and chocolate biscuits or cookies or whatever I made and play some music and write. I am going to remain calm about all the stuff I need to do and hopefully, all around me will remain calm. Today is happy because because today is all I have.

A little prayer to take with you...I wrote it myself:
Thank you God/Universe/Whatever you like to give thanks to for this morning. I needed this space just as each needs his. Thank you for helping me honor myself by slowing down and knowing that this swing, in my panties, is all I'm required to do today. Thank you for showing me the meaning of today.

Love,

Kelli


Have a beautiful day everyone!!

Everyday Cheapskate

By choosing a life of voluntary simplicity, I must learn to live as simply as I can. One of my favorite blogs is Everyday Cheapskate. Today's topic on Everyday Cheapskate is right in line with Our Vision Drive so I'm posting this link here for you guys to check out.

http://www.debtproofliving.com/DPLResources/EverydayCheapskate/VisitorEverydayCheapskate/tabid/275/smid/663/ArticleID/533624/reftab/38/t/Default.aspx

Enjoy and happy hump day!!

Other people may have their own agenda for our life; we can value their input but we don‚t have to take it to heart.

I love Daily Om. Check them out if you can but this passage sent to me today is right in line with the classroom lecture from yesterday.
Other people may have their own agenda for our life; we can value their input but we don‚t have to take it to heart.

As children, our parents had dreams for us. They wanted us to do well in school, and to do whatever was necessary to reach our highest potential. Later in life, friends may try to set us up with their idea of the perfect partner or the perfect job. Spouses may have agendas for us, too. People close to us may have ideas about how we should live our lives, ideas that usually come from love and the desire for us to be happy. Other times, they come from a place of need within them˜whether it is the parent who wants us to live out his or her dreams or the friend or spouse who wants us to play an already-defined role. Whatever the case, we can appreciate and consider those people‚s input, but ultimately we must follow our own inner guidance.

There may come a time when all the suggestions can become overbearing. We may feel that the people we love don‚t approve of our judgment, which can hurt our feelings. It can interfere with the choices we make for our lives by making us doubt ourselves, or filling a void with their wishes before we‚ve had a chance to decide what we want. It can affect us energetically as well. We may have to deal with feelings of resistance or the need to shut ourselves off from them. But we can take some time to rid ourselves of any unnecessary doubts and go within to become clear on what we desire for ourselves.

We can tell our loved ones how much we appreciate their thoughts and ideas, but that we need to live our own lives and make our own decisions. We can explain that they need to let us learn from our own experiences rather than rob us of wonderful life lessons and the opportunity to fine-tune our own judgment. When they see that we are happy with our lives and the path we are taking to reach our goals, they can rest assured that all we need them to do is to share in our joy.


-Taken from Daily Om

In the Classroom

Last week I was asked to speak to a group of students regarding their careers and job search. As an HR consultant, teachers love having us in their classroom because they think we can talk some sense into their non-compliant students about the importance of having some glowing career...I have to laugh because the non-compliant kids are usually the ones who end up doing what they want  and living the happiest lives. Anyway, knowing that the school system usually doesn't do a very good job with part one of teaching kids about job search, I decided to take this on myself. This may have been a mistake because the teacher seemed shocked as I started to write on the board. I couldn't help but to smile inside knowing I was pissing her off, but I felt this must be done.

This was the exercise:

Take out a sheet of paper and divide into two sections. On one side, write down the career that you think your teachers, parents and others would prefer you do for the rest of your life. On the other side, write down what you would love to do with your life. Do not consider income or any other obstacles your teachers, parents, etc may have laid out for you in that career.

Now, once you've gotten them down, draw a big X through the side that others would like for you to do and draw a big circle around what you want to do.

Smiles on the kids faces! Yes!!

We then talked about how adults who are performing jobs/careers that are aligned with who they are (regardless of money) are more successful than others who are performing jobs out of obligation to society or others. Gasp from the teacher.....and smile from me!

This particular school happened to be one that was preparing these children for a career in technology but when I asked the kids to share, there interests were those geared toward writing, photography, etc. Why are we prepping kids for something they don't want to do??

After hearing from the kids, I created a sample mind map on the board. The mind map was geared towards a plan of how they were going to achieve that career in their lives (they are allowed to change their minds as much as they like).

Here is a sample:



I haven't yet feared out how to upload a clear pdf so if any readers know how to do this, by all means, please comment.

The basis of the mind map was this:
-Get a job in a photography shop to learn and earn money to purchased a camera
-Join yearbook at school to cultivate skills
-Take classes offered in the community
-Research other ways to get educated post high school
-Interact with others interested in photography and learn from each other
-When I feel ready, create a website and start promoting my work to family and friends


Each child completed a mind map for their career choice. Their homework was to hang this in a place they'd see every day.

Your homework: Do this with yourself. Are you performing a job or career that isn't aligned with who you are? If the answer is yes, how can you make small changes today to move yourself into a place where you get to do more of what you love. Go back to that vision board and make sure you include those changes on the vision board.


Feel free to comment on this post...would love to hear your feedback!!

All About Vision Boards

Happy Hump Day Everyone!!! 

Yesterday I shared with you my vision board and how I came to determine what it is I wanted in life. Today, I'm posting a link from a site a found which tells all about the Law of Attraction and Vision Boards. I think this information will be helpful in creating your Vision Board at home.

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/How_to_Use_a_Vision_Board_to_Activate_the_Law_of_Attraction.html

Also, feel free to upload pictures of your Vision Board if you have one or similar ideas. I love hearing your stories, etc as well so please comment!!

Have a great day!!

Kelli

Discovering What You Want

I remember a time in my life feeling clueless as to what I wanted out of it. People around me seemed to know what they wanted,  yet I couldn't tell you what excited me in the very least. I was numb....I was so tired of the daily grind I couldn't even begin to tell you what I was really, really passionate about.

Books started to fall into my lap....
The Artist Way by Julia Cameron
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Dark Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore
The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

...a few to say the least. I started reading. For nearly two years, I read and read and read and read. I read myself out of the whole.

But my mother, who is a life coach specializing in children, is the one who gave the greatest suggestion. "What about a Vision Board?" She'd say. "A Vision Board?" I responded, "What the hell is that?"

Well, below become my first Vision Board. You see, what I was searching for was so simple. I was looking for some great answer but it lay in small cut outs and notes to self. I wanted to learn to play fiddle like Michael Doucet of Beau Soleil, I wanted to rock the guitar, I wanted to re-visit the Arc de Triomph, I wanted to sit on the beach in Hawaii, I wanted to "work no more", I wanted the small purple flip flops, I wanted to lie in the grass everyday like the girl in the photo and I wanted her sunglasses. I think you get the point.

So, homework assignment for readers: get a vision board!!!! Start your cut outs! And start cutting and pinning your way to discovering what you want.

Introduction

Several years ago, I started a "Vision Board" that included pictures of all the places I wanted to visit and all the things I wanted to do. I hung it near my desk where I could see it every day. It was a constant reminder of what I wanted in my life and helped me make conscious decisions that would eventually lead to living my dreams. I soon after met my boyfriend and "Vision Partner", Troy, who I like to call T-Roy. He shared many of the dreams on my "Vision Board" and in December 2010 we decided it was time to execute our first dream, selling everything we own, purchasing an RV and traveling the USA until we were tired of it. 

Upon executing our dream, we shared this with many of our friends and family members. We received overwhelming support but also overwhelming responses of, "wish I was going with you!" and "how did you make that work?" Being a small business owner and extremely organized, I had already started to "mind map' our preparation. I was filled with excitement but also a strong desire to share this with the people we love so that they may have the courage and tools to fulfill their dreams as well. Our plan is to mind map our entire preparation process, trip and anything else that would completely stress a person out. Our hope is that you are able to use the tools we share to execute similar dreams you have as well. We love you! Happy planning and more than anything, happy dreaming!!