Lori Lavender Luz

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Tension release: From cranky to compassion

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Feb 9, 2012, 9:00 am
Tessa and I had been on edge with each other all day. Finally in the early evening I invited her to cuddle with me on the couch. “Neither of us slept well last night. I think we’re just tired,” I offered an explanation why we were both cranky. “But mom, YOU don’t have a hurt
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Wrap Your Valentine in a Warm Embrace at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Feb 8, 2012, 4:37 pm
Looking for a Valentine's experience to share with that special someone? Here is a guest post from the folks at the Ritz-Carlton in Bachelor Gulch (Beaver Creek, Colorado). I have not had the pleasure to personally review the experiences listed below, but I can certainly vouch for the Ritz-Carlton S...
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Time Warp Tuesday: What I craved

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Feb 7, 2012, 4:49 pm
I’m participating in Time Warp Tuesday, the semi-monthly bloghop offered by Kathy at Four of a Kind. This week’s theme is  Comments Please, and our assignment gives us a chance to: …revisit a an old blog entry that you are proud of and invite others doing the Time Warp to read and give it the...
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VIPs: Very Important Posts #4

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Feb 6, 2012, 9:00 am
Below is a collection of posts from January that made me think long after I read them. Whether you are already acquainted with these writers or not, I encourage you to click over to see if these posts are meaningful to you, too. Adoption in the City has a post called An Untapped Resource that
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Self-acceptance and unconditional love

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Feb 3, 2012, 10:50 am
As part of its Life Well Lived series, BlogHer asks: How do you practice self-acceptance and find unconditional love for yourself? How does practicing love first help you attract more love and happiness in your life? I was very other-oriented in my teens and 20s. I sought the approval of my parents,...
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Wordless Wednesday: Infrared

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Feb 1, 2012, 9:00 am
Self-portrait with a heat-sensing camera last week at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
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Because I just got taller

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Jan 26, 2012, 9:00 am
I had a biennial physical this week. Everything was great and one vital statistic was better than great: I am a half-inch taller than I used to be. I attribute it to yoga. A steady yoga practice can put space into one’s spine to counter the compression that comes over time. I began practicing yoga...
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Perfect Moment Monday: Retreat

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Jan 22, 2012, 10:00 pm
As part of a year-long course I’m immersed in, I had the pleasure of spending a weekend with a group of authentic and supportive women (12 of us plus a teacher) at a dude ranch called Peaceful Valley. We drove up between snowfalls and, because of the time of year, ended up being the only
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My big announcement: Not paper pregnant but…

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Dec 8, 2011, 9:00 am
I. Deciding to try August, 2008. Dear Diary. Today I publicly declared myself a Writer, in response to Melissa’s Wishing Tree post. I’m still new at this and I don’t really know how bloggers make a living at blogging, but surely people make a living writing. Right?   II. Failed cycle Oct 2009...
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VIPs: Very Important Posts #2

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Dec 5, 2011, 9:00 am
Here is a collection of posts from the past few weeks that have made me think long after I read them. Click over to see if they are meaningful to you, too. Heather gets a double nod this month, first with Overlapping Family and also with Why I Do This Part 3. In the first
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Last day to sign up for Found book tour

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 30, 2011, 8:00 am
While there are only hours left to DECIDE to be part of this book tour, there’s still plenty of time to get and read the book before we discuss it in mid-January. Find details on this post about the book and the book tour. If you want to know more about captivating memoir take a
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Perfect Moment Monday: Free Fall-in'

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 27, 2011, 10:00 pm
When you get a 70 degree day on a weekend in November, it’s prudent to chuck the To Do list and play hookey from your chores. Roger and I, on a whim, loaded up the kids and pretended we were tourists in our own city. We stopped at an urban park and let Tessa and
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Random thanks: an oddball list

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 24, 2011, 9:00 am
Dear G*d / the Divine / Universe, Thank you for my blessings, especially the people. The have let me know love. Thank you things and people I once thought were curses. They have made me grow. Thank you for the times when things have gone easily for me. Like buttah. Thank you for the times
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A 1970s adoption story

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 21, 2011, 1:40 pm
Earlier this year, an acquaintance from high school (so many high school stories this month!) told me that her biological mom had died. She told me that the whole thing had been a nightmare and that I should write about it. I wanted to know more about what she meant by that and so Cheryl
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2011 Adoption Bloggers Interview Project

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 17, 2011, 9:00 am
Today is Interview Project day for more than 120 adoption bloggers. I therefore introduce to you to my partner-in-project, Allison of A Few Sprinkles Short of a Sundae. I had the chance to get to know Allison through her blog and through email. She is a Christian, a wife and a mom — by birth
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Find the perfection in imperfection

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 7, 2011, 9:01 am
In the early 1990s, when I was a lonely yuppie, yearning to meet the man who would make my heart sing and to start a family with him, I read a book by Dan Millman called The Life You Were Born to Live: A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose. I knew that my life
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VIPs: Very Important Posts

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 2, 2011, 9:00 am
Once in awhile I’ll be listing here some Very Important Posts that are worth sharing. I’ll collect them over time and post when the list hits critical mass. The inaugural VIP list includes these posts, all with the theme of Adoption, which is appropriate because November is dedicated to adoption...
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Time Warp Tuesday: Embarrassment in the coffee shop

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Nov 1, 2011, 9:53 am
Before I get into the current post, check out my article today on Mile High Mamas : What Kind of Mother ARE You?? Would love for you to take my 4-question quiz and leave a comment there. Are you more Carol Brady or Peg Bundy? ~~~~~ I’m participating in Time Warp Tuesday, the weekly bloghop
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Out of proportion sad

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 30, 2011, 8:00 pm
A girl from my high school class died the other day. I am so sad. Out of proportion sad. I would call “Linda” more of an acquaintance than a friend. We went to different middle schools so we didn’t come into each others’ orbits until high school. Still, we had mutual friends and we were
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7 points about the birth mom conversations

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 26, 2011, 9:00 am
Recently my son opened up to me asking questions about his birth mom and I responded as best I could. The first two posts in this series simply recounted the conversations. In this third and last post, I offer commentary about the dialog between my son and me and about the comments the posts generat...
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Perfect Moment Monday: The ordinary is extraordinary

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 23, 2011, 10:00 pm
It’s a lazy Saturday, and an unseasonably warm one for mid-October. I’m taking advantage of the lazy part by reading a good book and taking an afternoon snooze. The others in my family are taking advantage of the gorgeous weather by heading outside. I awake from my short nap to the sound of merr...
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Wordless Wednesday: October colors

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 19, 2011, 9:00 am
If you’re seeing this in a reader, click through for some purty colors.
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Processing adoption: Conversation with my son, part 2

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 17, 2011, 9:00 am
In part one, I told how my still-and-deep-water son was churning some adoption stuff, and how he trusted me to do it with him. I am honored. ~~~~~ Reed and I were running errands the next day. Tessa stayed home with Daddy to build the first fire of the season. Brrrr….it had gotten chilly! Bedtime&...
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Book Tour: Found, a Memoir by Jennifer Lauck

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 13, 2011, 3:44 pm
November is National Adoption Awareness Month and is just a few weeks away. To mark it, I invite you to join me in reading a memoir written by an adult adoptee from the closed era. I selected the book Found because: knowing and understanding adoptee perspectives helps me to know and understand parts...
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My son processes a new layer of his adoptedness

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 10, 2011, 9:00 am
Adam Pertman told the story (which I’m paraphrasing, perhaps badly) at last month’s Open Adoption Symposium of his teenage son, playing a handheld game in his room one night. Trying to keep the lines of communication open, Adam stepped into his son’s room and asked, “Son, how often do you th...
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Autumn mandala

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 8, 2011, 9:00 am
Seems like a good time to re-run this image, my Fall mandala. More mandalas, including a link to print and color your own. Wishing you all a color-filled weekend.
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Time Warp Tuesday: Hello again, Judgy

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 5, 2011, 9:00 am
I’m a little late for Time Warp Tuesday. Unless, of course, I warp time. Let me take you to a universe where Wednesday = Tuesday, mmmmK? Kathy‘s assignment this week is to dig up our All-Time Favorite post. Which is hard! Kind of like choosing a favorite child. Which isn’t always hard but is o...
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The lessons of Soul Surfer, as interpreted by my daughter

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Oct 3, 2011, 9:00 am
Tessa, Reed and I are watching Soul Surfer, a DVD that Tessa picked out from the local Redbox with Daddy while Mommy was out of town. They’ve already watched it but we see it again together. It’s a feel-good movie with heartwarming moments of triumph over adversity and portrayal of family unity ...
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Time Warp Tuesday: Revisiting the Petri dish

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 27, 2011, 12:50 pm
I’m excited to be part of the inaugural outing of Time Warp Tuesday hosted by Four of a Kind, in which we bring back a post from our past and look at it anew. Our prompt this time is Waiting. I’m stretching the meaning a bit to mean waiting for the wheels of justice to
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Perfect Moment Monday: My StarCon experience

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 25, 2011, 8:30 pm
Now I know how Trekkies feel. Not during their “real” lives, but while at StarCon. I got to spend the weekend with one of my clans. A bunch of mostly strangers with a common experience and passion and language and pointy ears. Well, maybe not that last one, but a bunch of people who really
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goodnessKnows® Luscious Snackbars Giveaway

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 20, 2011, 9:00 am
While I'm not able to personally review these healthy snack items due to a lifelong nut allergy, I can tell you that my husband and kids snarfed down goodnessKnows® Luscious Snackbars with particular zest. I recently attended a luncheon sponsored by goodnessKnows® and Belly Bliss in Che...
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Survey SAYS

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 19, 2011, 10:20 am
Thanks to all of you for participating the survey questions I posed last month about blogging. There were a few things revealed that I didn’t expect — one being that respondents (n=100) came from 11 countries on 5 continents. What?? No Antarctica? I asked a non-representative sample of bloggers ...
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A post for Denver locals: two upcoming events

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 14, 2011, 10:00 am
I’ve got two opportunities to tell you Denver-area people about — and those of you who have Lear Jets and privileges at metro-Denver airports. Circus First, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® is coming to town. This year’s show is called Fully Charged and promises an “all-new surge of circ...
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Perfect Moment Monday returns September 25

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 12, 2011, 10:00 am
After a summer hiatus, Perfect Moment Monday is set to return in two weeks, September 25. With a twist. Rather than being a weekly meme, which began to feel like a chore to me (the antithesis of its purpose, which is to be mindful and present with what is), Perfect Moment Mondays will now take
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Nine Eleven, Ed McCaffrey, Stephen Covey and me

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 11, 2011, 1:11 pm
Tuesday’s horror was preceded by Monday Night Football I went to bed feeling sick the night of September 10, 2001. My sports hero was Ed McCaffrey, #87 and Denver Broncos wide-receiver, general nice guy and spectacular athlete. During that night’s Monday Night Football game against the NY Giants...
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The Unhealthy Truth (with giveaway) and why I'm on alert for frankenfood

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 6, 2011, 9:00 am
Along with some other writers, I was invited to lunch one day in July with a woman named Robyn O’Brien, founder of AllergyKids, for an event sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt  — which, to its credit, seemed mostly interested in getting Robyn’s word out and not so much in promoting its product. I...
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Giveaway: Stonyfield yogurt & The Unhealthy Truth

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 6, 2011, 9:00 am
Check out my review of Robyn O'Brien's ideas in The Unhealthy Truth over on my main blog, Write Mind Open Heart. You may enter the giveaway here. Stonyfield Yogurt is offering one winner, selected randomly, a package that includes: The Unhealthy Truth  The Stonyfield Yogurt Co...
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Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Sep 1, 2011, 9:00 am
..all you have to do is remember to take a picture and where you stood three months earlier. See also:         2010                  2009  
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Ayurveda 2: Pitta, Kapha, ama and a bit of time travel

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 29, 2011, 9:00 am
In my last post on the subject, I explained what Ayurveda means, what doshas are, and gave you a link to determine what your primary dosha might be (here’s a different one). I mentioned some dietary considerations for my type, Vata. I want to even things out and give you some dietary consideration...
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The obligatory first-day-of-school post

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 24, 2011, 11:04 am
I post this, as I have posted others, because one day I will be attending their high school graduations. And I will want to look back on this beautiful, glorious, independence-blossoming, confidence-bearing morning. Here’s to my bloomers.
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Shabby Apple dress: So much potential

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 23, 2011, 9:00 am
Remember in my last post when I said some reviews were easier to do than others? Well this one is the counter-balance to that one. (You HAVE entered the giveaway for $50 in OmShanti clothing, haven't you?) A year ago, ShabbyApple.com approached me to do a review and offered me to select o...
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Ayurveda: how I kicked a craving and began eating clean

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 22, 2011, 9:00 am
Earlier this year I interviewed the owner of a salt spa in Boulder for an article published at MileHighMamas.com. When I found out that Dr Nita Desai was both an MD and a Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, I was intrigued. Over the years I’ve been treated for a lung condition with western medicine ...
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Wordless Wednesday: Forty in a bed

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 17, 2011, 9:00 am
Sunday morning happy toes
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Bloggedy

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 13, 2011, 9:30 am
Many moons ago when I was new to blogging, I asked a bunch of questions of my readers to help me understand the world I’d begun inhabiting. I thought it would be revealing to ask the questions again to see what, if anything, has changed in 3+ years (which, as we know, is 21+ in
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Om Shanti Clothing. Zenilicious, with GIVEAWAY

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 11, 2011, 9:00 am
Some reviews are easier to do than others. It exciting to find a product that you want to TELL EVERYONE ABOUT. That make you want to PASS OUT CARDS TO STRANGERS AT A FESTIVAL. And that cause people to come up to you and ask, "Where did you get that outfit? It's GORGEOUS!" Allow me to pres...
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The Help: A movie review

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 10, 2011, 9:00 am
I often judge a movie by the number of times I check my watch during the showing of it. Score with this 2+ hour film? Zero. That means it’s a terrific movie that I fully engaged with. And my children, 10 and 8, were as rapt as I was. I reviewed Kathryn Stockett’s book, The
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Gratitude? Gratitude.

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Aug 4, 2011, 1:45 pm
My yoga teacher, Jane, harps and harps on gratitude. Got something good going on? Show gratitude! Got something bad going on? Show gratitude! And she’s always trying to open our hips because “open hips = happy heart.” And a happy heart is a grateful one. One day, after a very stretchy sequence...
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Answer me this #25: How long?

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Jul 30, 2011, 9:00 am
Do you ever wonder what percentage of your life is behind you and what percentage of your life is ahead of you? If you were to hazard a guess, what would those percentages be? Does this line of questioning creep you out? Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Book review: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Jul 29, 2011, 9:00 am
HarperCollins graciously sent me  a review copy of Gayle Tzemach Lemmon's documentary novel The Dressmaker of Khair Khana.* The author, a former ABC News producer turned MBA student, sought to tell the story of a female entrepreneur in a war zone. She came upon Kamela, a teenager and one of nine si...
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Unexpected fallout

Lori Lavender Luz posted an article on - Jul 27, 2011, 12:03 pm
Once in awhile, a situation goes down 180 degrees differently from how I think it will. Something goes horribly awry, despite my best intentions and the clearest foresight available to me. It has happened in the last two weeks. Twice. In the first instance, I publicized a cause that was important to...
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About Me

Lori was named a Must-Read Mom by Parenting magazine and has written for Adoptive Families magazine, for regional newspapers, and for the readers of her blog, WriteMindOpenHeart.com. She speaks and consults about how to build a child-centered open adoption.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: National open adoption Examiner - Family | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/open-adoption-in-national/lori-holden#ixzz1K7gcZALC

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