By Kate Hawkes April 25, 2011 - 4:58pm

It has been a very remarkable week or so. Friday 2 weeks ago, the 15th, I was married at the base of the little white mountain in the AZ desert where we met...with our two daughters and immediate family to witness it. The party for everyone was held in our garden on Sunday afternoon.

The girls made me a bouquet of flowers lilacs from the garden and wild orange flowers from the desert. After the little ceremony, during which we burned sage, created a water circle, burned candles and allowed our feet to be naked on the earth, we walked to the top of Sacred Mountain. There we honored the ancient pueblos and felt the immensity of the land below, around and above.

The family stayed for the week and we picnicked at Buddha Beach in Sedona, walked up Cathedral Rock in the late afternoon sun, kayaked on a lake near Prescott and visited the Grand Canyon. We cooked, ate, napped, and played scrabble.

I also cleaned horse yards and fed the horses,we played with dogs and prepared their food each 3 days, and started watering the garden for real.

In short, life went on, like breathing, even as the blooms of family danced around us. The beginning of our official life together was blessed with perfect weather,great generosity, surprises and much beauty. It was rooted in the realities of living.. the regular things you do regardless of the special events.

It feels balanced - family and friends, conversation and discovery, the earth/wind/water and fire. Spring has arrived and I am joyfully moving into its embrace.