The Pioneer- Digital Collage

Digital Collage from various vintage papers 

Ten things that made me smile this past week, in no particular order, of course:

1.  This collage artist.  Love love love her work.

2.  Having lunch and catching up with a great friend and hearing about all of the wonderful things happening in her life.  So proud of where she is and where she is going.  There is nothing better than celebrating life accomplishments with a good friend.  Lifting each other up is what it is all about.

3.  Watching my daughter perform in her drama classes' children's theatre as a bossy, over-the-top stage manager in the play Red vs. The Wolf.  Her performance was fantastic and I can tell she loves drama so much.  Nothing better than watching your kids do what they love.

4.  This post from Lady Fi.  Ahhhhh...I would so love to be there right now.

5.  This delicious concoction!  Yep, this made me smile.  I know I am not supposed to have caffeine, and it does have a few ingredients I try to stay away from (sugar for one), but man, when I tasted this I had to have them.  So, to keep my diet as clean as possible, I only have 1/2 carton every 3-5 days as a special treat.  So thankful that all ingredients are organic, gluten free, and dairy free or I wouldn't be able to have it!

6.  Passing inspection for the next phase of our building project!  They are getting ready to pour concrete for our wrap-around porch, the mudroom, the garage, the storage space, and the work-out room!  Can't wait for all of this to be finished so they can concentrate on getting my studio/office space drywalled!

7.  Seeing my son's college class list for next year.  He will be taking 15 credits in the fall and I am so excited for him and this next phase of his life.  So proud of the young man he is...now if we can just get him through college!

8.  These block heads made me smile.  I dare you not to. ;)

9.  The show The Willis Family- Y'all know I am a sucker for reality shows, and I really like this family!  I've enjoyed the first two episodes so far.

10. Hearing my youngest son got his first hit this baseball season...a hard smack right down third base line that landed in outfield.  It should have been a double as his coach was telling him to go to second, but he was so excited about getting a hit that he stopped on first and jumped up and down cheering and didn't hear his coach signal for him to continue to second base!  I missed the hit because I took my oldest daughter at her semi-final tournament soccer game at the same time; but it was great to hear my son tell me the story and see his face light up as he recounted the details.

Hoping you have a wonderful Thursday!  xo

A Little Friday Smile Party

The pier at Venice Beach in Florida

Ten things that made me smile this week.

1.  Wild-  Have you seen it yet?  I loved it and now want to read the book more than ever!  This movie really resonated with me and I connected with the main character very closely.  I can't wait to get the book and start reading!

2.  The Theory of Everything- Loved this one too. Check it out if you have not.  Truly a humbling experience to watch this movie and wrap my brain around this man's life and accomplishments despite his illness.  I also was in awe of his wife, Jane, who was an amazing person in her own right.

3.  Girls Night Out!  Yep, Wednesday night I went out with three other girlfriends to....wait for it...the library!  :)  You know you are getting old when your girls' night out is to the local library for a Science Cafe presentation.  We went to hear a program about the brain and how the brain is affected by illnesses such as Lyme.  It was informative and I really enjoyed spending some time with the neighborhood ladies (two of which also have Lyme.)

4.  Watching my oldest daughter play soccer-  She had two games this week and I truly love watching her play, especially since she will be aging out of the program soon.  These moments are sweet...sitting on the sideline and cheering for her team.  So far they have won 2 and tied 1 game...good start to the season.

5.  Helping my son pick out a corsage for his date to prom- Now that he is 18, in school, and has a job, I rarely see him!  We both live in this house, but we are like ships passing in the night.  So, any time I get to spend with him one on one is special and I treasure it.  We drove to the local florist this week to order his date's corsage and we had a wonderful conversation in the car.  It made it sweeter when he said thank you to me when we got home.  <3

6.  Spring cleaning and selling some "junk" at a flea market and consignment shop- Last Saturday I participated in a local flea market and made over $100 getting rid of things we don't use anymore!  It felt good to get rid of the piles of stuff, it felt good to sit with two friends all day while they were selling their stuff, it felt good to have the skin burn my skin slightly, and it felt good to chat with all the friendly people as they walked around!  It was a great (albeit exhausting) day!

7.  The Sketchbook Project-  Have you heard of this?  Sounds very cool and interesting and I am thinking about participating one day!  So cool that you can randomly flip through some sketchbooks digitally...could lose myself for hours doing this!

8.  KIND Healthy Grains Peanut Butter Clusters in a bowl with sliced up banana and almond milk.  Yum!  I have a 3 pack delivered right to my door through Amazon.  Life is good.

9.  Getting a call from The Gallery at 122 Main asking to keep my work in the gallery for one more show.  Yes, yes, yes!

10.  Inching closer to making a huge life/family decision that has been weighing on my mind for quite a while now.  I just have to go with my gut and trust God.  The whispering in my heart is there for a reason.  It feels good to be a few steps and a few answers closer to pulling the trigger.  No one likes unresolved life choices hanging out there.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I will be sending my son off to his senior prom on Saturday and construction on my new office/studio will continue this weekend, so it should be a good one for me!  TGIF!

On My Mind

"Biology gives you a brain.  Life turns it into a mind."

Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

Several things have been on my mind lately...one of them is that I wanted to share some link love with you.  Today's link love theme is health!

First, thanks to two close friends who discovered this, I have been introduced to Trisha Yearwood's Power Balls!  I made them a bit differently than her, but basically it was the same idea.  Instead of just sunflower seeds, I used a mix of sprouted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, organic, of course.  The other difference is that I don't have a food processor, so I just chopped the dried cranberries a bit but otherwise everything went into the bowl and was mixed as is.  It comes out chunky, but delicious none-the-less.  So, if you don't have a food processor, don't worry!  Please make sure you use RAW Honey!!!  Very important!  I used all organic ingredients, but of course, that is not necessary if you don't choose to be organic.  My entire family (except my oldest child) loved these and there was a fight at breakfast time over who would get the last ones!  My oldest child does not like peanut butter, so that is why he didn't care for these.

Secondly, I have been reading a lot about the benefits of drinking hot lemon water with raw honey. So, I decided to give it a shot since I am not drinking morning coffee anymore.  I have to be honest...at first I was not a fan.  It was very sour and it actually gave me a bit of a stomachache.  I started with a so-so lemon and I used half, as the recipe called for.  I could barely get it down.  Not wanting to be deterred, I did some more research and found that many people actually have to start with a quarter lemon and work their way up to half a lemon.  Also, you have to be sure to use high quality, organic lemons that are ripe.  So, I gave that a shot and have to say, it is much more tolerable.  It took me a good week to get used to it and now I actually look forward to drinking it in the morning.  It is a fairly new practice for me, so I can't say that I have had a huge health benefit yet, however, I do know that three of my family members have had terrible head colds and I, so far, have been able to avoid it!  That is saying a lot considering my demolished immune system.

The last one for today is yoga nidra, or yogi sleep.  I stumbled across this when I was researching some pain management techniques for controlling my Lyme and co-infection pain.  I was a bit skeptical because I am not a good meditator at all, but turns out you don't have to be.  When I am in need of a rest in the middle of the day, I put on my sound canceling earphones and listen to the yoga nidra script.  I keep the track right on my iPhone, so I always have it if I need it.  I found this website that has free downloads of various types of scripts.  Find one that you like and give it a shot.  It is not just about pain relief, it is about stress relief too and reconnecting with your inner voice.

The above piece was inspired by a commercial I saw the other day on television.  I think it may have been for Febreze, but am not positive.  It showed this woman walking around with butterflies and swirls, and all sorts of lovely things flying out of her hair as she moved.  Now that I think about it, maybe it was a shampoo commercial.  LOL. I don't remember because I was so caught be the idea of mixing a head shot with something else, that I ignored the rest of the ad.  Anyway, this is what resulted from that inspiration.  Funny how we can find ideas in everyday things!

TGIF!  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!