take time to stop and breathe them in.....

since thursday we have been on a mad dash to find the most perfect graduation ensemble.


the perfect dress found on the internet
the perfect dress found in the store location indicated on the internet
the perfect shrug to go with the perfect dress found but passed up for the possibility for something better
go back for the perfect shrug since a more perfect one could not be found after 30 stores
the perfect pair of shoes found on the internet to go with the perfect dress
discover that shoes do not fit comfortably
find me a dress to wear to stephs graduation
drive to 1, 322 payless shoe stores to find a perfect pair of size 12 shoes to go with the perfect dress
find another pair of perfect shoes online at torrid

call torrid to see if they have in our local store.....................to do list

cross finger, toes, and any other cross-able body parts in hopes torrid has the perfect shoe to go with the perfect dress in stock......to do list

before we go on the mad dash tomorrow remember to stop and stick my nose deep into the center of these beautiful blooms on my porch and breath them in........to do list

put the computer down and crawl into bed and have sweet dreams and hope the blisters on my feet feel better so i can wear another really cute pair of shoes all day tomorrow while running from store to store to store to store to store

remember what i said about bugs a few entries down......

as i type this creature has invaded my territory........

a husband who can not decide which bouquet of flowers to buy, so he buys both, makes me smile

how lucky am i to have this man?

a mix of
flowers bright and full of color
arranged in a mix
of new and vintage glass bottles
assembled on a vintage cake stand
sit on our kitchen table
inviting their admirers to lean in and
breathe them in

white daisies and a simple vintage jar
to greet us first thing in the morning

these simple things make me smile.

family outings make me smile

sometimes the best family outing is right at home.
gathered around the table.
each creating our own colorful culinary creations.

bargains make me smile

shopping old navy's clearance racks

back outside you go

why is it most can scoop up a lady bug, rollie pollie, or daddy long legs without hesitation, and giggle as there legs tickle while they stroll the terrain that is our body, yet we same people will run, scream, grab the nearest shoe or rolled up magazine to quickly exterminate any other multi legged intruder to our territory.....and heaven forbid one land on us.

just a thought i had while scooping this little lady up in my bedroom moments ago to escort her back outside.

a day to bond....girls only....no boys allowed

dad (hubby) at work.......check
sam sleeping all day because he was awake all night at a lock-in with a friend......check
max at a sleepover and staying to play the day away.....check

that just leaves us 2 girls in the house, at least as far as humans go.

things to do list:

browse the internest for stuff we want to buy

pout for a few seconds over the stuff that costs wayyyyy too much

pick a few very inexpensive things to buy from ebay

giggle

talk about girlie stuff

talk about women stuff

giggle alot

teach daughter to do macrame square knot

look for sights to learn that windy curvy macrame knot thingy

giggle again

do some housework together

watch part of a movie together until sam wakes up, dad (hubby) is home, and max calls for change of clothes

dinner eaten, everyone but mom tucked snug and warm into bed

another memory cherished while being added to blog
do one last load of laundry

tuck myself into bed

a batch of peanut butter cookies, mixed, scooped onto parchment, criss-crossed, and baked up in a jiffy
to send over
with a change of clothes for max
who is spending a second night in a row with
a good friend
he has not spent time with
outside of school
in a long time

ahhh, grandpa is home after working a 12 hour shift
today.
he is called grandpa because this started out as steph's puppy 4 years ago.

so, steph was the mommy, and so bill became grandpa.

mollie, always has been and always will be a princess, in her own mind.
she treasures any time away from mia, as you can see
she is on my kitchen table and it drives me nuts, but a little anywhere spray will fix that up later.

mollie can see that grandpa needs help on the computer and comes to his rescue

mia has decided mollie has had enough time with grandpa and wants to play.....mia is the black and white blurrrrrr. mia bounces everywhere all of the time. just like max.

here is what i did today.....what did you do?

today was a little here and there day
for some reason i found myself antsy
and a bit a.d.d.
not able to focus for too long on just one
task
so i made the best of it
and worked a bit in my studio
cleaned a bit in my studio
chatted with my birdies a bit in my studio
played with the puppies
cleaned
and took some new photos of
luvlies available in my etsy shop

life is a class room, experience our teacher

shower time is my time

to think

to give thanks

to pray

to contemplate the day

to contemplate the week, month year

today i thought of the future

today i thought of the past few days

i almost felt like each of the

past few days was a chapter in a text book

divided

that at the end of the chapter

i would have a full understanding

of the lesson

some lessons are huge

some lessons make a huge change in our life at the exact moment of impact

some are small

sometimes the small lessons

have the biggest overall impact on our lives

but we don't notice

until we look back

and then their significance is beyond words.

a couple of years ago i fell in love with old schoolhouse pictures.

i hated school as a child for many reasons.

why this love of old schoolhouse pictures then?

this love came to be

when i began to embrace each day and the lesson it taught.

once i began to love life, i also loved school, or the concept.

one lesson i had always had a hard time understanding was an experience

was not good or bad, it was how i chose to receive it, see it, feel it.

one of the toughest spoonfuls of medicine to swallow was that

it was of my choosing that i became angry or frustrated, or sad

during a situation.

life does not happen to me.

once i learned this lesson

everyday became more joyful

it is my choice to have an experience and then choose to remain joyful

i had not realized the impact of this shift in thinking

until making cookies for my hubby and his co-workers

yesterday.

i sat out enough butter to make one batch.

i thought to myself even though i send all but a dozen or so with him to work

there never seems to be enough to go around

one co-worker never goes off his diet for any other cookie but

mine.

maybe i should make a double batch

ugh....what a pain to stir that much dough

the time it will take to bake them all

i walked out of the kitchen and then turned right back around

took out more butter, enough for a double batch.

my one simple act of baking cookies, a couple of hours

of my day

causes friends, co-workers to gather, connect with each other,

bring joy to each other

what a simple way to cause a ripple in the pond of life

in a positive way.

to bring a bit of joy to one person's day

and in turn that person's joy brings joy

to another

and then that person brings joy to another

and another

and so on.

it is so amazing to me that one simple act of kindness

that seems so tiny

so insignificant

really is not.

when you think about it

it can be mind blowing

how many people had

a better experience in their day

and passed it on, and like that ripple in the pond it

expanded and and expanded .

and i opened the egg carton and

read this

i am not a religious person.

i do not see that i will ever be of one particular religion.

my spiritual path is my own.

at times my path may meet up with others paths.

i find that one moment a quote from buddah or the t'ao will bring

inspiration, understanding or an ah-ha moment.

maybe it is a proverb from ireland, china or some other far away place.

today it was a passage from the bible.

joel osteen has been bringing this message to followers recently quite a bit.

today, in the shower i realized just how many times in my short life that i have had an opportunity to live this message.

having to put the lid back on this for the 1,329,301

time today,

i realized i did not become angry, frustrated, aggravated.

i did not want to scream.

i did not want to assemble the family and again explain that

if you can take the lid off

you can put it back on

i realized that years ago learning this one lesson

by almost dying twice, events that daily makes me rethink my priorities,

has made such an impact on the amount of joy in my life

i put the lid back on

i smiled

and gave thanks

i gave thanks that i have these 4 wonderful people in my life

that are healthy enough to take care of themselves

these 4 people i love so very much.

weeping cherry tree necklace, inspired by my favorite little tree in my front yard.

handmade just for you, available now at my etsy shop.

african turquoise, teal faceted fresh water pearls, red coral, red swarovski crystal. just for you, on etsy

mollie

mia

while taking re-shoots of pieces already on etsy today i managed to snap a couple of shots of the puppies who are camera shy....amazing what dangling a small bribe in front of the camera will do.

new pictures of mookite necklace and bracelet available from my etsy shop.

new photos of mookite bracelet and necklace on etsy

re-shoot of necklace already listed on etsy.

what do you think?

these are re-shoots of a necklace i have listed on etsy already.

what do you think?

the bracelet that coordinates with the necklace a few postings down.

what do you think?

nature filled day

sitting in my bedroom i felt as though i was being watched.....creepy-neighbor-guy surely could not see me from where i was at....chills went down my spine.......i hate that feeling....then i saw him sitting there....the same squirrel that had been chased up a different tree in our yard earlier by a neighbors cat. a bit later i saw a bit of movement and thought the cat was after the squirrel again, but instead found a couple of hefty bunnies playing with each other. they are huge! twice the size of our chihuahuas.

later max returned home with his goodies from playing in a creek with a friend all day. just like when i was a little girl
he finds something totally irresistable about rocks
he let me keep most of them, but not the neatest ones. the big one is going by our little man made pond that is home to several frogs.
the partial turtle shell....i told him to take that thing right back outside. no way was that thing going on my kitchen table.
i am sure it was no more dirty or germy than the rocks, but i really did not want the partial remains of a turtle corpse staring back at me from the kitchen table while i was making dinner.

art is coming soon. i am hoping there is enough sun peeking through the clouds so i can re-shoot pics of luvlies i have on etsy already, as well as some new pieces.