Into the new..

New Hair...

New year to look forward to with Bo...

New Books to read...(bottom one is Bo's, mine are the Looking Glass Wars)

New necklace made for myself. :)

September 11th...

 I want to remember... how you put footprints in my heart when I first met you and now 19 years later it is not only still there but deeper than ever. ♥

I know today, September 11th is a day everyone remembers and should, but there are also good moments to Sept 11th. Number one for me is my anniversary of our marriage in our cute little white church on post at Ft. Wainwright, Alaska. Renewing our vows and saying "I do" again just made it all so real for us.
19 years later we are still experiencing the ups and downs of life still holding hands through it all with our hearts as one. Number two is this is also the day my brother Alex and his wife Franny said their vows to each other. They too are a couple to be admired. Their relationship and support for each other should be an inspiration for others. :)

So even if I do bow my head in silence in remembrance of how this day affected our nation, I will also be giving thanks for the life I have because of a decision to give my heart to one person for the rest of my life. ♥

Vintage Love.....

There is something about older things, the vintage, the worn the rusty looking materials that were once used back in the day that conjure up thoughts and feelings. I have the opportunity here to visit our antique stores here and just walk around and take in the architecture of our quiet downtown.  I love old doors, windows, and old keys. I have a collection of images and actual skeleton keys to remind me of a time passed. The images in the collage were taken at a nearby historic railroad town of Glendale, KY. Enjoy and have a Happy Tuesdays. :)

Life's interruptions...

We all go through our days in scheduled ways or at least it is in my household. But as we all know life doesn't follow a schedule of events, it likes to throw in interruptions and not all the time are they good interruptions. Right now my family and I are dealing with one of those moments when a certain news hits home and you either succumbed to your emotional reactions and fear or you take it in, think of positive ways to get through, and move forward.

My husband who just turned 39 this 2nd of September will be undergoing a delicate and serious surgery for his cervical vertebrae. His herniation and extrusion is so bad that it is not just pinching nerves but his spinal cord in half. We knew by the results of his neck MRI's that things may be headed that direction but we didn't realize the emergence of it and didn't expect it to be so soon. We were made aware of it this week that we will be traveling out of state for his surgery. We have always taken pride in the fact that we have been pretty healthy all our lives and that our kids have been the same, so to come to the realization of how vulnerable and delicate our bodies are, can affect us in all levels.

For now we are getting ready for this event, trying to keep a positive mindset and spending quality time with our kids. This weekend Bo, I and Jared went down to Bowling Green to spend time with our son Nick who attends WKU for Bo's birthday.  It was nice to have all my guys together again. We have sure missed Nick.

As for me I have to keep on reminding myself to give myself the peace, the quiet moments and to even be more aware of the beauty around us to keep my spirit strong and my fears at bay so that I have the strength to take care of my husband.

Creativity, keeps me going.

Walter Anderson Screen Prints I have been working on that were painted with watercolor.

I also started my collection of reading materials for the hours spent in a hospital waiting room or for the quiet moments while my husband heals.

This Labor Day weekend we were able to just spend some time together and with the boys. Next weekend will be the first of many Saturdays taken up by cross country races and will continue on to wrestling tournaments for Jared. Life doesn't stop for anyone, we just have to adjust as Bo recovers, to be able to enjoy it and still take the time to live it with a positive outlook so that we can give Bo the strength to heal.

I hope you all had a great weekend. Thank you for stopping by. :)

Waving Hello...

Hello, I know it has been quite a while since I was on here. I seem to go through these phases of just being quiet.

So here is just a snippet of the latest news:

• Our family had a beautiful time together in Florida this July
• I am still working on online art workshops and my college classes
• Jared is now a senior in high school
• Jared chose to run cross country this year and we will be busy again this fall
• Nick moved into the dorms at Western Kentucky University and starts classes tomorrow.
• We took a side trip as a family to Cincinnati before Nick left for college and enjoyed visiting the Aquarium and Museums.
• I ran my first 5K this last Saturday and accomplished my goal with the support of awesome family and friends
• Our time in Kentucky is almost up. We find out where we have to move next in the early part of 2013.

Challenges in our lives has taught us to take in the moments and spend more of our precious time with those we love.  My journey through art, photography and writing has helped give confidence to my dreams and the callings of my heart. Hoping to continue to listen to those whispers and continue on to my path.

Have a great day and hope you all are having a wonderful month. I cannot believe August is almost over with. But I am sure looking forward to the cooler temperatures of the fall season mostly after our hot summer.

Nick is an Honor Graduate!

These last weeks has been an emotional roller coaster of events and experiences. I am very proud to be a parent of an honor graduate who has earned a scholarship to attend school at Western Kentucky University to pursue his dreams of being a pharmacist.

My Mom arrived from Alaska on the 14th and all my days were busy not only showing her what it is like to live in Kentucky but also dealing with all the pre-graduation events for Nick and ending the school year for Jared. So let's just say I averaged if even a couple hours of sleep. We celebrated my Mom's birthday at Maker's Mark Distillery and drove to Bowling Green, KY to show her the National Corvette Museum and Nick's future college. She left yesterday and today I finally crashed. So here are some pictures to share I will make sure to share more in the near future.

 My Mom arrived from Alaska on May 14th.

Some pictures of Nick's graduation

I am now officially a mother of a college student and a senior! And to even make me more proud both boys report cards were straight A's and a 4.0 GPA to end the year with despite the hard honor classes and AP classes they had. Now to rest up a bit and get caught up in my classes and unwind from all the festivities to get ready for a nice break in July.

Bloom True Experience

Funny how the little things like receiving a package can alter your whole week to a much better direction. :)
    
     On February 6th 2012 I was excited to be a part of a great experience. I was about to start my Bloom True E-Course with Flora Bowley. It was an early birthday gift to myself and I knew I needed this course not only to guide me in my art but also to reassure myself that even if it may be rocky at times my path in being an artist and knowing that within me is a real experience. I have to say Flora was the perfect instructor for that, to show us that not all the time do you always have to plan what comes out in your painting but to be intuitive and to learn from our own selves what we love and what we are drawn to and what grounds us.

     Since then we experienced another shift in our household. And emotional one. In March right after the class ended I ended up getting really sick off something I ate and had a very intense allergic reaction. My husband happened to be gone and thankful for a great friend to help bring me to the Emergency Room of our military post which was 20 miles away from where I live. The reaction was so bad that they actually had to cut my wedding ring off my finger or else I would lose blood circulation to that finger. It took a week to recover and even feel a bit normal then we got hit with the news not even a couple weeks after of my father in law passing away. Still sick and Bo finally being home we had to last minute rush to drive down to the Coast of Mississippi to not only attend but to also be part of the funeral. At that point my paintings should have been finished but it was hard to paint when your mind is not all together there and your are hurting both physically and emotionally. My journals then saw most of my work. It was easier to vent my feelings that way and to remind myself that this is all a part of life and at some point this gray area in our life will have to pass. 

     It is now May. Our schedules have been hectic with me finishing my spring college semester (which by the way I have a 4.0! A's in all my classes and rocked my finals) and all the events leading up to Nick's graduation. So to even have any time to my art work seems to be hiding in the corner. My paintings sit right in my living room to remind me to finish them, and believe me I really want to but the motivation was lost and I feel as that if I approach the canvas with the stress and negativity that has surrounded me lately, that I would just ruin the happy layers already on it.

    This morning the doorbell rang and sat at my doorstep was a package. Flora Bowley's new book that I was gifted due to being in her workshop had come!!! The excitement and the yearning to paint came flooding through me as I flipped through the pages of her book. I even made time today for some small projects and will leave reading the rest of the book before I head to bed so that I can have all those beautiful thoughts in my head to push me to work on more art tomorrow before my summer class starts tomorrow night. Thank you Flora for how you communicate with us through writings, your art and of course your personality and how you give us the confidence to just be who we really are. I am very thankful to all the artists whose workshops I have taken this year to do the same. It is that support group I never thought existed has really kept my head up and pushed me to keep on even if I only most of these artist friends online. One day we will meet in person.

     So here are the progressions of the two canvases I have been working on since the start of Flora Bowley's Bloom True class:

I have worked more on it since the last picture but have not taken any pictures of the progression. I was going through one of those moments where I was frustrated and stuck. But now with her book in my hands I hope that her insight and guidance will once again put me in that perspective to create and with that have what will be the end result to the two canvases. :) Again thank you to Flora Bowley. If you want to know more about her and her work here is her blog: http://florabowley.typepad.com/
and website:   http://www.florasbowley.com/
Go take a peek she is a very talented and awesome artist. :)