Ohmigosh! There's so much to do!
This Saturday my mom and I will head out to Las Vegas- Sin City, baby! Well, not really. I am going with my mom after all! We'll be attending an Art and Soul Retreat and I'm so excited! It's my first ever art retreat and I've been wanting to attend one ever since I learned about these magical little gatherings. I remember sitting in front of the computer in my old house (about 5 addresses ago) and poring over the websites for hours and adding and calculating and racking my brain to figure out how I could possibly make it happen. But you know, things happen when they're supposed to and not always on our own time frames. So, now I am finally getting to go and I'm getting to share the whole thing with my mom- so awesome!
I am so tremendously blessed and in such a great place in my life right now; I just couldn't be more excited about what the future holds for me and my family and my career and so much of that has to do with my partner, the boy- as you might know him. I try to keep his specifics out of this blog because he has a corporate job and I wouldn't ever want to write or post anything that would put that in jeopardy, so let's just say he's an amazing and wonderful person and has really been here for me throughout all of the trials over the last few months. It has truly been a test for us, as individuals and as a couple and I'm so happy to say that we are stronger and more in love (at least on my end!) than ever before.
Okay, I'm going to be back in few hours with some type of pretty pictures of something creative. I don't know what yet, but I'm determined!
xoxox
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Costa Rica or bust!
It's already February! What the heck? Well, they say distance makes the heart grow fonder so I'm just going to assume you guys are really happy to see a new post from me. No? Oh well.
So this past month has been... hmmm.... a bit of a rollercoaster. Some days are good, some aren't. Some days are marked by relentless pain, others by nausea, and others by so much exhaustion that I literally sleep for 20 hours out of the day. And then some days, for a few hours, I feel almost a little bit normal. And it's during those times that I think okay, we're making progress. In fact, today I'm going to pack my bags for a little trip to Costa Rica! The boy and I will be basking in glorious sunshine and 93 degree weather. I can't wait to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. This is an incentive trip through his company and I've been with him on every one he's ever earned, so I just couldn't bear to miss it. I know I won't be able to participate in most of the activities and socializing but I figure if I'm going to resting most of the day, then at least I can do it somewhere warm. Not to mention, that my mom needs a break from taking care of me, poor thing! Hopefully I'll come back with some great pictures to share that will inspire feelings of warmth and sunshine to help us get through the rest of winter.
Gotta go get ready for a doctor's appointment, but I think I'll take my laptop and post from Costa Rica since I'll probably be spending a good amount of time on my own. I want to take advantage of the time away from home to clear my head and examine my goals for this coming year and create some journal pages to illustrate them. So, here's looking forward to having lots of pretties to share. We all need a bit of pretty during these dull, cold months. And I don't even live somewhere cold, like Minnesota or Wisconsin. Ugh, I can't imagine!
So this past month has been... hmmm.... a bit of a rollercoaster. Some days are good, some aren't. Some days are marked by relentless pain, others by nausea, and others by so much exhaustion that I literally sleep for 20 hours out of the day. And then some days, for a few hours, I feel almost a little bit normal. And it's during those times that I think okay, we're making progress. In fact, today I'm going to pack my bags for a little trip to Costa Rica! The boy and I will be basking in glorious sunshine and 93 degree weather. I can't wait to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. This is an incentive trip through his company and I've been with him on every one he's ever earned, so I just couldn't bear to miss it. I know I won't be able to participate in most of the activities and socializing but I figure if I'm going to resting most of the day, then at least I can do it somewhere warm. Not to mention, that my mom needs a break from taking care of me, poor thing! Hopefully I'll come back with some great pictures to share that will inspire feelings of warmth and sunshine to help us get through the rest of winter.
Gotta go get ready for a doctor's appointment, but I think I'll take my laptop and post from Costa Rica since I'll probably be spending a good amount of time on my own. I want to take advantage of the time away from home to clear my head and examine my goals for this coming year and create some journal pages to illustrate them. So, here's looking forward to having lots of pretties to share. We all need a bit of pretty during these dull, cold months. And I don't even live somewhere cold, like Minnesota or Wisconsin. Ugh, I can't imagine!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Just the tip
My apologies to my loyal readers... er, reader? Well, no matter. The week presented a host of new challenges resulting in hand surgery where they (people with scalpels and anesthesia) took part of my finger. The correct term is amputated, but I just say "took" because the word "amputation" is scary sounding. Freaks people out. Freaks me out. Anyhow, on Tuesday I go back to the surgeon so he can remove the dressing and I'll get to see my newly shortened index finger. Kinda weird.
Part of me wants to mourn the loss of my fingertip and lament, "Why me? Why do I have to have some crazy autoimmune diseases like Raynaud's and Scleroderma and PBC? What did I do to deserve this?" But that only lasts about a minute and I recognize it's only a fingertip, not my legs or an arm or even my hand and my boyfriend isn't so shallow that he'll dump me because my right index finger is strangely short. And I am so incredibly blessed to have great health insurance that allows me to see some of the best doctors and specialists around that will hopefully have me back on the path to health real soon. And of course, I am so, so, so grateful for my family that has been praying for me through every doctor's visit and mri and "procedure" and hospital stay and surgery. They give me strength and courage knowing I am not in this alone. And my friends that send flowers and well wishes and my amazing boyfriend that has never once wavered (at least in front of me) in his commitment, even when the diagnoses have been scarily unknown and cast an eerie shadow over the future. I could not be more supported and cared for. And my mother, my amazing mother. I don't have the words to express how she has been here for me- strong and positive and optimistic and faithful and caring and understanding and everything I need and nothing I don't. I absolutely do not know what kind of shape I'd be in without her. And my dad, who loves me and my mom and my dog and even my boyfriend so much I know there's nothing he wouldn't do for us. I quickly remember all of these things and I pray for all the people who are suffering and fighting similar battles- and scarier ones, but they're doing it alone or while they're also raising a family and managing a career. I can't imagine the strength it takes and I know I'm the luckiest girl around.
All these things are what's been on my mind over the last week- at least in my moments of clarity, when I'm not in some drug induced haze. And unfortunately my dominant hand is the one buried under a splint and half a pound of bandages so no journaling or making of anything lately. But I think tomorrow I will do some drawing exercises with my left hand. I've been meaning to work on being ambidextrous anyway. In fact, I'm surprised how quickly I can type with only my left hand!
Hopefully my hand will heal quickly and my doctors will get me on all the right meds so that my body will stop trying to hurt itself and start working towards health. In the meantime, my friend C-note has given me a temporary honorary membership to the Lefty's Club of the Greater United States and I plan on wearing that thing out! Thanks Cris!
Part of me wants to mourn the loss of my fingertip and lament, "Why me? Why do I have to have some crazy autoimmune diseases like Raynaud's and Scleroderma and PBC? What did I do to deserve this?" But that only lasts about a minute and I recognize it's only a fingertip, not my legs or an arm or even my hand and my boyfriend isn't so shallow that he'll dump me because my right index finger is strangely short. And I am so incredibly blessed to have great health insurance that allows me to see some of the best doctors and specialists around that will hopefully have me back on the path to health real soon. And of course, I am so, so, so grateful for my family that has been praying for me through every doctor's visit and mri and "procedure" and hospital stay and surgery. They give me strength and courage knowing I am not in this alone. And my friends that send flowers and well wishes and my amazing boyfriend that has never once wavered (at least in front of me) in his commitment, even when the diagnoses have been scarily unknown and cast an eerie shadow over the future. I could not be more supported and cared for. And my mother, my amazing mother. I don't have the words to express how she has been here for me- strong and positive and optimistic and faithful and caring and understanding and everything I need and nothing I don't. I absolutely do not know what kind of shape I'd be in without her. And my dad, who loves me and my mom and my dog and even my boyfriend so much I know there's nothing he wouldn't do for us. I quickly remember all of these things and I pray for all the people who are suffering and fighting similar battles- and scarier ones, but they're doing it alone or while they're also raising a family and managing a career. I can't imagine the strength it takes and I know I'm the luckiest girl around.
All these things are what's been on my mind over the last week- at least in my moments of clarity, when I'm not in some drug induced haze. And unfortunately my dominant hand is the one buried under a splint and half a pound of bandages so no journaling or making of anything lately. But I think tomorrow I will do some drawing exercises with my left hand. I've been meaning to work on being ambidextrous anyway. In fact, I'm surprised how quickly I can type with only my left hand!
Hopefully my hand will heal quickly and my doctors will get me on all the right meds so that my body will stop trying to hurt itself and start working towards health. In the meantime, my friend C-note has given me a temporary honorary membership to the Lefty's Club of the Greater United States and I plan on wearing that thing out! Thanks Cris!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Monday, Monday
Oh, I'm so tired. Been fooling around on the internet too long. I had a coffee this afternoon and I think that might be the reason I'm still sitting here. Perhaps through all these health- shall we call them "adventures"- I am cleansing my system of the monumental buildup of caffeine from the last 15 years and as a result am becoming less immune to the effects of coffee, redbull and espresso. Hmmm, perhaps.
I really just wanted to check in and say hello and that I'm still here. This weekend did not go as planned, I ended up dealing with a lot of pain in my right hand which resulted in an increase in pain killers which resulted in a decrease of accomplishments. Very frustrating. However, God willing, my situation is only temporary and I am reminded of all those people who live with chronic pain- Everyday- and are forced to live out their daily lives in what I can only imagine must be an exhausting, thick fog of drug-altered consciousness. My heart goes out to them and once more I am grateful for all the many blessings in my life and the amazing doctors and specialists I have the privilege of seeing that are working to figure out this "auto-immune thing" and conquer it once and for all. And I just can't explain how I lucked out to be surrounded by the most loving and understanding and supportive family and friends and boyfriend that a girl could ask for. If any of you are reading this: I love you so much and I will never fully be able to express to you how much it fills me up to know I am in your prayers or to hear of the well wishes you've sent or see the card in my mailbox or the flowers on my bedside table. Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.
Forecast for tomorrow: A jewelry giveaway! Creative EveryDay update! And a sneak peek at some journal work I've been doing!
I really just wanted to check in and say hello and that I'm still here. This weekend did not go as planned, I ended up dealing with a lot of pain in my right hand which resulted in an increase in pain killers which resulted in a decrease of accomplishments. Very frustrating. However, God willing, my situation is only temporary and I am reminded of all those people who live with chronic pain- Everyday- and are forced to live out their daily lives in what I can only imagine must be an exhausting, thick fog of drug-altered consciousness. My heart goes out to them and once more I am grateful for all the many blessings in my life and the amazing doctors and specialists I have the privilege of seeing that are working to figure out this "auto-immune thing" and conquer it once and for all. And I just can't explain how I lucked out to be surrounded by the most loving and understanding and supportive family and friends and boyfriend that a girl could ask for. If any of you are reading this: I love you so much and I will never fully be able to express to you how much it fills me up to know I am in your prayers or to hear of the well wishes you've sent or see the card in my mailbox or the flowers on my bedside table. Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.
Forecast for tomorrow: A jewelry giveaway! Creative EveryDay update! And a sneak peek at some journal work I've been doing!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Lookout 2010!
The first day of the New Year went much like the last four: I watched the boy regret not quitting while he was ahead the night before. What can you do? Some lessons are harder to learn than others I suppose. On the upside, despite the severe lack of sleep, we did have a pretty fun night just hanging out with friends and playing some cards and eating way too much food.
But the best thing about today was the opportunity to journal in the morning. And although the pooch was being outrageously demanding (food! water! pee! poo! play!), I did manage to get in my morning pages and remind myself of how writing fills me up and clears my head at the same time. So that was my creative activity for the day. I was hoping to do some visual work or some jewelry making, but it's always hard to fit those in when the boy is off of work. Now in case you haven't noticed the little button to the right there begging you to click and find out more about the Creative Everyday Challenge for 2010, I'll tell you that I signed up to participate in said challenge in an effort to reinforce my daily creative habits. I have a desire to infuse creativity throughout my everyday life so that everything I do becomes a little more fun, adventurous and fulfilling. The challenge was originally created in 2008 by Leah Piken Kolidas for the same reasons and she decided to start a blog and put the invitation out there to others to join her in embracing creativity everyday whether through singing, dancing, cooking, drawing, painting, or anything else. There are no strict rules or policies to follow in order to participate, but for myself I will be checking in on the weekly check-ins and probably uploading photos to the Flickr group when I have something visual to share, and of course, talking about it here on my own blog.
I hope this added layer of accountability (that's wrapped up in lighthearted sharing) will be another tool in my arsenal I can use to stay focused and on track. Plus, don't you just love seeing what other people are up to? Especially artists and designers and all around awesome people? I'm inspired just thinking about it.
So until tomorrow, lovelies! And I promise I'll have something visual- perhaps a jewelry giveaway!
But the best thing about today was the opportunity to journal in the morning. And although the pooch was being outrageously demanding (food! water! pee! poo! play!), I did manage to get in my morning pages and remind myself of how writing fills me up and clears my head at the same time. So that was my creative activity for the day. I was hoping to do some visual work or some jewelry making, but it's always hard to fit those in when the boy is off of work. Now in case you haven't noticed the little button to the right there begging you to click and find out more about the Creative Everyday Challenge for 2010, I'll tell you that I signed up to participate in said challenge in an effort to reinforce my daily creative habits. I have a desire to infuse creativity throughout my everyday life so that everything I do becomes a little more fun, adventurous and fulfilling. The challenge was originally created in 2008 by Leah Piken Kolidas for the same reasons and she decided to start a blog and put the invitation out there to others to join her in embracing creativity everyday whether through singing, dancing, cooking, drawing, painting, or anything else. There are no strict rules or policies to follow in order to participate, but for myself I will be checking in on the weekly check-ins and probably uploading photos to the Flickr group when I have something visual to share, and of course, talking about it here on my own blog.
I hope this added layer of accountability (that's wrapped up in lighthearted sharing) will be another tool in my arsenal I can use to stay focused and on track. Plus, don't you just love seeing what other people are up to? Especially artists and designers and all around awesome people? I'm inspired just thinking about it.
So until tomorrow, lovelies! And I promise I'll have something visual- perhaps a jewelry giveaway!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
My ABC's for the New Year
A friend of mine, Merrie Wolfie, posted the beginning of her list of ABC's for the new year on her Facebook page and I thought, "how clever! I need my own list of ABC's!" So I copied her idea and I'm sharing them here with you. By the way, Merrie is a super talented tarot card reader and she does readings over the phone and through email for those who don't live near her in Tucson, AZ and I would highly recommend her services. You can find her here at Aha! Tarot on Facebook- and tell her I sent you, maybe I'll get a discount next time!
So here are my ABC's! Some are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and some I couldn't pick just one- no rules here, just words that attract me and hold the feelings and hopes I have for the new year. I think 2010 is gonna rock!
So here are my ABC's! Some are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and some I couldn't pick just one- no rules here, just words that attract me and hold the feelings and hopes I have for the new year. I think 2010 is gonna rock!
2010 ABC's
Adventure,
Belief,
Connections, Courage,
Dependable,
Energized,
Focused,
Generous, Gratitude,
Health,
Inspired,
Joyful,
Karma, Knowledge,
Loving,
Motivated,
Nesting,
Organized,
Prolific,
Quality,
Receptive,
Service,
Tenacious,
Undaunted,
Victorious,
Wonder,
eXcitement,
Yes!
Zen.
Belief,
Connections, Courage,
Dependable,
Energized,
Focused,
Generous, Gratitude,
Health,
Inspired,
Joyful,
Karma, Knowledge,
Loving,
Motivated,
Nesting,
Organized,
Prolific,
Quality,
Receptive,
Service,
Tenacious,
Undaunted,
Victorious,
Wonder,
eXcitement,
Yes!
Zen.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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