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The Round House was a book club pick. It was a book I’d read about but postponed reading because I thought it might be really sad. And I’ll admit it was hard to read at parts. But not as much as I feared. In the end, it was more interesting than sad and definitely a worthwhile read. Though I will also say the author’s choice of not using quotation marks in dialogue drove me absolutely insane. This week I wanted to do something extra and fun so I took two family photos for the cover and did a whole page with all the movie posters of movies we’ve seen recently.
so happy. Savor Project is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
We’re back to Life Book this week. This is week eight which is taught by Alena Henessy. The Lesson was to just paint intuitively. This is not natural to me but I just decided I was going to do it anyway. So I sat and painted without thinking and let whatever came out emerge. I used a bunch of gold which you can see in this view:
And the word that came up was heal so that’s what I wrote down. So here’s another week. Not anything I would ever have done with Alena. But I like it. Remember This is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
Today’s quote is:
This is one of those quotes that made me cringe when I read it. The truth of it hit me so strongly that I couldn’t breathe for a moment. The fact is, there are so many days, weeks, months when I am existing, and barely at that. I am just making it through my days, doing the things I’ve set for myself and the things that need to get done. And even those don’t really get done. At this very moment, my clean laundry is piled up high, my floor is full of toys, the kitchen table has piles of papers, and my hands are covered with paint. I haven’t even begun to write my todo list for two weeks and I am hundreds of emails behind in my inbox. Random important things that I have to do pop into my head and I keep thinking I should at least write them down. But I don’t want to do any of those things. And I don’t. I sit and read my book or write here or do some more art. I am not even existing today but really in the place where I just avoid everything. I am numbing but not with food or internet, with just avoidance. So when I read a quote like this, I feel like screaming. Yes, I want to say, I want to live! I don’t want to merely Exist. I don’t want it to feel so hard. And then I remember that tomorrow is another day and I get to choose all over again. So tonight, I’ll do a little bit, I’ll barely exist. I’ll take a walk and then go to sleep. Tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, can be the day I can take on the task of living.
For this week, I picked something fun that i know I can always do more: play. I find that while I do some fun things, I do not play as much as I would like to. Well, that’s not really true. I play a lot on my own. Drawing, painting, classes, these are all acts of play for me. But I would like to play more with my kids. I would like to listen to the things they like to play. I would like to listen to them play. I would like to hear the sounds of play. I love this one. The lettering I used here comes from this pin. The image here is hop scotch. Listen with Intent is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
Here are some photos from this week. We went to Yosemite for a few days so most of my shots are from there but I changed to my wide angle which I don’t think is as good (or I don’t know how to use it as well.): The first thing we did was to get ice cream of course.
they weren’t thrilled to pose for photos, they wanted to run around.
per my goal for 2014, I asked Jake to take pictures of us.
even though the boys weren’t so excited about it.
but they did it to make me happy.
and happy i was.
love having photos with my boys.
and I snapped some of the boys with their dad, too!
nathaniel insisted I take some photos on top of the rocks.
then i got in one more shot with my boys.
and we were back to rock posing.
he had a whole routine planned.
then it was David’s turn.
and one with both boys.
that afternoon, the boys took a bike tour and Nathaniel was in a trailer and he got something in his eye. We thought it would go away but when he was still hurting the next morning (and he was burning up, too.), so we decided to drive back home in time to make it to the doctor’s office. When we got there, he didn’t seem to have anything wrong with his eye but he gave Nathaniel a patch in case it would help relax him and sent us on our way. The next day was easter celebration in our little complex. I knew Nathaniel really wanted to go but he was still pretty sick. So we stopped for about 5 minutes, got a few eggs and I snapped one photo.
and that was it for Easter. He was sick for 3 more days but he’s back to his wonderful self, now.
we took these on his 5th birthday! (photos from that coming next week.)
there was much tickling.
and so much laughter.
and here we go. so grateful for my life. i hope your week was lovely, too. Weekly Diary is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
Nathaniel Reads to Mommy is a project for 2014 that I am doing with my 4.5-year-old son. You can read more about it here.
This week’s inspiration comes from this pin. I love how bright it is. I drew this page and then colored it using Montana paint markers. I then used some watercolor pencils too. And finally the Stabilo All black pencil which is quickly becoming my favorite. prompt says: today i know that i am trying to believe in I wrote about believe in a good future and that things will work out. Today I Know is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
Today’s quote is:
Yesterday, I emailed Judy Wise to tell her how excited I was about her upcoming “painting faces” class which my calendar said was starting today. She replied pretty much immediately and said that the class had started a month ago and was now over. I felt my heart sink. She then said the students were still working on all the material in the FB group and did I want to be added. I said of course and she added me and once I visited the group and saw everyone’s work, my heart sank even more. The other students’ work was so so amazing that I just wanted to quit before I even started. What’s the point? There’s no chance I will ever be that good. I’ve been working on drawing faces for quite a few years now and I just can’t get good enough at them, how could I even think I’d be good enough to paint. What was I thinking. I churned and churned all night. Then this morning, I saw this quote and decided it was my quote for the day. It was a reminder that even if I’ve been trying for a while, I am still just at the beginning of my journey. I don’t need to compare myself to anyone. Who knows how much time or effort they’ve already dedicated to it? And who knows where I am in my journey. All I do know is that I want to learn how to do this. I know that I love Judy’s work and I am thrilled at the chance to learn from her videos. I know that my journey is mine alone. And not only do I not want to compare my beginning to their middle, I don’t want to compare my journey to theirs at all. So onward we go. I can’t wait to dig into the classes even if I showed up a month late. Maybe they can be my project for May.
This week’s stitching also comes from urban threads. Another one of the cute sketches I love. I used satin stitch, stem stitch, and back stitch on this one. The little word is innocent. Especially love the balloon. Stitching Circles is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here. I am taking Ali Edwards’ One Little Word class for the third year in a row this year. I love this class and it helps me stay connected to my word. Occasionally, I will try to share my assignments and some thoughts here. Mostly to keep a record of them. This year started with a cover page of my word, a photo of me, and the definition of my word. I used a bird from Maya Road because I decided birds are my symbols this year. I have a sense that they are good at listening.
The back has some thoughts on why I chose my word and a quote with my word that resonates with me. I added a little paint because it felt happier.
The next page is a lot of thoughts on how i want the word to be in my life and what i want to do more/less of and what i am most worried of and what i am excited about.
And the back is my intentions for the year. I specifically called out health as I want to be healthier this year than I’ve been in 2013. The other categories I used were my core desires I’ve talked about before.
That was it for January. A lot of writing, thinking and planning. For February, we did actions. What are some actions I want to take this year. I spent a long time avoiding this one. I think because January (and some of February) was really rough on me so I created my cards with white cardstock and some washi tape. Some stitching, too. And I sat on them for a long while.
When I finally did them, a lot of them came from my intentions from January. The eight I have so far are:
Even though I struggle with having my handwriting on these, I decided part of making peace with who I am is making peace with my handwriting, so I am letting them be.
The Last Summer of the Camperdowns was another Amazon recommendation. I pondered it for a while but then finally decided to just read it. It was okay. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anything amazing either. It was a relatively easy read, though a bit longer than necessary. I can’t say it left me with any kind of lasting impression. Some of these recommendations from Amazon leave me confused. Was this really one of the best books to come out that month? |
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