I’ve done the book a week thing before. Twice. And both times I loved it. So I want to do it again. I miss reading. A lot.
I am not sure it will work with the baby, David, work, art, and everything else I am trying to do but I’m going to try. So here is my list for the rest of this year. There are more books here than weeks left but I wanted my list a bit bigger in case my mood changes and I want more choices.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Devil in the White City
The Black Swan
The Road
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Knitting Circle
Julie and Julia
The Book Thief
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Good in Bed
Twenties Girl
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Shack
Home Repair?
Love Walked In
The Girl with No Shadow
What I wish I knew when I was 20
The Last Time They Met
The Wonder Spot
The Poisonwood Bible
The Unaccustomed Earth
In the Woods
The wishing year
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Personal Development for Smart People
Handle with Care
If you have other books to recommend, please tell me. Especially if they are great reads and hard to put down!!
You are welcome to play with these as much as you want and use them anywhere you’d like. You are NOT allowed to sell them ever. You don’t have to but I’d appreciate a link back if you do use them.
Since we just passed the nine year mark, I’ve decided to try some new things for the blog. Mostly to keep myself regular and posting everyday and also a chance to try out some things I’ve wanted to for a while. So I made a little schedule for myself and as a reminder to myself I am going to post it here and do my best to keep to it.
photos
I will still keep posting daily photos. I want to take more “non family” photos so I will attempt to do more of that. I will still have daily Nathaniel since we’re still in his first year and I promised I will take photos every day in his first year. I will make sure to have at least one photo of David every week. One photo of myself every week. And monthly (ideally more frequently) photos of me and the kids and Jake and the kids and all four of us. Let’s see how this goes.
Here’s a schedule for non-photo posts I want to make daily:
Mondays: I will post a video of something. Either a photoshop/digital tip or a non-digital technique etc.
Tuesdays: A new layout/mixed media art, etc.
Wednesdays: A digital download package. It will have anywhere from 7 to more digital elements in it.
Thursdays: My weekly tag.
Fridays: Books. I am starting to read more and will challenge myself to read a book a week (more coming on this) and on Fridays I will write about the book I read that week.
Saturdays: A photo tip. This will be a tip on photography. Technicals, how to improve, how to use your camera, etc. Just my compilation of this information.
Sundays: A new creative therapy catalyst.
My plan is to also post at least 3 longer journaling-type entries a week. When I look back upon my years of posting here, besides the photos, those are my favorite posts. Here’s to hoping I can make that happen.
David caught a ladybug today. He was really gentle and waited patiently until I changed to my macro lens and snapped this shot.
And this one. I love how his wings are folded but out.
The little one and I sat outside in the backyard as David played.
We both watched him and smiled.
And he smiled right back.
The joy of my life. I’m feeling better. Things are starting to fall in sync a little bit and the baby is sleeping a bit better. I see small flickers of light in the distance. Just small ones for now, but light nonetheless…
This week’s question is: “What kind of goddess am I?”
Well the first thing that came to my mind, as usual, was someone who loves a lot. But I’ve done a lot of love themed ones lately so I wanted to do something different. I decided to make this one about nature. Nature is what calms me and makes me peaceful. Nature is what centers me. Nature. I am so thankful for it.
This tag was inspired by the amazing Rebecca Sower who awes me each and every single time she makes a piece of art. I pulled out a few nature-colored things I had and just let myself go. I did this really quickly and videotaped myself doing it just as an experiment. It was my first time videotaping so parts of it are off-camera. Apologies. I’ll do better next time. The only thing I added after the movie was some stitching. That’s it.
The song is “Fell in Love with a Boy” by the amazing Joss Stone.
I am combining Emily Falconbridge’s art journal questions with trying a new technique each week. You can see the full list: here.
Nothing like a few wicker baskets. Especially ones full of fabric.
Nathaniel loves sucking his thumb lately. He’s found it and he uses it liberally to calm himself down. I think he looks so cute.
For the first time since I started putting him in his bed, he’s been sleeping for over 45 minutes. I know that as soon as I type these words, he will wake up. But, for now, I am just thankful for the magic of it. May it continue.
David’s teacher visited today. I can’t believe he’s only got one more year of preschool. He’s growing up way way too quickly.
I love seeing this sign every time I sit at my desk. Thank you Jen Lemen.
David spent the day playing with my punches. He had so much fun.
And so did Nathaniel. When he wasn’t taking his super-power-naps that last like 15 minutes. Ugh.
I am reorganizing my blog for the month of September. Stay tuned. Trying to get better and more planned about what I do here. Not sure why. But I guess why not 🙂 Downloads, and more, are coming, I promise.
with these unbelievable
eyes that can see
deep into my soul
with this amazing smile
that can turn my
saddest days into joy
I would never have
believed it.
And yet,
Here you are.
Journaling Reads:
David, one of my biggest dreams is for you to love school.
To love learning as much as I do. I know that a big part of this is going to be the school you go to. The friends you have. The way you’re taught. And the teachers.
The teachers make a huge difference.
They can embarrass you, make you feel small, and too scared to explore, wonder, and ask.
Or they can make you soar.
They can make you look forward to getting up every morning and go to class. They can be the reason you can’t wait for Mondays to come. They can be the beginning of a lifelong desire to learn.
I always hoped that you’d get to be lucky enough to find one of those teachers. The one that you will remember forever. The one that instilled joy in your heart.
Maybe, right now, you’re too young for that. But that’s ok. I think, for now, I just hope that you have teachers who welcome you with open arms. Who listen to you and care about you. Who encourage your curiosity.
And you know what? Last year, we had all of that.
All of it.
These three women were the highlight of your days. They helped you learn. They helped you grow. They made you excited about showing up to school every single day.
Here’s to another twenty years of teachers just like that.
Watching that toy.
What goes through your little mind?
Do you want to reach for it?
Are you curious what it is?
Are you wondering where
the boy who plays with those went?
Do you want to chew it?
I would give so much to be able to
