"Ninety-Nine Blog Posts Later" or "I Can't Believe I'm Still Writing ...."

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Right from the very first blog post I ever wrote, I knew I'd fallen in love with it  - hard. I had finally found a creative little hub of my very own, a quiet little corner of cyberspace that I could stretch out in and give my "dreamer" side a chance to grow a little.  

That was back in November of 2010, a very hard month, year, time for me, and I found sharing my heart amidst my pain with the hope of reaching others who were hurting to encourage them would somehow help to heal not only other's pain but somehow my own as well. Time of course is necessary for healing but I felt truly blessed at the opportunity to encourage others with my words, and I felt the healing process already beginning. The dawn of a new day.

Well, 99 blog posts later I find myself staring at the screen in awe, wondering how on earth so much could have changed in only 2 years? It feels like a lifetime ago, and I think it's because my life now hardly even resembles anything close to what it looked like back then. So many big changes!

The first change was that I began an online course through the New York Institute of Photography, which was a promise I had made to myself and I finally made myself take the time to make this investment. As a single mama who already worked a full time job I had my reservations but I made myself step out and accept the challenge and I'm so glad that I did. While I am still slowly plugging away at it ( life always seems to get in the way, haha) I have to say that the course material and textbooks have proved to be invaluable tools and I have already learned a lot!
The second change being that I met my friends Kendall and Neil. Kendall got hired at my office to do the bookkeeping/accounting and we became friends quickly. When we discovered a shared passion for martial arts ( we both did taekwondo and she was already a 2nd degree black belt)  I offered to help her open her own martial arts school and therein became her business partner and co-owner of our town's very first Taekwondo gym, and corporation Outlast Taekwondo Ltd. (you can check out our  taekwondo blog HERE) . 

However I'm writing this post at 12:34 a.m. and I've nearly fallen asleep 98 times so based on my current narcoleptic progress rate  this blog is already taking too long.  

There have been a great many smaller changes as well, which have all added up and snowballed into these two "hum-dingers" as I like to call them, and all of these combined have made for a significant change in my life. As always, all credit goes to my Lord God and true Savior, without Whom I would be SERIOUSLY lost and undoubtedly headed down a very destructive path.  He saved me from myself, to be sure and brought me instead to a place of healing.
In only 2 short years, my life has radically changed so much. There have been so many ups and downs and twists and turns to get me to this place I'm at now and I thank God for every good thing in it ;)
Thank you for letting me share, thank you for letting me encourage you.  I hope this next year will allow me even more opportunities to encourage and inspire you all. I hope to fill each and every one of your hearts with words of love and plant a seed of hope that will grow strong
love, -J


P.S. Just to leave you with a smile on your face and a sweet dream in your heart ;)

 

Prints & Projects

Well, I did it! I finally got some work uploaded onto the Artist Rising site, as promised. YAY!  You can click HERE to go see my online gallery and check out my "Artist's Profile"  etc.  I don't have a lot in my gallery yet since I have to go through my archives to pull up all of the work I've been wanting to post. But it will get there! I also hope to do a few new painting projects this month as well. So far I have 8 photograph prints and 1 acrylic painting for sale on the site and I will add more art and art/photo collections as I go through my archives and (hopefully) categorize them.

Speaking of painting projects, I am hoping to get my hands dirty with a few more projects in the near future. More on that later though. 

Loaded paintbrushes and not nearly enough drop cloths in the world,  ha ha ha
-J

Friday Favorites

Fridays are usually bittersweet for me. It means the end of the workweek (yay!) and it also means I have to say goodbye to two my amazing children as they go to their dad's for the weekend ( awww man!) . It means  I finally get precious alone time spent and alot of that time winds up being used to take care of mudane weekend tasks/chores that still need taking care of ( awww man!) .
In light of this I try to keep focused on the postive and so I'm proposing a Friday Favorites weekly post, to keep everyone's spirits up as the weekend approaches and hopefully challenge YOU to pick out your top five ( or heck, even ten) favortie things!

#1 - funky cellphone camera options

Take a look at this simple beautiful yellow gerber daisy. I played with my phone camera's options and settled on the "negative" option for this one. I thought it looked kinda funky.  Here's the "normal" (aka "boring" shot)

BUT I love love love the actual color of this flower. I wish my cellphone had a better camera to capture the intensely rich yellow, it's one of my most favorite colors!


#2 - frozen blended lattes
a yummy and much needed pick-me-up during the summer to help pull me out of the mid-afternoon slump ;)

(all you awesome girls at JoJo's cafe totally rock!)

#3 - the beach

I joke that I've become a "local" in the destination resort town that I live in because the summer is half over and I've barely been the beach at all, and not even once for a swim! haha

#4 - this fun card!

The adorable card was made by my beautiful, creative mentor and friend Barb - who is one of my most favoritist people on the whole planet! Make sure you head on over to her blog  to see how she made it, and for all you digital scrapbookers out there, she has lots of freebies as well as amazing elements you can buy! 

#5 - These guys ;)  These two are my ALL TIME FAVORITE ever! xoxo.  I consider myself the luckiest, most blessed Mama on the planet to be blessed with the privilege of growing these two sweet boys into strong, compassionate men!

Ok! well I hope this inspired you keep your thoughts on all the wonderful blessings in your life as you head into the weekend.
  I'm headed into the city to rescue some friends from an hour-long channel float, and then make them feed me,  haha!

Look Ma, No hands!

My first REAL climbing experience ( real= no indoor climbing wall with mats below, haha) came this weekend. Here I am in my friends' harness, perched precariously on the side of the bluff, giving the thumbs up sign,  haha.

 

 I was surprised by how easily I became fascinated by the challenge of  it. It's all about pushing yourself beyond your mental limitations and proving to yourself just how much you can accomplish. On a personal level, I don't think there is anything more rewarding. Challenging myself is what I'm all about!

One of my friends took these couple photos of me climbing, while the other belayed me from the ground.  I can honestly say that as far as Trust Building Moments go, there's no greater exercise in trust than having to lean back over a 36-meter cliff and trust your friend to lower you safely to the ground. Seriously, as far as seeing trust in action, this is a HUM-DINGER! hahaha!

I wished I had a longer zoom lens with me, it would have made for some incredible shots. unfortunately not though. 

So that wraps up our weekend climbing adventure.

I hope you all were able to get out and enjoy from fresh air at some point over your weekend. If not, make yourself a promise that you'll get out next weekend, and keep your promise. Your health with thank you for it!

Thumbs up from way up there,

-J