From Chaos Comes Happiness

A day late, and slightly more than a dollar short . . . but here, nonetheless! I'm so very grateful to be here with you today, my friends . . . not only because it has been too long since I've been away, but because this week I was asked to participate in a lovely little "Blog Tour" by my beloved friend, Kelly Warren, over at Happy Shack Designs ! Kelly is one awesome lady, with two absolutely adorable twin daughters, and such a creative soul . . . she brings happiness and inspiration to me so very often that even though we have only met through blogland (and never face to face), she is a lifelong friend whose very presence makes me smile! Truly.  As part of the Blog Tour, Kelly sent along a list of question for me to answer. I am so excited about these coming up right about now in life, since I have found myself S.U.P.E.R. motivated in my art, as of late. Because of that, I am really eager to think about it and write about it and share it. So, without furth...

I've been stuck in an artless state for a few months now. Feeling unmotivated. Uncertain. Questioning what direction to go next, without so much as an ounce of creative passion in me. There is a huge amount of pressure and expectation that I put on the artist in me. Creating art is sort of a must, if you want to make money in your art. And I wasn't creating a thing, nor did I have a desire to do so. I was hopeless. It was icky. I thought,  "Maybe that was it. It was a nice run. . . maybe you're done."  Seriously. I meditated. I walked. I looked at the birds. I listened to music. I traveled. I drank wine. I laughed. I watched people. I read blogs. I read books. I sat in my mess of a studio without a bit of inspiration, and looked at the piles and piles of supplies I had . . . not knowing where to even begin. I sketched . . . a little. But nothing moved me. Not a single thing. Then, it was my birthday. I don't usually make much out of m...

Summer. It's around the corner. It's so close, that I have already had my air conditioner on this year. It's so close, that the kids are in the single digits for remaining school days (a thought that makes my stomach turn). Oh, please don't get me wrong . . . I can't wait for homework and school activities to end for a little while, but with that comes a whole new set of challenges. The miserable . . . "I'm bored" scenario. So, I set out to solve the "I'm bored!" dilemma. And my friends, I've got it all covered. You see, I am bound and determined to remove the words "I'm bored" from my children's vocabulary this summer. If I feel it coming on, I'm ready for it . . . I will simply refer the children to the Pantry Door, for our very own summer fun list. Yep . . . we.are.set. I can't take credit for it. I found the idea on Pinterest. But I will take credit for actually pinning something, and actua...

I can't even believe how long it has been since I've sat at this computer and typed on this keyboard. Years, it seems like. Of course, it hasn't been years. But it sure has been a long time. And the days . . . oh, they have been busy. Instead of taking up a whole bunch of time giving you the blow-by-blow of the past few weeks, I thought I'd bore you with some quick little highlights. (Although, I've just come back to proof-read this part after writing out the whole post, and I do believe I end up giving you the blow-by-blow. You know, nothing is that simple for me! Sorry for that!) It's going to be a bit "all over the place", because that is just sort of how my mind is working these days. Bear with me. I'm sharing a bunch of pictures, too . . . because sometimes a photo just needs to be shared! So, this is the last few weeks of my life: It all started with a great fortune . . . what it means, I have no idea. If I knew what idea it was refer...

We're back from beautiful Arizona, well rested and sun kissed. Every time I visit Arizona, I am reminded of the beauty of the state. Katie fell absolutely in love with it this trip, and spent much of our vacation asking if we could move (permanently) there. I've been thinking a lot about making a permanent move for our family lately . . . we are pretty fortunate in Phil's job that it would be a relatively easy transition for him to relocate to a different place. Arizona might not be such a bad place to call home . . . hmmmm . . . wouldn't that be exciting?!? But, until then . . . we are back in the mid-west. Chicago welcomed us home with gray skies and rain (a lot of it). Those last few "April showers" have stayed true to their words, and it's been so icky the last few days. It's ok, though . . . because there is always art. And that makes it pretty awesome. I just finished up four weeks straight of art classes for the two park districts I am tea...

We are heading out of town for a few days this week . . . to sunny and warm Arizona. We were just there last summer, but decided (with the help of Phil's flyer miles and Hilton points) that it would be the most cost effective place for us to escape to this spring break. And escaping is just what I need to do. The past year has been one of the most emotionally draining in my life. I don't know why . . . but I am not keeping myself in line on the emotion side of life as much as I have in the past. Maybe I never have. Maybe I've always been a big ol'stress magnet. But this past year, it is really hanging on me, and I am feeling it. So, I am heading to sunny Arizona for a few days of R & R. And I can't wait. The last time we were there, I snapped a few moments like these . . . I can't wait for the pool . . . seriously . . . the sunshine . . .  the warmth . . . the sound of children laughing . . . all of it.  I can't wait for the blu...

Lately I found myself losing sight of those moments that make me happy. It's so easy to let myself get caught up in the drama of others . . . becoming lost in the negatives . . . and forgetting the simple things that bring me joy. Ah, focus . . .  It started a few months ago, when Phil told me that I don't just sympathize with others . . . that I really empathize with them. I take on their emotions and begin to truly feel as if what is happening to them, is happening to me too. Of course, it's not. But I couldn't agree with him more. It was a perfect way to describe what I was putting myself through in recent months, as sleepless nights and physical stress started to take over my own life. So, I made a plan. To remove myself (as much as I could) from the emotion. This is a really hard task, and not one that can happen overnight. But I'm trying.  I don't want to lose the caring part of me, I just need to learn how to handle it. How to be a good list...