Sunday, March 22, 2020

It time to start blogging....or writing again.  So many happenings and life just gets to be so busy because we let it...because I let it.  I have let it get so busy I hardly have time to express and feel my thoughts.  I need to express my voice in a safe spot that will listen....and this is it.  Thinking...about making this blog private.

The last couple of weeks like everyone else the corona virus has changed our life.  It has changed because we are simply to be simply put.  It is a talent to stay still.  A talent that is easily forgetten in the busy lives in which we live.  I have found over the past few years busyness has somehow become a badge of honor which is false.  Busyness does not make me or my family better people.

I am grateful for time to re group and re gain priorities.  Time to be...and to be still.  I am thankful for
time to remember exactly what is truly important and why.  I have personally spent a lot of time reflecting and visiting my own personal priorites.  I have a million weaknesses and with the current situations at hand those weaknesses are more exposed than usual.

For example....one of my talents is to enjoy the simple things in life and often the impractical.  When I pack for a trip for example I choose all the things impractical items first (ie.shoes, outfits, jewelry) and then pack the practical things last. Exposing my weaknesses is humbling but rings true to my soul.  If I was asked if I ever wanted to live by myself the answer would be a resounding NO.!  People fuel me.  The more people the better.  I love getting out and just being...with PEOPLE.

It is easy to get discouraged when I focus on the things that I am not good at and the things that I am not doing.  It is important for me to refocus my priorites.  It is equally important for me to figure out talents that I may have that can help those around me.

Talents that I know that I do have because it has been made evident from above:
I have a clear mind
I am able to understand problems
I have an ability to resolve problems
I have love
A lot of love
I have faith
I love beauty and am surrounded by it
I can create beauty
I am unusual and unique...I guess that is a talent?
I have a desire to do good
I have purpose in my life
I have eyes that see beautiful things
I have ears that hear about the beautiful things
I have a gift of gathering
I  LOVE others and my children and my husband
I recognize that motherhoood is most important

These are talents that I sometimes forget I have.  There are so many things that I wish I could do better, and be better at.  I am taking a class offered from a friend and we are reading the book "He did deliver me from bondage" .  Chapter three titled "I know in whom I have trusted."  I am re discovering that to "love the Lord they God with all they heart, with all they might, mind and strength" means to trust in the Lord with every fiber of being - or at least to be willing to practice doing so, having charity for yourself when you fall short.

We all fall short.  I fall short daily, hourly actually.  God doesn't care.  He doesn't want our talents, our shortcomings our money or even our time....he just wants US to come unto him.  I am grateful for the opportunity the older that I get to recognize the grace of GOD.  He just simply wants us as we are...not for who we think we should be.

This past year has been humbling in a million and one different ways.  I have witnessed experiences through friends, others that have changed the way that I view grace.  The grace of God.  I am grateful for those experiences.

I know that I need to write.  I know that it is for my soul important.  Important to share, to create, to re-create.

Last night I took my family into the desert for dinner.  We each got our favorite take-out (which included Jimmy Johns, and Cafe Rio) we then went to the desert and ate our food as a family date night.  It was fun for a few minutes.  Then the kids started fighting, and I started getting frustrated.  But .....guess what.  This morning they all expressed how much fun they had.  I was almost shocked because it really felt like a failure with them fighting and me ending up upset completely losing my temper.

I am grateful for memories as a family that we are making.  I am grateful for the souls of each of my children.  They are good....they are gifts from God.

Happy Sunday.





Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Since the New Year I feel like my mind has been going a million and one different directions.  In good and bad ways.  It has been difficult for me to hone in on one specific focus, however the positive is I feel like my creative juices have been flowing and I have been quite productive in many ways.  

Life is all about balance....and boy it is a struggle every day.  We are in charge of our destinies and our choices.  With this comes great responsibility.  I heard a quote recently that one of the greatest commodities we have in life is that of our time.  How do we spend our time?

Clearly God and family need to come first.  Without those two things....nothing else matters. With that being said where does our focus go when we need to cope?  Where does our focus go when we need to dream?  For me it comes visually and through the use of my hands.  With my eyes and with my hands I cope with the every day of life.  Visually I am motivated by beautiful things, emotionally I am spiritually I am motivated by words, and thoughts.  

Life is not simple on so many scales.  So many aspects are involved with the fullness of life.  Living spiritually in tune is the goal.  How we get there is different for everyone.  Anyways.....enough of my philosophizing although it soothes my soul to write thoughts down.  

I have been re-arranging my house, brainstorming on new creative outlets, and just picking up my camera a little bit more in the new year!


A little photo shoot with these cuties.  My new orange chair I found for $5 and this beautiful vintage piece of art found at a favorite Scottsdale vintage shop.  




These two......oh I LOVE THEM!  They were hams this particular moment in time as you can see above.  


This table!! It needed a home and my home surely needed this antique find!



I need this piece of art for Alyssa's bedroom.  It is so beautiful....and found it on ETSY.






One more ....I LOVE this one!


This beautiful chair my Mom bought and had covered in this gorgeous family is such a favorite nook in my house.  It is in my guest room....and now I need some more guests!



I don't get tired of certain textiles, and the above is ONE I never get tired of.


Clean lines....


In Arizona it seemed like this book is a must!



I moved these chairs into my bedroom....they are no longer in the spot pictured above.....cheers to the memory!


Roses bloom beautifully in Arizona in January!


decorating early for Valentines Day!


My favorite girls treasure box....


Oh....and I moved this art piece (ie. framed wallpaper piece) into my piano room.  Which means....ART is on my mind.  For a new piece that is. 



The room where I spend A LOT of time.  It has my desk and computer and the organizational part of my life.  



Sam my man hiding.....



And did I mention I am excited about Valentines Day!





Wednesday, December 20, 2017

recent business......

Recent happenings include

Alyssa turning 13!!!!.....
Can't believe I have a full fledge teenager in MY HOUSE!:)






Christmas dinners and decor ....






Taking friends family photos....




All these beautiful people.....
!!!!



Sam my man growing up as cute as can be...





I know cheesy ...but when we twin....it was too tempting.  Plus I love my scottish kilt I found while thrifting with the best....


One of my dear friends front entryway....
TO DIE FOR!




and more beautiful friend family photos......






Life is full ..... festive......and worth every bustle!

WE HOPE!!

Tuesday, November 14, 2017







Thursday, November 9, 2017

Sometimes it takes getting hit hard with a bad cold to stop dead in your tracks.....and call it a day at 8:00 am.  That is me today.  The weather has been cooling down to dreamy temperatures, activities and life has been unusually busy!  I have been going, going, gone!  Till today......actually last night....it hit me.  

It is time to slow my life down.  Things need to change around here so that I am able to focus on first things first.  I feel like I have been so busy lately trying to do worthwhile things, that the most worthwhile things have been slipping.  Honesty, is a good place to start. 

This day of literally stopping in my tracks forced to due to a cold has has been a good reminder.  I need to slow down, seek first things first, and be present MORE!  I say that slightly laughing thinking my kids will be home in five minutes, homework, dance, volleyball, and church meetings are calling my name tonight.  

However a few moments of silence, sleeping, reading, and eating comfort foods with no intention of being productive has been THE BEST!  

We have two more weeks till Thanksgiving and I am trying hard not to be trunky for Christmas!  Enjoying the moment and focusing on fall!  The fall season is much different than most of the country here in Arizona, but we have our own traditions and "feel" in the air.  The cotton fields in full bloom, the smell of crisp cool desert air, days getting shorter, people coming out from hibernation walking the streets.  All in all we love it!  We are outside pretty much constantly, eating, playing at the park and just being OUTSIDE!!  

Life is full.....and full of challenges.  However a full life with challenges brings happiness when committed to the right things.  Good, better, best......I need to re-read that talk!



  A little fall vignette with recently thrifted candlesticks found in Sedona ......

Moving things around trying to hold on to fall decorating just a tad longer!  




Thursday, October 26, 2017

I had a friend send me a location ten minutes from my house letting me know about these beautiful cotton fields about to be harvested for the season.  Arizona has a big cotton industry.  I made an executive decision and yesterday morning just after sunrise the Sumko girls went for an escapade.  

I have been meaning to take pictures for Catherine's baptism for a while now, and this was just the opportunity.  Here are a few from our little morning out!  











I haven't even looked through them all yet, but surely loved this setting!!