...gobs of goodness!

tonight i am thankful...
...for 19 people in my family who trust enough in my turkey cooking abilities that they flew in town for the occasion.
...for a mom who set the thanksgiving bar oh so high.  i miss you mom!  SO SO MUCH! i still can't make gravy and i'll never figure out how you got everything cooked and hot on the table all at the same time.
...for friends who make homemade rolls for other stressed out friends.
...for a niece who is a professional chef, but pretends that she's not when she's in my kitchen.
...for 5 beautiful children and a husband that are willing to do the thanksgiving grocery shopping so i can study for a test.
...for the sound of cousins laughing, giggling and wrestling and jammin on their guitars together.
...for the sight of my daughter snuggled up with her grandpa (my dad) on my sofa.
...for my health ( i was near death in the I.C.U. 5 years ago today!)  hold dear to life!
...for old friends.
...for new friends.  i've NEVER met so many creative, supportive and loving women in my life as i have this year.  to my "unearth" babes and my new blog friends...i feel extremely blessed to have you in my life!

what are you thankful for tonight?
enjoy thanksgiving if you celebrate it
and for my friends who don't,
enjoy the goodness and blessings in your life tomorrow!

much love to all of you!

...an award? seriously? me?

so.  you guys are going to laugh.  get this.  i got an award!
i know.  funny huh!

it is from one of the most kind hearted people i have ever had the good fortune to meet.  if you want to know what i really think about her all you have to do is scroll down to my last post.  this absolutely drop dead beauty's name is kolleen.  as i mention below, i met her at my first ever art retreat this past october.  please do check out her lovely blog. she is incredibly talented.  she is also very aware and genuine about what she sees around her and this is one of the things that i LOVE about the heartwing sisters she paints.  i promise you will love her!
thanks so much dear!

so there are rules to this little award i guess, and here they are...

if you have been nominated, to accept this award do the following:

1. thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. nominate 7 Kreative Bloggers.
6. post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been    nominated.

now if you really care to know 7 oddities about chrissy....read on!
(if not, i'll never know!)
1. i was adopted 41 years ago when i was 5 days old to the best family in the universe.  one of the biggest blessings of my life! 
2. i've spent time in jackson hole, wyoming every summer since i was born and consequently so have my kids.  IT's SOOO BEAUTIFUL there.
3. i don't like the stuff that is left at the bottom of the cereal box and learned that it has a name..."cereal dust".  (or maybe that's just a name my  mom made up)
4. one year when i was about 9, i got a dirtbike (ya! the motorcycle kind) for christmas and santa even parked it IN the house, on my mom's nice carpet in the formal living room....he's so great isn't he?
5. i am scared of large bodies of water at night time.  oceans, lakes.  that's when bad things come up from the deep.   ohhh and clowns. 
6. i really want to learn how to play the guitar before i die. (do any of you play the guitar? i mean more than just twinkle twinkle little star?)
7. i recently went back to school to get my art history degree with an emphasis on education so i can be an advocate for saving the "arts" in our children's schools.  (any advice?)

drum roll please...........i nominate the following super cool folks!  please drop by these fellow sisters blogs and say hi!  (in no particular order)

MICHELLE WOODS. aka CRAFTY MAMA
TRICIA ALEXANDER. become what you dream
JUDY BENCHECK. peace love & paper
KELLY BERKEY. mixed media artist
CATHY. tinniegirl
THE CREATIVE BEAST.
PATTY WAITE. nomadic notebook

kisses to all of you!  smooooch!

...everyone needs someone to "have their back"!

...have you ever started a friendship with someone BEFORE you ever met them in person?  honestly.  it's the strangest sensation.  i know that some of you dear sweethearts who comment on this blog are friends in this catagory.  but up until this beginning of this year, i didn't have a catagory of friends like this in my life.  (ok, that is if you DON'T count the time when i was 8 and i let a helium ballon fly free with a note asking for the person who found it to be my penpal..and they DID!)  oh, i had read a zillion blogs of creative folks out there who gushed about the friends they had made in blog-land, but never seen eye-to-eye.  "oh my goodness, how brave of them!"  i would think to myself.    fast forward to my slight obsession with a certain artist named KELLY RAE ROBERTS and my wonderful fortune to go on an art retreat with her recently. (which i've already blabbed about and probably will again. and again. and again.)

well i had the opportunity to connect with a few of the women BEFORE we met up in manzanita, oregon last month.  one of these dear women had the BEST music on her blog.  i'm talking seriously good taste in music.  it was comforting to know that i would have at least ONE thing in common with someone on this retreat.  i emailed her and she emailed me back and soon i had my very 1st friend in the "i've never met this friend in person" catagory!  YIPPEE!
the story just gets better as we met up in the Portland airport and shared a car to manzanita with jennifer and gloria. two more beautiful and extremely talented women. (seriously check them out)

it's strange how just knowing someone, even a tiny bit, when jumping into a house full of women that you don't know at all, can all of a sudden feel so warm and comforting.

this gorgeous woman above is KOLLEEN (picture by the most amazing photographer, vivienne. please check her out too, you won't be sorry) (sorry i couldn't make it bigger) it's easy to see why anyone would want to be her friend.  she radiates that "come sit by me and let's talk like old friends" glow from the first moment you lay eyes on her.  she is wise.  and so easy to open up to.  she listens.  she encourages.  she's honest.  she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  and it's that inner beauty that inspires her creativity.  her desire to remind us all that it's what is on the inside that matters most and we need to be careful that we develop and nuture our inner spirits.  these are the things i have gained from this new friendship.  from this new HEARTWING SISTER of mine.  this sister who will always have my back!

i had the honor of being a tiny spark in her creativity recently as she and i were portrayed together in one of her inspirational "heartwing sister pieces". 

thank you k for being you.  a wonderful you.  i hope you know i've "always got your back!"

xoxoxo

...cold and flu season!

dear friends. i work on a very ancient computer.  it's been a good pal for many years, but lately he's been growing slow and weak and recently he got hit with the swine flu.  so i took him in to the dr.s and they ended up keeping him for "observation".  hense, i've been a bit quiet on this blog for a few days.  i am going to be completely honest....IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!  right at this very moment i have finally taken my children's computer hostage.  i don't care if they have homework to finish or important facebook posts to check.  i NEED to blog.  at least to check up on all my wonderfully creative friends and see what i've been missing.  you guys are busy little bees.  i miss you when i don't get to check in on you each day.
ahhh! 
i feel soooo much better!
now the little moochers can have their computer back.  but before i go, i need some help.  a new computer is in my very near future. i'm seeing a MAC in my crystal ball.  if you have a mac and love it or hate it, i would love to hear about it. also, if you were me, would you get another desktop or switch to a mac laptop?
thanks friends.

...don't let YOUR ideas die!

ever since i returned from the unearth retreat i've had a swarm of ideas buzzing around in this head of mine.  sometimes i lay awake at night going from one idea to the next at high velocity speeds.  never having learned the artistic habit of getting out of bed and writing my ideas down as they come to me, like this beautiful, inspired friend of mine does (too comfy in my bed)  i awake in the morning to find i can't visualize things as clearly and vividly as i had when the sun was sleeping.  i've liked to use the excuse that i'm back in college and the mother of 5 children as an excuse for not putting these ideas of mine down on canvas with paint and paper and cleverly placed chotchkes - inexpensive trinket or ornament - (case you didn't know)...BUT, the truth of the matter is i've been afraid.  i'm afraid i won't be able to reinvent the image in my mind as beautifully as i imagined it.  i'm afraid of the results.  i'm afraid of "the ugly stage" of a painting that sometimes paralyzes my creativity.  i'm afraid. i am.

then i came across this quote this morning...

..."the primary reason ideas die quickly in some minds is because they can't survive in solitary confinement."...

as i read this quote, i realized that, yes i'm afraid to start the process sometimes, but i am even MORE afraid that my "ideas will die!"

so...

..today i painted!!!

...really?

"every day when you wake up, ask yourself, 'what do i really, really, really want?' you HAVE to say really, really, really, otherwise you won't believe it."

-elizabeth gilbert-

(from the creative entreprenuer)

...so my friends, what is it that YOU really, really, really want today?

...LOVE..it still surrounds me!

home now.  but the love still surrounds me.

2 weeks ago today i was enjoying a beautiful windy day on the oregon coast. surrendering my mind & body to the practice of yoga and the soothing, calm voice of this beautiful soul .

i spent the afternoon walking the tides of the beach, trying hard to capture this new found love in my life, through the lens of my camera.   ever so happy to be wearing my new rainboots.

as i've had almost two weeks away from these strangers i can now have the honor of calling my "friends", i've found it strangely lonely.  i miss them.  i miss their laughter.  i miss their hugs.  i miss their "super*dee*duper" phrases.  i miss their honesty.  i miss their stories.  

yet...

as we have connected in various ways since going back to our very different and separate lives, I STILL FEEL THE LOVE.  the love of these women STILL surrounds me.  it is a love i feel in a quick email just to say "i miss you.  that's all".  it is a love i feel in a text message or an invitation to an art show or a "please be my friend" on facebook.  there is love in a comment on my young blog or the encouraging of others to start their blogs.  i feel love when i see one of us bravely show a work of art or beautifully written words and others respond with "oh, you are so brave."  "you are so talented".  "keep it up girlfriend". 

this is the love that still surrounds me. 

i wanted to capture it in a painting.  (above)  at the end of our journey in manzanita, dear liz elayne gave each one of us a beautiful scarf.  it was a sight to see all 25 women each wrapped in their gift.  my painting reminds me that although i am home now, i can still feel the love of these women and cul*ti*vate all the good things that they brought to my life.  the scarf around my little house is that reminder.  it is an extra special scarf because it is made from a hand made paper ribbon that was sewn by my talented unearth friend, danielle, for all 25 women.  (thank you danielle for the scarf for my little home!)

& thank you to all my "scarf sisters" who continue to love me and enrich my life!

i love you all!