I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek of what I've been working on the last couple of weeks, since I'm taking a little breather to heal from surgery. (Look at that foggy glare! It's from the humidity outside. My lens kept fogging up.)

The surgery went well this past Thursday. Today I'm going to meet with my surgeon for a follow up and to remove my bandage. And then I'm off to meet with my Endocrinologist to discuss replacement med's. All in all, things are looking good so far. Still a bit sore, but that's to be expected. I'll be happy to be rid of this sore scratchy throat. That song comes to mind, "Knock three times...". I'm pretty hoarse, so there is lots of knocking on walls going on.

I've been feeling a bit proud of my husband as he's jumped back into home life. If you know of a military family, you can know how hard it can be at times for a family member to integrate back in after a long deployment. Especially once there is a new baby thrown into the mix. He was here for the birth, and about a month after. But there has been a lot of change and growth in the time he's been gone. Thank God, everyone has gotten a long just fine. And baby has taken to him in an unbelievably good way. Throw in some surgery, some kitchen renovation and you've got quite the mix for a family to function in. I'm proud of all my troopers.

And, as my daughters favorite character would say, "It makes me my heart sing." (Kai Lan)

I've become part of a fad, without even realizing it. It seems that is a pattern in my life!

Consistently I find something I love to do and then I discover the hidden world that is thriving with that thing. Secretly someone has discovered the fun before me! A little over a year ago now I bought my Yudu machine and fell in love with the process. And then I discovered that hundreds of other people had as well. It's all ok though. I'm still in love with the creativity that screen printing allows you. Seeing my design on a piece of fabric is thrilling. The key, I've learned, is to not be looking all around you at what everyone else is doing. Look within you to see what you can find there and bring it out for all to see!

Recently I took my kids to the beach to collect shells and dip their toes in the water. It was a gorgeous day. And so different from the beaches in California. You may or may not know that I am a native Californian, transplanted to North Carolina via Marine Corps orders for my husband to Camp Lejeune. We've been Easterners now for a little over a year. I'm still getting used to seeing the sun rise over the ocean. Anyway, it's so different because the water where I am from is actually very cold. In northern California, in Sonoma County specifically, the ocean water is so so cold that you're considered a little nutty if you go in without a wet suit. But that's no so out here in the South East. The water is almost body temperature. And it's oh so beautiful with it's different hues of blue and green. Really beautiful.

Thursday morning I will be going in for surgery for a complete Thyroidectomy and I'll be thinking about that blue-green water and my kids running around happily. And wondering how quickly I can get home to hold my baby, and if my husband is getting along ok being back home early from deployment. The surgery is known to have good outcomes, so we are all looking forward to things going well and getting back to normal soon.

With Love

It struck me recently that I have these quotes that I love all scribbled haphazardly in a notebook and know they are there, but I forget to read them until I have another to write in my little notebook. I wanted some way to be able to display them so I could see them and remind myself of the wisdom they hold. So out of that, I came up with this idea!

I sat down with a cutting board on my lap, my steel letter stamps and a hammer and went to work while my daughter sat next to me watching and waiting (to see if I was making her something), and my baby sat at my feet playing with blocks. We listened to a movie and spent some time chatting. (Or rather, she spent time asking continuous questions like any 4 year old will do.) It was a lovely way to spend an hour or two with my kids. And the end result is pretty great! It's now sitting on a book shelf, and I turn it whenever I happen to pass by so I can read a different tidbit of wisdom.







To do this project you would need:


a 6 inch block of wood, found at Michael's


hammer


cutting board


steel letter stamps, found at Harbor Freight


some wood stain (optional if you want the dark stain)


bee wax (again, optional for the finish)


a lighter


favorite quotes written down, (yes write them down so you don't misspell words!)







Hammer out the quotes on your block. The cutting board makes it handy to set the project on your lap and work, or to protect your surface from hammer-damage. Once you are finished hammering, rub a little bit of stain on a paper towel or rag into your block to get the stain you like. Let it dry for a bit. Then I rubbed the chunk of wax over the block and covered all the little cracks and crevaces with a thin layer. Just keep rubbing, until it's all covered. Don't worry about chunks in the letters. Use the lighter, to carefully melt the wax smooth over all the surfaces. (Please be careful! Put some gloves on if you need to to protect yourself from burns!) And now you have a lovely little block of quotes or sayings to display in plain view.


I hope you have a great week!

It crossed my mind that you should make an effort to live the life you want to have rather than just yearn for it. If you don't do it for yourself, you will just miss out. No regrets! One baby step at a time. One scary leap into the unknown at a time. And then, should someone or something throw a wrench in your plan...just pull it out and start again. No doesn't always mean "NO", perhaps it just means "Nope, not that way!"

Dear Blog Friends,

Isn't is amazing how life can carry you in different directions? I know, for myself, that even though my mind would like to be here writing and sharing new things with you that it isn't always possible! That is evidenced by my lack of posts.

I was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and though I've been going through a lot of really crazy emotional stuff with the whole thing, when I wake up in the morning and look at my kids beautiful faces, and know I have another day to spend loving them everything seems ok after all.

So with the health stuff, and my husband still deployed, and my children depending on me...well I've been lucky just to get in a shower! :) But I promise to share something new with you soon.

Love

Life happens! It's a marvelous thing. My little ones and I have been very busy the last few months. It's amazing what throwing another person into the loop will do to your free time. I seem to have forgotten what those free moments are like. Just this morning I stood over my youngest, asleep in his swing, and wondered for a moment what I should do! Dishes? Laundry?
Those things will always need to be done, so I chose to work on cleaning up my work space. I came across this picture...
It reminded me for a moment of why I do what I do, and the times when I feel frustrated at not being able to do what I want to do. Often times we feel a thorn in the heart, that perhaps needs have to come before desires. But it's ok! My children are my work, and I hope that they will continue to grow beautifully with God's help. Their beauty is by far more satisfying than anything I could ever make. One day I will look back on these busy times and crave them again.