Well, Hello there.....

This is me..... on a journey of discovery....

... a journey I cannot wait to share with you...

...saddle up,  ladies (and gents).... it's going to be a fun ride!

(in the mean time.... have a wonderful weekend... and say a prayer for our neighbors across the ocean)

Dreaming....

...of warm summer evenings...

... the sweet damask scent of roses on the breeze...

...velvety petals unfolding deep red tones...

...an abundance of roses to quench the thirsty senses...

{shhhhh.....please don't wake me}

Today....

Pale clouds sail their tiny ships through the calm water of a morning sky,

while pansies lift painted petals to the sun....

as if a flock of butterflies had paused for a moment to slip fingers and toes deep in sweet earth in silent greeting.

Today, I realize to live in the moment....

is to learn how to listen, to dream the life I desire and then release it like a brilliant butterfly to follow the voice of the Divine.

When I  slow  my frantic pace and trust the guidance deep within the stillness of the moment,

life becomes a sweet adventure as I rise to greet each morning,

and like a pansy.... lift my petals to the sun, and smile: 

my life is blessed. 
 (author unknown)

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Eleanor Roosevelt 

 

Dream and believe.

Crazy

I've been getting a little stir crazy... call it cabin fever... call it mid-winter blues....

call it what you like...

...but I'm waiting not-so-patiently for spring...

I really need some warm breezes and golden sunshine to lift my spirits.... how about you?

I need  alittle more of this....

...and alot less of this....

So we all can get outside and be wild and crazy... and not just crazy!

(and frozen in 15 minutes)

Fear itself

fear.

it is a monstrous word.....yet so small and unpretentious....just 4 letters long...... f.e.a.r 

why then, can it be so strong, so powerful, so debilitating?

FDR in his famous address said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" ...

and maybe that is true because this tiny word has a multitude of meanings to each of us

...and maybe it is this multitude that is so fearsome...

...just maybe...

Ever since my world was tipped upside down, almost two years ago now, I have struggled with fear.  And although I am much more at peace than I was even a year ago, I still fear.  I fear fire, I fear water, I fear letting my kids ride with someone else, I fear letting them spend the night somewhere else.  The list goes on....

(Why do I fear letting my kids out of my care .... especially since it was in my care that one of my children was hurt?  Funny thing,  fear..... it doesn't respect sovereignty or control or Momma's perfect planning.)

I am a planner, just in case you didn't know..... ask my husband.  I drive him to the brink and back again with my planning.  And here is where my fears and plans collide .... I fear having to chose which of my children I would save first (or at all)...... say for instance (and here are my biggies)..... what if our vehicle was caught in a flash flood or .... if the house caught on fire ...... who would I try to save first?  You laugh.  No really.  These fears can keep me up at night.... my heart pounding, my eyes welling because I cannot possibly choose. 

can.not.

  I have constructed elaborate plans time and again ..... only to decide the plans are futile and hopeless and fraught with errors.  (please tell me I'm not the only one with such fears)

Maybe that is just what every Momma is supposed to do.... fear.  God gave us these little creatures to care for, to nurture, to love, to protect... and then He didn't grant us the Heavenly powers to go along with the job. 

He asked us to trust.  And that is hard for this control-freak-of-a-Momma.  Very hard.

I make no claims to complete surrender.... I still grasp the wheel ..... planning, planning, and planning.

Will I ever get there?  Good question.... one I ponder perpetually.

This is what having babies does to a Momma ...... stretch marks?  Pshaw ..... they've got nothin' on me.....

I have fear.....or is it the reverse?

So tell me..... what do you fear and how do you conquer it?

(ps. these photos were taken a couple of weeks ago when the North Fork of the Palouse River was at flood stage)

Hairy Joy

 On days when my body rebels.... 

when my head hurts and I can't think creatively...  and can barely think at all....

when the everyday noises of children's glee reverberates in my cranium like a thunderbolt...

when the slightest molehill seems like a mountain...

 I. must. stop....

must.

 and remember the many cheerful things.... the hugs, the kisses, the ear-splitting screams of delight...

before my hobbled brain short circuits into darkness and fear and despair... 

and the joy robber comes to steal the smile from their faces...

....just put the joy back and walk away....

and no one will get hurt.

Do you ever have a bad hair day?

(i'm trying very hard to keep the joy today)

A little Beauty....

Here we are in the winter doldrums.... I think it's high time for a little beautifying inside our little home...

what do you think?

A few tulips from Costco (thanks to boys who are all too willing to pick out flowers for Mom) will do the trick.

And how about sprucing up the mantel a little....
I have a thing for white ceramics and brown nests and bird themed accessories...

and nesting chickens....

I have just a few ;)

and a few more...

I love white nesting chickens... they add a little sparkle to the dark wood.

...crisp, clean white, a little glass and silver, and earthy tones....

...that is late winter beauty to me.

PS. Don't forget you can make food beautiful, too!

Have a beautiful day!!!

***************************************************************

PPS......And..... if you'd like to see some more "beauty"....

please click over to my guest post on

Better Life Bags blog

where Rebecca blogs about a life lived in service to others and sewing handbags.

She has a beautiful heart and sews beautiful bags to inspire others.

Facebook

So what did you do yesterday?  

...Perhaps you saved a life...

...or spent the day teaching a classroom full of wild ones....

...or helped to deliver a baby....

...or carried some groceries out for a harried Momma....

...or wiped bottoms and noses and dishes (not necessarily in that order)....

Me?  I spent ALL DAY designing my Almota Roses Photography facebook page.

all.day.

(besides all the normal things that a momma must do)

I managed to make meals, run the tub 3 or 4  times (can't remember which), keep clothes on the nudists, and .... 

make a Facebook business page.

I hope to never do that again...... so I'd be delighted, thrilled, and might even dance a jig if you would be so kind as to "Like" my new page.

Just click on the image above and you will go straight to my new page..... then click "like" at the top

easy peasy.... (as compared to actually making the page)

For all the gluttons for punishment out there, here's how I made it:  I purchased a template from {here}, then I downloaded a trial copy of {this} so I could edit the darn thing, and then spent all day wading through a bunch of code to get it looking the way I wanted.  A couple of words still run off the page, and I have no idea why..... maybe I'll try to fix it..... or maybe not.

Let me know what you think.  

I still have several pages to make, but that will have to wait.  

I still have a home to run.....  and some days it takes all of my concentration to make single let alone a home run  ;)

A few more beans to spill ;)

Every week our local paper has a People section called, "My Favorite Recipes".

I was honored to be featured last week.

I screenshot this from the Gazette website (with permission)

Enjoy!  *blush*

Spilling the beans

 One of my perennial New Years resolutions is always being more healthy....

....right there with eating better, exercising more, reducing clutter, and taking time to breathe.

I've always been a runner.... running was what got me through many years of school. But lately, running has taken the last seat in the big yellow bus of my busy life..... and it shows (more than I like).  And the real problem (besides a general lack of fitness) is my abdomen....... errrrr... the "bowl full of jelly" as the boys like to call it.  I know!!! Gross!!!!!   But if I was completely honest with myself, I'd have to agree with them.  I can suck it in, but eventually I have to breathe again..... and then Plop! goes the jelly.  That's what happens when you have your abdomen stretched to smithereens 4 times and then didn't bother to do anything about it in between stretchings.  I mean, between little sleep and breastfeeding and puking 'cause there's another one on the way.... Hello?   Why would I think about sit-ups?  Yeah, yeah.... I know it's been over 2 years since the last abdomen stretching........  ;)

So I decided that it was time for an intervention.  I called up the Ab Dr...........Jillian Michaels and popped in the first dose of 30-day Shred.  No problem.  I can kick myself in the a** with the best of them. The plan:  10 days on Level 1, 10 days on Level 2, and 10 days on Level 3.  No problem.   Ha!  But let me tell ya...... now at day 3...... there is not a muscle in my body that doesn't hurt.  Not. a. one.  Who said it would take 30 days to get shredded?  Ha!  I succeeded in 3! 

Now you might be thinking..... What on earth does this have anything to do with beans?  So.... go ahead and ask..... "What on God's great green earth does this have anything to do with beans?"  Well, when you have 3 little ones underfoot (the last three that stretched your abdomen btw)  .... and I do mean quite literally "underfoot".... you have to get creative with the weights.  The Big baked beans for Momma, the Smokin' Hot chili for the middle boy, the Petite black beans for the little boy, and the Wee-wee tomato paste for the baby girl.   Oh wait!!!!  That was Momma that had to go wee-wee right after doing the jumping jacks in circuit 2.  You see..... Jillian says that she has 400lb people that can do jumping jacks, so there is no excuse for me not being able to do jumping jacks.  But let me ask you.... did those 400lb people recently have 4 stomach stretchers that just so happened to do a little bladder bashing on the way out?  Huh? HUH?  OK... just sayin'.

Yeah, Jillian and me..... my new BFF.  We're spending quality time together every day --  20 minutes..... she tells me how bad I want this.... and I huff and puff and say "Shred this, Jillian!" and "Only 27 more days, Jillian!"  ..... and "Oh, please pass the ibuprofen, Jillian ....."

Snowflakes

Much as Carpe Diem.... this is a wonderful motto to live by...

Begin what you want to do with your life NOW.... don't wait until you are rich enough, old enough, smart enough, happy enough.....or just enough.

Seize the Day!

(before it melts away into eternity)

That's my motto for 2011.

One of my goals this winter has been to capture some snowflake macros......

I can check that one off my "To Do" list now. I find that if I put off things until I have time for them.... they never get done.

So instead of doing laundry, cleaning up toys, or whatever else was in need of doing.... I took myself outside and played with my camera to capture some images I've been wanting to do.....before the newly minted snowflakes turned into tiny, misshapen crystals.

If you look carefully, you can see this snowflake has a reflection right behind it.

I took this one on the tinted rear window on the Big Black Burban.

(which turned out to be the best surface of all that I tried)

This almost looks like a snowflake star in a constellation of tiny stars...

(more from the rear window)

These I captured on an upturned frying pan.

I had to really dig to find a dark, smooth, non-reflective surface to take photos against.

More from the frying pan...

These are on a piece of black construction paper.

This is what I tried first, and you can see that the paper texture is a little much.

Another on the construction paper.... it turned out a little better.

And then my fingers were so cold.... I had to quit and go check on the kids  ;)

But.... the day was captured.... sparkling and yet to melt.

What are you going to capture today?

Here is a small mosaic of some of our Christmas loot....

Yes, I was very spoiled and pampered..... and for that I am VERY greatful!

(that's my new baby.... a gripped D700...Oh BABY!!!)

linking up to Mosaic Monday at Mary's Little Red House

and Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos

Happy New Year!!!

 It's the dawn of a new year....

...a time to reflect on the past...

...and anticipate the future...

It's a beautiful new day.... the start to a beauty-filled year....

Care to join me on this ride?

Bring it on, I say..... bring. it. on.

Let's see where it takes us!

{Happy New Year to you and yours!}

Life is sweet....

I'm quite certain that life is like a cupcake...... sweet, tender, beautiful, unique, imperfect.....

.....here's my theory.....

There is always a reason to celebrate...
.....and cupcakes are little morsels of love that bring happiness to all....

... a reason to smile....

....to make a wish....

....to wonder in awe at the little things...

...to be a little risky...

...to be a little goofy...

Go ahead..... let yourself go..... celebrate life....

...because we may not all have perfect little lives....

.....and we may have lost a few crumbs along the way....

...but that doesn't make our lives any less sweet or beautiful.

Live a little.  Celebrate life.  Have another cupcake.

(Oh thank you!!!!  You are SO sweet!)

.........

That's my (cupcake) theory at least........  and I'm sticking to it.