dragonfly days

the garden

We've been on some marathon garden kicks here. I think we are finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That is, if I stop finding things we just need to plant. Today I took a moment to enjoy while I did the watering.

The milk weed is starting to bloom. We started with one little seed and now we have quite a patch going. Love this. I hope it attracts some butterflies this year.

The roses are in full bloom right now. I have a love hate relationship with these roses. They are so beautiful when they are in bloom, but it only lasts a week or two. 

Today we made a quick trip to the nursery. I was looking for a valerian plant. I had one last year and think it might have seeded, but if it didn't I wanted another. I couldn't find it but I did pick up a pineapple sage, another comfrey, and some seeds.  The most exciting find was the quinoa seeds. Can you imagine? So excited to see if it will grow here.

I also have another big project involving gardens in the works. It started with a conversation with one of the neighbors at the wild edible class. I'm hoping I can make it come to fruition.

 

being crafty

This week I finally made some time to get crafty. I had some  lessons from the last Soul Restoration class that needed to be finished up.  It came time in this current class where I decided I couldn't procrastinate any longer and pulled out the mod podge. :) I was able to finish up that lesson and get a good start on the projects for this class.  It felt really good to have my creative juices flowing again.

 

1-1-11

New Moleskines ready for the new year.

And I have finally chosen my word for the year. It was quite an interesting process this year compared to last. I thought I had my word chosen, achieve. I sta down and began to journal about it and within two sentences it was looking like success would be a better word. As I continued to journal a different word started making itself known. So much so that I believe  it popped up around 25 times throughout the two pages. Hmmmm... I think someone is trying to tell me something. So my word for this year is:

Consistency

I realized as I wrote that both the success and achievement I am looking for would happen if I was just more consistent in my actions or choices.  It really is at the heart of a lot of things I want to work on. 

Something to help along the way:

• I am doing project 365. One picture per day for a year.  Look here for my flickr .

I also have a different word that I will also be focusing on through the year. REACH. I think I've told you before about the book I read that encouraged you to stretch, reach, or die. Basically it's doing things that are hard or out of your comfort zone. I've done a few stretches this year and enjoyed them. It has helped me grow.  So this year I want to do more REACHing. I want to be out of my comfort zone a little more.

I am looking forward to a year of consistency and REACHing towards the new me. How about you? Do you have a word for the year? What do you want to invite into your life?

November 17 2010

Today I finished the hat! Woohoo! Now a certain little someone has a matching set. I think he wants more.

I also got my new camera lens today! So happy!  These were some of my first shots with it, so excuse any fuziness. :) But I was able to get a pic of the hubby smiling, can't pass that up.

And then things started to get a little silly after a few pics.

 

Today my mind has been swirling with thoughts of random acts of kindness, teachers all around us, passions, dreams, and everything coming together. 

In my head and heart today:

"...you are not alone in this. There are partners everywhere, partners who are waiting and willing to help you, if you would only let them. They are right in front of you, you just haven't noticed them yet." ~  Katrina Kenison, The Gift of An Ordinary Day.

 

November 3 2010

So today was interesting. I won't go into much detail here.  Let's just say someone was condescending about  my childs choice of career--it doesn't pay enough, the reason it's so in demand is because it's hard and no one wants to do it.  They tried to talk her into other options and then scoffed at the final plan.  My child stood strong in what she wanted. I kept trying to bite my tongue and guide the conversation back to where it belonged and should have been headed.  A big part of me wanted to tell the person where they could put their opinion. :)  After we left I had a rant in the car, probably not my finest moment. Then I remembered the TED that Sir Ken Robinson gave last Feb. He talked about a fire fighter who always knew he wanted to be a fire fighter despite one teacher telling him he needed to be more, do more. The fire fighter went on to save that teachers life.  So the kids and I talked, we watched the talk when we got home, and talked some more. We talked about how you should follow your dreams even though there will always be people telling you otherwise.  Hopefully I turned it into a learning situation and hopefully they took something away from it more than my rant.  And hopefully we won't need to have another meeting with that person again. It's not about money or going to a four year college. It's about passion and dreams.  I really wish people had enough respect for that.

 

"...But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. "  ~Yeats

 Gives me chills every single time.

March 9 2010

Meet my owl friends, Fred and Ginger.

Today was the end of a very long  few months. I went in for my test results and they came back okay. Not perfect, but very good and hopeful. I get to go in every 6 months for the next two years. Fair enough. Now we can move on, now I can move on.
 

I had a hard time getting anything done this past month. I was unsure of what life might look like in a few months. It was really hard. I  felt on hold, paused as Jack would say. It really was not fun. You know me, I like to plan. During this time though I noticed a change in how I was thinking though. Mainly I wanted to stop wasting time--like the nose. So I have some plans, good plans- fun plans. Some of them I can't talk about yet, but soon. 

In my favorite song, Dream by Priscella Ahn, there is a line that says,

I don't know what's left to say about this life I'm willing to leave.

I lived it full and I lived it well, there's many tales I've lived to tell.

I'm ready now, I'm ready now, I'm ready now to fly from the highest wing.

I had a dream

I love that line. I lived it full and I lived it well. I want that to be something that I can honestly say one day.

Along with that idea, I was very happy to receive this in the mail today:

Writing Motherhood

I've heard so many good things about this and can't wait to get started.