Category Archives: Inspiration

Getting Back Into the Art Studio!

Good evening!

I have discovered my new favorite art supply shop, Runaway. It is a cool little place that is located in downtown Salem. I have been down there a few times this past week, and after spending waaaay too much money on some much wanted, but not really needed art supplies, my sweetie and I agreed that I really had to commit to getting back into the art studio. So, for the past few days, I have made it a point to spend a little time in my art studio every day!

When I first got got back in there, I was overwhelmed by a blank journal page, and an overwhelming amount of art supplies, go figure! So, to break the ice, I decided to hop on to YouTube, and see if I could find some inspiration from some other fellow creatives. Thankfully, I happened to stumble upon this video:

Dyan Reaveley.

Yep, I said her name.

She is my new artsy hero!

I love her style, he sass, her creativity, and her can do attitude!!

Her patchwork quilt design had me inspired to give this project a try, and tonight I thought I would share with you my project in progress! πŸ™‚

My Take on a Patchwork journal PageClick on image to enlarge

I was actually surprised how long it took to do just this step! It took me a little more than 3 evenings to get this completed, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. If you watched the above video, you know that my next step is to black a lot of this out. I have a feeling that THAT is going to be harder to do, since it took me so much time to get this step done, but I am going to take a leap of faith and do it anyway! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!! πŸ™‚

Here are some closer pics of each of the two pages.

Patchwork Quilt Page Left SideClick on image to enlarge

Patchwork Quilt Page Right SideClick on image to enlarge

This is basically like a giant Zentangle, and even though it took me a long time to draw and then color in, this part of the project was actually quite peaceful! I just turned on some inspiring music and just went for it! πŸ™‚

I will make sure to share with you how it turns out in a couple of days!

Here is to an FABULOUSLY arsty evening!! πŸ˜‰

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Our First Official 5K!

Good evening!

I would normally wait until tomorrow to post this since it is already so late this evening, but I am just too excited to wait to share our fun news!

Tonight my sweetie and I ran the Willamette Valley Road Runners Salem Summer Solstice 5K at Minto Brown Park here in Salem! πŸ™‚

Instead of sharing all of the juicy details in just words, I thought I would share the pics that my sweetie and I accumulated this evening! πŸ™‚

5k 1This is my sweetie, who was soooooo excited to get to complete his first official 5K that it was hard to get him to not speed the whole way to the park!! I was impressed that I got him to hold still for this picture – he was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement!! πŸ™‚

5k 2I would like to tell you that I was as excited as Jason, but in all honesty, I was here under protest! I was tired, I had already done almost three miles this morning, and it was less than an hour a way from my normal bedtime – not to mention, I was worried that I would either not be able to completed the course, or I would fall and make a complete fool of myself!! But, not to be left in Jason’s dust, I was determined to run the 5K too! πŸ™‚

5k 3THIS is what he came for!! He wanted a NUMBER SOOOOOO BADLY!!! Can you see on his face how happy he is??? It is good to see him this happy!! πŸ˜‰

5k 4Yep! I got one too!! πŸ˜‰

5k 5I was more excited about the electronic tracking devices that they gave us to wear on our shoes! They measure your times as you cross the start and finishing lines! They were pretty nifty!! πŸ˜‰

5k 6There were sooooo many people! That fact just jazzed Jason more, and made me more terrified, but I was excited to see if I could spot some new peeps in this crowd!! πŸ™‚

5k 7They had all of the participants broken out into two crowds. The first was the 10K runners (next year, love, we will definitely be in that group!!), and here you can see those guys just taking off!!! Us 5K-ers took off about 5 minutes later!! πŸ™‚

5k 8Jason caught me coming across the finishing line!! I was so tired. There were times that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to push through, but there were little kids passing me up, and I knew I just had to keep going!!! I was excited, however, because I had ran my fasted mile this evening, and that was a 10 minute mile – I couldn’t even do that when I was in high school, and my fastest in the last couple of months was a 13 minute mile!! I am calling that PROGRESS BABY!!!Β  πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????I practically collapsed into Jason’s sweaty arms as soon as I spotted him!! I have never been so happy to see him again!! πŸ˜‰

5k 10Jason is such a stud!!! He beat my time by about 10 minute – HE RAN THE WHOLE THING!!! I am just sooooo proud of him!! He TRULY is my HERO!!! πŸ˜‰

5k 11After the run, the organizer had a ice cream sundae bar for all of the participants, and although I couldn’t eat very much, Jason was very VERY happy to enjoy almost his whole sundae!!! He knew he had earned EVERY SINGLE SPRINKLE!!! πŸ˜‰

5k 12Tonight was such an AMAZING night!! One that I am sure neither one of us are sure to forget!! I really am proud of us!! I can’t wait to see what hurdle we tackle next!! πŸ˜‰

Here is to a VERY FABULOUS EVENING!! πŸ˜‰

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

 

A Weight Loss Progress Update!

???????????????????????????????Good evening!

I thought I would just stop rather quickly this evening and give you all an update on how my weight loss progress has been going!! Since April of 2012, I have lost a total of 105 pounds. For the past couple of months I have been fluctuating between a loss of 102 pounds and 106 pounds lost in total!! So….with that in mind, I take body measurements every week. I measure my neck, underbust, waist, hips, right thigh, right calf, right bicep, and right forearm, and so far I have lost 50 inches in total! To me, that is more astounding that the 105 pound loss, in all honesty!! πŸ™‚

My actual pounds lost is still going really slowly, but, and this a BIG BUT, my sweetie and I have started running most every morning!! We run a couple of loops in our neighborhood, one is very hilly and extremely difficult, and the other is hilly but a little more rolling hill in nature, AKA easier!! This has been really exciting to me, because what started out taking me 40 minutes to complete, now takes me about 32 minutes to complete. I can feel myself getting stronger and my recovery time is much faster than it has ever been. I am starting to get a taste of what being fit actually feels like – and let me tell you…all of the hard work is sooooo worth it!! πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????

Not only have we been running, but this past weekend my sweetie, and one of our nieces and nephews went on a 10 mile hike out at Silver Creek Falls, and let me tell you, that was NO SMALL FEAT!!! In all honesty, I was so surprised that I was able to do it that I almost cried when we got back to the car!! Who knew how much life I was actually missing being 330 pounds??? All I can keep saying is that life is so good. LIFE IS SOOOOO VERY VERY GOOD!!! πŸ˜‰

My sweetie was so inspired by our hike that even thought we were dog tired by the time we got home, my sweetie started looking for a 5k to get us signed up for, that very evening!! So, without my knowledge or consent, he has us signed up for a 5K run tomorrow evening!! LOL!! I say that jokingly because on one hand I was like, “hey, you wanna make sure I’m game before you go throwing my name in the ring???” but then again, I am pretty excited about running a 5K with him. I have run an unofficial 5K already, but I am going to do it again, because my sweetie doesn’t feel like he can cross this off of his life list until he has an official number from his run (you know the kind of number that you wear when in a race??) Well, that is what he wants, and so here we are!!

Life is good!! I know we are both feeling better than we have at any time in either our twenties or thirties (up to now), and I just couldn’t imagine ever going back to where we started from!!!

By the way, these pictures that I have posted this evening are just two of a plethora of pics I took while out on our hike! I will have a BUNCH more pictures from our hike posted hopefully in the next day or so! So stay tuned!! πŸ™‚

With that, here’s to a VERY FABULOUS evening!! πŸ˜‰

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

The Barn House Show 2013

Good evening!

This past Saturday, I got to spend the day on my own with no responsibilities. With my camera in hand, and I headed out to Turner, Oregon to spend some time down at The yearly Barn House Show! I like to try and get out there every year, get inspired, and see if I can find any treasures to take home with me.

The Barn House ShowThe Barn House show is held every year at the Turner Memorial Tabernacle! This building is HUGE, and I often dream about purchasing it and turning it into my sweetie and my dream home!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!! That would be AWESOME!! πŸ˜‰ and check out how BLUE that sky was!! πŸ˜‰

 

Barn House Show 2I love this chippy little sign, and I saw it as soon as I walked in – how fitting!! πŸ˜‰

 

Barn House Show 7I think these bottles were faux mercury glass! I had just stumbled onto some instructions on how to do this, and I may have to give this technique a try. So pretty!!

Barn House Show 6Who knew that an old painted, rusty ceiling tiling could be so beautiful??? I LOVE this!!;-)

Barn House Show 5This chair is JUST SO ME!!! I love the sexy, curvy shape, and I simply ADORE the zebra stripes!!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 4Being a bibliophile, I just LOVE finding unique bookends, and these ones are so industrial-chic!!! BRAVO!! πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????I just LOVE this oversized wall clock!!

Barn House Show 19This bag is tres cute! I need to learn how to sew me some ruffles!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 18I love these signs!! I dream that one day my sweetie and I will be able to say, “Welcome to our farmhouse!!” πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 17My sweetie thought this marionette was creepy, but I have ALWAYS LOVED harlequin clowns, and I just FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM as soon as I saw him (that applies to both my sweetie and this cute little clown)!!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 16Every single one of these items could EASILY find a place in my home!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 15I really never knew I was such a industrial-chic kind of girl, but I really just LOVE the mix of architectural details, rust, and a bit of chippy paint!!

???????????????????????????????Who couldn’t use more glittered feathers in their life??? I know I could!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 13I LOVE these brooches!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 12AIEEEEE!!! I LOVE these ones too!!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 11These last three pics are all from one of my FAVORITE vendors down at Aunt Bee’s House – you might recognize a couple of these quilts from my post on Aunt Bee’s House a couple of weeks ago!! To see more of that, click Here!

Barn House Show 10Who knew that metal siding could double as art?? I need to get me some of this!! πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????I love this vintage button bracelet!! I could use this in my accessory wardrobe!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 8I have always wanted an oversized mirrored armoir like this!! It always reminds me of the book, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe!

I had such a great time at The Barn House Show,Β  spending the day seeing all of the vendors’ booths, and all of the treasures for sale, and the weather truly could NOT have been more perfect!! I ended up taking a few vintage magazines home, as well as a stack of vintage crochet books!! SCORE!!! πŸ˜‰ I really do look forward to going every year, so if any of you are in the area, and would like to go with meΒ  I think that would be a BLAST!!! Don’t you??? THE MORE THE MERRIER!!! πŸ˜‰

With that said…

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!!Β  ;-)

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Inspirational Thought for Your Monday!

Good morning!!

I ran across this quote and just knew that I wanted to share this with you:

“Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.”
~Marsha Norman

See what I mean?? I am sure there are a few of you out there just really needed to hear that this morning, I know I sure did!! πŸ™‚

Here is to a FABULOUS Monday!!Β  ;-)

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Bliss List Friday!

CrownGood afternoon!

I realize it has been a while since I have last posted, but mama has been soooo busy this past week! I had a HUGE test today, that I had been seriously cramming for!! Some of you may not know this, but it my normal day job, I am a computer programmer, which is almost the exact opposite of how my brain was naturally wired to function!! πŸ˜‰ So, when I find out that I have to take a test to get certified in something for work, it really takes a LOT of hunkerin’ down and trying REALLY hard to get the information to stick into my poor brain!! πŸ˜‰

Anyway, the test is done – WHEW!!! I am not exactly sure that I don’t have to take it again in a couple of weeks, but hopefully I’ve passed and that messy business is ALL DONE!!! πŸ˜‰ That was me speaking in my best Paula Deen inspired southern drawl, honey!!! πŸ˜‰

In honor of my test being done, and it now being my official start to my weekend! YEAH!!! I have decided that it is high time to get back to my Friday Bliss List posting!! I think it is so important to live a life of gratitude, especially when life can be a little bit hectic, so here is what I am thankful for this week!

My Friday Bliss List:

  1. I am sooooo thankful that my test is done!
  2. I am sooooo thankful that it is the weekend!
  3. I am sooooo thankful that I get to spend some time with my four-legged girls this evening, enjoying a quiet house!
  4. I am sooooo thankful that my sweetie has been helping us keep our bed made every day!! There is nothing better than heading to bed after a long day and realizing that your bed is already made, and just calling for you to come snuggle down, and get comfy!!
  5. I am sooooo thankful that I got to spend some time this week FaceTiming with my sissy, Alex!! She is sunshine personified!!! I am ONE LUCKY GIRL to be able to call her Sister!! πŸ˜‰
  6. I am sooooo thankful for my girlfriends at the office! What would I EVER do without my peeps???
  7. I am sooooo thankful to have been able to spend a day playing at one of my favorite shops here in town, Aunt Bee’s House!! I will hopefully be able to share those pics with you tomorrow!!! πŸ˜‰
  8. I am sooooo thankful that, because a change in his weekend work plans, my sweetie gets to stay in town this weekend, which means we are going to get some quality fun time playing together this Sunday – I CAN’T WAIT!!!
  9. I am sooooo thankful that I get to spend some time arting in my art studio this weekend, it has been MUCH TOO LONG!!!!
  10. I am sooooo thankful for my life!! Life is SERIOUSLY good! I know that I am blessed, and just knowing THAT helps me stay in gratitude!!

There you have it!! I hope that you all have your own Bliss List ofΒ  blessings that you can call on at a moments’ notice too!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!!Β  ;-)

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Artist Date Nights and Paris!

Paris Was a WomanGood evening!

Thursday nights in our house is artist date night, which means my sweetie goes out to spend some times with the guys, and I squirrel away doing something creative, like maybe some arting, or watching a fabulous movie, or taking myself out to see something beautiful!

Tonight I have chosen to watch what I am hoping will be a fabulous movie!! That movie is called Paris was a Woman, directed by Greta Schiller. The NetFlix description of this movie says,

“With home movies and intimate storytelling, this documentary re-creates the mood of Paris’s unique female artistic community between the World Wars.”

You may not know this about me, but I have always had a love affair with all things French!! I may have been born an American, I have always been a Francophile at heart!!!

I love…

the people,
the culture,
the architecture,
the history,
the sense of community,
the pace,
the countryside,
the language,
the fashion,
the food,
the music,
I LOVE IT ALL!!

Ok, well, since I have never actually been to France yet, I love the idea of all of the marvelously beautiful things!! I love watching French movies, I love reading French books, and I just adore French music!!

So, tonight for my artist date, I have decided to submerge myself some more into my love of all things French by watching this movie!!

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening!! πŸ˜‰

Bonsoir!

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Gaining a New Life with Gastric Bypass Surgery!

Me 2Good evening!

I have had so much going on the past week, that I really had no idea where to start. ..

So, to keep things simple, I have decided to share my weight loss update this evening!! But, I realized that since I changed from my old blog to this one, this is going to be a new story for most of you!! πŸ™‚

I have lived most of my adult life heavy…
and teen life…
and part of my childhood…
well, I think you get the idea!!

I did not have one single solitary day of my 20’s under 285 pounds, and by the time I hit 30 I was 300 plus pounds! One day, I woke up and realized that I was 36 years old, 330 pounds, unhappy, unhealthy, and seriously heading to a quickly approaching early grave! I realized I had wasted my 20’s and now that I was heading to 40 (AKA middle age AAAACK!!!!), I decided that I didn’t want to greet my 40’s on my way to 400 pounds! I just couldn’t do it! and seriously as bad as my health was getting I wasn’t sure I was going to make it even if I wanted to!

Me 1

By that time, I had sleep apnea… I snored like nobodies business, and I couldn’t sleep through the night without waking up with a horrendous blood pressure headache! Now, I realize I was literally starving for oxygen while I was trying to sleep! I was a breath away from diabetes, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and had constant pain in my knees, ankles, feet, and back!! I knew I was in real trouble.

In April of 2012, I had made the decision, along with my awesomely loving husband, that we would both start the process to have gastric bypass surgery. Now mind you, this decision was not made lightly, and not without a lot of trying a whole lot of other ways to lose weight first, none of which worked for very long.

Fast forward to September 4, 2012, my husband had already had his gastric bypass surgery 6 weeks prior to mine, and he had already lost weight like gangbusters!!! As scared as I was going into the surgery preparation, I knew I was ready for this, and that this would be the start of my new life. There was no way in HELL I was going to waste this opportunity!! So, with my sweetie, and my two baby sisters at my side, the surgical team wheeled me away, and I got the chance to start my new life.

Today, and every Monday I go into the clinic for a weigh-in. This is my own personal way of holding myself accountable! My weight loss has been much slower than my husband’s, of course! Him being a man and all!! πŸ˜‰ But, I have slowly but surely been shrinking. So, tonight I will share with you my weight loss progress as of today!

Weight Loss Update

  • Total pounds lost from highest weight: 102.4
  • Total pounds lost since starting the Bariatric program in April 2012: 92.2
  • Total pounds lost since surgery: 56.5
  • Total inches lost (measuring my neck, underbust, waist, hips, thigh, calf, bicep, and forearm): 43.5

Life is good! I am not yet to where I want to be. My one year follow up appointment is in September, and my Surgeon’s goal for me is to lose another 40 pounds. She has told me, that since my weight is coming off so slowly, even with the weight loss surgery, that I am going to have to fight tooth and nail for every single pound that comes off from here on out, and I know she is right, but I also know that this life is worth it! I am worth it!!!

Me 3

If anyone one you know is interested in gastric bypass surgery, or if you are just curious and have questions, please feel free to either comment on this post, or you can e-mail me at thisartsylife [at] yahoo [dot] com. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have!! πŸ™‚

In the meantime…

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening!! πŸ˜‰

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Just Stopping In!

Because I Said So 1Good evening!

I know it has been a few days since I’ve stopped by, but I have been crazy busy working through theΒ The Right Brain Business Plan by Jennifer Lee! I have gotten my vision board done, and this evening I will have my value cards done!!!

WHEW!!!

There has been a lot of soul searching and really asking the tough questions about what do I really REALLY want to see in my life and career!! and you know what???? I think I have been coming up with some answers that have really been making me soooo happy…and OPTIMISTIC!!!

YEAH!!!

Life is good and I am feeling AMAZINGLY BLESSED!!!

Because I Said So 2

On a totally side note: I am watching the movie “Because I Said So!” (hence all the sweet pics!!) and I just want to fall into the scrum-diddily-umptious decor!!! I can see my sweetie and I moving right into Millie’s loft!! Brick walls, deep crimson, tufted sofa, deep emerald green wingback chair, cement floors!!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

Because I Said So 3

On that short and sweet note – I am going to get back to busily working on The Right Brain Business Plan!!

Here is to a FABULOUSLY artsy evening! πŸ˜‰

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Right Brain Business Plan!

Right Brain Business Plan BookGood morning!

I have had in my hot little hands an awesome resource that for some reason I have only now have just started to go through. That awesome resource would be my copy of the book by Jennifer Lee, The Right Brain Business Plan! I would imagine that a lot of your have heard about this book, it is quite popular after all!! If not, let me tell you a little bit about it. πŸ˜‰

The Right Brain Business Plan is a guide to help you walk through all of the details of your business, just like you would do when writing a business plan. What makes this little gem of a book different is that what is often a daunting task for us right brain creative types – the writing of a business plan – is that Jennifer Lee walks your through how to come up with and compile all of the same information in a non-scary, creative, right brain friendly kind of way!! This book is full of GREAT information!! Information that every business owner or, in my case, would be business owner should have at their fingertips on how to get focused on oftentimes scary details about starting your own business!

Blank Accordian Book

However, I am just now getting the bravery muscles to go through this book. I have created my accordion book, which will become my The Right Brain Business Plan, and I am working on gathering all of my images that will blanket one side of my accordion book for a portable visibility board! As I work through this ingenious little resource, I will do my best to keep you posted on my progress, but I can already tell that this is going to be essential to the success of my business! Focus, focus is good!! πŸ˜‰

Vision Board Dream Clippings

I also wanted to share with you the Right Brain Business Plan Summit Diagram that Jennifer Lee had walked us through creating this past Tuesday at her Right Brain Business Plan Summit Recap webinar.Β  Jennifer has a formula for business success, and this diagram is Jennifer’s way of helping us better understand how this formula works in relation to our real world actions and goals. Her formula for success is:

Inspired Action + Authentic Impact = Increased Income!

Here is the diagram from the summit recap:

RBBP Summit Diagram

The way this diagram works is that the middle circle of the flower is the space where you write three words to describe your core values. The petals are where you write down purposeful actions that you have taken to grow your business, one action per petal. You can also write future actions here as well! The stem is where you write how much money you want to make in an allotted time, in your business. The leaves off of the stem are where you itemize products and/or services that you are offering to your customers. Finally the ground is your businesses foundation – basically what tools you are using to keep you business up/running/organized/on track, etc!!

The idea is that your actions should directly honor your core values, and contribute to the goal you have established of how much money you want to make. If you are needing to make more money to hit your financial goal, then you will need to create more opportunities for making that money through products and services. I have only had this tool under my belt for a few days, but it has already been such a helpful resource to help me see how my thoughts and actions are all intertwined, and it is up to me to make my business dreams come to fruition!!

Anyway, if you are thinking about starting your own business, or you already have a business that might need a little bit of refocusing! I would highly recommend going out and picking up this great book, The Right Brain Business Plan! Just so you know, I have no financial involvement with Jennifer Lee or the Right Brain Business Plan, these are all my own thoughts!! From one reader to another!! πŸ™‚

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY day!! πŸ˜‰

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!