a Soul Restoration recap

If you have followed my posts at all you have read about the class I took online and about the projects I did. But I know I haven't completely outlined what I learned or how it changed me.
The gals at Brave Girls are having a little contest for those of us who went through the first online class. We are to write about our experience and then post links on their facebook page. If you are interested in reading the posts or even just helping me win...go read the posts and "like" those who inspire you...like me...
This first photo is of my clean new journal before class started. Just a spiral notebook from Michael's...the band is important as you will see...
yep-that is what it looks like now, full of fun artwork, my favorite papers and my soul poured out upon the pages. Here is another look to show you just how full it is and why I needed that band!

Oh look, there are more pages to do there at the bottom of the stack.

The first lesson I learned was what Peace would look like to me- silencing my inner critic, covering lies that Satan wants me to believe with God's truths. One of the great ways I do this is by putting my truth cards right on my dresser so I can pick one each day and then focus on those thoughts. (You can see some of the examples in my Soul Restoration catagory) I also so
appreciate the daily notes the the group sends. They are always life affirming and challenge me to look at things differently.

Looking through my life's timeline also showed me that some of the things I think of and about myself, crept in years before I thought they had. So I try to remember the little girl in me when I get to thinking about acting differently than my authentic self. I realize that the little girl had to grow up too fast and so taking things slowly and making time for play is really important to my soul.
I love the thought of authentic self. You sift things through what you know of life-but being authentic to me means being able to not have to change who I am for each person I encounter. Not having to reign in enthusiasm if that is what I am feeling. Not feeling guilty if what I feel like doing is just sitting and not thinking about anything in particular. How amazing would it be if we all felt the freedom to be real in each circumstance we encounter. Not having to worry about how to say something in such a way that nobody will be offended or challenged. It would be life changing for sure.

Some of the pages in my journal also hold the words to songs that I find especially meaningful like you're beautiful, you are more, what love really means, voice of truth. The songs that when they come on I crank on high and sing right along. Surrounding myself with life affirmation music changes the way I feel, as much as working on crafts or my journal does. The journal was an interesting project to get into. I have a girlfriend who for years has been doing art journaling. She has created amazing books that I love to go through and just relish the creativity. I always looked at journaling as a thing people did daily. Well I don't like the idea of "having" to do things and so I dabbled in journaling from time to time but the whole commitment thing blew me away. Besides each time I journaled I was dealing with the same problems. This time though I gave myself the freedom to journal as the feeling came to me. Having the prompts that went with the class helped me zero in on the issues I have dealt with for years. It enabled me to look at things differently and gently allow myself to feel again. I must say it is way easier to write my soul down on a pretty piece of art than on a big white page of blue lines.

I also liked the lesson where we explored "doing it anyway". By looking at each obstacle or situation I encounter which could have the potential to derail me and start me back into a spiral down and realizing that by looking at it differently, I could continue down my healthier path. I could essentially face the situation and "do it anyway" and still be able to go onto the next thing.

I think my favorite part of the whole process was when we wrote out our "instruction manual."
By writing down the things I do when I am on track or off track, etc. I have a tangible place that I can go to with concrete things to do to keep on the path to a completely restored soul.

Finally, today I made my promise book. This was the last project and I had to go and review the video to see what it was supposed to be like. I had done another book that was focused on God's promises to me. This was supposed to be my promises to myself. I had this little book in my stash from a thrifting trip. Since it was 2 ringed I was able to add an envelope, a photo card as well as other items from my inventory to create a unique book. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to fill it with promises. Things I came across during the class that remind me that I am a prize. A prize not only to God but to myself and those around me.
It has truly been an amazing experience and I am looking forward to part II coming in a few months.

oh yeah baby....

Gotcha at the photo didn't I?

You want some don't you?

Gonna have to make some?

Well this little photo popped into my inbox as a post from Tasty Kitchen which is part of the Pioneer woman website. I love this gals style of writing and I even own her cookbook and novel.
Anyway-here is the link for the recipe Tasty kitchen.

Well I had to make some-Mr and Mrs are coming for dinner tomorrow-

I did double the chocolate, nutella, peanut butter to get a 9 x 13 size pan full. The rest of the ingredients- rice krispies, pecans and marshmallows I more than doubled- it definately needed more to make it more like the krispie treats you are probably used to.

Oh and for dinner tomorrow....
I made another recipe from Mrs. Pioneer woman-this time from her "cooking" link.
This is spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork. The great thing about her recipe sharing is that she adds photos of each step of the way and inserts humerus bits too. Her recipe called for an 11 oz. can of chipolata in adobe sauce. I only added about half of a 7 oz. can and the bites we tried had more than enough kick for us...but we are kinda weak in that respect.

Happy cooking and eating!

Getting things done

A few weeks back I did a post where I showed my travel journal I was putting together for our anniversary trip. Well I got it all put together and thought you might like to see a bit more. I have photos, journaling, bags, notes, business cards, postcards, maps...all sorts of stuff tucked in.
It is a bit loose and floppy but that makes it more interesting. I keep a bit of ribbon around it to store.

I even put in the lists I made for packing. And also one of the pages from when we played pictionary with all the kids.
Amy came over on Sunday like always. Even though I was still a bit loopy from the meds we still did some crafting. I made this for the kitchen with bits of this and that. The class we took had us not put faces on the ladies but I don't know if I like that on this one. I even added a pearl necklace, just what the 50's house wife always wore. Well at least on TV.

Today I finished up the last project for my "Soul Restoration" class. It was supposed to be a promises book. That has been stumping me for weeks. I finally decided that a book full of some
relevant scripture verses would remind me of the promises that God has made to me and that I have made to him. The class stuff had sent this embossed book and Amy added some paint and today I finished it off with glitter glue...just love that stuff!
some pages with random items from my stash of supplies-




I put ribbons and things sticking out the top and sides for interest-
It feels so great to get some items finished.

I signed up for a class called Be gentle, be love.
They send wise words and prompts for projects, journaling or blog posts.
You'll probably hear more from me on that soon...

and then this week-

So after all the excitement of last week what was I going to do this week? Well on Wednesday Mrs. Gabriele was graduating nursing school, Thursday I was invited to visit an art journaling group and on Friday we had plans to attend Magenta Improv theater. So I stayed pretty low the first few days of the week. Got the laundry done and the rest of stuff put away. Did a bit of reading. After dinner on Wednesday I got all ready for the graduation. Took off the tennies and put on my fancy shoes (Dansko's)-I don't stray too much from comfort. Since it was raining I decided Gary could drive and let me off out front and then he would have to park the car. Good plan-bad entry. As I was attempting to get in the car I inadvertently stepped off the edge of the carport and twisted my foot. My already sore foot from Plantar Fasciitis became excruciating. I iced it all the way to Skyview but it didn't get much better. I hobbled in and sat as quickly as I could.

Here she is ready for things to get going-

and Mr. Nick got to pin on her graduating nurse pin-tears flowed.
Well from me anyway!

So proud of them both for working together to reach this amazing goal!!!

By the end of it I sure needed the rest room. So I hobbled up the stairs and using the railing to guide and help support my aching foot I traveled towards the door. The railing wasn't attached at one point and gouged my finger. So now I was hobbling and bleeding...more drama. As quickly as we could leave gracefully we headed out.

I was awfully glad I was going to the doctor the next day for a rash that had developed on my side. I figured it was something I picked up from the trip...
But that night I got the grand total of about 2 hours sleep because my foot hurt so bad. I did some online research and was convinced I had sprained my foot. As soon as Gary got up I told him that I needed him to call his best friend the doctor and get me in to the clinic before my 1 pm appointment. Well he went to work and then came home a few hours later to take me in. In a twist of fate the PA who saw me did have a sprained ankle and was hobbling around too. She poked and prodded and determined I had just aggravated the fasciitis more. Assured me there was an anti-inflammatory I could take without other drug interactions and would also give me a
stronger pain killer since Tylenol wasn't cutting anything. Oh and the rash turned out to be Shingles.

So for two days I haven't showered or changed out of jammies. I haven't cleaned the house or done many chores. I have prepared some food and read magazines and watched tv and checked my email and facebook on my smart phone. Taken lots of naps and am gradually getting better.
Today I did notice what appears to be a case of athlete's foot (figured I would get something out of the trip) or maybe it's shingles on my toes...

Gary-he is ready to trade me in for a healthier model. Although he keeps telling me how amazed he is that I am not turning into a whiny women through all of this.

Why is it when you decide you are going to try some new things to get both mentally and physically healthy something always gets in the way???

Or should I say someone????

Well tomorrow should be better-asked Amy to come earlier than usual so we will have some crafting time before I'll need a nap. Maybe I can actually get through the day without one-we'll see.

Next week? We will just have to wait and see if things will be back to normal!!

Plus more...

I forgot the plus more in the last post....

The travel journal worked great-I glued and punched holes and assembled it every few days.
Since we got a call to evacuate on Friday morning at 4 am about the only thing I have for the last day of our trip is the newspaper headlines!

I had posted this She Art style picture I made a week ago and stated that I didn't feel it was finished. I decided it needed more "stuff" and some extra color....

Well here is the finished product and I like it much better-how about you?
ta-da!

Anniversary plus more...

Got my toes done for the trip...

We took half a dozen photos together and this is the only one that turned out...wonder why?
It was an amazing week! We started the week out with family dinner made by Karl and Amy. Yummy organic hamburgers with most all organic trimmings. They even found an amazing chocolate cake at whole foods. We played Pictionary too which is always fun-why is it you can always guess what the other team is drawing? Amy spent Saturday with us since we wouldn't have Sunday together and we crafted the day away.

Sunday we packed up the car and headed towards the beach via the Astoria route. Although we have taken this road before Gary kept saying it looked different. Maybe because it wasn't raining...It took us over 4 hours to reach Cannon Beach because of the photo opportunities!

These images I took with my phone and played
with the options....

When we finally made it to Cannon Beach we had to EAT-we hadn't had lunch and were very hungry. We stopped at Lumberyard. If you haven't been there...go!

I had ribs-

Gary had fish and chips-

On Monday Gary gave me some lovely presents- a book I have been wanting, a gift card to a craft store and this lovely ring with 3 pearls to represent our decades together and two diamonds to represent our children...LOVE it!On Monday we had lunch in Warrenton at a spot I had Googled-Serendipity Cafe. Supposed to have great Monte Cristos and they did. Gary had biscuits and gravy which were fantastic too.
We drove back roads and ended up at Fort Clatsop that was recently rebuilt after a fire. Gary took photos and I had a little nap. He ended up calling me and saying he had taken a path and was way out past the entrance on the main road so I headed out to meet up with him. We drove a road through the countryside that was one we hadn't been on before-which we love.
Arriving back in Seaside around dinner time I did a quick search on the phone for someplace to eat. Kinda felt like pizza...turns out we were parked behind a place that was supposed to be great in spite of what it looked like in the strip mall. It's right across from Safeway and you would miss it if you weren't looking for it. Angelina's pizza had a fantastic menu!

This is chicken parmesean panini-

This is their cheese calzone with ricotta and mozzarella-

We spent one day of the trip hanging out in the room in our jammies and reading in front of the fire. Didn't feel too guilty since it was extremely windy out.

Another day we took a drive down to Tillamook-had to get some squeeky cheese. I took Gary to the air museum too.

Stopped in Rockaway beach at a cute looking shop called the Frugal Crow. Part gift shop, part antique shop, part yarn store...all around fun and amazing prices. I got this afghan for only $12

We saw these cute bunnies-

We saw this amazing airstream. Never have seen a bus version.

We had a bit of all kinds of weather while we were there...it was kinda fun.


We came home on Friday and Amy, Nick and Gabriele came for dinner and then we went to see Harry Potter.
On Saturday I put everything away and organized my kitchen a bit differently. Sunday Amy came to play and we visited a friends new old home and gave them some suggestions of how to get it ready to live in.
Gary didn't want to go to work today and I had a bit of a tough time getting going...it's hard to come off vacation mode!

Crafting fun!

Since we are leaving today to celebrate our 30th anniversary...Amy won't be able to come and craft :(
BUT she did come yesterday instead :)

We had purchased an online class called the She Art Workshop. So we sat down to watch the instruction videos. A lot of the techniques we were already familiar with, so we did a bit of fast forwarding. We also didn't watch all the videos for week 1 because we were itching to get to the craft room. Here is my first canvas-with a bit of a glare. I don't think I'm done completely with her yet-doesn't seem like enough on the canvas.

Then after Amy left we ran errands and when we came home I did a bit of cooking and kitchen packing. It was around 9pm that I actually got back to the craft cottage to make up a travel journal. I signed up for a class on Wednesday- I think and just hadn't had time to get to the creating yet. But I was determined...I had picked up a small album with a ribbon tie at Target for $1 and so I used that as the start. I cut up some chipboard pages, a few different sizes and then got out my newly purchased clear acrylic pages and travel punch-outs. Along with other misc. items from my stash I finished it in the wee hours of the morning! The idea is to have somewhere to put those things that represent your trip such as; menus, business cards, receipts, tags off things you buy,etc. as well as adding photos once we get home.

Here is how it looks-I need non purple rings though.

The page on the left is the acrylic with double sided punch outs adhered with staples.
The page on the right is an old plastic file folder cut down and covered with a paper pattern.

The page on the left is a cut down one with a tag attached.
The photo on the right is of my mom at the beach in 1955.

Page on the left is some more of the plastic page protector with punch outs and paint.
The blue page is cut down with a decorative trim and library pocket.

The left page just shows how I put some different elements together.
On the right is another acrylic page with a quote. You are able
to see the next few pages through the acrylic.

A flash card of ice cream is on the left. Ice cream is my dessert of choice.
When we head to Cannon Beach we always stop in at
the candy store for Tillamook white licorice flavor.

On the right is a page for me to list all the books I read.

Just a couple of cute travel journaling pages.
The one on the right has a replica of a service station receipt.
I plan to record how many gallons, prices and how many miles we travel.

Just a few of the pages-I'll show more images when I have it finished.

I need to find our hotel reservation, finish packing, shower and get ready for the day...