"DOH!" Moments

Oh, Hey.

Anything for you, Linds. Here we go:

So lately: geez, a ton and nothing all at the same time.  

Randoms:

- we are loving our new house. It's spacious and airy and filled with light. There's a lot of white and nuetrals going on right now.  I'm feeling ready to start adding in more color, I think. After living in our PA house which was like, color explosion, it feels calming to be surrounded by things that are quiet on the eyes...but at the same time, that's just not who we are. We aren't quiet people and neither of us are afraid of color, so color will be added soon, somehow. Not in paint or big pieces of furniture but in small ways that make a big impact, hopefully. I just need to decide what direction to go.  I think I will be able to use whatever colors I land on wisely and not with so much reckless abandon as I did before.  I'm in a really weird aesthetic place right now and getting pulled by a lot of different directions.  But the bottom line is:  I love color!  So why am I so afraid?  

- I also feel like we found such a gem of a neighborhood.  We are butted against the most beautiful mesas behind us and then raised so we can see all of Vegas valley, along with the strip in the distance on the other side. It's like, Vegas' best kept secret, I feel.

- Date night. So awesome to be able to go out and eat good food and see movies again. A definite life changer.

- I did some revising on the first draft of my novel but not enough as I'd like. Like almost none. I should plow full stream ahead but there's been a twist in the plot. My life plot. And it's due to peer pressure.  Peer pressure to do NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month, (writing an entire novel during the month of November) something I've attempted several times but failed at.  Pressure from the lovely ladies in my writer's group (who I've grown close to and just love and adore and am so grateful for) telling me I have to or I'll be a nerd and no one would like me anymore. So I'm doing that and spending October plotting and planning so ill have an easier time in November.  I think I'm writing a western, you guys.  I know, weird.  

- My social set up is a lot like my social set up in high school, which I totally loved. I had my core besties but then a lot of different close friends from a lot of different groups and they all made up this eclectic circle around me.  Here I am starting to form this structure again, quite naturally.  I have Go, my Garlock family, my Reynolds/Callister family and especially my SILs and then my writing girls, my running girls, my church girls, Go's old high school friends and wives who add a fun layer.  And lets not forget my middle school, high school and college buddies I'm still in close contact with and get to see all the time. I just feel really blessed and lucky to have who I have in my life.  I'm pretty content socially.

- I'm trying to be more healthy.  I have a good work out regime, with 6 work out days planned: 1 body pump, 3 running, 1 yoga and 1 spin.  Trying to transform my body with laying off what I love most: spin, and so I am diversifying.  I'm also juicing and eating less crap and that makes me feel good.  

- May is playing soccer.  Ruby is taking tennis lessons.  Olive is in half-day preschool three times a week.  Ruby and May take piano.  Go dreams of a dirt bike and rock climbing and anything that involves adrenaline.  Ruby dreams of a dog (that we will be getting in 6 months or less).  May dreams of boys and artistic expression. Olive dreams of being able to keep up with her sisters on her bike and being in front of a crowd.  I dream of Juni staying the age she's at now, which is 3 weeks shy of 2 years old.  I also dream of a time when I have the hours needed to facilitate me getting back into painting, writing constantly and consistently.  I also dream of my house cleaning itself and everyone doing their own laundry.  

That's basically all that is new. I typed this on my phone so it's full of mistakes and pretty dry but those are the updates. I'll put pretty things to look at up some time soon.  Because I love you.

Moon Pie

Dear lady sitting next to me at the sushi restaurant in Omaha seven years ago,

"Your baby has such a round face!" you exclaimed as you peered over the booth at my second child, wedged snuggly between the vinyl-covered seat and my ample thighs.  "Thank you," I replied as I chopsticked a large piece of sushi into my mouth and gazed down at my beautiful baby, trying not to drip soy sauce on her already stained hand-me-down sleeper.  

"I would call her face a "moon-pie" face.  It looks as round as a moon-pie!  You know, it's so round, she'll get teased by boys later on in life. I hope she grows into her face, you know, for her own sake," you said with a piece of rice stuck to your lip bobbing up and down with each syllable you spoke.

I decided that comment wasn't worth exercising my table-manners and so, with a mouth full of an entire spider roll, I said "Nah wah. Ah hoff hah ayff ef ahwayff eff wahnd," which, in case you didn't speak Mouth Full of Spider Roll, translates to: "No way.  I hope her face is always this round."  

I'm sure you meant well.  Most people in the Midwest do. They're just that way.  They are a humble people, forced to eat raw fish that has travelled across, like, 12 states before it gets to them and for that, I am sorry.  I am not sorry, however, for my beautiful second child's perfectly circular face and the impression it made on you that day.  In fact, I just got that "moon-pie" face printed large and on canvas where it will be showcased front and center somewhere in our home and I can't wait to hang it up.  And just so you know, she's 7 and a half years old, her face is almost still just as round and she doesn't get teased by boys.  In fact, she gets chased.  

Sorry about that sushi. May your oval-faced days be filled with spicy yellowtail and an ecoli-free existence.

Sincerely, 

Annie Reynolds

It's All Happening

We've picked out everything for our house (flooring, cabinets, counters, etc.) and are slowly gathering our furniture, etc.  I know exactly what  it's going to look like in my head and I love it.  This is the bottom floor, starting with the entry, coming into the kitchen/dining and into the family room.

A Materialistic Post

All I want to do is sit in front of my lot and watch the construction workers work on building my house.  Not because I have a thing for construction workers, I'm just reeeeeeally excited for our new house. Not because it's big (because its not), or fancy (it's not that either), but it's just a little jewel. A sweet little precious jewel that I'm completely in love with. The house will be ready at the end of August and I can't wait.

I love the feeling of our neighborhood. I love the feeling of the layout, the floor plan.  Both the neighborhood and the layout don't necessarily scream "WELCOME TO DESERTY LAS VEGAS!" like so many houses/neighborhoods here do. There is no pink stucco. No pink Spanish-tile roofs. Actually no Spanish tile roofs at all.  The second we walked into the model of the floorplan we're building, the entire family took a deep inhale and an audible exhale.  It just felt good from the moment we literally stepped inside. I knew it had to be our house, our family felt so natural on it.
 It's annoying though, I have to force myself to think about other things besides how I'm going to decorate, like everyday things really get in my way.  Because our furniture was all either hand-me-downs from the 1970's, dumpster dive findings or very very cheap/broken, we took practically nothing with us so we're having to start from scratch.  This is daunting to my husband.  He feels the financial pressure. This is exhilerating to me.   I feel the opportunity for creative expression. This isn't to say my husband is without artistic ability or creativity--quite the opposite.  But I'm a girl and he's a boy and the need to "nest" comes more naturally to me.
Also, this represents a new beginning for us. Ending residency last year and moving to Vegas would have been this way, but while we've been here at my in-laws, it hasn't felt like life has really started for us, especially me, yet. Its felt like an extremely extended visit. I'm so grateful for my in-laws' generosity, but I'm getting so anxious to get into my own space and make it really cool and beautiful. I'm so excited. I love interior design. I just love design in general.
I made our first big furniture purchase yesterday. It was a little scary and I held my breath as I clicked "buy now," but Go and I had been eyeing this table forever, we no longer have a kitchen table and that was towards the top of the list for things to buy for the new house, so when we got word that it was going to be discontinued, I jumped on it.

I have a lot of ideas. Beautiful ideas. Slowly, they will happen. Things are good. I just need to get through this summer.

To All the Non-InstaPals I've Loved Before

Here's a highlight of what you've missed, complete with the original captions:

"Juniper Betty with her head so sweaty."

"#popawheeliesfordays"

"At the end of August, the plot on the top will have the house on the bottom built on it.  As of today, it will be ours."

"Hey Mom!  Can I take a picture of your shadow?  It makes you look really weird and ugly." #surethingkid

"The Little Sisters"

"No more training wheels.  Took off like a champ. Best of all, no falls, no scraped knees, no tears."

"Are you letting Juni play house too?  Are you including her?"

"Yah totally, Mom.  She's our hairless cat."

Aunt Annie's Art Camp

Art classes and lessons can be expensive.  If you're tight on cash and willing to put in the time and preparation, you can hold your own at home. And it can be really fun.  You can do this with just you and your kids or get a couple of other parents and kids, rotating responsibilities.  I had 9 kids from 5 different families in my class last summer.  A smaller group would have definitely been easier but we had fun and created some beautiful artwork, and those two things were all that really mattered to me anyway.

This was my class consisting of my own school-aged children, nieces, nephews and cousins.  

They're goof balls. 

I love it.

You could do it any way you want; this is how I did it:

Each week I taught them about a different element of art, focused on a different artist and did a couple of exercises and projects based on the element and the artist.  It was a blast. I taught all the classes and the other moms took turns each week; each class I asked to have two helpers: one to help me in class and one to watch my babies and the helper's babies.  Class times were about 2 hours.

Before the summer started, I sent out the lesson plan and the list of materials we would need.  I ended up buying everything in bulk from Dick Blick, had it shipped free to my house, and we all split the cost depending on how many kids we had in the class.  It ended up being $30/child, which is a great price considering all the materials we got.

Each child had a bag or box full of their own name-labeled supplies, which I kept with me instead of letting them take it home, just so we'd have everything we needed every time.  They brought their own big shirt to wear over their clothes when we painted.

I started out each class by having them sit in a circle in the big empty living room.  This is where I would introduce the artist of the week.  A couple of days before, I would go to the library and check out books so I could show the kids the artists' work and they could look closely and pass the book around.  A couple of times, I brought my lap top down to show examples.  I would tell them a little about the artist life and then go over their work. I would then introduce the element we'd be focusing on and apply it to the artists' pieces right there while we were looking at the work.   Sometimes I would have them sketch in their sketch books here. Then we'd go into the kitchen, do one or two small exercises and then start on our project and work on it until class time was up.

My favorite part: At the end of the summer, we had an art show.  I sprayed all the pieces done with chalk and oil pastel with spray fixative and set up the living and dining room of my mother-in-law's house like an art gallery.  Everything was either taped to the wall or hung up on a line with clothes pins.    Hors d'oeuvres were served. Swanky music was played. I sent out invitations to the entire family, requesting that everyone dress up.  (If I were more on the ball at the time, the invitations would have been made by the kids.  But they weren't.  I might have even ended up being a lame-o evite.  I can't remember.) It was fun to see the kids so excited to show their parents what they had done and worth all the work and time.  It made that summer a lot more fun.

The lesson plan:

Week 1: Color

Artist: Wassily Kandinsky, life and work, specifically his Circles

1^st Exercise on newsprint: Using tempera paint, we mixed colors and learned how to create secondary and tertiary colors

2^nd Exercise: Make a Color Wheel (we used oil pastel): learn complimentary colors, and warm/cool tones

Project 1: Kandinsky Circles 

(Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of my kids' project, but they looked alot like this.  Image found here.)

Interpreting music and emotion through color in the style of Kandinsky Circle paintings.  I gave them a large piece of paper I had already divided into 12 squares.  I played music--12, songs, letting them listen to each song for about a minute or two. Using oil pastel, after each song segment was played, they were to interpret the song using the colors they felt best represented the mood of the song, like Kandinsky's circles.  It was fun for us, because I used Imagine Dragons as the music.  Since all the kids are the lead singer's nieces, nephews and cousins, that made it even more fun.  It was cool to see how each child interpreted each song.   

Project 2: More music interpretation using color

I gave them a big sheet of paper and played Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety and let them go to town.  The pieces of work at the end were crazy and beautiful, just like the song.  

Materials: newsprint, paper, tempera paint, paint brush, pencil, oil pastel

Week 2: Pattern

Artist: Gustav Klimt, life and work, specifically his use of pattern

1^st Exercise in sketchbook:  I had books carefully marked (I say "carefully" because Klimt painted a lot of nudity, some tasteful and art-appropriate, some very not tasteful or art-appropriate.  In any case, neither I feel is appropriate for children) to several pages featuring paintings he had done using a lot of patterns.  I had each of them copy patterns they found with in Klimt's paintings.  

2nd Exercise in sketchbook: I had the kids create their own patterns.  

Project: Printmaking using Styrofoam 

(The bottom picture is all of the kid's projects mounted next to each other.)

A couple of days beforehand, I went to the grocery store meat department and asked if they'd give me clean Styrofoam meat trays.  I explained it was for a children's summer art class and they were totally cool with it and gave me a bunch extra, which I ended up needing.  I had the kids carve their favorite patterns from their sketch book into the Styrofoam in rows using toothpicks.  (They went through a lot of toothpicks because they'd quickly get dull and it didn't work as well.  Some tried paper clips but this seemed to shred the Styrofoam too much, others used dulled pencils and that seemed to work well too.) We painted over the Styrofoam with tempera paint and the kids pressed their "stamps" onto the paper in rows.  They turned out awesome.

Materials: sketchbook, paper, pencil, Styrofoam, toothpick, tempera paint, paint brush

Week 3: Shape

Artist: Henri Matisse, life and work, specifically his paper cut outs and collages later in his career

Exercise in sketchbook: finding shapes in nature.  We went outside and drew the shapes we saw. (Leaves, blades of grass, rocks, etc. then recreated the same items, simplifying them using basic shapes)

1st Project: Big Bugs

(Part 1): (I did this in parts to leave time to have the glue dry, which is did pretty quickly in the summer Vegas sun.  If you don't have the luxury(?) of dry heat, you may want to split this lesson into two parts.) The purpose it to break something down into smaller shapes, realizing that everything can be done this way, getting to the core of its structure by simplifying. I checked out a bunch of books on insects from the library.  Each child chose a bug.  On a big black piece mat board, they drew the bugs broken down into smaller shapes in pencil.  Then, over those lines, they traced it with lines of Elmer glue.  We sat them outside to dry. 

2^nd Project: simple collages in the style of Matisse.  

We talked about positive and negative shapes and the purpose of negative shape, especially, since it's a harder concept to grasp.  We then made our own Matisse-like paper cuts/collages.  I was pretty loosey goosey.  I had the kids cut out a bunch of shapes and then make them into whatever they wanted, making sure they could recognize the negative shapes they were creating as well.

1st Project (part 2): After the glue dried, creating hard black lines, I had the kids color in their bugs using bright colored chalk.  

Materials: sketchbook, colored paper, scissors, black mat board, glue stick, Elmer’s Glue, chalk

Week 4: Texture

Artist: Claude Monet, life and work, specifically his creation of texture through his brushstrokes

1^st Exercise on newsprint: rubbings.  I gave each kid some crayons and their sketch book and set them loose in the backyard to find different textures and create rubbings from them.  

2^nd Exercise in sketchbook: We came inside and by using different types of markings, I had the kids recreate the rubbings they made, but this time by drawing the texture using techniques like crosshatching, pattern, etc.

Project: Animal scratch board - 

I had checked out books from the library of furry animals.  Each child picked an animal.  Using a wood scratcher (a toothpick or paper clip ended up working fine), they did a Scratch board work of art of their animals, creating the texture with different types of markings.  

Materials: newsprint, crayons, scratch board, toothpick/paper clip

Week 5: Line

Artist: Amedo Modigliani, life and work, specifically his portraits and how stylized they were: the eyes close together, elongated necks, etc. (Like Gustav Klimt's, I had pages from library books carefully marked beforehand to show portraits rather than the nudes.)

Exercise in sketchbook: We tried contour line drawing using both a shoe and a plant.  First, I had them look at a houseplant for a couple of seconds.  Then I took it away and had them draw it from memory. Then I brought it back and encouraged the kids to look at the plant more often then their paper while they were drawing.  "Imagine that there is a bug walking along the outside edge. Your job is to track their path."  That seemed to make sense to them.  The drawings using contour line were much more accurate.  We did it again with a shoe.  

Project: Self portraits: 

We went over how the face is generally divided, aka facial proportions, practicing on newsprint.

I gave the kids a large piece of paper, split in half, along with a mirror.  On the left, I had them draw a "normal" self portrait with all the features where they’re “supposed” to be.  On the right, I had them do a self portrait that was stylized a la Modigliani.  They colored them in with oil pastel.

Add caption

Materials: sketchbook, newsprint, paper, pencil, oil pastel, mirror

Week 6: Value

Artist: Paul Cezanne, life and work, specifically his still-life work

(I'm bummed I don't have any pictures but the concept is pretty straight forward.  On the edges of some of the pictures from the art show, you can see these ones hanging up in the background.)

1^st Exercise:  I shined a light on a plain white Styrofoam ball.  The kids gathered around and pointed out where the darkest, lightest and middle grades were on the ball.  On a piece of newsprint, using charcoal, the kids drew the ball, shading in the dark and the middle grades, showing how value gives the illusion of depth. 

2^nd Exercise: Watercolor techniques - I just went over the basic "how-to" of watercolors: how much water to add to the paint (not much--should be the consistency of chocolate milk), how to mix colors, how to clean the brush with clean water and wipe off on a paper towel so the colors don't get muddy, how to "erase" water color using the scrubbing technique and paper towel blotting, etc..  We did this by practicing painting a peach.

Project: Still Life with water color.  I set up a still life of a basket of fruit and had the kids watercolor, focusing more on value than accurate color. 

Materials: newsprint, paper, charcoal, pencil, watercolor, paint brush, paper towel, cups of water

The entire list of materials needed:

Sketch book – Canson 9x12 $3.95 each

White paper – Strathmore 14x17 50 sheets (2) – $9.79 : $2.18 each

Newsprint: 9 x 12 pack of 100 (2) $2.45: $0.55 each

Black paper – Strathmore Artagain drawing paper $1.35 each

Pencils – BRING IN

Watercolor –Camellia Student Watercolor set $4.24 each

Mirrors - get at dollar store

Tempera paint – Crayola 8oz of red, blue, yellow: $5.95, black/white ($3.95 x2): $1.55 each

Scissors – BRING IN

Glue stick – 1.3 oz $0.99 each

Oil pastels – Pentel set of 16: $1.90 each

Crayons – BRING IN

Styrofoam – meat tray BRING IN

Colored paper – Blick pkg of 50 sheets: $1.19: $0.15 each

Elmer’s glue – 4 oz: $1.65 each

Chalk – Crayola set of 12, $0.59

Charcoal – pack of 12 Grumbacker Vine Charcoal -$6.84: $0.85 each

Scratchboard – Scratch-Art 11 x 14: $9.79: $1.25

Black matting paper: Pacon Construction Paper: 50 sheets18X24 $6.99 : $0.85 each

Magic rub eraser: 0.77 each

Kneaded eraser: 0.99 each

Box to keep everything in: BRING IN

Brush set: Stanilaus White Nylon Brush set of 12: $5.99 each

Water bowl: BRING IN

Spray Adhesive: $3.99:  $0.44 each

Spray Fixative: $7.29: $0.81 each

Illustration Board 20x30: $5.65: $0.63

“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” – Pablo Picasso.  If you ask me, holding an art camp is an excellent way to get in touch with your inner child.  

Art Camp Tutorial

Over the summer last year, for my school-aged kids, nieces and nephews, I held a weekly art class.  Because I still have all my notes and I think photos, if I can find them, I'm going to round it all up and post it for you. I know a lot of my friends out there (who actually still read this now-pathetic blog) would like to do something "arty" with their kids this summer.  Think of what's coming in the next couple of days as a tutorial on how to hold an Art Camp.  Summer is less than 8 weeks away for us!  Yowzas!

Never a Dull Moment at The Reynolds Hotel

We're still living with my in-laws and will be for a couple more months.

Something happened a couple of weeks ago that was just too good not to document:

It's a Sunday night/Morning morning and I'm asleep in bed when I'm awakened by Go, who's standing over me and shaking me.  It's about 12:45am.

Me: What! What! What is it?

Go: I want you to listen to me.  Something's going on outside.  Stay up here.  Do NOT go downstairs, no matter what.

Me: What?  What are you talking about?

Go: Annie, I'm serious.  There's a whole crew out there and they're organized.  My Dad's already called the police.  Stay upstairs.

Me:  What! Are you seriously going to go down there?  What's going on?

Go:  Just now, I got up to go to the bathroom and I'm getting back in bed when I look out the window, and this truck, like a UPS-type truck but smaller, drives up on the lawn, like all the way up on the grass, almost up to the house, with the headlights shining in.  A guy, not the driver,  jumps out and he's wearing a one piece zip-up jumpsuit and a hat, like a hard hat, and he's running around the front of the house carrying this big box, like a tool box or something.

It's about this time when my father-in-law, who is in his mid-to-late sixties and clad in a flannel robe comes barreling down the hallway into our room to get Go.  And he's carrying nunchucks.  Yes, you read that right.  NUNCHUCKS.

Like as in:

Then comes my mother-in-law, who is in a nightee, and is close to hysterical.  We all shush her.
The men creep downstairs. The women look out the window, scanning the front yard for a sign of anything amiss.  We see nothing unusual.  We hear them downstairs start talking, loudly but less tense.  Whatever/whoever they are looking for has gone.  My MIL and I go downstairs.  We stand by a tall window by the front door while my FIL and Go continue to walk around outside.  The police arrives.  They all walk around the house to do one more sweep.  Nothing.  They come back to the front door and are going over what happened, writing a report of what Go saw.  All of a sudden, I see the cooler sitting outside by the front door, the cooler that my FIL puts out every Sunday night.  I recall the vehicle Go described.  It hits me. I interrupt their conversation with the cop.

Me: Go.  Check the cooler.

Go:  Huh?  What?

Me: Check the cooler.  See if there's milk in there.

He lifts the lid to the cooler.  Yep.  The milkman had come.  What Go thought was a highly organized crime group was actually THE MILK MAN.

I'm not going to lie.  I was relieved to know that a group of thugs in zip-up onsies were not systematically attacking our family, but I was really hoping to see some nunchucking.

Holla

I'm making good time and am officially two-thirds done with my first draft.

I think at this rate, I'll definitely finish it ("it" meaning my first draft) by the end of May like I want to.  Wow, imagine that.  Finishing something within the time frame that I aim for.

I am loving the writing process.  I love it so much more than anything else I've ever been interested in/done before and I've been interested in/done a lot of things.  ADHD sometimes has its benefits.

Meanwhile, trying to write a book makes one an extremely lame blogger.

Sorry. (Read that like this.)

Because You Aren't on Instagram

Here's a Reason Why I Like My Husband

Go: Oh man,  I had the weirdest thing happen last night.
Me: What?
Go: I was asleep but thinking about your book and then I woke up but only a little bit so I was still half asleep and this line came to me and in my head, I was like "Oh wow! This is genius! This is the best description ever. It works on so many different levels. It's so deep and so good! I have to tell her this so she can use it." But then I fell back asleep.
Me: Really?  Let's hear it.
Go: Well that's the funny thing. After I woke up, I realized how bad it was.
Me: What?  What was it?
Go: Are you ready for this?
Me: Yes!  Just tell me!
Go: "His face was freckled with indifference."

Yah, I'm glad he didn't wake me up for that.

Here's To Not Quite Being a Real Person Yet

Last Saturday I attended a writer's workshop/conference that was from 8:30 until 4:30.  That's, like, an entire day.  Do you realize what that means?  I was out of the house, without my children, interacting with other adults for 8 hours straight.  I love my kids, but man, it was so great to be out in the world, meeting interesting people and learning new things.  I can't decide if I loved it because it was focusing on a subject matter I totally into or because I actually got to go somewhere and do something for longer than just an hour.  This would have been unheard of during residency, it almost felt naughty.  I walked into the conference and as the facilitators looked for my name tag, my eyes started to water--I was so grateful just to be there, to have the opportunity.  I felt like I could give Maya Angelou a fist bump and be like "Yah, I know why the caged bird sings, but lady, that bird will sing so much louder once she's out."

I've been working on my book almost every day for about 2-4 hours, writing during nap time and sometimes at night and have been absolutely loving it. Even though I miss doing other things like artwork or other projects, I'm glad I've poured myself and my free time into this.   It's given me something to work on while I've been living here at my in-laws.  Projects and hobbies are hard to do while living in someone else's house, so writing is the perfect thing right now, especially during these last handful of months before the summer, when I'm getting really, really itchy to be in our own place.  So as hard as it is after 7 months, it's actually good that I'm still here.  It would have been harder to buckle down and write if I was in my own house for some reason.

This book I'm working on has given me something else to dwell on other than all the unknowns that are currently in our near future.  I love thinking about these characters throughout the day. I know them; they are my friends.  They are inspired and are conglomerations of people I've loved in my life.  So far I'm enjoying the process more than anything else I've put my energy into, ever.   I hope to be finished with a first draft at the end of May, right before we move out and I become a real person.  I've always wondered what being a real person would be like.

Opportunities

Right after Ruby was born, I had quite a bit of weight to lose, remember?  And remember how I finally started going to the gym and doing something besides sitting in the women's locker room, avoiding eye contact with the saggy breasts of old ladies and reading magazines?  I started attending spin because it was the one class that happened to fit in between Ruby's rigid nap schedule and fell in love with it.  Then the spin instructor moved away and the class was cancelled, so I would go spin by myself down in the gym basement, not knowing (or caring, if I'm really being honest) that it was strictly forbidden for a civilian to be spinning unsupervised.

Gym Worker: Uh, hey.  You aren't supposed to be in here right now.

Me:  Oh, no way.  Really?

Gym Worker: Yah, you can be in here during class but you have to be an instructor if you want to be down here alone.  

Me:  Be an instructor, huh?  How do I do that?

He invited me upstairs to the reception counter and gave me all the information I needed.  It turned out that a spin instructor certification class JUST HAPPENED to be starting at a neighboring gym that EXACT week and that the end certification, the half-day workshop at a fitness convention in Chicago JUST HAPPENED to be scheduled for the EXACT weekend I was going to be in Chicago any way.  It was at that moment, when I asked that half-ton polo shirt-clad gorilla how one becomes an instructor, that my life totally changed.  That sounds dramatic, I know.  But it's true.  Before then, fitness meant very little to me.  It was a source of contention between my fitness-loving husband and I.  It intimidated me.  But when I became an instructor that fall and for the 9 years that followed, teaching spin played a major role in my life. Not only did I love it, but it brought me a lot of confidence--discovering something I was good at that I wouldn't have ever dreamed I could do.  It sanded down a major bump that had developed between Go and I.  On some days, it was the only reason I got out of bed during the dark winters of the Midwest and East Coast.  It saved me from what most likely would have been the road to obesity.  It helped make ends meet for our family.  Teaching spin was a huge, huge blessing and it was just, like, handed to me.

Something similar has happened lately.  A couple of weeks ago, around the time I decided I was going to start writing again to try and finish this novel I've been working on forever, a new friend I have here asked if I wanted to be apart of a writing group.  Her timing was perfect!  The two of us met up, talked about our projects, our goals, etc. and it was exactly what I needed to help get me restarted.  Then we met up again, this time with two others, one of whom is a published author of several books.  I had a bajillion questions for her but tried to whittle them down to just a mere million. From that meeting, I learned a lot of things, one of them being that the Nevada chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (which I am now a member of) is JUST HAPPENING to be having its yearly writer's workshop this Saturday and it JUST HAPPENS to be located literally around the corner from where I'm currently living and I JUST HAPPENED to get registered just in the nick of time before the deadline.  Now, I'm not saying that my book will definitely end up being worth reading or publishing-worthy, all thanks to the hour I spent on my friend's couch, asking the question "How do I do that?", that I will grow and be stretched, discover things about myself, solve some problems and benefit my life a great deal, but...that would be really nice if it did.  You never know.  It's happened before.

Finishing the Novel I've Been Working on For the Past Five,Yes Count Them, FIVE Years

I am embarking on an exciting creative adventure. More to come.

Labels for Olive's Dresser Drawers

This counts? Yah, sure it counts.

Ms. Foxy Fancy Pants

"Gregor! I do believe the help have sneezed into my beet and duck confit salad! The balsamic vinegarette tastes suspiciously over-salted!"

I Never Said They Would Be Any Good

Yesterday the girls and I sat down with the art supply box here at Grandma Caren's and Papa Tommy's and got our creativity on. I made something that was sort of a cool idea but a lame execution. It also served no purpose whatsoever. But that's ok. It's all ok.

2013

(Image: Maynard Dixon's Cloud World)

I love January and a new year.  I love clean slates.  I really want 2013 to be a wonderful year and this is how I'm going to make it such:

By:
1.  ...doing something creative every day.
-Whether it be with paper, music, words, fabric, food, etc.  I will post my attempts on this blog--art is to be shared.   Creativity usually isn't something I have ever felt the need to put extra effort or extra focus on--it usually just happens naturally for me but since the birth of my fourth, the well is dry, so to speak.  It's time to rediscover my creative self, which I feel is a huge component to the person I am and something I've really felt the loss of during the year 2012.  Now the Juniper is getting older and easier, I can focus on this again which really excites me.   I'm excited to involve the girls in this as well.

2.  ...spending less time alone with electronic things and more time with organic things and the people I love.
-This goes along with #1 but in a different way.  I have a serious addiction to all things electronic and it's getting in the way of things that are much more important, like spending quality time with my family and soaking up the girls' fleeting childhood.  (Admittance in the first step to recovery.) In regards to resolution #1, this blog will be updated during times when my girls are asleep or otherwise occupied and/or after I have spent a little time with Go each day.

3.  ...eating clean and working out consistently.

-This is something I have been working really hard on since December 1st.  I have woken up at 5:35am  every M/W/F and at 6am every T/Th to hard-core work out.   I have gone without sweets, for the most part, for a month.  I have eaten more vegetables than I thought humanly possible.  I have lessened my portions which goes against my natural tendency and capacity to eat as much as , if not more, than a large, burly man.  I have a certain goal in mind to meet by March 1st and I'm hoping to meet it by doing what I've been doing.  I plan to update the blog with my progress and personal victories every now and then, because that's what they are for me--total victories.  I don't know if weight loss, breaking bad habits and starting new better ones is as hard for everyone, but it's so, so, SO hard for me.   Like, SOOOOOO hard. Our bodies are gifts and I want to make the most of mine by being healthy and strong.

4.  ...deepening my relationship with God.
-This will be done with more sincere prayer, scripture study and temple attendance.  As opposed to just scripture reading, I'm making an effort through journaling while I study the scriptures to really apply the things I read and think about to my life . Also, now that we live so close to a temple, our temple attendance needs to be more regular and I'm looking forward to that, to really ponder the things that I learn there.  This progress will not be shared on the blog; it's sacred and personal.

5. ...eliminating negative thoughts and focusing on the positive.  I don't really know a concrete way to do this, but being more aware of my blessings and somehow keeping this at the forefront of my mind will do the trick.  I may be making myself some sort of reminder for one of my creativity projects.

I proclaim 2013 to be the year of creativity, love, health, spirituality and positivity!