Creative state of mind

As with most things in life that which is not essential takes a back seat. Needless to say,  this blog has not been a priority.  So what has been a priority?  Well,  I have been adjusting to night shift,  my daughter going to preschool and my son starting kindergarten.  Oh,  and we are remodeling our half bath.  Just keeping up with the day to day is a challenge.  I call it organized chaos. 

This Thanksgiving I fortunately did not have to work,  and I took a vacation day giving me 6 days off if work.  (Yay!). So today I instated a craft day (exciting!). It started with a trip to craft wearhouse where there was inspiration overload. My son and I had a blast.  Here are just a couple of the projects we completed (two are almost done,  but need to dry). Next I am tackling holiday cards 😀. 
Happy crafting! 

My daughter painted the canvas and i applied the mermaid and letters

Busy as a Bee

It has been awhile since I have written or felt as though I have time to write.  Ironically, this has been the busiest week of the past 6 months.  I graduated nursing school, got into a residency program, and started my new job on Monday (yay!!).  Needless to say, there have been logistical things to work out between child care and getting both my husband myself to work.  So this morning, I actually don’t have any classes, but will be meeting with my manager to go over some paperwork and such.  Which meant I got to sleep in a little bit and ease into the day.  Hence, the writing.  So when I came downstairs this morning I got a good look at what hadn’t been done.  Which inspired this:

The Not-So Spotless House

The toilet’s not been scrubbed in a week
There are dishes in the sink
The floor’s not spotless
There is laundry to be done
The playroom floor is free of toys
but on the table–
projects in the works are stacked
I stand and look
I’m clearly slaking
On all these chores
But I’m OK with that.
I’ve worked a full week
The hubby too
and given the choice between playtime and dishes
I’d rather make memories with the kids,
Wouldn’t you?
There’s lots of time left to teach,
These little ones how to clean and be neat.
So for now I’ll smile when I see
the happy mess that surrounds me.
For here the house may not be perfect
but my kids know their loved
and that’s more important.

~Springdoor

P.S.  One of these days I’ll get around to posting about all the craft projects and photography I’ve been working on over the past 6 months.  Happy Friday!

 

Serenity…for now

I finally finished Nursing School!  It doesn’t feel quite real, and honestly it’s only the first step in actually being a nurse, but it is still a huge accomplishment.  Before I tackle the next challenge (the national license exam) I am enjoying a bit of a much deserved vacation.  Part of which includes reviewing the pictures I have taken over the past few months.  Granted, I haven’t had a lot of time to snap photos, but my husband did surprise me with a trip to the Japanese Gardens in Portland last month so I thought I’d share some of them with you.

Enjoy!

New phone, fun with pictures

My old phone refused to hold a charge for months. It was so bad I was permanently hooked up to an external battery. It was one of those situations where I was close enough to the end of our contract (we signed before the new no contact plans) that it didn’t seem worth it to buy an extra battery. Any way, to make a long story short, I got a new phone with a very nice camera.

Bet you can guess what comes next….flowers! And maybe a cat too because he’s cute.

More garden pics

I’m sure that I have posted similar pictures every year I have had this blog, but I feel that you can never have too many flower pictures =)

Enjoy!

Garden Fun

Wow, two blog posts in one week!  The end of the semester must be close.  The past few days have yielded amazing weather in the pacific northwest which means that my days off have been spent outside soaking up the sun.  I have been having fun playing with my new zoom lens I got for Christmas which is great for photographing the kids, but not so much flowers.    However, I have used it on a few occasions and had some success.  I have been working on angles and lighting, but  mostly I am just enjoying the flowers.

Happy Spring!

Nursing school & kids

It’s been awhile since I posted but today I had a moment of realization that I felt the need to share.

Since June of 2014 I have been attending nursing school. I will be graduating in August (yay…happy dance).  While I love school, it has taken me away from my kids. There have been times when I have doubted whether going back to school was the right decision for our family and the kids. That being said, it had made me a better mom because I am doing something that makes me feel happy. I feel much more calm and focused.

Anyway, my son, who just turned four, has had the most difficult time with the changes in our life. I have been a stay at home mom since he was born and he is used to me always being around. It has been a huge growing up year for him and it probably needed to happen but it has been painful.  To help ease his separation anxiety I have been leaving him drawings on the mornings I don’t see him.

He never really said much about it and I wasn’t sure it was even doing much until today. I had to get up extra early and be at clinical by 6 am. I was super tired from trying to finish up a paper that was due today and even tried opening up the microwave thinking it was the refrigerator… so I forgot to draw him a picture. When I got home tonight he gave me a big hug and told me he was sad this morning because I hadn’t left him a picture.  It broke my heart, but it also let me know that even though he wasn’t saying anything, it was making a difference. I learned a big lesson that the little things matter. I guarantee that I will make a point to never forget another drawing.

A Cottonwood Canyon Thanksgiving

A post I wrote for the ever awesome Park Ranger Dave. Thanks for making our experience at cottonwood memorable.

Cottonwood Canyon State Park

So the last time around I roped a host into writing a blog post. I figured this was such great idea I would continue to pass off my work to others. We had our first Thanksgiving feast out here at Cottonwood with many friends and family. Below is a report of some good friends experience. I have taken for granted the limited email, no TV and limited cell coverage out here. I forgot what a change it can make in an experience. So come on out, unplug and enjoy! For more on a little digital detox this is a great article I read recently.

A Cottonwood Canyon Thanksgiving

Kristi, Ben and family

This year, our little family decided to try something different. We received an offer from our friends to celebrate Thanksgiving out at Cottonwood Canyon State Park so we packed up the car Wednesday and headed out.

From the…

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Life is changing…fast

Time is flying by and my little boy will be three on Wednesday!  My little girl is turning one next month and I am going back to school in June.  Yes, that’s right.  I got accepted to nursing school.  It is an accelerated program so it’s only 15 months, but I suspect that it is going to be a very busy and tough year and three months.  Needless to say, not only has this blog sort of taken a back burner already, but it will become even more so.

While I still have some time I have been teaching my boy (and my daughter who is constantly with me too) about gardening, plant growth and reproduction.  He has taken to it and has become very skilled at weeding and finding worms.  It is really great to see how much he loves the earth.  This year we made a trip to the nursery to buy plants for a planter.  His favorite color is yellow, so naturally he wanted only yellow plants.  I had to help him round out his color palate a bit, but it was a really great bonding moment.  I also found some time, especially with the amazing weather we’ve been having, to take some more pictures.

Enjoy, and I will write when I get a free moment

Our first child who loves us more in the spring and summer when we are outdoors

Our first apple blossoms!

Holiday decorating

Last weekend we went looking for our Christmas tree. One of Oregon’s largest industries is Christmas trees, and we all bundled up to cut ours down from a farm. It’s quite the experience and there is nothing like having a fresh fir-tree in your house to bring out the holiday spirit. Right now, however, the tree is still undecorated. Our dining table, however, is decked out. I was inspired by the Michael’s ad this year to make my own candle centerpieces. I took mason jars, tied a ribbon around the top, placed a vanilla candle in the bottom and crushed some cinnamon sticks to sprinkle around the bottom to tie it all together. Then, I took some of the tree trimmings and artfully placed them down the middle and around the jars. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

With the lights out and the candles lit