christytomlinson

Dealing with Fibromyalgia... what works for me. Part 2

hello lovlies!
Its monday morning and we are up ready to work and get some things done this week!
Before I head out to help ben in the warehouse, I wanted to share with you Part 2 of my Fibro post. Last week I shared with you about my Fibro journey. When it started, how etc. How I came to start using oils (only recently in the last 6 months).. after much judgement.. haha.. and much desperation.If you haven't read Part one yet.. PLEASE DO: here is the link!

So today I am sharing the things that work for me and help me, not just in oils but in all aspects of dealing with Fibro. 

First off.. two big things that I have noticed recently that make a difference for me is light exercise and getting enough rest. Those are kind no brainers, so I won't go into that. I hate exercise, so I have to find ways to get some.. including helping ben paint, going on walks, surfing, snowboarding etc. Ways to trick myself into some type of light exercise :).

So those are just two common things I know help. Don't always do.. but I know help when I DO do them.

now for that fun stuff.

Every morning when I wake up.. I am in pain. Some days its just achy, all over hurt.. and some days it's SERIOUS Paint..  Like the kind of pain, that makes you want to go back to sleep so you don't have to deal with it. This weekend I was in that kind of pain.. and I did go back to sleep until almost 11:00 both days. Just awful awful days this weekend. Yesterday I spent most of the day sleeping because i was just having a bad day. I took about 4 hot baths, and put oils on as often as I could to get an hour or so of relief from it. But the rest of the day SUCKED lol.

So the first thing I FORCE myself to do is take a hot bath with Epsom Salt.

when I say FORCE, I mean I have to force myself to do it. I usually am in so much pain I don't want to move. I don't want to make the effort to walk to the bathroom and start a bath and then SIT in the bath. BUT as with everyday, the minute I sink into the hot water, my pain just start to dissolve. It's funny because when I get out, I will tell Ben.. PLEASE tomorrow, remind me that I will feel SO much better if I will just get up and take a hot bath. And for the most part he does.. if I am refusing to get up and just continue to go back to sleep until noon. lol.

You can find Epsom Salt at Walmart, your local Grocery store, Online, etc. Its usually with bubble bath stuff. It's used actually for a LOT of things, but one thing it's used for is relief of aches and pains. I keep it by my tub because I use it so much, and recently I bought some cute containers to hide it in, because you know.. I like pretty things. lol. Here is a picture of Epsom Salt so you can see what it is.

 

At first when started with my fibro I was only taking a hot bath in bubble bath. But about a year Ago, I discovered Epsom Salt.. and WOW. what a huge difference it makes. I put a cup in every bath I take. Go through it pretty fast, but it's worth it.

Another thing i started doing was adding Essential oils to my baths.. and that is ANOTHer thing that makes a HUGE difference. HUGE! There are two mixes I use to put on my body for pain. I will list them a little bit later.. but I knew I wanted to use something different in my baths. So my body wasn't always having the same thing. So in my baths I will use any of the following.. and usually a mix. I just grab what honestly my mind tells me too. I believe your body KNOWS what you need and if you will listen to it.. you will usually know exactly what that is.  My favorite bath oils for morning are

White Fir, LemonGrass, & Frankincense

I will also do a mix of White Fir, Cypress and Black Pepper

These are some great oils that help with pain and calming effects.  There are also other oils that work for pain, that I actually have but HAVEN"T tried in my bath yet..

Basil, Geranium, Lime, Rosemary, Wintergreen, & Marjoram.. but I have used them either mixed with a carrier oil OR just straight onto my body. 

After I bath, I usually take a dose of tramadol and Tylenol. And while I wait for that to kick in, I put a mix of oils on my body.. in the places where it hurts. Usually all over my back, my arms, my legs, neck and shoulders. Sometimes if the pain is really bad, i will also put it on my feet, as its the fastest way to get something into your blood flow. I have been known to also put it on my face, my chest.. you name it! lol. If its hurting, i will apply the oils there.

CYpress, Frankincense, Black Pepper and Cinnamon Bark

When I first started I did the same amount of drops for each oil, But One day out of accident, I added double Cinnamon Bark. I The roller vial I was using couldn't hold any more carrier oil, to kind "even" it out.. so I just left it. (I will show you more about that in min). It worked WONDERS! Cinnamon Bark has been one of the most affective oils for me by far. I will tell you.. that because it's cinnamon, it does make your skin red and can sometimes itch because it's cinnamon. but I don't mind it because It sure takes that pain away so fast! now in EVERY mix I do, I double up on the Cinnamon Bark. I also LOVE Cypress because it has other great qualities besides helping for pain. It also helps with a HUGE fast of many other things. So pretty much Cypress goes in everything I mix now.

The second mix I do.. is the following:

AromaTouch, Frankincense and Black Pepper

Aroma Touch is a blend of Essential oils that Doterra puts in a mix already for you (the pure essential oils mixed together). So you don't have to buy all the different oils. It's really a great mix and I use it actually in my bath sometimes too. It also works WONDERS for restless leg syndrome.. which I find sometimes I will have at night. Just rub it on my legs and within minutes the pain and the agitation are gone. I will also take a bath at night when I cant sleep because of the pain, or after a day of work and I want to relax. This time I add also lavender oil to the mix, because it really helps calm as well.

Now onto how I APPLY the oils. I don't usually apply the oils STRAIGHT on my body. For one.. some oils like black pepper, Peppermint, Cinnamon Bark, etc.. would really agitate the skin. I do sometimes, and I will tell you later on about that.

But for the majority of the time, I use the oils mixed with a carrier oil. Basically a carrier oil is just an oil that is used to diffuse the essential oil. so it can be easily spread onto your body. You really only use a few drops of oils when i use them.. and obviously a couple of drops of something aren't going to spread over your entire body. So mixed them with a carrier oil allows you to do that.

The carrier oils I use (but there are more than this) are.. Just basic Massage oil (link is in the name). It works just fine for me, if I am just doing a one time mix. However if I am making a mix in a roller vile to have on hand, I usually dont use it because if the oils gets too cold, it gets all clumpy like when you put oil in a fridge. So the oils I mainly use are Jojobo oil, and Cocunut Oil

You can buy either actually on amazon OR from this site here..Aroma Tools .com  (where I get all my roller tubes from).Or you can buy Coconut Oil directly from Doterra.I bought it ONCE from them.. but holy cow expensive. Now I just get it on Amazon.. WAY CHEAPER. :)

I have to admit I like the LOOK of coconut oil better.. as it's clear.. so weird I know. BUT I prefer Jojoba oil (it's got a yellow look to it).. because it doesn't clog pores, it doesn't stain your clothes, carpet, bedding etc. I put it on and don't worry at all about ruining fabrics that might touch it.

So here is how I create my mixes.
First off, I prefer using a roller tube/vile thingy.. not sure really what they are called.Roller Ball?

I like them because you don't have to pump something into your hand, or get your hands totally messy. Just roll it on the place that hurts. (sometimes I will massage it in though). But the OTHER HUGE reason I like the rollers are because you don't WASTE anything. I used to make my mixes and put them in a pump bottle, like a lotion bottle, and man I wasted so much oil. Always got too much and had to wipe it off. So the Roller thing just works for me.

You can apply the oils however you want. You can even SPRAY it on using a spray bottle. If I am using a special mix, something I don't use a lot, I just pour some carrier oil in a small glass (like a few Teaspoons of oil) and then do a drop of each of the oil I want to use, and then pour that into my hand and put it on where I want it. But the ones I know I use everyday, I create mixes for and put them in roller bottles so I am not wasting time making them each day and also wasting oils.  I buy all of my Supplies for using the oils HERE at ARoma Tools. com  (like rollers, spray bottles, even my empty pills). By the way, if I am using them to help with getting over a sickness, or something. I will buy empty Pill Capsules and put the oils directly in there and take them orally. I buy those at the same place Here.

I know they also do sell them at natural food stores and Vitamin Stores too.

You can buy them in a lot of different sizes.. but for the pain One, I prefer the 1 ounce  size. The are $1.67 for a pack of 2. So like 80 cents each? Pretty good deal.  It is just enough to last me a couple of weeks.. and small enough to put in my purse and not be overbearing. I do use smaller ones too, but I use those for other oils like peppermint, breath, lavender, etc. For other things I use oils for.

So here is how I mix them for a 1 ounce bottle. 

First I fill the roller bottle about 2/3 way full of a carrier oil

Next I add drops of the oils I am using.

For a bottle this size, I usually add 10 drops of each oil. However like I said.. with Cinnamon bark, I will double that, So I add 20 drops. I have started to find that Cypress is really great too, so I have started to add between 12-15 drops of it in the mix.

Then I will add in more carrier oil if I want.. to top it off. And then attach the roller lid, Shake it and you are good to go! There are charts you can find on the Internet that tell you what a good ratio of drops to carrier oil are. LIke if you are using a smaller vial, or whatever. I usually honestly just go with my gut. It always seems to know what I need.

I usually label in some way my mixes. So I know what they are. My "heart" mix.. is my favorite mix.. (the first one I listed.. with cinnamon in it). I just label them however I can remember them. If they are a single oil, like peppermint oil and carrier oil.. Obviously I just use the word Peppermint lol. You can get labels from Doterra (they are free if you are a consultant).. OR you can buy them from AromaTools.com under their business tools section.   You can buy them already printed, OR you can buy plain white ones and use a sharpie to write your own on the label. I like the labels that go on top of the bottles, because I store my oils in a box.. so it's easier to see the lids.

 

I buy labels BOTH from my oils.. and my mixes (the mixes are when I add a carrier oil to my essential oil.. like i just showed above). But I also like to put stickers on the tops of my essential oils because like I said..i store all of those in a box, that goes in my drawer in my bathroom. Which you can also buy on amazon, or on the tools supply place.

The essential oils come with a label on the front of them.. but not the top. SO that is whY I get the small round labels (already printed) for the tops. It's totally a preference thing on how you label or store your oils. This is the most organized for me, because at my old house I  had them all just sitting out on the counter making a huge mess and taking up a ton of space. AND I didn't have them labeled on top at first, so I would have to pick up every single one to see what it was. This way I can look down and know.

So that is how I do mixes for my pain.

But I also use the oils for other things too, as I  mentioned in last week's post. I have a son, Preston,  who has asthma and so I use "Breath" for him. I made him a smaller roller vial to put on his chest when he is having an attack. I also have a hard time with energy and being tired, so I will use peppermint, wild orange and Grapefruit and put those oils on my feet, my neck or my hands. Sometimes on my forehead too.

Peppermint is GREAT for headaches as well. My son, Ethan, has a really hard time waking up in the mornings for school and he also gets headaches during the day at school. SO I made him a mix of carrier oil, and peppermint and in the morning when he wakes up, he puts it on his neck, and he wakes right up and it gives him great energy to get started in the morning. He also used it at school last year when he had headaches. I have started using Peppermint oil as a replacement for my Coke.. for when I am feeling sluggish. I just apply it straight onto my neck and on the temples of my head. I don't often mix it with a carrier oil.. because the place I am putting it so small. for some people peppermint directly on the skin does bother them. My kids.. it does, but for me, It doesn't. SO a lot of these oils, if I am using them for like a headache, or to get rid of a cold sore, or whatever, I will just apply a few drops of the essential oil STRAIGHT to my skin.. and not worry about diluting it with a carrier oil first.

There are a SLEW Of other oils I have started using for when I am sick..

in the last few months I have had 2 bladder infections and used essential oils and cranberry pills for BOTH and both were gone within a few days. I have used oils for Strep throat, cold sores, coughs, chest colds, running noses, you name it. ANd they work EVERY time. Usually I will just google essential oils for "cold sores" or whatever it is I am wondering about and always find TONS of sites with info on what oils are good for it.

The other day I started getting a cold sore and I was out of the medication my doctor had given me for them. I get them ALl the time and even with medication.. they always break out.. but usually don't last very long. I also didn't have any abrieva or Lysine pills at my new old house.. so I googled essential oils for cold Sores.. and they said to put Geranium oils directly on the bump twice a day until it was gone. I had some on hand.. and put a drop on the bump. And again that night and the next day woke up and it was GONE! seriously crazy?!! I was like.. okay this oil is a keeper. I HATE the smell of it and had only bought it because it says it helps with pain. But then I got it and I couldn't stand the smell so hadn't used it at all for anything. Now, it's going in my purse lol.

When we were in Alabama.. the first day, Our kids and us all got MAJOR sunburns and we didn't have any Aloe Vera and the stores were closed. SO I googled essential oils for Sunburns and Found Lavender Oils worked great.. I had brought a few oils with me, and so I made up a mix with carrier oil and lavender oil and put it on everyone and guess what? Next morning, woke up and pain was gone and red had totally gone down from the burns. CRAZY! I swear.. every-time I use them for something I am always amazed that they work lol. LIke I still don't believe that they will or something? Like I am still skeptical and think.. oh it's just a crock. But then I use them and they work and then I can't live without them. I have pretty much every oil on hand now because I just don't know WHAT I will need. They aren't cheap, but I have slowly over time.. purchased the ones I know I would want to have on hand. As I also mentioned I did end up singing up as a consultant. and though I don't SELL it at all, I just do it so I can get the wholesale price. Totally worth it. I use Doterra because that is what I was first given, although I have heard young living and another brand that starts with a P? work great too. I know you do have to be carefull of the brands you use. After I first started using them.. like with MOST thing, I do a search on the Internet to find the cheapest ones. I found a bunch on etsy and ordered them and wow. I can say I wasted my money with those. They were so diluted, to took like four times as many drops for them to be effective. It just wasn't worth it. So Now I only buy what I know truly are pure essential oils.

so.. that's it!
That is what I am doing right now for my Fibro.

Starting to Exercise more. Sleep Better. DRink water too (water cures everything  i think even though I NEVER drink it! lol). Hot Baths.. and when I say HOT I mean.. mine are pipping hot. LIke they STING kind of hot. but for me its almost like it just stings the pain right out of me. For some I am SURE it would be way too hot. I get out and my skin is red. But for me, I like it best that way. So Hot Baths with Epsom Salts and oils and then I do oil mixes during the day. I also still use Tylenol and Tramadol. In between those things. Specially if I am having a hard day and definilty if I know I will be working a ton. I have noticed that since using oils, I take my meds a LOT less. which is awesome.. no one wants to be dependant on meds. Specially Pain meds. yuck. I know how easily you can be too. So it's nice to have an alternative to use with them. ones I know will work INSTANTLY.. and give me relief instantly.

So I hope this is helpful to you... I know not EVERYTHING works for everyone.. but everyone that I know that I have talked to using oils.. that have started using them regularly.. really have seen a HUGE improvement. family, Friends. online friends. blog readers. So I know it works for more than just me. I hope it might work for you too!

As I mentioned I don't sell the oils.. but I would suggest to YOU, if you are going to start using them regularly.. to sign up as a consultant to get them at wholesale. You don't have to sell, or go to meetings or anything. BELIEVE ME! I HATE THAT STUFF! and that is why for months i refused to sign up. But once I did. wow.. love getting them shipped to me in like 2 days. love the discount and love being able to order whenever I want and not have to go through someone else. (I just order online). easy peasy. If you are interested in that.. my friend who does sell them, can totally help you get your own account. Her name is Michelle and her email is [email protected].

Or honestly you can go directly to their website and sign up. You don't even have to go through anyone else. I went through her and used her "number" because once I found out she sold them (she wasn't the one who told me about them or who I was initially buying them from). but after I started using them, I found out she did too, I used her number to sign up because she does that for a living and I figured I might as well help another person when I order. When I order she gets a percentage.. instead of if I had just signed up without a referral.. then the company gets to keep the percentage and I am ALL about helping out the little guy. Since I am one of those little guys lol.  So even if you want to start using oils and don't want to contact my friend.. chances ARE.. you have a friend or know someone that does sell Essential oils  and I suggest using their number to sign up with,  to help THEM Out . Just part of helping others I believe.. support each other. :)

anyhow. Thanks for letting me share. It's been a LONG time coming.. so many of you have emailed me asking me when I would do a post on it..s o I am sorry it's taken me so long! But now I hope this info is helpful and hope you will pass it along and share it! Also if you haven't read my first blog post on it from last week.. please do.. it explains A LOT about why I use them and where i am at with my pain, etc.

have a wonderful monday!

Tomorrow is our BIG WAREHOUSE SALE so watch for an email first thing in the morning with the sale codes!! Also this week I will be posting an arty video on my blog :) so watch for that! xoxoxo

Happy Monday!

Dealing with Fibromyalgia.. what works for me.. Part One:

Note:
I have broken this post down into two parts. Part two will go up Monday! xoxoxo

as many of you know, I have been suffering with Fibromyalgia for the past 3 years now. I think I had it a little here and there before that, but always just passed it off as being tired, having the flu or just not feeling good. But it wasn't until my dad passed away suddenly in 2010, when it just came in like a lion and hasn't let up since!

When I was first diagnosed, I had a really hard time accepting it. I had heard of fibro and i TOTALLY thought it was a made up disease.. like.. people.. come on, it's all in your head. Get off your lazy butt and do something with your life. Seriously.. that is what i thought. So after about 4 months of being a lot of pain and just thinking.. no, there has to be something REALLY wrong with me. I decided to spend some major $$$$ and have every test possible done. To rule out everything else... including cancer, lupus, you name it. Because I was sure it was a 'real" problem.. not fake one.

Well after a month of waiting for results from all the different specialist. The results came back.. negative. I remember when my doctor called and she said well, I have good news and bad news! Good news is, you are 100% healthy! not a think wrong with you. Bad news is you have Fibro and at the moment, no one knows what causes it and so there really isn't a cure. We just all have different ways, we as doctors, try and treat the pain. Sorry.

As with MOST LESSONS in my life.. one thing I know for sure..  when I think i know everything about something or someone.. and I have a judgement about it.. that's USUALLY when Heavenly Fathers will give me that trial.. to humble me and to bring me to my knees.. so that I can be more understanding, more kind, more empathetic. And it always seems to work. I am beginning to think it's the only way I learn :).

I was annoyed to say the least. But as the months went on, i learned how to deal with it. Mostly just with Tramadol and Tylenol. I had tried other things.. Lyrica, etc. But there were so many other side effects with those drugs and I always seemed to get them. So a non-narcotic pain med and tylenol just seemed to work best. I did a blog post a while ago.. like probably over a year or more about my life with fibro.. and what good days are like and bad days..so I won't go into that..but you can read about it here..

in this post I really just wanted to talk about what I have found recently that has helped! So as I mentioned, for about 2 and half years.. the tramadol and tylenol was the only thing that seemed to work and it seemed to work just fine. I would have my really "hard" days, as I would call them. The days I would wake up in so much pain, I couldn't move and I wanted to cry.. (which I had just about everyday).. BUT on these days, even a hot bath and a double dose of tramadol and Tylenol didn't work. So on those days, i would just lay in bed all day, or lay around the house. Try and watch tv or something to get my mind off the pain. The first few times I had those days. I would just lay in bed and cry all day. I would start to get worried that this was my new reality and I was going to wake up tomorrow feeling the same way and what if i did? and what if my life was going to be this way forever and nothing would help? I would get so upset and cry and cry all day long. Then I would wake up the next morning, in pain again.. but this time, a hot bath and my pain medication would work and I was up moving around, (always still feeling some what crappY).. but at least feeling what I call "normal" enough to work, be with my kids, etc. After  a few months of having those days.. usually about every 2 weeks. I started to realize they WEREN't my new reality and It WOULD go away.. and life would be okay the next day. that today was just a BAD day.. and i needed to make the most of it and nurture my body. So I found ways to keep my mind from the pain.. watching tv, movies, reading books. anything to take my mind off the pain that hurt so bad I couldn't think! I would always.. and still do.. when I am having my "bad" days.. tell ben.. I wish someone would just punch me in the face.. because at least that would feel better than how I am feeling and my mind could focus on that pain instead of the constant numbing pain i know too well. nice huh? lol

Well so fast forward this past winter. I woke up one morning in January, and I had one of those "bad days", I had just talked about. I wasn't worried about it.. just seriously annoyed as I had a new online class starting in a few weeks and had planned that particular day to go over to the new/old house where my art studio was.. and film. But of course.. like in the past.. I was used to having to be flexible with stuff because you never know when bad days creep up and you just can't work or do anything. So I spent the day in bed, writing, sketching, preparing that way for the class.

Well the next day.. i woke up.. and was annoyed to find out.. that I was having another "bad day".. the hot bath, and pain meds.. didn't help at all. ANd I wasn't concerned.. I had been super stressed and just came home from a trip.. and I always have a bad day after traveling. So i figured my body was just having a major fit from all of that. Well day 3.. woke up.. the same. Day 4 woke up the same. After a week of this.. I started to panic. Like REALLY panic. I had no idea what was going on.. and I was started to think.. maybe this WAS my reality! By then I was EXHAUSTED.. being in constant pain for 7 days..seriously. I was so week, so tired.. my emotions were so horrible. I just wanted someone to shoot me in the head, not PUNCH  me. SHOOT me in the head. I was becoming fast-ly depressed and going into a deep downward spiral.  I remember by day 12 just crying and crying.. BEGGING my Father in Heaven to give me a sign, it wasn't my new reality. I was getting ready to cancel my online classes for that month and the next following months. How was I supposed to work when I could even walk to the bathroom without crawling there? I was scared and anxious too because THIS is how we support our family! My online classes, our kit club, our store. While ben ships and runs the warehouse.. it's the blog, the online classes, me traveling and teaching, that keeps us connected to our customers and lends to their AWESOME support of our family. 

So I went to my doctor and he said.. it's just fibro. usually it gets worse and usually it gets to this point sometime in life. Since I didn't want to try re-taking those other meds.. there seemed to be nothing that I could do.  THEN I woke up one day.. and had a GOOD DAY! My pain meds kicked in.. and I was freaking out! I seriously got dressed as fast I could, ran to my art studio and filmed ALL DAY LONG.. and night.. I didn't want to go to bed, because I was afraid the good day would end! I think I finally came home at 3 am.. and fell fast asleep.. feeling SO good I had accomplished SO much! Sadly enough, I woke up the next day.. feeling bad to the "bad" day again. I wanted to scream.> NO!!!!!!! please no!!  that went on like that for a few weeks.. having a good day.. maybe once or sometimes even twice a week.. and I would seriously JUMP up.. didn't even worry about taking a shower, doing my makeup.. I didn't want to waste ANY minute of my precious day on things that didn't matter. I would head to the studio and film, I would plan a night out with my kids, I would run errands into town. It was like gold. We dropped EVERYTHING when I had a good day, because it was all I had and we didn't know if I would have another one anytime soon. I treated my good days like gold and was sOO thankful for them. Again.. I think my Father IN Heaven was just trying to teach me another lesson. To be grateful for the little things, to treat each day as if it's your last.. to take every moment possible doing what matters MOST. I really learned that over the next 3 months. 

Also during that time I started researching EVERYTHING anyone had ever sent me about fibro. I think it's just common "brotherhood" in the fibro community.. that when you find something that works for you.. you want to share it with all your fibro friends! Well when I was first dealing with it.. and started being vocal on my blog and public about (2 and half years before).. I started getting all sorts of emails and letters from people suffering, telling me WHAT was working for them, what helped them, you name it. It was awesome! The not so awesome part was.. I just kinda filed them all away.. because at the time.. my pain meds were working just fine and I didn't have time to just try all these other things. I was kinda of a HUGE brat again. I mean seriously I would be like.. "oh thanks for that info".. but yea.. NEVER going to do it. Thanks for wasting my time. File away.

Remember how I said the Lord always sends me trials that humble me?? lol.. its just SOO TRUE!! I remember about 3 weeks into this terrible "bad day" i was having and saying to bed.. I am seriously desperate. AT THIS point.. I will DO ANYTHING. I just can't live like this! I can't!! I will kill myself If I have to. There isn't a point to life. We were right in the middle of fixing the New/old house.. and we decided maybe we just needed to move. We had heard San Diego, and Bend Oregon were great places for people with Fibro and were seriously considering just leaving our dream home and dream town.. and moving so I could live a somewhat normal life. I was desperate. BEN was desperate too. I think this entire thing was SO hard on him as well. It was about that time, I also remembered all the emails and notes people had sent me back 2 years before.. telling me of things they did that were working for them. So i started sorting through ALL of them and decided one, by one.. I was going to try each and everyone of them, in hopes something would work. There were so many good suggestions, eating gluten free, gutting out sugar, using Epsom Salt in hot baths, exercising, using essential oils. I started with the ones that seemed "less" weird to me. EPsom salt was the first one.The hot baths WITH the salt, really took away my immediate pain.. gave me at least an hour of relief.. enough to get me at least "UP".. not sleeping until 1 in the afternoon. But it didn't last all day.. Sometimes just an hour.. sometimes 3. I tried sugar free next.. and while it seemed to work for the first week.. helping a little with the pain (still not enough that I was up and out and about each day.. but at least helping deal with the pain, where pain meds weren't at all). But then i started going back into that DEEP pain again and so I would move onto the next thing.

I have no idea why.. but for some reason I kept putting off essential oils. I had known about them for years.. and so many people suggested them for so many things.. but this was one I would ALWAYS ALWAYS roll my eyes at and be like.. seriously? come on.. it's so fake. it's a huge gimmick playing out nicely for some rich man.. and I am not going to one of the stupid ones that fall into that trap. Again.. it's all in your head.  Well I remember my close close friends kept saying.. YOU REALLY need to get zoned. My trues. They all lived in Utah and swore that zoning REALLY helped. I knew of someone locally in Shelley that did it. I had for years.. of course I thought she was a witch doctor and everytime someone would tell me they were getting zoned and it was helping them with something. I would think.. yea it's because it's the devil.. your selling your soul to the devil with all that crap.

Man I was such a jerk sometimes! lol. I really was a judgemental person. ANyhow.. I was desperate. I LOVED my friends.. they were my TRUES. They not only loved me and did not LIE to me about anything. They also all shared the same beliefs as me. The same religious beliefs and I thought.. you know what? If they are doing it.. it's probably not OF THE DEVIL. haha.. and seriously what would it hurt. SO I called the lady and made the appointment. I was expecting to pay this HUGE ridiculous amount.. because after all it was "fake". But the zoning only cost me $35.00. I was like what? thats pocket change when it comes to any sort of "doctor" visit? Anyhow I remember at first being kinda nervous and also just feeling weird about the entire thing. SO I was zoned.. which wasn't as weird as I thought it would be. Lol. I don't know what I was thinking.. I was thinking someone chanting and hanging bones above my body.. seriously. I am messed up sometimes. It was simple. She was SO sweet and kind and i felt like I was just in a doctors office. She just gently rubbed my feet and then afterwards went to her essential oils and mixed up a few and put them on my feet. She had accidentally made too much mix and so she put some in a roller bottle and gave it to me to use for later. And I was on my way. I was having a REALLY bad day. I almost actually cancelled the appointment because I didn't even want to drive there. But I can tell you.. within 10 mins of her putting the oils on.. I started to feel better but I also started to feel SUPER light headed, shaky, and just way week. I called my trues immediately. I was like.. is this normal? what's happening to me?? and they were like.. YES for some people it is. People who are really sick have a lot of toxins in them and the zoning and the oils help get those out. Same as they do with massage.. and that is why they say with BOTH to drink lots of water.  SO I started downing water and within 20 mins I felt totally fine. AND I felt GOOD!! all day long! I was amazed! I didn't want to get my hopes up because you know. I could just be my mind playing tricks on me. But the next day I woke up, having a really bad day again, I took my hot bath, my pain meds and nothing. So I decided to use the oils she had given me again. This time I put them ON my body.. not just my feet.. and again.. withing 10 mins. Pain was bearable. I felt "normal" I decided to give it a week, because usually a week is when things stopped working.. and I was happy to find that not only did it help.. way beyond a week, but I noticed I started feeling better in other areas too. I still had "bad days' but they were getting less and less. I was starting to have MORE good days than bad days and that was a miracle! I had started feeling hopeful that my life would get back to "normal" again.. just the regular pain I was used to. So I made an appointment and went back to the zoning lady and said.. okay. I need to get some of these oils. Mine was pretty much gone and I was freaking out! So she made me up some more of the oils she had used.. and then she let me place an order using her account  (she used both Doterra oils and young living and another brand name I can't remember). But at the time she was getting ready to place an order with Doterra, and said I could just tag my order along with hers. I could pay just the cost of it. So I got the four bottles that she had been using. Cinnamon, Cypress, Black Pepper and Frankincense. Then she gave me a sight to where I could go to buy jojoba oil, and roller balls. She suggested there were other oils that also work great for pain and so I ordered a few of those too. I started finding other oils that worked as well, started doing research on which oils help with pain, muscle aches, etc and would make up my own mixes, and they all would help! I rotated using them, so my body wouldn't get used to them and made sure I was drinking LOTS Of water. What I found with the oils was.. they were IMMEDIATE pain relief. I could wake up in the morning, feeling like I wanted to cry.. crawl out of bed. Take a hot bath with Epsom salt, and then have ben or my kids put oils on me. and within minutes I felt good enough to walk and get up. Then I would take my tylenol and tramadol and that would kick on about 30-45 mins later and then I could make it through my day. If I ever started to feel really crappy and pain meds wouldn't work. I would just use the oils and again.. instant pain relief. Usually the pain relief from the oils lasted about 1-3 hours. Depending on the day. Since i was putting everywhere there was pain. (usually my back, neck, shoulders, legs and arms). It wasn't really conducive to if I was just out and about, to stripped down to my skivvies and ask someone to rub me down with oils lol. So It became my routine of using them first thing in the morning and at night after I would get done with my work, and could slip into my pj's again. I had been ordering so much through the lady. One day, she was like.. why dont you just open an account? And you can order it whenever you want. It seemed like a HUGe hassle to open an account and do all the paperwork, but it soon became an even bigger hassle to be texting her all the time, ordering more stuff, waiting for it to arrive and then finding a time to come to her house when she wasn't with someone or was home and get it. One day I was on facebook and talking with a dear longtime family friend.. and she happened to be a consultant for Doterra too and she was like.. seriously.. it doesn't take that much time to open your own account. The ship like daily and you have it within days. You get it a wholesale and then you can get whatever you want anytime you want. So i finally just bit the bullet and went to the website and did it. I don't know why I thought it would be this huge process. Lol. It took me like five minutes. AND i can't tell you how ordering directly was SOO much better. My friend, said about a week after, I should start being a consultant because I had so many people that read my facebook page.. and I was telling people about the oils and if they started using them, they could sign up under me. I was like UM NO. lol. That is ONE thing I had never been interested in doing. DID NOT want to be apart of any kind of consultant, selling program. I just wanted to buy them for myself and that's it. So anyone that would email me asking me how to get them, and get them at wholesale, I would just refer them to her and she took care of them. I loved sharing my new found love of oils with the world.. just didn't want to start another business, when I couldn't even keep up with my own that I already had lol.

Anyhow, So I started looking into using oils more and more. not just for my pain. I started reading about how they are great for asthma (i have a son who has it really bad). Great for cold sores, great for when you get strep throat, or infections. So I pretty much bought just about every oil they had over a few months.. and now I use them DAILY for everything. I used them for pain, for sickness, for asthma, for allergies, for cold sores, for sunburns, for cramps, for upset stomachs, for helping me sleep, for helping me have energy. Use it on my kids, give it to friends, you name it! lol. I am a believer now.

And what's funny is whenever I tell people about oils, I get the SAME reaction from them, that I used to give to people. I can just see in their minds.. them thinking.. oh crazy lady.. oils are just a big gimmick. I have had many people kinda just blow me off, but the ones who don't.. use them and are amazed at how they help.

I had a friend recently find out she had fibro. She called me just in tears.. she was in the "new" mode.. where she was studing all about it.. figuring out where was the best place to live for it, etc. So I gave her some simple advice.
I said..  once people start to hear and know that you have Fibromylgia.. you will get a LOT of people who will give you awesome suggestions on things that work for them. Since we are all different, not everything works for everyone. Some may seem weird, or off and you will roll your eyes at them. If I could give ONE piece of advice.. Don't just throw the advice away. File it away somewhere. If they are emails, create a folder for them. If they are by word. write them down in a journal.
Because RIGHT NOW, you may not be in a place that you want to hear them.. that you even want to consider them. Right now you are only thinking it has to be fixable and that some drug is going to work and take care of it. (she was on several different medications already). But I said to her. SOMEDAy.. when things start to change and her body needs something new to work and what she is doing isn't working anymore. That she will be more open to trying things that don't seem so "conventional. She will be open to trying eating gluten free, or not eating certain foods, or using oils, etc. Someday when she was ready.. she would be grateful she had all those wonderful suggestions from people and would find something that would help and work for her. She wasn't ready for them right now. Right now the only thing that seemed to make sense were manufactured drugs. which I think are great too. BUt I could totally See HER in me. and just knew she wasn't ready to try stuff that seemed weird" or crazy, but someday, she would get to a point that she would be open to it and try it. and SOMETHING would work for her. Maybe not oils, Maybe it would be eating gluten free. But something would help and work.

ANother thing I found over the last three years are people without Fibro really have a hard time wrapping their heads around what we with fibro go through. LIKE ME, before I got fibro.. I know many people think its all in your head.. they roll their eyes and when someone says.. I can't today my fibro is too bad.. I have to cancel. They think? are you serious? holy crap. get over it.. Got off your lazy butt and meet us for lunch. Or Get to work. Seriously.. it's all in your heard. I have met MANY people like that.. and I just smile and love them. Because I used to be like that and I know how HARD It is.. sometimes to understand something that you can't know yourself. I mean it's easy for someone to say.. OH i have the flu and people are like.. OH that sucks.. YES stay in bed. We can do it another time. Why? because they have had the flu. But with Fibro, since there hasn't been a cause or a reason for it. and it's just truly a "chronic pain" disease.. people don't understand it. So I always just smile and think, its okay.

Its funny because I was recently having this conversation with my sister and one of my closest friends. My sister recently found out she might have Fibro.. and my good friend has been in Chronic pain for months. Both of them said to me.. you know, now I finally have a glimpse of what you are talking about when you talk about fibro pain and not being able to live a normal life. Not feeling good enough to even get dressed, or hang out with people. My sister said.. I used to just think to myself.. oh come on Christy.. get over it. It's in your head! She said now.. she is eating her words and totally understand that pain I have been in and was so sorry for ever judging me. I told her.. NO worries! lol. I totally get it! I used to be that way too..and for some people.. unless they are given that trial in life.. just don't ever get it and aren't sympathetic to others that do. I was one of those people.

Soo.. anyhow. That is my story about  what has been happening with me over the last 6 months.

Monday, I will be posting the REST of this story (since this is a novel), And I will share with you ALL of the things.. (not just oils). that I have recently discovered and things that I have been doing for the past 3 years, that have worked for me. I share this with you NOT to tell you to run out and do them all. I Truly believe that what works for someone.. might not work for someone else. But I tell you them to share them with you.. so if you are at the point, where you are looking for something else. Or someday you might.. that MAYBE one of the things that work for ME.. might work for you. :)

So that is the only thing I hope to get out of this. To share with you.

So.. come back monday! I will have ALL of that listed here!
Thanks for letting me share my journey and my story.
You all are such a wonderful support to me! Just adore you all!
xoxo

Happy Friday

 

Blog Hop Question.. What is Success? & New Book: Declaration of you!

Hey sweet lovley friends.. isn't summer just freaking awesome. Holy cow! I forget how good it feels to sleep in, have lazy mornings.. walk outside and bask in the sunlight. Seriously.. 2 months of summer here just ISN'T enough!

So as I mentioned tuesday.. I have been asked to participate in a fun Blog Hop hosted by Jessica Swift and Michelle WaRD .. co-writers of the NEW book.. Declaration of YOU!

They asked me a few questions about what success means in my business Scarlet Lime and with my Christy Tomlinson Licencing & Workshops Business.  So here it goes.. :)

Warning: This is just a straightforward.. no pretty pictures.. kinda of blog post. Hope you still get something out of it :).

First off just a little info about me:  as many of you know since 2007, i have had a online kit club called Scarlet Lime.  A monthly kit club where we send out kits each month.. it started with Scrapbooking kits and have now grown to Mixed Media kits, Art Journaling kits and coming SOON this fall.. SMash kits! (Plus we are adding some fun new features including monthly ideas by other designers!) . In 2011, we decided to expand our kit club to also include an online Mixed Media Store.. which we now sell over 1500 products! Adding new ones all the time! All of which are products I used in my online workshops to make mixed media canvases, and art journals. In 2011 I also launch my first online class hosted on my own site (i had done several before on other websites).. and that also has grown and over the past 2 years, I have offered I think.. around 13 workshops! Crazy! With more coming this fall. We also have an Etsy store, where I sell prints, originals and other products with my artwork on it. AND lastly, I teach and host art retreats all over the world.

So that is what I DO in a nutshell. I am BLESSED and blessed to have my husband, Ben, also work side by side with me in this adventure! He runs the mixed media store and ships out the kits for the kit club. It's so awesome to be able to work with him everyday.. have him home everyday. What a blessing. We are blessed to have 6 kids.. ages 8-17.. (5 boys and one girl). ANd we are so blessed to both stay at home and work and support our family. I am also always blown away,  at the amount of work I am able to accomplish while also dealing with Fibromyalgia. I wake up EVERYDAY in pain.. everyday. Like I don't want to get up and face the world.. kinda of pain. But just as always.. the Lord has blessed me with things I have learned to help that pain manageable, so I can get up and work.. play or spend time with my family.  Usually an hour or so after a hot bath, using oils and my medication.. I am ready to take on the world!  I do have days where I just can't go one more step and I find myself in bed all day.. sometimes frustrated and crying.. sometimes just realizing it's not the normal and tomorrow will be better. But I think that is my Heavenly Father's way of saying.. SLOW DOWN. Take time for yourself. Remember who you are and why you are here. Always a wonderful reminder :).

I also took some time in 2011 to "licence" my art designs to some major home decor companies.. and while it was the thrill of a lifetime to see my first release (which just came out last year.. almost 18 months after I started the process). It just wasn't for me. I enjoyed teaching online and in person SO much more.. and creating art solely for the licencing world.. didn't allow me to do that. I would rather see thousands of other women learn to become self confident and realize they ARE AN ARTIST.. then see my artwork on mugs, pillows, iphone covers, etc in major retail stores.While I have some wonderful friends who inspire the world that way.. i just knew it wasn't the way intended for me.  Ill tell you more about that in a bit :)

And I guess that is where the success comes in. I believe success means so many different things, but for me.. the ONLY thing that matters in having a successful business is doing what matters most. Doing what feels RIGHT.. doing what I know in my heart is what my Heavenly Father, wants me to do. That is success. It's not about which opportunity makes me the most money, or what 'gig' gives me the most exposure and advertising.. its truly about listening to the Spirit and following what I know is what I should be doing at the time.

I believe success is being the true you and following the beautiful heart of yours. Your heart is a pretty amazing gift we have been given.  It certainly KNOWS what is best for you.. and sometimes your mind overshadows that with thoughts of how awesome an opportunity looks, or how cool making $$$$ would be. But your heart ALWAYS grounds you, and reminds you of what humility is and why you were blessed in the first place. I swear.. just when I have it all figured out and I think I am just awesome and proud of myself.. something happens that grounds me.. and reminds me.. all of this is not mine.. but His.

Side note: (I realize this post is a pretty spiritual one.. Maybe not QUITE what Jessica and Michelle had intended..  as I refer to my Father IN Heaven a lot.. but dude.. I would be kidding myself if I didn't think for one second.. all of this comes from something greater than ourselves. it's just a given... )

To get a little more personal,  in business.. FOR ME.. success is TRULY being able to help others. I can't tell you how many times I have been brought to humble tears.. by emails, or letters or even women coming up to me at art retreats or events.. telling me, how by me taking one of my online classes, or sitting on one of my retreats.. or watching my online tutorials.. has changed their lives. Not because I was this awesome artist.. but because I gave them the freedom to BE an artist and the confidence to FEEL free and take leaps!  They felt lost, they felt like taking time for themselves in anyway way shape or form,  was just a waste of time.. silly. But after taking a workshop, or trying something I taught in a tutorial.. they were able to connect with what was being taught and realize a new found love of creating art that could help them express what was in their heart. Art that they could share with family and friends. By Helping them build confidence to take leaps in their OWN dreams and endeavors.  THAT is a HUGE factor of what success means to me.

I remember when I was about 6 months into licencing... I had already created my first line.. I had approved the samples they had sent and would be seeing them hit shelves the following year. I was working with two major companies in the home decor world.. and one of the Companies came to me, before my first release was even done.. and offered me a 2 year.. Multi-million dollar sales projection during that time. (and no.. that doesn't mean I would get  millions dollars lol.. believe me.. not even close. SOunds cool.. but promise.. your cut is just a wee bit :).  But even so, it was a HUGE opportunity to get my name out there, to brand myself and to create a secure future in licencing. . Basically they were saying, for 2 years. .they wanted me to create lines for their home decor items. IN Spring, Summer, Christmas, Fall, etc. They wanted to build a brand around my name and my art. They wanted to promote me as one of their top artist. I was shocked, humbled and just blown away.  BUT at the very end of the email.. they asked me one simple question, something I would need to do to help make it successful for them as well. They asked me to  STOP teaching my art, online, in person. Everywhere. They said that by me teaching my girls and other techniques, they were starting to see images of art that looked similar to mine, popping up everywhere on the Internet! (just google She Art. crazy how many pages there are!) And NOT of my work! Work of other awesome women who have taken my workshops and were then sharing what they had made on their blogs and online communities.  The company was afraid that if I kept teaching, that my "brand" and my designs.. would no longer be unique.. because I really do give step by step video instructions on how to create the way I create. The minute I read that part of the email.. it stopped me dead in my tracks. Me? Not teach? um.. that's not EVEN an option!

I didn't and still DON'T believe, that Heavenly Father gave me this gift of creating.. to keep it all for myself.. for some.. yes! We need people who create beautiful things for us to buy.. but for me.. I knew I was intended to share it. not keep it all bottled inside.

I KNOW.. KNOW  without a doubt....  that I was meant to teach what I know and not keep it in. I do Not profess to know everything there is to know about Art .. or paints, or what a medium does. But I do know how to explore and learn and make beautiful messes.. and make mistakes  and turn them into awesome little unexpected layers that in the end, create this heartwarming, meaningful piece of art.  To teach others that it's okay to get something wrong.. that you can always turn it into something right and something beautiful! I just knew.. that if I were to accept this huge contract with this company.. I would NOT be doing what matters most. No matter HOW awesome or cool having my name a national brand would be. Just wasn't worth it. 

So.. without much thought at all, I simply replied back.. I was sorry that while I was thrilled they wanted to continue on with me, I knew what I was supposed to do and what was expected of me. That I needed to share my art with the world, but, not in the way they wanted me to share it. At first.. my agent was pretty upset. so was the company.. but shortly after, I sent them several emails with several of my friends names, images of their work and their blogs.. and suggested maybe they look at THEIR art, and contact them.. and see if that is something that would be a good fit for them. I had friends who REALLY DID want to licence, and I knew they could create some pretty wonderful things too. I felt so good about my decision. I felt at peace and happy and right. Btw.. my friends who's names I sent them? well I just got my catalog for the companies new line and BOTH have beautiful featured product in there! See a perfect fit! there always is :).

Well a few months went by.. and they sent another email.. this time saying that if I would reconsider, I could still teach my art online and in person.. and they would just take their chances with the affect it may have on their home decor lines.  But by then.. I had become SOOO okay with just being a an artist and a teacher.. that I realized.. it truly wasn't what I wanted.. and the decision had been the right one all along. It had been a HUGE blessing in disguise not to take that route for myself. Success. 

So for me.. that is what success means.. and that is just ONE tiny story of the many many moments that have happened to me over the past 10 years... of owning my own business. Many little "tender mercies".. reminding me of what is important for ME..  WHAT is expected of me by my Father in Heaven.. and WHY he has blessed me AND my family with this humbling opportunity and experience of being able to share my art and the talents i have been given,  with the world.. and support my family as well. It's not MY talent.. it's the Lord giving me this talent, for the purpose of blessing others.. and being blessed as well in the process. Success. 

So my advice to you when it comes to creating a successful business? Be open to the unexpected.. reach deep inside your heart and think about what is TRULY your goal.. and then strive for it! Sometimes our goals change.. sometimes we realize along the way that what we thought we wanted, doesn't fit into what we really need and is best for us.. and that's okay! We need to experience those things to grow and know for sure.. and not think "what if". Not everything we do will be a success, but I promise everything you do.. is meant to help us develop and grow for future opportunities. Everything happens for a reason and everything has a purpose. So Stay true to  you. Another bit of advice for success. Make it your goal to have it be about OTHER people.. NOT yourself. Let it never be about yourself. Also.. Takes leaps when your heart is saying yes.. and learn to hold back when your heart is saying no.. even when your head is saying JUMP IN! THAT will be success. It might not come in the form of making a lot of money.. or having your name in lights.. or seeing your designs on iphone covers.. but it may be as simple as blessing someone else's life, in the simple things you do each day. Sharing  YOU with the world. Letting others feel comfortable about themselves. Sharing your ups and down, your mistakes and your triumphs.. letting people know.. YOU are just a real person JUST like them.. no better.. no different. That we all come from the same wonderful Person.. who has made us all so perfectly different and special. If we will always remember this simple truth... success isnt about US.. and never is about us.. then we will always be successful in our leaps.

I know it is for me.

well better get to working on the house today.. more rooms to paint and things to put up :) don't forget.. as I posted tuesdasy! Huge sale this week on online Workshops and NEW things listed in the Etsy Shop! Check out that blog post HERE!

xoxox

Happy Thursday.

There are moments..

When I think back through my life.. over the last 37 years
(almost 38) ... it's easy to pick out the moments that have truly
defined and changed my life. Easy because when they happened I knew in my heart
what I was feeling, or hearing or seeing was true. Either for good or for bad.
That is the blessing of our Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost. The simple
whispering and promptings we are given to know and feel truth.

The past few weeks my heart has been in limbo.. struggling with you know.. the beautiful
things we call trials. Those wonderful hard moments and struggles we are given
to help us grow and be humble, and be broke and mend and find our way back up
again.. stronger and more beautiful than ever before. This particular trial has
been one that has been on my mind for months actually but for some reason.. and
you all know what I am talking about.. there are times when moments before you
know the trial is about to really rear it's head.. that your heart is
struggling and feeling uneasy. We are beautiful women (and men) of our Heavenly
Father and have been given divine spirits.. and we KNOW.. we know when things
are going to happen. Whether it's conscious or sub conscious.. I believe our spirits know.

This past week for me was one of those moments.. when something I have been
struggling with and trying to figure out.. finally finally came to it's moment.
I was nervous and scared and anxious about what the outcome would be.. but I
KNEW in my heart that no matter what.. I was loved by my Father in Heaven and
that this too.. like in past with all trials.. would be one beautiful bright
and courage moment of love, clarity and truth.

and so it came.. and as hard as it was.. I have to tell you. the Lord TRULY loves us!!
I woke up today with the most beautiful feeling of love and peace and calm and
determination. As some of you know I am LDS, Mormon.. a memeber
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints... and there are things
that I TRULY believe in my life that bring my happiness and hope and faith and
charity and LOVE and closer to my Heavenly Father, my family and my Savior.
Some of those things include saying my prayers, reading my scriptures, being
faithful in temple and church attendances, giving service to others.. .. and so
many many many more. But what I find is that my heart goes through times that
while I BELIEVE and truly know I should be doing all of those things.. I slack
off.. I let life get in the way.. I let the daily life of making a living,
raising kids, cleaning house.. you name it.. it fills up our day so fast that
we forgot to do the most important things of all. And usually its not because I
don't want to do them.. i just FORGET..

but today when I woke up.. I had this DEEP DEEP DEEP!!!! sound resolution to strengthen
my testimony of the Gospel and of Christ as much as possible through praying
often, reading my scriptures DAILY.. giving service.. doing good. ALL of those
things that bring me closer to the Lord. To being a better person, a more kind
person, a more loving and forgiving person. and all of this resolution and
sound calm testimony has come from this trial I have been dealing with for so
so many months. So then it's such and wonderful things to think.. that EVERY
trail, every heartache, EVERY thing that is hard that we deal with, we go
through.. whether it's health related or a personal struggle or family
struggle.. or even financial struggle.. that ALL of those things.. IF WE LET
IT.. can teach us the most beautiful life lessons. They can strengthen who we
are as a person.. they can truly push us to do better and be better. They can
become those moments we remember and WANT to remember forever.

If we let them. Our Trials and our struggles and our mistakes can either break us.. or
they can build us. It take hope, and faith and COURAGE to decide how we will
let it affect us. Yesterday I have to admit.. that I was tinkering on the
other.. I was in a place where I felt despair and helpless and couldn't see ALL
of the good that was coming from this. Then a dear friend of mine.. called on
the phone and shared with me some of the most beautiful advice ever and
reminded me of what I already knew.. but just couldn't seem to remember..

To let my adversity teach me the most amazing things. To not cloud my mind with
sadness and helplessness or pain or beat myself up over things. but to look for
the tiny miracles happening around me and opportunities from this trial that
could and WILL change who I am forever. That will help me to be more loving,
kind, gentle, caring.. FORGIVING.. true.. faithful to my family.. my friends
and my religious beliefs. To be Strong and steadfast.. to be immovable from
what I know to be true.

what a wonderful wonderful reminder and lesson she gave to me yesterday. And as I
spent the rest of the day thinking about what she said.. I had this HUGE
burning in my soul that said.. you can do this! you can make it through this!
Everything will be okay and this will a great and wonderful thing you will cherish forever.

So that's it.. I just had to share that with you today. My heart is so full. I can't even
express to you how full my heart is. I know this trial isn't completely over..
but I have a new resolve to turn this trial into a time I can just soak in
learning and growth in my Testimony of what we as human beings are and should be.

Thanks for letting me share this with you!! I hadn't planned on blogging about this
today.. I know I have so many other things to share with you today.. but today
I just think I will leave this post as it is.

I want to also say THANK YOU.. so so many of you who email me on a daily basis with
your stories of courage and love and kindness. I have hundreds and hundreds of
friends that I have never met who give me hope and love and strength. I swear..
it happens so often that I will be feeling down about something or struggling
with something and I will get an email or a facebook message from someone I
don't even really know.. someone who reads my blog or has taken my class and
just shares with me something i NEED to hear.. it's amazing and truly beautiful
the Tender mercies the Lord gives us.. and how He works THROUGH us to help and
show HIs love to others.. amazing huh? I am also blessed with a TRULY amazing
family.. my husband is one in a million. We have had our share of trials.. but
wow. I could never imagine how truly Christlike someone could be. He is my hero
and I am in awe of who is is. My kids too.. they aren't perfect. They each
struggle with things this world throws at us. They sometimes fall and sometimes
have to pick themselves back up again.. but they have always been humble to
acknowledge their mistakes and then make the resolve to do better and be
better. just grateful for all the people in my life. My TRUES!!! I am truly
truly blessed.

I hope today you feel how much I love you all. How much I truly believe that we are
good, wonderful women (and men). Who have so much potential in this life to be who we should
be. To live how we should be.. to remember that no matter how hard a trial may
feel or what mistakes we make.. we will come out stronger and better than we
did before.. if we will let it. love you all.. truly and honestly.. love you all.

happy
wednesday.

 

Finding Balance... week 2 sneak peek of the Living Canvas Workshop!

 

Okay so if you know me well.. I DO not balance my life well. I actually have really good balance when it comes to standing on my head, doing yoga poses (i don't actually do yoga, but it's fun to see if you can do the poses and think you are cool because you can. lol).. anyhow totally off track.

So while I have good balance. I don't or haven't I guess I should say balance my life very well. I have this creative spirit where when my heart gets a hold of an idea.. it just runs with it and EVERYTHING else falls to the way side.. until I realize my laundry hasn't been done in a month or my kids pants look like high waters because they outgrew them months ago. Or that my blog hasn't been posted on in almost two weeks!! Yes not good balance. lol

HOWEVER one of the things I learned when working with Art.. was to FIND balance.. and what that means for ME. ANd why it's important and WHY it is good for me and for life and how actually when I have balance in my life i am so much more productive and happy and present.

so what does this all have to do with anything? Well as I mentioned LAST week on THIS BLOG POST.. i am debuting each month for the next five weeks.. a sneak peek of each of the weeks of my upcoming workshop: Your living Canvas.. with my friendArt McCracken.  Week 2 is all about.. you guessed it.. Balance and the Six F's. I will let the video tell you more about that and what it has meant for me.

Again.. I am seriously so passionate about this workshop! I SURE hope you join me in it!!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful monday!

Plan B

okay.. last week didn't go quite as I had planned it.. wanted to do a post on Donna's amazing event.. but that will happen later next week.

Yesterday launched a really big workshop for me.. with Junelle Jacobson and i have to say this class. wow. well besides it being one of the biggest classes we have done (content wise there are i believe over 25videos in week one ALONE lol).. it also has been one of the most inspiring for me because just like you I am learning. So last week was crazy busy making sure everything was perfect and ready for that class.. plus catching up.. getting back to over 1400 emails.. ordering hundreds of products that were out of stock for the store... ordering kit club  products, kitting kit club products.. two magazine articles to be written.. doing licencing stuff.. you name it.. it's all on back order if you will and trying to be 'restocked" in my normal daily life. That doesn't include just being a mom.. my religious obligations, being a wife.. doing housework. Catching up on the everyday of normal mom life. I tell you I am spent. I am sure my friends think I am dead for sure! lol..

Anyhow.. a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine sent me this quote she saw posted on facebook. My life has took an unexpected turn over the last month.. and not just in the way of me "working" and deciding what is most important to me.. or my health..  but some other pretty big life struggles... personal life struggles have come into my life. Things I truly thought I would never be going through and yet.. here I am. And it seemed like just not ONE thing happened but a bunch of things all at once. Constantly changing my reality and my perception of what normal is and would should be for me.  I was seriously starting to feel down.. starting to do the "why me".. or "poor me" and how can I go on!!?? lol

and this quote just seriously.. kicked my butt back into reality and what I truly believe.. and that is EVERYTHING happens for a reason and is to build character and in the end makes us stronger and better and more compassionate. So i want to share this simple quote with you today.. and leave you with this thought.. that no matter what.. there is always good in the bad... always a way to look up.. always a way to have the glass half full instead of half empty.. we just need to decide which person we are going to be.

Here is the quote..

*********************

Plan B

Life is all about how you handle Plan B.

Plan A is always my first choice. You know, the one where everything works out to be happily every after. But more often than not, I find myself dealing with the upside-down, inside-out version.  Where nothing goes as it should. It's the point that the real test of my character comes in..

Do I sink, or do I swim?  do I wallow in self pity and play the victim, or simply shift gears and make the best of my situation?  The choice is all mine...

life is all about how you handle Plan B.

(Suzy Toronto)

 

Think about your plan b and how to make the BEST of your situation.. I am challenging you.. and Myself to as well. I know I will be better, stronger and happier for it.

happy Tuesdsay!

lazy days..

one of my FAVORITE things about Christmas day is the fact we just stay home. We do all of our family visits on Christmas Eve and it's always wonderful and magical (here is a picture of us at my sisters house on Christmas Eve)

 we had dinner and then the younger children acted out the Nativity story as my sister read it for us. It's always been a tradition for the last several years to go to my dad's house and read the story.. infact my dad INSISTED on it.. before any gifts were exchanged.. it was the reason for the season. Last year was the only year we didn't.. I think we were all still so raw from loosing him, we didn't know how to cope and get through that night without him.. but something very special did happen last Christmas with my dad.. and Christmas eve.. probably one of my hardest and yet most favorite memories of last year. I wrote about it last year on christmas day.. you can read about that post here. Anyhow..

One of my favorite things about Christmas Day is just staying at home, hanging with my kids and my hubby.. wearing our pj's all day (except okay.. I do that alot anyway.. haha). Everyone playing with their new toys.. watching movies.  Just low key.. oh and having a huge breakfast (which is a tradition we had growing up when I lived with my mom!).. love that.  One thing I always love is that usually that is the day I do a project I have been wanting to do forever. not for work, not for someone else.. but for me. I would not worry about the messy house or the dirty kitchen and just craft or scrapbook (back in the day) or read that book I had been wanting to start. (I can't start a book unless I have time to finish it THAT day.. because I love to read and I get so lost in my book my entire house goes on "take care of yourself mode" until I am done! LOL) You probably know what I mean.

Well this year I was looking forward to it EVEN more.. because we had been traveling so much and had been gone so much. I have started making beaded wrap bracelets (many of you comment and ask me where I get the bracelets I wear in my videos).. . I love wearing a combination of leather bracelets that I have stamped words or names into and wearing it with a beaded wrap and then a simple braided bracelet out of thread or cord. I love just mixing and matching.. but wearing stuff that isn't clanky. Here is a few of the beaded ones I have made.

 I spent a few hours before our Football trip last week gathering all the supplies.. cording, thread, beads.. you name it.. ready to just sit on the couch and watch movies and make all sorts of new bracelets for friends, family and myself. Well Christmas came and man for some reason.. after christmas morning and then after church.. ben and I came home... snuggled up on our couch and SLEPT until 6 PM!!!  we didn't even eat.. let alone make that "christmas breakfast for our kids!  lol.. 

We woke up to a phone call from our 15 year old asking us if we were going to come down to my dad's house for dinner.. since everyone else (my sisters and brothers)were already down there waiting for us to play games and have fun. I think we would have slept clear until the next day if he hadn't have called us. most of our kids were gone at down to my dad's house.. no wonder we slept.. the house was dead quiet! lol. and while sleeping wasn't a bad thing.. all day yesterday I kept thinking how BUMMED i was that i wasted my entire Christmas day sleeping.. the one day I get to really do what I want.. not feel like I have this responsibility to keep a clean house or answer an email.. or something! lol.. and I Slept! So all day yesterday while I worked I kept thinking.. oh I just want to go back and to yesterday and only sleep for like an hour and THEN make those dang bracelets! lol..

Today I woke up.. ready to get into my studio and paint.. as I have 20 or so new designs I had told my agent I would get to her by the end of this week for my portfolio.. (for the licencing show in January).. and I just could NOT get motivated! I had the inspiration.. I knew what I wanted to create.. but I just had NO motivation to do it. so guess what? instead of working today (and man I hope Jan, my agent, isn't reading this! lol i love you jan! )..  well instead of working.. I got back into my pj's.. sat in my bed .. watched the new show "scouted" and made bracelets.. ALL day. I kept texting my friend Meredith.. that I should be working, not wasting time.. and she kept texting back.. that she was proud of me! lol. 

So the point of this post? well nothing really.. I had was just here in my office thinking how I was going to plan some fun creative blog for tomorrow.. about creating some wonderful art.. and yet I didn't do any of that today.. I just sat and made adorable bracelets for people I love.. I guess that sometimes those moments are just ones we need. This morning I woke feeling un-motivated and just not wanting to do ANYTHING.. and now..after spending the day just doing something I wanted to do.. but shouldnt have.. I feel TOTALLY inspired and motived to get back to work tomorrow and get all my assignments done before the new year. and it felt good. I hope you all sometimes take a little time out of YOUR busy day and life to just do something that maybe doesn't feel important or like you have time for but that makes you feel good. :)

Happy Tuesday!

 

grateful for the everyday...

 

this week has been super crazy getting my family ready for Thanksgiving, deadlines and just the everyday hustle bustle of holidays.. but this morning, as I sat in husbands comfy chair, reading the paper and listen to the sound of well... nothing. I realized it's the little things I am truly grateful for. 

For weeks now I have been working my butt off trying to get deadlines done so I could enjoy this week with my family and enjoy our trip to boise.. to see Ben's  family who we haven't seen in just about a year. It seemed the harder I worked, the more deadlines seemed to creep in.. that I had either forgotten about.. or just new ones that hadn't surfaced yet. Anyhow.. at the end of last week.. it was VERY apparent that I would not be able to finish everything before we left for Boise on Wednesday. 

The biggest hurdle  was that I am leaving next week to teach in Puerto Rico and while most of my deadlines weren't due until December 5th..  I will be gone almost all of next week.. it meant I would need to have everything done by this weekend. So I started looking into flights from Boise to here. My new plan was to go with ben to Boise.. and spend thanksgiving day with my family and his and then fly home friday morning, to finish up my deadlines.  (boise is on the western side of the state and we are on the eastern)  but wow.. living in a small town.. the price to fly from boise to here.. was nearly $350 dollar one way! that just seemed ridiculous.. so after much talk and thought, my husband and i decided it would just be best if I stayed home and worked.. got everything done and he and the kids would go to Boise. He offered to stay home too.. but I said no way. His brother, whom he hasn't seen in a couple of years was coming.. and all but one of his 8 brothers and sisters would be together.. I was not making him stay home for me. Allie offered to stay home with me too.. but I just knew she really wanted to go. She loves her aunts and cousins and hardly ever gets to see them and she has been talking about how excited she has been for a month now to go.. so I said. no.. TRULY I will be okay.. im a big girl.  It's life right? Sometimes we overcomit and underestimate the time it will take us to do things.. and one thing about being an adult is owning up to those mistakes and learning from them.

Yesterday I have to admit was AMAZING. My family pulled out of the driveway at 1:30 pm.. to head to Boise and for the rest of the day.. until about midnight.. I got more done than I have ever in an entire day. The house was quiet, the house STAYED CLEANED.. there were no meals to cook, no "mom I need this" or mom he's being mean" .. no little fires to put out..i was getting ataste of being single and alone. My friend Margie lives alone.. her kids are grown and so she has her house all to herself. Every time I go visit I marvel at how everything is in its place and things are so well kept and life is so quiet and easy going.. and I always say to her.. how lucky she must be to just have so much peace and quiet. She always says.. "you just wait.. someday it will come to you when all your kids are gone and then you will miss it".. and I laugh and say.. um yeah NO. lol

Well this morning as I woke up.. I  lookedover to see where my husband would normally be.. I kinda missed him not seeing him there. I swear I complain every morning when he rolls over and pretty much "attacks" me like we are little kids in a wrestling  match.. He's like a kid at heart and loves to just bug the heck out of me each morning.. by "loving" me to death. He'll quietly roll over.. put his arms around me.. and just when I think we are going to quietly lay there snuggling.. he attacks! lol..  he'll start making fun annoying noises and kissing my neck, my ears.. my face.. and he always has scruff and he just thinks it so funny to tickle me.. and i HATE being tickled and so I am constantly laughing begging for mercy for him to just stop and snuggle and he laughs and does it even more because he knows it bugs me. and some mornings I think.. man I wish I could just sleep in an wake up in peace.. and SOME mornings.. even though he always means well and fun..  some mornings.. well I am not so nice about the way I say stop either. oooh.. don't catch me in a bad mood when i've woken up on the wrong side of the bed. My poor husband.

 Well last night as I went to bed I was thinking how I would get to sleep in peace  this morning.. wake up when I wake up.. instead of being woke up by him snuggle and nuzzling in my ear.  But as I rolled over and saw that emply spot.. I actually kinda felt a little sad.. it's thanksgiving after all and the one thing I am probably most grateful for.. is not right there beside me.

Then I came down and sat and read the paper in Ben's big comfy chair and again.. looked around at the house.. so quiet and clean and still... and I realized.. what I am most grateful for is the mess and the noise and the hustle and bustle and the sound of kids annoying each other and needing their mom to figure things out. I am grateful  for the crazy little chaitoc moments of having 6 kids, a husband who works at home with you and the messy house and crazy life that comes with it. I am grateful for my imperfect wonderful life. 

I knew today would be somewhat lonely for me and while I did have a lot of friends who offered to let me come to their house for dinner.. I decided last week that I really wanted to do something different this year. Something that I would not be able to do on any other thanksgiving just because I do have family. I thought the one thing I have always wanted to do was go serve thanksgiving dinner at the local homeless shelter and go visit those elderly at the care homes that don't have family. Take them a little gift basket or something.  I decided I was going to spend part of my day giving back... serving. Well even that hasn't turned out just like I had planned.. as I called around to the local shelters and left messages on phones.. I wasn't getting any responses.. no phone calls back.. no "sure we would love you to help" being left on my phone!.. and finally when I did get a hold of someone.. I found out that most of those places actually have a WAIT-LIST of people who want to serve and you have to volunteer months in advance to get on the list to come in and serve on thanksgiving and Christmas! I was annoyed at first.. but then I realized.. wow.. what a great community I live in! A wait list to SERVE!!  that rocks!  Then I called the elderly care center here in Shelley and asked them if there were people who didn't have family or weren't leaving for the holidays that I could come visit.. bring a gift basket too. I asked them if they could tell me their names or a little about them so I could make a fun basket that would be just personal for them.  The first thing that they told me was  that most of them were leaving as they did have family.. but even the ones that weren't.. had family coming to visit them.. and they told me that even besides that, they  couldn't give me any personal info as I was not family.. so while I could stop by and say hi to people, I couldn't have any info about them before hand.  Which totally make sense.. saftey first..   but this morning as I sat in that comfy chair I had to laugh as all my great plans to serve others today.. and spend the day doing something totally different.. just was NOT working out. So funny. and what a good lesson. I suppose if I was lost in service today, i probably wouldn't be sitting here being able to listen to the quietness of this day.. and realize what I am truly grateful for. I suppose there is a reason for everything.

So today, as a mom and a wife.. I just wanted to say.. that I AM GRATEFUL for that gift..  it doesn't always seem like a gift. Marraige is NOT easy.. it's hard infact.. it takes commitment and forgiveness and push and pull...  and being a parent isn't easy either.. kids are not easy. Kids make messes and cause havoc and need you constantly for things. and make decisions that make your hair fall out.. but in the end.. it's those little things that seem to require the most of you.. and take the most out of you.. that you are grateful for and would miss if they are gone. Today I am grateful for those things which take the most out of me but also bring the most joy I could ever imagine.  Today I am grateful for the everyday... my family

I hope all of you get to spend today with family and friends .. even if it seems like a crazy day of chaous and messy dishes and family in every inch of your house. Today I am going to go visit my dad at the cemetery and then work on these dang deadlines that kept me home in the first place.. so that the minute my family walks in the door saturday night I can spend the entire evening with them.. kissing on them, snuggling with them..annoying the heck out of them.. (hehe).

 

(this was a picture taken a few years ago at An amusement park.. just love it.. one of my favorites)

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope today is wonderful!

Beautiful Heartbreaks...

okay... so it's been a while since I wrote a seriously blog post.. hopefully this is okay :)..but it's been in my mind lately..

when I was at CKU a couple of weekends ago, I had the pleasure of listening to Hilary Weeks give the Opening Keynote Speech. She is also a singer and songwriter.. has many CDs published in the Christian market, as well as travels and does motivational speaking with her music.

I also got to talk with her a bit afterwards and have since talked to her on the phone too. She is just truly a wonderful and positive person. A friend for life.. that is for sure!  Her message at CKU was so beautiful. It was basically about being positive and finding the good in everything.. even in heartbreaks.

As I sat and listened to her sing and talk (she did a lot back and forth ).. I just really reflected on my own personal life of all the "heartbreaks" I have had over the last few years.. and even throughout my life and wondered if I have always seen the good in them or if I still look back at them as a one of those experiences I wished had never happened. I mean I can go back to many of my high schools experiences and wish they had never happened (like being de-pants in the hallway at school, my junior year.. in front of a large group of my best "guy" friends... wearing my purple silk underwear.. seriously?).  They thought they were being so funny.. I wanted to kill them. I DO wish that never happened. But at the same time, I remember taking away from that experience that instead of  spending weeks being embarrassed and avoiding everyone.. I remember deciding to just take it like a man or a woman :).. and laugh like everyone else.(of course.. payback is always great too.. and I don't think any of them liked it much when it came their way.. hahah).

But if I think of more recent things in my life that seemed to be a heartbreak or a trial or experience that  was hard.. am I really looking at those experiences for the positive instead of the negative? I remember talking a few weeks ago with someone about my dad's death. Many of you know he died last year and I have told this story before. So sorry if you have already heard it.  

It was a weekend, we all happened to be together, at church blessing my baby brothers son. Five of my dad's 7 children (including me) were there, and 25 of his 27 grand-kids, as well as his wife and some close friends. We were sitting on the pews, shortly after the blessing and sacrament had been passed, I looked over to my dad, who was sitting next to my husband.. and he was having a massive heart attack. He died a few minutes later there in the church.. infront of his children, grandchildren, wife and friends. At the time, it was a horrible experience.. I couldn't image why on earth God would want to put my children and my siblings and I through witnessing such a traumatic event.. but throughout the year.. I have often reflected back and have felt SO BLESSED that actually we were all there. That we were able to spend the last few moments of his life with him.. watching him partake in special ordinances that we consider sacred. He also had been going camping a lot on weekends.. by himself in West Yellowstone.. in random places.. and if he had been alone that weekend.. somewhere in those mountains.. I can't image the heartache and guilt we  would have all felt for not being with him in his last moments of life. So while that was a very traumatic experience.. I can tell you that experiencing it together with my children, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews.. it actually  has brought us so much closer together.. the weeks and months that followed were those of true bonding amongst all of us. I thought my family was close before that experience.. but now.. i can't even describe the close bond we all feel. We also feel so blessed that we were there.. and with him at the time.

So that was an experience for me.. that at the time, seemed like a tragic heartbreak.. but reflecting back.. was actually a beautiful one. I can think of other experience over the last few years that at the same time might seem like experiences I want to forget.. but if I truly look at them deeply enough, I can find actually the good in all of them.. the beautiful blessing or lesson that I learned from each one.. that only builds onto my life experiences and builds character and soulful depth. It's not an easy thing to do.. always find the positive.. holy cow.. are you kidding me? Sometimes I think to myself.. really? What is the good in THAT?  but after listening to Hillary's speech last week and watching her final video.. I realized... i really could. I have found many times in the past year that some of my biggest heartbreaks have actually been lessons that I needed to learn. I have said this before.. but there is a huge difference between being empathetic and sympathetic and I have realized that sometimes in order for me to truly be non-judgemental and compasionate to others trials or heartbreaks.. I have had to go through them myself to learn that lesson. I know for me.. it's always a humbling experience. Don't get me wrong, there are mistakes I have made that I wish I could take back.. wish had never happened.. but not so much because of the consequences that happened to me.. but because of the hurt I caused other people. But then again... I supposed it has a beautiful heartbreak for both of us.. a lesson we both learned. I am always sorry for those mistakes.. but I  know I can learn from them too.

Anyhow.. just something I have been thinking about lately.. this summer I experienced a big heartbreak in my life with a dear friend..  and at the time, I just wasn't understanding what or why I was going through that experience.. the heartbreak still hasn't completely healed but the magical thing about it is that through the process, i have opened my heart to other friends..beautuful women and even my husband.. who I never would have.. and have strengthend those friendships more than I could have ever imagined. It was completely un-intentional.. but I can see now, I would have never let my guard down and let those people that close into my life.. if I hadn't absolutely needed it. So while I still am very sad over the experience, I am starting to see the beautiful heartbreak in it. At the end of Hilary's talk.. she played a video for us.. a song that she wrote and sang.. I want to show it to you, because it just brings this message closer to the heart than what I have to say, ever could..  It's a beautiful message.. about beautiful heartbreaks.  Hope you enjoy it.. and hope you can find the positive in those heartbreaks you may be going through too.

oh and ps. I was going to announce the winners of my last blog post for Jeanne's Class I think I will wait until my next blog post this week :) if that's okay :)

Happy Tuesday!

 

taking a leap.... and a dream come true

Yesterday, I had to wake up early (okay so not SUPER early.. but for summer and for staying up late the night before.. it was early to me).. early enough that my entire house was still asleep and the sun was just starting to come up. I had to get up so I could officially "launch" the start of the 3 Hearts workshop.. which started again yesterday! (and some of you have asked if you can still sign up and join.. and the answer is yes ! love to have you! :))..

 anyhow..  We had been gone all weekend camping, and so my son had put themail on my desk from while we were gone. I hadn't been in my office since we left.. and when I came down to launch the workshop, I saw a letter from Stampington & Company  sitting on my keyboard and underneath it...what looked like a packaged magazine...  my heart skipped a beat!

A few months ago.. I got an email from Jennifer, the editor at Artful Blogging magazine, asking if they could feature my blog in their upcoming issue.  Um.. seriously? I about dropped my phone (i was talking to my husband).. and I started to squeal!  My husband was trying to figure out what was wrong.. because when I get excited about something, apparantly  I scream like something is wrong.. but really I am just so excited I can't talk and it comes out more of a "I'm scared".. not "I'm excited" kind of scream.  Anyhow.. I couldn't even talk. I actually started to cry.. seriously.. really? seriously?  YES!! A dream come true. Of course when I tried to explain to my husband about the magazine (which I love and have a subscription too).. and how they were asking me to be in it.. and how HUGE this was for me.. what an honor.. what a blessing and truly humbling.. how it was one of those "leaps" on my list.. he got it and got super excited for me as well. :)

anyhow, of course I responded back.. I would LOVE to be included.. what a huge honor.. I think I actually rambled on.. and on.. much like I am doing now.. telling her what a fan of the magazine I was, how humbled I was to be included and that heck yes, I would love the opportunity.  That was months ago and all of my material and my article was turned in months ago as well..  I kept thinking in the back of my mind that maybe the issue would be coming out soon.. but for some reason I had it in my head that it was in September.. so I was not expecting this wonderful little surprise on my desk when I woke up yesterday morning..

 

As I opened the magazine..(LOVE that it is red. so me.. so my favorite color in the whole world). I was so excited to see that they had actually featured a piece of my art on the cover as well! Totally not expected either!  I just had to share it with someone! My entire house was sleeping.. and so I ran upstairs to show my husband.. who of course was SUPER excited too! lol (and I mean that in a totally sarcastic way, as I don't think I even got him to wake up.. we had stayed up WAY to late the night before)... I hurried and got the workshop up and going.. so I could sit on the couch with cozy blanket and pour through the magazine.. It wasn't until I had read the entire magazine and was looking at the cover again that I saw that not only had they put my piece of art on the cover.. they had also actually featured my NAME! Right underneath the amazingly talented women.. Holly Becker from Decor8 AND  Tiffany Kirchner-Dixon from The Fancy Farmgirl! holy cow!! I couldn't believe it!

 

Now I was even MORE excited! MY name was on the cover!!! lol so I had to go back upstairs and show my husband AGAIN.. I know he loved that.. being woken up twice :)

Anyhow.. I just had to share this news with you.. what a dream come true this year has been for me.. TRULY. So many amazing experiences and opportunities.. It's ironic because right before Christmas I went to Barnes and Noble with my hubby.. and we just sat and talked and I told him about all these "leaps" I wanted to take over the next couple of years.  "Wishes"  I would love to happen for me as an artist.. It was a long list.. well not THAT long, but long enough I would forget before I got home.. and so on our way out, Ben bought me a journal and told me to write all of them down.. so I would have them to remind me of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. Remind me to take those "leaps".

 That was my word for this year.. "leap".  Over the next couple of weeks, I looked at that list.. over and over.. and  one of the things on my list was being in the Artful Blogging magazine. I LOVED that magazine and loved all the blogs featured in there.. I had only recently started blogging again, so I didn't think or even expect to EVER be contacted (I am kind shy in that way.. I don't usually "submit" or put myself out there like that)...  so I know it would be a long shot.. as I would never submit it myself.. and really truly.. who was I in the blogging world? But it was still on my list.. a long shot. but a leap.. actually more of a "dream" I wanted...  and so when only 2 short months later, Jennifer contacted me out of the blue.. I was floored! I was ecstatic and in shock and truly felt so blessed. 

 

And I have to say, this year has been that way for me. I don't know why, or how I deserve all the good things that keep happening to me. I know the Lord is blessing me..and my family,  and I am contantly reminded of a blessing once given to me a long time ago.. that said.. I would be blessed with much, but to be weak, and humble and do the will of the Lord throughout it all. That blessing has been a constant reminder to me this year that ALL of this.. Being featured in this magazine, liscneing my artwork, starting online classes, having an article in Somerset Studio's magazine, having my own "tv/web" show, teaching at major events, being featured on Where woman create.... all of it, has only come through being blessed from my Father in Heaven. Truly..  I didn't do it on my own. He has blessed me with drive and hidden talents I never knew I had.. and has given me opportunities that sometimes I don't feel like I deserve.. so it's been really scary to always try and "stay" humble and stay weak.. so that those blessings and opportunities don't go away. Does that make sense?

 

(This is a piece that was featured in the Artful Blogging magazine.. totally how I feel)

 I am so blessed. SO blessed. I know that. I TRULY know that. I am on my knees constantly thanking Him for that. I just want to stay worthy of those blessings as well.

 

You know..  I kept that journal with me everywhere I went. Always writing in it, sketching in it. .. and I couldn't believe that by April of this year, almost all of the things on my list, the "leaps" and wishes, I had in that journal,  had been crossed off. I remember at my girlfriend retreat we did in April, I was sitting talking with my friends Jeanne and Melody and both of them reminding me about that "list" and how all of those things.. that I had wanted and hoped for and set out determined to do over the next couple of years.. had come to be in just 5 short months. They reminded me of how blessed I was and I was thankful for that reminder. Not long after that,  I was off again on another trip.. to a  convention  and during that trip, I lost that journal.  Not sure if it fell out of my bag  in the airport, or I  left it in a hotel room? ( i did call the hotel in hopes that they had it).. but no such luck.  I was REALLy sad at first.. because all of my sketching and my entire  "leap" was in that one journal.. and it meant SO much to me.. but then I realized maybe this meant it was time for me to create a new list.. maybe a list of "giving back".. a list of different sorts.. I still need to get a journal for that and start that list. It's on my "list" of things to do..( now that's funny.. lol )

Anyhow, this post has turned into another long "christy sharing her feelings" post.. sorry about that. I just hope that YOU know.. that good things can happen.. dreams can come true.. LEAPS can be made.. if you have enough faith and put enough trust in the Lord and are willing to also listen closely to what He wants you to do. I have realized it's not always been what I wanted to do, but sometimes you have to just listen and TRUST that is the right thing to do. I have seen it in my own life. It's an amazing thing.

Happy Tuesday :)