thursday

Exciting and creative title, eh?

A few things that made me smile, laugh, ponder and get slightly choked up today...

Driving home from my iced coffee run, I saw a billboard that said,

"My way is the highway.

-God"

 

This photo

And this photo

This saying (found here)...

"Who you are is enough."

And then, of course, there's Lucy...

...but she makes me smile and laugh everyday.

four things friday

Have you heard about "Five Things Friday"?  Well this is only four...

1.  As you know, I'm learning to play guitar.  It's been 6 months now and sometimes I feel like I'm not progressing enough.  Learning to read music has been difficult for me and practicing the fundamentals is not always the most fun part of this process.  Sometimes I head over to my weekly lesson with dread, worried that I will disappoint with my lack of progress.  This week I tried to convey to my teacher that I hoped my slow progress was not perceived as ingratitude, and that I very much appreciate the time being taken out of this person's life to give me this gift of music.  And my teacher - who happens to be my uncle and is giving me free lessons - basically said to me that everyone progresses at their own rate.  That at some point things will begin to click for me, things will fall into place, a light bulb will go off, the planets will align or something, and I will move up to another level.  He's confident this will happen for me and in the meantime, he just wants me to be happy and have fun.  This sort of blew me away because I generally tend to have a pessimistic attitude about myself.  I've been feeling like I owe my teacher/uncle more progress than I've made and I'm the only one who is putting these expectations on myself.  He made me realize that he is taking time to do this because he loves music and he's happy to teach me as long as I'm having fun.  All I can say is that it was an incredible weight off me.  And my uncle, well, he rocks - in more ways than one.  

2.  On a lighter note, I have seriously been enjoying iced coffees from Whole Foods.  Cold brewed coffee has become a revelation.  Cold brew has less acid and less caffeine, which for me, means no more heartburn and less problems getting good rest when my head hits the pillow.

3.  Here are a couple of blog posts about art that resonated with me recently...

Art Is Not A Choice

jealous and alone... or maybe not

4.  Today I created an Etsy treasury full of weeds.  I promise there won't be any sneezing or itchy eyes.  Check it out... Weeds

Gotta run now.  Whale Wars is on tonight and they really left me hanging last week!

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Love, me

6 yeas old!

My beautiful niece turned 6 years old yesterday!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEIGHTON!!  I LOVE YOU!!!

She also just graduated from kindergarten and a few weeks ago, while looking at pictures from her  graduation, we had the following conversation...

Me: Peighton, I can't believe how fast you're growing.  You don't look like a kindergartner.

Peighton: I'm not.  I'm a first grader.

Me: Oh - duh. Good point.

Hey, I'm not too old to remember the days when every 1/2 or 3/4 closer to your birthday or next grade level mattered.

1 yr old

2 yrs old

3 yrs old

4 3/4 yrs old

5 yrs old

Love you P.  Can't wait to see your smiling face again!

Tell your mom I'm waiting for the first picture of you at 6 years old.

p.s. There will be something coming to you in the mail soon!

cat library

I love this!!

Dad, can you please make one for Lucy?

best beer ever

I miss this beer...

Orange Blossom Ale

If you are going to be within a 50 mile radius of Exeter, CA then you must stop at Orange Blossom Junction and have their Orange Blossom Ale.  

It is the best beer ever.  

In the whole world.  

Seriously. 

It's about 40 miles SW of Sequoia National Park down Hwy 198 and a cold Orange Blossom Ale is the perfect end to a day of hiking among the largest trees in the world. 

a moment of peace

So, I've been taking guitar lessons since January - and I am loving it!  It is the most rewarding thing I've done - maybe ever.  And it's probably the only thing, besides art, that I've stuck with for this long.  It brings me so much peace to just sit and strum.

Peace.  

I love when my soul is completely at peace.

I get my guitar and tune it.  I run through all the chords I know...G, C, Em, Am, D, etc., saving the chords that are more difficult to play for last...F, Dm, B, etc.  Lucy hears me and comes running from wherever she is napping in the house, and plops down on the floor in front of me to listen to me play.  I sit by the window with the sun shining on me.  I can feel it warming my hair and my heart.  Then a gentle breeze blows through the open window and I shiver, not from a chill, but from the amazing calmness that begins to fill me.  I play a few easy songs to warm up my frettin' hand and fingers.   I close my eyes and try not to look at the strings - let my fingers find where they're supposed to be.  I begin to work on a particular song that I want to play well.  I play it over and over, stopping to work only on the bridge for a while.  I sing.  I don't know what it sounds like outside the window, but in my head it's not too bad.  I play and play and play and sing and sing and sing.  Sometimes I get a little choked up.  The music is coming from my heart.  From a deep place.  I get completely lost in the moment and in time.  After awhile, my fingers start to ache.  I look up at the clock and realize 2 hours have gone by.  The wind blows on me again.  I shiver.  I am at peace.  I smile.

mom

My mom is the most awesome person I know.  She's my best friend.  

There is no end to her love and kindness and acceptance.  

My beautiful mom and me circa 1975

I ♥ you mom.

Happy Mother's Day!