Still Waiting...

We are still waiting {patiently} to hear about the job that will move us home to Spring Lane. I am feeling rather tossed to and fro with all of it. I will go from wanting it so badly that there is no other option but to move back to surrenduring to whatever the outcome may be...that is where I am at right now. Surrenduring. Willing to give it up if need be. Yet, secretly hoping by some miracle that the path will be cleared.

My friend Jan of Hazelnut Cottage fame posted a beautiful quote last night on her blog which really spoke to me this morning when I read it. I hope it blesses you too...{P.S. I bought one of her new mixed media houses. It is adorable! Check out her new work if you haven't already!}


“To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God moulds us according to God's love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control.”

{Henri J. M. Nouwen}

Making a....

That a job will come through for us soon and we can make the big move back home. Yes, I've changed my mind from last month. I really-really-really want to move back HOME. We've got a beautiful house waiting for us. One with room for my garden and plenty of room for the kids to run and play. One with plenty of room for our dreams. So, I'm sending this {wish} out there and trusting that it will happen.....{whilst I continue to pick out paint colors}

Thoughts on Art and Dreams

My blog has been and will be a tad quiet for a bit. We are in the middle of making some life-changing decisions. If everything turns out right, I'll be able to mark another item off of my list of dreams! I'll share more as things start to unfold:) In the meantime, here is a photo that I took of some hydrangeas today while we were strolling through Art on the Green in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. There were so many pretty things and sooo much inspiration!!! I've really been struggling to find my creative voice as an artist. It seems to be a fairly common thing among us artist types! Anyways, I think I've found my voice and am hoping that my creative abilities can help me accomplish what I have in mind....I can't wait to show it to you.

Like Growing Tomatoes...

Yesterday, a "fellow flyer" Valerie Hart from my Flying Lessons group stopped by my blog and left a sweet comment. I of course, followed her back to her beautiful blog to check her out. She has a wonderful quote posted right above her picture that says, "Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be." {Joseph Campbell}

This reminds me of a quote by our Flying Lessons teacher Kelly Rae herself that reads, "Follow your intention, do the work, and allow the rest to follow." I sortof took this and made it my mantra in my "creative life". Well, in my regular life as well I suppose.

I think they go together beautifully....

I sortof look at it like gardening. You plant the seeds, tend to them, and the fruit follows...but not without the faith and the effort!

{I discovered my first tomato yesterday!}

Who I Am...

Today I came across Andrea's blog Leap & Twirl. Andrea is fellow flyer from the eCourse that we took by Kelly Rae Roberts. She gave her readers an assignment today to find a theme song for their life. I actually have 4 and one of them was one of hers also!

I have found that my new theme song will come into into my life and strike a cord with me. It helps me think and grow through something that I'm going through in my life. I can listen to that song over and over {and over} and one day I'll be done thinking and growing and on to a new one:)

My three songs {so far} are:

Who I Am - by Jessica Andrews

I Will Praise You In This Storm - by Casting Crowns

I Hope You Dance - by Lee Ann Womack

The House That Built Me - by Miranda Lambert

My current song is The House that Built Me. It's been my "new" song for about 2 months now. It had been playing on the radio for a bit and then one day I was driving and listening to it and just broke out in tears.

I had just had a conversation with my husband about WHY we wanted to move back to our hometown so badly. There are people who get married and move to a new city and are content to spend their life there and it's home to them. We've moved alot in our marriage of 12 years and nowhere has ever felt like home - except our hometown. We both feel something wash over us as soon as we enter the county. Almost a peacefulness.

Back to the song and the day I was driving....there is a part of the song that says, "You leave home, you move on, you do the best ya' can...I got lost in this ol' world and forgotten who I am....I thought that if I could touch this place I'd feel it....the brokeness inside me might start healin'....out here it's like I'm someone else...I thought that maybe I could find myself...in the house that built me."

This song has answered my question for me. I was no longer frantic to get "home". Then...we went on vacation over there for the 4th of July and my frantic-ness came back. I've been scouring the internet for jobs - any jobs - that we could get over there. I've been literally making myself sick and even used the term "clawing my way out of here". Not good.

This weekend was turning point for me. I did some real soul searching about what I want my life to look like. And taking my husband's career that he's working towards. And I just don't see it in our hometown. Here makes much more sense. So, I'm back to where I was mentally and emotionally 3 weeks ago. I've realized that this "nest" is best and I'm looking forward to taking flight as an artist and all of the wonderful things to come!!!

Do More

{I came across this quote today and thought it was wonderful enough to share....}

Do more than belong: participate.
Do more than care: help.
Do more than believe: practice.
Do more than be fair: be kind.
Do more than forgive: forget.
Do more than dream: work.

{William Arthur Ward}

Taking time to play...

Yesterday was kind of a sad day. My Grandmother passed away. My husband knows me well and saw the need to get my mind off of things and to lighten the mood a bit by taking us to a new local park.

It was good to forget about all the things that are currently closing in and focus on what's really important in my life.

Nothing cheers you up faster than enjoying life with your loved ones.



And taking a little time to just {play}.

A Glimpse...

"Life just turns deliciously quirky when you stop resisting yourself and, instead, honor the intuition that tugs at you like a puppy on a leash in the park. Follow the magic and magic starts to follow you." Tama J. Kieves

Here is a small glimpse inside my studio....

I took the leap...

I opened Spring Lane Designs today. Excited and scared all at once. Sort of like this little ladybug navigating a big seashore full of rocks. Some or even most of them are bigger than her, yet there she is just doing her {thing}. Making her way in her little world....

I'm leaning on a quote that Kelly Rae Roberts wrote last week about her husband

and the leap {they} are taking:

"Follow your intention, do the work, and allow the rest to unfold..."

I'm not expecting the world out of my humble little shop, but SOMETHING would be very....very....{nice}.

Pondering...

I am looking at an April 1st launch. It's the start of a new month. Nice. Clean feeling. Etc. When I decided on that day I hadn't realized that it is also "April Fool's Day". Does it really jinx me to start that day? Is there some sort of subliminal message there that I should avoid?

This is what I'm pondering today....

Jen