Skinny Pants

     I did a bit of shopping on Saturday. I wasn't looking for anything in particular just seeing what was out there. I went to JCPenney and walked around for a bit. I found a couple of shirts in my favorite bright colors. Then as I was looking through the clearance rack I saw a pair of dark gray corduroy pants. They just happened to be my size and in petite as well. Figured I'd better try them on. I went in to the dressing room and tried on the pants. It's then that I realized that instead of them being straight legged they were skinny. I am not skinny and had never tried on a pair of skinny anything.

     For some reason these pants felt amazing. I was worried they would be too tight near the ankles (makes me feel claustrophobic) but they weren't. I feel really good in them. They are totally comfy and I love the color. I'm so glad I tried them on. I'm proud of myself for taking a chance on something I felt wasn't for ME. Turns out I was dead wrong. 

    Take a chance on yourself......you just might get a wonderful surprise.

Restlessness

This has been a hard week. It's been full of everything just not going as well as it could have. Lots of little things going wonky in a way that makes you want to pull your hair out or go back to bed until next week. I haven't done any of those things. I've tried just to push through each task that needed to be done and to breathe through the difficult parts. It's left me with the crushing sense of restlessness that I can barely put into words. It almost feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest and won't get up until all the tasks are done. 

Yet in spite of the elephant I had some good times this week. I had an awesome conversation with a dear friend who has asked me to help her with a project that holds a dear place in my heart. I confirmed plans to meet an online friend next week. I did a bit of retail therapy and got some awesome deals. 

I'm still feeling a bit restless but like the clouds in the picture above the feeling will pass and the light will shine again. What do you do when you feel restless?

My Word of the Year

     My word for 2014 is STRETCH. I want to go beyond what makes me comfortable and safe. Now, there's nothing wrong with comfortable and safe but for me it stops me from taking chances and doing new things. I want this year to be about stretching myself both physically by getting into better shape and mentally by trying new things. I don't want being scared to stop me from what could be really great things in my life. I plan to write way more than I ever have. I want to have dinner parties and art journal nights. I may even be thinking of opening my own little business. 2014 is going to be full of new opportunities and I am so excited to see what happens. 

I was blessed to receive this amazing canvas with my word of the year from Anna Meade. Anna does custom artwork. If you have a word for this year and would like a visual reminder to help you along take a look at Anna's website. 

  

In my head....

    

      I've been writing posts in my head for weeks now. I know I've been gone for awhile and there really is no good excuse. I could blame it on the holidays or that I moved but really I could have been posting through all that. Truth is I wasn't sure if I could get out what I wanted to say in a way that made sense to me much less to anyone reading this.

     I'm going through a period of finding out what direction I want my life to go in. I'm allowing myself to really be honest about what I enjoy, what I want to spend my time doing, and what type of people I want to surround myself with. It's been only a few months that I've been having these thoughts and talking to myself about it. I never really had those thoughts before and didn't think a great deal about where my life was going. I was just taking things one day at a time and going with the flow. But now I want more than just being carried away by time. I want my days to be meaningful. 

     

     

Feeling invisible

        I woke up this morning feeling invisible. As an introvert that happens to me from time to time. I was feeling like no one saw me. As if I had no value and there was no one interested in interacting with me. I began to wonder how an introvert like myself could build a tribe that would help rid me of the feeling of invisibility. Frankly I have no idea how to go about that. I was feeling a bit low when the phone rang. (I'm sitting at my desk at work as all these thoughts are running through my head) I spoke to the person for just a few minutes but it was a friendly conversation and I hung up the phone smiling. It was then that I realized that for me all I need is a few moments of being seen. A few moments of interaction with another person. I don't need a packed schedule or a busy social calendar. Just a few moments from time to time. What do you do when you feel invisible?

Birthday Gifts

     I've been Art Journaling for about two years now. I have discovered through doing the art and the journaling that I have some dreams and goals I want to achieve. I want to write and dig deep and learn about myself. So since I have a birthday coming up in a few says I thought I would gift myself two courses that would help me get there.

The first is "Dreamers with Intention" run by the lovely ladies at the Secret Rebel Club. These women are honest, fearless, and awesome. I so want to be them when I grow up. Hoping this course will gently push me in the direction of being a bit of a rebel. 

The second gift to myself is this course by Brene Brown. It encompasses art journaling with working thorough Brene Brown's book "The Gift of Imperfection". This is a 6 week course that begins on October 20, 2013.




http://www.oprah.com/own-brene-brown-course/lifeclass-presents-brene-brown-landing.html#explore

Where I've been

   Hello there. I'm still here. I had a bit of a setback and couldn't blog for a bit. Inserted in this post should be a picture of my right hand bandaged almost to the elbow. But Blogger is not cooperating and I didn't want to wait any longer to get this post up. I have tendinitis in my right hand along my thumb and forefinger. It was quite painful for awhile and being right handed it made doing even basic things very difficult.
   A curious thing happened while my hand was bandaged. I found myself unable to do certain things and then used that as an excuse to do nothing. Didn't matter if it was something that involved using my right hand or not. I stopped taking my evening walks. I didn't blog. I spent a good week or so just being a vegetable. Watching tv and surfing the net. I don't know if I needed that time to just sit and not think or do anything. I can tell you now that I'm done with that. I have things I want to accomplish and even though my hand isn't totally back to 100% it's time to get moving.
 So I'm back and hope to have another post with pictures if Blogger lets me up in the next few days.