Hard to Believe

Zan & I in Summer of 1999

Me & Zana 2009

Opening of Art Town with Richie Havens. He was amazing!

A little water fun at Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe

Hard to believe its been almost 9 years since Zana and I last got together. I think we both had a blast. I was sad to see her go home but take comfort in the fact that we are planning to get together in the next two years. Two years will fly by faster than I can imagine. Seriously, the summer is almost over. It has been such a mild summer at that. Right now as I'm typing it's only 68 outside. Due to the windy nature of Washoe County , it's almost chilly. Chilly? In the middle of Summer? Makes me think we are in for a very severe winter. I wouldn't be surprised. We shall see.

Hard to believe I did some school shopping for Sloan today. Even more of a surprise is the super wonderful buys I found. Gap Kids & Gymboree were both having pretty amazing sales. I'm looking to hit Old Navy this weekend for shirts and next week I get to use my Gymbucks (thank you Zana) to hopefully finish off all the kids winter wardrobe. What I can't find there I will fill in with sales from Target and thrift stores. Sloan has year round school and will start back in just three weeks. It's gone by way too fast.

Still the hardest thing for me to believe is the fact that this is my 700th post. 700th! I've been blogging for almost 2 years this September. I should do a giveaway or something but I am seriously scrambling to get some art projects wrapped up. The whole rest of the month is going to be just as crazy as the last two weeks. We have tons of family visiting and I am very excited. I promise to have a giveaway to celebrate the two year anniversary of Artfulife in September.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Summer break as much as my family and I are. Thanks for always dropping by and brightening my day with all of your comments. I am seriously blessed to call all of you my bloggy friends. Hugs to you all!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone has a happy & safe 4th of July weekend!

Happy Birthday Aris!

Hard to believe my baby just turned 2! Seems like yesterday I was at the hospital waiting to see if my contractions were going to get stronger. I kept telling the nurse that I deliver fast. She didn't really take me too seriously & said I could stay in the room, they would monitor me from 2pm until 5pm and if I hadn't progressed they would send me home. I was only at 1 cm. Dean was still at work and I was all by myself. I was fine with everything until the screaming from down the hall started to get to me a little. By this time I was starting to really have strong contractions. At 5pm the nurse came in to monitor me. The look on her face said it all, I wasn't going anywhere. She quickly called the anesthesiologist. Only the normal guy who did the epidurals was busy with the screaming girl down the hall, I later found out she almost died & that was why everything for the rest of us was moving so slowly. I didn't mind. Needless to say the new guy doing the epidural really didn't know what he was doing. The epidural never took. I kept waiting to stop feeling the pain, kept pushing that little button, nothing but one very numb left leg and butt cheek. Dean finally showed up, my dear friend Carla was there. Thank goodness. My husband is awesome but not very helpful when it comes to delivery. HE stands by my shoulders but can't handle much else. Carla had always wanted to see a live birth & I invited her to be a part of this one. She was awesome. I delivered naturally and needed the pep talks that she gave me. Delivering naturally is the most painful and empowering experience all wrapped up into one. If I have the chance to have another little one, I will do it naturally again. At 7cm the Dr. told me to push. Three pushes later we had the sweetest baby girl. She was perfection. Looked just like Dean even though he swears to this day Aris looks like the mailman, he's such a tease. If you saw our mailman you would think this was a very funny running joke. Being a mom is the most rewarding job I could have ever hoped for. Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for all three of my little monkeys.

We have been having so much fun with Susannah. So far we have gone to some amazing yard sales, my favorite quilt shop, my favorite toy store so she can take treats back to her three little ones, walking, eating some yummy pies and cakes, talking, laughing, and just having a blast all around. Tonight I'm taking her shopping and to downtown to show her our casinos. Tomorrow we are going to the opening of Art town and get to see Richie Havens perform. Thursday we will be heading up to Lake Tahoe to spend the day at the beach and have lunch with Dean then watch the sunset. A last hurrah if you will, sadly she will be leaving early Friday morning. One week is just not enough time. I'm grateful for what memories we are making though. I really hope we get to see each other sooner than 9 years from now. 

Hope everyone is having a lovely week. I'll be sharing my newest card for Simply Sweet Marriage in the next few days, and more pics. Take care & big hugs to all of you.

The Day After Jitters

So I'm in awe at how many people entered for a chance to win "Quilting Among the Sunflowers". Every once in a while as an artist you go through slumps where you wonder if what you are doing artistically is really the right path. Sometimes you compare yourself to other creative or artistic people. Sometimes you work on a style and wonder if it's really what people want to see. As much as the creative process is personal and for yourself, I don't care who you are, it makes you smile to know others enjoy what you are doing. So you can imagine the size of the grin on my face all day yesterday and today....probably for a few weeks to come. This was such a confidence boost. One I really needed. I am my own worst critic.

Things are not going to slow down. I have three projects in full swing at the moment. One for this wonderful site. Two that will hopefully be in the shop soon. Mostly we will be spending some time over the next few weeks with family and friends. Doing a little traveling here and there & I can hardly wait to make all those fun memories. Does get me thinking about how fast this year is flying by though. To fast don't you think?

The funnest news is my dear friend, more like a sister, Zana of An Art Nest is flying in tonight to stay for a WHOLE WEEK! EeEEEEEK!!!!! I'm beyond excited. I haven't seen her in almost 9 years and we have some real fun stuff planned for while she's here. I plan on taking lots of pictures. Thanks again for all the compliments on the painting. Look forward to showing the newest work very soon. Hugs to you all & hope everyone has a super duper weekend!

"Quilting Among the Sunflowers"

It's finished!

"Quilting Among the Sunflowers"

I painted "Quilting Among the Sunflowers" with acrylic paints on an upcycled canvas. It measures 19.5" x 28.5"

I am just tickled pink with all the lovely comments I have recieved from total strangers. Thank you for dropping by & saying hello. Please feel free to drop by anytime.

Just in case you didn't know "Quilting Among the Sunflowers" is being given away on the lovely blog of Dana over at Old Red Barn Co. Be sure to drop on by her blog and leave a comment for your chance to win this ORIGINAL painting.

Best of luck to you all!