To Be Thankful...

Today, for many, is the beginning of an extra long weekend as we here in Canada celebrate Thanksgiving, so today I thought I would share why I am thankful.

Today I am thankful for my husband and children. Jake is my best friend and I truly do not know what I would do without him. He makes each day brighter in some way or another, can always bring a smile to my face even amid tears and he loves me like no other. My Girls bring me innumerable moments of joy, whether it is my oldest settling into life as a grown woman, and doing so with strength, courage and a great deal of poise, or my middle daughter running her first cross country race to my youngest who decided to sail to India this morning in a wicker laundry basket.

Today I am thankful for my mother, father and brother. My mother who cares for my wee girls when I cannot and who does so with such joy and happiness that the moment she enters the room they run screaming  N A N N Y !!!! and jump into her arms...even though they see her every day. My dad who at this very moment is tiling my tub surround because I have to be at work, but more than that he is a man who would do anything for his children and we know it. My parents are full of the most important kind of love, the love that abounds and lets their children know that no matter what and above all else they are loved. I am thankful for my brother who is going through a major life change and has sacrificed a lot to do so (perhaps more than he should). We are excited to have him in our home as he starts this new chapter in his life and we are excited to have 'Uncley J' around for lots of fun and games with the girls.

Today I am thankful for the friends I have...though not many they are the best kind of friends who are there when you need them, no matter if it has been three days, three weeks or three months since you last saw them.

Today I am thankful for the changes we are about to undergo as we begin the process of closing our business and moving on to the next stage in our lives. I am thankful for the opportunity that being a small business owner has given me, for the things I have learned and the people I have met along the way. And although we will be open for the balance of the year, I am thankful for the many words of kindness and understanding that we are receiving after having shared this very difficult decision.

Today I am thankful for the job I have waiting in the wings and the people who have so generously understood my current situation and are still willing to wait to take me on board. I look forward to the new challenges this job will bring, to returning to a world I love, and to be working once again with some amazing people whom I have had the pleasure of working alongside before.

I have so much to be thankful for, I am brimming with gratitude and hope you have half as much to be thankful for and moreover that you are able to recognize all that you do have, it is a wonderful state to be in, and I hope you can join me...what are you thankful for?

Cheers,
Jo

Of days gone by...

Oh how joyful it is to watch your kids grow up. My wee girls are both in school now, the youngest in Junior Kindergarten. OY!

Time is flying and we often feel the need to record every moment because the things that they do and say are so very precious we are terrified we will forget them.

Some of my favorites...

Lilah asking if she can sit 'benext' to me or if we can go on a b'venture. Even more precious was Lilah saying the other night 'I miss the old days...I miss being three...being four is hard'
Or Izzy when she used to sing 'Kwinkle Kwinkle' Little Star.

Then there is Lilah and her wiggle dance that she does...primarily when she is naked...or 'nakey' as she calls it, and Isobel talking with her hands like what she is saying is the most important thing on earth...which it is!

They grow up so fast and before you know it they are getting their first raise (like my oldest daughter Cait). Take the time today to put down the phone, tablet, newspaper...close the computer turn off the TV and watch and listen to your kids...today will be tomorrow before you know it and there will be so many yesterdays you wish you could get back. Sing  to them, read to them, dance with them...play with them. they need you more than they need anything else and the most precious gift you can give them is time...and it is really all they want.

Looking for some more parental inspiration? Check out this post over at A Cup of Jo and then read anything over at Hands Free Mama.

My favorite time of day is bedtime when I crawl into bed and sing to each of my girls...three songs each and then I give them snuggles, kisses and say goodnight...I always say 'I'll see you in the morning'...and they always say 'not if I see you first'. It doesn't matter what has happened that day, how frustrated I have been with them...it always makes me smile.

I can't wait until bedtime...you?

Monday Musings...

Happy Monday!

It has been a few days since my revelations and realizations took hold, but let me tell you that the shift is palpable...and welcome...and wonderful...and joyful.

I'm not completely there yet, accepting myself wholly and fully is going to be a process but I can see it happening...feel it. This morning I walked down main street and where I normally look at myself in the shop windows and think negatively, today my inner dialogue was different...it was more accepting and appreciative, it liked what it saw.

All around me the world is changing and the direction is a glorious one primarily of acceptance and appreciation how can one not help but be happy? When you are happy those around you are happy, and supportive and appreciative and loving and generous and kind...it really is true...the energy you put out into the world is the energy you get back.

I stumbled upon a new to me blog last week and today's' post was a good one. Over at Marc and Angel Hack Life they are talking about the 9 Things you Do NOT Need to Be Happy. Check it out, it is worth the read and will have you realizing how true this list really is.

And because every post needs a photo I thought I'd share something from my 'Beautiful Inspiration' board on Pinterest...

via my Pinterest

Happy Monday! Hope your day holds beauty love and laughter!

Revelations and realizations...

When I turned thirty my world changed...I settled into being me I cared less and less what those on the outside thought or said about me and I found a new sense of self. Now as I approach my fortieth birthday I am feeling a further awakening or embracing of who I am and who I want to be.

My whole life my weight has been an issue for me. I always thought my life would begin if I could just lose the weight...and we are not talking a little weight, we are talking about 75-100 pounds at different points in my life. Then I met my husband and he fell in love with me...curves and all. It was powerful and maybe should have ended my fixation on my weight, but it did not. Together he and I struggle and while we generally eat healthily, we are both stress eaters and he in particular tends to nurture others (read me) through food as he loves to cook. I have devoted so much time and energy to thoughts of my weight and longing to change it, willing the scale to move in my direction, cheering when it did, scowling when it didn't. Too much energy...energy that I can and should be directing elsewhere.

I came across a wonderful photographer who is compiling a book called the 'A Beautiful Body Project'. Jade Beal is an Arizona photographer and mother who is essentially wanting to show the world and it's women just how beautiful our bodies are no matter our size. The images she is compiling are compelling and I will admit, difficult for me to look at at first. I have never seen a real body represented in mainstream media. I have never seen images of real bodies in magazines, or in the movies. I grew up with the Molly Ringwald's the Julia Roberts', the Gwenyth Paltrow's...the apparent ideal body type and image, the one we all strive to become. The one we all relate to as beautiful and sexy. I will never be a Julia Roberts, though I do have a killer smile that could giver her a run for her money... So after I came across Jade's project and read a quote (I do not remember if it was Jade or another photographer and I am paraphrasing) about how he/she has photographed many many women naked and all of them whether a size 0 or a 22...all of them have rolls when they sit down, I realized that perhaps it was time to find a way to embrace this body of mine.

Following Jade on Facebook led me to The Militant Baker who is the fierce young women who took on Abercrombie and Fitch via her own photo-shoot and subsequent media popularity (check her out here), which started a slow paradigm shift in my own mind. I looked at her images and thought why can't that body, not dissimilar to my own be considered sexy? But still it is not what I had been hardwired to consider as appealing and so I continued to fight with the scale, and my wardrobe...or desired wardrobe. I would continually go to my Pinterest board 'Personal Style' and pin outfits like this

via my pinterest

As you can well see this beautiful woman is no where near a size 18-20. All of the fashion on my board is of this nature, so far from my reality that all I could do was continue to try to reach that ideal. And then slowly something started to change...slowly I started to see a shift in the fashions showing up on Pinterest for repinning...slowly I started to see this

also via my pinterest

And then I had the thought to search plus size fashion on Pinterest and whole new world flooded in to me. It had me starting (just last night) a new board called Embracing Me... and I have vowed to immerse myself in this board regularly so that I may see the image of myself, the kind of woman I am beautiful in all my curves.

both images via my pinterest

And so as I move into my forties I will let the number on the scale go...it won't be easy it has been my nemesis for so long. I will focus on my current beauty not an unattainable beauty, and I will focus on making this body, the healthiest it can be, because...

via my pinterest

What I want to be when I grow up...

Oh my, it has been a very long while since I sat down at the keyboard in this way to place my thoughts on the digital page and share them with whomever stops by...it feels strange, unfamiliar and a little frightening, but here I am.

It has been over a year since I left my thoughts here on this blog, and for that I would say I am sorry but I am not. The past year has been one of many ups and downs, trials and tribulations, all of which have brought me back here so hello once again.

I read a comment somewhere last week from a teacher that noted that she treats September as her New Year and she was making her resolutions now and I thought that was quite interesting, and appropriate for so many...and me this year in particular.

Both my wee girls are in school full time now, my big girl has graduated college, settled into a good career as a wedding and event planner at a boutique hotel and she has now just gotten her first big raise as they recognize her dedication and hard work...something I am very proud of myself!

My husband turned 40 this winter and I threw him a huge surprise party where I managed to get a personalized video greeting to him from his favorite singer. We traveled to Boston once again to see said fav singer in concert and had a wonderful mini vacay.

I am about to turn 40 and while the number doesn't really bother me too much, I am now at a point where I am trying to decide what I want out of my life, and whether or not I have found it. In many regards, I have. My husband and I just celebrated our fifth anniversary, my children are happy healthy and thriving, and now it seems it is time to turn my attention inward and find out what I want for me.

I see big changes afoot and while I am not sure exactly how things will pan out, or how to make them pan out, I am working on it. I am scared excited and tentative, but know that the direction I am headed will be what is best for me, and for my family. I see relief in the distance and I am anxious to get there.

My mom has always said that 'A change is better than a rest'...here's to more change!

Been another while...

Hi all...

This is going to be a quickie, but I felt compelled to share with you something that I found to be amazing inspiring and inspired. Margot Austin blogged today about the late great Ray Staples...as I have commented to Margot on her blog, Ray is quite possibly the reason I became a designer. She was a straight shooter who wasn't afraid to design, and as you will see in Margot's post, if that meant bullying then so be it! She was a phenom and a wonder and designer or design aficionado alike would be remiss if they didn't know who she was.
Head on over to Margot's blog to see what a wonderful and inspired tribute she put together...

From Margot Austin's blog and her Pinterest

Thanks Margot!

Oh Hey!

Wow! It has been over a month since my last post and in a strange and totally unplanned twist it was a year ago today I started this here blog. It has been a busy year with lots of change, a few ups and downs, lots of love and a whole lotta laughter.

My oldest daughter has graduated college and is currently living back at home but for how long no one knows. My middle daughter is just finishing junior kindergarten and has not quite come to understand that school finishes next week for the summer, and my baby turned three.

I have been busy at the gallery with clients, artists and growing the business. I have begun doing freelance CAD work for various professionals, done a couple of home staging jobs, expanded my business into another community in partnership with a designer there, and am knee deep in committee work helping to build our community's new brand and loving it. I have also been doing some speaking engagements on customer service and sales to some emerging artists and entrepreneurs. I have been a busy busy bee.

I have thought a lot about this here old blog (I can say that now that it's a year old) and where I want it to go what I want to use it for, and how. Do I have that all figured out just yet, not really, but as time progresses more and more reveals itself to me. For the moment I am happy in my life and where it is taking me and when I can, I will stop by to give you all an update or to give my two cents on whatever meets my fancy.

I haven't even really been on pinterest much lately...that is how busy I have been. But I did find this today and thought it rather appropriate...something we as women need to remember.

original source and via House of Fifty Mag on pinterest

Also my lovely daughter has started a blog as well...and if I do say so myself she's pretty darn good. check her out here at Cait- Off the Beaten Path.

I thinks that's all for my one year anniversary post...which once again was just a fluke that I happened to log on and happened to decide to post and it happened to be the exact one year today...too funny...and perhaps a bit of a sign...no?

Cheers!