So Inspired...Words to Live By...27

Nobody can
make you
feel inferior
without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt

It's really just apples and oranges anyway, right?

Stop by Notes from a Cottage Industry for more quotes!

So Inspired...Words to Live By...26

 

The indispensable first step
to getting the things you want
out of life is this: 
decide what you want. 
~Ben Stein

 

The first step is always the hardest...don't you think?

Stop by Notes From a Cottage Industry for more quotes!

Back to Reality

This is my new home for the next 10 months.  Well, at least for 8 or 9 hours a day.   When I was a student there, it was a boys dorm.  But for the past few years it has been the home of my office.   I'm up there on the 3rd floor.  There would be a great view...if it weren't for all the trees!

I've been back to work now for a couple weeks so the commuting exhaustion has begun.  It's such a transition from waking up at 8 a.m. and walking across the hall to my studio to waking at 5:15 a.m. and driving for an hour to work.  All summer I barely left my house and now I'm gone again for at least 11 hours a day.  Takes some getting used to!

The thing I miss most when I'm working (at my real job) is having time to scrapbook.  Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day...or weekend.  But I've also noticed that sometimes I can get more accomplished when I have a limited amount of time.   I stay more focused.

The past few weeks have been a bit crazy....and also a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  I tried to spend some quality (and quantity) time with my girls before they headed back to college.  We love to play cards together so any time this summer that they suggested it, I put down whatever I was doing and played with them.  Sometimes we'd play for hours and it was always a great opportunity to have some girl time AND to talk.   They also turned 19 years old this month.  NINETEEN!  This is the last year that I will have teenagers!  As if that doesn't make me feel old...my son turns 21 in a few weeks.   (Couldn't resist this silly picture with the crazy ponytail sticking up!)

Speaking of Elliot.  He had an MRI this week.  (A little background:  Elliot was diagnosed in March 2004 with a juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma---translation:  brain tumor on his brain stem.  His initial surgery removed about 95% of the tumor.  He has had 6 surgeries with the last one being in the fall of 2007).   He used to go every 3-6 months but this time it had been 17 months since his last one.  I really didn't have any big concerns that something was wrong but as usual, the week or two leading up to the appointment I was tense and irritable.  I can't seen to keep my mind from going to the "what if" place.  But, as it turned out we had a wonderful, amazing, I-can't-believe-this-is-happening sort of experience.  The last remnants of the tumor are GONE.  Totally GONE!  He still needs yearly MRIs but this is a HUGE relief.  In February of 2006 he was told (by his first neurosurgeon---who we soon discovered had more ego than skill and compassion) that he had about 5 years to live.  Thank God we got another opinion!!!  The right doctor and facility can truly make all the difference in the world.  

I love reading all my friends' facebook status posts lately.  Seems everyone is dealing with back-to-school issues.  I wonder if there is a surge in the consumption of kleenex during August with all of us moms dropping our kids off at college!   In my experience, the first time is the hardest....then it gets easier!  How can you not just be excited for them when they're so happy to be writing the next chapter of their lives? 

Enjoy your weekend!

So Inspired...Words to Live By...25

Don't be pushed by your problems.
Be led by your dreams.
- An0nyomous

What a concept, huh?  It is so easy sometimes for me to become distracted by problems and live in reaction mode.   Struggling to get through the "have to" list and hoping I have some time and energy left for the "want to" list.  I love how this quote totally turns it around.  Sometimes all it takes is a change of attitude!

Remember to stop by Notes from a Cottage Industry for more quotes.

Enjoy your day!

Judy

 

Wishful Wednesday - Sending Love

Today Jamie Ridler's prompt is "Where do you wish to send some love?" 

My first thought, of course, is to send LOTS of love with my kids as they head back to college.  The girls leave this weekend and Elliot will be going back in a couple weeks.   They will all be taking pieces of my heart with them.  

Arielle and Ceara turn 19 on Saturday.   I remember loving them so much when they were babies that I thought I was going to burst.  Nineteen years later I realize that the love I felt then was nothing compared to my feelings for these girls now.  We have such a capacity to love and it seems to just increase and overflow with the passage of time. 

With Elliot's MRI coming up next week, my thoughts lately have been on all the children and families whose lives have been touched by brain tumors.    Even though he's been doing SO well, I always tend to get in a bit of a funk in the days leading up to his MRIs.   We have been so lucky but I know there are families out there that are struggling with the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.  They need all the love we can possibly wish for them.  I hope you join me in sending your love their way.

Check out more wishes at the Jamie Ridler Studio blog.

New in my Etsy Shop - French Inspired Scrapbooks

Laugh Often, Love Much

      

Life is full of Beauty

 

 

Set of 4 French Inspired Tags

More photos are available in my Etsy shop. 

Wishing you a BEAUTIFUL Sunday!

Judy

So Inspired...Words to Live By...24

 

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking.  Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary. ~~Steve Jobs

I just found this quote and I love it so much that I can't stop reading and re-reading it!   It is SO ME!  It speaks to my creative side.  You know, that don't box me in mentality.   I truly believe that we DO know exactly what we want to become even if we're not quite sure how to get there.

The limitations of time are hitting me hard this weekend.  My summer break is over.  Part of me is excited to begin another school year.  Part of me wishes to stay home and spend my days scrapbooking and living a creative life!  Somehow putting food on the table and paying for 3 kids in college always sends me back to the job.  BUT, I know this is just a temporary gig.  Bigger and better things await on the other side of this detour.

Stop by Notes from a Cottage Industry for more inspiring quotes!

Want to hear more thoughts from Steve Jobs?  If you haven't seen his Stanford commencement speech, watch it here.

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

**Edit....oh, how funny...I just watched this video again and guess what?  The quote is from the speech!  It should have sounded more familiar to me because I've watched the video several times.  Apparently things "stick" better when we see them in print!  :)

Five Friday Favorites

 

Today I thought I would share 5 of my favorite blogs.  I could easily make it a much longer list...but we'll just go with these for now...

1. Notes from a Cottage Industry ~~~Tracey Buxton shares some great decorating ideas, beautiful photos of her antique booth and of course, the weekly Words to Live By.
2. Homegrown Hospitality ~~~Stephanie Ackerman's blog is just FUN.  Love the doodles and she's always knee deep in some creative project!
3. Kelly Rae Roberts~~~How can you not be inspired by Kelly Rae...and the idea of being a Possibilitarian!?
4. Christine Kane's Blog~~~Always inspiring and thought provoking.   I love how the message always seems to be customized just for me!
5. Where Women Create~~~check out the Fabulous Friday feature to learn more about some of your favorite creative souls and see the amazing things they create!

Ok, paring it down to five was harder than I thought!  There are many more interesting and fun blogs listed in my side bar.   They're obviously ALL my favorites or they wouldn't be listed!  :)  Go check some of them out...they just might become your favorites too!

Wishful Wednesday-Creativity

I found this awesome Wishcasting Wednesday post and I thought it would be fun to join in.

So, the prompt is:  What do you wish for your creativity?

My wish is that I would TRUST in my creativity, follow my OWN path...and then just LET GO of the result. 

Most of the time I find myself creating as a reaction to what someone else wants...a custom order or "what sells" instead of trusting my own instincts and doing what feels expressive to me. 

I think it would be great to just create and let go of all the expectations. 

What do you think?

Stop by Jamie Ridler's blog and add your wish!

Back to School {scrapbooks}

Back-to-School.  It's getting to be that time of year again.  It has been SO long since my kids were going to preschool.  I kinda miss those days...momentarily...and then the feeling passes!  :)   Life sure was simpler then though!

The subject of back to school is a daily occurrence these days around my house.  I head back to work next week.  My girls (and I--yikes) start classes on the 23rd and Elliot starts on Sept. 7th.  BUT the girls will be moving into their dorms in 2 weeks and Elliot has an apartment in Chicago that he will be settling into sometime after the 19th.   I'm trying not to freak about the shift from dorm-living to apartment-living...but hey that's a whole other story!!!!  

 

This year seems a little less daunting considering the girls already have EVERY conceivable "dorm room accessory" from last year (although I heard something about a new bedspread...) and they obviously know more about what to expect and what they will need.   Still,  getting the logistics of THE MOVE down are always a challenge when working around the hubby's work schedule.   I'm trying desperately to just go with the flow...

 

Fortunately there is a lot going on (both at home and at work) in the next few weeks and hopefully it will keep my mind off the fact that I will soon be a student again!  What was I thinking?  Do I really want to sit in the classroom with a bunch of 20 year olds?  I know.  I did it before.  But this time some of those kids will be my girls' friends.  Too weird.   I think I'll just hide in the back!  :)

I've been busy filling my Etsy shop with lots of new back to school scrapbooks.  If you need a grade that you don't see, just let me know.  I can always do a custom order for you! 

Enjoy your Sunday...

Judy