Studio Redoo

The weekend finally came (January 15-17) -the one that we had planned for painting the garage which is 1/2 my art studio/Mother Rubber operations central. I was so excited....and wow-do I have a lot of stuff or what?!?
Anyhow, here are a few "before" shots and NO, this isn't after and tornado...

Center island which is an old dining table I use for sewing and this double-sided white shelf unit I got from the store closing sale at my Pacific Fabrics here in Issaquah for $10....seemed like such a great deal but it's just eating up my open space....this will be gone soon -it's in the back of this picture and you can't really see it-notice the ceiling is bare drywall?

Happy New Year 2010

We celebrated the New Year down at the Oregon Coast-a relaxing break from the hectic holiday pace. The weather was typical northern Pacific Coast in the winter-rainy, windy, big waves and not a lot of people. In a word, perfect.

It was my husband, me, my sister, brother-in-law, and my niece staying the in their condo and my Mom driving up from her house about 20 minutes away-for breakfast of course. My Mom no longer stays up until 12:00 pm to celebrate the New Year. I guess at some point I may do the same thing...but it always seem like such a neat experience...to celebrate something that the whole world celebrates (in their respective time zones). It's like a wave of fresh, new, exciting energy that flows through everyone on the planet-one time zone at a time-totally awesome!

I hope the New Year represents something special for you-turning over a new leaf, renewing something set aside, starting over with someone or something important to you...letting go of someone or something if that's the road to health for you...

for me, I have set my 2 resolutions for the new year:

1. Work for myself full time by my birthday

2. Become a better person (this is an annual resolution that I renew each year at new years). To me this means be more kind, less judgemental and more helpful. This year's focus is when I drive in traffic -should be a good challenge!

What are you changing this year? or, what do you love that you're not changing?

share what you can!

Love,

Dawn

Farewell Paulla

My best friend in the world, Jesse Scott, lost his Mommy on December 15th. She fought a brave fight against liver disease but didn't get a transplant soon enough.

I will miss her very much.

Jesse and his brother Eric have been my friends since jr. high school and have always been there when I needed help or had something to celebrate. Jesse asked me to speak at her memorial and say a prayer too.

Her laughter will be missed the most. She had a laugh that could be heard from 100 miles away....and felt in your soul from even farther. She spoke her mind no matter what-a trait I admire in her and aspire to in my own life. I am reminded of how short a time we have on this tiny planet-time we must spend to do as much good as we can and live our lives.

I thought of those movie scenes where one person is injured and they say "leave me here-save yourself-I've lived my live...."

It made me think - have I lived my life? being alive is not the same as LIVING your life...

LIVE for today...live today so you can look back and know you enjoyed every thing there was for you to enjoy and that you cried all your tears...

I think it was Erma Bombeck who said when I die and stand before my maker I want to be able to say to him I used it all up-everything you gave me I used it all..."

I want to live that life-use up and enjoy every creative, adventurous and wonderful bit that the Lord has blessed me with

....what about you?

Love,

Dawn

Christmas 2009

We had Christmas at my sister's house in Sammamish again this year. She and Greg are the best hosts around and excel in snack-making, laughter inducing face-making and stories, and general frivolity. We were also blessed to enjoy the company of my nephews Thomas and Jonathan, who joined us from Chicago. Add into the mix my wonderful Mommy, my darling niece, my awesome new husband, and the crazy dog duo of Wrigley and Molly and you have a house full of love, laughter and joy for Christmas. I have a truly blessed life for which I express my profound gratitude to our heavenly Father on a continual basis.

Feast your eyes on my joyful celebration...

Greg enjoying a photo of my sissy...

My husband was so surprised! We love the Seahawks and my sis and B-I-L got him a personalized jersey with his favorite number on it. His nickname comes from his current job of building rocket engines.

I filled this neat polka dot photo album for my sister for Christmas. We were on a tight budget this year because we spent a lot of money on our wedding and honeymoon. I picked up this photo album at the Paper Source in Bellevue on sale months ago and had worked on it some before the wedding. So, I went through all of my printed pictures in boxes and all my digital photos and put some good ones in here for her. She loved it!

I love making people smile and laugh...

Mommy modeling her new jacket..

Jonathan and Thomas checking out a cool gift

Me displaying my ultra-cool walking robot pencil sharpener. My sister went to Daniel Smith and got me some totally mouth-watering iridescent watercolors, too, along with the robot =)

Here are a few shots of our tree...

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Blessing to you,

Dawn