Soulful Sunday Quotes

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. (That is why it is called "the present")".
Eleanor Roosevelt (Kung Fu Panda in parentheses)

I have a tendency to not live in the moment. I always plan - er, ok, worry, about everything, mostly about what "could" or what "might" happen. That is why I love this quote. We all need to plan for the future, we'd be stupid not to, but we also need to take time out to live in the moment. Be present for whatever is happening NOW. Dogs (see above and below) are good at that. Arwen is especially good at that.

If Arwen sees something interesting, she smells it (or tastes it, see photo above). If she is hungry, she eats. If she is hyper, she plays, shaking the heck out of her favorite toy of the moment. She loves to walk and bark and sniff. She stays present, and really, she has no worries because of it. I could take a page out of her book, as could most of us I think :)

So, relax. Take a deep breath. You wouldn't want to spend all of your time worrying and planning, only to reach the end of your life and say, "Well, heck, I missed so much by not paying attention to what was happening then. I wasn't present." What a shame that would be!

Enjoy your Sunday, be present, laugh at little things. Leave the planning for Monday, it will come (unless we have a Zombie Apocalypse, but then you won't have to worry about anything but not having your brains eaten, so no problem)!

See you tomorrow, Zombies be damned :)

Soulful Sunday: Happy Stats

Inspired by The House of Mouse blog (http://lifecraftinessandeverythingelse.blogspot.com/) I thought that maybe each Sunday I should relate some happy things that went on in my life, to bring the happy back into a world that is sometimes not-so-happy. Between news reports of natural disasters, political instability and environmental disasters, it's easy to forget the little things that make each day worth living. So here goes my first attempt:
Happy stats:
-Finding an organic veggie garden a 10 minute walk from my house, full of the most delicious (and affordable) produce I've ever had (aside from home grown, of course), and run by very friendly people.
-Discovering that I do, in fact have one tiny pumpkin starting to grow after being worried that all the blooms I had previously found were male (ie, not pumpkin-producing). Now, if hte weather holds out, I'll have at least one pumpkin to bake with, mmmmmm pumpkin :)
-Making progress on the wedding gift front. I can't show you yet, but I will, and I hope it will be worth the wait.
-Using Arwen's shedding brush on her every other day, and thinking that she must be part sheep, not sheep-herding-dog, after all of the fur I got out of her. It's amazing she has any fur left!
That is all for now, I'll see you all soon. Arwen send you her little kisses (she has good breath I promise, I brush her teeth regularly!), and I send you all happy thoughts and prayers for a great week,
and Arwen

Soulful Sunday: Goodbye to a Very Dear Friend

On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, Renee of Circling My Head Blog passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was so brave and smart and caring. Though I am glad she is no longer suffering, the world is truly darker without her bright light shining. I didn't know her for very long, but we became fast friends and exchanged little gifts a few times. If has taken me almost a week to write a tribute to her, as really, nothing I can say, write or express will ever come close to describing the wonderful woman she was.

I loved her spirit. If people didn't understand her, or tried to say anything against her (which, really, wasn't very often as she was just so damn right in everything), she would say, "Fuck it!" sorry for the language, but there are times when it is right to say. On Wednesday when I read the announcement on her blog about her death, I was quite upset and didn't really know what to do. As an emotional eater (yes, guilty!) I immediately wanted something with carbs. Bread, or pasta or fat, or comforting, but it had to be good. The other side of this rather one-sided conversation was saying that I'm trying not to eat processed foods as they really don't agree with me, yadda, yadda, yadda. So yeah, I said...

"Fuck it!" I made cheesy tea biscuits in honor of Renee. I love you and miss you.

The tea biscuits were delicious, and Brennan and I ate all twelve by the end of the next day. It was worth it. Renee was worth it. Her spirit lives on in everyone who takes the attitude that we ARE worth it. We are God's children. We ARE.

Rest in peace Renee, we can't wait to see you in heaven when our turn comes.


P.S. I am very sorry for the language today. I seriously debated for a long time whether to put it in as I didn't want to offend or shock anyone, but the loss of Renee hit me pretty hard, and that is really what she said. I didn't want to bleep her. Anyone who reads this blog knows I try very hard not to swear, but sometimes you have to get it out. I got it out, and thank you for understanding.

Soulful Sunday: In Honor of Trying to Lose Weight and Get in Shape

...Because we all know we've been there before in one way or another :)
from http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Soulful Sunday: You Know it's Winter When Static Arrives

Arwen rolled over on the couch today and I heard that other telltale sign of winter...the static in her coat was unbelievable! Needless to say the humidifier is now on, but I thought this was a funny picture from http://ihasahotdog.com/ that tells the story of winter as dogs see it :)

Happy Sunday!

Soulful Sunday: Getting into the Holiday Spirit...

From http://icanhascheezburger.com/
I thought it might get you into the spirit.... :-)

Soulful Sunday: A Beautiful Visitor

UPDATE: The owl is a Barred Owl, I just identified it with my Birds of Ontario book :)
I saw a flash of something out of the corner of my eye this morning and when I looked up, expecting to see one of the many Blue Jays that populate my yard, I was astonished to find this magnificent owl perched not thirty feel from my office. I was so shocked I didn't move for a good 2 minutes, though I was desperately willing my body to move and get the camera. I finally did, and ever so carefully opened the front door and took a hasty shot...only to realize I had my short lens and the shot looked like I had been standing a good sixty feet away...which I was. So I ever so carefully closed the door and ran like stink to get my long lens and put it on my camera, hands shaking like mad the whole time. I ran back to the front door, edged it oh-so-carefully open once more and managed to take 6 shots of this beautiful, and very large, owl. I was shaking so badly from excitement (there is something about owls I absolutely love) that I only got one shot to turn out, and here it is, shared especially with you! I hope you like him/her as much as I do. When I got back to my desk, there was another flash and the owl was gone. I keep hoping I'll see it again, but I figure I was blessed enough to see it once and get a photo of it, I won't be greedy :)

Until tomorrow my dear friends, have a soulful Sunday of your own.

Cheers,

Soulful Sunday: A Whole Lotta Food!

I hope all of my American friends had a great Thanksgiving, full of joy, laughter, and of course, good food! I thought the cat above was appropriate. Image is from http://www.icanhazcheezburger.com
I'm off to clean the house a bit, do some groceries...and play with my new workbench! It finally arrived - a little different than the photo online - and is now just begging to be used :)
Have a great Sunday!

Soulful Sunday: Keep the Cats Away From Your Monitors...

From http://icanhascheezburger.com/ I couldn't help but laugh out loud as I saw this...one of those, "It's funny because it's true" sort of things. Just don't use those cupcake wrappers when the hamster's done with them...no, those aren't raisins (ewwwww).

In other news, I visited the Ottawa Glass Bead Artists Show in Ottawa yesterday and had an absolute BLAST!! SOOOO many amazing artists, including a friend of mine, were showing some incredible beads that weren't so much beads as miniature works of art. I'm waiting on permission from a photo so I'll post all about it when I get the permission.

That is all for now, I hope you have a relaxing Sunday. I am going to bake cookies, make cupcakes to get ready for a cooking class, bathe the dog and maybe, just maybe, get some crocheting in there :)

Soulful Sunday: The Day After Halloween

Image from http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Since it is the day after Halloween, I thought this was appropriate. I remember as a kid trying to avoid the houses that didn't give the 'good stuff' and then comparing notes the next day at school with other kids to see who gave out full sized candy bars, cans of pop, and other cavity creating confections, and to try and remember to go to those houses the next year... I never got a toothbrush though. Good thing....those people would have gotten toilet papered for sure!

Thankfully, living out (WAYYYY out) in the country means that we don't get trick-or-treaters, and thus don't have to worry about getting egged or TP'd for not giving out good candy. Being about half a mile from the nearest house means we have to watch our mailbox getting smashed occasionally (not yet, thank goodness), but that can happen at any time, not just at Halloween, lol. In 7 years, we haven't had a single person come for candy...though that may be also in part to the fact that Brennan makes us sit in near total darkness "just in case" someone wants to bus into our remote area and try their luck....

Have a great Sunday,

Soulful Sunday: A Little Bit of LOL

Okay, I admit it, I love plays on words. I also love cats. And sheep. So yeah, it works. Image is from http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Have a great Sunday, full of laughter, love and happiness.

and Arwen

Soulful Sunday: The Lighter side of Things

Please, no one show Arwen this photo, I'm sure she'd try it! As one who has seen her jump (from a standstill, no less!) onto the dining room table, I can attest to the fact that she does at times seem to have springs for legs. Jumping onto the roof may take a bit more effort, but, I know she'd be up for it.

Image is from IHasAHotDog.com a sister of ICanHasCheeseBurger.com

Have a great Sunday!

and Arwen

Soulful Sunday: A Little Belly Laugh

We all need a laugh now and then. Many medical studies say it is good for you. There is a great site, where this is taken from, called Icanhazcheezburger.com is full of funny photos for a quick laugh. If you need to lighten your mood a little, I suggest checking this site out - it never fails to get a smile on my face. This Soulful Sunday, I thought I'd try a bit of humor for a change - heck, if you like it, maybe I'll keep this the theme for Sundays from now on - a little bit of humor for you all. Let me know what you think.

Considering the time of year, and the fact that I just had a chipmunk with so much of my birdseed in its mouth it couldn't close it fully, I thought this photo was appropriate. I did try to get a photo of said chipmunk, but, somehow, he managed to keep his top-heavy head up and run away at the sound of the door opening. I'll try tomorrow :)

For now, I'm off to work out, and redo some product photos before Brennan gets his new Wii going (an early b-day present from me) as the sounds of that are likely to make me join in the fun :)

Have a great Sunday!

Soulful Sunday: We Have a Contest Winner!

Thanks to random number generation, the winner is Shelley Mcelhiney! Congratulations!! You have 72 hours to leave me a comment so I know you got this. I will email you to get your mailing address so that I can mail you your beautiful new earrings.

Stay tuned for a new contest coming soon.

Have you signed up for the monthly newsletter yet? The first issue has already gone out and is packed with subscriber-only deals and specials....are you getting the inside scoop??

Soulful Sunday: A Run is as Good as a Vacation!

Hi! It's me, Arwen, reporting from GrandMonna's and GrandDaddoo's backyard in Ottawa! I thought I'd take you around a very fast tour of their yard...it'll have to be fast though, I have hours of running to do and need to get started right now, rooh rooh! First I had a quick pee, but mommy was nice and didn't photograph that :)
Then I ran to the left (my left, your right) and decided the birdbath would make an excellent pylon for running around, here I am, pretending to take off like a rocket...
WOAH! What are THOSE??? Red thingys, they smell good, and mommy kept picking them right off the bush and smiling and making happy noises.....okay, let's keep going!
Here I am showing my superb acceleration around the previously mentioned birdbath..I wish there were birds in there that I could chase, but they all flew away for some reason when I came outside ;-)
Wait a second.....something smells GOOD!
WOAH! It is master griller GrandDaddoo on the BBQ! Hey, I want a taste...no? Maybe later, when mommy isn't looking!
Now, here is another smell....GrandDadoo is petting Sheeeba, their senior citizen in residence...
She is getting quite old and has absolutely NO patience for me. She is always hissing, growling and spitting at me, but that is okay, I understand (cats get grumpy when they are old, rah rooh!)
Well that is it for now, I'm going to usher you out, I have quite a bit of running to do, and mommy says that tomorrow we have to go get boots for me, so I'll try to get GrandMonna to take photos of my fashion fitting :)

Have a great Sunday!

Mommy says to remind you that time is running out!! Sign up for my newsletter to try and win a pair of magnificent earrings from my NeoAmour Marie Antoinette collection (You have to sign up for the newsletter first to be eligible to win!!), see the full contest details here.
and Arwen

Soulful Sunday: A Whole Bunch of Blessings

~My Own Personal Rainbow, Shared with You!~

I was thinking about blessings yesterday. About how blessed I am to be able to do the things I do, enjoy the things I enjoy, and meet the people I meet. It then started to rain. Hard. Very hard. Each drop sounded like a rock hitting the ground, windows, chimney and I had to rush to close the windows to avoid getting rain in my house. I closed the window and as I turned to sit back down, I was blinded by sunlight. Bright, beautiful sunlight in the middle of a very heavy rainstorm.

I turned to look out my back door and there it was: a rainbow about 30 feet wide and 20 feet tall in my backyard! Talk about blessings! I took about 10 photos, but trying not to get my camera wet in the rain is very difficult and this was the only one that turned out.
No, I did not look for gold - the rainbow ended on a big rock, and I did not fancy straining my back trying to pull bedrock out of the ground :-)

All this was to say how blessed I am, how blessed you are. Sometimes it is the smallest thing - a rainbow, a smile, a positive word, a wagging tail. We are all so blessed, and very few places is this more obvious than in the Blogosphere.

**I must take a moment here to apologize for being so behind on my blog-visiting. I have been busy and ill and sometimes that cuts into my blog visiting time. Rest assured, I love you all and will get back into my routine as soon as possible :-)**

I am so blessed to have all of you visiting and commenting. Even if I don't always respond, I read every comment and cherish it. I must say Thank You! to everyone who does. I really appreciate it, you make me feel so blessed to have so many blogging friends!

Take a moment today and think about how blessed you are. Do you have a spouse/partner/child who loves you? A dog/cat/hamster who loves you? Friends who say positive things? A roof over your head? A hobby to keep you entertained on rainy days?

You are very blessed indeed and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for blessing me today!

Time is Running out!! Sign up for my newsletter to try and win a pair of magnificent earrings from my NeoAmour Marie Antoinette collection (You have to sign up for the newsletter first to be eligible to win!!), see the full contest details here.

Soulful Sunday: A Few New Items!

~Jessica Copper Celtic Swirl Earrings A Favorite~

Sorry for the unplanned absence yesterday - we had some major thunderstorms rolling through all day and I couldn't really use the computer. We are all safe and sound, however and I am glad we got the rain - and the free show from Mother Nature - the lightning was amazing!

~Celtic Silver Awareness Cell FOB FibroAware~

I wanted to show you some new items in my Etsy shop today. Click on the images to go to the listings and read more about the individual items. I hope you like them!

~Bree FibroAware Amethyst and Silver Bracelet~

Remember to enter my monthly contest by adding your name and email to my monthly newsletter (You have to sign up for the newsletter first to be eligible to win!!), see the full contest details here.

Soulful Sunday - No More Forgetfulness!

I admit it: I forget things. Not just the "what was I saying?" or "Why did I walk into this room?" sort of forgetfulness, but the sometimes scary, "Where am I?" or "Did I already take this medication?" kind of forgetfulness. It is mostly just annoying, but can be dangerous also. I stopped driving when I started getting these serious spells of forgetfulness mixed with severe dizziness and disorientation spells. Fibromyalgia does more than just make your body hurt, it affects your brain too. In fact, in recent studies, it was found that people with fibromyalgia actually experience grey matter decreases in their brains (So NO more blond jokes, okay?? It is the fibro, NOT my hair color, lol!).
More annoying than not having a driver's license (I hated driving anyway), is the fact that I am trying to run an online business while dealing with this forgetfulness. I never forget orders, as I pack and ship them as soon as I receive payment (thank you email notification!), but online businesses require online marketing, social networking, etc. Here are the items that require my daily attention, in addition to emails (of which I get about 200 daily):
1. I am a part of 5 online groups to support other businesses and promote my own through Etsy, my main selling site: Etsy for Animals, Creative Animal Relief, Christian Artists Street Team, Etsy Ontario and Capital Crafters. I am leader of one of these groups, the Capital Crafters, for artists in the Ottawa area.
2. I am the owner of 3 blogs, and contributor to a fourth.
3. I am a part of 10 (yes 10!) different social networking sites: The Capital Crafters Forum, Flickr, Twitter, Plurk, Squidoo, Facebook (where I have my personal page, and then a fan page and a group page for my business), MySpace, Beader's Showcase, Stylehive, and UsTrendy.com.
4. I am a member of 2 online Fibromyalgia support groups
5. I design and run my own website and prayer list
6. I am a part of 2 other online selling venues aside from Etsy. They are: iCraft.ca and Artfire.com
7. I am a part of Entrecard, which means I visit many different blogs each day to collect "cards" which I use to advertise on other blogs.
8. 100 or so blogs I follow daily (I love all of you and hate to miss a day in your lives!!)
9. I am trying to make new jewelry for my collections
10. The fact that as I work from home, I see the mess that my house becomes and HAVE to clean it.
11. I help my fiancee with his business by remotely monitoring servers and doing his bookkeeping.
12. I am disabled and need to frequently rest, sit, lie down or nap to stay semi-mobile.
13. The gardens! Oh my gosh the gardens! Yeah, the weather has been either too rainy to go out, or so hot and buggy that it is borderline dangerous to do any kind of heavy yard work (heatstroke is baaaad).
14. Plus I have a fiancee who needs attention, and a dog that demands attention. At least I think I did....they were around here somewhere.....

So how the heck do I remember to do all of this??? I tried to write things down, but inevitably I forgot to write some of the things down and those things just didn't get done. I tried typing a one page general list of things that need to be done, but I am the kind of person that needs a daily list that I can write on and cross things off as they are done (I love that sense of accomplishment!).
Enter Microsoft Publisher! I managed to get my business items and chores divided into fairly easy to do daily lists, with space to add more if I need to. It took about 2 hours, but only because I wanted to make it pretty - hey, if I have to wash windows, it must at least look pretty on paper! I then spent about 1/2 an hour fighting with my printer as it does not automatically print double sided - it just prints 1 copy on two separate pages, so you have to rearrange the pages and then reprint to get a double sided booklet. That and, my printer is in the basement (it is big and loud, so it stays there, and I run up and down the stairs to get things printed), which, on the bright side, gives me a good workout going up and down 16 stairs every time I need to print something!
So all of this to say that I now have 2 months worth of daily to-do lists, with all of my household chores, yard chores and business items clearly stated out in nicely timed intervals. I'll let you know how well they work out!

Remember to enter my monthly contest by adding your name and email to my monthly newsletter (You have to sign up there first to be eligible to win!!), see the full contest details here.

Soulful Sunday: I'm In Another Fabulous Treasury!

I was pleasantly surprised to get a spot in another beautiful treasury by Annette from DragonHouseofYuen yesterday - especially as her treasury is called Female the Holders of Power, which is perfect for my Boudicca's Coins Necklace (front and center!). Please click on the photo above to go to the treasury. When you're there, be sure to click on your favorites and leave a comment on the treasury page. These are truly wonderful artists, I am so amazed to be in such great company!
Have a great Sunday,

Soulful Sunday - Looking Back to Look Forward

~NeoAmour Collection: Boudicca's Coins Necklace~

It never ceases to amaze that our society constantly looks back for inspiration. Now, that is not to say that it is a bad thing - after all, "You can't know where you are going, if you don't know where you've been," and all that. Still, when researching antique and ancient jewelry for inspiration for my new collection, I realized just how true this is: we are always looking back, even in our fashion choices. This, I have realized, also makes my job a little bit easier....Cool!

My new collection is called NeoAmour, or, NewLove. It is based on jewelry of the past, that I have redesigned for today's woman. This is not just any jewelry: this jewelry is based on what powerful women of the past would have worn. Jewelry that symbolized power, wealth, status. Jewelry worn by Queens, Empresses, First Ladies (you know I'm talking about Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis!), and others, to show that they were not to be trifled with. They were women, yes, but much more than 'just' women. These were the women who ruled front and center, or from behind the scenes, using all their intelligence and foresight to help their husbands and countries to overcome various struggles.
That is what we do today, is it not? We run our offices, businesses, homes, and sports teams. We run charity events, host dinner parties, travel all over the world to help others in need. We raise the next generation while working full time and looking fabulous. We are Women (hear us roar!)! We deserve to have beautiful jewelry that is made with strict attention to detail, with quality materials, that is limited in number - often one-of-a-kind - just like us!
Now you will have it.
Based on powerful women like Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Queen Elizabeth 1, Marie Antoinette, Boudicca the Celtic Warrior Queen, and many more.
Designed for you.
NeoAmour - You Deserve It!

I will be adding pieces to these new collections in my Etsy store as I finish each one. There are currently two sections with items from my new collection, based on Boudicca the Celtic Warrior Queen and on Marie Antoinette. Please visit often and tell me what you think!