Do your friends whinny at you when they see you?

I’m away from ‘home’.. traveling in Missouri.. taking care of some business. One of the main things I’m doing is finding a new home for my lovable horses, Thunder and Birgit. I’ve had them for over 10 years! I will be camping out with them for the next ~week to really enjoy them and find them the best possible home. It’s hard to do but I’ve come to the realization that, at this point in my life, especially without my dear old Dad, I don’t have the resources and time to take optimal care of them and myself in balance. I will most likely get back into horses in the future and then I’ll be buying another Morgan colt to train up like we did with Thunder…. doing that has been one of the best long-term experiences of my life so far.

Thunder and Birgit - Back At Home

HORSES! <3

Postcards I sent for DIY Postcard Swap

Have I said before that mail is very entertaining I’ve been having fun on Flickr too because of the 10 postcard swap I completed this past week. I posted my entries in the group photo pool and found some other very interesting folks because of it. Here are the ones I sent out for the swap.
The photos on the cards are MY photography. ^_^

Post Cards

Post Cards Post Cards Post Cards

The drawing of the berries was cut out of a book about fairies.

Post Cards Post Cards

I wish I could show off the backs! I made them with pretty paper and filled them all out with different colored markers. I took one photo of the back of the orchid card. I filled the other ones out too fast… I was excited once I got my list of addresses to send them to.

Post Cards Post Cards

Post Cards

Post Cards Post Cards

I also have been practicing painting on post cards with acrylic paint. These are bloodroot flowers:

Post Cards

Daisy flowers!  I sent this one to my best friend Jackie. She got ME for the swap!  so I sent her back… she is my #11!  (But really my #1 penpal.  She is also to thank for getting me into this wonderful hobby. *Hugs!*)
Post Cards

I really look forward to getting to my mailbox each time I go (it’s a small hike) either because I’m sending or receiving interesting mail. I don’t have any paper bills that show up to get me down and I really enjoy starting fires with the (seemingly) mandatory local advertisement paper that shows up once a week.

I sent out 2 cards using postcrossing.com too…

Balance.

Below are concepts I recognize as being very positive for my existence. Some of them come naturally and were learned early in life while others take nearly constant forethought and all of my years to date to learn. These “rules” are mine although I find that they apply to most…

• Eat well. Be conscious of what goes in! Stick to being a pescatarian.
• Practice natural and preventative medicine. Drink raw apple cider vinegar and green tea regularly.
• Deep stretch many times a day. Yoga. EXERCISE. Breathe deeply.
• Communicate with family and friends. Love them. Be helpful, positive and inspirational.
• Plan for the future. Write it. Tell people. Dare to DREAM.
• Recognize things I am grateful for.
• Journal regularly to release steam, recognize patterns, improve memory, open artistic channels.
• Make and follow a to-do list each day with reasonable tasks. Feel proud for completing them.
• Listen to music and watch movies that peak my personal interests. Jam out!
• Keep an eye on time. Be as efficient as possible but do not stress it passing.
• Kill Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS) and refill with “I can”, “I will” and “I love myself”
• Find peace and satisfaction in doing chores that are unavoidable such as laundry and dishes.
• Allow time for relaxation and then look forward to increased productivity.
• Hydrate the body and enjoy doing it. TEA! Avoid caffeine before bed and excessive alcohol.
• Organize and clean regularly. Don’t let it get so bad that it causes stress.
• LAUGH every single day… many, many times. Smile. (=
• Get enough sleep regularly. Sleep in sometimes. Allow for dreams. Create a comfortable nest.
• Let go of past hurts. Recognize the past, learn from it, but don’t regret for long.
• Enjoy nature and be inspired by it. Be an animal in the circle of life. Garden.
• Practice patience with people and animals. Frustration is permissible sometimes. Move past it.
• Be OPEN to new ideas, reactions to my actions, questions and change.
• Take photos ~ every day. Stay on top of editing, organizing and publishing.
• Be CONTENT with what’s happening in the now. Don’t accept anxiety.
• Protect personal belongings. Prepare for loss and/or deterioration and don’t stress it happening when it does.
• Reflect thoughts and opinions internally. Think twice before speaking.
• Accept others’ differences. Judge less.
• Learn new things. Explore. Ask questions. Be willing to fail forward faster.
• Know personal limitations and communicate them so that it’s possible to always do my best.
• Control jealousy. Allow it to be fuel in my fire to achieve goals.
• Spend time alone and find comfort in it. Allow for “dates” with myself where I have fun.
• Diversify in areas of work, recreation and friendships. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
• Do not make assumptions. Ask questions instead.
• Do not take anything that anyone else does or says personally.
• Trust and follow gut feelings because they exist for a reason.
This is, of course, an ongoing project…

Etsy Feedback Makes Me Happy!

Hands down, the best part of selling my arts on Etsy is the feedback from my customers. I get excited every step of the way with my business but it really deeply touches me to hear things like this..
“Very lovely product! Will be back for sure!!”

“I ordered this yesterday and got it today. You are AMAZING. The piece is incredibly beautiful in person. Thank you so much, I would definitely love to buy from you again! :)”

And the very best so far..
“The Etsy order package you sent me was so full of personality that opening it and carefully absorbing everything in it felt like a big long hug with that extra squeeze at the end. The awesomeness you put into that stuff just radiates care. I put the little personal bags of incense out not just to enjoy the smell as it slowly releases but because they are little smiles sitting around. I can’t look at any single tiny piece of what you sent without seeing a smile.”

WOW. Very worth it. Thank you so much to everyone who supports what I love to do. I would do this even if I had a million dollars!

Airborne Awesomeness

Airborne Awesomeness

I made this awesome snowboarder silhouette graphic awhile ago. I found it today and still think it’s impressive. All original; I took the photos of the trees, sky and snowboarder. I went snowboarding all day Thursday so it’s on my mind. I love snowboarding!

Recipe: Krispie Puppies

Krispie Puppies

Rice Krispies and Puppy Chow combined!

Puppy Chow
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 bag chocolate chips
* Melt together then mix with
~8 cups Chex or Crispix cereal
Place in 2 gallon sized plastic zipper bags and add
1.5 cups of powdered sugar
Toss to coat! Chill in the ‘fridge.

Then prepare…

Rice Krispie Bars
1/4 cup melted butter
2 bags marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt together in large pan over medium/low heat. Then mix in:
6 cups rice krispies cereal
1/2 batch of puppy chow

Spread into greased or parchment paper lined pan with buttered fingers.
Chill and ENJOY!

Hello world!

I think I’ d really like my old database back! I Blogged for 4 years and then… b’Zap! gone….