Before & After Inspiration

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transformation

I love waking up happy and it seems to be occurring more often. I am not a morning person and it often takes me a couple of hours to feel joy and energy flowing, but I think I’m shifting! One of the key factors that is helping me feel energized is deciding to take a good hard look at my never-ending ‘to do’ list and decide what I actually want to do.

My list was huge and overwhelming, but after committing a few mornings to getting it organized, I feel that a weight has been lifted. As I dive in and tackle some tasks, I’m creating support systems that are keeping me on track. Warning, I’m feeling a bit preachy here ~ but it helps me stay on track to actually write this stuff down! The steps I’m taking are simple, but I have to keep reminding myself to…

• Set an intention. When I set an intention I seem to be able to stay on track with the big picture, rather than getting lost in the details. I’m a recovering perfectionist, I can often wander and take on new tedious tasks rather than finishing what I started.
• Decide what I want. It’s interesting how deciding what I don’t want is easier than deciding what I really want. How do you figure out what your heart wants?
•  Set and stick to deadlines. I make a lot of deadlines in my head which I often change or forget about. So I’ve been making deadlines on paper and sharing with others what I am committed to doing and when I intend to finish.

Reaching out has been the biggest motivator. When I involve others in my process, I am much more likely to follow through. I’ve been taking before & after photos of my projects and sending them to girlfriends who are also sending me their b&a rooms or projects that have been cleaned, painted, or changed in some way.

I’ve also been participating in Jillsygirls party themes as a motivator to sort and share my photos, thank Jill! And, I’ve been staying connected to blogger friends sharing and listening to hopes and fears and taking in any feedback. Just sharing what’s on my mind allows me to reflect and refocus. I continue to be impressed with the cyber communities ability to share and support. Thank you. I appreciate every single on of you.

Here are a few before & after projects I finally finished…

 

I would love to know what helps you create, what ever it is you want to create?

Since sometimes all it takes is to write it down or tell someone what you are committed to, if you’re in the mood, write a comment that finishes one or all of these sentences…

This week

I will finish…

I will create…

I will fix…

This week I will finish painting the bathroom. I’m actually going to give myself the next two weeks to get this done. I have lots of half-finished projects from last weeks list, so I’ll add this to the mix. I’m not good at concentrating on just one thing, I get bored or frustrated with being locked in. I’ve found that if I have a few choices, I can let my moods dictate which project to jump into. I know I’m contradicting what I said earlier about setting an intention, but that’s how I roll. I change my mind a lot. And its okay 🙂

Wings of Change

Purple Sarah

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. ~ George Elliot

I’ve been saving some of my favorite flower shots and when I noticed that most were purple, it reminded me of my friend Sarah. I seem to hold on tight to things that really matter, like my favorite photos and precious girlfriends.

Inviting

Circling

Floating

Dangling

Gathering

Sarah is the kind of friend who

~ calls to check in on me… How are you feeling? How was your weekend? Do you want to meet for a hike?

~ calls to check in on her… Did I say too much? Do you think those other girls are mad at me? What do you think about…

It’s so good to have girlfriends who share so openly, who I can be all of me with, without worrying about what or how I say something. Sometimes I’ll bitch or brag or offend, that’s part of who I am, but my girlfriends are okay with that and we work through the mess or even better; we get to have fun talking about how great we think we are in a moment of pure selfish joy. I’m so grateful I have girlfriends who trust me enough to bitch & brag, especially when I encourage 🙂 It’s fun to hear everything sometimes!

Thank you Sarah and Amy and Lisa and Shea and Susan and Cheryl and Beth and Joan and Sharon and Jenny and Ellza and Bonnie and Connie and Liz and Gretchen and Jill and Gail and Julie and Barb the list goes on and keeps growing, and I think it might grow even more as I learn how to set things free. I think things will bloom brighter and flourish in new ways.

I am so lucky to have each of you in my life.

Thank you & I love you,

~ christine

P.S. The first time I met Sarah for lunch we started chatting about stumbling into blog land and began exchanging some of our favorites. She declared that I should have a blog… and I’d been secretly thinking about it, she gave me the needed push to go for it!

posted:

sooc sunday

macro monday

Baby Blue

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. ~Loire Hartwould

Peeking

At the Top

Searching Left

All Alone

Searching Right

Left Again

Where is Everybody!

have you ever seen such a cute blue jay!?

i was hiking on one of my regular trails and came upon this baby chick all by himself.

i know the blues can be bullies at the bird feeders, but how can anyone resist this little guy?

he hopped his way to the top of this dead tree and seemed to be looking for family ~ who knows, i make stuff up about animals all the time.

Beautiful Butterflies

Everyone is like a butterfly, they start out ugly and awkward and then morph into beautiful graceful butterflies that everyone loves. ~ Drew Barrymore

Besides the bees and the beautiful blooms I found during my trip to california, I founds some lovely butterflies.

Light Flight

Gentle Landing

Crazy Color

Black Beauty

The Butterfly by Louise Gluck

Look, a butterfly. Did you make a wish?

You don’t wish on butterflies.

You do so. Did you make one?

Yes.

It doesn’t count.

I say it does count, next time you see a butterfly make a big wish 🙂

P.S. My friend Jillsy Girl has some amazing blooms & butterflies to share over here.

Red White & Bluish

If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden. ~Claudia Grandi

Sea of Red

Soft Red

2 Hearts

Pillowy

Blue Eyed Beauty

Wisp of Color

Field of Indigo

Purple Chalice

Rising Above

Better late than never. Happy B-lated Independence Day!

Fire & Flowers

The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse. ~ Edward Koch

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I’m back from a 3 week whirlwind trip. I started my trip in California to see my oldest nephew’s high school graduation (I have to brag for a minute, he’s off to Harvard! Not that I had anything to do with it, I’m just so excited for him.) Near the end of my trip I had fun watching the fireworks with my youngest nieces and nephew in Massachusetts. I also went to Maine, Rhode Island, and ended the trip at Niagara Falls. It’s good to be home.

I’m way behind on sorting and cropping photos. And, as usual, it took me forever to figure out how to use the slideshow option. Which of course is so easy, but until you know how, it’s a pain in the ass! So sorry if my cursing offends, but if I don’t swear, I’ll probably break something ~ I get so frustrated with the techie side of posting… and, so far, I’ve only figured out how to add the slideshow by itself. As you can see my post is titled Fire & Flowers ~ I have a bunch of red, white & bluish flowers I wanted to add after the slideshow, but  I can’t figure out how ~ dammit!

I don’t want to change my title so here are a few f-ing flowers ✻ ✿ ❀

Bzzzzzzzzz

When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited. ~Ramakrishna

As I hiked around so cal searching for flowers I was amazed by the sheer number of bees buzzing around everywhere. I found some peppercorn trees that had thousands of busy bees pollinating. The hum that surrounded me when I walked under the canopy was like a symphony.

I hear this new movie ‘Queen of the Sun’ is wonderful and can’t wait to see it! http://www.queenofthesun.com/about/trailer/