who has time for tired?

Not me! I will think every now and again that I am tired, worn slick out actually. It will cross my mind and I will go on to the next thing and put that thought away. I have been trying to get more sleep for awhile now, but the night owl in me just won't let it happen. There is too much fun to be had to be tired. Too many things I wanna do and see to let a little lack of sleep slow me down. Maybe when I am sixty-five it will all catch up with me. Physically it already has. These dark circles under my eyes don't come from nothing. But it is a small price to pay to enjoy every hour and minute and second that I can squeeze outta my day!

starvin' artist! Ha yeah right!

I love being an Art student....... Everyday we are able to view something in a new way. Try a new project or learn about a new technique. No one really cares if you show up to class in your lounge clothes cause chances are that you are going to be covered in a mess by the time you leave anyways. BUT......it is a LOT of work! I never realized how many hours outside of class I would be putting into my projects. I am literally eating, breathing and sleeping my art these days. I LOVE IT! But I know I will love it more, when I can create from the comfort of my own studio with no restraints or project guidelines. Let's face it I don't have a welder, metal, power tools and safety gear at home that my 3-D class requires. And as of right now I don't have a new Mac or all the software for graphic design (YET, hurry up August!!!), so I am stuck trekkin' to WKU to do my creating on a school level. However right now is all about the learning process. Developing my style. Deciphering terms and techniques. Finding out what I do and don't like. So far on the list not a great fan of the welding, but love love love all the computer skills I am acquiring! Learning about all the great artists and viewing some AMAZING works of art.

It has re-awakened a part of my soul that has lay quiet for a long time. For the first time in years I am seeing things with fresh eyes again. I was able to spend a whole hour today enjoying a show at the Kentucky Museum on campus. To look at work from my peers and see what other artists are creating. To see what inspires others is absolutely priceless. It brings a whole new set of ideas to you for your own work!

I want to travel to all these places we are talking about in my Art History classes. See the paintings and buildings and sculptures all first hand. Stand in the same halls as these great artists of years gone by. I want to soak in the culture and inspiration of foreign ground. See new places to find new muses. I know it is a whole lotta want to's for a mom of three living in small town Kentucky. But that is all about what this journey back to college is. It is a chance to make things happen. To love what I do and things I learn so much that I can't help but pass that excitement on to my kids. To learn to love being an artist and help my kids understand why arts of all sorts are so important to the world today. So if I starve along the way, that is ok by me. I could stand to lose a few pounds anyways! Especially if it is all in the name of ART! :)

Happy Tuesday Ya'll!!!

time flies........

So when I started blogging the twins were babies. It was my way of dealing with leaving the corporate world and staying home with three small children full time. My how times have changed. In less than one week my small NICU babies will be full fledged toddlers.....the big 3! I never could have imagined all the twists and turns our lives have taken over the past three years. Much of it has been a blur. The first year just trying to survive going from 1 child to 3 was hard. And each year after has been a little easier, despite new challenges. These days I balance the kiddos, Kyndall's school, my school, sickness, meltdown's, the twin's daycare and home life as well as I can. The next few weeks will bring us a whole new batch of changes as the twins start preschool and learn to be their own individual selves for the first time ever. I decided to let them each have their own classroom and teacher experience. Give them a little independence. Force them to move out of their comfort zone. We will see how it all goes! In all these changes and time passing by, I am always certain of one thing....we may not always know the plan that God has set forth for us. But you can always be certain in knowing that his plan will always be much more amazing than anything you have ever dreamed for yourself!

snow ready for spring!!

hahahahaha, Yes I am silly! But this cold winter weather has gotten me down! I need the sunshine! I crave flip-flops, pedi's and the grass being green. I really thought that when I moved to Kentucky the weather would be nicer than back in good 'ole Nebraska. Boy was I wrong! Sure the snow doesn't get as deep and the temps aren't quite as cold. But a day with no sun, is a day with no sun. No matter where you are! Now that school has started back and I have to get out everyday no matter what the temp. is or what is falling from the sky, it really makes me appreciate warm weather more. So mother nature if you are listening and have any chance to make it warmer sooner rather than later, I know we would all appreciate it! Pretty Please! :)

SNOW DAY!!!!!!

We get a snow day tomorrow! Yee Haw!!! Can't wait to play outside with the kiddos. With hot chocolate and making some cookies as well! Sprinkled with lots of picture taking! We are making the most of it! Too bad Daddy has to work!

Wow, what a difference.........

..........a few weeks can make! I am now knee-deep in finals work. This week had been so nuts that I feel like I am just trying to keep my head above water!!! And it isn't even finals week yet! The crazy thing is that I only have one final to actually take next week! So many of my professors decided to give exams this week over the last few units and count them as the final. Which stinks cause it means classes and tests and projects all simultaneously. Which is what finals weeks is SUPPOSED to be about. Just being able to focus on testing and not the normal class schedule. I will quit complaining and just say that I am glad to have made it half way through the week. I have one quiz out of the way. As well as turning in my final drawing portfolio just a bit ago. So that is a load off my mind. Now I just have to get through a final this afternoon, My last big design project that is due in the morning as well as a portfolio of my semester's design work. Then tomorrow afternoon I have an exam in Psych over four chapters and since I have a high A average in there I should be able to exempt myself from that final. Last but not least I have a review session Friday to prepare for my big American Government/Political Science test. That one will probably be the hardest. But at least I have the weekend to breathe a bit and get more studying for it in before Monday.

Next week should be a breeze school-wise once my test is over! I am really looking forward to it! I will work a little bit and get to go to Kyndall's Christmas party at school. Which I am super excited about! It is the 1st party all year I will have gotten to attend since school usually conflicts! Then Friday I just have to come back to campus to pick up my final portfolio's with their grades! The rest of the week I am going to spend getting the five of us ready to go to visit my family in Nebraska over Christmas. As long as no big road blocks or bumps in the plan get in the way, we plan on leaving the 18th and staying there until the 1st of the year. I can't wait. It has been almost 1 year since the last time I saw all of them. I am super homesick and it will do me good to relax and spend some time with my old friends and family all together in the same place.

Hope you all are having a great holiday season! I still have yet to finish up or decide much about Christmas cards. Maybe I will get to that next week too! I feel another to-do list coming on!!! AAAGGGHHH!! :) LOL!

Happy Wednesday! Take time today to enjoy the little things!

Downtime........

I am typing this from a computer at WKU, but I could literally jump up and shout that I am "SO READY FOR THANKSGIVING BREAK!!! WOO HOO"!!!! I have to go to work at 3, then I get off at 4:30 and embark on five days of nothing but family and good eating! I love it! I am excited to spend time with my kids, and just enjoy life with no hustle and bustle. I may go shopping on black Friday, or I may not! The beauty of it all is that it is up to me! Nobody dictating our schedules! Our Christmas tree is up as well as most of the inside decor, so all I really have left to do is mess with the porch if I feel like it! It is heavenly! I am floating on a cloud thinking of all this un-scheduled downtime we are going to get to have. Sure I may do some laundry here or there, and I know I will run the dishwasher and clean the kitchen a bunch. But the smile on my face is because I know I can do it all in a t-shirt and p.j. pants and not even have to touch the eyeshadow or mascara all weekend long if I don't feel like it! Of course we all know, that the time will be to short. I will turn around and it will be Monday again. But believe you me, I am gonna enjoy the next few days in every possible way..............come on 4:30! LOL!

Hope everyone has a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. Doing whatever it is YOU want to do....eating, shopping, napping, you name it! Enjoy your family and friends and don't feel bad about having that second helping of stuffing. I know I won't!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Life has been hectic as always! Can't believe that Thanksgiving is just over a week away and then the hustle and bustle of Christmas will be upon us! I have still been keeping up with my gratitudes this month. Even though I haven't written them all down here on the good old blog, I have made a real effort to think of as many things as possible each day to be thankful for. Sometimes that means just recognizing good things in the moment. Other times it has been actually putting pen to paper and making an old fashioned list. A few excerpts from that past week would be as follows:

I am so thankful that:

I survived my first parent-teacher conference. Actually I got glowing reviews about Ms. Kyndall! I was so happy to hear good things about my girl. And have a few fears put to rest by her teacher as well. It was a blessing!

I have had an umbrella for all the not-so-nice days on campus.

My husband is a good father and provider and has allowed me the chance to return to school without having to worry 24/7 about if the kids are in good care or not.

Keaton and Claire are adjusting to "big kid beds" (toddler beds) They are growing up so fast!

Good conversation with good friends.

I am able to watch my kids enjoying life and learning about new things! Watching them experience something for the 1st time is like doing it all over again myself. Completely amazing!!




On another note, I want to challenge everyone to not only count your blessings and BE THANKFUL.....but also tell someone that you are thankful for, THANKS! I think this quote sums it up:

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
-- Albert Schweitzer

We all have these people in our lives. And if you are like me you rarely take the time to truly put into words how special they are to you. What a good thing it is to have them in your life! So take time out this week and let them know! I promise you will be glad you did! If you are not great with the spoken word, then jot it down in a notecard. Write it on the mirror in the bathroom, leave a note on the fridge. However and where ever you want.....just do it! You might be surprised at what you spark in someone and better yet, you may just find out that lots of people are thankful for YOU too!

Have a blessed week everyone! :)

Where does the weekend go? :)

Every weekend seems to fly by faster and faster. I just don't ever have enough time in them to get done all the stuff that I want to, much less NEED to! :) I did make time this weekend though, to judge a pageant in BG. It was held at the new South Warren High School, which is absolutely beautiful! I hope all those kids know how lucky they are to go there. It is nicer than any University I have ever set foot in! It was fun to see the girls all dressed up. It was for the Calendar Girl pageant, so there was a great turn out. There was 14 contestants, which for a new school is great! My favorite part besides seeing all the dresses, was reading the girls responses to the questions that they were required to fill out. Some of them were hilarious, like what vegetable they were most like! Others were really philosophical....think like this "what is most important wealth, knowledge or beauty?". Made me remember back to my highschool days when I was doing pageants and how I thought I had all the answers to life back then! Ha, little did I know, right! :)

It was nice to be in the pageant atmosphere again. It had been since this summer that my girls had done one. We have actually decided to take a break from competing until they are a little older. Right now they are in the same age group and it is hard for me to give as much attention to each of them as I would like to with them being so young. I know that in the future we will pick it up again, when they are able to at least go out on stage alone and I can just watch from the sidelines. I hope they have as much fun with them as I always did. Some of my very best friends after highschool, were girls I met during Miss Teen Nebraska. I still keep in touch with them to this day.

I know that lately pageants seem to be cast in such a negative light. But I don't feel they are. I will always be grateful for my pageant experiences. For the knowledge, poise and self-confidence I gained from them. And for the life-long friendships that I fostered. As far as I am concerened....LONG LIVE BEAUTY QUEENS! :)

Have a great week everyone! I will be back in a day or two to update my gratitudes!

Happy Monday!

Gratitude

Lately I have been thinking a lot about gratitude, big and small. Things in life that we take for granted and the overall feeling that we should be thankful for more. We are truly fortunate to live in a warm home and have food on the table each night. But beyond that we have many other things in life in which we should take the time to recognize and give thanks for. I was blog-hopping the other night and came across several posts which all referenced gratitude journals. Simply put it is taking the time every day to write down 5 things you are thankful for. It can be as simple as the sun in the sky or the smile on your kids face. For me I am challenging myself to start and keep this journal for the next 30 days. I want to be specific. I want to rememeber that the Lord is constantly at work in my life. All in all, I think it will be neat to go back to the journal on Decemeber 2nd and see what all I wrote down! Maybe give me the inspiration for an art project or two. Ultimately I hope to keep it up through December too, cause lets face it when things get hectic around the holidays it is easy to grumble instead of giving thanks! LOL! :) I will share my gratitudes here from time to time. And if you think this sounds like fun then join in and post your gratitudes too! I will get us started..........

Today I am thankful for:

1. Seeing a white squirrel on the way to study this morning. It was funny and unusual and a neat way to start the day!

2. Having people in my life who are involved with helping my twins get prepared for school. We have an amazing team of therapists and workers who care about them like they are their own family.

3. The fact that I remembered to wear a sweatshirt today. The weather has turned cold and for some reason WKU is spending our tutition money on still running the AC! :)

4. Being able to sit here right now and know that my kitchen is clean. Even though I was tuckered out last night I still went ahead and loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up from the evening meal. It is nice to not have that hanging over my head!

5. Extra time unexpectedly in my day. I was able to leave my morning class early and get a head start on studying for a test I have at 12:30. This has put me in a much better mood!