Friday, December 31, 2010

CREATE ~ New Horizons!

So I have had tons of time over this break and have been feeling very crafty! I think it’s fun to make something of your own. So here is what I made!

Last night I made a very small mock journal… even bound it myself! Here is how it turned out

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Here’s another shot

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I wish my phone camera captured to color a little better!

My Nephew saw it and wanted one of his own so I made him a sketchbook. Here is how it turned out

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So I’m kind of excited about it! It has me wanting to perfect this a little better and maybe open up an ETSY shop!  

I would love to hear what Y’all think!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Tell Me What You See Challenge ~ Results

Hey Y’all!  Well the Tell Me What You See Challenge was a huge success!! There were quite a few responses (Which always makes me excited!!). the picture above was our muse and people wrote something about what they thought was happening here, how it made them feel, or just what they thought about it… basically they said what they saw!! …. I know that’s the whole point right?!

Well here goes!!

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My friend, Ansley, saw this  “I see a fun couple who love each other a lot. I wonder if the old pictures around them, are old family members, that maybe they wish were part of their wedding??? Just an idea.”

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My Momma (I bugged her enough to participate!) saw this “That dratted seam! Why couldn't the wallpaper have extended just a little further into her cloistered civilization? The seam in the wall, as well as the racial barriers had separated them for so long. With longing, out of the corner of her eye she had gazed at his portrait... wondered what ancient secrets his luxurious and exciting ancestry held compared to the stogy, uptight restrictions of hers. What would it be like to transcend barriers so long imposed by tradition? Her - white, racist, upscale, snobbish history mingled with his, oriental, accepting, working class background. Would the result be magic? She would do it! She would reach across the seamed wallpaper barrier and take matters into her own hands. She instantly knew it was all worth it when the silk of his tie matched the silk of his lips. What would their new "family" portrait portray?”

I’m also a part of a online writing and critiquing community called Scribophile. It is a website where writers submit their work to be critiqued and in turn critique other’s work. Here are what some of my fellow scriblers saw.

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Gary Weblund saw this

Picture scene, ten minute poetry, by Gary Wedlund:

I said, “You’re pretty as a picture.”

“But will you love me.

“When I’m angry?

“And I’m fat.

“And I haven’t had a bath.

“When a diaper’s needing changed.

“Or your namesake’s such a brat?

“Carpooling in a van.

“in-laws cook you spam.

“Will you love me when,

“I’m getting old and tired.

“Wrinkles cross my face.

“Hot flashes and I’m grey.

“Will you love me after,

“Two months back to back.

“To my navel hang my rack.

“You bent on a cane.

“Bedridden and half insane.

“ …

“Then you’re dead.

“No one at your funeral,

“Because of what you did.

“My hand the last to close your lid?”

“Ahum.  Thanks for sharing a drink.  Hat please.”

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Adeline Gail saw this

The lights turned off.  Finally.  The occupants of the house had gone to sleep.  We were free from scrutiny. 

Pressing against the surface of the photo, my fingers slipped through becoming three-dimensional.  Poised all day in the same position, it felt good to move.  No longer forced to keep a blank expression, to sit up straight, to be a perfect portrait.  And now I could see him. 

I leaned forward from the wall and reached out to the next gilded frame.  There he was.  A smile grew across my face.  Grabbing his tie, I pulled him from his encasement. 

He laughed and removed his hat.  “Someone’s impatient tonight.” 

I slid to the edge of the framework, pulling him to the corner of his.  Our lips pressed together. 

“I missed you,” I whispered, then kissed him again. 

Immortalized in our portraits, our love would last forever. 

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Hans Von Lieven saw this

The photo reminds me of the closing sketches of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In. There they had windows in a wall with people sticking their heads out and saying stupid things. It was a regular finale in all the shows.

Yay For Scribohile!!

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My Friend Jody saw this “I think that these two individuals had so much passion for one another that even the stillness of a picture could not contain them”

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Chavice saw this “A picture of love!”

Lastly here is what I saw

All of us seem to be born into or adapt to certain roles in life. We are listeners, parents, spouses, friends… the list is endless. It is very easy to get stuck in that role and miss out on what is so close to us because we are stuck in our individual frames. Sometimes you have to magically reach out of what seems possible and grab the impossible… because it’s always worth it.

“Here I am stuck. I have always been here… smiling and looking you in the eyes when you walk by on the way out the door. I think that i remind you of someone… but I don’t know who. I have been content here for so long, but something told me to look over. that’s when I saw him. Intrigue, it was a new feeling for me… but a great one. I had to see him more, touch him, but as I already said here I am stuck. It seems impossible. Nothing worth having doesn’t take work though. So I am going to do something that no one expects, no one even thinks is possible. I am going to reach out of this frame, out of everything that I am supposed to be and do something different. Let’s see what happens.”

So this was everyone!!!  Thanks for everyone who participated!! Thanks for letting me see the world through your eyes.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Sunday, December 26, 2010

CREATE ~ Holiday Pigs

Merry Day after Christmas Y’all!  I had an awesome Christmas with the family!!   We opened gifts, had Christmas Breakfast ( at lunchtime!), played cards ( a family tradition), and had Christmas dinner. It was really great.

Me and Melia decided to make pigs in a blanket last night as a little snack… but we decided to add a little twist to it. We call them Holiday Pigs!!

We started out by Melia making her “A little bit of this, a little bit of that barbeque sauce”. She took a little bit ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, liquid smoke, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. I don’t know the measurements to tell you… because she doesn’t either. You just have to work at it til it gets just right! then you just add the little smokies in with the sauce and let them cook and soak up that good sauce for a while. Here’s a pic! ( I got Melia a camera for Christmas and we put it to good use last night!!  It caught the steam in the picture.. I thought that was really cool)

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Then we took a can of crescent rolls and ripped the crescent rolls into pieces. We pinched just a little bit of crushed pineapple onto each one

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Then you add the smokies on and roll them up

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Add them all together and bake them in the oven by the crescent roll directions.039

And the finished product is a great and scrumptious twist on the classic pigs in a blanket!! the sweetness of the pineapple with the sauce and the smokie and the crescent.. MMMMM!  I want to go make some more!!

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So this was my little moment to CREATE something new. What about you?  Any new recipe’s you’ve made?

 

P.S.  Remember the Tell Me What You See Challenge! You can check it out Here

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Better Me Epipany ~ Connections

connection

The other day (before my surgery) I got to eat lunch with one of my favorite people. My best friend since the 7th grade. Our friendship has really held on for wuite some time. We had not seen each other in months and had only talked sparsely during that time. When I saw her we lit up and sat and enjoyed each other like no time had passed. I loved it! and it felt really good!
Since my surgery I have had some great time to sit, relax, and think. I started to think about this giant gap in time that it had been since I had seen my friend. Then it hit me.... It's been a lot of time since I have seen a lot of my friends. I haven't returned phone calls, made the effort to see them, I've been unavailable. I work tons and have been telling myself that I have just been too busy to do it all. This is true to an extent.... but for people that you love and care about you can't get caught up in the convenient. It is very easy and convenient to shun everyone aside and think only of what is good for you at the moment... but one day you wake up and you are the only one thinking about what it best for you (when you used to have a whole troup!). So I got that little bang that lets me know ~ YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!
We are very privileged to live this life and live it with each other. I have said many times that we were all put here TOGETHER for a reason... but somehow I forgot about that. Our connections with others help us to live better. see differently, love better, and get to know ourselves in entirely different ways. So I made a decision and a promise to myself. I won't let myself become an island for the sake of being busy. Real reltionships and friendships take more effort than a hello in the hall or a "How have you been?" through text. I need to put forth the effort... otherwise I miss out on a giant part of living.

Better Me Epiphany ~ Connections fulfill so many purposes in our lives. We need a shoulder to cry on, and joke to laugh at, and an all knowing smile. anything taken for granted can easily be taken away ~ I won't let that happen. I will remember that life is not all about me and what's easiest for me. I will take the time and show the ones I love... that I love!


P.S. Don't forget about the Tell Me What You See Challenge !! Only few days left to be a part!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Tell Me What You See Challenge


, originally uploaded by Chrissie White.

Alright Y’all the Tell Me What You See Challenge has been on hiatus for far too long! The picture above is from a photographer featured in this month’s O Magazine. I saw the picture and it said something to me… and I want to see what it says to you.

The “Tell Me What You See Challenge” is a way for all of us to teach each other something from a different point of view. I am fascinated by the idea that we all experience the same events differently because we all have a unique way of looking at life. This challenge is our way of sharing that view and maybe opening up the eyes of those around us to a whole new way of looking at things.

So here goes!!! The picture above is the topic. We all have one week to write down what we see. It can be a first impression, a poem, a feeling, a story that tells what’s happening here. There are no rules because there are no limits to how we see things. You can post your responses in the comments section or you can email them to me at mark.deer02@gmail.com. A week from now I will post all the responses in a post and we all can go through and see the world through different eyes… even just for a few minutes.

So get those creative juices flowing and share what you see! It matters to me!

To get an idea of how the challenge works here are some of the previous ones!

August ~ Tell Me What You See Challenge

July ~ Tell Me What You See Challenge

See You Soon!

Influences Revisited


, originally uploaded by Chrissie White.

So I came across this picture on Flickr and it made me think about the power that we give the people around us. This picture is cute and funny but it really spoke to me. How many times have each of us settled on what other people say about us? It's so easy to let the influences we have dictate who we are and who we are to become. I wrote a whole post about it before... that you can view Here This picture was a great reminder about our responsibility to only allow our lives to be infiltrated by those we desire and allow.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

CREATE ~ Christmas

 

Hey Y’all! I am spending the day recovering and relaxing and decided to do my Christmas wrapping. I was traversing through blogger world a while back and saw gifts wrapped in simple packages. I wanted to do that on my own so here goes. I bought a few rolls of Brown shipping paper from K-mart ($2.75 a roll)  then i got out a stamp that I bought recently. Stamp

I got some red ink and stamped it on the brown paperStamp1Stamp design

I like the design!!  This is the one my Mom did

Momgift

Gift

We ended up using raffia instead of ribbon

Rafia

So we tied bows in the packages and I used those tags from my wish list… remember?  They came from my friend StampGirl

tags

This is what the finished ones looked like!

Finished gift

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It was a little more work than just wrapping presents… but not many people can say that they made their own wrapping paper!!  the options are limitless… but I was obviously a little confined today!

 

Everyday is an opportunity to get out creative juices flowing. We create our lives with each moment and we I think it’s important to fill our lives up with ourselves as well. This is my latest creation…what’s yours?

Friday, December 17, 2010

Surgery was a success!!

me before surgery

I was a little picture happy this morning…. although looking really rough! 

me before surgery2

Another photo-op before surgery!

 

me and mom me and mom 2

This is me and my Momma!  Isn’t she Beautiful!  She and my Dad got up here last night to be here for my surgery and take good care of me while I recover. She has been really good today making sure I eat and drink!

 

Anyways thanks for all your prayers! Surgery was a success. I can talk! I still have my uvula!! and I am minus some sickness causing Tonsils!  See Y’all soon!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Getting a nice little break!

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Well Y’all… tomorrow  is the big day!!  My tonsils are coming out!! and as a result I will be getting a wonderful 2 week vacation with the family! It’s sad that the only way you can a whole two weeks off from both jobs is to have to go get something cut out of you! Ha!  Anyways, I will be spending these next two weeks relaxing, reading, blogging, and enjoying my wonderful family!! I am uber excited about it!!  Please be praying for me.

So far I am not too nervous. I am just excited to feel better and have a break. Everyone else seems to be a little more paranoid than me. I have been asked ~ Are you worried that you might not wake up? ( no.. that hadn’t crossed my mind.. thanks for bringing it up), I would just be scared that I wouldn’t stop bleeding. What would you do then? ( I’m not sure.. call the doctor), and lastly  You know that take your uvula out too right? Look I don’t have one ( this I admit made me nervous…. although I no idea why I have a uvula… I kind of don’t want to lose it!! It’s nice knowing it’s back there.. dangling and serving it’s uvulic purpose!). With all that said thanks for your concern but this is going to go great! No complications! Quick recovery! ~ I am speaking that!! 

That's all I have at the moment. I am going to go get rested up for tomorrow.

 

P.S. This is my first blog from my new computer!! Look my picture has rounded edges!!! Fancy huh?

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Book Review ~ Three Little Words



I just finished Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Coulter. It was the pick for a book club I'm in called “The Sophistareaders". The book is memoir of Ashley's early life in foster care. As a social worker this book was especially interesting and touching. We follow Ashley from her entrance into foster care to her exit. It is a very harrowing story. Her time in foster care was during a period where Florida's foster care system was at its worst and her story helped to change that system. Ashley came from a family with significant issues and put into a system with just as many significant issues. She was put in the charge of many careless social workers and countless placements. She was literally forgotten and persevered through it all.


Here's what I got from the story.


Ashley was shifted from place to place and developed some pretty severe attachment issues. She was moved from place to place and no one stopped and asked her how she felt about all of it. She lost her voice. Many times all of us go through periods where the circumstances in our lives make us feel like we have lost all control of it. We don't always have the ability to control these circumstances. It is a place that is infused with hopelessness, and if nothing changes it is easy for us to stay there. Ashley held onto one hope, to return to her mother, and was constantly disappointed. Her mother never could seem to get things together so that she could be the mother that Ashley needed. Ashley was moved around a lot ~ lived with pedophiles, overcrowded homes, and even abusive homes. She really did become hopeless. She lost hope that she would ever find a place to call home. She knew that however great a place seemed it had an expiration date.


After many years of going through this “return to sender" cycle, she was finally appointed a guardian as litem. They are there to look after the child's best interest. They are the voice of the child in foster care. This one person came along and fought for Ashley. She listened to her, and she made a change in Ashley's life. This one person got her out of her abusive placement and advocated for her until she found a permanent home. This is what stuck with me ~ the power that one individual can have to affect change in the lives around them. We all have that capability and responsibility. We don't have to have the enormous responsibility of being a child's voice in a broken system to affect change. We can do it every second of every day. It is a smile, and shoulder to cry on, and ear to listen. But it takes us stopping, forgetting about our busy day and self importance, and taking the time to care. I think that Ashley's life could have been so much less tumultuous if someone stopped and cared sooner.


When Ashley got this guardian who was her voice she eventually found her own. She let down all of the defense mechanisms that she developed to deal with living in the system and allowed an adoptive family to love her and herself to love them back. She made it through it all. She spoke out about the protective system that damaged her most and she helped change it.


The book is an amazing story about an amazing life. After looking at her life I know that in my hopeless situations I won't give up. The start almost never looks like the finish.


Better Me Epiphany ~ I will care about the lives around me. I will make a change for others by first making changes for myself. My future is not dictated by my current situations.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Better Me Epiphany ~ What I Say Matters



So remember my conundrum last week? I think I found the answer. After i posted that, my friend Laura posted a comment that said that our beliefs are the core of who we are and that if we don't really believe them then who are we really. This of course blew right past me until later that night when me and my sister were talking. My sister basically said that we should have faith in our beliefs.... pretty simple right? Well it hit me hard and I realized that I was walking around saying that I believe in things but not believing in the power of them. So as Laura basically said "whats the point".

You know I named this blog "What I Say Matters" very intentionally. I believe in the power of our words. The words that we say shape the world around us. But somewhere I think that got lost. I was stuck in the spot where I was believing that people's minds are made up... so why should I try to convince them otherwise. I was doubting the power of my beliefs. My sister told me that it's not our jobs to convince anyone of anything. We simply have to share it, and the power that lies in that truth, my truth, and your truth will do the work. This applies in so many circumstances ~ I put my beliefs out there everyday. I need to not make it about my power to convince and leave it to the truth's power to convince. That truth can be so many things~ changing influences, positive outlook, reflection, and of course my faith... all those things.

So i can share what I believe to be true (as I have on this blog) without disrespecting anyone else's beliefs. They don't have to agree and it's not my job to make them agree.

Better Me Epiphany ~ The moment I stop believing in the power of my beliefs is the moment that they are not real to me. I am not the convincer, truth is. I will express it because I believe it. What I Say Matters because it is my truth.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Aids Awareness Day


Africa Poster 2., originally uploaded by alyssaduhe.

Hey Y’all! So tomorrow is December 1st, 2010 ~ World Aids Day. It is a day set aside every year to raise awareness of AIDS and it’s preventability. I wear something red or a red ribbon every year on December 1st and practically everyday of December because it is a cause that is important to me. I do not know anyone with the disease or who died form the disease, but I know plenty of people and any one of us could be one of them. Aids is a disease with no cure that is spreading everyday because of carelessness and lack of education. Many people contract the disease because of unsafe sex practices. One mistake and the rest of their life has been changed. Others contract the disease the same way but because they are uneducated about it. They think that it’s a gay disease or a black disease or a young person disease, and that they cannot get it because they are not a part of that population. The fact is that AIDS is an EVERYONE disease. The good news is that it is preventable and it is not a death sentence.


Respect, Protect.....

There is a notion that if one does in fact contract the disease that their lives are over. That is not the case these days. Medicine has vastly improved and many people lead normal lives with the disease while they take their medicine. The important thing is to know your status so that you can move forward the best way possible. If you are positive go to the doctor and start your medicine. Ignoring the issue does not make it go away. If you are not positive then stay that way. Don’t practice unsafe sex, don’t have multiple partners. Get tested regularly. Make good decisions.

World AIDS Day Ribbon

I organized a World Aids Day event at college my senior year. It was a good experience but also a learning experience. The entire time I was setting things up I was hitting walls. The posters I made were not acceptable ~ but later approved. The brochures I made were not acceptable ~ but after a long conversation with the dean of students approved. The event is set up was deemed a waste of money ~ later approved. Many people that were close to me refused to wear the red ribbon. I was confused and realized that they were still associating AIDS with gay, black, and young. It was sad that a good cause caught so much flack ~ but the good thing is that the day went off as a success. So tomorrow let’s make it another success. Wear the ribbon and when someone asks you why you are wearing it tell them why. When people are aware of an issue they can do something about it, otherwise the cycle keeps going and there is no hope. I refuse to let that happen.
So this is my cause! What’s yours?

P.S. I found this interesting
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-01/aids-next-big-thing-gilead-pill-to-prevent-spread-update1-.html

Monday, November 29, 2010

CREATE ~ Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving was Awesome! My parents and sister came and we had a nice relaxing holiday just enjoying each other… and some good food!

I get very excited about these big holiday get-to-gethers….. especially when I get to host. It makes me want everything to be pretty. So I got a little crafty and came up with this for my table.


I thought it turned out really great!!

The runner was some upholstery fabric that I got at a thrift store 2 years ago. I loved it and finally found a good use for it!!

The napkins are hand stamped. When I went to New York, I found some hand carved Indian stamps that I have been itching to use.


I just used some fabric ink and stamped the edges of some napkins I got from TJ Maxx



Then I ironed over them, I read somewhere that helps to seal the ink so your dinner guests don’t end up with orange ink smeared all over their faces.


The end result were these!!


The centerpiece was a candle globe from my mantelpiece with corn husk garland around it.
I just bought some corn husks for tamales from the Hispanic section at wal-mart


I riped a husk into smaller strips and then folded them over like this


Then I found some wire Christmas ornament hangers and poked one through the pieces


Then you wrap the sides around to hold it in place


Now you are supposed to make a million of these and attach them to twine and hang them but me and my sis just decided to make a centerpiece out of them. So we got out the handy hot glue gun and went to work. It was simple but really pretty I thought.


Then I just brought out my everyday dishes, place cards I made for last thanksgiving, me and Melia added some finishing touches and voila!!


So this was my Thanksgiving creation!!! What have you created lately?

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