Planning for my 40th

I will give 40 things to 40 people

My Life List

So, I've been working on a Life List and I'm pretty excited about it.  I highly encourage it.  Mine is still a work in progress.  However, I'm not waiting to "finish" the list before I get started on it.  In fact, the list may never be complete.  There is a lot I want to do and experience in this life, and now is the time.  Bring it!

Here is my list, in no particular order:
Enjoy Paris in Spring
View the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.
Go to NYC at Christmastime
Go on a fall colors tour of the Northeast
Attend the twin convention in Ohio and enter my boys in the "most different" competition
Learn another language besides Spanish
Tour Greece - explore the Sacred Feminine
Stay in a Pacific island hut
See the wonders of Australia
See the Pyramids
Help 5 other people accomplish something on their Life Lists
Go on a hot air balloon ride (with Jeff, Colorado Springs, CO 9.10.11)
Enjoy a spa retreat in Sedona
Get a massage in Palm Springs
Attend a women's retreat
Dance in the rain with my boys
Host an annual event (Christmas Open House, 3rd year in a row, 2013)
Start a regular (monthly?) adult or family gathering
Go to a jazz club on Bourbon Street
Tour Alaska with Jeff
Take a train trip
See Japan
Go to Disney World with my boys
Eat pasta in Italy
Really learn about wine
Attend a Jimmy Buffett Concert (with Monica, 10.18.11, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO)
See the Albuquerque Balloon Festival
Attend the Sequim Lavender Festival
Take my friends on a tour of Seattle
Attend a movie marathon
See Mamma Mia on stage
Get a spa treatment at the Broadmoor
Stay in a 5-star hotel and be pampered
Wear an amazing pair of shoes
Stay at a small resort in Tabago
Travel overseas with my sister
See a midnight premiere (with Anke & Allison, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 7.15.11)
Go on a solo trip with each of my sons
Take a nap on the beach
See the Northern Lights
Watch a sunrise with my boys
Take a family vacation in a cabin on a quiet lake
Attend an epic concert (Sting's Back to Bass tour with Jeff 6.5.13)
Attend an intimate acoustic concert
Attend a concert at Red Rocks (Sting's Back to Bass tour with Jeff 6.5.13)
Attend a film festival
Befriend a celebrity
Have a cut flower garden
Find a charity and truly support it
Go to a Roller Derby event (with Anne, Pikes Peak Derby Dames double header 10.22.11)
Do Karaoke and line dance with friends
Take ballroom dancing lessons
Ski on a real mountain
Take an interior design course
Play in an adult symphony or band
Learn to SCUBA dive
Take better photos
Travel alone
Learn to knit
Learn to sing harmony
Try pilates or tai chi
Take an art class
Hike a 14'r
Go parasailing
Learn to ride a motorcycle
Learn to play steel drums
Take and record a photo every day for a year

I Deserve It

Yes, I guess I'm a late bloomer.  I'm just starting to really think about this, and I know other people already get it.  What am I talking about?  Happiness.  Knowing that I truly deserve to be happy.  I have a long, long way to go with this one, that's for sure.  For some reason, it is programmed into my brain that I don't get to experience real joy.  Something has to be not quite right, something missing, someone else gets it better.  Not fair!  I deserve every happiness that anyone else has.  Boy, this is a very hard thing to get straight in my brain.  I often default to others, don't speak up, allow things to happen that maybe aren't what I had hoped.  Well, now I'm trying to put it out to the Universe, Great Creator, Master Designer and Decorator of all things...  I want to feel joy.  I want to feel happiness.  Send it to me.  I'm ready to accept it.  I'm ready to take it and enjoy it and then I'm ready to spread it around.  But be clear, first, I'm ready to have it rain down on me.  I will not deflect it to others first, and not allow myself to feel it.  I will drink it in and then let it shine out from me.  I want that glow.  I want to find happiness, joy and bliss.  I deserve it.

Finding Energy

So this self-discovery-creative-digging-what-the-heck-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life journey I am on is a slow one, at best.  I often run into road blocks (real and imagined).  Part of building the foundation to figure out what I want to do in my life comes from answering what my passions are, what I get energy from, what moves me.  Yesterday, I truly felt energized by something.  Now, I have no idea if/how this plays a part in my future, but I thought I would grasp it anyway and make a note. 

A friend invited me over to help her think about what projects she wants to tackle in her home to make it her own.  She will be divorced soon and it is important to take control of this area of her life and love the space she's in.  I so enjoyed walking through her already lovely home and helping her start a couple of lists -- things to tackle soon, and things to save for and accomplish over time.  What fun we had talking about paint colors, furniture movement, and other little improvements or changes to her space!

I found such energy in that one afternoon, that I had a hard time sleeping last night.  So, I decided to post some photos of others' homes that I have helped transform.  This truly does energize me.

Mantras

Here are the Mantra "Trading Cards" I made....

Sharing my work

Not putting it off anymore...  Here are the pages I've been working on so far in class...

 

Pikes Peak -- chalk

 Setting Intentions -- chalk and markers

 Words and pictures that speak to me

 

25+ Things I Like to Do -- acrylic, pen, metallic gold acrylic on a wood ball rolled across the paper

 Watercolor with metallic gold acrylic on a wood ball rolled across the paper
 

Watercolor

Changing self-talk, Mantras -- crayon, marker, watercolor

25+ Things I WANT to Do -- Acrylic, playing with different textures

Acrylic on plastic produce netting with stamps made from silk leaves

Watercolor flowers made with kids' sponge brushes

Acrylic with plastic wrap stamping

Kids' dot painters with oil pastels

Scribbles with crayons and markers

Watercolors using various brushes, opposite hand, salt shake

Envelopes for 25 things -- watercolor, oil pastels

Letting Go of Perfect -- Acrylic using various applicators, overlay of torn paper w/ markers

Layering acrylics

Fingerpainting

Acrylics using toilet paper tubes

Acrylics

Acrylics with various applicators

Doodles

Watercolors using a straw

Oil pastel with torn paper watercolor overlays

More doodles

Freely drawn bunnies

Goals

Words from today given by by 13-year-old nephew:  

"Be productive in school and in life so you have time to do what you want. If you don't have anything to do, set some goals!"

So glad to have this kind of a kid for my boys to look up to.  Now, what about me?  He certainly got me thinking about my goals today.  I'd say my biggest goal was to be a mom.  Now I am and will be for the rest of my life.  So, I guess it is time to pick some new goals, right?  I don't know what they will be, but I'm excited right now to be focusing on me a bit while the kids are in school.  I sort of skipped the "me" part of my 20's.  Now, as I approach 40, I think it is ok to get back to that somewhat.  Time to make some goals!  This is a flaky post, but I'm tired, so off I go.  More pondering on this tomorrow...