It's all about GRATITUDE!!!

Be thankful, be grateful... everything counts!! I am trying to take time out...

to be mindful and thankful.. we ALL have lots to be thankful for ... I wish everyone would ta

ke time out of their day ... to write five things that they are thankful for.. just five simple or detailed

which ever you like...just take a small time out of your time ... Writing things down makes things more real, they take effect... just take a small notebook, journal,... even keep a record on your on personal computer... it doesn't matter.. just really WRITE IT DOWN.. IT REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! Our lives are filled with stress and tribulations of life's events..and sometimes we get carried away and let the "little " things get to us. It is truly like the saying... "It's all Good!!!"

Take time today, even if its just a moment... but please take the time.. I promise you WILL see the difference..... be thankful, be mindful, and be grateful... for we all have sooooo much to really be thankful for...

Thank you for listening... Aloha.. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

Live Life to its Fullest!!!

I just love the movie "Erin Brockovich"... it is soooo inspiring .. just to go out and do it!! Julia Roberts is just magnificent in this movie! Its just totally what I needed to end my day..

I am also reading a wonderfully inspiring book.. from an author I completely admire, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer.. Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life! Living the Wisdom of the Tao. Dr. Dyer explores and lives out the Tao Te Ching, referred to as the Tao for short, a wonderful book of wisdom written by a Chinese author Lao-tzu. He goes through this interesting book verse by verse, discusses it, and also gives you tips (Do the Tao Now) that he has derived from each individual verse. It's amazing.. like the Bible, of which I hold very dear, written so many years ago.. its contents and inspiration gives us tips even for today in 2009!!

Anyway, I am reading tonight the 6th Verse.. Living Creatively

The part of the verse I like the best is...

"The gateway to the mysterious female is called the root of all creation!" Wow, does that say it all or what!!! What about "Words may change, but be assured that the feminine energy can and will bring you to your own perfection. "

The book goes on to say "Whatever you feel within you as your calling ... whatever makes you feel alive-- know in your heart that this excitement is all the evidence you need to have your inner passion become reality!" I just love that!!

EVEN MORE POWERFUL - "Whatever you feel within you as your calling -- whatever makes you FEEL ALIVE -- know in your heart this excitement is all the evidence you need to have your inner passion become reality."

"Be creative -- in your though

ts, in your feelings, and in all of your actions. Apply your own uniqueness to everything you undertake. "

"Whatever you feel complelled to do -- be it write music, design software, do floral arrangements, clean teeth, or drive a taxi -- do it with your unique flair. Being creative means trusting your inner calling, ignoring criticism or judgement, and releasing resistance to your natural talents."

So with all of this in mind... there should be absolutely no reason for any of not to pursue a dream with drive and determination. We have so many opportunities to take advantage of and myself included sometimes get discouraged or feel defeated when we stumble upon a road block. We should take these "road blocks" in stride and learn from them ... for I believe that it just puts us in a different direction or route that will just make us better when we get there.

I always try to turn things no matter what, around and look at it in a total positive light.. because there is truly always a "bright side" to things... Think and meditate on the positive because God will carry us through.. Enjoy the day!!! Aloha

"I write because I can, to fill the empty void of purpose.. I study because I want to - to gain the knowledge for my

soul - to quench the deep thurst of my desire..."

"I love the solitude of my space. I can be whole here and delve deeper into my creativity. I hate being trapped in a world of shallowness and sadness. Each moment I create I come closer to completeness... " -- Artfulmama --

We can't take the little things in life for granted...

Today has really left me at a loss for words...

You go through your day trying to make ends meet.. dealing with the details of your life.. relationships with your spouses, children and family. Stressing over really meaningless things. You deal with the world's business.. crime, lousy economy, companies going bankrupt, people being laid off, consistent expenses, worries about you and and your family's future.. you get frustrated when your schedule is overloaded and you miss appointments... and then WHAMMM!!! Something really hits home.. to make you realize .. that all of that stuff really doesn't matter.. there could be so many worse things to happen to us in our lives..

I just got a phone call from a friend... another Mother.. with three children.. busy family, enjoys lfe, travels with her family and visits wonderful places all over the world... enjoys life and it it has to give... we see each other at different school events.. and share the common bond of our children.. she told me that she was just diagnosed with Acute Leukemia ! I literally, didnt know what to say... I sat there on the phone completely stunned... she said she showed no symptoms but now has to go for treatments.. possibly up to three months... three months of being away from her children.. and home.. and not knowing .. not knowing if .. if she will be around to see her children grow up and graduate.. or celebrate the next holiday... I am still in total shock.. I kept thinking.. this is truly something to be concerned about.. not little things like missing appointments.. or getting frustrated in a parking lot cause we missed a parking spot closer to the front door... or getting down on ourselves for gaining weight.. LIFE IS TOOOOO SHORT PEOPLE!!! Wake up and smell the COFFEE..!!! Take time to be with your family and enjoy them.. tell them you love them, give them a hug and always remember to try to say loving, caring, encouraging words on your way out the door... you just never know.. all our lives could change completely in a split second...

Lets all take time to be thankful and grateful for all that we have been given in our lives... everyone is truly special and have special talents and gifts that we must cherish... take time and take a minute... look around you and be mindful... Life is a gift .. we must live it to the fullest!!!

Take care and send some prayers out there for all who are in need. I'm praying for you friend and your family. Aloha!

"Creativity keeps me sane!!!"

Creativity keeps me sane!!! What a loaded statement... It keeps me sane through the world of stress, anxiety,puberty, menopause and deciding what to prepare the evening meal... I enjoy writing and blogging .. it seems to open up more and more ideas all the time. I guess there comes a point in every Mom's life where they need to rediscover themselves so that they can still maintain the process of maintaining everyone elses life. Being a Mom is a huge job. I have spoken to so many women that have had major professional "real" jobs, so to speak and now they are home raising their children .. and they totally admit that being a Mom is the most difficult job there is and that they will ever have. But, the most rewarding and irreplaceable.

After discovering this way to express myself through writing I have been able to explore and investigate other artist's work as well. I have found sooooo many creative talent

ed people here through our blogs and websites. It is truly amazing, encouraging and completely inspiring as well. I thank all of you talented folks out there ... you

all keep me going !!! This is truly a wonderful artistic connection with people throughout the world!!

I am thankful for these times when I get to write and express myself through my art especially thr

ough these difficult economic times where everything in the news, national and local seems to be getting worse by the minute. It is truly an outlet for

my frustrations, trials and tribulations of life. I am thankful for the gift of the internet and all that it offers us. After all lowly starving artists like myself can now post their artistic creativities live on the web... and who knows... maybe the statement that an artist only gains fame after they have passed will change!! I surely hope so....Aloha for now... Have a wonderful day!! and Treat yourself like company!!

Thought for the Day...

He is our hiding place when we are fearful, and He is our confidence when we are doubtful. Our trust in His love and strength is indispensable to staying on course in the race that is set before us!

On a lighter note....

I have been working on some of my pet portraits... and kind of got on a roll here lately... of which I am totally elated about because I truly thought I lost my touch... these are some of my latest portraits of some of my beloved furry friends... !!! Drawing, painting, designing.. color.. I love it all and have always tried to keep it apart of my life. I truly feel more of myself.. when I am creating.. like in my writing... and hope to keep expanding my creative horizons..

I truly believe that our furry friends are really just special people in fur coats.. the fact that they continue to give unconditional love at all times.. is truly a special and unique trait... I find myself even when enjoying a wonderful vacation.. missing my special loving furry friend ("Thunder", the portrait just above in the center) its a special, completely undescribable feeling ... of his unique snore, breathing and even dreaming... I feel completely safe feeling him next to me or at my feet... a feeling that cannot be compared to anything else..

We need to be good to our furry friends.. they are truly a special creation from God.. Thank you God for this truly wonderful creation.. Have a great day & Aloha!!

"THE POWER OF THE INTERNET!!!"

Well, I just had a lovely experience and wanted to let all of you in on things!! Its truly amazing what people think they can get away with these days... and what makes me even more disgusted is that in these "economic downturn" times.. with tons of people getting laid off and out of work, factories closing, banks closing, bankruptcies, tourism numbers down, even school tuition up but enrollments down... and tons of people really looking for serious work there are people out there just ready to get you involved with something ridiculously stupid... but yet intriguing in the beginning.

I have been searching the internet looking for a way to be able to earn an income from home for quite some time now and have tried a bizillion ideas... and supposed job opportunities online.. which require start up costs, registration fees, one time fees, membership fees... you name it .. there are ALWAYS FEES!! NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE!! But I must say, this last wonderful experience taught me a bit of a lesson.. but has also made me even more skeptical of things. They say one of the things we can do to find this recession's silver lining is to "rethink your career"... many of these situations that are happening to us may be just a "kick in the pants" or a just plain "wake up call!!"... Lets face it we are all in this boat together.. and I believe that all of this "downturn" stuff is pulling us all a little closer and making us realize what really are the important things in our lives...

So hopefully we can avoid some of the scum and scam out there... and one thing I just experienced.. was a MYSTERY SHOPPING SCAM... everyone BEWARE.. !!! I answered an email regarding a Mystery Shopping assignment .. and there was no cost up front so I figured, what the heck.. I'll try it.. The gentleman that sent me the email.. including assignment instructions.. also forwarded me info to track the check he was sending me through UPS.. I kind of thought it was too good to be true ... since the check was for $3,600.00 and he wanted me to cash it and complete the assignment as soon as I received it. I emailed him with the common rules to cash an out of town check.. and verifying funds.. etc.. He told me that I should be able to cash the check as long as I had good standing with my bank. DID HE REALLY THINK I WAS A TOTAL IDOT or what...!!! Anyone knows that they have to verify the funds!! With that in mind after receiving the check with prompt delivery from UPS .. I saw that the check was from an entirely different company and bank than he mentioned in his email... so being as skeptical as I was I proceeded to contact the company the check was from.. and they thanked me over and over and even had me speak to their company attorneys with my information as this was indeed a FRAUDULENT CHECK!! Additionally, this company verified that all the info on the check, like account numbers etc... was indeed correct, BUT it was NEVER ISSUED BY THEM!! Needless to say I sent a congratulatory email to my Mystery Shopper friend.. and thanked him for giving me yet another wonderful informative subject to write about!! Pretty sad what people will lower themselves to do... not to mention that they must not have too many other important things in their lives to do... there are SO MANY WAY to be helping each other rather than trying to ruin each others lives... anyway, this is exactly why I am writing today... to inform all of you to BEWARE of these internet scams!! They are truly out there...

Dont get me wrong.. I really do love the internet.. if it didnt exist.. I wouldnt be able to be writing to all of you today and warning you!! Also, I wouldnt have been able to find out all of my info about where this check was from, what bank etc... or find long lost friends and or relatives... or shop and save on different items.. with the special convenience that it offers...but like everything in life... there are goods and bads with everything..

So my advice is keep truly enjoying the internet and all that it offers... learn, write, read and explore. It is truly filled with loads of valuable information .. but please, trust your gut .. be careful of all of these internet scams.. use it to research and investigate and protect yourself.. and please let others know as well ... so we then can all learn from experience.. and dangerous situations out there.. after all we're all in this together... lets think and help one another.. life is too short !! Thinking of all of you!!! Be safe.. Aloha!!