Gratitudes and Celebration Journal - Week 8 - Treat yourself with Kindness

 Gratitude and Celebration Journal Week 8

 The page reads - Treat yourself with kindness....

 We can sometimes forget that we need to nurture ourselves and when we stop and treat ourselves as special we open ourselves up and unlock hidden treasures!

Here is the page once I have noted some of the things that I celebrate and am grateful for....

Take a moment to think about how you can be kind to yourself today - and then go out and do an act of kindness to someone else!  Take a moment to think about how you can inspire others.  Blessings for the weekend!

Traveller Returns - After the road trip

It has been two weeks since I came back from my holiday, the fresh faced sun kissed exterior has all but gone as we get back into the routine of every day life.  Having gone away to take time to recharge my batteries I am appreciative in being able to spend 3 weeks away from home in a new environment. 

Along with my husband Alan and son Sekani we went to see my sister-in-law in Huntsville, Alabama, and then met up with a few more members of the family spending a further 2 weeks in Florida.  We had a great time, the weather was very hot - so got my share of vitamin D.   I was able to take lots of photographs, chill out, go shopping for art supplies, and visit museums and art galleries.  We saw a couple of exhibitions at the Huntsville Museum of Art - there were some mixed media pieces, silver and glass exhibits on show.  If you get a chance to go down there it is well worth the visit;

 Here is a small fraction of things on display.  It is alway inspiring to see the work of others.

Sloan Bibb - Life is a Spectator Sport

Gary Chapman - To be with you

Goat - Gianmaria Buccellati

Cappy Thompson - Riding feathers into the future

At the Davidson Centre for the Arts which runs alongside the Museum of Art we were able to catch a quilting exhibition by local quilters, there were some lovely exhibits.  I have had a growing desire to learn how to make a quilt and seeing some of the exhibits really inspired me. 

Susan Keziah Hobbs Fennell Henderson - Crazy Quilt 1887

This quilt is over 100 years old!

Elaine Rowe - All I can see is green

Babara Black - Night

Anne Clough - A string of cosmic pearl

Another highlight whilst in Huntsville, was meeting fellow blogger and author Christina Carson

After finding out that she lived in Huntsville, I couldn't go all that way without meeting up in person and saying hello. It was lovely to meet her and we stopped and had a coffee.  Christina will be doing an interview about her writing and her current books on my wordpress site soon!

I also managed to get to the Botanical gardens which had a butterfly house.  I got some lovely images of the flowers and this will be dotted around my blog in future posts.

I was really good while I was in Huntsville and I managed to get out each morning and go for a walk.  The environment was beautiful, so much lush greenery.

An extremely steep hill that I managed to conquer

Before we left Huntsville we paid a visit to the Lowe Mill Centre for the Arts a venue with artist studios, theatre, exhibition space and a restaurant.  If we had been able to stay a few more days there was a music festival that was also taking place that weekend.

Sekani found a piano and gave us a couple of songs.....

Next stop Florida, stayed mostly in Orlando and then drove down to Daytona, and Miami.  It would have been great to spend more time in both these locations - next time!
 

Enjoying the water at Daytona Beach

Miami

Miami Beach

Miami Sunset

Took some time out at a couple of theme parks - Universal and Island of Adventure.  Went on lots of fun rides and I definitely recommend, the Transformers ride....

The Harry Potter ride was also exciting.  The down side to the theme parks were the queueing and they were charging $70 for a fast pass.  For some of the rides you could go on and cut the cues as a single rider (without a group) We took this option on a few rides, even though they slot people in who didn't mind being seperated in their groups, you mostly ended up with your party in the same car anyway,  and it cut the wait by half. There was additional entertainment around the park and we took in the Blues brother performers

Blues Brothers

Talented  musicians at the Blues Brothers stand

All in all it was a lovely trip there are so many more photographs that we took, I hope you got a flavour.  I developed a chest infection in the last week so had to slow it right down and just rest.  All better now though, and I now have to get down to the business of Art and mixed media.  There are a few classes coming up that I am hoping to take.  I also have some things to share that I had been working on - it's time to step up!   It would be great to hear about a break that you are planning or have done already.  Looking forward to reading your comments.  Blessings for the rest of the week.

Prayerfulness - Thought for the Day - 52 Weeks of Colour

Thought for the week

All is well, all is at peace. You have so many gifts waiting to be birthed, take time in prayer, to be still to centre yourself all will begin to unfold. Much blessings for the week, Amanda

Quote

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.  ...Anais Nin

Scripture 

For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13 5-6

Food - Creating in Faith

We eat to nourish our bodies, hoping to get the right vitamins and minerals thus enabling our bodies do a variety of activities.  We know that sometimes we can eat food not for the nourishment but the feeling associated and there is also a social aspect to eating food and we can eat without thinking about what we are putting into our mouths.  

For some there are foods that will cause immediate harm when consumed, and those with allergies are very careful about what they eat. For those with an intolerance, and there are times when knowing that you have a problem with a particular food this is over ridden by the feeling you get having eaten it and you then have to deal with the consequences when this happens.  I have been guilty of this, in the last two years I've had to give up wheat, dairy, and more recently soya but every now and then I am tempted to eat one of these food groups and then felt the effects after.  As a family we have been trying some great smoothie combinations and to get more fruit and vegetables into our diet.

 

Green smoothie - using spinach and, pears and apples

Nourishing our bodies can also take the shape of getting regular exercise, and rest, giving ourselves the necessary breaks and this is something that cannot be over looked.  You know how you feel when you have been taking regular exercise and if allow your circumstances to get in the way and you take a break from it you will begin to feel all the aches and pains and start feeling sluggish.  I am currently at that point where before I went away on holiday I had started a great exercise routine even carrying it into the first week of the holiday, and then I allowed stuff to get in the way and have in the two weeks since coming back not got my routine going, but now that I have owned up, will get on the case!

Having nourished our bodies, our minds have to be nourished, rest plays a part in this but we have to feed the mind with information that will edify, we have to ensure that we are continuing to learn new things, don’t let a month go by without you having read a new book, or considered a new idea, or taken a course.  There is no point in your life where you can say ‘I’ve learnt all there is to know about everything’, we have to continue to challenge ourselves and grow. 

Creating in Faith Bookmark holder

Lastly we have to feed our spirits with the nourishing word that comes from God.  We have to be in the ‘Word’ on a daily basis, applying the principles to our lives, renewing our mind, seeing what insights we can gain, and how the word applies to what we need to do.  We grow spiritually and we also have to look at our lives and question how we have grown from yesterday, last week, month and last year, it can’t be the same thing year after year, we have to be making an impact into the lives of others using our gifts and abilities as we meditate and apply his word. 

As an artist I see much of where my purpose lies with the creative field, I want to bless others with my art, my words, and all the other creative areas that I am passionate about, and so too as an artist there is still much to learn, new things to try, and doors to go through.  

What are you ‘feeding’ yourself that you need to give a rest, what new things do you need to try and how can you express that in your creativity?

Salvation is from the Lord ....Jonah 2:9

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;     if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. Proverbs 25:21

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6