A Creative Escape

So this past weekend was a creative escape in more ways than one....... I definitely had to be creative at talking my husband into taking 3 days off of work to go to a scrapbooking retreat in AZ so that my Mother and I could have fun and take some classes while he spent some "much needed father-daughter bonding time" with Sienna. Somehow it all worked out and we had a really great time. It felt good to face my fears of flying with Sienna and I know it was good for my Mom to get out of her comfort zone (which hasn't been very comfortable lately) and get away for a few days. I met a lot of really sweet women, made some really interesting projects, shipped home 6 boxes of "stuff" and soaked up a lot of creative inspiration. Heidi Swapp and Stacy Julian inspired me in particular and I learned a lot from both of these very talented women, mothers, creators, businessminds. One of the highlights of the trip was hearing Mom's name called for one of the grand prizes!! How funny that she won a year long online class with Heidi Swapp and she doesn't even own a comupter-----all I can say is LUCKY ME!! I can't wait to start the class in January. The title is "A Year to Remember" and I really pray that this coming year will be a year to remember more for its joy and less for its sorrow.

This year continues to be a real struggle for me in so many ways. ON the one hand, I feel unbelievably blessed every single day to have Sienna and to have the opportunity to be with her and to watch her grow before my eyes---yet that joy is tempered with sadness when I allow myself to think about how much Kyle has missed out on here...... Yet even as I write that sentence, I know in my heart that it isn't true. Kyle has gone to the place that we all are aiming for, and I must remind myself of that each time I start to slide down the path of regret.....

Every day is a blessing and every day holds inspiration and joy and life if I only allow myself to open my eyes to it......................