I miss excitement and adventure.

When I was younger, I got the opportunity to travel. My family had the means to take vacations and I even studied abroad. I spent a year in Denmark which was life-changing and shaped who I am today.

While my husband and I have never had a lot of money, we used to take a lot of road trips, mostly before we became parents. We would travel to art shows and gaming conventions (my husband is a huge D&D nerd), but sometimes we were spontaneous; we would just take off. 

I really miss that.

My husband and I work really hard, but vacations are just not financially feasible right now. We like exploring parks in the area and local events – Toledo actually has a lot to offer – but I just want to see someplace different. I want to get on the road with no real destination. I want to buy toothbrushes at the gas station because this trip wasn’t planned.

When I ship artwork to shows, I spend a lot of time thinking about the location to which I’m sending it. Oh, how I would love to go to every opening and explore a new area!

I’m an anxious person, dependent on routines and a creature of habit, but lately, I just wish I had more excitement and adventure in my life. Have you ever felt that way?

I have hope. I believe my family’s financial situation will improve. I would love to travel with my daughter. She hasn’t had many chances to experience that, and that makes me sad. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of traveling. 

I can only hope that one day my daughter gets her own “year in Denmark.”

So let’s daydream together! Where would you like to travel to? Or tell me about an interesting place you have been.

Update – Sorry for the Silence

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I have been working my butt off! I love my jobs but I’ve been working every day and have no idea when I’ll get a day off. I like staying busy but I don’t know if I’m spending enough time with my family.

Despite the lack of downtime, I know I have to do this right now to help my family get back on track financially. We need relief.

Also, even though I haven’t been drawing much the last couple of weeks, I got into a couple more art shows. I will post more info as they open.

As always, thank you for your support. I miss you guys!

More Art Shows!!

Tears and Smiles 2024 opened yesterday. You can check out the show here. I was really impressed with the other artists. It’s probably one of the coolest shows I’ve been in so far.

I also found out Friday that I have been selected for an online solo show. More details to come!

I would write more but I am so tired! This week was so busy! I finally started my second job at the arts and crafts store. My back aches, my feet ache, but believe it or not, my knee hasn’t bothered me at all!

Faith poster at work – the saga continues. I finally spoke up!

Work has been strange this week. It’s been busy, and I’m a little stressed and emotional.

On Monday, my supervisor asked me to take a survey online. I had no idea what it was about, but to my surprise, it was about diversity in our workplace. Religion was mentioned several times in the survey, and I was brutally honest.

I finished the survey and broke into tears. My boss asked me what was wrong, and I didn’t hold back. I told her I felt ostracized, and I complained about the faith poster in the mailroom as well as our organization’s obsession with Chic-fil-A. 

When it came to the poster, my boss and I agreed that it is okay to have a religious poster in your cubicle, where you can see it, but placing a religious poster in the mailroom where everyone can see it is inappropriate. I felt empowered and validated.

However, the poster was still there when I came to work this morning. No one was around, so I took it down myself. It felt like an amazing release. I told my boss I did it. She didn’t seem upset, but she did ask me if anyone saw me. I said, “Nope.”

Turns out the survey was done by a third party, and my organization hired a diversity professional to help us out with our workplace environment. There are going to be focus groups and training in the near future.

The comments. The Bible quotes. So much happens at work that makes me uncomfortable, but could change be on the horizon? Are improvements possible? For once, I’m hopeful.

Maybe this was a breakthrough, and I’m finally finding my voice.

This experience inspired my art today, and I made this mask at work.

Some people I just can’t be mad at. How would you respond?

A coworker quoted the bible to me a few days ago. We were having a very vague conversation about politics and I admitted to her that I don’t feel like a democrat or a republican. I just don’t fit with either. (If you’re curious, I tend to be very progressive and wish we didn’t have a two-party system. We need better choices! I didn’t tell her that though.) She agreed with not fitting in and said a bible quote about unity, and while I agreed with the quote, I really don’t think it should be said at work. Guys, she even said, “god sayeth…”. This is a common occurrence at work, and it often enrages me. However, this coworker really is the sweetest lady. She’s very short and very pregnant right now. She’s just an adorable little meatball. She wasn’t pushy about the bible quote, and it made sense with what we were talking about, so I said nothing. I know this shouldn’t be happening at work. We probably shouldn’t have discussed politics even though it was very vague.

I know nothing will change if I don’t open my mouth, but I just can’t be mad at her. Guys, what if she was the one who hung up the faith poster?

Have you ever had that happen? When you want to be offended by someone saying inappropriate things, but at the same time it feels harmless? Maybe it was harmless, but at the same time, it reminded me of how out of place I feel at the office sometimes. I love my job, but I’m definitely uncomfortable around my coworkers at times. It shouldn’t happen, but it does.

Would you have said anything?

Art Shows!

I was in an art contest and the results were posted today. You can check out the show here. The show received 949 submissions and I am absolutely honored to receive special recognition.

I’ve been a little bummed because the same two pieces of mine keep getting accepted into shows. I was losing a little confidence and thinking I was never going to get any better. But I got into a show called Tears and Smiles, and I am so excited that one of my weirder pieces that’s never been in a show before was accepted! It opens on the 12th and I will post the link once it’s up.

Thanks for your support! 🙂

“Faith” poster at work

Do you remember that “faith” poster at my work? I haven’t complained and it’s still up.

 

I was so annoyed I made another poster after considering all of your suggestions.

 

Beer and weed weren’t an option since many of the people we help at my organization are dealing with addiction. I thought the ice cream was cute!

I am so tempted to post this next to the original poster, but I chicken out every time! Will I get in trouble? Maybe people will just think it’s cute? Does it get the point across?

More Art Shows!

Yes, I know; it’s a flower show, but two of my pieces got in! They sent me the plaque posted above. I was also really impressed with the other artists. You can see the show here.

 

I also got into a show that opens July 5th. I will post the link once it’s up.

 

After my rough day yesterday, I was thrilled to wake up to an email saying I was accepted into a show! Whew! Today’s a new day! Thank you so much for your support!

What do you do when you have a rough day?

Today has been a rough day.

I had a couple of bad dreams last night so I was already on edge this morning. My dreams always feel so real. I tried to shake it off and go about my day.

I dropped off my daughter at STEAM camp, and as we were walking through the parking lot, a car almost hit us. I went into full momma bear mode and LOST MY SHIT. I screamed at the lady driving. My daughter truly looked scared. I’m normally a pretty cheerful person so seeing me angry is out of the ordinary for her. 

I walked my daughter into the school and quickly left. I burst into tears in the car. I felt so horrible.

I was terrified of my dad growing up because he was always so angry. He wasn’t around much, but when he was, we were walking on eggshells trying not to upset him. I don’t ever want my daughter to be scared of me.

I called my husband at work crying, and he actually used comp time to take the rest of the day off and spend time with me. Did I ever mention I have the best husband in the world?

One brief moment of losing my cool reminded me of all the baggage I carry. Something that happened so long ago just resurfaced. Have you ever had a moment like that?

In one of my scary dreams last night, I left work for my lunch break and it was pitch black out at three in the afternoon. This morning it stormed and got very dark. My husband jokingly asked me if my dream was prophetic. 

Tonight I see myself having a conversation with my daughter about what happened and then lots of meditating to hopefully recenter myself. Here’s hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Do you have any tips for calming yourself down and focusing on the present?