Beautiful Feet’s Neighborhood

Here are some sketches from last week completed whilst watching one son blow straw bubbles in his hot cocoa and the other son dancing to The Cure in his Hulk costume.

"Kids and circuits" 12/09

"The apple and the ibis" 12/09

"Every knowing tale" 12/09

Amy 32 weeks pregnant

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I am currently 38 weeks pregnant with baby number two.  (Lisa took this picture in her yard in Portland when I was 32 weeks)  Sierra Alexandria will be here before I know it!  Everything is ready we are just enjoying just being a family of three while it lasts.  I am hoping and praying to make it two more weeks so she can be a New Year's baby!

Soren waving

John & Soren at our front gate

We had a blast in our first winter storm of the season.  Soren and John built their first snowman and played all morning until Soren was worn out and not to mention cold.  (he wouldn't wear mittens)  I hope we get a lot of snow this year!

Whoa, doggies. So much snow here in Flagstaff. 26" last count. That means loads of shoveling and lots of toasty beverages.

big, fat 26" of snow in Flagstaff

I am considering entering the Mail Me Art competition (http://mailmeart.com/going-postal/submit-mail-art/), so I've been dabbling again in (EEK) acrylics. Been a long time since I've tried that medium. What's interesting is that my hand is applying watercolor techniques with acrylics... and I'm digging it. We'll see what happens. It's all school to me - all the foibles and weird experiments are so much fun, and since I can't be in college right now - THIS is my college. Or, maybe this is my built-in excuse for making a lot of tragic painting mistakes, the ones that I can't even stand to look at. Haha.

maybe Mail Me Art?

This next piece is tres' exciting.  A completed commission for an incredible family. It is my first portrait - a surreal and joyful one. I really enjoyed working on this.

"Visage of heartful wandering"

Feel your day, whatever it brings.
~C

Tamazula

Here I am. House smells of stir fry and so do my clothes. I'm jonesing for some rice tea. I've had a crazy fixation on hot sauce lately and consumed one two bottles of Tamazula this week all by myself. Not sure why. My little boy was super wild today and I'm not sure why that is either. I'm about to start a sci-fi book called The Child Garden. I hear my little town will be covered in a couple feet of snow tomorrow. Wheeeee! There's a good chance I will be sledding on Tuesday. I wish for more time than I have. I don't hardly ever wish a day will go by fast. Not even the bad ones. Well, maybe the really bad ones.

yay, snow!

I've had a lot of characters flitting about upstairs in my mind. Here are just a few.

sketch for Illustration Friday's "Crunchy", #1

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The one above is for Illustration Friday's topic: Crunchy.  Funny, huh?

sketches from december 4th #2

sketches from december 4th #3

I'll redo the one above and give them both feet next time. My thumbnail box got too small! Meanwhile, I just finished a commission, but I will have to wait to include it in my next post. Sorry! I have another VERY large one I am working on right now too, so maybe I'll include it too.

I just watched The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, again this week. Saw it when I was a teenager. Still one of the most wonderful films and utterly quotable! IF per chance you've never seen it... then add it to your Netflix cue or whatever. You'll love it. You can even see it with the kiddies.

Princess bride

I just happened to revisit my Vox account and realized that I've been absent for almost 6 months. That means it's been 6 months since I sat down to just freely write. And that's 6 months too long.

I wish I could say that life has been really blah while I was gone. To be honest, I really started posting more and more stuff on Facebook and reconnecting with old friends. And I've been out living life, as I ought.

I took a few minutes to revisit my posts from 2009, and, well, it's kind of amazing how much The Boy has grown and changed, and I'm so intrigued to see how I've grown as a person. I feel like I'm kind of getting the hang of this motherhood thing, like I can take that role in stride now and not let it be my primary focus. As such, I've started wearing short skirts again and occasionally heels, and I'm taking better care of myself. That's not to say that I gave up wearing jeans, of course. I still wear them, but they're a little more fashionable now and not simply utilitarian.

Recent introspection has made me realize that I really haven't been myself for a while. I took a trip up to New York the weekend after Halloween and kind of found myself again. I saw glimpses of a younger, happier, more vibrant Eileen and realize that's the real me. That's the Eileen I need to get back to.

So, this past month has been interesting, at best, as I rediscover myself. Basically, I'm the same person, but I'm taking steps to figure out - and go after - what I want and be the kind of person I want to be. I feel like an amarylis bulb that was sitting dormant in the ground for such a long time, now finally blessed with the right conditions that are enabling me to bloom once more.

And it's a great feeling.

Ah, or maybe AAAAAHHHHH!  Where has the time gone?  This 6 month furlough is drawing to a close and I can’t believe I haven’t updated this site in months.  What a whirlwind this time has been.  I’m beginning to wonder why time seems to pass so much more quickly in the states than it does in our little town of Wiang Kaen.

  Since being back in the States I’ve found myself thinking more about how much I have to be thankful for.  At first it was just the simple things like having a DISHWASHER, a DRYER, HOT WATER IN MY KITCHEN FAUCET that made me so joyful, so thankful.  But I’ve gotten deeper than that too.  I’m thankful for the cooler weather, the lack of bugs, the gift of watching the seasons change.  I’m thankful for this time we’ve had to step away from our ministry in Wiang Kaen, to see it from a distance with the Lord’s perspective.  I’m thankful for how the Lord has stretched our income, somehow, that even though we’re living in a place where things are much more expensive for us than normal, we have never ended up short, not even once.  I’m thankful for the attention of family and friends to Raymond and Rudy, and for how they have blossomed under the love of such an extended network of people who care for them.  I’m thankful that God has called me to be a missionary and for what that has done for me personally, how it has opened my eyes wide to how the Lord has tenderly cared for me in every difficult situation. 

There’s something about living in the States that sometimes makes me feel kind of numb.  Do you ever feel that way?  We spent this past week with family, enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday together.  I noticed during that time how much I took for granted.  I sat down for Thanksgiving dinner and I didn’t give a lot of thought to what a blessing it was, to be in a warm house, to be surrounded by family, to have a splendid feast before us.  I thought about those blessings but they didn’t grip my heart in the same way as they have before.  A year ago in Wiang Kaen I remember what I was thinking on Thanksgiving Day.  I remember being thankful that the Lord gave me the energy I needed to provide a big meal for our friends.  I remember being thankful that we had enough money to buy gas to drive 2 hours away to the grocery store and then that we had enough to buy the provisions to  make a meal.  I remember being thankful for the faces of our dear friends and their shy smiles as they shared about how the Lord had been good to them.  It’s like everything is in bold, florescent color there- when we get sick we sometimes get really sick.  When the Lord answers a prayer it’s a huge blessing.  Each meal that ends up on our table there is something to be truly thankful for.  Here we are surrounded by so much.  Excellent medical care in a huge variety of nearby locations.  Stores that provide every possible necessity.  Friends and family who  are continually generous to us in many different ways.  When we return to Thailand though, that’s all gone.  Medical care is mediocre at best, and it’s far away.  Food is available but not always clean and not always providing the nutrition that we need.  Fellowship with other English speaking believers is far away.  But do you know what we have when you take all those other things away?  We have our Lord Jesus, and He knows all our needs.  We have never gone hungry.  We have never been in a seriously dangerous medical situation.  When all that I would have depended on was taken away, that’s when I truly began to lean on the Lord.  And how faithful He has been. 

Memories and floating and wishing and feeling all sorts of oceanic.

"Mumbled filigree from an existence"

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"Mumbled filigree from an existence"

An idea that I'm toying with. It's toying with me, actually.

Idea for a painting

Ink.

sketches from this week in Nov., #1

sketches from this week in Nov., #2

Tra-la-la.
 

Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope you enjoy the festivity of giddy little ghosts, dragons and fairies at your door. Be sweet and give them a treat.

Here's a treat for you!

"Brother and sister"

"Brother and sister", 15" x 14 1/16", watercolor, India ink and pastel, 140 lb paper.

"Brother and sister"

and BOO!

cute little scaries - Happy Halloween!

The sky opens up tonight and down comes our first snow. I see the space of air swirling between the swaths of white. I am not ready for this, I think. Just not yet. Later, okay. The boys tromp around and come inside. Then out again. And back in. The cocoa is made, the real kind like my mom makes. Spaces in the heart open up. I think about when I was seven and my sister and my brother lived in a big white house with stained wallpaper. Think there were pictures of teapots and flowers on that wallpaper. The hubby calls and he will be late. But it's fine because this soup gets better if it cooks longer. I feel ragged. I feel swell. I think about heaven and hell and how it is all so weird to categorize a life after like that. Here I am and I am in love with people and if I don't like someone, well I will eventually because it is my nature to try and try to make it all right, to hope beyond hope, at least inside my heart. And hell doesn't belong to anyone. Nor does heaven. Those are a fool's gambles. More spaces open up in my mind. There's a little Nick Drake on the player now. Before that, The Clash. The soup is too watery, so I mix in some potatoes, flour and water. And butter. I think good thoughts because that all goes in there too with the ingredients. I think of Rakel and how I love her. Darling. And now... there's another space and it is for me to step into. The night opens up and soon I'll be sleeping in it with some dreams, a jumble of me of you of friends from long ago of soup of spiders of kisses of snow of boys of husband of love of....

"Findings"

"Space and spaces"