11/11/11 wishes

what have you wished for?

An end to hunger?

a happy child?

a PS3?

a college degree?

someone to love?

a Dodge Viper?

Happy Holidays?

a writing gig?

Whatever you have wished for,

may all your wishes come true

A Pleasant Encounter

I'm not sure where it came from, but the other day this was waiting for me as I left the house. A little pleasant encounter.

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A Photo that Makes you Smile: 30 Days About Me

This photo was part of an assignment where an egg was used as the subject of the photo. I took a lot of photos of that egg, many of which were probably more "artistic" than this, but I love this one. I love the way William is holding the egg, the gentle way his hands are caressing it. Of course, he's my sugar bunch so I love everything about him, but I just love his little hands. He was thrilled to be part of the shoot and I still can see his smile as he holds the egg and the photo is taken. I love my little boy and I love this photo.

Yesterday I did a video for my post but I can't get it uploaded on my phone. So stay tuned, folks, and I'll post my clog post as soon as I can.

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Gratitude: What Are You Grateful For?

At this moment, I am grateful for:

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* Air conditioning - I can't imagine this heat wave without it and feel for those who are without

* Chocolate - when I am recovering from a migraine, I always crave chocolate. Maybe it's that love feeling that it give you.

* A toddler who tells me he loves me about 100 times a day

* Imitrex

* Cicada song - I love that sound

* God's grace - My thought life has been sucky of late; His grace sustains me

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* Tiger lilies

* red winged blackbirds

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* a refrigerator covered with toddler artwork

* a husband who not only loves me, but thinks I'm hot!

* Quickie, who snuggled with me all afternoon

My Quickie

Yellow Makes Me Happy

When I moved into my current abode 10 years ago, I painted every wall in every room yellow. Very pale yellow, and all kinds of different shades. Yellow makes me happy. I feel like I am living in eternal spring, my favorite season. I love yellow.

William talks about "lellow" frequently, and seemingly for no reason other than he loves it. He would wear his yellow robot shirt every day for the rest of his life if that were possible. His Hot Wheels are the greatest toy ever invented, but the yellow ones trump all. He is a compulsive dandelion picker, and seems to consider them the greatest gift he can give me. He won't let me check to see if he likes butter.

Roam if You Want To

ridiculously picturesque vista found during a roam

I was the classic overachiever in college. TA, LA, taking beyond my required credits, student council, biology club, straight A's. You know the type. I was also a complete stress-case; I was very close to losing my mind. On the advice of my advisor I went to see the school psychologist, a shaggy haired man in a patched elbow corduroy jacket. The very image of a psychologist. After patiently listening to me for a long time, he gave me this piece of advice: "You are caught in a rut of over achievement. I want you to get in your car and roam. Go down streets that you have never been down. Get out of your life for a while." I left shaking my head, thinking that he was the biggest crackpot I had ever met. But I followed his advice, and to this day, I think it is one of the best pieces of advice anyone has ever given me.

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Roaming about takes you out of the ordinary and thrusts you into worlds that you never knew existed. I've found covered barns, gorgeous farms, fantastic restaurants and book stores, and have just taken amazingly picturesque or pleasing drives. One must never roam without a camera; some of the best pictures that I have ever take were on roads that I didn't know existed until I ventured off of my beaten path. Oh, and if you are prone to getting lost, make sure you have a GPS - getting lost is sort of the point.

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When I was in medical school a group of friends and I attended a conference at The Opreyland Hotel. It's an amazing place and we were quite taken with it. Nonetheless, we were bored out of our minds one night and needed something to do. I suggested that we roam. We ran around the hotel like children, going down hallways that we hadn't seen before, opening every door we could. We found a conference room and took pictures of each other pounding on tables looking as CEO-like as possible. In a bathroom with the largest floor to ceiling mirror I have ever seen we made up a line dance. Somehow we ended up in an employee locker room. And in the Grand Atrium we found a group of darling SMU boys to teach our line dance to. To this day, it is one of the most fun vacation days I have ever had.

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So get outta here! Get lost! Go down that country lane that you've always wondered about. Venture into that Ethiopian restaurant that you just aren't so sure of. Be brave, get in the car, and discover the world around you. You will never see it the same again.

Ephemeral

-adjective

1. lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory

2. lasting but one day

The ephemeral nature of things; the transitory.

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:: A candle flickering flame

:: That whisper of perfume as she passes you

:: Those first blushes of love, so all-encompassing and consuming

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:: The lily, the spiderwort, the iris, the violet

:: The pinks and purples streaking across the twilight sky

:: A spoken word; there, and then gone

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:: That cloudy sailboat, or hippo, or castle in the sky

:: Waves that ebb and flow, and the footprints they wash away

:: That perfect snowflake; crystals formed by God's hand, melting away as they hit the earth

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They Make Me Happy

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When Will says "backaroni and cheese, please"

The constellations in the winter sky. Orion is my favorite.

Seeing fields full of Canadian geese resting during their migration

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Warmer days that follow chilly nights

Grape hyacinth buds peeking through the frosty ground

Cuddling in bed with my men, Tim and William

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A coat of fresh paint on an previously dingy wall

Feeling the sun on my face after the frigid weather of winter

Knowing that the cherry blossoms will pop in just a few weeks

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Sheep extra fluffy with their winter coat

Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream - extra soothing for dry, knitty, winter hands

Waking up to find that I'm being held

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I'm Grateful: Joy

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This month of gratitude has been filled with joy. I find that I catastrophize an awful lot, but when i am forced to concentrate on all of the things that I have to be grateful for, the catastrophizing stops. And I feel contentment and joy. I have to say that I am grateful to Lisa for coming up with the brilliant idea of a month of gratitude; it has affected me more than I ever imagined it would. To that end, I am still going to incorporate grateful things in my blog to keep the practice going. I would recommend this assignment to anyone. You just may not realize how much joy there is in your life until you do it.

They Make Me Happy

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:: Veggie Tales Silly Songs (check out "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything")
:: The smell of lavender
:: The heirloom china that my great grandmother painted


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:: Singing loud and dancing around with my iPod
:: Messy, casual braids
:: Blowing bubbles


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:: Converse sneakers. Yes, I love my Chucks.
:: Daydreaming
:: Cool office supplies


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:: Bald eagles, which are no longer endangered and nest along Columbus's Olentangy River.
:: Kitties in windows
:: Spotty baby birds


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They Make Me Happy

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:: Watching Will twirl his hair while he drinks his chocolate milk
:: Vintage keys
:: While Will twirls my pony tail while drinking his chocolate milk


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:: Cabotine perfume and it's beautiful bottle
:: Those cult classics of the 80's: Red Dawn, The Outsiders, Better Off Dead (ah, John), The Breakfast Club, and SO many others
:: Endless refills on Diet Coke


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:: The smell of lavender
:: Sweater weather
:: Whirligigs, except in my gutters


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:: The crunch of leaves underfoot
:: Putting on dry clothes after a drenching rain
:: Pony tails held together by ribbon bows


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They Make Me Happy

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:: souvenir Eiffel Tower statues
:: stained glass windows in old churches
:: glittery nail polish


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:: old button jars
:: candlelight - everything looks more beautiful in it
:: Krispy Kreme glazed donuts hot from the oven


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:: vintage prom dresses
:: Indian summers
:: that TOMS shoes has now donated 1 million pairs of shoes.


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:: rose petals
:: soft kitty bellies
:: Chinese lanterns


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They Make Me Happy

First of all, I want to say to each and every one of you that you are amazing and SO supportive people. I usually respond to everyone's comments but I just haven't had the time. So when I can get back to doing that, I certainly will.

Yesterday we did a workshop on co-dependency which TOTALLY explained my issue from the last post. I feel so relieved to know how I developed my quirks. So I'm feeling much happier about that. And, about these things:

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:: Living in the Midwest, where I can watch the leaves change color in the fall

:: Having two teenagers that can rake said leaves when all 13 of our trees decide to drop them.

:: Magazines. I just LOVE magazines

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:: People who have enough moxie to wear horn-rimmed glasses

:: Paisley. In fact, if I were to ever get a tattoo, the permanent thing on my body, it would be a paisley design.

:: Will sitting next to me watching while I write my blog (many Hot Wheels are involved).

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:: Peanut butter. I eat it by the spoonful sometimes from the jar.

:: Vintage crocheted oven pads.

:: Wild rabbits skittering across the yard.

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:: Malted waffles. The flat kind like they make at Waffle House.

:: Pedicures. With garish red hail polish.

:: Champagne (so that you can feel giddy like Marilyn Monroe or as elegant as Audrey Hepburn).

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They Make Me Happy

I know I promised this yesterday, but Roadrunner decided to stop working, so I am now sitting in Starbucks while my good guy Will plays with cars and eats a chocolate mini donut (which is about all I've been able to get down him today). Also, my husband took my camera and left it at his friend's house, so some of the great pictures that I had to share with you are not in my possession right now. Nevertheless, They Make Me Happy:

:: Brown-eyed Susans
:: Those perfect blue jeans - worn in, maybe a little thread worn, and make your butt look fantastic!
:: Old gnarled jade plants (have you ever seen one in full bloom?)



:: Will running full speed toward me for a hug
:: Seeing bloggy friends in "Artful Blogging"
:: Getting "that look" from the one you love - and your knees turning to Jell-o
:: Hummingbirds flitting about the Solomon's Seal



:: Unspoiled views that you just happen upon
:: Goldendoodles. I really want one.
:: Cranking up your favorite song on the car radio and singing really LOUD.


You can buy Emma's "muriel" here

:: The crochet of Emma Lamb
:: Woolly worms
:: The magic of tiaras



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Unless otherwise noted, all photos property of Erin Wallace

Happy Place

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Since my last post I've been having a difficult time. I've been using all of my depression coping techniques, but all of those nasty thoughts that rear their ugly head keep on poppin' up. I've had to seek my happy place quite frequently.


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My mom, who also suffers from depression, taught me about the happy place when I was very little. It's a sort of a zen place, that place of calm inside yourself that you can escape to when the outside world just gets crappy. Happy places are also useful when waiting in long grocery lines, long lights, and when you're out to eat (for the first time in months in our case) and they seat a really loud know-it-all buffoon right behind you. More than a few times, my mom has just looked and me and said "enhance your calm" (she used to practice yoga, she's pretty groovy for a former non-hippie) and to my happy place I go.

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A happy place is as individual and changeable as the person who goes there. Sometimes I am on a white beach in the Caribbean, sandpipers flitting about, the bluest water lapping on the shore, with sun kissed, hot skin. Other times my place is simply full of light and quiet, a joyful quiet that fills me to my core. Sometimes it is a time of intimacy with Tim or sitting in a field of flowers kissing Will's head. Misty corners in Marylebone, sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur, breathing the bright Colorado air or the musty air of a used book shop in New Orleans.


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I am very introverted and highly imaginative, so getting there is not a problem. For extroverts, the quiet that this exercise involves could be off putting. For it requires quiet to see the colors of the tress, smell the aroma of their blossoms, feel the grass beneath your feet, and hear the chitter of the squirrel in it's nest. I am a true believer that there is a happy place for all of us, introvert and extrovert alike; it's just that for some of us, it might be a little more work to get there.


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Where is your happy place? I might like to visit. I won't change anything around, just stop in for a second or two. You can share my beach with me any time. The sandpipers will enjoy the visit.


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