Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Can you handle it?

Well so far 2010 has been quite the year! I keep thinking there is going to be a reprieve coming, but it hasn't happened yet! And before I get into details, I should clarify I do not mean 'quite the year' in a good way...

Starting January 12th this year has been a steady stream of painful, difficult, heartbreaking events. That Tuesday with the news of the earthquake we started a week of sleepless nights filled with worry and prayer. Our friend Katie was serving in Haiti as a missionary. We (my roommates & I) have been friends with Katie since our freshman year of college. We were all on the same wing together and have since all lived with each other at some point. She is one of our best friends. We have spent the time since Sept (when she went to Haiti) missing her and keeping in contact, thanks to this wonderful world of technology. However, that day we had no idea where Katie was or how much she was affected by the quake...let alone if she was still alive.

Along with earthquake issues, January 12th was also the day that I found out my cousins (the two that I am closest to, and spend a lot of time with...she sold me my house & they live only minutes away) were separating and filing for divorce. She informed me she was moving out that week. I don't know how that sits with you, but it was very hard for me to take. Along with that I wasn't supposed to talk to anyone about it, so I was trying to hold it in and deal with those feelings along with being scared for Katie.

We found out Wednesday that Katie was in fact alive but that she had been trapped under a collapsed building for over 3 hours and was in very serious condition. After several surgeries and a month in the hospital Katie is now home (in Arlington, WA) and doing well. She still has a lot of recovering to do but is making progress. We are going to visit her next weekend...very excited for that!

The weekend of January 15th brought some relief as I flew to Spokane to visit Kieth, Jackie & Holly! My family also came over and we had a great weekend! Holly is amazing...so much fun! She is 21 months and talks so much! Always wondering "Where daddy go?" "Where Fred go?" And her favorite phrase this weekend... "No Way!" :) It was so cute! We kept answering her "Yes Way Dude!" and by the end of the weekend she was saying No Way Dude! :) So much fun! It was Jackie's birthday that Sunday so we had fun celebrating that and also went to Kieth's basketball game Saturday night....lots of good times! The only bad thing is that I always come back exhausted.

Helping Kurt with his homework :) She pulled his textbook out, looked at me and said "Kurt book heavy!"

Uncle Fred loves Holly! And she is quite taken with him too! :)


The week I got back, we had an unexpected death at work. My boss, for the last 2 1/2 years that I've worked at Anderson & Wood passed away after an accident in his home. Spent Monday in shock and Wednesday at the funeral. Talk about adding emotions on top of emotions!

Although all of these things have been hard and horrible, the worst was yet to come. Kieth & Jackie are expecting in June and had their 5 month ultrasound the first week of February. Monday the 8th, at the ultrasound they were told there were some complications and they needed to go see a specialist in Spokane.

Tuesday the 9th, they saw a prenatal specialist and were told that the baby has a cystic hygroma and hydrops. (Large fluid filled pockets-cysts) around the neck and fluid around the heart and abdomen. The baby is not expected to live much longer, in fact the specialist was very surprised it had survived this long. As you can imagine that news is hard to hear! And then they had to make decisions on whether they wanted to induce labor and deliver the baby now or wait for nature to take its course.

After much prayer they have decided they will continue the pregnancy, and allow God to direct the path for this child. As Jackie says, if they hadn't seen the pictures they would have no indication that there was a problem. The baby is active and kicking and she feels great.
This baby is touching their lives everyday it lives. And we are all praying for a miracle!

It has become one of those times in life that I will probably look back and see how God was working and the plan intertwined between it all...but at this point its simply hard. It has definitely helped increase my prayer life and solidify my trust and faith that He is in control. But it does make me wonder...how much more does He think we can handle?!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Office

Thought since I'd added a picture of the office with the map, I could put in a few more

these are actually creative memories punches...just a fun way to store them I suppose :) And then of course my Master's diploma...never really sure what to do with those things.

This is the wall as you walk in and the butterfly came from my friend Katie, working in Haiti.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

My Map

So here's the picture of my map I promised :) It is from a calendar they were handing out at work...not necessarily the map I would've chosen to use, but hey it was free!

So using a CM tearing tool I tore the sides of it so it didn't look so perfect and then picked out a fabric I liked to spray glue to my bulletin board. The map is only attached with the pins I used to mark all the places I've been. It's hanging up above my drafting board in the office.


Here's a little closer picture, although the pins are really hard to see. There is a huge hole in the middle of the country. Where there are zero pins between Reno & Kansas City...so it is definitely a west and east coast dominated show. Guess it just helps me decide where I need to go next!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

New project


IMG_0115, originally uploaded by meslonaker.

So I don't know exactly what's gotten into me, but I have definitely been in project mode. Since the jewelry project I also redid the old bulletin board my jewelry was on and created a fabric/map piece that shows everywhere I've traveled in the US. I'll have to get a pic of it up here soon.

But then I've also been working on some fun paper/canvas project. I had these canvases and didn't really know what I wanted to do with them, and then saw a picture of a single butterfly cut out of paper in a frame on etsy and was inspired. I decided to try my hand at it! And took a butterfly I found online and then made copies in different sizes, so that I could have a larger butterfly and along with some smaller ones. I then debated between using fabric (what the etsy one was made with), contact paper or just paper and a glue stick. Yup, you guessed it it was paper & a glue stick....add in the canvases I already had and these two art pieces ring in at FREE!!! Gotta love that!

So along with my scissors and razor blade I just cut out some butterflies while I was watching movies this week and ta da! I have two new pieces of art in my bedroom! Did I mention I also love how they turned out?! I'm kind of impressed :)

New project


IMG_0114, originally uploaded by meslonaker.

This is where the first canvas ended up...right above the shelf, right next to my bedroom door. I LOVE how this canvas turned out...none of the butterflies are out of exactly the same paper, but they are all very similar and I think compliment each other very nicely! It helps to have a seemingly endless supply of scrapbook paper around :)

New project


IMG_0119, originally uploaded by meslonaker.

I'd kind of like to rest this canvas on a shelf above my nightstand rather than have it directly on the wall. I also think I'd like it better framed, there just seems to be too much white, but we'll see. For now this is it!

New project


IMG_0122, originally uploaded by meslonaker.

Time to do some reading in bed :)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Awesome Giveaway!

So there's this blog I've been reading...It's called Creature Comforts and is always updated with such great stuff! This week she is doing a giveaway for a Fuji Instax Mini Camera...the coolest 'polaroid' you've ever seen!! Check it out on her blog or follow this link to go straight to the giveaway!