brandi with an { i }

Stolen ....

2011-05-31T19:18:00.000-04:00

Popping in from my phone, which proves to be a little difficult. I came home from running some errands last week to find both of our laptops, iPods, dsi, camera and xbox gone. After many calls to our lovely township officers .... Still NOTHING. I imagine at this point they are long
Gone with no hope in return. My precious laptop was not backed up. Funny, a week prior to the dissapearence I thought to myself that I needed to take sometime to do just that.

I really wished that blogger had an APP that would allow for the upload of photos, but it doesn't. I have uploaded some pics of artjournal pages and such over on my flickr.

hope to be back
Soon ....

mini art ...

2011-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

because i cant break into the big leagues and need lots of practice ... i make small art a.k.a ATC's!!

Lots of my personal photos that I have altered

Do you use Bakers Twine?

2011-04-28T14:00:00.001-04:00

thought I would share this!!

on the verge

2011-04-27T13:53:00.000-04:00

why is it i always feel i am on the verge of a major shift ....................................

Source: rebussed.blogspot.com via Brandi on Pinterest

a change that will
awaken me
open my eyes
encourage me to feel fulfillment
to create
a change that will heal all the wrong
heal my home
patch relationships

A change so profound that there in the light I will stand and I will finally see me and feel whole.

i believe i was made for greatness,
for so much more than what i can see,
so much more than what i do now.
a greatness that far surpasses anything i can dream.

i often feel i am just around the bend from that greatness, but i never quite get there.
i start to wonder if that feeling of being made for greatness is a curse
its that feeling that continues my search for more. i am never settled with the mundane everyday doings ... i yearn for better, for more ...

more purpose
more feeling
more love
more laughter
more everything

a must read ....

2011-04-03T19:31:00.000-04:00

A really good article!

click on source below the picture to take you there ...

Source: austinkleon.com via Leigh on Pinterest

( source )

my own ugly beautiful truths ...

2011-03-15T23:48:00.001-04:00

decided to scroll through the ole' bookmarked blogs tonight in the attempt of connecting, of feeling something that is missing. i rolled up upon Kal Barteski of LOVE LIFE. Kal started sharing truths about herself that may not be so beautiful. keeping it real. connecting.

i got it.
i needed it.
i connected.

i have decided i loved it so much that i am going to share mine here.
maybe a therapeutic exercise of sorts for me

READY ... Brace yourself!

1. today i left my kids at the dentist alone so i could scope out the thrift store before it closed, even though it was only a few doors down, i felt guilty.

2. sometimes i go a week w/o washing my hair ... please dont mistake that for not washing my skin ... its my long hair, ~~somedays~~ most days it just takes to much energy. its a sad sad truth.

3. i am moving my art room again, for inspiration. who am i kidding?

swooning over ...

2011-03-13T22:59:00.001-04:00

I am starting to wonder if i should pick up some oil paints, i know acrylics are easier to work with but i cant quite get the results im looking for with them. It seems as the majority of painting i am drawn to uses oils. Its the dreamy haze oil gives the paint that I think im in love with. I stumbles across the blog of Chelsea Bentley James, her paintings make me want to reach out and touch them ... the muted colors are very soothing to me.

My Dream ...

2011-03-10T21:18:00.002-05:00

67F100pkps a photo by chal70 on Flickr.

My goal in life is to find one of these so my husband and i can restore it and i can drive it till my hearts content ...

i have been here ....

2011-03-08T13:09:00.001-05:00

one child with surgery and a 10 week recovery period .......

from a wrestling injury this season ...

Grade III - A complete separation of the joint. The acromioclavicular ligament, the coracoclavicular ligaments, and the capsule surrounding the joint are torn. Usually, the displacement is obvious on clinical exam. Without any ligament support, the shoulder falls under the weight of the arm and the clavicle is pushed up, causing a bump on the shoulder.

********************************************

AND a 4 days inpatient stay with my exchange student for

Kidney abnormality called a UPJ. She has to go back to Mexico early and have it repaired. Just when feel like we broke through some ground and are really getting to know her.

Everything wrong at once is the only way to roll right?

I am getting ready to start a new journal project ... I'm really really excited about. If it works out well, I will be sharing!!

Very excited for this upcoming class!!

ill be back soon!!! We are starting to get some sunlight in MI .. which makes me come alive

a gadget to love ...

2011-02-11T14:00:00.002-05:00

i never liked them before, pineapple that is ...UNTIL i discovered fresh!!

i never ate them even after that because they were a pain to cut ... it always seemed like i wasted so much of the poor fruit.

*SOLUTION*

Meet Pampered Chef's Pineapple Wedger

I will let the pictures do the talking

juicy

cut the bottom & the top off

proceed to cut in half

center over the core

push down

this is what it leaves you

isn't it perfect!!

plop them into a bowl and enjoy

(this is not the entire pineapple)

2011-02-08T23:51:00.001-05:00

Untitled by october_lee on Polyvore.com

raw thoughts .. and emotions

2011-02-06T23:45:00.001-05:00

i have fibromyalgia ... there I said it.

it sucks

its draining

sucking dry any energy i might have

its painful

it burns

not on the surface

but deep down

today, I just wanted to lay there.

do nothing

i dont care if i locked sight on the ceiling and left it there

i didnt want to think ... about anything

here i am

almost midnight

work early tomorrow

a beast all in its own

if i may be honest

more that two days in row there

kills a piece of my soul

mentally exhausting

i am loner

i like it that way

i dont like interacting if i dont want to

having to go to work

to make ends meet ... nauseates me.

my hip hurts

i cant sleep

frustrated by personal decisions

photo source

Thank you Mary for the book ... im still reading it ... but what i have read has allowed me to write this & has given me the permission to take off the "Im doin pretty good, and how bout yourself" mask ... i didnt like it anyway, it always made me feel worse inside. it was fake. im tired of asking permission and making excuses for "my ways ... my thoughts ... my feelings".

Amen ... had to share

2011-01-27T20:23:00.001-05:00

"The key to loving how you live is in knowing what it is you truly love. To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

self help ...

2011-01-23T14:37:00.002-05:00

THOUGHTS FOR TODAY ~

from a young age i remember i have always been drawn to self help books ... the entire inner excavation movement. those books fill my book shelves and continue to be the ones i purchase. i have always felt there was something in me that needed to be excavated, something hiding in me that had yet to be discovered. some kind of greatness that was just waiting to shine. feeling that what is ... was not good enough. there had to be more. more meaning. more purpose etc ... what if i already am all that there is to be? can i accept that and move on? what if there is nothing left to uncover?

{ source }

for the love of visual inspiration ...

2011-01-18T23:26:00.001-05:00

have you heard of pinterest yet? do you find your self bookmarking pictures of things you love, want to create, or just plain inspire you? Pinterest is the way to go!!! Check out my profile here. Sign up for one of your own, then let me know so i can follow you!!

*** so true ***

{ source }

im sure you have tried it ....

2011-01-10T22:05:00.001-05:00

BUT have you really tried it .. played with it .. created with it ...

ive always enjoyed playing with photos

and never really knew what this tool

could do ... until playing around in there recently

trying to make a blog banner ...

can you say amazing!!! there is a new version now, but PSE 8 does

everything i need it do for now ...

you can get a free 30 day trial HERE ... give it a go

{WARNING} it steals lots of sleep!!!!

the whole world is open to you NOW ...

2011-01-09T21:28:00.001-05:00

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

2011-01-06T23:06:00.003-05:00

note to self: {Brandi} im glad you are taking the class, yes its a leap for you .. to strech within, i know you can do it. stretch and discover whats there, get out the raw emotion that can bog you down. see it, feel it, and release it ... really, it was never yours to begin with. you were never lost. now get on with it!

[ snippets from a class assignment]

I come from ...

teenage love that washed away.

a home made of wood that had seen better days

complete with battlefields without any grace.

woken nights to the sound of horror

from a mother that bled from every sore.

whiskey bottles and the smell of beer,

left a beast with a stick to settle his score.

alone in my room with paper and pen,

drownding out the pain within.

pyramids, pom poms and baton to twirl,

my attempt to fit in to a very fake world.

on another note there was happy too,

but never replaced a preference for solitude.

we had lincoln logs and pick up sticks,

a weekend at grams that saved us from licks.

clothes on the line while the dogs ran around,

cows in the back that made lots of sound.

a davenport to tuck us in

giggles with grandpa and Gilligan too

kisses, coloring and trips to the zoo.

ive let it all go it doesnt own me

be gone my past to the future i flee

three strikes ....

2011-01-03T16:57:00.005-05:00

ahh ... there now, i think i have wiped away all the dust

{round three}

x 3 at starting a blog
i get three of those right ... before im counted out?

i am here, giving it another go
i believe i understand why it is there is still a desire to blog, despite my failed efforts

with the internet it is possible to connect my life to yours
an enriching experience
~~i like that~~ i LOVE that
we are no longer restricted to know just the people we live by or work with

so here i am, sharing my 2011 with you

over the course of the next few weeks i will be defining what it is i wish for this space to be
i don't have all of those answers now, and i am ok with that

i am looking forward to all the possibility that awaits