A Year In Review

A year ago today I packed up my suitcase, said goodbye to my precious little boys and boarded a plane for Nova Scotia. As heartbreaking as it was I knew I was leaving my furbabies in really good hands which put my heart at ease a little.

The first week was a brilliant distraction. We spent it with Craig's Dad and Stepmom doing tourist-type things around Halifax. I am so thankful for all they did. Not only did we manage to get a lot of great adventures in, but I was also able to distract from the reality of the significant changes occurring in my world.

Before we knew it we were headed to Amherst where the reality of the situation really sunk in. Each day my heart seemed to break a little more as I new my time with the love of my life was coming to an end and he would be returning to Newfoundland with our three boys. I'm horrible with goodbyes. The day he packed up the car and began his drive back to the Rock, his mom, Beth packed up her car and drove me to the cabin. It is one of the most peaceful places I have been since moving here. We spent the long weekend there surrounded by inspiring women who over the next twelve months would all impact my life in significant ways.

The first few weeks were challenging as I learned to adapt to my new surroundings, sat behind the drivers seat again for the first time in seven years, and began this new life here. I met some incredible friends. Before Craig left he had introduced me to two of his friends, who have become two of my closest amigos since living here. Sean and Sarah have gone above and beyond for me. From games night to surprise road trips and everything in between. I then met Jeannine through the gym. What a burst of sunshine she is! Jeannine is like a personal cheerleader, you can't help but feel motivated by her. - she is truly an incredible inspiration. Through Jeannine I was able to meet Stefanie. Stef is one of those people who when you meet, the universe shakes haha. I'm sure I must have known her in a previous life. We had this instant connection that couldn't be ignored and have since become really close friends. As I explored my creative opportunities here through various art shows I met Lisa from L.A. Crafts  and Jackie from Surprise!! Baskets & Gifts .

A part of me longed be back home with the familiar faces I had been missing, living in the nest Craig and I had only moved into months before in such a grand location. I missed the salt air tangling my hair, and the crashing waves washing over my soul. I had made a commitment though, and returning home was not an option. So Craig continued to search for work here, and I continued to practice an open mind to my new surroundings and focused on the opportunity for self growth and exploration. Before I knew it it was Christmas and my family was moving here to join me. There are no words to describe how incredibly wonderful that felt.

As the epic adventures faded with the autumn leaves winter quickly brought me into this state of social hibernation. I put more energy into my paintings and into my personal life as I enjoyed the warmth of the nest while the winter winds blew outside. Thankfully Spring soon arrived and we welcomed it with open arms. This new season brought many new and unexpected twists and turns in my path called 'Life'. Some were fabulous turns, and some were very challenging twists. Together as a team me and Craig stood strong together and adjusted our sails. I spent many hours at the Bird Sanctuary connecting with nature as I tried to reconnect with nature and find balance. As I began to make the transition from hibernation into Spring, my soul sister Andi flew down for a week. It was her first time out east and we soaked it all up with breathtaking adventures.I am truly grateful for her time spent here.

Spring quickly blossomed into Summer and I emerged from my cocoon. I had an opportunity to pursue one of my dreams and after some hesitation, I jumped in with both feet. I began advertising art classes again. I was - and still am- amazed at how quickly the amount of interest in these classes grew from the community and surrounding areas given the limited marketing resources I have been using. It feels incredible to share my passion of art with others again in a hands on way. Through this new avenue I've meet some incredible people. Most recently being Rozlind and Amy. I had met Rozlind online through a Facebook page that is similar to the concept of 'Freecycle'. She was organizing her art supplies and had some things she was no longer using. I dropped by to pick up the items so I could share them with the students in my 'Intuitive Expressions' class. Before I knew it three hours had passed and we still hadn't ran out of things to talk about. Another instant connection was made.

There has been many incredibly wonderful opportunities for me since moving here, balanced with some pretty challenging struggles that have helped me grow. I've developed some amazing friendships here and created many wonderful memories. Though my heart will always be back in Newfoundland I will forever be thankful for the all the new people who have come into my life.
I wonder what the next twelve months has in store for me.

Celebrate With Me!

It's celebration time folks! I've just began a new chapter of my life with my partner. Life has a strange way of changing your plans that you create. None of this was supposed to happen for at least another ten months. At least I didn't think they were supposed to happen. The universe had bigger plans for us though. Now, although unprepared, we are able to start this beautiful journey together. We just moved into our first house this weekend. It's been a blur trying to get everything together and in order. All while helping Beth with her move at the same time and searching for a new job! Yes that's right, the universe has decided to close some doors that needed closing and open so many new wonderful doors of opportunity.

With so many new and exciting things happening I thought I would share the celebrations with you! I started a sale on Friday, 25% off all paintings! That's right. From now until June 15th you can get lost in a world of colour and save money while you're at it.  Normally I put the money that I make from my paintings back into my art supplies, but for this sale it's going towards items we need for our new nest and our trip back to Newfoundland to get the rest of our belongings out from storage.

As always, payment plans are available. So if you or anyone you know needs some colour in their world you now know where to go!

To view my art work you can pop by my Facebook page, or head over to my website. I haven't updated my website recently though, so you will find all my available paintings over on Facebook. You can contact me at sadiejane26@hotmail.ca to place your order and discuss payment plan options.

A Childhood Dream Comes True

Remember as a child being asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
What was your first answer?
Mine was an artist. It slowly changed to psychologist, then focused on child psychiatrist, then broadened to art therapist (for any age), and now I went full circle back to my first answer. I just want to be an artist. I want to share the gift of creating through teaching art, and through sharing my paintings with others as they find their ways onto the walls of people's nests.

Today marks a huge celebration for my career as an artist. Today is day one of my first art show ever!!! I was originally booked for the end of February through til April (which the owner of The Sprout confirmed I still have this slot available!! YAY!!!). However the artist who had this current slot booked had to cancel and Julia came in contact with myself and Dominique. And here it is, a show with myself, Dominique Hurley and Lori Reddy. Thank you universe for giving me this opportunity and gift! I was in need of a sense of personal achievement and direction when it comes to my art. Who knows what the outcome of this show will be like in regards to sales, but I'm just excited to have the exposure. Knowing how many people pass through the doors of The Sprout and will be seeing my work there on the walls! Oh someone pinch me now, I think I must be dreaming still! If it weren't for the pictures Dominique posted I still think I would be in disbelief. Here are the photos of my work that Dominique captured for me to help me feel part of this show.

All of my pieces can be found on my Facebook page and my website for a closer viewing if you do not live near The Sprout. If you do live in the area, please pop by for some incredibly yummy vegetarian food and check out all the art work! 

The Sprout - 364 Duckworth St., St. John's Newfoundland

(709) 579-5485 

October 25 - November 28th 2011 (closed Mondays)

Here is the link for the rest of the pictures Dominique took this morning. 

Dreams really can come true. And it's so exciting to see and experience first hand, especially a childhood dream. I have no idea where this will take me, or how this turn out, I just know that today I am happy and today this is real! What a fabulous way to practice living in the moment!

It's All Working Out

I just curled up by the fireplace with my laptop and the rain decided to stop. I'm slightly disappointed. I was looking forward to blogging with a cuppa tea, the warm cozy glow of the fire and the sound of rain pitter-pattering on the window. However that does mean I can do laundry and put it out on the line. I see the sun brightly coming through the clouds. Which is perfect timing. Last night, as part of the 'Taste of Home' theme, we went to Beth's mom's for dinner. On the menu was scrunchions n cod fish with all the finixin's, white gravy too! Its a favortie of Beths. In all honesty, even though its a classic back home, I never had it before (weird I know, I swear I'm from Newfoundland!) but sure enough it turns out I like it. Though I did have to go get seconds on the prime rib part of the cooked dinner. That was just divine.

Well my nerves are gone today worried about the upcoming art show. I think I have met my most challenging theme So far in m blogs (for all my new readers, this relates back to my 'Stepping up to the Boogeyman' post. Trusting the process...which really is just a sweet way of saying giving up the need to control haha). My first art show is coming up at The Sprout and I have to trust the process (give up control bahhh!!!).  However, my friend Dominique and I have been talking through e-mail back and forth all morning about the show. She and her friend Lori will also be displaying their work. Dominique and I met in June. Her story begins here with how she arrived in Newfoundland. She first connected with me through a Kijiji Ad I had posted about an art class I was teaching. We connected with our mutual interest in this particular class and agreed to connect when she arrived. Today through email I was telling Dominique how I was feeling stressed and anxious about not being home to be hands on with this show. The what ifs, the if onlys, and so on. And she responded to me with something I just have to share, because the truth rang out so loudly to me I could feel myself being blown back and thinking Wow! You're right!'. I couldn't help but feel proud of us. Her response;

We had envisioned a group show at some coffee place - the universe has made it possible to partner even if you're away. Love it. You and I manifested this..... It's all working out. - Dominique

She couldn't be more true. We had spent an entire day walking from one end of the main downtown area in St. Johns to the other where we could potentially find a coffee shop, gallery, tourist shop that we could display our work for sale. Something we may have never done solo. The commitment we made together made it easier to go out and just finally do it! Dominique was able to attend workshops, and together we supported each other's goal to establish ourselves as artists in St. John's. It was so wonderful to both be at the bottom of this chain and ensure no level of competition or negative hidden agendas were present at all. We truly wanted to see each other thrive in this city as artists, and respected the dream, the passion, the sense of being it brings us to be an artist. You're right Dominique, WE DID IT! Now I just have to trust the process that the people I have asked to help me set up the show will do it the way I would like (not one bit particular for a newbie hey b'y! haha).

I think this will be the biggest theme for this weeks challenge life is throwing at me. On a very personal level I am facing some pretty big giant walls that I have to decide if I am willing to keep standing behind, find a way through, over or around, or put the control of that wall in the hands of someone else. Bottom line is I have to make decisions, BIG MEGA GIANT decisions that requires adult pants and then trust that I may have been able to control the final decision making, but the rest of the process will have lots of elements that I can't control and that it's OK!. (my mind is screaming no it's not right now, but I have to say the opposite to get me through..it will be ok!). \

It's all working out, just at its own pace. I must learn to grow more patience and be ok with that.

So today I decided to dedicate to preparing myself for a week of feeling uncomfortable. I cleaned my room and trying to change a few details to change the energy flow, about to start laundry (so many distractions since I started this blog hours ago..the sun is finally out completely and ready for a line of freshly washed clothes) do some reading and get my things together for meetings tomorrow. Prepare as much as I can for my paintings on this end before mailing out the 'directions' and hoping for the best.

I also feel super tired today....I think I may have to call it an early night just to fully recharge.

Take time to enjoy this fall day everyone!

Call Me Patches

I woke up this morning to the sound of a text message coming in. I knew it was my morning love note from my darling who is still living back in Newfoundland. Sadly, I couldn't read his msg this particular morning. My fingers traced a path on the creamy sheets until they felt the familiar touch of the phone. Pulling it out from under the pillow, I attempted to start my day like any other day; reading my love text first. This morning though, my eyes could barely open. Just long enough to see that it was 8:27 and it was indeed my Mister Man txting me. That's all these two green eyes would allow me to see before they quickly shut like two heavy steel doors. I knew that IT was back. Accepting that today would be a "Please let me hide from the world I look like Shrek" day, I remained in my nest and drifted in and out of sleep while I waited for the swelling in my eyes to go down enough for me to actually be able to open them. This happened around 11. If I could I would have relished in the ability to sleep in this late, but that' not the life I live right now. My morning has to start hours earlier.

I dreaded going to the bathroom where I would meet my face in the mirror and see just how bad it was. My eyes were swollen past the point of being level with the rest of my face. My lips looked like I just took a shopvac off them. I could post a picture but you may never return to read my blog again haha. I was a state needless to say. I was hoping to spend the day at the gym helping Beth out, making her day as easy as possible and instead I spent a few hours in the hospital waiting to be seen. The nurses and doctors clearly read my intake chart before seeing me, their reaction was..well blunt "MY! You really do have swollen eyes and lips" ...I felt like saying "No b'y, I decided to dip into some halloween makeup and test your medical credentials, nothing better to do on a Wednesday afternoon in my life".. I realized that may have sounded more harsh, so I just nodded and said I've 'seen' better days". So it's deja vu again with the medications, I hope it works. The weekend is quickly approaching which means more adventures are coming and I want to get out and enjoy them.  Till then, I am only showing my pre-halloween face when absolutely needed.  I'm just so upset that no one knows why my face decided to get out of control. It looks like i have two red patches around my eyes and then one around my mouth, like a clown or a little kid trying on  mommy's makeup haha.

OK! Rant about my face is over! Want to hear something neat? I was walking upstairs today to get something from my room, when I noticed a ladybug on the windowsill. So I paused and took a moment to enjoy her company. Tried my best to capture a photo with my camera, but no such luck..thanks lady bug! It was still a lovely surprise. I hope she brought some luck with her visit.

Speaking of luck....

Stay tunned for my next blog for some very very very exciting news!!! I'll leave you with a hint:
Today I received an email from one of THE must go-to restaurants back home in NL. Everyone talks about this place, all the cool cats eat there, and in my next blog you will find out why the owner emailed me!! (How freaking exciting!?!?!)

Goodnight everyone!