The Inside Story ( Revisited )

** originally posted a year ago this month. resonating with me quite a bit again lately **


I have dimpled thighs.

And some gray hairs.

My teeth would be a whole lot whiter

if I drank less Diet Coke.

And you know what else?

I have a pooch.

No, not a dog, although I do have two of those.

No, I have a tummy pooch.

No washboard abs on this girl.

Not anymore, anyway.

I am imperfect.

Flawed.

Less than ideal.

But you know what else?

I am more than the sum of my parts.

My imperfect parts, that is.

I may be imperfect, but I am perfectly so.

Perfectly Imperfect.

Just like my well-loved French pitcher, there is a beauty to my scars. 

My blemishes.

My signs of age.

A nobility to those wiry gray hairs,

and those crinkles now appearing
to frame my eyes and mouth.

As a woman, I struggle as to whether to

embrace or erase

these changes.

The culture as well as the cult of youth encourages us to wish away

that which has been hard earned.

"How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth..."

{John Milton}

And yet, I know.

Oh yes, I most certainly do know...

That the measure of my worth

as a woman

and as a child of God

lies not in what the eye can see

but rather in what is hidden away from view.

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; 

it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.

 {Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}

Love yourselves, imperfections and all.

Just as God does.

"So we do not lose heart. 

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."

{2 Corinthians 4:16}

P.S.

Unapologetically, occasionally re-posting gems from the archives...because

I've been doing some spiritual and emotional house cleaning.

Blog breaks are good. Essential, even.

Twice a Year...

Every Spring, Every Fall,

I have the absolute pleasure of visiting with 

and photographing my gorgeous friend

Christie Connelly's space at

Sommerfeld Place in Warrenton.

 My beautiful, talented friend shies away

from fanfare and self-promotion,

so I am always thrilled to sing her praises.

Shoot, I landed in the issue before last of  

Romantic Country Magazine

with two photos I snapped from her space...

 This past month, I was fortunate enough

to pay sweet Christie a visit,

so here are the fruits of our labor...my photography,

and Christie's amazing vision.

Enjoy!

Just beautiful, 

love you Christie!

Wishing everyone a blessed week!

Sunday Psalm

"So we, Your people 

and sheep of Your pasture, 

will give You thanks forever;

   

We will show forth Your praise 

to all generations."

 

Psalm 79:13

Giving thanks for 

hidden blessings.

{ photos taken here at Zapp Hall }

Pull up a chair...

Or rather, just sit yourself down.

There's certainly enough chairs for a

small confab of sorts.

I don't wanna talk about grief

or worry or anything heavy today.

I want mindless and brain numbing.

Let's talk Dancing With the Stars!

I have never, ever felt the Derek Hough love,

so I'm pretty meh about Ricki Lake.

I think if J.R. Martinez doesn't win the whole thing, 

it'll be a crime.

Although Carson Kressley certainly does bring the fun factor!

Who are your faves?

For those of you going "who?" and "whaaaaa?",

just pop on over to the next blog. I won't be offended.

Let's talk pet therapy.

The past couple of weeks, I've signed on

to volunteer some time each week to pop by

the local SPCA to give the fur babies some TLC.

It's my way of working through the gr....that word I wasn't going to say.

The Mr. tagged along with me on one of these trips,

so I thought you'd enjoy seeing the avowed cat hater in action.

Yeah, this last pic just screams  anti- feline hostility.

Cat hater, my butt.

And just one more thing.

I'm keeping the lid on a happy secret I have to share soon.

It's just a little something, nothing earth shattering, 

but something nice I'll be able to

share in a couple or three weeks.

More Warrenton photos coming soon,

wishing you the happiest of weeks!

Speaking From the Heart

There's a bit of irony in the title of this post...

in that the words are not coming easily of late,

and I'm finding it difficult to wax rhapsodically

about design and decor and all that jazz that I normally

love to gab about.

It all feels shallow and silly
and of small consequence. It isn't shallow and silly,
that's just the grief talking.
Art and beauty and creativity still matter,
perhaps now much more so than ever.

But for me?
I'm feeling quiet and contemplative,

and even a bit lost.
It's okay, it's normal, I get that....
it's a process, one I must go through.
No circumventing the stages of grief,
no going around it.
Through  it.

So, in the spirit of being true to myself and to you as well,

I'm letting my photos speak for me instead.

Another small handful
from the fields of Warrenton last week...

Thank you all for understanding,
and for just being you.

:-)

photos taken here:

#1 The Sweet Pea Collection

#2 Garden Antqs Vintage

#3 Christie Connelly's space

#4 Talking Trash

#5 Garden Antqs Vintage

Getting My Groove Back...aka First Warrenton Pics

Happy Tuesday, Friends.

I'm sharing a handful of images with you today, all taken

this past Sunday in the glorious fields of Warrenton.

Many more to come, just dipping my toes back in the creative waters

today as I begin the editing process. It feels good...it's what my dear mama,

who just so happened to finance my fancy schmancy pro camera,

would have wanted.

As someone recently admonished me, when I despaired of 

never wanting to take another picture again,

" every picture you take will now be 

a memorial to your mother. "

I love that. Indeed.

Hope you enjoy.

:-)

I'll be sharing more in the days ahead,

my wish for each of you this week is

nothing but happiness!

XO,

pics taken here:

pic #1 Talking Trash

pic #2 pending my locating their business card

pic #3 out in the fields

pic #4 Country Garden Antiques

pic #5 The Seed Box

pic #6 The Sweet Pea Collection

Yesterday

Today I did a lot of things I knew had to be done...

I went to the Social Security office to make sure that the 

funeral home had notified them of my mom's recent death.

I secured a storage unit for her belongings

until such a time as we are able to sort through them fully.

I attended to a few more unpleasant necessities associated with

her passing, which all fall to me as her only child.

But first...

Before that...

Before today...

Yesterday....

 I made a quickie, one-day visit to

one of my most favorite places on Earth.

I spent a happy and friend filled day in the

fields of Warrenton, shopping and junking
( and of course snapping away )

and just trying to get my mojo ( and my joy ) back.

In the photo above, taken at Theresa Cano's

customary blog party, are my beautiful friends

(left to right)

Teresa of Attic Rat,  

Theresa of Time Worn Interiors,

Me

and Amy of Amy Boland Photography

It was a short trip, I didn't even stay for the whole party,

but it was still just what I needed.

Seeing and connecting with good friends,

giving and receiving hugs,

and allowing the healing process to do its thing.

I took roughly 225 shots ( actually a low number for me! ),

so rest assured that just like in days past,

I will have MANY wonderful images to share later this week

from the incredible fields of Warrenton and Antique Week.

Hope you have a blessed week.

:-)

P.S.

My mom's memorial on Saturday was just beautiful.

Thank you all so much for your ongoing prayers

and love. It keeps me going.