The game of disc golf helped to balance the fact that I will spend a chunk of time this weekend writing grants, drafting sponsorship request letters, and working on other work projects. Yet even with a full to do list I am happy because I love the flexibility of my job and I love that what I do is making some small difference in the lives of hundreds of children. I like having the opportunity to dig into messy long grant applications and after days of work have a nice neat package that I can submit and hopefully get! I like the challenge of millions of things to do even though some days I want to cry because there is just too much to do and I don’t know where to start. I like that work with caring people. And while odd sometimes I love the small town of Flagstaff that when I go to do dinner I run into a co-worker and when I walk in the park I see kids playing that I know.

Life can be complicated, confusing and frustrating, but when you look there seems to be something good hidden under the all shit. And it is that good that I live for.

Yoga is whisper for me as is: art, healing, animals, food, people and community. Whispering about something, but I can’t get a clear picture. Like I am looking through the camera lenses and I can’t get it to focus. I want to have a glimpse of what my life will look like in the future. I want to know that things will be better, wholesome, and beautiful. How can I take all these varied interests and push them into a mosaic that’s works. It is simple really, but also very difficult for me to achieve, I want o feel fulfilled, feel like my work is important. I also want some flexibility, a beautiful work environment, and I want diversity in what I do.

Something worth listening to is Mathew Sanford. Find more about it him here and also here.

I love food. That is in part why I have a few more inches then I should around my middle (but this post isn’t about that). I enjoy the weekends because I usually try to bake or cook one thing something I enjoy very much to do, particularly when it turns out. A couple weeks ago I made this for breakfast, it was very yummy! In my ramblings around the internet I found a very fun website that inspires me: Foodgawker. This site is a feast for the eyes and fun place to explore ideas for your weekly menus. Enjoy!

picture curtsey of Kubera Cove

In my recent adventures with Etsy, I found a couple new friends and some amazingly talented people. Ever since I was little and believed in gnomes and fairies I loved crystals and rocks and on Etsy I found a really beautiful shop filled with lots of eye candy. Kubera Cover is filled with amazing crystals of all kinds. Its worth at least a peak.

Moo Business Cards

So my Friday Find is a bit late this week, but hopefully you will think it was worth it! As an artist I am always looking for way to build my “press package” to make my stuff stand out and look unique. I have seen business cards that have artwork on them and always loved them a unique way to advertise your talent and leave people with a lasting memory of you and your work. However until now I hadn’t found a place to get my cards done, until I found Moo. Moo allows you a trial run of 10 absolutely free as long as you allow their tagline logo on there, and they put them in a great little container too. I absolutely loved how mine turned out and will be ordering a real set shortly. The cards are great quality and you can get them “green” recycled paper and good ink. If you are need of unique, high impact business cards then this is certainly the way to go.

I missed last weeks Friday find, so I wanted to be sure not to miss this weeks, hopefully I won’t let you down. This week my find is Nigella’s website. Okay so many of you have probably found this uniquely charming British kitchen deva and have probably visited her website and own her cookbooks and if you are one of those many, then I may have just let you down, but if you are not it is worth a visit. I particularly loved her Love section, which is all about things she likes, and not its not about cook from deodorant to flip flops it is all listed and very fun, interesting, and informative. I am not much of a recipe follower, I take my inspiration from recopies and then do my own modifications, but I have enjoyed looking over Nigella’s site, and if you haven’t already I hope you do too.

I am a little late for my friday find! However I actually wrote this post a few days ago. So here is a little bit about what I am thinking. I signed up for TUTs a while back when the amazing Penelope talked about it. I really just did it for fun, I thought what the heck, right, it can’t hurt. I did it with my work e-mail account and I am so glad I did. Each morning among the pile of other e-mails and the crap of the morning I get to read something inspiring that is focused on just me! Signing up for this was just another step in reconnecting with my spiritual self and my beliefs. After my father died I lost a lot of spiritual connection because he had always been the guide post for this. Yoga was my first step, while not religious, yoga allows me the space for my thoughts to become breath in and out and it changes you and opens you to the world in a different way. I have also been playing around with positive affirmations and prayer. Some of the messages from TUTs are more touching then others and this mornings was one that was just perfect. Feeling totally discourage and out of sync, everything was spiraling in the wrong direction, and then I read this:

 Ask, Elayna. Ask for whatever you want.

 Ask for help. Ask for clarity. Ask for insight.

 We’re always there. You’re always answered. 10,000 Strong to do your will.

 OK?  – The Universe

 I should add that I don’t just read these quickly, I really read them deeply, pausing trying to believe and trust. Reading about the writer of these is inspiring as well!  

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. Tough times are coming to so many those that are close to me, and those that I don’t know, and these times make me think a lot. I think a lot about what we need to live and I think about worst case scenarios, not it the doomsday sort of way but: the what if, what would I do, sort of way. I was reading Body and Soul magazine and they talked about your financial fire escape plan. It was an interesting article and corresponds well with what I do. I know how to get through hard times because I have, and am, and I am sure it may happen again. However, I also want to learn to go through difficult times more gracefully. I know how to cut back to the minimal expenses, to hunker down and make things work. That isn’t to say I don’t enjoy extravagances and that I don’t save for big purchases because I do and because of that I own some nice things. However the last few years have taught me in yet another way to appreciate things in a different way and to know very deeply that the only thing that really matters is the earth, and the living things on it. The rest: cell phones, cameras, computers, paint, fancy china, fluffily towels, Egyptian cotton sheets, silk dresses, leather shoes…these things are nice but that’s all, they aren’t needed to live. Life takes a tremendous about of trust, trust in, The Universe. Its not that I believe I have no influence on my life or no responsibility because I don’t not for a minute, but I also have a huge amount of trust in the web of The Universe and I believe that this web is here to help… Sometimes this belief falters, falters a lot sometimes particularly when it comes to belief in myself, but deep down inside of me it exists and I think that these little gestures I am taking towards recognition of my spiritual self is my attempt at allowing that belief to grow. And I hope that with a stronger belief in myself, those around me and The Universe I will be able to continue to tackle tough times and do it more gracefully each day.